Editors Note: This issue takes place after Green Lantern #16Beep. Beep. Beep.Mia Dearden and Connor Hawke sat in the hospital wing of the JSA headquarters, listening to the echo of the heart monitors attached to their fathers. The beats were not in sync however, as Ollie’s was strong and steady, Eddie’s was slow – painfully slow.
The two looked at each other, concern on both faces, neither able to help the other, but wanting to; both lost in their own sorrow. They had been forced over the hours to leave their fathers’ bed sides, but only for short intervals and at no time were both of them out of the room at once.
After the battle with Terra-Man and The Deck, both had been injured; Ollie seriously, but Eddie was critical. Whereas Ollie has come out of the battle with a fractured collar bone and a concussion, Eddie lay near death; the alien bullet had been removed by Dr. Mid-Nite of the Justice Society, and had actually done little damage on its own. However, the material the bullet was made out of could not be determined, and whatever its raw properties were, its remnants were causing a severe infection to Eddie’s brain. Nothing that Doctor Mid-Nite tried was working. There was little, if any hope.
Oliver had woken only when he was forced. Each time he had looked over at his friend gravely, asked if there had been any change, and when the answer had been the same, he had said nothing else; just laid back down in his bed and fell back to sleep.
Word from Las Vegas was not good, either. The New Outsiders were in disarray, other members had been injured as well, and their base, as well as their means of income, had been destroyed. Dinah had flown to New York for the first twenty-four hours, but then rushed back to Las Vegas to help with the clean up. On her face there was more than concern… there was guilt. It was as apparent as blemish on the end of a teenager’s nose.
For the first time, Ollie stirred on his own, and as he opened his eyes to find his son staring back at him, he grunted, turned his head and looked over at Eddie. “No change.” It wasn’t a question anymore.
Mia just shook her head while Connor put his hand gently on his father’s arm.
Ollie looked at his son for a moment, his eyes growing heavy again, but before he slipped back into sleep he whispered a name. “
Hal…”
“Hal?” Mia asked in confusion.
“Hal Jordan,” Alan Scott replied from the doorway, “I have an idea of what he’s thinking, and it might be your father’s only hope.”
They looked at the senior member of the Golden Age heroes. His presence, even to them, was both commanding and awe-inspiring.
“How…?” Mia asked.
“Leave it to me, I’ll get him here.” Alan gave a faint, reassuring smile, then turned and left.
“Whatever it is, I don’t think it’s going to help,” Mia whispered as she placed her hand on her father’s forehead, gently touching the bandage.
Connor rose from his chair, went to her and placed his arm around her. “With faith, there is always hope. Do not give up on him. He would never give up on you.”
Mia nodded, tears streaking across her cheeks. “I just found him…”
“I know.” Connor said simply, holding her. He had waited for her to break down, to allow herself the chance to get it out of her system, but although the tears fell, her jaw was set and determined. She was strong.
* * * * *
He soared along the California coast line as a green streak of light. Usually the exhilaration of flying and the view was enough to let his worries go, even for a short period of time. But with all that had been happening to him lately, Hal Jordan couldn’t enjoy a few moments of solitude. Between Carol, Hammond, and… Chloe… it was all too much.
It was at that moment that his Justice League communicator went off. “Never rains but it pours,” Hal muttered with obvious irritation in his voice. “Green Lantern,” he said a big brusquely.
Barry Allen’s voice came back, “Hal, we just received a call from Alan Scott. You’re needed at JSA headquarters.”
He swore under his breath, “Did he say why? I’ve got a lot on my plate at the moment. Can’t somebody else from the League…”
“It’s Ollie.” Barry interrupted, his tone becoming serious. “He’s in their infirmary and he’s asked for you.”
Damn, Ollie, what have you gotten yourself into, now? he wondered. “Tell him I’ll be there shortly.” And with that, the man known as Green Lantern shot up into the stratosphere, a straight line, hung at the outer reaches for just a moment, and then sped downward again, straight line towards New York City's Battery Park.
InterludeThe private jet landed at Star City's International Airport before the sun rose in the East. The hatch opened and the stairs folded down to the ground. Six men, all dressed in dark suits and wearing expensive sunglasses stepped off the plane, scanning the horizon.
A black limo pulled up next to them. One of the men went to the rear door and opened it. He didn’t have to wait long as an Asian man stepped from the plane, his designer suit coat flapping in the breeze, and walked into his limo. Four of his guards got in with him; the other two went to the car that had pulled up behind the limo.
“Where to, Mr. Lee?” The voice of the driver said through the intercom.
“My family’s old estate, I haven’t been there since my brother was murdered. I’m sure it needs some cleaning up.”
As the car took off, Tai Lee turned to his man on the right, “When he get to the mansion, I want you to make contact with Mr. Brickwell, if we are to set up shop in Star City, again, we will need him.”
His man nodded as they drove off. It was only after all the cars had left that the mysterious figure exited from the plane. By the silhouette it was obvious that it was a female; she moved as quietly as a panther as she watched the cars exit the airstrip.
Her face was hidden in black cloth from just below her nose down, as the exposed eyes took in every detail of the two vehicles. A different country, a city unknown to her, but she would not lose her target. Tai Lee was a man marked for death, and she was there to make sure it happened.
end interludeOllie was awake and much more coherent then he had been by the time Hal had arrived. He watched as his buddy's ring scanned Eddie Fyers from top to bottom, focusing mostly on his head.
After what seemed like a large amount of time, the ring gave its report:
<Damage to frontal lobe by projectile minimum. Components of projectile have infected area and is creating further damage.>“Can you tell us what the bullet was made from?” Green Lantern asked.
<Main component is Terran lead. Also trace amounts of the element Graxenal found along the shell casing.>“Graxenal? What the hell is that?” Ollie asked.
Hal raised his hand to silence him. “It’s my next question. Ring, what exactly is Graxenal and where can it be found?”
<A rare substance found only on the planet Karax in Sector 424. It is a deadly pollen that causes permanent nerve damage within one week if not treated immediately.[> “Sector 424, huh? Well, never been there before. Is there an antidote equivalent found here on Earth?”
<Negative. Only known antidote is found on the planet Karax.>“Well, guess it looks like I’m taking a little road trip.” Hal said.
“Not without me, you’re not.” Ollie quipped as he rose out of bed. He swayed and Connor tried to force him back down, but even with his arm in a sling, he pushed his son away. “Don’t even try, any of you. I’m the reason Eddie is lying there, dying, and I’m going with you.”
“I don’t think you’re doctor is going to allow it,” Hal stated.
“When have I ever followed orders?” Ollie replied as he stood up and walked over to his friend and poker buddy. “I’m ready when you are.”
“Ollie, I don’t think you’re ready,” Allan Scott said, his hand covering his face.
“Now don’t you try to talk me out of it,” Ollie started, turning around to confront the elder Green Lantern.
“I think I’m going to be sick!” Mia said suddenly, but began to giggle.
Hal tapped his friend on the shoulder. “You know, it’s kind of cold in space, so I suggest you might want to put on some cloths… starting with some underwear.”
Ollie’s eyes grew large as he reached behind him with his good arm, realizing that his gown was not covering his back side at all. Then he grinned devilishly, “Aw hell, Dinah always said it was one of my best features.”
“Yeah, well save it for
her. Listen, Ollie, I don’t know how dangerous this is going to be. You’ve got a concussion and a bad arm. I really don’t think it’s wise for you to come along.”
The blond man looked at Hal, his eyes growing serious. “It’s my responsibility. Eddie’s my oldest and best friend. If I don’t go with you, I’ll find another way to get there.”
The man known as Green Lantern sighed. “I’m pretty sure we could keep you here if we wanted to.” He held up his hand to silence Queen before he could protest. “However, feeling responsible is something I understand fully. You can come along, but you do what I tell you to and keep your mouth shut if we run into any trouble.”
Ollie gave him a withering look. “Who do you think you’re talking to?”
They all looked at each other as Ollie went to get his uniform.
The CIA – New York City OfficeThe door to Agent Turner’s office swung open with such force that the window pane rattled when it hit the wall. Agent Scott Turner jumped at the sound, caught off guard as his partner, Agent Michael Gertz ran into the room.
“You forget to how to knock?” Turner asked when he got himself together.
Gertz ignored the remark and through down a file on his partner’s desk. “We’ve got him.”
Turner looked up. “Got who?”
“Eddie Fyers. He’s here, in New York.”
Agent Turner jumped up, grabbing the file excitedly, thumbing through it quickly. “Well I’ll be damned! Where the hell is that son of a… aw no way.”
His partner nodded. “We’ve just got to go get him.”
“You want us to walk up to the JSA headquarters and demand they hand over Fyers? With him in critical condition?”
“You got it! He’s wanted by the United States Government. There’s no way they can say no.”
Turner nodded in agreement. “That’s true. Alright, let’s get down there,” he said as he grabbed his coat, then both of them headed out the door.
* * * * *
“Space, the final frontier…” Ollie started to say as he sat in a green La Z Boy recliner, located in the middle of a green bubble. He was watching in awe as they passed the moon.
“That’s original,” Green Lantern quipped, but couldn’t help grinning. He was still in awe himself when he took to the stars. He was also, he had to admit, a bit worried. Ollie was not at his best, his injuries a little more serious then he would admit, but he also knew the man enough to know that he wasn’t about to be left behind. Ollie was a friend… a very good friend, and he wasn’t about to turn his back on him.
“Get ready,” Hal said, his voice coming through the bubble as if he were sitting right next to Ollie.
“Get ready for what?”
Green straps suddenly appeared from the recliner and crossed over Ollie’s chest, securing him into the chair, tightly.
“Hey! What’s this all about?”
“We’re taking the express lane,” Lantern said as he gathered his will into the ring. Then, without warning, they both shot out into the outer reaches of their galaxy and past it, within seconds.
Ollie cried out in surprise, swearing like a sailor as he felt the acceleration even surrounded in the protective bubble that Hal had created.
The Emerald Warrior couldn’t help himself; he began to laugh at Ollie’s cries of protest. It reminded him of the first time he had taken his brother on a roller coaster at Walt Disney Land, back when they were both kids. His brother had freaked as they dove down their first large hill.
“Man up back there,” Hal called out, trying to keep the amusement out of his own voice.
“Man was not created to travel this way!” Ollie shouted in protest.
“This man was,” Hal called back with a smirk on his face.
“Did we just pass the Mutara System?”
“The what?”
“Never mind, bad joke.”
<Entering Sector four 424,> the ring announced.
<There is a large space craft directly in our flight path,> it warned.
Green Lantern slowed down as the two of them saw the large ship in front of them. Before either could say a word, they felt themselves being pulled towards the ship.
“Let me guess, tractor beam?” Ollie said.
“You win the door prize.” Hal answered, his teeth gritted as he strained to break free, but to no avail. “Looks like we’re going in.”
“Do you know what kind of ship it is?”
“Ring, analyze ship and give me a brief rundown.”
The ring answered rather quickly.
It is a Draal Scout Ship. Crew compliment of about twenty. It’s shielding is medium grade, only two laser banks – one forward and one aft. It does have hyper-drive capability.>“Draal? What are Draal?” Hal asked as the two of them watched a hatch open from the bottom of the spaceship, where they were soon about to enter.
<An aggressive alien race from the Draalian Arm of the Takk Nebula, the Draals as they are known embark upon an ambitious plan to invade other worlds. At present, they are known to have conquered four inhabited worlds that were once protected by the Green Lantern Corps. At one time, they were considered mortal enemies of the Corps and were aware of their weaknesses.>[/b]
“I’m getting the feeling that these things aren’t going to be friendly,” Ollie mused.
“Fine by me,” Hal stated. “I’ve been itching for a fight. Hold on, we’re going in,” he announced as they entered the hatch, only to be flung against the inside bulk head. Gas poured quickly into the room as the outer hatch shut. Stunned by the impact of hitting the alien metal, Green Lantern had lost his concentration and both of them were caught unprepared as they inhaled the gas. Ollie fell almost immediately, but Hal hung on just long enough to give his ring several orders.
Then everything went black…
* * * * *
Eddie Fyers gave Ollie a swift kick to the gut. “Get up you sorry son of a bitch! Get up or I’m a dead man, and if that happens, I’ll come back and haunt you for the rest of your sorry life!”
Ollie’s eyes flew open suddenly at the vision he had just dreamed. He found himself in some kind of holding cell, but not made out of metal. It was made out of some sort of energy field, a yellow energy field.
“What the hell is going on here?” he demanded as he brought himself up, his head was pounding and his arm, still in the sling, was beginning to throb.
A humanoid creature, red skinned and armed with a large weapon, stood outside of the cell. “You are a prisoner of the Draal, Green Lantern. You will wait here until the Captain comes down to interrogate you.”
“Green Lantern?” Ollie exclaimed, and then looked down at his costume. He was, indeed, dressed in Hal’s uniform. He also realized that he was wearing the ring, as well. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“We have no sense of humor,” the Draal stated plainly.
The door swung open and what was apparently the Draal Captain walked into the chamber. He examined Ollie for a moment with a curious look. “We believed that the Green Lanterns were extinct. How did you come to survive?”
“Plenty of rest and a large amount of roughage,” Ollie quipped.
“I do not understand.” the Captain replied. “What is this roughage you speak of? Is it a weapon that our intelligence was not aware of?”
“Never mind, the moment's passed.”
“You will answer my questions,” the Captain demanded. “Your race is not known to us. You are not from the planet Karax, this is obvious. Where do you come from?”
“Would you believe Beetlejuice?”
The Captain’s eyes narrowed. “You toy with me. You insult me. It is obvious that you are a creature with a limited amount of intelligence. How you became a Green Lantern in the first place, I cannot fathom.”
“Yeah, I’ve been wondering the same thing since I woke up, actually. What have you done with my friend?”
“He is important to you?” the Captain asked. “Intriguing. At the moment, he is being examined by our medical staff. Since we need you alive for the cloning process, we will use your partner to dissect and examine.”
Ollie’s face turned red. “Don’t you dare touch him!” he shouted as he came towards the yellow force field. The guard next to the Captain raised his weapon, but the Captain waved his hand for him to lower it.
He walked up to the force shield, his face just inches from a seething Oliver Queen. “We may have believed all of you to be extinct, but we are still well aware of your greatest weakness. As long as you are held here, in this field of yellow energy, there is nothing you can do.” He brought back his oversized lips to reveal teeth that were long and green.
“I could do this,” Ollie replied, the fist of his right arm going through the energy beam and striking the Captain right in the middle of the face. The guard began to raise his weapon, but Ollie moved quickly, kicking it out of his hands and slamming his body into the guard, ramming the alien into the rear wall.
The guard struck back, hitting Ollie in the damaged shoulder. He let out a howl of pain, but brought his foot up and struck the guard between the legs. Although the force of the kick sent him stumbling backwards, he also had a small look of confusion on his face, not the pain that the archer was hoping for.
“Oookay, there’s something to keep in mind the next time I run into you clowns,” he noted.
Ollie ducked as the guard swung at him, and this time Ollie, still bent over, slammed the top of his head into the creature’s stomach, pushing him back into the wall, again. Then he brought his head up with as much force as he could, hearing the crack as the top of his head connected the alien’s chin. The guard fell to the floor, stunned.
“A noble effort, Green Lantern, but a futile one all the same,” the Captain of the Draal said.
The archer-turned-Lantern pivoted to find the Captain facing him with a small hand held weapon of his own, aimed right at him.
Oh what the hell… Ollie thought as he brought his good arm up, pointing the ring at the alien and pushing his willpower into it. Nothing happened.
The Captain sneered. “The most inept Green Lantern is the one that survived. It must have been luck.”
Ollie shrugged. “I may not be a great ring slinger, but you should see what I can do with a bow and arrow.”
“A what…?” The Captain started to ask, but suddenly began to shake as an electrical current went though him. He fell forward onto the ship’s deck, an arrow sticking out of his left leg.
At the portal to the chamber, Hal stood, wearing Ollie’s costume and holding the bow out in front of him.
“Nice shot,” Ollie commented.
“Really? Because I was aiming for his right shoulder.” Hal replied.
“You want to tell me why you switched our costumes.”
Hal nodded as he walked forward. “When the ring informed me that these Draal believed that we were at the mercy of the color yellow, I figured that they obviously knew of the Green Lanterns and that their information was a little out dated. So I had the ring switch our costumes, just in case they tried to interrogate you. I figured if they were telepathic or something, they couldn’t get any information from you because… let’s face it… you don’t really know anything.”
Ollie nodded, but stopped abruptly, “Hey! Wait a minute!”
“Trust me, I meant that in the best possible way.”
“I don’t think there is a
best possible way, for that statement,” he mumbled.
“Anyway, they hardly paid me any attention, so it was easy to escape. I see you had the situation well in hand, though.”
Ollie grinned. “Yeah, I was fine, but thanks for the assist.”
Hal held out his hand and the ring suddenly slipped off his friend’s finger and onto his own. “Now let’s get off this ship, find the antidote, and get back to Earth before anyone realizes we’ve escaped.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Green Arrow replied as the ring switched the outfits back to their regular places.
They took off down the corridor, towards the nearest exit.
* * * * *
Connor Hawke was awake when the Emerald Archer and the Emerald Warrior marched back into the room, followed my Alan Scott and Doctor Mid-Nite. The doctor was holding a syringe in his hand.
Gently, he woke Mia, who had been dozing in the chair next to her father. When she saw them all gathering, she broke out in a relieved smile. “I knew you guys would come through.”
“Don’t get your hopes up yet, Miss,” the Doctor said. “We’ve still got to see if this works.” He went over and injected Eddie with the serum. “All we can do is wait now; wait and see if we're in time.”
“I’ve got to get back to Coast City,” Green Lantern said to Ollie as he headed for the door.
Ollie walked him out and into the front foyer. “Hal… I just wanted to say… uhh… thanks. No matter what happens, I appreciate your help. I owe you one.”
Hal shook his head and placed his hand on Ollie’s good shoulder. “No you don’t. We’re friends, Ollie. I consider you a good friend. I know you’d do the same for me. It’s what friends do. Eddie’s very lucky to have you in his life.”
“Yeah, I tell him the same thing.” Ollie said. “You know, it seems like the only time we ever get together is if there’s a crisis, or on our poker nights. One of these days we should hit the road together… see the country.”
Hal grinned. “Sounds good to me; I haven’t been on a road trip in ages. Take care, Ollie, and I hope Eddie comes out of this alright.”
“Me too,” he said as he watched his friend fly off into the bright blue sky. He turned to go back into the headquarters when a voice stopped him.
“Excuse me, Mr. Green Arrow, may we have a minute of your time.”
Ollie turned to see two men coming up to him in dark suits and dark sunglasses. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, as did his defenses. “I’m guessing you two aren’t on a mission from God?”
“Funny. Never heard that one before,” Agent Turner said. “We’re here with a warrant.”
“A warrant? A warrant for what?” he asked, already knowing what the answer was going to be.
“It’s a warrant to search the premises. We have information that leads us to believe one Eddie Fyers is in this building. If so, he’s wanted by the Federal Government, and we’re here to take him with us.”
Ollie’s blood turned cold as he stared at the two men at the door, and the search warrant they were holding up in front of him.
To Be Continued
