Iron Will.

Still screaming and clutching at her face in sheer terror, Zatanna stumbled away from the yellow battery. Her yellow, glowing eyes were wild with panic when she created a bubble of hard light around herself for protection and fled the planet. She did not care where she went, anywhere but here was all she could think of as she darted across the stars faster than the speed of light. The visions were still echoing through her mind and refused to go away, burned into her eyes like a brand or scar and even when she closed her eyes it was all she could see. Castle Dracula in ruins, all of her friends dead, or twisted into mindless monsters… And the smirking pale face of the one responsible for all of it, playing with the memory of the one she cherished most like a broken toy. All she could do was scream and whimper as entire solar systems passed her by faster than her eyes could keep track. She had to get away.

*

Somewhere several lightyears away from the Qward system… Was the Okama system. A trinary star system with four planets orbiting two blue suns and a yellow giant. The one planet not torn apart from the gravitational forces was nestled safely between the three suns, a safe harbour that had been taken advantage of by dozens of alien races that decided to make it a sanctuary and safe harbour. Sadly, it had also garnered the attention of another alien force who had the same idea but did not like the concept of sharing space.

A massive war fleet from the ZZz’il Empire slowly made its way towards the harbour world, intent to wipe out its inhabitants and take the world for itself. A strategically placed planet within striking distance of the others and difficult to invade by any would-be attacker and only inhabited by peasants and interstellar vagrants … How could they resist? They had already lost five ships to the gravitational well of the three suns, but it was worth it, losing five meant nothing to a fleet of over a hundred strong. Taking the planet would be easy, and with it, a foothold to conquer other worlds. The instant they began bombarding the surface, a thin green light shot out from the lone planet, darting through one of the ships like a needle before the mile-long vessel exploded from the inside out. Darting from one ship to the next, the same results occurred. By the time the twelfth battleship exploded, the remainder of the fleet finally responded to the tiny green light reducing their armada to burning paper airplanes. Streams of laser fire flooded the space between ships, trying to hit the green dot as it darted and weaved between vessels.

Eventually luck had died out and a single shot struck the Green Lantern and had him careening into the hulk of one of the destroyed vessels he shot through earlier, circling around its mass for protection while the fleet battered its shell. “I’m getting too old for this.” Groaned the old lantern, coughing up purple blood from his lips as he ducked to avoid a blast caused by the increasing broadside fire. Clutching an injury in his side, the old, grey skinned man looked around him for safer cover, and wincing to find himself being surrounded.

“What I wouldn’t do for some back up around now…” Coughed Green Lantern Adama. Wounded from the previous attack, the old lantern looked down at his side to find it crumpled and bruised. Pulling his green hand away from the injury to find it slick with the same blood dripping from his mouth.

Seeing another battleship slowly move around the wreckage of the destroyed flag ship, he created a wall of solid green light to protect himself from the attack when he spotted something strange coming up from behind the vessel. A flicker of yellow, violet, and indigo light shot like a meteor into the ship with enough force to fold it in half and cause all its cannons to explode off its hull. Surprised, the fleet recoiled and backed away from the newcomer, unsure if it was a second attacker or a fluke phenomenon. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Adama flew from his hiding spot and made his way to the crippled ship. Investigating the impact while the rest of the fleet backed away, the Green Lantern looked around and found, much to his surprise, a young woman in a fetal position in the crater of the blast. Lowering himself down to check on her, he could hear her mutter and whimper to herself as he lifted her in his arms. “Can’t stop her… All gone… Not enough… Not strong enough…” She whispered repeatedly under her breath.

“What the hell are you?” He asked out loud, shaking his head, wondering how someone like her ended up in a warzone like this, and had the power to obliterate a mile-long spaceship. Looking up, the war fleet had gotten over its hesitation and began firing again, peppering the broken hull of the ruined vessel with cannon fire, and forcing Adama to flee with the woman in his arms. Returning to his original hiding spot, the battle fleet attacked and destroyed the wounded ship, not even caring if its occupants had survived the initial impact or not. Only that he was caught in the destruction.

Surrounding them both in a bubble of green light now that they were hidden inside the hulk of the ship he destroyed earlier. Adama got a better look at her. Her skin was smooth and young, almost perfect with no trace of scars or injuries with long black hair that came down to her shoulders and lower back. Her clothes were unusual; leaving her legs bare and wearing a long sleeve jacket and hat that shifted colours swirling between yellow, indigo, and violet as if it were made of oils or paints that refused to mix. Checking her for injuries he found none, but when he looked into her wild shifting eyes, she finally looked back at him. Clutching at his green lantern suit, the woman gripped tightly at his shoulders and pulled him into a kiss that made his eyes go wide. Staring into her eyes, they flickered from one colour to the next, her facial expressions changing as if she could not make up her mind on how to feel.

“YOU!… You are all alone out here, FIGHTING for them… Your people are gone!... YoUr BlOoD TAsTeS DeLiCiOuS… Please don’t hurt me… YoUr TeRoR Is DeLiCiOuS… You’re trying to protect them… GiVe Me YoUr BlOoD… NOW! NOOoooo…!” Pulling away she clutched at her chest and gasped, folded in on herself again.

Crouching despite his injuries, the Green Lantern notices her fingers looked like they were burned, checking her shivering hands, he found her wearing the yellow, indigo, and violet lantern rings over her burnt gloved fingers. “What the hell are you doing with those girl? You must be going insane! If you’re not already…”

“SHE’S TOO POWERFUL!...The power of love conquers all… FeAr Is PoWeR!... To care above all is true strength… I’m so scared! PLEASE… Someone help me…” Hugging herself tightly, the woman fell to her side, overwhelmed and unable to move as she brought her hands to her ears and shut her eyes.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!”

Filling the space with green light, Zatanna suddenly found a sense of focus fill her, the overwhelming emotions, the visions, they began to dissipate in her mind and heart, regaining her self-control at last. Looking up, she found herself on the floor of a ship, somewhere… And resting on a knee and clutching his side was a Green Lantern. Looking up at his face, he seemed old, his skin leathery, pitted and scarred. Decades, maybe centuries worth of a long hard life of fighting marred his face and body. But what really caught her attention was the intensity of his glowing green eyes staring deep into her. The eyes of someone who would not give up or submit. Fearless.

“I don’t know where you came from little girl or what THOSE are about, but unless you can get up and fight, you are not going to last a minute out here!” Hearing a series of explosions go off outside of the ruined ship, the Lantern looked around and frowned.

“W-where am I?”

“Hmm… The Okama system, I’m its Green Lantern, and right now its being invaded by a sorry bunch of gun happy POOZERS wanting a new place to call home… They just don’t care who’s already occupying it.”

“How… How can I think straight? It was SO overwhelming…”

“Thank the green for that little girl.” Answered Adama, raising his clenched fist to show off his ring. “Willpower is everything out here; love, fear, compassion, they’re just pretty words unless you’ve got the will to make them matter.”

Hearing the hulk of the ship shudder from more cannon fire, the halls turns and buckled. Enveloping himself and Zatanna in a bubble of green light, the old Green Lantern made to leave when he felt Zatanna’s hand grip at his arm, clutching at him tightly as if he were a lifeline. “Don’t know why you’re clutching at me like some babe when you’ve got three times the power I do girl, and good thing too because we are not getting out of this alive until you start using it.”

Closing her eyes and shaking her head, Zatanna looked away and over her shoulder where the dead husk of the ship finally gave way to cannon fire and fell apart. The sight of which only made her cling to him tighter. “Well? Which is it girl, are you going to help or what?”

Her response was a whimper and a violent shake of her head, her heart was a maelstrom as her three rings consumed her. His frown getting deeper, Adama looked around, his cracked lips turning to a sneer when he found the fleet had decided to return to its primary objected and make its way towards the planet. Deciding, he pulled away from her.

“Please don’t leave… I… I can’t contain it all. I wanted to find the power to… To make right… So much I did wrong… I…”

“GET OFF OF ME!” Flicking her hand off his wrist, Adama turned and glared right into Zatanna’s terrified eyes. “You want something bad enough? GET OFF YOUR ASS! Right now, there’s a fleet that wants to turn a world into a graveyard, and unless I do something about it no one is going to care about some pale-skinned waif that couldn’t keep her head on straight in the middle of a war zone!”

Pulling away, the Lantern clutched at his wounded side and turned his attention back to the fleet, beginning its bombardment and back at Zatanna, holding the sides of her head as if control was slipping again.

“I’ll make it REAL easy; you want to live? Go home. You want THEM to live? You get between those ships and the death that’s coming!” The green of his eyes intensified as he darted off towards the war fleet, leaving Zatanna alone to drown in the emotions of her three power rings.

Continuing his assault on the fleet, Adama shot through one combat vessel after the other, making his way ahead of the furthest ship to float between them and the planet behind him. Raising his fist as if it were a cannon, he willed a wall of green light that spanned a parsec in every direction. The barrier blocking off any continued bombardment on the planet below, so long as he could contain it all. Focusing their fire, the fleet blasted against the point that conjured the barrier, making Adama cough up blood again as it drained at his concentration. He could keep up the barrier, buy the planet time for its occupants to escape.

Then he felt it. One of his hearts just gave out. Whether it was blood loss, or his injuries, or his damned age, he did not know. All he knew was right now his vision was getting blurry and his arm was feeling heavy, even in the vacuum of space. Cracks began to form in the barrier, just like in his resolve as his body slowly gave out on him. Then the barrier collapsed altogether. A brief sense of failure overwhelmed him, just as a cascade of yellow, violet, and indigo light engulphed his vision and he found himself surrounded in a bubble of multi-coloured light. “I… Got… You…” He heard her struggle to say, her eyes flickering between the three colours of her rings. Looking around, the ships fired with everything they had on them, but unlike his shield, hers was strong enough that the millions of cannon bolts were harmless thumps against the bubble of light she guarded them in.

“About damn time…” He coughed up blood again, loosing the sense in his legs while being held by her. “How?”

“Fear… Is… Power…” She answered, pointing back to the planet. “They… Are… Scared…”

“And I’m out of time… ‘Cough’… Dammit!” Plucking the green ring out of his shaking fingers, he offered it to Zatanna, just as his breathing slowed. “Finish the…” Hanging limply from her arms, Zatanna closed her eyes, just as the green ring glowed and slipped itself onto her finger. Her eyes then opened wide and filled with green light. Green oozed into the smear of colours already mixing and swirling in her magician’s jacket and top hat, her yew staff returning to her right had where a green crystal joined the yellow, indigo, and violet at its pommel.

“In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might. Beware my power--Green Lantern's light!”

*

The Zzz’il were a vespid-like race, an insectoid people who prioritised the task above all else. Despite their vast intelligence, thirst for conquest and lust for power, their range of emotions was quite limited. A benefit in their way of life in obtaining what they needed at any cost. Seeing the lone target destroy their vessels and harass their fleet now gone, their attention quickly fell on the newcomer who now stared back up at them with a multi-coloured aura. With a trill of hisses and clicks from their mandibles, the humanoid wasp at the help made a command to attack to its subordinates, aiming their weapons at the green glow, intertwining with indigo, violet and yellow.

For centuries they had conquered their portion of the galaxy with cold indifference. Calculating and pragmatic, their one-dimensional way of thought left no room for doubt, or empathy or any other emotion that would interfere in their conquest.

All of that changed when the single creature they fired upon unleashed a cascade of yellow, violet, and indigo light across the entire fleet. At that moment, the insects were overwhelmed with guilt, passion… And fear. Hundreds clung to each other, overwhelmed by the unfamiliar emotions. Some fell to their many knees, smashing the weapons they had holstered to their hips, shame and horror consuming them. Others sat or stood stunned, mesmerized for the first time of the beauty of the stars outside the window ports of their warships, or in each other. But many others looked to their neighbouring ships, the scope of their past actions flooding into their now expanded minds, consumed with an alien sense of shame they have never felt in their lives, they changed their targets from the planet to each other.

What came next was almost expected.

Zatanna watched on, cradling the body of the Green Lantern who sacrificed his life and ring to save a world that never even knew his name, while a fleet of invaders destroyed themselves in a mass act of suicide. Looking down at the Lantern in her arms, Zatanna looked over her shoulder to the planet below, then back at his tired face, now at peace.

“Thank you.”

Her gloves were almost burning, the cloth sizzling from four power rings coursing through her undead body. She still had three more rings to go, but for now, she was going to see to it that the owner of the green one gets a proper burial.