A/N: Hello again! I'm very pleased to thank the awesome Alverrann for reviewing again =)
Bit of background going into this chapter, especially for those of you familiar with GL lore but not my Diamond Earth universe. It's been established in the comics that power rings seek out their own replacements when their Green Lanterns die, and usually latch on to the closest worthy sentient. In Diamond Earth, it's a bit different, as you'll see in this chapter and the next.
Chapter Seven: Pink Slip
After some semblance of order had been re-established and a rough rotating system of duties had been put into place, Hal sought out the Guardians for a private audience. The six diminutive beings had taken refuge in the Hall of the Guardians — which had survived the attack mostly intact — and were even now putting their considerable combined intellect and wisdom together to work out a plan of action.
Hal hated that he'd have to tell them he wouldn't be part of this plan, but he had never been a coward, and if he was going to bail out after such a catastrophe he would at least grant them the courtesy of informing them properly.
A voice that sounded painfully like Arisia said in his head, But aren't you being cowardly by running from your responsibilities as a Green Lantern?
Hal forcefully expelled the thought. Arisia was gone. The one person who might possibly have managed to help him out of the hole he found himself in was dead because of his inability to fight the man who killed her. Just like Ace.
Hal couldn't lose anymore friends.
Taking a deep breath, he entered the Hall.
Lianna noticed him at once. "Jordan, I'm glad you're here. I wanted to commend you for your efforts against Sinestro. I know it can't have been easy for you to fight against your mentor."
Hal blinked, thrown by Lianna's straightforward praise. He'd never been complimented by a Guardian before, and two months ago he would have been exhilarated by Lianna's words. Now, however, they made him feel incredibly guilty.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
"Do you have something to report?" Ranakar was not as brusque as he might have been, but Hal could guarantee that would change.
"Not exactly." Hal exhaled. "I have something I need to say, and I don't think you'll like it."
Herupa Hando Hu frowned. "What is it, Jordan?"
Wordlessly, Hal held out his palm. Resting on it was his Green Lantern ring. More than one Guardian inhaled sharply.
"Jordan, what are you doing?" demanded Appa Ali Apsa.
"I'm quitting the Corps. I'm sorry, but I'm not the man I was when the ring chose me. I haven't been that man since Sinestro's trial," he confessed. "I've tried, but I don't seem to have the will I used to. I'm broken, and I'm a liability to the Corps. So I'm resigning. I'm sorry."
They were all staring at him, but Ranakar's glare was colder than the others. "Do you think you are the first Green Lantern to encounter difficulties?"
"No," Hal replied honestly. "I know I'm not the first one to resign, either."
"There are protocols to follow if a Corpsman wishes to surrender his duties," Basilus informed him. "It is unheard of — and shameful — for you to resign without any prior notice or proper procedure."
"I know, all right?" Hal exclaimed, feeling his temper rise. "But I don't have a choice — I'm useless to you the way I am now, and in a time of crisis like this, you need all your Lanterns at the top of their game. I'm not, and I'm not going to be, maybe not ever again. You're better off finding someone to replace me — someone actually worthy to wear the ring — than having me hang around as dead weight. And to be brutally honest," he added, "I don't think I can do this anymore."
"Jordan, I understand you've experienced a great loss…" began Lianna.
Hal chuckled humorlessly. "All due respect, but I don't think you do. It hasn't just been today — I've lost more people in the past two months than I have in my entire life. I lost Sinestro to his crazy obsessiveness about total order, I lost my best friend to a random supervillain attack, and I just lost my girlfriend and at least three other good friends in today's battle." He saw the Guardians raise a collective eyebrow at his admission of his relationship with Arisia — while relationships within the Corps were not exactly prohibited, they were heavily frowned upon. Hal plowed on, "I'm done. A Green Lantern is supposed to have no fear, but I'm full of it now. Even Sinestro picked up on it. I fear losing even more people I care about, and I can't do it anymore. I won't. I quit."
He gazed at them defiantly, as though daring them to contradict him. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was at least a little aware that he was starting to sound like a petulant child, but really there was only so much one person could take before they snapped. Hal had reached his breaking point.
"Very well," Ganthet said solemnly. "Your reasoning is sound, and those who wear the ring must be willing servants. We accept your resignation from the Corps." As he spoke, the ring in Hal's hand rose and floated back to the Guardians.
Hal exhaled, feeling suddenly empty. "Thank you."
Ganthet nodded, but his eyes showed disappointment. "It is a pity," he said. "You showed great promise, Hal Jordan — but everyone must make their own choices. However, I would ask you to consider this: the ring chooses its bearer for a reason. Abin Sur's ring chose you, Hal Jordan, without returning to Oa first — for it to have done so it must have detected some outstanding quality in you that made you worthy. If you had somehow lost that quality and become unfit to be a Green Lantern, the ring would have removed itself of its own accord; the fact that it did not indicates that that quality is still within you."
Hal was silent as he pondered that. Ganthet waved his hand and Hal's ring returned to him.
"Use the ring to return to Earth, Jordan, then let it go. It will find your replacement."
Hal nodded, took the ring, and left.
Wonder Woman grabbed a quick snack from the Watchtower cafeteria and then casually strolled to the bridge, still on an adrenaline high from her latest mission with Wildcat and Doctor Fate. Working with her JSA teammates had been exhilarating — and since all three of them looked much the same as they had thirty years ago, it was almost as if no time had passed at all. Yet at the same time, Diana was acutely aware that the three of them were all that was left of her old team. Jay Garrick was gone, and so were Alan Scott, Dinah Drake, Jim Corrigan, Barry Allen…the only one left besides those who had joined the League was Rex Tyler, and Wildcat had fallen out of touch with him nearly two decades ago.*
Diana sighed. The Justice Society had been her family for eight years. She'd found a new group with the Justice League, but she knew that this team, too, would eventually disband. It was the way of things in Man's World to end. Diana occasionally found herself wondering how long it would last this time — but then she reminded herself to enjoy it while it did last, because the joy she derived from her experiences with the League would be worth the sorrow when her teammates passed on.
Wondering wryly how she had gone from feeling invigorated to feeling pensive, she pushed such melancholy thoughts from her mind and stepped into the control room.
"Hello, Vixen," she greeted amiably.
"Hey, Wonder." Vixen smiled her model's smile. "Good mission?"
"Yes." Wonder Woman dropped into the chair next to Vixen. "It was nice to work with old friends."
"Oh, that's right, you and Fate and Wildcat know each other from way back when, don't you? What was it, the sixties, seventies?"
"Sixties," Diana confirmed.
Vixen laughed. "Way before I was born." Her gaze turned thoughtful. "What was it like?"
"The Justice Society? A lot like the League, to be honest," Wonder Woman replied. "Of course, we didn't have a space headquarters or all this fancy technology." She waved a hand at their state-of-the-art monitor womb. "But the job was the same."
"The job?" Vixen sounded amused.
Wonder Woman smiled. "I suppose I've come to think of it as such, yes. I have to admit I almost see it as a duty, now."
"I don't."
"I know," said Wonder Woman. "For you it is a calling."
Vixen looked surprised.
"Everyone has their own reasons for becoming a hero," the Amazon explained. Sometimes it is easy to see, sometimes not. Yours was easy, because of what you were doing before you joined the League." Vixen was a passionate woman who had been using her Anansi totem to help innocents — especially children — even before she moved to the United States.
"And the others?" asked Vixen, intrigued. "What are their reasons?"
"Superman does this because it gives him purpose. With all his power, he needs a cause to fight for, and he chose this," said Wonder Woman. "Batman does it so no one else will suffer what he has suffered. Flash does it because it's his legacy, and he wants to help people any way he can. Atom has a big heart — his compassion for his fellow man is what made him join the League. Doctor Fate and Wildcat both do it because they see it as their responsibility to aid the next generation of heroes. Canary wants justice; J'onn wants to bring hope. Zatara and Zatanna both sort of fell into the business and decided to stay. Aquaman wants to protect Atlantis."
"And Green Lantern?" Vixen was especially curious about him because she'd never actually met the man. Hal had ceased Green Lantern activities less than a week after she joined the Justice League. All she knew of him was that he was a Founder and he was currently on indefinite leave from superhero work.
Wonder Woman sighed. "That's difficult to say. I admit, out of all the people in the League, I find him the hardest to place."
Vixen raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"I first met Green Lantern on 9/11," explained Wonder Woman. "At the time, he was very new to this work, but he acquitted himself admirably during the crisis. When Superman suggested forming the League, Lantern was one of the first to volunteer. He's been an excellent hero — committed, brave, fair — but I've always had the feeling that he wouldn't have ventured into this life if the ring hadn't chosen him."
"Sorry, what?"
Wonder Woman paused. "How much do you know of the Green Lantern Corps, Vixen?"
"There's a Green Lantern Corps?"
Wonder Woman chuckled knowingly. "Yes. The Corps is an intergalactic peacekeeping organization founded by the Guardians of the Universe. Including ours, there are over 3,600 Green Lanterns, each with their own power ring, and each with their own sector of space to protect, or another important duty within the Corps itself."
"So they're like the universe's police?"
"In a manner of speaking. Green Lanterns are chosen for their fearlessness and strength of will. Usually the Guardians will appoint a Green Lantern based on the recommendation of the power ring; but in our Green Lantern's case, the ring came to him without returning to the Guardians first."
"And that's…rare?" Vixen guessed.
"Extremely. Unprecedented, in fact. Normally when a Green Lantern dies or resigns, his or her ring will seek out a few suitable candidates for replacement, but after that it returns to Oa and the final decision is made by the Guardians. Our Green Lantern was specifically chosen by his ring, and as far as I've been able to determine, that is the reason he became a hero."
"Because a ring chose him?"
"Because he feels he shouldn't decline the responsibility."
Vixen mulled over that for a second. "So what's happening now? Where is he?"
Wonder Woman sighed. "I'm not sure."
"Do you think he's going to come back? It's been over a month."
"That depends. The ring is an enormous responsibility, and there's only so long one can carry it if one only accepted it in order to not disappoint others. The ring chose him, but he needs a reason to choose this life for himself. If he can't find that reason, I don't think he'll be back."
It was just past noon when Hal returned to Coast City. He hovered in the sky, observing the city he had protected for three years. This was the last time he would be able to look at it this way, with the whole skyline laid out before him, and he wanted to capture the image in his mind.
"Oh, you're back."
Hal turned to see Star Sapphire floating beside him, her purple aura glowing in the afternoon sun.
"I was wondering where you'd gotten to," she continued. "Thought I'd see you occasionally on my flights around the city."
"I haven't really…been around."
"No kidding. I think I've been doing your job for you this past month." She stated it very factually, but Hal wondered if the tiny hint of resentment in her tone was just his imagination. "Where have you been? Oa?"
"How do you know about Oa?" he asked suspiciously, remembering now that Star Sapphire had also known how his ring worked. For a new hero with presumably no connection to the Green Lantern Corps, she was remarkably well informed about them.
Star Sapphire's expression was a cross between surprise and puzzlement. "Don't you know anything about the Lantern Corps' history?"
"Not much," Hal admitted.
"Not one for books, are you?" she commented.
"Not really. Are you going to tell me?"
"Don't be lazy. Go look it up — Zamaron."
"Zamaron?" Hal recognized the name of the planet Lianna was from. "Is that where you're from?" He'd thought the Zamarons would look more like Lianna and the other Guardians than humans.
Star Sapphire smirked. "No."
The old Hal would have pried some more, but this one was still reeling from the attack on Oa, and he didn't really care. Once he reached the ground and took off his ring, Star Sapphire would be somebody else's problem.
"Well, I don't need to know, anyway," he said indifferently. "You can educate the new Green Lantern on the Corps' history."
She frowned. "The new Green Lantern?"
"I resigned."
"You quit?" She sounded shocked. "Why would you do that?"
"Don't judge me," he said harshly. "You have no idea what I've been through."
"You're right, I don't." Star Sapphire crossed her arms. "All I know is you've been MIA since your friend died, and you left the protection of the city up to me."
"I never asked you to do it."
"Somebody had to."
"Look," said Hal in annoyance, "I don't know you. You don't know me. I never asked you to get involved in this work. But you seem to have things under control, and frankly, I can't do this anymore. So yes, I quit the Corps. But you don't get to judge me just because you decided to be Coast City's protector."
Her cool gaze of disappointment was very familiar — it was an expression he'd seen on Carol's face many times. Hal was struck by a sudden sense of déjà vu.
"You always do this," she said scathingly. "You always disappear when people need you."
"Always? Watch the accusations. I told you, you don't know me."
"I thought you were better than this."
"Join the club," he said shortly. "I've disappointed a lot of people. Goodbye."
Without another word, Hal flew away. When he was certain Star Sapphire wasn't following him, he dove down and landed on the balcony of his house. His power ring dimmed the instant his feet touched the floor, but it still did not remove itself from his finger. Hal frowned at it.
"Why aren't you leaving?" he muttered.
Ganthet's words echoed in his mind. If you had become unfit to be a Green Lantern, the ring would have removed itself.
But it hadn't. His ring was dark, dull, but it adamantly refused to leave by itself.
"It doesn't matter," he murmured. "I can't use you anymore."
He slid the ring off his finger and flung it into the sky. It lit up, glowing green, and immediately started zooming through the air. Hal didn't bother watching where it went, instead retreating inside his home; but if he had, he would have seen it circling his house twice before it took off to the southeast.
A/N: *For those of you unfamiliar with my universe and wondering when the hell Diana joined the Justice Society or how everyone in the team died (or why Barry Allen was part of the JSA)...it's too long to explain here. You can either go read the rest of the Tales of Diamond Earth (go, go, go! ;) or shoot me a PM to ask.
Chapter Eight out on Friday!