The Blackest Night

(OOC: No comment, just assume they (Selathorni and Municipal troops) keep fighting...)

And the troops on Burnination continue containment efforts, and are using borrowed Selathorni or Rutian tech to destroy trapped Lanterns at their leisure.

And all of them should feel intense fear for a moment as the very avatar of fear itself is freed.

(OOC: I don't feel like writing another novel right now.)

In the midst of the attack on Coast City, Lex Luthor, wearing an Orange power ring, is determined to have the Black Lantern Superman join his Corps while Larfleeze simply wants Luthor's ring. Above them, grown to vast size, the Spectre and Parallax battle with such ferocity that any who cross their path would be incinerated as an afterthought. Parallax literally tears his way into the Spectre's body to discover the true Spirit of Vengeance imprisoned within itself by the black power ring that possesses the body of its host, Crispus Allen. Destroying the ring destroys the Black Lantern version of the Spectre, freeing the real Spectre.

Parallax, however, is determined to destroy the Spectre, just as he is eager to judge and kill Parallax. As they continue to fight, Sinestro attempts to restrain Parallax while Atrocitus, sensing a kindred spirit, attempts to recruit the Spectre to the Red Lantern Corps. Despite the rage that burns within him, the Spectre is able to resist the red rage and instead helps Carol Ferris to pull Hal Jordan from Parallax, separating them once more. Though Sinestro attempts to restrain the Parallax entity, it is pulled away by an unknown force.

Restored to sense, the Spectre faces Nekron.

"Nekron. You have violated the laws of life and death and perverted the bodies of good souls for evil deeds. You will be judged." He attempts to destroy Nekron.

"I... cannot strike you down," says a very surprised Spectre.

"Because I have no soul to judge, slave. I am not alive. I am darkness. You have no power over me. Begone."

The Spectre dissolves into mist, screaming the whole way. He stops, satisfied with his location. Flanked by his most powerful Black Lanterns, all clutching a Guardian in their hands, he declares, "The universe will die now."

As the seven most powerful Black Lanterns drag the Guardians to form a strange symbol in the ground, with Nekron inside, he interrogates one of the Guardians, scythe to the Guardian's throat.

"You are the oldest living beings in our universe, thereby making your connection to the white light stronger than any others. Yet you bury it as deeply as you bury your emotions. Like those on this world bury bodies. Why have you spent eons fighting so hard to protect life when you don't live it, creature? Why did you vow to guard the universe?"

With a tear, the Guardian replies, "I... I do not remember."

"How shocking. Our beams are as useless against Nekron as they are the Black battery. If anything, he's enjoying this," says Sinestro as the seven Lanterns and their deputies fire on Nekron, destroying the nearby Black Lanterns.

"Nekron does not enjoy anything, Sinestro," replies Ganthet.

"Neither do the Guardians. Not like my people once did," foams and vomits Atrocitus.

"I felt joy long ago, Atrocitus. And I had hoped to again. But it is not meant to be."

Larfleeze: "I want his scythe, Guardian! Bring it to me!"

Sayd: "I am not your servant, yet, Larfleeze. Not until Nekron falls."

Ray Palmer: "Im used to be being overlooked, but Nekron's not giving any of us a second glance."

Hal: "Because Nekron's nothing like the evil we eradicate day-to-day, Atom. He's not going to launch into a lecture and make this personal. It's not."

A creepy voice says, "But it is to me, Lanterns." Mordred appears again. Black barbed wire emerges from his ring and tangle them up.

"All my life, I've watched others more beautiful and blessed, more hideous and cursed. Life favors some and ignores others. But our respective standings are irrelevant when it comes to death. In death, we are all equal. We are all silent and cold."

"Still believe all will be well, Walker?"

"Yes. And somewhere within you, Atrocitus, you believe that, too."

"You? I remember you, alien," says Mordred.

"And I you, Rhean. You are the doorway to the Black. I tried to end this a long time ago--"

"Where is your heart?" yells Mordred as he plunges his arm through Atrocitus's chest.

Hal, forming a cross and smacking Mordred with it, says, "His ring IS his heart."

"Don't be greedy, Jordan. You were given extra time you didn't earn. And now you'll vanish into the same dirt your father and mine are already a part of. Inevitably, every living thing would've died, many in horrific ways after horrific lives. I'm saving them from years of misery and pain."

"Life's not all doom and gloom -- unless you choose to see it that way."

"Oh. Oh, I certainly do. Now it won't hurt much longer. So don't be afraid."

Arren rescues him by running a yellow spear through Mordred. Somebody provokes Lex Luthor about belongings and he succumbs to the orange light.

"MINE!" He dives at Arren.

"What the Hell. Is Luthor. Doing?" asks a furious Fawkes.

"He has succumbed to the orange light," says Indigo-1.

"Give me it, Kelich!"

Larfleeze: "Hey! hey, you're not supposed to do that!"

"Give me your ring!" He tries to wrench the ring off of Arrens finger and is knocked out. Probably because Jordan would disappove of adding yet another Black Lantern to their problems.

He recovers fast. "Give me all of your rings!" He leaps at Fawkes. "It'll be mine. Pretty red ring."

Ten thousand feet above Coast City, Green Lantern John Stewart evades the swarm of Black Lanterns pursuing him.

"--more Black Lanterns up here than people on Earth. I'm doing what I can to keep them busy, but I'm not going to last long. Hal? Does anyone read me?"

"Reception sucks up here, doesn't it, Mr. Stewart? It's because I'm bouncing every Lanters' S.O.S. to a little old lady's radio in Kamchatka," says Black Lantern Air Wave, in life, the cousin of Hal Jordan.

"WARNING. EMOTIONAL SPECTRUM DETONATION IMMINENT."

"Aw, Hell," curses Green Lantern Guy Gardner.

All seven Corps emerge from hyperspace.



(OOC: I'll leave it at that for right now. I can has reaction to the cavalry finally arriving? And yes, Aisha and Jericho are there and they are POed. I love Ivan Reis, the artist. Also, what's sad is that I can name most of the characters in that image.)

(OOC: I'm assuming the cavalry arrived on Earth. We withdrew from there to defend Burnination.)

Aisha and Jericho do what they can to neutralise the threat. They're far more protective of Enclave troops than anything else.

The Rutians seem relieved that the cavalry arrived. They do fight harder now though.

(OOC: Again, nothing to say, they keep fighting... )

(OOC: Why would you be defending Burnination? As I mentioned earlier, all the Black Lanterns left for Earth. Every single one of them.)

"Outta the fryin' pan and up shit creek," mutters Gardner as he dodges a Red Lantern's napalm vomit. He tries to smack him back with a big green chain.

Munk: "Halt your assault, Green Lantern. Now is not the time to fight against another living being."

"Try tellin' that to the rednecks, Indy."

Black Lantern Air Wave: "None of you will be telling anyone anything, Mr. Gardner. I control the volume out here."

CHOOOM "CONNECTION SEVERED."

A smiling Kyle Rayner, with his arm on a rather POed Kilowog, says, "You don't want to get into a shouting match with Kilowog."

The rings begin speaking to all the Corps.

Green: "Lanterns. Hear us. If you are receiving this recorded message, then the situation is as desperate as prophesied..."

Yellow: "... Which is why I am ordering you to extend the temporary alliance with the Green Lantern Corps to the others..."

Red: "... These Black Lanterns will feed on world after world, turning them into planet-sized graveyards as the Manhunters did Ryut..."

Violet: "... Thereby severing all bonds of love throughout the universe..."

Indigo: "... But if we unite as one corps and focus our combined light..."

Blue: "... All will be well."

Guy: "Unite as ONE Corps? Keep dreamin'."

Munk: "If the Green Lantern Corps wage this war alone, each of you must face three billion, four hundred thousand and twenty-three Black Lanterns without support."

Guy: "And if we team up like good boys and girls, how many of these flyin' deadheads do each of us ringslingers gotta hack and slash through?"

Munk: "Two billion, seven hundred and twelve thousand, nine hundred and nineteen."

Guy: "And THAT'S an improvement?"

Kyle: "You really think they're going to watch out backs?"

John: "They've got good reason to, Kyle. They dont? And we end up just like them."

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Below, Dove walks through a big mob of Black Lanterns, destroying them as she walks by. "I can feel something working through me. If somehow I can destroy these Black Lanterns with a touch, maybe I can damage their power source-- AAAIIIEEE!"

Dove is knocked back as a voice from the Black Battery speaks: "Nekron. Let me out."

"Something... someone... is in there."

-------------------------------------------------------

Back in orbit, Guy suddenly devises a plan.

"Okay, since we're all holding hands and singing Kumbaya, it's time to make a serious dent in the amount of these Black Lanterns. I say we go Tholian Web on their asses."

John: "'Tholian Web'"

Guy: "Yeah. Star Trek, the original series, season three, episode 64."

John: "Sometimes you really do scare me, Guy."

And after noticing that there is a PLANET that's a Black Lantern, John gets a squad together to take it out, leaving Guy and Kyle to do the rest. With a little bit of dissent from a Sinestro Corpsman about having to follow the lead of a Green Lantern, they throw up a massive net of all the different colors and snag a massive group of Black Lanterns, destroying tens of thousands a second.

But it ends up being too much as another swarm of Black Lanterns come in and break the net. Among them, to Guy's horror, is Ice, his girlfriend who had recently returned to life. As he struggles against her, Kyle Rayner is confronted by the Black Lantern version of his ex-girlfriend Alex, brutally murdered and stuffed in a refrigerator just after Rayner became a Green Lantern.

Gardner faces off against Ice who tries to drag him all the way down to Coast City while Rayner struggles against Alex who blames him for allowing her to get killed. Breaking free of her trap, Rayner enlists Munk of the Indigo Tribe in destroying her. Rayner receives a message from Gardner in Coast City.

"Kyle! You there?!?"

"I'm here!"

"Just feel into a situation in Coast City that's gonna need some serious ring-slinging! Ya know how we've never been able to find the Anti-Monitor after Super-Punk tossed him?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, you better round up some troops, good and bad... because I finally found where that ugly bastard's been hiding!"

The Anti-Monitor starts dragging himself out of the Black Battery.

"On our way, Guy!"

Miri: "Lantern Rayner, I would like to know more about this Anti-Monitor before we engage."

"The 411 on him, Miri, is at the same moment our universe was born, an anti-matter universe was also created. Billions of years later, the Anti-Monitor slowly began taking power. He conquered the Weaponers of Qward and learned from them that there was a different universe, a positive matter universe -- ours -- and he's wanted control of it ever since. This guy's destroyed thousands of positive matter universes, but we've put the Anti-Monitor down before and we'll put him down again!"

Lantern Borkowski (OOC: No, I have not forgotten about him.) also gets this and sends the info on the Anti-Monitor over to the Rheans, who send it to everybody else.

(OOC: No, you won't have to fight him. This is just to convey to your guys how deep in s**t we all are.)

(OOC: Yeah well, we really wouldn't send ships into the middle of all this )

Guy: "Ring, why the hell's the Anti-Monitor inside the Black Battery."

"All data being disseminated shows that the Anti-Monitor is being imprisoned by Nekron and utilized as a massive energy cell to facilitate his strategy."

"So Nekron's draining his ass and it's killing him?!?"

"Affirmative."

"Let ME out."

"Split up -- We need to hit the Anti-Monitor from every possible angle!"

Kyle: "That's a half-formed Black Lantern symbol on his chest--"

Guy: "--Which means we can destroy him if we fire our rings together and wrap his ass in a technicolor dreamcoat!"

Dove: "Allow me to give you all some breathing room to take down that monstrosity." A big burst of white ilght emerges from her.

Guy: "Now Dove's the best bug zapper I've ever seen! Let's light up this son of a bitch like a Christmas tree!"

As he's hit, the Anti-Monitor screams, "RARGHHHH! If THIS is all you have, your trivial existence is finally about to come to an end."

Kyle: "Munk, why didn't the merging of our energy beams obliterate the Anti-Monitor like it did the other Black Lanterns?"

"All readings indicate that the Anti-Monitor has not fully transformed into a Black Lantern at this juncture."

Guy: "Crap. I knew it was too good to be true."

Iolande: "Then we need to keep him distracted -- unfocused -- so we can--"

She's cut off as the Anti-Monitor fires a beam of energy from his eyes. She is saved by Vath of Rann, who lost his legs.

"This city will burn! Once I free myself from this abomination this whole world will finally burn!"

Munk: "Fascinating. This power of yours to destroy Black Lanterns, where does it come from?"

Dove: "I'm not sure. I have no idea what I'm connected to and why it's singled me out."

Munk: "If you are willing to undertake a perilous endeavor, I do believe we can stop the Anti-Monitor."

Dove: "I'll do whatever I can."

And so she is loaded into a giant green bullet. While the Red Lanterns vomit their napalm on the Anti-Monitor's eyes, the bullet is loaded into the sniper rifle of Bedovian, Sinestro Corpsman and giant cockroach in a big shell, who fires the Dove-bullet through the energy squares of the other Corps, and into the Anti-Monitor's forehead.

To their disappointment, they are only partially successful and the Anti-Monitor is dragged back inside. Severely annoyed, they go off to "bring the pain to Nekron."

--------------------------------------------

Back on Earth, the other Lanterns try to keep Lex from prying the ring off of Fawkes's finger. As they are distracted, Nekron finishes his interrogation of the Guardian.

"Do you have any final words, creature of deceit?"

"Yes. Long live the Cor--"

SSSLLLITTTT

Hal: "Dammit, I knew Luthor was trouble. Where'd Mordred go?"

Below, Nekron hands the dying Guardian over to Mordred. In his creepy voice, Mordred says to him, "Shhh. Don't fight it." He digs through the Guardian's chest. "That's it. Let it come naturally." He plucks out his heart. "Death to us all." He tosses the body aside and puts the heart in the center of the strange symbol.

Nekron: "Death to you all."

Hal: "What's Nekron doing, Ganthet?"

"He's murdered one of the Guardians. He's begun to make contact."

Sinestro: "Contact? With what?"

Nekron: "Trespasser. RISE."

An explosion of white light erupts from the symbol and a strange being in white emerges from it. The only way to really describe it is alien angel.

Mordred: "He said, 'Let there be light.' And there was."

Lex: "It's so bringt. I want it! Whatever it is!"

Larfleeze: "No. I want something new, human. I want your life!"

Nekron, as he raises his scythe, says, "I want all of your lives. Invaders. DIE." He smashes the scythe into the white being, causing all life to feel intense pain.

Oh lovely. So yeah, they feel pain. Bad pain. Unfortunately for Nekron, Rutian soldiers are trained to deal with that. They're not curling up. It may slow them a bit, but they're still on their feet and fighting. Those that aren't fighting back home are momentarily stunned by the pain. They don't have to push through it.

(OOC: Assumed that people got weirded out by the sudden intense pain.)

Hal: "What is that?"

Ganthet: "The Entity. The living light bestowed upon this universe that triggered existence itself. The Guardians may be the oldest living beings, but life did not begin on our world. Life began on Earth. We buried the fact to keep the Entity protected."

(OOC: Meaning that the Entity popped up in the area around Earth first. This was also to explain why there are alien invasions on Earth every other week.)

A furious Sinestro questions Ganthet. "As you buried Parallax in the Central Power Battery? As you buried the Massacre of Sector 666?"

"It was imperative we not draw attention to Earth. We did our best to keep humans from the Green Lantern Corps--"

"Until Abin Sur. When he was dying, he knew all of this, didn't he? That's why he came to this wretched world. You let me friend die with everyone, with ME, thinking him mad." He spears Ganthet in the shoulder. "You destroyed Abin Sur to protect your lies! You let the universe believe life originated on your homeworld to justify your authority!"

Hal: "Sinestro--!"

"Now I will justify mine!"

Nekron takes another swing at the Entity, causing another burst of pain.

Carol: "When Nekron strikes the Entity -- w-we share the pain."

Ganthet: "Because we are all connected. We are all alive. Every living thing in the universe is dying."

Barry: "Why isn't it fighting back?"

Hal: "That's it, Barry. The Entity. It's like Parallax and Ion. A living power. And Nekron dug it up for us." He flies towards it , saying, "It just needs a pilot."

He gets smacked down by giant construct replica of Sinestro. Interestingly, it's a construct of him as a Green Lantern, not in his current uniform. "NO! You had your chance with Parallax! This is MY duty!"

He flies to the Entity." This is why I am alive! I am alive to lead us out of the Blackest Night!" He grabs the Entity. "I demand your power, Entity! And I will finally prove to the universe..."

A big flash of white light shines from Sinestro. "THAAL SINESTRO OF KORUGAR."

"I am the greatest Lantern of them ALL!"

"DESTINY AWAITS."

And out emerges the first White Lantern.



(OOC: Please no jokes about white power.)

(OOC: I wouldn't have even considered that until you mentioned it. Anyway, nothing to add.)

As far as the pain thing goes, they'd been through worse not too long ago.

In the skies above Earth, the many Corps hear Sinestro's declaration of how awesome he is. With White Lantern emblems suddenly glowing on the Black Lanterns, they all head back down.

Fatality: "Something is drawing them away."

Stel: "Receiving data suggesting that every Black Lantern within Earth's orbit and outside of it has targeted Coast City."

Tekkik: "Confirmed."

John: "Hal, I don't know what's going on down there, but whatever it is, it's got their attention."

Hal: "Meaning what, John?"

"The sky is falling."

"Thanks for the heads up."

"What do they all want down there? You?"

"No. A big shiny light named Sinestro."

Sinestro says, as he annihilates hundreds of thousands of Black Lanterns a burst, "Yes. This is my destiny. You have no idea the power I now possess, Nekron. I am one with every living being in this universe. From the bacteria in the air to the Guardians themselves. I am the center of it all! I am--"

"THAAL SINESTRO OF KORUGAR."

"Yes. I hear you. I see you. I see your birth. Your violent entrance into the barren and endless space. Sent here by accident or with purpose, Krona does not even know. Casting your presence across the entire universe. Light fighting back darkness by creating the stars and planets. Creating your shelter Earth, at the very spot you were thrust into the universe. The planet in which you made your home under molten rock and primordial waters.

"I see you touch the oceans, transforming them into seas of spontaneous life. Overflowing with evolution. Gaining complexity. Conjuring thought. I watch the first sentient creature in the universe to ever will itself to move... do just that. And it is the origin of willpower itself. The creature ignites with emerald light and transforms, elevated above the others. It is Ion.

"Thousands of years fly before my eyes as the creatures escape the oceans and crawl to land. Some take to the air. Fleeing for survival, this thing transforms into the emotional power it emits. Fear is born. And thus Parallax.

"As love ignites into existence, so does the Predator. As a creature eats what it does not need, avarice consumes all it touches. Rage grows from murder. Hope from prayer."

"Sinestro!" cries out Hal.

"And at last, compassion is offered to us all."

"Sinestro, look out!"

He is ignored. "We live."



"No! You die."

Nekron plants his scythe into Sinestro's head, severing him in half.

"Sinestro!" yells Hal.

Up above, a Rhean admiral remarks, "Well, we're screwed."

(OOC: https://2img.net/r/ihimizer/img194/6596/gl52p9p10.jpg

It looks as if a lot is drawn from Christian mythology. Green from the first being with free will. Yellow from the first thing that felt fear. Violet from the creation of Eve. Orange from the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Red from the murder of Abel. Blue from the great flood and the bird that brought the branch back to Noah. Indigo looks to be a cross.)

(OOC: Do these things still see only emotion?)

(OOC: The Black Lanterns? Yes. The entities are just part of the art. They're not actually there.)

(OOC: No reaction to Sinestro getting chopped in two?)

(OOC: Not really, there's no way for us to know...)

(OOC: Other than a general 'we're fucked' from the Rutians, nope. None.)

(OOC: Yay! What I was going for.)

"You cannot hid from me any longer, Entity. In the Earth or in a being wearing a ring, it does not matter," rants Nekron as he digs through Sinestro's insides. "I will dig you out and I will end you and thus all the life you have helped spawn. Whoever or whatever sent you here will regret it."

As Hal takes out Nekron with a big green wrecking ball, he calls out, "Indigo! Walker! See if you can help-- !"

"ABNORMAL SEISMIC ACTIVITY DETECTED."

"John, we've got major repercussions down here. Xanshi's gravitational field is intersecting with Earth's. It's going to tear our planet apart, starting with Coast City."

"Might get worse before it gets better, Hal. Xanshi's lighting up-- WHOA! It just fired a pair of beams. Missed Coast City by a--"

"John... I don't think it was aiming for Coast City."

A massive wave comes crashing in, forcing Hal to erect a giant green wall to halt the water from flooding the place.

Now where did the second beam fire towards? The Craftworld. This Black Lantern Xanshi's behaving like a big Death Star.

The Craftworld vanishes. Fortunately, the beam misses Burnination by a bit, and doesn't burn off the atmosphere at all. Had the Craftworld not been so far away from Earth, it might not have detected that one coming in time. The Craftworld does not reappear. But that, it seems, is enough to draw the Burninites into the fight on Earth.

500 cloaked Jumpers appear near Earth. Only 500 because this was the most that Thorgood could outfit with his new 'anti-Lantern' devices. He's quickly researched the effects of different emotions. Brain waves, energy outputs, etc. And the output of the 'dead inside' effect that the Black Lanterns cannot see. So, he's outfitted the Jumpers to mask the emotional signatures of the occupants, and output the 'dead inside' signal instead.

And being the threat to the army's absolute most valuable resource, the jumpers immediately head for Black Lantern Xanshi, and release a hail of Shruiken Missiles; half each ship's arsenal. They then shoot lots with their Shruiken Cannons.

This does little to the Black Lantern planet, aside from a few craters, as it is far too large and the missiles hit not at all where the vulnerable points are.

Back on the surface, Hal informs John that he has handled the waves but he needs the planet taken out of the fight, along with the Black Lanterns coming from it. The Green Lantern known as Driq, who died but was kept in an undead state by his ring and is now a half Green half Black Lantern, informs John, "I have been scanning this planet for its structural weakness as you have, John. And like most things, the weaknesses are buried deep within." The Black/Green Lantern Driq guides them into a tunnel that leads to the core.

John informs the others, "Burninites, if you want in on destroying this thing, follow us."

Should the Burninites follow, they will be lead to the core where there are tens of thousands of black rings holding the planet together.

The Selathorni continue fighting on the ground and offer to drop a stranglet pod on the planet. Probably not going to work, but it could stall the planet.

The Selathorni are told to save it until they get out after destroying the planet. Not really going to want to be stuck in there with exploding planet, after all.