The New Girls
(part three)
by Green Lantern Lady

Author's Note: Liz Paige and Caitlin Arnold were ordinary girls from our world, the boring one where superheroes are only little dots of ink on paper. They idolized the Green Lantern and the Flash, their favorite heroes, and wished that could have their powers, even though they knew it was impossible. Then, one fateful day while they were walking home from school, Liz picked up an odd-looking marble, like the type used in fish tanks. Thinking nothing of it, Liz showed Caitlin the marble. They accidentally touched it at the same time and were sucked into another world- one that they knew well, Metropolis. They eventually were able to blackmail their way into the home of Clark Kent, a.k.a. Superman, and during their stay, attained the powers they had always dreamed of. The girls discovered how to use the “marble” to travel back and forth between the two universes that they called home. And now they know that dreams really can come true…

While she sped down the streets of Metropolis, Flash Girl couldn't help but regret what she had just done. She had left Green there, completely alone- a sitting duck. If they caught her, it'd be all her fault- she had been the one who had deserted her back there. And she'd never see her again…

No, she told herself firmly. They are not going to take her away. Superman'll help- he'll stop them. I'll stop them. Liz is going to stay here, and that's final.

"The what have Liz?" Clark said, sounding skeptical.

"The D.E.O. Haven't you heard of them?" Flash Girl asked.

"No."

"They're this… oh, never mind. They're going to take her somewhere, Clark. That's all that really matters," the girl's voice quavered.

"And what are they going to do to her?" Clark demanded.

"Frankly, I have no idea. But you should have seen the look in her eyes, Clark. This is serious," Flash Girl's fuzzy voice said through the intercom.

"I guess that if it wasn't the Young Justice than there should be something wrong over there. I'll come over," Clark replied into the handset.

"Don't waste any time, Clark," Flash Girl's voice said through the speaker. "They hadn't gotten to her when I left, but they were bashing down her hiding place. You have to help her- who knows what they'll do to her?"

"I'm on my way," Clark said, his forehead creased with worry. Hastily, he removed his glasses and uncovered his Superman costume. In a streak of blue, he was out the window, speeding toward the docks.

Green gasped for air, resting for a second. The surrounding area was a total disaster, littered with shattered wooden crates and scorch marks, the effects of the girl's attempts to keep the D.E.O. agents at bay. Most lay unconscious on the ground, though some were trapped in what looked like lime JELL-O, but was actually a gel form of the green energy from the ring. A new wing of agents advanced, bearing nets, gas capsules, stun guns, all sorts of weapons designed to capture the girl.

They're just going to keep on attacking me until I'm too worn down to fight, Green realized as the men came forwards. Still, they are not going to take me, she told herself rebelliously. I'll fight them to the last, and that's a promise, ring!

The men fired out nets, which thudded harmlessly against a green wall that suddenly sprang up in front of Green. Then came the gas capsules, which were caught by huge, transparent green hands which threw the capsules back at the men, making the ones who didn't cover their mouths and noses pass out while the owners of the stun guns found their weapons disassemble in their hands. Green knew she was holding her own and started loosening up her hold. All of this effort was exhausting her. Suddenly, she sensed a presence at her back. Swiveling around, she was able to make out a dark figure, but only for a second. Darkness bloomed around her as a blunt, heavy object made contact with her skull. Too surprised to feel the pain, she sank to the ground, knocked out.

When she came to, Green found herself in a darkened room, tied to a chair, which was in full view of a painfully bright light shining down from a few feet above her. She was able to make out faint shapes outside of the beam of light. Her left hand, the one that wore the ring, was enclosed in a box-shaped cover. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that it was yellow. Had her ring been as potent as the other Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner's, ring, she wouldn't have worried. However, since her ring had somehow not been created quite the equal to Kyle's, she faced the same problem as all of the other Green Lanterns before her- the inability to affect anything colored yellow.

While she was thinking about all this, a figure stepped into the light. Dressed in the uniform of a D.E.O. officer, he seemed to be the coldest, cruelest person Green had ever laid eyes on. His whole being seemed to seethe with the heavy, deadly essence of a powerful man who did not care what he had to do to achieve his goals.

He advanced on her slowly, stretching the terror that gripped her tighter and tighter around her until it felt almost hard to breathe. He stopped a foot or so in front of her, grinning smugly down at her. That smile was what broke the grip of terror he had had on Green. She glared up at him, hating every inch of the man that stood in front of her- he was the one who had brought her here. He was responsible for what had happened. She knew it.

"Who are you?" she asked the man, hate in every syllable.

"My name is Lieutenant Lutwidge, Green Lantern Lady- or should I say Liz Paige?" He replied, coolly. Reaching towards her, he ripped off the mask that covered her eyes and nose with a painful jerk. The mask was attached to the skin with an adhesive, like the type used on the back of Band-Aids. The area around her eyes stung painfully.

"My friends call me Liz, but since you're no friend of mine, I'd prefer for you not to call me anything," she said, suddenly longing for the secrecy of her mask. Now all of her emotions were out in the open.

"We'll call you whatever we like, young lady," the man replied, not a feather ruffled. "You're on our turf now. And since you can't use your ring, it looks like we'll be in control for a nice long while."

"Like hell you will," Liz muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"I said like hell you will!" she shouted at the man. "You can't hold me here forever, you know."

"Of course we can," Lutwidge replied. "Besides, I don't think the world will miss you very much. There are so many Green Lanterns out there, what's one, more or less?"

"What do you want from me?" Liz hissed up at her captor. "If I'm so unimportant, why did you bother catching me?"

"Because, my dear," the man explained coolly, "you're the perfect bait. When you little speedy friend comes looking for you, we'll be ready. Then-"

"Then what? You'll get rid of me? I've got news, pal- I'm not that easy to bump off. You kill me, and who knows what might happen to you? I've got plenty of friends. They'll carve you up into little pieces- just like you do to your so-called 'subjects'," the girl said, voice calm.

"You really think so, little girl?" the lieutenant's voice was amused. "What makes you think that we won't trap them, too?"

"I'm a kid. They're adults. Imagine a full-grown Green Lantern coming straight for you, ready to blast you into atoms. I might have been easy, but they won't be- I promise you that."

The man smiled down at her, slightly less amused. The thought of the adult allies of this girl coming to avenge her was in the least, slightly troubling. After all, it was a threat to the secrecy of the whole operation if they came… Still, the girl could always be bluffing.

"Take her to her room," he instructed the people that Liz knew were out of the light. "And be sure not to give her anything that she can break that box on."

Hands emerged into the light, seemingly unattached to the rest of the body of the owners. The hands untied the knots that held her to the chair, then, roughly, they pulled her out and stood her up. Two D.E.O officers took their places at her sides, then, grabbing her arms, toted her out of the room.

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