Ult. GL Corps #7 - When In Warworld Pt. 3

[liquidsword34]

Ultimate Green Lantern Corps #7
When In Warworld Part 3 of 4

Mongul II's weapon hisses at Hal like a pouncing cobra as the emperor's son's finger hovers over the trigger. Surrounding Hal and Sinestro are at least three-dozen aliens of all shapes and sizes, staring angrily at them, some even wielding weapons of their own. Sinestro readies his ring but stands firm as Hal backs away slowly, putting more distance between himself and the hulking behemoth which he faces. "We're not here to hurt you, we just want to take you back to your father".

"And why is that?", Mongul II asks as he lowers his weapon, somewhat intrigued by Hal's statement.

"He said you had been kidnapped, we're here to bring you to safety".

Mongul II stares at Hal with piercing eyes for a few seconds before his vicious frown turns into a smirk. "Well, that is a new one. I suppose you Green Lanterns are all about justice and such, so it would've been easier than simply paying you to kidnap me with the true story, correct?"

"We do not take bribes", Sinestro states, "and we do not work for your father out of choice. He has kidnapped children of a friend of ours and will only release them once we bring you back to him. But, all things considered", Sinestro looks at the men surrounding them, all standing by Mongul II's side, "I suppose there is a side to this story we are missing".

"There is indeed", Mongul II finally lowers his gun all the way and turns, gesturing for Hal and Sinestro to follow him.

***

Klongun the rat king and Mongul the emperor of War World walk side by side down a long marble hallway, with a red carpet running from end to end and sculptures of many of the universes's various aliens adorning the corridor in the form of sculptures and busts.

"Youuuu promised me blood", Klongun hisses, sending spittle from his rabid jaw down onto his red waistcoat style garment. "On my planet, not providing bloodsssport before purchasing an item is vvviewed as vvvery disrespectful".

"I assure you, Klongun, no disrespect was intended", Mongul firmly replies in his usual regal tone, "the combatants were not as receptive to gladiatorial combat as I would have liked".

"Yesss, well, I assume you will be providing me with sssuitable entertainment sssoon or I will be ssselling the weapon to a different bidder".

"You assume correctly", Mongul reaches the end of the corridor and opens the enormousness, wooden double doors, revealing a wide open balcony looking down onto Warworld's arena. In the centre of the arena stands a troll of sorts, with leathery grey skin, hulking shoulders, jagged yellow teeth protruding from beneath it's rotting lips and limbs as thick and long as the marble columns which hold up Mongul's palace. As the crowd made up of thousands of bloodthirsty aliens screams and shouts the troll patrols the arena, occasionally grunting.

"Isss this it? A sssimple beast?", Klongun hisses, prompting Mogul to raise his hand. As he does so, the entire arena begins to shake, prompting a smirk to appear on the emperor's lips. A black dot begins to circle the arena, creating obnoxiously loud revving noises like a rusty chainsaw which can be heard from miles away. The dot circles the arena a few more times, too far away for anybody to really make out what it is. Suddenly, the dot's pitch changes. It dive bombs towards the arena at such velocity fire starts to emit from the speeding object, putting the crowd into a frenzy.

"Whhhat is this?", Klongun mutters as he leans over the balcony, peering at the object with a mix of confusion and interest. Before the troll has time to turn the object slams into the ground behind it, revealing itself to be a Harley-Davidson style motorbike, albeit at least five times larger than normal and decorated with rusted away, tacky looking chains and heavy metal decals. The troll looks down at the bike in confusion, not noticing the eight foot barbarian stood behind him wielding an oversized machete, almost too large to hold. In one swing the leather clad, white skinned, deadlocked biker cuts through the troll's torso as easy as if it were butter. The audience roars like rabid beasts as blood spurts out from the wounded creature and the attacker raises its arms in celebration.

"This, my friend, is Lobo", Mongul wraps an arm around the stunned rat king as Lobo soaks up the crowds affection. It's difficult to tell which parts of Lobo's appearance are due to his alien origin and which are decorations are costume, with black face paint around his deep red eyes, gigantic black boots, tight leather biker's pants and a matching jacket with "BASTICH" across the back in pieces of shrapnel, naturally jet black. To finish off the outfit, Lobo's jacket, pants and pretty much every other item of clothing are coated in pouches, amounting to at least two-dozen of the things. Lobo's proportions are almost freakishly strange, with tiny feet like a ballerina in contrast to his hair coated arms with gigantic muscles sticking out where there should be none in a way which makes Popeye look mundane.

"Isss this a joke? He looksss pitiful", Klongun snarls. "Yourrr fighter is ridiculous!".

"Ridiculous?", Mongul murmurs in disbelief. "Do you not see the strength he possesses in his upper arms? Do you not see the number of pouches he carries into battle, filled to the brim with equipment to slay his foes? Look at his blade, why, it's glorious!"

"It isss extravagant, but no replacement forrr a true warrior's spirit".

"Warrior's spirit? Lobo is the very definition of a warrior! He is the last of an extinct race, a troubled being chased by his demons where ever he goes!"

"As arree most of his kind, it seems", Klongun spits. "Buttt, it seems he can fight, so if you provide me with morrre blood, our transaction may be initiated".

"Excellent!", Mongul proclaims as he puts as arm around Klongun, leading him away from the balcony.

***

"As you probably know", Mongul II sits down at a wooden table, gesturing for Hal and Sinestro to follow suit, "my father is an unstable tyrant". The trio are sat in a bar room sort of area, with the floors and walls being made of the same material. Mongul II looks completely relaxed, despite being so far from home.

"We've heard", Hal jokes.

"I recently left Warworld to join the resistance, in order to help over throw my father. Some of Warworld's escaped citizens and gladiators recruited anybody possible to our cause, and now we have amassed an army strong enough to fight back. For obvious reasons, father is not very happy about this, which I assume is why he lied to you and sent you after me. If I were brought back to Warworld, I would most likely be executed or mind wiped by my father".

"If your father wants you dead, why doesn't he just destroy this entire space sector?", Sinestro asks. "Or send his own men?"

"Send his own men and let it be known that I've defected? And if an entire sector got wiped out, too many questions would be asked, the truth would come out. With just a few Lanterns coming after me, he assumed it would all be hush hush. Trust me, even if you brought me in, you wouldn't leave Warworld alive".

"Well then, my question now is why did you wait so long to leave Warworld?", Hal cocks his head as he scans Mongul II, trying to see if he has caught out the titan on a lie, but spots no changes in Mongul's demeanour.

"While my father was just attacking smaller planets and hosting gladiatorial games, it was acceptable to me. We are warriors, it is our way. But my father intends to take it further. He is planning on expanding his empire at a gargantuan rate, destroying all in his path, starting with an attack on the Green Lantern Corps, might I add".

"How? I have fought your father many times, and he does not possess the resources nor combat skill to take on the Green Lantern Corps", Sinestro replies.

"Well, that is what I thought, until recently. An arms dealer known as Klongun arrived on Warworld not long ago I believe, looking to do business with my father. Klongun's kind takes joy in watching gladiatorial combat, so he and my father are a perfect match. My father wishes to buy a weapon known as Parallax, a sort of parasite which gives one almost unlimited power and the ability to put fear in the heart of anybody who stands against them, in exchange for their life. A suitable match for a group powered by their ability to overcome fear, no?".

"You are mistaken", Sinestro tells Mongul II flatly as he stands up. "Parallax is an old wives tale, used to scare rookie Corps members and idol children".

"Do we want to take that chance?", Hal whispers up to Sinestro, prompting his partner to pause for a second. Sinestro sighs and then turns, sitting back down at the table.

"Good. So we have a mutual interest - stopping my father. No-", Mongul II is cut off by the ground shaking, causing the table the trio are sat around to flip over and the wooden walls and floor to rattle.

"Mongul", a purple, gooey, humanoid creature bursts through the wooden door. Hal is surprised to hear the creatures thoughts directly inside his head, like they are being sent telepathically. "Your father's men must have followed these two here, we're being attacked from all angles!"

"You two are with me", Mongul II states as he strides from the small room, ducking under the doorframe as he does. "We're going to clear this rabble from our base, and then we're going to make my father regret his sins".

***

Jade, Obsidian, Alan Scott and Arisia sit side by side in their cell, slumped against the wall. The four are hungry, disgruntled and already tired of their conditions after only a few hours.

"You think your friends have found Mongul's son yet", Obsidian asks Alan.

"I hope so".

"Can't say I agree", the gruff voice of Lobo calls into the cell as the mammoth of an alien makes his way to the bars, a cigar hanging from his lips and his long dreadlocks hanging down over his scared face.

"Gene Simmons?", Jade shouts back to Lobo, making Alan and Obsidian laugh, forgetting their problems if only for a moment.

"Naw yah little pissant, it's the main man, Lobo. Aka the guy who'll be whoopin' yer ass tonight!"

"Who?", Arisia looks the angry mercenary up and down.

"Yer sayin' you've never heard of Lobo? The big cheese? The baddest man in the whole fraggin' universe?"

"Sorry, I don't think Love G-", Obsidian starts.

"SHUT YER TRAP SHADOW BOY!", Lobo roars, spittle flying from his lips as he does. "I've heard all dem types of jokes before from yew humans, an' they never get funnier!"

"But your outfit gets more hilarious every time we look at it", Alan cracks. Lobo unceremoniously flips the captives his middle finger before carrying on with his speech.

"Now I'm gettin' paid tew put on a show, so you four'd best not waste my time", Lobo snorts. "My time's premium stuff".

"Do you ever shut up?", Alan says while sighing.

"Not since ah was born", Lobo retorts. "I just came to tell yew pukebags who yah were fighting, thought yah might be honoured that the galaxy's greatest freelance genocidal maniac is gonna be the one to finish yah off!"

"Like I haven't heard that before", Alan retorts. "Every new one of you guys turns up with your over sized weapons and "in your face attitude" thinking you re-invented the wheel. You haven't, you're not the first psychopath I've faced and I'll be damned if you're the last. Your tough guy act may impress Mongul but you should know that Green Lanterns are made of sterner stuff".

Lobo screws up his face in anger, feeling a rising heat in his chest like steam, burning his insides in anger. He resists the urge to rip the cell open and instead backs away, leaving the captives to await their trial by combat once more.

***

Mongul II dives straight into the fray, attacking his father's mercenaries with unrivalled aggression. Using just his bare hands he punches through personal force fields,
deflects blades and crushes bodies like scrap metal under a hydraulic press. Hal and Sinestro float around the cavern, using their beams of green light to force Mongul's mercenaries into hand to hand combat with his sons rebels. At close range sheer willpower and brawn beats out the merc's better equipment, cutting them down one by one.

"Why are they here?", Hal says to Sinestro as they use walls of bright green light to funnel the mercenaries into close combat with the rebels.

"We've been inside for some time, they probably assumed we'd been defeated and went to plan B".

"Which is?", Hal creates a boxing glove with his ring and uses it to swat enemies away from his face with ease.

"Kill everybody", Sinestro follows suit, allowing the two of them to clear out handfuls of enemies at a time. "But Mongul could never have anticipated this level of resistance". Sinestro looks down at the hundred strong army, fighting tooth and nail to victory. "Not at all".

-To Be Continued-

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