Annnnd now he is banned from the thread. Shouldn't be a problem anymore, folks.
Blackstripe Member
That superhero/magic/pirate person
STATUS: If you haven't figured it out by now, your choices don't matter. 8 yrs ago
- Last Seen: 6 yrs ago
- Joined: 9 yrs ago
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- Blackstripe 9 yrs ago
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8 yrs ago
Current
If you haven't figured it out by now, your choices don't matter.
9 yrs ago
Watching all the pieces...watching all the pieces fall~
9 yrs ago
Yeeeeeeah...so you know how to Beep Beep like a Sheep, I see!
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Most Recent Posts
@MenhirSo, let's go over all the wonderful things you've displayed in your quest to gain entry into this RP.
1) Barebones profile: generally not a good idea, but hey maybe I can let it slide if the person seems cool.
2) Disparaging the premise of RP and its setting: always a class move. Always endearing. You apparently believe diverging from DC Canon means it shouldn't be called a DC RP...despite it having the Green Lantern Corps, The Question, Superman, Shazam, Aquaman, etc...uh-huh.
3) Disrespecting my CO-GMs: oh boy, do you know how to make an impression! Everyone here thinks you're very powerful now.
4) Overall dismissive and disrespectful attitude: and doesn't this just clinch it? Man, you practically make my job too easy for me. How could I possibly give you any other response but...
1) Barebones profile: generally not a good idea, but hey maybe I can let it slide if the person seems cool.
2) Disparaging the premise of RP and its setting: always a class move. Always endearing. You apparently believe diverging from DC Canon means it shouldn't be called a DC RP...despite it having the Green Lantern Corps, The Question, Superman, Shazam, Aquaman, etc...uh-huh.
3) Disrespecting my CO-GMs: oh boy, do you know how to make an impression! Everyone here thinks you're very powerful now.
4) Overall dismissive and disrespectful attitude: and doesn't this just clinch it? Man, you practically make my job too easy for me. How could I possibly give you any other response but...
@MenhirIt is inspired by DC, has some of the same analogues and concepts (Captain Marvel, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, etc), but they're under no obligation to follow DC Canon. It exists entirely in a separate multiverse from the main DCU.
@MenhirIt doesn't fit within the current DC Cosmology at all and that isn't an issue, that's how I want it.
9:48 AM, July 21st
Seawatch Elementary
Coast City
A red beam pierced the playground, the beam burrowing deep into the Earth as it streaked across the schoolyard and into the school gym. Flames erupted along the path of his attack, expanding outwards to engulf the whole stupid place in fire.
There weren’t any kids or adults there. He’d forgotten that it was summer, and so school was out. He wanted to watch them all burn…but destroying the stupid building would do for now! He’d just have to find them all later! Or destroy the whole stupid city! That’d show em’.
”HAHAH, STUPID GYM! I ALWAYS HATED P.E.!!!” Billy screamed, turning his eyes to the school proper. Aiming his ring at it next, he watched with a broad grin as it too was reduced to a ball of fire. The fireballs he made were always so huge!! He wasn’t even really trying yet.
He couldn’t help wondering how big of a fireball he could make, if he really put some effort into it? Maybe he could even burn Coast City in one big shot!
”OH BOY, LET’S DO IT!!!”
Ascending sharply into the sky until he could see the city as a whole, Billy’s grin widened so far that it practically hurt. But he didn’t mind pain so much any more. Pain, in fact, just made him angrier…and anger felt good.
Aiming his ring towards the ground, he narrowed his eyes as it began to glow. He was going to wipe it all away in just one shot…
From the distance shot forward a green blur at incredible speeds. The news of something attacking his city and melting people was more than enough of a reason for Preston to suit up and fly head first into danger. Some said it was a smaller figure that was harming people, but Preston didn’t think much of it.
He charged into the scene like a dart, aiming to ram into the red menace with his autoshields. However, with his enhanced abilities, Preston had caught just what this attacker was before he hit him, and shot straight up into the air mere feet from where he was standing. As he slowed himself down, he looked at who was floating around just as he did, his eyes widening as he took in the appearance of the masked attacker, and what emblem he bore on his chest.
It was a child!
Preston was quick to put his ring to work, creating a bubble around the kid. Preston floated closer and closer to him, getting a good look at his similar uniform with a similar emblem. And to make things worse, he had a power ring too!? Preston needed to have a big talk with the Guardians of Oa when he had some time to travel back. Not only to discuss why he seemed to be underperforming, but also why someone looked just like him, but had a completely different power set, one more volatile and dangerous than his own.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Preston didn’t exactly know how to confront this kid. Should he treat him like any other criminal? Preston didn’t know enough to judge. “And how are you able to do all of this?”
Billy’s eyes narrowed when a green glow caught his eye. He was moving fast, but not as fast as him. He looked like he was going to slam into him, but instead he flew up and...and he did something. Put some kind of...green bubble around him. He was a grown up, but his uniform looked kind of like his, just...green. That really pissed him off.
”I ALWAYS HATED THE GREEN RANGER!” Billy screamed, pointing his ring at the man. Once again a red beam emerged, making contact with the shield that surrounded him. Almost immediately it cracked and splintered, before shattering in the face of the attack. ”SEE-YAH!!”
Green ranger? Preston barely had any time to process that outburst before this kid shattered his bubble with a single beam. He was even forced to fly off to the left and around his target just to avoid the beam that was unleashed. He didn’t want to hurt this child, but he was far too much to handle. He needed to pacify him somehow.
Preston had to think. Green Ranger, the kid mentioned. He made some wacky shouting noise as he unleashed the beam. It had been a very, very long time since Preston had to actually think about the power rangers, but he was forced to do whatever he could to keep this situation from getting any worse. “But wasn’t the red one still the leader?” He tried to make conversation with this fuming kid. “A leader has to be calm and focused, don’t you want to be like that?”
He wasn’t very good at this whole talking to kids thing.
He was trying to lecture him, just like the people in that stupid school he’d just burned down. Just like those stupid Make-A-Wish people he’d melted. That was what grown ups always did. Tried to tell him how to do things, how to act, how to think. He hated them all. This one even thought he could tell him how to be Red?
”I’M THE LEADER BECAUSE I SAY SO! BECAUSE I’M SPECIAL!!!” He roared, blood erupting from his throat to splash at the green wannabe who was trying to get in the way of his fun. All they ever wanted to do was keep him from getting what he wanted, the stupid jerks! Why couldn’t they just understand that he was more important than all of their stupid faces?
”I’M GOING TO MELT YOU, JUST LIKE THE MAKE-A-WISH MORONS!!”
Preston’s autoshields were only able to withstand so much of the corrosive blood that this so called leader spat at him. As soon as it melted through, Preston could feel it burning through his suit and into his skin. He yelled in pain, but he withstood it.
He had to be creative, he reminded himself. But there seemed to be no way to calm this kid down. Was the only choice really to beat him up and knock him out cold? Preston refused to accept that as an answer. “I’m agreeing with you!” Preston could barely hide his pain through gritted teeth. “You’re the leader! But people don’t want to follow a leader that kills them!” He sighed, letting out some of that pain in a guttural groan. “And as the green guy in this situation, I’m here to tell you that enough is enough.”
Preston held out his ring in front of him, just like Killowog taught him. With the powers of his ring, he made another barrier around the kid, and another. And more and more until there were ten bubbles shielding the kid from the outside forces, and protecting the world from this violent half-pint. “I’m sorry Kid, I have to take you to the space cops!”
”YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DIE THERE!!” Billy shouted, enraged that the stupid green man was still floating there, getting in the way of him burning this stupid city. ”IF I’M THE LEADER, THAT MEANS YOU DO WHAT I SAY!!!”
Balling his fists tightly when saw yet more of the stupid green barriers appear around him, Billy released a scream of pure rage. He was so sick of this guy and his dumb, stupid bubbles! He wanted to melt him so badly right now. And what he wanted, he was going to get! He was the Red Lantern now, that meant he could do whatever he wanted...and nobody was going to stop him!
”I’M THE BOSS NOW!” Billy declared. ”THE BOSS OF THIS DUMB CITY, THE BOSS OF THIS DUMB PLANET!!”
Charging forward as fast and hard as his anger would allow him too, Billy slammed into the shields with a force capable of propelling him through interstellar space. While a Green Lantern’s barriers perhaps should have been able to offer him resistance, there was something wrong. The spheres Preston had created were not nearly as durable as they should have been, and they broke on impact with the terrible tyke.
As he smashed through the last of the bubbles, Billy set his eyes on the grown up. Charging right for him, his hands lashed out for his throat. ”I’LL TWIST YOUR HEAD OFF LIKE MECHAGODZILLA!! DUN DUN DUN!”
While humming the mechagodzilla theme, he began to attempt to wrench the Green Lantern’s head off with his small but terribly powerful hands.
Mechagodzilla!? How did this kid even know about the star of the 1974 Kaiju film Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla? Was this kid that bored with things that he stumbled onto his dads collection of old movies and watched them in his spare time? Even Preston had to reach a little to get the reference.
Preston set up another wall between himself and the the boy, but it was reduced to shreds just as soon as it was created. He had no choice other than to reassemble the wall as quick as he could around him, hoping to capture the boy and fling him as far as he could with such a short wind.
Hopefully tossing the Kid away would give Preston a second to think. His constructs were paper thin. He should at the very least be able to hold one adolescent within ten reinforced bubbles! But apparently that wasn’t the case, so he needed to end this as soon as possible, if that was possible.
Billy was briefly entrapped by the wall and flung away before he was able to smash through it. This guy was really making him mad now! Madder than he normally was, even! He had already told him to die more than once, but he was just too stupid to listen! Why did grown ups never listen to him? Didn’t they understand how much easier things would be if they just accepted how special he was?
”NO MORE BUBBLES! NO MORE WALLS! Billy screamed, pointing his ring at him. ”I’LL BUILD A WALL AROUND YOU THIS TIME, AND MAKE YOU PAY!”
Again a red beam emerged from his ring, but instead of it merely being focused red energy as it had up till this point, it took the form a wall almost identical to the green one that had been used to push Billy away. This one looked considerably more sturdy, however, and it was heading straight towards the green man at interstellar speeds.
Preston floated before the shining red wall that separated himself from this red ring user. While Preston was initially confused as to why he had summoned a wall when preston was not the one attacking, all thoughts flew out the window as Preston flew through the air. This kid even had more powerful constructs than he did!
While he soared through the air, Preston had a small conversation with himself regarding if he really was worthy enough to use the ring. Obviously so, but did it make a mistake? He couldn’t even square up against a kid.
The longer he let himself be carried away by the sheer force of the hit, the more he denied those thoughts. He fought space pirates! He took down starships with his ring and his wits! He could certainly use the ring as it should be, but ever since he returned to earth, he began to notice how its power has been decaying on some level. He knew he could deflect laser fire without a second thought when he first started, but something was wrong, and now he could barely handle human made laser weapons!
Preston’s body glew green, his shield recharging after a small breather while flying through the air. At about the same speed he had been moving away from the kid, he began to actually fly and curve around, aiming straight at him, hands stretched forward.. If he couldn’t use his ring to capture the boy, then he’d just have to use his hands!
Preston tried his hardest to grab the kid and hold onto him. He flew up high into the air, as fast as his ring could take him right now, and then some. The sky around them went from a bright blue, to navy, then to black, as Preston carried the kid off into space. If he had a power ring, surely it would protect him in outer space on the way to Oa.
Billy saw the green man approach him again. He was slow, and when he grabbed him Billy could tell he was weak too. Grown ups had always been strong than him. Had always tried to use their size to push him around and make him do what they wanted. But now that didn’t matter. Now he was the strong one!
”YOUR GREEN RING SUCKS!” Billy laughed, grabbing Preston by the throat. The sky had gotten darker. He could see stars now, twinkling above him. Were they in space?
Glancing around him for a moment, Billy was quickly able to locate the moon. It seemed so close right now, like he could just fly right to it! His lips stretched into a broad, positively manic grin as he shot off towards - and near-instantly reached - the moon. ”OH BOY, I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO KILL THE MAN IN THE MOON!!
His eyes darted about as he touched down on the chalk-white rock, having apparently forgotten that he was still holding Preston by the throat with one hand. ”WHERE IS HE? I’M GONNA MELT HIM!!”
As soon as the kid had launched his hand into Preston’s neck, he could feel just how powerless he was to this red menace. Every passing moment reminded Preston more and more about how he no longer had any control over the situation. Maybe he never had any control, and he was always at the mercy of the kid. If Preston’s ring wasn’t nearly completely powerless at this point, only barely keeping him alive in the cold vacuum of space, he would have tried to deny that point. He would have tried to assert himself one more time in an effort to get the kid to stop.
Now they were on the surface of the moon. Preston’s vision blurred, his uniform began to burn away in a green flame. He couldn’t even afford to struggle at this point. The last thing Preston remembered seeing was the furious boy strangling him, and their home planet behind him.
Suddenly, a concussive blast of green energy shot through the vacuum of space towards little Billy, aiming to hit his wrist and make him drop the weaker Green Lantern. A stern-faced, red-skinned figure floated a couple dozen feet off the moons’ surface, crossing his arms over his green and black Lantern suit. “So I hear you’re looking for a fight, little one?” The newcomer asked with a small sneer, glancing at Preston to make sure his autoshield was functioning for now. “How about a fight with a real spaceman?” He finished with a grin before the ring on his left hand flashed a brilliant green and a huge hand materialized in the void between the pair, smacking at little Billy with a good deal more force than Preston’s Ring had been able to manage.
“GAGH!” Billy yelped when something struck him in the wrist, causing him to drop that weak green man who’d interfered with his fun.
Grasping at his stinging hand for a moment, Billy centered his gaze on yet another one of those stupid green men. But this one had red skin, of all things. Was he...an alien? A real, authentic space alien?! His face began to brighten at the idea, his eyes practically trembling within his skull from the manic excitement washing over him.
Then he was struck by a big green hand that came out of nowhere. It hurt. It really, really hurt, and Billy went flying halfway to the Earth before he was able to stop himself, glaring wildly at the stupid alien who had hit him. He was just like that dumb woman in the Baskin Robbins!
“Rage. Hate. Devour.”” The robotic voice of his ring hummed.
”DEVOUR?” Billy blinked, before his lips stretched into the broadest grin yet. ”OH BOY!! HE’S RED, SO MAYBE HE TASTES LIKE CHERRIES!! BLARGHHH!”
Spewing up that corrosive blood that had made quick work of those stupid Make-A-Wish people, Billy instantly closed the hundred-plus thousand miles between them, attempting to tackle the man and melt him. To sink his teeth into whatever was left afterwards. ”RED IS BETTER THAN GREEN!!
Sinestro was momentarily surprised at the speed which the boy closed the distance between them, it seemed as though his ring offered the boy power at a similar level to the Green Rings, though Sinestro had never seen a ring that spewed red light before. He’d need to capture and contain this child, to bring the Ring back to Oa and see what the Guardians knew about it. The sheer power coming from this boy was immense, even if the control aspect was… Lacking. No time to consider that now though, as the boy was on him in a flash, vomiting up a stream of red, blood-like energy that began to corrode Sinestro’s auto-shield. Alarmed, Sinestro clenched his fist and generated an expanding bubble around himself, aiming to push the boy off of him for a moment so he could get some room.
Sinestro backed away and pointed his Ring at the boy, hoping to stall for just a few moments while he thought of a plan. “Devour, eh? No no child, I don’t like the sound of that. Unfortunately however, you appear to have stolen technology developed by the Guardians of Oa and have corrupted it, using its power to injure the Green Lantern in charge of your sector of space. That makes you my problem. Now we can do this the easy way, where you surrender the ring and come with me back to Oa; the Guardians would likely take pity on you. Or we can do it the hard way, and I drag you back by your bald scalp.” He said, allowing an edge of menace to creep into his voice at the end. A mere thought flashed through Sinestro’s mind and a large shield formed in front of him, a barrier that would at least slow the child down for a moment when he inevitably attacked.
Billy grunted in anger and frustration when the shield forcibly pushed him back. Smashing at it with his fists, he screamed at the top of his lungs when it didn’t shatter like the other one’s. Why was this stupid alien so much harder to beat up than the other green man? ”NO FAIR! THE OTHER GREEN ONE WAS WEAK! YOU SHOULD BE WEAK TOO!”
Backing off ever-so-slightly, Billy aimed his ring at the shield the alien had created and began blasting at it with his red beams. They had pierced through multiple shields at once from the other green man, but he found that he had to use several while really trying this time. It was just one stupid shield, it shouldn’t be this hard!!
”NOBODY TELLS ME WHAT TO DO!!” Billy screeched, blood still streaming from his mouth as his rage reached its peak, the dumb alien daring to try and boss him around. Charging full force into his shield this time. He was going to smash this guy’s stupid mustache face in!
Sinestro allowed himself a small smile as he continued to pour his power into the shield. He was right, the power coming from the red ring was immense, but lacked any sort of precision or control. If any other Lantern had shown up, the boy would have broken through their shield quickly, but Sinestro was no normal Lantern. He watched the boy back up and then scream in frustration, hurtling headlong towards his shield, and a wicked idea formed in Sinestro’s mind.
As the boy closed in on the shield… Sinestro dropped it. He then sidestepped out of the way, using his ring to leave a ghostly, but intangible afterimage in his place for the boy to ‘hit’. The plan was thus: Allow the child to streak past and confuse himself, then Sinestro would create a Green Energy lasso to catch his ankle, and whip him around and slam him into the surface of this moon. It was a satisfying plan, assuming it worked.
”WAH?!” Billy gasped in confusion when the shield vanished before he could slam into it, but he was too mad to care about why. Instead, he continued on course towards the dumb alien, wanting to rip his dumb face off with his teeth! Opening his mouth wide as blood poured from it, he bit down on...nothing?
Blinking as he sliced through what had appeared to be the alien, he furiously began to scan the area for wherever he’d gotten to. ”YOU WON’T GET AWAY!! YOU’VE MADE ME MAD!!”
That was when he felt something tug at his ankle, his gaze falling to see a green...rope? Following along its length to see that it ended at the alien’s ring, Billy’s eyes flared. Raising his ring, he prepared to fire, only to be slung downwards into the moon below, the impact causing the surface of the planetoid to splinter and crack for many miles in all direction.
”BLAARGH!” Billy puked up that red energy quite unintentionally this time as he struggled to push himself up. N-NO FAIR!! YOU’RE CHEATING!! I’M SUPPOSED TO WIN!!”
Sinestro slowly floated down to the surface of the planetoid, pointing his ring at the collapsed body of his foe. Green manacles sprang into existence and closed around his wrists and ankles before chaining themselves to the surface of the moon. They might not hold him forever, but they would do for now. “Win?” Sinestro asked coldly, crossing his arms and arching an eyebrow. “You honestly think this is a game, child? You’ve killed people, hurt people, given yourself over to rage. This is no game. It’s pest control.” Sinestro began to circle the boy, keeping a careful eye out for any signs of weakness in his constructs.
“Do you know why I’m here?” Sinestro asked. “The man you were fighting, the Green Lantern of Earth; his Ring sent out a distress call when it encountered yours. I happened to be the closest Lantern nearby. If I wanted to though, I could send out my own call. Every Lantern from here to Oa would converge on this moon within the hour. You want a fight? I can bring you one here. Then you can lose not just to me, but to thousands of my brothers. You couldn’t beat me. Could you beat a literal planet with my powers? Let this be a lesson to you, boy.” Sinestro said, coming back around and staring Billy in the eye. “Do not fuck with the Green Lantern Corps.”
Billy roared, animalistic, inhuman. He tugged furiously at the constructs, though thanks to Sinestro’s attentiveness they did not break. The moon that they had been shackled to, however, wasn’t so resilient, and one of the manacles began to be ripped from the rock. ”I HATE YOU!! YOU’RE JUST ANOTHER STUPID GROWN UP!! I’LL KILL YOU! I’LL EAT YOUR HEART!!!”
His voice had started to become almost electronic in tone, and it was no longer entirely clear whether it was just Billy, or his ring speaking to the man before him. That strange red energy still poured from his mouth, lashing at the alien with renewed vigor even as its host was unable to move for the moment. ”YOU AND YOUR STUPID FRIENDS ARE GONNA DIE!! GO GO RED LANTERN!!! DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO!!!”
As he began singing, the anger and rage grew within him and the moon he was chained to began to give way, even if the green constructs necessarily did not.
Sinestro paused for a moment, taken aback by the… Interesting response from the boy. He turned his attention momentarily to the surface of the moon, realizing it was perhaps not as good an anchoring point as he initially thought. Another flash from his Ring and the chains on the manacles extended, lifting in the air and beginning to wrap themselves around the boy. Tying him to the moon didn’t work, so it would be interesting to see him try to fight against himself to break free.
“I understand now.” Sinestro said, focusing more on the chains and getting them wrapped tightly around the child. “You’re utterly insane. You’re a crazy person. That makes you a danger to yourself and everyone around you. So you no longer get the chance to hurt anyone, even yourself.” He said, tying the rest of the chains together and clenching his fist, tightening the whole knot. “As soon as the other Lantern wakes up, we’re going to Oa.”
Billy continued to scream and struggle, gnash his teeth and spew “blood”. For a period, it seemed as if his efforts just might even overwhelm the supremely constructed chains of Thaal Sinestro, but eventually the boy seemed “calm”, for lack of a better word. When he spoke this time, he - for once - did not shout. Instead his tone was quiet, but carried within it a hatred and venom the Korugarian alien had likely never heard before.
”I’ll remember your stupid face. I’ll kill everyone that has it. Everyone you love. I’ll drink their blood. Eat their flesh. And you’ll watch.”
Thaal Sinestro shook his head, staring coldly at the chained child. “You can try. And then I’ll kill you.” He said with a small smile before taking to the skies again, dragging the child along behind him as he found the still-breathing body of the Green Lantern Preston. ‘Emerald Knight’ he’d called himself. Some of the other Lanterns had taken offense when he forsook the name of the Corps, but the Guardians had allowed it. He was injured, his autoshield flickering, but he was alive. Sinestro began to channel green energy into the other Lantern, healing his wounds and trying to charge his Ring.
Taking a closer look at the Ring on Preston’s hand, the ring of his old friend Abin Sur, Sinestro began to see some… Upsetting markers. The ring was underpowered, and not due to missing its recharging from the power battery. It was damaged. Breaking apart. It simply couldn’t hold enough energy. That was… Upsetting, to say the least.
It took a moment, but with a jolt, Preston coughed and hacked wildly. His whole body bent forwards as he coughed, his body struggling to regain the air that was lost from him. His first thoughts were the kid. From where he was floating, he was nowhere in sight.
As soon as he had enough strength and air in his lungs to look around, he searched the face of the moon for the one who had almost killed him. Preston was honestly surprised that he was still alive. What could have stopp-
Oh.
It was him.
Sinestro was another green lantern from a nearby sector, one of the best. Due to conflicting schedules, Preston had never seen him in person, but word on Oa quickly spread. Apparently Sinestro was friends with the guy who wore Preston’s ring before him. It probably hurt the red alien a bit when word got around that there was a new lantern for earth’s sector.
Being held prisoner was the kid. He didn’t seem to be as volatile as he was before, but Preston could still feel a deadly aura emanating off of him. Something about that boy unsettled him.
“Ah.” Preston groaned, rolling his shoulder. “You must be Sinestro. I’ve heard a lot of great things about you.” Preston had forgotten that he was no longer clothed in his uniform, now only bearing his civilian clothes. He was being protected by the power of his ring, and even a little boost to his ring’s energy could be felt.
His eyes shifted to the child. “He’s got a red ring.” He stated the obvious. “I’ve never seen any rings other than green before. His ring is powerful though, he’s powerful. I couldn’t stop him. You’ve got my thanks.” Preston could only feel humble right now. He had failed in his job as a lantern, another had to step in and save him and his planet, and honestly? Preston felt like he could barely address Sinestro by name because of how revered some of the other Lanterns spoke about him.
Sinestro backed up to give his fellow Lantern some space as he coughed and came back to consciousness, glad that he wouldn’t be dragging two bodies back to Oa. he nodded in greeting to the new Lantern, his expression calm and cool. “Thaal Sinestro, Green Lantern of Sector 1417. I believe you’re Preston Westfield? It’s good to meet you, our sectors are close by and it’s good to… Know the neighbors, as it were.”
Sinestro’s attention shifted back to the business at hand and he turned to glance at the silent form of the child behind him. His expression said it all, a barely contained, simmering rage was building in the child, and Preston was right. He was dangerous. “I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s never seen a Red Ring before.” Sinestro admitted, thinking on the details he had picked up during the fight. “It appears whatever this ring is, it seems to be based off our own Power Rings, though it clearly taps into something aside from willpower. My best guess is that anger is its power source, though I had no idea anything aside form Will could power a ring… It seems to make him powerful, certainly stronger than an average Green Lantern. However, he lacks control. This is why Will is stronger than rage, we can control ourselves and think clearly in the midst of danger. Of course…” Sinestro said, turning back to Preston. “It also helps when your Ring is actually working. How long has yours been broken?”
Broken? Preston didn’t even know what to say about that. Was it even possible for a power ring to break?
The confusion written on his face should have made it clear that he had no idea what Sinestro was talking about. “That would certainly explain why I can barely handle missile fire now.” He commented offhandedly. If his ring was somehow broken, then it would explain why he was slowly getting worse in fights, and how he needed to exert more of himself to get the same results.
“I never knew it was broken.” He admitted to Sinestro. “I got the ring, went to Oa, trained, and started patrolling. I guess any damage wasn’t apparent when I first arrived, so maybe the guardians didn’t even know.”
Sinestro frowned slightly, worried about the explanation Preston gave. Was it possible the ring had been damaged when whatever happened to Abin Sur had… Well, happened? If so, the Guardians should have picked it up, unless, as Preston said, the damage was so miniscule it passed unnoticed. Still… “There are very few things that can break a Green Lantern Power Ring.” Sinestro explained. “Immense natural forces, extremely powerful enemies, or the Guardians retiring a Ring are the only things I can think of off the top of my head. However, your ring is broken, of that I’m sure. Perhaps it was somehow damaged in the crash, when you found Abin… Regardless, we need to get it fixed. Come with me back to Oa, help me keep an eye on our little prisoner here. We’ll get your Ring taken care of and try to find answers about this Red energy. What do you say?”
Preston didn’t need to be told twice to go back to Oa to help sort all of this out. Talk about his ring, this red ring, and maybe he could learn a little bit more about Abin Sur, the previous owner of Preston’s ring.
He nodded to Sinestro. “The sooner, the better.”
Seawatch Elementary
Coast City
A red beam pierced the playground, the beam burrowing deep into the Earth as it streaked across the schoolyard and into the school gym. Flames erupted along the path of his attack, expanding outwards to engulf the whole stupid place in fire.
There weren’t any kids or adults there. He’d forgotten that it was summer, and so school was out. He wanted to watch them all burn…but destroying the stupid building would do for now! He’d just have to find them all later! Or destroy the whole stupid city! That’d show em’.
”HAHAH, STUPID GYM! I ALWAYS HATED P.E.!!!” Billy screamed, turning his eyes to the school proper. Aiming his ring at it next, he watched with a broad grin as it too was reduced to a ball of fire. The fireballs he made were always so huge!! He wasn’t even really trying yet.
He couldn’t help wondering how big of a fireball he could make, if he really put some effort into it? Maybe he could even burn Coast City in one big shot!
”OH BOY, LET’S DO IT!!!”
Ascending sharply into the sky until he could see the city as a whole, Billy’s grin widened so far that it practically hurt. But he didn’t mind pain so much any more. Pain, in fact, just made him angrier…and anger felt good.
Aiming his ring towards the ground, he narrowed his eyes as it began to glow. He was going to wipe it all away in just one shot…
From the distance shot forward a green blur at incredible speeds. The news of something attacking his city and melting people was more than enough of a reason for Preston to suit up and fly head first into danger. Some said it was a smaller figure that was harming people, but Preston didn’t think much of it.
He charged into the scene like a dart, aiming to ram into the red menace with his autoshields. However, with his enhanced abilities, Preston had caught just what this attacker was before he hit him, and shot straight up into the air mere feet from where he was standing. As he slowed himself down, he looked at who was floating around just as he did, his eyes widening as he took in the appearance of the masked attacker, and what emblem he bore on his chest.
It was a child!
Preston was quick to put his ring to work, creating a bubble around the kid. Preston floated closer and closer to him, getting a good look at his similar uniform with a similar emblem. And to make things worse, he had a power ring too!? Preston needed to have a big talk with the Guardians of Oa when he had some time to travel back. Not only to discuss why he seemed to be underperforming, but also why someone looked just like him, but had a completely different power set, one more volatile and dangerous than his own.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Preston didn’t exactly know how to confront this kid. Should he treat him like any other criminal? Preston didn’t know enough to judge. “And how are you able to do all of this?”
Billy’s eyes narrowed when a green glow caught his eye. He was moving fast, but not as fast as him. He looked like he was going to slam into him, but instead he flew up and...and he did something. Put some kind of...green bubble around him. He was a grown up, but his uniform looked kind of like his, just...green. That really pissed him off.
”I ALWAYS HATED THE GREEN RANGER!” Billy screamed, pointing his ring at the man. Once again a red beam emerged, making contact with the shield that surrounded him. Almost immediately it cracked and splintered, before shattering in the face of the attack. ”SEE-YAH!!”
Green ranger? Preston barely had any time to process that outburst before this kid shattered his bubble with a single beam. He was even forced to fly off to the left and around his target just to avoid the beam that was unleashed. He didn’t want to hurt this child, but he was far too much to handle. He needed to pacify him somehow.
Preston had to think. Green Ranger, the kid mentioned. He made some wacky shouting noise as he unleashed the beam. It had been a very, very long time since Preston had to actually think about the power rangers, but he was forced to do whatever he could to keep this situation from getting any worse. “But wasn’t the red one still the leader?” He tried to make conversation with this fuming kid. “A leader has to be calm and focused, don’t you want to be like that?”
He wasn’t very good at this whole talking to kids thing.
He was trying to lecture him, just like the people in that stupid school he’d just burned down. Just like those stupid Make-A-Wish people he’d melted. That was what grown ups always did. Tried to tell him how to do things, how to act, how to think. He hated them all. This one even thought he could tell him how to be Red?
”I’M THE LEADER BECAUSE I SAY SO! BECAUSE I’M SPECIAL!!!” He roared, blood erupting from his throat to splash at the green wannabe who was trying to get in the way of his fun. All they ever wanted to do was keep him from getting what he wanted, the stupid jerks! Why couldn’t they just understand that he was more important than all of their stupid faces?
”I’M GOING TO MELT YOU, JUST LIKE THE MAKE-A-WISH MORONS!!”
Preston’s autoshields were only able to withstand so much of the corrosive blood that this so called leader spat at him. As soon as it melted through, Preston could feel it burning through his suit and into his skin. He yelled in pain, but he withstood it.
He had to be creative, he reminded himself. But there seemed to be no way to calm this kid down. Was the only choice really to beat him up and knock him out cold? Preston refused to accept that as an answer. “I’m agreeing with you!” Preston could barely hide his pain through gritted teeth. “You’re the leader! But people don’t want to follow a leader that kills them!” He sighed, letting out some of that pain in a guttural groan. “And as the green guy in this situation, I’m here to tell you that enough is enough.”
Preston held out his ring in front of him, just like Killowog taught him. With the powers of his ring, he made another barrier around the kid, and another. And more and more until there were ten bubbles shielding the kid from the outside forces, and protecting the world from this violent half-pint. “I’m sorry Kid, I have to take you to the space cops!”
”YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DIE THERE!!” Billy shouted, enraged that the stupid green man was still floating there, getting in the way of him burning this stupid city. ”IF I’M THE LEADER, THAT MEANS YOU DO WHAT I SAY!!!”
Balling his fists tightly when saw yet more of the stupid green barriers appear around him, Billy released a scream of pure rage. He was so sick of this guy and his dumb, stupid bubbles! He wanted to melt him so badly right now. And what he wanted, he was going to get! He was the Red Lantern now, that meant he could do whatever he wanted...and nobody was going to stop him!
”I’M THE BOSS NOW!” Billy declared. ”THE BOSS OF THIS DUMB CITY, THE BOSS OF THIS DUMB PLANET!!”
Charging forward as fast and hard as his anger would allow him too, Billy slammed into the shields with a force capable of propelling him through interstellar space. While a Green Lantern’s barriers perhaps should have been able to offer him resistance, there was something wrong. The spheres Preston had created were not nearly as durable as they should have been, and they broke on impact with the terrible tyke.
As he smashed through the last of the bubbles, Billy set his eyes on the grown up. Charging right for him, his hands lashed out for his throat. ”I’LL TWIST YOUR HEAD OFF LIKE MECHAGODZILLA!! DUN DUN DUN!”
While humming the mechagodzilla theme, he began to attempt to wrench the Green Lantern’s head off with his small but terribly powerful hands.
Mechagodzilla!? How did this kid even know about the star of the 1974 Kaiju film Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla? Was this kid that bored with things that he stumbled onto his dads collection of old movies and watched them in his spare time? Even Preston had to reach a little to get the reference.
Preston set up another wall between himself and the the boy, but it was reduced to shreds just as soon as it was created. He had no choice other than to reassemble the wall as quick as he could around him, hoping to capture the boy and fling him as far as he could with such a short wind.
Hopefully tossing the Kid away would give Preston a second to think. His constructs were paper thin. He should at the very least be able to hold one adolescent within ten reinforced bubbles! But apparently that wasn’t the case, so he needed to end this as soon as possible, if that was possible.
Billy was briefly entrapped by the wall and flung away before he was able to smash through it. This guy was really making him mad now! Madder than he normally was, even! He had already told him to die more than once, but he was just too stupid to listen! Why did grown ups never listen to him? Didn’t they understand how much easier things would be if they just accepted how special he was?
”NO MORE BUBBLES! NO MORE WALLS! Billy screamed, pointing his ring at him. ”I’LL BUILD A WALL AROUND YOU THIS TIME, AND MAKE YOU PAY!”
Again a red beam emerged from his ring, but instead of it merely being focused red energy as it had up till this point, it took the form a wall almost identical to the green one that had been used to push Billy away. This one looked considerably more sturdy, however, and it was heading straight towards the green man at interstellar speeds.
Preston floated before the shining red wall that separated himself from this red ring user. While Preston was initially confused as to why he had summoned a wall when preston was not the one attacking, all thoughts flew out the window as Preston flew through the air. This kid even had more powerful constructs than he did!
While he soared through the air, Preston had a small conversation with himself regarding if he really was worthy enough to use the ring. Obviously so, but did it make a mistake? He couldn’t even square up against a kid.
The longer he let himself be carried away by the sheer force of the hit, the more he denied those thoughts. He fought space pirates! He took down starships with his ring and his wits! He could certainly use the ring as it should be, but ever since he returned to earth, he began to notice how its power has been decaying on some level. He knew he could deflect laser fire without a second thought when he first started, but something was wrong, and now he could barely handle human made laser weapons!
Preston’s body glew green, his shield recharging after a small breather while flying through the air. At about the same speed he had been moving away from the kid, he began to actually fly and curve around, aiming straight at him, hands stretched forward.. If he couldn’t use his ring to capture the boy, then he’d just have to use his hands!
Preston tried his hardest to grab the kid and hold onto him. He flew up high into the air, as fast as his ring could take him right now, and then some. The sky around them went from a bright blue, to navy, then to black, as Preston carried the kid off into space. If he had a power ring, surely it would protect him in outer space on the way to Oa.
Billy saw the green man approach him again. He was slow, and when he grabbed him Billy could tell he was weak too. Grown ups had always been strong than him. Had always tried to use their size to push him around and make him do what they wanted. But now that didn’t matter. Now he was the strong one!
”YOUR GREEN RING SUCKS!” Billy laughed, grabbing Preston by the throat. The sky had gotten darker. He could see stars now, twinkling above him. Were they in space?
Glancing around him for a moment, Billy was quickly able to locate the moon. It seemed so close right now, like he could just fly right to it! His lips stretched into a broad, positively manic grin as he shot off towards - and near-instantly reached - the moon. ”OH BOY, I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO KILL THE MAN IN THE MOON!!
His eyes darted about as he touched down on the chalk-white rock, having apparently forgotten that he was still holding Preston by the throat with one hand. ”WHERE IS HE? I’M GONNA MELT HIM!!”
As soon as the kid had launched his hand into Preston’s neck, he could feel just how powerless he was to this red menace. Every passing moment reminded Preston more and more about how he no longer had any control over the situation. Maybe he never had any control, and he was always at the mercy of the kid. If Preston’s ring wasn’t nearly completely powerless at this point, only barely keeping him alive in the cold vacuum of space, he would have tried to deny that point. He would have tried to assert himself one more time in an effort to get the kid to stop.
Now they were on the surface of the moon. Preston’s vision blurred, his uniform began to burn away in a green flame. He couldn’t even afford to struggle at this point. The last thing Preston remembered seeing was the furious boy strangling him, and their home planet behind him.
Suddenly, a concussive blast of green energy shot through the vacuum of space towards little Billy, aiming to hit his wrist and make him drop the weaker Green Lantern. A stern-faced, red-skinned figure floated a couple dozen feet off the moons’ surface, crossing his arms over his green and black Lantern suit. “So I hear you’re looking for a fight, little one?” The newcomer asked with a small sneer, glancing at Preston to make sure his autoshield was functioning for now. “How about a fight with a real spaceman?” He finished with a grin before the ring on his left hand flashed a brilliant green and a huge hand materialized in the void between the pair, smacking at little Billy with a good deal more force than Preston’s Ring had been able to manage.
“GAGH!” Billy yelped when something struck him in the wrist, causing him to drop that weak green man who’d interfered with his fun.
Grasping at his stinging hand for a moment, Billy centered his gaze on yet another one of those stupid green men. But this one had red skin, of all things. Was he...an alien? A real, authentic space alien?! His face began to brighten at the idea, his eyes practically trembling within his skull from the manic excitement washing over him.
Then he was struck by a big green hand that came out of nowhere. It hurt. It really, really hurt, and Billy went flying halfway to the Earth before he was able to stop himself, glaring wildly at the stupid alien who had hit him. He was just like that dumb woman in the Baskin Robbins!
“Rage. Hate. Devour.”” The robotic voice of his ring hummed.
”DEVOUR?” Billy blinked, before his lips stretched into the broadest grin yet. ”OH BOY!! HE’S RED, SO MAYBE HE TASTES LIKE CHERRIES!! BLARGHHH!”
Spewing up that corrosive blood that had made quick work of those stupid Make-A-Wish people, Billy instantly closed the hundred-plus thousand miles between them, attempting to tackle the man and melt him. To sink his teeth into whatever was left afterwards. ”RED IS BETTER THAN GREEN!!
Sinestro was momentarily surprised at the speed which the boy closed the distance between them, it seemed as though his ring offered the boy power at a similar level to the Green Rings, though Sinestro had never seen a ring that spewed red light before. He’d need to capture and contain this child, to bring the Ring back to Oa and see what the Guardians knew about it. The sheer power coming from this boy was immense, even if the control aspect was… Lacking. No time to consider that now though, as the boy was on him in a flash, vomiting up a stream of red, blood-like energy that began to corrode Sinestro’s auto-shield. Alarmed, Sinestro clenched his fist and generated an expanding bubble around himself, aiming to push the boy off of him for a moment so he could get some room.
Sinestro backed away and pointed his Ring at the boy, hoping to stall for just a few moments while he thought of a plan. “Devour, eh? No no child, I don’t like the sound of that. Unfortunately however, you appear to have stolen technology developed by the Guardians of Oa and have corrupted it, using its power to injure the Green Lantern in charge of your sector of space. That makes you my problem. Now we can do this the easy way, where you surrender the ring and come with me back to Oa; the Guardians would likely take pity on you. Or we can do it the hard way, and I drag you back by your bald scalp.” He said, allowing an edge of menace to creep into his voice at the end. A mere thought flashed through Sinestro’s mind and a large shield formed in front of him, a barrier that would at least slow the child down for a moment when he inevitably attacked.
Billy grunted in anger and frustration when the shield forcibly pushed him back. Smashing at it with his fists, he screamed at the top of his lungs when it didn’t shatter like the other one’s. Why was this stupid alien so much harder to beat up than the other green man? ”NO FAIR! THE OTHER GREEN ONE WAS WEAK! YOU SHOULD BE WEAK TOO!”
Backing off ever-so-slightly, Billy aimed his ring at the shield the alien had created and began blasting at it with his red beams. They had pierced through multiple shields at once from the other green man, but he found that he had to use several while really trying this time. It was just one stupid shield, it shouldn’t be this hard!!
”NOBODY TELLS ME WHAT TO DO!!” Billy screeched, blood still streaming from his mouth as his rage reached its peak, the dumb alien daring to try and boss him around. Charging full force into his shield this time. He was going to smash this guy’s stupid mustache face in!
Sinestro allowed himself a small smile as he continued to pour his power into the shield. He was right, the power coming from the red ring was immense, but lacked any sort of precision or control. If any other Lantern had shown up, the boy would have broken through their shield quickly, but Sinestro was no normal Lantern. He watched the boy back up and then scream in frustration, hurtling headlong towards his shield, and a wicked idea formed in Sinestro’s mind.
As the boy closed in on the shield… Sinestro dropped it. He then sidestepped out of the way, using his ring to leave a ghostly, but intangible afterimage in his place for the boy to ‘hit’. The plan was thus: Allow the child to streak past and confuse himself, then Sinestro would create a Green Energy lasso to catch his ankle, and whip him around and slam him into the surface of this moon. It was a satisfying plan, assuming it worked.
”WAH?!” Billy gasped in confusion when the shield vanished before he could slam into it, but he was too mad to care about why. Instead, he continued on course towards the dumb alien, wanting to rip his dumb face off with his teeth! Opening his mouth wide as blood poured from it, he bit down on...nothing?
Blinking as he sliced through what had appeared to be the alien, he furiously began to scan the area for wherever he’d gotten to. ”YOU WON’T GET AWAY!! YOU’VE MADE ME MAD!!”
That was when he felt something tug at his ankle, his gaze falling to see a green...rope? Following along its length to see that it ended at the alien’s ring, Billy’s eyes flared. Raising his ring, he prepared to fire, only to be slung downwards into the moon below, the impact causing the surface of the planetoid to splinter and crack for many miles in all direction.
”BLAARGH!” Billy puked up that red energy quite unintentionally this time as he struggled to push himself up. N-NO FAIR!! YOU’RE CHEATING!! I’M SUPPOSED TO WIN!!”
Sinestro slowly floated down to the surface of the planetoid, pointing his ring at the collapsed body of his foe. Green manacles sprang into existence and closed around his wrists and ankles before chaining themselves to the surface of the moon. They might not hold him forever, but they would do for now. “Win?” Sinestro asked coldly, crossing his arms and arching an eyebrow. “You honestly think this is a game, child? You’ve killed people, hurt people, given yourself over to rage. This is no game. It’s pest control.” Sinestro began to circle the boy, keeping a careful eye out for any signs of weakness in his constructs.
“Do you know why I’m here?” Sinestro asked. “The man you were fighting, the Green Lantern of Earth; his Ring sent out a distress call when it encountered yours. I happened to be the closest Lantern nearby. If I wanted to though, I could send out my own call. Every Lantern from here to Oa would converge on this moon within the hour. You want a fight? I can bring you one here. Then you can lose not just to me, but to thousands of my brothers. You couldn’t beat me. Could you beat a literal planet with my powers? Let this be a lesson to you, boy.” Sinestro said, coming back around and staring Billy in the eye. “Do not fuck with the Green Lantern Corps.”
Billy roared, animalistic, inhuman. He tugged furiously at the constructs, though thanks to Sinestro’s attentiveness they did not break. The moon that they had been shackled to, however, wasn’t so resilient, and one of the manacles began to be ripped from the rock. ”I HATE YOU!! YOU’RE JUST ANOTHER STUPID GROWN UP!! I’LL KILL YOU! I’LL EAT YOUR HEART!!!”
His voice had started to become almost electronic in tone, and it was no longer entirely clear whether it was just Billy, or his ring speaking to the man before him. That strange red energy still poured from his mouth, lashing at the alien with renewed vigor even as its host was unable to move for the moment. ”YOU AND YOUR STUPID FRIENDS ARE GONNA DIE!! GO GO RED LANTERN!!! DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO!!!”
As he began singing, the anger and rage grew within him and the moon he was chained to began to give way, even if the green constructs necessarily did not.
Sinestro paused for a moment, taken aback by the… Interesting response from the boy. He turned his attention momentarily to the surface of the moon, realizing it was perhaps not as good an anchoring point as he initially thought. Another flash from his Ring and the chains on the manacles extended, lifting in the air and beginning to wrap themselves around the boy. Tying him to the moon didn’t work, so it would be interesting to see him try to fight against himself to break free.
“I understand now.” Sinestro said, focusing more on the chains and getting them wrapped tightly around the child. “You’re utterly insane. You’re a crazy person. That makes you a danger to yourself and everyone around you. So you no longer get the chance to hurt anyone, even yourself.” He said, tying the rest of the chains together and clenching his fist, tightening the whole knot. “As soon as the other Lantern wakes up, we’re going to Oa.”
Billy continued to scream and struggle, gnash his teeth and spew “blood”. For a period, it seemed as if his efforts just might even overwhelm the supremely constructed chains of Thaal Sinestro, but eventually the boy seemed “calm”, for lack of a better word. When he spoke this time, he - for once - did not shout. Instead his tone was quiet, but carried within it a hatred and venom the Korugarian alien had likely never heard before.
”I’ll remember your stupid face. I’ll kill everyone that has it. Everyone you love. I’ll drink their blood. Eat their flesh. And you’ll watch.”
Thaal Sinestro shook his head, staring coldly at the chained child. “You can try. And then I’ll kill you.” He said with a small smile before taking to the skies again, dragging the child along behind him as he found the still-breathing body of the Green Lantern Preston. ‘Emerald Knight’ he’d called himself. Some of the other Lanterns had taken offense when he forsook the name of the Corps, but the Guardians had allowed it. He was injured, his autoshield flickering, but he was alive. Sinestro began to channel green energy into the other Lantern, healing his wounds and trying to charge his Ring.
Taking a closer look at the Ring on Preston’s hand, the ring of his old friend Abin Sur, Sinestro began to see some… Upsetting markers. The ring was underpowered, and not due to missing its recharging from the power battery. It was damaged. Breaking apart. It simply couldn’t hold enough energy. That was… Upsetting, to say the least.
It took a moment, but with a jolt, Preston coughed and hacked wildly. His whole body bent forwards as he coughed, his body struggling to regain the air that was lost from him. His first thoughts were the kid. From where he was floating, he was nowhere in sight.
As soon as he had enough strength and air in his lungs to look around, he searched the face of the moon for the one who had almost killed him. Preston was honestly surprised that he was still alive. What could have stopp-
Oh.
It was him.
Sinestro was another green lantern from a nearby sector, one of the best. Due to conflicting schedules, Preston had never seen him in person, but word on Oa quickly spread. Apparently Sinestro was friends with the guy who wore Preston’s ring before him. It probably hurt the red alien a bit when word got around that there was a new lantern for earth’s sector.
Being held prisoner was the kid. He didn’t seem to be as volatile as he was before, but Preston could still feel a deadly aura emanating off of him. Something about that boy unsettled him.
“Ah.” Preston groaned, rolling his shoulder. “You must be Sinestro. I’ve heard a lot of great things about you.” Preston had forgotten that he was no longer clothed in his uniform, now only bearing his civilian clothes. He was being protected by the power of his ring, and even a little boost to his ring’s energy could be felt.
His eyes shifted to the child. “He’s got a red ring.” He stated the obvious. “I’ve never seen any rings other than green before. His ring is powerful though, he’s powerful. I couldn’t stop him. You’ve got my thanks.” Preston could only feel humble right now. He had failed in his job as a lantern, another had to step in and save him and his planet, and honestly? Preston felt like he could barely address Sinestro by name because of how revered some of the other Lanterns spoke about him.
Sinestro backed up to give his fellow Lantern some space as he coughed and came back to consciousness, glad that he wouldn’t be dragging two bodies back to Oa. he nodded in greeting to the new Lantern, his expression calm and cool. “Thaal Sinestro, Green Lantern of Sector 1417. I believe you’re Preston Westfield? It’s good to meet you, our sectors are close by and it’s good to… Know the neighbors, as it were.”
Sinestro’s attention shifted back to the business at hand and he turned to glance at the silent form of the child behind him. His expression said it all, a barely contained, simmering rage was building in the child, and Preston was right. He was dangerous. “I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s never seen a Red Ring before.” Sinestro admitted, thinking on the details he had picked up during the fight. “It appears whatever this ring is, it seems to be based off our own Power Rings, though it clearly taps into something aside from willpower. My best guess is that anger is its power source, though I had no idea anything aside form Will could power a ring… It seems to make him powerful, certainly stronger than an average Green Lantern. However, he lacks control. This is why Will is stronger than rage, we can control ourselves and think clearly in the midst of danger. Of course…” Sinestro said, turning back to Preston. “It also helps when your Ring is actually working. How long has yours been broken?”
Broken? Preston didn’t even know what to say about that. Was it even possible for a power ring to break?
The confusion written on his face should have made it clear that he had no idea what Sinestro was talking about. “That would certainly explain why I can barely handle missile fire now.” He commented offhandedly. If his ring was somehow broken, then it would explain why he was slowly getting worse in fights, and how he needed to exert more of himself to get the same results.
“I never knew it was broken.” He admitted to Sinestro. “I got the ring, went to Oa, trained, and started patrolling. I guess any damage wasn’t apparent when I first arrived, so maybe the guardians didn’t even know.”
Sinestro frowned slightly, worried about the explanation Preston gave. Was it possible the ring had been damaged when whatever happened to Abin Sur had… Well, happened? If so, the Guardians should have picked it up, unless, as Preston said, the damage was so miniscule it passed unnoticed. Still… “There are very few things that can break a Green Lantern Power Ring.” Sinestro explained. “Immense natural forces, extremely powerful enemies, or the Guardians retiring a Ring are the only things I can think of off the top of my head. However, your ring is broken, of that I’m sure. Perhaps it was somehow damaged in the crash, when you found Abin… Regardless, we need to get it fixed. Come with me back to Oa, help me keep an eye on our little prisoner here. We’ll get your Ring taken care of and try to find answers about this Red energy. What do you say?”
Preston didn’t need to be told twice to go back to Oa to help sort all of this out. Talk about his ring, this red ring, and maybe he could learn a little bit more about Abin Sur, the previous owner of Preston’s ring.
He nodded to Sinestro. “The sooner, the better.”
@MenhirI gave your post history a glance over, and you seem like a pretty good RPer. I suppose with everything you just said you deserve the benefit of the doubt, assuming that you've read the history of this RP's setting and are familiar with it? It's not a typical DC world and has its own history, rules, conventions and lore.
@MenhirNo, I saw it the first time. I just...had no idea how to respond to it. Your profile is both very bare bones and potentially broken (not to mention bizarre), given that your H-Dial lets your character basically turn into anyone at will (unlike the "broken" ones which give a random hero). Honestly, I'm gonna have to say no.
@KorkoaExcellent! Welcome aboard!
8:38 AM, July 21st
Waldberg General Hospital, Cancer Ward
Coast City
This was going to be a very special day. A very fun, very awesome day. They were coming to grant his wish. The thing he wanted most. Any minute now they would walk through that door and make his dream come true.
“WHERE ARE THEY?!” He roared, causing his parents to flinch. Their eyes frantically darted to each other, as if expecting the other to have the answer. Stupid.
Finally, his mother stepped forward wringing her hands. “B-Billy, they said they’ll be here by 8:45. T-that’s just seven minutes away.”
“OH BOY I’M SO EXCITED!!” He screamed, throwing a snow globe beside his bed at his mom’s head, which she deftly dodged.
“I...I’m so very happy for you, Billy,” his father paled, offering him a weary smile.
Rocking eagerly in his bed, “Little” Billy Johnson grinned ear-to-ear as his eyes practically bulged from his skull, firmly locked on the door. Seven minutes until his wish was granted. Maybe six now.
He didn’t scream anymore for that duration of time. Instead he remained focused, his eyes practically burning a hole through the door. Wouldn’t that be cool? If he could just burn this entire place down? That would be so fucking funny!
Then the door finally opened and he saw them. Those stupid blue “Make-a-Wish” shirts they all wore! Oh boy!
“Hi, Billy! We’re from the Make-a-Wish Foundation and-”
“I WANT TO BE THE RED RANGER!!!” Billy screamed at the top of his lungs, causing the man leading the trio to flinch slightly.
“Uh...y-yeah, so we’ve heard!” He smiled, gesturing for the woman beside him to step forward. She had a small box in her hand which she sat on Billy’s bed while grinning like an idiot. “And so we talked to Saban and they made this just for you!”
Throwing off the top of the box with such enthusiasm that it smacked the woman in the face, Billy’s eyes lit up in joy. “OH BOY!!”
“Er...we have quite a fun day planned for you,” the man continued, checking on his coworker as she rubbed her nose. “We’re going to go where they’re filming the newest series. You’ll get to see how your favorite show is-”
“I WANT TO FIGHT A MONSTER!!!” Billy roared, already having ripped his hospital gown off and thrown it over his dad’s head. He was now squeezing his way into his new outfit.
Left with a really stupid expression on his face for several moments, the man who was speaking to him used a handkerchief to wipe his brow. “W-well, we might be able to arrange something later if you’re g-”
‘I. WANT. TO. FIGHT. A. MONSTER. NOW!!!” He yelled at twice the volume as before, all of the stupid adults taking a step back. “MOM! WHERE IS MY BAT?!”
His mother practically wilted at this. “B-Billy, I really don’t think you should bring your-”
“NOBODY CARES WHAT YOU THINK YOU DUMB COW!!” Billy seized a bedpan and threw it at her. “BRING ME MY BAT!!”
Today was going to be so special!
Coast City Memorial Park, 9:22 AM
“R-right, Billy...we had to buy this monster costume from the store so it might not look as good as your costume, but I hope it-”
“OH BOY!!!” Billy’s eyes lit up in excitement upon seeing the stupid monster before him. It looked so damn fake, it was just like the show! “IT’S MORPHIN’ TIME!!!”
The man in the suit held his hands up as Billy charged at him with his favorite metal baseball bat. “Woah, now Billy, careful you don’t hurt someone wi-OH SWEET JESUS MY QUAD!”
Billy slammed the bat into his outer thigh, a beaming grin adorning his face. When the monster began to fall, he followed it up with a shot to his elbow, but before bringing it right up between his legs. “AHAHAHA!! GO GO POWER RANGERS!!”
“P-please...help...he-AGH!” The monster screamed like a moron as Billy slammed the bat into his shoulder and then across his back.
“BILLY STOP!” The lead Make-A-Wish idiot rushed forward and grabbed ahold of his bat. “You’re hurting him, Billy!”
Billy’s eyes flared behind his Red Ranger helmet at this. Didn’t he know that red was the leader?! Nobody told him what to do!! “YOU’RE RUINING MY WISH!!!”
Forcefully shoving the end of the bat into the stupid Make-A-Wish guy’s mouth, the man reeled back with a yell as he covered his face, something small and white clattering to the ground between his fingers. “GAGH! M-MY CROWN!”
“MY MOUTH IS DRY NOW!” Billy screamed. “I WANT ICE CREAM!!”
Baskin Robbins, 9:33
“I WANT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH!” Billy screamed in excitement, the patrons eating in the establishment all staring in confusion and shock. Adults were stupid like that. They even made him take off his helmet.
The man and woman - there were only two now, the monster had to go to the hospital for some stupid reason - glanced to each other and then to the menu. Finally, they warily turned back to him. “Billy...I...I don’t think they have that flavor. B-but look, there’s dozens of other kinds of ice cream!”
“What,” Billy responded in an almost inaudible monotone. “They...THEY DON’T HAVE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH?!”
The man immediately stepped forward, trying to grab Billy. “Now listen here you...you! I’ve about had enough! We came here to make this day special for you, but you keep-ARGH!”
Billy smashed the bat into his knee, before turning it on the ice cream display. “STUPID GROWN UPS NEVER GIVE ME WHAT I WANT!!”
When the glass shattered beneath his bat, several people stood in shock, the people behind the counter shouting at him. How dare they yell at him on this, the day where he was supposed to get his wish? He hated all of their stupid faces.
“That’s enough!” The woman - who hadn’t really said anything the whole time - finally stepped forward, drawing her hand back to slam it across Billy’s face. The audible crack rang out through the Baskin Robbins.
The bat clamored to the ground, Billy raising his hand to cup where she had struck him. “You...hit me…?”
“Yes!” She snapped. “You’ve been...you have to be the single worst brat I have ever had the infinite displeasure of meeting! In all my days working for the Foundation, I’ve never met a more miserable, more insufferable, more psychotic little monster than you! What the hell is wrong with you?!”
Billy, the shock having at last worn off, slowly shifted his gaze to meet hers. “I….hate all of you...all of you...YOU STUPID FUCKING GROWN UPS! YOU SHOULD BE THE ONES DYING, NOT ME!!!”
“Why you little-” She started, when once again the sound of breaking glass caused her to flinch. Staring up at the ceiling for some stupid reason, Billy instinctively followed her gaze.
There was...something red glowing up there. Because of that glow and its small size, he couldn’t really make out what it was. For some reason, though...he really liked the look of it. And then it spoke to him.
“William Johnson of Earth, you possess great rage in your heart. You belong to the Red Lantern Corps.”
It spoke in such a robotic way. Robots were cool, so that was cool! “I LOVE RED!!”
As if responding to his enthusiasm, the thing floated down towards him. Billy reached out to grasp it, but instead it slid onto his finger. It was ring, he could tell now. Like on Captain Planet! But...but now he felt -
“BLURGH!” Billy hacked, blood spewing from his mouth as the people inside the Baskin Robbins gasped in horror. His heart hurt...his entire body felt like it was on fire. He’d never felt any sort of pain like this before...but for some reason, he loved it.
His Red Ranger suit was immediately burned away, but beneath it he was wearing a new, even cooler uniform. All throughout his body he could feel the raw power, the raw anger flowing through him. But then, he’d always had that anger, hadn’t he? Now it just...it felt a hundred times more amazing!!
“B-Billy,” the Make-A-Wish guy - having been on the ground clutching his knee - finally spoke up. “W-what’s happening? What is this?”
Slowly lifting into the air as a crimson glow surrounded him, his eyes - now encircled by a red mask - centered on the man. “MY WISH.”
Vomiting up that strange blood for the second time, it engulfed both of the Make-A-Wish workers, their bodies - bones and all! - melting into a smouldering puddle that began eating through the floor. The people inside the building started shrieking in terror as they attempted to run past him. But they weren’t going to escape. None of them would. None of them had listened to him. None of them had given him what he wanted, what he deserved!
Smashing up through the roof of the Baskin Robbins, Billy clenched his ring-bearing fist and thrust it forward at the building. From his ring emerged a crimson beam that pierced the roof...and in an instant the ice cream shop erupted in a ball of fire that engulfed everyone trying to flee from it. Said fire continued to expand into the street and adjacent buildings, and Billy could see it all. See it in slow motion as it burned their flesh, melted their eyes, broke their bodies...it was so fucking cool!!
“OH BOY!!” Billy screamed in delight, flying off to burn more of those stupid adults and their stupid kids...starting with his old school. “GO GO RED LANTERN!!”
Waldberg General Hospital, Cancer Ward
Coast City
This was going to be a very special day. A very fun, very awesome day. They were coming to grant his wish. The thing he wanted most. Any minute now they would walk through that door and make his dream come true.
“WHERE ARE THEY?!” He roared, causing his parents to flinch. Their eyes frantically darted to each other, as if expecting the other to have the answer. Stupid.
Finally, his mother stepped forward wringing her hands. “B-Billy, they said they’ll be here by 8:45. T-that’s just seven minutes away.”
“OH BOY I’M SO EXCITED!!” He screamed, throwing a snow globe beside his bed at his mom’s head, which she deftly dodged.
“I...I’m so very happy for you, Billy,” his father paled, offering him a weary smile.
Rocking eagerly in his bed, “Little” Billy Johnson grinned ear-to-ear as his eyes practically bulged from his skull, firmly locked on the door. Seven minutes until his wish was granted. Maybe six now.
He didn’t scream anymore for that duration of time. Instead he remained focused, his eyes practically burning a hole through the door. Wouldn’t that be cool? If he could just burn this entire place down? That would be so fucking funny!
Then the door finally opened and he saw them. Those stupid blue “Make-a-Wish” shirts they all wore! Oh boy!
“Hi, Billy! We’re from the Make-a-Wish Foundation and-”
“I WANT TO BE THE RED RANGER!!!” Billy screamed at the top of his lungs, causing the man leading the trio to flinch slightly.
“Uh...y-yeah, so we’ve heard!” He smiled, gesturing for the woman beside him to step forward. She had a small box in her hand which she sat on Billy’s bed while grinning like an idiot. “And so we talked to Saban and they made this just for you!”
Throwing off the top of the box with such enthusiasm that it smacked the woman in the face, Billy’s eyes lit up in joy. “OH BOY!!”
“Er...we have quite a fun day planned for you,” the man continued, checking on his coworker as she rubbed her nose. “We’re going to go where they’re filming the newest series. You’ll get to see how your favorite show is-”
“I WANT TO FIGHT A MONSTER!!!” Billy roared, already having ripped his hospital gown off and thrown it over his dad’s head. He was now squeezing his way into his new outfit.
Left with a really stupid expression on his face for several moments, the man who was speaking to him used a handkerchief to wipe his brow. “W-well, we might be able to arrange something later if you’re g-”
‘I. WANT. TO. FIGHT. A. MONSTER. NOW!!!” He yelled at twice the volume as before, all of the stupid adults taking a step back. “MOM! WHERE IS MY BAT?!”
His mother practically wilted at this. “B-Billy, I really don’t think you should bring your-”
“NOBODY CARES WHAT YOU THINK YOU DUMB COW!!” Billy seized a bedpan and threw it at her. “BRING ME MY BAT!!”
Today was going to be so special!
Coast City Memorial Park, 9:22 AM
“R-right, Billy...we had to buy this monster costume from the store so it might not look as good as your costume, but I hope it-”
“OH BOY!!!” Billy’s eyes lit up in excitement upon seeing the stupid monster before him. It looked so damn fake, it was just like the show! “IT’S MORPHIN’ TIME!!!”
The man in the suit held his hands up as Billy charged at him with his favorite metal baseball bat. “Woah, now Billy, careful you don’t hurt someone wi-OH SWEET JESUS MY QUAD!”
Billy slammed the bat into his outer thigh, a beaming grin adorning his face. When the monster began to fall, he followed it up with a shot to his elbow, but before bringing it right up between his legs. “AHAHAHA!! GO GO POWER RANGERS!!”
“P-please...help...he-AGH!” The monster screamed like a moron as Billy slammed the bat into his shoulder and then across his back.
“BILLY STOP!” The lead Make-A-Wish idiot rushed forward and grabbed ahold of his bat. “You’re hurting him, Billy!”
Billy’s eyes flared behind his Red Ranger helmet at this. Didn’t he know that red was the leader?! Nobody told him what to do!! “YOU’RE RUINING MY WISH!!!”
Forcefully shoving the end of the bat into the stupid Make-A-Wish guy’s mouth, the man reeled back with a yell as he covered his face, something small and white clattering to the ground between his fingers. “GAGH! M-MY CROWN!”
“MY MOUTH IS DRY NOW!” Billy screamed. “I WANT ICE CREAM!!”
Baskin Robbins, 9:33
“I WANT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH!” Billy screamed in excitement, the patrons eating in the establishment all staring in confusion and shock. Adults were stupid like that. They even made him take off his helmet.
The man and woman - there were only two now, the monster had to go to the hospital for some stupid reason - glanced to each other and then to the menu. Finally, they warily turned back to him. “Billy...I...I don’t think they have that flavor. B-but look, there’s dozens of other kinds of ice cream!”
“What,” Billy responded in an almost inaudible monotone. “They...THEY DON’T HAVE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH?!”
The man immediately stepped forward, trying to grab Billy. “Now listen here you...you! I’ve about had enough! We came here to make this day special for you, but you keep-ARGH!”
Billy smashed the bat into his knee, before turning it on the ice cream display. “STUPID GROWN UPS NEVER GIVE ME WHAT I WANT!!”
When the glass shattered beneath his bat, several people stood in shock, the people behind the counter shouting at him. How dare they yell at him on this, the day where he was supposed to get his wish? He hated all of their stupid faces.
“That’s enough!” The woman - who hadn’t really said anything the whole time - finally stepped forward, drawing her hand back to slam it across Billy’s face. The audible crack rang out through the Baskin Robbins.
The bat clamored to the ground, Billy raising his hand to cup where she had struck him. “You...hit me…?”
“Yes!” She snapped. “You’ve been...you have to be the single worst brat I have ever had the infinite displeasure of meeting! In all my days working for the Foundation, I’ve never met a more miserable, more insufferable, more psychotic little monster than you! What the hell is wrong with you?!”
Billy, the shock having at last worn off, slowly shifted his gaze to meet hers. “I….hate all of you...all of you...YOU STUPID FUCKING GROWN UPS! YOU SHOULD BE THE ONES DYING, NOT ME!!!”
“Why you little-” She started, when once again the sound of breaking glass caused her to flinch. Staring up at the ceiling for some stupid reason, Billy instinctively followed her gaze.
There was...something red glowing up there. Because of that glow and its small size, he couldn’t really make out what it was. For some reason, though...he really liked the look of it. And then it spoke to him.
“William Johnson of Earth, you possess great rage in your heart. You belong to the Red Lantern Corps.”
It spoke in such a robotic way. Robots were cool, so that was cool! “I LOVE RED!!”
As if responding to his enthusiasm, the thing floated down towards him. Billy reached out to grasp it, but instead it slid onto his finger. It was ring, he could tell now. Like on Captain Planet! But...but now he felt -
“BLURGH!” Billy hacked, blood spewing from his mouth as the people inside the Baskin Robbins gasped in horror. His heart hurt...his entire body felt like it was on fire. He’d never felt any sort of pain like this before...but for some reason, he loved it.
His Red Ranger suit was immediately burned away, but beneath it he was wearing a new, even cooler uniform. All throughout his body he could feel the raw power, the raw anger flowing through him. But then, he’d always had that anger, hadn’t he? Now it just...it felt a hundred times more amazing!!
“B-Billy,” the Make-A-Wish guy - having been on the ground clutching his knee - finally spoke up. “W-what’s happening? What is this?”
Slowly lifting into the air as a crimson glow surrounded him, his eyes - now encircled by a red mask - centered on the man. “MY WISH.”
Vomiting up that strange blood for the second time, it engulfed both of the Make-A-Wish workers, their bodies - bones and all! - melting into a smouldering puddle that began eating through the floor. The people inside the building started shrieking in terror as they attempted to run past him. But they weren’t going to escape. None of them would. None of them had listened to him. None of them had given him what he wanted, what he deserved!
Smashing up through the roof of the Baskin Robbins, Billy clenched his ring-bearing fist and thrust it forward at the building. From his ring emerged a crimson beam that pierced the roof...and in an instant the ice cream shop erupted in a ball of fire that engulfed everyone trying to flee from it. Said fire continued to expand into the street and adjacent buildings, and Billy could see it all. See it in slow motion as it burned their flesh, melted their eyes, broke their bodies...it was so fucking cool!!
“OH BOY!!” Billy screamed in delight, flying off to burn more of those stupid adults and their stupid kids...starting with his old school. “GO GO RED LANTERN!!”
July 10th, 2020
By the tenth of July, the world at large had learned of the brief but terrible conflict that had threatened to plunge the world into a global conflict the likes of which hadn't been seen for some seventy-five years. Wielding impossible weaponry, they had inflicted the worst losses NATO had ever experienced since its foundation, including the sinking of NATO Maritime Group 2, the greatest navel disaster Britain has suffered since the second World War.
The official word from NATO - and in the particular President Gloria Vanderhall - was that their combined forces had managed to repel Asad's invasion with heavy losses, with the dictator himself having been killed in an airstrike on the Arab Federation's capital of Baghdad. More shocking are the reports of a nuclear detonation in the deserts of Arabia, the high yield of the bomb resulting in fallout that could potentially endanger all nearby settlements.
Statements from Raymond von Lüneburg - CEO of Lundgrau Intelligence Services - paint an entirely different picture of the conflict, however. He instead credits the defeat of the Arab Federation to a handful of extraordinarily empowered individuals, Lady Arcana, Emerald Knight and Grim among them. Were it not for their intervention, then the Arab Federation would have undoubtedly annexed all of Arabia within a matter of days at most, a mere stepping stone in Basil Al-Asad's quest to place all the Middle East firmly beneath his iron boot.
Regardless of the truth, however, the aftermath of the conflict is clear for all to see.
Without their leader, the Arab Federation has fallen into chaos. While the arrival of NATO's forces in Riyadh has managed to stabilize the Republic of Arabia, the Federation now sits on the precipice of civil war as rogue generals attempt to stake their own claim to power with their loyal forces, and ethnic and tribal tensions reignite without the oppressive fist of Asad to keep them suppressed.
As for the advanced technology wielded by the Federation, there have been numerous eyewitness accounts of none other than Lady Arcana spiriting it away in the aftermath of the conflict in an apparent attempt to deny NATO access to it. President Vanderhall has pointed to this as further evidence that she is no friend of the United States, and that these superpowered beings pose a threat to all of humanity if left unchecked.
By the tenth of July, the world at large had learned of the brief but terrible conflict that had threatened to plunge the world into a global conflict the likes of which hadn't been seen for some seventy-five years. Wielding impossible weaponry, they had inflicted the worst losses NATO had ever experienced since its foundation, including the sinking of NATO Maritime Group 2, the greatest navel disaster Britain has suffered since the second World War.
The official word from NATO - and in the particular President Gloria Vanderhall - was that their combined forces had managed to repel Asad's invasion with heavy losses, with the dictator himself having been killed in an airstrike on the Arab Federation's capital of Baghdad. More shocking are the reports of a nuclear detonation in the deserts of Arabia, the high yield of the bomb resulting in fallout that could potentially endanger all nearby settlements.
Statements from Raymond von Lüneburg - CEO of Lundgrau Intelligence Services - paint an entirely different picture of the conflict, however. He instead credits the defeat of the Arab Federation to a handful of extraordinarily empowered individuals, Lady Arcana, Emerald Knight and Grim among them. Were it not for their intervention, then the Arab Federation would have undoubtedly annexed all of Arabia within a matter of days at most, a mere stepping stone in Basil Al-Asad's quest to place all the Middle East firmly beneath his iron boot.
Regardless of the truth, however, the aftermath of the conflict is clear for all to see.
Without their leader, the Arab Federation has fallen into chaos. While the arrival of NATO's forces in Riyadh has managed to stabilize the Republic of Arabia, the Federation now sits on the precipice of civil war as rogue generals attempt to stake their own claim to power with their loyal forces, and ethnic and tribal tensions reignite without the oppressive fist of Asad to keep them suppressed.
As for the advanced technology wielded by the Federation, there have been numerous eyewitness accounts of none other than Lady Arcana spiriting it away in the aftermath of the conflict in an apparent attempt to deny NATO access to it. President Vanderhall has pointed to this as further evidence that she is no friend of the United States, and that these superpowered beings pose a threat to all of humanity if left unchecked.
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