Author's Note: Merry Christmas, everyone. For this festive holiday, I thought I'd drop a boatload of fanfic updates, including this one which everyone has been looking forward to for months. I apologize for the long wait. It's just a sad case of writer's block in the middle of this. Thankfully, I got over it, and now, here it is.
Hope you all enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
What started off as a simple normal Saturday morning turned quickly into a chaotic mess for Ghost Spider. As she swung through the city of Metropolis, web swing after web swing, she kept her eye out in search of anything illegal going on.
All of a sudden, something big and green stopped Ghost Spider. She only took a second to discover herself in the grip of a large, green hand holding her in midair. She continued investigating the predicament she was in and saw that the green hand had no wrist, arm, or any other body part attached to it. There was however a green light that came from a teenage boy hovering above. He wore a very familiar costume.
"Ha! Take that, bad guy! How awesome was that?"
"HAL! LET HER GO!"
Ghost Spider followed the second voice to find her friend, Green Lantern, flying up to the boy. She noticed that the new guy had the same costume as her friend.
"Lantern? What's going on?" Ghost Spider asked.
"Wait, you know this girl, Jessica?" the male Green Lantern said.
"He knows who you are?" Ghost Spider asked.
Jessica sighed. "Look, I'll explain everything, but first, Hal, put Ghost Spider down."
"But isn't she a criminal?"
"It's more complicated than that. Look, she's my friend. Not to mention, she helped save the city from Dr. Octopus. Just put her down."
Though confused, the man shrugged and gently placed Ghost Spider down on the nearest rooftop. He released his green hand which then disappeared into his green ring. After brushing herself off, Ghost Spider turned to the two Green Lanterns who landed before her.
"Jessica, what the heck is going on?"
"Right. Sorry about this." Jessica said before gesturing to the other guy.. "Ghost Spider, meet the Green Lantern before me."
"Another Green Lantern?" Ghost Spider asked. "Wait, she called you Hal? Are you Hal Jordan, the football player at Metropolis High?"
"You know it." Hal confirmed with a wink.
"Jess, what's happening?" Ghost Spider asked her friend. "Why is there someone else who's called Green Lantern?"
"I guess I never told you, huh?" Jessica asked. "Well, you see, Green Lantern isn't so much of a nickname than it is a job title." She raised her ring and out came a projection of a planet. "This is Oa, home planet of the Green Lantern Corps."
"Green Lantern Corps?"
"It's basically space police." Hal said. "The head honchos of the place, the Guardians of Oa, choose someone from one of the planets in their jurisdiction to fight bad guys. In Earth's case, however, they decided that one Green Lantern isn't enough. That's where Jessica comes in. I was chosen to be a Lantern before, so they gave me the task with showing her the ropes on being a Green Lantern. The only problem is, Jessica's a little hesitant on certain stuff."
"You mean fighting." Jessica said. "Hal, for the hundredth time, I don't like fighting."
"You fought villains before with your Super Hero Girl friends."
"I use defensive maneuvers and protect civilians. I never went on the offensive."
Hal groaned. "This is why I suggested a patrol today; so I could show you why sometimes, you have to go on the offensive."
"You attacked Ghost Spider!"
"I thought she was a villain!"
"This is what happens when you act first and think later!"
Ghost Spider stopped the two Green Lanterns by firing web at their mouths. "Cut it out, you two! You're already giving me a headache!"
Jessica lowered her head and removed her web. "Right. Sorry, Ghost Spider. This why I was hesitant on being a Green Lantern in the first place."
"I get it," Ghost Spider said, "But maybe you guys can…"
Ghost Spider was interrupted by a sudden tingle going on in her head. She followed the sense across the city block where she and the Green Lanterns witnessed a very unusual sight.
From around the corner of a building, a bright wave of sand soared and lowered itself surrounding an armored truck with a dollar sign on the side of it. It swirled like a tornado.
"Is a sandstorm robbing an armed truck?" Jessica asked.
"Don't worry, ladies. I'm on it. Watch and learn." Hal said before flying over toward the armored truck. He just floated behind the open doors for a very quick second. "Halt in… OOF!"
Suddenly, a giant fist made of sand shot out and sent Hal flying backwards down the street. Jessica and Ghost Spider headed over to check on the punched superhero who was dizzy for a bit.
"Well, I watched." Jessica said. "And I learned that you can't win against sand."
"I can so! I was just caught by surprise!" Hal defended.
"Looks like you'll get the chance to prove that later." Ghost Spider said. She pointed back at the armored truck when the same sandstorm flew out with bags full of money carried in it. It flew away to the opposite end of the street. "Follow that sand!"
Ghost Spider swung across the city with the Green Lanterns flying beside her. They were right behind the sandstorm that still carried the money.
"Okay, team, here's the plan." Hal said. "You two go on defense while I flank him with a good old offense."
"Don't be ridiculous. You can't go offensive on that thing, Hal." Jessica said. "It's sand. There's nothing to attack."
"You got any better ideas?"
"Actually, I do. We should use reason."
"Reason with sand? Now, who's being ridiculous?"
"Look, this sand is stealing money. It can't do so on its own, so someone is obviously controlling it. We should find whoever's controlling the sand and reason with them."
"Or, since it's a physical person, we could beat the stuffing out of them."
Jessica groaned loudly. "Is everything about violence for the Corps? And you wonder why I hesitated to join."
"Oh, for Pete's sake, you two!" Ghost Spider yelled out. She was clearly irritated. "Look! We don't know what kind of person is controlling the sand, so we don't know if we can just punch them or reason with them! Let's just follow the sand and we'll cross that bridge when we get there!"
The chase lead to a skyscraper. The heroes looked up and saw the sandstorm blow over to the roof. The three of them quickly followed, but when they arrived, something seemed wrong. There wasn't a single grain of sand anywhere on that rooftop. There were the stolen sacks of money, but they surrounded a teenage girl. She had on a blue jacket, black pants, and a red shirt which matched the beanie hat she wore. Some of her hair covered the left half of her face, but she also wore a black domino mask across her eyes.
The masked girl opened up one of the money bags and smiled as she looked inside. "Great. This should be nearly enough."
"Nearly enough for what exactly?" Hal asked catching the girl by surprise.
"What?! You again! Leave me alone! This has nothing to do with you!"
"Given that you committed a robbery in broad daylight, I feel pretty involved." Ghost Spider said.
"Look, you're young." Jessica said. "You must be confused. So if you return the money and surrender how it is you controlled that sand, we can let you go."
"Let her go?" Hal asked. "She made that sand punch me."
"Not everything can be solved with violence." Jessica argued.
"I wouldn't be too sure of that." The girl said keeping her hand behind her. "You asked before how I controlled the sand. The truth is… I didn't."
"What do you mean by that?" Jessica asked.
Suddenly, Ghost Spider's head rang and she reacted quickly. She jumped up and shot weblines at both Green Lanterns' backs. They were yanked up just as the masked girl threw her arm as if sending a punch. But there was something different about this punch.
The girl's arm stretched out longer than humanly possible. Not only that, but the color changed. Her Caucasian skin and blue jacket was instantly transformed into a colorless collection of tiny grains of sand. After the punch missed, the girl retracted her arm which changed back to normal after returning to her. Ghost Spider and the Green Lanterns returned to the rooftop surface with surprised expressions.
"What just…" Ghost Spider began to ask.
"Happened? I happened. Sandgirl happened." The masked girl answered. She quickly turned her whole body into sand and whipped herself to knock Hal Jordan away. She changed into a human shape, but still looked like she was made of sand. While she was in midair, she launched a kick at Jessica. She blocked it with a green projection of a shield, but she was still knocked back.
Sandgirl landed right in front of Ghost Spider and changed back to her human form. Ghost Spider thought she had her chance, so she threw a punch, but her fist went straight through Sandgirl's chest without the thief even feeling it. Ghost Spider tried to remove her hand, but it was stuck. Sandgirl smiled and enlarged her own fist.
"Uh, oh." Ghost Spider said before getting punched off the rooftop. She shot her web at the edge to pull herself back and regroup with the other Green Lanterns who recovered.
"Oh, you're in for it now, lady." Hal said. He raised his ring and created a projection of a large machine gun. He fired green bullets from it, but Sandgirl dodged them and flew off the roof as a wind of sand. He followed relentlessly.
"Hal, wait!" Jessica yelled out, but her words fell on deaf ears. She sighed. "Why won't he just listen?"
Hal Jordan chased the Sandgirl across the next few blocks trying to hit her with hammers and baseball bats and other various weapons conjured by his ring. Sandgirl evaded them at every turn, each time making Hal more and more angry. Sandgirl soon headed to a construction site, and Hal followed. However, shortly afterwards, he lost sight of her.
"Come out, come out wherever you are." Hal said. "I've got a big, green fist with your name on it."
"Hal!" Jessica cried out as she flew in with Ghost-Spider behind her. "What are you doing?"
"Chasing the bad guy. You know, our job." Hal said.
Ghost-Spider smacked herself on her head. "Hey, knucklehead, you chased her into a construction site."
"Yeah? So?"
"So what do you find at the bottom of a construction site?"
Hal widened her eyes and looked at the bottom, where the entire unfinished structure was surrounded by a sandy area. Ghost-Spider's point was proven when a large sand pillar shot out from the ground. It reached out to the same floor the heroes were at and Sandgirl appeared at the top.
Sandgirl's pillar shot out several shards of hardened sand which the heroes dodged away from. Instead, they impaled the walls and floors, but the point was quickly proven that they were not weapons. They were plants. Instantly, the hardened sand softened and reached out to attack the heroes from behind. The strikes were successful and the heroes were sent facedown. Sand tentacles were then wrapped around Ghost-Spider and the Green Lanterns pinning them to the ground.
"That oughta hold ya." Sandgirl said. "Now, to count my money."
"Wait!" Jessica called out. "You're a kid, aren't you? Not much older than us?"
"What's your point?" Sandgirl asked.
"You don't have to do this." Jessica said. "You can turn this around. You can even use your powers for good."
"Sorry, but good isn't going to pay." Sandgirl said. "And it certainly won't get him out."
"Get who out?" Ghost-Spider asked.
"Enough of this! I'm going!" Sandgirl said before flying off.
"Well, this is just perfect." Hal said. "If you had just listened to your duty like you were supposed to, Jessica, we would have that crook in jail?"
"I believe in rehabilitation, not police brutality." Jessica said. "You're the meathead who won't even talk things out."
"Oh, would you two give it a rest?!" Ghost-Spider asked loudly. "Look, you're both right! Sometimes, actions speak louder than words, but we also need to at least talk to her. Right now, I noticed that there's more to her than we thought. But we can't figure that out without doing something about her powers first. So how about we try it both of your ways?"
Both Green Lanterns looked at each other and nodded. "All right." Jessica said.
"But how do we get out of this?" Hal asked.
"Did she trap your rings?" Ghost-Spider asked.
"Oh. Good call." Hal said.
Sandgirl immediately returned to the rooftop where her stolen cash bags were. She looked inside and pulled out a wad of cash. "This single stack alone is worth five-hundred dollars. This is is definitely what I need."
"You know, if you wanted to go to the arcade, you could just ask a friend." Hal said as he and Jessica arrived.
"What? No!" Sandgirl shouted. "You're worse than cockroaches!"
"Well, this cockroach bites." Hal said as he fired a green beam. Sandgirl dodged and flew down the skyscraper. Both Green Lanterns followed.
Once she reached the streets, Sandgirl awaited the Green Lanterns to appear. Just as planned, she stretched out her arms to use against her opponents. Jessica and Hal dodged and countered with their own green blasts which Sandgirl dodged by forming sand shields. Soon afterwards, Sandgirl managed to overpower the two and grab them both.
"Just give it up!" Sandgirl said. "You two should have… Wait. Where's Ghost-Spider?"
"You know, you should really come up with a sandy sense. It's very convenient."
Sandgirl turned to see Ghost-Spider swinging in from behind. She flew above her and opened up a large bag she was carrying in her free hand. From that bag, a large pile of wet concrete plummeted and landed right on Sandgirl. It wasn't enough to completely encase her, but it was enough to slow her down.
The Green Lanterns freed themselves and used the opportunity to form a green dome around Sandgirl keeping her on that single spot on the street. By the time the girl broke out of her concrete, she was already trapped. She tried to bust out, but with both Green Lanterns reinforcing the dome together, it was pointless. Eventually, Sandgirl was tired and reverted back to her human form.
"Now that we're all exhausted, let's talk." Ghost-Spider said landing in front of the dome.
"What's the point? You're just going to throw me in prison anyway." Sandgirl said. "And after I was so close too."
"So close to what?" Jessica asked.
Sandgirl sighed sadly. "My dad. He's in prison, and I need the money to bail him out."
"He's in prison?" Hal asked. "Kid, I hate to break it to you, but if your dad was a criminal, maybe jail is where he belongs."
"You don't know what you're talking about." Sandgirl said. "A couple years back, I got sick. I needed an operation, but my family didn't have the money. So my dad resorted to jewelry store robberies to pay the bills. I got better, but the police caught up to my dad and arrested him. It wasn't fair. He was just trying to save me, and he ended up in jail. I knew I had to bail him out, so I had to enter a life of crime too. I was almost successful in my first heist, but the police began chasing me. I managed to lose them, but I fell into a supercollider. Once it turned on, I changed at a molecular level. Next thing I know, I had become… this. But now, I have the power to bail out my dad without any effort at all, save for you so-called heroes."
Ghost-Spider and the Green Lanterns looked at each other. The web-slinger got closer to the dome with sympathy in her mind.
"Look, Sandgirl, I get it. You want to help your family. But you can't fix this with more crime. You're just going to end up in just as much of a situation as your dad."
"How?" Sandgirl asked. "No one knows who I really am. You don't even know my real name."
"But you do." Jessica said. "Even if you bail your father out, you'll still be haunted by what you had to do to pay for it."
"Look. It sounds like your dad's a nice guy." Hal said. "Do you really think he wants his daughter to be a criminal like him? The best thing for him is to wait for him to serve out his sentence."
"And just what am I supposed to do until then?" Sandgirl asked.
"Well, you've got superpowers don't you?" Ghost-Spider asked. "And they are pretty cool powers. You really gave me and my friends a run-around. Why don't you use them to help protect Metropolis like us? Be someone who's father would be proud of."
Sandgirl frowned lowering herself in surrender. Feeling hopeful, Ghost-Spider nodded to the Green Lanterns who then lowered the dome.
"You really think I can be a hero like you?" Sandgirl asked.
"Of course." Ghost-Spider asked. "I mean, with great power comes great…"
"GULLIBILITY!" Sandgirl shouted before knocking Ghost-Spider back with a big, sandy fist. She wasted no time flying into the nearest sewer grate.
"Well, that was a bust." Hal said.
"Not exactly." Jessica said. "At least she didn't get the money."
"And at least you two managed to work together for once." Ghost-Spider said. "Just, the next time you two get into a spat, leave me out of it."
"Agreed." both Green Lanterns said.
From one sewer grate and out another, Sandgirl found herself in a Metropolis alleyway. She sneered as she held up the five-hundred dollars she still had before the heroes interfered.
"It's not enough." She growled. "You should've had more, Keemia. If those stinking heroes hadn't gotten in my way, I…."
"Looks like we have a common enemy."
Sandgirl heard a voice coming from the shadowy end of the alleyway. "Who said that?"
A figure emerged from the darkness. It was a certain supervillain who wore a trench coat and four mechanical tentacles from his back. Sandgirl gasped at the sight of him.
"It's you. The one who brainwashed the city. You're Dr. Octopus."
Dr. Octopus sneered. "My name is Dr. Otto Octavius. Do not affiliate that inane moniker onto me. But rest assured, my dear, I am not here to harm you. I am here to help you."
"Help me?" Sandgirl asked. "With what?"
"I couldn't help but overhear your plight. And I too think it's unfair. You'd think the heroes would help a citizen in need, but instead, they're telling you to let your father get punished for helping you. I, on the other hand, am offering to help you liberate him."
"How?" Sandgirl asked interested.
"I have a plan in motion, but I cannot do it alone. I'm going to need some help. The Super Hero Girls may try to stop us, but we'll be more than a match for them. As soon as I'm done, we'll have unlimited reach over all of Metropolis. Then, and only then, will we be able to free your father. How does that sound?"
Dr. Octopus extended his right human hand. Sandgirl paused for a moment before giving an eager grin. She gripped his hand tightly and shook it.
"Where do we start, doc?"