Green Lantern's Light

Hal scowled as he landed in the field. The message from the Guardians was right; there was indeed an alien form that landed here on Earth. This definitely warranted investigation. The pod looked like it was in rough shape; when it landed, it carved a deep furrow into the field, and light flickered from within, visible through the open hatchway.

Hal moved to the entrance, shining a green light from his ring to illuminate the interior of the pod. "Hello?" he called, allowing his ring to translate his words to various alien languages. "Is there anyone in here?"

After a glance, he had the answer to his question. A purple-skinned alien lay in the pilot's seat, its abdomen splayed open with almost surgical precision. It was, quite clearly, very dead.

Towards the rear of the pod was a stasis chamber, the sort often used to transport deadly prisoners. And it was open.

"Ring, scan the pod's record banks. What mission was this on, and for which force?"

//Prisoner transport vessel Illun, carrying prisoner Ampa Nnn on behalf of the Juudian Constabulary.//

"Ampa Nnn?"

A hologram appeared, one of a humanoid (though clearly alien) figure, the Guardians' idea of a mug shot.
//Wanted for murder, genocide, and crimes against sentience. Believes the strong must overpower the weak. Generally takes organs from his murder victims as a sort of trophy.//

"Great. Is the pilot here missing any vital organs?"

//Yes. Officer Wahlg is missing his thoraxxian quendle.//

Hal knew better than to ask what role the quendle played in Juudian biology. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. "Ring, is this pod capable of space travel anymore?"

//Negative.//

Hal pieced the scene together in his mind. Somehow, Nnn had broken free, overpowered the officer, and in the fight, caused the pod to crash to Earth.

Nnn was going to want to get off the planet. And he was likely to take some trophies along the way.

Assuming he knew where he was going, there was one place relatively nearby that would possess the technology that Nnn could utilize to build a craft for himself. Of course, everyone had been talking about the city ever since a man had saved a crashing airplane a couple months back, shortly before Hal even got his ring.

Here's hoping this "Superman" isn't territorial. If he is, Hal thought, they were going to have issues. Because Hal was going to bring this serial killer alien to justice, with or without aid from the Hero of Tomorrow.

Hal shakes his head.

"Look, I know Ganthet gave me a green ring, and it's just like my old ring... but it's not the same." He looks over at the alien opposite him. "I'm not a member of the Green Lantern Corps anymore. So I fail to see what the point of this is." He points to the green ring on his finger. "I mean, I'm glad to have a ring and all, but..."

Hal wipes the blood from his nose and looks up at his opponent. His left arm may be broken, but the ring is working on fixing that. His shields took the brunt of that last blast, but the kinetic force of it was still impressive.

"You can't win, Henshaw," he tells his assailant, rising from the crater left behind. "Turn yourself in, and this can go easy."

Sure, it's tough talk from a guy who's just been blasted into a crater... but Hal's always been good at that kind of talk.

Yes, a man could get used to this. Waking up in Ari's arms again...

His clothes are strewn across the room, as are hers.

It's been a long while.

Of course, they had both been drinking, and were both just tipsy enough... Hal certainly didn't regret it, though. And he hopes that Ari didn't either.

He rolls over in her bed to face her, to see if she's awake yet.

Guy and Ollie have certainly thrown together quite the shindig here. Warrior's reopening, celebrating several people's return from the dead -- including myself -- and the defeat of Ra's al-Ghul's plague... this party somehow manages to meet all those needs. Major Disaster rubbing elbows with Jay Garrick... Superman singing Karaoke with Detective Chimp... it all reminds me how good it is to be alive.

But even more than that, the woman on my arm reminds me what's good about being alive.

My history with Arisia is... long. And complicated.

When I met her, she was a teenager with a crush. I rejected her... but then she altered herself. Made herself into my "perfect woman" through the ring. And, yes, her body certainly was... well, I've always had a weakness for busty blondes. But she was still that teenager with a crush inside.

But... she changed. And grew. And I changed. And somewhere in there, I ended up falling for her after all. I fell in love with her.

We lived together. Arisia and me, John and Katma. Two couples sharing an apartment.

Until things changed again. Katma died... Arisia and I... drifted apart. Parallax was in me by then. Some of what happened was probably him. Some of it probably wasn't. Hard to sever my motives and Parallax's.

But it doesn't matter anyway. I have a second chance at life. And, even better, I've been given a second chance with Arisia, too. Somehow, marvelously.

We've both been dancing. We've both been drinking a little.

She's a little tipsy. She's a little warm. So we step out for a bit of fresh air, just the two of us.

I'm not sure what to say about it.

She's alive again.

I'm alive again.

She has a ring again. The last time she had a ring, we were living together. And I was very much in love with her.

What changed? Certainly, Parallax's influence can't be discounted, but nor can it be the scapegoat I lay everything on. Parallax twisted my view; he didn't control me like a puppet on a string, not until later.

Carol is married now. She's not even part of the equation. Why am I even thinking of Carol? The rope showed me it's not fair to compare Arisia to Carol; they have been my two greatest loves, but both have been very different. And the man I was around each one was different, too.

I know I need to talk to her. At least to check on her.

She's getting set up at Warriors... I wish I could help her out.

I wish I could talk to her. Like we used to talk.

I need to talk to her, though. She deserves more than what I've given her so far.

To Warriors it is, then.

I've been reborn. I've made an offer to assist the League.

But before I meet with the League again... there's someone I owe a beer to. My best friend.

And it really wouldn't be the same without Dinah along, too.

That was what was distracting me... Felix Faust was attempting to wrest control of the Spectre. But that has now been... dealt with.

Sue is safe, and alive again. Zauriel will recover in short order. I should be happy that there's been a happy ending.

But still... things are wrong. Nothing is right. I shouldn't be who I am. I know in my heart that this is wrong. I'm used to my friends being put in danger because of who I am; I'm not used to my friends being put in danger because of who I'm not. I am not the Spectre... I am, at most, a guide for the Spectre force. Faust didn't want revenge against me... he wanted to control the Spectre force.

I visited with John briefly after the issue with Faust. He invited me to a baseball game with Guy. A baseball game. I'd love to go... but I don't know that I can. I want to, but the Spectre is getting too much for me to deal with.

I need to speak with Ollie about this. Ollie has always helped me think through my troubles. But Ollie has his own problems right now... I don't want to add to them. Still, sometime soon, we need to talk.

I'm definitely going to the ball game. I think I need a little time with Guy and John... they're good for giving a little perspective.

But I definitely want to find some way of divorcing myself from the Spectre force once and for all.

Whoever this graffiti artist is, they've started targeting Ollie.

The Spectre tells me that it's not "our" concern.

But it's mine.

Dammit, I hate this. I trust Ollie to get himself out of this situation, but I wish I could provide assistance.

Something else is going on, though... when I ask Spectre why Sue is back, he's remaining silent...