The Emerald Gladiator..... "WEAPONS OF MASS CONTROL" Part 2: Old Friends
Green Lantern #10 - October, Year One	by Gary Jones

The three of them stood in an uncomfortable silence; until Donna elbowed Kyle gently. “An introduction would be useful, lunk head.”

Realisation came over Kyle’s face and he took a step forward. “Alan you know Donna. You do know Donna right?” He looked between the two of them pleadingly.

“Of course. It’s nice to see you again, Donna.” Alan smiled and extended his hand. “Hal’s funeral wasn’t it,” Alan added solemnly.

“That’s right,” Donna replied as she grasped the older man’s hand and shook it warmly “and trust me Kyle is usually far more gentlemanly.” She winked mischievously at Kyle.

While Alan and Kyle talked Donna took her bags to the bedroom. Kyle in the mean time looked for something to offer the elder Lantern to drink.

“So you don’t want a beer,” Kyle said as he looked into the poorly stocked refrigerator.

“Never drink while I’m flying,” Alan replied.

Kyle closed the fridge door and opened up one of the high units. “Now let’s see, we have coffee . . .” Kyle said as he turned around to look at Alan who was sitting at the opposite side of the kitchen counter.

“Coffee would be nice.”

“But I forgot to go and get some milk after helping Zatanna and going to visit Donna.”

Alan rolled his eyes. “You do still have tap water don’t you?”

“Now that we do have,” Kyle said excitedly as he took a glass from a cupboard and filled it with water.

“So, what was so important that you had to break into my place again?” Kyle asked as he set the glass down in front of his friend.

“I let myself in because I didn’t think you would want a man surrounded with bright green flame hanging around outside your apartment.”

“And that wouldn’t exactly do much for your secret ID, Kyle,” Donna said as she rounded the corner back from the bedroom.

Donna came around the counter and stood behind Kyle, putting her arms around him and rested her chin on his right shoulder. She asked Alan, “So is what you want to see Kyle about connected to your rapid increase of age?”

“Most definitely,” Alan responded, “I had a visitation from Kyle’s predecessor.”

“Hal Jordan? I don't believe it,” Kyle groaned. “The next thing you’ll be telling me is that he’s come back to life as the Spectre.”

“I think it was a one time visit and putting the power of the Wrath of God in the hands of a man who tried to destroy the universe probably wouldn’t be a good idea.” Alan felt a chill run down his spine as he finished talking, as if somewhere out there someone was walking across his grave.

“But what Hal told me could cause nearly as much trouble,” Alan continued. “Back when he was Parallax, Hal stole my Lantern. I always assumed that it was destroyed but it turns out it has fallen into the hands of some villains.”

“And any bad guy that can tap your lantern could pose a serious threat,” Donna added.

“Weak against wood . . .. You’re weak against wood!” Kyle leapt from Donna’s arms, planted a kiss on her lips and ran from the kitchen into the bedroom.

“Does he often do that?” Alan asked a stunned looking Donna.

“More often than you’d think actually,” she replied in a knowing tone.

A few moments later Kyle came back into the room with a small metal device in his hand. He placed the device on the counter in front of Alan who immediately noticed the green glow coming from the open end.

“Where did you find this?” Alan asked as he became more than a little mesmerised by the glow.

“It’s an energy cartridge from one of the alien weapons I helped Zatanna take out of the hands of a bunch of gang members. I’d complete forgotten about it until now.”

“You forgot that you were carrying alien technology in your bag?” Donna asked incredulously.

“Well I did have something more important on my mind.” Kyle reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a skimpy white lace g-string, stretching it out by the elastic waistband.

“Put them away,” Donna seethed through clenched teeth, thankful that Alan had not removed his gaze from the energy cartridge.

Kyle put the panties back in his pocket before continuing, “While I didn’t see it myself, Zatanna did tell me that the only time that she saw the weapons this device powered stop was when the energy came up against wood.”

“Just like my old ring . . .” Alan’s voice was barely more than a whisper as he reached out and touched the device with his hand.

What happened next surprised everyone in the room. When Alan touched the outer casing of the energy cartridge it shot into the air and hovered in front of all their eyes. The outer-casing of the energy cartridge shattered, revealing the glowing green energy underneath. Alan could feel in his bones that this had come from the same source as his own powers.

The energy swirled in the air before slowing and then it began to solidify. Then as suddenly as the transformation had occurred, the process of change finished and lying on the kitchen counter was “It’s my ring,” Alan whispered as he ran one finger over the new ring.

“If he starts calling it his precious, I’m outta here,” Kyle joked as Alan picked the ring up and stared at it as it lay in the palm of his hand “Ow!” Kyle groaned as Donna swatted him playfully across the head.

Alan closed his fist around the ring, using the emerald power that was contained within his own body to make a connection with the energy that had made this new ring.

“This ring can’t be recharged.” Alan had his eyes closed in concentration, “It can make constructs but once the charge held in the ring runs out it will be useless.”

Alan opened his eyes and handed the ring to Kyle “I think you should have this. Call it an emergency backup.”

“Thanks Alan,” Kyle pocketed the ring “but I thought that you’d want it as a souvenir, since your wearing the old GL duds again.”

“The old union suit to the contrary, I’m not going back to the Green Lantern name. When I used the name I didn’t know there was something bigger connected to it,” Alan rose from his stool “but it definitely seems as if our two cases are connected Kyle. Do you have any idea who supplied these weapons?”

“I have the location stored right here in the ring but they’re somewhere out in space.” Kyle didn’t mention the fact that the price of the information was his helping an alien weapon’s dealer get off the planet. For some reason he didn’t think that would sit well with Alan Scott.

“Your ring is capable of taking us both there isn’t it Kyle? I used to be capable of it myself but after my visitation from Hal I wouldn’t want to take the risk of flying out with you under my own power.”

“The ring can take us out there no problem but if someone can manipulate your lantern they might be able to do something to my ring. Maybe we could borrow a ship or something.”

“That’s a nice idea Kyle but I don’t know anyone with a space vessel and unless you do, it’s still down to the ring.”

“Uh, boys!” Donna raised her hand. “Just how many of us here have been a member of an intergalactic peacekeeping force. Raise your hands please.”

“Sorry,” both men piped back in unison, even though Kyle technically was. He knew what she meant though. Donna Troy had once been a member of the Darkstars.

“I really mean that Donna,” Alan said apologetically. “I guess I just got caught up in the whole thing.”

“Yeah, me too Donna,” Kyle said stumbling an apology. “I guess I just tend to think of you as my incredibly sexy, beautifully gorgeous girlfriend, instead of an ex-superhero.”

“Nice come back there Kyle,” Donna smiled at her boyfriend. “Remember when we went off to Rann a short while after the break-up?”

“How could I forget,” Kyle said rubbing his chin, “after the beating Grayven gave me and the Darkstars?”

“Well, do you happen to remember that you wouldn’t go in my ship so you created one with your ring?”

“That’s right!” Kyle replied excitedly “So your Darkstar vessel should still be in orbit.”

“Actually, I think J’onn had the JLA store it in one of the Watch Tower’s hanger bays. I’m surprised you never noticed it when you were on monitor duty.”

“Great, so I can just fly Alan and me up there and then away we go.”

“Not quite, lover boy,” Donna said to calm Kyle down a little. “If a Darkstar is away from their ship for an extended period of time it goes into a lock down mode that can only be disengaged by the commanding officer, which in this case would be John Stewart.”

“So we go across town to his office and get him to unlock the door.”

“It’s not quite as simple as that.” Donna reached across to the pile of mail that was sitting on top of the microwave. “If you actually read your mail once in a while you’d know that John is in England for the opening ceremony of Guy’s first overseas Warriors franchise.”

“I never knew that,” Kyle protested.

“They sent you an invitation, Kyle,” Donna said as she held up the gold embossed invite.

Alan reached out a hand for the invitation and Donna handed it to him. “It says that the opening ceremony is at 14:00 GMT. If I call around for you at 9am tomorrow Kyle, we should be there in plenty of time.”

Kyle was about to voice his curiosity about leaving so early when Donna whispered in his ear, “Five hours time difference, honey,” to which Kyle nodded his understanding, while at the same time working it out with the fingers of his left hand which was held behind his back.

“So for now I will leave you two to enjoy what’s left of the evening.” Alan smiled at the pair of lovers before a burst of green flame seemed to consume him. In moments Alan Scott had vanished from the apartment.

“So was he even here in the first place?” Donna asked with surprise.

“I have no idea, but that is one trick that he has got to teach me how to do. It’s even cooler than what Batman does when he vanishes on you.”

“Are you sure that you don’t want to come along Donna? It might be our last chance to party for a while.” Kyle stood with both Donna and Alan Scott in the alleyway, which ran by the side of Kyle’s apartment building.

“I’m sure, Kyle. I have to get some more things from my apartment and arrange storage for the stuff that doesn’t fit into your apartment.”

“We really should be going now, Kyle.” Alan’s green flame lifted him a few feet from the ground. “It’s been a pleasure seeing you again as well Donna.”

“See you soon.” Kyle kissed Donna on the cheek before joining Alan in the air. “I’ll bring you back something nice.”

Donna watched the two men soar off into the sky, heading east to cross the Atlantic Ocean to seek the help of John Stewart, ex-Green Lantern and the former head of the Darkstars. She stood for a few moments to watch the green energy trails fade away before walking out of the alleyway and into Radu’s coffee shop.

“Donna it is so pleasing to be seeing you and Kyle together again,” the Romanian boomed at the top of his voice as if it were only he and Donna in the shop.

“Thank you Radu. It’s nice of you to say that.” Donna sat on one of stools in front of the counter “Now how about I try one of your Kyle Specials, the stuff he has when he has to get a piece of art in the next day.”

Radu’s eyes widened in horror. “Such a lovely lady such as you should not be having such a terrible blend.”

“Oh come on it can’t be that bad, surely,” Donna protested.

All Radu could do was nod slowly that it was.

“Well it does explain a lot about Kyle then,” Donna mused as she picked up on of the coffee menus that was on the counter in front of her.

“Ok none of you mother %*£^%£! move or I’ll blow your damn heads off!” The glass in the door shattered as it was kicked open by a scruffy young man, who looked like he slept on the street. He clutched a .45 in his fists, which shook wildly.

“Just empty the register and hand over the cash!” The youth walked forward, his steps uneven. “All I want is the cash. Give it to me and no-one’s gonna get hurt.”

As he came closer to her, Donna could see that the man’s pupils were dilated, the result of some drug that had crazed his mind and senses.

Radu disliked handing his hard earned takings over to this man, but his first concern was for the safety of the people in his shop. He had seen far too many innocent people harmed in his homeland of Romania for it to happen again in his new country.

As Radu put the bills down on the counter the gunman quickly grasped them and forced them into his pocket. “You’re coming with me!” The man had seen Donna staring at him, struggling to keep her old fighting instincts under control; after all she was now no longer bullet proof.

The man reached out and grasped Donna by the front of the white cotton blouse she was wearing. “And if you try anything funny I’ll blow your god damn brains all over this place!” he screamed irrationally.

He cocked the gun and pointed it at Donna’s head; she wasn’t worried about herself but that she would be leaving her son without a mother.

All of a sudden an arrow hit the barrel of the gun knocking it away from Donna, who seized the chance to make her move and she threw both her fists into the man’s gut. As he bent over, trying to catch his breath, Donna brought her right knee up into the man’s face and knocked him unconscious.

“Nice to see that civilian life hasn’t left you soft.” Roy Harper, the hero known as Arsenal stood in the shattered doorway, his bow held in his left hand and a . . .

“A handcuff arrow?” Donna asked with a broad grin on her face.

“Sometimes you just got to go with the classics.” Roy tossed the arrow over to Donna who removed the cuffs from the end of the shaft before using them to bind the would-be robber’s hands.

“I think I am needing one Kyle Special after all this.” Radu turned to his machines and began to work them with expert hands.

“So is this why you called me over today?” Roy walked inside, glass crunching underfoot as he did so.

“I know you’ve been busy recently Roy, so thanks for coming.” Donna rose from the floor, allowing herself a swift kick to the stomach of the robber. “But I have something far more mundane for us to do today,” Donna hugged her old friend warmly and kissed him on the cheek “like helping me move into Kyle’s apartment upstairs.”

“What do you mean you forgot the scissors?” Guy Gardner stood in front of his newest Warrior’s Lounge, which was situated on the Manchester Street that was called Deansgate. “How can we cut the ribbon with out the scissors?”

“Calm down Guy. If you get any more wound up your face will go as blue as mine.” The blue skinned Merayn Dethalis had travelled a long way from the planet Golgan and her tour of duty with the Darkstars. She had now settled down to life on Earth with her lover and former commander in the Darkstars, John Stewart.

“She’s right you know?” John sat in his wheelchair looking up at the man who like him had once been a member of the Green Lantern Corps, “You’ll be bursting out of your suit any minute.”

“Yeah, yeah . . . You’re right, okay?” Guy relaxed and the extra muscle that his Vuldarian genes had added to his body slowly vanished, relaxing the stress on the seams of his suit. “Guess I’ll just have to tear the ribbon before the Press run off for their drink someplace else.” The hand picked group of journalists and reporters from trade magazines were milling around the entrance waiting impatiently to get inside of the new building and sample the free bar that would be on offer.

Guy grasped the green ribbon that was strung across the entrance and was about to pull when a pair of large green scissors, tinged in green flame, appeared in front of his eyes. “I believe that you were looking for a pair of these, Mr. Gardner.” Guy looked up and saw two people floating above him, one dressed in red and green with a purple cape and the other in a costume of black and green.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” Merayn acted quickly to take advantage of the appearance of the two new arrivals, “as you can see, Mr. Gardner has arranged in secret two very special guests for the opening of this new Warrior’s Lounge,” she gestured up at the two men. “Put your hands together to welcome Sentinel of the JSA, and Earth’s current Green Lantern who has managed to spare the time to visit us from his duties with the Justice League.”

A roll of applause broke out through the gathered crowd, now bolstered by passers-by that had joined the group when the super-heroes had made their appearance.

“Nice bit of improvisation there,” John Stewart smiled up at Merayn and once again was amazed how quickly she had adapted to life on Earth.

Guy ignored the flaming green scissors that Alan had created and tore the ribbon. He wanted to get the people into the restaurant before the excitement of seeing genuine super-heroes wore off. “Couldn’t have planned it better if I’d tried,” he whispered under his breath as people filed past him, heading for the bar inside.

“Well now that you two big time super-heroes have done me a good turn, what can I do back for you?” asked Guy as the heroes landed on the steps of the Warrior’s Lounge.

“Sorry, Mr. Gardner, but its Mr. Stewart we’ve come here to see,” Kyle spoke in a business like manner in case someone was listening in.

“If we could talk to you in private?” Alan spoke.

“Hey, we can all go into my brand new office and crack open that bottle of Golgan wine I had imported to thank Merayn for all her excellent PR work.”

The group of five moved through the club, signing the odd autograph as they went, until they came to a black door that had no lock or doorknob, just a round hole in the centre of the door.

“So how are we supposed to get inside?” asked Kyle as he looked at the plain black door.

“It’s a little bit of alien tech I picked up the last time I was off planet.” Guy morphed his right arm, a power granted him by his alien heritage, into a single red sharp point, which caused the cuffs of both his shirt and suit to tear open. With one swift powerful motion Guy punched the spike directly into the hole. Inside the door exotic alien technology examined the shape and size of the spike, while other technologies examined Gut Gardner’s unique DNA.

Only when both sections of technology were in agreement that the person trying to gain entrance was Guy Gardner, did the door unlock and swing open. “Welcome to my boudoir.” A broad grin spread over Guy’s face as he ushered the small group inside.

Guy cracked open the wine while the others talked. “So why is it you’ve come to see me?” John Stewart asked as he took the glass of wine from Guy.

“We’ve actually come to see if we could borrow the Darkstar ship we have in storage at the Watch-Tower. Donna said that we need the unlock codes from you to make it work.” Kyle refused the wine and instead reached for the can of cola that was in an ice bucket on the stylised alien metal desk.

“That’s right. It was a feature implemented by the Controllers to prevent the ships being stolen if a Darkstar was killed while on a mission and another was able to retrieve it in a set time limit.” John’s shoulders slumped as he continued, “One Darkstar was captured while on a mission and later managed to escape but his ship had locked down and when the people who had captured him previously caught up with him . . . well you can guess the rest, can’t you,”

Merayn rested her hands on John’s shoulders to comfort him, as he seemed visibly shaken by recalling the memory. “You do realise that if you use the ship you’ll need a Darkstar operative to operate it for you. It’s another feature that the Controllers implemented to help prevent theft,” she added to what John had told the others.

“Then we’d appreciate it if you and Merayn could come along and help out.” Alan looked across to where Guy was standing, drumming the fingers of his hands against each other. “You are welcome to come along as well if you wish.”

“No thanks Alan,” Guy said as he slugged back his glass of wine. “I’ve got too much business on to go travelling around the galaxy, but thanks for the offer anyway.” Guy had never really wanted to go along but he had made it known that he didn’t like being left out of any offers that were made.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to turn down the offer as well. John is busy designing several new Warriors for Guy and I’ve just started a University course, so it really wouldn’t be a good time for either of us.”

“Merayn’s right, Kyle, and I as I remember it the Darkstar cruisers weren’t built with disabled access in mind.” John rubbed his hands up and down the leather hand rests of his chair. “But aren’t you back with Donna now.”

“That’s right.”

“I’m sure she’d help you out even if you weren’t of course and I can’t think of a more capable person than her to help you.”

John took a small notepad and pencil from his inside jacket pocket and scribbled down some notes. “Have Donna enter these at the main console to unlock the ship and you’ll be good to go.”

When they left the office Alan and Kyle spent another hour glad handing and signing autographs before finally reaching the door and soaring off into the sky.

“You know in all the time I’ve had the ring I’ve never thought of using it to visit where my mom’s family came from,” Kyle remarked as he and Alan passed high of Ireland.

“Perhaps you should do a bit of travelling. The ring isn’t just a weapon, it’s a chance to see what this world and others have to offer. You should take advantage of it.”

“Maybe I’ll rope in Donna and Conner and have us a little holiday.” Kyle used the ring to dress himself in a mock Irish leprechaun costume complete with huge top hat and shamrock in the lapel. “My mom would kill me if she me if she saw me dressed like this.”

“I just don’t get it,” Roy Harper questioned as he carried another box of Donna Troy’s possessions up to Kyle Rayners apartment, “why do you want to move in here?”

“Because I love Kyle and want us to live together,” Donna replied as she followed Roy up the cramped stairs.

“Well I hope you love him since you’re moving in with him,” Roy looked back at Donna “but why are you moving into his place? Your apartment is three times the size of this and in a better location, and the stairs are a damn site larger too.”

“I know,” Donna sighed, “but my apartment doesn’t have many good memories for me and I’m not sure that Kyle would want to move into his girlfriend’s place.”

“Well in that case Kyle is a . . .” Roy pushed the door to Kyle’s apartment open with his foot.

“Kyle is a what?” A set of giant green hands took the boxes out of Roy’s hands.

“Is an incredibly lucky guy,” Roy recovered as he came face to face with Kyle Rayner and Alan Scott.

As Donna came through the door Alan moved in and took the boxes she was carrying from her. “Roy if you can help me bring the rest of the stuff inside I think Kyle has something to ask Donna.”

Alan used his green flame to take the boxes from Kyle’s construct and set them down in the corner of the room, then despite Roy’s protests, hurried him out of the apartment.

“So what do you want to ask me?” Donna asked curiously, half suspecting what the question might be.

“So, sweet heart,” Kyle formed a construct of a bunch of roses “how do you fancy an off-world vacation?”

Authors Notes

Not much action for the Green Lanterns this issue, but Donna did kick some punk arse.

Look out for a more action packed issue next month, if I can get it out in time that is (hangs head in shame.)