Blackest Night #3 (2009)

Jason Rusch and Gehenna are talking about their relationship. Gen one day wants to get married and start a family with Jason, something Jason wants as well, but right now, Jason wants to finish college. Suddenly, their JLA communicator begins going off. In Gotham City, Hal and Barry fight the Black Lantern Justice Leaguers. Hawkman bashes on Hal, saying he'll have to settle until he can get Green Arrow. Firestorm Ronnie Raymond says that without Professor Stein, the Firestorm Matrix in him has a hole, unable to provide the chemical formulas to convert matter, and says that Barry would make a good substitute. Barry tries to pull the Black Lantern ring off, but it has grown roots into Ronnie's hand. Hawkman is about to kill Hal when the Atom jumps out of Hawkman's ring and punches him out. Ray tells Hal that the Black ring's are nothing like the ones the Guardians made, but with porous structures similar to bone or dark-matter. Instead of absorbing and retaining energy, they're transmitting it to another point. At the Hall of Justice, Firestorm (Jason and Gehenna) observes events going on the monitors, when Mera appears. Mera states that she sent the distress signal after she and Tempest were attacked by Aquaman. Jason and Gen are stunned when she informs them that the Black Lantern Aquaman killed Garth. The monitors then go dead. In Gotham, Elongated Man and Sue Dibny attack the Atom, reading his emotions as compassion. Ralph derides Ray for still loving Jean Loring after she murdered Sue. Just as Elongated Man is about to kill the Atom, the Indigo Tribe appears and attacks the Dibnys. Using the energy in Hal's ring, they attack and destroy the Dibnys, then teleport the three heroes to the Hall of Justice with Firestorm and Mera. The leader of the Indigo Tribe, Indigo-1, explains what is going on: in the beginning, there was darkness. Then there was the white light of creation, making sentient beings. Eventually, the darkness fought back, splintering the white light into the seven different lights of the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum. With the seven lights of the Spectrum now harnessed, the darkness, considering the living beings invaders, is trying again. On their own, the seven lights are unable to harm the Black Lanterns, but when combined with green light will be able to weaken the Black Lanterns and leave them vulnerable. The heroes then turn their discussion to what the Black Lanterns really are. Hal and Barry are convinced that what they're fighting are the people they knew, as the Dibnys didn't react to the others deaths. Ray theorizes that the rings are some sort of organic computer that downloads their bodies and memories, but their souls. Indigo-1 says that the seven corps must unite to replicate the white light, which will reveal where the Black rings are coming from. Hal is needed to do this, as he has connections with the leaders of the other corps, such as Sinestro and Carol Ferris, a revelation which shocks Hal. Suddenly, the Black Lantern Leaguers arrive, and the Indigo Tribe teleports Hal away. Black Lantern Firestorm separates Jason and Gen. He then absorbs Jason, using him as the other half of the Firestorm matrix. He torments Gehenna, turning her into table salt and ripping out her heart. Jason's continued emotional state further feeds the power levels of the Black Lantern Corps. As the remaining heroes fight on, more Black rings descend upon the Hall of Justice, commanding the dead villains in the morgue to rise...