Ultimate Star Sapphire #2 - "Full of Fright"

[Question]

Issue 2: Full of Fright
By Question

30 MINUTES AGO

Either Jessica Cruz was drunk or Coast City's streets were playing a terrible prank on her. She leaned on Jillian's shoulder as her friend did the same, supporting one another as the two tipsy young women stumbled down the street. They were laughing about something Jessica had long since forgotten; one of them had made a joke and the other had laughed, then the first laughed, and some time later they were just enjoying life.

It was a pleasant change.

It hadn't been the best of years for Jessica Cruz. Her parents had died just after the new year, and despite the abuse she'd suffered growing up she had still relied on them far too much as a young adult. The resulting depression had all but paralyzed her, and on top of that she'd flunked out of Central City University. The night after her official withdrawal from college, she'd found her boyfriend-

Well, it wasn't a sight that Jessica appreciated having permanently burned into her memory.

Jessica had desperately needed this night out. For too long, she'd spent entire days locked alone in her room, ignoring the outside world and not doing much of anything.

Luckily, Jessica's friend Jillian had moved to Coast City after graduation. Jillian was one of the few friends who apparently still cared about her old classmate; most of Jessica's friends had all but cut off contact once she'd cleared out her dorm.

Jillian was a godsend, though. When Jessica had sweetly but firmly declined Jillian's demand that she leave her apartment and join her for a night on the town, Jillian had actually picked the lock on Jessica's apartment, refusing to leave unless Jessica left with her. Jillian's spirit had been infectious, and Jessica couldn't help but smile for the first time in... well, it felt like forever.

Jillian had taken her friend barhopping, and the combination of a good friend and more mudslides than she could count were going a long way toward lifting Jessica's spirits.

Now the two women were stumbling down some street or another, kind of lost but too tipsy to care. With her outgoing friend by her side, Jessica couldn't help but forget all about the depression that had come to define her life.

"Hey there, cutie." Neither woman paid much attention to the men catcalling them, and the one they'd just passed was no different.

What was different was the hand on Jessica's shoulder and the cold metal pressing into her back.

"Well that was rude."

Jessica's breath caught in her throat. Jillian made it a few steps forward before realizing Jessica wasn't next to her anymore. She turned back, and Jessica's shellshocked expression and (presumably) the man behind her told Jillian everything she needed to know. "Whoa. That's... not good."

Jessica heard a light chuckle from behind her left ear. She tried to will her heartbeat to return to a normal level, but her body was having none of that. All Jessica wanted to was run. Or collapse onto the ground and cry. Either one.

"You're... going to want to stay calm." Jessica wasn't sure if Jillian was talking to her or to the man holding a gun to her back, but it was probably good advice regardless. She tried breathing deeply, but all that did was make the metal on her back seem more menacing.

"Calm is good. Giving me your wallet is better," the man said. "Unless one of you is faster than a speeding bullet."

"Jill..." Jessica hated herself for being so close to losing control. She was drunk, she was afraid, no one would blame her if she just fainted right then.

"Jess, I know, and I promise it'll be okay." Jillian slowly removed her purse from her shoulder, holding it in front of herself with one hand. To the man behind Jessica, she said "See? Just let my friend go, and it's all yours. No one needs to get hurt here."

"Toss it to me."

Jillian complied, gently lobbing the purse over toward Jessica and the mugger. Her aim was slightly off, and the purse fell off the sidewalk and onto the road.

The man cursed softly. He leaned down to retrieve the purse, and Jessica felt the gun move away from her back. When he was fully leaning into the road, Jillian drew her own gun. "JESSICA!"

Jessica ran. She probably could have stopped when she'd put Jillian between her and the mugger, but she just needed to get as far away as humanly possible.

Jessica hated this. She hated how on edge she was, she hated how depressed and afraid she was, she hated pretty much everything about her life.

The tears stung her eyes, but Jessica didn't stop running until she turned down into an alley, away from the prying eyes of everyone in Coast City.

Jessica collapsed to the pavement, safely tucked behind a dumpster as she began to sob. She didn't even see the streak of green light descending from the sky.

"Jess -zrk- ca -krsh- of Ear -znt-. You -krrrrrrsh- great fear. Wel -shrrrrrrrrr-ern Corps."

The Green Lantern ring landed on Jessica's hand, and then she was sent to Hell.

NOW

"Carol Ferris of Earth, you have great love in your heart. Welcome to the Star Sapphires."

Carol had a fraction of a second to notice the pink glow coming from the ring on her finger before the giant green minotaur brought its sword down on her head. She instinctively raised her hand to try and block it when the ring began to shine.

Another one? How many magic rings am I going to run into tonight?

The minotaur's sword was thankfully deflected by the pink glow. The kinetic force, however, was still enough to slam Carol backwards. She crashed into the wall behind her hard enough that shards of brick flew from the new Carol-shaped dent in the wall, but other than a bit of surprise and a momentary flash of pain, Carol herself was feeling fine.

Carol looked at the ring in wonderment. It seemed very similar to the Green Lantern ring with which she was familiar, but it was a bright pink color and the Green Lantern insignia was replaced with some sort of starburst. Carol then noticed the pink gloves covering her hands, the black spandex-esque armor on her arm...

I guess I'm a Pink Lantern now...?

Carol shook off her brief distraction to survey the situation in the alley. Jessica was still on the ground, but the crying had at least stopped long enough for the woman to stare at Carol in amazement. The minotaur had lost interest in the women, instead turning to leave the alley. Carol took that moment to rush to Jessica's side. "How you holding up?"

"You're... alive..." Jessica's voice was dripping with wonder.

"Looks that way." Carol took Jessica's hand, still pulsing with green light. "Look, we need to get that ring off your finger, and I'm pretty sure you need to calm down for that to happen."

"Why?"

"I just... Trust me, I have a little experience with this."

"I noticed." Jessica couldn't seem to keep her eyes off Carol's ring. Carol couldn't blame her; despite the absurdity of the situation, Carol herself was feeling much calmer too.

"I know you're scared, and frankly I can't blame you." Carol put an arm around Jessica and gently rubbed the woman's back while gently holding her hand with the other. "But the ring responds to the wielder, bringing to life whatever you're imagining. Just-"

Jessica's ring flashed brightly then, nearly blinding Carol. A powerful gust of wind knocked Carol away from Jessica. Carol slammed into a wall for maybe the millionth time that night as a new construct came into existence next to Jessica.

"I'm not imagining this!" Jessica screamed, eyes squeezed shut. "I'm not I'm not I'M NOT!"

At least this time the construct was closer to Carol's size and much less intimidating; was Jessica actually gaining some small measure of control over herself?

The construct, what appeared to be a knight in distinctly evil-looking armor, was brandishing a sword and shield. He looked angry. Carol braced herself...

THEN

"Okay, now focus. Focus."

"Not helping, Hal."

Carol and Hal were on the roof of their apartment building. It was one of Carol's favorite places when Hal was with her, especially on one of the few days a year the sunset lined up perfectly with the street their building was on. It was so beautiful it was easy to forget that she lived on a planet where gods and demons and super powered sociopaths worked tirelessly to hurt and conquer and whatever else.

Luckily for her peace of mind, Carol was dating a superhero.

Hal had surprised Carol with a picnic up there, complete with her favorite sparkling cider and roast beef sandwiches and fruit. Sure, he'd cheated a little by using his ring to create some distinctly fake candles and a pair of lounge chairs, but the thought was still sweet.

Hal had done most of the talking that evening, due solely to the fact that adventuring through space was infinitely more interesting than Carol's never-ending battle to keep Ferris and Jordan Aircraft financially afloat. Carol had paid rapt attention to Hal's story of freeing a planet called Horath from the grip of some interstellar warlord. Her questions had then extended to the ring and how it worked, what it was like to create whatever you could imagine. Hal had decided that the best way to show Carol how the ring worked would be to... show Carol how the ring worked.

"How isn't it helping? I'm being helpful."

"You're using words that I've never heard related to your magic space ring to teach me how to use said magic space ring."

Carol and Hal were kneeling in front of one another. Carol was wearing Hal's ring on one finger, and Hal had clasped her hands in his own. Mentally noting the fact that Hal's teacher had never held Hal like this, Carol assumed it was less a teaching exercise and more an excuse to hold her hands.

It was kind of cute.

Hal exhaled sharply. "Okay, that's a fair point. Just... breathe deeply." Hal demonstrated taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, and Carol matched her breathing to his. "Okay. Okay."

"Okay."

"Shut up." Hal chuckled to himself, and Carol chose to pretend to concentrate on the ring rather than laugh with him. "Close your eyes."

"Okay, but you'd better not even think about taking advantage of me." This time Carol did chuckle at her own joke, but she also closed her eyes as instructed. "I'm serious, Captain Jordan. Keep the hands above the equator."

"I've had worse restrictions," Hal retorted. "Okay, clear your mind."

"Well, I'm with you, so-"

Carol felt Hal take one hand off of hers just before she heard him speak. "Gonna need a little less this..." Pause. "And a little more this." Pause.

Carol rolled her eyes. "I can't see you, genius."

Pause.

"Right. Well, I just... did that thing where my hand is lips and I made them 'talk', and then I you aren't even a little bit serious are you?"

Carol kept quiet, willing her lips to stay shut rather than erupt in the laughter forcing its way up.

"That! Keep doing that!"

Carol's eyes shot open just in time to see the last tendrils of green electricity disappear. "Do what? What happened?"

"The ring sparked! I told you you could do it!" Hal's eyes were filled with glee, but Carol barely noticed as she focused all her attention on the ring. "What did you do?"

"I don't know. I was just trying really hard not to laugh at you, and then you said to keep doing that." Carol tilted her head thoughtfully, eyes still on the ring. "If working this thing means I can never laugh at you again, then I don't think it's worth it," she continued, filling her voice with exaggerated gravitas.

Hal smiled, but kept silent for a moment as he put both his hands on Carol's again. "Okay, that makes sense. You were trying not to laugh at me?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. You know that feeling where you really want to laugh at me but you won't let yourself?"

Carol nodded sagely. "Intimately, yes."

"That feeling of a laugh trying to escape but you not letting it? That's willpower."

Carol considered that. "Well, it's certainly more helpful than twenty minutes of telling me to focus."

"Imagine something simple, like a ball."

"Easy enough."

"Now instead of willing yourself to keep laughter inside, take that same effort and will the image of the ball outside. Don't keep it in, push it out."

Carol tried her best to follow the instructions, albeit with one slight modification. She closed her eyes, she breathed deeply and serenely, and she focused on willing her construct into existence.

"Great. Great, keep..." Hal's voice trailed off, and through his hands she could feel him trying not to laugh. Still his voice was stern. "Carol, that is not a ball."

"Technically, it has two-"

Hal began to laugh, and Carol opened her eyes just in time to see her inappropriate construct vanish. Carol collapsed against Hal, suddenly unable to stop herself from giggling. Hal wrapped her arms around her and continued laughing himself.

A few precious moments later, Carol was calm, but she remained in Hal's embrace.

"One lesson and you've already got constructs down. Another week or two and we'll be ready to induct a new member of the Green Lantern Corps!"

Carol yawned as fatigue threatened to overtake her. Apparently that construct creation had taken a lot out of her. "Maybe. Definitely if I can pick a different color."

NOW

Working on an instinct that Carol hadn't even realized she had, she summoned her own shield construct as the evil knight advanced on her. Remembering the few lessons Hal had given her in the art of construct creation, she fought to find some small amount of serenity in her mind, an anchor to focus on using the pink ring to counter the knight's attack.

The knight stabbed at Carol with its longsword, and Carol easily deflected it. In her free hand, she quickly constructed a flamboyant raygun and shot at the knight.

Carol had been watching a lot of cartoons and anime in the past few months.

The first few shots were deflected off the knight's shield, but it did prevent him from advancing on either Carol or Jessica. With a thought, Carol dispelled her shield and replaced it with a second raygun. She fired both guns akimbo at the knight, who was having a hard time deflecting shots aimed both high and low with only the one shield.

His shield began to crack as he blocked the shots, backing away from Carol. She advanced on him, keeping up the attack and the knight's armor began to buckle.

As the knight's shield finally shattered, Carol sprinted toward the knight. She leaped into the air, her whole body glowing as the ring allowed Carol to defy gravity. She replaced her twin rayguns with a comically giant warhammer, gripping it with both hands and slamming it down on the knight's head as if he were nothing more than a giant, flamboyantly lit nail.

The knight exploded in a shower of green sparks.

Carol paused a moment to catch her breath before dispelling her hammer and rushing to Jessica's side. "See? No reason to freak out, right?"

Jessica's eyes were as wide as saucers as she slowly shook her head.

"So you need to work on calming down, okay?" Carol kneeled in front of Jessica, taking her hands once more. "Don't worry about those other constructs, I'll take care of them. You just need to take some deep breaths and calm down, okay?"

Jessica nodded.

"I'll keep anything else from hurting you, you just need to focus on that ring. I'm right here with you. Close your eyes. Breathe."

Carol breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly, the same way Hal had taught her during her first lesson months ago. Jessica tried her best to match Carol's example, but the other woman was a hair's breadth away from collapsing back into sobs.

Jessica opened her eyes, expecting to see an angry Carol looking back, but all she saw was a calm smile and sympathy on Carol's face. It seemed to help. Jessica closed her eyes again, forcing herself to stop feeling so-

"The ring. Give it to me."

Carol and Jessica opened their eyes and looked up, spying a woman floating above them. She might have seemed human - dark hair, two arms, two legs, roughly Carol-sized - were it not for her royal blue skin. She wore a black and yellow uniform, fairly reminiscent of the one Carol herself was wearing.

By now Carol knew to look for the ring on the third woman's hand. It had been that kind of night.

The woman gently floated to the ground, hand outstretched. Something about the expression on this woman's face, best described as 'cold', told Carol not to trust her.

Carol stood, taking a spot between Jessica and this new arrival. She waved. "Hey there. My name's Carol. What's yours?"

For a moment, Carol was sure this new woman wouldn't answer. "I am Lyssa Drak. I've come to Earth looking for the ring your... friend wears. Give it to me."

Carol crossed her arms defiantly. "Funny. You don't look much like a Green Lantern, judging from your distinctly yellow ring. Why do you want this one?"

"Not relevant. Step aside." Lyssa marched forward, shoving Carol aside with her shoulder.

Carol, miffed, turned and grabbed Lyssa's arm. "Hey now, wait just a-"

Carol was not prepared for the alien to grab and flip her to the side in some spaceman equivalent of a judo move. Carol might have plummeted to the ground had she not been getting a handle on her ring's abilities. Instead of falling, she used the ring to defy gravity slightly, floating to the ground in one smooth motion.

Quickly, Carol formed a bow and quiver of arrows out of pink light, barely taking an instant to aim before letting a volley fly toward her new opponent.

Lyssa was caught offguard by the arrow constructs, only just barely dodging to the side (thankfully away from Jessica). She glared at Carol. "You also have a ring."

"You're quick." With a thought, the bow and arrows vanished and were replaced by a small army of pink toy soldiers at Carol's feet. As one, the six inch tall army took aim at Lyssa with their little toy rifles. "I would strongly suggest backing away before my boys here get angry."

"Adorable." Faster than Carol or her toys could react, a pair of yellow chains shot from Lyssa's ring. Each chain wrapped around one of Carol's wrists.

Lyssa then took to the air. The toys and Jessica watched helplessly as Carol was dragged into the sky by the alien ringslinger.

And then Jessica's ring began to glow.

Kilowog descended from space toward Coast City, the former home of Hal Jordan.

Shoulda known that ring'd find its way here, of all places.

Arkillo was safely restrained to a piece of space junk in orbit of Earth (didn't these humans give a tritor about the environment?), giving Kilowog free reign to continue on his mission to find the damaged Green Lantern ring that had for whatever reason not returned to Oa for repair.

Really shoulda been Tomar's job. What am I doing here?

Lyssa Drak had a decent head start in tracking the green ring, so Kilowog wasted no time. Monitoring terrestrial communications, his ring identified Coast City as the site of some unusual "monster attacks". It didn't take much for Kilowog to make the connection between a bunch of beings composed of green light and a Lantern ring.

The first thing Kilowog saw was a large serpentine wyrm with wings and laser vision flying around the tallest building in the city. Kilowog didn't recognize the beast specifically, but it certainly looked like it was trying to nest, and that spelled bad news for whatever humans resided in the building itself.

Were the serpent a sapient being, Kilowog would have first intimidated it with a fearsome battle cry, throwing it off its game and distracting it from Kilowog's assault. Since it was simply a mindless construct - albeit a mindless construct exhibiting bestial instincts - Kilowog simply summoned a sawblade construct. He reared his arm back, increasing the size of the sawblade by a hundred times before slamming it down into the serpent's - well, not 'flesh', exactly, but into its side.

The serpent barely noticed the attack, but the sawblade did its job in slicing the opposing construct in two. As the halves slid apart, the serpent construct vanished with a slight popping noise.

Well that was easy enough. Some poozer isn't concentrating. It was a common complaint Kilowog had with the recruits under his tutelage.

Kilowog paused a moment to allow his ring to reacquire the signal from the one he was tracking. There were a few other wild constructs around, but none were large enough to do the damage that the serpent could have so Kilowog let them go for the moment. Once I find the ring, I'll stop all the constructs in one fell swoop.

Of course, there was still a Sinestro Corpsman running around unchecked on Earth. One problem at a time, Kilowog.

Terrestrial pollution (seriously, why was Earthspace so dirty?) was preventing Kilowog from getting an exact fix on his target, but it at least was leading him in the right direction. On the way, he dispatched any of the wild constructs he came across - a blast of energy to destroy a large humanoid beast, a physical punch to knock out an even larger reptile.

If nothing else, the target practice was fun.

Kilowog's ring led him to a small passage between two of the smaller buildings in the city. A human woman was kneeling on the ground, hands clasped together almost as if in prayer.

She had the ring. And it was glowing.

"Hey! Poozer!" Kilowog slammed to the ground.

The woman's eyes widened as she saw Kilowog, and she screamed. Even from yards away, Kilowog could hear her start to hyperventilate as she frantically backed away from him.

Kilowog sighed. Humans.

He landed with a thud and approached the clearly frightened woman. Something seemed odd about her reaction, but that wasn't Kilowog's main concern. "C'mon. Get that ring off, wouldja?"

The woman's mouth opened and closed a half dozen times before she finally forced some words out. "I... I... I can't..." She began to sob, but to her credit she never took her eyes off Kilowog. "It's... It won't..."

The woman pulled at the ring, but it remained where it was.

Kilowog sighed. Looked like he was going to have to this the hard way.

Carol slammed into a water tower, her pink ring shielding her from any actual damage. Lyssa flew after her, quickly summoning a yellow tentacle. It wrapped around Carol, holding her still as Lyssa approached. Carol probably should have tried to escape, but she instead took a moment to catch her breath as her opponent floated casually over to her.

Lyssa punched Carol in the face. Carol's head snapped to the side, and she took a second to consider how she was going to handle a clearly superior opponent. She slowly turned her head back to glare at Lyssa. "Ow."

Lyssa, for her part, was smirking in the same way every bitch cheerleader Carol had known back in high school used to. "You surrender then." It wasn't a question.

The two women glared at each other for a long moment.

"You punch like a baby weasel."

Another moment passed.

"I don't know what that is."

That made sense. "It's a tiny mammal. Doesn't punch very hard."

"Ah. An Earth insult."

"Less Earth insult and more just a thing I said to distract you."

"To distract-"

Lyssa was then slammed away from Carol by the large construct she'd summoned behind her alien opponent. Carol doubted that Lyssa would appreciate how quickly the Pink Lantern had learned to construct Voltron and its blazing sword, but she was happy with it.

Voltron slashed the tentacle wrapped around Carol into sushi before vanishing to wherever constructs vanished to. Carol leaped into the air, momentarily debating whether to continue her fight or to ditch the alien and check on Jessica.

An instant later, the choice was made for her as Lyssa launched a number of yellow flying eels at Carol. The tiny creatures surrounded Carol in midair, vomiting tiny yet surprisngly painful bursts of energy at her. A conjured Pac-Man made quick work of them, but they proved to be a distraction when Lyssa barrelled into Carol, sending them both flying into a billboard.

Close combat wasn't exactly Carol's strong suit, but years of dating a former Air Force captain had taught her a few things. Carol grabbed Lyssa's arms and caught her in a midair sleeper hold. "Would. You. Chill. Out!" Lyssa struggled, but Carol remained alert; if she could construct something while restrained, Lyssa surely could as well.

"That ring rightfully belongs to me, human! Hand it over and I might let you walk away without breaking every bone in your body!"

The yellow aura around Lyssa extended, forming an exoskeleton. She physically wrenched her way out of Carol's grasp, but she didn't go far as she twisted around and punched Carol in the face again, sending the Pink Lantern a dozen yards away. She thankfully didn't slam into anything this time, though.

Carol rubbed her aching jaw. "Ow."

Lyssa crossed her arm, her entire body stiff as a board as she regarded her opponent. "Your violet ring is obviously no match for the yellow light of fear."

Carol's eyes narrowed. "Do I look afraid?"

Lyssa smirked again. "You should."

It was Carol's turn to smirk as the glowing pink boxing glove slammed into Lyssa from the side, sending the alien soaring into the air with enough force that Carol quickly lost sight of her. She resisted the urge to make a Pokemon joke as she turned and flew to the alley where Jessica was, hoping against hope that she'd actually be able to help the poor woman.

As Carol landed, she saw a hulking being in green and black advancing on Jessica. Thankfully though, this was a being Carol recognized. "Kilowog!"

The Green Lantern turned, his face lighting up in recognition as he heard her voice. "Carol Ferris?"

"The one and only!" Carol came to a landing next to Jessica, taking a knee and Jessica's hand. She was still worried about what exactly was happening, but figured that Kilowog could provide some answers. "I think the ring is... broken? Jessica can't control the constructs."

Kilowog snorted. "So I noticed."

Jessica turned her full attention to the scared woman. "Jessica, stay with me. How're you holding up?"

Jessica was breathing deeply, just as Carol had showed her to earlier, and very pointedly trying not to look in Kilowog's direction. Carol cursed under her breath; of course someone as fragile as Jessica probably wouldn't take seeing someone as inhuman as Kilowog very well. Carol shifted slightly to the side so Jessica could look at her without also having to see an honest-to-god alien superhero.

Carol smiled at Jessica, and Jessica smiled back. She clearly didn't want to, but Jessica was making an effort at least.

Carol kept eye contact with Jessica as she turned her head slightly to call back to Kilowog. "She can't actually get the ring off her finger. Any idea how to fix it?"

Kilowog shrugged. "Chop the hand off?"

Jessica lost concentration for a moment at that, and Carol cursed a little bit again. "Thanks, big guy. That's helpful." She returned her full attention to Jessica. "Come on, Jessica. Keep breathing. Get that heart rate down."

Jessica nodded fiercely and followed Carol's instructions.

Carol closed her eyes and began to silently pray for Jessica. She may not have been the most religious person in the world, but she also didn't want to see Kilowog hack the woman's hand off.

Jessica's hands pulling away was the first sign that Carol should probably open her eyes. The second sign was Kilowog shouting her name. There was no third sign; Carol wasn't that stupid.

Carol opened her eyes and gasped. The good news was that Jessica wasn't crying anymore. The bad news was that Jessica was now entombed in a solid mass of pink crystal. With her own eyes closed, she at least looked peaceful.

Carol quickly put two and two together. The crystal wasn't green, it was pink. Did she somehow do that? Hal had never mentioned a power like that; what could this pink ring do?

Carol stood and looked at Kilowog, who was approaching the two women. "So. That's a thing."

"Apparently."

"I'm... open to suggestions. Obviously."

"You're not gonna like this one," Kilowog grunted. "Carol Ferris of Earth, you're under arrest."

Lyssa Drak regained control of her momentum just before reaching Earth orbit. The Earth woman's attack had been strong enough to daze Lyssa for almost the entire flight, and she briefly pondered whether the woman had Lantern training of some sort.

That took a back seat to Lyssa's new goal; returning to Earth and beating this Earth woman into-

Lyssa's ring interrupted her emotional response to being punched very hard. An incoming communication from... the leader of the Sinestro Corps.

The ring formed a small hologram of the leader in front of her, activating the Sinestro Corps communication system. "You haven't returned yet. Report."

Lyssa remained ramrod straight as she replied; she was always sure to look her most professional when speaking to the man who'd personally recruited her into the Corps. "Malon 4 has agree to our terms and should begin shipping the benamite within the next galactic month."

The Corps leader crossed his arms, obviously annoyed. "I know, because they've contacted me to confirm. But you're still not back."

"Corpsman Arkillo and I detected an anomaly on our path home. An unattached Green Lantern ring was seeking a new wielder, and we were attempting to capture it."

Her leader nodded. "That would be helpful. I'm assuming it wasn't that easy, though."

Lyssa shook her head. "We came into conflict with a senior Green Lantern in orbit of Earth, as well as a human on the planet's surface channeling the violet light."

The leader took a second too long in responding, and Lyssa found herself feeling nervous. She was not fond of the feeling.

"Earth?"

Lyssa nodded. "Yes, sir. The ring-"

"You are to leave Earth immediately and return to the Central Battery. Understood?"

Lyssa hated failure. "But if we capture these two new rings-"

Lyssa had never heard the leader of the Sinestro Corps angry, especially not towards her. Now, however, his voice sent a shudder through her bones. "Now, Drak! I don't care if there are a hundred Lantern rings on Earth, that planet is off-limits! Do you understand me?"

Lyssa nodded. "I do. Corpsman Arkillo and I will be on our way shortly."

The hologram blinked off without so much as an acknowledgment. Lyssa took a breath, only realizing just now that she'd begun holding it when the leader of her Corps showed anger with her.

She looked down at Earth, wishing she could continue her fight against that Earth woman. After allowing herself a moment of regret that she wouldn't be able to teach her opponent a lesson, Lyssa regained control of her emotions and set her ring on a course to Arkillo, and then home.

A glowing green handcuff construct wrapped itself around Carol's wrists, and she was yanked before the Green Lantern. "This isn't funny, Kilowog."

"Sorry Carol, but unauthorized usage of emotional spectrum energy is a crime. One of the big ones." Kilowog looked at the crystal encasing Jessica. "And once we get that ring off you, your friend should be fine."

"You gonna chop off my hand?" Carol glared at Kilowog.

"I was hoping you'd just... hand it over. Pun intended." Kilowog considered that. "Is that even a pun on this planet? You know, because the ring's on your-"

"No, I got it." Carol rolled her eyes. "I'm kind of over having people trying to steal magic rings tonight though."

"I'm not-"

Whatever Kilowog was going to reply with was cut off by the pink energy blast Kilowog was suddenly blasted by. He slammed into the alley wall - right into the Carol-shaped dent, even - and slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Carol stared at Kilowog's prone body for a moment. "That... wasn't me." She looked down at her newly-freed hands. Her ring was faintly glowing, but showed no signs of having just fired a laser. "Well, I hope that wasn't me..."

"Carol Ferris of Earth!"

Carol looked up and decided that the being gently floating down to Earth was very likely the culprit. Like Lyssa, this being's skin was an inhuman shade of blue but otherwise humanoid. She was wearing a pink and black bodysuit similar in appearance to Carol's own, and she was wearing her own pink ring. Unlike either Lyssa or Kilowog, she was smiling, and Carol couldn't help but return it.

The new arrival reached a hand out to Carol. "Come with me if you want to love."