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Jake English stood atop a mountain of rubble with both guns drawn, scanning the outcropping for any signs of malicious interlopers. When he could see none, he called to his friends.
“We’re here! It’s safe and sound.”
Jane Crocker, his girlfriend, was the first one to catch up. She staggered next to Jake, panting for breath, but a bright smile lit her face.
“That is the best news I’ve heard all day.” She stared out at the rocks and the glittering sea, taking a deep breath of sea breeze. She then turned to flash her boyfriend another smile before abruptly turning around and heading back down the pile.
“Okay! Let’s head back to camp.”
Jane was greeted by a disbelieving look from the third member of their party, Roxy Lalonde.
“No way. No. I didn’t even,” she took a deep breath, wiping away at the sweat on her forehead, “I didn’t even make it to the top.” She collapsed against her best friend, moaning. “No, no, no way, Janey.”
“Roxy,” Jane said, pushing the other girl away, “You could have just stayed back at camp. You know, helped Dirk.” She raised her eyebrows knowingly.
“Oh, please.” Roxy waved Jane off. “He’s bad enough at organizing people as it is, but with both of us there? Nothing, nothing would get done.” She turned to Jake, who had just started walking down to meet them, and held out her arms. “Carry me.”
“Sorry, Roxy, but you’re the one who insisted that you come along.” Jake laughed good-naturedly, even as Roxy scowled at him. She huffed and turned, stalking down the rubble heap in front of them. Jane and Jake shared yet another glance before following.
It wasn’t long before they caught up with Roxy, since the other girl had taken to her knees at the base of another heap of rubble.
“When I said I wanted to come along,” she breathed, “I didn’t think,” she looked up with tired eyes, “It would be this,” she panted heavily, “hilly!”
Jake shook his head and grabbed his friend by the arm, gently tugging her along. She stumbled as far behind as his arm’s length would let her, somewhat less than entirely grateful for his assistance, seeing as she continued to trip over numerous obstacles. The trio topped another mound, and Jake patted Roxy on the back.
“You can see camp from here, see?” He pointed to the spot in the distance. If the ground had been flat, it would have taken them no time to reach camp.
“But we still have to go over all of these hills!” Roxy groaned. She tossed another pleading look Jake’s way, but when he made no move to lift her, she resigned herself to the long walk and started off at a snail’s pace. She was shocked to find that Jane and Jake didn’t speed ahead of her this time, though.
“I don’t want to hold you two back,” she drawled, but Jane just laughed.
“We’re not going to let you lag behind now,” Jane insisted. The unspoken rest hung in the air, how they wouldn’t leave Roxy behind so close to the sea, the territory of the enemy.
Roxy groaned one final time before completely switching around her temperament. She marched forward, putting some space between herself and her friends, and turned around.
“Well, come on then! We should get back to camp.”
Jane and Jake followed cheerfully. Jane sighed.
“It’s amazing how she changes her act when she’s doing things for other people.”
Roxy was practically dead on her feet when they reached camp, wasting no time in throwing herself into Dirk’s arms, waiting or not.
“Dirk, carry me…” Roxy sighed. Jake came to the other boy’s rescue.
“Roxy, dear?” he said. “We’re back at camp. You don’t need anyone to carry you.”
Roxy didn’t respond, but Dirk placed her gently on the ground, so that she was leaning up on one of the crates that held supplies. When Roxy appeared comfortable, Dirk stood.
“It’s about time you guys got back. We’ve got dissent in the ranks. There’s a mutiny threatening if I don’t pull together some sort of food line, but I figure that’s not my job.”
Jane looked around at everyone else in their band of renegades. Everyone looked forlorn and depressed.
“Sheesh, Dirk, what did you say to them? I’ve never seen them so dejected.”
Dirk waved the comment away. “Doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we get some food from our cook and words of wisdom from our fearless leader up in this bitch before we have a revolution in our revolution.”
Jane nodded and clapped her hands loudly, summoning all of her meal helpers. As they set to work, Jake built himself a small pedestal, which he hopped upon to give an optimistic speech full of boisterous exclamations, exaggerated hand motions, and bright smiles that lifted everyone’s moods.
Dinnertime was a period notarized by its extensive storytelling and partygoing. When everyone could sit in a circle like this and unwind, it meant that there was no immediate danger. It meant that nobody was about to die.
Roxy made her way from group to group, finally settling with her three best friends. She spoke too shrilly and laughed too loudly to be sober, and it was a daily struggle with the group to find the balance between chastising her and letting her do what she wanted. Roxy’s sobriety was a constant battle with herself and those around her; no matter how hard she tried, she could never pull off more than a few days cold turkey.
Roxy’s problem had started with the Condesce, and it was believed that that would be where it ended. The widespread takeover took its toll on all, and everyone reacted in their own ways. Roxy was just one of many who turned to alcohol and drugs to get through the rough times.
However, Roxy did manage to sober up when it really mattered, such as before confrontations. She was, in actuality, one of the most valued members of their renegade group. A valued strategizer and morale builder when the going got rough, though not in the optimistic way that Jake operated.
Soon enough, Roxy was out, having fallen asleep against Dirk’s leg. Any chastising about her condition was left alone; this was the first calm night they’d had in a while, and nobody wanted to ruin it.
~~~
“The clearing is just up ahead!” Jane pointed. She, Jake, and Roxy sprinted through the forest, making their way to the safepoint that had been set up the night before. It would give them cover from the oncoming tirade of the Condesce’s minions.
Jane cast a look back to Jake.
“Jake, behind you!” Two black carapaces were hot on their heels, weapons ready. Jake stopped and spun, pulling both pistols from their holsters and firing one shot apiece. Both met their marks, and the two pursuers fell. Jake stopped to admire his handiwork.
“Come on!” Jane said, moving to grab Jake’s hand and pull him in the direction of the clearing. They ran, hand in hand, turning in time to see Roxy, who had gained a fair amount of ground on them, climb up and over a boulder and use it as cover.
“Hurry up, you guys! I’ve got you!” Roxy aimed down the sights of her rifle. “Split wide-they’re dead in between you.”
Jane and Jake looked at each other before letting go of hands and bowing into a large arc, giving Roxy more than enough room to get a handful of shots off, stopping the minions that were in sight. She let Jane and Jake get past her before turning and running, the clearing a few seconds away.
The safepoint, however, posed no relief. The place was falling apart, having already faced the brunt of multiple attacks. Dirk stood atop the wall of the hastily-built fortress, firing at anything not human.
“You have the worst timing!” he said above the roar of battle. Jake climbed up on the wall next to him.
“We’re sitting ducks here. We don’t get any cover from the forest. We need to get the high ground on them.
“High ground?” Roxy said from her place in front of the wall, taking her eyes off of her targets to look at the two. “There is no high ground nearby! The highest point is…”
All four looked to the west, where piles of rubble could be seen above the treeline. Roxy threw back her head and groaned.
~~~
Running up piles of rubble wasn’t as easy as it sounded, and it sounded difficult in the first place. It seemed that for every meter they gained, they lost two to unsteady footfalls and shifting debris. The carapaces were gaining much faster.
Their band of renegades was slowly becoming smaller and smaller; some were injured, others couldn’t keep up. But the group of four stayed together until they had nearly reached the top.
Then, Roxy fell.
A lone projectile, a sharp object thrown by the nearest carapace, caught her calf. Her leg buckled underneath her, and though she would have normally been able to recover quickly and keep going, the unusual terrain did not support her. Gravity worked against her, and she tumbled down the slope.
“Roxy!” Jake yelled, moving to head down to get her, but Dirk beat him to it. As the fastest of the four, he was able to rush to her location, weapon already drawn to defend her until she could defend herself. Jane grabbed Jake’s hand and pulled him towards their destination. However, their team of many had been severely depleted. To aid in their avoidance of the carapaces below, Jane began dislodging hunks of debris. The action itself took time, but the resulting avalanche overtaking the carapaces made it worth it; besides, there were no soldiers in the affected field.
Jake soon surged ahead, the intended destination just within his reach. A few backwards glances lifted his spirits; the carapaces were being beaten back by the renegades, who used the smaller mounds of debris as high points of their own. Fighting from atop the absolute highest would establish his leadership and give everyone else a goal.
Jane hunkered down behind a particularly large hunk of scrap metal about halfway up the pile, giving Jake cover until he could reach the top.
Finally, Jake reached the highest point in the field of rubble. He let out a pleased breath, relieved to have reached his goal, but his victory was short-lived when he realized that he was not alone.
“About time you got here.” The voice sent shivers down his spine. Jake took in the mass of black hair, the golden accessories, and the fuschia stripes.
“Buoy.”
The Condesce stood in all of her terrible glory, arm slung carelessly around her double-ended trident. A greedy grin split her face as she twirled her trident. Behind her, a slew of warships floated on the sea.
“Why dontcha get a front seat to your renegade band’s destruction?”
Jake bared his teeth and drew his guns, but the Condesce flipped her trident around, first smacking the guns out of his hands and then hooking the spires between his legs and twisting, causing him to lose his footing. He crashed heavily to the ground.
Jake lifted his head to find himself eye-to-eye with the golden trident’s points. The Condesce lazily waved the deadly weapon in front of his face.
“My buoys in the warships have orders to blow apart this whole coastline.” The tips of the trident tapped the side of his head. Jake winced when he felt the point of one dig into the space right in front of his ear. He could feel the blood dripping down. “But I’m a give you a choice. Surrender now, pledge loyalty to me, and I’ll only blow…” she trailed off, thinking. “Half of them to pieces.”
“Not even if-” Jake’s retort was cut off by a trident sideswipe to the head.
“I’m tryin’ to be nice. Don’t push it, or I’ll blow you all up anyway.”
~~~
Jane looked up to the top of the hill. She couldn’t tell from her position what was happening.
“Jake?” she called, but she was drowned out by the sound of the battle around her. Jake could take care of himself, she knew, but a strange feeling churning in her gut told her that she needed to go to him. She tried to turn back to the battle, but something sparked at the edge of her field of vision.
Jane directed all of her attention to the strange spot of light in the sky. It looked like a bright, blue star, but it seemed to be moving. Moving towards them.
~~~
“Give up yet, buoy?” the Condesce sneered. Jake lay on the ground, suffering from multiple wounds. But he didn’t submit.
“I don’t,” he said with authority. “You’re not going to win this.”
~~~
Jane came over the crest of the hill just enough to see what was happening. Instinctively upon seeing the Condesce, she began to crouch out of sight, but seeing Jake in such a state made her stop. She choked his name back, torn between running to him and staying hidden. When she took her first step into danger, though, she saw Jake stir.
“You’re not going to win this,” he was saying. “You’re never going to be able to beat us back. No matter what, we’re going to fight you. All of us. And we’re going to win. You can’t oppress us, Condesce. You can’t.”
Jane felt tears prick her eyes. The difference between Jake and the other renegade band leaders, the ones that they’d come across so often, was that when Jake said those things, he really, truly believed them.
The Condesce was unmoved by the sentimentality. “As if I haven’t heard that a million times.” She spun her trident in her hand, moving to strike the final blow. “I’m done with you, buoy. Time to die.”
“No!” Jane lunged forward, even though the distance between her and the others was too great. But she didn’t have to block the Condesce’s blow; something else did it instead.
The Condesce made a face, clearly confused as to why her hit hadn’t landed; she swung again, and this time, the cause was clear. When the tip of the trident was about a foot from Jake’s face, a field of blue came up to stop it. The source of the field was a small blue object, which glowed steadily brighter. Jake lifted his head to look at the object, shock falling over his face. He scrambled to his feet, adrenaline holding back his pain, and gaped. The object floated upwards to Jake’s eye level and hovered for a few seconds before shooting quickly to his hand, the light fading. Jake continued to look at the item, a blue ring, and realization dawned on his face.
“That lightshow was impressive, but you’re tryin’ my patience,” the Condesce hissed, but Jake wasn’t paying any attention. Instead, he rolled the ring forward in his hand to his fingertips. He picked it up with his other hand and slowly oriented both hands so that he could slide the ring onto his finger.
“Quit stallin’, buoy!” the Condesce shrieked, swinging her trident once more, a deadly snarl on her face. But a bright blue light shone from where Jake was standing, completely enveloping his form. In a second, it was over, and Jake was still there. But instead of his typical shorts-and-jacket getup, he wore a full black and blue bodysuit with a white insignia on the middle of the chest. His jacket had turned black.
The Condesce tried to rear back, but her trident was yanked from her grasp. The trident was being held in place by a strange blue construct, the origin of which was apparently the blue ring that now curved around his finger.
The Condesce hissed. “You think you can-” Jake raised his hand and sent a blast of energy towards the Condesce, sending both her and her trident flying into the sea. He then shut his eyes, taking a deep breath, and called upon all of his strength to cause a great wave of energy to spread out over the ocean, pushing all of the ships away and out of sight.
Finally, the light subsided, and Jake sank to his knees, his heroics leaving him spent. Jane rushed over to him, wrapping him in a tight hug.
Jake pulled away from the embrace just enough to turn and face his girlfriend, and despite his exhaustion, he managed a smile.
“Well, Janey?” he breathed, “What do you think?
Roxy and Dirk came over the top of the hill, Dirk supporting a limping Roxy. Both froze at the sign of their leader in his new uniform.
As a member of the Blue Lantern Corps, he was now one of the most powerful people on the planet.
~~~
All of that power can go to your head.
The team of four was fighting off a powerful army sent by the Condesce to ruin them. Her attention had been turned primarily towards their group since Jake got his power-up. His power, though, certainly gave them an unfair advantage. While his three friends fought off a few carapaces at a time, Jake was blasting them away by tens, and even that didn’t use too much power.
He felt empowered.
He felt free.
He felt untouchable.
His friends, on the other hand, did not.
Roxy winced when a carapace knocked her to the ground, the force causing her to bite through her lip. She tried to attack it with her rifle, but the weapon was knocked from her grasp and slid several feet away. The black creature raised its spear above its head, but its attack was cut off by Jane, who bludgeoned the creature in the head.
Roxy rolled to the side and quickly rose to her feet, her weapon forgotten as she beat back carapaces with her bare hands. Jane jumped backwards, putting some distance between herself and the carapaces.
“Jake!” she shouted, turning. “We need-”
Jake looked when Jane’s exclamation halted. He was greeted with an awful sight.
Jane froze for just an instant, staring ahead with a dazed expression as red bloomed across her chest and back, before her knees buckled.
“Jane!” Jake screamed.
He flew forwards to catch her. His breath caught in his throat when her body hit his arms.
Half-lidded, glassy eyes met his. She was dead.
~~~
Dirk watched Jane fall. He watched Jake rush to catch her body.
He watched the carapace raise Roxy’s rifle, the very rifle that had just taken the life of his best friend, and aim it at the back of the love of his life.
“Jake! Look out!” Dirk threw himself directly into harm’s way, using his absurd speed and excellent swordsmanship to block the bullet from leaving the gun.
The backfire was spectacular.
Dirk rolled across the ground, his head reeling, and he was sure that if he hadn’t been bleeding profusely from multiple gashes on his face before, he was now. His glasses, miraculously, were unharmed.
But he had to get up. He had to. Because he and Roxy were the only ones left defending now; Dirk knew the love Jake had for Jane, and he knew that the other male wouldn’t be able to fight from grief.
The blonde rose to his feet, his sword in a death grip in his hand. He launched into battle, fighting twice as hard as before, his only goal being to protect Jake. Save Jake. Keep Jake out of harm’s way.
He would admit it. He was selfish.
He took down a whole slew of the unending carapaces, easy. But their numbers grew, and it soon appeared that they would overpower him. He didn’t care. He had to win this battle. For Jake.
When a violet light flashed in his peripherals, he rounded, prepared to attack. He lunged at the light, expecting to strike its source in the middle of blinding brightness, but was met with no resistance. He grunted when he hit the ground, the only prize to show for his efforts being a small violet object on the ground beneath him. He got to his feet and held the thing in his hands.
No way.
Dirk blinked; that most certainly was not what he thought it was, was it?
However, his battle instincts overtook his curiosity; there was an incoming carapace holding a very deadly sword. He swung his fist, which held the… ring, yes, back to knock the creature in the face.
He was only slightly surprised to see a field of violet light emerge from his fist, giving his strike a considerably larger power.
Dirk didn’t want to think about what this ring meant. He didn’t want to think about the connection between him and a hunk of material. He didn’t want to think about the implications of the color of the thing.
So he didn’t. He simply used the ring, without putting it on his finger, to amplify his battle strength and end things, right then and there.
Within moments, the battlefield was barren, save for three living humans and a corpse. Jake sobbed over Jane’s corpse. Dirk and Roxy approached him, grief written across both of their faces.
“This is my fault. We’ve never had to face forces this strong before. The Condesce sent them here because of me.” He choked. “Jane… if this had been a normal battle, Jane…”
Both Dirk and Roxy took a step forward, but Jake motioned for them to stop. He slowly, gently, laid Jane’s body on the ground and stood. He didn’t meet either of their gazes.
“I’m a danger here. So long as I’m here, they’ll just send stronger armies to fight. I can’t stay. I have to…” he choked on the last word, “go.”
“She needs to be buried,” Roxy stated.
“They’ll decimate the gravesite if I go near it. I’m sorry.” The whole time, Jake had been floating away, but now he picked up speed. “Goodbye.”
Roxy gasped when Jake was out of sight, burying her face in her hands. Dirk made to say something. She stopped him.
“And what about you?”
“What about me?”
Roxy sighed exasperatedly, but the noise was hindered by a sob. “I saw that.” she motioned to his hand, which still held the ring. “Jake was oblivious, but I saw it. Are you going to say that, too? You can’t be near us because it’s a danger?”
Dirk bowed his head. “Jake’s right. It is a danger, Roxy. I don’t know completely how to use it, the ring, but I do know that just having it puts all of you at risk. That is, more risk than usual.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “Hide, Roxy. Go underground. Stay hidden. Until… until things are sorted out, try to stay out of trouble. For Jane. For Jake.” He bent to touch his forehead to hers. “For me. Okay?”
Roxy wanted to grab him, to hold him to her, to comfort him and be comforted, but he was gone before she could move. A fleeting trail of violet light in the sky, just like Jake had been.
“Is this it, then?” Roxy screamed into the sky, letting the tears flow completely. “Is that all there is?” She crumpled, kneeling over Jane’s body as her own was torn apart by cries of grief and heartbreak. However, her mourning was hindered by the sounds around her, the sounds of life, somehow more alive and vibrant now than ever before, as if an extra energy had surged through their small area. As fellow soldiers made their way to the site of the battle, Roxy dried her eyes. She was the only one left. The only leader. They needed her.
Roxy stood, making up her mind. There was a burial to be made.