Hal Jordan looked pained, somewhat annoyed at his straightforward friend. Could you possibly shout any louder? Are you trying to make sure everyone knows?
Seeing several other friends also looking at him expectantly, he stated without hesitation, "I'm going back. That's my sector, and it's my home."
He knew this defied the Guardians' orders, but he didn't care.
Fighting evil was the belief that had always sustained him. Besides, as the current "Greatest Green Lantern," he figured the Guardians wouldn't actually expel him...
While they whispered below, the battle above remained locked in stalemate.
Thea fought passively. She'd come seeking aid—she didn't want to kill anyone.
Ganthet might have been boasting when he claimed the Spectre wasn't his equal, but the Guardians' strength was genuine.
Now with ten attacking one, and Thea unable to use lethal force, she'd managed to injure two, but their lack of emotional constraints made them fight to the death without retreating. This was getting tiresome.
The lead large-headed Guardian saw that even their combined assault hadn't subdued Thea. Even stripped of emotion, he felt somewhat embarrassed. He shouted, "Mogo!"
The Green Lanterns' expressions changed drastically. Hal Jordan's face filled with horror.
The small blue men simultaneously stopped attacking, looking confident in their victory. Thea also withdrew her magic, curious about what trick they had up their sleeves.
A massive shadow blanketed Oa's sky. Thea looked up, her shock growing.
An enormous sphere, roughly one-third the size of Earth, approached from the distance—seemingly slow but actually incredibly fast. The planet's surface radiated a refreshing green glow.
"Whoa! I heard one of your Green Lantern members is an entire planet? That's it, right? What's it called? Mogo?" Thea had always known about this planet, just not its name.
Seeing it for the first time was truly spectacular. This was a living planet with its own will and soul.
She tried to communicate using her Soul Godhood, but it directly refused her.
"Huh? Interesting!" This planet called Mogo had refused quite reluctantly. Its hesitant, soft voice sounded cute... Was it female?
Though dividing a planet by gender was somewhat absurd, Thea still felt "she" was the appropriate pronoun.
The large-headed Guardian issued two commands, ordering her to attack Thea.
The planetary will didn't dare disobey. The entire planet began gathering energy, targeting Thea.
Damn! For once, Thea was genuinely intimidated. She had no fear of ordinary willpower amplified a hundred times through power rings—the base will was limited. Even Sinestro and Hal Jordan, both "Greatest Green Lanterns," were only twice as strong as normal people at most.
But individual will compared to planetary will? No contest. Now that planetary will was being amplified a hundredfold—she couldn't be careless. Even without the attack being launched, she was absolutely certain the coming strike would be earth-shattering.
Abin Sur, Sinestro, Hal Jordan—they all had to step aside. This planet was the true Greatest Green Lantern!
This strike would destroy Oa itself. The Guardians were truly devious, calculating that superheroes wouldn't want to harm innocents. They were forcing her to choose.
Though Thea wasn't exactly a paragon of justice, she didn't want to wipe out half the Green Lanterns because of herself. The Green Lanterns maintained universal order and ensured cosmic trade routes—they benefited her. She couldn't let a righteous force sacrifice itself at the hands of its own side.
"Fine. You win." Thea left those words behind and vanished from Oa in a single step.
Not that she bothered listening to the Guardians celebrate and boast that New Gods weren't so impressive after all. Thea's disappearance wasn't actually a retreat. She sneakily circled around and reappeared on Mogo's surface.
Mogo currently orbited Oa like an oversized satellite. Thea patted the ground.
"Hey there, big guy. Do you remember me?" Using her Soul Godhood to communicate with a planetary consciousness meant Mogo couldn't possibly ignore her.
Facts proved this planet, tricked into joining the Green Lantern Corps, was genuinely honest. She didn't play dead, play dumb, or tip anyone off. Her voice was neither firm in resolve nor strong in attitude—just soft and gentle.
"The Guardians said you're not a good person..."
"How could that be! I fight for the welfare of all intelligent life in the universe. They're slandering me!" Thea patted her rather impressive chest, speaking with absolute certainty. She felt this time she truly was acting without selfish motives in resisting Darkseid. She was more dedicated than Batman, throwing herself wholeheartedly into the cause of justice. The Guardians had no right to judge her.
Perhaps it was her off-the-charts Charisma attribute, or perhaps the soul-level dialogue—Mogo's hostility dissipated quickly.
Thea rambled on about this and that, finally revealing her purpose. "Big guy, interested in changing teams? Why does a planet need courage? Look—how about the Fear Yellow Lantern? Doesn't it suit you? What, you don't like Yellow? How about the Compassion Indigo Lantern?"
Yellow was directly refused. This wasn't surprising—the planet was too kind. Making her inflict fear on others was asking too much.
When Thea produced the Indigo Lantern, Mogo showed some interest. A planet full of courage versus a planet full of compassion—clearly the latter suited her better.
However, she still declined Thea's offer, stating she didn't want to leave the Green Lantern Corps.
"Hmm, quite picky! Is it because compassion is too accepting, and you dislike evil? Then you'll definitely love the Hope Blue Lantern."
Thea didn't have a Blue Lantern ring and didn't know if Ganthet had established the Blue Lantern Corps yet. Taking a chance, she used her own Hope light to attempt crafting one according to ring-making principles.
The result was disappointing. The attempt failed. There was only one reason for this outcome: this universe's Blue Lantern Central Power Battery had already been established. Ganthet had already monopolized the source, preventing anyone else from creating Blue Lanterns.
Though he'd done this to prevent his former colleagues from interfering, it also blocked Thea.
"What... what is this light?" Mogo absorbed the residual blue light from the air into her earth, asking carefully.
"Ah, it's a long story. Another parallel universe—I'm not sure if you can understand parallel space-time. That universe was destroyed by a group of very bad beings. I'm seeking Green Lantern support to fight these same beings..."
She'd told the Earth-2 story repeatedly over the past few days. With her already excellent oratory skills enhanced by her Art Godhood, she truly spoke with heart-wrenching emotion and tearful conviction.
The very young—practically infant—planet became indignant at her tale, immediately stating she would help.
Thea had originally planned to recruit her directly, but seeing how young Mogo was, she couldn't quite bring herself to do it. If Mogo jumped ship entirely, that would be one thing—their relationship with the blue men would become outright hostile. But if Mogo wanted to stay with the Green Lantern Corps while defying orders, her future would be difficult.
What to do? As Thea pondered, she spotted three green lights streaking toward them from the distance. Perfect—someone to take the blame.
"Hey, Hal! Long time no see. Are these two your friends?" Thea waved at "them" from afar.
The approaching figure was naturally her old acquaintance Hal Jordan. His personality was carefree, his life full of ups and downs. He'd been expelled and reinstated by the Guardians countless times—he didn't take their orders seriously at all.
"Uh, let me introduce you. These two are both my friends. The tall one is Kilowog, the short one is B'dg. This is Thea Queen, Earth's superhero and the President's daughter."