Showcase: Doctor Light

Times Past, 1979

Twenty-Six Light Years from Home

by Martin Maenza

“Aaaah…aaaah…choooo!”

The man dressed all in white from head to toe rubbed his soaked gloved hand across his face. It did little to clean his angular face which was covered with a wisp of a black beard. He continued to trudge among the lush jungle full of vegetation, all the while fidgeting with controls on his belt.

“Come on, come on,” he muttered to himself. Despite which way he toggled the settings, every time he hit the main button nothing happened.

“Arrrrghhh!” Dr. Light grumbled. “Stupid equipment!” He stomped his foot down hard.

Water splashed up all over his already dripping pants’ leg. The ground made a ‘sloooosh’ sucking sound as his foot was quickly imbedded in soft mud.

“Arrgggh!” he yelled again. “Stupid rain!” He struggled to pull his foot out and stumbled backwards. He fell butt first onto the ground.

“Damn it!” He slapped both hands on the ground, splashing himself again. “Stupid planet!” The rain continued to shower down in the night sky, now going on its twelfth continuous hour.

“This is all Batman’s fault!” Light said to himself. “If he hadn’t interrupted my plans back in Manhattan, I would have been able to perfect my interstellar transportation device. Then I would have been able to travel back and forth across the light years easy as pie, pilfering unsuspecting planets of their treasures.”

The Caped Crusader however had stumbled upon the super-villain’s hidden lair and engaged him in battle. A chain reaction of events lead to Light’s own weapon causing damage to a special teleportation platform, but not before the criminal jumped through a shimmering portal in order to elude capture. Instead, he wound up here, on an alien planet who knows how far away from Earth.

It didn’t take Light long to conclude that the portal device must have someone gotten damaged or shut down, stranding him on this backward world with nothing but the costume on his back and a few useful weapons.

Within a half hour, the rain had set in, followed quickly by the darkness and the winds.

Dr. Light was really learning to hate this world, wherever it was.

“I can’t stay here,” he said to himself. “Got to find some shelter or something.” He was about to rise when he notice a rustling in some nearby bushes.

Eh? Light thought. Was it the rain, or was something watching him?

Just as Dr. Light reached for the weapon holster on his belt, three small figures slowly raised their heads from above the large wet leaves. They had dark skin, oval heads with scruffs of dark hair near the top. They looked humanoid in appearance save for flat nasal cavities. The man watched them carefully. Their eyes were wide, cautious. They looked at one another curiously and then back at the man. There were some nods and they began to move forward.

“Ah!” Light said, jumping to his feet. “Back!” His weapon fumbled in his wet gloves, falling to the ground.

The three figured paused, looked at the fallen item, and then back at the man in white. Then they stepped forward again as a group.

“Uh, er!” Light muttered, stepping back cautiously. He didn’t mind the deep puddles as his mind raced for what to do. Then, a light bulb went off in his head.

“Hah!” he shouted, throwing his arms out wide. At the same instance, he activated a device in his costume, causing his whole body to be illuminated in a brightly shining aura! “Back!” Dr. Light hoped this would give them pause as well as provide him a protective shield in case they attacked.

Dr. Light was caught totally off-guard with what happened next!

The three alien figures dropped to the muddy, soaked ground, falling to their knees. “Callub da! Callub da! X’Hal rellabub, callub da!” the three chanted over and over.

Light watched them for over two minutes. They did not move nor speak anything more than the same words over and over. He watched their faces and saw their expressions had changed to one of a mix of awe and fear.

Dr. Light raised an eyebrow. Well now, he thought to himself. What do we have here?
***

 

Dr. Light followed the trio through the jungle brush. They seemed to know their way around things, locating a sort of a path through the bushes and shrubs and avoiding any pitfalls. They continued to chatter among themselves. Some of the words they continued to repeat were X’Hal and callub. Obviously they were relating those words to him, but he didn’t understand why.

The villain had lowered the intensity of the aura-shield from his costume to a fraction of what he had used earlier. At this lower setting, it allowed for some protection and illumination as well as minimized the drain on his power cells. Got to make it last, he thought to himself. Don’t know how long the nights are here. Come morning, I’ll be able to charge the solar cells again. He figured that if the whole aura had impressed the trio that a continued display of it couldn’t hurt at this juncture.

Eventually, the trio stopped and pushed back a last set of branches. One of them gestured for Dr. Light to go first.

Light was cautious, but the expressions on the natives’ faces were clearly that of sincerity. It didn’t appear to be some kind of trap. Still, he was ready to defend himself if need be. He nodded, said “OK, I’ll go,” and walked through the leaves.

There was a small clearing here. Light’s eyes took in a small village spread before him, a number of huts arranged in a semicircular pattern. The buildings seemed to be woven from large leaves and weeds. A few were crooked, some with small holes in the sides or in the roofs. “My, how primitive.”

One of the men called out. “Drana! Drana! X’Hal rellabub!”

The shouts lead to figures emerging from the huts. Men, women, children came, some sleepy eyed and a bit disoriented. Still, when they heard the words of their fellow villagers, they perked up and began to gather around to see the new arrival.

Dr. Light tensed. “OK, now, don’t crowd,” he said, raising his hands.

A hand reached out from the group suddenly to grab for him.

Light kicked up the aura again.

There was a collective gasp, followed by the entire village falling to their knees. “X’Hall rellabub!” they repeated over and over as the others had done earlier.

Light watched and started to smile a wicked smile. “Well now…”

Soon the devotees’ bowing and genuflecting stopped as one of the trio started to call out to a number of folks. He was giving them what appeared to be instructions which they quickly ran off to perform.

Moments later, they returned with large wooden bowls of items that appeared to be some kind of exotic, multicolored fruit.

Another pair emerged with the largest of chairs, setting it before the glowing man. They bowed and backed away, waiting for their offering to be accepted.

Dr. Light looked at the chair and then moved towards it. He tested it with his hand, pushing down at the seat and such. It appeared to be rather sturdy. “This’ll beat sitting on the wet ground,” he said as he sat down. The wood was surprisingly comfortable. “Aaah. It feels good to have a rest.”

The bowls were brought forward to him, with eyes of the people holding them averted downward.

Light reached forward, took one of the pieces of food and sniffed it. It smelled fragrant and sweet, like an exotic citrus fruit from home. His stomach growled. “I am hungry,” he admitted. He sniffed it again. “Well, here goes…” He bit into it.

“Mmmm,” he said. “Good.” He looked up and saw the villagers all watching intently. He raised his gloved hand and made some kind of gesture. “Yes, good. Thank you. Thank you.”

There was a pleasant murmuring among the assembled. They seemed pleased that he was pleased.

From all this, it was starting to become clear that these people didn’t bear him any ill will. In fact, they seemed to be practically falling all over themselves to please him for some reason. Well, he thought to himself. Who am I to say no to them? He laughed.

One of the original trio approached, half bowed. “Trieb la drio,” the man said. He pointed to one of the huts as if offering it up. “X’Hal crea la veran dri.”

Light looked at the hut. While it did appear to be in better shape than all the rest, it still was rather small in size and plain in structure.

The Earth man looked about and pointed to a stick. “You there,” he called to one of the natives. “Hand me that.” He snapped his fingers towards the stick.

The dull man looked at him oddly. Light repeated himself again, this time with more authority, and then the man picked up on it. He bent over and grabbed the stick, offering it up to the costumed man with a bow, his hands on each end carefully.

Dr. Light took the stick with one hand, nodded, and then made a shooing motion with the other hand. “Yes, yes, now go away!” He turned to the man who had offered him the hut. “Here is what I was thinking…”

Using the stick, he began to make a picture in the mud. He first made a bunch of stick figures. “This is you all…” He gestured to the people assembled and pointed back to the drawings. “See! This is you! You. The people.”

He then used the stick and began to draw something next to the stick figures. It was like one of the huts, small like the people. Then, he drew next to it something else. It was a structure, large in size. “You will make me this. A castle. Understand? A castle!”

The native alien had a curious look on his face. After awhile, they started to understand.
***

 

Night turned into day, and the days turned into a week.

Soon the word had spread among the natives from this village to others nearby. And the word rippled out like the waves made by a pebble in a pond, with each group passing along the news to their other neighbors who may not have yet heard.

In no time, more and more members of the alien race were coming to the village, towing behind them carts full of family and belongings. All had made the pilgrimage to see the newcomer from the stars.

Each morning, Dr. Light was greeted by those who wanted to see him, to bask in his presence. And they also bore gifts to him: metals and stones, prized livestock and harvests. Anything that they had of extreme value they offered up to the newcomer in the form of tribute.

The new arrivals to the village also learned of the construction going on for the man, and those that were able body and fit began to gladly assist in the efforts.

Dr. Light continued to revise the construction plans, which he worked out on parchment like material with berry-based inks. He advised the natives, despite the often difficult hurdle of the language barrier, how they could make molds from wood to make bricks from mud. The natives eagerly absorbed the techniques from him and put them to work making a tremendous dwelling for him.

As the sun was starting to set, the workers continued to toil away by the dozens.

One of the native women approached the Earth man, ready to escort him to his evening feast. She was fetching and wore very little to cover her curvaceous body. She smiled at him.

Dr. Light had grown accustomed to the people, overlooking their slight physical differences. Many of the similarities to humans were enough for his needs. He smiled back, took her hand and followed her to the meal. “It is good to be king,” Light said to himself.

A many hours later, after the evening’s meal and entertainment was complete, Arthur Light stirred to see the young native woman leaving his ‘temporary’ dwellings. He reached for his pants, pulled them on and grabbed his cape to wrap around his upper torso.

He walked to the doorway of dwelling which was on an edge of the village, feeling the chill of the night air. The skies were clear, not a rain cloud in sight, and the moon shone full down upon the area. From this spot, Light could easily view the rest of the smaller huts as well as the makeshift camp for the many visiting folks. Most were asleep, replenishing their strength for the next day’s backbreaking labor.

Light looked to his left and could see the makeshift wood scaffolding and such around the larger dwelling the natives were building for him. Not bad, he thought to himself. Not the most ideal of situations, but I guess I’ll have to make do until something else presents itse…

Something caught Dr. Light’s attention high up in the star-filled evening sky. He turned and focused his attention fully in that direction.

It was a green speck of light that seemed to be getting larger as it approached.

Light frowned. He quickly ducked back inside his hut to finish dressing. He knew now was not the time be caught with his pants down!
***

 

A figure approached the village from the sky and touched down on the ground. The emerald glow that surrounded his body and enabled him to fly faded just as some of the villagers came out to investigate.

The dozen or so natives of the world looked upon the newcomer. He was dressed in a gray leggings with green boots. His tunic was the same green and bore some sort of symbol in a white circle in the center of his chest. His sleeves were a gray that matched his leggings, and long white gloves covered both his hands. The man had a roundish-head with green skin, and he wore a mask that covered his eyes.

“Qrieb da?” one of the natives spoke up and asked. “Chee va da rellabub?” The others nodded seeming to echo their speaker’s inquiry.

“Hold on,” the Green Lantern said. “Let’s make this a bit easier.” The green man looked at the power ring on one of his fingers, using his unspoken bond with the item to command it to do his will.

The ring flashed a spark of green in reply.

“There,” the Green Lantern said. “That is better. You should be able to understand me now.”

The natives all looked at one another in surprise. Indeed, the words this newcomer spoke were now comprehensible to them. “You speak our tongue?” the native asked.

“Well, not really,” the green man said.

“But you do!” another said. “Are you Traxonian?”

“No,” the Green Lantern said. “I come from the planet Uxor. It is on the other end of the Vega System.” This was met with blank stares by the natives. They had no idea what he was talking about. “It doesn’t matter. I am not here to explain the star charts to you.”

“You know our tongue though.”

“My…” he started to explain but realized the concept might be too far beyond such a primitive people, “…I have a way so that I can understand you and you can understand me.”

The natives looked one another and whispered, mulling over the concept. Then, they turned back to the Uxoran. One of them asked, “then why have you come?”

The Green Lantern was about to speak when a blast of energy hit him from behind! The green man fell down to the ground unconscious from the assault.

The dozen or so natives turned about to see Dr. Light, standing with a weapon in hand. The golden charge was subsiding from the barrell. They blinked at the man, staring. “Qrieb da ven? Riet ba X’Hal dia ro?”

Light wasn’t sure what they had just asked him, but he knew he had to remain confidant. “Bad man!” he said firmly in a tone one would use speaking to a dog. He pointed to the Green Lantern and said it again. “Bad man! He would have hurt me, your king. Hurt your X’Hal.”

By the time the Green Lantern of the Vegan system came around, he found himself sealed in a sphere of golden energy. “Release me,” he said to the man in white pointing a device at him. His captor was obviously not of this world due to the fact of a different appearance than the natives and the fact that he wielded technology far beyond the capabilities of the primitive race. “Do you have any idea who I am?” He started to thump his fists on the energy wall, but it did not give.

“Don’t get all uppity on me, Green Lantern,” Dr. Light said.

The Green Lantern’s ring translated the Earth tongue to his own and told him also from whence the language came. It also started to translate his words for the other man to hear. “You are from Earth?” he asked his captor. “You know this uniform?”

“Darn straight, Kermit,” Dr. Light said now understanding the stellar policeman. “Where I come from, we know all about Green Lanterns as well as their weakness to anything yellow. Good thing I have a mastery over the luminescent spectrum, and thus was easily able to attack you and capture you!”

“Why are you doing this?” the green man asked. “Why are you here? What have you done to these peaceful people?” He gestured towards the aliens who were still milling about the area.

“Hey!” Light got all defensive. “I haven’t done anything to these people. When I ended up on this world, they offered me a heaping helping of hospitality. I’ve shared knowledge with them, and they’ve shared what they wanted with me. All fair and square, ring-wielder!”

The green man considered. “You know of my power ring. You know of Green Lanterns. Do you know the Green Lantern of Earth?”

Light’s face turned angered a bit. “We’ve met…” he grumbled, “…on a number of occasions.”

“Then you know of the Corps. You know what we stand for. Surely …aaaaarggggh!” The green man fell to the floor of his cage, having received a surging shock of energy.

Dr. Light shook his head. “Uh, uh, Mr. GL,” he said. “I’ve heard enough out of you.”

One of the natives approached him. “Qrieb da trenu?” He gestured at the captive figure curiously.

“Bad man!” Dr. Light said. “We kill him.”

The native looked at him, still confused.

Light bent down and traced his finger in the dirt, drawing. He drew a figure that represented the captive Green Lantern. “We kill him. Kill him!” He emphasized this last bit by slashing his finger back and forth across the figure many, many times until the drawing in the dirt was hardly there. “Kill! Get me?”

It took awhile before the native started to understand what Dr. Light was trying to convey.

The green man came around but did not stir. He knew if he did so, the man in white would merely attack him again. He needed to figure out a way out of this predicament, even if his power ring was little help directly against his prison.

“Ring,” he commanded the device on his hand softly, “access central information on Oa. Cross-reference with the Green Lantern from Earth and any matching description of this individual.”

The ring flashed and then began to process. In a short time, it had the information required and fed it directly to its master. “Ah, then this one is a criminal after all,” the Green Lantern said. “My fellow corps member has beaten him many times though, and I shall too. I just need to find a way.” And so, the green man started to ponder a solution to the problem at hand.

Some time later, after the villagers had been gone a good long time, the green skinned Green Lantern rose inside his prison. Dr. Light saw this and smiled. “Well, now,” he said, “so glad you could come around in time for your execution.” The villain glanced over his shoulder as he heard the natives starting to approach. They carried with them spears and torches and such.

“Why are you doing this?” the Green Lantern asked. “Do you truly think you can get away with this?”

“Of course I can!” Dr. Light gloated. “Why wouldn’t I? Who is going to stop me?”

“What about them?” the Green Lantern asked, gesturing to the large group that came upon them.

“They will be your executioners! They will do as I command! I am their king, their X’Hal.”

“X’Hal?” the ring wielder blinked. “Did you say X’Hal?”

“Yes, king, X’Hal,” Light said. “That is what they call me.” The Green Lantern began to laugh. The Earth man frowned. “What…? Why are you laughing?”

“You are truly dim,” the Green Lantern responded. “Do you not know what X’Hal means?”

“King, ruler,” Light said. “That is what I am to these people. I show them a good light show, and they treat me like royalty. They’ll do anything for me. Build me a temple. Even kill for me!”

“X’Hal,” the Green Lantern began to explain, “was an Okaaran leader who was abducted by the Branx Warriors and was forced to mate with a Branx in hopes of creating a new species. This lead to the birth of two sons. When the Branx attempted a second mating, the abused X’Hal, despite a peaceful nature, killed the Branx but was fatally wounded in the struggle.”

“Oh,” Light said with some surprise.

“The Psions brought X’Hal back to life in the form of pure energy and was endowed with mighty powers. X’Hal then destroyed the Psion lab and later, in a rage, attacked and destroyed three Vegan worlds before being subdued by a force of Okaaran Warriors. The Okaara began to worship X’Hal soon after.”

“There!” Light said. “See, pure energy! That’s me.”

“Really?” the Green Lantern said. “Did I forget to mention that X’Hal is a female. She is a goddess. You, most certainly, are not a female or a goddess.”

“Oh!” Light said again. “Well, that doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t?”

“Nope,” Light said. “There simple people don’t have their facts straight and only two of us on this mud ball even have a clue to the truth.” The villain then smiled. “And in a few moments, it will be just one – me!”

“Really?” the Green Lantern said confidently. “And who is going to kill me?”

“Why they are!” Light said, turning to indicate the natives gathered about them. It was at this point he got a good look in the flickering torch light of their faces. The people of this planet looked angry, on the verge of exploding. And they were not looking at the Green Lantern but at Dr. Light!

“Uh oh…” Light muttered.

The group charged him. Light let out a loud yell and started to run. The native continued in pursuit.

One of the natives stopped and began striking at the device that Light had dropped. In a few moments, he had smashed it with his weapon, causing the golden sphere about the Green Lantern to fade.

“Thank you,” the emerald warrior said.

“Thank you,” the native said, “for opening our eyes, or should I say our ears, to the truth.”

“It was easy for my ring to convert all our discussion into your native tongue, just as my ring had done before,” the Green Lantern said.

The native nodded. “Now we shall kill the one who deceived us.”

“No,” the Green Lantern said, his power ring surging as he took to the air. “Allow me to bring him to justice.” The hero flew off after the crowd who was chasing after the fleeing Light. They were nearly upon him when his emerald construct snatched the man in white into the air.

“Th…thank you,” Light said, nearly out of breath. “You saved me.”

“No,” the Green Lantern corrected him. “I saved these people from being subjected to by a greedy, loathsome being.” He began to rise up in the atmosphere, lifting Light with him. In a moment, an emerald sphere imprisoned Light as they moved into unbreathable space. Soon, they were rocketed off into the stars. “I will return you to Oa, where the Guardians will insure that the Green Lantern of your world comes and takes you away. The sooner you are out of my sector, the better.”