In pursuit:

[lanternslight]

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.

Comments

[big_blue_boyscout]

Superman isn't territorial, per se, but he does keep a close eye on the city he protects. Even if, right about now, he doesn't feel like he's doing a particularly great job of it ... an opinion probably shared by the family of the late Dr. Quentin of STAR Labs's aerospace division.

The break-in had happened a little over two hours ago according to STAR's security system, and whoever or whatever was behind it seemed to be moving with a purpose. There's just one hole in the building - a gaping breach in the reinforced concrete around the aerospace lab. Not only was the culprit strong, but they seemed to have a good idea of what they were looking for.

Clark wonders if what it did to the doctor was part of the plan or just something it did for fun because it could, and he felt sick to his stomach. He glanced back at the poor man on the floor, whose chest had been sliced into and spread open.

He had to find out who was behind this, but he'd never seen anything like it before outside of a TV show. He didn't know what to look for outside of missing lab equipment.

[lanternslight]

A green light shot from the sky, resolving abruptly into a man with a green and black uniform.

"Stand down, 'Superman,'" the Green Lantern noted. "Green Lantern of Sector 2814. I can take it from here."

[big_blue_boyscout]

Whoever he is, 'Green Lantern' has a hell of a sense of timing. Superman turned to face the newcomer, giving him a quick once-over and meeting his eyes.

"I'm sure you can," Superman answers evenly, "But I'm not going anywhere until I have some answers."

[lanternslight]

"I don't need an amateur vigilante interfering with this case," Green Lantern noted. "This is a manhunt for a wanted criminal. Go and find some airplanes to catch, and leave this to the professional. You can file a request for information from the Guardians once the case is complete."

Inwardly, Hal winced. This "Superman" was getting a lot of praise, and had done some good work. And he had been heroing since before Hal got his ring. But Hal had been through Kilowog's boot camp, and even got some additional training from one of the greatest Green Lanterns of all time, Sinestro. Who was this Superman, anyway?

But it was beside the point. This was a Green Lantern duty, and he didn't want to risk someone untrained coming along and getting hurt. It would probably be best if Hal could just drive Superman away, to free Hal up to do his duty.