Infinite Stratos: Advent of Will
There are some changes I will list:
1) After the Kidnapping: The six months that Chifuyu and Ichika spent before she left for Germany for a year.
2) Ichika's interaction with the Byakushiki.
3) This fan-fiction will incorporate parts of each I.S. Medium (Light Novel, Manga, and Anime) with some changes here and there AS NECESSARY.
4) This fan-fiction will incorporate parts of Green Lantern (Comic and animation) AS NECESSARY, mostly focusing on Ichika's power.
5) This is the Dialogue layout: "Regular Dialogue"- "Ring Dialogue"- "Ion's Dialogue"- (Ichika's thought Dialogue)-{Sound effect} –"Aya's Dialogue" – [Different language]
6) Most importantly: I DO NOT own Green lantern as it is the property of DC Comics and all it subsidiaries and I DO NOT own Infinite Stratos/ISインフィニット・ストラ as it is the property of Izuru Yumizuru, Media factory, and various other companies.
(Read it like the "A*row" intro.)
My name: is Orimura Ichika and I am the avatar of Will.
Once, I was just the younger brother of an ace I.S. pilot, until a plot against her put me in harms way, but in finding the strength to overcome my fear and protect my family, a powerful force chose me. Now, I am the "Beacon of Light" in the darkness, where those in fear of evil may go to. I AM: THE GREEN LANTERN!
Chapter 25: New Frontier!
I was sitting in a living room, looking at the pictures of Shia-san growing up. I was dressed in a dark green suit and tie with a black dress shirt and shoes. The symbol of the green lanterns was embroidered on my tie. I still had my Lantern face but no goggles. Her father, Shia Takato, was sitting across from me with his arms folded and a slight twitch in his brow. He wore glasses and had black hair with some slight greying on the sides, a brown sweater vest over a white open collar shirt, with a black blazer, and tan kakis.
"So, Mr…?" He wanted to know my name.
"Sur, Abin Sur." I said in a sitting bow.
"Well then, Sur-san, what are your intentions with my daughter?" He asked giving me a slight glare. (I wonder why he looks angry.)
"I am merely here to fulfill my promise of having dinner with her." I said in the most polite voice I could take.
"…" he looked at me with serous eyes, and told me not to do anything weird to his daughter. I asked what he meant by that and he looked at me like I swallowed a sword and asked for another. He then started to laugh, and told me that he had forgotten that I was not human, despite my appearance, and that he now believed everything was going to be fine. Confused, I shrugged and continued by starting a conversation about space.
As we got into the subject of distant planets, which I studied a little from the navigation room, his wife, Shia Umeiko, peeked out of the kitchen, and told us that dinner was almost done. The father was beginning to wonder why his daughter was taking so long to get ready. We got up and headed to the table, and sat down. I asked if there was anything I could do to help, but she told me that I was a guest and to just wait for the food and keep her husband company. No sooner that she finished speaking, Shia-san came down from upstairs, wearing a white long skirt that reached her ankles, light green blouse with collar, and a white lace jacket. She wore her hair in a loose bun and had some light make up, which quite frankly, made her even prettier. (I know she's doing this out of obligation and all, but a guy could get the wrong idea about this if he's not careful!) Her father stared at her and tears came out of his eyes. "My little girl is growing up!" He then turn to me and asked how she looked and I didn't want to insult him in any way, so I answered honestly without giving him the wrong idea.
"She is quite presentable." I said with a smile. "If an earthen male were to see her, I am sure he would propose to her immediately."
"I agree." He said with a smile, satisfied with my answer. As for Shia-san, who heard my reply, she turned so red, I was worried if I had said something to offend her, but she smiled a moment after and practically floated down to the table.
"Welcome to my home, Abin Sur-sama." She bowed.
"No-No! The honor is mine!" I said while getting up quickly to bow.
"No-No! You saved my life so the honor is mine!" She nervously bowed again.
"No-No! You gave me the opportunity by distracting that villain!" I bowed once more.
"No-No! You came to my school at my request!" She bowed.
"No-No! You allowed me the chance to speak about what the Green Lantern Corps was and my views on justice were!" I bowed.
"OK, everyone, dinner's ready, so let's just agree that it's an honor for both of you." Shia-san's mother concluded. Now that she came out of the kitchen, I saw what she wore. She had a face that looked like Shia-san's, but more mature and had loose chestnut brown hair that was shoulder length with a gold necklaces. She had on an ankle length, one piece dress that was purple in color that plunged a little in the neck line, with a black belt around her waist. Really, if I wasn't told that she was Shia-san's mom, I would have thought she was her older sister. "Ite!" I felt pain on my side, so I looked and saw Shia-san looking elsewhere, while pouting. (Did I do something?) Shia-san's mother started to come out with the food: Saba Shioyaki (Grilled Mackerel) as a main dish, Nikujaga (Meat and Potato Stew) and Sunomono (Cucumber Salad) as side dishes. Miso Soup and Genmai (Brown Rice) were also served with other dishes, of course. (This woman is making sure I'm fed!)
"So, Sur-san, how is the life of an officer from space?" She asked as she placed a plate in front of me.
"Very exciting and exhausting." I answered, while trying to be vague. "Sometimes, I find myself in situations that I don't fully understand, but I do what I can."
"For example?" Shia-san's mother asked. I then remembered C-Kilowog's training exercises in the holodeck that he used to make sure I understood the procedures in dealing with various scenarios. Thinking about a few, I chose one that was simple.
"Let's see… Ah! There was the time I saved a couple of punks, who were joy riding in a dangerous sector of space." I told them. "They tried to out run a fast moving asteroid by cutting across the sector known for high death rates due to the electromagnetic storms that spontaneously appear at any time."
"Gasp!" Shia-san said in worry. "Were they alright?"
"As you feared, they had got caught up in one such storm that vanished as I came along." I told her. "They survived, but their ship was no longer functioning by then. I towed them to the nearest safe planet and gave them a summons, while calling their home planet's authorities. All in all, it could have been worse."
"So catching criminals is what takes up your time, huh?" Shia-san's dad laughed. "But why did you call their world's police?"
"Because," I explained. "By their species standards, they were teenagers. Their law stated that they were too young to fly a ship."
"U-Hmm..." He nodded, accepting me explanation. "Even in space there are reckless youngsters!"
"So what else happened during your work?" Shia-san asked.
"Well, there was this one time, I had fought a large lizard like, calapander." I answered, remembering that one exercise in the holodeck, where C-Kilowog had me do drills in support work. "It could eat a mountain, due to it's size alone."
"Oh! How'd you defeat that!?" Shia-san's father asked with stars in his eyes. His daughter had the same reaction, as she waited for my answer. They loved adventure stories and had many books in their family study. So the prospect of hearing a one from outer space was too good an opportunity to pass up.
"Before I answer, Is it not proper dinner etiquette to eat the meal that is placed before you?" I knew that my story would take longer than eating, so I decided to move back to the subject of the food. (Plus, I'm hungry!)
"Ah, you're right, sorry." He said while apologizing to his wife. He then turned to the food and put his hands together. "Itadakimasu!"
After following suit, we began eating. The taste of the fish was something that left a good impression on me, I had told Shia-san's mom how delicious it was. She was flattered as she told me that she was willing to give me the recipe before I leave if I tell her the rest of the story after dinner. After that delicious meal, we were sitting in the living room once more and we got back to the subject of that Gojira-like monster that threated the lives of the townspeople that lived nearby and how I saved them by acting as bait so the townspeople could evacuate, and bide some time for the other Corps members to arrive and back me up. We had took it down, and moved it to a location on that planet that it would do no harm. At least, that's how the program was run. Not that I'd tell them that.
"As expected of Sur-sama!" Shia-san said with pride. "He goes above and beyond the call of duty!"
"Umm… Shia-san?" I interrupted her praise. "Can you please stop putting "sama" in my name, I feel troubled by it."
"I'm sorry." Shia-san apologized. "It just, you're so amazing that-!"
"Now, hold it right there." I stopped her. "I'm not some super being. I'm like you all, a law abiding citizen. Without the ring, I'm as vulnerable as you are. As such, being treated like someone special like that, can give rise to some dangerous thoughts."
"W-w-what kind of thoughts?!" Shia-san nervously asked.
"Thoughts that could lead to arrogance, for example." Shia-san's dad threw out there. "Or a lust for power."
"Exactly." I created the same green 3D model of the Lantern corps that Ion made to me. "There are many different species of sentient beings out there. All with their own Ideas about what is the right and wrong way to use power. This is why we have training facilities to teach us what is expected of us, while training us on how to control these powers so as to not get negatively influenced by them."
"My apologies, Sur-san." She said bowing. "If you had been corrupted by the ring, I'm sure you would not have been the same hero that I care… for…" She turned away while red in the face. (CRAP! She must be mad at me now!)
"No-no!" I said, waving my hands. "It's not that I would instantly turn evil, It's just embarrassing is all! So don't be mad, please!" After I said that, Shia-san looked confused, her father started giggling, and her mother mumbled something about the word "thick", a moment later they were all laughing, with me in total confusion.
It was three minutes to 11:00PM and Both me and Shia-san were outside at the front door. I felt like we were being watched from somewhere.
"It was a wonderful dinner." She said with a reddish face. "I hope we can do this again, only with just you and me…"
"Hmm?"
"No-nothing!" She started to fidget a little. "Ummm… So this is it."
"Y-yeah…" It was starting to feel awkward.
"S-so I'll see you around?"
"Of course?" I was confused for a moment, but I quickly realized she wanted me to go. (I guess she didn't want to be rude.) "Ah! I understand now!"
"You understand?"
"I apologize that I didn't realize what you meant after all this!"
"S-so you understand how I'm feeling?" She smiled from ear to ear. "So then, you feel the same way?"
"Of course, I do!"
"Tell me then!" She opened her arms.
"You were hurrying me to leave, so if anything happens on the planet I shall be there without delay!"
She face faulted and I could hear her father laughing from inside the house followed by a loud {THWAK}
"I shall take into heart your strong convictions in justice and do as you ask!" I floated up into the air. "Farewell!"
"But-!" She started, but I was out of earshot. "That's not what I meant…"
When I entered the house, my sister and my best friend were sitting on the couch watching TV. As soon as they saw me, Dan pulled me into a chair with a desk and had the lamp pointed at me.
"Alright, spill it!" He said, placing a bowl of Katsudon in front of me. I felt that I saw this in a crime drama somewhere. "How was the date!?"
"H-how was the what?!" I replied in shock. "It was just a dinner invitation that I went to!"
"ARE YOU SEROUS, YOU EUNUCH?!" Dan grabbed my collar, but Chifuyu-nee held him back.
"Calm down!" She said, while playing good cop. "Knowing him, that's all he saw it as, and I'm sure he was a complete gentlemen, isn't that right, Ichika?" She then started creating a menacing aura.
"Yes, Ma'am!"
"Good." Satisfied with my answer, she took the bowl, and gave it to Dan, who started to eat. "Dan starved himself hoping something happened."
"Like I said, it was just a dinner, not a date. Her parents were there, and not much happened, though she turned red a few times. I guess I was being a bother."
Dan and Chifuyu-nee looked at each other and sighed. "Ichika." Dan said. "You'll never change."
"Dense." My sister said, walking away, Leaving me wondering what just happened.
The next day, I was at the ship, so I could tell Ganthet about my victory over Maltimor and see how he was doing since the last time.
"Well, hello there, young Ichika!" The small guardian greeted. "It's been about a month since the last time we spoke. You really should call more."
"Sorry." I rubbed the back of my head. "I didn't want to call you too much since I thought I'd be a bother."
"Nonsense!" He said. "You are never a bother, so please, speak to me when you feel you have something to tell me."
"I'll do that, Ganthet." I relaxed bit.
"Speaking of which, I sure you didn't call me just to look at my face," He took a seat. "So what did you wish to speak to me about?"
"Ah, yeah!" I almost forgot the reason for the call. "Chifuyu-nee, Dan, and I did it, we defeated Maltimor!"
"Really!?" His eyes were in full surprise, as a smile grew from him. "That's wonderful! How did you do it?"
"Well, he attacked the school with…" I went on to describe the whole course of events that lead to Maltimor's fall. Ganthet followed each word with a big smile as if he was the one who took the Senestro corpsmen down. But as soon as I spoke about Dan and his armor, Ganthet froze.
"Wait… This armor that Dan wore, was it, perchance man-made?" He asked with a face that pleaded for me to say yes.
"No." I was worried. If Ganthet made a face like that, then I need to tell him everything. I showed him an image of the bug idol that was now in Dan's back. "It's a sentient bug called Kaji-Da. It connected itself to his spine and it took him over for a while, but after he and it came to an understanding, they became partners and has since helped me in fighting crime." After telling him that, he looked like he was unsure what to say. "Is… there something that I should know?"
"Yes." He made a face that spoke volumes about how serous this was. "Ichika, that "bug" you call it, I believe it is the last piece of technology from an alien race that the Lanterns had battled ages ago. They were called The Reach."
"The Reach?"
"A villainous race of cybernetic insectoid aliens, they were a race of world conquerors." He explained. "Their actions eventually brought them into conflict with the Green Lantern Corps, the two sides eventually fighting to a stalemate. After a lengthy struggle in the battle of Fu-Gan-Sou, we forced The Reach into a truce, making them promise never to invade any other planets."
"And they agreed to that? If they are as dangerous as you said they are, then I kind of find it hard to believe they would just give up like that."
"You are right, while the Reach indeed agreed to this, through this truce, they devised a new, more insidious method of conquest: Infiltration."
"How did they pull that off?"
"By sending an Infiltrator scarab, like this Kaji-Da, to the targeted world, and having it bond with and overwhelm the mind of one of its native lifeforms, the Reach could use it as a faux ambassador, pretending that they sent the scarab to help the people of the targeted world, as a gesture of friendship and goodwill, while the Infiltrator gathered information on that world's defenses. Once enough information had been gathered, the Reach would then cease their pretense, having the Infiltrator turn on the race it once defended."
"My god…" I was getting more and more worried about what Dan inside him. I mean, how would I know if it was him I was talking to or Kaji-Da using him as a puppet? And what about the Reach's slaves? How could I fight them knowing they were victims in all this? "What should we do? If the Reach come here, who knows what kind of mess will come out of that kind of conflict?!"
"Calm yourself, Ichika!" I said in a firm voice. "That will never happen!"
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because the Reach are no more!" After he said that, we were quiet for a moment as the information sank in. But before I could ask questions, Ganthet continued. "You see, due to the truce, they were allowed to rule the worlds they already had under their control, as such, we were not allowed to intervene, even if the planet in question asked for assistance."
"Are you serous!? What were you guys thinking!?" I was pissed. I understood it was to prevent a bigger war but, who would ignore countless people that would cry for help like that? "What did Jordan-san think!?"
"This was long before even his predecessor had joined the corps and I'm sorry to say, also long before I discovered my feelings for Sayd." He made an apologetic face as he explained. "We were all quite "Pig-headed" back then."
"I see… I guess I understand." I wondered once what I would have been like if I didn't know the love of my sister, Tabane, or the Gotandas. Probably somebody I wouldn't have gotten along with.
"Due to this, we only saw the bigger picture and not the details that make up said picture. So to us this was the best outcome we could devise at the time."
"So how did the Reach meet their end?"
"Even if it was a truce, we felt they were too much a threat to just leave them to their own devices. So we did all we could to monitor them without interfering, and though this, we had discovered their new conquest strategy. But it had certain criteria to prevent us from getting in the way. First they never chose a world that already has a Green Lantern that calls it home. It would put them in our line of sights almost immediately. Second, the world they chose is often one that held us in a negative light. Due to our rather stiff nature back then, we rubbed a lot of worlds the wrong way. (You can't be friends with everyone.) And finally, they select a world that have a civilization that they can quickly break down and control with minimal effort. But that was where they slipped!"
"So the big bad's Fool-Proof plan wasn't so Fool-Proof?"
"He-he! Quite. They believed we simply searched for those with strong bodies and wills, but there was a third criteria that we needed most of all." He raised a finger. "Something that the Reach didn't believe they needed in their plans."
"The need for justice." I answered.
"A gold star, my boy!" He smiled. "That was, is, and always will be the most important point of being a Green Lantern. As such when they infiltrated the planet Sunada, who's population was not a physically strong species, it was at the same time as one of the rings had inducted one of it's inhabitants into the corps. That was when sparks of war started again."
"Let me guess." I figured how this would have played out if I thought about is rationally. "When the new Infiltrator and the new Lantern crossed paths, the Infiltrator's programing came into play: Eliminate any and all threats to The Reach's main objective. So it attacked the Lantern on sight."
"Exactly! Now here is where things went bad for them, that Lantern was a vocal member of that world's council who Wanted the Reach to join their people."
"That's… pretty damn awkward." I could only imagine the feeling of betrayal from the people you thought you could trust. "So the people found out what The Reach were really like, and took that act of aggression pretty bad."
"That's putting it mildly. Other Lanterns appeared to stop the fight, but the Infiltrator attacked them as well. And it did not stop there. Other worlds who heard or saw the battle, one way or another, began to question what the Reach was really up to. This lead to various inquiries into their activities. Even we were called in to see if they had not broken the terms of the truce. This lead to the next incident, on planet Dev'nta, when we had uncovered a D.N.A. augmenting facility made by The Reach. This had us directly question them on their actions. They had tried to state that the blame rested on the inhabitants of that planet, who misused their technology, but the people, dismayed by the accusation, did not take this lying down. They petitioned them to leave." Ganthet then made a grim face.
"What happened…?" I felt I was about hear something nasty, so I braced myself.
"That… Lead to the massacre of Geuld'on'pa." He showed an image of a planet that was purple with large dark spots the size of small islands on parts of it's surface. The next image showed the ground, destroyed cities with nothing but an impact crater in the center. "This was the result of the people raising a hand against the Reach. The people of that world heard of the D.N.A incident and had also petitioned the Reach to leave their world before they too would be betrayed. But the Reach felt it was too bothersome to keep up the pretense of benevolent strangers to a world they have already conquered and revealed their true face. The warned them that if anyone dares to attempt to resist their control, it will be met with dire consequences. The people did not listen to such threats and tried to forcibly remove them. So to put them in line, the Reach created and detonated a device that devastated parts of the planet. Thousands of lives were lost."
I tightened my hands at the thought of how The Reach viewed others. Treating them like idiots and slaughtering them if they didn't listen. "Those bastards…"
"Yes. They were." Ganthet said snapping me back to the conversation. "But this lead to a Lantern inquiry as they were not to make any more weapons of mass destruction during the truce and this was a clear violation."
"And that's when thinks went to hell." I figured.
"Very!" He showed a video of a battle. Beings in blue armor fighting the Green Lanterns with large war ships attacking constructs that matched their size. "One thing lead to another and the truce was broken. This became the war that settled everything. At first we were at a disadvantage as they had more resources and soldiers, but then the victims of their rule fought back, using the technology the Reach so graciously gave them. At that point it was a war on two fronts. We were battering them in space while they were being chipped away by the worlds they had controlled. The war came to a head when they gathered all their forces in the Nevoin system."
"But that's-!"
"Yes. The very place that would eventually house the most dangerous creature in the universe, Gouvala." He said. "Did it not ever occur to you to ask WHY that sector of space was dead?"
"No." I shook my head. "I just thought it was always like that."
"It's understandable that some areas in space are empty through natural circumstances, but the reason for this one was nothing of the sort." He showed an image of a metal world. It felt like a cold place to live. "This was planet Nevoin that lied in the center of that sector. It was a machine based world that was taken over by the Reach long before the truce. The inhabitants were weapon makers almost on par with the Weaponers of Quard. Driven nearly mad by the Reach's ruthless slave tactics, they had also made plans to force the Reach off their world by any means necessary." Ganthet made the same grim face for bad news.
"I'm not going to like what I'm going to hear, am I?"
"No." He gave me an apologetic look and told me. "They created a kind of weapon that is now considered illegal to make: The Cosmic Bomb. They alerted us all before detonating it, allowing us to move away in time. When the bomb exploded at the very center of the Reach's control sphere, it's power vaporized the planet and it's inhabitants, and taking all of the Reach forces in the blast, but the unexpected result was a slow moving wave of destruction that could wipe out four galaxies at the very least. Quickly, we used our power to hold the wave back, while many of the Lanterns went about taking inhabitants of the various worlds out of the sector."
"How did you guys stop it!?"
"In order to save us all from the wave, three of our bravest Lanterns, Fan-Tou-Shin, Urk, and Tomias, united their powers and fought the wave at the source, sacrificing their lives. After three harrowing minutes, the wave grew smaller and smaller until it became a dot and fizzled out. While the sector was gone, save for some debris here and there, most of it's people and the universe at large were saved, but at the cost of the brave souls who gave their lives in the war against the Reach."
"So, what happened after that?"
"For a while, many worlds celebrated the end of the Reach, with festivities and music abound, and at the same time, came the mourning for those who had died by the hands of their now vanquished conquerors. I believe it was an entire year before everyone started to pick up the pieces. It would be called: "The Undoing." Any and all Reach technology was willingly given to us to be destroyed. The planets that were under Reach control, removed them from their history books and began anew by starting from before they came into such technology. As for the Reach, after five centuries with all proof of their existence gone at this point, they are more like earth's version of the "Boogie man." Almost no one believes that they exist save for those who were there."
"So then what do I do then?" I asked getting back to the subject of Dan and Kaji Da. "I pretty sure that Dan would be willing join me, but Kaji-Da isn't too thrilled with Green Lanterns, most likely a left over sentiment from it's lost memories."
"Lost memories?" Ganthet looked confused.
"Yeah. When Dan and Kaji-Da talked, he found out that it's memories had huge gaps."
Ganthet then began thinking. "Hmm… If it's possible… Yes, that would… Ah, but if it fails…"
"Anything you would like to share with the class?" I asked with my eye brow raised and my arms crossed.
"OH! My apologies, He-he, I got lost in thought." He rubbed the back of his head. "I was thinking of a plan in order to deal with Dan's predicament."
"Let's hear it."
"As you know, I am obligated to tell my fellow guardians of this new information concerning any and all Reach technology. Therefore many of them who had taken part in the war, will have… A negative reaction to this. Understood?" I nodded. "So I am going to send one of my most trusted Honor Guards to help you in picking him up, IF he should resist. I will also send a Green Lantern ring with them."
"I'm Ok with that," While I understood the need for back up if this went south, I was confused about the spare ring. (Doesn't Earth have a Green Lantern already?) "But why are you sending a power ring here?"
"Because this would be as good a time as any to meet you face to face." I froze when he said that. "To be honest, things have… progressed faster than expected on Oa and now your power will soon be needed. Besides, I'm sure you would have come along anyway, where your friend is concerned."
"But that still doesn't answer why your sending…!" I then realized what he meant. He was sending a Lantern ring so that someone would still defend this planet from any threats that I won't be here to deal with. "I see now… Ah! But what about school?"
"I will take care of matters concerning both of your education." He explained before joking. "It's good to see that head of yours working at maximum capacity."
"Ok, funny man." Answered in annoyance. "So any potential choices for Lanterns?"
"Some, but I want you to pick your replacement as Chifuyu had told Sayd how you seem to have some skills in understanding peoples intentions… mostly."
"Hm… Mostly?"
"N-Nothing." He quickly changed the subject. "Now do what you need to do, I'll send my Honor Guard in a couple days' time. After that, I would like you to train your replacement for about a month. That's the most I can stall until then."
I nodded in agreement. "Ok. Hopefully, we'll be ready at that point."
As Ganthet turned off the comms, He looked at Ion with concern.
"Are you sure of this?" He asked the emissary of will. "Is there no other way? He still just a boy."
"There is no one else to handle this matter." Ion replied. "He is the only one destined to stand against the coming storm."
"To stand against this darkness, his will and hope shall bring us all together." Adara added. "He will lead us into victory against the prophecy of The Blackest Night. Bringing forth a new age."
"I hope you're right." He said, before turning to his own thoughts. 'And I hope Hal will forgive us for the weight of this task the boy shall bare...'
After I left the ship and headed home, I was sitting on the couch wondering how to tell Dan about Kaji-Da and what he might do, when the cellphone rang. On it was Ran's number.
"Hello, Ichika-kun!" She greeted. "Are you busy?"
"No, not at the moment."
"Then could you do me a favor, pretty please?"
"Of course!"
"Great!" She sighed in relief. "Do you remember my friend, Emily?"
"Umm…" It took me a moment before the image of a plain, quiet, red-headed girl with a pony tail and glasses, came to mind. "Oh yeah… She was that nice high school girl that lived with you guys for a week long home-stay, two years ago." If I remember correctly, she and Ran hit it off pretty quick. As for Dan, he was at a training camp with his dojo at the same time and she left before he could meet her. He wouldn't shut up about it until he saw her picture. Then he said she wasn't his type. (This guy…)
"Yep! She finished high school though."
"So is she visiting?"
"Sort of!" Ran answered. "She decided to go to college here in Japan and is moving into our neighborhood!"
"Ah, I see, so you want me to help with the move." I deduced.
"If it's not too much to ask…"
"Nah, I'll do it." I answered. "We're closer than family, so there's nothing I wouldn't do for you."
After answering her, the phone became quiet. "Ran? Are you there?" I asked, but the response was Ren-san answering. "Don't worry, Ichika, she just busy smiling from ear to ear."
"I can understand, Ren-san." I greeted. "Having a friend you haven't seen in years will do that for you."
"That's not… Sigh… Ichika-kun, you really do remind me of udon noodles sometimes." She cryptically stated.
"Huh?"
"Anyway, could you be a dear and get Dan to help you. He's most likely in Utsukushī gairo."
"Uh, sure. I need to talk to him anyway."
After we said our goodbyes, I put on my jacket and headed out.
Utsukushī gairo is the fashion center of this city, with all the latest trends and outfits, even cosplay. A lot of women and girls, from outright cute to stunningly beautiful, come to this place to try on new styles, make-up, and the like, so I wasn't surprised that I saw Dan sitting at a table in front of the maid café he frequented. But what did shock me was that he was in his Blue Beetle armor. Stunned, I decided to head into a small alleyway and change into my Lantern civil outfit that I used when Tabane first showed up in my ship, so I could talk to this idiot. (If anyone asks, it's cosplay.)
"Man, these girls are SO fine…" He quietly muttered to himself. "Huh, what's the point!? Because! It's a man's dream to have a harem, Kaji. I can still remember that dream sometime ago, a beauty from each country, at the beach, serving me fruits in sexy ways…"
"Instead of having delusions, how about we talk for a bit?" I said walking up to him.
"Oh hey, Green." He waved in a bored way.
"Hello, Blue." I returned. I sat down across from him before moving to the question that was bothering me. "What are you doing in your armor?"
"Hmm? Oh, I stopped an armed robbery and then prevented an oil spill when a tanker got too close to the shoreline. After all that, I needed to chill for a while, so I came here."
"But it does not explain why you are in your armor right now." I frowned.
"Oh this? This is to see if Big Daddy Beetle is so popular, that the ladies will come running to him."
I face palmed then and there. I ignored the urge to whack him for his stupidity with a paper fan construct, as I had to tell him what I heard from our funny blue guardian friend.
"I spoke with Ganthet." I told him. He stopped looking at the girls and focused his attention on me. I began telling him what Ganthet told me, not skipping anything. He quietly listened as he sat there. After a half hour, we sat there in silence.
"I got it." was all Dan said.
"You got what exactly?"
"The Reach are %^&holes as far as I'm concerned," He concluded. "But Kaji-Da wants to know more about them, so as to understand why they did what they did, before they went up in "Space-Flames."
"Good." I was sighing a little as I was worried that if I handled this wrong, Kaji-Da would go infiltrator mode on my behind. (Now comes the hurdle.) "In order to know more, you would have to ask the Guardians of the universe personally to get more info. They're already going to send one of their GL's here to help with the travel."
"….." Dan kept silent for a minute. Before I was about to say something, he spoke first. "Kaji still has some reservations about trusting the Green Lanterns, other than you, but he's willing to take one for the team to learn more. So when's the guy comin'."
"I was told he'd be here in two days."
"Not much time to work with." He frowned as he folded his arms. "Just so I know, how are you going to save the world without me?"
"OK, first, I've been saving the world just fine, before you got your powers, all right?" I told him with a grin. "Second, you won't be alone, I'm coming along for the ride."
"Seriously!?" He asked in shock.
"Of course, with all our crazy adventures, you wouldn't last a second without me." I smugly told him.
"Honestly, I think it's the other way around, but who's complaining." He gave me a fist bump.
"Were going to have to tell our families." I said in fear. (Chifuyu-nee might get... mad.)
"Yeah…" He had the same face I was making.
"Oh! In the meantime, you remember Emily-san?"
"Who?" Dan was at a loss.
"That girl from two years ago?" I explained. "The one with the red hair."
It took him a moment before a light bulb came on. "Ah! The plain girl!"
"Yep! Your Mom and sister asked us to help her move into the neighborhood, since she's going to start college here."
"Oh…" He didn't sound too enthusiastic as he turned his head. "Yeah sure, why not-Ah! But speaking of red heads…" He was looking at someone walking down the street. She was an amazing red head with sharp green eyes and luscious lips. She had very light make-up, so her natural beauty was easily seen. She wore a green collar neck sweater, and tight dark blue jeans, that made her figure readily apparent, brown boots, and matching brown leather coat. She was like something out of a dream. As such, I only had these words of advice for Dan:
"Forget it, Blue. She's out of your league."
"Oh, really? Just sit back and watch a master in action." He confidently stated as he got up. "If I'm not back in a month, see if you can get White Knight to take my place."
46 seconds later…
"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" I laughed, holding my sides, while we walked up the street.
"The women in other countries sure are different from the ones in ours…" He grumbled.
Back in our civvies, we headed to the house that Emily-san was going to live in, to help with the move. It was a one floor western-style house, but it had some damage and junk from the previous owner, since he didn't take care of it, so Aya offered to help with the restoration, by giving us a portable replicator.
"Leaving me with all the mess!" Ran grumbled. "The least the old owner could have done was clean up!"
"Pfft"
"These people have a hole for everything!" She complained while pointing at where the holes in ceiling, walls, and floor once were. "If it wasn't for that mini replicator, Aya-chan made for us, Emily's plans of moving in would be ruined!"
"Aaha-ha-ha-ha!" I kept thinking about that magnificent shut-down from earlier.
"I don't know what you're laughing at Ichika-kun! This isn't funny!"
"Don't mind him, Sis." Dan explained annoyance. "He's got a sick sense of humor."
"Well laughing time is over!" Ran ordered. "Let's get to work and whip this place into shape!"
"Hey look, Ran- we didn't mean any harm," I apologized. "It's just we were at the café and… and… BWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-ha-ha!"
"Am I missing something?" Ran was confused at this point.
"Come on, Ichika! It wasn't THAT funny!" Dan argued, but I kept laughing.
"Oh, I give up!" Ran threw her hands in the air as she was heading to the back room. "You're both hopeless!"
"He-he-heee!" I just couldn't stop, it was too funny.
"For Kami's sake, you're starting to sound like a CREEP!" Dan yelled.
Next Chapter: Green Dream
Choosing and training new Lantern, welcoming an elite, and preparing for space is easy, but telling your family that you're going to space? Good luck.
Yep! it's a Double post! It was too big to have one chapter so I split it in three. I'll post the last one at a later date. I decided to put what happened at the dinner for kicks and giggles.
If you know the scene near the end: A chocolate raspberry, macadamia nut cookie for you! If you don't, this was originally from Justice League International #8 by Keith Giffen, JM DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire and Al Gordon.
The Justice League became "International" in issue #7, so in #8, they began setting up embassies in different International cities. Blue Beetle, Booster Gold AND Black Canary were in charge of the Paris branch. While getting lunch in their civilian identities, Beetle and Booster encounter a striking woman who Booster tries to pick up – when he fails miserably, we soon get the most famous laugh in DC history. (Only because Joker's laughs aren't consistent) So I decided to take it inverse it a little and voila! A memorable moment.
And if anyone found a Jak 3 line, please leave it in the Lost and Found department. I'll pick it up later.