I do not own any characters in the DC cannon. I do own my OCs, original lantern corps, and this story.

Chapter 1: Prison Break

The Guardians were floating around at random in the room. Each one looked more nervous than the last. Except for Appa, he just looked mad and impatient. Finally, the door opened and the final guardian entered the chamber.

Appa turned to face him. "Ganthet! It's about time!" Ganthet brushed off his blue robes and tried to ignore his angry and bureaucratic comrade. "Now that we're finally all together," Appa said, glaring at Ganthet, "We can begin." The Guardians quickly formed a large circle in the room and focused their powers. A massive, green drill formed from their combined willpowers and began rotating at speeds that would shame a race car. With a loud whirl, the drill slammed into the floor and began to chip away at the green material.

"I don't see why this is truly necessary." Sighed Ganthet.

Appa glared at him. "Oh, shut up Ganthet. Don't pretend we aren't here because of your mistake."

Ganthet grunted. "I stand by my decision. My releasing the blue power ring and battery was the only thing that allowed us to fight back the Red Lanterns."

"And look what it has brought us in the long run!" snapped Appa. Ganthet kept his mouth shut, knowing that truly, the situation was his fault, even if he had no regrets. After a few minutes of effort, the drill broke through the floor into the vault below. Appa turned to his fellow Guardians. "You all know your duties! Go!" The Guardians floated through the hole and into a curved chamber. In it were dozens of short pillars, each with a shining light encased within. The Guardians spread out and examined the contents of the pillars, looking for distinctive cracks or crevices that might lead to the lights' escape.

Cries of "Clear!" rang out in the room for a few minutes. Appa sighed, satisfied that everything was as it should be.

He turned to Ganthet. "This doesn't excuse your negligence, Ganthet!" he declared. Ganthet sighed and rubbed his temples. He couldn't wait to get back to Odym and to help the Blue Lantern Corps's newest member, a former Red Lantern. One by one, the Guardians flew out of the room, each repairing a bit of the floor as they went. Appa glowered at Ganthet as he flew out, leaving Ganthet alone in the room. Ganthet looked around and sighed. So much potential that would never be realized. Perhaps Appa was right; these were, after all, prototypes.

Ganthet drifted out of the room and stood with his fellows. The last chunk of floor floated up and began to slide into place behind him.

A blast of light blew them towards the wall and the hole in the floor burst open. A tall figure floated down into the hole. Ganthet, Sayd, and Appa scrambled to get to the edge of the hole and they both peered down in horror at the intruder.

"It's him!" whispered Ganthet. Appa simply stood, unable to form words his fear was so great. It was a tall, blue-skinned humanoid with flowing clothing. He looked around for a moment, making careful calculations. He shot forward in a zig-zag formation, too fast for the naked eye to follow. He bounced off the pillars and seven beams of light shot out of the hole, causing Appa and Ganthet to stumble backwards. Seven different colored rings emerged in each beam of light and immediately burst outwards, trying to find a suitable host of their specific emotion. The Guardians stood dumbfounded as their hard work and efforts were torn asunder as each ring shot out into the inky blackness of space.

Slowly, the invader flew out of the hole. Appa finally found words. "Krona." He whispered.

The first prisoner of the Guardians peered down at his captors. He leaned down and spoke directly to Appa. "I am weak now, but I have caused enough chaos to keep you busy while I recharge. When I am ready, rest assured I will return and the slaughter will be glorious." His voice was rough and gravelly, but deep and echoing with a greater strength.

Appa cleared his throat and stood up. "You will fail, Krona! All your efforts will do is get you locked right back up! Save yourself the pain and embaressment of defeat and get back in your cell!" Krona smiled cracked his neck, causing Appa to take a nervous step back. No more words were exchanged, but their positions were made painfully clear.

With that, Krona began to shake and vibrate before he disappeared completely. For a full hour, each Guardian stood still and silent, trying to process what had just happened and what it meant for the universe.

Finally, all of them but Appa said the same thing simultaneously. "Get us Jordan!" Appa scowled, but nodded.

. . .

Hal Jordan bit into a burger for the first time in months. "You know what the worst thing about long space trips are?"

Carol Ferris raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessing the constant perils, inevitable fighting, and possibility of death?"

"No, it's that anything not from Earth tastes like sour apples, spoiled milk, or toothpaste." Ferris giggled. They were sitting in a nice, sidewalk burger joint in Coast City. Hal sighed and gazed up at the blue sky. "Seriously though, Carol, I can't tell you how great it is to be home."

Carol took a sip of her drink. "Speaking of being home, when do you plan to go back to being a full-time superhero?"

Hal laced his hands behind his head. "Oh, I figure Guy can handle things for a while. He's an arrogant, hot-headed jerk, but he gets results. For now, I'm off-duty until there's a crisis and the Guardians call me."

Carol smirked. "You're not off-duty from me, hotshot. You still have a few planes to fly at 0900 hours tomorrow. We're showing off for a government contractor, so make it good."

Hal laughed. "You're telling me to be good? Please, I'm the best." He took another bite of his burger and reveled in the greasy taste. "Sweet God that's delicious."

Carol took her napkin. "Here, you got some ketchup…" she leaned forward and dabbed at the corner of Hal's mouth. Hal smiled and took her hand in his.

They got closer together and their lips were millimeters from each other when a beep ruined the mood. Hal leaned back and looked at his hand. His green power ring was beeping and glowing. He looked up guiltily at his girlfriend who gave a tired smile and waved him off wordlessly.

Hal stood up, looked around to make sure nobody was around, and transformed into his alter ego, the Green Lantern. "I'll make it up to you." He said as he flew up into the air, "I promise."

. . .

It was an hour-long flight to get to Oa from Earth, and that meant going through a wormhole. Otherwise, it could take anywhere from a day to some months. When Hal exited the wormhole, he flew down towards Oa's surface. As he grew closer to the planet, his ring grew quieter. He flew past massive, glamorous, green towers where other lanterns trained, ate, slept, and lived. Other lanterns waved to him as he went by, recognizing him from his triumph over the Anti-Monitor and the Manhunters.

Hal swerved sharply and wove his way through familiar passageways of the Hall of Oa. Finally, he found himself at the doors to the council room. He knocked on the door and almost immediately, Salaak, secretary to the immortal beings, opened it.

"Ah, Lantern Jordan," said the multi-armed alien, "The Guardians have been expecting you."

Hal grunted. "Of course," Salaak opened the door and Hal flew straight into the council room of the Guardians. He looked up at the ring of immortal protectors overhead. "You called at a bad time." He complained.

"How did you know? We tried to keep this quiet." said Ganthet.

Hal cocked an eyebrow. "Ganthet? What are you doing here?"

Ganthet sighed, "I'm paying for my mistakes, I suppose."

Appa cleared his throat. "When Ganthet created his Blue Lantern Corps, he released the blue power ring and battery from a vault of our prototype rings, which we created before we settled on using the green power of will to make our Corps. Unfortunately, his interference allowed an old evil to escape from its ethereal prison."

Hal folded his arms. "Okay, with you so far."

"The evil is called Krona." Explained Ganthet, "Before he escaped, he freed several of our prototype rings and set them loose upon the universe."

Appa scowled. "Due to your…adequate performance in the Anti-Monitor crisis, the council has decided that you will head up a mission to retrieve these prototype rings, 2814."

Hal stared up in amazement. "So let me get this straight; you want me to lead a group of lanterns to find a few tiny little rings across the entire universe and bring them back?"

"Correct," said the council as one.

"But what about Krona?"

Appa held up his hand. "We will handle Krona. But you must retrieve those rings. We have taken the liberty of assembling a team for you. They are waiting for you in the main hangar. Now go, the sooner you leave, the sooner you can start your search!"

"Nice to know you want to keep me around, Appa." Hal muttered as he flew towards the door.

"Oh, and 2814?" Hal turned around, "This is a top secret mission. Only you and your team know about this and even they do not know all the details. It was only by the will of the council that you were informed of the existence of Krona. So keep this quiet." Hal nodded and flew out of the room, Salaak closing the door behind him.

. . .

The main hangar was usually a bustling place, but today it was nearly empty. There was only one ship and four people in the entire room. Kilowog was under the ship on a rolling construct, making a few last minute adjustments. "That should do it." He said, rolling out from under the machine. He stood up and gasped, feeling a sudden power surge through his ring. He turned and saw a blue figure flying towards him from across the hangar. "Hey, Saint!" he said, waving. He turned back to give the ship one final look over. He glanced at the Blue Lantern and did a double take when he saw an old friend admired the machine. "Razer?"

"Greetings, Kilowog," said Razer curtly, "How are you?"

Kilowog stared. "How am I? How are you? You're…blue!"

"Thank you, Kilowog, for that brilliant observation." Razer sneered, "Yes, you could say I have been transferred." He held up his left hand and flashed his blue power ring. "But don't worry," he motioned to a small sac held in a necklace around his throat, "I keep a backup." The sac pulsed a subtle red.

Kilowog hugged Razer, surprising both of them. "I'm proud of you, pozer." He said, letting the smaller alien down.

"Thank you, but I must ask; who chose those two for this mission?" He motioned subtly over his shoulder to where a young girl was playing on the floor with a squirrel. Both were dressed in green, but the girl had a white top.

"I did," said Kilowog proudly, "Two of my best trainees. It's all the Corps can spare right now. Everyone else is busy."

"Mmm, they don't seem very…experienced."

"Trial by fire, I say. Ah, here he is!"

Hal flew into the hangar and walked over to his two friends. "Kilowog, good to see you! Razer! What's with the new color?" Razer rolled his eyes and raised his hand. "Huh, would explain why I feel ten times stronger than usual. It's good to see you." He shook both of his old friends' hands and looked up at the white ship behind them. "What's this?"

"The Interceptor II," said Kilowog, rubbing the side of the ship with his elbow to give it a shine, "But we took the liberty of re-christening her." It was nearly identical to the original Interceptor, but was more streamlined. The name 'Aya' was carved on the hull in letters made from green constructs. Razer gently ran his hand over the name and his ring glistened.

"Perfect," said Hal, looking over the machine, "Does she have a nav computer?"

Kilowog grimaced. "Lame-o. Apparently, the Guardians kept a duplicate back-up program. We shut him down, for the good of the mission, I think."

"Okay, so we'll do this by hand." Muttered Hal, "Fine. Well, let's not waste any more time. We've got some rings to find." He flew onto the ship, Kilowog and Razer following suit. The interior of the ship was just as he remembered it and he sat down in the pilot's seat. Kilowog and Razer took their places just as the two trainees entered. Hal stared at them in confusion as they took seats at the front dashboard. "Ah, who're you?"

The young girl blushed and waved politely. She had a white, form-fitting shirt, blonde hair and pointed ears. "Hi! Um, I'm Arisia and this is Ch'p. He says you already know him" The squirrel scampered up her arm and gave Hal a salute from her shoulder.

Hal glanced at Kilowog. "Um, what is this?"

"I figured they could use some on the job training." Kilowog said without turning back.

Hal glared at him. "Nope, no way am I bringing rookies on a-"

"It was approved by the Guardians." Interrupted Razer.

"Besides, Ch'p already beat you in a fight." Pointed out Kilowog.

Hal sighed and rubbed his temples. "Of course. Alright, you two," he said to the trainees, "But keep up and keep down." With that, Hal powered up the ship. The Aya hummed with wonderful, electric life and lifted off the ground. "Mmm, handles like a dream," said Hal as he flew the ship out of the hangar and shot off into space. "Now, how do we find these things?"

. . .

Three orbs of light spiraled through the Milky Way. Coincidentally, they all spun towards the same world: a moderately sized, water covered planet inhabited by carbon-based life forms.

On the planet, there was a girl from another world gently floating above a city, looking down over the people, making sure they were safe.

In another city was an alien in disguise, the last of his kind. He lived among the natives of the world, a lone survivor on a strange planet.

On the surface of the planet was a teenage boy, simply existing.