Bounce

Titans!

S A M A R
The Visaya Islands, Philippines

The girl's name was - is - Maria. Her family lived on the far side of civilization in a quaint town where people still got most of their news by radio. Working televisions were rare, along with working cars or trucks. It was the precipice over which one could see the third world, and yet million dollar hotels were quite literally just down the road. And, yet, the young Hellspawn could feel that people were happy here. There was a genuine sense of community. Everyone knew each other, knew their parents, knew their children, knew their sins... and their graces. Knew their charities and their debts.

It had been three days since Chris had saved Maria. He'd wound up at her family's home, a meager hovel which housed a multi-generational branch of the family tree. They hadn't asked him any questions, but it wouldn't have mattered if they had. Chris didn't speak Tagalog and they didn't appear to speak English. But they were eager for him to stay as their guest. He could understand that much. They called him anghel.

Even not speaking the language, Chris thought he might get the gist of to what they were referring, and didn't have the heart to correct them. Had he, he still wouldn't have known the Tagalog word for devil anyway. And he wasn't all that certain it was accurate. Not then, and maybe not now. That was part of what he'd been trying to sort out in his mind when he'd been distracted by Maria's near death. Now, she was safe and he was still as uncertain as he'd been when he'd started walking along the beach.

No, that wasn't right. He was even less certain now. About everything. Who he was. What he was. Why he was.

What it had all been for.

Or even who.

Some rational part of his mind had the idea that, maybe, when you were dealing with the cosmic machinations of gods - angels, demons, higher beings - that maybe it just the nature of it to be beyond comprehension. Wasn't faith the great unknown, the undiscovered country? It was irony, perhaps, then, that young Christopher was quite unsure as to whether he had any faith or, if he did, what in. Faith in Al? If that were so, he'd have to get another name. Al bless you was never going to catch on. And, on the more theocratic dictatorship side, kneel before Al was similarly lackluster. So as a religion that seemed to fail on the sides of both charity and wrath. And wasn't that what God was? One-half mercy and one-half cast you in the lake of fire, where there is weeping, and gnashing of teeth?

The sound of Maria giggling broke through the young boy's brooding, as the fair haired Spawn woke from out of his own dark reverie with the realization that he hadn't touched the bowl of rice that they had set in front of him. Maria and her brother, Marco, were playing some kind of game back and forth, laughing. Surveying the communal dining table, Chris realized that the adults had all migrated around the radios in the house - the women talking among themselves with the radio going in the kitchen, the men around bottles of beer and a deck of cards at the dining table with a radio propped on one end.

It wasn't music, it was a newscast... but of what, he couldn't tell.

A crack of thunder, drew the boy's sapphire eyes out of the open window to the beach just outside. He could see a breeze whipping through the trees, as white caps tipped the dark waters crashing against the shore.

There was a storm brewing.

There wasn't room for Chris in the house. The first night, they had doubled up the kids in order to make a spot for him, but he'd demonstrated the ability to do something aside from rescue girls from drowning; he formed chains from out of his body and the tattered, red cape that seemed to be his wings to craft a hammock between the house and the porch. Each night in turn, he did it again. On the third night, as with the first or second, the family said nothing. They merely whispered about their anghel. He left them to their religion and they left him to sleep.

To sleep, perchance to dream. Aye, there's the rub.

Chris did neither. He lay in that hammock, staring up at the stars, and wondering who or what was up there. He thought of his own grave and wondered who or what was in it. And he thought of Al, of Hiroshi and Kumiko. But, most of all, he thought about fear. Maria was afraid of thunder. Marco was afraid of the dark. As night fell and the storm grew worse, Chris could sense their fear from outside the house.

No, he didn't just sense it. He could taste it. And it was addicting. Not just their fears, but those of all the children in the town. It was like a snort of cocaine, he breathed it in and felt a rush of blood to the head.

Anghel. Not very likely.

A flash of light illuminated the sky as though, for a moment, the sun had come up. The ensuing clap of thunder seemed to shake the foundations of the house as a torrential rain suddenly broke, pummeling the roof as it poured down onto dirt streets that were rapidly becoming rivers of mud. Grabbing hold of the edges of his cape, Chris drew the tattered, red cloth tighter around his body, before the door to the house was flung open.

Before he could so much as turn his head, Maria's small form had pounced upon the makeshift hammock. The girl struggled to work her way under the tarp-like covering, as Chris pulled back the cape and extended it over the child's small frame. The young girl huddled tightly against him. Chris could feel her heart beating, and yet, she relaxed as she hugged against him. It was as though she felt safe with him. She was muttering something in Tagalog and it was a moment before Christopher realized what she was doing.

She was saying a prayer.

He hoped she was saying one for both of them.

Titans!

Just a note: I finally got my hands on scans of the 150 series of Spawn vol 1, which are the issues in which Christopher appears (151-159 specifically). So I added an image of the canon Christopher into his CS and adjusted the appearance description to match.

I'd forgotten he had blond hair. And his eyes are blue even in the Hellspawn suit, which seems unusual given what we know about Hellspawn physiology... but I'll go with it.

Anyway. On to post!

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

In the greater cosmos, the people are protected by two sides in the interstellar justice system; the Lanterns who investigate crimes and the local authorities who prosecute the offenders. The call came in at seventeen forty-seven, Oa Standard Time. A domestic disturbance on an asteroid base out on the edge of space in Sector 2814. That makes it my problem. My name is Kai-ro. I carry a ring.

| A S T E R O I D • B L U E • H E A V E N |

The small spacecraft exited out of the singularity, a blue glow radiating from the ion drives as power was diverted to the sublight engines, the kinetic force combining with the resulting inertial to propel the pristine vessel toward the massive rock which hung like a rogue planet against the backdrop of space. Inside the space craft, a feminine voice echoed and said, "We have entered Sector 2814, quadrant Gamma-9. Adjusting vector for approach to space station Blue Heaven."

"Domestic disturbance," the squirrel-like creature growled, blowing smoke from a distinctly non-regulation cigar as he barked, "What are we now, marriage counselors?"

Bringing a hand up to his face, the young Chinese boy waved the smoke away from his face despite knowing all-too-well the futility of his actions. In such a confined environment, even with Aya's carbon scrubbers working at maximum efficiency to recycle the air quality, the noxious odors continued to burn at his nostrils everywhere in the ship. "Blue Heaven is a private enterprise. WIthout local government law enforcement, it is necessary for the Corps to provide for community police protection in order to prevent this quadrant becoming a..."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not the Poozer here, kid," Ch'p growled, interrupting the young Green Lantern before blowing smoke in his face. "This is, what, third time we've been out?"

"Fourth," Kai-ro corrected, coughing as the smoke choked the back of his throat.

"Well, maybe if you'd busted some heads the first, second, or third time, we wouldn't be out here again," the H'lven chipmunk snapped.

"There was no criminal complaint alleged and therefore it would be unconscionable to impose..."

"I'll show you 'unconscionable' if you don't shut up and arrest something," the grizzled Blue Lantern barked, waving with his cigar toward the back of the cockpit. "Now hit the beat, kid."

There were creatures in this world - in this universe - who tested the patience of even the most virtuous monk. With a sigh, the young Green Lantern hung his head as he resigned himself to the fact that Clarissi Salaak had, for whatever karmic slight Kai-ro may have caused in a prior life, partnered him with just such a creature. "Kao yao," the youth muttered in Chinese as he started toward the airlock.

"Yeah, moo goo gai pan to you too, kid."

The comment from the H'lven reached Kai-ro's ears just as he started through the exit of the cockpit, drawing his shoulders up in the only tangible display of irritation. Peace. Compassion. Peace... the boy repeated to himself, drawing in a deep breath which he let out slowly as he did the right thing and just walked away. As he stepped into the airlock, the boy brought his right hand up, adjusting the distinctive ring on his middle finger. A green aura enveloped his small form, as the exterior hatch was pulled away like a curtain to reveal the naked cosmos outside. Gently, the boy's foot drifted from off the deck as he floated freely into the vacuum awaiting him.

Space could be frightening the first time. There was no concept of up or down. No compass points with which to orient the mind. Some never overcame the vertigo. But Kai-ro? Kai-ro felt like this was true freedom. Putting his arms by his side, the child ducked and then pushed himself out through the void like a dolphin sliding through the sea. Gliding across the emptiness, the youth arced upward to arrive at an airlock that would give entry to the asteroid base. A pulse from his ring and the door parted for him, and Kai-ro stepped inside.

A century before, the asteroid had been cored out by a mining corporation. Left an empty shell, the remains of the mining station had been hastily converted into a port of call for people out on the fringe of this part of space. Pirates. Smugglers. Drug runners. The Green Lanterns knew that Blue Heaven, as it had come to be called, was nothing more than a waypoint from criminal elements drifting through the sector. But suspicion didn't amount to evidence, and so the Green Lanterns could do little more than keep an eye on the station. Still, it remained a lawless wonderland. A ghetto in space. Trash crunched under foot, along with something squishy that Kai-ro immediately tried not to think about as he made his way inside of the shoddy asteroid port.

B37T4-A, or Big Bertha, had originally been programmed as a lab assistant for a chemical company. Later advances in robotics and artificial intelligence design had led to Bertha being thrown out with the trash, but instead of being resigning herself to being reduced to scrap, the rusted automaton had wound up opening a bar out on Blue Heaven. There, she'd met up with a waste disposal unit that everyone called 'Marty' and the two had mixed like oil and water. Their passions for one another were, perhaps, impressive given the limitations of their designs, but that passion led to destructive behavior - usually by Bertha - which was of increasing concern to the residents of Blue Heaven.

That alone was concerning. It took a great deal for someone who lived on Blue Heaven to want to call the Lanterns.

As the young Green Lantern walked through the doors of the bar, an ion bolt buried itself into the wall about three feet to the left and two heads higher than he stood. The smell of residual gas coolant gave credence to the notion that such hadn't been the first shot fired, which would explain why someone would have been willing, if not eager, to call the Lanterns. In space, with the risk of the hull being compromised, no one won a gun fight.

Bertha was behind the bar, plugged into a voltage converted that had obviously made her onboard components drunk from the power surge. In one of her reedy, articulate limbs was a relic of the Trandoshan Civil War, a gas-powered ion bolt caster that was little more than a high-tech slug thrower. "You whore," the robotic bar tender managed, loudly slurring her words as her servos were unable to precisely calibrate for motion. The rifle waved wildly toward a squat, dirty-looking robot. "I... I kill you and... and that automated hussy!"

"Perhaps we could begin by placing the weapon on the..."

"Bertha, my love! My binary blossom, it was nothing!" Marty's roughly synthesized voice interjected, as the squat box-like robot seemed to dance from side to side. "A thirty second upload in a parallel connection, I swear! She means nothing to me!"

Turning toward the squat machine, Kai-ro looked sternly over at the waste robot and offered, "I do not believe such protests will be effect..."

"Upload!?" Bertha echoed, drawing both Marty and Kai-ro's attention to the chemist-turned-barmaid at the distinctive sound of the caster bolt being drawn back. "UPLOAD!?"

"Upload? No, I didn't upload in her..." Marty uttered weakly.

This was, in the boy's mind, exactly what a train wreck in slow motion must look like. "Go se," the child swore under his breath, as a large green shield appeared between himself, Marty, and the bar as several ion bolts slammed into the willpower construct. This was not what he'd envisioned when he'd been chosen as Green Lantern.

"I had reconstructive surgery for you!" Bertha barked, pausing her barrage as she gestured toward what were obviously a new set of oscillating processor tubes across the front of her torso.

"Yes'm, those are nice," Kai-ro quipped vapidly, not entirely certain that made sense, and less so just what he was saying, but it made sense to say something as he gestured with both hands for her to put the caster down. "We can talk about this rationally and without the need for viol..."

"Bitch, you best recognize that's my man!"

There were very few times that Kai-ro would have offered the opinion that discussion was a useless endeavor. As the automated food processor came wheeling into the bar, however, the Shaolin monk had to resign himself to the fact that this was one of those times.

"Oh, hell no!"

As Bertha roared and snapped up the rifle, the spry, young Green Lantern was already in motion. Quick as a snake, a sweep of the boy's leg had sent the Trandoshan rifle skidding across the bar top, as a series of green handcuffs snapped onto her reedy limbs. "Weapons discharge in an enclosed space environment is a class five misdemeanor," the youth asserted in a matter-of-fact tone. "I believe some time apart on Oa will help in alleviating this conflic..."

"GET YUR HANDS OFF MY WIFE!"

As he turned, Kai-ro saw Marty lunging for him, as the food processor came wheeling after. "That's my man!"

Had he mentioned that he hadn't signed up for this?

Titans!

Ken Tennyson. Well played, sir.

I consider myself a Ben 10 fan and that one sent me to Google because I had never even heard of him.

Star Wars - Jedi Exile.

The young Anzati and the young Nautolan both huddled close to the Vahla padawan as she offered encouragement. A safe place, she had said. They were inside of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and yet they were not safe. If they were not safe here, then where? Did such a thing exist anymore? Sor-Jan and Zak both wanted to believe the words the Vahla offered them, but despair and anxiety were beginning to take their toll as both boys finally had time for some of the magnitude of events which they had witnessed to sink in.

They were dead.

All of them. Everyone that either boy had ever known or loved since they were taken from their families and given, instead, a Clan to belong to. They had seen the bodies of all those Jedi brother and sisters littering the ground. Their parental guardians felled by the clone troopers who were supposed to be the Great Army of the Republic. Their idealized protectors, the Jedi Knights, dead or dying in the very halls in which the two boys now stood. And so Sor-Jan and Zak both wanted to believe what the Vahla said to be true - desperately, pleadingly, as a child might hide from evil by throwing a blanket over its head - but neither of the younglings were so young as to be that naive with all that they had born unwitting witness to. There was no where safe.

Swallowing, choking against his own fear and a parched throat, the young Anzati could only hope that he was wrong.

A hand touched his shoulder, prompting the raven-haired youth to look up. A Jedi Temple Guardian stood over him and said, "You will survive this nightmare I promise you this, however you must be strong, stronger than any younglings before you. You must control your emotions, if you unleash them now they will lead you down a dangerous path and could as well send those around you down the same path. Now follow Deja, she will escort you to the Cargo Bay, I will be there shortly."

Another temple guard - Deja, he supposed - began issuing orders. Sor-Jan and Zak were ushered into the center of a formation forged of the remaining survivors. The Vahla padawan was nearby, standing between the younglings and the remaining Jedi Knights. And the guardian who had spoken of their survival? Through the crowds of people, Sor-Jan caught the fleeting glimpse of him returning to the tunnels where they had come. But he got no more than a glimpse, as both he and the Nautolan were pressed onward as the Jedi group led by Deja were on the move.

The young Anzat reached out for the Nautolan boy's hand as they found themselves on the run once more. Panic and fear and uncertainty clouded his mind and deprived him of the opportunity to catch his breath, though it wasn't long before Deja had them positioned outside of their destination. But there was another problem. There were more clones inside. So they would wait. But not for long.

"How long do you think we have before we need to move on them?"

It was the Vahla padawan. He could recognize her voice now. Glancing up at the red-haired woman, the youngling swallowed back the apprehension he felt at the suggestion. Fighting clones seemed... wrong. The Jedi and the clones were supposed to have been in the war together. A tug on his arm brought his head close to the Nautolan boy as the one whispered to the other. "Do you still have your training saber?"

Bringing a hand up to his belt, Sor-Jan felt a wave of anxiety overwhelm him before his hand brushed against the training device. Nodding, the Anzati and the Nautolan exchanged a look before turning back toward the adults around them. Charging a group of clone troopers wasn't what either of them had in mind when they'd gone to saber practice today.

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

Who are you again?

Titans!

First Chris post is up. He'll be on a short journey of discovering himself before that story loops him back to Infinity Inc.

Which gives Gowi time to get off his ass and post with Blossom :P

Titans!

S A M A R
The Visaya Islands, Philippines

The boy lay on his back. He could feel the warmth of the sun on his face, the sand of the beach beneath his body, and breeze blowing across his skin. Staring up at the blue sky, he wasn't certain of how much time had passed. He felt cool water lapping against his feet, the sand beneath his legs growing moist as the tide started to come in. Fingers twitched at the tips of the outstretched arms, the boy's mouth working as though it were necessary for him to try and recall how to breathe. The chest rose and fell, the child's throat bobbing as he swallowed with the realization that his throat was dry. As the water rushed over the tops of his feet, drifting up along his legs, he finally sat up. Sand cascaded down from out of the shock of blond hair, trickling down over the narrow shoulders as the boy drew his knees up and sat upon the beach. He realized he was naked, but that wasn't unusual for children playing on the beach in this part of the world.

What was unusual was the fact that he was here. Flesh and blood, the warmth of the sun, or the cool ocean mist. This was the mortal realm. This was Earth. Home, or, at least, he thought of it as home. That wasn't really true anymore though.

He had been here of course. After he had parted with Al, Chris had spent time in the Afterlife. But he'd come back. He'd tried to do right, to be like Al, but he wasn't. He wasn't Al Simmons. Still, Chris had decided it was well enough and good if he could help a few souls to escape the ravages of Heaven and Hell by helping them cross over and above the tedious and spiteful War in Heaven. And that was the last thing he remembered, being in the Afterlife. There had been a child in New Mexico. The victim of a family of abuse. It hadn't been pretty, and Christopher couldn't save her, but what he could do - what he had done - was to make sure that she wasn't alone.

He had taken her home.

And now he was... here? There had to be a reason. One thing Christopher had learned was that nothing about his life or death existed without a reason, though it would be helpful if there was a script or manual or something he could read to help him know just what it was he was supposed to do when randomly finding himself on a beach somewhere. The sound of children laughing caused the boy to look out across the waterline for the first time, witnessing small groups of girls and boys splashing in the ocean. Standing, the young Hellspawn provided for his own modesty as his very flesh seemed to shift as though alive, changing form so that he was suddenly wearing a pair of black board shorts trimmed in red and white, with a skull icon on the left leg, and chains hanging from out of the pockets.

He'd picked a direction on a whim, strolling along the beach with neither purpose or cause. Just walking, one foot in front of the next, hands tucked into the pockets of his shorts as his mind wandered free of distraction. He thought about Al. He thought about the Green Lady. He thought about his mother, tried to recall her face, finding the memory clouded as though trying to see a reflection in a fogged over mirror.

The boy came to a stop, at first uncertain as to why. A breeze tickled at his ear, carrying it on a whisper that sent a chill up his spine, as realization and recognition connected inside of his mind. Death.

Someone was dying. Someone close.

The young boy's eyes darted back along the waterline. A group of children were calling out, not in an excited way but in more of a panic. Even as he started toward the ocean, Chris knew that one of them had been pulled under the water and hadn't resurfaced. Dashing past one of the kids splashing in search for their friend, the young Hellspawn hit the surf as he allowed himself to let go of his tangible body and embrace his phantasmal nature. Gliding effortlessly through the currents, the Hellspawn found himself drawn to the sense of impending death, as he saw a young girl drifting in the water. Her body's struggles growing weak. Her panicked heart beat growing faint...

Chris broke the surface of the water a moment later, the girl choking and coughing as she spit up water, oblivious to the fact that the two of them were hovering several feet above the ocean. And it was in that moment, feeling her heart beat grow stronger, that Chris knew what his purpose was.

This was why he was here.

Ultimate Comics: DC - Shadows Among Us

Gowi and I discussed this last night. For right now, I'm not dropping Bart. I hope to come back to him later, but in the meantime:

| Identity |
Kai-ro (Green Lantern)

| Origin & Backstory |
Kai-ro is a descendent of the ancient and extinct civilization of Nanda Parbat, born on Earth as the off-spring of refugees who escaped the destruction of their homeworld and were successful in integrating into human society centuries ago. Born into an impoverished family living in the Canton region of China, Kai-ro became one of many boys orphaned into the various Buddhist temples throughout the mainland. As a result, Kai-ro is fluent in both Cantonese Chinese and Mandarin Chinese, being formally educated in the latter while more often speaking the former in normal conversation while 'growing up monk' in the Southern Shaolin Temple outside of Hong Kong. Functioning like a boarding school and orphanage, the monastery saw to all of Kai-ro's basic needs while providing for his education in both the traditional schools of thought in addition to physical disciplines provided for by the practice of Chinese wu shu, or kung fu.

It was during Year 3 of our story's continuity that Kai-ro's story became something beyond that of a simple monk, living and learning in a temple in China. For it was in that year that the Green Lantern Abin Sur took off his ring and retired from the Corps. That ring was sent to search the universe for one whose will was strong, one who would stand up in brightest day and darkest night. And that ring found a young Shaolin monk named Kai-ro and the ring spoke to him and said, Kai-ro of Earth, you have the ability to overcome great fear.

Transported by the ring to the Corps Headquarters on the planet Oa, Kai-ro found himself indoctrinated into a new order and discipline; that of the Green Lantern Corps. Graduating from Killowog's training, the rookie Green Lantern found himself assigned to the diminutive and grizzled soldier, Ch'p as a probationary member of the Corps who will finish his training as a patrolman under Ch'p's watchful eye.

| Character Notes |
A few of Kai-ro's more commonly used NPCs:

Clarissi Salaak - The title roughly translates as 'Commander', denoting that this Slyggian from Sector 1418 and veteran Green Lantern is one of the chief administrators of the Lantern Corps, and is responsible for directing the Enforcement branch of the Corps.

Kilowog - Kai-ro's instructor and trainer, a Bolovaxian from Sector 0674 and a Green Lantern.

Ch'p - Kai-ro's supervisor in the field, a squirrel or chipmunk-like alien from the planet H'Iven in Sector 1014 and a Blue Lantern.

Aya - An artificial intelligence which exists as a humanoid robot and the computer of the Guardian patrol ship, Sentinel.

Miri Riam - A Pink Lantern from the planet Lartnec in Sector 1111.

Kreavan - Miri's partner, an Indigo Lantern who looks like a giant eagle.

| Powers & Abilities |
Kai-Ro is the youngest Green Lantern ever inducted into the Corps (youngest both in absolute age and relative to his species' normal biological development). He radiates serenity and a calm willpower beyond his years, and yet can still enjoy life with the wide-eyed wonder appropriate to his age.

- Green Lantern Ring, which allows Kai-ro to create green constructs from the sheer force of will and imagination. The ring also provides a protective aura around his body, enabling him to fly in atmosphere or the vacuum of space, and allows for faster-than-light travel in space.

- Martial Arts Master in Chinese Wu Shu, specifically Tai Chi Chuan and Shaolin Crane Style martial arts.

- Meditation Training as a Shaolin monk allows Kai-ro to center himself and maintain his emotions in check even in the most dire of circumstances.

| How is this character different? |
Admittedly, Kai-ro isn't much of a character to begin with. He appeared in maybe 3-4 episodes of the cartoons, primarily the two-part episode of Batman Beyond where he first appears and it isn't until the Justice League Unlimited comic books that he gets any kind of backstory. This character stays true to much of that, except that this Kai-ro has Abin Sur's ring whereas the DCAU Kai-ro has John Stewart's ring, but I hope to focus on more of a police procedural drama than the typical Green Lantern member of the Justice League stories - developing the Lantern Corps as actual interstellar law enforcement as opposed to just a dude with a ring chillin' on Earth when he's supposed to be responsible for a multitude of planets. Kai-ro's story will bring him to Earth, certainly, but on a transient basis. The point is to portray Kai-ro and the GLC for what it is: COPS in space.

| What is your goal with this character? |
I covered most of this in the section above, but to reiterate my goal is to tell a police procedural drama that takes place in the conceptual framework of the Green Lantern Corps. It's Interpol in space. Smugglers. Fringers. Drug runners. White collar crime and good old fashioned homicide. Interstellar navigational safety. And the classic disaster response. My goal is to tell a story about a character whose purpose is to serve and protect.

| Sample Post |



In the greater cosmos, the people are protected by two sides in the interstellar justice system; the Lanterns who investigate crimes and the local authorities who prosecute the offenders. The call came in at seventeen forty-seven, Oa Standard Time. A domestic disturbance on an asteroid base out on the edge of space in Sector 2814. That makes it my problem. My name is Kai-ro. I carry a ring.

| A S T E R O I D • B L U E • H E A V E N |

The small spacecraft exited out of the singularity, a blue glow radiating from the ion drives as power was diverted to the sublight engines, the kinetic force combining with the resulting inertial to propel the pristine vessel toward the massive rock which hung like a rogue planet against the backdrop of space. Inside the space craft, a feminine voice echoed and said, "We have entered Sector 2814, quadrant Gamma-9. Adjusting vector for approach to space station Blue Heaven."

"Domestic disturbance," the squirrel-like creature growled, blowing smoke from a distinctly non-regulation cigar as he barked, "What are we now, marriage counselors?"

Bringing a hand up to his face, the young Chinese boy waved the smoke away from his face despite knowing all-too-well the futility of his actions. In such a confined environment, even with Aya's carbon scrubbers working at maximum efficiency to recycle the air quality, the noxious odors continued to burn at his nostrils everywhere in the ship. "Blue Heaven is a private enterprise. WIthout local government law enforcement, it is necessary for the Corps to provide for community police protection in order to prevent this quadrant becoming a..."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not the Poozer here, kid," Ch'p growled, interrupting the young Green Lantern before blowing smoke in his face. "This is, what, third time we've been out?"

"Fourth," Kai-ro corrected, coughing as the smoke choked the back of his throat.

"Well, maybe if you'd busted some heads the first, second, or third time, we wouldn't be out here again," the H'lven chipmunk snapped.

"There was no criminal complaint alleged and therefore it would be unconscionable to impose..."

"I'll show you 'unconscionable' if you don't shut up and arrest something," the grizzled Blue Lantern barked, waving with his cigar toward the back of the cockpit. "Now hit the beat, kid."

There were creatures in this world - in this universe - who tested the patience of even the most virtuous monk. With a sigh, the young Green Lantern hung his head as he resigned himself to the fact that Clarissi Salaak had, for whatever karmic slight Kai-ro may have caused in a prior life, partnered him with just such a creature. "Kao yao," the youth muttered in Chinese as he started toward the airlock.

"Yeah, moo goo gai pan to you too, kid."

The comment from the H'lven reached Kai-ro's ears just as he started through the exit of the cockpit, drawing his shoulders up in the only tangible display of irritation. Peace. Compassion. Peace... the boy repeated to himself, drawing in a deep breath which he let out slowly as he did the right thing and just walked away. As he stepped into the airlock, the boy brought his right hand up, adjusting the distinctive ring on his middle finger. A green aura enveloped his small form, as the exterior hatch was pulled away like a curtain to reveal the naked cosmos outside. Gently, the boy's foot drifted from off the deck as he floated freely into the vacuum awaiting him.

Space could be frightening the first time. There was no concept of up or down. No compass points with which to orient the mind. Some never overcame the vertigo. But Kai-ro? Kai-ro felt like this was true freedom. Putting his arms by his side, the child ducked and then pushed himself out through the void like a dolphin sliding through the sea. Gliding across the emptiness, the youth arced upward to arrive at an airlock that would give entry to the asteroid base. A pulse from his ring and the door parted for him, and Kai-ro stepped inside.

A century before, the asteroid had been cored out by a mining corporation. Left an empty shell, the remains of the mining station had been hastily converted into a port of call for people out on the fringe of this part of space. Pirates. Smugglers. Drug runners. The Green Lanterns knew that Blue Heaven, as it had come to be called, was nothing more than a waypoint from criminal elements drifting through the sector. But suspicion didn't amount to evidence, and so the Green Lanterns could do little more than keep an eye on the station. Still, it remained a lawless wonderland. A ghetto in space. Trash crunched under foot, along with something squishy that Kai-ro immediately tried not to think about as he made his way inside of the shoddy asteroid port.

B37T4-A, or Big Bertha, had originally been programmed as a lab assistant for a chemical company. Later advances in robotics and artificial intelligence design had led to Bertha being thrown out with the trash, but instead of being resigning herself to being reduced to scrap, the rusted automaton had wound up opening a bar out on Blue Heaven. There, she'd met up with a waste disposal unit that everyone called 'Marty' and the two had mixed like oil and water. Their passions for one another were, perhaps, impressive given the limitations of their designs, but that passion led to destructive behavior - usually by Bertha - which was of increasing concern to the residents of Blue Heaven.

That alone was concerning. It took a great deal for someone who lived on Blue Heaven to want to call the Lanterns.

As the young Green Lantern walked through the doors of the bar, an ion bolt buried itself into the wall about three feet to the left and two heads higher than he stood. The smell of residual gas coolant gave credence to the notion that such hadn't been the first shot fired, which would explain why someone would have been willing, if not eager, to call the Lanterns. In space, with the risk of the hull being compromised, no one won a gun fight.

Bertha was behind the bar, plugged into a voltage converted that had obviously made her onboard components drunk from the power surge. In one of her reedy, articulate limbs was a relic of the Trandoshan Civil War, a gas-powered ion bolt caster that was little more than a high-tech slug thrower. "You whore," the robotic bar tender managed, loudly slurring her words as her servos were unable to precisely calibrate for motion. The rifle waved wildly toward a squat, dirty-looking robot. "I... I kill you and... and that automated hussy!"

"Perhaps we could begin by placing the weapon on the..."

"Bertha, my love! My binary blossom, it was nothing!" Marty's roughly synthesized voice interjected, as the squat box-like robot seemed to dance from side to side. "A thirty second upload in a parallel connection, I swear! She means nothing to me!"

Turning toward the squat machine, Kai-ro looked sternly over at the waste robot and offered, "I do not believe such protests will be effect..."

"Upload!?" Bertha echoed, drawing both Marty and Kai-ro's attention to the chemist-turned-barmaid at the distinctive sound of the caster bolt being drawn back. "UPLOAD!?"

"Upload? No, I didn't upload in her..." Marty uttered weakly.

This was, in the boy's mind, exactly what a train wreck in slow motion must look like. "Go se," the child swore under his breath, as a large green shield appeared between himself, Marty, and the bar as several ion bolts slammed into the willpower construct. This was not what he'd envisioned when he'd been chosen as Green Lantern.

"I had reconstructive surgery for you!" Bertha barked, pausing her barrage as she gestured toward what were obviously a new set of oscillating processor tubes across the front of her torso.

"Yes'm, those are nice," Kai-ro quipped vapidly, not entirely certain that made sense, and less so just what he was saying, but it made sense to say something as he gestured with both hands for her to put the caster down. "We can talk about this rationally and without the need for viol..."

"Bitch, you best recognize that's my man!"

There were very few times that Kai-ro would have offered the opinion that discussion was a useless endeavor. As the automated food processor came wheeling into the bar, however, the Shaolin monk had to resign himself to the fact that this was one of those times.

"Oh, hell no!"

As Bertha roared and snapped up the rifle, the spry, young Green Lantern was already in motion. Quick as a snake, a sweep of the boy's leg had sent the Trandoshan rifle skidding across the bar top, as a series of green handcuffs snapped onto her reedy limbs. "Weapons discharge in an enclosed space environment is a class five misdemeanor," the youth asserted in a matter-of-fact tone. "I believe some time apart on Oa will help in alleviating this conflic..."

"GET YUR HANDS OFF MY WIFE!"

As he turned, Kai-ro saw Marty lunging for him, as the food processor came wheeling after. "That's my man!"

Had he mentioned that he hadn't signed up for this?

Ultimate One Universe: Marvel/DC RPG

HenryJonesJr said
Great first post, Bounce.

Thanks!