Who: Kyle Rayner NPCs: Vothrak (would be world conqueror), Kilowog, Insect Queen When: January 20th, 2014 Where: Eslomia, a planet residing outside the sectors charted by the Guardians of the Universe. What: As part of his duties as an Honor Guard in the Green Lantern Corps, Kyle tasks himself with defending a planet outside Guardian space. Rating: PG
"Any last words, Lantern?"
Kyle dangled precariously by the collar of what remained of his Green Lantern uniform, held in the grasp of Vothrak, self-proclaimed Warlord of the planet of Eslomia. He had come here to support the resistance efforts against Vothrak, as the insectoid race that inhabited the planet was without an army or a Green Lantern, since Eslomia resided in a largely uncharted sector of the universe. Initially, it had gone well. Vothrak had not expected resistance, and the Eslomians had rallied around Kyle. But in the end, Vothrak's forces were too vast, and the Eslomians were workers, not fighters, which had left Kyle largely on his own. And his ring only contained so much energy before it needed to be recharged.
"Well?"
"Yeah", Kyle choked. "I'm.. I'm.." He coughed.
Vothrak shook Kyle with two purple arms, while his other two held his axe like weapons. "You're what?"
"...too pretty to die." Vothrak looked at Kyle quizzically, and in that moment he brought his ring hand up and projected a boxing glove construct, which surprised and hit the Warlord hard enough that he stumbled backward, dropping the Green Lantern.
As world conqueror and space cop scrambled to get up, Kyle's ring alerted him that it was at .01% power, prompting him to curse.
Vothrak roared and threw one of his bladed weapons, and Kyle used the last of his energy to shield himself, but it mattered little as the Warlord surged forward and knocked him to the ground.
"Why do you persist, Lantern!? No one will know what you have done here. No one will sing of your virtue, no one will witness your stand. I'm going to tear you to pieces, and when I am done with you I will feed you to my pack so that your legacy will be no more than the excre-"
"You talk too much", Kyle said, getting to his feet opposite the eight foot tall bald, four armed humanoid. "And ugly, too."
Vothrak growled and surged forward again, hacking wildly at Kyle, who could do little more than weave out of the way. On reflex Kyle ducked the axe, and caught an uppercut that seemed to make Eslomia spin around him. He landed on his back, and noted in his delirium that the twin suns of the planet now appeared to be four.
The Warlord placed a boot on Kyle's chest, raised his axe, and... hesitated. For in place of the fear of death that he had expected to see and to relish, he saw instead a smug smile.
"Have I beaten you so senseless that you cannot see? You can fight me no longer, your time is done! DONE!"
"...Stopped trying to beat you a while ago.. only been trying to stay on my feet..." Green light fell over them as Kyle cackled. "Vothrak.. meet Kilowog.."
Vothrak turned his head and received an over sized green construct hammer for his efforts, knocking him out of Kyle's view.
"Poozer!"
Kyle half choked, half laughed as Kilowog shot over him after Vothrak, followed closely by a score of other Green Lanterns. One of the younger ones landed near him, offering a hand. "We came as quickly as we could."
"...Yeah?" Kyle leaned on his Corps mate as he stood. "I called Alamo hours ago."
"What is this.. Alamo?"
"Forget it, forget it.. just help me find my Power Battery.. I used it as a blunt weapon against that big bad an hour or so ago.."
"Was that wise? A Power Battery could be quite deli-"
"Didn't ask your opinion, ugh just..." Kyle felt an appendage on his shoulder and turned to find himself staring into the insectoid face of the Eslomian Queen. He glanced at the younger Lantern, who took it as his cue to leave.
When they were as alone as they could be admist the rubble of Eslomia's capital city, the Queen spoke in what would have sounded like a series of ticks and whistles, if not for the universal translator that facilitated their communication.
Kyle forced a smile and unconsciously touched the back of his neck. "That's a.. that's a rather generous offer but you see, I just don't think it would work between us. Anatomically speaking, I mean."
The Queen clicked something else that made Kyle of all people blush.
"...Yeah.. Yeah, I'm sure. No need to test it out. But hey, I mean just look at you. You'll have a King in no time."
There was a buzz from the Queen that seemed to signify some sort of affirmative, and Kyle tried not to notice that he was groped when he was embraced.