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Emerald light flashed as bright as the sun. The unleashing of cosmic energies could be seen from space. At the heart of the conflagration stood two humanoids. One was a member of the Power Ring Cluster, a group of sentients possessed by energy parasites housed in rings they wore. These parasites accessed power derived from the enigmatic Keepers of the Cluster, ebony-skinned dwarves that served as an antithesis to the Guardians of the Universe. The other humanoid was a member of the Green Lantern Corps, a police force serving the Guardians of the Universe with their own ring-bearing officers.

The Keepers had sent agents across the Multiverse to seek out and destabilize so-called 'Prime Realities', universes that were key to the structural integrity of the Multiverse as a whole. Kyle Rayner had been assigned the task of hunting these agents by the Guardians themselves, along with assistance from a human named Axel Asher aka Access, who had the ability to crossover from universe to universe and act as a 'universal bloodhound' in seeking out these Prime Realities.

Together, Access and Green Lantern had come to this reality, one in which the population of Earth was decimated by the machinations of the Cyborg-Superboy and his 'Father'. The Earth had been sealed off by this universe's Guardians of the Universe to keep the surviving murderous humans from escaping and spreading their evil. Here, Kyle Rayner encountered evil counterparts to two people he knew from his own universe: Donna DesTroy and Supergirl-Prime. He had been taken prisoner and was on his way to meeting the women's master when the Cyborg-Superboy intervened. It wasn't long after when a Power Ring agent came across them as well. Now, Green Lantern and Power Ring were having it out to the death.

"Die, Guardian puppet!" screamed the Power Ring. Kyle noticed that the Power Ring's voice seemed to shift, as if there were two minds speaking at once.

Kyle grinned. The ground erupted behind the Power Ring as immense emerald dinosaurs came up and began swarming him. The dinosaurs then combined together into a huge version of Chuck Norris. Chuck grabbed the Power Ring and slammed him into the ground, causing tremors that shook the ground for miles. "That's how we kick ass on my Earth," said Kyle.

The emerald Chuck Norris was thrown into the sky by an equally large tentacle alien construct. The Power Ring was bloodied, bruised and very angry. "I'm not impressed, human."

 

DC Infinity Presents

#4

"POWER PLAY - PART 4 OF 4"

By Mike Hintze

Kyle knew time was at a premium. He had to take down the Power Ring at all costs. The psycho Cyborg-Superboy was still staying on the sidelines watching this fight, but that wouldn't last long. Add to that the presence of two crazy superpowered women that wanted him dead, and the fact that he had lost all sign of Axel Asher on this world.he was in a tight spot indeed.

"Enough," said Kyle. "I don't have time to waste on this." Kyle's body began to glow brighter and brighter. In the past, he had been a Green Lantern with a power ring that accessed the Central Power Battery on Oa, a battery that derived much of its power from the Guardians of the Universe. Now though, after genetic manipulation by the Keepers themselves, Kyle was a Guardian himself, as far as power levels went. He was his own Power Battery. As such, his potential was far greater than any normal Green Lantern.

Kyle's brightness kept building and building. Cyborg-Superboy activated lens filters on his eyes to stand the green sun growing before him. The Power Ring erected a shield to protect himself, his moist skin reflecting the intense light. Still, Kyle continued to grow brighter. He rose several feet into the air.

"You're too dangerous to live," said Kyle, "After what I saw you and those damn Keepers do to others as well as myself." Kyle pointed his ringless hand at the Power Ring and fired a beam so bright it appeared white.

The Cyborg-Superboy watched as his vision became a burn of white, momentarily blinding him. Even his robotic sensors were temporarily overloaded. When the burn faded, he saw Kyle Rayner back on the ground. He looked tired, pale almost. That light show had taken a lot out of him, almost as if the power had come from within instead of an external source.

Power Ring still stood, with a look of shock on his alien face. Smoke wafted from his chest. As the smoke began to clear, a hole could be seen burned clean through the Power Ring's chest. The alien ringslinger than dropped to his knees before collapsing to the ground, dead.

Kyle felt like he was going to throw up. He had almost let the power burn him out. He still hadn't mastered the control he'd need, control that the Guardians had had billions of years to complete. Still, he couldn't help but smile. The Power Ring was dead, his threat to this reality gone with him.

The Power Ring's body flashed a dark emerald before a ball of light left it. It sped into the sky momentarily then slammed into Kyle, knocking him dozens of feet away. In his weakened state, there was nothing Kyle could do to defend himself.

The ball of light floated in the air, showing it to be the power ring the alien had worn. "MY HOST IS DEAD.I SEEK ANOTHER." It then sped towards Cyborg-Superboy.

Before the Cyborg could react, the ring slid itself onto his right finger. The Cyborg-Superboy's body spasmed as the ring made its parasitic connection to its host. Memories and information were downloaded into the Cyborg's mind. In seconds, he knew the ring's mission and the events leading up to now.

Kyle shook his head as he rose from the barren earth. He touched his head and saw blood on his fingers. His thinking was fuzzy. The power ring had given him a concussion, but he knew he had been lucky it wasn't worse. His own ring's artificial intelligence had created a shield to blunt most of the impact. The ring had tried to take his head off.

He saw the Cyborg-Superboy floating in the air, his right hand glowing with his new parasitic power ring.

Kyle rose in the air and flew back towards the Cyborg. As he did, the Cyborg aimed his ring at Donna DesTroy and Supergirl-Prime. A beam flashed at them. In an instant, they were incinerated, nothing left of them.

"I could really get used to this," said Cyborg-Superboy.

"KILL THE GREEN LANTERN," said the power ring. "KILL IT!"

Kyle took a deep breath and raised his own ring. The threat wasn't over yet. The damn ring had a mind of its own, and combined with the power of the Cyborg-Superboy, he knew this was not going to end well.

The air crackled as he flexed his hands. Neither he nor his opponent made a sudden move, their eyes locked together. Both of them knew the other was going to die before this was all over.

Kyle Rayner ignored the trickle of blood running from his temple. His focus was on the other, the reason he had been dispatched across countless realities by the Guardians of the Universe.

His opponent was barely recognizable as human. Half of his face was mechanical, with a robotic eye emitting a hazy red light as it scanned its surroundings. The rest of his face was more or less human, with a striking blue eye that made him look almost heroic were it not for the carnage he had created around them. His hair was long and black. He wore a black uniform with a modified silver S-shield on his chest. A cape tattered and bloody flapped in the breeze. His right hand glowed the darkest shade of green Kyle had ever seen. It was almost black. The symbol on the ring was a stylized X, looking like a cross between the letter and an explosion of energy. The ring crackled the air around it.

"This ring tells a convincing story," said the black-clad individual. "It's obviously powerful..and has a reason to see you dead. If your broken body is all I need to gain even more power..well, that's all I need to hear."

"The ring lies," said Kyle. "It's an alien parasite created by psycho dwarves called the Keepers of the Cluster. You need to drop that ring right now and walk away."

"Do not listen to it.it lies!" came a voice from the glowing ring. "Kill it.then ultimate power will be yours!"

"Drop the ring," said Kyle, "or wind up like its previous owner. I'm not going to tell you again, Connor."

The black-clad being seemed taken aback by the utterance of his name. "You seem to know much about me..but I'm not Connor Kent anymore. Call me what everyone on this planet called me when they died.the Cyborg-Superboy!"

Kyle steeled himself. This Cyborg-Superboy would be tough enough on his own.but with a Power Ring Parasite boosting his powers, even Kyle thought he would be tested. Considering he had the power of a Guardian of the Universe, that was worrisome indeed. He needed to stop this insane madman (madboy?) soon. He was all that stood between the Keepers and their mission of collapsing this Prime reality, one of the many pillars supporting the latticework of the Multiverse.

He had to stop him..especially since what happened to Axel meant Kyle was most likely done with his mission of zeroing in on Prime Realities. Axel had been his compass, his bloodhound in seeking out the Realities the Keepers were targeting. Now that Axel was gone, he didn't know what he would do.but first, this Cyborg-Superboy needed to be stopped.

Whether or not Kyle survived was another matter.

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Axel Asher had to make a decision. He grinned as he flew. Soon

He had shifted to another dimension to escape the attack of a Power Ring, and found himself before a massive wall made of imprisoned beings, a seemingly infinite number of them. A flaming hand had then written words that scared Axel to no end.

KYLE RAYNER MUST DIE.

He had managed to return to the world he had left. The Power Ring had departed. But without Kyle's ring constructs to protect Axel from the radiation of this barren Earth, he would die soon. He knew he would have to decide whether to wait for Kyle longer or travel to another alternate dimension to save his life. There were no guarantees this new world would be any more hospitable or safe than where he was now, but Axel knew the time was coming when he would need to take that chance.

He took a deep breath. The time was now or never. He couldn't allow himself to die of radiation sickness. Without Kyle, Axel could still traverse alternate worlds and seek out the Prime Realities. He could travel back to his own reality, communicate with the Guardians, even recruit the Justice League, Green Lantern Corps and Teen Titans to dropkick the Keepers to kingdom come.

A flash of energy erupted beside Axel. He prepared to shift worlds in case it was the Power Ring again. When the light subsided, he saw it wasn't a Power Ring. Nor was it Kyle.

It was a Guardian of the Universe.

"Axel Asher," said the Guardian. "I know of you and your partner's mission here. I am Hutrad Hunnu Hou, a Guardian of this reality."

Axel saw there were slight differences in this Guardian's appearance compared to the Guardians he knew. This Guardian had a slightly elongated head and less pronounced brow. His skin was also a lighter shade of blue. This Guardian also had a full head of white hair. Still, his robes and the Green Lantern symbol on them were the same as Axel's reality. He didn't know why, but he knew he could trust him. He could just feel it.

"You are far too important to allow to die here," said Hutrad. "We Guardians sealed off this world for the good of the galaxy. That does not mean we will stand by while someone of your importance is threatened." The diminutive Guardian reached out to Axel and grasped his hand. He placed something in Axel's hand.

Axel looked down at the object he held. It was a Green Lantern Power Ring. "Whoa," he said.

The ring floated out of Axel's hand and placed itself onto the middle finger of his right hand. A mild shock was felt, then everything was normal. A dim emerald glow had surrounded Axel's body.

"The ring will protect you from these harsh environs," said Hutrad. "It will also reverse and heal the damage already done." The Guardian actually smiled. "You will need to recharge it however, every 24 hours. Your partner will be able to provide that for you." The Guardian then began to rise into the air as energy crackled around him. "Good luck," said Hutrad. "Much rides on your shoulders." In an instant, he disappeared.

Axel was dumbfounded. He had no idea the Guardians of other universes knew of each other, let alone communicated. Still, he wasn't going to look this gift horse in the mouth. He looked at the ring and concentrated. He was amazed at the effort it took. Gradually, however, the ring began to spark. Then glow. Finally, he felt himself rise. He opened his eyes and saw he was a hundred feet in the air. He then concentrated on finding Kyle. Seconds later, he felt it. He could feel Kyle's ring, hundreds of miles away. Another thought, and he was speeding through the air. It was weird. He could see the ground rushing by beneath him, but felt no inertia. It was like watching an ultra-realistic movie.

He grinned as he flew. Soon, he would be back with Kyle. Then they could sort out this whole mess.and what the flaming hand had told him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hutrad watched as Axel flew off. He had intuited the ring rather quickly. That said a lot of his willpower. Still, more challenges were yet ahead. Kyle Rayner and Axel Asher were not the only agents the Guardians had sent out to hunt the Keepers of the Cluster and their Power Ring minions.

Hutrad's small form shifted and changed. Seconds later, he was no longer disguised as a Guardian. The Monitor had used the ruse as a means to an end. He knew this mission was important, the task of protecting the Multiverse of the highest order. It had been simple to obtain a ring from the Guardians of his and Axel's reality. Truth be told, it should have been given to him at the onset, but the Guardians had been reluctant to give a ring to someone that didn't meet the criteria of a Green Lantern. The Monitor had been able to convince Ganthet that a ring would be a necessity. Plus, it would act as a tracker. The Monitor would be able to gain a fix on Axel in whatever reality he was in.

The Monitor then shifted universes himself, moving on to pursue his own mission. Soon, he would cross paths with Rayner and Axel. Soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Axel sped across the sky, heading towards Kyle. He hoped everything was okay with him. He assumed that if he could detect Kyle's ring, that meant that its power source, Kyle himself, was still kicking. He glanced down.and saw something.

He willed the ring to stop his travel and looked back at what had gotten his attention. The ring created a lens that zoomed into his line of sight. It was a man, lying in a deep crater. The ring detected life signs, however faint.

He landed at the edge of the crater. Moving closer, he saw the man was almost naked and heavily muscled. His chest rose and fell, indicating breathing. The ring did a brief scan, and showed that despite the radiation levels present, his body was not suffering any ill effects. It looked like he was invulnerable, which he would have to be to survive a crash like this.

Axel knelt down to the man and gave him a shake. It was like pushing concrete. "Hey, buddy..are you ok?"

The man jerked awake and grabbed Axel by the neck. The ring instantly acted to protect him. He prepared to will an energy blast onto the man when Axel was gently put down. The man seemed to gain his bearings.

"Wh-where am I?" asked the man. "Sorry.I didn't mean to hurt you.I'm just so confused.where the heck is this place?"

Axel was taken back by the man's demeanor. His mannerisms and speech were not what he expected from a massive bodybuilder like this guy. His face was apologetic and seemed genuine. "Um..this is Earth. I'm not sure where..some part of the USA I'm pretty sure. What's your name?"

"My name? I'm.man, my head is all screwed up.my name.." The big man ran his hands through his reddish brown hair. "My name..I think my name is Kevin."

"Kevin?" said Axel. His ring began to flash and a message sounded in his mind. WARNING, THIS SENTIENT DOES NOT SCAN AS A RESIDENT OF THIS REALITY. VIBRATIONAL FREQUENCIES DO NOT MATCH LOCAL SIGNATURES.

Axel didn't consider himself a smart man, but he understood enough of the ringspeak to know what it meant. "You.you're from another dimension."

"I am?" said Kevin. "I remember.fighting. Trying to stop someone.something went wrong.then I was here."

"Who were you trying to stop?" asked Axel.

"I.I don't remember," said Kevin.

Axel scratched his head. This guy seemed on the up and up. What was he supposed to do? Leave him here, clueless? Or help him? He needed to get to Kyle.

Axel made his decision.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kyle tensed as he faced the Cyborg-Superboy. The ring on the Cyborg's hand was flashing with energy.

"The ring is a parasite..you hear me? It will suck the life out of you." Kyle concentrated, once again overriding the safety locks on his ring. He might die, but he needed to destroy that ring.

"With this thing, I can leave this universe," said Cyborg-Superboy. "I can go anywhere. First though, you need to be eliminated." He aimed his ring hand at Kyle. "Die, Rayner."

Kyle erected a shield as the Cyborg fired at him. He expected a bigger hit, but realized it wasn't as powerful as it could have been. The power ring parasite must still be bonding to its host's nervous system. That gave him an edge.slight, but there it was.

Kyle created a legion of Superboys, ones that were as he remembered them. The attack made the Cyborg pause. As he stood there for a split second, Kyle then turned one of the Superboys into an Arthurian sword. It swiped down and cut off the Cyborg's right arm at the elbow. At the same time, Kyle created a sphere around the ring. It immediately fought like a cornered rat, but he was able to keep it contained.

The Cyborg-Superboy wailed in pain at the sudden detachment from the ring parasite. Kyle willed the Superboys to surround the Cyborg and detonate.

When the explosion settled, the Cyborg-Superboy was relatively intact, but not anywhere up to snuff for retaliation. The cyborg components sparked and wailed. The human components bled. Cyborg-Superboy's human eye looked around in bewilderment.

Kyle turned his attention back to the power ring and the parasite within it. He called upon as much of his power as he could and contracted the energy sphere around the ring. Smaller, smaller..he began to crush the ring. It began to scream, but he did not relent. In seconds, the ring was destroyed and the parasite within died.

"Did I miss the party?"

Kyle looked up and saw the last thing he expected to see. Axel was landing beside him, wearing his own Green Lantern Power Ring. And he wasn't alone.

"Axel? Where the hell did you get that? Who is this?" Kyle pointed at Axel's muscular companion.

"This is Kevin," said Axel. "The ring..that's another story. But from the looks of things.is that a Power Ring?" He pointed at the body of the dead alien. "Time to leave?"

"The Power Ring the Keepers sent here has been take care of," said Kyle. "But yeah.getting out of here is definitely in the cards."

"We're taking Kevin with us," said Axel. "We can't just leave him here. He's from another universe."

Kyle faced Kevin. "I'm going to ask you one question, Kevin." Kyle's ring bathed Kevin in a coruscating stream of light. "Don't lie.I'll know."

"Um," said Kevin, "Sure.I don't remember much of how I got here, but ask away, I guess."

"Are you an agent of the Keepers of the Cluster?" Kyle mentally prepared to take Kevin down.

"No," said Kevin. "I remember enough to know I have no idea who those guys are. I just want to go home. I-I'm needed there."

"Ring says he's telling the truth," said Kyle. "I guess he's ok."

"I say we take him with, if the next world is cool," said Axel, "Then he can stay there or we can help in getting him home."

"Help like us?" asked Kyle.

"Well," said Axel, "The guy can take a licking. Maybe he could help us? You know, until we find his own world?"

"Fine," said Kyle. "First thing's first, though. Let's get the hell out of here."

Axel reached out and touched Kyle and Kevin. In seconds, they were gone in a flash of light.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hours later, the Cyborg-Superboy had managed to reconstitute the majority of his body. He would need help from his Father though to complete the healing process.

His onboard systems detected his Father was close by. Excited, Cyborg-Superboy managed to use his tactile telekinesis to move his badly damaged body to his Father's location slowly, only a few hundred yards away. As he approached though, he realized something was wrong.

His Father, the cybernetic entity known as The Cyborg Superman, a former human named Hank Henshaw, was lying on the ground before him. His robotic body was inert. A rudimentary scan showed his cybernetic intelligence was not onboard. His Father had abandoned this body.

But if that was the case.where had the intelligence gone?

Where indeed?

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Next Issue: NEGATION WAR - PART ONE!