The Emerald Gladiator..... "WEAPONS OF MASS CONTROL" Part 3: Making Space
Green Lantern #11 - November, Year One	by Gary Jones

“So you're sure this is safe?” Donna Troy stood in front of the teleport platform that linked S.T.A.R Labs’ New York office with the Lunar based Watchtower of the Justice League of America.

“Oh absolutely, I wouldn’t risk it if it wasn’t,” Kyle replied standing next to her.

“You always use your ring to get to the Watchtower don’t you?” Donna asked sceptically.

“Not all the time,” Kyle laughed, raising his hands in protest, “it’s just getting broken down into atoms and sent across thousands of miles of space seems a lot more dangerous than using my ring.”

“I beg to differ,” the teleporter’s operator said as he powered up the system ready for use, “this system incorporates technology from three distinct alien races, while your ring relies on only one. I would say that this system is a far safer method of travel.”

“Yeah well if you say so but I’ll trust the mean green express for my travel arrangements.” Kyle used his ring to create a miniature steam train to circle the technician’s head.

“Never used to get this with Jordan,” the technician muttered as he batted the train away from his head with the back of his hand and went back to working silently at his computer console.

“That was a little immature Kyle,” Alan reprimanded. “The man does a highly skilled job and as there are no longer any Guardians you'll have to start thinking who you could turn to if something ever goes wrong with your ring.”

“Yeah you're right I know.” Kyle ran his hands through his hair with a sigh; dissolving the miniature train as he did so “I’ll play it a little cooler from now on.”

Donna gave Alan a knowing wink as she stepped onto the teleport platform at the request of its operating technician.

“See you on the other side sweetheart.” Kyle smiled as the system began to hum and Donna began to vanish in front of his eyes.

“Just as long as my heart stays on the insi...” Donna never got to finish the sentence before she disappeared-

Only to reappear moments later in the teleport lounge of the Watchtower “…de,” Donna stood still for a moment, her body feeling strange as it found it had to adjust quickly to the lesser gravity of the moon.

She took a deep breath and stepped off the teleport platform onto the gleaming metal floor of the Watchtower. Her pulse raced and she had to take several deep breaths to calm herself. She closed her eyes and whispered, “I don’t care what Kyle’s says, we’re having one of those installed in the apartment.”

“I must admit I’m surprised that no one was here to greet us,” Alan asked as Kyle led them to the elevator that connected the main structure of the Watchtower.

“Well Plastic Man is on duty in the Monitor Room if we run into any trouble but I am a member of the JLA with full privileges.” Kyle stopped and turned to look at those following, “Except the kitchen. J’onn banned me from there after I ‘accidentally’ ate a box of his Choco cookies.” Kyle shrugged his shoulders before heading off again “How was I supposed to notice that he had written ‘do not touch’ on them? He'd done it in Martian.”

“Well it’s been a while since I laid eyes on this.” Donna’s face lit up as she ran her eyes over her old Darkstar cruiser “It may have been hard work but I had some good times on this ship.”

Kyle put his arm around her and whispered comfortingly, “You miss it don't you, being a superhero I mean.”

“It’s just that being Donna Troy is becoming more and more difficult. Some days I wish I could just disappear into Darkstar, Troia, hell I'd even take Wonder Girl. Would anyone really miss Donna Troy if she wasn't here?”

“I know of at least two people who’d miss her if she just disappeared.”

“And who would they be? Inmates of Arkham?”

“I was thinking of me and your son. I admit we’d miss you for different reasons…” Kyle smiled roguishly as his right hand found her butt.

Donna began to smile again. “You do say the right thing on occasions don’t you?” Donna took Kyle's hand from her behind and held it in her own.

“Well, I try my best.” Kyle raised his lover’s hands and planted a gentle kiss on them "But come on beautiful. I think we'd better get started before the old man tells us to get a room."

“Is it me or is this ship bigger on the inside,” Kyle asked as the trio walked down another length of stainless steel looking corridor which looked identical to the last stretch, "or are we just going around in circles?"

“The Controllers incorporated tesseract technology into many of their ships in case large scale evacuations were ever needed.”

“I don’t like it.” Alan ran his hands along the featureless wall as they walked “The place is antiseptic, it has no character, no soul to it.”

“Well the Controllers weren’t big on interior design. Functionality was their keyword.” Donna stopped in front of a set of double doors, which were made from the same featureless plain chrome effect material as the rest of the ship’s interior. “Or door signs- here we are.”

“How on earth can you tell?” Kyle asked as his eyes scanned the door “It looks like every other door we’ve passed.”

Donna just smiled at her man. “When you’ve spent as much time on this ship as I have you just get the feel for these things.” Donna rested the palm of her right hand on the right door panel. A buzz of electronic power could be heard and in moments the door slid open. “Plus the special contacts I’m wearing show me all the hidden door signs.”

They stepped inside the cockpit and they could see the inside of the JLA hanger through the forward windows. Lights and computer screens began to blink into life as the onboard systems detected life-signs. “Just give me a moment to power up the space-folding drive and the main engines and we can be on our way.” Donna slid effortlessly into the pilot’s seat and after a moment’s hesitation her hands began to work the controls as if she had used them only yesterday.

Without warning two huge weapons seemingly grew from the walls on either side of the cockpit and targeted Alan and Kyle, both of whom used their powers to create shields; Alan a medieval style tinged with his trademark green flame and Kyle created one that looked like living pulsating energy.

“Not to be rude at all honey, but do you think you could get your ship to stop pointing huge guns at us.”

“Now you know how I feel when we go to bed,” Donna whispered under her breath.

“Speak up a bit would you, I didn’t hear.”

“I said I’m working on it,” Donna replied with a smirk on her face, “but the security systems seem to have frozen me out. They just keep flashing the message ‘visual confirmation of Darkstar presence required.’”

“You’ve mentioned on the way to S.T.A.R Labs how the Controllers are extremely paranoid, so perhaps the ship requires you to be in uniform,” Alan offered up as a possible explanation.

“I think you’re right Alan,” Donna remarked as she leapt from her seat and headed quickly for the cockpit door. “Can you boys hold things here while I run to my old quarters and hit the closet?”

Both men shot a ‘are you kidding’ look at her and with that Donna ran as quickly as she could.

The blood pumped in Donna Troy’s veins as she ran toward her quarters. The old excitement of going off on a mission came rushing back to her and she didn’t even try to stop it.

Kyle’s words of comfort had helped of course but he couldn’t understand, not really.
He had been a hero for such a short time and while it was an important part of his life, most of his life still revolved around being Kyle Rayner.

But for her being a normal woman was hard. For the majority of her life she had been a super-hero. Perhaps it was that fact that stopped her understanding Terry’s, her ex-husband’s, point of view on her former heroic life.

Donna skidded to a stop as she realised that she had passed the door that led to her old room. A few steps back and she quickly entered the room that she had quite often called home.

The Controllers did at least let their Darkstars have some small piece of home onboard ship. Donna’s room was constructed much like an ordinary Earth bedroom although the wooden furniture contained within was quite obviously not from Earth, much of it actually seemed to still be alive.

“I knew I should have set the housekeeping machines to take care of the furniture as well.” Donna pulled at the vines that were holding the doors of the wardrobe together.

Along with a small selection of blouses, skirts and trousers, the wardrobe held the first uniform Donna wore as a member of the Darkstars.

The full body suit was almost completely coloured a deep red, a white diamond shape began just below her hips and ended just below her neck, a bold feather-like effect came from the bottom of either side of the diamond and ended at the bottom of her ribs. A black star was placed in the centre of the chest.

Once the costume was on, Donna pulled the zip up to the collar, all trace of the zipper vanishing into the costume when the two sides were joined together. The only sign that the zipper had been there was the ring-pull at the top.

At the bottom of the wardrobe was the exo-mantle that was designed to absorb power that was beamed to it by the Controllers. Donna lifted it up and fixed it onto her shoulders. The mantle looked like a smaller version of an American Football Player’s shoulder pads and they were fixed together by a thin strip of metal that ran along her collar bone.

The final parts of the costume were the light gold covered gloves that finished at the centre of the bicep.

“Ok boys, I’m back and suited for action.” As the doors to the cockpit parted a smell of charred metal and burnt wiring met her nostrils. “What happened?”

The pristine cockpit that Donna had left minutes before was now a scene of devastation, with scarred metal and sparking consoles. Where the guns had grown out of the wall were now two gaping holes. Two green force fields prevented the atmosphere from escaping; one was shaped like a flaming green sink plug, the other was shaped like Superman's S symbol and had miniature versions of the JLA hammering nails around the edges.

Kyle smiled at Donna and held up his hands. “I swear that they fired first.”

“It’s true, Ms. Troy. A few moments after you left the weapons began to fire at us. It must have decided to fire when you were out of our presence for more than a few minutes.”

“No blame on you guys.” Donna ran her hands through her hair, eyes flitting between the small spider-like auto-repair robots. “It probably wasn’t the wisest choice to leave two Green Lanterns alone on a ship built by the Controllers.”

“So will this vessel still be able to get us into deep space or should we see about combining our powers to make the effort?” Alan asked as he looked at the hole he had sealed with his power.

“No, the ship will be ok now the auto-repair systems have kicked in. We won’t be able to go to hyper-space with the hull damaged though, so we’ll have to get under way using the sub-light engines.”

Donna slipped into the pilot’s seat again. “So if you provide the co-ordinates I can set the autopilot and we can be underway.”

“Sure no problem.” Kyle stepped forward and pointed his ring at the main console that was positioned in front of Donna. “I’ll just ring them into the computer.”

“Do you really think that is a good idea?” Alan grasped Kyle’s forearm. “Our mere presence made this ship fire at us. What do you think it will do if it senses a Green Lantern trying to access its computer systems?”

“I didn’t think of it like that,” Kyle said as his arm was released. “I guess it would be better coming like this-” A flare of emerald energy created a notepad and pencil which Kyle used to write down the information. He tore off the top page, which he passed to Donna before letting the pad and pencil dissipate.

Donna punched in the co-ordinates to the computer then spun around in her chair. “Now that’s all done with, how about I show you both where you’ll be sleeping tonight.”

“You know this isn’t quite what I imagined I’d be doing tonight,” Kyle sulked as he lay on a mattress that was on the floor, the only light in the room coming from the glow of his power ring.

“You’re not what I think of when an ideal room-mate comes to mind and just what have you been eating anyway?” Alan Scott’s voice came from somewhere on the other side of the room “whatever it was should most definitely be banned.”

“At least I don’t smell of burning all the time, your wife must spend a fortune on air freshener.”

“The noises you make are nearly as bad as the smell.”

The arguing went on well into the night but what they didn’t know was that a certain lady was laughing at every comment as she listened over the inter-com.

6:30am (ship time)

“I’ve been considering your lack of super-powers, Ms. Troy, and I believe I have a possible solution,” Alan said before he bit into a slice of toast, at least it looked like toast, the taste however was something quite different.

“You don't have to worry about me. I may not have my super-abilities any more but I still have all the training I received on Paradise Island and Nightwing and Arsenal taught me a thing or too as well.” Donna sipped at a glass of water, the only thing that was what it looked and tasted like on the ship.

“Alan told me a bit about this last night.” Kyle was tucking into a fully cooked breakfast and coffee, though he didn’t get to taste much of it as he wolfed it down.

“Was that in between the discussion on the various smells that were flying around?” Donna stifled a laugh and took another sip of water. “But sorry for interrupting.”

Kyle raised an eyebrow and wondered how Donna could possibly have known what they had discussed the night before. “Then you probably know all about Alan’s idea?”

“Sorry but I have no idea.” Donna wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “I was laughing so hard my sides were hurting so I just turned off the inter-com and went to sleep.”

“Well I brought this along.” Kyle pulled something from his trouser pocket and pushed it into the centre of the dining table. “This is a piece of my battery back home, which I shaved off before we left so I could power up the ring, but Alan had an idea what it could be used for once I charge up.” Kyle looked across at Alan and didn’t notice that the piece of ‘bacon’ that he was putting in his mouth was wiggling.

“If there is a workshop on board we should be able to shape the fragment so it fits into your Darkstar costume. It’s a gamble but since the Guardians are related to the Controllers the energy just might be compatible.”

“So perhaps it can act as a battery for the suit.” Donna grinned widely “That is a very nice idea Alan Scott.”

“We just have to wait for Kyle to finish eating and we can get started.” Alan swallowed the last bite of his toast, wondering how they got it to taste like strawberry cheesecake.

“What do you mean wait for me?”

Alan and Donna both turned their gaze to Kyle’s breakfast plate which was now wiped clean except for some reside of whatever had passed for the eggs.

“I didn’t expect you to be so good with technology Alan,” Donna said as she watched him adjust her exo-mantle to take the newly rectangular shaped fragment of Kyle’s power battery.

“Well you hang around Mr. Terrific and Flash for long enough you tend to pick up a few things.” Alan smiled at the young woman, “and this should now work. It won’t run pretty but it should work.”

Alan passed the exo-mantle to Donna who in her excitement fumbled with the fastenings. “Perhaps I should take things slowly, eh?”

“I like it when you do things slow,” Kyle muttered, his mind had drifted off as Alan had worked on the ring and the exo-mantle. “Sorry about that,” he spoke a hasty apology when he had realised what he had said.

“Don’t worry Kyle,” Donna replied as she fastened the last piece into place, “if everything works out ok I’ll be able to pay you back.”

As soon as the last fastening was in place the exo-mantle began to hum with power and Donna found herself surrounded with the force-field that had been so familiar to her in the past.

“Well it’s got a little bit of a green tinge to it but that’s to be expected with the power source.” Donna was going to say more but was interrupted by an alarm that signalled that the ship had reached the co-ordinates that had been programmed into the autopilot.

“I’ve been here before.” Kyle looked out of the front view port at a familiar world. “It was when I first started out as Green Lantern and was thrown out into space after that whole Zero Hour mess.”

“Then I suggest you lead on this one.” Sentinel was now in his full costume, a light halo of green flame surrounding his body.

“Is this the kind of planet where the reputation of the Darkstars and the Green Lantern Corp will help or hinder us?” Donna questioned as she worked the ships controls.

“It’s a rough place but the people seemed pretty law abiding the last time I was here. Of course I don’t actually know what laws they actually have.” Kyle released a small amount of energy from his ring that transformed his street clothes into his Green Lantern costume.

“The ship is now in orbit so if you guys are ready we can head down to the surface.” Darkstar rose from her seat and joined the two men. “Let’s not get killed down there ok? It’d really put a crimp in our plans.” Her right hand found its way into GL’s left.

“I know a bar we can check out first. The landlord was a friendly guy the last time I was here, so it should be a good starting point.”

“Well that was certainly bracing,” Darkstar sighed with relief as they landed planet side in the centre of a light blue grass field. The city they were to visit was clearly visible on the horizon. “Although I could have done without going straight into space without testing the suit’s atmosphere generators.”

“You were always safe.” Sentinel landed next to her. “Either Green Lantern or I could have assisted you if you had any trouble."

“It’s always nice to know someone’s got your back,” Darkstar laughed.

“Noted,” Sentinel nodded in reply, remembering how much he enjoyed working with the JSA.

“What are you two waiting for?” Green Lantern flew overhead, his green flight trail lingering for a moment as he passed. “Let’s get going.”

Sentinel and Darkstar nodded at each other and took to the air after him.

“A Green Lantern and a Darkstar? What are they doing here?” an alien creature with a round green body with a single eye in the middle asked his large blue furry friend.

“Don’t know, don’t care. Let’s just hope they ain’t after us for sneaking into all those kid’s bedrooms.”

“Well let’s just get out of here then Sully.”

GL, Darkstar and Sentinel watched as the oddly matched pair of aliens headed swiftly for the rear door of the bar.

“Any idea what that was about?” Kyle asked as he took a seat at the bar opposite the bartender; a large green skinned bug-like creature with four arms and two forward pointing horns on either side of its head.

“Not a clue myself. Those two guys are weird." The bartender looked around the bar at the other clientele, "well weirder anyway, you want another Two Moons Phizz?” the bartender smiled; at least it looked like a smile.

“I guess you remember me then and I’d love to but unfortunately I don’t have the time right now. I’m trying to track down a Durlan that deals in some rather exotic weaponry.”

“Get your friends to join you for a drink before they get fleeced at that table and I'll see what I can do for you.” Across the room Sentinel and Darkstar had become engrossed in a game that was being played on a tabletop. It seemed to be some bizarre cross between air-hockey and Quidditch, for the most part the puck would stay on the table top, then with no warning it would fly upward and form itself into a ball that had to be put through a series of hoops that were set at different heights at either end of the table.

A short while after Kyle had rescued his two companions from being fleeced of the intergalactic credits and the bar had quieted down substantially, with only some alien winos huddled in the corners drinking a substance that smelled a lot like paint thinner; the trio were given what little info the bartender possessed-

“Yeah, I know the guy you're after.” The bartender refilled the glasses of Phizz that were in front of each of the heroes. “The guy keeps coming here trying to do business with some scumbag or another. I throw the guy out every time but he keeps on sneaking back in with a new shape.”

A customer appeared at the end of the bar and the bartender went to deal with the paying customer. After pouring a drink that smelled as foul as it looked the bartender returned and continued, “I hear rumours that he operates a storage house on the smaller, yellow moon. You might catch him there if he has a deal going somewhere in the area.”

Kyle put down on the bar a handful of Galactic Credits that Donna had stored aboard her ship. “Thanks for the info and the drinks.” GL drained his glass as he got off the stool he had been sitting on. “I’ll have to come back sometime and pickup a few crates of this stuff to keep on the Watchtower.”

“I’ll have to ask Doiby to bring some over the next time he visits Earth. He might even have some on Myrg, he’s always had a knack of finding the good things in life.” Alan nodded his thanks to the bartender as well, surprised a little by the creature’s friendliness to relative strangers.

“I can only echo what my friends have said. You’ve been a great help.” Donna followed the others outside. None of them could notice the bartender open one of the pockets on his vest, “Least I can do for the last Green Lantern.” The bartender cradled a green ring in one of his hands; its once bright glow reduced to a dull green sheen, “…for a fellow Corps member.”

“I still can’t believe I let the guy go in the first place.” The green energy surrounding Kyle changed to a darker hue as he passed through the outer atmosphere and into space, his ring providing breathable air and protection against the harsh environment.

“I mean, I just took the guy’s word that the info he was giving out was genuine.” Kyle flew by Alan’s side; Donna was a short distance ahead.

“It’s no bad thing to be trusting but you have to remember that sometimes people aren’t always truthful. You just have to find the right balance.” Alan turned to Kyle and asked, “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” Kyle was a little curious about what Sentinel could want to know from him that he couldn’t have found out on his own. This was after all, the guy who had appeared from nowhere in his apartment the night Alex was....

“I noticed that when you charged up your ring from the battery fragment before we added it to the Darkstar uniform that you didn’t use any kind of oath. I was just wondering if there was any reason for that.”

“I did use Hal’s old one for a while but to be honest I don’t think it suited me. I’m still known as the new Green Lantern as it is, so using his oath would just seem to make that worse. My ring also doesn’t have the 24hour limit that Hal had to work around. It’s more like a gas tank with a full and empty.”

“Well I think you should think again. An oath can give you a connection to being a Green Lantern that you might miss otherwise, and if you don’t want to use Hal’s you could try using my old one- ‘And I shall shed my light over dark evil, For the dark things cannot stand the light, the light of the Green Lantern!’ Though I don’t know if you would be interested in a hand me down from an old-timer though.”

Kyle was about to reply when he saw a flash of green energy strike the field projected by the Darkstar uniform. “We’ll have to table this for another time. Looks like Donna's started the party without us.”

The heat of leaving the planet’s atmosphere was barely noticeable as Donna left the planet behind her. She turned her head to see that Kyle and Alan were discussing something as they trailed behind her. She snorted with laughter as she wondered what bodily function they were discussing this time, then shivered slightly and hoped, that given Kyle's loose lips, they weren’t talking about THAT private function.

She turned back to look at the yellow moon that was rapidly growing closer but was confronted instead by a blast of green energy that struck her in the centre of her chest. It was a powerful hit that managed to wind her even through the force field.

As she gasped for breath a robotic suit of armour appeared in front of her. ‘Cloaking device’ she thought as she dodged a punch from one of the suits massive fists.

“You mind if we lend a hand against this guy,” Kyle came rocketing up behind her.

“Can’t say I’d be offended.” She sucked air back into her lungs and not for the first time thanked the Controllers for designing such a tough uniform.

“Anyone else think this thing looks like Guy Gardner’s old GL suit?” Kyle created a huge baseball bat and swung it at the armoured suit. It attempted to move out of the way but the ring construct was just too quick.

“Oh that is going to be a home run for sure,” Kyle shaded his eyes as the robotic armour began to hurtle away.

“Afraid not son,” a large flaming baseball mitt caught the armour and then pitched it back it back at Kyle. “You should never count your homers before they’re hit.”

Kyle readied himself to take another swing but before he could connect the armour was struck by two yellow mazar beams that fractured it open. The circuitry and wires that made up its insides spilled out into space, a small fragment of green energy floating in the centre of the remains for a second before dissipating.

“If you boys could stop playing with your balls,” Donna shook her head at what she had said and Kyle’s grin grew broader at her embarrassment, “we might just have to turn our attention toward them.”

Coming from the yellow moon were at least 10 more of the suits of robotic armour. “They’re powerful but seem to be slow and easily damaged, so hit them hard and fast,” Darkstar barked out the order and the men didn’t question.

“I am so going to rip that guy a new one when I catch up to him,” Kyle muttered through gritted teeth as the trio touched down on the moon’s surface. Kyle and Alan had towed the robotic remains with them so not to litter the space-lanes.

“There’ll be time for ass kicking later. Can you use your ring to scan for where those things came from?” Donna asked.

“Not a problem.” A Star Trek style tricorder-scanning device sprang from the ring and Kyle began to wander off making models of the various starship Enterprises as he did so.

“Alan if you could take to the air and scout around from any buildings I’d appreciate it.”

“That is not a problem.” Alan rose into the air and began to fly in circles from where Donna was standing.

After a few minutes of searching they had discovered a plain black hatchway built into the moon’s surface. There didn’t seem to be any lock or handle as a way to open it.

“This is the only thing we've found so far and the ring is picking up massive power levels behind it, so I would say this is definitely our place.” The tricorder energy was absorbed back into the ring.

“Well the only way we can be sure we have the right place is if we knock.” Green flame began to build around Alan’s fists.

“Please, it’s ladies first.” Donna charged up her mazars but before she could discharge them the black hatchway was shattered from within.

“I’m so glad you think so Earther!” Fatality rose to attack. Her eyes fixed immediately on Kyle, the Green Lantern, her yellow ring grew stronger in the presence of the green energy of Kyle’s ring.

Before Alan and Donna could come to his aid they were confronted with another surge of the robotic armours.

“Is it just me or are these not going down like before?” Darkstar poured mazar energy at the nearest armour but the robot just seemed to shrug off the energy. “I’m throwing full power at this one but it doesn’t seem to have any effect.”

“I can sense the energy of the Starheart in them like the ones before but at a far higher concentration. I hate to say it but the ones we fought before might have been sent to make sure we came down to this moon.”

“Prepare to die!” Fatality used her yellow ring to create a large spear and swung it in wide arcs.

Kyle had to keep dodging; from the reason the ring constructs he was making were dissolving as soon as he created them, no matter how hard he concentrated on them.

“I took you down on War-World so I can do it again here.” Kyle ducked under another swipe and swept Fatality’s legs from under her. He was lucky that she seemed to fight mad against him or he wouldn’t be alive.

"I was unprepared for you then Green Lantern." Fatality leapt back onto her feet "but my new masters have insured that this time I will not be defeated."

“Why won’t you fall down?” Donna was surrounded but the armours didn’t seem to be moving to attack. They seemed to be content to contain her.

Donna tried to take to the air but one of the armours grabbed her right ankle and swung her down into the ground. Despite the force of the blow she managed to quickly get to her feet. Alan caught her gaze as he was trapped in an energy cage that was being projected by a trio of armours. The cage was formed from that same energy that he himself was powered by and every attempt at escape only strengthened his prison.

“Greetings former agent,” a powerful voice boomed out from behind Donna. She spun around quickly to find herself staring at a member of the Controllers.

The Controller stood tall, and was dressed in purple robes that were only a couple of shades of purple darker than his skin. There was no hair on his head but a circle of burning yellow energy marked the centre of his forehead.

“I confess your presence here is unexpected but it is a most welcome one.” The Controller paced around Donna with his hands held behind his back. “You will make a fine addition to our new corps of agents.”

Donna didn’t like how that sounded but found that she was unable to reply. The Controller’s attention was focused on the battle between Fatality and Green Lantern.

“She is quite formidable, if a trifle undisciplined in the presence of the last Green Lantern. It is not hard to see why my brothers chose her to be their agent against the last soldier of Oa.”

From the hatchway another member of the Controllers emerged but this one had all of his limbs replaced with cybernetics, as well as other portions of his body and the right side of his face.

The unmarked Controller shifted his gaze between Fatality and his brother. “Quite formidable indeed if she managed to kill all the others that were with him and damage him like this.” He seemed quite dismissive of the other Controller and there was a tone of disgust in his voice. “They were weak to be beaten by her; I should have let her feast on him as well.”

Donna wasn’t sure if the Controller was talking to her or to just to himself.

“You led us all here deliberately didn’t you?” she asked forcing the words from her lips. “You even faked that Durlan on Earth so Kyle would have to come out here. You're doing something to his ring now aren't you?” Donna could see that Green Lantern was having trouble creating solid constructs with his ring.

“Yes once we discovered this cache of ‘Fists of the Guardians’, I believe they are called.” the Controller gestured to the armoured robots that were holding Alan captive. “It was only a matter of time before we mastered the other elements of Oan technology.”

The Controller snapped his fingers and Kyle’s ring failed completely.

“What the hell?” Kyle was thrown to the ground by an elbow from Fatality and she stood over him, the point of her yellow spear resting above his heart.

“For the death of my people I sentence you, the last Green Lantern, to death!” Fatality raised the spear in the air and readied herself to kill the last of the Green Lanterns.

“As a mark of respect to our fallen cousins the Green Lantern is not to be harmed. It is only his ring we wish to possess.”

“No! He is mine!” Fatality began to drive her spear downward but was suddenly rocked by a massive burst of pain that filled her entire body.

“Do not forget who your master is now. I am not weak like those others of my kind you killed.” The flaming circle on the Controller’s forehead glowed brighter as he caused the pain that was hurting Fatality. “Do not force me to reconsider letting you serve me.”

“Of course not, master…” Fatality spat as the pain subsided and she looked at him with hunger in her eyes.

“Bring the ring to me.” The Controller held out the palm of his right hand as he gave the order.

Kyle tried to resist but found that his own ring was now fastening him to the ground. He was powerless to resist as his ring was taken from him and placed in the hand of the Controller.

“You’re controlling Donna’s mind aren’t you? That’s why she isn’t stopping you from doing this,” Kyle cried out as his Green Lantern costume faded back into his street clothes of white T-shirt and blue jeans.

“Of course. We planted hypnotic suggestions in the minds of all out Darkstars so they could not turn against us in anyway.” The unmarked Controller stared at his rebuilt brother who led Donna away through the hatchway he had come from. “[yellpw]Be thankful that soon you will live in a universe that is safe and peaceful.”

“You mean under your rule don’t you?” Kyle felt as the Controller used his ring to lift him to where he was standing.

“If that is the price of universal peace I am prepared to shoulder it without complaint. Now be gone human, back to where you come from, and be pleased that we feel something for our departed cousins or you would be joining your fellows as a member of the Effigy Corps. “

The Controller waved his hand dismissively and Kyle began to be transported away. The last thing he saw was the Fists of the Guardians forcing Alan underground.

Fatality stood alone on the moon’s surface for a moment once everyone else had entered the base. A cruel smile crossed her lips. “Perhaps not knowing what is to befall his female is a greater punishment for the Green Lantern after all,” she mused. She was quite looking forward to when she would get to eat the leading Controller. He was a man she could like the taste of.

One moment he had been held on a moon on the other side of the galaxy and now Kyle Rayner found himself back on Earth, on the roof of his Bleecker Street building. Alone and with no way to get back to the people he had led into a trap, all Kyle Rayner, the man who had been the last of the Green Lanterns could do was nothing more than cry.

“Come on Rayner pull yourself together.” Kyle forced a couple of deep breaths into his lungs. “Gotta get help, get to the League.”

Kyle’s legs seemed to have no strength in them but using the same willpower that fuelled his power ring, he forced himself off the roof of his building and onto the street.

Kyle’s mind was racing. The woman he loved and the man he was hoping could train him in the use of his ring were now trapped on the other side of the universe. The only coherent thought was that he had to reach the Justice League of America, and together there was nothing that the group of heroes couldn’t do.

Kyle had been running through the streets of New York for fifteen minutes before he realised that he had no idea where he was running. It wasn’t like he could just walk onto the Watchtower.

“The TELEPORTER!” The people on the street all stared at Kyle as he shouted. “Go to go to STAR labs.”

He had been fortunate enough in his shock to be running in the direction of the high-tech laboratory and a few more minutes of running brought him to the reinforced front doors of the STAR Labs New York Building.

“Come on! You have to let me in to use the teleporter to get to the Watchtower,” Kyle pleaded to the Guard through the electronic inter-com system.

“Listen buddy, do you know how many people I have each day wanting to get to the moon? Just go home and sleep it off,” the Guard said rather dismissively.

“Damn it! Don’t you recognise me?” Kyle shouted. “I’m Green Lantern, a member of the Justice League.”

“Yeah, if you’re Green Lantern where’s your ring?” The Guard looked at the now ringless finger of Kyle’s right hand.

“It was damn well stolen from me.” Kyle was now banging on the glass doors, the last measures of patience in him slipping away. “And if you don’t let me in I’ll kick your god damned ass!”

“Listen pal, get outta here before I call the Cops.” The Guard reached for the phone that had the local precinct’s number on a single well-used button, however just as his hand reached the receiver the phone began to ring. “…hello,” the Guard said as he placed the receiver next to his ear. “Its really you,” he stammered. “Of course it’s you…Okay, I’ll let him in now.”

The Guard pressed the button that released the electronic lock on the front door. When Kyle was inside the Guard told him, “He wants you to go and stand on the teleport pad down the hall.”

“Who does?” Kyle was a little stunned that one phone call had persuaded the Guard to allow him inside the building.

“He said not to tell you. He just wants you to stand on the pad and wait.” The Guard seemed star shocked by who he had just been talking to. “…I still can’t believe it was him.”

Kyle couldn’t waste anymore time questioning the Guard. He just bolted down the hall to the very teleport pad that he had used to reach the Watchtower the day before with Alan and Donna.

The room that contained the pad was empty; the only light in the room came from the glow of the teleport pad. Kyle stood on its centre, and almost immediately the teleport system was remotely activated and Kyle vanished from STAR Labs.

“BATMAN!” When Kyle reappeared he found himself face to face with the Dark Knight himself.

“I don’t like allowing strangers into the Cave.” The echo of the Bat-Cave added an extra tone of mystery to Batman’s voice. “Follow me.”

“Follow you where?” Kyle demanded. “I don’t have time to waste with all your spooky bull-shit.”

“Hnnn,” Batman turned and stared at Kyle with his penetrating blank eyes that were hidden behind his dark cowl. “And I don’t have time to waste with ungrateful neophyte heroes. Come with me NOW or I send you back to New York with nothing.”

The tone of the Batman’s voice told Kyle that he would brook no argument and he recalled from conversations with Superman that the Dark Knight greatly disliked bringing anyone into his private sanctuary, so Kyle knew he was in a way honoured to be there.

“There is something Jordan gave to me when I first joined the League. He gave it to me to make sure that if anything ever happened to him the Earth would always be defended from extraterrestrial threats.” The Batman had paused in front of a large series of metal compartments that had been built into the cave wall. He placed his eye next to one and in a moment it slid open. “I think at the moment it would be better off in your possession.”

The Batman held out one of his dark clad fists. He slowly uncurled it to reveal…

“A power ring,” Kyle gasped.

“He gave you a power ring?” Kyle reached out his hand and took the ring from Batman. He slid it onto the middle finger of his right hand and immediately his street clothes were transformed.

“Oh no, not again!”

To be continued…

Authors Notes

Well here we are with Green Lantern #11. Sorry about the immense delay. I won’t make excuses but I will apologise for it.
Next issue look out for Kyle’s attempts to get back into space and Ganthet, the last of the Guardians, becomes aware of his cousin’s activities at last.