Injustice 3: Rings War (Book 2)

Chapter 38: Among Us

Harleen:

"What," I scream, lending over the ship's railing. "Hey, Fish-Face. Get the barnacles out of your ears, would you?"

"Be quiet," Tomar-Re says, looking at Harleen, "And be thankful I'm here, and not Kilowog."

"Believe me," Sunglasses says as he approaches the railing with me. "We are."

"No, we're not," I yell, now turning to look at Sunglasses. "We're not thankful. No. No, we are not. Come on guys, help me out here. Help them out. Tell them. Listen, Fish-Face, whatever proof you have, it can't be real. Both Arisia and Laria were with us the whole time. I don't know if you notice or not, but there was kind of something going on right above your head, Fish-Face."

"There was something going on down here as well," Tomar-Re replies, "Someone tampered with our green lantern battery. It's not working properly."

"That can't be right," Arisia says, "If the green lantern battery isn't working, then our rings shouldn't work."

"The battery is working," Tomar-Re corrects, "Our rings still have power, but just barely. The battery isn't working at full power. There isn't enough to spare for the planetary's shield, and without a shield."

"Oa is vulnerable," Sunglasses finishes.

Turning around for a quick second, I try to hit Sunglasses on his head but he grabs my hand.

"Please don't," he says, before letting go of me. I eye the bastard as I turn back around.

"What," I scream, almost jumping off when I see Tomar-Re leaves with Arisia and Laria. "Quick, prepare the rower. Lower the oars. Raise the black flags."

"What the heck are you saying," The Man asks. "Do you actually know what any of these mean?"

"More or less," I reply. "Prepare the rowers. Lower the oars. Raise the black flag."

"The Rusted doesn't have any oars, hence no rowers. And as for the black flag. Well."

The Man points to the top of the tallest sail. I have to squint my eyes but I think there's already a flag up there.

"The black flag has already risen," The Man says. "It has risen since departing Earth. I really should get a different color flag though. That's hard to see."

"Hey Sunglasses," I say, slapping my hands in front of him. "You can go shopping later. What are we going to do about Arisia and Laria?"

"Yeah," Oliver says, "And about Oa? You heard the fish guy. Without the battery, Oa is vulnerable."

"Oa's planetary shield may be down," The Man answers, "But it's not vulnerable. Mogo can keep watch."

We all turn toward Mogo as he stays right where he is.

"Speaking of Mogo," Leonard says, "Why didn't the big guy help us out early? We could use a beam or two back when those parademons were attacking."

"He must have been ordered not to assist," Hal answers. "Not unless Oa is under attack."

"At least he's not attacking us," Reverse-Flash says.

"Right," The Man says with a nod of his head. "Everyone. Brace yourself. We're heading for Oa's surface. Fast."

"Finally," I say, shaking my head as I walk over to a cannon and hug it.

Arisia:

"I have them," Tomar-Re says as he gently places us down in front of the Guardians. Back in the meeting chamber, Laria and Arisia look around at all our fellow green lanterns. Despite most of them standing in the shadow, I can still see their angry faces. Their eyes are filled with red and their teeth are grinding against each other. I hear a lot of whispering.

"Traitors," someone says.

"I can't believe what they did," someone else says, "Are they idiots?"

"What are they even here? Let's just take their rings off and throw them in a cell."

I try my best to ignore the green lanterns. Instead, I focus on the Guardians as they appear, each of them standing before us.

"Arisia," Ranakar starts, "Laria. You are being accused of tampering with our central battery."

"That's not possible," Laria says, but Ranakar cuts her off.

"Silence," he yells. "There is no point in saying anything. We have undeniable proof it was the two of you. Tomar-Re, show them."

Tomar-Re stepping forward, he rises his ring and shows everyone some footage.

"This is from a short while ago," Tomar-Re says, the footage switching to the central battery. We watch as the battery is glowing bright and shoots a beam through the ceiling, the planetary shield staying strong. A few moments later, I see myself sneaking into the room with the battery.

"What," I say. "That can't be right. That can't be me. That isn't me."

"Liar," someone says.

We all watch as I ran toward the battery. Looking around, making sure I'm alone, I then placed something on the battery and left. Whatever I placed on the battery, it caused the battery's glow to lower and the beam to stop.

The video stops and Tomar-Re lowers his hand.

"We investigated the battery shortly afterward," Tomar-Re says, "And found some sort of device on it."

A green lantern steps forth, he is carrying some sort of silver and orange device, the thing floating in a bubble in front of him.

"Judging by its content," Tomar-Re goes on, "This is some sort of energy siphon. It siphoned power directly from the battery, draining it. Luckily for us, given its small size, it wasn't able to absorb all the power. That is why we green lanterns still have power."

"I have never seen anything like that before," I say.

Everyone ignores me. Even Ganthet. He isn't even looking at Laria or me. He had his head down.

"I can't believe it," I think, "I just can't believe it anymore. This isn't the green lantern corps I've heard about. This isn't a place of justice or hope. Maybe once it was, but it's not anymore."

I look down at my ring. My ring's glow is slowly fading. It's trying to stay on, but it can't. I can't keep it up anymore. I lost the will.

"Take off their rings," someone yells.

"Take off their rings," someone else repeats, "They don't deserve them."

"Leave us alone," Laria says. She clutches her hand and summons walls to surround us. "Don't you dare come near us."

Without any hesitance, the green lanterns in the room fire and immediately break down Laria's wall.

"Give it up," I say, looking at Laira. "There's no point anymore."

"That's a bad thing to say," an unfamiliar voice says.

"What," I say, looking around as, this time, blue walls appear around us and shield us. Looking at the walls, I then look up and see someone floating in through the roof. He is a tall alien with white skin and two long antennas. He looks like a green lantern but instead of the color green, his uniform and ring are blue.

"Hello green lanterns," the alien says, "Hello Guardians of Oa. I believe this is the first time we have ever met. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Saint Walker, the first and currently, only blue lantern."