Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Far above the earth, unseen by naked human eyes, a lone glowing ring of chartreuse-green light zipped through and between clouds in the vast shade of night. Since the beginning, as far as it could remember, this ring was one of many, part of a corps from another world, another universe entirely. Only a few times had it been passed down from one host to the next, but from each of them, this ring fed on only two opposite yet equally extreme emotions. Either pure lust, whether it be a lust for power, a lust for glory, a lust for violence, or even a lust for sensuous passions and pleasures. Or pure simple hate, deeply immense hate for anything or anyone, whether it be justified hate or not. Whichever it may be, the ring would in turn feed its user pure power, the power to retribute, the power to retaliate, the power to annihilate. Maybe even the power to forcefully claim and achieve one's deepest and darkest desires.

But then came a time when it and its latest host pursued the champion of their rival corps and opposite side of the emotional spectrum, the Cyan Lantern Corps, guardians of peace and calmness. Their chase even took them across the multiverse and into another universe, one mirrored by their own, where instead of cyan peace, azure generosity, blue trust, magenta impulse, yellow despair, lime indifference, and chartreuse hatred being the spectrum, there were red rage, orange avarice, yellow fear, green willpower, indigo compassion, and violet love. The Cyan Lantern soon gave his life and passed down his ring to a new potential bearer, while defeating and finishing off the Chartreuse Lantern for good.

So now without emotion, without much power, without a new bearer to call its own, this ring continued to fly on its own free will and darted aimlessly yet straight forth across the face of this whole other Earth, this whole other universe, with the sole intent of seeking out and finding another. From one vastly populated human city all around to the next, the ring had certainly sensed quite a few here and there, from sexual urges and cravings to yearnings of power, from minor trivial dislikes to deep bitter prejudice, it could even dare prey on the broken and victimised if it needed to. And that would be what or rather who it would eventually find.

Location: Portland, Oregon, United States

Meanwhile, up on one of the high floors within a tall building, a lone woman with long black hair and weeping green eyes and wearing nothing much more than a black sports bra within a simple white vest top and baggy blue denim shorts, sat still, quiet, and alone against the locked door and in her room with her arms wrapped around her knees so close to her chest. Surrounding her were neat stacks upon stacks of food stored seal-tight in tins, cartons, and boxes, among plenty of other supplies. The room itself was barely lit by a few lamps here and there, giving off a dim white glow while emitting a faint buzzing ambience.

Just then, a few sudden knocks came right out of nowhere, or rather from the door behind her, nearly snapping the woman from her depressed daze. "The whole family thought you were crazy when you were arguing and ranting about getting prepared for the end of the world, Jessica, but then..." A soft female voice all too familiar called for her from behind the door. "It actually happened. You had enough food and water in there to feed practically everyone for months on end, and yet you still turned us away".

Instantly recognising who the voice may well be, Jessica, still slurped down against the door, daring not to respond right away.

"We deserved it, I guess, at least I did. I know I've been a terrible sister to you, and I really am sorry for it", the voice continued. "Listen, I'm trying to apologise here, Jessica, but I want you to know that I really mean it. I just need to actually see you look at me without a door right between us".

Still grimacing, Jessica finally bothered to speak. "Just leave me alone, Sara".

"Look, if you're worried about me seeing anything illegal in there, I promise I'll won't tell anyone-" Sara managed to reply before Jessica cut her off.

"There isn't any..." Jessica exclaimed. "I just don't want you in right now".

"I get it, you're angry, you're frustrated, you got an awful lot of stuff on your mind, I get that", Sara tried hard to empathise. "But we still love you regardless, you can come out into the real world. It's not as scary as you might think".

"Just go away and leave me be", Jessica persisted and demanded.

"I've left you alone for too long now. I was never there for you, but I wanna make it up to you", Sara pleaded. "You're the only sister I have, and the best sister I ever have, and I do love you. We all do". Jessica could even hear a faint yet close sound of soft genuine whimpering, almost making her want to tear up as well. "Just please... Open the door".

And for a but a brief moment, Jessica laid down her defences, setting aside her fears, her doubts, her insecurities, her bitterness, and actually considered getting back up to her feet and unlocking the door. She was willing to give her family and friends, or at least whatever was left of them, and even life itself, another chance. But before she could even manage to do so, she started hearing a deep and strange whirring sound, coming from somewhere both inside and beyond her room, and most certainly not from outside the door.

Jessica slowly got up on her feet and looked around to see what it may actually be, and she would find out just that soon enough. From the deepest and darkest corners of the room, Jessica could see a faint sickly-green glow of light increasing in intensity, almost to the point of nearly blinding her and forcing her to cover her eyes. Then as the aura eased down a bit, Jessica lifted down her arms and hands to see what the source such an unsettling glow and sound really was.

And upon seeing it, her eyes widened with shock and confusion, in her sight was a small single green ring levitating in the air and still glowing, having somewhere found its way in. The ring then floated on its way towards the anxious woman, sensing something deep within her, as she uneasily backed away from it.

A few more knocks were made on the door. "Jessica? You okay now? You gonna unlock the door?" Sara asked.

"Uhh, actually..." Jessica stammered, almost stumbling backwards until her back was up against the door again. "I'm not too sure if that's really a good idea right now".

"Jessica Cruz of Earth, you have great lust and hatred in your heart..." The ring spoke right within Jessica's mind, as if telepathically, soft yet so alluring. "You have been chosen to become part of the Chartreuse Lantern Corps, to become the Star Emerald, the Champion of Volthoom..."

Chapter Text

Location: JLA Watchtower

Up in the well-known Watchtower, continually orbiting and maintaining safeguard over the planet Earth, inside one of the larger hall rooms, a colourful group of various superheroes sat around together in a wide circular table; The human Green Lanterns, Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, and the recently recruited Simon Baz; Alan's twin children, Todd Rice, also known as Obsidian, and Jennifer-Lynn Hayden, also known as Jade; The Violet Lanterns of the Star Sapphire Corps, Carol Harris, Jillian Pearlman and Krystal Quarrell; The Indigo Lanterns Shane Thompson and Trinity; The Blue Lanterns Razer, Alexandra DeWitt, and Nicole Morrison; The Azure Lantern Wren Hailey, also known as Agent Azure; And finally, the Cyan Lantern Ulyssa Davison.

"Good day and greetings, fellow members of the Lantern Corps", the first human Green Lantern himself, Alan Scott, stood and spoke up. "We're gathered here today to welcome some new recruits to our overall team, especially those who've been gifted with power rings from another universe, a mirror of our own". He raised a hand and gestured over to both Cyan Lantern and Azure Lantern, who also stood up in response as well, holding hands and intertwining fingers. "Firstly, we have Ulyssa Davison of the Cyan Lantern Corps, whose power ring is powered by the emotions of peace and calmness, contrasting that of the Red Lantern Corps and their power of rage". The red-haired and turquoise-eyed Cyan Lantern nodded and smiled before sitting back down. "Then, we have Wren Hailey, Agent Azure of the Azure Lantern Corps, whose power ring is powered by the emotions of charity and generosity, opposing that of Agent Orange and his Orange Lantern Corps who are powered by pure greed and avarice". The orange-haired and azure-eyed Agent Azure smiled and nodded as well before sitting back down as well.

"The more the merrier, of course", Hal Jordan said and accepted before bringing up a more important topic at hand. "Now I think it's also a good time to discuss the other subject".

"Indeed", Hal's wife and main representative of the Star Sapphires, Carol Harris, agreed. "Both Lime Lantern and Chartreuse Lantern may be defeated for good, their power rings are somewhere out there on this Earth, our Earth, possibly in search of new potential hosts to use".

"That will also depend on what they would seek for in a person", Razer speculated. "Each coloured power ring feeds on and is powered by a particular emotion from the Electromagnetic Spectrum. It's very likely that this mirror universe, its Emotional Spectrum, its Lantern Corps, are based on colours and emotions opposite of ours".

"I think you're right", Agent Azure replied. "Before he died and gave me this ring, the Lex from that universe told me that the Lime Tribe harness from apathy and indifference towards others".

"The opposite of compassion", the Indigo Lantern Shane Thompson deduced.

"And when I was given my ring, I was told about these Star Emeralds, and how they're powered by either hate or lust for anyone or anything".

"The opposite of love", Carol surmised.

"So I imagine there are many people in your planet who are either driven by such intense feelings and emotions..." Razer continued. "...Or driven by little to no emotions at all".

"And not to mention, with that in mind, those two rings could be just about anywhere", "And I bet they're never gonna be in one place for too long".

"Then we better start a search party before something really bad happens", Kyle suggested.

"Right on that", Alan addressed and acknowledged before a rough plan started to hatch in his mind. "We may have to scatter into smaller groups in order to cover more ground in less time, two groups of five and two groups of four might suffice".

"Very well then, we better move fast then", John Stewart spoke up. "If one of those rings finds someone to latch onto, who knows how they'll react".

"Jessica Cruz of Earth, you have great lust and hatred in your heart..." The ring spoke right within Jessica's mind, as if telepathically, soft yet so alluring. "You have been chosen to become part of the Chartreuse Lantern Corps, to become the Star Emerald, the Champion of Volthoom..."

Such a voice made her freeze almost in place, almost entranced such a sight, a single floating ring with a distinct symbol embedded on it and glowing an intensely bright yellowish-green. So many questions ran through Jessica's mind at rapid speed, such as where this talking ring came from and how it even found its way inside here to begin with. And yet, part of her wasn't too sure enough that she could even comprehend any answer.

"It sounds too good to be true", Jessica spoke quietly while standing up as straight as she could. "But..."

"But what?" The voice of the ring questioned.

"I don't truly know about this", Jessica hesitated as she started stumbling and stepping away from the ring.

"What are you doing, Jessica?" The ring persisted.

"I don't know what to do", Jessica exclaimed while hastily digging through her supplies.

"Are you trying to hide from us?" The ring continued following and taunting her. "Hide as you have since the night you were attacked and left for dead?"

Jessica froze up as soon as she heard the ring mention that night, as if it was actually there and witnessed it all. Overwhelmed by curiosity, she turned around. "Wait, how do you know about that? No one knows about that".

"We know everything about you, Jessica", the ring answered cryptically. "You hate the heroes of this universe for not saving you from those unidentified attackers, you hate the attackers themselves because they're still out there, and you hate the world itself for not caring for you. That's why you haven't left this dwelling for so long enough. It's that hatred that has attracted us to you, it's that hatred that will empower you and give you the strength you longed for, and it's that hatred will shall enable you the chance of revenge against your attackers and the world. This programming requires nothing less..."

"Y-Youre right, I hate the world", Jessica sighed with near-defeat. "And that's because I know how dangerous it can really be". She banged her fist against a wall behind her. "No one else understands what I've seen, what I've been through, but I survived. Now I don't know where you are or where you came from, but I don't give a damn".

"Oh, Jessica", the ring glowed closely towards the woman. "You soon will, you soon will..."

So far, Jessica tried as hard as she mentally could to resist this ring's temptations, even when it offered great power and retribution against not only those who only wronged her, but also those who stepped over her. But deep down, even she knew that giving in would be inevitable, as she leaned back against the wall and gazed at the still-approaching ring. Her shoulders and the rest of her tensed body soon relaxed, her mouth slightly gaped open, and her brown eyes lit up into a chartreuse-green, entranced by the ring. Slowly and hastily, Jessica raised her trembling right hand towards the ring, offering herself to be its bearer, its puppet, its host.

Once it was close enough, the alien object slipped swiftly onto her ring finger and its glowing ceased. After a few seconds of uneasy nothingness, an invisible stinging force struck Jessica deep in her gut, causing her to whine and clench up as a tingling sensation crawled its way up her legs and spine. She looked down at herself before gasping in horror as a large sickly-green crystal started to envelope around her feet and ankles before making its way up her legs. Soon her whole body was fully encased, silently screaming within this green crystal cocoon.