Arkillo's Missing Ring [fan fic]

[Cyberium Star Sapphire's Love Slave Find all posts View Profile Close Cyberium]

Arkillo's Missing Ring

(1)



A terrifying roar shattered the peace (?) of Qward.

Everyone in the cafeteria looked up in awe, uncertain of the situation. Before long, they saw a gigantic creature stormed into cafeteria with haunting eyes. The crowd shuddered at its presence.

It was Arkillo, the drill sergeant of Sinestro Corps and its infamous cannibal. There is not one member in the Corps who wouldn't evoke his appetite. With his sudden emergence and watering mouth, he appeared to be hungry enough to swallow anyone within his vision. Out of caution, everyone inevitably turned on their force field for protection.

But he left, bursted out of the exit, as random as he came, left a room of dumbfounded audience.

---------------------------------------------------

"Settle down, Arkillo." Enkafos said. "What's the problem?"

"My ring!" Arkillo bellowed, "It's gone!"

"Your ring?"

"I woke up this morning and my ring was missing from my finger!"

Enkafos moved his focus onto Arkillo's hands. Neither has his ring. "What do you think happened?"

"Someone took it! I will find the meat and make him pay!"

Arkillo didn't even bother suppressing his volume. He had always been the loudest of the Corps, being the drill sergeant, but the echo in the office space started to bother Enkafos' ear.

"I highly doubt it." Enkafos pondered. "You are feared by 99% of the members of this Corps. Out of that 1%, only a hand full of people could take a ring from you while you're asleep. And of that hand full, none of them has any compelling reason to do so."

Arkillo paused. Enkafos is usually right. "Where would it be then?"

"I don't know, have you checked your pants?"

Arkillo spat, "We're the Sinestro Corps, we don't wear pants!"

"True... your uniform hasn't dissipated yet, that proves that the ring hasn't left your possession for long. Allow me to check its status. And please quiet down, people will hear us."

With that Enkafos conjured his info monitors. Multiple screens appeared and surrounded him.

"Ring 674.1, status report. Where are you?"

[Location: Arkillo.]

Enkafos frowned. "Repeat."

[Repeat - Location: Arkillo.]

Enkafos turned, "You have it."

"I do not."

Enkafos ordered, "Ring, glow."

The two waited. They saw no light.

Enkafos's eyes narrowed, "I have a guess, but I need to test again before I am sure. Ring, vocally report your status from your location."

[Affirmative.]

The voice came from inside Arkillo. He looked at his belly, stunned.

"You're in my stomach!?"

[Affirmative.]

"You ate your ring?" Enkafos said in disbelieve. "This is beneath even you, Arkillo."

"I did not!"

"Come to think of it, you like to suckle on your fingers when you're done with your ribs..."

[Affirmative]

"You shut up!" Arkillo pointed at his belly. "It's must be an accident! I would never swallow my ring intentionally!"

"Maybe... but at least we know where it is now. Care to... puke it out?"

Enkafos suggested, but Arkillo just stood there.

"Well?"

"I... cannot." Arkillo muttered.

"Cannot?"

"My people... my race... our stomach is sealed outside of meal time. It's an evolution thing."

"Huh? That's ridiculous, what's the point of that?"

Arkillo shouted, "Are you kidding? You have no idea how many 'things' want to crawl out of my stomach!"

"Stop eating them alive. How about... from the other direction?"

Enkafos was embarrassed to even make such remark, fortunately no one else is in the office to witness it.

"Only when the digestion is finished. Forget it! I am going down to the forge and grab a new one."

Arkillo proceed to the exit. Enkafos floated to the door and blocked him.

"You may not."

"What?"

"You may not." Enkafos stared at Arkillo evenly. "All rings are under regulation, my regulation. I cannot give you a ring without filing a report."

"File one, then."

"You want me to detail the reason of 'how' you lost your ring? I don't think Sinestro would take it lightly, however amusing it is."

Arkillo waved his sinew arm. "Well, don't file it then!"

"I refuse." Enkafos insisted. "And don't get angry at me for preserving my own hide."

Arkillo laughed in anger, "I'll teach you to defy me."

Enkafos shrugged in frustration. "What a choice... have you bite off my head or give you a new ring and die in Sinestro's hand? I think I will risk your wrath."

Arkillo was enraged, crushing all visible objects in the room.

"RAWRRRRRR~~~ This is infuriating!"

Enkafos waited painfully till Arkillo was finished. His hours of decoration ruined within a minute.

Arkillo panted as he shattered the last of the vases. "I have a rookie training in an hour! How am I suppose to do that without the ring!?"

"Your ring was never your teaching tool, anyway." Enkafos kept his voice calm. "You're strength and attitude were what drove them to hard work, you just have to do it a little differently now. Consider this a rare exercise for subtlety."

"Subtlety?" Arkillo despised the word.

"Something you sorely need. Try to finish the introduction and training without your ring."

"Spew the subtlety!"

"Have you other choices?"

Silence fell.

Enkafos erased the surrounding screens with a gesture, "Since you don't have a ring now, you might as well learn to live without it. Try to use words and routines that would avoid using your ring. You are the drill sergeant you could set up the training however you like it. Send them to Lyssa Drake for a story session or something. There is no telling what rookies would say to others if they realize you don't have your ring with you. We must not provoke any suspicion."

Arkillo smacked his forehead. "I don't like this."

"You don't have to like it. I will go with you. I'm sure things will be fine. Pardon me for a second..."

Enkafos turned around.

Arkillo watched as Enkafos trembled lightly.

"What are you doing?"

Enkafos shook his head, but Arkillo saw his lips curled.

"Are you laughing at me!?"

Again Enkafos shook his head in defiance. Now Arkillo could hear the laughter bouncing in Enkafos' mouth.

"Stop it! Stop it right there!"




{Gonna write a series of stories involving Sinestro Corps members. Stay tuned!}

[Cyberium Star Sapphire's Love Slave Find all posts View Profile Close Cyberium]

(2)



Arkillo and Enkafos exit the office. Their subordinates observed from high above the cliff.

"What happened to Arkillo?" The red skin female Seer whispered. "He seems to be in a grumpy mood today."

"Isn't he always?" Mallow smiled. He was a stocky, older male with full grey beard.

"That outburst earlier was unlike him." Feena commented, indigo hair basked in the golden light of the central battery. "He terrifies people often but wouldn't just ran into the cafeteria and did nothing physically harmful."

Seer mused, "Maybe he forgot his dose of raw brain this morning." She laughed with his corpsmen, "Not to worry though, it's rookie's day, he will find some fresh meat. Does he still eat the first rookie he sets his eyes on, regardless of background and potential?"

Devildog, the horned, demonic looking alien let out a hearty chuckle. "Oh yeah, the only time he didn't do it was because Murr was the rookie. Not even Arkillo could handle something like Murr in his stomach."

Haasp the Hunter was sharpening his skinning knife, made no remarks about colleagues' discussion.

Feena grinned, "Poor thing, none of you like Murr? I consider his visage particularly appealing on many abstract levels..."

"Spare us with the artistic point of view, Feena." Mallow interrupted. "You may find satisfaction in looking at the Melting Man, most of us don't."

Feena eyes Mallow. "Too high class for you, old man?"

"On the contrary, I am very interested in creativity. However, I prefer seeing it on battlefield or in a siege combat. I confess that I adore the feeling of a well-planned tactic came to life and brings me victory. A toast."

Seer added, "Nothing beats a planet-ending explosion. You have to watch it to understand. It makes me cheer in joy. I suppose we all have our moments."

"Mine would be killing influential celebrity." Devildog bit his talon. "It's like a birthday party when the crowd screamed as you appeared. If they know you they would cry out your name too. Say, what do you think Moose's moment would be?"

The four-arm Smithwick double-shrugged, "I don't know, stomping prehistorical cavemen? I don't think he has a hobby. Tri-Eye would be... eating?"

Amon bent his fingers, "Him, Braach, Setag, Flayt, Bedovian, and of course, Arkillo. yeah, eating is probably enough to make them happy."

Feena said, "Some of us are too primal to know happiness. That probably makes their life easier, with simpler needs. I was a humble town's artist before I discover that secret ritual. I must admit, life wasn't too bad then, albeit wrinkle-less."

"I was never happy." Amon grumbled. "It's... a family thing."

Smithwick replied, "I am not sure what it feels like. I am always working on overthrowing governments of my sector. If simple life can bring happiness, I don't think I will ever understand."

"With all due respect..."

Hassp sighed.

"Why the hell are we discussing about 'happiness'?"

[Maverick_GL Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Maverick_GL]

Awesome Cyberium, I love this stuff. Can't wait for more.

[Cyberium Star Sapphire's Love Slave Find all posts View Profile Close Cyberium]

(3)



Arkillo folded his hands behind him, walked calmly.

"I don't like this."

"You don't have to like it." Enkafos said. He lost count how many times he had to repeat that. "Just act as if nothing had happened. I will synchronize the speech with your brainwave."

Arkillo barked, "I don't need your damn speech. If the rookies act up I will crush their skull."

Enkafos sighed, "I am trying to save you some trouble."

Arkillo knew it well, but it's not his nature to agree or admit right away. In some ways he's glad that he has someone to share his other-side with, despite Enkafos and he are two different personalities. Enkafos's right, he COULD use some subtlety, that's why he's with his ever-floating corpsman. Enkafos, with his fragile structure, could use some major muscle to carry out his insidious plans. They are a good match.

Before long, they were in front of the meeting hall. Enkafos called it meeting 'hall' because it sounded better, in reality it's just a secured valley with thick, golden power pipes scarring the wall. Arkillo believed that Sinestro wanted the newcomers to witness the yellow energy flowing through Qward and their rings, to gain a sense of 'awe' and respect towards his Corps. Assigning Arkillo as the primary trainer served the same function.

Arkillo took a deep breath. For the first time he's nervous about meeting the new people. When he first came here he demonstrated his power and became Sinestro's top recruit, hence his current status. He had been a trainer ever since, training the meanest bunch of individuals the universe had ever seen.

He never felt weaponless; he IS a weapon. However, knowing that power rings bring near limitless functions, any 4th rated scum bag could be lethal to HIM. On his planet, Arkillo was unmatched. In the universe, doubtful. Arkillo hated to think that perhaps there is one being in universe would one day join the Sinestro Corps and take his position. The possibility is always there.

At least he's not alone. Not anymore.

Enkafos couldn't see Arkillo's smile from his enormous back, assumed he paused purely because of his anxiety. "You will hear the speech from my ring. Rest assure that I've been planning this moment for a while."

Enkafos sounded as if he's been waiting for Arkillo to slip so he could lend his hand. Arkillo wondered how many 'plans' does Enkafos have up his sleeve?

Arkillo pushed open the gate, annoyed by how gentle he did it this time.

Five rookies... all humanoids and had nothing in common except perhaps their criminal history. Power rings developed by the Weaponers were highly logistic and near-sentient, they chose candidates based on their past deeds as well as their psychological status. Those who are qualified would be recruited, with or without their approval. Some resisted, however, like the Bruce Wayne of Earth. Enkafos often mused if Batman would make a better member than Amon Sur if he could be abducted.

Three of the rookies swallowed when they saw Arkillo's monstrous form. Two made no indication of fear.

Arkillo walked up the platform, coughed to clear his throat (per Enkafos's instruction).

"Greetings, cadets of Sinestro Corps, and welcome to Qward." Arkillo had trouble speaking in Enkafos's civil manner. "I am Arkillo, your instructor and superior. This is Enkafos, my assistant and supreme tactician of our organization."
"To instill fear is to instill order."

Arkillo raised his voice.

"Our order!"
"You may or may not have heard about our great leader Sinestro. Regardless, his power will not be questioned, for his grand design this Corps was founded."
"The rule of the Corps is simple; obey or die. No exception. You will do your leaders' bidding or suffer its consequences."

He blinked.

"If you have any legal issues regarding our mission, you may refer them to Enkafos, for he is the most reliable on such intelligent matter."

Arkillo was VERY certain Enkafos enjoyed this.

"Now, we will start by learning how to operate your ring." He continued. "Qwardian power rings are..."

"Excuse me, 'sir'." A rookie interrupted. He was a thin, long ebon haired male. "Shouldn't you at least ask for our names?"

Arkill waited on Enkafos' reply.

"You are Geo Det of sector 224." Arkillo said calmly. Were he had his ring he would immediately murder the rookie where he stood. "Your identity had been uploaded to the info network. We and anyone with a Qwardian ring could retrieve them. This is one of the abilities I was about to explain..."

"Save it."

Arkillo glared at Geo. "You got a problem, rookie?"

Geo waved, blasted Arkillo with his ring. Surge of yellow power knocked Arkillo back and engraved him on the cliff behind him. Rocks fell and nearly buried him under. Without his ring, he couldn't raise a force field against this surprised attack.

Enkafos and other rookies were dumbfounded by what just happened. Geo was also very surprised that the large drill sergeant was so easily defeated, at the same time he's well satisfied. "I presume THIS is also one of the abilities you were about to explain?"

Arkillo shook his head, tried to recover from the blast as quickly as possible. He was very very tough, but Geo intended to KILL him, that wasn't easy.

Geo chuckled. "You look tough, that's about it."

He turned to his colleague, yelled, "And you people would let this piece of softy 'train' us!? Does the Corps think we're all worthless like this Arkillo!? We will take the lead from here on!"

Enkafos lit his ring, but a sinewy arm blocked him.

"Hold." Arkillo stopped Enkafos, "This one is mine."

Enkafos frowned. There was one thing he did not remind Arkillo of. Despite the stereotype, a sentient being CAN operate ring's power as long as he has it, even if he's not wearing in on his finger. WIth that said, Arkillo had never lost his access to the ring's power. Enkafos thought he could teach Arkillo how to do things slowly by hiding this fact, he miscalculated. Not the first time he's wrong but this would be painful to watch.

Arkillo charged Geo with a deafening roar. Geo was frightened by his visage but that didn't stop him from raising a barrier, blocked Arkillo's raging fist. To his demise, Arkillo punched through the shield and stroke on his right cheek. Despite the ring's power, Geo did not have the control to use its defense properly. His amateur skill rightfully failed him. Tears and blood exploded. If it weren't for the barrier Geo's entire skull would've flew off his shoulder before it shattered to pieces.

Even without his ring, Arkillo is not to be trifled with.

Geo was in great agony, he could barely escape Arkillo's stomp that came for his head. Rolled to the side, Geo conjured a wicked blade and sliced Arkillo on his arm. The edge bit through Arkillo's skin and at least an inch of muscle, not nearly enough to remove the arm from a creature as muscled and gigantic as Arkillo. The Vornian took the advantage and grabbed Geo's ring arm, tore it off with an easy gesture.

Geo cried in pain, nearly forget the burning sensation on his face. His eye opened wide, appeared as if the orbs would fall out of his sockets at any moment. The rookies were already ten steps away from the scene, inevitably stood together.

Arkillo let out a cruel chuckle and drooled. "Too bad you don't have much meat on you."

He started chewing the fallen arm as Geo watched in terror. Arkillo eyed his victim up and down.

"Where should I have next? How about a thigh?"

Arkillo pulled off Geo's right leg. This time Geo inhaled an eerie silence. Arkillo suckled and licked the fresh meat, blood and drool dripped from his grey face.

Suddenly, there was a flash of yellow light emerging from Arkillo's throat.

[Exit discovered.]

"What?" Arkillo covered his mouth, but it was too late. His ring flew through a gap between his fingers and returned to its rightful spot.

Apparently, as Arkillo's race starts their ingestion, the membrane that sealed his stomach opens up, allow the ring to escape from its meaty dungeon.

Arkillo looked down at his ring finger.

Looks up, he saw the group of rookies dropped their jaws. Even Geo lost track of his own tragedy.

They saw a sinister grin.

[Cyberium Star Sapphire's Love Slave Find all posts View Profile Close Cyberium]

(4)



"Congratulation on your ring's retrieval, Arkillo."

"Shut up." Arkillo grunted, chewing on one of the rookies' lung.

"With all the rookies dead, no one will reveal your dark secret." Enkafos clapped his hands. "Well done, Arkillo. Barring the trouble we went through, this is a valuable lesson. I hope you've learned something about subtlety?"

"None." Arkillo replied plainly.

Enkafos expected such from his friend. What mattered was, this charade had come to an end.

"The rings are searching for new recruits now. Universe is never short of potentials. Come Arkillo, we should go have some rest, and don't lose your ring again, at least not in equally stupid manner."

Arkillo replied with a grunt.

---------------------------------------------------

"I am just saying," Amon tried to explain. "Haasp was right! We're not suppose to talk about happiness."

Devildog spat. "And why is that? Can't villains have a good time?"

Amon muttered. "It's just... not very Sinestro-like."

The group looked at each other.

Ampa Nnn gently cutting his large plate of veggie. "I enjoy what I'm doing. Happy? Don't know, but we can't possibly dedicate to our tasks without some form of satisfaction in store. For example..."

He looked at his neighbor.

"Gleen, what are you doing with your steak?"

"I am reviving it." The teal-color gremlin said, jabbing needles into the meat, "I am developing certain strand of virus and electricity pulses that could revive sentient beings even after they are 'cooked'."

With some zapping, the steak shedded its brownish color and turned from yellow, pink, to red. A pair of tentacles grew out of the surface of the steak with an eye attached to each.

"Success?" Bur'Gunza asked, poking the meat with his claw. The meat barred its fangs at him.

"Success." Gleen cheered, "Soon the universe will fear my Gleeno virus! No one will dare to bite into their food without fearing it will bite back!"

He cackled maniacally.

Mallow sipped his tea. "I miss cliche villainy."

Ampa put more dressing on his salad, "I only like vegetable."

Everyone stared at him.

"What? Can't a serial killer be a vegan?"

Smithwick asked, "I heard serial killers prefer meat over vegetable so they could maintain a predatory diet?"

Ampa shrugged, "Vegetable is predictable, easier to find and store, and a staple nutrition supply. It's practical."

Seer smiled at Feena, "Do you know that despite those Bismollian steel teeth Schlagg-Man has, he actually prefers jello?"

Feena returned the smile, "Really? Guess there is a softy inside him."

"He probably likes cream too. Say, Gleen, maybe you can try your virus on his desert next time?"

"Working on it!" Gleen happily replied.

Haasp shook his head, put his blades back to his bag. "I'm leaving."

The table chuckled at his obvious discomfort. As their eyes followed his departure, Arkillo and Enkafos entered the cafeteria at the same moment.

The entire hall went quiet. Arkillo's sudden entrance earlier was a frighten sight, the Corps had much fear to digest. People moved out of way as the two got in line (or the lack of) for their meal. Once the crowd realized no one would die (much to their dismay) they returned to their merry making.

Bur'gunza waved his mug, "Arkillo! How goes the rookie training?"

Arkillo put piles of meat on his plate. "Dead."

Mallow let out a laugh. "You should slow your hand, Arkillo, otherwise we won't have enough men to fight those Lanterns when the time comes."

"Speak for yourself, Mallow." Enkafos snapped with a glare. He raised his palm where a power ring sits. "The ring 614.2 has located your new partner. He is on Tio."

"Never heard of that place."

"Go."

Enkafos tossed the ring at Mallow, latter folded his fist and engulfed the ring in his large paw.

"I will see what I can do."

Everyone knew he wasn't sincere.





[The story might continue on http://www.thegreenlanterncorps.com/...ead.php?t=3416, depends on people's interest ]

[Cyberium Star Sapphire's Love Slave Find all posts View Profile Close Cyberium]

Awesome Cyberium, I love this stuff. Can't wait for more.

Thx for the love :] I think they really should put more effort into developing the Sinestro Corps characters. The Secret Files and Origin was not nearly enough to explain how they came to be.

I was particularly intrigued by how Arkillo interacted with Enkafos back on Qward, given that Arkillo spoke to Enkafos in a friendly manner and took order (?) from him too. A lot of ideas about how that came to be ^_^ The SFaO did not put any effort into the stories of the deceased so I had no idea about Enkafos' back story. Perhaps I should write some about it.