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[B]Stardate Irrelevant
New York City, New York[/B]

An anxious chiptune beat filled the atmosphere of a community garden where a pair of hard-trained boys stood locked in combat. Each had his most powerful and experienced companion by his side, fighting the battle on his behalf while feet away from a fast spinning CD player and the referee who'd brought it. To the untrained observer, they appeared as tasteless low-lives with nothing better to do. But in the right circles, they were gods of the arena. Masters of the Pocket Monsters.

"Use thundershock, now!" Kyle exclaimed before throwing his finger forward like a dart.

"[I]Errr[/I] - damn," his friend muttered. "It's super effective!"

"Wartortle fainted. Send in Goldeen?" The boy furthest away from the action asked before scratching the recent development into his notepad. "Don't you know water types are weak to electric types?"

"Stop asking me stupid questions! I'm a water type specialist. Send in Goldeen!"

After a successive and brief exchange, similar to the above, the pizza-faced loser dropped Kyle a ten-spot before heading on his way. A chip on his shoulder and one less badge in his pocket. Kyle had earned a medallion symbolizing victory after a great deal of work.

"Congratulations, you beat Trainer Brad," the referee said with a grin. "That makes you the trainer with the longest victory streak."

"It just means I need to let everyone else catch up for a while, Dan."

Kyle scooped up a trio of red & white balls before tossing them into his messy backpack beside the rulebook for their homegrown LARP adaption of a popular handheld title. At that, he jumped onto his bicycle and pressed off, giving a playful salute to the ref while he cornered onto the sidewalk. Once out of sight, he wiped the sweat of his brow with his sweatshirt's sleeve. Before he could make it any further, he recieved a phone call.

"Kyle, what are you doing?"

"Anxiously awaiting the release of American Idiot. Oh," he feined surprise, "you mean right now?"

".. we need to talk."

"Yes, indeed we do, Ooma."

"Ooma.. ? Izzat some kind of new slang?"

"All it is is saying that you are the object of my affection, from now until-"

"Oh Kyle."

[I]Oh Kyle.[/I] He imagined having her purr it over and over. Sometimes he felt alone. In those dark times, he unfailingly would turn to Alex DeWitt, a straight-A student with dreams of attending Harvard or Yale, once crushed by her own failure to be accepted by the private Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. When he didn't have Alex, he felt alone in the world, with only his own charm and good looks to keep himself company.

Hardening his resolve, Kyle forced an investigation of her initial sentiment.

"What is it we need to talk about."

"Wha - Oh, nothing. Yeah, can't even really remember."

"Oh, um, okay then. TTFN, ta ta for now." At that, he hit the sticky red button to end the call before wedging the phone into his front right pocket.

He was sure that one day his love for acronyms would begin to peel away her patience for his self-expressions. But until that day, he intended to continually secure himself in her heart. He'd determined within his own heart that not even death would cause them to part.

While he was on his bike though, he couldn't help but notice a peculiar insect trailing him, streaking beside him and weaving towards him. With response faster than lightning, Rayner crushed his handbrakes and let it pass. Giant, green and shaped like a coin almost, he was amazed by its speed and dexterity, but also worried that it was going to bite the piss out of him.

[I]It's a green bee! No, a hornet. Gah![/I]

He turned away before accelerating his best, feeling the gears of his bike failing to spin as he needed them to. Relentlessly, it followed up. Despite an attempt to swat it, the thing clasped itself around his finger, and he was surprised to discover that it was not an insect or a coin. It was a ring.

[Center][Color=Lawngreen]Kyle Rayner of Sector 2814, you have the ability to overcome great fear. Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps[/Color][/Center]