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Getting used to civilian life--that is life without using his Power Ring as a crutch--was tedious. If he was going to learn how to be a Lantern, he figured he had to walk among those he was going to protect. None of his self-righteous sentiment averted the stench of alcohol and urine on the city bus, however. Vernon knew he could easily take to the skies and make a grand entrance during orientation, but that would be the easy way out; he wasn't supposed to take the easy way out. So he bore the amalgamate of detestable smells for long as necessary. Soon, the bus slowed in front of his destination: the Oliver Queen Memorial School. There was a sea of bodies packed against one another and a barrage of epithets which Vernon could not decipher.

He rose from his seat and walked to front of the bus where he made a prompt exit, upon which he was immediately greeted by an even more powerful cauldron of malodors: must, human body odor. [i]Ugh[/i]. How long had they been out there? Sure, warm bodies pack heat when in close proximity to others, but by the Guardians this was inhumane. This, accompanied by the growing virulence of the protestors, Vernon began weaving his way through the crowd, a relatively easy task for someone as lean as he. The gates weren't too far ahead of him when his power ring began glowing in his pocket.

[i][color=green]"Activating defensive protocol."[/color][/i]

"What? Why? Not now."

As Vernon approached the gates, he stepped through them and into the courtyard of the school--unbeknownst to him (though obvious to anyone else) he had just exposed and subjected himself to the ire of the anti-metahuman protesters, even though he was human just like them. A brick came rocketing toward the back of Vernon's head. . .

[i]"He's one of them!"[/i]

[i][color=green]"Protocol activated."[/color][/i] -- the brick bounced off the thin forcefield erected around his body. Reed looked over his shoulder in shock, and with partial disgust at the sheer hatred these people had for people they did not know. Vernon's annoyance was not enough to incite anger, he continued toward the school's steps where he admired the creative, comical, yet still sound architecture of the school's exterior. Vernon supposed Batman [i]did[/i] have good taste after all. He smiled and walked inside.