*The events of this Chapter ties into a story featured in Chapters 17-20 of 'The Flash: Escape Velocity*
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Hal sighed as he flipped through the giant pile of bills that were left on his apartment's dining table. All of the bills were marked as paid by billionaire Oliver Queen's 'Industrial Excellence Fund', which apparently rewarded long service to those involved with industrial growth. Hal was eligible because of his long tenure as a test pilot, striving to save the lives of servicemen around the world...or so he was told. Hal knew it was just an excuse for Ollie to pay for his apartment since he quit his job at Ferris Air all those months ago. Hal sighed as he slapped the bills onto the table "Dammit, Ollie. You and your Robin Hood ethics."
His apartment was dusty, filled with insects, and all his food was expired. Hal had spent the last five minutes clearing out his pantry and fridge in order to incinerate the garbage with his power ring. He was probably going to keep it empty...he wasn't around long enough to keep everything stocked up. And besides, he was busy at the moment. A few hours ago, he just lent his old friend Barry Allen, aka The Flash, a hand with preventing the then-mind-controlled Titans from trashing Manhattan. The real reason he was here though, was that he picked up a signal from the Justice League watchtower telling him that a great deal of Leaguers had gone missing. After dealing with the Titans, Hal figured that the two teams being compromised probably weren't coincidences. Barry and his newfound samurai friend were going to see if they could find any clues pertaining to what happened to everyone, but in the meantime, Hal was going to keep a close eye on everything and pull overtime to compensate for the mass of disappearances. He was in the neighbourhood, so he wanted to make sure his place hadn't burnt down or something.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Hal snatched up this week's newspaper and glanced at the front cover as he strode towards the front door. The headline for this trashy tabloid read 'WONDER WOMAN DATING FORMER NAZI SUPER SOLDIER'. Hal squinted and huffed in disbelief "How long was I gone...?"
He sent his attention to the door and pulled it open. Hal's breath hitched.
"Hey." Carol Ferris greeted with a smile. "I'm glad I managed to catch you."
She walked into Hal's apartment before he could say a single word. Hal, who was a bit shocked by her sudden appearance, shut the door and said "C-Carol? You...could've called or something."
Carol set her handbag onto the table and began to wriggle out of her thick winter coat as she gave Hal a snarky look. "Ouch."
Hal tossed the paper onto the couch and groaned "No, I didn't mean it like that. I just..."
"Calm down, Highball. I'm not gonna be here for long." Carol then approached Hal before she continued. "Jim's been worried about you. He hasn't seen you in about six months. I heard you were back in town, so I wanted to tell you."
"Shit." Hal muttered as he lowered himself into a chair at the dining table. "I've...been so busy."
Carol crossed her arms. "Yeah I know. The only reason you're here at all is that whole 'mind-controlled superheroes' thing I'm seeing on the news, right?"
The human Lantern thinned his lips. "Yeah...nothing I can't handle. Half of the JL is missing, no big deal."
"Listen. I'm...glad you found someone in the Corps, Hal. But I'm not the only person on the planet that cares about you. You can't just...leave for months without saying a single thing to any of us."
Hal sighed.
The black-haired woman sat down opposite Hal and clutched his hand. "I'm happy for you. Really. You have real things to worry about up there as well as down here; you shouldn't need to think about whether you're missing a date or anything. I know you're busy, but I just wanted to remind you to visit your brother and his family. Because, I dunno...I guess I know how easily you can get distracted."
"...Thanks Carol. I...I miss you." He blurted.
Carol's eyes widened in shock, as did Hal's. He suddenly stammered "S-Sorry...look...I...my girlfriend is Bekkorian. They're...really blunt. Had to get used to that. I'm sorry."
"I miss you too, Hal. I know it's hard. It always is when neither one did anything wrong. We just gotta be strong for each other." She said calmly. Hal swallowed...not entirely sure what was happening. "Your girlfriend, what's her name?"
"Velleuxanertorrgelloknartu."
"Jesus Christ. That's a mouthful. I'm sure that's fun during sex."
"I call her Vell."
"A reasonable course of action. And? How's it going? Having someone out there with you?"
"...A bit easier. Less to juggle...and she understands."
"I'm glad." Carol replied with a weak smile.
Hal coughed, then asked "Have you been...seeing anyone?Someone who gets you?"
"Yeah. Been through a few, but I've been gravitating towards Tom, though...since he was the only one I could talk to about your 'real' job."
Hal smiled. "Woah, seriously? That's awesome."
Carol smiled back.
"Want a drink or something?" The human GL asked his guest.
"You're asking like you have something to give me." Carol laughed. "If it wasn't for me back in the day, you would've been eating stale crackers and drinking curdled milk."
"Hey, it would've been impolite not to offer, right?"
"You're an idiot, Jordan." Carol said with a roll of her eyes. "Shouldn't you be...I dunno, zooming off soon?"
"I needed a bit to catch my breath. First, Vell and I popped in to see what was happening because I picked up the JL distress signal, we had to fight the Teen Titans..."
"Oh yeah. I heard about that. You made a real mess of New York."
"Oh har, har. I'd like to see you try this kind of thing."
"You have seen it. And I was better than you at it. I actually beat you a couple times."
"Okay, that was the memories of a Zamaron Queen possessing your body, by the way. Not you." Hal quipped, referring to the many occasions where Carol had been made a slave by an entity known as the Star Sapphire. The being resided within a stone of its namesake. It was an advanced device used to store the memories and personality of a long dead Queen of the planet Zamaron. After several run-ins with the Star Sapphire when it had control over Carol's body, Hal managed to destroy it by removing the matrix and shattering it. Ever since, neither Carol nor Hal had seen the entity.
"Excuses. So Titans?"
"Yeah...the Titans. We helped Flash out with them, then I figured out that tonnes of our guys are missing, so I flew around doing all kinds of fun stuff. Stopping car accidents, plane crashes, robberies, you name it. Was doing stuff over in Metropolis for a bit so...just stopped by to see the old digs again."
Carol sighed. "You work too much, Hal. You need a break."
"Which is why I'm here. In my apartment."
"You're going to leave again in like three minutes."
"Yeah. I need to." Hal said, engaging his uniform over his casual clothes as he stood.
Carol grimaced and swept a lock of her hair behind her ear. "When are you going to take time off to see Jim?"
"Eventually. It's not a good time right now. I just got done fighting General Zod in space, my best friend died out there for crying out loud, I come back and see that Earth's almost burnt down, I have Vell running interference on a planet that's completely alien to her, and now you're telling me that I need to go sit around someone's house for their benefit." Hal said a little too forcefully than he had intended.
Frowning, the dark-haired woman seized her handbag and coat. "I'm...sorry about your friend, Hal. No one else in Coast City knows more than me how hard it is to do what you do...but you need to listen. I was willing to let you go because it was the right thing to do for both of us. You're making a difference...and we both needed someone who could be there for us. But I never thought about what your family would have to go through if you drifted away from here. After we split, you were around even less. And I'm fine with that, but Jim and his family aren't. When won't you be busy, Hal?"
Jordan crossed his arms and waited for Carol to leave. Instead, she stood there waiting for an answer. Hal said "It was good to see you again, Carol." before he stepped onto the balcony and zipped off into the night sky.
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Hal just arrived at the Watchtower to see Vell, who had decided to meet him there after they were done conducting patrols. When Hal strode into the main control centre for the Watchtower, he spotted the all-too familiar Batman working away at the displays.
Hal jabbed "Man, I was really hoping you got mind-wiped."
"Funny." Bruce muttered.
Vell was seated in the corner, arms crossed. "Thank Forgtor's beard, kee'lavah. This guy's so cripplingly human it was starting to drive me insane. All those repressed emotions. Grakk. One of these days, he's going to burst."
"Tell me about it." Hal said. "Alright, so we mopped up for the missing. I covered Metropolis, Vell got Philly and Fawcett. What's next?"
"Flash, Kid Flash and Kaze are trying to find some hard evidence to tie this into what happened to the Titans." Bruce reported hoarsely. "There isn't anything else for you to do."
Hal leant onto one of the consoles as he asked. "Did Clark take care of Zod and the other two? Are they locked up in that secure facility he was telling me about?"
"It was the first thing he did when he came back."
Vell exhaled. "Well, praise the Lords for that."
"Okay...well...maybe there isn't anything for us to do now. But we've got a lot of manpower unaccounted for; that means you're short staffed. Are you sure?" Asked Hal.
"Yes. I may need you for an offensive once we've determined where the Danketsu's base of operations is." Bruce's low voice responded.
"You know the frequency, Bruce. Drop me a line and I'll be there."
As Hal pushed off the console and prepared to leave, a screen on the far side of the room caught his attention. He immediately paced over to it and gazed at the readings.
"Seeing something?" Batman asked.
Hal furrowed his brow as Vell stood behind him, propped her hands onto his shoulders and peered over them at the screen. He declared "Some energy surges in Metropolis. Not Earth tech."
"You recognise it?"
"Yeah...and it's not good news. These signatures are an exact match of what the Zamarons called the 'predator wave'. Emanations of the artefact that contained the consciousness of their last Queen...the Star Sapphire."
Vell, appearing both worried and eager for a fight all at once, said "I thought you destroyed it."
"Me too."
Batman spun around in his chair to face Hal after tapping a few keys and gazing at a monitor. "The Hall of Justice is under attack...I'd say that's no coincidence."
"Hall of Justice?" Vell asked.
"The base of operations for our peace keeping organisation. It's in the same city those readings are coming from." Bruce explained begrudgingly. "I don't have anyone else on hand to respond."
Hal stepped away from the console and gestured for Vell to follow him to the airlock. "We'll handle it. She's trying to lure me in...and so far, it's working. Come on, Rook. Time to fly."
"Technically, I'm not a rookie anymore." Vell shot, mischievously.
"Compared to me, you are."
The pair promptly launched into Earth's orbit from the Watchtower, their rings protecting them from the vacuum, the heat of re-entry, and the cosmic background radiation around them.
"You need a briefing on the Star Sapphire?"
Vell cocked her head. "Not really, but maybe some of your firsthand experience will give me some insight."
"Okay, so as you know, the Sapphire is an advanced piece of technology, almost like a GL power ring. When brought into physical contact with a biologically sufficient host, the Sapphire will connect to the host's brain through the nervous system and project the consciousness of the Zamaron queen into the body. Once that's done, she'll have complete physical control over the host, be capable of energy projection, flight, enhanced strength, and enhanced speed. The key is to remove the Sapphire from physical contact with the host. Since she's back, I'm assuming someone repaired the matrix."
"The Queen...she's infatuated with you, right? Wanted you as a mate?" Vell remarked with great amusement.
Hal rolled his eyes. "Yeah. She's my personal stalker. I beat her a couple of times when she possessed Carol in the past. The Zamaron Queen seemed to like that kind of thing...they're some kind of warrior society."
"Carol? As in your ex-girlfriend?"
"Yeah."
"Wow. Talk about close to home." Vell whistled. "Do you know if Carol's the host? I guess it doesn't really matter. Either way, this sounds like a thirty twenty-nine...and I hate thirty twenty-nines."
A Code 3029 signified a situation where an innocent being was being dominated by another party and forced into criminal actions against their will. That meant that the physical offender was innocent and had to be brought into custody by participating Green Lantern officers without any severe injury.
"I hope it's not her...but yeah, we won't know until we see her."
The two Green Lanterns arrived at the crime scene; the imposing Hall of Justice building. In front of it were unoccupied police cars, their sirens still whirling and howling in the night. The bodies of police officers were littered about the ground. Hal instantly scanned their vitals. "Dammit." He muttered.
Vell, without the need for instruction, willed a dozen floating medical stretchers into existence and began to scoop up the unresponsive police officers. "Life signs aren't good, but they're all alive. I'll take them to the nearest medical facility. You should open a channel to their command structure, tell them to keep the rest of their operatives away."
Hal, impressed by what he thought was a sudden step-up in attitude from his girlfriend, nodded to her. "Good thinking. Snap to it, Sentry."
"Yes, sir." Vell responded with a wink, surrounded by hovering platforms that securely held the injured police. She then zipped off and out of sight.
Hal then opened a direct channel to Metropolis PD. "Metropolis Central, this is Green Lantern. I have a situation at the Hall of Justice involving an extra-terrestrial threat. I'm advising you guys to keep your people out of the area until I've handled the situation. Set message to loop."
With the injured cops out of the way, Hal flew closer to the Hall of Justice. The front doors had been blown off, and Hal's ring detected trace amounts of predator wave radiation. When he entered, the lights were dim and he instantly saw the Star Sapphire's host body seated on the reception desk.
Like GL rings, the Star Sapphire would create attire for the wearer by converting energy to matter. The Sapphire recreated traditional Zamaron regal wear, which was a violet unitard, long gloves, a pair of knee-high boots, and a matching violet crown. The unitard revealed a great amount of cleavage and skin. When Hal finally moved his eyes from the woman's body to her face, he cursed as his fears were realised. "Good to see you, Your Highness. Now let her go."
Star Sapphire laughed as she cocked her head seductively. "Oh good, I knew you'd show up eventually. You can't resist her, can you? I know the feeling. She's much too beautiful to give up."
Hal swallowed, not exactly comfortable with hearing his ex-girlfriend firstly speak like she was reading from the script of a shitty adult film, and secondly reveal the fact that the Sapphire has no idea that Hal cares more about someone else now.
Suddenly, he noticed something. Something was missing from the Sapphire's outfit. It was the Sapphire itself. It was nowhere to be seen. "How are you here? I shattered the matrix."
"You spend enough time inside someone's mind, and you begin to leave behind traces." The Sapphire explained with her unmistakable low, seductive tone. "I didn't need that silly trinket anymore. I'm a part of her now...and we both want you."
"You somehow...migrated from the Sapphire into Carol's body..."
"Oh, I love it when you start figuring things out. You get so...mm." The Sapphire said, licking her lips. "I was buried in her subconscious until you triggered some of her pathetic human emotions today. I managed to take advantage of this and wrestle control from her. I'm never going to give it back. I can be with you now. I never have to leave again."
This statement made it obvious to Hal that the Sapphire didn't retain Carol's memories...or she would've known about Hal's relationship with Vell.
Hal started to think it all over. Carol's body was now radiating predator waves, meaning that the Queen didn't only imbed her memories within Carol, but the very energy that powered her neural activity. Human physiology wasn't designed to constantly conduct streams of volatile particles like that. If Hal didn't find a way to relinquish the Sapphire's hold on Carol...she could die from overexposure. "Let her go, it's me you want."
Star Sapphire hopped off the table and caressed herself as she smirked at the Green Lantern. "Yes...I want you so much. But I need a body for what I want to do to you....and this is the one you want, isn't it?"
Hal feigned an angry huff. "Don't talk about her like she's some object."
"She is an object, darling. You're above her. You're above everyone else on this pathetic world. You bested me, a Queen of the Zamarons, in combat many times. You've...rightfully won the right to bed me." Said Star Sapphire as she leant onto the table once again. "If you take my hand in marriage, we will rule over Zamaron together."
Hal curled his hands into fists. "Zamaron's forgotten you. They've moved on. Found another less psychotic queen. You're nothing but a ghost now, you hear me?" He said as he slowly paced around the Hall, trying to stall Sapphire until Vell returned. Two GLs would be able to make short work of her by taking her off-balance. "They don't care about you anymore."
"You really need to stop talking, my sweet." Sapphire snarled, hurling a bolt of pure pink energy at Hal, whose personal shielding diffracted like it was nothing but a flashlight. Even Hal was shocked by the anti-climatic attack, but not as much as the Star Sapphire.
And with that, the Sapphire's narcissistic smile instantly dropped. "N-No...you can't...you haven't." She hissed.
"Ah shit." Hal muttered, just realising what his foe had discovered. The Star Sapphire, as well as containing the mind of the previous Queen of Zamaron, was a directed energy weapon with a neural trigger, exactly like a Green Lantern power ring. The key difference was that GL rings ran on an energy source of ion, and the Sapphire on the predator waves. Also, much like how ion particles thrived on signals emitted by most organic brains when they exercised willpower, predator waves were stimulated when exposed to brain patterns that resulted from a being feeling love. The effect mirrored something like throwing a log onto a fire or dousing it with gasoline; it increased the energy output. Star Sapphire, who was used to how Carol's body acted as a predator wave conduit years ago when she and Hal were madly in love, instantly felt the decrease in power discharge. From that, she deducted that Carol's love for Hal had waned...and she was no longer the most effective host for her mission to subdue the Green Lantern.
With that, she fired a burst of energy at Hal, who managed to engage evasive manoeuvres just in time to spin free of the vicious attack. "Who is it!? Who do you lust for now!?"
Hal blasted her with a small burst of ion and gasped when the blast catapulted Carol's body off her feet and into the reception desk behind her. The table was split in two as Star Sapphire barrelled through it, her overall durability lessened due to the lack of supportive brain signals.
"Carol...!" Hal snarled under his breath. Hal's ring buzzed, indicating that Vell had just returned to the area of operations. He kept his eyes pinned on the stunned Sapphire as Vell formed up at Hal's side.
"Okay let's do this. I'll knock her down, you pull the matrix off."
Hal stuck a hand out, stopping Vell from stepping any closer. "Change of plans, hot stuff. Long story short, the Sapphire isn't as powerful as it was before..."
"Good. Right?"
"Not really. Her shielding is reduced too. I only hit her with a ten percent blast."
"Great. So we can't even fight her just a little bit?" Vell asked.
"Nope. She's barely being protected by the predator waves...barely. We could kill Carol with a one percent shot if we're not careful."
Carol stumbled to her feet, clutching her head. "H-Hal? I'm trying to...fight her! She's not as strong...I...I-I think I can control it for now!"
"Alright, no problem. All we have to do is detach the matrix--"
"There's no more matrix, Vell." Hal interjected. "The Queen...somehow transferred herself over before I destroyed it. It was never repaired."
Vell's face dropped. "Oh grakk. Really?"
Hal then rushed over to Carol who was about to fall over in exhaustion. Hal caught her before the tumble and said "Are you alright?"
Carol's face was scrunched in pain for a few seconds before it smoothed. Her eyes opened, and their green glimmering irises locked onto Hal's. "I...I think I'm going to be alright. I-I managed to hold her back last time...I think I've worked up a r-resistance. She's...not in control anymore."
Hal laughed in relief "Oh thank God..." He slowly lowered her onto the floor and propped her back up against a wall.
Vell ran a facial recognition scan, which matched the Sapphire's likeness with Carol Ferris. She gulped as her expression dropped. "Uh. Hal... The potency decrease...it's because of the emotional reactions of the host, right? You guys don't love each other as much as you used to...and that means Carol isn't a nurturing environment for the Sapphire anymore. I am."
"You aren't. I had to explain to you what love was the other day, you can't possibly feel it if you don't understand it."
The Bekkorian responded "But...maybe it's like that empathy thing. Maybe we do feel it but we never had a name for it."
Carol froze and stared into the distance. "No...no, no. S-She's...seeping away. I can...barely feel her. She's...leaving me...! You have to run, Vell! The Queen, she could take you any second!" The human woman begged.
Vell took a few steps back, unsure of what to do.
Hal blinked rapidly. "C-Carol, calm down! She can't be the Sapphire's target! She can't!"
"No! I can't calm down, Hal! I can't let it put someone else through this! Kill me! Kill me before it leaves!"
Hal, horrified, froze. His ring's once bright light began to dull slightly. "I'm not going to kill you! Please, stop it!"
Carol grabbed Hal by the collar as the uniform that the Star Sapphire had manifested for her began to dissipate. "You don't know what it's like, Hal...! To have that...that thing d-drive you around! I-I don't want anyone else to have to know what it's like!"
"It's too late." Vell muttered, watching the outfit fade away. "I...I'm going to get as far away as I can. Maybe...maybe with all that time, you can figure out how to contain me."
"Vell, stop being stupid!" Hal cried. It was useless, as the Bekkorian ignored his words and took off into the air like a missile.
Carol screamed in pain as a violet cloud of mist seeped out of her skin and into the air. The vapor-like particles jittered about in the air like a miniature lightning storm before it shot out of the Hall of Justice, bearing down on Vell's trajectory.
Hal stood and jogged for the exit, until he stopped himself. He glanced back at Carol, who was alone, naked, and covered in sweat with tears streaming down her face.
"G-Go!" She stammered. "P-Please. Save her."
The Green Lantern gritted his teeth as he stood there momentarily. He forged a blanket with his power ring and wrapped it around Carol's body. "Not before I save you."
"But Hal...s-she's going to be taken."
Hal lifted Carol off the ground gently.
"You're right. But there's nothing we can do about it. As much as her being out there alone terrifies me...I trust her to make it through because she's a Green Lantern. That's what we do; we make it through."