Ult GL Corps #10 - The Return of Hank Henshaw 2/2

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Ultimate Green Lantern Corps #10
The Return of Hank Henshaw Part 2 of 2

Joggers, happy families and children playing make up the majority of the population of Coast City's Central Park, most brought out by the clear sky and hot sun. One exception to this is Hank Henshaw, who stands alone silently in front of a life size marble statue depicting him and the other pilots on his flight, holding their helmets with a tribute plaque in front of it. Hank's presence draws more and more attention by the second, as a man made almost entirely of metal stood alone in a park tends to do, but he doesn't care. He keeps staring at the statue, his vision focused on the carving of his wife, Terri.

"Sir?", a police officer puts his hand on Hank's shoulder, but instantly recoils as the metal burns his hand. Hank pivots around on his feet, shoving the cop off his feet in one swift motion.

"We'll take it from here", Sinestro says in a commanding tone as he, Hal and Saint Walker float down from above, landing on the pavement. Hank raises up an arm towards Sinestro, but holds his fire. "I'll flank left to distract him, Jordan, you hit him from the front, Walker, undo whatever you did to give him his power".

"He's not attacking us, Lantern Sinestro", Saint Walker calmly points out. "I believe that we do not need to come to blows over this".

"He's attacked civilians, Walker. He needs to be put down", Sinestro starts to stride forward, prompting Hank's hand to start to glow. Walker manages to put up a blue wall of light just in time to block the beam of energy which projects out of Henshaw's hand, forcing Hal to shield his eyes as the bright light hits Walker's construct.

"LANTERN SINESTRO, STOP!", Walker's order is ignored by Sinestro, who creates a dragon like construct with his ring which sends the crowd scattering. Henshaw responds by diving at the construct, grabbing the dragon by its neck and pulling it down. Hal stands rooted to the spot, unsure of what to do. Even though Henshaw is powerful, it was only Sinestro's attack which started the fight. Hal throws caution to the wind and launches off his feet, getting behind Henshaw and creating a cage to contain the fight away from civilians. Around him Hal can hear cries of fear and the sound of approaching sirens but he continues to focus on creating a cage around Sinestro and Henshaw, who at this point are fighting hand to hand, ring against cyborg body.

"Jordan, do something useful!", Sinestro barks as he strikes Henshaw across the face with a hammer like weapon.

"I'm stopping anybody else getting hurt", Hal says defiantly as Sinestro is flung backwards off his feet into the bars of the cage with such force his body breaks through the construct, allowing the fight to spill out into the park. Hal drops down to the ground and receives an energy beam to the chest for his efforts. His partner going down distracts Sinestro for a second, allowing Henshaw to follow up one his previous attack and punch the lantern at least thirty feet backwards into a water fountain.

"Lantern Jordan", Walker helps Hal to his feet as Henshaw takes aim at Sinestro, "I've got a way to stop Henshaw, but I need you to restrain him for a moment".

Surrounding the fight at least a dozen people are recording what is happening using camera phones, one teenage girl even daring to climb into the fountain to record what is happening close up, his iPhone within spitting distance of Sinestro's swollen face. Hank charges his energy blast, aiming at Sinestro, ready to blast a hole through the defenceless lantern and anybody else unlucky enough to be in the way. With seconds to spare Hal dives in the way with a shield, deflecting the blast up into the air like a firework, sending the energy speeding out of Earth's atmosphere to disintegrate in space. Seeing his chance, Saint Walker sends a stream of blue out of his ring, wrapping around Henshaw and sticking to him, talking to his mind and retrieving memories.

***

The late evening sun peers through the last of the brown autumn leaves dangling from the parks trees as Hank and Terri walk past the fountain, hand in hand. "This was where we first met, wasn't it?", Terri asks rhetorically as she looks up at the magnificent white stone architecture in front of them. "Funny we'd end up here on our anniversary, huh?". Terri turns back to look at Hank and finds him down on one knee, his hand extended out and holding a ring box.

***

Sinestro hits Hank like a ton of bricks, both due to the willpower he is putting into his attack and having formed the hard light from his ring into the shape of a ton fo bricks. The impact breaks through the blue energy surrounding Hank, bringing his mind back to the fight at hand. Hank crashes backwards through the statue, decapitating the sculpture of one of his fellow astronauts and shattering another to dust. Hank looks over at Saint Walker, then to the carving of him and Terri, looking joyous and life like despite being made of stone.

"Is this what she would have wanted", the last of the energy crawling back to Walker's ring sends a message into Hank's brain, making him pause.

"No", Hank reluctantly replies. His eyes go from a flared, pulsating scarlet to a lighter shade of red. Silently Hank flies up into the air, majestically soaring up into the sky, followed by Sinestro.

"What's he doing?", Hal calls to Walker.

"What I warned you he would, Lantern Jordan", Walker retorts. "He seems out for revenge against Hank, not justice".

"We've got to stop him", Hal says while lifting off, followed by Walker, causing almost every person in the gathered crowd to simultaneously take as many pictures as possible.

Henshaw exits Earth's atmosphere, trying to lose Sinestro by cutting corners. Unfortunately for him, Sinestro's ring has locked onto henshaw, meaning Sinestro only has to make the most minor of adjustments to stay on the cyborg's tail. Halfway between the sun and the Earth, travelling so fast that his vision is a blue, Henshaw feels Sinestro crashing into his back, wrapping a chin around his waist in an attempt to wrestle his enemy into submission. In a last ditch attempt to escape Henshaw jettisons some of his stored energy into one burst, launching himself at even higher speeds while trying to push Sinestro away. As the bright light of Earth's closest star gets ever closer, Sinestro realizes he has two choices: release Henshaw and allow him to escape, or try to manipulate his direction.

Hal Jordan and Saint Walker; a less experienced Green Lantern and a lantern equipped with a ring allowing a lower top speed than a Green Lantern respectively, can barely make out the forms of Sinestro and Hank Henshaw as they feel the heat of the sun getting closer and closer.

"Warning: Temperature rising at critical levels, you are advised to move away from the cause of this change as soon as possible", Sinestro's ring calls out. Sinestro makes his choice, creating a giant hand while letting go of Henshaw, shoving the cyborg towards the sun while levelling out. The three lanterns watch as Hank is launched into the sun by a mix of his own momentum and the final push from Sinestro.

"I tried to stop him", Sinestro turns to face his allies, "but he got what he wanted". Hal stares down the star, searching its entire surface for a sign of life, hoping that Henshaw didn't die. He gives it first ten seconds, then half a minute, Finally, Walker puts a hand on his shoulder.

"You did what you could, Lantern Jordan. Sometimes that is all we can ask for".

***

"...seen here in footage recorded by an eye witness, appears to fought with a pair of super heroes dubbed 'The Green Lanterns' by many within Coast City, who were accompanied by what can best be described as some sort of blue alien", the news reader says, clearly struggling with the ever changing nature of what is being reported. "A link between these newer super heroes and Coast City's guardian, The Sentinel, has been established due to the similar rings and reports of the Green Lanterns and The Sentinel having been sighted together".

"How do people not know it's you?", Carol asks as he sits down at the table across from Hal, handing him his coffee. "You wear that tiny mark, and that's it".

"Have you ever seen a picture of me when I'm using my ring?", Hal responds as he glugs down his coffee. The little Mom and Pop store is just across from the park, where nearly half an hour later clean-up has just started. Other than Hal, Carol, and a disgruntled looking teenager stood behind the counter playing with her phone. the coffee house is empty, allowing the pair to speak freely.

"Can't say I have".

"The mask is made by my ring, right? So, when people take pictures, my face is distorted. Look," Hal points at the TV mounted on the wall. Sure enough there is a photo of Hal flying up into the air, his face a blur of green light. "And when I'm actually flying or fighting, nobody is going to be able to work out who I am".

"Clever", Carol laughs.

"Reports that the robotic being involved in the violence was astronaut Hank Henshaw have so far been unconfirmed. Henshaw, who was part of last years tragic space flight which ended with the deaths of all involved after what is thought to be an alien encounter, was recently immortalised in a statue in the park where the fight occurred".

"So how was it all?"

"Not great".

"What? Did the guy get away?"

"No, he killed himself". Carol puts her cup down, clearly uncomfortable.

"How?"

"When we were fighting Hank, I think he lost it. He went all distant for a moment, then just flew up from the park into the sun. I'm not sure if something went wrong or...", Hal drifts off and shrugs. "I'm still new to this, and this is the first time I feel like I've failed".

"Are you sure it was you that failed? You weren't the only one there".

"Sinestro was right up next to him, at least he was trying to help. I was back with Walker, I couldn't even see what was happening".

"You've been a Green Lantern for like, eighteen months now. You're good at it. Stop being so hard on yourself about every little thing, Hal, you're better at this than you think you are".

"Are you sure?"

"You wouldn't still have that ring if you weren't good at it. Hell, didn't you save the universe in your first week?"

"Well...yeah", Hal chuckles. "I guess I did".

"And people love you. I saw a t-shirt with a picture of you on it the other day. Your ring's powered by your willpower, so if you stopped doubting yourself, maybe it'd work better".

"You're right", Hal finishes his coffee and stands up from the table, tossing down some money for their drinks as they leave

-The End-