Legendary Scorpio

Chapter 6

Aliens Among Us

"That had to have been the weirdest police report my dad has ever gotten." Ten minutes ago, my dad calls me and tells me that an armored truck was being jacked by a couple of punks using some weirdo… Y-shaped bazookas that fired red beams out of the barrel. I almost got close to the address before I felt the usual "look out behind you!" buzz in my head. I landed on a flagpole and looked around before I used the optical zoom in my mask to locate the truckjackers; one a dude with a green mohawk wearing a brown cargo jacket and the other a dude with a familiar looking mullet with a gray shirt and a black t-shirt over it. "Gotcha!" I jumped off the flagpole…

…and immediately got kicked right into somebody's apartment building. I regained consciousness moments later with a couple guys looking right at me. "You okay dude?" One of the guys asked me as I walked over to the hole in the wall and looked around outside. 'Damn… they got away.' "Yeah. I'll help fix the wa-" My promise was interrupted by a yellow glowing fist wrapping around me and chucking me about five blocks away. I shot a strand of web at a building ahead of me and tried to swing, but I got kicked back to the ground again. "Ow… I'm definitely gonna miss the concussion and the broken ribs when I retire again." That same yellow fist that wrapped around me the first time wrapped around me again, but this time it lifted me up and I came face-to-face with a purple elf in a yellow glowing outfit… one that looks almost exactly like…

"Who are you?" I asked the elf. I was trying to struggle out of the hand's grip, to no avail. I couldn't break free. What was worse is that he was squeezing the life out of me; making it more painful with the broken ribs. "You, my young friend, can call me Sinestro. And you?" Sinestro pulled off my mask… "You're Hal's nephew." He pulled the mask back on over my face. "You tell your uncle that I'm looking for him. And I will kill him." With that, he chucked me about three cities over. I finally stopped flying through the air after I landed in a rooftop pool in Manhattan. 'Oh… atomic flying bellyflops… extremely painful… never do again…'

A while later, I finally lowered myself to ground floor. Walking through the crowd of fans, sadly ignoring their autograph and picture requests, I made it to an empty part of the city when I heard a honk behind me; it was Hal. "Jake? What're you doing here?" I stuck a thumb out pretending to hitchhike, so he rolled down his window for me to hop in, but I couldn't hop. "Why didn't you hop in? That's what the convertible part's for, buddy." "I can't feel my anything Hal… I'm in serious pain right now. There's no hopping for me right now…" Hal looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"I was following up on a case Dad got in, a couple of thugs looking to score with a bunch of Y-shaped bazookas, when all of a sudden I get kicked into a building by some invisible something or other, then I get tossed like a ragdoll five blocks away by a big glowing yellow hand… then I get lifted up and come face-to-face with a purple elf with a creepy mustache." We started to slow down, so I looked at Hal and he looked like he saw a ghost. "He was wearing a yellow version of your Lantern outfit. Called himself Sinestro, Hal. Dude called you out." A sudden stop sends me face first into Hal's glove compartment. "This is so not my day…" "Listen carefully, Jake." Hal said to me sternly. "Sinestro is a dangerous opponent. He fights with fear similar to how the Green Lantern fights with the power of will. Keep following that case. This is one fight you have to stay out of, no matter what." I looked at Hal with a weak face, barely even paying attention to his words. "You lost me after listen, Hal… I need to go pass out on my bed. Find me tomorrow, then repeat everything you just said."

Three taxis and a subway later and I finally make it back home. "Jake! Where were you?" My dad asked me after I got back home. "I haven't heard from you all day and it's 8:00 at night." "Tell you tomorrow… need sleep…" I sleepily, and painfully, dragged myself to bed…

…and woke up with a giant chicken staring right at me and scaring me to death and making me fall off of whatever I was just laying on. "My dearest apologies, young man." I heard the chicken say. "No big deal, Chicken-Man," I said from the floor. "Just a heart attack… maybe even a stroke… think I pierced a lung…" I heard Chicken-Man chuckle a little. "Your wit is as Hal tells me. I'm interested in how a superhuman was chosen to be a Green Lantern when he already has the powers and physiology of a spider." That made me come back to my senses, so I stood up and looked at him. "Okay, I give. Who are you?" I noticed he was wearing a Green Lantern's outfit similar to Hal's. "You're a Green Lantern…" "That is correct. My name is Tomar-Re, and…" "Wait wait wait just one minute…" I interrupted. "You said a Green Lantern ring chose me?" I looked down and noticed my entire light brown costume was replaced with a green shirt and green and black pants. Then I looked on my hand and noticed a Green Lantern ring. "Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps." Tomar-Re said to me.

"I… you… I'm…" A minute of standing there, mouth agape, and I still couldn't find the right words. "Are you telling me I'm a member of one of the most powerful superhero teams in the universe?" "Well… we aren't exactly superheroes, Jacob. We're an Intergalactic Police Force." Tomar-Re corrected me. "Like… the Plumbers?" I asked curiously. "Somewhat." He all of a sudden started glowing green and floated. "Hey, chickens CAN fly." I said before doing exactly what he did. "You learn quickly, Jacob." I gave a grin.

Sometime later, while we were flying around the planet and showing me around, I had a thought. "Hey, Tomar-Re, if I'm a Green Lantern now… did that mean someone died?" "Unfortunately, yes. But it might have been someone on the far corners of the universe. It takes many, many years for a Lantern to get there by conventional transportation, so your new ring might've taken a lot longer." Tomar-Re mentioned. That didn't make me feel any better. "I almost forgot!" I said after a facepalm. "My dad has me on a case. Is there a fast way to get to Earth?" "Yes. All you have to do is open a wormhole to the earth in space. You'll have no problem." I thanked him then flew off towards space.

I opened a wormhole, and ended up in Earth's atmosphere and about an hour later, ended up in a partially destroyed section of the city. "What… happened here…?" The spider sense buzzed in my head to tell me of danger, which just so happened to be a giant fist punching me out of the air. I regained my composure and looked up at whoever punched me. "Hello Jake, I was waiting for you." My eyes went wide at who it was. "S-Sinestro?" He flew down to me and faced me. "W-what did you mean you were expecting me?" He simply grinned. "It means I was expecting you. Honestly, weren't you born here? I'd expect you to know your own sayings." Before I know it, I'm suddenly blasted back by an explosion, a cannon.

"Can you guess whose Lantern ring you got, little Jake?" I raised an eyebrow. "That's an awfully cryptic question. I don't know very m-" I don't know very many Green Lanterns… Lantern rings pass from one user to the next… "But what Tomar-Re said…" "Is true." Sinestro said to me. "Can you guess whose ring you got now?" "After I told Hal that you called him out…" "He challenged me to a fight, and I easily overpowered him." I was so surprised, it felt like my eyes were gonna pop out of my skull. "He was one of the best Green Lanterns in the Corps. How'd you beat him?" "I went all over the universe, causing mayhem and terror on planets and systems alike." "The Yellow Lanterns get stronger off of fear…" And I was definitely feeling afraid right about now. "That's right!" He tried throwing a punch at me, but I pushed myself backwards and avoided it. "You can't run forever, Jake." My spider sense buzzed and another explosion occurred behind me and blasted me towards him, with Sinestro creating a wall for me to slam into. "Okay… ribs are officially shattered now!" I wanted a wrap around my chest with an ice pack… and my thoughts were granted. It actually even seemed to help. "Alright Sinestro, you want to kill me next? Well you won't be able to kill what you can't catch!" I pulled a 180 and flew away from him as fast as I could.

I was dodging all his attacks, thanks to the help of good ol' Mr. Spider Sense. I finally got us out to a deserted island off-coast so I was able to really fight him. "Ah, I see what you're doing. You wanted to save all the rest of the city. Since you can't beat me anyway, I'll humor you." He got into a position that looked like somebody was building up energy, then he created a colossal titan in his image. 'What an egotistical…' "Sinestro Corps, huh? You got quite an ego." "Let's see what you're capable of, then."

I smirked and started to fly away from him, then I turned back around and aimed a cannon right at him. When I fired a cannonball at him, it simply bounced off his titan like a bouncy ball against a brick wall. "Okay, that was just a warm up." I created a big pirate ship that I intended to ram him with, but that failed just the same. Once I rammed into him, the bow of the ship was simply obliterated. Then I made a giant wrecking ball and swung it around as fast as I could, while also making arm wraps to keep my arms in place so they don't dislocate. Then I flew towards him just as fast as I went spinning the wrecking ball and slammed Sinestro with the ball. Now THAT actually did something. "Lucky shot, boy. But you won't get anymore in. I can smell the fear on you. It smells divine." 'That's totally not the creepiest thing I've ever heard in my entire life.'

It wasn't enough though. He brought his hand in to try and swat me out of the air, but I was able to fly out of the way. I pushed myself off a wall construct to get some distance between him and me, and then I heard my phone ring. I pushed the answer button on my receiver and, before I was able to say anything, the caller immediately started talking. "J-Jake…" That was a familiar voice, but it caused me to grin. "Hey Sinestro! Guess who I have on the phone!" "It can't be…" Now I definitely wasn't afraid anymore. I made a gigantic fist and punched Sinestro's construct in the face. That sent him flying back towards the city, but then another giant hand grabbed Sinestro's foot and pulled him back towards the city. After that, I made my own construct and start beating on him. He was able to counter one, though, and kicked me backwards. "You'll never beat me, boy! You're a Green Lantern! I'm Yellow! Fear overrides will and I WILL kill you! Then I'll kill Hal Jordan all over again!" "You'll have to kill me first! And you wanna know something, Sinestro? I'm a Kryptonian descendant, and we have kind of a hard time dying!" Sinestro flew towards me, but I picked him up, flew up in the air, and threw him as hard as I could down to the island, then ended with a big punch right to the part of his construct that shields him. His construct faded, leaving him laying on the ground in defeat.

Some time later, Hal told me where he was, so I flew over to his location. "It takes a lot to beat Sinestro, Jake." I chuckled a little, and gave the ring to him. "I believe this is yours, Hal." He looked confused at me. "Being a Green Lantern was fun, but not if it involves fighting dudes like Sinestro." The ring flew onto Hal's finger and he got his costume back. "Good thing it just changed the color of my costume." I said with a laugh.

That was not a fun distraction. After I got home, my dad was waiting for me. "Alright Jake, time for an explanation. Why didn't you catch the people with the bazookas?" "I kinda ran into somebody, and he kicked my ass. That's why I was dead tired when I went to bed last night." I replied nervously. "Well you're lucky we got another lead. Those bazookas were traced to a little town called Bellwood. Used by a gang who call themselves the Forever Knights." I looked at him confused. "So how am I supposed to get over there? It'll take a month by web swing." "Which is why your flight leaves tomorrow afternoon. You should get there in three hours by flight." Oh great. Three hours of boredom. "But don't go to their police." That didn't help my confusion.

"If I'm right, they won't know what's going on. I have a feeling that these bazookas are nothing I've ever seen on this planet. I've been around for a long time, and I've never seen anything like those weapons. You should keep that as secret as Scorpio." Was repeated in my head on the flight to Bellwood.