In the course of his adventures, John Stewart had come into his own as a Green
Lantern, he had his ups and downs, destroying one world, nurturing another. He has
no ring, these days, but he does possess a mysterious power that comes to his aid
in times of stress and danger.
Here's what I had in mind.
John Stewart's power is beginning to burn out of control. At first, bursting
out at inopportune moments, it suddenly flares, threatening to consume him. The
power is more than a man can contain, the Guardians learned this ages ago, which
(in my version, at least) led them to pour their power into the planet Oa and
construct the Central Power Battery from which their Green Lantern Corps derived
it's power.
Reaching out with his power to everyone whose life has been touched by the
green power, he calls for help. From Earth, Alan Scott, Kyle Rayner and Jennie-Lynn
Hayden (Alan's daughter, formerly Jade, now a GL, herself) are the first to converge
on John. They find him aflame with power that they can barely contain, with their
powers combined. John is in agony. He is being reborn and these are his birth-pangs.
Afraid that he might explode, taking New York City with him, the three pool their
powers and take him to an isolated spot, deep in the northern part of the Rocky Mountains.
As they set him down, the rock surface begins to crack and then to melt with the heat
of his flame. The stone itself begins to take on a greenish color and then to glow
with the green power. They get the idea to siphon power from John and place it in the
mountain itself.
Combining their will and power, Kyle, Alan and Jennie-Lynn create a large stone
sphere, forty feet in diameter, with John in the hollow center. They tell John to let
go of the power, relax and let it flow into the living rock. As he does, he is reborn.
A flare of emerald energy visible from the moon is his birth-cry.
Worried for their friend, the three outside begin to contemplate opening the sphere, fearing John may run out of air if their scheme didn't work. From out of nowhere, a voice filled with calm humor says, "Never fear." and a spot on the sphere begins to bulge out, spreading to form a shallow cone opening on the raging green fire inside.
From out of that inferno steps John Stewart, clad in a body suit of deep green, a white stylized lantern emblem on his chest. The hair at his temples has gone white, he is the first human Guardian. There will be more.
John Stewart, in the following months, builds a kind of fortress, there in the mountain fastness. The sphere, he transforms into a Central Power Battery and a beacon. As with the three on earth, other surviving Green Lanterns across the galaxy have felt the compulsion to travel, their destination, Earth. Across the globe, people from all walks of life feel something pulling them toward the rocky Mountains. not many, a select few whose minds and hearts are resonant with the ideals of justice and life and freedom. The Flame calls out across the universe.
Not all will make it, some will turn aside along the way, some will find other paths to fulfill their destinies, but a few will arrive on the mountain to meet the Guardian, to learn the legacy of the Emerald Flame and to face, at last, the test of the Flame itself. More like an order of chivalry than a police force, each new Green Lantern will enter the Flame and will emerge with a ring and lantern of his own design. Each will dress as he chooses, the clothes, in this instance, do not make the hero, it is the heart of the hero that matters. Each new Green Lantern will select a sector of space to safeguard, from which he will select candidates to send back to Earth to be tested, until, once again there is a Green Lantern Corps protecting all sectors of the galaxy. Or, as I like to call them, The KNIGHTS of the EMERALD FLAME.
Well, that's the basic idea. Hope you enjoy my little diversion. Drop me a line.
