Chapter 1: Power Stirrings

Sector 2814

Third Person P.O.V.

Richard woke up, as usual, at 6:00 o'clock in the morning. His alarm seemed more annoying today than usual, and when he hit the alarm, he accidentally made a power fist and destroyed it.

"Damn it, 'nother one destroyed." Richard said out loud. He had forgotten to take his ring off the night before. "Oh well," he said. "I'll just buy a new one I guess." His doorbell began to ring. He got out of bed and looked through the looking hole. It was Grace Downing, an Earth Guardian of Old. Richard opened the door.

"Well," she said. "I haven't seen a Lantern naked in a long time."

"I just woke up," Richard said. "And I sleep naked. I'll be right out."

"Hurry up. We got some stuff to talk about." Richard shut the door and went into his bedroom. He quickly put on a pair of underwear, jeans, and a green shirt with subtle blue stripes. He grabbed his portable Lantern (a device of his own making) and put it in his pocket. Then he walked back to the front door and held it open to her.

"Come on in," he said. "Did you enjoy the view?" he asked jokingly.

"You Lanterns are so cocky," she complained. "But we have more important things to talk about. The Yellow Lanterns are bringing Sinestro back."

"What? How do you know this?" Richard asked, surprised. "And why hasn't the Corps contacted me?"

"The Corps have lost control. They are fighting amongst themselves. The Guardians of the Universe are trying to decide whether they should adopt the Yellow Lanterns and create the Multi-Lantern Corps."

"There's no way that'll happen. It will never pass with the Guardians. They would have to be crazy to even discuss it."

"That's the thing Rich," she said, worried. She only ever called him Rich when she was worried. "They've been driven crazy by the power of Fear. A Yellow Lantern broke in there and is controlling them. They've cut off all communication with the Counsel and other Lanterns."

"How do you know this Grace?" Richard asked. Grace looked down, almost like she was ashamed.

"I was attacked yesterday by a Yellow Lantern. He walked up to me and... And..." she couldn't continue. A single tear ran down her cheek. "I knew who it was. It was Joseph." Richard looked at her a moment. Then he walked over to his phone. "Who are you calling?" she asked.

"Bruce," Richard said. "He can help us." He picked up the phone and dialed Bruce's number. Bruce answered almost immediately.

"Hello?" Bruce asked.

"Hey, it's Richard. Sinestro's trying to come back." Richard said.

"Why are you telling me? Go tell the Corps!"

"I can't; they're being controlled by Joseph."

"How did Joseph get a Yellow Power Ring? Aren't there only nine in existence?"

"Joseph saw me activate my ring when I went to fight him. He yelled at me when I got back. He even tried to kill me. I hit him with my ring. I think I destroyed his mind when I did. He vowed revenge against the Lanterns and me. Then he ran away."

"Ok... Uh... Get over here with Gracie right now." Bruce said. "I'll be expecting you in five minutes."

"Ok. We'll both fly there." Richard said and hanged up the phone. Grace stood up and walked out the door.

"Aren't ya coming?" she asked.

"Gotta get in suit first," he responded. She began to fly away, using her air powers. "In brightest day. In blackest night. No evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evils might. Beware my power. Green Lanterns Light!" A bright green light erupted around him. The second later, he was wearing his green and black and white suit. His mask was on. His ring was fully charged. He was ready to fight.

Meanwhile, in Sector 2314

The Yellow Lanterns stood gathered around one individual. It was Joseph, only his skin was changed and his eyes were glowing. He was wearing a Yellow Lantern suit, only it was slightly altered. The emblem had one extra line through it. He had been marked, singled out, for a single purpose. He had been chosen to take up the soul of their deceased leader. He had been chosen to become Sinestro. The meta morphesis was already under way. His skin was tinted the purple that Sinestro's was.

"Soon now, my brothers. Very soon, he will be complete." the Head Lantern said.

Sector 2814

In the residence of Bruce Wayne

Bruce Wayne stood in his living room, waiting. His house, Wayne Manor, had been destroyed very many times. The last time it had happened, he had rebuilt the house practically by himself. The living room had been remodeled to resemble a regular home, along with the rest of the house. Every "renovation" seemed to make the mansion smaller in size. Though, the underground area was always the same.

"What's taking them so long?" he asked out loud. Normally Richard and Grace would arrive faster, not keep him waiting. "Maybe they ran into trouble..." Bruce thought in his head. Suddenly, he could hear the sound of wind dying away on the roof. He ran out onto the terrace and looked up. Grace had arrived. "But where is Richard?" he thought.

"Richard's coming," Grace said. "We ran into a bit of trouble. Some gangs are joining together to rob a bank. Nothing he cannot handle."

"Well, at least he'll be here soon. We need him to hurry. And why wasn't I told about the robbers?" he asked out loud. His computer replied: "ALERT! BANK ROBBERY IN PROGRESS!" The computers reception had begun to shrink in the past few days.

"Damn computer! It's what I get for not upgrading it." Bruce, exasperated, walked over and sat down.

"You should really upgrade that computer." a voice coming from over the terrace said. "I was already done with those idiot goons before it alerted you." Richard, in his Green Lantern suit, flew up and landed on the terrace. His mask instantly disappeared.

"Maybe you could help. It would be pretty useful to have another computer whiz in the house." Bruce said, bringing up his old invitation to Richard again. "And an Earth Guardian would be great for stopping people from blowing up my house AGAIN."

"Bruce," Grace said. "If you're getting lonely in this old, empty house, just say it." Richard was looking at her like she had lost her mind. Bruce never admitted to anything, especially loneliness.

"Fine, you win. I'm getting lonely in this old, empty house. Now will you move in?" Bruce asked.

"Of course not; I prefer living on my own." she smiled and laughed when Bruce's mouth fell open.

"I can't move in with you Bruce." Richard said.

"Why not? It would be great. Just you and me in a wide open house. We could have a lot of fun." Bruce said almost longingly.

"I've already explained this to you, Bruce. When I'm not in my suit, my portable Lantern gives off massive amounts of energy. It would blow this place up. You remember last time, don't you?"

"Yes, I remember," Bruce said sadly. "My arm still hurts from it." He involuntarily rubbed his left arm. "Now, to business." He walked inside of the house. Richard and Grace followed. They entered the dining room and sat down around the table.

"We need to figure out how to stop the Yellow Lanterns from returning Sinestro to life." Grace said, her color-changing eyes flashing red with specks of yellow.

"You know Bruce, if you're so lonely, why don't we get you a girl? I heard that Selena Kyle just got out of Arkham on parole. Maybe you could get her to go legit?" Richard said, teasingly. Bruce frowned at Richard, who was trying to suppress a smile. Bruce turned to Grace for help with a come-back. She, also, was trying to suppress a smile. Then Bruce rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. Then he started to consider the prospect of dating Cat Woman.

"Don't tell me that you are actually considering the idea of Selena Kyle as a wife." Grace said, astonished. Richard burst out laughing, unable to hold it back any longer.

"Well," Bruce began, smiling. "She is pretty good in bed..." Richard had fallen out of his chair by now. Grace rolled her eyes at Bruce. "Why Grace," Bruce said. "You seem a little angry that I would even consider her. Are you jealous?" Grace's cheeks went deep red and her eyes went from the deep, yellowish red to a spring green.

"What," she exclaimed. "That's ridiculous! Why would I be jealous...?" Now Bruce had fallen out of his chair. "Can we get back to the task at hand?" she asked the two, exasperated.

"Yes Grace," Richard said. "We should get back to what we were doing. How can we keep them from taking over the universe?" Richard asked Bruce.

"We could always call the JLA. They could help." Bruce suggested

"No," Richard replied firmly. "They always take over the situation. Superman and Wonder Woman don't believe we can hold our own in a battle. We should keep it to ourselves."

"Then what can we do?" Grace asked. "Who can we call for help?"

"I can get Robin to help. And I might be able to get a few others who would be happy to help me." Bruce offered.

"I could get some Lanterns from the outlying Sectors around us to help. But it would take me awhile. Communication has been cut off. I would have to fly to each of their home planets to get them to help." Richard said.

"I have a few friends in the American government that could help us. And there are a few heroes around the world that have not joined the Justice League. It would take me only a few hours to recruit them to our cause." Grace said.

"So, that would make around five Lanterns, some of the army, around ten heroes, and fifteen vigilantes. Do you guys think we could stop the Yellow Lanterns with that small of a force?" Bruce asked. Richard and Grace shook their heads. They had fought the power of Fear before.

"The army and vigilantes would be the first to go. And the Lanterns that live in near sectors are fairly easily scared. The heroes would put up a fight. And so would Robin. But I don't think we could be able to take on a full assault of Yellow Lanterns." Richard said sadly. Bruce sighed, disappointed by how badly they could come up with forces.

"Wait," Grace said, an idea popping into her head. "We don't need to protect against a full assault. If we can attack Joseph when he is vulnerable, we could stop him from attacking Earth."

"That could work..." Bruce and Richard said in unison.

"All we would need is to find their base and, with a small team of heroes, break inside and attack him. If we succeed, there would be no reason for defense. All we would need is a team of heroes who we can easily contact." Grace said.

"I can get a Blue Lantern friend of mine to help. He lives nearby." Richard said.

"I can probably get Superboy to help us. He doesn't really follow the instructions of his elder clone... Whoa. I just sounded like Gracie Richard. She's starting to rub off on me!" Bruce and Richard started laughing again. Then they stopped and ran away. The wind in the room had started to pick up. Then, with the force of three grenades exploding, Grace let the wind fly away from her. Every window in the house shattered.

"You're paying for that Gracie!" Bruce yelled up stairs as he started the elevator for the Bat-Cave. She followed Bruce down stairs, with her eyes a bright red.

Sector 2314

The Yellow Lantern base

"My lord," One of the Yellow Lanterns said. "Is he ready yet?"

"He will be prepared soon, Goash. Be patient." The Leader replied. Joseph's body was a darker shade of purple and his ears were longer and pointed. The Yellow Lanterns waited eagerly as he opened his eyes.

"Rise," the Leader yelled. "Sinestro, creator of the Fear rings!" Then, every Yellow Lantern in the room fell to the ground, dead. All fell, except Goash Felldarn.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Hey peeps! I finally got done with the first chapter. Sorry it took so long! Enjoy it! And please read all of my other stories!

-Jerimia