Summary: Green Lantern faces a big yellow two-headed bird. He would hate to tell the story like that.
Disclaimer: Green Lantern and all affiliated characters here are property of DC Comics, and I do not own them.
Chapter 8: L2
Canaima National Park, Bolívar, Venezuela.
The Green Lantern Corps was an intergalactic police force. Their mission, quite literally, was to protect the universe. They divided the seven thousand two hundred available Green Lanterns into 3600 sectors, with two Lanterns per sector. To carry out this mission, each Lantern wore a ring on their middle finger that granted them superhuman strength, great speed, the ability to fly through the universe via wormholes, and, most importantly, the power to create solid light constructs.
In theory, the ring was capable of creating absolutely anything the Green Lantern officer imagined. However, the duration, complexity, size, and power of the constructs depended entirely on the user's willpower and creativity. In fact, the 7200 rings sought out new recruits through an algorithm that measured the willpower of trillions of intelligent beings in the universe.
In the case of Hal Jordan, a test pilot for Ferris Aircraft Inc. in Coast City, California, he got his ring three weeks before he could return to Earth to search for a giant two-headed bird. Like the mythical Icarus, he flew too close to the sun in his Ferris E5-X, and when he lost control over the desert, he crashed into a passing spaceship. Inside the ship there was an alien. Because of course there was an alien inside.
Unlike the flying man with a penchant for Metropolis, although humanoid, the alien could never have passed as an ordinary human being. He had purple skin, very long ears that seemed to start from his lips, a small third eye on his neck (whose function Hal had spent two weeks asking other Lanterns to explain, unsuccessfully), and a giant wound on his chest, over his glowing green and black uniform. He was dying, and Hal had no idea how to save his life. He had never taken a course in alien biology, and his phone was fried after the impact.
The alien spoke perfect English and explained that he knew he was going to die, but that was just part of his duty. He told Hal that everyone dies someday, and the important thing was to do at least one decent thing for others before that. Now, it was Hal's turn to do good. Hal, who had already ignored enough reverends, amateur philosophers, and real estate salesmen in his life, didn't pay much attention until he found himself needing to.
"The ring guided me to you," he said.
"Ring?" Hal asked, while trying, at least, to cover the wound with his hands to prevent bleeding until help arrived. Maybe he had friends? Family?
"You are a good man, and that's why the ring guided me here. To you. You came to help me instead of worrying about your own injuries. That's what a true hero does."
His voice began to weaken. So did the emerald glow around him. Only then did Hal notice the ring on the ring finger of his right hand.
"Hey, come on, buddy, hang in there. Someone will surely come looking for you, don't give up," Hal said, looking around desperately for help, but there was no one around in the middle of the desert.
"Use the ring wisely, with justice and courage. And never forget the… the… oath…"
He died in his arms. As if by magic, less than a second later, the green ring slipped off his finger and floated in front of Hal, as if studying him for a moment. Hal hadn't had a drink in months, so he didn't wonder more than twice if this was really happening.
[Harold Jordan of Earth. You have the ability to overcome great fear.]
"That do I what?"
The ring, driven by its own brutal life force, forced itself onto the ring finger of his right hand, like a bride with a bad temper. Then, an emerald, shining uniform appeared around his body. Very tight black pants, green boots and white gloves, an emerald spandex suit stuck to his torso, a domino mask on his eyes, and a pair of circular symbols drawn on the shoulder guards. The first thing Hal thought was that the emblem represented an egg sandwich, but he forgot the thought when his entire body began to emit gleams like a beacon in all directions, and he began to float above the ground, leaving the alien corpse behind.
"Wait, wait, what are you…?"
[Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps.]
The rest, as they say, was history. A short one. Three weeks of history. A wormhole —green, obviously— opened in the stratosphere, to which he flew by magic, the ring forced him through it, and he found himself on a planet straight out of a sci-fi movie.
Oa. Flying ships, towering buildings with spectacular shapes, millions of the strangest and oldest creatures in creation inhabiting it. A group of them was also part of the intergalactic force that protected the universe, and they lived with their families on Oa. The Guardians of the Universe, a group of 4-feet tall beings with blue skin and long white robes, explained his role and the ring's basic functions to him. They told him that after the mandatory induction course by Lantern Kilowog, Hal would eventually be assigned a space sector with hundreds of planets to protect.
Hal tried to tell them he didn't understand a thing. They ignored him and said that he couldn't refuse, as he had been chosen by the ring, and the ring did not make mistakes. They also gave him some minor information details, such as having his own apartment in the east of Oa, near H'arue'n Bar, that he would be well paid for his services, that after completing training he would sign a contract for eight hours a day (as they apparently adjusted work to each Lantern's biological time), that he was replacing Abin Sur, the greatest Lantern ever, and that they had an excellent dental plan. He still didn't know if that had been a tasteless joke or not, because he didn't want to look at their mouths.
Finally, three weeks later, after receiving his emerald officer emblem shining in the center of his chest, he was back on Earth, fighting a Golden-Ruc, the leader of his species on Appellax, while competing with six other aliens who wanted to conquer Earth. And since the ring was kind of useless against yellow stuff —as he had just learned—, the bird was kicking his ass as if it were an intergalactic sport. He already had countless wounds on his abdomen, arms, legs, and face. And that was ok, because it meant he still had limbs. If it weren't for the natural protection the ring provided, his head would have been torn off long ago.
He was in a jungle, much of which had turned golden. The leaves didn't move, some animals had frozen in place, and he couldn't lift a single golden rock from the ground. And the Ruc continued to fly over the Venezuelan skies, descending to turn things into gold, while Hal tried to check if he had dislocated a shoulder or not.
"Alright, alright, this is nothing." Hal floated again and searched for the bird with his eyes, finding it to the west, heading towards a city. "Here we go."
The most curious thing was that he was sure he had heard and seen people in the nearby forests, but now there wasn't a single one of them. Not a single golden statue. Could they really have fled so quickly from the monster? It didn't seem very viable, because despite its size, it was absurdly fast and brutal.
"Ring, what town is that in the distance?"
[The city of Bolivar, Lantern Jordan.]
"How many people?"
[Four hundred fifty thousand eighty-two.]
"Of course."
He had to get its attention. He couldn't allow the Golden-Ruc to reach the city, not when there were so many people there. He couldn't save them all, nor could he think of a way to save just one. He had many things to figure out. How to call the bird back? How would he defeat it if he succeeded in calling its attention?
"Ring, how do I kill the Golden-Ruc?"
[The Ring is unable to use lethal force, Lantern Jordan.]
"Okay, so how do I get its attention?"
[That is for you to figure out, Lantern Jordan.]
"Huh, you're useless, have you ever been told that?"
[Twenty-six times before, Lantern Jordan. All of them were incorrect statements.]
Hal decided to stop talking and instead came up with something. Something stupid, but it might work. He raised his arm, his ring shone like an emerald sun, and he created in the sky a huge and hideous two-headed bird with a baseball in its mouth, just like the Ruc. Only to mess with it, he gave it long eyelashes, and the feathers on its hips were the shape of a kind of skirt. Now that was a caricature of an alien female bird! Carol would kill him, but she would surely laugh later after seeing that his dumbest idea had worked.
When he made the construct scream, the Golden-Ruc turned to look at the green one. A female of its species. Hal made her fly back and forth, while the Ruc headed in the opposite direction at full speed, towards the bird of green light. The first step was a success. What he didn't know was the second one. In an instant, the bird was already at stone's throw distance. Hal moved away with his own construct as he tried to think of a way to win. This was his best plan to date, how to make it actually work?
But things never happened as people planned, especially in the case of Hal, who considered himself an awful planner.
When the Golden-Ruc encountered the two-headed bird created by Hal, he idiotically thought that, as in cartoons, they would start flirting and end the scene with an explosive kiss. He was wondering if he should literally create a bomb inside the green bird when, very surprisingly, the yellow bird violently swept away his bright construct, smashing it to pieces as if seeking revenge. It struck with such ferocity, speed, and brutality, clawing at the green bird, that the movement caused a tornado that sent Hal flying far away.
When he managed to regain control, the golden bird, the size of a plane, was in front of him, staring him down, sparks flying from its four eyes, furious as if its pride had been wounded or Hal had killed its dog or something.
"Damn it… Okay, was it in bad taste? Too offensive? I'm sorry about the joke, maybe you're married, I don't know, but I need you to leave."
The Golden-Ruc didn't respond, but neither did it ignore him, attack him, or flee as before. It just glared at him angrily, hovering in the air with powerful flaps, as if already fed up with him.
"So, maybe it wasn't your type?" Hal asked, backing away in the air, while glancing around for a way out. He could only hear the murmur of Angel Falls, which didn't help him think clearly. "Did it remind you too much of someone who bullied you in space high school? I'm really sorry, man, I didn't know."
The Ruc lifted its legs and showed its talons forward. To Hal's surprise, the long nails grew even longer, and their yellow surface gleamed like the sun. He wasn't afraid of injuries. He had never been afraid of anything, really. But he was nervous about the fact that if he died now, no one could protect those people in Bolivar. And the worst thing was that it would mean Sinestro was right.
"Wait. Is that the worst part, or the thing about the people?" he wondered aloud.
The Ruc, of course, didn't answer. Instead, it rose for a second before hurtling like a hypersonic jet towards Hal, who bathed himself in a bubble of light. When he was struck, his entire body shuddered. The bird stopped, turned, and charged again with force. Hal, dizzy, tried to create an iron wall, but instead, a jelly wall appeared that the Ruc brutally destroyed before penetrating Hal's left arm with one of its claws in its attempt to escape the attack. He couldn't help but scream.
They both crashed into a mountain, and the Ruc dragged him for a few feet along the ground before Hal managed to free himself with his right arm, reinforced by a solid light lever. He hadn't given up against the grumpy guy with the giant forehead, nor the angry boar-man, both much more worthy of respect than the bird. He would never admit it, of course. He was not going to give up against a supermarket broiler chicken.
He was about to complain again about the murmur from the waterfall that didn't help him think, when he remembered that it was still running despite the bird's close attacks. The rivers nearby also remained intact. Maybe its talons couldn't petrify —goldify?— water. Maybe the ring couldn't affect the bird's feathers, but an middle man could. And that was all the plan he needed!
Hal managed to dodge a fast attack with great difficulty and flew towards Angel Falls. The noise in his head grew louder due to all the blows, but the waterfall helped him ignore it. He stopped in front of the Ruc, with the curtain of water behind him, and to tease him one last time, he built three small two-headed 'female' birds, all with long mullets on their heads, purses, and fancy high heels on their talons.
"Alright, now you, out handsome bachelor of today's show, can choose your date. Do you prefer Jenny from Ohio, Jenny from Minnesota, or the sweet feathered waitress Betty from Tennessee?"
The Ruc, spewing fire and with claws as big as school buses, angrily launched itself towards the three creatures and their creator. He retreated with all his might and entered the giant waterfall, taking Betty and both Jennys with him.
He waited behind a rock, and the beast entered, creating a tidal wave. The stones around turned into solid gold, but the water kept flowing, bathing the three green light birds, which the Ruc violently attacked. Hal, taking advantage of the distraction, escaped from the waterfall and floated outside with his fist forward. The ring shone.
"Now I'll make you a little cage."
[Angel Falls has been a World Heritage Site since 1994 and-]
"I'll fix it later!"
What he thought to build, of course, was a huge refrigerator with the door open. The cooler emitted a cold wind, and Hal was surprised at how well it mimicked the properties of a real one. He even felt chill, despite the ring's protection.
The waterfall began to freeze rapidly. Hal saw the Ruc trying to escape, at the same time being repelled by the cold winds. Birds didn't like the cold, that seemed to be a universal truth for all species in the universe, and he wasn't going to allow this one to migrate.
"Come on, stay there, you brainless bird!" He put his left hand over the right despite the horrendous pain from his injury. He tried to apply more pressure. More force. He built a second refrigerator when the Golden-Ruc, desperate and furious, almost escaped from the first layer of ice.
The second layer was more effective. So was the third. It couldn't escape from other sides, as it had turned them into solid gold. The ice began to trap the bird, which gradually stopped moving. Its temperature dropped, its golden color faded to a faint dim brown. The cage had worked.
However, he didn't know how long it would last. When it melted, both from the temperature and the force of the waterfall itself, he wouldn't be able to stop the Ruc. Perhaps there was some government agency that could, he thought ironically, as he watched a dozen black helicopters approach from the north, incredibly armed and late at the same time.
He stayed there, floating in front of them with his fists on his hips, just as Superman did when Metropolis saw him from below, whether as a savior or as an extraterrestrial conqueror. From the beginning, Hal thought the former. He wouldn't tell him to his face, in any case.
"Identify yourself and raise your hands," ordered a voice through a speaker from the first helicopter. He didn't recognize the model, but he did recognize the voice's intention.
"Green Lantern!" he shouted, smiling. "The thing you're looking for is in the waterfall. He comes from planet Appellax, and there are more like him."
"Raise your hands," the voice repeated, when another, softer, intervened:
"Green Lantern? Another 'Super'?"
"You'll hear from me more often," said Hal, ignoring the agents, who were already inspecting the waterfall. "Ring, where is the nearest Appellaxian?"
[Metropolis, Lantern Jordan.]
"Of course it is! Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"