#1 - Reset and Ruin

[thejellyfish]

Ultimate Lantern #1
Reset and Ruin
By thejellyfish

My name is Guy Gardner, and my life is great. Seriously, it’s fantastic. I’m on top of the world, so to speak. My life is good; new job, new apartment, new life. Everything’s surprisingly come together after I was kicked out of the Lanterns.

After being kicked out roughly five months ago, I moved to the City by the Bay to be closer to my brother, a police officer, and my sister, a stay at home mom. They helped me get my life together, made me go to anger management, group therapy, the works. If it was going to help me rebuild my life after being both a bad cop and an even worse Green Lantern, they pushed me to do it.

I wound up not wanting to become a police officer again after the last time, so I decided to take a job as case worker for the foster system. I figured that working in the law enforcement field again would bring out my anger issues once more, and working with kids seemed like the best way to keep my anger in check.

Things have really been looking up for me lately, but I can’t help but feel that everything is going to change.

---

//San Francisco
//Morning

Every day, I wake up at the same time, six thirty, and get ready for work. Take a shower, brush my teeth, and get dressed. The stuff everyone does in the morning. I leave my apartment, grabbing my briefcase filled with my many case files and laptop. I walk down the street, heading into the coffee shop and paying for a nice dark roast.

“Oh, sweet coffee; I will only love you for as long as I live.” I say to myself as I leave the establishment. Walking a bit further down the block, I spot someone walking against the flow of the others, towards me. I slow myself, trying to keep away from the man, but he kept onwards with his path.

As he got closer, I realized that this was someone I knew, a very old friend from the Lanterns.

“Guy Gardner, boy, are you a sight for sore eyes. Why don’t we take a walk?” He says as he grabs my wrist and drags me into a dark alleyway, causing me to drop my precious coffee.

“What the hell are you doing here, John?! You could’ve called first!” I exclaim, giving the big guy a handshake.

“That would’ve ruined the surprise, man. It’s good to see you.” He replies, with a big grin on his face.

“So, what brings you to the Bay City?” I ask, thinking about reasons that could bring John here. Then, I realize, this isn’t a social visit.

“John, if this is what I think it is…” I say before he interrupts me.

“I’m sorry, Guy, it is. Something’s happening, and the Guardians need you on backup, just in case.”

I’m actually very angry about this. I shouldn’t be, but the Guardians kick me from the Lanterns, ruin my life, and then just expect me to come crawling back?

Guy Gardner does not crawl. Period.

“My answer is no, John. A big ******* no.”

“And why the hell not?! The Lanterns have been keeping tabs on you, and, I’ll be honest, you are not the first choice. It took a lot of convincing, and even then they have their doubts. You’re only getting this shot because I asked and because you have the most experience.”

“One: that’s creepy. Two: Did they not think that I wouldn’t be interested?”

“No. Guy, this is an off the books thing. Most Lanterns don’t even know you’re coming back, I mean, we didn’t even tell Sinestro. Also, because you’ll be reserve, you can stay here all you want, but you have to take the ring. I’m not entirely sure why you have to take it, they just said to make sure that you do take it. ”

“Fine, fine. I’ll take the damn ring, but I better not be getting dragged into any crazy space wars or anything and – and – the Guardians need to leave me alone.”

“No space wars and no Guardians, wish my life was that simple.” He sighs. “I hope you don’t need to use this thing.”

He extends his hand, offering me a metal, plain looking ring. The crest of the Green Lanterns is the only thing that’s green on the ring. I guess they want me to wear it everywhere or something. The thing about the rings is that you’re drawn to them. I know that power comes at a cost to myself, but I can’t help myself.

I take the ring.

And I put it in my coat pocket. I don’t want this. I’ll go home at the end of the day and put it in a drawer somewhere… or something.

John looks a little disappointed in me not putting the ring on but that’s not something I really give a **** about. “So, what now?” I ask, a look of worry on my face.

“Well, I’m technically supposed to train you, but I think you’ve got the whole Lantern thing down. I’m planning on chilling out at home in Metropolis for a few weeks.” He pauses for a moment. “I’ll give you a call when it’s time for me to head out again. We’ll hang out and grab a few drinks or something.” John extends his hand as his goodbye.
“Yeah, that sounds great. It was great to see you, man.” I take his hand and shake it. Once he says his goodbyes, he flies East, heading home to Metropolis.
I leave the alleyway and walk towards the city hall, noticing a large group of bikers heading in the same direction.

---

As I get closer to city hall, I notice more weird vehicles in the area, mostly motorcycles and vans. The bikers are new, too. You don’t typically see bikers in San Francisco. They typically inhabit the South end of California. If they exist in the North, then it’s far away from the coast to not really be of importance to the people here.

Of course, there may have been a big territory grab recently. I may not have worked much with biker gangs while I was a cop in Jersey, but all gangs are typically the same. They make land grabs in order to secure money, drugs, prostitutes, and other illegal activities. I did hear from my brother, Gerard, that a lot of the biker gangs out West usually had a more conservative leaning when it came to their personal lives, which I guess explains the crosses that I see on other biker gangs when I watch Sons of Anarchy.

I reach the city hall and enter the building, heading to the area where the adoptions are handled, while walking to my desk, when two of my co-workers approach me.

Carol Briggs and Jacob Colby have been working here for far longer than I have and we’ve all become very good friends. Carol is short, blonde and loud. In fact, her being not talking right now is a little odd. She is one of kindest people I’ve ever met and she is literally perfect for helping kids find a home. Jacob is bigger, but quieter. Much like Carol, he is also extremely kind; he was one of my first friends when I started with this job, introducing me to his fiancée, who happens to be Carol.

Jacob’s the first to open his mouth. “Guy, can you do a favor for Carol and I?”

“Sure. What is it?” I reply, not sure what I’m getting myself into.

Carol speaks up, looking a little shaken over something. “You remember the case I’m working on?” She asks, quietly, which is very strange.

The del Mundo’s are the prospective parents of a young boy, around three years old. Sebastián del Mundo and his partner, Carter Alperstein, were waiting for that special moment for three years where they would finally be able to start a family of their own. Many obstacles stood in their way, for instance, the parents of the boy never signed away parental rights, on the pretense that he would be given back to them once they got off of cocaine and the boy’s father got out of prison.

Sebastián and Carter pushed to have a meeting with the boy’s parents, despite pushback from Carol and Jacob, who often helped her with this case in particular. Hell, even I stepped in, despite not knowing the two and other certain details of the case. Even I could tell that a potential meeting between the two parties was bad news.

“Yeah, why? What do you need?” I ask, knowing that this could well become a powderkeg ready to explode.

“Well, Jacob’s busy with a case at the time the guys are supposed to meet the birth parents and I’ve met them, they are terrible people, Guy. I’m pretty sure they’ve killed people. I don’t think this will play out the way everyone hopes.”

“Don’t overreact, Carol. We don’t know if they’ve killed people for sure. If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll attend the meeting with you.”

Carol instantly perks up, giving me a hug. “Thanks, Guy, you’re second best!” And with that, she leaves to get ready for the meeting.

---

As I walk into the meeting area, I think on whether or not this could become a dangerous situation. I decide that, to be safe, I will put on the ring. I grab it from my pocket and place it on my right middle finger.

I enter the room to wait with Carol for the birth parents arrival. I introduce myself to the two men, as well as their future son, whose name is Jebediah, but he prefers to be called Jeb. I talk with Jeb a bit and establish a rapport with Carter, while his partner talks things over with Carol. I try my best to keep from revealing exactly why I was brought along, but Carter sees through it. He’s apprehensive about the entire thing and pushed to get Sebastián to just push ahead with the adoption, birth parents be damned.

We hear the door open and two older, grungy adults enter the room. The woman is clad in leather while the male wears a black bandana and a t-shirt and leather vest that prominently displays his beer gut to everyone in the room. I know this will be trouble. I can just tell.

Carol goes about introducing everyone to each other and explaining the context of this meeting, but I can see that the male is not happy. A vein has burst somewhere in his brain and I think I know why.

“No, I will not have my son raised by these homosexual heathens! And ma’am, it’s become quite clear that while you expect this meeting to end with me giving my son over to the side of the devil, but I intend to take him back, right now!” He yells, motioning for his wife to do something while he grabs something out of his pants.

This is where I step in, focusing all my will towards the ring, I summon the Green Lantern’s might and immediately become clothed in my new Green Lantern armor; black and made of what seems to be stars, I quickly create a set of armor to cover me up.

He and his wife point their guns at Carol and I, but once what has just happened clicks in their heads, they look in wonder at the Green Lantern.

“As far I’m concerned, Sebastián and Carter are his real parents, and you will not be taking Peter away from them today, the people who actually cared enough about him to not **** up their lives. Your guns and your threats mean nothing to me.”

The man fires his gun and I bring up a shield, blocking the shot, then I swing the shield in a wide arc, taking his wife out of commission. I then kick the man swiftly in the shin and create a giant hand to slap him into the wall.

The man tries to get up and grab his gun, but I place one foot on his chest. “Nuh-uh.” I say, looking down at him. He coughs for a bit, trying to catch his breath.

“Well, boy, I know when to quit. Say, you ever seen Rio Bravo?” He asks, still coughing.

“No, I haven’t.” That’s an odd thing to ask after getting your ass beaten by superhero. “Wait, why?”

“No reason, just a damn good movie.” He replies before passing out with an odd smile on his face.

As he passes out, a shotgun blast rings through the hall, people scream, and I hear someone down the hall fall down.

I look to the shocked group of people in the room with me. Everyone is clearly terrified and, for some reason, looking to me for guidance.

“Well, I guess that explains the biker gang I saw outside.” I say knowing that I am nowhere near qualified for this.

We’re all screwed.

Next Issue: The F Word