“But they did.”
“All of that fire, but nothing’s changed!”
“One thing has.”
The Lantern pointed-the rings that were floating before the men were now on their fingers, the heat of them burned into their flesh.
Green Lantern could also see that the expressions of the men had hardened into something unreal. They looked animal-like but at peace. Some even wore beatific smiles, as if suddenly finding themselves blessed.
Malvolio stood before them, his laughter loud and rich in the sudden silence.
Tills felt the familiar tug of fear. “What’s happening?”
“They’ve been energized,” the Green Lantern said. “Those rings. The men belong to Malvolio now.”
The sound of voices came from the jungle—the remaining Japanese regiment was leading a final banzai charge against Malvolio’s men. They fired at them and threw grenades. Explosions from knee mortars blew up around them, but the group of men simply turned to face the charging Japanese soldiers. They did not even bother to pick up weapons.
As the Japanese waded into them, Malvolio’s men set about killing them simply, primordially, and with great joy in their hearts. As shrapnel and bullets bounced from them, the men took to plunging their fingers into the flesh of the enemy, reaching in and gutting them. Others ripped limbs off, or ripped into flesh, grabbing a rib or a spine and tearing it out of the living victims.
It took Malvolio’s men little time to slaughter their attackers. They did so efficiently, with great relish and enthusiasm. Not one was harmed by the bullets, shrapnel and blades that tried to cut into them. They appeared to be completely immune to anything that could be mustered to stop them.
Malvolio did not participate but walked among the killing, watching his men do their work. He was pleased. “If this is what thirty can do, what can three hundred accomplish?”
Once his power was displayed to all, the world would be his. Not only would they be impressed by his might, but they would also recognize the futility in trying to oppose him, let alone defeat him. And Earth would be an excellent training ground for his army to hone their skills. With his power restored, the Stargate would be beckoning...
As the slaughter continued, Malvolio stopped a Sleeper and handed him ten rings.
“You’ve done well, and you make me proud. I give you ten rings-go out and bring me back recruits for our army. Search out the strong and I will make them stronger.”
Then Malvolio sent the soldier into the sky, willing him into flight. He shouted to the departing Sleeper: “When we are done, the only soldiers on the planet will belong to my army!”
reen Lantern stepped from the jungle into the clearing. Looking down at his hand, he saw that his ring glowed faintly. It would not be nearly enough to defeat Malvolio, especially with his small army of killers. But he knew that this would be the only chance to stop him before more Sleepers left this island.
As the melee of hand-to-hand killing swirled around him, the Lantern moved directly toward Malvolio. Some of Malvolio’s men attempted to attack the Green Lantern, but he was able to push them back with the force of his energy, bouncing them onto the ground or pinning them against trees.
G
But he did not engage them; he needed all he had left to go against Malvolio,
Malvolio watched his brother Green Lantern push through his men.
At last they stood in front of each other. Malvolio smiled almost fondly at Alan Scott.
Then, like gunfighters on the draw, the two Green Lanterns simultaneously sent blasts of energy hurling towards each other.
The force of the blast of energy blew the men near them into the jungle and cratered the ground beneath their feet. The electricity of the force stunned all nearby, human and Sleepers, burning the closest with the radiant waves.
A green light flashed like a concussion wave into the sky and across the island, so that even the combat on the beach lulled from the spectacle.
It rocked the Avenger that held Irene, causing the plane to dip lower, bobbing in the humid air rising from the jungle below. Irene leaned out as the Avenger angled to the left. Through the Plexiglas, she could see Malvolio’s men in the clearing assaulting the Japanese soldiers. Malvolio was standing amidst his men, locked in battle with what appeared to be another Green Lantern.
Irene saw that it was the Green Lantern: the catcher of bank robbers and jewel thieves. “You’re playing in the majors now,” she said out loud as she watched the two men shoot waves of clashing energy toward one another.
The two men seemed to be flying above the others, taking leaps as if gravity no longer pertained to them. Although they did not touch each other, they used their hands in gestures of striking, and Irene could see ripples of energy emanating from their limbs, as if melting the fabric of the air as they blasted each other, mutually intent on destruction.
The two men faced off, pushing energy belts toward each other, and it became clear that Green Lantern was losing to Malvolio. Malvolio took less energy and concentration to battle the Lantern, as if he were sparring, but then grew impatient and began slapping at his opponent with wave after wave of force, then picking Green Lantern up, throwing him above the treetops and then, with increasing velocity, slamming him into the ground.
Green Lantern appeared to literally be broken. He lay motionless on the ground, surrounded by the dead. His eyes opened and he saw Malvolio standing next to him, looking down into his eyes.
“I have the source of your strength. The power is mine.”
Green Lantern attempted to get to his feet, but Malvolio placed a huge hand on his shoulder and forced him back down.
“Wait. Join me. You will never have the power I have. I will give you energy if you serve me. We can tame this planet and give it the peace that it no longer has.”
Green Lantern looked up at Malvolio with hatred. “That’s what they all say, Malvolio. You’re just another of a long line of jokers promising peace through destruction and fear.”
Malvolio’s eyes turned dark. “You have no choice but to join me. Otherwise I’ll destroy you.”
Green Lantern slowly sat up. He was in excruciating pain. Malvolio offered his hand, or rather, the ring on it.
The Lantern looked at Malvolio’s offer. His own ring was all but dimmed out. He looked at Malvolio.
“Surrender, Malvolio.”
Malvolio smiled. “I admire your bravado. I suppose you’re doing it for her.”
Malvolio pointed to the sky and the TBF Avenger flying in an orbit above them.
“Use what power you have left to see who’s in that machine.”
But the Lantern didn’t have to-he knew that Irene was in the plane.
“I’ve waited centuries to find this love,” Malvolio said, “and when this is done, she will be mine. I am delighted that she’s on hand to witness the birth of my reign. It’s only fitting that she also see your death. If this is your choice, let us finalize your decision. Rise, Alan Scott.”
Green Lantern got to his feet. The drone of the plane’s radial engine grew louder as the plane buzzed above them. Green Lantern, costume ripped, shielding his left side, squared off against Malvolio.
“You speak so much of will, Malvolio. Instead of pure brute strength, let’s test our wills.”
“How do you propose to do this?”
“That’s simple.”
Green Lantern turned and pointed his hands at the Avenger flying over them. A stream of energy shot from his fingertips towards the plane. It caught the plane and seemed to suspend it in mid-air. The energy froze the propeller to a dead stop.
Inside the airplane, the pilot was shocked-his controls ceased to function at all, and the stick and rudders were frozen solid.
Irene felt the jolt and the odd sensation of the sudden motionless of the aircraft she was in.
Malvolio watched as Green Lantern focused his remaining energy on the plane.
“What are you doing?”
Scott pushed his hands upward and the plane leapt higher into the air, but not as if it were in flight: instead it simply jolted straight
up. The force of its vertical ascent ripped the wings from the fuselage, and the plane hurled directly upward into the thinning air.
Irene and the pilot felt the plane moving like an elevator gone haywire, pinning them to their seats with incredible force. As the plane shot skyward, Irene could not even raise her hand to her face: the force of the acceleration was too great against her body. Soon the thinning air made them light-headed, and as freezing cold bled into the cockpit, they lost consciousness.
From Green Lantern’s and Malvolio’s point of view, the plane was now a mere dot in the sky, tens of thousands of feet, pushing into the upper atmosphere.
Malvolio could not believe what had just happened. “What have you done?”
Green Lantem stared grimly at Malvolio. “I’m willing to let her die for what I believe in. Are you?”
The memory of his first loss once more vivid in his mind, burning like real pain, Malvolio shot into the air, determined to rescue the woman. He would not lose the only other love of his life.
The plane was hundreds of miles away now, and far up in the atmosphere. Malvolio had seconds to find her. Mustering all of his energy, he blasted upward off the island and into the thin, freezing air miles above the Earth.
The Green Lantem knew he had bought himself only seconds and turned to the first Sleeper. Although the soldier was made incredibly, viciously strong by Malvolio’s ring, without his leader to give him guidance he lacked the imagination to outthink the Lantern.
The Sleeper charged but stumbled when Green Lantern feinted.
Gathering himself, the Sleeper shot a blast of energy at the hero, but once again he was faster, and blocked the blast by diving behind another Sleeper, who took the shot full-force.
Green Lantern's movements were erratic and the Sleeper quickly expended much of his energy blasting trees and rocks. Before the Sleeper could regroup, the Lantern moved quickly and, with the last of his ring’s energy, he struck, slamming the Sleeper through the chaos of the fighting, into the cave mouth.
But it was not enough: the Sleeper unemotionally and calmly stepped back out of the cave and came at Green Lantern. Although Scott had blasted the Sleeper with all of his remaining power, the Sleeper had enough strength to resist.
And as the Sleeper’s power slowly recharged, he prepared to crush the now-depleted Green Lantern.
But before he could do so, a shattering explosion blasted the Sleeper backward. Green Lantern turned and saw the muzzle of a Pack Howitzer, smoking from the round it had just fired at the Sleeper.
Marines rushed forward to attack. Among them, showing them the way, was Paul Shustak. They met eyes for a moment—enough for Green Lantern to relay his thanks with a look-then he quickly pulled the ring off the stunned Sleeper and used its energy to give a charge to his ring.
If he was lucky it would be enough to defeat the next Sleeper. But it sure helped to have the United States Marine Corps on his side.
The sight outside the Avenger’s cockpit was surreal: Irene saw that they were high, higher than any aircraft had gone before, and before she fainted she struggled to understand what she was seeing.
Malvolio cursed as he flew to catch the aircraft. If she were dead, he would wreak revenge on all of Earth.
Finally, he could see the aircraft as it hurtled through the upper atmosphere. Malvolio knew he would have only one chance at saving her. Mustering all of the energy possible, he shot out a bolt of pure plasma. Like a bolt of lightning, it flew across the atmosphere.
Thousands of miles away, eveiyone on the tiny atoll saw what looked like a gigantic bolt of green lightning arc across the sky.
Green Lantern, surrounded by supporting Marines, fought desperately against the Sleepers in hand-to-hand combat. The desperation of the fight weighed heavily in the humid air as men struggled to kill supermen. The Sleepers were superior in every way, but without Malvolio’s leadership to drive them, their efficiency in killing was weak.
Green Lantern was using this to his advantage. With the little power gained from the first Sleeper’s ring, he focused on one point of the next Sleeper he encountered-his eyes-and used the energy to blind him. That, combined with a direct hit from a bazooka round, stunned the Sleeper. Green Lantern incapacitated another Sleeper with a blade-like blow to the spine, just below the neck. Once again, he was able to retrieve the remaining energy from the Sleeper’s ring.
A loud explosion rippled the air above the men. Malvolio was returning to the atoll, carrying the fuselage of the Avenger and carefully lowering it to the ground.
The Sleepers disengaged from combat and formed a defense perimeter around Malvolio and the aircraft.
The Marines and Green Lantem prepared to attack. Paul was ready to lead them forward when the Lantern saw the airplane and stopped them.
Malvolio spoke to his enemies. “If she is dead, everyone will pay. Every one!”
Malvolio levitated above the Avenger’s fuselage and ripped open the cockpit windshield, peeling it back. There, the limp body of Irene lay slumped forward.
Malvolio lifted her out of the aircraft and lowered himself, carefully placing Irene on the ground. He tenderly moved strands of her hair from her face.
Malvolio wept at the sight of her. “Live. Please. Please be alive.”
Irene’s eyelids fluttered. Then, with a shaip inrush of breath, her eyes opened. A moment of recognition, and she clawed at Malvolio’s face and scrambled away.
Malvolio was shocked by the attack. “Irene—my darling... ”
Irene tried to get away from Malvolio and to the American soldiers she saw in the clearing, but the Sleepers —muscles strained and bulging, eyes blank and glaring, stopped her.
She froze and drew back.
Malvolio stepped toward her. She turned, ready to defend herself.
“Get away from me,” Irene hissed.
“Why?”
“Murderer.”
“Any more than anyone here? I did this for you!”
“Don’t you dare say that,” Irene said.
“I saved you. From him!” Malvolio pointed at Green Lantern.
Irene didn’t care. “I know what you are. I’d rather be dead than with you.”
Malvolio saw that she meant this. “Let her go.”
The zombied Sleepers stepped aside, suddenly treating her as if she were never there.
Irene did not hesitate to run to Green Lantern, but instead of throwing herself in his arms, she stopped short and slugged him hard. It was his turned to be stunned.
“You did that, didn’t you?” Irene said. “Threw me into space like that-like bait. You knew he’d come after me.”
She pointed to the dead pilot, still in the cockpit. “You killed him and almost killed me to play out this game. I’d rather be dead than be with either one of you.”
She moved past the Marines.
“This whole thing is a joke. All of it. The killing. If you can’t see that you’re no better than the monster you’re fighting. I’ve seen enough.”
And she turned and walked into the jungle, toward the beach, a boat and a way back home.
“You heard the lady.”
All eyes turned to Malvolio. Like the moon, he had turned to a darker phase and all tenderness and humanity had completely and finally been extinguished from his soul.
“All of these years gone by. All of this sophisticated machines. And still you’re as stupid as men were in my time. Petty. Blind.
None of you are worthy of ray rule. When we’re done there won’t be one of you left alive. Sleepers—begin.”
The Sleepers moved toward the Marines. Green Lantern held up his hand and the Marines dropped down and aimed their weapons, ready to fire.
Malvolio glowered at them. “Fools.”
The Green Lantern dropped his hand down.
“Fire!"
/> A blast of small arms and machine gun fire roared from the ragged ranks of Marines. The Sleepers collapsed, flew back, soundlessly dying. Some were simply cut in half or shot to pieces from the gunfire.
Malvolio’s expression went from icy intent to utter confusion.
The Green Lantern walked forward until he was face to face with Malvolio. He threw a handful of objects at the dusty ground—they were the rings.
Malvolio glared at his enemy. “So you’ve managed to take the rings from my army. You probably even managed to charge your ring from theirs. But I won’t need them now—even with the energy you’ve leeched from them, you still won’t have enough power to stop me. I’ve beaten you at every turn, and now, with nothing left, I know I don’t need them to defeat you. Prepare to meet your doom.”
Malvolio’s body grew, contorting and expanding until he was thirty feet tall: monstrous, evil and full of ferocious rage. He struck out at Green Lantern and smashed him, throwing him one hundred yards through the air to smash against a coconut tree, cutting it in half from the force.
The Lantern was amazed at the Malvolio’s strength—his will was pure now, undistracted by love. Everything to Malvolio was concentrated now: his desire for revenge and destruction, and his hatred. The Green Lantern knew he wasn’t strong enough to stop him.
Malvolio flew to Green Lantern’s side, picked him up, and hurled his body thousands of feet into the air. He then flew above Green Lantern and with a mighty blow, smashed him earthward. When Scott hit the ground, dirt exploded and cratered as if a 200-pound artillery shell had struck. Marines were blasted into the jungle.
Green Lantern had protected himself with the ring’s energy, but the green coating of plasma energy surrounding him was beginning to fade. He was losing focus, the onrush of his life came to him as he lay dying.
A woman’s face came into focus. His mother.
She was speaking to him but he could not make out what she was saying. She spoke calmly, rationally, soothingly. She continued to speak, her lips moving.
Green Lantem was amazed at the sight. This was the only one who knew who he was.
Green Lantern - Sleepers Book 2 Page 23