Glitter and Gold

It had not taken Zatanna long to reach the Okaara system. If anything, truly little had gotten in the way of her reaching the sector as the entire solar system was avoided at all costs by every other intelligent species in the galaxy, and rightly so. When she arrived, the entire system looked dead and desolate. There were no ships, no satellites, no structures over the planet’s surface. It was as if some terrible force had swept the entire solar system clean. Hovering over the dead world, Zatanna looked down at the collection of rings she had over her hand, closing it into a fist, she spoke down at the rings in her possession.

“Rings… Is there any life here?”

“There is… Only one life form present… On the planet’s surface.” The rings spoke in unison, taking some effort to scan the entire system for anything. Looking down to the planet, Zatanna made her way down to its surface to find the orange lantern corps.

“Show me.”

Minutes worth of following the beeping noise of her rings like she was following a Geiger counter, Zatanna flew over one land mass after the other, still finding nothing living or formally living on the planet at all, it made the vampire wonder just what she was looking for. Eventually she found herself in front of the only structure on the planet; a weathered and worn-down temple made of stone that reminded her of the Aztec pyramids back on Earth. Landing on the final steps of the fleet of stairs leading to its epicentre, Zatanna looked around to find the view cold and desolate. The sight made the yellow ring around her finger burn.

“Cozy…”

Making her way inside, she used her rings to illuminate the dark chamber, finding a second flight of steps that led down, deeper into the structure. Shaking her head, she made her wat down into the darkness. After descended several flights of stone stairs, Zatanna wondered just how deep it all went until she noticed a light further down. When she finally reached the large and only chamber of the entire temple, it took Zatanna a few seconds to take it all in.

Gold… EVERYWHERE!

A veritable lake worth of gold coins, trinkets, jewelry, and ornaments filled the entire football field space below the temple. The four coloured lights of her rings reflecting off their polished surfaces and off each other, filling the area with a rainbow of lights. And not just gold, there were jewels, statues, artifacts from civilizations and races and empires she did not recognise. A treasure trove worth several kingdoms sat in front of her. “Wow.” Floating over the treasure, she made her way deeper, where a glowing object sat at the center of it all. A lantern battery made of solid gold and glowing an intense orange light. Landing right in front of it, she was mesmerized by its inviting glow. Desire filling her dead heart the longer she stared into it, without even thinking it, she stepped forward and heart something metallic get kicked away from her heeled boot. Looking down, she found the lantern core was surrounded by orange rings with the same polished luster as the core itself. Bending at the knee, she reached out to pick one up.

“THAT’S MINE!”

Standing up sharply and looking around the vast space, she thought she saw a shadow move in the distance.

“Are you from the Orange Lantern Corps?” Zatanna called out, her voice echoing over the chamber.

“I’m LARFREEZE! And I AM the Lantern Corps!”

Looking back down to her feet, she found hundreds of unused orange rings bundled together, which made her wonder.

“Where are the rest of you?”

There was a moment of silence before the course voice answered back, with a sarcastic tone. “They’re not around anymore…”

Confused, Zatanna looked back down at the pile of orange rings and plucked one out with her fingers. Bringing the ring up to admire, her eyes dwelled on the smooth reflective surface, how the ring seemed to be like a precious metal and a finely cut gem all at once.

“PUT THAT BACK! IT’S MINE! IT BELONGED TO MORGU, HE WAS ONE OF OUR GREEDIEST!”

“What happened to him?”

“I KILLED HIM!!!!!” Finally revealing himself with an explosion of force that sent pools of wealth scattering all around, Zatanna finally came face to face with the jackal like creature that sneered back at her, wringing his hands together in barely contained anger. “Now his ring is MINE! His stuff is MINE! His SOUL is MINE!”

Raising his fist over his head, the orange lantern ring around his finger conjured a holographic projection of an alien. A cyclopean eye surrounded by five hands that squirmed and flailed in all directions. Soon he was joined by others, hundreds of other, an army of holographic representations of the entire orange lantern corps appeared all around them until the entire chamber was awash with a golden orange glow.

“He was stealing my space, stealing my time, stealing my AIR! I BREATH air! That was MY air he was taking! Now what’s his is MINE! All of them are mine! Mine! MINE! MINE!!!” Spreading his arms out to appreciate his own personal army, the hunched over little jackal sneered a crooked toothy grin. “Hundreds of souls, hundreds of souls worth of treasure taken in their greed, now they obey MY greed… All mine.”

She finally put it all together. This madman, this Larfreeze, he killed the entire lantern corps in a fit of blind avarice. And the power he exuded, she wasn’t dealing with a single lantern, he had the entire power of his corps in the palm of his hand.

“I NEED this ring, it’s the only way I can make up for all I’ve done.”

“You can’t HAVE it!” Looking over at her hands, Larfreeze spotted the other rings she already possessed, their conflicting energies burning her fingers the longer she wielded them. “But I WILL have you, and those shiny shinies you have.”

Backing away from the Orange lantern and his constructs, Zatanna took to the air and tried to make her escape through the only exit, only to find herself blocked by Larfreeze’s minions. Their eyes glazed as they blocked her path. With no recourse, Zatanna put on the orange ring. An intense explosion of orange light erupted all around her as the colour orange was added to the swirling mix of green, yellow, violet and indigo already added to her costume. Her eyes glowing bright orange as the power coursed through her.

“What’s mine is mine, what’s yours is yours, until it is mine. With orange light, its all mine!” Looking down at her hands through her orange gaze and back to Larfreeze and his armies, Zatanna smiled.

“MINE!”