Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold (Especially Since Oa Doesn't Have Any Microwaves)

"How was training," Ch'p asked, floating over with his tray of some sort of plant-based food and sitting across from the teen.

Sam, who was still healing from the broken jaw, simply looked back at his tray, picking at the piece of pizza that sat there.

"That bad, huh?"

"Yep," the boy replied, finally picking up the pizza and taking a bite out of it. It was delicious, a lot better than the frozen pizza he and his mom could afford to buy, but it did little to block out the thoughts of that day earlier. "I got called out by the trainer guy, Kilowog, after accidentally insulting him and he broke my jaw."

The squirrel-like alien laughed. "Is that all? He does that to everybody! You're not special!" The alien shook his head. "You humans sure are self-centered, are you?"

"It's not a self-centered thing; if anything, I don't want him singling me out! Besides, it just seemed like he was picking on me because I'm the youngest," Sam muttered, taking another bite of his pizza.

"Maybe just today, but you can't expect to be the butt of ridicule and beat downs every day. This is just your first day; of course it's gonna be a little rough!"

"Well if everyday's like this one, then maybe-"

"Maybe you should say hello to someone who might be able to help," a voice said, and the two beings turned to look at the person who just joined their table, and it was someone Sam recognized. Hal Jordan, the first human Green Lantern, and member of the Justice League. "May I sit down?"

"S-Sure," the teen sputtered, gawking at the superhero as he sat down next to him. Sure, this guy was a Green Lantern, but so was everyone else on Oa; but on Earth, Hal was a hero, a beacon of hope and inspiration for humans across the globe. The man had chestnut brown hair, and blue eyes, though whenever he wore a mask, his eyes became a solid white, like a cartoon character. Sam wondered if he should wear a mask, but he figured Hal only wore it to protect his identity or something.

"So," the hero said, pouring some ranch onto his salad, "you're the newest human recruit, right?"

"Yeah," Sam nodded.

"I know it's probably tough, being on a new planet and the environment/culture radically changing around you, I want you to know I'd be happy to help you whenever I can. I'm on Oa for a day before I have to go back to my Sector, but I should be coming back every once in a while, and would be happy to talk if you need someone to talk to."

"Thanks," the teen replied, smiling a little.

"And me too," Ch'p added, drawing the attention back to him. "I'd be happy to help as well."

Hal chuckled. "I know that, Ch'p, but sometimes you need someone from your own species to talk to, and it was either me or Guy."

"That's pretty smart." Sam had heard that Guy had an... interesting personality, and was secretly relieved that Hal had shown up.

"So Sam," Hal continued, turning back to the kid, "how're you holding up so far?"

"OK," the boy replied, avoiding the man's gaze. "Ch'p showed me around and told me about the planet, the Corp, ring stuff, and taught me to fly. I had training earlier today, and-"

"HAL JORDAN!"

Looking up, the boy's face blanked when he saw the familiar figure of Kilowog walking towards them, a large tray of food in his hands and a huge grin on his face. Then, to his further surprise, Hal smiled widely, getting up from his chair to greet the alien.

"Kilowog, my man! Long time no see!"

"So you finally come to visit, and you don't tell me," the pink alien demanded, snorting indignantly while Sam shrank in his seat, trying not to draw any attention to himself. "Typical Poozer." Sam noted he called Hal by that name, but the teen could tell that it was almost friendly by the tone. The alien was acting so differently from the trainer he'd seen hours before, the teen wondered if he was hallucinating; what did they put in the food here?

"Aw, don't be like that," the man said jokingly. "I still have some time to fill you in on my misadventures in Sector 2814, so why don't you join us? I was just asking Sam here about his first day on Oa," he added, indicating to the small human who jumped at the mention of his name.

Cautiously glancing over, Sam saw the drill sergeant's eyes narrow slightly at him, probably still miffed about the kid's comment from earlier, but he quickly brightened, saying, "Great idea, Hal! I think I will." He stomped over to the other side of the table, plopping down next to Ch'p, sitting diagonally across from the teen. Hal sat down as well, turning expectantly towards the teen.

"You were saying?"

"Wha- … o-o-oh, yeah," the teen muttered, trying not to look at the combat training officer, who started chewing some sort of meat, staring at him intently as he waited for his answer. "Well… Ch'p showed me around-"

"You already said that," the small furry alien piped up. "Get to the part with your training!"

"Yeah," Kilowog said seriously, all traces of the drill sergeant-ness from before gone, replaced with a mildly interested demeanor, which was somehow scarier. "Get ta that part. Did I do a good job, in your opinion?"

Sam's hand unconsciously jumped to his jaw, but he quickly brought it back down before anyone else could notice (though he believed Kilowog noticed), looking down at his tray. "Y-Yeah, you did a pretty good job. Really… really got our blood pumping." He shot a quick glance at Kilowog, seeing if he'd said the wrong thing, but the alien's face betrayed nothing. "It-It was p-pretty cool, though, seeing other species for the first time. There was this set of conjoined twins that shared one ring, which I thought was pretty cool. And this other woman-"

"Seemed pretty focused on the other Poozers," Kilowog commented, taking another bite of his grey meat. "Didn't you get anything out of the training exercise?" The way he said it implied that Sam wasn't paying attention, or that he was only interested in the other Rookies, and that infuriated the boy.

A brief memory of the construct of the whole armada flashed in Sam's mind, but he kept his face steady as his heart beat furiously, still angry at being humiliated like that. Suddenly, an idea came to him, and his body relaxed, though his fist clenched underneath the table. It was probably a stupid idea, based on what had happened earlier, but he needed to show the guy that he wasn't gonna be pushed around, and that he was strong enough to be a Green Lantern someday. Besides, he figured he needed to start somewhere with construct making.

"Well," he said smiling, staring down the large alien, "I do remember that one important lesson you mentioned near the end of the lesson."

"And what was that," the trainer demanded, chewing the meat.

"It was something about the enemy never playing fair, and I agree. I'll make sure to keep that in mind." The teen took a sip of his drink, flexing the hand that was underneath the table at the same time. With that, Kilowog's tray suddenly flipped upward in one quick motion, hitting the alien in the face and knocking him off his chair, sending him crashing to the floor.

Ch'p got knocked backwards by one of the sergeant's flailing arms, Hal stood up quickly to see if he was okay, and Sam picked up his pizza, innocently taking a bite of it, though pretending to look confused and concerned as well. Several Lanterns at the nearby tables started and turned to see what had happened, a few of them stifling laughs. The teen was surprised his plan actually worked, but his interior celebration was cut short by an enraged roar from Kilowog.

"WHO DID THAT?!" The pink alien climbed to his feet, covered with bits of meat, some sort of sauce, and bits of leafy greens. His face was full of rage (as well as more of the sauce), and he was breathing heavily as he looked around him; everyone quickly turned back to their own trays, pretending not to have heard him. Ch'p climbed to his feet, dazed, and Sam swallowed his bite of pizza, watching the scene unfold.

Hal cut in. "Kilowog, what hap-"

"Someone flipped my tray," he replied angrily, flicking some pieces of food off his uniform. "When I find out who it is I'll-" He cut off, noticing the teen sitting nearby, still eating his pizza and watching the situation with a mild fascination. "YOU," he growled, his eyes narrowing as Hal and Ch'p also glanced at the boy. "You did this!"

"What," Sam asked innocently, looking up at the drill sergeant, pizza still in hand. "What makes you think I did it, Sir? I mean, I've been here less than 24 hours, and you saw how I was in training today; do I look like I have the skill or, as you put it earlier, the will to do something like that? If anything, it was probably a more seasoned Lantern," he added, gesturing to the nearby aliens, who'd quickly looked away to avoid Kilowog's right hook. "Besides, you all saw me taking a sip of my water when it happened."

"With your left hand," Kilowog cut in.

"So?"

"Your ring chooses your dominant hand, which happened to be out of view when my tray flipped on its own accord."

"I'm Ambidextrous," the boy countered, holding up both hands for all to see. "I can use each hand equally, so I don't have a dominant hand. The ring's on my right hand because that's the hand I happened to put it on when it came to me. And even though hand wasn't visible, that doesn't prove I did it. I know this isn't Earth, but I assume you still need evidence to convict somebody. Right, Sir?"

The stress on the final word was hard to miss, but it was the look in the teen's eyes that made Hal and Ch'p realize that the kid had flipped the tray. But Sam was right; without concrete evidence or an eyewitness, they couldn't accuse him of anything. Hal looked at the kid, who was staring at Kilowog defiantly, wondering why he seemed to almost resent the Bolovaxian, and Ch'p started to realize that whatever Kilowog must've done during the training session must've ticked the teen off more than he let on.

Kilowog, however, continued to huff, bits of sauce dripping down his forehead and chin as he glared at the teenager, who stared smugly back at him. They both knew that Sam was lying about his innocence, but there was no way the boy would talk, and Kilowog couldn't make him. Without another word, Kilowog used his ring to pick up the fallen food and tray, giving the kid one last dirty look before stomping towards the tray drop-off, several Lanterns scrambling out of his way.

Ch'p and Hal turned towards the boy, who was finishing his pizza. "Did you-"

"I'll never tell," Sam said mysteriously, taking another sip of his water.

"You should know that fighting and being petty isn't allowed on Oa," Ch'p said angrily, his arms crossed. "And the punishment for those that are caught are far more severe than those on Earth."

"Good thing it wasn't me, then." Sam finally finished his meal, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "It was nice to meet you, Hal Jordan," he added, shaking the man's hand. "And if you're ever back on Oa, I'll make sure to say hi."

" … Thanks," Hal said as the kid turned to leave. "Wait!"

"Hm?"

"Uh… I got something for you," he said, taking out a small black device and tossing it to the boy. "Batman and I rigged it up a while ago for when he needed to call me or another human Lantern to Earth. You can use that to text your mom; I assume you have her phone number?" Sam nodded, staring at the small machine. "It has a limit on how many words you can use, so make sure you say everything you want to say before you run out, and don't text too often. Remember, this isn't summer camp; this is the Green Lantern Corp, and training should be your top priority."

"I… I will." Sam looked up at the Green Lantern, a big smile on his face. "Thanks!" And then he left, taking his tray towards the drop-off.

"You know he did it, right," Ch'p demanded, turning towards the human Lantern.

"Yeah, I do."

"Are you gonna turn him in, lie and say you saw him do it?"

"No. No major harm was done. Besides, it makes sense that he would snap like that; he's young, misses his mom, and just had his first training session with Kilowog. Let's be glad that he didn't flip the whole table!"

The furry alien nodded, turning back to where the teen was sitting. "You humans… are pretty emotional at that age, are you?"

"Yep," Hal said simply, sitting back down to his own meal. "The kid may have a rough training session tomorrow, but he beat Kilowog today; how many Lanterns can say that?"

Kilowog angrily stood in the shower, still clothed, washing off the food residue that covered the upper half of his body. He could always dry his uniform off, but it was still a hassle just the same to spend time cleaning up after that kid. Remembering that teen's smug face as he lied and said he didn't flip his tray, the mocking way he said, "Sir," and-

He growled, turning off the spigot with some force as he created several fan constructs, which rushed all around his body, drying it in a matter of seconds. Looking in a nearby mirror, he was satisfied with his appearance, although he was still miffed with having to fly across Oa covered with his dinner. He was the Head Combat Training Officer, and he took pride in his position. Even though he was supposed to train and look after all the Rookies, including the human, he was still angry at the kid for humiliating him.

You mean like how you humiliated him, he thought to himself, tromping towards his room.

That was different; that was hazing and teaching him a lesson. Besides, he mentioned my whole species being wiped from existence. How did he even know that?

Who cares? He's young, the youngest Lantern ever, and dumb, and it's your job to make sure he doesn't die on duty.

Kilowog sighed, laying down on his bed and looking up at the ceiling. Sometimes he hated thinking to himself, because he always made sense. Usually, he let his fists and constructs do the talking, and didn't fall into any moral dilemmas. Like now, for instance; he wanted to protect the kid and prepare him adequately for the harshness of the universe, but the teen was infuriating beyond belief (even more so than Guy). He understood that the boy was young and immature, but he was chosen to wield the ring for a reason. Kilowg didn't need to know or care why; he just had to train them.

"So I'll train him," he said out loud, his voice briefly echoing in the silence. "But I don't have to be his friend or be easy on him."

Dear Mom,

Sorry for being drafted into an intergalactic police force with headquarters on a planet several hundred light years away. Unfortunately, it appears that I'm stuck here for a while, training until I get assigned an area of space to protect. I'll get to come home for a short while then, but then I'll be gone for even longer.

I miss you a lot… and I love you.

At least most of the aliens here are nice; Ch'p is a talking rodent alien that looks like a squirrel but hates that comparison. He's fiery at times, but kind; he's the one that explained everything about Oa (the planet I'm on) and the Green Lantern Corps. There's over 7,000 members, and whenever one of them dies, their ring goes to find a new wielder. That means that someone died before the ring came to me, which is depressing to think about. I don't know much about the ring's previous owner, but they appeared to be well respected and strong.

I only hope I can live up to that standard.

I also met Hal Jordan. He's one of the human Lanterns and a member of the Justice League. According to him, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter came to talk to you about what happened to me. Lucky! Martian Manhunter's my favorite League member, so I'm a little jealous, though it's still cool to meet a member of the Justice League. I've also met many other aliens here on Oa, including this guy named Tomar, who had a bird's beak and talks with a British accent (for some reason). I've also met some in my training group, but I'm not close with them yet.

The only person I dislike is Kilowog, the Combat Training Officer/Drill Sergeant. He's about seven or eight feet tall, pink, and looks like he doesn't need a magic ring to break me or anyone in half. He's gruff, loud, and hard to please. Only one person from the group managed to complete the exercise he gave us on the first day, but she got punched in the face (don't worry; she's not human, so its OK, apparently, though it seems wrong).

I'm the youngest rookie ever, which means I'll be the youngest Green Lantern ever. That's a lot of pressure on someone who was forced into this a day ago, so I hope I can manage. More importantly, I hope you are doing OK with this whole change. If I could come home, I would, and mark my words; I'll do my best to come home as soon as possible.

I'm nearly out of words, so I'll say goodbye for now, and I love you.

I'll come home eventually. I promise.

Sam.

As you can tell, Kilowog and Sam probably aren't off to a good start, but it's only his first day. Will they become friends? Only time will tell.

Is anyone else here Ambidextrous? I'm not (I'm right handed) but I've always found it super cool that some people could use both hands equally.

Also, what that metal band around Sam's head is explained in the next chapter!

I hope you all enjoy the story so far, and please favorite/follow if you want more, and feel free to leave a review!

Have a great day, everyone!

-aggiefrogger