July was a very busy month for me, but here I am now! Enjoy!

With a speed boost from his power ring, Hal was able to leave Earth's atmosphere in minutes, something that would normally take hours. He gritted his teeth, not being in the mood for anything to slow him down. He had created a giant green bubble with his ring, and in it were the rest of the Vanguardians. Even Superman, for all his powers, still needed oxygen and an atmosphere to breath, so he had to be kept in the bubble as well. Stark had actually been working on an suit designed for space flight, but he didn't have time to finish it up. He simply went and got a suit that he just completed, which was the same as his old suit with the addition of some grey areas.

And in front of them was the Kree vessel. It was a dark gray spaceship with blue Tron-line lines spread across the whole thing. Hal narrowed his eyes, while Cap just looked at the ship in awe He just couldn't believe that he was actually up in space; even with everything else that had changed since he was thawed out of the ice, he had taken comfort in the fact that he was at least still grounded on Earth; now, not even that was true.

He looked down at the Earth. They were just above North America; it all looked so big, and he let out a 'hmm' before looking away, daunted by all of this.

"You okay, Steve?" Barry asked, noting Cap's discomfort.

"This is all so weird, Barry," Cap replied, rubbing his neck. "We are actually up in outer space. You wouldn't believe how awestruck I was when I heard about the moon landing in '69…and now…now I'm up in space. Isn't it a lot to take in?"

"It is. I'll give you that," Superman piped in, which caused Iron Man to jump a little.

"You, Superman? You're a spaceman," Iron Man pointed out, extending out his arms. "You came here from space! How on Earth can it be uneasy for you?"

"Just became I'm from another planet doesn't mean it's not weird for me to travel into space. I was still raised in Kansas, you know."

Iron Man just shrugged. "Right. Okay."

Cap looked down at the planet one more time, before looking at Hal. He wondered what it must be like, to travel across the stars. For Hal, going from the Milky Way to the Andromeda Galaxy was just like what going from the United States to the United Kingdom would be like for a normal person. But it was one thing to leave the country, and another to leave the planet. They were not exactly leaving the galaxy – they were just going by the moon – but it was still an odd sensation. He looked at his shield, and he placed his free hand on it. Whatever challenges the Kree had in store for him, he would be ready to face them. Nothing would make him back down.

But he was perfectly willing to scratch his head. "Why isn't Hal saying anything?"

"The ring only gives him the ability to travel in space," Barry answered. "It can't change the whole thing about space being completely silent."

"…Oh. Right. I totally know that's how space works. I swear," Cap replied, feeling a bit like an idiot.

"Oh, don't worry, you're fine."

"No he's not, Barry," Iron Man piped in, to which Cap just rolled his eyes. "Steve, astronomy has taken massive leaps since your time in the ice. Pick up the pace, Captain."

Superman shook his head. "Save the smartass comments for later, Iron Man. We got work to do."

Then, suddenly, the Kree ship began to blast at Hal, and he was forced to divert his path just to get away from the blasts. It was here that Cap noted the silence in space, as the blasts weren't making any sounds at all. But he could perfectly hear himself and the other Vanguardians bouncing across the green bubble as Hal struggled to dodge the Kree ship.

Cap felt defenseless, and it would have been dumb of him to think otherwise. If the Kree blasted at Hal, then the rest of the Vanguardians would be forced into the harsh vacuum of space. If Superman couldn't survive in space, what chance did Cap have?

*This is the Kree Empire, contacting the 'Vanguard of Justice'*, Minn-Erva shouted into the Vanguardians' ear comms. They were all taken aback by this – how did the Kree hack into their ear comms?

*If you are here for Carol Danvers of Boston, she is but our lab rat. She must be taken to our home planet so that we can complete our experiments on her. And you must -*

*Are you crazy?!* Another voice shouted, this one a bit higher-pitched. *We have to silence them! Do you not see the Green Lantern?!*

*…Right* the original voice replied. *Everyone, kill the Green Lantern and take its ring before it can go back to Oa*

But by this point, Hal had made it all the way to the ship. He had used that ear comm conversation and the brief moment of bickering to get all the way to the bottom of the ship. He detached himself from the green bubble, leaving the other four Vanguardians sitting around in space while he began to slowly undo the bottom of the ship. After a few moments, he managed to do just that, and Kree soldiers and objects began to get sucked out of the ship and into space. The removed part was just floating there in space, like the bubble, but then Hal reconnected himself to the green bubble and flew himself and the other four Vanguardians in. He made sure to very quickly reattach the removed part of the ship, and after that, they were in the clear.

The green bubble disintegrated, and everyone, who were all ten inches above the ground, landed hard onto the ground. Cap groaned as he got up, and he still couldn't believe this. He was above the Earth, on a spaceship. But he shook his head. He had to focus on helping to take out the Kree.

He wanted to scratch his head, though, when only two Kree soldiers were in sight. He expected that the whole ship would be charging towards them, but it felt like there was barely anyone here.

"Hardly an army they got here," Cap said as Hal dealt with the two Kree soldiers by creating a giant hammer and slamming them both into a wall with it.

"I bet you $10 that Carol broke out of whatever cell they were trying to keep her in," Hal replied, floating down until he was but five inches above the ground. "We just gotta worry about finding out where she is. I've only seen Kree ships from the outside, so I have no idea where they're keeping her."

"I'm trying to scan their ships right now," Iron Man piped up as the group began to travel across the ship. "It's alien tech, so it's taking me a minute…"

But then all of them began to hear massive thuds coming from the left of the ship. First, there was just one, and then there were three, and then there were eight. Everyone just looked at each other.

"Now, Hal," Iron Man said, raising his finger up. I'm willing to bet you $500 that Carol somehow has something to do with that."

"$500? Tony, we're not all billionaires!" Hal replied, rolling his eyes. "But yeah, Carol's got to be involved in that somehow. At least we know to go left."

When everyone found what was essentially a fork in the road, they did indeed turn left…and saw several Kree soldiers, all knocked out. And then two more were blasted towards the wall. The blast was a yellow color, confirming that yes, this was Captain Marvel.

She levitated 15 feet above the ground, and she looked down at her teammates with a smirk on her face. "Boys, you're not needed, I'm afraid. I got this."

Hal shook his head. "I've told you about how the relations between the Kree and the Corps work. We must be here, to make sure the Kree answer for their crimes on Earth."

"Right, right," Carol replied, before an electric blast was fired towards her, causing her to yell out as she was being electrocuted.

Barry narrowed his eyes. "Okay, no more chit-chat. Let's just take care of these whackjobs."

To that end, when four Kree soldiers showed up with their guns ready, Barry created wind funnels with his hands and sent them flying away with the sheer push generated from the wind funnels. Iron Man then seized the opportunity and blasted at the same four soldiers with his blasters as they got up, and they were all knocked out in a matter of moments.

Cap lunged his shield towards the wall, and it bounced its way in the direction of another soldier, who fainted onto the ground after the shield clashed with his helmet. Another soldier blasted at him, and just barely managed to graze his shoulder. Cap grimaced and held his shoulder, as that hurt more than a bullet that grazed his shoulder back in the 40s did. He grunted, and the soldier seized the opportunity to shoot at the Captain again, only for Superman to zoom into to the way. The blast did not effect him at all, and the Kree soldier notably jumped at this. He tried to run, but Superman just flew towards him and decked him in the face, knocking him out.

However, Superman was then caught by surprise when a sudden force pushed him all the way to the wall. He turned his head, and saw Doctor Minerva, who had a look of curiosity on his face.

"You…" She said, her tone sounding as curious as her face. "I don't know why, but there's something off about you."

Superman zoomed towards her and decked her in the face twice before unleashing his heat vision upon her, sending her down to the ground. He dashed towards her again, but she was able to grab his throat and slam him towards the wall.

"What are you, exactly?"

Superman managed to break free of his grip, and decked Minn-Erva right in the face. "I'm a Kansan. But also a Kryptonian."

Minn-Erva's eyes widened. "A-a Kryptonian? Your species lives?! Oh, the Kree Empire will be dazzled when I bring you to Hala as well."

"You won't be taking either of us to Hala!" Carol shouted as she lunged towards Minn-Erva, tackling her down to the ground.

Minn-Erva spat in Carol's face, and tried to punch her. But Carol had her pinned to the ground, and she simply deflected Minn-Erva's punch.

"You cannot stand against the Kree Empire!"

"You can't just butt your way into our world, Minn-Erva!"

Minn-Erva smirked, and she kicked Carol in the chest, sending her away.

"If you truly believe that, Danvers, you are a naive fool. The Kree Empire is more powerful than you can imagine!"

She tried to swing another punch towards Carol, but the blonde blocked her punch again and head-butted her.

"Well, aren't you one to talk about underestimating a species, Minn-Erva! We'll do just fine against you."

"You and the Kryptonian will be taken to Hala, Carol Danvers! Whether either of you like it or not! You cannot stand against us!"

She then began to try and deck Carol in the face again. One thing that was becoming increasingly noticeable was that she wasn't letting out any blasts. It became apparent that she didn't have the ability to do such a thing, and that's where Carol's advantage lied.

She let out an energy blast towards Minn-Eva, who was not able to dodge it. She blasted at Minn-Erva again, but this time she was able to dodge and she kicked Carol right in the chest. She sent her towards the wall and then Minn-Erva began punching Carol in the face repeatedly. She did still have hand-to-hand combat, but it didn't do much good for her when Carol blasted her right in the face. Then Superman joined the fray, and began heat-visioning Minn-Erva right in the chest. He seemed to be holding back the true power of his heat vision so that it was just like getting punched really hard, and that's what Carol was also doing. She began blasting at her, also in the chest. Then Hal and Iron Man joined in the fray, and they were all blasting at Minn-Erva now. The Kree lady screamed in agony, as it was evidently too much for her to bear.

They all stopped at the same time, and Minn-Erva breathed heavily, looking exhausted and fatigued. Flash zoomed by and decked her in the face, and then Cap bashed her in the face with his shield, knocking her out.

"Surrender now, Kree soldiers!" Hal shouted, raising his arm up and showing that his ring was glowing. "You will all be standing trial before Oa anyway, so do not delay the inevitable."

The remaining Kree soldiers looked at each other before deciding to oblige, to which Hal smiled.

Just outside Coast City was another Kree vessel, and the Vanguard was back in Coast City itself – near the ruins of the bar, to be exact - with Minn-Erva and the Kree soldiers in chains. Among the Vanguardians was an alien Green Lantern, a 'Guardian of the Universe', and a Kree officer wearing what was essentially a male version of Minn-Erva's outfit. The GL was named Kilowog, and he was an eight foot tall pink creature with a huge face, the closest of which it could be compared to was a pig's face, and even then there were some big differences; Kilowog also had only four fingers on each hand, like a classic cartoon character. The 'Guardian' was named Ganthet, and was a three foot tall creature with blue skin, white hair with a ponytail, and a red/white gown with the Green Lantern symbol on his chest. Finally, the Kree officer was named Mar-Vell, and he was a blonde man around the same height as Cap and Hal. He had his arms crossed, and then he sighed.

"Vanguardians, on behalf of the Kree Empire, I apologize for the deaths caused by Minn-Erva and her forces. And Ganthet, again on behalf of the Kree Empire, I apologize for never discovering that Minn-Erva had came here into GL space and violated our agreement. I will help make sure she and her forces stand trial for her actions."

Ganthet nodded. "The other Guardians are not happy with the Kree, but I personally hold nothing against you or the Empire about this, Mar-Vell. Sometimes, events just slip under our noses. Happens to the best of us."

Mar-Vell smiled. "That's good to hear," and then he turned his attention towards Carol, and seemed to study her for a moment. "…You know what? That suit looks good on you. You can keep it. But that will have to be kept a secret from the Kree Empire."

Carol chuckled. "Yeah, don't worry about me telling them anything."

"I like this planet, honestly. I wish I could stay. But duty calls back at Hala."

Now Kilowog was the one laughing. "This planet is just adorable, Mar-Vell," he said, before looking down at Hal and slapping him hard on the back. "Ya hear that, poozer? Your planet is just something real special."

Hal rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

"Oh, and tell Alan Scott I say hi."

Hal jumped, looking absolutely flabbergasted. "Wait, what?! Since when do you know Alan?"

Before Kilowog could answer, Ganthet piped in. "Come, Kilowog. We must begin the preparations for trial. Hal, I want you in Oa soon as well."

Kilowog snorted. "Be on time for once, would ya, Poozer?"

"Come now, Kilowog," Ganthet piped in in response. "Tease Hal later."

Then Kilowog encased Mar-Vell and the Kree prisoners into a green bubble and flew away towards the ship outside the city, while Ganthet flew under his own power.

Hal looked up, and he sighed and rubbed his neck. "Man, I wonder what I'm gonna do now that my identity's been exposed."

"Oh, don't worry about that," a feminine voice said. A blonde woman tapped Hal's shoulder, and while the Green Lantern didn't recognize her, Captain America did. It was Sharon Carter.

"Agent Carter…" Cap muttered, stunned and surprised to see Sharon here.

"Director Fury took all the survivors in the bar and placed them under S.H.I.E.L.D custody. They'll have their memories wiped of your identity, Mr. Jordan."

Hal let out a sigh of disgust. "You people are just a bunch of rats, you know that? A bunch of dirty, no-good, morally decadent little cun –"

Cap tapped Hal's shoulder, and let out a glare that told Hal he needed to just shut up.

He then walked towards Sharon, and had a confused look on his face.

"Off the record, I wish things could be different," Sharon lamented, looking down at the ground for a few moments. "But it is what it is,"

Then she gave Cap a small piece of paper.

"I never gave you my number, Cap. I had other things on my mind last time we saw each other. If you don't want to call or text after…well, this…I get it. But either way, take care."

Sharon walked away, and Cap just looked at the sheet of paper for a moment. Then he asked Superman to give him a lift him, and the Man of Steel obliged and the two flew off. Iron Man then flew off as well, leaving behind just Barry, Hal, and Carol.

"Hey guys, I just wanted to give my condolences to the lives lost here. It's a hard truth that we can't save everyone sometimes..."

Carol and Hal looked at each other, and then nodded towards Barry, who zoomed off after saying thanks.

The two Coast City inhabitants took to the skies, and Carol couldn't help but remember that night at the bar again.

"Ah," Carol replied, and there were a few moments of silence before the night at the bar came back into her memory. "Hal…I want to thank you again, for the night we truly became friends. I know you mainly believed me because of your little trip to Oa, but it was still nice to see someone having my back."

Hal smiled. "Carol, I would've had your back anyway. I don't know if I would've believed you, but I know I still would have helped stand up for you. Those guys were real assholes."

"Aw, thanks Hal. Guess someone's gotta stick up for the nutjobs."

"Indeed. And speaking of which, we should really rebuild that bar now that I think of it."

"Yeah, I already had that in mind. I just wanted to get this out of system. Hal, I'm just glad to have you in my life."

Hal smiled again. "And that's not a one way street, trust me."

The two then flew back towards the bar to help rebuild the bar, glad to being it together.

As Barry ran from Coast City all the way to Central City, he couldn't help but get the feeling that something was watching him and following him. But he wondered, for not even Superman could keep up with him when he was going at his top speed.

He first stopped in the deserts of Utah, and looked around, seeing, nothing. Then, as he found himself in the fields and grasses of Nebraska, he felt that presence again, and stopped by Carhenge. It was closed for the day, so there was no one to recognize him. He looked around, but only a few cars could be seeing driving. There was no one. He stopped one final time when he reached his apartment complex, seeing no one.

Unbeknownst to him, there was a figure on a rooftop several blocks away. He appeared to be vibrating, but he wore a suit similar to the Flash's, except yellow with a black center instead of red with a white center. And his eyes glowed red.

The man let out a chuckle. "I look forward to our reunion, Barry," he said, before running off into the distance.