Invasion! (Emerald Knights)

Episode 6 of the first season of Emerald Knights. This deals with Starro's invasion over the planet Betrassus, as he inches closer and closer Hal, John and J'onn must find ways to save their Lantern friends.

Cast

 * Chris Pine as Hal Jordan
 * John David Washington as John Stewart
 * Harry Lennix as J'onn J'onnz/Martian Manhunter
 * Ron Perlman as Kilowog
 * Doug Jones as Tomar-Re
 * Maya Hawke as Arisia Rrab
 * Rory McCann as Salaak
 * Patrick Stewart as Ganthet
 * Michael Gambon as Appa Alli Apsa
 * Whoopi Goldberg as Sayd
 * Frank Welker as Starro
 * Hugh Laurie as Lionel Luthor
 * Cole Jensen as young Lex Luthor

Story
Hal and John fly for Betrassus, alone in space.

Hal

So.. Starro? Nobody’s ever really told me what that’s about

John

That’s cause nobody knows. He’s a parasitic space starfish who conquers worlds, but he hasn’t been seen in thousands of years. I hear the Guardians had trouble with him last time

Hal

The Guardians.. another thing I have no idea about, I mean what the hell are the Manhunters? Blackest Night?

John

Just some gibberish Sinestro spewed out to try and gain sympathy, nothing more.

Hal

I dunno John, they seemed pretty protective around that Blackest Night buzzword.

John

Listen Hal, truth be told I’ve been here for almost a decade, and I know zip. Nada. All I know is that we need to get to Betrassus because we need to help those Lanterns

Hal

We might be too late..

Starro’s tentacles wrap around half the side of the planet, showing how much control he’s gained since.

Emerald Knights Intro

On the planet, Salaak is saving citizens from debris and other mind-controlled citizens. Hal and John touch down to help him save a little girl.

Salaak

John! Hal! Good to see some reinforcements, we can’t find Kilowog or Tomar-Re

Hal

He went.. Missing?

Salaak

He went to look for the Starro, we haven’t heard back from him since

John

Which way did he go?

Salaak

Towards the Great Ocean.

John

Then that’s where we’re headed. Good luck my friend

Salaak

Godspeed Lanterns.

Hal and John fly off towards the ocean. In the ocean, Kilowog, Tomar-Re and Manhunter fight against mind-controlled Lanterns. They form shields against the Lanterns barraging attacks, until Tomar-Re is knocked back into a cave by a green blast.

Kilowog

Tomar!

Kilowog and MM swim for Tomar-Re, and try to help him up in the dry cave.

Kilowog

Tomar, buddy, get up..

Tomar-Re turns around, and there’s a star on his face

Martian Manhunter

Watch out!

He wraps his body around Tomar-Re, preventing him from using the ring. Kilowog falls back, and blasts at the star on Tomar’s face. It’s ineffective, and a star slowly crawls up his body as he tries to blast it and get it off.

Kilowog

GET IT OFF ME! GET OFF!

Kilowog is thusly turned into another Starro slave, and now MM has to fight the both of them. Suddenly, Hal and John touchdown, unaware of what’s going on.

Hal

Hey, we’re here to-

John

Watch out!

John forms a bubble around the two as the enslaved Kilowog blasts at the two Lanterns, meanwhile MM is still struggling with Tomar.

John

You see that on his face? I’ll bet you that thing’s got him in a trance

Hal

You mean like mind control?

John

Space parasite, remember?

John and Hal blast at Kilowog, managing to hold him down and take off his ring. Hal forms a bubble around Kilowog’s head to force him to sleep. The star slides off his face and John blasts it.

Hal

Always wanted to do that.

Martian Manhunter manages to squeeze Tomar tight enough to knock him out too, and the star slides off his face. MM looks up at the Lanterns, exhausted.

Martian Manhunter

What of the other Lanterns outside?

John

They all flew away, like they had somewhere to be.

Hal

I don’t think we’ve met, Hal Jordan, Green Lantern 281-

Suddenly, Martian Manhunter screams in great pain. He holds his head while his eyes widen as if he’s being tortured.

John

J’onn? J’onn, what’s going on?

Just as it came, Martian Manhunter immediately goes silent, as he kneels on the ground with a blank stare on his face, unmoving.

Hal

What just happened?

John

I.. I don’t know. J’onn?

John waves his hand in front of his face, no response.

Hal

Is he..

John

Ring, scan for signs of life.

Ring

Scanning, heartbeat and pulse steady, oxygen levels normal.

John

He’s not dead.

Hal

No, he’s in a coma. How do we deal with this?

John

I don’t know, but we have an army of missing brain controlled Lanterns on the loose. We should find them.

Hal

Okay, but what about J’onn?

John

Look at that Hal.

A star crawls alongside J’onn’s back, across his face, and over the top of his head. Hal points his ring defensively while John doesn’t react.

John

Whatever it is those stars do, they can’t do it on him. I have a feeling that he’s gonna be fine. We’ll take Kilowog and Tomar-Re to Salaak and his squad, they’ll be treated there. After that, we need to find the Lanterns.

Hal

Alright.. Let’s find those missing Lanterns then.

John

After you.

The two fly out of the cave, on a journey for the Lanterns.

Meanwhile, Martian Manhunter is on a red, desert like landscape. He’s in a mental landscape created by Starro.

J’onn

What is this?

Voice

This is your mind. Your home. Ma’aleca’andra.

J’onn

Mars. And I can assume you are Starro the Conqueror?

Starro

Then you know me, and what I am capable of doing. J’onn, you are one of the strongest telepaths in the galaxy, so strong you can escape even my psychic control. At my side, we could find your missing species, and rule over the entire galaxy as the Martians were intended to.

J’onn

Intended?

Starro

You don’t know. You were once the strongest race in the entire cosmos, intergalactic scientist warriors unstoppable. The absolute apex species. The guardians of the universe feared you, so they split you into two, less powerful species. The science based green Martians and the savage warrior white. The Guardians are the reason your people have been at war for centuries. The reason your family is dead.

J’onn

You lie..

Starro

What reason would I have to lie? With you or not, this entire planet will soon be under my control. And soon, so will Earth.

J’onn

If you think you can mentally torture me into joining your cause.. I have endured far worse

Starro

I am not here to torture you J’onn.

Starro displays his family getting set on fire by white martians, with other green martians being abducted, and Supergirl trying her hardest to stop it

Starro

I am here to show you the truth.

Meanwhile, John and Hal stop by Arisia and Chummuck fighting off soldiers, they form a bubble to help block off the firing shots.

Hal

Arisia! We have Kilowog and Tomar here, they’re fine but-

Chummuck

And you brought them here?

Hal

Oh, Arkis is here. Lovely.

John

You two were the closest Lanterns, where are Salaak and the guys.

Arisia

Salaak’s group is about three buildings back, they’ll be able to take care of them

Hal

Thanks doll, appreciate it.

John and Hal fly away with the injured lanterns.

Chummuck

Hate that guy.

Arisia

I think he’s kinda cute

Chummuck

Of course you do.

Meanwhile, Galius Zedd and Ch’p are bringing in injured citizens into a makeshift construct hospital tent.

Galius Zedd

The earthmen! And you’ve brought..

Ch’p

Oh nuts..

Hal

Don’t worry, they’re fine. Just a little shaken up

John

They need to be taken in and watched over, we have their rings right here.

Galus Zedd

Their rings? Why do you have their rings?

Salaak

They were most likely taken by the star creatures, isn’t that right John?

John

That’s right. You may know by now, but rendering those mind-controlled by starro unconscious will remove the stars from their bodies without killing them. I believe they run on conscious brain activity.

Salaak

And what of the other Lanterns? We’re still missing dozens of them.

Hal

And that’s where we’re headed. We need to find them before they finish whatever it is Starro summoned them to do.

Salaak

Noted. We will watch over Kilowog and Tomar-Re, along with the other citizens.

John

Thank you Salaak, we really appreciate this. Come on Hal, let’s get going.

The two Lanterns fly off, searching the planet for Lanterns.

Hal

So, we have to search this whole planet to find the Lanterns?

John

Not quite. Ring, locate the closest ring on this planet.

Ring

Locating… Coordinates 21.7483 N, 16.8928 E.

Hal

Wait, but that’s-

John

Where we just came from. Come on, let’s make some more distance.

Meanwhile, J’onn is still in his own head with Starro

Starro

J’onn J’onnz, the pain you’ve endured, how much you’ve sacrificed, for what? These humans? These same humans?

Starro shows J’onn a flashback of him as a kid, he was in an underground lab/bunker with another kid, but human. He was in a metal chamber capsule staring at the kid on the outside. The capsule says LuthorCorp on it. An old scientist with gray hair walks in, accompanying a head scientist.

Scientist

Mr. Luthor, we don’t know if this will kill him, I mean this is the first contact-

Luthor

Do it.

Suddenly, J’onn is electrocuted inside the chamber. He screams and shapeshifts in pain, as the scientists stand amazed while the child stands terrified.

Luthor

Incredible! Truly incredible! He seems to be.. morphing his body in reaction to stress

Suddenly, the kid grabs Luthor’s arm, begging him to stop

Kid

Daddy! Please, you’re hurting him!

Luthor

Unhand me boy!

Luthor slaps the kid and pushes him to the ground, the shock of which inadvertently causes the other scientist to slip and open the chamber for J’onn. The room watches J’onn slip out and fly away, back to Mars.

Starro

Humans inflict pain on their own.. humans inflict pain on you.. yet you insist on their survival.

J’onn

There are terrible humans, just as there are terrible Martians. I will not hold the actions of one man against an entire species.

Starro

And for that, you will fade from existence. Remembered as nothing, an insignificant speck of dust, just as these humans you love so.

J’onn

Unless I join you?

Starro

You know well, Martian.

J’onn

You disregard the positive experiences I’ve come across in my days on Earth. Guardians and knights alike, all of them fighting against a common evil. These are experiences that I would gladly die for.

Starro

Then, Martian, you will die happy.

John and Hal have made more distance, but the ring still can not locate any other Lanterns.

Hal

I don’t get it. We’re miles away from the camp, are we the only Lanterns on here?

John

I think so. The other Lanterns must have gone off-world

Hal

Yeah, but to do what?

Suddenly, there’s a giant crash in the ground. The Earth is being drilled by dozens of green drills, penetrating to the core.

John

I think we’ve got our answer, let’s go

The duo head for the nearest Lantern drill, and already find him at the core of the planet. The Lantern immediately engages, but John and Hal make quick work of him. They blast the star before it possesses them.

Hal

Gotta feel bad taking down our own.

John

It’s either them or us.

Hal

What is that?

Hal points at a giant metal cylinder, brought in by the mind controlled Lantern.

John

I have no idea. Ring, scan this device.

Ring

This is a relativity beam unit, native to the planet Rann.

Hal

Relativity beam unit?

John

It’s a transporter.. he was trying to connect it to the mainframe of the planet

Hal

Mainframe.. do you think they want to move the entire planet?

John

That’s exactly what they want to do. The question is to where.

Hal

Can’t be anywhere good, we need to stop them.

John

First, we need to warn the guys. That’s almost 3 dozen lanterns we’re talking about

Hal and John fly out of the cave, back towards the site. Meanwhile, J’onn and Starro are mentally battling in his mind. Starro throws tentacles to crush J’onn, while he dodges and shapeshifts punches at Starro.

Starro

You’re weak. Insignificant, you can not win this battle.

J’onn

I can see that you do not believe that.

Starro

Worthless!

Starro knocks J’onn backwards with a tentacle, and J’onn hits a pile of rocks. Starro moves towards him with his tentacles.

Starro

I will tear you apart, and erase any competition that I may have once had in telepathy.

Starro attempts to pierce J’onn with a tentacle, but he catches it. He struggles with holding it, while Starro applies more pressure

J’onn

You will find.. that I am not that easy.. to kill

J’onn flips Starro over, impaling him over a rock, and Starro shrieks. J’onn wakes up, and Starro’s tentacles start to chase him in reality, he flies out of the cave and into the skies, as the tentacle destroys the cave and causes disruption on the planet. J’onn flies just out of its reach. Meanwhile, Hal and John are flying over the Great Ocean as they hear the noise

John

J’onn! J’onn, what happened?

J’onn

He almost took my life. Where are the missing Lanterns?

Hal

That’s the thing, they were attaching relativity beam units to the mainframe, he’s planning to transport the entire planet

John

We were just looking for reinforcements

J’onn

It seems that it is too late for that.

They look at the planet, as Starro grows to the size of a continent, wrapping his tentacles around an entire half of the planet.

Hal

Oh God! Salaak, Arisia, the guys we need to-

J’onn

Stop. It is too late for them.

John

What do you mean?

J’onn

I can see them from here. They have been absorbed by the very planet itself.

John and Hal form construct binoculars, and they see that the Lanterns are in makeshift cocoons, held over ground.

John

My God..

Suddenly, the planet transports in a blink, to another space sector.

J’onn

He plans to invade and conquer Earth

Hal

Then that’s where he’s headed

John

Ring, contact the Guardians

Ring

Contacting..

A green hologram of the Guardians council is displayed before Hal, John and J’onn

Appa Alli Apsa

Green Lantern 2814, status on the threat?

John

Status is-

Hal

Not good, listen he’s headed to Earth and all the Lanterns are incapacitated. We need reinforcements

Appa Alli Apsa

Green Lantern 2814.2, this is a large galaxy, we can not afford to expend any more Lanterns.

J’onn

We may not need to. Earth has its collection of guardians, each as capable as we. If we were able to gather them..

Hal

Then we could stop Starro, without any backup

Ganthet

You say he’s in sector 2814?

John

We believe so, he transported the planet using relativity beam units.

Ganthet

Then you must head there right away. If he gets a hold of Earth, then I fear the galaxy is doomed.

John

Understood. Lantern 2814, out.

John hangs up.

Hal

You heard the smurfs. Let’s get over to Earth fast, we got a starfish to crush.

Episode End.