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Green Lantern
The Fellowship of Justice
From Tom Kalmaku's Green Lantern Casebook: June 1986:
G.L. had not been very busy in June until he was suddenly and violently thrust into a new adventure with his friends from the JLA. It would take him to a realm that was both far away and very close at the same time!
***
Hal Jordan had been reading a well worn copy of Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring when a phone call shook him from his relaxtion. He picked up the receiver and answered in his usual assured tone.
"Hello?" he said.
"Hal, this is Bruce. I received your message that you left with Alfred. I also did some checking, and April and Clay Kendall sound like two worthy individuals. I'm sure the Foundation could offer two gifted scientists some help, especially if they are friends of yours!" said an equally confident voice.
Hal smiled. "Thanks a lot! I'll put you in touch with them. April sounded upset when she called me before. She said Clay was desperate for funds for his experiments with the psi-chair. I'd hoped a certain kind hearted and deep pocketed buddy of mine could help!"
Bruce Wayne replied, "I'm glad to do it. Anything that could benefit mankind will always gain my support. I like to help out in ways that don't involve certain physical activities, too!"
A loud roar echoed through the phone as Bruce called out, "Hal! What is it?"
Hal had turned to find a huge hairy yellow creature looming over him. There was no sign of forced entry into his apartment. He moved forward, only to fall as one huge paw swiped across his brow and knocked him cold. The beast sniffed and grunted and picked up the stunned pilot in powerful arms. Both of them vanished miraculously.
***
By that time, Bruce Wayne's costumed alter ego of Batman was rapidly transporting via the JLA satellite's equipment from Gotham City to the fabled JLA HQ and down to Coast City. From there, it took the Caped Crusader mere moments to reach his friend's home in his normal silent and unseen fashion.
G.L.'s signal device is not registering. That means he has been abducted by someone with the technology or the magic to cloak it. That roar was inhuman. Odd, a strange odor and yellow fibers! he mused as he bent low and scanned the floor of Jordan's empty apartment. I've encountered that odor, before but I can't pinpoint exactly when. Perhaps back at the Bat-Cave lab I can find the answers I need, he thought.
***
Meanwhile, in Ivy Town, a dark beauty was awakened by a sudden noise. Jean Loring slipped on a white robe and slippers and padded softly out of her room in search of the noise's source.
"Must be the cat. She always makes the rounds at midnight! Just what this weary lawyer needs on the night before facing that McBeal woman in court. Bags under my eyes won't help the judge forget her usual outfits, and old Judge Warner has an eye for the ladies regardless of the case in question!" she sighed.
Jean gasped as she entered the living room and saw a mysterious figure in a white cloak and hood. "Who--who are you?" she demanded.
The figure in white whirled about and raised her hands in a gesture of peace. "I mean no harm! I seek the Fellowship of Justice. Mistress, can you lead me to those I seek? After so many eons, is there hope that ev'n immortals like the Archer, the Winged Paladin, the Lady Songbird, the Ebon Knight, and the Wind Golem still live?" she asked in a soft but lilting tone.
Jean brushed one errant lock of hair out of her eyes and groaned. "I think I can contact the people you want." She grabbed the phone, dialed, and spoke quickly into the receiver. "Carter, Jean. I need your help!"
***
Soon the cloaked woman faced several colorful costumed figures aboard the JLA satellite.
Green Arrow turned to Hawkman and frowned. "So, what's with the APB? Molting season hittin' you hard?"
Hawkman smiled slightly and said, "Green Arrow, Jean Loring called me when this lady arrived in her home. After talking to her, I brought her here and summoned you, Canary, Reddy, and Batman. However, our friend from Gotham City is an atypical no-show!"
Black Canary crossed her legs and smiled encouragingly at the cloaked woman. "Hawkman, I see why you wanted us in particular. That cloak comes from the realm within the microcosmos that we all visited once before. In fact, you are Krystal Kaa, aren't you?" she said.
The cloaked woman tossed back her hood to reveal the lovely, delicate features and platinum-blonde mane of hair so associated with their former ally. "'Tis my name, but I am not she of whom you speak. She was my honored ancestor. The records of her reign eons ago show that immortals from the Upper Realm secured her throne when the tyrant Goltha and his evil daughter Kass'andra usurped her throne in our city of L'Arra sha!" she said proudly.
Red Tornado said, "Recall how the passage of time greatly differed between that realm and our own. While by our calculations it has only been a short amount of time since our quest to rescue Atom from that microcosmos, to those within the subatomic lands, eons have passed!"
Green Arrow nodded. "Right. I get the concept, but seeing is believing, and this woman looks jusy like her ancestor!"
She smiled and said, "So it has been shown by gazing at our ancestral portrait gallery. Like that Krystal Kaa of old, I too, need your help in regaining our throne."
Black Canary said, "We shall help you. Is the danger coming from some heir to Goltha?"
The pink hued princess shook her head. "Nay! Tis a mighty wizard who rules our world with power unshaken by any! He holds the ultimate power over us all. He only gives our poor realm sunlight!"
Red Tornado said, "During our brief time there your realm was illuminated by a star of considerable magnitude. However, perhaps it has indeed weakened over eons, and this wizard's magic now is your only source of light."
Green Arrow said, "Figures. Some guy in power wants to lord it over the ordinary folks. It doesn't matter if they wear suits or capes, dictators are the same all over, and they make this bowman angry!"
Steel looked up from the monitor board where he had been sitting apart from the others. "Guys, Batman is beaming up!" he said.
The Caped Crusader appeared and said, "I was delayed because I wanted to complete some tests. Green Lantern has been abducted by a creature from the microcosmos, and I see this visitor confirms my theory that that subatomic world is the source of our enemy."
Green Arrow blanched and said, "Some creep got the Lantern? Well, let's get moving!"
Batman smiled grimly. "My sentiments exactly. When we last visited that world, we were allied with Krystal Kaa's friends in the Siren Sisterhood, one of whom influenced a beastman called Mule. Fur I found in G.L.'s apartment matched that of Mule's species of mutation; however, unlike our dark furred ally this creature was genetically engineered to have yellow fur. I'd say that means our enemy comes from our realm and has a grudge against either our G.L. or a Green Lantern. He also used the time difference to breed and create the species with yellow fur. That suggests patience and malice of a high level!"
Krystal Kaa nodded. "Tis so. The Wizard traffics in such creations! He must hate your friend as well!"
Green Arrow slammed his fist into one palm. "Well, I'm not too fond'a the Wiz myself!"
***
Meanwhile, in that mystical city of L'Arra Sha, four women in golden armor battled with a group of black armored warriors.
"You infernal females! The Wizard will be pleased to see more of your Sisterhood in chains!" roared a bearded man with a heavy sword.
The nearest woman spun around and kicked the blade out of his grip. "He'll have a long wait ere that day dawns!" she shouted.
She fought furiously and called to her sisters as the battle raged. "Z'na, Gabr'le, Val'da! Fight on!" she screamed.
Before the skilled women could celebrated their sudden victory over the beaten warriors, a handsome knight rode up and swiftly stunned them all in rapid succession with a series of precisely delivered blows from a spinning metal disk.
The men staggered to their feet and cheered their hero. "Well done! Tis another victory for Haljor the Ring Slinger!" cried one.
The brown haired man caught the spinning disk and nodded. "Take them to the castle. Our work is done."
He frowned as one of the dark haired maidens was carried away. "Caris? Carol?" he muttered with a confused look on his noble features.
***
In a small clearing within a dark forest within the Realm rested a tiny camp site. Krystal Kaa and her few allies had made the glade their base. She tossed back her platinum hair and led the JLAers forward to meet her friends.
"The quest was a success! I give you the Immortals of Legend!" she said.
Cheers rose up from fifty men and women who lurked within the forest.
"The Wind Golem!" gasped one small man as he saw the whirling lower part of Red Tornado's body as the the android landed.
"Aye! Tis the Wind Golem and the Archer and all the rest!" declared a woman with silvery hair and a wrinkled face.
"Sister Light?" asked Black Canary as she drew closer to the old woman.
"Mother Light is my name now, my Beauty! My days have been long and dark of late, but seeing you all after so very long gives this old woman hope!" she cried.
Green Arrow whistled low and whispered to Hawkman. "That's the pretty doll we met last time! She's gotta be over a hundred years old!"
Hawkman nodded. "So? I'm nearly that old myself."
Green Arrow snorted and sighed. "Yeah, I know. Don't get cocky about it, Gramps!"
Batman said, "Notice how cold it is? This world is lacking a true sun. That dim glow above us offers light but little true warmth!"
Black Canary shivered and stepped closer to Green Arrow. "It's true! The realm lacks a true sun. This magical world is so different from the scientific world from which we came!"
Mother Light said, "True enough. Once we had a glorious sun, but it died and only the fiend called the Wizard was able to offer us a substitute before all life was lost! He was given the throne because we had no other choice! Then, as his tyranny grew worse with each morning, we sought help from your world. I alone recalled the means by which such a trip could be made, but none were able to make such a perilous quest and return 'til the true heir of Krystal Kaa reached maturity."
Krystal nodded sadly. "My sire and his before him both died in their efforts to breach the barrier twixt worlds. I alone have done so and lived. Tis something in my metabolism."
Batman replied, "No doubt it was something about the manner of your summoning us that enabled us to retain our memories. I'd prepared for the possible loss of memory via certain hypnotic precautions, but they proved needless."
Hawkman smiled. "And I had prepared a link to the Absorbascan that proved equally needless."
Black Canary said, "We need to find Green Lantern, provide this realm with some magical sun, and defeat the Wizard. Any ideas?"
Green Arrow smiled and took her hand. "Pretty Bird, I'd say Bats has a few ideas judging by his expression!"
Batman nodded. "I suggest we locate the Ikaara Staff as a start."
Krystal Kaa's eyes widened in surprise. "The Staff! Tis a legend not unlike yourselves! The Staff may be the stuff of myth!"
Mother Light shook her head. "No, child it exists! I saw it myself in days of old. I know the Green Knight is said to possess it in his dark keep!"
Green Arrow said, "Hold it, sister!"
"Mother," corrected the elderly lady.
"Mother, sister, second cousin! This green knight sounds like our buddy. He works for this crumb the Wizard? I bet G.L. has the same memory loss we all suffered when we first came here to Oz!" he cried.
Batman nodded. "That's why we need to get into this Keep. We can get the Staff and rescue the Lantern!"
Hawkman said, "You think the magical staff might serve to replace the magic that fueled the dead sun!"
Batman agreed readily. "That's my hope."
Krystal Kaa said, "The Green Knight is a warrior of peril! He is known as Haljor!"
Black Canary said, "Hear that? Do we really need any more evidence?"
Red Tornado said, "I suggest we make haste!"
Green Arrow nodded. "Couldn't have said it better myself, Go-bot!"
***
That evening a group of armored knights emerged from the woods to see a pretty blonde woman reclining by a pool of water. They grinned and silently closed in on their victim.
"Wench! You'll be needing company at this hour in such lonely woods!" said their captain.
The Black Canary smiled and pursed her lips as she drew nearer to the armored figures. She waited until she was within a certain range of the smirking men and then she sang! Her canary cry flattened them like ten-pins, and she gently rubbed her hands together as though satisfied at the completion of a task. "Actually, I have company!" she said.
Green Arrow emerged and handed her her jacket. "Nice work! Now, we suit up," he announced.
Batman, Hawkman, and Red Tornado followed him out of the shadows and began to remove the armor from the beaten warriors.
"Now for the old Trojan Horse gambit!" said Hawkman.
The Keep of the Green Knight was a grim structure that towered over the slopes that led down into the forest. The Wizard and his champion received few visitors of the willing variety. Instead the dark old castle housed many prisoners who had dared to oppose the rule of the evil magic user and his valiant warrior.
Three armored men approached and shoved the Black Canary and Hawkman forward.
The Canary frowned in irritation. I know Carter and Ollie are friends now, but I think he shoved Hawkman a bit harder than was strictly necessary! she thought.
Hawkman remained impassive as his disguised JLA allies led him inside the Keep. It was easier for me to join Dinah as a supposed captive than shed my wings and wear that bulky armor to pose as one of the Wizard's men. This way I can take the high ground as needed! he mused.
They entered a huge hallway and slowly approached various guardposts until they were allowed to enter the main reception hall where two figures stood on a raised platform.
"That's G.L.!" hissed Green Arrow as he nudged Batman. The Caped Crusader nodded and drew something unseen out of his heavy cloak.
Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern, had indeed suffered from amnesia upon being abducted into the microcosmos by the yellow furred creature. He had been convinced to serve as the knight for the Wizard who used magic and a keen awareness of Jordan's psychological composition to position himself as one who, in Hal's deluded eyes, nobly ruled with a firm hand and a band of peace keeping soldiers.
Black Canary whispered to the others. "His ring has no charge since, from his point of view, he has been here for so very long! He's using some ring-like glaive as a weapon!"
Green Arrow said, "Not when I get through to him!" He whipped out his concealed bow and released three shafts in rapid order. The green arrows soared toward the line of guards and a net of heavy fiber expanded to snare many of the unsuspecting troops.
Hawkman flew higher and swooped down to tumble another group to the floor where his skilled use of a mace left them stunned and battered. Black Canary flipped agilely through the air and landed with both high-heeled boots squarely thrust into the nearest pair of guards. She delivered a spinning high kick that left them dazed. Red Tornado swept back the other onlookers with his own tightly controlled whirlwind. Batman slipped silently into the shadows and still clutched some unseen object.
As guards screamed and weapons clashed, the shadowy Wizard stayed calm and allowed his Green Knight to rush into battle. Green Lantern raised his glaive and frowned as an arrow knocked it spinning out of his grasp.
"Lantern! It's me! Green Arrow! We've come to rescue you! You have to remember!" yelled the Battling Bowman.
Green Lantern hesitated and said, "Arrow? I can't quite recall. Do I know you?"
Arrow grasped his arm. "Think man! Carol, Kalmaku, Ferris! Oa!"
Green Lantern frowned and said, "Something about you all seems familiar! Still, all those who would defy the Guar -- the Wizard must be brought to justice!"
He clipped his friend with a sudden right as Batman swiftly closed in on the struggling pair and gripped the deluded Green Lantern in a full nelson.
"Arrow, put his hand to the battery I'd handed you! I brought it from his place before!" commanded Batman.
Green Arrow grabbed the power battery and grinned as contact with Green Lantern's ring caused it to emit a slight glow. "We can't get you to say it, but maybe I can say it and help you remember! In brightest day...!" began the Arrow as he recited his friend's oath.
Green Lantern could not break Batman's hold, but slowly he stopped trying to do so. As the words of his oath filled his ears and the ring was recharged, Green Lantern's awesome will power broke through the mental walls. "Great Guardians! I've been under some spell! Thank you all for freeing me!" he said. Batman shook hands with his friend as the Lantern clasped Green Arrow's arm as well.
"Now, about this Wizard!" declared a determined Green Lantern.
The small bald figure on the platform scowled in rage as his old foe faced him. "My magics made you the perfect ally. I'll soon restore the status quo!" he vowed.
Green Lantern flew forward and said, "Not if I can stop you, Myrwhydden, and I've done so often enough in the past!"
Green Arrow whistled softly. "So that's who the creep is! He's the crumb who used to be trapped in your ring!"
***
Meanwhile, Black Canary rolled across the floor and scattered a line of troops as Red Tornado raced through the Keep at top speed. He met little resistance, but then he had another purpose in mind. He reached the top walls and swiftly picked up a woman who waited in the shadows below.
"Krystal Kaa! You reached the Keep in record time considering the rugged path you took!" he said as he carried the pink hiued beauty inside.
"Aye! I knew that only such a seldom used path could lead me this close without drawing down the guards!" she said.
The Red Tornado nodded and brought her to the scene of battle! Green Lantern had created a huge cage to hold back the guards while he and his allies faced Myrwhydden!
"How'd the little worm get out of your ring?" asked Green Arrow.
Green Lantern said, "He had already been removed by the Guardians. They placed him in what they call a sciencell before the Crisis. How he got away from them is a good question!"
Hawkman scooped up the discarded glaive and said, "Ironic of him to arm you with a ring shaped weapon. Still, I think he had more of a purpose than mere mockery. These gems look like the ones that lined the Ikaara Staff!
Myrwhydden said, "Indeed they are, Winged One, indeed they are! Little good shall they do one such as you."
Hawkman smiled defiantly. "Then I'd best give them to their proper owner!" He soared skyward and met the Tornado and Krystal Kaa! She eagerly caught the glaive, and at her touch pink energy radiated from the weapon and caused Myrwhydden to shudder.
"That cursed wench! She is breaking down all my magical creations! I thought to keep the stones from any of her ilk by giving them to the one warrior I felt could never fall!" he shrieked.
Krystal Kaa said, "Sirrah! I shall do more than destroy your spells! I shall rekindle our sun!"
Green Lantern nodded and said, "Let's just do that little thing after I get some answers from our short friend here!"
Myrwhydden cringed in fear as the Ikara stones robbed him of his powers. "I'm not defenseless. I have my pets!" he cried. He gestured to the door, where a dozen of the heavly furred creatures rushed inside at his call.
"Those are the creatures mutated from Mule!" called Black Canary as she prepared to sing. Her sonic cry stopped them in their tracks!
"They like Canary's pipes!" said Green Arrow.
The Blonde Bombshell slowly moved across the chamber and the mesmerized beasts followed her docilely. Nice to think this cry can do more than break things! she thought.
Batman said, "Some tranquilizing pellets will help put them to sleep!" He rolled the pellets into the path of the creatures, and in moments they dozed. "Almost emptied the whole supply, but it's worth it," he said.
Hawkman said, "And I thought you could carry an entire cave's load of gear in that belt!"
Batman grinned. "That's my other belt."
Green Lantern said, "Myrwhydden, you were in a science cell on Oa, but you still had some link to my ring, didn't you? That's how you were able to escape the cell. You could not go any other place, but you could return to the interior of my ring."
The wizened dwarf nodded. "Exactly. From there I was able to escape when you put Dr. Light inside the ring. Her powers allowed her to ride out the light beam during its next use. I enslaved her immediately, and from your world we entered this microcosmos. I had studied such realms during my time within your ring's tiny universe!"
Green Arrow said, "So where's Dr. Light?"
Hawkman replied, "I think that poor woman has been serving as Myrwhydden's living sun all this time! He dampened the spells that fueled their natural sun and forced her to serve in its place. Now I hope the Ikaara gems can do so in her place!"
Myrwhydden shrugged. "Without my spells to dampen the magical sun of this realm, it will likely rekindle as well!"
Green Lantern said, "So after you forced your way into ruling this realm, you bred those monsters and sent one to capture me. Since time passes so differently here, you had all the time you needed."
The beaten wizard sighed. "Correct. I also knew that Krystal Kaa's heirs like that wench could invoke magic from the gems, so I took them and hid them in the glaive with which I armed you as my champion!"
Green Lantern said, "Well, I'll soon free Dr. Light and, with Krystal's help, use the gems to restore the sun spell!"
In a surprisingly short time, the Emerald Champion had been as good as his word. A weary Dr. Light was freed from the magic sphere above, and a new sun glowed warmly in her place.
"I have been possessed by the other Dr. Light. I have been enslaved by this fiend. My pride and my honor are offended. I will complete the project that brought me to America, and then I will never return!" vowed the Japanese woman.
Green Lantern said, "You can't blame a nation for the actions of people like Art Light and the wizard. He's not even from Earth." Dr. Light merely snorted in disdain.
Krytal Kaa said, "My Siren Sisterhood will soon have all the rebels who served Myrwhydden in custody. How may I thank you all?"
Batman said, "It's simply what we do. Rule wisely with justice and mercy, and that will be payment enough!"
Green Lantern said, "Restarting that sun was the least I could do after serving as a goon for Myrwhydden for so long. He's back in my ring, by the way. He won't have Dr. Light's powers to help him escape again, and the only way out will put him back in a sciencell!"
Black Canary smiled. "Next time we visit here I hope it won't be in search of a lost friend."
Green Arrow smiled back. "You know it, Pretty Bird. Think what that kind of thing says about the local chamber of commerce. The Sisterhood needs a good P.R. guy!"
Muted laughter greeted his comment as the Bowman shrugged in defense.