Post by Stardrifter on Jul 6, 2012 0:21:55 GMT -5
by
Stardrifter
The Last Hope: Part 3
The Meeting
The apartment smells of Indian take out when Alex enters. After a long day at work, most of it spent going over the argument with Kyle the night before and worrying, the sight of a large dinner on the table with candles is the last thing she expected. Some light instrumental music is playing in the background as Kyle walks out of the kitchen to meet her.
"It's about time you got home," Kyle grins mischievously. "I slaved over a hot telephone to make you this dinner."
This entire situation has Alex confused. She eyes Kyle and the kitchen table like its a trap she's trying not to spring, never taking her eyes from him as she puts her purse on the side table by the door and takes her apron off.
"Soooo....what's going on?"
The suspicion in her voice just makes Kyle smile wider. "I just thought a nice romantic dinner was just what we need," he says while motioning for her to sit down. Alex does and scoots close to the table. The food smells delicious and sets her stomach rumbling. Kyle pours them both some wine and sits down. "So how was your day?"
"Long," Alex retorts quickly. She's more blunt than she intends and continues quickly. "Debra called out again so I had to do the whole shift myself."
"How many times is that now?"
"Four in the last month or two," Alex says while looking about the table. She wants to dish out some food but doesn't see any spoons.
"Why hasn't Phil fired her yet?"
"He's too soft," she says while still looking and getting frustrated. "Doesn't like to fire anyone. Kyle? Where are the spoons?"
"Hmm?" Kyle can't keep a straight face as he puts his wine glass down. "Oh spoons? I got it."
Suddenly a glowing green serving spoon appears above the table. It causes Alex to jump slightly, but Kyle just looks at it nonchalantly as it floats over to the food and fills both their plates up. When Alex finally takes her eyes off it to look back at him, Kyle has his elbows up on the table and the green ring on his right hand is glowing.
"Wha...how....?" is all she can mutter.
"I figured it out today," he grins at her. "I was at a Burger King when there was an accident. I was helping one of the drivers and the car exploded." Kyle notices her eyes go wide and he waves a hand dismissively to reassure her. "It was like...instinct. I thought about shielding myself from the blast and a green shield appeared, just for an instant, but it protected us! I ran off before anyone noticed and when I got back I figured out how to make it work."
The rumble in her stomach is long gone as Alex tries to take it all in. The green spoon disappears and a small glowing bird takes its place. It flies over, lands on her hand, and begins preening its feathers.
"I can create anything I can imagine," he exclaims with a childlike excitement. "Whatever shape I want. I just will it to be."
Alex reaches for the bird slowly, like you would a growling dog. When she finally touches the feathers on its back, they feel soft despite being made of glowing green energy. A bright smile shines on her face as she looks up at Kyle, who smiles back at her. Relief washes over her as she grasps what's truly going on and that her boyfriend is not going insane.
"This is...amazing!" Its the only word she can come up with.
"So you believe me now?" Kyle asks, teasingly, as the bird vanishes.
Her answer is to get up from her seat and walk over, pushing his chair back slightly so that she can sit in his lap. Wrapping her hands around the back of his neck and cheek, she kisses him passionately. "I'm sorry."
With those two words, all the pent up anger and frustration Kyle felt just vanish. Things are good between them again. They begin to eat dinner, talking all about the ring. In the excitement, Kyles unemployment completely slips his mind.
****
"So what now?" Alex asks as she pulls herself closer to Kyle, her head resting on his bare chest. The couple lies in bed in the relative darkness, the bright city lights illuminating the room through the open window. Clothes and blankets are strewn about like the fallen after a great battle. This battle, however, ended with both sides victorious.
"Hmm," Kyle mumbles as he stares up at the ceiling, contemplating. He hasn't taken any time to consider that himself. What does he do now? "I dunno. From what the alien said, some really bad stuff might be on its way. I need to figure out who this person is that can help train me."
Realization finally hits her and she jerks her head up to look him in the eye. "Kyle you need to get rid of it!"
"Get rid of it?" he asks with a nervous smile. "Why wo..."
"Because its dangerous. Whatever betrayed those aliens and killed them all might be coming for you. If it can kill them all then what chance do you have? I can't..."
Kyle reaches a hand up to stroke her cheek. "But he chose me for this. I have to."
"Have to what? Be killed over some alien war? You don't even know what they were fighting over. What if they were the bad guys?"
"The Green Lantern guy down in New Mexico was a hero," he tells her with the tone of absolute certainty.
"Because he helped some people? Saved some cats stuck in trees? Because evil people never do good things?" Alex takes a deep breath before going on. "Kyle you just don't know anything about what's going on. You shouldn't be risking your life for this."
Gently pushing her off, Kyle rolls onto his side to face her. "This," he says, showing her the ring, "is what I've wanted my whole life. The reason I've wanted to be a comic artist is because I couldn't get any closer to being a real superhero. Now I have the chance." Alex tries to talk but he puts two fingers up to her lips. "Whatever this evil is that's coming, its coming no matter what. If it's enough to destroy an entire world of advanced aliens, it doesn't matter if I have this ring or not. But at least with this I can help fight it. I have to do this."
Alex takes in what he said and sighs. No more words are spoken. For the rest of the night, they simply hold each other close.
****
The next morning Alex calls out of work with her best vomiting voice. They spend some time while eating breakfast looking online for information about any heroes that might be the one who can train Kyle. Looking into the Green Lantern, they find no one has heard from him in a week. In fact he missed a public appearance he had scheduled for the Taos Elementary School two days ago. Kyle surmises he must have been caught up in whatever happened to the aliens.
One curious website mentions Green Lantern, but in reference to events back in 1967. There's not much else to go on there, so they move on.
"What about Jade?" Alex asks, watching a YouTube video of the superheroine saving a cargo ship that got caught in a storm. "She seems to have similar powers. These green force fields, or whatever."
"Jade?" Kyle mumbles through a coffee cake shoved in his mouth. He takes a quick sip of coffee to wash it down. "Her powers are biological. She absorbs sunlight to power them. She doesn't have a ring." After a moment, Kyle notices that Alex is giving him the stare. "What?"
"Why do you know so much about her?"
"I um, had to do research on heroes," Kyle rambles awkwardly. "You know...for my art..."
"Mmm hmm," is all she says in reply. He knows he'll be paying for that one later.
After another twenty minutes or so of no luck, Alex stumbles across a news story from two weeks ago. "What about this? 'Mysterious Hero Foils Assassination.' They said he had green energy blasts and created a giant green cage to hold the assassins until the cops came. Hey it happened in Manhattan!"
That gets Kyle's attention. "Manhattan? Maybe he lives in New York? What if that's why the alien came here?"
Some more research shows this mysterious hero has only been around a couple months and hasn't revealed anything about himself yet. He's been seen all over North America and even in Europe, but most often in New York. The only pictures they could find are garbled cell phone shots, but a couple seem to show him holding his fist out, perhaps with a ring on his finger.
"Its not much, but its gotta be this guy!" Kyle says with excitement in his voice. "It makes sense."
"So how do you find him?" Alex asks, giving him the arched eyebrow.
A smile spreads on Kyle's face. Without a word he turns around and walks into the closet. Alex looks on in confusion as he begins throwing boxes and bags around, looking for something. A loud yell indicates he's found what he's looking for, and Kyle walks out of the closet with his hands on his hips and the same smile. On his head is also a black mask and bandanna covering his hair, a remnant from his Dread Pirate Roberts costume for last Halloween.
"How do I find him?" Kyle asks, putting on a cheesy hero voice, leaving Alex giggling. "Why I do what any great hero would do. Patrol the fair city, of course."
****
A green glowing form streaks across the New York City skyline. Kyle's been at it for hours yet is still having the time of his life. Dressed in a pair of blue jeans, a black motorcycle jacket, black gloves, and his costume mask, he feels like a real super hero. In the time he's been looking for his possible trainer, Kyle has already stopped a purse snatcher, a gang shooting, two car accidents, and even saved a cat from a tree. During the last one he kept looking around for hidden cameras, certain it was some sort of prank.
Still, no other heroes. Not even any super villains. The more time he spends with the ring, the more confident he becomes. Every street he flies over, his eyes search every dark crevice, hoping for a villain to come out and give him a real super hero experience. Alas, nothing but run of the mill petty crime so far. It's another hour of patrolling, just about sunset, when an explosion roars in the distance.
"Holy shit!"
A quick survey of the skyline indicates it's in the Financial District. Kyle is a green blur as he races toward the carnage. When he arrives he hovers over the destruction to find the Federal Reserve Bank is missing a large chunk of it's wall. He can't find any sign of a cause, so Kyle focuses on helping the victims. He creates some giant Claw Machine grabbers and lifts the rubble off a number of people. A group of people stuck in a cab on it's side are set free by a glowing green Jaws of Life.
"Everything will be all right," Kyle says firmly, trying to calm an elderly woman with a laceration on her head. "Emergency personnel are on their way."
The crowd begins to panic when the sound of explosions rings out in the distance. Kyle turns toward the sounds, which are coming from inside the bank. He hears screams as well. Tightening his fists with resolve, he flies into the building.
The sights and smells he finds inside cause Kyle to stop suddenly and vomit. Broken and charred bodies line the hallways, some still burning, along with the smell of burnt meat. After retching up the contents of his stomach, Kyle looks up to see a man walking toward him. He's dressed all in dark red and a full red gas mask with dark red lenses. Across his waist and chest are belts filled with what looks like explosive devices. A hose runs from a tank on his back to a wrist mounted flame thrower on his right arm. His left arm is carrying a large sack of what Kyle assumes is money or gold.
"Heh heh heh. What do we have here?" the man asks, amused. His voice is muffled by his mask. "A would be hero not able to hold down his lunch? Not looking very courageous now, are you?"
Kyle's reply contains no words, as any he might have are choked back by his anger. What escapes from his lips might best be describe as a roar, as he rises to his feet and sends a raw energy blast at the villain. The blast takes him by surprise, sending the villain flying back down the hall and money scattering all over, much of it burning in the small fires.
A bit unsteady at first, Kyle slowly walks toward the villain. "Who the fuck do you think you are? You killed these people! Burned them alive! For money?"
"Money," the villain responds matter-of-factly, sitting on the floor and propped up against the wall he landed on. "And pleasure!" He fires a stream of flames from his wrist at Kyle. He continues to fire as he rises to his feet, his laughs inaudible over the roaring flames. "And the name's Molotov, by the by," he says as he ends the stream of flames. His idle chuckles continue until the flames die down and he sees Kyle still standing, surrounded by a green energy shield.
Molotov reaches for some explosives on his belt but Kyle is quicker. He creates green arms that extend out from his own and pummels Molotov with them. After taking a couple of hits, Molotov manages to rip a device, which looks almost like a cluster of grey grapes, off his chest and throw it toward the ground. On impact the grey spheres break apart and roll toward Kyle. The explosions are small, but they catch Kyle off guard and he instinctively brings his arms up to cover his face. That moment reprieve is enough for Molotov to throw a larger explosive at Kyle, which sends him speeding back toward the entrance to the bank.
Kyle groans as he rolls off his back and onto his side. His energy shield protected him from the heat of the explosion, but much of the force still hit him and knocked the wind out of his lungs. Trying to catch his breath, he looks up to see Molotov walk up to him, holding his entire belt of explosives in his hand.
"I don't know who you are, but for my first super hero, you ain't much." He pulls the pin out of one of the grenades. "Still, a hero kill is a hero kill. See ya."
Kyle watches the belt leave his hand and tries to raise his ring, but can't generate anything while still catching his breath. Suddenly the belt stops in midair, caught in a glowing green ball. The muffled explosion sounds inside the green ball, but never breaks free. At the same time, Kyle and Molotov look up to see a man hovering just outside the bank.
He's an older man, maybe in his fifties. A green domino mask covers his eyes. He's wearing green pants, red boots, and a red long sleeve shirt with a golden sun on his chest. His costume if topped off with a flowing green and black cape with a flared collar. Kyle's eyes quickly notice the glowing green ring on his right hand.
"How about leaving the rookie and facing a pro?" the man says, his voice strong and confident.
"Gladly," Molotov replies, lifting his arm to fire a blast of flames at his new enemy. The hero counters by creating a giant green fire extinguisher and fires it back. The flame thrower and fire extinguisher compete briefly, but the extinguisher quickly overwhelms the flames and blasts Molotov back. The hero then sends out a giant green hand to rip the flame thrower off Molotov's back and a second hand flicks him in the face with it's index finger, knocking Molotov out cold.
The hero lands next to Kyle and extends a hand to help him up. Once on his feet, Kyle stretches, his body aching. "Nice effort son, but that was pretty close."
"Well I'm still new at all this," Kyle says, embarrassed. He extends his hand out and says, "I'm Ky...Green Lantern."
A look of surprise disappears from the heroes face as quickly as it arrives. So quick, Kyle doesn't notice. "Sentinel," he says sternly, but rather than reach out to shake Kyle's hand, he turns it to look at Kyle's ring. "You're not the one seen down in New Mexico. Who are you? How did you get this ring? Why are you dressed like that?"
The questions come out like a machine gun, his tone of voice like iron. It's enough to cause Kyle to instinctively back away, nervous, but Sentinel grips his hand tightly and pulls him in.
"How did you get this ring? Did you do something to the other Green Lantern?"
"I...I didn't...I just..." Kyle flounders helplessly, unable to form a response. Sentinel's eyes glare at him, making Kyle feel like a misbehaving child again.
The sound of sirens speeding up distracts Sentinel momentarily, which Kyle takes advantage of and flees. He soars into the sky, desperate to get away. Sentinel quickly recovers and pursues. Kyle doesn't get far when a giant green metal claw scoops him up and slams him into the side of a building, completely trapping his body.
"I won't ask again," Sentinel warns, hovering over to meet Kyle's face. "How did you get this ring?"
"The dead alien gave it to me!" Kyle blurts out. Sentinel looks at him, confusion on his face, but Kyle continues. "I was just running home when the little blue alien crashed in front of me. He said something about Oa being attacked and being betrayed and that I was their last hope and something about a Tree and that I was supposed to find some other who could train me. I don't know what's going on!"
Sentinel looks intently in Kyle's eyes, deciding whether or not to believe him. Kyle breathes heavy, exhausted but relieved to have explained himself. After what seems like an eternity, Sentinel releases Kyle and lowers them to a nearby rooftop.
"I'm sorry," Sentinel says warmly as they land, standing tall as Kyle slumps down onto a lawn chair. "I saw your ring and overreacted. It's just that...well the way you're dressed...you aren't in uniform and I assumed you stole the ring."
"Uniform?"
"Yes. Why didn't you create a uniform for yourself?"
Kyle looks at his clothes and back up at Sentinel, confused. "I can do that?"
Sentinel reaches up and squeezes the bridge of his nose in frustration. He walks over to sit down in another lawn chair next to Kyle. "Hasn't the ring taught you the basics?"
"No. Nobody's taught me anything. I had to figure everything out by myself."
"Strange." Sentinel rubs his chin and contemplates the situation. "I assumed the lack of functionality of my ring and hers were unique, since they didn't seem to be from the Corps. Perhaps..."
"Wait," Kyle shouts louder than he intends, waving his hand in front of him. "Hold on. So your ring seems to be the same as mine, but isn't from this Corps. Yet the alien seemed to know about you. I just...I want some answers!" Bottled up anger from being completely lost just bursts out of Kyle. "Who are you? Who are these aliens? Who are the Corps? What's going on?"
Rather than get angry at the outburst, Sentinel just sighs and sits back. "All right, but this might take some time to explain."
-To Be Continued-