We regret to say that your request
to leave Earth and begin a tour of duty on Oa
has been denied.
This is important.
You can't just--
No debates, John Stewart.
We've made our decision.
With all due respect...
Wouldn't it be a simple matter
for John and Kyle Rayner to trade duties...
for just a short time?
You know, I am getting a little homesick.
Sure be nice to see Earth again.
The Green Lantern Corps is a military institution
dedicated to the protection of the galaxy.
We will not alter our decisions,
disrupt our plans,
simply because of your personal problems.
It's our business to know these things.
You're going to have to work through it, John.
What is it?
There's an unidentified object approaching Oa
at a somewhat astonishing speed.
We're on it.
Nothing's gonna get through this baby.
Activate planetary defenses. Magnify image.
Professor Ivo's android.
Holy mother of--
Oa. It's gone.
Just like that.
We've got another problem.
The android's heading for Earth.
We'll set up three layers of defense.
One on the ground,
one in the upper atmosphere,
one in space.
That's me.
I want to hammer that thing
before it gets anywhere near here.
Move out.
What is it?
When the android left Earth,
he said he'd evolved to a level
where none of us could offer him anything.
So why is he coming back?
Your new book, Into the Light,
certainly projects the image of a man who's reformed.
But many people are skeptical, Mr. Luthor,
for good reason.
I understand their skepticism, Saroya.
But the fact is I'm not the man I was before.
This device may prevent the spread
of my kryptonite-induced cancer for another 30 years,
or another 30 days.
For all I know, it might only be another 30 minutes.
However fate plays her hand.
I want my remaining time to have meaning.
To make a positive difference in the world.
So you're a new man.
No grudges, no vendettas.
Even against the Justice League?
Ho-ho, far from it. I owe them everything.
They trusted me when no one else would.
I'd like to think that we might be friends some--
What the devil?
Let go!
Keep fighting me, Lex, and I just might.
What is this about?
There's an old friend of yours
coming back to town.
Ivo's android.
Wherever you're taking me won't be safe enough.
But I have just the place.
A barbershop?
Gotta hand it to you, Luthor.
Nobody would think to look for you here.
So, after you get your nose hairs trimmed,
then what?
Just watch.
Hey!
Where?
Guess we just pick one.
Kryptonite.
Thinks of everything, doesn't he?
Open.
What's the matter, Lex?
Scared?
The Atom.
You came with the other two, no doubt.
You sound so disappointed.
The most powerful creature in the universe wants my head,
and the League sends its least powerful member to protect me.
Come on, Lex.
You're smarter than that.
You know I'm an expert on nanotechnology.
Yes, yes.
The very same technology Ivo used to create the android.
Which means I'm just the man
to find the chink in the android's armor.
And how are you going to find that chink
without the android's blueprints?
The League confiscated them.
And now they've unconfiscated them.
You cannot keep me from my goal.
Telepathy.
I'm not impressed.
Why have you come back? What do you want?
Why do you ask questions you already know the answer to?
Luthor.
Of course.
We're not gonna give him up.
He's your enemy.
You owe him nothing.
Turn back now.
I have evolved far beyond what I was when we last met.
You do not want to challenge me.
Line 'em up!
The android.
Why does he hate you so much?
I once took advantage of his naivetÃ©.
He's not naive anymore.
And I've stopped taking advantage of the innocent.
Let's hope you'll be more convincing
if you have to tell him that.
Gentlemen.
Bad news?
Not the laser. Use the photon gun!
And completely fry the circuitry.
That's what circuit breakers are for.
Sure, if you're not in a hurry.
Are you?
Don't question me, you incompetent idiot!
We'll beat him, Lex.
We will.
Where are you?
Rewire this circuit...
and reroute the Drexler limiters
and connect the Heisenberg compensators in series.
He's coming in.
Not for long.
Uh!
Your bravery is admirable,
but annoying.
Second line of defense is down?
Prepare yourselves.
You'll need that cannon very soon.
Then stop interrupting us!
You come to offer help?
Not help.
Hope.
When will you learn?
Lock and load.
An intriguing idea.
Modifying the cannon so that it could alter my programming.
And it might have worked a month ago,
when I was still nanotech...
but I have transcended that limitation.
You're alive.
Which is more than I can say for Oa.
What's the plan?
We're gonna use every bit of power we have left in our rings.
Take one last shot at the android.
A blast like that could destroy half the planet.
Half a planet's better than none.
It's the only way?
Mm-hm.
Those words are always used
to justify destruction.
We can only guess how much power the android has amassed
as it's worked its way across the galaxy.
It has to be stopped, Fate. Here and now.
Not just for the sake of this world,
but for all worlds.
Then for the sake of all worlds,
I will continue to seek a better way.
You lied to me, Luthor.
Manipulated me.
Used me
to serve your own despicable ends.
What are you waiting for?
Just do it.
Good idea.
A subatomic universe.
Figured the android can't kill what he can't see.
Oh, but I can see you.
Did you really think I couldn't follow you here?
No universe, however large, however small,
is denied to me.
What do you want from me?
You have everything humans desire.
Wealth, power.
Yet you crave more,
and you'll do anything to get it.
Why?
What is your ultimate purpose?
What you're really asking is
what is yours?
Wait. Please.
The android's nature has proved benign before.
I believe it will again.
Benign? You call destroying Oa benign?
Not even you can stand against the Green Lantern Corps.
What the devil's going on?
Lex Luthor is saving the world.
The truth is,
for all my struggles to make my mark in life,
for all I've accomplished,
in just a few short generations, my name will be forgotten.
Even the greatest of us
can't compete with time and death.
Then why do you go on?
Why does anyone?
Why don't I just destroy you and everything else right now?
All it would take is a single thought and--
No!
If you do that, you won't see the end of it.
The end of what?
The evolutionary process.
You, of all beings,
should know something about that.
Yes. Yes, I'm evolving.
That's why Professor Ivo made me.
These past months, I have amassed so much knowledge,
and yet...
I remain confused, empty.
What am I evolving into? What is my purpose?
I must know!
Tell me!
There's no way to tell.
And that's why I stay in the game.
My purpose, if you will, is to see where it's all going.
And you, you'll live forever.
You'll be able to see it all.
Is that my purpose?
Simply to be a witness?
We create our own purpose in life.
Now go create yours.
You know,
when I heard you were coming,
I was actually afraid of you.
Petrified.
But now, when I see your fear, your uncertainty,
I just pity you.
Should have quit while you were ahead.
Oh! Aah!
Oh!
Get out of the way.
It's over.
Isn't it?
Yes.
He murders an entire world, and it's over?
Just like that?
I don't think so.
I did not destroy Oa.
I simply moved it to another dimension.
It was in my way.
Then could you move it back?
Done.
I can help you on your journey...
in your search for meaning.
Help me? Why?
Because that is my purpose.
I accept your offer.
Told you we'd beat him.
What do you mean, "we"?
We have another guest, Inza.
Would you prepare a place for him?
Of course. Welcome.
Are you all right?
Fine. Although there was a moment
when I actually thought John Stewart
was going to attack me.
Oh, I don't know about that.
His bark's a lot worse than his bite.