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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:05:39 GMT -5
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:12:36 GMT -5
Green Lantern Issue #6: Eye of the Beholder Pt. 3 “Be Yourself” Written by: John Elbe Cover by: Craig Cermak & Ramon Villalobos Edited by: John Elbe & Mark Bowers * A special thanks goes out to Jay McIntyre for helping out with this issue! This issue is dedicated to a very super cool man that I am proud to call my friend. Get better real soon Brian.
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:13:18 GMT -5
07:42 hours
“Alright. Now that you’re away from your audience you can cut the macho posturing and tell me what I want to know,” Warden McGoohan announced as Hal Jordan, in the body of the Black Hand, sat across from him in his office.
“I told you already that I am willing to cut a deal,” Hal said, leaning forward in his chair. “I get my phone call then I give you the names of everyone involved in the plot to break out of here.”
“I thought I made myself clear. This isn’t a negotiation.”
“I am not negotiating.” Hal smiled. “Now where’s the phone?”
Warden McGoohan gave him an awkward smile before slowly reaching behind him to pull a phone out and setting it on the desk in front of Hal.
Hal reached out for the phone just as the warden pulled away. “Where do you think you are, Hand?”
“I am in your office, sir. And might I say this is a nice pad you have here. Nothing like the facilities down the hall.” Hal watched the warden’s eyes. He knew he was taking a big risk confronting the man in this manner. The warden wasn’t going to take having his authority challenged lightly but getting him alone in his office like this could turn out to be the break Hal was looking for. But it may be the only chance Hal would get.
“You are a funny guy, huh?” the Warden said, gripping the phone tightly. “I’ve come across many a funny guy in my day. How do think they all fared after serving hard time under my watch? You may already be aware that there are dampening devices throughout this prison that keep the Meta prisoners in check. Take away everything else and all anyone is left with is their spirit, which is more dangerous than any superpower. It’s my job to break that spirit and you will find that I am exceptionally good at my job.”
“No offense, Warden, but I won’t be here long enough to even remember your name,” Hal said, watching the warden’s eyes. “Now I want…to…make…my…phone call.”
McGoohan slowly let go of the phone and slide it over towards Hal. Hal picked up the receiver and began to dial, never taking his eyes off of the warden. A few seconds later someone on the other end picked up and Hal spoke slowly and carefully. “The nail that sticks out gets hammered.”
There was a pause before the voice on the other end responded, “This is a secured line. How did you get this…” The line went dead and Hal looked up to see the warden as he pulled the cord out of he wall.
“Playtime’s over, Hand.” He tossed the cord onto the desk. “Now I want those names.”
Hal took a deep breath before he spoke. Plan A was out the window and plan B hadn’t even come to him yet.
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:14:02 GMT -5
9:27 hours
Hal awoke in his cell bunk to find a hand over his mouth while two other people held down his arms and legs. “ So, did you enjoy your chat with the warden?” the man known as the Wizard whispered into Hal’s ear.
“How did you…” Hal said as the person holding Hal’s mouth moved his hand away.
“Get inside your cell? That was easy. Now killing you won’t be as easy if you put up a fight.”
“Wait!” Hal said, struggling to sit up. “I can still get us out of here if you give me a chance.”
“Why are you talking like you have a choice?” The Wizard smirked.
“I didn’t tell the warden anything I swear.”
“So you guys just had a little chat and he just happened to let you go back to your cell? I don’t buy it!” The Wizard spoke as he nodded to the man holding down Hal’s legs.
“We should just kill him and be done with it,” the man said as he continued to pin Hal down.
“I was standing right there when you told the warden that you knew who was behind the plot to break out of here,” the Wizard responded.
“I only told him that because he was getting too close. I had to distract him,” Hal said as he felt a sharp pain in his left leg.
“Let’s kill him and cut our losses before it’s too late,” the man said as his partner twisted Hal’s leg.
“It may already be too late, Simon,” the Wizard replied.
“It’s not.” Hal winced from the pain in his leg. “But we aren’t going anywhere if your goon breaks my leg.”
“Zeiss.” The Wizard motioned him to release his hold on Hal. The other man holding him down followed suit and allowed Hal to sit up slightly.
“Okay, we are going to have to move quickly if this is going to work,” Hal stated.
“How quickly?” the Wizard asked.
“We break out tonight,” Hal said, pulling out the folded piece of paper under his pillow. “Now, how many guards here are on the take?”
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:14:51 GMT -5
2:58 hours
Hal stood and watched as his cell door opened. He quickly moved down the dimly-lit hall and rounded the corner. The Wizard was correct when he said that there are always guards willing to do favors for any inmate willing to pay. It was just another blow to Hal’s faith in the system he has long supported.
Getting his cell door open was a good start but he knew that it would be the easiest part of the plan. Everything else from here on out would require more than a few guards looking to line their pockets.
“Right on time.” Hal nearly jumped when Edwin Gauss, AKA the Folded Man, stepped out of the shadows and appeared in front of him. “I didn’t mean to startle you, my good man. I usually roam these halls at night exchanging goods with the other inmates.”
Hal regained his composure. “How are you able to use your powers with the dampeners on?”
“They are severely limited but I am still able to slip underneath my cell bars and no one has ever caught on.”
“That’s good, but to pull this off we have to disable the dampeners completely if we want to get out of here.”
“I can lead you to where the main dampener controls are, but I must warn you, there is a guard there that isn’t part of the team, so to speak.”
“Well I’ve found lately that I can be pretty persuasive when I have to be,” Hal responded.
“Then follow me.”
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:15:53 GMT -5
3:28 hours
Hal watched as the Wizard’s cell door opened and he stepped out. “Well done, my dear boy. You appear to be as good as your reputation.”
“We are not out of here yet,” Hal whispered back.
“Damn right,” Simon Ecks, AKA Doctor Double X, grunted as he came down the hall toward them. “There are less than three and a half hours before first bell and we are running late.”
Hal turned around to face him. “It took a little longer to persuade the guard than I had anticipated, but we still have time.”
“Yeah. It seems Hand here isn’t the sweet talker he claimed to be,” Folded Man grunted under his breath. “I had to sneak up from behind and knock the guard out.”
“Hand was able to sweet talk the warden down in his office easily enough,” the Wizard said.
“Yeah, but everyone knows that the Warden has the dampeners blocked in there because it gives the poor baby headaches,” Double X replied.
Hal continued, “Just like all of you, my powers were limited or nonexistent with the dampeners on. They are now being overridden but I don’t know how long it will be before someone discovers the guard missing and that the controls have been tampered with. Can you make a duplicate of the guard to buy us more time?”
“I already am constructing duplicates of all us sleeping soundly in our cells,” Double X spouted. “A guard drone is easy enough.”
“Good,” the Wizard responded. “Let’s move out. We still have other members of the ‘team’ to pick up before we can leave.”
Hal watched as the others moved down the hall. He turned and motioned to the Folded Man. “Edwin, I need you to do me a favor,” he said, looking into his eyes, and then whispered in his ear. He felt his mind getting stronger with the dampeners off; he was able to use Black Hand’s manipulation powers more effectively with each passing moment but the strain was forcing his head to throb. Was it the tumor inside his brain or was Hand always in this much agony? “In one hour I want you to reactivate the dampeners. Can you do that for me?”
“But I will be left behind…stuck here,” he slowly responded.
“You are not ready to go back out into the world are you, Edwin?” Hal placed his hand on the Folded Man’s shoulder.
“No, it is safer here.”
“Yes, it is. One hour,” Hal said, before turning back down the hall toward the others. The Folded Man’s mind was easier to manipulate because he was mentally unstable after years of shifting back and forth between dimensions. Hal feared that the others would prove far more difficult.
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:16:31 GMT -5
3:47 hours
Minutes later they were joined by Zeiss. Hal recognized him as the man who took great pleasure earlier in twisting his legs when he’d got his cell visit. He also remembered reading about him in one of Batman’s files. He was a powerful and dangerous man. If Bruce knew he was working with this man to escape prison he wouldn’t approve. But there were many things that Hal did that Bruce didn’t approve of, and before this day was over he was certain that a few more things would be added to the list. That was, if he survived throughout the remainder of the day.
Hal followed Doctor Double X, Zeiss, and the Wizard down B block toward the stairs that led to the ‘Dungeon cells”.
“I can’t see a damn thing!” Double X stated.
“We are all blind men in a cave, looking for a candle that was lit three thousand years ago,” the Wizard replied as he looked over at Hal and smiled.
“There are no lights down here,” Zeiss said, pushing himself toward the front, “but as my powers return I can see clearly in the dark.”
“That’s why you are here, my friend,” the Wizard stated as they slowly entered the dark cavern.
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:17:35 GMT -5
3:56 hours
The ‘Dungeon cellblock’ was all that remained from the previous Alcatraz. Everything had been built up around it when the prison was retrofitted. They chose to keep it so they had a place to put the most dangerous of prisoners; ones who could be locked up and forgotten about.
Hal stood and watched as two of those prisoners were released from their cells. One of them was Geo-Mancer, who possessed powers over the earth. At last count he had killed over a thousand people, the majority of them in the most painful and dreadful ways imaginable. Hal agonized over including him in the plan at all, but the others would have gotten suspicious if he wasn’t included, considering he would provide their means of escape once they were outside.
Geo-Mancer stepped out of his cell. He looked over at the four men in front of him and, without saying a word, walked over and stood next to them.
“Good dog,” Double X uttered under his breath.
Hal looked over at the other cell. The cell’s occupant did not step out. Hal walked over and looked inside. He was shocked at the size of the creature. He had read about him but he hadn’t anticipated he would be so large.
Last year, during the Apokolips Crisis, a group called the Deep Six had terrorized the San Francisco Bay area until the collected efforts of Earth’s heroes drove Darkseid and his denizens away. All but one member of the team safely escaped back to Apokolips. He was captured and locked up after the U.S. government had performed torturing experiments on him.
“It is time to go, Shaligo.” Hal spoke to the large green creature from Apokolips, “You are free now.”
“I will never be free,” he said in a low gruff voice. “I have failed Lord Darkseid and I must be punished.”
Hal looked over at the others and then back inside the cell. “You were not the only one who was left behind, Shaligo. I know of another and he needs your help.”
“Who is as stupid as Shaligo to get caught on this mud ball of a planet?”
“Kalibak,” Hal responded. “He was captured after his battle with… Green Lantern and he has been stuck here all this time, just like you.”
“Darkseid’s own blood?” Shaligo laughed.
“Yes, and I imagine Darkseid would be pleased and show you great favor if you were to return his son to him. But you must help us first.”
Shaligo slowly turned and walked out of the cell. “I owe you a great debt and will do whatever it is you ask of me.”
“Break down that wall over there,” Hal said pointing across the dark cell block.
“Once he does that, it’s only a matter of time before they know what we are up to?” the Wizard said, leaning in toward Hal.
“Who says they don’t already?” Hal said back. “Either way, get ready, because once we are outside this wall, the only thing standing between us and freedom is the San Fransico Bay.”
The wall crumbled with ease as Shaligo pushed his way through to the outside.
“Makes you wonder why he never busted out before now?” Double X asked out loud.
“Because there is no escape from a prison you create within your own mind,” Zeiss responded.
“Whatever. I just like my grunts to be as stupid as they are big,” Double X said looking around. “Hey! Has anyone seen Folding Chair Man lately?”
“Forget about him. I am sure he is around somewhere. Now it’s time to go,” Hal said, as one by one they stepped outside behind Shaligo, who quickly kept walking until he entered the water.
“I gotta give you props, Hand,” Double X said, patting Hal on the back. “You made it look easy.”
“Well, we aren’t gone yet, so save your congratulations until we are on the other side,” Hal said, looking around nervously.
“He is right,” the Wizard shouted out. “Geo-Mancer, get with making your rock bridge and let’s get out of here.”
“All I am saying is that I prayed to God every night to get me off of this stupid rock and here I was praying to the wrong dude all along,” Double X said, moving toward the shore.
“Well there’s a problem now, ain’t there!” They turned and looked up toward the voice that came from the roof of the building. The yard suddenly lit up and they saw the warden along with twenty armed guards with their guns pointed down at them. “ See I was just talking with God and he says he can get me out of this mess, but he’s pretty sure the rest of you are screwed!”
Hal looked up and smiled at the warden. “Right on time, Warden.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Hand? I am not sure what you did with your fancy talk earlier but I guarantee there won’t be any misunderstandings now. Not with twenty loaded guns and a mile and a half of freezing water between you and freedom.
“Hand, so help me God, if you don’t get us out of here, you won’t live to see the sun rise,” the Wizard sneered.
“I’ve got it cover-” Hal was stopped short as a penetrating boom filled the air. Hal forced a smile through the pain. It meant that the Folding Man had done his part and re-activated the damping field. “Shaligo, now!” Hal yelled out.
Shaligo rose from the water and reached out and grabbed Hal by the arm.
“You bastard, Hand!” the Wizard shouted as he grabbed Hal’s other arm.
“Fire your damn guns, you idiots!” the warden yelled out as gunfire erupted all around them.
Hal watched as bullets whizzed by his head as they dove into the water. “Hang on tight. I swim really fast,” Shaligo shouted out, as the Wizard glared at Hal. He was about to say something when the creature from Apokolips took off like a rocket through the water. There wouldn’t be enough time for the Warden to react before they reached the shore. The plan had worked perfectly, well almost perfectly. He would still have to find a way to deal with the Wizard before going after the Black Hand and getting his life back.
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:19:22 GMT -5
First National Bank of Coast City Shortly after 8 a.m.
“All right, everybody be cool, this is a robbery!” the gunman yelled as he spun around in a circle pointing his gun.
“Any of you freakin’ idiots move…” another gunman screamed, as they ran toward the crowd of people, “…and I’ll execute every last one of ya!”
The people in the bank began to panic. Some dropped to the floor while others stood motionless. Then one gunman quickly began to bark orders while his partner stood with his back to the door with his gun on the guard. “Everyone stay calm and this will be quick and painless. I want all of the tellers to place all of their small bills on the counter. I will collect the money and my partner and I will be gone before you…” He stopped mid-sentence when the door swung open knocking his partner to the ground.
“You are so screwed now, you idiot!” one of the bank patrons muttered as everyone turned to see Green Lantern standing in the doorway.
“This is one of my father’s banks,” Black Hand announced. “Nobody robs it but me!”
The gunman on the floor reached out for his gun but was quickly stopped as a large green hammer landed on his hand. He screamed out in pain as he felt his hand being crushed.
“You think you can outrace a bullet with that magic ring of yours?” the other gunman yelled out as he pointed his gun across the bank lobby at the Black Hand. “Maybe I’ll just shoot one of these unfortunate people.”
“Try it,” Hand yelled back as he took a few steps toward the robber. “I am begging you to try it.”
The gunman took aim at a woman on the floor in front of him but suddenly pulled the gun up and fired as Black Hand charged him. Hand pointed his ring and created an emerald replica of the gunman. When the gunman had unloaded his bullets into his copy, Hand threw the body to the floor and reached out and hit the robber with a green energy blast. Then, without speaking, he used the ring to gather up the two would-be bank robbers and placed them in a guillotine he whipped up in the center of the bank lobby.
The people quickly began to move away from the robbers, as the two of them stood helpless in Hand’s trap. “I ask you, dear bank patrons. These two chose to rob this fine establishment without any thought or concern for your well-being,” Hand stated to the stunned crowd who began to understand what was going on. “You have seen the evidence with your own eyes, so I ask you now to give the word, and judgment shall be passed unto them.”
The guard slowly stood up and raised his gun toward Hand. “You can’t be serious!” he said, just before Hand used the ring to fling a giant donut at the man, who was quickly knocked unconscious against the wall.
“I am serious!” he said, before turning to face the tellers. “Oh, and I also just recently lost my job so I want all the money put on the counter just as it was requested of you. But unlike them I will not place anyone’s life in danger doing so.” He looked back over at the robbers and smiled. “Except for you two, of course. Just chalk it up as a bad day, okay?”
The sound of police sirens could be heard as several squad cars pulled up and stopped outside of the bank.
“Hurry up! We don’t have all…” Hand began to yell out before the entire bank rumbled forcing him to lose focus as he fell to the ground. Several bank customers yelled out as the walls cracked and the glass windows at the front of the bank shattered. Someone yelled out “Earthquake!” as another shockwave rattled the building.
Hand slowly stood up. “Duty calls, my good people. I hope you all learned a valuable lesson here today.” Hand then regained his concentration and flew out of the broken bank window past the waiting police and into the sky.
When he was high enough off of the ground he looked around and saw what was causing the quake, or rather who. “You have got to be kidding me!” he yelled out as he headed toward the costumed menace with his fists pointed at the ground.
The man looked up just in time to see Black Hand knock him into the pavement.
“Where are the rest of your associates, Shakedown?” Hand demanded as Shakedown slowly pulled himself off of the ground.
“I am impressed,” Shakedown responded, as he dusted broken concrete off of himself. “I wasn’t aware that a member of the Justice League knew of our work.”
“Of course I know who you idiots are! The Power Revolution said they had retained your services. I just never thought they’d send you here. So I will only ask you this once more…where are the rest of the Masters of Disaster?”
“Sorry, Green Lantern. You may know more than you should but I ain’t giving anything up to you without a fight. Besides, I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise.” Shakedown said before diving out of the way.
Black Hand turned as a tidal wave came rushing toward him, knocking him backward. The water rapidly turned to freezing rain and, before Hand could react, the rain turned to ice. The sharp ice missiles cut into him as Hand struggled to generate a protective shield around himself. He reached out and blasted energy beams in every direction. One blast caught Coldsnap in the chest bringing the ice storm to an abrupt halt.
Hand stood up, as he quickly tried to assess what he was facing. The Masters of Disaster were a group of mercenaries who worked for the highest bidder. Currently they were employed by a mysterious group named the Power Revolution. The same group also hired Black Hand to take over Green Lantern’s life by upgrading his powers to take over his enemy’s body. He did what he was hired to do and, over the past couple of days, was slowly getting used to his new lease on life.
He was told that the Power Revolution would contact him when the time was right. He’d begun to wonder when that would happen since he’d never met them in person or known of any way to contact them What he didn’t expect was to see the Masters of Disaster here in Coast City. He suddenly recalled the story he had told Hal while he’d slowly switched places with him a few days ago:
“The Power Revolution are a legitimate threat. Especially since the next event on their list is to speed along the natural disasters that will wipe California off the map. This is scheduled to occur within the next ten days and I don’t want to spend my final moments sliding off into the ocean.”
At the time he had spoken in only half-truths and he certainly didn’t believe that the Revolution really planned to attack California. He honestly never believed that they posed a real threat. He had only heard rumors of their existence and didn’t believe they were real until they had had their agents make contact with him. He began to realize that maybe they had used him. Maybe their plans were to destroy California and he was supposed to assist these imbeciles in destroying the state. If that was the case, they were dead wrong. He would not sit by and watch his home obliterated. He would never be a hero but these chumps picked the wrong guy to mess with.
Black Hand clenched both of his fists as he looked up at the Masters of Disaster. There were five of them. Each one had a different super-power, related in some way to a natural disaster. He looked down at the ring on his hand and chuckled. “These poor suckers.” Hand quickly took to the air and then dove down directly at them.
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:20:32 GMT -5
A helicopter passed overhead as the Wizard, Shaligo, and Hal laid low against the shoreline. Over the last several hours they continued to slowly move down the shore to avoid being seen by the local police that had been called in once word got out that there had been a break out at Alcatraz.
“They will find us soon if we stay out here much longer,” the Wizard said as he quickly stepped out of the water. “So this is where we part ways. I would ask you to join me but I see that you are a man more interested in self-preservation than spreading goodwill to others. Don’t get caught or the others who were left behind will most certainly kill you. Of course if I ever meet up with you again I will kill you myself.”
Hal watched as the Wizard turned and ran up toward the marina. He was too weak to stop him even if he tried, but he couldn’t help but feel that he would regret not trying. He turned back toward Shaligo. “One more ride before we part ways?”
“Of course. I owe a great debt of honor to you,” Shaligo responded as Hal entered the water and took hold of his wing-like fins. “A member of the Deep Six always keep their word.”
“Glad to hear it,” Hal said, patting him on the back. “I want you to swim south as fast as you can.”
“Where are we going?”
“Coast City.”
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:21:23 GMT -5
A suburb of Coast City…
Paul Booker was sitting in front of his television eating breakfast when the news report came on. “What the hell?” he said, as he reached over for his remote to turn the volume up. He dropped his bowl of cereal on the table next to him and promptly stood up. “Oh hell, no, they do not. That is my schtick!” he said before racing out the door.
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:22:00 GMT -5
"This is Chopper 7 for Channel 7 News.... we are witnessing live a fight between Green Lantern and a villain group whose identity we are not yet sure of.... the power pyrotechnics are immense. Warning: children, the elderly, and those with heart conditions should not watch!" Major Disaster went flying by the cockpit of the helicopter in a blur of black and gold. The reporter attempted to remain unfazed as he continued, “We will continue to bring you updates as soon as they occur, which appears could happen at any moment now.”
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:22:51 GMT -5
"You're all a bunch of idiots!" Black Hand roared. "I can't believe I wasted my time with you!"
New Wave turned into a thundering tsunami. Gritting his teeth with fury, Black Hand used Lantern's power to boil her, turning her into steam. She screamed in the wind. He grinned, thinking he had killed her, but she simply reformed into rain, which began to puddle on the ground.
That didn't make sense; she should be dead... He went to blast her again, but Coldsnap was suddenly in his face, hurling shards of ice meant to tear him apart. Now Black Hand understood New Wave's survival. They were coordinating their efforts as a team; protecting each other. Not such idiots, tactically, at least.
Hand blocked Coldsnap's attack easily; he was adapting to the ring's power better and better all the time.... but this was annoying him. He wanted to just rip these fools apart.
Before he could, however, Shakedown was in his face, slamming his fists against Hand's shields over and over again. Infuriated, Hand used the ring to choke Shakedown, planning to asphyxiate him... but then a blast of heat struck from behind, breaking his concentration.
"You are going down," Heatstroke hissed.
Black Hand screamed out in pain. He concentrated and quickly projected a large emerald sword toward Heatstroke. Unable to move out of the way fast enough, the sword sliced right through him. His dead body was carried several feet by the sword’s momentum before he hit the ground and halted to a dead stop.
“You…you killed him,” New Wave screamed out.
“Welcome to the world, kid!” a suddenly recharged Hand snapped back. “Now who’s next?”
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:23:28 GMT -5
Justice League headquarters…
Batman reached over and muted the sound on the JLA monitor in front of him and then pressed a button on the communicator device on his headset. “This is Diana,” Wonder Woman’s voice echoed.
“Diana, there is a problem in Coast City I need you to respond to immediately.”
“What kind of problem?” she asked.
“It appears that Hal has just killed someone.”
“What?” she replied. “How?”
“I am not sure yet. But I need you to take him down now!” Batman said, as he continued to watch the news broadcast of the battle.
“I am on my way.”
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:24:20 GMT -5
Before anyone else had a chance to react, there was a loud boom right in front of them as Major Disaster stood between Hand and the remaining Masters of Disaster. “Somebody mind telling me what the hell is going on here?” he yelled out.
“Another low life looking to tussle with the Emerald Knight?” Hand spouted off. “Didn’t you just see what I did to the last guy who ticked me off?”
“I did.” A woman’s voice projected out from behind Hand. “Which makes me believe what I already suspected. You are not Green Lantern.”
Black Hand turned away from the battlefield to find a very angry Amazon suddenly in his face.
“Yeah. What’s it to you, Wonder babe?” Hand said as he pushed his index finger into her shoulder.
“Batman, looking closely now I think you were right,” Diana said out loud as Hand went to poke at her again. “This is worse than we thought.” She reached out and twisted his finger away from her with one hand while she formed a fist with the other. Wonder Woman knocked him for half a mile with one punch. Only the ring protected him as he slammed into the ground, shoulder first, digging up grass and earth and stone.
Groggily he got up, but she was in his face again.
"Get..." BAM
"Out...." WHAM
"Of..." CRACK
"Lantern's..." BOOM
"...body!!" KA WHAMM!
"And if I don't," he taunted, blasting her with the ring, "what will you do, kill me?"
"No, just batter you into unconsciousness and effect the transfer without your interference."
BOOOOOOOOOOM.
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:26:28 GMT -5
Black Hand was flat on his back. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a familiar face looking down over him, a face that had been his up until recently. “Hello Hal.” Hand said wiping the blood away from his eyes.
“I want my body back…NOW!” Hal yelled out.
“I see that you have learned the secret to my success.” Hand replied as he slowly rose to his feet, “But I also see that you are in no shape to put the mind whammy on me even if it were reversible.”
He was right. Hal could barely stand much less fight. He had used every once of strength he made making it back. He had nothing left and he was out of time. The pain in his head was causing him to black out every couple of minutes. It would only be a matter of time before he finally blacked out and never woke up again. What he needed was to come up with a solution quickly before…
“I am not going to ask you again! Get out of Green Lanterns body.” Wonder Woman ordered without paying any attention to Hal who stood just a few feet away in Hands body.
“Diana it’s me!” Hal collapsed unto his knees, “He switched places with me and I…”
Wonder Woman looked over at him stunned, “I thought he possessing his body? This must be some type of trick!”
“It’s no trick.” Hal said as he slowly rose to his feet.
“Oh sure princess!” Hand yelled out, “You’re not gonna fall for a trick like that are you? I mean come on! Look at him! He looks like he was swimming in a sewer.”
“Silence!” She barked out at Hand, “ I don’t believe him any more then I believe you so I am taking you both into custody before…”
“Use your lasso Diana.” Batman’s voice said through her earpiece com-link. “I believe he’s telling the truth.”
“What makes you believe him?” She asked back.
“I received a call last night from a number traced back to Alcatraz Island. It was a coded message set up in case of emergency. Specifically between Jordan and myself in case the most powerful weapon in the known universe were to fall into the wrong hands. I think this might just classify as such a case.”
“I see it now.” They said wrapped the golden cord around Hal. She looked over at Hand who was beaten too badly to resist her as she wrapped the golden lasso around him as well, “You may have possessed his body, but you were never able to steal his spirit.”
“I work for very important people!” Hand yelled out as the lasso began to burn brightly through all three of them, “They will not sit still for this! They have plans for all of you!”
Hal felt the rope around him begin to burn just before he blacked out…
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:27:09 GMT -5
When Hal awoke he saw Diana looking down at him smiling. “Great Hera, it worked!”
“Worked? How…” Hal tried to speak.
“Don’t worry about that now. We have a mess to clean up here after you rest a bit more.”
“Thank you.” He said smiling back at her.
“Don’t thank me just yet. You will be called upon at some point to pay back the boon bestowed upon you.”
“Hey.” He said slowly picking himself up off of the ground, “You name it, you got it. I owe you my life.”
“It was not I alone who broke Hands hold over you. When the time is right they will call on you to pay back your debt to them.”
Hal looked at her with concern but it soon passed, as he looked over at Hand on the ground a few feet from him unconscious. He then looked around at the damage caused by the battle between Hand and the Masters of Disaster. “What the hell happened here?”
“I am not entirely sure but it appears to be over.” Diana said looking at the various members of the MOD sprawled out across the street.
Major Disaster looked over at Hal and Diana, “Hey! That was kinda fun! Any spots open up in the JLA you kids let me know ok?” With that he took off with a gust of wind.
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:27:58 GMT -5
Forty-five minutes later…
Hal and Diana finished cleaning up the street and made sure that all injured parties were being tended to. It had been a miracle that none of Coast City’s residents had been killed. Hal turned toward Diana. He was searching for the right words to say but couldn’t find any. He nervously played with the ring on his right hand.
“It’s ok Hal. I know.” She said before leaning over and gently kissing him on the cheek. Without another word she slowly rose to the air and blew him another kiss before turning and flying off. Hal watched until he could no longer see her in the sky.
“Well this is a fine mess you got yourself into!” Hal quickly turned to see King Faraday behind him.
“Faraday! I have had enough of you!” Hal said grabbing him by his shirt collar, “You got some nerve showing up here after what you pulled!”
“I have a lot of nerve?” Faraday pretending to seem unfazed by Hal’s sudden act of aggression. “After what was broadcast all over the news, you’re the one who should think twice about showing his face in public.”
“You know damn good and well that that wasn’t me.” Hal said letting go of Faradays shirt and shoving him back a few feet.
“I know that but the news is going to have a field day with the bank robbery and the destruction of public property. Not to mention the story just hitting the wire about an escape attempt from Alcatraz.”
Hal stood there fuming, “I want to speak with Hand now!”
“No can do. He is already halfway across the country by now. There are some very important people that have some questions for him and you aren’t on the list.”
Hal turned and began to walk away as Faraday yelled out to him, “Watch your back Jordan. Things have gone too far for me to protect you anymore.”
Hal turned around, “You do the same Faraday. That’s the only warning shot you will receive from me.” Hal smiled before he slowly rose to the sky and flew off toward the clouds.
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Post by Romans Empire on Jun 1, 2007 20:29:06 GMT -5
Epilogue:
Elsewhere-
A man closed his cell phone and sat back down at the table.
“ It is over. Faraday has taken him into custody. Are you not concerned about what he might tell them?” the man asked another man who sat in the shadows.
“Hand?” the shadowy man responded. “He believed what we told him to believe. What he repeats of that is irrelevant.”
“ I think he started to see through the ruse at the end; that the Power Revolution was just a front for our true activities.”
“ Even if he knows more than he should, it won’t matter. No one will believe the truth when it is proclaimed through the mouth of a lunatic. They will never see it coming until it’s too late.”
“And what about Hal Jordan?” the other man asked.
“It is unfortunate that we weren’t able to eliminate him earlier but everything will continue as planned. The ring bearer has proven to be a formidable foe, but ultimately he will fall,” the shadowy man said as he stood up. “He is but one man. One man alone cannot fight the future.”
The end for now…
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Post by mockingbird on Aug 1, 2011 18:30:19 GMT -5
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