Space Jump

An LLS Production

Prologue: Hero Kid

No one can ever understand save those who were trapped in hell called the Phantom Zone.

Fear and pain? Mere trifles against a larger ache. Try and block out the endless shadows and receive only mocking laughter in ruthless return. Light is never so treasured as by those who have been blinded.

Try it. Try choking on the darkness until all you breathe is the night. Try wandering the endless pathways of your mind until days melt into years and into centuries more, and still all you can do is keep searching and pray for the darkness to vanish.

There are times when he must have been mad.

Rant and tear and hear their own scream at the black empty space when only the echoes of your voice come back to haunt you.

Loneliness? Mere loneliness? Who would dare to name it such a paltry thing?

Here, wherever here was, was dark, and even its inhabitants feared and hated it.

"Get me out..."

A voice once filled with power rumbling across the dark shadows.

"I want out... and the herald shall provide it..."

There were others, he knew, occasionally hearing the mocking laughter and cruel snickers that echoed in this dark hellish prison of loneliness.

"You cannot stop me, darkness..." the proud fighter roared to the darkness, like Ozymandias fighting fate.

Well? He thought. Answer that, darkness.

Take me if you can.

But don't ever think that you'll win.

Only silence answered.

A wide expanse of darkness shrouds the final frontier of space, garlands of the stars and planets and moons decorating it like so many jewels, the planets, large and multi-coloured like the centrepieces amidst an exhibition of baubles. Where exactly amidst the expanse of darkness we begin this tale is quite unknown, but we are certainly somewhere.

From within this blackness, a flame-coloured beryl of a comet streaked the blackness, all the while flying, past a belt of rocks like mud-coloured beads, past the jade-green Uranus and the lapis-lazuli Neptune, past Saturn and its great rings of red gold, past the reddish jewels of Jupiter and Mars, all the while towards one blue-green marble, swirls of green and brown marring some sort of quaint bluish-green backdrop the colour of which could only be summarised as one word: sea.

Here was Earth, and here is where our story begins.

Somewhere on the Ganges River, a boy stood on the prow of a wooden canoe-like boat speeding down the holy river.

This boy, at first, looked nothing special. He had brown hair, brown eyes slanted in very much the Asian style, his pale skin stood out amongst the population of India, and his wear did not differ much to the population, since India had taken to modern wear since the advent of the Western world. His red jacket was worn open, exposing the black tee he wore underneath to match his navy blue jeans and red-streaked sneakers. His age, one would guess, was about late teens to mid-twenties, and if ou really wanted to be technical about it, his soul was much older than its vessel.

Well, the fact that there was no one else on the moving wooden non-propelled boat was a clue that he was hardly the average human. The fact that such a young man was alone was another. The last and most glaring clue which we omitted earlier was the white device on his arm, the DuelDisk was was open, the card-plates glowing a soft rainbow.

You really shouldn't abuse the Neo-Spacians like this, a feminine-sounding voice softly spoke, unheard by all save the boy.

Nya, that's no problem, another voice, this one masculine, replied. Pharaoh hates water, don't you, nya?

"Meow," the brown tabby cat, named Pharaoh, sounded in the boy's backpack.

Kuri, something that could only be described as a brown fur-ball with white dove's wings floated next to the boy, unseen, unheard and untouched save by the spirit-seer.

"I'm not the one who sank the ship!" the boy protested, albeit good-naturedly.

Judai, you gave me power to deal with them, the female voice replied. You are responsible as well, though indirectly.

"Fine, fine," the boy, by the name of Judai Yuuki, former alumni of Duel Academy, grumbled. "Judai Yuuki is in India! Duellists, watch out!"

It was at that very same moment that on the earlier-mentioned comet, some signal was triggered, and a green light shone on it.

The lit comet crashed through the atmosphere, shattering on impact, its fragments already gaining speed through free-fall, the largest metallic fragment already accelerating with the Earth's gravity to crash exactly before the boat, sending large waves crashing towards the land on either side of the river. And, of course, the boat.

"Aqua Dolphin!" Judai called as he and the spirits, with accompanying backpack and cat, jumped towards the banks.

A humanoid dolphin, blue and white skin gleaming in the moonlight, evacuated to the damp bank at the same time the wave crashed where the Duel Monster would be previously.

"What the–?" Judai spoke as the thing in the river, the metallic thing that looked like some sort of organism except silvery with flashing strobe lights and well, basically alien began to move.

The Duellist of the Neo-Spacians blinked as he looked down a glowing green light.

The Green Lantern Corps was a police organisation with its range spread throughout the universe in general. Strangely enough, Earth was placed a a sort of unofficial base, if not due to the great presence of Green Lanterns based on Earth then perhaps due to personal preference. None of the aliens quite knew why, and didn't dare investigate.

One of the Green Lanterns based on Earth and everything in the sector divided by some odd system known only to the Green Lantern Corps in general was the ex-Marine John Stewart. Said Green Lantern was now in the Justice League Watchtower, that technologically advanced space station hovering above the Earth in space, reading a holographic missive that had nothing to do with the League and everything to do with the Green Lantern Corps and its upcoming actions on Earth.

The Lantern whistled. "Nasty."

"What you reading, GL?" the red speedster known and beloved to all (except anyone on the receiving end on him) as the Flash asked, popping up behind him at the speed of light, or at least something close to that velocity.

"Green Lantern Corps high-security details," the Green Lantern grunted, closing the holographic reader on his ring. "Not up for discussion. Just that the Guardians sent a Hunter to retrieve someone on Earth. And we should be on standby. Just in case."

"How bad could he be?" Flash asked.

The man's answer was interrupted by an alarm that sounded throughout the Watchtower, as staff and heroes alike paused in their activity of choice. Mere seconds later, the voice of Shayera Hol rang in through the intercom: "Green Lantern, report to the transporter. There's some trouble in India now."

Green Lantern slowly blinked. "India?"

There was a blink of an eye, and the man glowed green with the gifted power of the Green Lantern.

"Crap." he groaned, frustrated.

"Why?" Flash blinked.

"The pursuer was somewhere in India right now," he groaned in reply, flying to the transporter, Flash keeping up with super-speed.

The two stopped with aplomb on the lit teleporter platform, Shayera already manning the console and typing coordinates. "India. Something causing a ruckus. It's destroying things. Go."

"No other hero available?" Lantern asked just before the light enveloped him.

"Hey, wait–" Flash had not finished his words before he and the Lantern were disassembled molecule by molecule.

The process of teleportation was hardly painful, the part where molecules were disassembled hardly more than a slight discomfort, as reported by those travelling via teleportation, i.e. the League. The process of reassembling molecules into the original object, on the other hand, was thoroughly enjoyable, but still stomach-turning and overcome only by long habit.

When Lantern and Flash materialised, they could only stare, dumbfounded, at the wreckage of one part of the otherwise peaceful banks of the Ganges, thankfully consisting mostly of road craters. Needless to say, whatever uncomfortable bodily sensations of the moment were forgotten.

"No lives lost yet," Lantern murmured, looking at the wreckage on either side. "Right. Where's the fire? It's too quiet."

"Where's the screaming crowds?" Flash asked in a fit of inspiration.

Green Lantern rolled his eyes at the night skies. "It's night, idiot. Even devotees need to sleep at two in the morning."

"Oh," Flash replied. "I thought they're all in that pink dome right there."

Silence... "Flash. What pink dome?"

"Go, Neos!" Judai called as the what's-its-name was methodically pummelled under the capable hands of the Elemental Hero Neos. And fists. And feet. And strength. Anyway, pummelled it was indeed, and well, indeed. By the time Neos was finished, there were bruises where there shouldn't be bruises. And cracks. Among other things.

Overkill? Yubel, the feminine-sounding dark Duel spirit murmured, amused.

"It tried to kill me," Judai defensively replied.

Indeed it did, Yubel muttered in reply. Why couldn't I destroy it instead?

But why? The rather sensible Professor Daitokuji, formerly of Duel Academy, asked.

Yubel poked at the chest plate of the pink whatever-it-was that Neos had just torn off and thrown to the side, of course well away from Judai and company, tracing the white symbol of the lantern burnished into it. This symbol... I have heard of it and seen it on my travels through space, beloved. The Green Lantern and its soldiers, and their masters the Guardians of Oa, the planet at the centre of the universe. It is said to be the source of the greatest power of the universe.

"Is it?" Judai asked, interested.

It cannot survive down a black hole, if you must know. It is part of the Healing Light, Judai, a sometime ally of the Dark of Right, but often the two forces oppose out of misunderstanding.

"Ah," Judai nodded in understanding. "So this what's-its-name is... one of the good guys?"

Then the pile of bruised flesh spoke. "I have a name, you know."

"Eek!" Judai jumped back as Neos cracked his knuckles once more.

"Wait! Wait!" the sentient pile of scrap spoke. "Enough! Uncle! Uncle!"

"Uncle?" Judai cocked his head. "Who are you anyway?"

"I am Kilowog of the Green Lantern Corps," the being spoke, wincing at its bruises as it stood. "My apologies for shocking you, earthling. I am here to arrest and retrieve a great villain."

"Wow," Judai slowly nodded as Neos slowly lowered its fists. "A real alien."

"-.-... Could you please call off your guardian now? And what you did?" The Green Lantern waved at the pink mist-like presence around them.

"Well you see," Judai explained with exaggerated patience. "I don't really know if you're a hostile being or not, so I'm going to keep you here to stop you from trying anything. I mean, you destroyed about half the houses on either side of the river before I could draw Neo Space, and wide-scale property destruction is a rather big no, really."

The humanoid pink-skinned alien in black and green spandex thought for a moment. "Well, I can't argue with that. So how do I prove it?"

Judai frowned. "Why did you attack me?"

"Ah, yeah. I thought you were this really dangerous person I'm supposed to arrest on inter-galactic charges," the alien sheepishly replied. "And as for the property damage... well, I thought you were that person."

"Well, police are supposed to be good," Judai shrugged as the field powered off, the aurora-like light faded to show the Ganges River, alight under the light of the half-moon and Kilowog floating above the water with the help of his glowing green aura courtesy of the ring, despite his injuries, and Judai standing on the still intact boat. "Right, apology accepted."

"Yeah..." Kilowog slowly nodded. "Boys should be at home this late in the night, you know, kid."

"I've reached my majority," Judai replied. "And I'm travelling. Oh, yeah. Judai Yuuki here, nice to meet you," he bowed.

Kilowog slowly nodded. "I am Kilowog of the Bolovax of Bolovax Vik, member of the Green Lantern Corps. A pleasure to meet you, and I do apologise for the misunderstanding."

A bit far, Yubel murmured. Bolovax Vik might be closer than others, but still far. But hardly a considerable distance for a soldier of the Green Lantern.

Judai was too caught up in Yubel's murmurs to notice that Kilowog had stiffened again.

"There it is..." Kilowog whispered, and Judai snapped his attention back to the alien. "That malevolence..."

A bead of sweat rolled down Judai's brow as the brunet put together the most likely scenario. Yubel, while the Light of Destruction was still driving you crazy, did you do anything to anywhere around this guy's planet?

I cannot remember, she replied quietly. There were a lot of planets I have destroyed in my time.

"Your planet is not safe!" Kilowog howled. Alien or no, there was that light in its eyes shared by every sentient being; that of the fear of death. "Go, find shelter! Quickly!"

Interesting. Materialise me, Judai. I will see if he has truly seen me before.

If you say so...

To the human eye, the tips of leathery wings edged with sharp horns formed first, followed by pinkish skin, arms and legs ending with claws and talons and then black-grey armour almost completely exposing one of its legs, then messy hair, half of it white, half of it violet, and the pupil of the third eye between eyes of orange and teal throbbed red on its face, as the body of the Duel Monster was rather hermaphroditic, half male and half female. Lips of blue curved into a slight smile as the pink alien before the pair became a lighter pink.

"Traurig Drachen," Kilowog whispered, half in fear and half in panic. "They never talk of you on my planet. When it is, they murmur as if speaking of you would bring you to them..."

Judai noted that fear might give way to anger soon and decided that now was the time to get out of Dodge before Yubel's past psychopathic tendencies to destroy things came to bite him in the ass. "Yubel. Let's go while the going's good."

The Monster sighed. "Very well. Where to?"

"I've always wanted to see the Taj Mahal," Judai remarked as he slowly stepped away from the alien. "But first we've got to find a place to kip..."

"For the destruction of over thirty planets, you are hereby placed under arrest," Kilowog had snapped out of the daze of initial fear brought on from a childhood of secrets and the telling and retelling of stories half-whispered by fearfully superstitious aliens. "I am your arresting officer, Kilowog of the Bolovax of Bolovax Vik. You will be escorted to face trial in Oa. Anything you say or do may be used against you in your trial– hey, stop! "

"Run!" Judai took off, Yubel flying behind him. Pharaoh yowled as the backpack bounced. "Sorry, Pharaoh!"

"You are under arrest by the Green Lantern Corps, do not even think of escaping!" The alien flew after them.

"How do I get off, how do I– oh, right!" Judai snapped his fingers as his other hand drew a card. "Heh, will do. Yubel!"

The Fiend of Roses was already dissolving. Go for it.

"Compulsory Evacuation Device!"

The brown-haired Duellist disappeared at the same time Kilowog collided into the wall. Lantern and Flash had only just arrived as the alien slid off.

"What's going on?" Flash blinked.

Stay tuned for the next chapter: Rose Witch. Duel, standby!