Peter watched the light carefully and he felt for sure that it paused. Then there was another burst of light, this one blue. And then he heard, an explosive sound. The green light faded to a tiny dot and then dropped down low to the earth. Peter breathed in through his teeth as he watched it fall but it caught itself just before it hit the ground and then wobbled back up. And then it flew right for them.
"Here it comes, get ready," Peter said, pulling his mask back down.
"I pray this is not a mistake," Conan grumbled, hefting his sword up. Peter watched him carefully as well. Whatever they did, he refused to let anyone die.
The light was coming in faster and faster now, whoever it was in a hurry. The green light was growing brighter and brighter until it was like a sun in front of them. And then Peter saw what it really was. A person. A young woman probably only a few years older than him carrying the light in her hand somehow and wearing some sort of green uniform, a green symbol painted over her eye. As she got closer, she sagged in the air and Peter could see in what bad shape she was in, her clothes torn and scorched in several places, her hair smoking slightly, and her holding her left arm gingerly. She came in for a landing next to them heavily, groaning from pain and exhaustion.
"H-hel-p-p," she gasped, trying to get back up.
"Who are you?" Conan demanded, though he didn't raise his sword to her, apparently not deeming her a threat.
"J-jessica Cruz," she replied. "Green Lantern."
Peter frowned. "I don't know what that means, but I'm getting a lot of that today so whatever. Listen, we got you. Now who was chasing you?"
"I-I don't know," she said, wincing as got to her knees. "Some armored man. He…" she trailed off as they all heard it, a rumbling noise coming from behind them just as Peter's sense began tingling. They all turned as one and saw the armored man coming hot, literally as he had a trail of smoke behind him due to the jetpack on his back.
"Damn, that's cool," Peter muttered. He wanted a jetpack.
The armored figure came to a stop above them, hovering midair. In his hands was a large rifle which he had pointed at them. He was, as Jessica said, wearing armor all over his body, mostly green with splashes of red and yellow around his joints. He wore a green helmet with a red splotch in the middle right where a T-shaped black mask was. That was where Peter assumed he saw through.
"Stand aside," the man said in a gravelly sort of voice.
"Not happening, bucket-head," Peter replied. "Now why don't you tell us why you were fighting and we can try and resolve this peacefully."
"I don't have to explain anything to you, boy," the man replied. "She got in my way. No one gets in my way."
"Ok, so you clearly have something to prove here. She apparently popped your ego and now you seem eager to just, well, pop her. Well, buddy, I'm just going to make it clear that if you try it, I'm going to knock that really cool helmet off your head and send you flying without that also really cool jetpack. Got that?"
"No female shall be harmed under my watch," Conan said as well.
"Hmmm." The man regarded them. Or it looked like it did. It was hard to tell with the helmet on but he tilted his head slightly that made it look like he was regarding them. "Hard way it is."
"Look around you. You're outnumbered," Hermione said to him.
"Yes," the man agreed. "Which means it's just more fun for me." He then opened fire.
Peter was ready for it however and shot a web for the rifle, jerking it aside so the blaster fire went wild, red lasers hitting empty ground instead. The man struggled to regain control but Peter then used his pull to launch himself right at him, landing directly on his armor.
"Hi there," he said, and ripped the rifle out of his hands. "Mind if I borrow this, thanks." He then tossed it aside, not caring where it landed. "Now let's-"
Peter instinctively jumped off as his spider-sense blared, barely missing the slightly glowing blade that the man had nearly stabbed him with. He quickly shot another web which latched onto the man's boots, leaving Peter dangling under him.
"Get off!" the man snarled, kicking out with his boots and sending Peter swinging around.
"Dude, you got some anger issues you need to work out. Can I prescribe you a therapist?" Peter let go as he swung around the man's back and then thwipped to the jetpack, landing on the man's shoulders. "Or at least an anger counsellor?"
"Hmmm." The jetpack suddenly accelerated and Peter had to hold on for dear life as the man began flying around wildly, diving and rising, dipping and whirling, spinning and dodging.
"This is some rollercoaster," Peter said, using all his spider-strength and stickiness to stay on. "You should start charging admission. People would pay top dollar for something like this."
"Do you ever stop talking?"
"Not really," Peter replied. "It's kind of my-" His spider-sense suddenly blared out again as the man raised his fist to Peter's face, the gauntlet glowing brightly. "Uh oh," he said and then leapt off again just in time to avoid getting a barbecue to the face as the gauntlet loosed a stream of molten fire. As he fell, he whipped around and fired a taser web at the man, sending jolts of electricity all over his armor and causing him to grunt in pain.
Peter prepared to fire another web when he suddenly stopped midair, floating above the ground. He glanced down to see Hermione's wand pointed at him and he nodded gratefully.
The armored man shook off the taser web and flew straight for them, blade raised. Conan yelled out and charged him, their swords striking each other. The man's jetpack gave him added force but Conan held firm against the power, pushing back with his sword, eyes glinting dangerously. He then whirled around and the man lost the edge, the force sending him flying uncontrollably through the air. He landed heavily, spinning across the ground and grunting in pain, but he quickly recovered and landed in a crouch position.
"Raahh!" Conan roared and charged him again but this time the man didn't attack. Instead, he lifted up his knee and two missiles fired out from the sides of it, exploding at Conan's feet and sending him hurtling away.
"Conan!" Peter cried and sent a web his way, holding him firm before he could roll off the cliff. "I got you, big boy," he said. He then turned back to the armored man who had raised two guns and was now pointing them.
"Surrender now," he said firmly. "I have bested the best across the galaxy. You're just a minor annoyance."
"Oh yeah, well that offends me," Peter replied. "So let's see if we can upgrade it to major annoyance." He then fired off a web grenade but the man simply blasted it out of the air.
"That all you got?" he asked.
Peter looked behind him and smiled. "Nope," he said and then fired a web from each hand. The man raised his blasters to fire but stopped as the webs shot on either side of him.
"You missed," he said.
"Did I?" Peter asked innocently then pulled with all his strength. The man barely had time to look behind him as a large crack was heard and the large stone column that had once held the right side of the gate fell right towards him. He swore loudly and activated his jetpack again, attempting to get out of the way. But he wasn't fast enough as the column glanced off his armor and sent him crashing into the ground. Before he could even begin to recover, Peter thwipped over to him and punched him hard across the helmet, sending him flying once more. Peter winced and shook his hand, his fist throbbing in pain, the metal much harder than he had expected.
The man crashed into the wall and shook his head before getting back up. He then soared into the air and loosed a barrage of blaster fire at them. Peter danced out of the way and sent his own barrage of webs his way but they had no effect.
Then a shot of red light struck the man in the chest, knocking him in the air. Peter turned to see Hermione there, firing off another spell. The man dodged it this time and sent some blaster fire her way as well. Hermione threw herself to the side then raised her wand again. "Petrificus totalus!" she yelled and Peter could see the man's joints lock up midair. But whatever it was, it wasn't permanent. He struggled audibly for a few seconds before breaking loose. He opened fire on a stunned Hermione who was saved just in time by a glowing, green shield. Jessica Cruz held out her hand, the light emanating from a ring on her finger.
"That should have worked," Hermione said.
"Must be the armor," Peter said, almost to himself. That armor was tough, reminded him of the Rhino which was not a comforting comparison.
Conan, now recovered, charged again and leapt forward, bringing his sword down on the man who just lifted his gauntlet in time, the steel blade bouncing off it. Conan seemed surprised for a second, but then kept up the assault until the man rocket punched him in the chest and sent him crashing into the wall. But before the armored man could revel in any victory, a piece of the wall shot up and smashed into him, knocking him through the air. He swiftly recovered only for another wall piece to strike him, several others lifting off the ground as well, Hermione swishing and flicking her wand around.
Peter took advantage of the distraction, firing a web shot right at the man's helmet. The web struck him dead center, completely blinding him. He grunted and raised his hands to remove it when another rock struck him, sending him careening towards the ground. He only just managed to recover in time. But it was the opening Peter needed.
"Hey, Sir Knight," he said thwipping over to him. "You like jokes? Well here comes a punchline!" he said, punching him hard. Then he flipped backwards in the air before the man could retaliate and shot webs on either side, once more yanking himself forward and kicking with all the force he could muster right into the man's armored chest, sending them crashing into the ground. Peter swiftly webbed both arms and legs to the ground, effectively binding him there. "Stick around," he said with a smile.
The woman with the ring gave him a look as she got to her feet. "Really?" she asked and rolled her eyes. "Ugh, you're as bad as Guy."
"I'm going to take that as a compliment, even though I don't know who that is," Peter said. He held out his hand. "I'm Spider-Man, by the way."
She took it, a little gingerly. "Jessica Cruz. Green Lantern." She looked him up and down. "Nice costume."
Peter couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not but decided to go with it. "Thanks. I made it myself. Now what's the deal with the walking and flying armory here? And why does he look like an extra from a King Arthur movie?"
Jessica gave him a look. "You know King Arthur?" she asked in surprise then took a look around their surroundings. "But…I thought this was an alien planet."
"It still could be," Peter said. "Jury's still out on that one but I am from Earth. So's Hermione there," he nodded to her, "but from a different time period than me. 1997, I think."
If Jessica was surprised by this, she did a great job of hiding it. Her eyebrows went slightly up but she took it in stride. As she did, Peter noticed that what the symbol on her eye wasn't painted or tattooed on as he had thought but was glowing, another creation from her ring. "Alright, so that answers some questions but gives me so many more."
"I know right. Just wait til you start exploring this area," he jerked his head to the ruins. "But back to the Count of Monte Cosmo here," he grinned under the mask at the name, having just come up with it. "What's his deal?"
"My deal is none of your business!" the man snarled underneath the helmet.
It was at this point that Conan returned, sword back in hand and looking no worse for wear after being slammed into a wall. He placed his foot down on the man's armored chest and pressed it, placing his sword beneath his chin. "Talk," he commanded. "Who are you?"
Peter tensed, ready to intervene if things got out of hand and he was glad to see Jessica doing the same.
The man regarded Conan. "I am Boba Fett," he said. "And it's not a brag to say that I am the greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy. No one gets the drop on me…until today. And I want answers. I want to know how I got here and who is behind it so I can make them reverse it and then blast their heads open. And this woman," he jerked his head, "knows what happened."
Jessica blinked at that as they all turned to her. "As I kept telling you, no I don't. I was dropped here the same as you."
"You were communicating, talking to someone," Boba Fett replied. "I heard you. You talked about a plan and something going well."
Jessica glared at him but Peter noticed now that both Conan and Hermione were eyeing her suspiciously. Peter would have too but he wasn't receiving any warning signs from her that indicated she was a danger. He decided to let her tell her side of the story first.
"I'm guessing you didn't hear the whole conversation," Jessica said.
"Does it matter?" Boba Fett asked. "I heard enough."
Jessica sighed and then held out her ring. Conan and Hermione tensed but again Peter sensed no signs of attack. "Ring, please repeat the conversation I had earlier word for word."
"You got it, J-Bird!" came the reply and Peter blinked as he realized the ring actually talked back. That was supremely cool. Maybe he should try and do that for his suit but before he could think on it further, Jessica's voice came out of the ring.
"Hello?" her recorded voice said. "This is Jessica Cruz, Green Lantern of Earth, Sector 2814. Are there any other Green Lanterns out there? I've somehow been transported to an alien world that my ring can't identify. I repeat, is anyone else out there?"
There was a pause and it seemed like Jessica was going to try again when there was a slightly static noise and then…
"Jess? Is that you?"
"Hal? Oh thank god! Hal, where are you?"
"I don't know. Some kind of desert in the middle of nowhere."
"Same here. All I see is sand and a few mountains and canyons here for miles around."
"Yeah. I tried flying up to space but something blocked me."
"Same here! What the hell happened? One minute, I'm flying through space and the next I'm on another world. Nearly crashed into one of the mountains."
"I don't know. I was on Earth when I arrived here. My ring also can't tell where I am. It can't tell me anything about this place really. It's like we're on the very edge of the universe."
"Maybe we're in another universe?" Jessica suggested. "Maybe our rings can't identify planets from other universes?"
"Yeah, that makes sense," the guy named Hal agreed. "But who did this? To just teleport us like that? And why us? I remember the last time something like this happened, it was the entire corps. So why just us?"
"Not just you," came a new voice.
There was another pause, and then, "Iolande? Is that you?"
"Yes. Sorry for not responding sooner but I landed badly when I arrived here and have only just awoken. Based on what I heard, I assume we have no idea how or why this happened or who is behind this?"
"No," Hal confirmed. "But we're going to find out. Alright, let's scout around, see what we can find. Do you know where you are? I mean, in regards to the planet's surface. Which hemisphere?"
"The sun just starting to set where I am," Jessica said.
"It is high in the sky over here," Iolande informed them.
"Just rising for me," Hal said. "Ok so we're in different spots on the planet then. Fine. Let's each try and find some clues to this place first, scout your areas for anything you can. Let's talk again like three hours from now and see if we can rendezvous somewhere. Agreed?"
"Very well," Iolande said.
"Sounds like a plan," Jessica agreed.
"Don't worry. We've all been in worse situations than this before and come through. We'll make it through this as well. As my good friend Saint Walker says, all will be well."
Both Jessica and Iolande repeated the words and then recording stopped. Jessica stared down at Boba Fett with a stony expression. "Does that fit with what you heard in, I'm going to assume, spotty listening equipment?"
Boba Fett didn't answer for a second, only letting off a slow sigh. "Yes," he finally said. "It appears, I may have made a mistake. My apologies."
"Hm," Jessica grunted.
"Ok, glad we got that sorted out," Peter said, clapping his hands together.
"Remove these…webs," Boba Fett demanded.
"You going to attack us?" Peter asked.
"No," he replied. "You have my word I will not attack unless one of you attacks first."
Peter looked around at the others. Hermione looked worried and Conan simply glowered down at Boba Fett. "It's up to you, Ms. Cruz. You're the one he attacked."
"Just call me Jessica," she told him. "And it's fine. I've dealt with worse than him and none actually apologized afterwards so that does say something."
Peter nodded and leaned down, using his web-remover to free the man. Boba Fett got back to his feet and stared at them all. "So, who are these Green Lanterns?" he asked.
"The Green Lantern Corps is a universal police force dedicated to protecting every planet and its people," Jessica said. "Each of us has a ring like this one that we use. It lets us fly and make constructs."
"Hmph," Boba Fett muttered. "Sounds similar to what the Jedi tried to do. But they're all dead now."
"Well, this seems like a real cheery conversation," Peter said. "But I think we've all had a rather exciting day today and we probably have an ever bigger one tomorrow. So, since we've decided not to fight one another, let's all settle down and maybe get some rest, ok?"
"Couldn't agree more."
They all whirled around, various weapons at the ready, at the new voice. Peter was shocked himself that his spider-sense let off no warning. Standing several yards away stood a man dressed almost completely in white. White suit, white hat, white scarf (for some reason the heat didn't bother him). Even white sunglasses rested on his nose. His face was slightly on the chubby side and he had curly (unsurprising) white hair beneath the hat. He was softly smiling at them, but it gave Peter chills. He looked slightly like an evil ice cream man in that getup.
Now that Peter was aware of him, he felt his spider-sense going off. But this time, it felt dulled, like the man was doing something to it. Repressing it. And that alone made him a dangerous threat.
"Who are you?" Conan demanded. "Answer before I split you down the middle."
"No need for that," Jessica said, lifting her ring and a massive green hand appeared in the air, surrounding. "Talk and talk fast. Who are you?"
"The name is Vladimir Menshikov," the man replied with a faint Russian accent. "One of the most powerful magicians in the world."
"Never heard of you," Hermione said. "And I've read about all the famous witches and wizards of our day."
"Witches and wizards," Menshikov repeated. "How…fictional. I am no wizard, my dear. I am a magician of the great House of Life. But I am going to assume that name means nothing to you."
"You would be correct," Jessica said. "Now why are you here?"
"Well, as I have ascertained from listening to your conversations that you were brought here much the same way I did, with no warning and no clue as to where you are. Fortunately, I do have a way to find such answers."
Jessica lowered her ring and Hermione her wand but Peter kept his web-shooters raised and was glad to see Conan and Boba Fett hadn't lowered their weapons either. Whatever this man was saying, it was giving off creepy vibes and Peter didn't like it. His spidey-sense was still tingling.
"Ok," Jessica said cautiously. "How do we do that?"
"Well, such a method requires a certain amount of power. And unfortunately, there is only one way that I can see myself acquiring such power given the resources made available."
"Jessica," Peter said carefully. "I don't like this."
"Agreed," Conan said. "Do not trust this man."
"He's up to something," Boba Fett added, blasters at the ready.
Jessica narrowed her eyes at Menshikov. "Get to the point, before I show you what this ring can do. What exactly are you after here?"
"Well, it goes by different names depending on the type of magic required. But, in simplest terms, I guess you would call it," he then grinned at them, showing off a truly chilling smile, "human sacrifice."
"Enough!" Conan bellowed and charged just as Boba Fett opened fire and Jessica shot the green hand right for the man. Peter, however, felt his spider-sense suddenly scream at him and instead of firing his webs he threw himself to the side and landed next to Hermione.
At the exact same time, Menshikov threw out his hands and yelled "tas!" Instantly, thin cords shot out from beneath his coat jacket and wrapped around Jessica, Conan, and Boba Fett so tightly and thickly that within seconds they looked like cocooned mummies. Two more came for Percy and Hermione but Hermione had her wand raised high and the cords bounced off an invisible shield. Hermione winced as they did but held firm.
"Hmmm," Menshikov said, rubbing his chin. "A sort of shield charm, though none I've seen before. Still, nothing that can't be broken down."
"Just try it," Hermione growled at him, wand at the ready. But Peter noticed her hand trembling slightly. He didn't think she could stand against this guy, whoever he was.
"Oh, I will," Menshikov promised and a green fireball appeared in his hands. It looked so much more frightening than it had in that old Disney movie that Peter couldn't remember. Possibly Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella, no why would it be Cinderella? "Yah!" Menshikov said and hurled it, a river of green fire pouring out and striking the shield. Hermione then began crying out from the strain, holding her wand up as much as she could but Peter could see it faltering. Within seconds they would be barbecue. And that was not an experience he wanted to try out, especially a green-flavored one.
"Do the apparate thing," he said.
"What?" she shot back
"The apparition thing, do it!" he yelled.
"What about the others?"
"We can't help them if we're roasted alive!" He hated it with every bone in his body, to leave them behind like this. He'd only known them for a matter of minutes and yet it still killed him to abandon them. But he wasn't prepared for a situation like this. He had no experience whatsoever with magic. The closest he did was with Mysterio and those were stagecraft illusions, not real magic. He was way out of his league and it seemed this Menshikov was way more powerful than Hermione. Their only option was to escape. It gutted him, seeing the others tied up and helpless, but he swore he would come back to help them if it was the last thing he did.
"I-I can't!" she cried. "I'm locked in. I can't break my concentration or else the fire will get us!"
The fire was going to get them anyway, but Peter didn't think telling her that would help, probably because she already knew. Well then, it was down to him. He just needed to provide some sort of distraction to give Hermione enough time. He looked around for some kind of opening and noticed the fire may be directly in front of them and coming over the sides, but it wasn't completely surrounding them. The top was free. He instantly released one of his spider-drones which flew up and above the flames and then began firing small lasers at the enemy.
"Gah!" Menshikov cried out in surprise and the spout of green flame disappeared. Hermione gratefully lowered her wand.
Peter was tempted to attack immediately, use the drone's distraction to take him down. But they were still badly outmatched. As they watched, Menshikov waved his hand and the drone transformed into dust, floating in the desert air.
"Hermione, now!" Peter yelled as Menshikov turned back to them. Before he could do anything, Hermione grabbed Peter's hand and he felt the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a small hole as they disapparated, leaving the evil ice cream man and their allies behind.
Hoped you liked that segment.
In terms of the Green Lanterns I chose, Jessica Cruz is my favorite as I relate to her the most so I had to have her. Hal Jordan I just chose cause I wanted to and with Iolande, I wanted a Lantern not from Earth as well and she was my favorite.
This version of Boba Fett is before Return of the Jedi.
Menshikov is another character from Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles, the main antagonist of the second book. I wanted to give me more of an arc here.
Things will keep picking up from here on out, so buckle up. Please leave a review if you can and still let me know about any other characters I can add.