The Collective

Green Lantern
Status: Active
Space Sector: 1287
Sector Partner: Unknown, perhaps none
Homeworld: Valstan C5
Predecessor: TO-T-U-K
Successor: Inapplicable

History

TO-T-U-K served faithfully as a Green Lantern for nearly three thousand years. He was forced to retire following the Crisis on Infinite Earths.  The Lantern had no desire to retire and would have preferred to die in service to the Green Lantern Corps, however, it was the will of Guardians of the Universe that TO-T-U-K pass his power ring on to another.  TO-T-U-K was ordered to travel to Valstan C5, a planet in the fifth sector of the globular cluster of sector 1287.  There, the retiring Green Lantern would turn over to his successor the power ring he had wielded for nearly three millennia. 

Determined to perform this last, but disappointing task, TO-T-U-K scanned the planet to find a worthy heir.  Each time he tried to initiate the scan, the ring's blanket signal collapsed upon itself.  TO-T-U-K repeatedly tested his ring to ensure that it was functioning properly, and was satisfied in his weapon's function. He, therefore, grew more puzzled over the rings inability to perform a proper scan of the area.  The Guardians had previously detected a powerful and just presence on this planet's surfave.  TO-T-U-K was certain that this presence was the replacement he was assured of finding. Unfortunately, his ring failed to pinpoint the individual in question. In fact, TO-T-U-K found nothing but billions of floating fuzzballs. 

Gradually, the Lantern realized that the powerful intellect he was searching for were, in fact, the floating fuzzballs surrounding him. Each one of the billions of strange creatures was a tiny part of an overall hive intelligence. This hive mind dominated almost the entirety of sector 1287.  The "Puffball Collective" was ostensibly controlled by the largest cluster; the "queen" of the hive. Despite her size, the queen possessed only lower functioning intelligence, insufficient to perform in the role of a Green Lantern.

TO-T-U-K soon learned that the "queen" absorbed her nutrients by trapping them in the collective.  The essence of the ensnared lifeform would be passed onto the billions of puffballs, which would absorb the personality and intelligence of the lifeform as it was assimilated into the collective.  TO-T-U-K realized that it was possible for the Puffball Collective to absorb his power battery.  In doing so, each puffball would become a living power ring.  However, without the higher level intellect to guide these simple creatures, the collective would be unable to function properly as a Green Lantern. 

TO-T-U-K understood what he had to do. The Green Lantern fearlessly dove into the cluster and was absorbed; his sacrifice providing the intelligence and higher reasoning needed by the collective to wield the power of the Green Lantern.  The billions of puffballs that make up the collective have since patrolled Sector 1287; each tiny creature acting as a miniature Green. Thanks to TO-T-U-K's sacrifice, sector 1287 has become one of the safest sectors in space.