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Post by Admin on Oct 10, 2006 18:09:56 GMT -5
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Post by Admin on Oct 10, 2006 18:10:51 GMT -5
Prologue 1
The Crisis was over. Apokolips had been sent back to its own dimension, Darkseid had been defeated and the Earth’s heroes stood united. For the Green Lantern Corps, their crisis was far from over…
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Post by Admin on Oct 10, 2006 18:11:13 GMT -5
Coast City, the apartment of Hal Jordan, one day later…
“I don’t understand Appa, why can’t I help?” Hal turned to the small blue man sipping on a Yoo-Hoo.
“Though the Corps lies defeated, we are far from destroyed (the things you consume on this planet are phenomenal). The Manhunters have claimed OA in the name of their new Grandmaster. I will retreat from this plane of existence to recover from my injuries, and when the time is right, I will emerge with a plan and, hopefully, new allies. Then I will call on you.”
“But…” Hal tried to interrupt, but the Guardian held out a silencing hand.
“Until then 2814--- Hal--- we need you here on Earth. Protect your sector, protect your world, but most of all protect this boy.” A small green image of a young man appeared in the room. “He carries the future of the Corps within him.”
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Post by Admin on Oct 10, 2006 18:11:41 GMT -5
Prologue 2: One Year Later…
For Dr. Lawrence Bivens the day started out relatively normal. It was a Wednesday. He filed into line with his fellow staff members at the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas at 5 AM. At 6:30 AM, the flight left for the short 30 minute hop to ‘The Ranch’. No one spoke to one another while on the plane; such contact in relative ‘public’ was forbidden. They were all employees of the US Government, but not all were privy to the details of each others’ projects.
Once on the ground, the employees filed into groups and were promptly picked up by military transport vehicles. The vehicles drove each team to their own entrance into the facility. At 7:15 AM, Dr. Bivens and his team of assistants proceeded to entrance 28B. Each team member stripped all personal effects from their bodies in Room 1 and proceeded to Room 2 (via a long hallway of hyper-sonic detection equipment) to collect their assigned gear for the day’s work. In Room 3, the team changed into their new gear. In Room 4 was the lift to take them to level 28. At 8:00 AM Dr. Bivens and his team reached level 28, at which time their day officially began, and they were finally allowed to speak to one another. Just another day at Groom Lake, Nevada, ‘Area 51’.
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Post by Admin on Oct 10, 2006 18:13:19 GMT -5
10:41 AM...
KRAKOOOM!!!
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Post by Admin on Oct 10, 2006 18:14:15 GMT -5
DC2 Presents...
Green Lantern
Issue #1: “The Disappearance”
Written by: Scott Kruger
Edited by: David Charlton
Cover by: aiCarlos
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Post by Admin on Oct 10, 2006 18:14:47 GMT -5
For 3 billion years the Guardians of the Universe and their Green Lantern Corps policed the Universe keeping the beings in all 3,600 sectors safe. But now that dream is over. With the Corps destroyed, test pilot Hal Jordan of Earth is the only remaining Green Lantern. He is charged with the defense of Earth from threats both alien and domestic, and more importantly the protection of the Torch Bearer so that the Corps may one day rise again…
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Post by Admin on Oct 10, 2006 18:16:59 GMT -5
Two weeks later…
From the personal journal of Agent Chloe Sullivan, DEO.
RE: Case number S89753621.5
It took nearly 7 hours to drive from the McCarran Airport to Coast City. We would have flown, but he wanted to drive… wind in his hair and all that. It’s a guy thing, I think. He hasn’t been the same since the invasion. Much more withdrawn, many of his preconceptions regarding Earth’s heroes were shot to Hell in the same instant they formed the League and sent Darkseid packing. In fact it took the re-opening of this particular case to bring him out of his office.
“You’re awfully quiet, Sullivan,” He says in a mischievous tone, “Nervous?”
“Why, sir? Should I be?” I ask him as we pass the road sign that said: Welcome to Coast City, Home of Green Lantern!
He smiles and just stares forward with his sunglasses on. I shift awkwardly in my seat. I know this man better than many of my past boyfriends; at least I did. He just makes me uncomfortable now. I’m not entirely sure I can trust him anymore. I wonder if I ever really could.
We drive down Restaurant Row. Many of the buildings that were damaged and destroyed during the invasion have been rebuilt. Many, in fact, by Hal… by Green Lantern. I have to stop doing that. Maybe I am nervous. The population of Coast City saw a sharp increase after the invasion, like many of the other ‘protected’ cities. As a result, the economy of Coast City is booming, while some of the nearby towns suffer. The streets are now choked in the early mornings with commuters.
I see it in a different light though. The heroes did a great job defending Earth, unfortunately though, they have enough enemies to populate some of these smaller towns by themselves. All these people flocking to live or work in these cities might as well be wearing targets on the backs.
We pull off of the main highway and head toward Ferris Aircraft. The site is situated in a small valley, open on either end to allow the jets a clear take-off and landing zone. I’m sure the test pilots wish the mountains were just a little closer together just to make things a bit more exciting.
The guard at the gate asks for our identification then salutes us through with a bit of a terrified look on his face. We get that a lot. Especially with Faraday’s glare.
We park the car next to Hanger 8 and exit as jets roar overhead. I’ve never seen planes like that before… small, skinny one man fighters, arrow shaped with guns on both wings and on the upper stabilizer fin. Crazy.
“Can I help you?” a brunette in a very expensive suit asks King.
“Ms. Ferris?” King responds as we flash our badges. His mood always gets better when a brunette shows him attention. “I’m Agent Faraday, this is Agent Sullivan, from the DEO. We called earlier; we need to speak with one of your pilots…”
He’s good. He rifles though a few pages in a faux file.
“Yes, here it is… Lt. Harold Jordan”
“Ah, right, well, you just missed him.” she responds looking upward as another one of the fighters roars overhead. “In fact that’s him there.”
“Ah, well, do you mind if we wait for him a while?” I ask just to make my presence known.
“Of course, but I’m going to have to ask you to wait in the mess hall. I can’t have unauthorized personnel on the tarmac. Liability reasons.” she adds with a smile.
“Understood, Miss Ferris.” Faraday shakes her hand and holds on for an extra second. Unbelievable.
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Post by Admin on Oct 10, 2006 18:18:59 GMT -5
The controls are smooth. She banks a bit much on left turns. May have a sticking stabilizer. Need to mention that to Tom. Not a bad improvement though. I may not crash this one. I’m running out of excuses as to how I can crash these things and walk away without a scratch.
I pull up, shooting straight through a bank of clouds. There’s just something about flying these things. Don’t get me wrong, I live for flying through the clouds with nothing between me and them but the protective aura of my power ring. But the internal dampers in the ring prevents me from feeling the ‘G-forces’--- with the exception of warp flight… That just sucks.
Being a Green Lantern… the Green Lantern, has been interesting. Between crashing spacecraft, inter-dimensional wars and alien invasions, my first year was pretty crazy. Nothing big has happened since, aside from the occasional bank robbery or League meeting. I do keep up with the guys though… Barry, Ollie and I have poker night every two weeks… Saturday nights. Helps that Ollie’s in Vegas.
The kid I keep watch on hasn’t done anything in the last year either. He’s a good kid, artist. I’m not sure what Appa did to him, all I know is I have my ring track him at all times and report to me if something happens. No news is good news though…
{“Highball, this is tower, please respond”}
“Copy that tower, proceed.”
{“Highball, Pink Lady wants you down ASAP. You’ve got visitors.”}
“Roger that tower, Highball out.”
Damn. Jack’s out of town, Jim’s visiting mom at Clearwater and Ace should be on duty right now. Unless it’s one of the guys from the ‘club’ paying me a visit this probably isn’t good news. I could ask the ring to check it out for me first, that way I’m prepared. But what the Hell, I’m supposed to be fearless, right?
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Post by Admin on Oct 10, 2006 18:20:58 GMT -5
Case number S89753621.5
Director King Faraday reporting.
Damn cocky bastard buzzes the tower before bringing that high-tech piece of crap down. If he only knew who actually supplied the tech that flies that thing he may not be so arrogant. But with that magic alien ring of his, I’m sure he still would be.
His fighter is taxied to Hanger 5, where we are escorted by Ms. Ferris to meet him. The canopy of the cockpit slides forward and he takes off his helmet. His hair’s a little longer now, not cut to military standard length. He also seems to carry the weight of his experiences on him. He seems more mature, confident… I hate that. I can tell immediately that he feels he has the upper hand.
Sullivan just looks up at him all gooey-eyed. I hate that even more.
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Post by Admin on Oct 10, 2006 18:41:26 GMT -5
"Well, agent Sullivan! It’s good to see you again.” He says to me with a genuine smile. “And, I do declare, Agent Faraday. It’s been far too long.”
The sarcasm in his tone to King didn’t go unnoticed. Ms. Ferris shifted uncomfortably twice during the exchange. First when he addressed me (is there something going on between the two of them?), and again when he addressed King.
“Harold, we have need of your expertise.” the sarcasm there definitely shone through.
“If you’ll excuse me, I have some reports to review.” Carol excused herself throwing a sharp glare at Hal.
“Is there someplace private we can talk?” I ask Hal… I forgot just how dangerously good-looking this man is…
“Of course. I’ll meet you in the conference room in about 30 minutes.” He said with a wink.
“Wait just a damned minute Jordan! We didn’t come all this way just to wait on you!” King barked.
“Well, I’ve been up in a hot cockpit for the last hour, and I’d rather not offend the lady. I’m going to grab a shower. I’ll meet you in the conference room in 30 minutes.” He smiled as he walked by as if daring Faraday to say something. He’s come a long way since we last met.
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Post by Admin on Oct 10, 2006 18:45:17 GMT -5
I take 35 minutes. It may be irresponsible of me and my mother may have taught me better, but there’s nothing more that I’d like to do than wipe that smug smile off his face with a giant boxing glove. The things I’ve heard about him through the super-community, through first hand accounts and rumors are enough to make my skin crawl…
Chloe on the other hand… nice.
“Sorry to keep you waiting Agent Sullivan… Faraday.” He glares at me, I hold his gaze. “What can I do for you?”
“This room isn’t secure, we’ll have to move this elsewhere.” Faraday says coldly.
“The camera?” I say with a quick glance over my shoulder. I let my ring materialize on my finger for them both to see. “I only let them see what I want them to see. Right now, they’re watching us have a conversation about the Death Valley crash. Which I assume is at least partially what you’re here to talk about?”
“Partially.” Chloe interjects before Faraday can respond. “Take a look at some of these photographs…”
She places a series of photos on the table in front of me. Photos from the aftermath and cleanup of my fight with Sinestro. Brings back some pretty wild memories. I flip through them, the last image makes me wince, it’s of Sinestro, dead, a bullet wound to the forehead. Guy Gardner’s parting shot. I feel responsible for his death, but even if I had known then what I learned about his ‘condition’ later it wouldn’t have mattered.
“I think you guys forget, I was there.” I respond, placing the photos on the table.
“Yeah, tough guy, but that’s not the end of the story.” Faraday tosses a new batch of photos on the table in front of me. I start to flip through them when he starts talking again. “That shot didn’t kill him. He was in a comatose state for almost a year before regaining consciousness around the time of the invasion.”
I stare at these photos in shock. Most of them are of him floating in a large tube of liquid with an oxygen mask strapped to his face. The look in his eyes is one of pure hate. I think of Katma and how she blamed me for his alleged death… My God what have they done?
I looked up at Chloe, her features have darkened; she just stares down at her shoes. I look up at Faraday… his smug look of superiority has returned.
I jump up from the table, emerald energy pours like a wild animal unleashed from my ring, pinning him to the wall and ensnaring him in a choke hold.
“You smug bastard, how could you do that?”
“Hal, let him down.” Chloe is holding her gun to the back of my head, like that would stop me. “What’s done is done there’s nothing we can do about it now.”
We?
I let him down slowly and he straightens his tie.
“How could I do that?” he asks rubbing his throat. “Presidential charter 82341B, any alien threat appearing on Earth represents a threat, apprehend that threat and hold it for questioning. Think about it Jordan. This thing shows up on our planet, guns blazing and tries its best to kill you…”
“It wasn’t his fault, Sinestro was being controlled!” I interject.
“How the hell was I supposed to know that? And besides it doesn’t matter. If I’d have known how to, I’d have put you in a cell right next him. That ring of yours makes you a threat Jordan. A threat, not only to the United States, but to the world. It took a full scale invasion of Earth and your friendship with Superman to finally get the powers-that-be to take a step back. I still don’t trust you, though.”
“It’s because you’re afraid. A normal guy like me is handed a ring that can do anything, and it scares the hell out of you.”
“Regardless!” Chloe interjected again, “Two weeks ago there was an explosion at a joint DEO and military laboratory, the one that the subject was being held in. The remains of everyone that worked in the facility and every subject were recovered--- except for Sinestro’s.”
She hands me another photograph, this one is a blurry security photo. The figure of a being bathed in yellow light breaking into the lab.
“This is who we think is responsible… we need your help.”
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Post by Admin on Oct 10, 2006 18:46:02 GMT -5
"I don’t like this one bit.” King repeats himself to me for the third time. This time with the engine of the car running. His last attempt to talk me down.
“He doesn’t trust you King, and quite frankly you haven’t given him any reason to. What is it with you and this guy?”
“I don’t know… he’s got too much power, for one. I honestly think that if his power went unchecked, this guy could take down Superman.” That hit’s a little too close to home… but I know Clark trusts Hal.
“Let me find out what I can about him. About who Jordan really is. Just go, I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself.”
“Fine, any sign of trouble, you get out of there.” He rolls up his window and speeds off, kicking up a final trail of defiant dust.
Hal walks up in his street clothes, jeans, button-up collared shirt and Air Force issued bomber jacket carrying a pair of motorcycle helmets in his hands.
“Hungry?” he asks handing me his spare helmet and walking toward a Harley Davidson.
“Starving,” I reply as I follow him. I see Carol Ferris glaring at me through an office window.
“Good, hop on.”
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Post by Admin on Oct 10, 2006 18:47:28 GMT -5
After a short, noisy, windblown ride (what is it about guys and having the wind blow in their faces? It’s interesting to note that you get the same reaction when you place a dog in a car and roll down a window) we arrive at a quiet little Italian restaurant. The file on Jordan reports that he actually helped rebuild this place after his first battle with Dr. Polaris.
The conversation starts out casually. I try to regain a bit of trust from him. It’s much easier than I thought it would be. Once he dropped the tough-guy guise he had with King, he opened up rather easily. He knows that I had no idea about Sinestro’s captivity prior to the incident at Groom Lake… Could he tell by my reaction. Or was it his ring told him that I had no idea? Just how much can that ring do?
“So, how many of you---Green Lantern’s, I mean--- are out there?”
He stares at me at first, I think he’s debating with himself. Weighing his options… from what I’ve already learned from him, he was chosen due to his willpower, imagination, fearlessness and honesty. I wonder if gorgeousness is one of the requirements also… I haven’t been this drawn to someone since high school. I don’t know what it is about this guy…
“Off the record?”
“Of course,” … Not.
“There were over 3,000 of us before the Crisis… give or take. Before that there were over 3,600 of us altogether. The Green Lantern Corps has gone through its own share of crises in recent past. Now there’s, as far as I know, just me.”
“My God, what happened?”
“I’m not too sure. My final orders were to remain here and protect… Earth… at all costs.” He hesitated for a moment. There’s more to this story. But I doubt I’ll get more out of him. His features darken as he takes a sip of wine.
“You’ve changed,” I say more to myself than to him.
“You’d be different too if you’d seen some of the things I have. I’ve been to other worlds, Hell, I’ve been to other dimensions. Alternate planes of reality. Did you know that at the end of everything out there in space, there’s a wall, infinite in size, so powerful, so horrific it can trap a God?” He says with a hint of fear in his eye. Could there actually be something the man without fear is afraid of? “I have seen these things first hand. I’ve seen death on a level I had not thought possible. But you know what? I’ve survived. And I will keep surviving… just so you… and others… never have to go through something like the Crisis again.”
I drain my glass of wine. I think I’m in love.
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Post by Admin on Oct 10, 2006 18:49:21 GMT -5
I open my eyes and I see green. I rub the sleep from them and my head throbs. I think I drank too much. I raise myself up and look at the pillow next to mine. There’s a green glowing rose and a note next to it. I look down and realize I’m wearing nothing but his shirt from last night.
Oh crap.
I touch the flower, it feels real. Amazing. I read the note:
-Chloe, I had to go to work. I know you’ll be gone by the time I get home, feel free to raid the fridge and make yourself at home as long as you‘d like. Call me, we should talk. -Hal
I get up and find my clothes… scattered throughout the apartment. I keep his shirt though, it smells good. That’s when my inner DEO agent kicks in and I begin to snoop around his apartment. I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for… I’m pretty sure if I just asked him he’d tell me. He’s that type of guy.
Why am I feeling so guilty right now?
I come across a journal. A record of his exploits as Green Lantern, written in his own hand. I skim through it, reading much of what he told me last night… Viruses, Kilowog, Guardians, Anti-Matter Universes, Darkseid, Apokolips, the Source Wall… Clark, Batman, Flash, Green Arrow. He never uses their real names. He must figure that if someone was close enough to him to know who he was, he’d still feel the need to protect his friends. God I feel guilty…
Then I see a name, one he never mentioned. Kyle Rayner, the 'Torch Bearer'. My mind races to the night before… no… a few hours before that:
“I’m not too sure. My final orders were to remain here and protect… Earth… at all costs.”
This is who he’s here to protect, isn’t it? Maybe Rayner had something to do with Sinestro’s escape…
My train of thought is broken by a knock at the door.
“Yes?” I call out, wondering if I should have done that… if it was Faraday, I’d never hear the end of it.
“Delivery for Mr. Jordan…” the voice responded.
I walk to the door and stare look through the peep hole…
Oh my God…
I reach for my gun when the door explodes inward. I’m buried in shards of wood. I push the largest piece off of my head and see a horrifying sight.
“Well, look at what we have here, a little pretty-pretty.”
Sinestro!
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Post by Admin on Oct 10, 2006 18:50:13 GMT -5
To be continued!
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Post by mockingbird on Aug 1, 2011 18:28:37 GMT -5
To let us know what you think of this issue, please visit the letters page here!
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