His friend nodded in agreement. "Being cooped up indoors all the time--it's enough to drive you stir crazy. You just want to get out and do something, even if you do get soaked."

"Not me," said the first man. "I'm to that whole stage where I wouldn't mind never going outside again."

"Right," said his friend with a smirk on his face. "I know you, pal. I give it another week before you go out--less if something interesting happens."

Eventually, they slowed to a halt. "So what now?" the first man asked. "Swimming? Exercise bikes?"

The other man stroked his beard. "I was thinking archery."

The first man shook his head and grinned ruefully. "Thanks, but I'm not really into being publicly humiliated." 

In the end, his ring had simply run out of power. Kyle had awoken from what seemed like a fever dream to find himself strapped into some sort of bizarre apparatus. Sinestro was standing by a bank of controls muttering something about power flows ceasing, and checking the main capacitor. He vanished, leaving Kyle alone.

It had taken Kyle several minutes to disengage himself from the tangle of cables and wires, and several more minutes to find his way out of the tower that Sinestro had built. Finally, he made it out into the wasteland Sinestro had created and made a beeline for the memorial to Coast City.

When he got there, he began to dig frantically at the base of the memorial, scratching away with his bare hands, moving away rocks with a frantic urgency. Finally, he was rewarded by a comforting green glow, as his lantern was revealed. As he touched his ring to it, he heard a voice from behind him.

"Thank you, Kyle," Sinestro said. "I knew that if I let you out, you'd lead me to it sooner or later. Very impressive, by the way. A selective perception field that prevents anyone from noticing the battery by any means short of direct visual perception. I really, truly am impressed at your foresight. I may have underestimated you...slightly." He held out his hand. "Now...be a good boy and come back quietly. I wish I could simply hook up the battery itself, but only a ring can handle that kind of power feed. But don't worry, you'll be well-treated...for as long as you're useful, at least."

Kyle grinned nervously as his ring came free from the battery, glowing with power. "I don't think so, Sin. You ready for round two?"

"Whenever you are...fool."

There was a sound loud as thunder. 

Slowing down, Kyle descended to the entrance to Guy's bar, holding the lantern under one arm. He hated to do it, but he needed to swallow his pride and get some allies...especially, allies who knew something about Sinestro.

Guy wasn't there, though. His receptionist said something about a fight with a militant splinter faction of 'Up With People', and invited him to wait in the outer office.

"Thanks," said Kyle, sinking onto the couch. "And while you're at it, call John Stewart, and get him out here. Tell him Sinestro's back." And then he fell asleep. 

Kyle opened his eyes and looked up blearily. "Hi, John. Good to see you again."

The look of concern on John Stewart's face was evident. "Nice to see you too. You said Sinestro's back?"

"Yeah." Kyle sat up. "He came back from space, said he wanted to trash the planet because it reminded him of Hal. Nearly killed me, too, but I away, came to get some help."

"It's impossible, Kyle. Sinestro's dead, Hal killed him--" John stopped, a look of consternation on his face. "He killed him on Oa, just before the Guardians died--No, wait, he didn't kill him, Sinestro was already dead, and--" he broke off. "Sorry, that whole time period's a little muddled for me. That's the thing about losing cosmic awareness, you tend to lose track of all your memories with it."

Kyle was at something of a loss to respond. "Well, um, try talking it through. Maybe that'll help."

John started pacing back and forth. "OK, I remember that Sinestro had made one last attempt to get his old body back. Guy stopped him, though, blasted his disembodied spirit. It couldn't have lasted too long after that, not without a body to inhabit...damn, I'm missing something."

Guy walked into the room, pulling off a last few happy face stickers from his arms. "Missing what, John? Your marbles?"

John grinned ruefully. "Just about, Guy. I'm trying to figure out how Sinestro survived your trashing his energy form...and why I've got these memories of him and Hal duking it out on Oa, just before...before things went bad."

Guy shrugged and sat down. "So keep talking, John."

"OK, I remember Sinestro, walking out of the central battery--but that can't be right, he'd already escaped from the battery by then...he fought Hal, Hal killed him, then Hal took the power away from the battery, away from me--but my power was different, it wasn't--the Mosaic cities, Kyle! I was still on Oa after the Guardians died, after Hal took the power away, so how did I evacuate the Mosaic cities?" He seemed almost feverish now. "I don't understand, Guy, there's holes in my memory, and I know who made them. I know more than I should, but less than I ought to. I never thought to question it, because I never noticed there was anything to question. And all this time, I could have--" He collapsed to the ground, breathing shallowly.

Both Guy and Kyle raced over to him. "What the hell's happening to him?" asked Kyle.

"He is remembering," said a voice from behind them. Kyle turned, already recognizing the voice.

There was a man floating in mid-air about four feet away from them. He was about three feet tall, with blue skin and a large, domed head, and he wore flowing red robes. A haze of indefinable power surrounded him as he floated over to join the two people standing over John Stewart.

"Hi, Ganthet," Kyle said nervously. After all, last time he'd seen Ganthet, it was because Ganthet had called him 'unfit to wield the ring'. He'd always wondered whether Ganthet had survived that battle with Hal Jordan, and whether he still wanted to take the ring back. Looked like he'd find out now. "Um..." his brain struggled for something to say to this near-omnipotent being..."nice to see you've gone back to the old outfit again."

Ganthet fixed him with a cold, inhuman stare. "Thank you, Kyle. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to re-awaken my Brother." He touched John's forehead, and instantly, John snapped back into full wakefulness.

"Thank you, Brother," John said as his clothing transformed into a larger version of Ganthet's robes. "You know what we must do?"

"Of course."

Guy tapped John on the shoulder. "Care to explain it to us? I mean, one second, you're Joe Average, ex-superhero, and now alluva sudden you're wearing a bathrobe and calling Chromedome here 'Brother'! What gives, pal?"

John smiled at him. "I never lost my powers, Guy. I hid them from myself. I knew that Hal would seek out every source of power he could find in his quest to restore Coast City...so I returned the Mosaic Cities to their respective homeworlds. I shut away my own abilities and knowledge until they were needed again."

Guy looked skeptical. "And that time's now?"

John nodded. "Sinestro is our responsibility, Guy. We have to stop him, once and for all. It's our duty...our final duty. After this, the Guardians can fade away..." he trailed off. "We need one more, though. One more who can help us, who still fights for the cause." He looked to Ganthet. "Only one, right?"

Ganthet nodded, his eyes betraying a slight fear. "The other one is not yet ready. To bring him into this battle could cause as great a disaster as the one we are trying to prevent."

John replied, "Alright. Then let us bring to us the one we seek." He gestured, and a blond-haired man in a red costume appeared before them. He had a green cape, and a green domino mask on as well. He was in a pose of battle, as though he had been plucked from a fight.

"--begone!" He paused, looking around. "What the heck?"

Kyle grinned. "Hi, Alan! Great to see you again!"

Alan Scott glared at Kyle. "It's nice to see you, too, but don't do that again. I was fighting a major demon--"

 John spoke up. "Kyle didn't do anything, Alan. I did. And don't worry about the demon you were fighting. It's been returned to its proper plane of existence. Right now, we need your help with something important."

Alan blinked incredulously. "You banished Ragath the Soul-Eater, Devourer of Worlds in two seconds flat! What does it take to be important in your book?"

"Well, Sinestro destroyed the entire Green Lantern Corps, and now he's building a weapon that can destroy the entire planet." John looked evenly at him. "That important enough for you?"

"Um...yes, yes it is. I'm guessing time is of the essence?"

"Absolutely. The five of us will leave immediately. We're going to stop him...no matter what it takes."

TO BE CONTINUED...