JL New Wave: The Worlds' Finest (IC)

ChasNicollette

Allons-y Means Let's Go.
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(( THIS THREAD IS CURRENTLY CLOSED FOR TEARSOFTHEWORLD AND CHASNICOLLETTE
IF INTERESTED IN JOINING, OR IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS,
PLEASE SEE THE OOC AND THE MAIN IC ))


Justice League

The New Wave
(original JLNW concept created by Nubian_Legend)

The Worlds' Finest
(Wonders of Their World)

WF1: The Bird of Prey - The Huntress
WF2: The Megaton Bombshell - Power Girl

Notable Worlds

Earth-Prime: Prologue World
Earth-1: The "Main" World
Earth-2: The "New" Verse in which this story takes place
Earth-8: Elseworld ( A Non-DC world in origin where the other guys coexist)
Earth-10: Reich World (A world where Hitler comes to power with Nazi superman, Overman.)
Earth-11: Genderbend World
Earth-12: Beyond World(World in which Batman Beyond takes place)
Earth-18: Old Western Variant
Earth-21: 1950's style Golden Age World.
Earth-26: "Toon" World
Earth-31: Pirate World
Earth-32: Superhero Mashups
Earth-33: "Our" World
Earth-395: Medieval-inspired World

(A list of DC's Multiverse Worlds)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_DC_Multiverse_worlds
 
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Secret Origin: The History of The World.

For years, The Wonders of The World kept their planet safe.

Led by Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman and his wife Catwoman, they were the premier line of defense against extraterrestrial invaders and metahuman criminals alike, backed up by Mr. Terrific, The Atom, Doctor Marvel, and The Martian Manhunter. At the same time, The Wonders trained a secret generation of younger heroes to build upon their work-- or to carry on for them should something befall.

Among these were Alan Scott, Green Lantern and bearer of the mystical Starheart's Green Flame; Jason "Jay" Garrick, The Flash; Kendra Munoz-Saunders, Hawkgirl; Lyta Trevor, The Fury, daughter of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor; Kara Zor-El, Karen Starr, Superman's cousin Supergirl, separated from her younger cousin in hyperspace on the way to Earth and arriving to find him much older; Val-Zod, Cory King, Power Man, long-lost childhood friend of Supergirl, whose pod had been lost with hers in hyperspace; and Helena Bertinelli, Robin, foster daughter of Batman and Catwoman. They were The Second Wonders, The Wonders of The World's hidden backup.

But then, six years ago, Steppenwolf attacked, bringing armies with him to undermine and terrorize the world. And he was like nothing The Wonders had ever faced. They fought him in the shadows and in broad daylight, but could make no headway against him. He never spoke the name of his lord and master, but called him only The Great Darkness-- and the thought that his master was more terrible even than he was a chill in the bones of even the most stalwart heroes.

They met him in the heart of Metropolis for a final battle, clashing and burning against his Dog Soldiers...

...the Second Wonders had orders to protect civilians and stay out of sight, but good-hearted Val-Zod couldn't resist the urge to fly out from cover and try and help Superman as he struggled against Steppenwolf himself.

But then it happened.

A sound like The End of The World.


krekkaBOOOOM!

And the Wonders of The World were gone, all of them, just gone. Steppenwolf with them, and his Dog Soldiers... even Val-Zod.

The world hung in silence, stung, horrified, shocked.

When they regrouped to recover at Superman's Fortress, The Second Wonders found a message recorded for them by The Quarternion, the four founders of The Wonders-- explaining Batman's suspicion that Steppenwolf came to their world and specifically targeted them because of their team of powerful, public heroes. That if they should fall in battle, the Second Wonders should carry on the fight in secret, utilizing guerrilla tactics, to try and take the bullseye off of their planet.

It's been five years since that terrible day, and a-- "benevolently totalitarian" world government has formed in response to the disappearance of the heroes, a World Army, led by Wesley Dodds and his elite anti-meta unit, The Sandmen.

And the Second Wonders have continued their work in secret, below the radar, fighting crime and keeping careful watch out for the return of Steppenwolf and his unspeakable Master, The Great Darkness.

Supergirl has changed her name to Power Girl in hopes that if she is caught, her identity will be less of a magnet for the enemy's attention than had been the name of Super. This is also a tribute to her fallen friend, Cory "Power Man" King.

And Helena has changed her name to The Huntress-- because a name as optimistic as "Robin" just wouldn't suit the methods she needed to survive in a darker world without her beloved foster parents.

But still they fight the good fight. Two of the finest warriors in all the worlds. The Worlds' Finest.

This is what happens next.
 
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Wonders of The Whirled. (apologies to Levitz)

Micronesia.
The World, aka Earth-2.
Six Years Ago.

********​

...the giant boulder arced for miles through the air...

...crashing to the ocean with a dramatic thunder of seawater.

"I did it!" Supergirl whooped, hands in the air.

Superman gestured for calm, frowning. "Not quite, Kara. Four degrees off the target spot. You need to be perfect."

"No one's perfect, Kal," Kara Zor-El shrugged easily.

"Of course not, but your aim has to be," Kal-El shook his head. "We're in a war, and you're one of our secret weapons."

He swooped down towards his Secret Fortress far below. "Whoever this Great Darkness is, he knows far too much about us... at least too much about me. I need you to be harder to find than Batman. Not like... Lois."

Hovering above, watching him go, Kara felt a clutch in her heart like a fist.

...she had never gotten to meet Lois Lane.

But she knew the weight in her cousin's shoulders, the weight of whole worlds, the love that he'd lost.

How terrible was a world where a man as good as he would have to suffer such a loss?

...how imperfect?

World Orbit.
Today.

********​

Kind of a lot had happened since then.

The Wonders of The World were gone.

Even those burdened shoulders-- shoulders that could carry the weight of The World. Even Superman.

So much had happened.

The World was so very far from perfect.

And now the secret weapons were the only weapons.

She'd changed her name to help keep that secret. Now she was Power Girl.

Kara's cape floated behind her in the vacuum of space, and impossibly powerful eyes gazed down far, far below.

All the way down to the surface of The World.

...forces clashed miles beneath, a battle raged...

...she could help.

But she had to be secret. She had to be quick.

She had to be perfect.

Flexing her hands into fists, she leaned forward... and then dove down, down, down, a red-white-blue streak pouring down through the atmosphere, searing through the friction...

...faster than a speeding bullet.

Lowell County, Kansas.
********​

What once had been a Smallville cornfield had been laid to waste-- a massive red whirling funnel cloud sucking up and spitting out everything that wasn't nailed down-- and plenty of things that were.

"Alpha Squad fall back!" Captain Dodds snapped, backpedaling sharply. "Beta and Gamma, maintain the perimeter, this one doesn't get away from us!"

...he barely got the sentence out before the crimson cyclone they were attempting to contain picked up a tanker truck of pesticide and slingshotted it at blinding speed towards Gamma Squad, scattering them.

Five years ago, the primary superhero team on the planet, The Wonders of The World, had been ripped away. And the normal human beings had been left to pick up the pieces. To chase down the supervillains, out-think the masterminds, fend off the invaders, minimize the collateral damage caused by unsanctioned meta-vigilantes.

In that spirit had been formed The World Army... and their elite metahuman tactic squad, The Sandmen. Captained by Wesley Dodds, The Sandmen were composed of the highest-trained soldiers in The World Army, and augmented by trained metahumans of subtler power, not big or colorful enough to be Wonders but more than tough enough to fight the good fight.

"Gamma," Dodds barked, "report!"

"We're okay, Wes, we're green, we're green," replied Gamma Leader Agent Steve Austin, "we're regrouping!"

"Beta Squad!" Dodds called out. "Sato! Support Gamma and then lock down that damn perimeter!"

"What is this thing?" Beta Leader Agent Sonia Sato called back, "another one of Morrow's?"

"Smarter than his usual tin soldiers," Dodds growled, "and the aerokinesis is new, but the color scheme is consistent-- how are we looking on that EMP strike?"

Sato grimaced, sprinting for cover as cornstalks rained down like artillery fire. "No good! Command says our air-support can't get in close enough with the gale forces!"

"Son of a bitch," Dodds snarled--

--and then, for an instant, things seemed to get worse.

Just as the red tornado loomed, grew bigger, threatened to overwhelm what cordon they'd managed to erect...

...a second tornado corkscrewed to life beside it, this one white...

...and spinning in the opposite direction.

"What in the damn Hell?" Austin sputtered, using his cyborg arm to haul one of his squad-members out of the way of a weathervane hurtling at the speed of a crossbow bolt.

But before they could assess the situation further, the new counterclockwise white whirlwind rushed to meet the red tornado... collided with it...

...and their respective, diametrically opposed vortexes canceled each other out.

Air exploded away from the colliding storm centers in a wavefront that knocked most of The Sandmen off of their feet...

...and when it subsided, they found there in the heart of the flattened cornfield a sprawled, ticking android...

...no, it was female in design, a gynoid.

Red with a yellow "T" on her chest, and a matching yellow arrow sweeping up over the top of her head from the back and down the forehead to line up with her crown chakra.

And with a tremulous, hollow voice that quavered with a kind of digital agony, it spoke: "...rebooting. ...systems crash recovery engaged. ...online. ...power reserves at .052%. ...complete gyroscopic calibration failure."

"...error. ...error."

"So much for bein' smarter than usual," Austin growled.

"...wait," it crackled, mumbled. "...wait. ...please."

"I'm sorry," Sato frowned, "did it just say 'please?'"

"...please. ...oh God. ...please tell me I didn't hurt anyone."

Wesley Dodds stared for a long, hard moment. "Well. That's new."

********​

Power Girl rocketed away from Smallville with a joy in her heart. She'd saved the day! She'd done it! She'd stopped that... red tornado... thing... and if she'd done her job right even the sci-boffins in The Sandmen would have no idea the anomaly wasn't a function or malfunction of the gynoid herself!

Now, where to next?

Metropolis? Gotham?

...what was Helena up to, anyway?
 
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See What I've Become - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UeA9Nus9Eg

"You can't possibly understand ..."

"Yes, I can. If you do this, you'll only fill the hole in your heart with more emptiness. A hunger that will never be satisfied. You'll seek out a new face each night. And another. And another. Until all you'll know is revenge... and you won't know why."

"But they killed..."

"I know. Mine too."


- - -

Helena thought long and hard about what Bruce had said to her that night. She thought about all the lessons that he'd taught her. She wanted to be angry... she wanted to let that anger guide her in life. But Bruce had taught her to control that anger, and keep it from getting out of control.

But now he was gone.

They were all gone.

All of The Wonders.

Helena drew in a deep breath and then calmly exhaled. There wasn't really a time limit when it came to brooding. Just like Bruce, Helena had gotten really good at it over the years. In a city as dark as Gotham, there weren't a lot of alternatives. Yes, the city had some shining moments, but it wasn't like Metropolis. It couldn't be. It wasn't going to be.

Gotham was... Gotham.

It cried out, night after night, for its Dark Knight.

But now, without Batman, Helena would have to answer its call.

As The Huntress.

They used to think that she played a bit too rough.

But honestly, she still felt like she wasn't being rough enough.

Couldn't they see that she wasn't fighting a battle? She was fighting a war!

Maybe, just maybe, it was time for her to turn the heat up. Touch the fire and see just how much it burned. Helena shook her head and focused her thoughts.

She couldn't very well see everything that was going on down below, but she did what she could. She didn't have super hearing, but she had inherited a lot of neat toys to use. The only ones that really didn't like being spied on were the bad guys, and Helena couldn't care less about their feelings. If they wanted to fool around, she'd be there to catch them.

To break them.

Helena looked up towards the night sky as thunder rolled on overhead. It hadn't started to rain yet, but the forecast had called for heavy showers. She silently pleaded for them to be good that night.

No more beatings.

No more stealing.

No more killing.


Helena reached out from where she was perched to feel the air, and a single drop of rain fell into her palm. She curled her fingers up into a fist and brought Heaven's Tear towards her chest. She looked out into the distance as the clouds were suddenly pierced by a single beam of white light. Even after Batman's disappearance, the modified searchlight still projected the image of a bat. Sometimes Helena would go out to meet with the head of the police department, but for the most part the fearsome silhouette on the night sky was used for more psychological purposes, striking fear into the hearts of Gotham's weaker criminals.

Helena stood up and reached for the line-launching device that she kept attached to her purple utility belt. After all, not every hero could simply fly from one end of the world to the other. To be honest, she actually preferred scrambling around on rooftops and descending on unsuspecting criminals.

Like the ones that decided it was a smart idea to break into Nolan's Gem Boutique.

Huntress used the line to land onto the rooftop next door, and did a brief recon check to size up her opponents. They were heavily armed, but even the toughest grunt was still just a grunt. Knowing that the store was going to file a claim for insurance anyways, Helena broke through the glass ceiling and landed in the center of the store, knocking over one of the goons in the process. The dark-haired vigilante immediately drew herself up to her full height, and, after drawing out her battle-staff, knocked aside several of the closer peons before she found herself surrounded by several other armed crooks.

"Look. We can do this the hard way, or the harder way. It's your choice."

- - -

"Nnnnngh."

"Quit your whining. I went easy on you."

Helena looked down at all the goons that were sprawled out on the floor. A few of them were going straight to jail. The rest...

Huntress heard one of the crooks start to move, but she quickly ended his night by striking him in the face with her boot.

The rest were going going to Gotham General Hospital.

And then jail.
 
Even if We Can't Find Heaven, I'll Walk Through Hel With You.

It took Karen a little longer than all that to catch up with Hel in Gotham.

Even as she'd flown to look for her, her superhearing had picked up other emergencies, radio frequencies, calls for aid.

And so she'd gone. Under cover of super speed and blurring flight, she'd fended off trouble after troublemaker.

Thus, it wasn't until hours later that she came back to Gotham in the dark night, slowly levitating down to land on a rooftop near where The Huntress skulked and stalked the criminal elements.

Dusting herself off, she wondered, cheerily, "How's your night going? Mine's been okay. One of those firepits left behind in Italy kicked back on again and I'm still a little winded from freezing it out. Also my favorite cape got roasted, so it's a good thing I have so many favorite capes!"
 
Emerald Dawn. (apologies to Robinson)

Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
An Hour Outside Hong Kong, China.
The World.
Six Years Ago.

********​

"You'll love where you're going, Alan," Major Thomas Zhao Kane promised as the Chinese countryside flashed by the windows at incredible speed.

"Honestly, Tom," Alan Scott replied easily, "I'd love anywhere if I get to go there with you."

He paused, frowned, laughed at himself. "Huh, listen to me talk. You're turning me into a sap, Major."

"I'm not complaining," Tom grinned. "Anyway, the lodge is beautiful, trust me. Breathtaking forest views. And I reserved us one whole wing, so we'll have plenty of room."

"And privacy, I hope," Alan quipped, a gleam in his green green eyes. "We've been so long apart."

"Wouldn't be worth a two-hour train ride into the country if your keepers at Galaxy Broadcasting Corporation could interrupt us with texts, calls, emails..." Tom remarked wryly. "Not to mention my superiors in The PLAGF. This time it's just going to be you and me, and at the speed the bullet train's going, we'll be there within the hour."

"Um, Tom," Alan hesitated, "I was going to wait until we got there to say this, but-- I feel I've waited too long as it is. I, err, know your career keeps you in China... and us apart unless we steal the time to see each other, and further I know how much your work in the People's Liberation Army Ground Forces means to you. So I propose you put in for a transfer as a liaison officer to America--"

Thomas had waited patiently through most of this, Alan did so often meander around getting to his point, but something about Alan's wording caught him off-guard, there. "Alan?"

"No, hear me out --so we can be close all the time."

He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a simple gold circle. A ring.

"No, better still-- just let me propose. I love you, Tom. I'm crazy about you. Marry me so we can--"

--a fireblast ripped through the train-carriage, shredding the lead car, everyone inside, the monorail bridge beneath--

--a tiny glimmer of green green light winked visibly through the train window amidst the thundering conflagration, and then it was gone.
 
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Emerald Dawn, Part 2.

Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
An Hour Outside Hong Kong, China.
The World.
Six Years Ago.

********​

The track had shattered, pieces strewn for hundreds and hundreds of yards.

The train was in tatters, a burning hulk. All hands lost.

Save one pair of hands. And one other.

Alan Scott knelt over Tom Zhao Kane as though trying to fruitlessly shield his beloved from the blast.

But the blast had not touched them.

They were on the ground in the cratered wreckage of the bullet train and they were... surrounded... in a great green flame. A flame that sizzled and sparked and arced even as it shielded them from what remained of the train's death throes.

"...oh my God," Tom murmured, staring around them, his eyes wide.

"What... what is this? Kryptonite? I heard it was supposed to give some people powers, even as it hurts Superman..."

NOTHING SO PALTRY, ALAN SCOTT OF THE WORLD, EARTH-2.

The voice came from the flame, which burned but did not burn out, and in that moment Alan Scott felt not unlike Moses had when The Presence had spoken unto him from a bush of a different flame. It reverberated through them, ancient and unafraid.

WE ARE THE STARHEART.

AND WE HAVE FALLEN SO FAR, THROUGH WHOLE UNIVERSES TO FIND YOU. ONE OF GREAT COURAGE AND WILL AND VISION. WE HAVE LOST SO MUCH. BUT WE HAVE FOUND YOU.

Incredulous, shaken beyond belief, unable to comprehend-- "Find me? ...but these people, all these people, you've found me only to kill them!"

"What kind of courage do you call that?" Tom demanded, as Alan helped him up.

THIS DESTRUCTION IS OF YOUR WORLD. NOT OF OUR MAKING. WE HAD TO ACT QUICKLY TO SAVE ALAN SCOTT. AND THE MAN HE LOVES. FURTHER LOSSES ARE... REGRETTABLE.

"Someone did this? This was an attack!" Alan clutched his head, a strong hand pressing into his blonde hair, the vast surreality of it all managing to sink in bit by bit. "Was it to get at me, my company? Was someone attacking Tom because of his military operations?"

A MYSTERY FOR ANOTHER TIME.

Tom managed a tiny smile, his grip on Alan's hand white-knuckled. "Yeah, I bet. Thank you for... saving us. Whatever your reasons."

WE TOO HAVE LOST ONE THAT WE HAVE LOVED, THOMAS ZHAO KANE. THE LIGHT OF OUR LIFE. WE WOULD NOT SEE THAT HAPPEN TO ALAN SCOTT OR TO YOU.

WE ARE DAMAGED AND CANNOT RETURN TO OUR LOVE. SIX OTHER FRAGMENTS OF US ARE SCATTERED UPON THE EARTHS-- WE ARE THE FIRST OF SEVEN. BUT WE WILL DEFEND THIS EARTH AGAINST THE COMING DARKNESS AS WE REGAIN OUR STRENGTH TO RETURN TO OURSELVES.

AND YOU. ALAN SCOTT. WILL BE OUR SENTINEL. OUR EMERALD KNIGHT. YOU WILL SHED LIGHT OVER DARK EVIL.

The flame poured inward, swirling, focusing, spiraling, zeroing in...

...they found the simple gold band that Alan had bought Tom as an engagement ring and stormed into it, levitating it out of the rubble and bringing it to Alan's waiting left hand...

...shaping it into something green instead of gold, carving an insignia out of power, a Power Ring, and with that Ring came armor of gleaming, steely jade...

...OUR GREEN LANTERN.
 
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Emerald Twilight.

15 Central Park West, Manhattan, New York City.
The World.
Tomorrow.

********​

"We can't keep this up forever," Tom murmured dejectedly.

"Oh, challenge accepted," Alan grinned, kissing up the side of Tom's neck and taking Tom's earlobe in his teeth, chuckling.

Tom's eyes fluttered, and he reached up to tangle a hand in Alan's blond hair... "Ah, God... no, Alan, you know what I mean."

Alan rolled onto his side, gazing at Tom on the pillow next to his, sobered by the thought. "Nothing lasts forever, Tom."

Tom slid his hand into Alan's, and their fingers intertwined, wedding bands glinting together in the soft morning light that seeped in through the curtained condo windows, and Tom gazed back into Alan's green green eyes with quiet solemnity. "I want us to."

Alan smiled gently, and kissed the knuckle of Tom's ring finger. "Me, too. I promise and promise and promise."

"They're going to catch us eventually," Tom grimaced.

"That doesn't mean we'll be over," Alan pointed out. "It means our lives will change, and some of the peace we've enjoyed together these last five years will be gone, but we can get through whatever The World throws at us."

"That's true," Tom admitted. "I just don't think we should have to compromise. You have your life, I have my life, we have our life together, and it's been working just fine, just-- amazingly. But the moment they find out-- all of it goes into a tailspin."

"It does seem pretty brutally unfair," Alan leaned in and kissed Tom's shoulder, and Tom kissed Alan's forehead, "but we knew it wasn't a perfect World when we each decided to fight for it in our own way."

"And even while we fight for it," Tom agreed, tracing a fingertip along Alan's collarbone, "we can fight to make it better."

"Damn right," Alan leaned in and kissed Tom sweetly and softly, and Tom shivered and made a quiet little noise as he kissed Alan back.

KATHOOOOOOOM!

...an explosion outside rocked the building, and both men started sharply, game faces instantly on.

"The Park! Steppenwolf?" Tom scowled, lunging for his military uniform.

"No, that sounded-- different," Alan vaulted out of bed, grabbing the green glowing Ring that rested on the bedside table. "I'll never forget that damn sound as long as I live. The Wonders-- my mentor, Doctor Marvel--"

--he slipped The Ring on and The Green Flame enveloped him, armoring him up and crafting a mask across his face.

"But if people are in danger, I'm not going to lay idly by."

"Nor should you," Tom agreed. "Just be careful. Stay out of sight as much as you can. You know the drill."

Alan grinned faintly. "This little light of mine? I'm gonna let it shine."

The Green Flame swirled around him, and he vanished in a teleport effect.

"--Major Kane! Major Kane! We've detected a massive pressure detonation in the vicinity of Central Park. Are you affected? Can you respond?"

Tom didn't have the ability to just summon a uniform around him-- but he had gotten dressed with astonishing speed, pulling up his trousers and belting them even as he cued his commlink to respond.

"This is Major Thomas Zhao Kane of The World Army, Sandman Epsilon Squad. I am on-site, armed, and Oscar-Mike. Stand by for sitrep."
 
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Emerald Gloaming.

Slaughter Swamp.
Sommerset.
Just Outside Gotham City.
The World.
Five and a Half Years Ago.

********​

"Wh-whu-what are we doing here?" Dr. Jason Woodrue demanded, slogging his way through the muck and waving a cloud of mosquitoes away from his face.

"Come now, Woodrue," the massive figure leading him through the undergrowth rumbled cheerfully. "I was told you were one of this World's foremost botanists. Are you so put off by your own subject matter that you cannot stand to be amongst it?"

Woodrue scrunched up his face in dismay. "I'll have you know I have done-- field research in the deepest jungles of The Amazon-- Peru-- The Congo-- but this is-- this is different. There is a darkness here. Even as a scientist, an atheist, I feel something... crawling around the edges of The World here."

Steppenwolf laughed a laugh like cracking stone. "How very astute. Your reputation is well-earned. Slaughter Swamp is one of the 'soft places,' where reality is thin and the various astral planes can seep in, primordial subconsciousnesses beyond the calculation of mere mankind. I suppose I should answer your question."

Woodrue's dismay deepened as he tried to wipe his boot on a tree-trunk, but the muck clung to it like some sort of primordial extraterrestrial parasite. "Better late than never."

Steppenwolf stopped at the edge of a particularly deep bog, within sight of a ramshackle hut, a crooked house. "My Master. The Great Darkness. Is an overlord general of surpassing, infinite vision. He fights a war on countless fronts, with a different vector for each, a different means of victory."

"It is under his bootheel that you seek to grind us?" Woodrue scowled. "It is with dread of him that you seek to fill us? What... vector does he seek to use to subjugate our wills, if it is not you and your dreaded Dog Soldiers?"

Steppenwolf smirked faintly, crossing his arms behind himself. "Well, for one thing, those aren't mosquitoes."

Woodrue shot him an astonished look, and then one of the bugs flitted past him, and landed on the back of his hand. And he adjusted his glasses, and looked at it first with bewilderment, and then with horror.

It wasn't an insect. Well, it was. But it was no insect he had ever seen. And astride it-- astride it! --was a miniature humanoid figure, craggy and exoskeletal and wielding a spear, as though the humanoid itself were part insect.

It screamed at him in its tiny voice in something that sounded like a cross between Welsh and The Black Speech of Mordor, and jabbed the spear into the flesh of his hand.

"AHHHHH!" Woodrue cried, and slapped at his hand, but then another stabbing pain shot into his neck and he tried desperately, too late, to slap that away--

--and then they swarmed him, driving him to his knees--

--he screamed all the while, thrashed, red hot pain injecting him at every bare square centimeter of skin--

--after about ten minutes he slumped, laying on the swampy floor, unmoving, the fleet of insects and insect-men buzzing away and off into the recesses of Slaughter Swamp.

Steppenwolf chuckled great booming chuckles to himself. "Let that brew and stew inside of you, Doctor, your corpse an alchemical cauldron of unlife to poison and infect all life you touch. The Green is the source of all plant life, and it laps against the shore of this world in the heart of this swamp."

With his boot, he pushed the lifeless, unliving Woodrue into the bog and watched as Woodrue slowly sank beneath the surface of the muck.

"Drown in The Green. Let it soak you in. And my Master will have his own Dark Green."
 
Emerald Twilight, Part 2.

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City.
The World.
Tomorrow.

********​

People were running and screaming.

Park goers, joggers with their pets, zoo employees.

Belvedere Castle was in ruins.

Bethesda Fountain Plaza had been shattered.

The Reservoir was on fire.

Cameron's Line fault had ripped open across an east-west axis...

...and titanic branch structures the size of redwoods were reaching out from deep within The World and stretching as high as skyscrapers.

The trees of Central Park were marching, like Ents on Isengard or Birnam Wood on Dunsinane, their roots ripping up through grass and soil and pavement, and with every lumbering, looming step they took they swung their branches to try and crush or impale the people of the park.

It was into this blasted heath and riotous wood that Alan Scott emerged from the Green Flame of his teleport. He stepped back, left hand curling into a fist around his Ring, the Lantern symbol over his heart flaring with the fury of the sight of this.

"What kind of monstrous...?"

But he didn't give himself time to panic, to dread, to be overwhelmed by fear. People were dying by the dozens right in front of him--

--his Ring swept him up into the air on a storm of verdant light, eyes narrowing in his mask.

Whatever great and mystic source empowered The Starheart and its-- their? --six missing fragments, it had the power to tap his imagination and will to perform feats almost beyond comprehension. But it also had one glaring weakness.

Whatever shapes and forms The Green Flame took, the constructs that sprung from the visions in Alan's mind, none of them could stand the touch of plant matter, especially wood.

None of his shields would protect him from a stabbing branch. None of his weapons would penetrate the hide of a tree.

Right now, for Alan Scott, this was the most dangerous place imaginable.

And still he flew into the heart of it, all fear banished to the back of his mind, Ring glowing bright, seeking out the source of all of this darkness.

And there.

Heartbreakingly.

Chillingly.

Sadistically.

Raged a craggy, haggard grey hulk of a figure, unflinchingly snapping the spine of a carriage horse over his knee before throwing the horse bodily to knock the carriage rolling down an embankment as the carriage-driver lay bleeding and weeping.

"Who are you?" Alan Scott thundered, landing between the figure and the wounded, heart-rent innocent. "What do you want?"

"SOlOmON GRuNdY," the figure enunciated through jagged teeth in a rictus grin, grey spores billowing off of his skin and sinew with every movement.

"KiLL yOu. KiLl EVeRYoNE."

"MakE UNLIFE. MaKe UNMEN."

"SOlOmON GRuNdY."

"Not if I can help it, you great zombified shambles!" Green Lantern roared, and aimed his Ring at Grundy's chest, unleashing a blast of flame that could boil atoms...

...but it fizzled uselessly against Grundy's chest, and the powerhouse stepped forward, and swung a punch ridiculously fast for something his size.

Alan threw up a shield on instinct, a wall of solid jade--

--Grundy's fist crashed right through it and across Green Lantern's heroic jawline, driving Alan tumbling down to the dirt, spitting blood, head spinning, barely conscious, hands and knees.

How was... how could...

...was Grundy himself made of flora? Plant-stuff, cellulose, wood?

How could he fight something like that?

"YoU. CaN't."

Grundy chortled, a deep and rolling sound like trees creaking in the heard of a darksome swamp.

And kicked Scott in his stomach, blowing the air out of Scott's lungs and leaving him to sprawl, wheezing, down that embankment after the carriage and the murdered horse.

"NoOnE CAn."

"SOlOmON GRuNdY."
 
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Emerald Twilight, Part 3.

Alan Scott's wind went out of him.

And the world seemed to stop.

It went dark around the edges.

But he held onto consciousness with the rims of his fingernails.

All he needed was to be brave.

All he needed was focus.

Focus.

He curled his fists.

Gritted his teeth.

His constructs couldn't withstand Grundy's touch. His energy blasts would just fizzle off of Grundy's bark-- or whatever he called his skin. His shields would just tear to tatters the moment Grundy caressed it.

But he didn't need any of that.

It was just window-dressing.

When he could turn that power inward instead.

Make his body stronger. Tougher. Faster.

FOCUS.

He whirled up to his feet, armor gleaming.

Fists cocked.

His right crashed into Grundy's jaw like a a runaway Kryptonian warsuit and his left smashed into Grundy's cheek like a wrecking-crew thunderball.

Grundy backed up half a step. And grinned.

"NOt. BaD."

And slapped Scott across the face with the palm of his hand.

Lantern felt like he'd been hit by a planet.

He thudded to the ground, seething, seeing supernovae behind his eyes, tasting pennies.

But he didn't lose focus.

And with a surge of fury green energy erupted from his ring and exploded rock from under the ground around them into Grundy at atmospheric escape velocity.

The rocks shattered.

Grundy snarled.

He bounded into the air, came down on Alan fist-first...

...Alan's Ring flared, belched green flame, blasted him aside with Newtonian force...

...Grundy's punch practically made the Earth's crust buckle and the shockwave blew Alan into the air.

An aura snapped to life around Green Lantern, catching him in mid-air, flight enabled.

And then Alan's Ring spoke:

"Green Lantern! We're here! I ran in some back-up!"

"Not to mention air support!"

"Where do you need us? TELL ME WHO TO HIT!"

Alan smiled faintly, gratefully.

Jason "Jay" Garrick. The Flash.

Kendra Munoz-Saunders. Hawkgirl.

Lyta Trevor. The Fury.

"The people!" Alan roared back into his Ring.

"Get the people out!"

"I've got Evil Swamp Thing."
 
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Emerald Flashback.

"POWER," intoned Doctor Marvel, "IS NOTHING WITHOUT PRECISION, LANTERN."

Micronesia.
The World, aka Earth-2.
Superman's Secret Fortress.
Training Ground for The Second Wonders.
Six Years Ago.

********​

Green Lantern sat in the Lotus position on the alien steel floors, eyes closed, energy sparking from his Ring and from under his lowered eyelids.

And he smirked faintly.

"So is that The Wisdom of Nabu," he wondered, "or The Wisdom of Solomon?"

"THEY DO NOT ALWAYS AGREE," Doctor Marvel admitted. "BUT THIS IS A TRUTH UNIVERSALLY ACKNOWLEDGED."

"NOW. CONCENTRATE."

Alan nodded. Flexed his Ring hand.

And the globules of light hovering before him in the air...

...individual motes of green energy bobbed about, then...

...shifted.

Turned into components. Gleaming. Green. Metallic.

And then the components began to rotate.

To lock into place.

One.

By.

One.

By.

One.

...configuring into two Colt M1911 .45 pistols.

Alan opened his eyes, regarded his handiwork, then glanced at Doctor Marvel with a grin. "Isn't this a little cliche? Assembling guns with my eyes closed? Besides-- guns? Aren't they a little pedestrian for, you know, us?"

Marvel harrumphed. "THE EXERCISE IS VALID. BEING ABLE TO ACCURATELY CRAFT YOUR CONSTRUCTS WITHIN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING STANDARDS UNDER LESS THAN IDEAL CONDITIONS WITH INCREDIBLE SPEED WILL, NOT MAY, WILL MAKE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH FOR YOU AND/OR THE INNOCENTS YOU WILL PROTECT."

Then he held up a finger, and touched one of the green-construct firearms with one of his golden gloves, and pushed it so that it bobbed in a slow circle in the air. "AND THE GUN IS A METAPHOR. THE POWER YOU WIELD. THE RESPONSIBILITY IT REQUIRES. THE CATASTROPHE IT COULD UNLEASH WHEN IMPROPERLY GOVERNED. AS THE INHERITOR OF NOT ONE BUT TWO MYSTICAL LEGACIES OF INCALCULABLE POTENTIAL, I MYSELF COULD NOT GO INTO THE FIELD WITHOUT STEADFAST KNOWLEDGE OF THESE PRINCIPLES."

And then the strangest thing seemed to happen.

Doctor Marvel... imperious arcane monotone and all... chuckled.

"BESIDES. GUNS WORK FOR HAWKGIRL."

Alan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, she's basically Lara Croft with wings."

"I take that as a compliment," Kendra wisecracked, soaring down through the skylight of The Secret Fortress, pale blue wings spread. "Lady Croft gets results."

The Fury floated down as well, sheathing her sword at her hip. "If you consider grave-robbing results."

Tugging her helmet off, Kendra shot Fury a look with an eyebrow arched. "How else would you propose learning about long-dead civilizations?"

"With respect," Fury replied, without missing a beat, landing beside the winged warrioress. "And reverence. Considering that my ancient civilization, my mother's queendom of Amazonia, is well and truly still alive."

They continued arguing as they headed towards the ladies' locker room.

"The endless debate continues," Alan chuckled, still down there sitting on the floor.

"I SUPPOSE THIS COMPLETE AND TOTAL INTERRUPTION MEANS YOU CAN BE DONE FOR TODAY," Marvel grunted.

"Thanks, Doc," Green Lantern grinned.

And then-- lightning crackled and slipstream blew-- FWSH!

The Flash was there, offering Alan a hand up. "Hey, Green."

Alan chuckled, hand in Jay's, and up to his feet. "Hey, Red. Thanks. My legs were starting to fall asleep sitting like that."

"NEXT TIME I WILL MAKE YOU DO IT LEVITATING," Marvel intoned, his grimace audible even despite the expressionless helmet and the ominous voice.

"Don't threaten me with a good time," Green Lantern wagged his finger at Marvel.

"I TRUST YOUR TRAINING OVER THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK WENT WELL?" Marvel inquired of The Flash.

Jay nodded, smiling easily. "Yeah, it went great! Batman and Robin went back to Gotham, and Superman had more stuff for Supergirl and Power Man to do in orbit, so they sent us back here to clean up and re-civvie."

"WITH AUSPICIOUS TIMING," Doctor Marvel noted, and then turned to levitate away. "FROM NOW ON I SHOULD TRAIN GREEN LANTERN AT MY TOWER. SUPERMAN'S FORTRESS DOES NOT PROVIDE NEARLY ENOUGH... SOLITUDE."

"Is he always so grumpy when you get to bail early?" The Flash wondered with a chuckle, taking his helmet off.

"He's always grumpy," Alan shrugged simply. "So things went good out there? With, uh, Hawkgirl?"

"Dude, shhhh," Jay waved his hand, held a shushing finger in front of his mouth. "Fury has her mom's super-hearing, she'd never let me live a crush down! And-- no-- Kendra barely looks at me."

Then he rolled his eyes. "Ugh. When did my life turn into a weekly CW soap opera? You are so lucky your boyfriend isn't part of this team."

Alan grinned. "Fiancé. C'mon. I've got a couple of near-beers cooling in the fridge. We can drown your sorrows a little."

"Considering how good my lungs are, it would take me a long time to drown," The Flash remarked morbidly.

Laughing, Alan clapped him on the shoulder. "We're gonna need a bigger beer fridge."
 
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Emerald Twilight, Part 4.

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City.
The World.
Tomorrow.

********​

The battle was joined.

The Second Wonders had mobilized.

It hung unspoken between them that this was the first time any of them had dared act in plain view since... since The Wonders had been taken away.

None of them said it, none of them dared.

None of that mattered now. People were dying.

With a battlecry of blinding rage, The Fury descended upon the ent-walkers, blade singing in her right hand, her Lash of Truth cracking in her right. Wooden soldiers shattered and splintered before her.

The Flash zigged and zagged with lightning in his stride, parkour propelled by The Speed Force driving him through rubble and and across pitted terrain... snagging all the people he could reach and spiriting them to safety.

Roots and vines began lurching up from the ground to snag The Flash, but then Hawkgirl swept down from the sky, wings wide, emptying mags of incendiary rounds from her pistols into those plant-forms, scorching them away, covering for Jay so that he could escort civilians to safety.

And Green Lantern... shone.

Grundy leaped to meet him in the air and Alan clutched Grundy's skull with both hands... roaring with effort...

...slammed both knees into Grundy's face in mid-air and then twisted and rolled over him...

...hurling him to the ground so hard a whole new crack formed in the mantle of The World.

Grundy screamed at the indignity and the agony, forced himself up from the crater...

...Alan's boot-heel came around like a battle-axe and cracked into Grundy's temple, driving the beastly undead plant-monster down to one knee...

...bolstered, Alan whirled again, bringing in another kick to crash like thunder into that same spot...

...but Grundy's hand came up, caught Alan by the ankle...

...and his fist slammed into the side of Alan's outstretched leg, piledriving the knee...

...Lantern's kneecap splintered and all he could see all he could feel was red red pain...

...saw Grundy looming over him for the killshot through the red red haze and he tried desperately to think green green thoughts...

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" a woman's voice split the daylit sky.

And a white-blue-blur slammed into Grundy's right rib cage, boots-first and supersonic, slamming him into a trough of grass and rock and pavement a hundred yards long. Power Girl.

Thudding into the grass beside him, cape wafting around her, crossbow cocked and at the ready, scowl etched onto her otherwise angelic face, came The Girl of Steel's partner in crime. The Huntress.

They had always been the best of The Second Wonders of The World.

They were The World's Finest. And if there were other worlds than this, Alan wagered they'd be the best there, too.

The Worlds' Finest.

Hel kept it to the point: "Lantern. You green?"

Alan sputtered with laughter at the reference. "Super green."

"I've got adrenaline in my belt if you need a boost getting back into it," Helena informed him, not taking her eyes off of where Power Girl was rabbit-punching the unliving daylights out of Grundy, rattling The World in the process.

"No," Alan shook his head, clenching his teeth... pouring his mind into his Ring and pouring power from his Ring back, in turn, into his body... forcing himself to accelerate his healing process, fueling himself with The Green Flame itself. His deformed knee crawled back into the correct shape-- bones knitted-- "But thanks."

"Prego," Huntress nodded.

"YOU. DON'T GET," Power Girl roared, her fists blurring so quickly they blazed with atmospheric friction. "TO HURT. ANYONE. ELSE!"

But then Grundy whipped a hand out.

Caught Karen's wrist.

And grinned a grin not unlike a leer.

"PHotOsYnThEsiS."

And Power Girl... stopped...

...suddenly going as pale as her uniform.

Her eyes threatening to roll back in her head.

Grundy's roots slithered into her skin, all up into her veins, pushing, pushing, sucking the solar energy out of her cells... he grinned and he laughed all the while... rising to stand over her as his other hand came down on her head like a Vulcan mind-meld, doubling the feasting... "SOlOmON GRuNdY."

VTT!VTT!VTT!VTT!VTT!

"FEEDING TIME'S OVER, MOLDY!"

Huntress swarmed at him, crossbow firing explosive bolts at Grundy's face and neck on maximum auto-fire...

...the explosions peppered him, made him flinch, roar in fury, but he did not disengage from Power Girl.

Snarling, Huntress went to her belt with both hands, came up with grenades with batwings jutting out of the sides, whirled--

--hurled both of them at his shoulders--

--the explosion cracked the air in half and blew Grundy's shoulders off, sending him reeling.

He started regenerating new limbs almost instantly, sprouting them like ivy from the gaping craters of his shoulders...

...but Power Girl was free, and shakily she reached up, ripped the hands out of her flesh by their roots, and with a cry roasted them to ash with heat vision.

Then she dropped to one knee, still starved of solar energy, building up a charge again, but not fast enough...

Grundy's arms formed fists as the spindly vine-arms surged in bulk, bulging with muscle, and with a roar he surged forward again, ready to sap Power Girl dry...

...Huntress bounded into his path, absolutely heedless of the danger, teeth clenched, eyes blazing, crossbow spewing fire...

...it slowed Grundy's pace, not enough, not enough...

...a man in a Sandman uniform came out of nowhere, shoulder to shoulder with Helena, gun up, spamming the trigger...

...taser rounds sparked and sizzled as they punched into Grundy's neck, and he slowed a few steps more...

Huntress and this Sandman shot each other a look. He was masked, as all Sandmen were, but Hel was a detective. It didn't take much to recognize Alan's beautiful husband through those trappings, she'd seen his picture on Alan's desk at GBC often enough.

The Sandmen and the rest of The World Army were built to keep unlicensed metahumans and costumed vigilantes in check.

But in this moment, they shared a single, simpatico goal.

They nodded to each other, the exchange taking all of a fraction of a second.

And both kept firing.

"RRRRaaaAghhHHHrrrrrrhhH!"

He was scarcely inches from the two mere mortals, reaching...

...and Green Lantern came down in an arc from a Superman punch, fully healed, fueled by rage and courage...

...his Ring-fist bashed into Grundy's face so hard it splintered the jaw, serious knockback sending Grundy lurching away.

Alan flexed his hand, shot Huntress a glance, and gave that Sandman a long, lingering look, worry and adoration and gratitude all in one. "Get clear! Get the people out! Power Girl, solar up-- use your heat vision to burn out those massive roots coming up through the fault line--"

"Grundy's mine."
 
Emerald Twilight, Part 5.

"Grundy's mine."

Tom shot Alan an aching, loving, don't be a hero look through the lenses of his gas mask.

The Huntress narrowed her eyes, and nodded a grim nod even as she helped Power Girl to her feet.

Power Girl already had color back in her cheeks, strength back in her flesh, she trembled as she stood but she stood.

And-- trusting in Green Lantern's command, all three of them did as he said.

Leaving GL to face this brackish monstrosity.

"GrUNdy NOt yOuRS," the creature seethed as its jaw regenerated.

"GrUNdy beLONGs tO THe DARKNESS."

That sentence put a chill through Alan's rattled bones, but he didn't let it slow him. "Yeah, I'll kick your boss' ass too. But one thing at a time."

Flexing his Ring hand, he used telekinetic emerald force to rip down into The World and grab rocks, hauling them up and peppering Grundy with them at blinding, rail-gun speeds.

Grundy roared and seethed and tried to bat away the projectiles, but they exploded around him and ripped into him almost faster than he could regenerate...

...and as Grundy reeled, Green Lantern dove in, wrapped his arms around the beast, got him in a clinch from behind. "Get you out of here. Drag you to the desert. Or the Antarctic. Somewhere you can't use plant life to slaughter hundreds of people..."

Grundy surged and railed against the clinch, trying to snap at Alan with his teeth, trying to reach back and grab Alan's head-- "iDiOt. JOiNeD WIth tHE grEEn. LiNKed tO LIFe. No pLace oN tHE WoRLD GrUNdy caNNOt kILl."

Alan processed this.

For all of a second.

"Then let's take you out of The World."

And with a blast that could split a mountain in two, Green energy storming out below and behind him, Alan Scott clinched Grundy all the tighter... and launched them straight up for the sky.

Grundy screamed and thrashed and roared--

--but they were already ripping out through the upper atmosphere into darkness, orbital escape velocity--

--Grundy's fingers lengthened, sharpened, he managed to twitch, lunge back, a terrific squirm--

--stabbed Alan in the neck.

Alan wheezed.

Pain flooded his senses.

That red red feeling.

Even in micro-gravity, he felt the bottom drop out of his world.

Blood sputtered over his lips, beaded, floated away into orbit.

But he kept going.

Kept-- going.

Willed himself to not give up. Not give in.

Five seconds and almost a quarter of a million miles later, Alan crashed Grundy into the heart of The Sea of Tranquility, tipping over The American Flag planted there, and obliterating footprints that had been there for decades.

The fighters rolled apart, sprawling.

Grundy was instantly on his feet, screaming noiseless futile screams of impotent rage all the way up at The World in the sky as Alan lay bleeding, wheezing in the gray grey dust.

But as Alan managed to keep his eyes open, he saw Grundy falter.

Clutch at nothing.

Too far from the lifestream of The World to draw upon it for power.

Grundy slumped.

Grundy fell.

Grundy did not move again.

Alan smiled.

And closed his eyes.
 
Emerald Twilight, Part 6.

Far, far below, the death in Central Park... stopped.

The roots crumbled back into the gaping World.

Ent-walkers faltered.

Murderous branches ceased their stabbing, reaching, clawing.

Crying and screaming still echoed. Sirens still sounded futile and wheedling in the distance.

Choppers and hovercrafts whicked and whined as The World Army and The Sandmen moved in to help--

--but it was all over but the clean-up, and the mourning.

It was over.

Just as suddenly as it had begun.

And then Jay asked it first, looking around, wide-eyed behind his visor-- "Wait. Where's Green Lantern?"

Not far from him, Sandman Tom Zhao Kane stiffened, horrified, looked-- couldn't find his husband-- "Alan?"

"He..." Power Girl staggered, still recouping her power... "...he went up."

And she glanced up with eyes that could see almost forever and a fortnight.

Those wild yonder eyes widened, and again she turned almost as white as her uniform. "...no."

And again the sky split as Power Girl soared after Green Lantern.

********​

She landed beside him in the dusts of The Moon, and her tears descended like shimmering slow-motion beads in the weaker gravity.

She knelt, and clenched her eyes shut.

Her senses had told her already-- she'd seen Alan's heart stopped in his chest from a hundred thousand miles out with her X-Ray vision.

He was gone.

She strangled a sob in the airless vacuum.

Then she turned to face Grundy.

Made sure that he was powerless... inert on a molecular level.

Then she punched him so hard that he shattered and the whole Moon quaked.

With no regeneration to repair him, Grundy stayed shattered, and many of his pieces flew so hard and so fast away from The Moon that they would never land again.

Then Power Girl stooped.

Picked up the flag planted by the first human astronauts to touch down here back in The 60's, and straightened it anew.

Then she gathered Green Lantern up in her arms and she flew him back to The World, her eight-chambered heart heavy in her chest.

********​

Karen descended into the weeping chaos that was Central Park, and The Second Wonders were there waiting for her and for the man in her arms.

As she landed, Major Tom Kane came running up, hauling his gas mask off of his face.

Tough as nails soldier that he was, even this was too much for him.

"Alan. Alan..."

He searched Power Girl's face, but she had only remorse, ache, survivor's guilt, as she lowered Alan to the ground, kneeling with him, a Pietà... "I'm sorry. He... he saved us all. He died a hero."

Tom burst into tears, pressing his forehead to his husband's, sobbing, touching Alan's face...

...and as he did so, the Green Lantern's mask began to bleed away.

His whole armored uniform began to fade.

The Ring slipped from Alan's finger, the power passed from him.

Swiftly, respectfully, Power Girl swirled the cape from her shoulders and wrapped up Alan with it, hiding his nakedness, preserving his dignity.

And the World watched as The Ring hovered there, above the crowd, bathing Alan in its green glow one last time.

ALAN SCOTT.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE. AND YOUR SACRIFICE.

YOU DIED THAT THE WORLD MAY LIVE.

OUR SEARCH CONTINUES. WE GO TO FIND ANOTHER SENTINEL. ANOTHER EMERALD KNIGHT.

WE MUST UNITE THE SEVEN.

IF OUR NEXT GREEN LANTERN IS HALF AS FEARLESS AS YOU, ALAN SCOTT, THE GREAT DARKNESS WILL PALE BEFORE THEIR LIGHT.


It paused. MAJOR THOMAS ZHAO KANE.

The bereaved husband looked up at The Ring with tears in his eyes. "...what?"

WE ARE SORRY. FOR YOUR LOSS.

BE BRAVE.


His whole world had just shattered.

His beautiful beloved husband dead-- publicly exposed as an unlicensed superhero, the very thing that Sandmen were supposed to regulate, his career was over--

--but Tom gazed into that green green light and saw sincerity.

And saw courage.

And as steadily as he could, he nodded, a grim shadow flickering across his eyes.

"I will."

GOOD.

And then The Green Lantern Ring stormed up into the sky and away from The World on a column of green green fire...

...leaving The Second Wonders to their World...

...and where it went next, it did not say.
 
Some may call it a curse
A life like mine
But others...
A blessing
It's certainly a lonely life
But a fulfilling one at best
It's my cross to bear
But I bear it gladly
Someone has to take a stand against evil
Why should it not be me?

= = =

Helena stared down at the ground. For now, she couldn't stand to look up at Tom. She couldn't imagine the pain he felt, but she understand part of it.

Alan...

He died a hero.

He died.

Could... could it have been prevented?

Could they all have been prevented?

Could this have been prevented?

Helena looked up to see the Green Lantern's Ring take off into the sky, heading off, she could only imagine, to find another hero to carry on the good fight. Huntress looked towards her closest friend, and wondered if she was thinking the same thing.

Probably not.

Hope.

In the face of such darkness... always hope.

= = =

There was a flash of lightning, and Helena sat up in her bed. The light sheets she slept with fell away from her naked body, and she wrapped her arms around her legs and stared off into the darkness. She shook her head after a few minutes and then let out a heavy sigh as she laid back down and closed her eyes.

Tomorrow was a new day.
 
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