by Marc | Aug 22, 2018 | Chronicles
Synopsis: Freddy stops a few miles out before reaching his destination while reflecting over the conversation that he and Black Adam has. Which brings him to a bit of an epiphany.
My destination was in my sights, yet the closer it became the slower I became until I found myself landing miles away. Yet, I could go no further. During my conversation with Black Adam I considered all that had been shared with me. It had not gone unnoticed that he began to refer to me Black Freeman. I chose not to respond, because what would I say? What could I say? There are times to speak and times to listen and though we both chose our words as carefully as we could there were things to learn, things to be taught, things to remember.
I was here because of the Trials and though he pressed me on the matter cutting through every other reason to bring me to where I needed to be I considered was he right? Was he wrong? Was I right? Was I wrong? To some of it I could say yes. To some of it I could say no. I could become frustrated and reject his notions, but I chose not to, because no matter what all may say there is something to learn from someone who has done this all before.
I suppose that I am stubborn when it comes to many matters, but is it a matter of refusal or a matter of acceptance or perhaps a combination of the two? The fact that I refuse to accept things as they are not, because they are not that, but because I cannot accept a world when I will not and cannot try. There are many obstacles that are set upon my path and to merely allow them to be deterrent would do a me and all that have come before me a great disservice.
Hope is not enough, one must be willing to act, but when one acts without hope what remains? Do I accept what Adam says as truth yes, but truth is subjective. One can use it as a sword, a shield, or club if they choose to, but they can also use it as a beacon, a guiding star. It is a fact that I am here because of the trials. I was told that they are almost at an end so hear I am but is that they only reason why I stand here…I stand here.
I am here to see this to the end, but my path that I travel is not so narrow that I am unaware of what happens around me, because of me. The Trials are meant to test me as much as they are meant to prove to the powers that be that I am worthy, but does that mean that I ignore all that has happened?
From New York to Fawcett City to Metropolis to Coast City and now to Kahndaq, does it mean that all of this has been a simple means to an end? Every step I have taken has taught me something I did not know about the world and about myself. It is shown me the man I aspire to be, the man I need to be, but not every lesson is taught in a vacuum. There are triumphs and defeats, victories and losses. Sometimes a combination of the two. Nothing is given freely.
Why do I seek the Wizard? Am I angry with him? For everything that has come to pass? Am I angry with myself for thinking setting myself upon this path? Am I angry with Adam for the things that he had said. For telling me that I must accept that which I have wrought? The seeds I have sown have yielded fruit of a most dangerous kind.
I have soared and stumbled, sometimes alone, sometimes together with others. Am I afraid? Yes. Am I afraid? No. I chose this. I.Chose.This. There was no accident. There was no gun to my head, no knife at my back. I chose this. Am I afraid? Yes. Am I afraid? No. Fear lies within but fear only triumphs when I do nothing. When I let it consume me. When I allow Adam’s words to shape me into something I am not.
Do I hate him. No. There are things I must here, because to hear them, to know them is to understand them. Understand that each step I take towards the end will mean many things. Good things, bad things, all things. All things that I must be, no matter come what may. I.Chose.This. Good. Bad. Ugly. I chose to be their champion. To prove my worth. To accept the consequences, all of them.
Yet, no matter what I still have a choice. In the end I am Freddy Freemen underneath it all. There are so many ways that this could have come together. So many things that could have been done. Six patrons, six Lords of Magic could make the impossible possible, yet they needed a connection someone to channel what gifts they would into.
That means I get a say in this. They chose this. They live with the consequences and I will live with mine. I live with mine, because that is what is necessary to keep moving forward. If I didn’t I would retreat and lose myself to the guilt. Guilt that would be to terrible to bear. I bear it, because it reminds me why I must keep stepping forward, why I must accept that there are better ways. That there are always possibilities.
I do not shield myself from what has happen. I do not deny the part I have played in setting this in motion. Whether or not another could have stood in my place does not matter. I stand here. I chose to be here. I.Chose.This.
My eyes look in the distance where dark smoke rises. Shutting my eyes, I focus on what I can hear. What I can smile. I think about the bodies that I came across and the fear in the eyes of people of Kahndaq. The sounds of screams of the citizens of Metropolis and Fawcett City. The voices of the children of Fawcett. The sound of Callaghan’s voice before he was taken from this world.
I. Chose. This.
My choices have consequences. How people see me I cannot control, but I cannot deny the part I have played yesterday or today or the part I have to play tomorrow. This is my burden to bear. “My burden to bear.” I say softly before turning towards the west my eyes casting up to the sky then towards the mountains once again. The Wizard awaits, but as I stand there thinking about the words I spoke and mt thoughts my mind flashes to what Adam said. This is happening because of me. This is my fault. My eyes slid shut as I let out a long breath.
There was a lesson to be learned there, but even more there was something to consider. Someone to consider.
To stare upon what my actions of have created. It should bring me to my knees. I should want it to stop, but…” I chose this.”
I draw in another breath letting my mind reach that place where my thoughts settle, and I bring myself down from an emotional high. Not because I feel sad or unhappy, but more that I feel don’t know how to explain it.
“I know you’re there. You’re always there whispering, but you are remarkably silent. Adam said you would, be that you would not refute his words, and perhaps that is part of it, but another part is that there is aid you can render and things you cannot say. As always there are things that I must understand for myself without your aid. Decisions that I and I alone must make. Good or bad. My choices. My fate. My repercussions. I must be able to withstand the weight of them all, endure them. If I cannot bear my own choices, face them, accept them how can I expect to bear all that is to come. Personal responsibility must be assumed. It cannot be deflected. It must be embraced and you must soldier on but it doesn’t mean that it does not affect you. How you allow you to affect you is just as important as being able to bear it, to acknowledge it.”
Wetting my lips, I take a step towards the mountain, but I don’t touch off instead I let my mind continue to clear nodding to myself as I consider my words carefully. I expect no answer. I have no question only a thought and idea.
“I won’t say that this is historically correct as stories take on a life on their own when passed from one person to another, but what I do know is before the time of the Olympians, their predecessors before them the Titans ruled in their stead. Much is always said about Zeus and how he was able to escape the fate of his siblings due to Rhea’s decision to feed his father a stone wrapped in cloth. “ I pause for a second.
“It was Zeus that helped his siblings escape with aid of a drug for a lack of a better of word that caused Cronus to regurgitate the children he consumed in an effort to prevent his own eventual downfall and defeat.“ I would not get into the self-fulfilling prophecy, because that is not the point of my words.
“Cronos defeat was not the end for a ten-year war was raged between his progeny and the remaining old gods, the Titans. For ten years war raged between children of Cronos and Rhea and the Titans upon the fields of Thessaly they say. This conflict was called the Titanomachy. The Titans waged war from Mount Othrys while gods to be fought from Mount Olympus.”
My fall upon the sands, sands that in various areas of in the country were stained with blood barely covering the bodies of fallen people. “Zeus and the new generation of gods prevailed along with their allies. While important it is not my focus. My focus is on one of the defeated. One of the leaders of the great Titan army, not the doomed might Monetius, but his brother Titan of endurance and astronomy, Atlas.”
My eyes move towards the sky once again.
“His brother defeated, struck by one of Zeus’s thunderbolts, and cast down into the underworld, to Tartarus, Atlas was defeated, but he was not struck dead by a thunderbolt, no instead he was given penance. Some to shoulder the world, but it was actually to shoulder the celestial heavens upon his shoulders to prevent it from crashing down upon the earth. Truth they did not need to, but how else would you punish an enemy?” It brings several thoughts to mind, but I do not linger on that instead I focus on Atlas.
“He was forced to endure the weight of the heavens upon his shoulders and though there have been stories of him attempting to remove himself from this situation, he did it without fail save time when Hercules needed his aid, but it brings me to this thought. If I cannot bear my choices how can I accept the gifts of one who was made to bear the weight of the heavens upon him? The death that has come into my life. The war that is being waged. The harm that came to children Fawcett, all over the world that has occurred because of a choice I made cannot be denied. It might be endured. It must not be in vain. Whether it is the weight of the world or the heavens, I must bear the weight of the world I help create and the one I live in and if that means that I must move forward and continue with the Trials then I do so freely knowing that my actions will have consequences that I must always face. There is no turning away. But know this hope will never be a stranger or enemy, because that is who I am. It is an ally.” Pushing off the ground resuming my journey to the Wizard.
by Marc | Aug 22, 2018 | Chronicles
Synopsis: Freddy catches up with Black Adam and the two of them discuss the nature of events that have unfolded within and around Kahndaq. At the same time Black Aadam presses Freddy to realize something quite important while advising him that the Wizard is near. While Black Adam continues the defense of Kahndaq (and swift retribution) Freddy heads towards the mountains to see the Wizard.
BLACK ADAM: Standing upon the shore of Dahab, looking out east across the Gulf of Aqaba, one might mistake this portion of the world as a mythical paradise. Turn west and you would certainly believe yourself to be facing the very gates of hell itself. As the land is marked by all the signs of War. Littered across the visible expanse of sand dunes is a veritable wasteland of the battle that has waged non-stop for almost a week. Over turned tanks. Downed fighter planes. Even a capsized boat or two can be seen sticking prominently out from the sand.
It is only by the very grace of the Mother Nature that you can’t quite make out the death toll. In part thanks to the sweeping sands that try as they can to swallow up the dead. Yet also because that has been the only pause in the Warfare. While Bialya is a army of many, Kahndaq is an army of one. Black Adam must pause when he liberates a village, to see to his people’s safety and well-being. In those times, he loses much of the land he has gained as Bialya returns like ants to a picnic. Swarming in to make him re-fight the battle of yesterday, today. That was the mistake he made early on, as he would constantly advance but was unable to stop the multitude of Bialya forces from simply flanking him and getting their foothold once more behind him.
Now it has become a battle of inches. With Adam forced to accept and acknowledge that he must aide his people. Even if that is simply to arm them with the weaponry that Bialya leaves behind in their retreat. What began as a sneak attack, became a blood bath of vengeance, that soon turned in to something far far worse. A nation of Kahndaq that rallies behind the cry of vengeance that Adam raises at each stop.
Today that stop has hit the Gulf of Aqaba. Where the water separates Kahndaq from Bialya. A choice now looms before the Champion. Does he turn North and liberate his people or does he drive across the Water in order to deal with Bialya directly. Every fiber of his being cries out for him to take the fight to them, but the wisdom of Zehuti has for once given him pause.
It is there. Upon the shore of the Aqaba, that he stands looking out across the water when the silence is broken by a harsh voice. “You have been surveying my progress for long enough. Do you intend to join me or make with fancy words in Hope of getting me to follow Solomon’s advice?”
FREDDY: Try as he may to hasten his approach Freddy stopped every so often to help people along the way. He also needed these moments to consider what he would say when he came face to face with Adam. He knew that the King of Kahndaq, it’s champion would only have a few thoughts on his mind. He knew that he was not alone in one of those thoughts. Conner wanted to join him on this path, to take the fight to the Bialyan army, so he could only imagine what Adam’s people would be thinking. They would want vengeance, but vengeance was easy. It could be pull someone in so quickly, but so much about this felt wrong.
No, one could answer why this happened. So many questions surrounded that, but answers were short in supply. Freddy surveyed the area as made his way to the coast. He considered what he saw in the city and what Solomon had shared with him. He also considered what he the politics of all of this. That all played through his mind. He remembered what he shared with Conner, but he held back, because he did not want to be a source of conflict right now. Freddy didn’t know how Conner felt about his father, not really and saying the wrong thing could set a services of events into motion that he may not be ready to or want to hear. Not to mention it was a complex situation, but right now its all that Freddy could think about upon touching down upon the shore of Dahab.
He didn’t announce himself nor did he think he had to, but he gave himself another moment before he stepped forward, but even then Adam addressed him in the only way that Black Adam could trying to deter him from saying something, “Freddyannaish”.
“A world without hope is a world that sustains itself on a diet of fear, despair, and rage. It deserves better than that.” It could not be helped its who Freddy was sometimes.
Look close enough at the sand, past the mechanical debris you would see the bodies, and even more you would find the blood stained sand. Not the first time that this has happened. He doubted that it would be the last.
“I’m not sure. I’m more curious as to what Zehuti shared with you. It must have been enough to stop your assault. An alternate path or paths must stand before you. You are at a crossroads. Press forward or turn back. Do you continue the assault or tend to your people. Warrior or steward and shepherd. Which will you chose for your flock, Adam? Which would Adrianna as you knew her chose? How best would you serve them. As their avenger or as their leader?” Simple questions. Was there some hope in there, perhaps, but fair questions Freddy thought.
“I am here, because I am needed here. It continues. My journey, your journey it continues. I am here to bring this portion of it to a close and hopefully become the person I need to be. The person that the Wizard saw in me. I came, because my friends people are suffering. He is suffering.” Just as one suffering ended another began. “I came to help, but I also came to see. Do you not see it, Adam? History repeating itself. The board is the same. The pieces may be different, the players may be different, but it is all the same. Some choices are new. Some are not. I saw your city. I saw the capital. There is more here at work than the death and carnage that is spread across your land. We’ve been positioned.”
BLACK ADAM: “Mm. A world without Hope, is entirely subjective and you know it. Do not waste my time, nor insult either of our intelligence with such diluted ideals. Hope is something that springs from many sources. Look at the people in Dahab, you can see hope in the eyes from the mere sight of me. The promise of their lives, gives them hope for more. These are an ancient and prideful bloodline of people. Offer them Vengeance and you’ll see as much hope, if not more than you would if you offered them Peace.”
“In short, be Wary of how you speak to me of Hope in Kahndaq, these people and I define Hope far differently than you Captain America.”
For what it is worth, the two of them have made it much further than normal without Freddy being described as Unworthy or being called a Child. In the way of Progress, this is surely a step in the right direction. Even if Adam bridles at the very notion of ‘Hope’ being what Freddy describes it to be. On the other hand, Adam does not even dignify the would-be champion by facing him yet. His stance is staunchly affixed upon the skyline of the Gulf before him. Oddly pondering precisely what Freddy speaks of. At least, mostly the same things.
“Tread carefully, Freeman, I have not stopped yet. Once the wounded of Dahab are evacuated to the United Nation’s medical center, I move again. You are simply correct in intuiting that I am at a crossroads of where to progress upon next.” A hand sweeps out to indicate across the water, to Bialya directly before pointing straight north to the next village where Bialya has itself entrenched. “You speak well, for once, though. We are positioned. Arrayed at the will of an outside force. I do not care for it, much. Zehuti shows me far more than you might imagine. When you are older, if you are able to stop being such a simpering ninny, Solomon will do much the same for you.”
“Bialya is after something. Have you figured out what, yet?”
Finally though Adam turns, his hands now folded behind his back and perhaps for the first time since Freeman has actually known the former Champion? He does not appear to be about to spring in to Hostility. “Freeman, you are not here because of me. Nor my people. Perhaps you ‘Hope’ it were so. Maybe you even believe it to be so, because you’re yet too young to understand. Stop looking at this all with your heart, boy. You are here because -this- is the Trials.”
“They are Broken. This world is Broken. All of this.” Those hands move to open wide and encompass all of Biayla once more. “Every parent who has lost a child. Every child who has lost a parent. Every death in Kahndaq. Is because of you. Because you persist with your Broken Trial, so this ‘Broken World’ alligns itself to test you in the most dire of circumstances it can to prove yourself a Champion of this broken world.”
“You ask me for Zehuti’s Wisdom? There it is. Rail against it, it is natural, but you will not find a reasonable logical argument. All of this is on you, Freeman. Because the Trials must take the form of a test for Champion needed in the world he must protect. This is your crucible, Freeman. Of your own choosing. Thus you must embrace and accept that guilt and then see what sort of Champion that guilt will make of you.”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong. If you had walked away, the Rock would simply have selected another candidate. Whom would have gotten his own series of Trials and perhaps this would have happened anyway. Perhaps not. But since you brought up choices, I feel it only proper to remind you that you too had a choice. One that kept you walking down the path of these Trials. Your choice,” one outstretched hand shifts to point towards Dahab. “Your consequences, Boy.”
“Listen. Hear the silence of Solomon. He won’t refute my words, that much I promise you. I speak pure Truth in this moment, Freddy Freeman.”
FREDDY: “I am not wasting your time, Adam. Too much going on for me to do that and we’re not sitting around enjoying burgers.” That was truth. “Subjective or not it is how I live my life.” He didn’t want to debate or verbally barb, so he didn’t go into how truth could be subjective so they might be headed into fact. Solomon’s silence could also mean that he could not aid in this choice that he could not influence the decisions that would press Freddy in either direction. It was a choice that Freddy had to make on his own heart or mind or perhaps with them both working together rather than against one another as it could be for another person.
“Yes, this is my Trial. Whether or not this was my destination it is difficult to say, but..” But the Trials has been corrupted as Freddy had been told on more than one occassion. He didn’t shut his eyes but he looked towards the country that lay on the other side of the river.
“I hear your words, but I also have seen with my eyes. The strikes upon your city. So, precise that someone was picking and chosing what they wanted to destroy. Those things of value remained standing. It had nothing of value to someone that didn’t know what to look for. Historical treasures. Riches that people like you and me we concern ourselves about. Treasures that would interest people like the Batson’s. Curious items with links to past that stretches to the very kingdoms of the ancient world before it was ancient. When it was young and new.”
Relics of a long forgotten past by some, but not all, but even then Freddy stood considering his options.
Each step forward Adam took took him away from his people. “Is there a reason why I can’t be here for both? I choose to see them through. Walking away is not an option.”
“I’m not pointing fingers, but perhaps it’s time to put it to rest, to correct what went wrong so long ago. There are so many possibilities, but me and you here. I am here, because the Trials demand it, but is not the only reason why I’m here. What I’m saying is that this is personal. Someone is striking out at you at what matters most to you. What you hold dear. Your people. It’s killing all the birds with this one stone.” Freddy sighed.
“I have a decision to make, but let me say this and you can call me a fool if you like. Not that you won’t, but. There’s a fear in the pit of my stomach that you’re here. That you pushing the line back is a distraction, that this effort to draw you away from the capital is purposeful. You have given protection of the city away to outsiders.” He wet his lips.
“You were forced into a position where you had not choice to and the continued assaults draw away attention from some who may not be as altruistic as they seem to hunt for what your enemies are after. To go to the buildings who stand to seek out what they want with no one any the wiser. I have no doubt that Bialya is after this themselves surely they have to know of the items that are being sought, but this is very much a proxy situation.”
He took a deep breath. He could be overthinking it. “Nth metal. Whether they are in search of it. Knowledge of it. It the only thing that connects it. Something specific. Something that trails into the past that provides a power that would interest several parties. Including the ones that you welcomed through the gates. Not everyone, but those who have been instructed what to search for. That is a concern a fear.” Perhaps he was wrong, but who else could he voice it to.
“Broken trial. Broken world. Perhaps it’s time to fix what was broken. I persist, because I must, because the world is not a neat and tidy place. Horrible things happen, but it doesn’t mean you give up and go home. My Trial presents itself as it should be to prepare me for all that I will face in the days to come. Good. Bad. Ugly. What they after I have some idea. Why? Not completely clear, but clear enough. Clear enough for me to know they must be stopped” That much was true. That much he knew.
“If it is my crucible then I shall walk through the fire. If I have opened the door then the door is open. I shall go through. My choices have wrought many things. Some good. Some bad, but that is our world. Some good. Some bad. Suffering. Pain. Hope. It is not one thing or the other. It is all these things. I shall fight for all these things. I shall fight for a better tomorrow, because I have chosen to do so. This day was made the moment I said yes, I accept the challenges. If I turn away then that is the guilt that would consume me. All who have fallen, who have died, whose blood stains the sand deserve better. They deserve someone that will fight for this broken world, not because hope blinds me. It tells, it shows me the world that could be and I will fight for that world no matter what.” He tapped off the ground.
“Even if it is the death of me. I accept the responsibility of the choices that I have made. The death and destruction that it has caused. It will not deter mine. You’re right and wrong Teth-Adam. I am not only here because of the Trials. I am here for them. I am here for you. I am here for your people. I am here for me. I am here for the possibility of a better tomorrow. Of a world that is not as broken as they day it was before. As sentimental as it may be. It is who I am. It is the Champion that I wish to be. I fight for both the dead and the living. Every day is a trial. Perhaps that’s it. The trials never end. One victory does not fix what is broken. It may never get easier, but life isn’t easy, and it is hardly fair.”
BLACK ADAM: “You prattle like a baby bird, squawking for it’s mother to feed it. Unaware of the way it’s wings could carry it to food of it’s own merit.”
To the entirety of everything that Freddy has said? There is but a snort, that comes at the cost of simply looking down a very hawklike, imperious nose. Well muscled arms close slowly across his chest, a signal of finality. Of what is yet uncertain. “Even in this Age, I am amazed at the propensity for so many words to spill from one person’s mouth. Do they teach you to blather at school? It is a talent most of your fellow children seem to exude.”
“Allow me to cut to the chase, Free Man.”
“You are not here for me. If you truly believe you are, then you deceive yourself. You are here because of a construct of the Trial you face. Trials, plural. If you are deceiving yourself then you cannot pass your Trial. Which means all the harm your Trial has wrought upon Kahndaq, is equally unforgivable and unacceptable. So let us be clear upon this topic. Continue to speak to me of ‘being here for me,’ and I am going to beat such nonsense from you. War, Country and World be damned. Do you understand me, Free Man? Speak of that ignorance not a single time more to me.”
“Also. You delude yourself, in to thinking that I am blinded by my Rage. I am aware of what Bialya seeks. As I am also aware of what other seek. Though I did not need to see a pattern. Nor did I need to do the work of a detective and sleuth it out.” Those folded arms and imperious look remains even as Adam begins to drift above the sand in to the air. “As my rage carried me across the desert sands, I realized that the forces being put in play against me were being used to stall me. There are but four true resources in Kahndaq and I suspect you need not Solomon to tell you it isn’t our abundance of Sand. Our History and the relics thereof. Our people and the labor force they might represent.”
“The only other thing of value in this land, is the meteor that landed here so long ago.”
“Given that Bialya seems to care little for taking slaves, given the sheer loss of life sustained by my people. It was either the Relics or the Meteor. Quite frankly, the two resources overlap in many ways. A good many relics of Kahndaq’s past are born from the Meteor. I suspect that is why certain villages have been taken, instead of razed to the ground. Certain sites left untouched, more or less, other than looting. But by and large, Bialya is stalling. Buying time to search and locate. Thus they have attacked like very angry bees. Swarming the honeycomb.”
A single hand lifts, allowing Freddy to see that Adam is pointing towards the Mountains behind him. However the next thing he says actually seems to have nothing at all to do with what he’s pointing at. “Free Man, you’re missing small pieces of the puzzle. So, tell me. And for the love of the Gods, all of them. Try to answer me in a single syllable word for once. Yes or No. You know this is your Trial. Therefor you know that interference from outside, will mean you fail. I can tell you the answers. Send you directly where you need to be. You can end all of this killing, this War, the rape and pillaging.”
“All you have to do is say yes and I’ll give you the answers you’re looking for in this riddle of the Gods.”
FREDDY: Freddy Freeman was a team player. He always had been as long as he could remember. Despite the fact that he is currently being dressed down by Adam, because of his prattle is nothing new. It happens…all the time, but when he speaks he says things for a reason. It gives him a chance to empty his head, clear it out to get all the thoughts racing inside of his head. There was no chance to sit down and have a burger and talk things through to get all of his concerns out so Adam was his sounding board despite the fact that Adam was having none of it, but at least he let Freddy get it all out.
Of course that lead him to watching as Adam move and spoke. Attacking like bees and a honeycomb. That was a very specific analogy for you know the desert, which Freddy tucked away while he watched Adam’s hand. He considered for a second everything that unfolded. The precision strikes. The change in performance by the Bialya army.
He had a thought, but he had to put it aside as everything was laid out for him. He could end this, end all the suffering and death by accepting help. Freddy never turned away help. Sometimes you can’t do it alone. Yet despite the fact that Adam put it out there if he accepted any outside help then he would fail the trial…trials it wasn’t failing that Freddy focused on.
His mind and his heart were currently pulling in different directions. He thought about what he said and what Adam said. It was an easy choice. Yes, to get the answers and end this, but he would fail.
Fail. He wouldn’t be champion. That should propel him towards no, because he wanted to be the champion, which was selfish. It’s how the heart played it and the mind. They were together on this if not for something that Adam said and Freddy said.
Freddy chose this. Adam said not to delude himself as to why he was here. He was here because of the Trial. If he said yes he would have the answers, but he immediately absolves himself.
Of the guilt.
Pain. Suffering. Good. Bad. Ugly. Hope. Victory. Loss. As powerful as champions were they were not omnipotent. They had limits. Mistakes would be made. They must be able to carry the pain of those mistakes and continue to fight on. Never forgetting. Yes is easy. It wasn’t the color that drained from Freddy’s face as he lowered to the ground. It wasn’t the weight of guilt, but the gravity of the choice he made. Red pill. Blue pill.
Yes was the blue pill. He got the answers handed to him. It ends, but did it really?
No was the red pill. He wouldn’t wake up. He wouldn’t walk away. He would see it through to the end and fought for the answers. The pain. suffering would continue. The pillaging, the raping, the thefts.
Yes right? It had to be yes!
“No.” He swallowed that red pill. He could feel a tightness in his chest. What had he done?
Freddy glanced up into Adam’s eyes. He knew what it meant. It was like saying yes all over again. If he told Adam yes then he was running away. There was nothing easy about the yes.It would not make things better, but it would provide a quick resolution..maybe, but Freddy would have benched himself. No more blood on his hands.
He looked at his hands and for a moment before tuning his eyes back up to Adam. The Trial would continue. It was not enough to acknowledge the choice. He must own the choice. He said he would step into the crucible. He shut his eyes for a second time thinking about what happened at the first Bank of Fawcett City. What happened in Metropolis. What happened in the ruins of Coast City and now what happened in Kahndaq. What was happening to it’s people, it’s land, it’s people. Adrianna. Conner. Possibly Cassie and anyone else that got involved willingly or unwillingly.
Yes. The blue pill. Just take it. Take back the no.
That’s what any rational person would do right?
No, he couldn’t do that. He could not nullify the choice that was mad so many months ago. Right or wrong wasn’t playing into this. It was about have the strength to live with the choice that had been made and to see it through. To finish it. To carry the blood with you to the end and beyond.
So, there would be no do over. No take backs. He gave Adam his answer. None of it would be in vain.
BLACK ADAM: Through all of this inner turmoil that the would-be Champion is going through, Black Adam is completely silent. Monolithic in his silence, in fact. It isn’t all that hard to figure, that the man is watching Freddy through a pair of eyes that have been on the opposite side of these discussions. Yet, if Freddy thinks that might merit him even a mild amount of empathy? He is wrong.
“Now you understand, Free Man. This is what it means to be a Champion of the Gods. You will be faced with impossible decisions almost every day. You won’t always make the right choice. Somehow, some way, you are going to need to stop talking about hope and start learning to how to cope with the weight of your decisions. Because each one you make will come at the cost of a part of you. Hope can make you stronger, it can drive you, but it cannot comfort you. At night. When you must close your eyes and come to terms with the cost of your decision.”
“For once, I mean no harm when I say this,” by this point Adam has actually halted his ascent and has turned almost casually toward the North and the next encampment. “You’re this creature of Hope and Kindness. Yet now. Every single time you look in to the eyes of my people, Free Man, you must mentally come to terms with the fact that you’re responsible for their pain. Your reasons for making that choice are your own, but how many people in this world would understand that you made your choice for a good reason? How many of them would instead believe your decision was based upon nothing more than your own benefit?”
“Now, you’re going to immediately try to reason. To justify. Yet that is just more blathering bird chirps. Words mean little to people who hurt because of a decision you’ve made. Your justification does not always measure up to their pain and that is the burden of a Champion. You will be judged, not on your own merit. Not on your own justifications. Simply upon what others perceive.”
“That and that alone, will eventually determine whether the eyes of the people see you as a Champion. Or simply Black Free Man.”
FREDDY: Free Man. Free will? Freddy, had nothing to add when Black Adam started speaking. Gods are revered and reviled, sometimes in the same breath. To be Champion meant that it would be something that Freddy would have to learn to live with. His choices whatever they may be could bring hope to some and despair to others. The end of the day the battle may be won, but at what cost. Right now all he could think about was what happened at the high school and all the children.
He had to soldier on, find a way to keep going to bring it to an end no matter the cost, because that is what was necessary. Did he cling to hope yes, did he strive to inspire others yes to draw it out of him, yes. Perhaps that was why, because on some level he knew that sometimes he would have to make the choices that others could not. He was the Champion of six gods and hope wasn’t something that most of them were known for. They inspired it,but they didn’t go out and market themselves on it, but he got it, he understood it.
Did he accept it? Freddy didn’t know, because there was something inside of him that wouldn’t let go. He could take everything that Adam said and move forward, but he also had to remember is that they looked…they sought a champion for a reason. Adam said that he would look for a way to reason, but it didn’t make it any less true? That one of the reasons a human such as himself was sought out was for those traits that may not be inherent to the gods to themselves.
That Hope and Kindness is something he brought to the mix?
He did not feel any harm or slight by what Adam said he would do what he always did when he spoke with Adam. He would take it to heart and learn from what was shared.
True facts. Black Adam didn’t have to say anything. He could pass judgement in silence yet he didn’t. He shared his opinion whether they were solicited or they weren’t. On some level he was paying it forward. Or Freddy was being a optimist in overdrive, but seriously he had no reason to share the information, his insights.
There was only one thing that Freddy could say to all of that.
“Thank you.” Like he told the others once. His relationship with Adam was complicated.
BLACK ADAM: “I will accept your thanks, but only because you will remember this day as the moment you regret most in your life.”
There is a kindly shrug before Adam begins to turn away. It is almost floating that he does, in moving away from Freddy. He does not shoot off at ultra sonic speeds, but drifts in the direction of the North. Almost aimlessly, because while he has made a decision it seems on where to progress next, he does not entirely seem committed to the act.
“Your choice has been made, Free Man. But making a choice is not nearly the same as confronting and genuinely facing the consequences of it. The Wizard tells me that is why you are here.” A glance, thrown back across one shoulder, one thin brow lifted as imperiously as any other. “I told you, Free man. I know far more than you think. You never did find your Wizard did you? Perhaps you should look to the Mountains.”
“Or you can follow me and keep the Blood Shed to a minimum. Life is full of choices.”
FREDDY: It is not the first time that Adam had motioned to the mountains. However, it is the first time that he mentioned the Wizard. The fact that he spoke with the Wizard made Freddy consider what he might say to the Wizard. Was there anything to say? Would the Wizard even want to see him? Perhaps it would delaying the inevitable?
Freddy thought about the boy he saw when everything came to an end in Coast City. He hadn’t shared that with anyone, but now, he had another choice to make. He was ready to walk through the fire.
“I’ll catch up,” he replied. Adam was doing what he had to based on the choices that Freddy had made. There was no changing that. Freddy didn’t know if he had questions for the Wizard. However, this would come to an end one way or another. Moving into the air Freddy turned towards the mountains. It was time to start facing the consequences. With that Freddy moved in the direction of the mountains.
by Marc | Aug 22, 2018 | Chronicles
Synopsis: War breaks out in the Kahndaq. Freddy is roused from slumber to be told the Final Trials have begun. Getting caught up on what’s happened Freddy calls Cassie to let her know he’s headed to Kahndaq. Sometime later he arrives in Kahndaq and is brought up to speed by Conner. Afterwards Freddy makes the decision to catch up to Black Adam after getting a sense of what’s happening in the city.
STORYTELLER: Kahndaq: It begins with the roll of thunder over a land that rarely sees a storm.
^Sire! Come quickly.^
People do not summon a King, they are summoned. Such is the first thought to enter the mind of Adam. Who’s sleeping form roused long before the servant broke through the curtains surrounding his sea of pillows. The women who litter his chambers also rouse, but none speak. Their place is known and the silence is assured, except at times when they’re encouraged to break it. That fight or flight instinct was in play in the man before his servant’s voice rang out, but it is squarely in the corner of ‘fight’ once he’s heard the man’s tone.
^What madness drives you to…
^Quickly, Sire! They’re …^
That is when the first explosion rocks the palace. Debris crashes in from all angles. Instantly the serenity that was Adam’s chambers is thrown in to complete chaos. A second explosion sends his chamber maidens scrambling as the danger overtakes their senses. That second explosion is followed by a third, a fourth, then the number is endless. Completely lost in the brutality of the assault.
In the ensuing madness of of napalm bathed flames, keen eyes might find the sight of Adam. Swathed only in silken robe, crouched over the fallen form of the man who had come only moments before to summon him. The body lays crumbled amidst the rubble of the bedroom’s entry way. Blood stains Adam’s hand for only a moment, before a single word slips from his lips.
^Shazam!^
^^ – Translated from an ancient dialect of Egyptian.
Today, while standing on the White House Lawn, President Lex Luthor announced a joint task force of several major powers within the United Nation’s Security council would be answering the urgent call from war torn Kahndaq. This comes nearly 24 hours after the initial, unannounced, surge of attack made by Bialya on their neighbors. Hailing the attack on Kahndaq as heinous and uncalled for, President Luthor clarified that this would be a joint task force of Peace Keepers. His clarification was made when pressed for what his authority was to send troops, without an official Declaration of War approved by Congressional vote.
“We are not sending soldiers. We’re not deploying the armed forces. We are taking part in a special task force, sanctioned by the United Nations, aimed solely at restoring peace to the area and putting a stop the senseless loss of life.”
Less than four hours after the announcement news crews were finally able to report in real time. Videos began to make the local, national and world news. Images depicting the Canadian hero known to his people as ‘Freight Train,’ and the French born Firehawk and a woman of Italian descent, mostly known outside of Italy for her amazing operatic talents Alessandra Fermi, the Diva, are shown to the world arriving. Unsurprisingly it is the arrival of the blue and red sigil of Superman that is most touted though. Reporters would suggest that many others can be counted among this vaunted task force, each with their own special ability to render assistance.
Soon after that the ‘Humanitarian Aid’ begins with the Red Cross being covered by the task force. Medical assistance and recovery crews are the first to be brought in and kept safe by those heroes. It isn’t long before the task force is tested in it’s resolve to assist, by new attacks from the Mediterranean Sea based naval vessels of Bialya. Camera crews are able to get amazingly clear shots of the team taking to the field, but only to employ non-lethal force in disarming both troops and entire vessels themselves.
On the third day of the attack on Kahndaq, the Capital City of Shiruta experiences the first full hour without the sound of exploding bombs tolling the new noon-time hour. By this point the City is in ruins. The Red Cross tent-hospitals are overflowing with injured. At least three time that number lay dead in the street or beneath tons of rubble. With only seeming handful of people avoiding both injury or death. The sheer numbers rolling in to the major media sources are staggering.
One news clip begins to make it’s rounds on the news outlet, a small but poignant exchange between the Superman and Kahndaq’s failed champion.
“They run, it is time for us to press back,” in spite of the terrible losses he’s face, Black Adam sounds confident and almost shockingly superior.
“We will, but first we need to make sure the people here are safe from reprisals.”
“They will safe when every man with a gun, is driven from our land…” it is almost as if Adam realizes in the middle of his own words, that he is taking the wrong tact and adjusts.”.. if we allow them time to dig in it will take twice the effort to dig them out later…”
“I agree, but we’re here to restore peace my friend. Listen. You hear that? That silence is the sound of peace.”
“Peace?! All that I hear is fear. They run now. Afraid of fighting against those who might fight back. Now is the time to pursue them. To remove them from Kahndaq.” His impassioned plea ends with a very pointed message, as he spreads his hands wide to the toppled city before him. “…to avenge the dead”
“Adam,” the Canadian born Freight Train, with his larger than life personality matched only by his sheer size, finally speaks. “Before you avenge the dead, let’s help the living stay that way, man…”
It is clear, even before Adam’s hand swiftly takes hold of the camera he’s only just noticed, that he is bridling from the ‘Task Force’s’ response. But whatever the response he makes, is hidden beneath the crumbling of the camera’s lense. Shortly there after, the sound of silence is once more broken.
This time it is Kahndaq that attacks. The fury of Black Adam unleashed upon soldiers that were seemingly retreating. This time there are cameras to capture the destruction in living color.
————
“…Freddy wake up…”
The voice in Freeman’s head is as real as anything he’s ever head. The voice is the same as one he’s heard a hundred times before. It was last heard when he stood in the presence of the Wizard. Though it sounds the same as ever, it is also different. Softer. Less strained. Yet there’s is that foreboding sense of danger that lingers upon whether Freddy does as he is told.
When his open finally, the television that was not on when he went to bed is on. The local news is playing footage labeled as ‘Breaking World News.’ A man at some news desk, somewhere, is talking about footage that is playing over his shoulder. It could be a scene out of any old War movie you might have seen as a kid. Tanks rolling through the desert. Bullets and rockets that look more like lasers on the low quality cameras they’re being filmed on.
“… and in a stunning move Bialya that has shaken the United Nations and most of the world. The Sovereign Country of Bialya declared a state of War on their neighbor Kahndaq. What’s most shocking, is that this declaration was made after a suprising air raid on the Kahndaqian governments Palace….”
anchor’s telecast is interrupted then by the scene over his shoulder changing once more. Whomever was the cameraman, he was trying in vein to keep up with the action happening right in front of him. Even the shaky hand of a novice is able to see the Lightning bolt that crashes down upon a tank division. The explosion kicks up sand in all all directions. Abruptly ending the footage.
“…Kahndaq’s self-appointed ruler, Theo Adam, was quick to respond to the attack. Reports are slim, but we’ve been able to show you only brief footage. President Luthor is expected to make an official statement, but in the name of World Peace, the United Nations has implored the President to act swiftly in the face of the likely super-human war-fare that …”
“…the final trials have started Freddy…”
“…is expected. Given the nature of Kahndaq’s ruler, analysts are calling this failed assassination of Black Adam a grave miscalculation on behalf of Bialya. Those same analysts expect that the attack itself may have been aimed specifically at drawing that very response…”
FREDDY: Since the events, that had Freddy crisscrossing the nation had passed to put an end to an out of control goddess who nearly unleashed a power hungry god Freddy spent time getting acquainted with his new colleagues, but he could not spend as much time as he would have liked learning more about them, because there was work to do. No, there was no threat to steel himself against and fight, no there was healing to be done and none of it could be expedited with wishes or words of power. The healing that Freddy participated in was much like what he did in Metropolis when he, Cassie and Wally went about cleaning up the disaster that the museum had become.
However, for Freddy it went further than clearing debris and rubble and planting flowers. There were people to console, people to meet and speeches to give about the fallen, the dead. People whose lives had been lost in what had been horrible tragedies. Tragedies that could have been avoided, should have been. Life was far from back to normal. While some had to deal with the horrors of humanity the people of Fawcett City had to deal with so much more.
He knew that NOWHERE had come through to deal with the events of the bank and he knew what had been reported about what happened at the school with the explosion of the boiler that killed so many, he knew the truth. He also knew the truth of how many fine offices of the FCPD lost their lives.
There were memorials and funerals, periods of mourning that were going on to this day. There were people coming together and those that withdrew from the world. To be frank Fawcett City had lost some of its pep. A dark cloud hung over the city one that was draped in lies, but lies that were necessary if such a thing existed.
Despite everything that was to come home is where Freddy needed to be, not only to help protect Fawcett City, but to help it move past one of the darkest days. How many more dark days would it have to endure. It lost its favorite son already and now they had lost so many more. It lost the future with the population of children being decimated. They had their lives torn from them. All Freddy could think was it was better for their families to think that it was an accident than for them to know the truth that they had been turned into living horrors to do the biding of biding of a goddess that had gone mad.
One step a time. It’s how they did it, one state a time. The people of Fawcett City got knocked down a lot, but they always got up and they did it together. This was not something they could get through alone, so Freddy did what he could, which wasn’t easy, because even if he appeared as Shazam, there was the difficult question of, “Where were you?” followed by. “Why weren’t you here?”
Freddy was pushed into a room, protected by Chief Callaghan. A move the deposited him into the Metropolis Library. He had to face them and accept their anger, pain and resentment at failing to protect that which was most precious. He could not divulge what happened without creating additional pain. Complicating matters was not what he wanted to do
They did not want his platitudes or excuses. Some did not want to hear he would do better or that he was merely one person. That didn’t want to hear it, they couldn’t hear it. No one wants to hear that. Still he stood there and took it as Shazam, because it was the right thing to do. They were due their pain, their anger, their outrage. They were entitled to it. They needed someone to be the target then he would be that too, because only then could the path to healing begin.
They were difficult days, with difficult weeks ahead, but they could only move forward, not back. Memorials would be erected for the fallen. Including a statue for the mystery hero that allowed for their to be survivors. It was that opening that allowed Shazam to let people know that there will always be people who rise to help.
He considered divulging the identy of the individual, but rather than create an international incident he simply called him a ‘friend’. Someone who was here when he couldn’t be. Someone who acted when he couldn’t. Friend of Fawcett, that is how he referred to him. It was the best he could offer, because to saying they had a complicated relationship was an understatement. He was an arrogant ass, but an honorable one. His alter ego was more amenable. Either way Freddy found him to be like anyone else that walked the earth a complicated, complex individual that he admired on some level, but also knew he had to be watched.
Where Adam challenged and pushed Freddy. Freddy sought to retrain him. To encourage his more noble traits. He was certain Adriana was better suited at that, but there’s was a shared history. Literally given all that Freddy had experienced. It was these thoughts that sent considered along all that he learned upon passing the Trials of Courage and Strength.
Every night it was the same dream the one where he saw the little boy that told him to call forth his name. To take it for himself. Every night he replayed the conversation, remembering the warning, but this night it was different. This night there was a whisper, one that grew louder until Freddy’s eye shot open.
Throwing off his covers his hand moved to his forehead which throbbed a bit. The whisper he heard in his mind was not that of Solomon but another, one that had been missed. “Wizard?”
Padding over towards the glow and sound of the television which he distinctly remembered turning off he cleared the sleep from his eyes until what the newscaster said and the crawl of words along the bottom of the screen register.
Bialya. Kahndaq. Attack. Palace. Explosion.
Theo. “Theo.” He said softly as the whisper returned. As the newscast continued he knew exactly what happened. He didn’t need to see he didn’t need speculation. If they were attacking Kahndaq then it’s defender would respond.
The final trials had begun. There was only one trial left and it in the balance were lives too numerous to count, but even as that sunk in another fact sunk in. The United Nations wanted Luthor to act. Not that Freddy knew the inner workings of administration completely, but it involved a superhuman. One that could easily subdue all others. He was on par with the Wizard’s previous champion.
“Conner.” Conner equals Cassie. Either way it could quickly involved the two of them one way or another. “Cassie.” Modern Day Adam and Isis. He couldn’t let his mind go there, not yet.
He needed to intervene. He had to. Did he know what he was getting into. No. What if it was similar to with what happened with Hercules. Why would Bialya attack Kahndaq? It should matter, but did he have time? That was the question. However, there was only one way he could star to answer that question and more. It begin with a word.
“Shazam!”
Freddy had to tell Wally several times that he was not going to use the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers jingle as my ring tone for the group. No matter how cool he thought it would sounded and was, it was not happening. Regardless of what his ringtone for the others was going to be he did agree that it should be something different from everyone else, but they should avoid matching ringtones if they could help it.
He was preparing to depart. Destination? Kahndaq.
Freddy stepped out on the back porch ready to leave, but there were a few things he needed to do before he could leave. With the phone in his hand he began dialing. He didn’t know what he would say actually. Oddly enough all he could remember was the conversation about ringtones that was held. Wally said they should use the Power Ranger jingle. Freddy was decidedly against that. It made sense that they would want a ring that was specifically for them, but it wasn’t going to be the Power Ranger theme. At least not for Freddy, but right now he hoped Cassie and Wally were listening.
Either way he dialed them both and left a message, because he needed to let them know what was going on. He didn’t know what it would happen, really.
“Cassie, I’m pretty sure you’re aware of what’s going on. Long story short. I know what I’ve seen on TV. Kahndaq’s under attack. Don’t know why. Reports aren’t saying why. I do know it’s going to put Adam in a bad spot if people think he’s being unreasonable. This can go pear shape fast. There’s another bit of business. The Wizard spoke to me. He told me it’s the Final Trial. I don’t know everything I’m walking into, but if it’s anything like Isis someone’s still trying to manipulate everything including Adam.”
Possibly even Freddy.
“I can’t really say what will happen, and I now it’s my trial, but I’m also worried about Adam. I don’t know if you can get involved, but if there is something you can do I ask that you try and help the people of Kahndaq. Get them out of harms way.” The message beeped. He knew that was going to happen.
Redialed. “It’s me again. See if Wally is willing to help. I’m not asking either of you to engage. Fighting wars totally creates the wrong message, but helping people that’s what we want to do right? I just didn’t want either if you to think that I was cutting you or thinking I can do it alone.” They all had to do what they could right? “I’m going to call Wally and leave a message for him to reach out to you.” Did he even mention Conner?
“I’ll try to call you soon. If I get service.” He ended the second call and put in call to Wally.
“Hey, it’s Freddy. I’m heading to Kahndaq. Contact Cassie. She’ll get you up to speed, but if you can the people there can use your help to get them out of the combat zone. Talk to you soon.” Brief and to the point.
With that out of the way Freddy tapped off from the ground in to the air so he could get to Kahndaq as quickly as the speed of Mercury would carry him through the air. He wanted to tug on Solomon, but right now he needed to keep his head as clear as he could.
––Sometime later after arriving in Kahndaq––
FREDDY: Freddy wasn’t part of the sanctioned group gathered together to combat the army and navies of Bialya, but he could help get Kahndaqians out of the combat area. He could do that, but he also needed to find Theo. Theo he felt could be reasoned with. Black Adam, well he was pretty sure that his self-confidence could take the hits.
Upon reaching the Kahndaq’s airspace the empowered champion began scanning the area to take in what was happening. It was now that he pushed back the emotions choosing to lean on Solomon so he didn’t let himself be overwhelmed by the horrors below. He need to see where he was needed. He couldn’t ignore what was happening in front of him. The people couldn’t be forgotten but he also needed to make sure that Black Adam didn’t take it to the extreme.
CONNER: It wasn’t all that long ago, less than a week in fact, that Shiruta was a beautiful place. No, it is not one of the modern marvels of the world. You wouldn’t have found a sprawling skyscraper with some corporate logo, but you could have seen some of the most beautifully hand-sculpted statues. The people here paid homage to the past, while living in the present, with only a mindful thought towards tomorrow.
While Shiruta was not some idyllic paradise in the desert, it was a thing of wonder. In the years since it’s last Dictator was overthrown the small country had begun a sort of renaissance of the arts. Discovering the beauty in simple things, it’s people went about their days in relative obscurity from the rest of the world but they did it in peace and relative prosperity. While you wouldn’t get a good cell phone signal in most of the country, you wouldn’t have a whole lot of trouble finding one in Shiruta. In the last couple of years it begun to move towards modernization as it’s King slowly embraced the new world he was within. Though this slow creep towards ‘modern’ came under the ever watchful eye towards corruption.
That has all changed now though. A full night of bombs being dropped from sky, launched cruise missiles from the sea, while being cut off from the rest of its populace by a cordon of tanks had seen to the once beautiful city being little more than a shell of that former beauty. The market which is normally the life blood of the populace is empty. No children play in the streets. Nor do they attend the mandated schools.
Point in fact the only true signs of life in Shiruta come from those searching the rubble for survivors or those survivors that were able making their ways to the Red Cross tents. Just beyond the city there is a new sign of life. Tent City. Born from the mobilized hospital that the peace keepers brought with them.
There is little serenity here now, but there is a semblance of peace. Unless you turn an eye towards the East. In the distance, just at the best limits of the naked eye, one could make out the tell-tale signs of explosions. They seem to be growing ever further from what remains of the capital city.
Such a sight is enough to even quiet the every prattling whispers of Solomon. It doesn’t take a God’s wisdom to see all that you need from the air, of what has happened here. There is far more to this than what meets the eye though. With the proper vantage there’s a certain line that one’s mind might draw between the peace-keeper’s camp and the battle-front off in the distance. The Wisdom of Solomon is not merely what can be seen, but also what can be heard, what can be felt… and that is where the God’s aide is most effective. Whispers among the troops speak of the madness of it all. Rescue worker speak amongst themselves of the points they’re most hopeful of finding survivors. Then there’s the wounded, that if only they had just enough insight, they might be able to save one additional life.
For someone like Freddy Freeman he was right to keep Solomon out. To filter his thoughts so as not be overwhelmed. Honing them in to what is important. None seem to understand what is happening, nor why. And even now, as the new Champion arrives can he make out the argument among those dispatched by the United Nations.
“We cannot do that Superman,” the Canadian power house is imposing himself in such a way that he seems to think himself the ‘Man of Steel’s’ equal. “We’re only here to keep the Peace, not to wage his war…”
“He’s right. We’re ‘ere to stop this madness, not take ‘art in it.”
“I know why we’re here. I know what we’re supposed to be doing. It just doesn’t seem right. They’re the bad guys, they caused all of this. Are we supposed to just let them get away with this?”
Among the group is one who actually holds even shorter stature than the Diva. Her red hair, freckled face and glasses, paint her as an abstract in this world of chaos and explosions, but of them all she seems the one most at east. As well as being the only one that ‘Superman’ seems to pay any difference too.
“You were right, when you told Adam we should focus on saving people first. Avenging them second. We’re not here to fight a War for Adam, we’re here to keep rescue these people, Kon-L.”
“I know, Doc, but..” Conner’s voice stops as soon as Fairchild’s eyebrows lift above her glasses.
“No buts. Get your team out there. Find survivors, bring them here. Only engage if there are civilians at risk. Go. Up, up and away and all that.”
FREDDY: “Be the beacon of hope that they need you to be, Superman.” He had no cape, all he had was a red suit with a gold light bolt emblazoned upon it along with a pair of gold boots. It was quite the look, but Freddy did not make his presence known to discuss fashion sense. He was here to stop a bad situation from getting worse.
“The beacon of hope that I know you can be. You’re here to help the victims of this attack not avenge them. They need your compassion not your vengeance. Listen with your ears. Look with your eyes. What do they tell you?” It’s not the first time that Freddy understood Conner’s impulse, but right now it was about managing the situation.
“You’re here to keep the peace. Pulling you away might be exactly what Bialya wants.” That was for the entire audience, but for Superman there was more which is why he lowered his voice to nothing more than a whisper. He had no idea what powers the others possessed, but he knew that Conner ears would pick up what he needed them to.
“I don’t like it any more than you do and it’s obvious that there’s more going on here, but the world is watching, Superman. Watching what you say and do. You can either chose to make billions of fans or billions of enemies, people who fear you. The trials for people like me and you never end. All eyes are on you right here and out there. Be the hero, not the weapon. You’re here to show the best that America has to offer. Uplift them. Adam has their rage and anger. Let that be enough for now. If there is a moment where you need to act you know it. You’ll feel it.” The explosions in the distance were a concern, but right now he needed to make sure this didn’t escalate.
“The people of Kahndaq will grateful for your actions today,” Freddy said his voice louder as he pulled away. “Keep them safe. I assure Adam will be thankful for your aid and assistance.” If they could make sure that his people were cared for, that they were kept out of danger then he could focus on their enemies. If he could slow their approach, then he could start to push them back.
“I will do what I can, but must find Black Adam.” Pushing them back is one thing. Destroying them is another. They needed to answer for their actions, but they needed for them to survive and Black Adam was not one to show such restraint. He was very Old Testament, before there was an Old Testament.
CONNER: How Freddy got there is not really a thing of much concern for anyone at the little gathering. This not some top secret mission, which only has members of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. involved. This is something else entirely, with people assembled from across the globe in order to help bring about a peaceful resolution. Which is in fact where the trouble stems from in the first place.
‘Peaceful Resolution,’ is not what Black Adam is going to agree to at this point. I’m not entirely sure he should either, frankly. Which is probably why this whole ‘Beacon of Hope’ thing annoys me on some level. If I were being honest with Fred, much less the rest of the company here? I’m more of a fire and brimstone sort of Superman, than hugs and handshakes kind. Every where I turn there is another hurting face, an unspoken question of why we let this happen and why we’re not putting a more permanent stop to it.
The question I find myself unable to answer is, ‘If I have the power to prevent these issues, wouldn’t it be better for me to stop them from happening? Rather than trying to render help after the problem has come home to roost.’ I suppose that’s really at the heart of what Wars between Black Adam’s mindset and that of the rest of the world. They certainly do not respond well to Adam, but they sure idolized the first Superman.
“You may not know this, Shazzy, but I didn’t put this uniform on to be a role-model. This wasn’t ever a choice for me. It isn’t always so easy to be a beacon of Hope, when all I want to do is reign down a terrible fury.” Lifting a hand, meant more to call Shazam to a halt before he tries to give his retort. “But. I’m learning. Sometimes the best thing to do is not always the easiest thing for people like us to do. In fact, the hard choice seems to almost always be the right one.”
“Being a Hero. Like Wonder Woman. Means learning to live with making that choice.”
The rest is something I understand all too well. Freddy was putting on a bit of a show. That is something I’m a class act at. I might not be the best Boyscout, but the Luthor side of me sure knows how to make a good show of it. What comes after those few words, is something else entirely.
Clearly I don’t have a lot of time here, but as Freddy is giving me his own personal take on things? I can see it pretty clearly, that this other guy’s role to play is right here. Right now. It’s no coincidence that he is here, this too is some Gods anointed Fate of his.
That’s why I put my hand upon Freddy and take him with me in to the air. Extending the force field that keeps the wind sheer at bay to him, allows me to levitate him along with me as I start to follow the Doc’s orders. It also means we have a couple moments of true privacy, because one of the few things my Hearing can’t penetrate is this very force field.
“Listen, Chum. I’m kinda glad you’re here, because you’re right about one thing more than the rest. I’m here as an appointed envoy. Something screwy around here and … there’s only so much poking around I can do without raising some diplomatic red flags.”
“First thing. The attack. Something is off about the attack. Everything from the timing, to the precision. It’s not my field of expertise, but I took tactical planning 1-oh-1 in the Virtual Simulator. Bialya isn’t this organized. They’re ruled by a jerk that was fighting a guerilla War six months ago. Now he’s leading a surgical strike against a nation with a protector like Adam?”
“Secondly. My Father made Theo sign on to letting Nowhere in. Full scale. My Father does nothing, at all, without a reason. Even if it’s a noble reason, there has to be one. If he made Theo open the gates to Nowhere, then he is interested in why Bialya attacked. Or…” this is where the old Conner shrug comes in to play. “… maybe the reason the attack is so precise is because my Father played a hand in organizing, to get the door opened.”
“Either way. I can’t be the one poking around, but… I’m the one that is going to have to write about it. Because if I’m not. It isn’t going to get printed.”
FREDDY: They all had their parts to play. They all had things they had to do, but there were ways to go about it and having Superman ripping through tanks and jets was not going to help anyone but Adam. It would give him the sense that he had an ally in his tactics and that the United States would become complicit about everything he was doing when everyone knew that wasn’t the case. Luthor from what Freddy could tell, POTUS not Superman was slipperier than that girl who generated frictionless forcefield in the comic books he used to read.
Whatever play he put into motion Freddy felt that he was playing both sides of the conflict. There were too many unknowns. Whoever was at the heart of this knew exactly where to strike Adam, one to charge him up and two put him in to a total Kobayashi Maru.
The moment Conner projected the forcefield around them Freddy focused on what he was saying. He chose to listen rather than interject.
“I agree.” He said honestly.
“And no, I know you’re not into the entire beacon of hope business. I know where you stand, but I also know that you’re important to Cassie, and you said you wanted to try and be friends so friend to friend don’t be the weapon. Not because of the beacon hope business that’s something you have to figure out, but I don’t want a target on your back.” That was what he was more worried about. Right or wrong didn’t always factor in the way people wanted it to.
“I will probably hate myself in the morning for saying it, because I hate this about as much as saying let’s unpack this, but here it goes. Optics.” He sounded like a politician or worse PR.
“The world’s watching. It’s one thing to take care of business on your turf, and I’m sure N.O.W.H.E.R.E. has been deployed elsewhere in the world, but this is different. There are no clean ups. There are no this is what NOWHERE wants you to believe. It’s been seen everywhere. By people on the ground and all over and if you follow Adam’s lead then the world will believe it has one more problem that it needs to solve and trust me, Conner, believe me when I say the world finds a way then it finds a way and I don’t want that to happen. “
They all knew that NOWHERE probably had multiple contingencies in place, but what did the world have in place? This response was unlike anything else Freddy had seen before so the calculus that everyone had put together was now being sorted and reorganized. If the United States would assemble this type of a response to aid, what happens when it feels threatened. Freddy pushed that response through his mind, so he had to make sure that he considered that in every action along with the fact that NOWHERE is also watching to see will Conner “behave” or will they have to consider a better way to keep him inline when he wanted to follow his heart and it went counter to their mandate.
“I don’t want to lose a friend.” Whether it be in death or because it pushes Conner into a fight response, because flight did not factor in. Once that path begins in earnest where did it end.
“Tell me if I’m looking at that through rose colored glasses? Is it possible or am I way off base with those possibilities? Am I overthinking it?”
He could be. Freddy had to consider it and he knew that sometimes you just had to pull the trigger and let it go, but didn’t there come a point when they had start thinking ahead. Consider the consequences? Albeit it was probably the worst timing ever, but considering the stakes Freddy thought they could use this breath before moving forward one way or another.
“If I can be selfish for a moment. I need you,” he said honestly. “I need you to be the mirror. The one that is my counterpoint. The one that prevents me from being in the echo chamber.”
“We do need to know what’s going in Bialya. I won’t say I’ve played chess, but I’ve seen enough matches to know when pieces have been arranged on the board to play into someone’s hand. I’m with you on that.” To what end? Freddy didn’t know.
“Your hands are being tied so what you need, what we need is a third option if there one.”
CONNER: What may be the most surprising aspect of this relatively private discussion? Is how quickly the answer comes to Freddy. “To be honest, I actually know you’re right. I’m just having a problem with the fact that I’m being forced to play a role. It’s frustrating. Because this is my life, Shazzy. I’m never allowed to be myself, I always have to be what someone else wants me to be or tells me to be.”
“But. At least for the moment, I completely agree with you. I’ve got to play the role that I’ve been type-cast in to. Because, for now, that’s the path which also helps the most.” Which as I’m all too sure Freddy is aware, means that I’m doing what I know Cassie would want me to be doing. Motivation, thy name is a teenager’s sex-drive. Mine is a blonde cheerleader demi-goddess. “So don’t you go worrying about me. I’m not going to be breaking my standing orders, unless I think there’s no real choice.”
There’s been a couple times when talking to this guy that it’s been… creepy. Like he can see through you. Past all the bullshit. Right through the carefully crafted secret identity that is Conner Luthor and in to the soul of who lays beneath. I brought that up to Cassie the first time I met this guy, but I’ve experienced twice more since then. This being the second time. He cuts to the heart of it. Slicing away what doesn’t need to be there and just tells you the reality of what is going on. Whether it’s what you’re ready to hear or not.
I hate it.
Yeah, I’m more of a ‘cover it in honey and swallow it before you taste the turd’ kind of guy. I like my truth coated in sugar, so it’s sweet going down and honey coming up. That’s why I’m always rather out of sorts with Freddy Freeman. We are a mirror though, I’m just the other side of it. Which is why the response he gets isn’t always so crystal clear.
“See? I told Cassie you were in to guys. Look, I know you need me dude. Most people do. I’m kind of… y’know… well, hot. I mean. I know. I get it. I’m flattered. But I’m really in to Cassie and all. So we’re going to have to just be friends. I mean… you can still need me if you want. But. Um. We’re going to have to keep this whole need me thing under wraps, okay? Last time Wonder Woman got jealous,… dude… she almost hit me with the God Bolt. Lightning from her Daddy’s ass. Right up mine.”
“So. Just. Need me. Privately. Okay? Cool.”
FREDDY: There are moments when Freddy needs things to crystalize. Some people may think it is from an intense desire to be right. Like he was on the Fawcett High Debate team with dreams of a trophy in a glass case and a scholarship in hand, but it was pretty far from it. He needed things to crystalize, because these were people’s lives. He had to except that not every action would be the right action, not even the best action in the best case scenario. Life just didn’t work that way.
Was Freddy Freeman a shining light of hope, it depended upon who you asked, because sometimes what came out of his mouth was the last thing people wanted to hear just as Conner said. He could be a cold bucket of water that no body wanted, but sometimes you needed to remind them and him of what the score was.
Sometimes it happened at the right time, sometimes it happened when it was the worst time and he was traveling down the spiral into the reads, but every so often planets converge, and there’s a grand conjunction of three suns some where and everything comes together when he needs it.
This was one of those moments. Where Conner laid bare for him what his frustration was. No matter what he was someone’s puppet to a degree, just enough for him to get tangled in things he didn’t want. His response had to be muted if not replaced with another, because of circumstance. It was a good moment it was a hamburger moment that lasted about five seconds.
“You can’t help yourself, can you. You really can’t.” It was either that or he just didn’t grasp that bit right there. Either way? “From what I hear I couldn’t hold that spot if I wanted because it’s what? You, Cassie then your new friend Kyle.”
Yes, he did. “I’m pretty sure he’d scratch my eyes out.” However, now that Conner was going to play ball with his commrades which meant that Freddy had to deal with…everything else.
CONNER: What makes this all the more curious is when that trademark dimpled smirk comes out. No one would ever be able to mistake Conner and Superman as different people if they could see this momentary look shared with someone that I actually trust. Moderately. It’s very telling, because I’m never going to actually tell the truth. Can I help myself? Or did I totally meat-head that moment of heart-to-heart awareness that Mr. Shazam was putting out there? It doesn’t seem like I’m ever going to tell someone the truth in answer to those questions. Even Solomon is going to have a problem reading this expression.
“Honestly, I’m not even sure anymore, Shazzy. It’s mostly just me and Cassie. Then there’s my new friend Kyle, who’s kinda gay in a really not-sure-if-he’s-gay but wow is he hot sort of way? And then there’s Tim, who I’m pretty sure is Gay, but Cassie says he’s not. Oh and then. There’s Flash. Listen. I’m not saying he’s Gay, I’m just saying you’re not going to see Flash and Heterosexual situations in the same room, at the same time, if you know what I’m saying. Solomon that, my friend. Soloman, that. Meanwhile, I’m like surrounded by all these amazingly hot female supporting cast members and no one to set them up on blind dates with. If you ever met the Huntress. I mean. She’s like one of those girls you actually ask to put your testicles in a choke hold. Know what I mean? Flash is just a little to effeminate for her. Then there’s Dinah. Whoah, let me tell you about Dinah. Get a pencil and paper, buddy.”
“Okay. Seriously. I’m going to get to saving poor innocent people. Being all Supermanly. You do that thing you do. The talk a lot, make a point. Things work out in the end thing. When you’re ready, give me a call.” Pausing for just a second, as if the man gifted with Soloman’s Wisdom might actually -not- know what I’m meaning… “Not with a cell phone. I mean, just say my name. I’ll hear you. From like anywhere, pretty much.”
“Superman. Does. Not. Have. A. Cellphone.”
By the time Freddy is ready to actually wade through everything I’ve just verbally regurgitated at him? I’m long gone. Up, up and away, indeed.
FREDDY: Freddy couldn’t quite point out where and when all of this happened, but happened and there was no going back, because it was already coming out of Conner’s mouth. It was best to hold the expression that spread across his features, one that said many things but most of all, ‘What just happened?’ He avoided pinching the bridge of his nose, because he was pretty sure Conner got that from Cassie from time to time (read a lot).
Solomon was uncharacteristically quiet. Freddy was shock and he didn’t lean on him to decipher any of that. That was 100 percent Conner. A hundred percent of what Freddy couldn’t quite say, but he did know that he would do his thing. Whether it was talking or not remained to be seen, because there was a mystery here to unravel and he knew they both knew that Freddy was at the center of it as it related to his trials, but the consequences. No one knew how far that would go.
Conner was off to provide the support that was needed. Freddy he was headed in the direction of Adam. Everything was a strike upon Kahndaq, but what was there anything else out of place. There was the strike. There was response, but what happened in between. A lot of things were happening all at once. Perhaps there was something that was missed.
Would Adam know? Another thing about a well set board is that you can direct where you want people to look to prevent them from seeing what’s coming. Was there somewhere else that everyone should have been looking while all of this took place? Something about what Conner said. A well precision attack. Whether than noddle Solomon’s noggin about what Conner said Freddy decided to pose that question. What was valuable in Kahndaq?
Isis was after the amulet. This was the Final Trial. Was there something here that you couldn’t get anywhere else. Another thing that Freddy couldn’t help but notice was that since things went of the rails with the Trials everything seemed to come back to Adam or something or someone connected to Adam.
Freddy did his best not to rush himself. He knew that he had to get to Adam’s position, but he needed to get a read on the situation. Like Conner said if he was here then there was more to everything that was happening on an entirely different level. While the agents of NOWHERE did what they did with the other members of the UN Peacekeeping force, Freddy was on his own he helped where he could, but when it came to actually engaging the citizens of Kahndaq they weren’t exactly forthcoming. Actually, they were suspicious of a fair skinned, dark haired man who not only spoke their language, but spoke it quite well as if he was native to the area.
Blessings of Solomon one would say. Omnilinguistics was a god send literally in this sense. However, no matter how well he spoke the language Freddy was still an outsider, one that appeared to be dressed in the same garb as their champion. If Freddy was hoping that this would demonstrate some kind of connection Freddy got less than a receptive reaction. If anything, it made them distrust him a bit more. They probably had their reasons. If Freddy had to hedge a guess he was probably being seen as trying to usurp Black Adam’s role as Champion of Kahndaq. Or even worse…they were Americanizing his legacy!
Which as not something that Freddy was intending to do at all. Perhaps he should have visited earlier and taken Theo up on his offer if only to show that he was a fri…acquaintance. He could go that far, because he really didn’t know how Black Adam viewed him. Annoyance. Pretender. The Mistake.
Freddy could go over several more disparaging things that Black Adam probably thought when he saw Freddy coming, and let’s face it holding his tongue was not something Black Adam considered in the least. Either way he Freddy set it aside, because he could be there for hours instead he resumed his survey of the city. He looked over the buildings that had been damaged by the attacks and those that had not. It was a lot to take in, but as he had done before in the past Freddy set aside his emotions and focused on what his eyes were showing him in hopes that they would tell him what he needed to know.
Freddy considered the photographs and videos that he had of war zones before, missile strikes specifically. How many times had the United States done precision drone strikes? How often did they strike only the target that they wanted and not have any significant collateral damage? There were always reports of that occurring. Usually when strikes occurred they were at major installations. Things that helped support the adversary. Supply lines had to be disrupted so sometimes roads, but air fields, supply depots, munition depots, and other types of installations.
There was a strike upon the palace which was for a lack of a better word ballsy, but what would it gain them outside of Adam’s wrath? They struck into the city hitting at residences, hospitals and schools, it was a major attack that seemed to be striking at any and everything. At least that’s what it would appeared to look like from first glance. If you took the thousand-foot view then everything seemed to be under fire, but the closer you got the clear it became. It started to come into focus.
Freddy wanted was information and he couldn’t acquire it from the citizens, so he had to look at the data. There was no terminal for him to pull to besides the one that sat on top of his neck. The strikes. They were clean and precise compared to the strikes of other nation. There didn’t seem to be anything was done by accident. There had been reports of kamikaze type tactics, but that is what made Freddy’s closer look at what had been hit even more critical, because again it was not what was hit that stood out, it was what wasn’t hit that did.
That he could point and pick out. In some cases there was some damage, but more minor damage. Strategic, tactical strikes. That made it stick out again, but this time what Conner had said about the command chain, more specifically, the leader. Outside of the jerk comment the fact that recently he had previously been fighting a guerilla war, which can be effective, but it had a very different set of tactics.
Tactics that apparently utilized missile strikes from sea faring vessels. Freddy couldn’t recall any time in the past when such tactics had been used. Did Bialya even have a navy? How does someone go from fighting a guerilla war to executing strike such as this?
Freddy chewed on that while he went over what he saw when he got closer to the buildings that had not been hit. At first blush one might think they were spared, because of sheer luck, given the fact that other areas had been struck, but the closer Freddy got the more a pattern began to emerge. Antique and curio shops. Ordinarily no one would think anything of it. Nothing at all if not for the fact that Freddy while not trained in the science of archaeology often found himself caught in the intersection of antiquities, myths and legends. It was the reason why he touched down upon one of the roofs of the shops that had not been hit. It was also why he had to set his emotions aside less he would find himself overwhelmed.
“Lets talk it through Freddy. At some point, Theo presented Adrianna with the amulet of Isis. It allowed her to access the power of Isis even ore the spirt of Isis possessed Adriana. It was like a seed that was planted within her that grew and grew until it had complete control of the woman that Theo loved. Black Adam intended to restore his wife in the process, but Isis had other plans.” She meant to restore Osiris by acquiring the amulet that his spirit had been placed into.
Freddy avoided twisting himself around that spiral too many times, but artifacts. Even Adam’s resurgence was the result of an artifact. He searched his shared memories for the information while considering what had been attacked and what had not. Among the curio and antique shops book stores were not attacked and it didn’t appear to be businesses that came about from Kahndaq’s resurgence hey seemed to be in place for quite some time.
The entire region was a wealth of treasures and not every treasure made it into the museum. Think Antique Road show or Storage Wars. How many times had hidden treasures been found within someone’s home or a storage unit. Perhaps they weren’t meant to be found or perhaps…perhaps they were meant to stay out of the obvious hands.
Freddy clenched his fist in slight frustration at not being able to converse with the citizens. Sure, he could speak with them, but what would they tell him? What would they answer? Right now he could only make a hypotheisis based on what he had seen and what he had seen told him that those building sand the ones near them were intact. The buildings around them were incongruous to the ones that seemed to be almost untouched. They were simply in the right place, but it was the shops where someone could acquire information about the past, objects from the past that were not targeted.
Yet the army was pushed back they would never be able to get in.
“Wait.”
He paused in his words and his thoughts. He considered what Aunt Minvera was doing in at the bank when he met Cassie for the first time. She was looking for something, but she wasn’t Minvera she was Isis. However, she knew exactly what it was she was looking for at least she knew it was in the bank. What if you didn’t know what you were looking for.
Once the clean up begins people will be allowed back in to check the damage. You can’t impersonate all of them, but. A sinking feeling began, but Freddy continued to play the thoughts through. Someone had to be responsible for all of this and there seemed to be a change in tactics. There were questions in his mind. Who or what? There had been a level up. He needed to know what he could about Bialya, but even more he needed to know what happened there recently. Someone has gotten an upgrade of some kind and Freddy had three scenarios none of them good as he touched off the ground.
He needed to be where Adam was if only to see what was happening in that area of the country was it anything like this or was it different? Someone was seeking something out, they were looking for something or somethings. Whether it was an item, or a record of the item Freddy didn’t know, but something pushed Bialya into action.
What was the scenarios? If Adam returned, Teth Adam why couldn’t someone else. Someone who coveted something Kahndaq possessed. Similar to the Osiris’s amulet, but something different, something more. He didn’t know. There was missing information.
Scenario B. The way that the tactics changed indicated that someone had taken the reigns someone or someones had. They changed the way they waged war to become effective which made Freddy’s stomach twist just a bit. What if it was another god, a war god. Considering the Trial who was left what if it was Ares? Right now, Freddy had to consider the possibility even if for a moment which made scenario C even more frightening. What if it was Athena? Those were the worst-case scenarios, but given that everything that happened to this point, Freddy was going to go with the first scenario.
First more information and the only way he could get that was by heading to where the fighting was still occurring in the direction of Adam. Hopefully, it would begin to lean towards scenario A, not that was desired at all, but it’s all Freddy along with the general notion that this was a attack over resources just resources of a different kind.
by Marc | Aug 19, 2018 | Chronicles
Synopsis: Ted Kord is attending the annual fundraising Gala at Brentwood Academy, the same school that expelled him. He announces the creation of a scholarship fund while fending off additional questions from reporter Vicki Vale, but not before entertaining Gala attendees with a performance.
— Same evening Booster Gold Arrived but earlier –
Exactly why was I in Gotham. I know that was on the mind of everyone. Especially after the outburst on the airplane. I will admit I got a bit emotional, but it couldn’t be helped. I had a friend in need, but regardless after that business was straightened out I arranged to meet with Dick for dinner in a few days as there was some business that I needed to handle before I could get to the personal side of the trip even though there was a bit of business that was mixed there.
There was a lot of work to be done to see this project move forward and I had to balance how certain items would be handled. I would have been in Gotham sooner, but I had to make a step in Detroit to allay any fears that anyone might have about my recent meetings on the coast. The last thing I wanted was for them to feel that their jobs were in jeopardy. In reality they have big things coming their way and with a stop in Ann Arbor and Detroit they knew exactly what direction they were headed in.
I was in Gotham to see a few old friends, make some new ones and revisit some of my old stomping grounds. Brentwood was probably the last place anyone thought I would grace my present with after I was summarily dismissed from its hallowed halls after the incidents that saw me removed from the student population. I often find myself coming back to series of events that led to my expulsion I guess it could not be avoided. I did destroy a lab while researching sonoluminescence and cold fusion. Though I argued that there was no real danger, the fact that I amplified the effect of sonoluminescence to the extent that it was able to destroy the school’s property was enough to warrant expulsion, a donation to from my father, and involvement of the authorities.
I remember what the record said as they were speaking. Menace . It was at that time that Dan came into my life and decided to take me under his wing encouraging my studies and experiences while showing me more of the world that I thought I would ever learn. There was always something to learn when Dan was involved, and he knew so many people, interesting people, dangerous people at that, but that was then and this is now.
Now, I am back at Brentwood at one of the annual charity event. It does a lot for the school. Its when they hit up their donors, private and corporate to try and increase their founding to ensure that it maintains its distinction as one of the top educational institutions in the world. True if you graduate with high marks from Brentwood you can write your ticket to any college of your choice. I had the dubious distinction of it holding me back to an extend until I came in for personal interviews. MIT and Oxford there I went.
It was explained that I was simply bored with the work that I was doing in the classroom and I was better at practical application, mot entirely true, not entirely false. MIT was intrigued and Oxford, well, they had to wait until I was ready. Things took off when I took over KORD Industries and I began to make strides in nanotechnology and artificial intelligence. Making a few convenient apps in college helped a lot. This changed the direction of KORD for the better increasing our value as we began to put our fingers into various pots, and now I was ready to make the next leap which is why I was in Gotham, but right now it was time for me to pay it forward as Dan would say.
However, unlike my former mentor I didn’t spend time globe trotting around the world well, not like he did. Dan taught me patience and determination. Archaeology is not for the impatient. They were very useful lessons, but I was being honored at the fundraising gala despite the fact that I did not technical graduate from Brentwood, but it didn’t stop me from recognizing the fact that the school could benefit from fresh, unorthodox minds.
What did that mean? It was time to flex some of that Ted Kord muscle.
“Mister Kord, come on. You have to give me something for the Gazette, to print.” The woman looked at him as he spun her around dipping her as they continued to dance to the song that was being played by the band which was a bit unorthodox as I had slipped the band master five hundred dollars to play a few select tunes.
“Ted, Vicki. I told you. Please call me, Ted.” I dipped her again before started that infamous Ted Kord dancing. Which would scare most, but Vicki Vale was determined to get some confirmations.
“First, California, then a quick stop to Detroit and now Gotham. Something’s going on. My sources tell me….” Before Vale could finish the statement, I spun her out as the band started the beginning to David Bowie’s Modern Love.
“What’s that?” Pulling her back to me I grin slipping away to continue dancing.
“My sources said that you met with several government officials while in California. I’ve also heard that you have had several survey teams in Iowa, Washington and Arizona. It sounds like that you are looking for another production facility. At least those are the rumors. Confirm or deny.”
Currently I was doing a few side step touches that looked more like aerobic exercises than dance movements at the moment, but they kept time with the music. “Neither.” I will neither confirm or deny. I could do no comment, but that rarely stopped Vale.
“Ted…” She sounded a little exasperated. “I also heard.” She moved close this time. “That you met with Carol Ferris.” Oh, those sources. “Joint venture perhaps now that you’ve come back from space?” I keep moving before moonwalking towards Vicki.
“Off the record,” he started. “I did meet with Carol Ferris, but if you do me a solid and sit on this for a few more days. I will give you something quotable…like really good.” I promise. “Also a answer to that piece that came out from Cat Grant today.” I could see the wheels turning.
“About Wayne.”
Nodding I pointed at her at with my fingers while doing a dance move that had me scooting backwards.
“Yay or nay. We’re still off the record here. I can deny up and down and any information you’ve been getting will dry up like the Sahara. Song’s almost over too. Come on Miss Vale. “
“Alright, Kord. What do you have?”
I couldn’t help the smirk that played on my lips. “Though I am here on personal business, there is some business I need to take care of that involves a potential venture with Wayne Enterprises. However, nothing is set in stone. I cannot say what the venture involves, but it will do a lot to help move the country forward technologically. It’s all quite exciting, the prospects.” I gave her a brow waggle.
“Also quote. Begin quote. Cat Grant’s attack on Timothy Wayne was misdirected and does nothing to help her separate herself from the tabloid past that she desperately wants to escape. Her view is slanted and to call the work he wants to do in Coast City as a means of a vanity project to make his mark upon the world is short sighted. As is her remarks regarding wiping away the past of the city and his father.”
Vale looked at me. “She wrote the only thing that was missing from the burnt ruins of Coast City was W. It was quite a vicious attack. Whether it’s a T, J, D, W or whatever letter there. I think the fact that he is taking an interest in seeing the city rebuild says a lot. Perhaps it is a way to help move past his personal loss, but it is not erasing the fact that Wayne name carries a lot of weight. Bad business decisions str not in their blood, and they are known for their philanthropic work across the world. This is not an attention grab. In fact, it is continuing the family tradition. Providing opportunities and realizing potential while others simply sit on the sidelines and think and meet about it. End quote.” Vale tipped her head to the side.
“Off the record. My family tragedy was fodder for the journalist, but she took a few steps too far. So…” Smiling I walked off the dance floor with her as the song came to a close.
“Oh…bonus.” I whispered in her ear. There were rumors about a scholarship fund which was true, but there was something else that was being done also. “Get your camera going.”
Walking over towards the students that entertained the guests with dance and musical performance I smiled nodding towards them as it was time to make my announcement regarding Brentwood, but it had to be done a certain way. At least one that was inline with who I was. Yes, school was about learning and recognizing and realizing potential among other things, but it was also about having fun.
So, when the band stopped playing music and the students moved in their place with their own instruments, the parents, donors and other guests thought it was another school sanctioned performance. Not quite. Especially not with me walking up to the microphone.
The bow tie was gone, and the top button of my shirt was undone.
“GOOD EVENING, BRENTWOOD ACADEMY! I’m happy to be back here among some of my favorite teachers in the world. I’m grateful for the invitation, but before we get to the announcements I wanted to show my appreciation for everything that Brentwood Academy has given me. It is more than an education, it’s an experience and it’s true the friends that you make at Brentwood you make for life.”
My arm fell across my chest placed on top of my heart.
“Unfortunately, my best friend, Richard Garyson could not attend this year’s gala, but I speak for both of us when I say that without Brentwood we would have never met, and your lives would not have been as rich and full as it has been.” Total truth.
“Without Dick’s encouragement and constant support I would have never been able to realize one of my dreams of going into space. He taught me to believe in myself even if it felt like the entire world was against me. He also taught me the value of determination and perseverance.” Among other things, but we didn’t need to get into that.
“Dick taught me that it’s okay to be yourself. The teachers provided the discipline and the instruction, and desire for excellence, but they also appreciated my quirks. My eccentricities. They celebrate them within reason of course. Though my time at Brentwood was short, it proved to be the most impactful. Which is why I’m so excited to be here again among old friends and new.” The excite me was clear. I couldn’t help myself.
“All of my friends may not be present, but I know they are with me no matter where I go, so it’s to them, especially Dick Grayson that I dedicate this performance. Funny story. We were supposed to perform this at the school talent show as a band, but an opportunity presented itself and I was allowed to study under one of the greatest minds in the world. Dick told me to go for it. It’s taking me some time to get to the stage, but here. This one is for you, Dick and every student at Brentwood, past, present and future.”
The band was ready, but also so where the dancers that were on either side of us in the area arranged for them, two girls and three boys from the current student body dressed in something that looked vaguely familiar and from the 80s.
“Without further ado may I present The Outsiders performing “We Are Not Alone” by Karla Devito.” After the count-off from drummer with her drum sticks the music started and some members of the audience glanced at one another, though they probably did not want to admit that they knew the song. It was starting to click from the music and the way the dancers were dressed.
Hello I’m from Chicago. John Hughes is a legend. Andrew, Bender and Brian were to my right and to my left were Allison and Clare. Welcome to our Breakfast Club. It was Vale that threw her fist up and laughing when she realized what was happening.
“He’s not.” Someone said in the audience next to her.
“It’s Ted Kord. Of course, he is.”
”Things look clear in black and white, the living color tends to dye our sight like dynamite. Just imagine my surprise when I looked into your eyes saw your disguise.“ With a spin and me grabbing the mic stand and leaning forward I couldn’t help it.
“If we dare expose our heart, just to feel the purest parts that’s when the sensations start to grooooww. We are not alone, find out when your cover’s blow, there’ll be somebody there to break your fall. We are not alone, ‘cause when you cut down to the bone, we’re really not so different after all. Af-ter alone, we not alone.”
Yep, I’m belting it out with not a bad voice so says me and the band is pretty on point and the dancers well they complete the picture, and I can see people getting into it. This was one of my favorite parts of the movie, and right now we need some injection into the gala. With a press of a button the lights start to flash and what was just another boring standard Brentwood Academy gala turned into a Ted Kord production as I cracked out the dance moves while still singing and of course the guitar solo.
By the time the performance was done there was some cheering and I know the board of governors weren’t sure what to do. The headmaster would smooth it over. With everyone’s favorite, “It’s Ted bleeping Kord.”
When the performance came to a close there were some applause, some more energetic than others. There were some snickers mostly from everyone involved, because it was fun. I also told them that they would get a pass, because I can be quite convincing at times. Also, given my history there is always something interesting around the corner.
Getting a glass of water, I take a few sips before passing it to the waiter who was so gracious to offer to me.
“That definitely brought back memories, but the song has pretty straightforward lyrics. We are not alone. That is the core thing that I took away from Brentwood. I was not alone. Dick was not alone. No one at the school was not alone. We were a unit, a community. We could depend on another. We surprised one another. We encouraged one another. We challenged each other and everyone deserves to have that in their lives and before anyone starts thinking I’m saying doing something radical like throwing the doors open to all the children of Gotham or around the world, I know it’s not possible, but there was something about this song and the movie it’s associated with that represented the best of Brentwood.”
Clearing my throat I held onto the mic slipping off the small makeshift stage walking over to where the dancers were. “A brain, an athlete, a criminal, a basket case, and a princess. Those were the roles that people were assigned not by the movie, but by the principal, by society. It’s all that they saw, it’s all that people cared to see, but they saw through that, they fought through it see one they were different, but also no so different all. It was their differences that made them unique. It made them strong and together they could be powerful.” I smile.
“I think I know what I fall, but it changes from day to day, moment to moment, but here at Brentwood I learned that I wasn’t alone. That there were people who would catch me. That would support me. I was a little unconventional. I was a bit unorthodox, but someone saw something in me that was worth taking a chance on and I think we all need to take more chances and that’s what the Gardner-Kord Scholarship is about. It’s about finding those individuals that have the potential, that have the talent, but may not have the means or opportunity to share in what Brentwood has to offer. It’s not about finding the diamond in the rough all the time. Sometimes it’s about finding that lump of coal and realizing the potential of what it could be if given a chance.”
Walking back to the front of the lab I stood before them looking around. “So, how does this happen. Well, sometimes the scholarships will be awarded by me personally when I’m made aware of individuals that I think would be a good fit, but the majority of individuals will be found through the Thomas Kord Innovation Labs. The Innovation labs will be partner with the local public school systems in five cities to encourage STEM education. Students who participate in them will complete projects and compete in competitions. Those individuals who are the blue ribbon winners for their labs shall be awarded a scholarship to attend Brentwood Academy here in Gotham. Tuition, room, board and fees will be handled by the scholarship.”
This is how I wanted to give back to the opportunities that had been provided to me. “The innovation labs will be a partnership with Kord Inc and several of it’s partners. Who those partners are will be announced later, but I can tell you that STAR Labs is one and Hamilton Labs is another.” I shared. “I know the news that everyone is waiting for and wanting to know where are the Innovation Labs going to be. “Gotham will be one of the hubs. Chicago is another of course. Detroit is the third. The fourth will be in Central City. The fifth, the fifth will be announced in the coming days.” I promise.
“I will be working with individuals in each of the identified cities to identify the innovation labs and how they will work with the local school systems. Though the labs will be accessible by all grades only grades 8 through 10 will be able to complete for the scholarships. Outside of those grade levels special consideration be given, but they will not be able to compete.” There would be some additional information provided, but I wanted to make sure that this was understood. Additionally, I did say that I may make selections myself, but that would be outside of the five individuals that competed in the scholarship competition.
“There are details that are still being worked out and decisions that will need to be made and as additional information is available the public relations team at KORD will arrange the appropriate press conferences, but I wanted you all to be the first to know. Now If I’m right Ms. Vale and her other colleagues probably have a dozen questions or more and I should provide a few more details, but please enjoy and have a good time and remember, we are not alone. “
by Marc | Aug 18, 2018 | Chronicles
ARTHUR: It was a relatively quiet trip. Arthur contacted Kori to let her know that they were going to be going a trip. He didn’t say where they were going only that they would be out of pocket for a bit. She was to dress comfortably for the car ride, because there would be no flying. He would be driving them to their destination.
He advised that they would arrive bright and early for their road trip. Not that it would take long, but he wanted to get an early start. There were things to do, and people to see. His request had been granted and he was about to waist anyone’s time. Of course, earlier meant that he would arrive after rush hour. No reason for them to have to deal with that. Not one to honk for someone to come out he stepped out and rang the doorbell.
Once Kori was ready he escorted her to the car opened the door and let her get in. He was back in the driver’s seat and they would be on their way to destinations unknown…actually Gotham. Outside of Gotham actually, but Kori didn’t know that not until they were well on their way. Arthur said nothing he kept a stoic face as he drove. Perhaps he had something or some things on his mind difficult to say as they drove. Either way outside of NPR coming from the speakers not much else was offered beyond pleasantries.
KORIAND’R: There had been an ominous mention of something during their last meeting. Something about an examination, a thought that troubled her and made her anxious. That anxiety was almost palpable on the ride there but she remained quiet, looking out the window and watching the world whiz by at an almost painfully slow pace. Flying would have been faster. These vehicles were not good for this planet’s environment and the reliance these humans had on them was startling. Then again, they couldn’t fly. A journey more than a couple of miles on foot was probably troublesome and tiring for most of the citizens here. At least they were not employing animals to pull them around or ride on them to carry them about from one place to another. She still didn’t understand why cars had ‘horsepower’ when there were no horses inside at all. She looked. She was disappointed to find that there were no tiny horses under the hood.
The road signs were the only indication of where they were going. She wasn’t familiar with where the roads went and she knew general destinations and landmarks to go by from up in the air. The first sign that said ‘Gotham’ made her draw in a sharp breath.
“Really? After what happened? They don’t want me there, they don’t even like super powered people there.”
Perhaps because the more criminal and heroic elements of the city seemed to have some psychological issues they needed to work through. Some more than others. They seemed to embrace this though, embraced those oddities and weaknesses. She hadn’t really gotten a chance to learn more. She was just so careful and made her choices carefully so she didn’t disrupt the careful balance of things and upset people like…Dr Light.
“Are we going to see Red Hood? He was probably concerned about me.”
ARTHUR: There was a lot on Arthur’s mind. The things that had been shared. The things that were not shared. To say he had a lot on his mind was an understatement, but it did not show. If anything it seemed like any other day when he encounter others. He engaged them in conversation and went about his business. Arthur was not known to be a ball of energy. He was rather subdued. When it became obvious what their destination was he opted not to answer the question. Really? Did it matter that Gotham was their intended destination? Yes, there had been a great deal of damage that had occurred here, but it had been handled.
Arthur would not go as far to say that he was puzzled, but he was curious. Curious about a great many things, but he kept his eyes on the road while traveling. Opting not to pull into the city he continued along the highway, past the city proper heading towards the outskirts. One might thing he was heading to Wayne Manor instead their destination was another Manor one where the grounds weren’t as well as maintained, but it seemed to have an order all its known, order out of chaos. Out of the city there was a tangle of green that seemed to be teaming with life.
Through the gates they went as Arthur pulled the vehicle up towards the entrance he stopped the glancing over towards Koriand’r.
“No, we’re not going to see the Red Hood.” However, they had arrived at their destination. “I thought it best to consult another regarding our situation.” He fastened his seat belt after shutting off the car. “They’ve agreed to the meeting. ” Opening the door, he slipped out of the car waiting for Kori to join him. “I’m afraid I will not be allowed inside. “However, you are expected.” It is best that he did not join her inside. Plausible deniability.
“I can escort you to the door.” Which he did. The manor was large, but not massive. It had a very peculiar air about it. If it felt like they were being watched perhaps they were, by who Arthur wouldn’t be able to tell her. However, there was something wild and untamed about it much like the wild growth that surrounded the structure.
Upon reaching the door he reached out to ring the bell.
KORIAND’R: “All of this secrecy is troubling me,” she said softly. Maybe it was better that she didn’t know exactly what she was walking into. If she had known, would she have gone? Only Dr. Light knew the answer to that question.
This house was not like the others she had seen. The grounds were not as well maintained, like things were allowed to grow wild and untamed. In a way it was appealing, she liked the idea of allowing things to grow unhindered. Some of it brought back memories of the gardens she had visited when she was a child and back on her home planet. Though the climate here was much cooler and the plants were less colorful and full of foliage.
She remained close to Dr. Light as they approached the manor. Despite being stronger, faster and capable of firing devastating rays of energy, she was still susceptible to her emotions. She did her best to keep a strong face on but her eyes kept wandering and darting about.
She thought about asking who they were seeing but more than likely it wouldn’t have been a name she would recognize. She could only get an idea from how the grounds were. Either someone didn’t care to tend to the grounds or they just simply preferred it this way.
ARTHUR: All of the secrecy was troubling her. Interesting, but it was true. He wasn’t being very forthcoming. Unfortunately for Koriand’r that was anot about to change. Instead he offered a nod acknowledging her discomfort. It is all that he could offer her at the moment.
He was about to say something more when the locks on the door undid themselves and the door slid open slowly creaking loudly as it did.
“Enter Koriand’r of Tamaran. We have been expecting you.” The voice was loud but not overbearing, but as the door continued t to open there was no one there. Until there was there was a flickering bit of light which caught Arthur’s attention given that it wasn’t what he expected, but he didn’t let on too much.
The little flickering bit of light danced around in the air zipping around both Light and Kori before settling back into the door way.
“He will guide you to where you need to be, Princess of Tamaran.”
KORIAND’R: A more serious look was cast at Dr. Light. The voices were ominous and the fact they knew her title and where she hailed from was a bit disturbing. Whoever ‘they’ was. She had never laid her green eyes harshly on him but at this moment she did for a very brief moment. It was an unspoken promise that there would be some problems in his future if harm came to her.
She took a deep breath and took a slow step forward to follow the little light creature. She was almost waiting for the doors to close behind her, just like those horror films.
There were just so many questions, how did they know about her? What were they? Why do they have a bouncing light doorman?
LIGHT/GREEN LANTERN: Light was unfazed by the serious look that was leveled his way, though he was more than a bit curious. He knew this was not one person’s style. People believed his associate to be a tad eccentric, but dramatic. He wasn’t sure if that’s the way he would describe his colleague. Watching Koriand’r take those brave steps forward across the threshold Arthur waited and a few seconds later the door did just that it closed on its own. Or at least it appeared that way to anyone that was looking.
The flickering light moved away from the door into the foyer. It danced around Kori before sliding through the air moving slow enough for her to keep up as it moved past the grand stair case it was heading elsewhere zipping down the hall before stopping to make sure that their guest was still with them. If she lingered too long there were a few pulses followed by a high pitch tone to get her attention. It was his way of saying, “This way! This way! Follow me!”
When Kori caught up it moved down the hall towards the room of requirement…well in this case a very large room that was filled with books. It was a library. There were other rooms that could have been selected, but perhaps it was the best place to start. The room was filled with light and there were books that lined every wall and it even had a stair case that went to a second level where there were more shelves that lined the walls. It was something out of a classic movie, including the individual that stood at the railing dressed in a black cloak.
“Welcome, Koriand’r. Welcome to the Mansion of the Emerald Grove. I am one of its guardians. I have been told you came to this world in search of sanctuary. Now that sanctuary is threatened. Your past has refused to stay where you placed it. It has followed you here to your chosen refuge. Tell me. Why have you come? Is it protection that you need? What dangers have followed you from your homeworld?”
The voice was slightly distorted, but could be made out clearly, but it did not sound human in the least.
KORIAND’R: “I came to seek refuge, away from a life of slavery. My right to freedom and control over my own destiny.”
She considered the questions very carefully, her eyes never leaving the figure. Did she need protection? That was a very good question. She had been able to fight off nearly every foe thrown her direction. It was only in numbers that they even had a chance of defeating her. Not even the bounty hunter concerned her too much. She was more concerned about the damage he would do in order to get to her though. It was the people around her that needed more protecting. It was a funny twist of fate in that way.
“I have nowhere else to go, Stranger. I may have…endangered my people by escaping my situation. A bounty hunter was employed to kill me. There was an arm of a dangerous race that had interest in me. Their resources would be poorly spent sending a ship here…not to devalue myself but I do not see it worth their investment.”
She took a deep breath before continuing, attempting to be as honest and and clear about her intentions as she could be.
“I did not wish to bring harm to those on this planet. I feel as if the consequences of my actions are causing the very thing I feared bringing upon these people. I made an oath when I arrived that I would protect them and I would do my best to embrace this planet as my own..for I have no other to call my home. If I continue as I am, more threats may come to me…more innocent people caught in the fire.”
She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. Maybe she didn’t need a guardian to explain what she must do, she already had thoughts and there were pieces in play that could assist her. Should she return? Should she go back to the mess she left and clean it up before it haunted her once more?
GREEN LANTERN: “Tell, me Princess of Tamaran. Does Tamaran have no allies you could turn to? No one that could help you liberate your people and planet? Were you comfortable with leaving your former life behind? Surely it must have crossed your mind the danger your courted when you chose to escape? Your actions would have consequences. Your people. Those that came in contact with. Surely the specter of your past would haunt your footsteps no matter where you went. Yet you selected a world that may be ill prepared for the consequences of these actions.”
The figure pushed off the railing walking towards the stairs.
“There must have been someone that you could have reached out to to aid you against this tyrannical force of miscreants.” The cloaked figured stopped. “Does Tamaran stand alone in the dark against the villainy of the Daemonites? Do they run rampant unchecked by no one? I was told that there was a force dedicated to upholding order across the galaxy. Did they not come to your aid? Did you not think to seek them out?”
He began to walk down the steps stopping at the middle of them as he looked upon Koriand’r. “I have heard your tale. What brought you here. Why you stand here before me. Yet I find myself concerned that there are pieces missing. I find myself perplexed as to why a bounty hunter a Czarnian origin would be dispatched to kill you. Why would he want to kill you? A failed experiment as you have described it. As Mister Spock would say, that is…”
Removing the hood Green Lantern revealed his face, masked face. “…quite illogical.”
KORIAND’R: “There were not Lanterns there to stop what happened. No one heard the cries of my dying people when they invaded. No one came to aid my mother and father when they were slaughtered. No one came to aid when the tears of a child princess stained her dress as she was unwillingly taken away.”
She was getting angry with the questions. She answered them the best she could but with each passing word she found herself angrier and irritated with the entire situation. She brought her hand to her collarbone very quickly, turning the image off that disguised her as human so that this man could see the pure fury that was in her eyes and the fire that ignited among the strands of her red hair.
“I was a CHILD. I was innocent. I grew up with those creatures, my skills and my body were honed to their desires.
What else was I supposed to do? I didn’t find a Lantern until I came to this planet.”
She snorted dismissively as he mentioned the bounty hunter, “Well, he failed. I attempted to ask him but he would give no answers. I do not know what is going on with Tamaran, at all. I have not known a thing since I stepped foot off that planet. If I could find that pest I would blast the answers out of him myself.”
There was an abrupt silence when the figure removed the cloak. She wanted to scream at him but at least the shock had caused her to loosen her fists.
“That….”
She was still angry, it was very difficult for her to shift her mood so suddenly. At least she went from a boil to a simmer but her eyes were narrowed at the Lantern.
“…was not funny at all.”
KORIAND’R: “I have already considered those options. I am aware of how the organization handles ‘threats’. I was spending my time attempting to find another solution. I find sunbathing very useful for thinking.”
Though the only she had considered wouldn’t have been very nice but it certainly would have involved the bounty hunter, as he is the only one with something resembling space craft capable of travel.
Had it really come to this though? Even Dr Light was out of options for her? The only option seemed to point…wherever that fool was.
“He is capable of regenerating from devastating attacks. I’m not sure how strong he is but the chain and the bike seem to be his best tools. He was essentially grounded when the bike was blasted. However, it too seemed capable of repairing itself. I don’t know anything about Czarnians beyond the fact that they are essentially extinct. I suppose anything can be brought back with cloning.”
For a moment she thought she had misheard what he had said, neutralize sounded a lot like ‘neuter’ for a brief moment. Either way, the fact stood that he was a problem.
“More will come. I doubt he was boasting about the sizable bounty. I want to end this before it becomes worse. So…”
She feared the answer to this question, there were very few ideas jumbling in her head and there was nothing brute force was going to be able to do in this particular situation. She may have to use more subtle skills.
“…any ideas on neutralizing my bounty hunter problem? I was considering resorting to negotiations that may appeal to him.”
She didn’t really want to get into the details of what that particularly meant but she knew what the hunter had a fondness for, though it may only be a distraction at best.
GREEN LANTERN: “Doesn’t that sound like a terrible waste of resources to keep sending someone after you time and time again? Not to mention the amount of damage it will cause?” Perhaps it’s time to stop playing defense and go on the offense. You were meeting the Czarnian head on. Sounds like he was looking for a fight. Also, from everything I’ve gathered he doesn’t sound like one that will keep his mouth shut. Big bounty. Alien warrior princess.” Kyle shook his head. “Also discretion doesn’t sound like his cup of tea. You know not when there are buildings exploding and the sort. That could be a way in.” That is if they talk with other individuals.
“What I’m getting at if there will be others that means a couple of things. We have a total Han Solo – Bobba Fett situation going on. Empire Strikes Back. Recommended viewing.” He had to throw that in. “However, that means that despite the fact he wants the big score he may not be the only person on their way. They could be arriving any time to do what needs to be done. So we have decisions that we need to make. Staying planet side while potentially full of allies puts innocent civilians at risk and even if you do a death match beat down and either end it for them or send them packing their going to keep coming. That’s a total no win scenario for anyone. Total Kobyashi Maru.” No one wants that.
“There for we need to find out who’s sending these bounty hunters after you and why and that’s going to involve information gathering. If this Czarnian bounty hunter won’t give up the information some one will. Something be a secret not if there’s going to be a whole host of bounty hunters coming our way. However, this does mean that our immediate problem needs to be handled. We need a plan and we can’t come up with a proper plan if we have a Czarnian on our back.”
Which is problematic. “I don’t know what we can offer him outside of a complementary kick in the ass. I’m pretty sure asking or telling him to leave will be laughable at best. If that was possible problem would already be solved.” He pursed his lips. “I can do a bit of research see what I can find out about Czarnian’s, but I also think it would best if you stay here at least for the time being. You were tracked to Gotham and probably can be tracked no matter where you go, but I believe the manor can offer a bit of protection.” Maybe. He should really confirm that with Alan. Kyle was 90% sure.
“Also, it will give us a chance to come up with a plan and just as important train together.” Find out how they work as a team. The thing that always goes down how fast is trying to work together and not knowing how to work as a team. Kyle watched enough ani..read enough man….read enough to know that. Additionally, it would give him a chance to figure a few things out.
KORIAND’R: The princess was left blinking several times. There were names and things mentioned that she had no clue what they meant. One sounded vaguely Japanese but it wasn’t a language she had yet absorbed into her vocabulary but she had heard it spoken enough to know of its origin. Half of what he said made sense but she was lacking the context of some of the situation.
She was safe where she was too. Raven had good shielding up, she was very skilled even if she was quiet and a bit dark. Kori didn’t have feelings for her one way or another but it felt safe there.
“I…wasn’t going to ask nicely. I was planning on seducing him. He has a weakness and a fondness for women. I could easily use that to my advantage and perhaps he’ll even speak more about this bounty. If I can isolate him somewhere there isn’t an immediate threat to the citizens nearby, this may be possible. Though if we keep waiting, he may grow impatient and start blasting away again. He may take the safety of this planet hostage until I am given up. This other plan would cut him off before it got to that point. Or…he kills me. Or…I am taken back to Tamaran. Either way, the threat is removed from this planet. I will fight until I cannot fight anymore. This is my way.”
She shrugged. It wasn’t an ideal situation but she didn’t have strong feelings about it either way. Sex was just sex, when it was more intimate that was when things tended to get mixed up and scary. It was easier with detachment. It was what she was familiar with.
GREEN LANTERN: Sex and violence. Apparently, that was the way the world heck the galaxy worked. Who knew? Probably everyone. Kyle didn’t know if it was an epiphany or some type of cruel joke. There were dozens of thoughts that ran through his mind as Kori laid out what she wanted to do.
It was a plan to which Kyle could offer one response.
“That’s the very definition of asking nicely.”
Kyle didn’t balk, but seriously how was that not asking nicely? Anyone? Anyone?
“Ok let’s logic bomb this. Game?” She said it right?
“Let the logic bombing commence. The bounty hunger is seduced. You get the information that you’re looking for. What then? I mean was sex on the list of things that he would take in exchange for your life?” Fair question.
“If so. Well, that solves that problem. If not, is there a follow up to neutralize him after you get everything you need out of him? And to clarify neutralize him to the point that he is no longer a problem.” He thought it was a fair question. Unless she’s like Zoe from American Horror Story Coven, and it’s death by “V” Kyle didn’t see that solving the problem completely. All’s fair in logic bombing.
“Second question. What are you going to do with the information after you’ve gotten it from him? Does it change your predicament?”
KORIAND’R: “I didn’t expect that to work so easily. So, no. It’s a tool, not an end game. He has a lust for destruction as well, he could be turned towards a more appropriate target. That would also be a win. Maybe they’re only paying him so handsomely so he won’t turn on the deal. Imagine how rich he could get off of destroying them and taking the loot?”
It was very much a pirate angle, if they were already promising him a good fat sum, they probably had more to offer if they were split open with his bare hands. Part of her was pleased with the thought of being able to orchestrate such a chain of events but things didn’t always work so simply.
“I’m not sure, it depends on the information. I have considered that I may have to leave, regardless. If it’s something only I must address and fix, it would be better done with at least one powerful ally beside me. I will report anything I find, of course. If that sector is assigned to someone, perhaps they will see fit to aide me as well.”
There was a problem in this though, she didn’t know who was behind the bounty. If the Daem were involved there was a lot of unknowns about them and how far spread their influence was. If it was from Tamaran? If it was from one of her own people? It was also a complicated situation. If her leaving negated the arrangement then they were probably already under attack.
“…I need information. There is only one man with the truth of what is going on. That is completely and utterly unavoidable.”
GREEN LANTERN: The red flags were up all over the place, but, he did so Kyle listened as this was laid out. It gave him a moment to take it all in “Okay, assuming that you are successful with this plan of action you want to then suggestion to the bounty hunter that an even bigger bounty awaits if he turns on the individual or individuals that hired him?” He was restating to make sure that he heard that part correctly. He needed to make sure he heard that.
“Negotiating to bribe him is one thing with something you have is one thing. Negotiating with him for something you don’t have just on a promise is another. That can go wrong many different ways, no matter his proclivities. Sure he likes violence, but is that enough of a lure to turn him off his original bounty. I mean what happens when they make a better deal?” It happens. “Someone flips once they’ll flip again.” At least that’s a possibility that should be considered.
“I mean if he wants a challenge and he enjoys violence well, one thing to consider is that if there are more coming why not hire him to take out his competition. Like all of his competition. If the Daem hired him apparently they have resources that outstrip his competitors unless they have something of value he wants. I guess it does come back to if he was to take that type of deal what do you have or could you potentially have that would be of some value to him to take that job for you. I guess I’m just a bit iffy on turning on the person that hired you. It’s bad for busisness though someone could just as easily say you get what you pay for.”
Also, it would be nice to have a backup plan.
“I can’t say what the other Lanterns will and won’t do, but my offer to help you stands, but I have to take it a step at a time. There are too many pieces on the board right now and equal amounts of unknown.” He said honestly.
“The immediate problem needs to be handled.” Frankly without it coming back in the third act to bite them in the ass.
KORIAND’R: Everything I had was confiscated…then later destroyed and burned when he attacked.”
The wreckage was in the custody of Nowhere though but she doubted there was much left to bribe with. They had probably already destroyed it to prevent it being taken or possibly reverse-engineered.
“X’hal, I only have hope and faith. It’s all I’ve had for many years. I know in the sense of logic that doesn’t really amount to much but when things are desperate…sometimes it’s the only things that count.”
There weren’t a lot of options left and there were fewer contingencies. If they removed the Hunter’s tools…he’d only be slightly more manageable. It was a matter of taking them and destroying them utterly and completely that was the very difficult and potentially disastrous part. That would leave them both stranded and without options though.
She winced as she pushed her hair from her face and rubbed at her temple with her fingertips.
“If that fails, he kills me. That will satisfy his bounty and possibly end the conflict. It is not the option I want but it is a very real possible outcome.”
GREEN LANTERN: “Well, that’s very fatalist of you,” he said regarding the last statement. “Hope and faith are good, but a good solid plan is even better.” And that they were severely lacking in. They also should have a plan, B, C and D, but Kyle would start with A once he could get his thinking cap on.
“There are some things to consider, but there’s also some things that you need to think over, as well. Specifically, how far you’re willing to trust people, because from where I’m standing there’s there’s a severe lack of trust.” That was Kyle’s truth, and no one could tell him different as of right now.
“It may be the nature of your situation, and if it puts me out of line then it puts me out of line. As my friend…closest person I have to a best friend told me once, I can only be me. I can’t be the Green Lantern people want me to be. I have to be the Green Lantern I need to be me. The Green Lantern they need me to be and need and want don’t always go hand in hand.”
What does that mean? Hard truths.
“Fighting until you can’t fight any more isn’t a real option. It’s nice way to get dead and frankly it’s a pretty shitty thing to do to your people. You can’t help them if you’re dead.
“You are their Princess, aren’t you? That means that they look up to you, that they have some affection for you unless they don’t care? That’s not the situation is it?” Again, was it out of line? Maybe? However, there was just something about it that rubbed Kyle the wrong way. Maybe he was a little naive ok a lot naive about things, but things weren’t adding up.
“As far as getting killed or being willing to be taken back to Tamaran I don’t know. If that were the case, you wouldn’t have come here. You would’ve resigned yourself to that fate long ago.” It was frank, it was honest, it was the only way Kyle knew how to be at the moment, because…he had his reasons.
“You would’ve gone there instead of coming here or you would have attempted to figure out how to rectify the situation that you currently find yourself in. So, before I find myself trying to solve the unlogic puzzle that’s sitting here in front of me how about you tell me what’s really going on Tamaran that you don’t want to talk about?” Or whatever it is that she’s playing close to vest, because it’s obvious.
“Because A. As stated before you’re a princess. That means you have some modicum of responsibility and/or authority.” At least that’s the way Kyle saw it. Unless she’s a princess in name only.
“So, you should give a damn about your people. Which I think you do. However, you didn’t come here and say, “my planet is under attack I need your help to save it, you came and sought sanctuary. Maybe it was everything that happened I don’t know. Still those were the choices that you made. Decisions that have and will follow you no matter where you go.”
“Which brings me to B. You’re willing to get pissed off about some things, but not the right things as I see it. It confuses the hell out of me, and probably frustrates the hell out of others, but I can’t speak for them.“ The entire getting upset about being questioned the way she was. Who wouldn’t question her like that?
“Last but not least there’s C. You put this planet in jeopardy knowing full well what could and would happen, and seemed a-ok about it, because you had a nice place to chill. So, was earth a pit stop on your getaway tour? Did you really think you could out run what you’re trying to run away from? The Daem is just one part of it.”
“If we’re going to do something about this then we need to be focused and free of surprises and right now this isn’t as they say isn’t passing muster.” And no one has time for that.
“If are you going to get angry, throw a fit, and toss in some tears to boot then do so. I’ll sit and let that play out.
“I want to help you, but I feel like I’m operating partially in the dark. There’s pieces here and there that offered up, but there are other pieces that are missing at least that’s what it feels like.”
KORIAND’R: She inhaled deeply. She was trying not to be grim and dark about the potential outcomes. It didn’t suit her and darkness wasn’t something she could wear very well. She’d rather be happy, or disguise as much as she can with some optimism and finding joy in the little things.
She finally felt calm enough to sit without breaking the furniture, or setting it ablaze or any number of things she wanted to do when she was angry. It wouldn’t have been right, not when she was a guest in this man’s home and it had put Dr. Light out of his way to bring her here as well. She’d be letting two men down.
“My sister is their queen, she was put into that position during the invasion and not very long after my parents had died. The terms were quite simple, my sister Komand’r would serve as queen and I would be exiled, taken into the care of the invaders. Never to return to my home. Returning would put the safety of my people and my sister at risk, it may even negate any agreements my sister may have made to make sure our people were looked after. So, my family may be respected and I may be fondly remembered as the sweet young princess…but I fear any return may cause a great deal of problems.”
It wasn’t so simple when there were agreements that were signed. Oaths that were required to be honored.
“I didn’t have anywhere else to go, except as far away as I could. So, I don’t know if someone put the bounty to ensure I never return to my home planet. It could also be an effort to clean up any research that was performed on me. Perhaps someone doesn’t want me falling into the wrong hands. There seems to be a great deal of concern or fear on part of whomever created the bounty. They don’t want me around, they don’t want me alive and they don’t seem to like that I am here either. I do not know anymore without going straight to the Hunter, the Czarnian.”
There were other problems but at least the calmness had allowed her to think things through. What was it that frightened someone so much that they would pay many riches for her to be gone? Knowing what that is would be like possessing some intangible power.
GREEN LANTERN: Kyle watched, but said nothing. Ordinarily he was game from plenty of things, but at the moment he had to play the “straight” man to all of this. It was a lot and he could allow himself to be overwhelmed or delight in the fact that he was standing across from a rea- life alien, again, but he couldn’t. That had to be set aside by the fact that a great deal of harm came to people, a building was destroyed and there was an intergalactic bounty hunter on the loose looking for a princess.
This was the stuff comics were made from him. Who was he kidding? This was the stuff that cool ass anime were made off, but again he couldn’t bask in that. No. No. No. He had to be the Space Cop. Yay! At least that is what was passing through his mind at the moment while Koriand’r spoke about what amounted to very limited information.
Nothing about that sounded right in the least. Kyle had seen enough episodes of Game of Thrones to know how things like that worked out.
However, they would get back to that.
“Let’s do a little information sharing here. What do you know about the Czarnians? Like do you know how they died out? Do you know what they were like? What we’re dealing with here? I know. I know. I ask a lot of questions, but this is where we head into the realm of the unknown. At the moment we control neither the vertical or the horizontal. So, let’s find out what we do control.”
KORIAND’R: “I don’t know much, admittedly. I had a lot of lessons and a lot of stories were told to me but sometimes stories are tales of caution and twisted somewhat.”
She was feeling a little frustrated, she was trying to be as honest as she could manage and be forthcoming with what information she knew. It was hard when her learning was halted by her own world’s changing events. Her education had become much more brutal and out of necessity for survival.
“Czarnia used to be a thriving planet, much like Krypton. A very proud species. Something went horribly wrong. I’m not sure if it was a virus that preyed on their genetic weakness or some other kind of weapon altogether, but they were all eradicated. The entire species was gone with the exception of one. The Last Czarnian, or so the stories have said. Some say he was responsible for what happened, others say he was just lucky and was the only one immune. If that is true…then what the Hunter said was very confusing. He said something about clones. Many other races have the technology to do such a thing. It’s possible if they had the source material, I guess. I didn’t get a chance to ask more questions. I was being electrocuted and it was very unpleasant.”
GREEN LANTERN: Kyle thought about what he should share. Would it help the situation or make the situation more confusing? Clones. Should it matter? Did it matter? However, if it was possible that they were dealing with a clone it would be interesting. Kyle find himself curious about this, but decided to set it aside. Whether this individual was a clone or not it was after Koriand’r and given the fact that she was currently residing on Earth it placed the planet in jeopardy. It could quickly become a battlefield, or a bargaining chip and Kyle rather avoid either of those possibilities. He was determined to make sure that was not an option.
Koriand’r’s frustration was the least of his concerns at the moment, because she was currently was the epitome of frustration. Whether it was intentional or not she was not being as forthcoming as Kyle believed she could, because he didn’t think for a moment she was naive, far from it. Every so then he saw glimpses of the person that he wanted to get to know. Not the bubbling individual that spun tales of woe that made as about much sense as a Klingon saying Kahless skipped in fields in flowers hand in hand with a Romulan.
This was definitely two plus two equals five situation and right now there was only one person that could correct the equation.
“So, it’s possible that we can be dealing with an actual Czarnian or a clone of one?” Makes you wonder who’s churning out clones and what that could mean.
And she wants to use her powers of seduction to pump him for information. Then what? There was no real follow through there. More like hopeful humpings and potential for a bad plan of action afterwards.
“What I know of the last Czarnian is that he doesn’t roll over on his contracts. It’s part of his code. Maybe that’s a rumor. If he’s a clone, then maybe that didn’t make it through the process. Who knows, but we could be dealing with either or.” That’s the way he saw it.
“That aside, when he decides to make his next move I would prefer it to be away from earth. Alien battlefields don’t make for friendship bracelets and ice cream parties. Usually they you strapped to table and cut open. Additionally, there’s no telling if there isn’t another bounty hunter waiting in the wings.” Home court advantage only goes so far and based what he knew the amount of destruction that the Czarnian could cause would devastate the planet and if he was a clone who’s to say there aren’t more waiting to take his place and finish the job. Though this is a bit of an odd situation giving his best bud was cloned and engineered himself.
“So, how do we want to handle this? Step 1 is to remove Earth from the equation. Step 2 is to acquire information and neutralize threats. Step 3 is how do we stop this from becoming a common occurrence meaning that whatever business is going on at home will have to be handled or you’ll be running and fighting until the end of time and that’s no way to live. If there are cards to lay out on the table then lay them out. You no longer have the luxury to pick and choose, because I suspect you value life over death. If you wanted death you wouldn’t have fought back. You would have ended a long time ago.”
KORIAND’R: “I am without a craft that could handle space travel. What I arrived with was confiscated and it was hardly in flying shape. Physically I couldn’t handle the lack of atmosphere very long. I am strong, but I am not that strong. You could…your ring grants you the ability to do so? I’m assuming. Forgive me if I’m wrong. Do I just…go to Tamaran? I risk breaking the treaty, this would put my people at risk. Doing nothing would put the people of Earth at risk.”
The Lantern was right about her not wanting death. It was the reason she fought, it was the reason she endured. That and she didn’t want what happened to her and her people to happen to anyone else. Enduring everything had made her a hardened warrior and she hid that behind an armor of positivity and aloofness. She didn’t like peeling that armor back, it felt vulnerable. These people didn’t want an alien that had murdered so many in an effort to survive. They didn’t want a warrior that had been trained and changed to be some kind of weapon. She had seen that in how they treated Damien and in a way she and him were so very similar in that shared darkness.
“The Czarnian could be used. He has the information but he’s choosing not to share it right now. Clone or not, he’s a formidable opponent that not many would want to cross. Without pulling you out of your jurisdiction, without pulling others from their other missions and responsibility…he’s the only tool we have if he can only be turned the right direction. Or he won’t and then we’ll need to figure out how to throw him at the star you call The Sun.”
If the Lantern was looking for a peek into her brutality, there it was. She wasn’t above absolutely burning every atom of his body. Still, more may come.
“I don’t know what else to do. In the end, I’m the problem, I’m the focus of this. Do I turn myself back over to the Daem? It’s not death, it would cease any hardships for either problem. They would have to deal with whoever made the contract themselves. Their problem. The odds are not great.”
GREEN LANTERN: “You already broke the treaty when you escaped.” He said it before and he said it again. “Standing here right on this ground not in the “care” of the Daem mean that the treaty is null and void. The treaty that you refer to is predicated on the idea that you would remain in the care. Unless there is something that I misunderstanding? You have violated said treated by making your escape.” He arched his brow.
“Before we go any further. Before we say anything else tell me what is the difference between you escaping and you going home? The treaty went up into smoke when you escaped.” He generated a story book and sent a rocket ship through it. “You’re blowing holes through you’re own cover story. So shall we start again from beginning or shall we continue from the middle of this half-truth, half fiction word dance you want me to engage in?”
KORIAND’R: The truth hurt. The truth she was attempting to deny all this time was thrown right in her face and it hurt worse than a slap. She needed to be told that, it took hearing it from someone else, someone who was angry and frustrated at her for it to really sink in. When it hit, she shrunk back into the couch and pulled her knees up to her chest. It was like feeling helpless again. She was a prisoner to her actions and the consequences that had rippled across the cosmos.
She broke the treaty. It didn’t matter what the reasons were or what she was trying to escape. It was a very simple chain of events, she escaped and this put Tamaran in a bad position. If the bounty had come from Tamaran like the Czarnian said, it was highly possible it came directly from royal decree. This more than likely meant that her beloved sister, Komand’r, issued the order herself. Another truth that was painful and it made her a little angry as well.
“Then I broke it. I brought this on myself and to my people. It is my responsibility to set things right but I will not surrender myself to such torment again. I feel…I feel like breaking things until it is fixed. I may even need to come against my own sister, the queen. This is not what heroes do. Does this make me a horrible person, Lantern? Does this make me as bad as they are?”
Those green eyes were wide when she looked to the man. She was out of tears to cry over her situation and it didn’t feel like it was appropriate. Still, she was nearly overwhelmed by everything she felt in this very moment. It didn’t feel like there was a ‘right’ solution.
GREEN LANTERN: “I’m less concerned about whether or not this means you’re a hero. I’m more concerned about what you want to do about this. Your actions have consequences and it’s time to deal with them. I could sit, get you something to drink and we can commiserate about what a shitty deal you got. I could say that someone in a similar situation probably would make the same choice over and over again. I don’t know. I can’t deal in hypotheticals. I have to play the cards that have been dealt as do you.” There was no way around that.
“That said if we’re working under the assumption that your sister has decided that you’re not worth the salt of your tears then we have a place to start from. This is not about whether or not you’re a hero it’s about what your survival means to you? I mean if I go big picture. I can say. Well, if one person is the cost for my planets survival than by all means let’s do this, but at what cost? Honestly, truthfully, hasn’t that struck you as odd that your planet came under attack. Your parents killed and it all stops because this deal is struck. The planet’s survival comes down to one single person being placed into the care into the aggressors. They get you and everything’s good now? Wars are usually fought over something for something. Not just because some group wants one person unless there’s something you’re not sharing or something that you’re not aware of. Theft and plunder of resources I get. Oppression I get.” Those were things that people have fought over before. A single person out of an entire planet?
“This I don’t quite get, but let’s start. What do you know about your sister? What kind of leader is she? She handed you over to the people who murdered her parents. She gave you up to stop a war. For the good of the planet. It sells well, but no festering anger or hate for the Daem? Now she or someone within her government have sent a bounty hunter after you?” He paused for a second.
“To what? Prove to the Daem that you are no friend of Tamaran? I mean…let’s think about this for a second. If this is coming from Tamaran a planet that lost a war it sounds like they’ve recovered quite well. Well enough to hire a bounty hunter and from the sounds of it he doesn’t come cheap. They can set this in motion so quickly. Doesn’t that strike you as odd?” It felt odd.
“What do you know if anything about the arrangement that was established after your were handed over. Did the Daem pack up and head to parts for unknown or did they maintain contact with Tamaran?” She may not know, but Kyle was trying to figure out what was what. He was also trying to figure out motives.
“Let’s not forget that if the Czarnian fails there are going to be more bounty hunters. As bounty hunters fail then the price will go up. How many coffers does Tamaran have to offer up? Is this the legacy you want for your homeworld? Where does it end? Say the bounty hunter kills you, succeeds in ending your life what happens then? It’s not like this a clause in the treaty is it? In the event you escape then you die. All is forgiven and the Daem forgives Tamaran? Doubtful. Do they get someone to take in your place and they become the tribute? The fate of a world rests on one person’s forced sacrifice?”
KORIAND’R: “Taking hostage is common practice to gain political leverage. Sometimes it’s not aggressive at all, some royals taken as wards instead and raised with different families to create bonds and ties. It’s not the strength of a marriage bond but it’s a show of good will between two families. Taking me may have had the effect of making my sister compliant to their demands, I don’t know what has happened since. They could have reshaped the entire political structure of the kingdom in my absence. I’m not just one person, I’m a symbol of my people, I’m a princess, I hold…held…power and influence.”
Talking this out sort of helped things make sense to her. She had to withdraw herself from her emotions about her sister to see it.
“I’m a threat, Lantern. If I am free, I am also free to disrupt whatever they have established. If my sister is out of the picture, I am next in line to rule. I don’t know if this is being done to get in the favor of the Daem again. I honestly don’t know what would make me so valuable otherwise. What they did to me made me much stronger, it unlocked power in me that was considered very dangerous. I could have easily struck a hole in the hull of their ship with a powerful blast.”
She lifts her head to give him a slight glare, “I’m not dying. It wouldn’t set things right, the next bully race would just come along and start the whole cycle all over again. Maybe not soon but perhaps the same thing would happen to my sister that happened to my parents.”
She didn’t have all the answers to these questions, the fact she didn’t was very frustrating.
“…Dr Light mentioned seeing a doctor, a medical one to see if there was something uniquely tied to me. I am not thrilled by the idea, I am absolutely nearly paralyzed with fright at the thought, but perhaps it would answer some questions.”
GREEN LANTERN: “That I’m familiar with, but you weren’t taken hostage, you were handed over. They didn’t come in and snatch you. Your sister passed you over and usually when something like that happens it occurs because the individual that was the aggressor needed to be put in check to ensure they wouldn’t be foolish to do that again. At least that’s would make more sense.”
He looked over at her. “Which would suggest that the people of Tamaran put up some type of resistance at some point. See, we keep going in circles about this and you keep telling me you were given to the Daem, but from what I understand the Daem were individuals that were causing great harm to Tamaran, so before I move forward again. Did Tamaran get conquered or did they put up resistance and get dealt a decisive blow that caused you to be taken as their “ward”? They didn’t need to stop anything if they were winning? They wouldn’t need you to keep the planet in check. They already murdered the ruling class. So, can you expand on the events with the Daem, beause otherwise I’m going to get stuck here and continue to wonder how this come to pass and have thoughts that maybe I shouldn’t have about motivations.”
He shrugged “There is always going to be someone that thinks that they can push people around. That they can do whatever they want, but see that’s the thing. If the Daem are the bullies and they were winning was it some type of situation where they were like. Alright we kicked you around enough we’re going to let you have your queen, but to remind you we’re in charge we’re going to take her sister and we’re going to what? See that’s where you lose me. They bully you for what? Resources? Then decide to take you and go off and what bully another planet? Beyond having you whatever checks do they have? They have all the upper hands here. Did they really need you to remind a defeated people who was in charge?”
KORIAND’R: “There was a lot of destruction. Many people died. We were up against weaponry that destroyed what defenses we had. I did not witness much, my sister and I were protected by the guard for as long as they were able to. I do not know how to answer these questions as I am not sure and like I’ve said before, I was a child. It was some time ago. I also do not know the details of the arrangement. My life after those events was very different and a lot of information was kept from me. I spent a lot of time in cells and labs, drugged or in too much pain to really be completely coherent of what was going on around me.”
She wanted to know the answers to those questions too but she had no way of truly knowing at the moment. The only one with a small bit of information was the one hunting her.
“The Hunter may know what I do not.”
GREEN LANTERN: Kyle took in the information that was provide and let it sit for a moment. There were things that he could say and do that could help and hinder. There were dozens of thoughts running through his mind, but he knew better than to get away from him. He should be overwhelmed, but he wasn’t. From the moment he started speaking he spoke with one thought on his mind. There were innocent lives at stake here. There were situations that he would never be able to control or assert some influence over, this was not one of them. He was taking part in this and why he may not win ever little battle here he could to make sure that his points were made, understood, and not set aside.
Whether people wanted him to or not he had been entrusted with the office a Green Lantern, it wasn’t about trying be the best it was about doing what was best. He could make it a numbers game, but the fact of the matter was this was not a problem that the people of earth needed to take on, nor should they. This was something that needed to be handled away from Earth and probably as far away from the sector as possible.
There were far too many unknowns, but that would not prevent him from doing what he felt was necessary to try to bring this to resolution. This could not and would not stop at Lobo. While he was a threat, a major one, he was one of potentially many. If he could be handled, then it would begin a never ending line of bounty hunters. This had to be stopped at the source.
“Alright. That’s fair, but as for Light’s Doctor that’s why you are here. He came to speak to my mentor about another option. This is us finding another option. This is us trying to prevent it from being a situation where you would be subjected to any type of procedure that was similar to the ones you endured already. This is us trying to figure out where to start.”
Sliding his hands to the arms of the chair that he sat in he pressed himself up to his feet so he could address one of their concerns. “As far determining what was done to you I could give it a go. There’s no guarantee that I would immediately find anything.” It all depended on what information his ring had access to. He could do a scan similar to the one he did on Conner. There should be away to detect changes that were made.
“A passive scan should be able to do the trick.” Kyle didn’t need to speak he merely needed to think it. He could keep chugging along, but Koriand’r might want a moment. “Though, I would be poor host if I didn’t give a chance to rest some and let you have a meal.” Give them both a chance to take in what had been shared and discussed.
KORIAND’R: “There is a chance it may reveal something, perhaps something I do not know. It may or may not help but it is all we can do this very moment. Confronting the Hunter is the next step. I do not have the ability to do that off the planet without the appropriate craft and appropriate permissions to leave. Something about the network they have orbiting the planet. That is completely in Nowhere’s hands. I do not expect them to grant me any favors, I am not in a good place with them.”
She wasn’t very hungry, she could eat until near bursting most days but her appetite was absent at the moment. She didn’t feel as if she had the luxury of time to eat and rest. The sooner this was dealt with, the better. If it meant going off planet, then that is what it meant.
“There are places on this planet that are barely inhabited by people, some barely habitable to most lifeforms. I could lure the Hunter there. Either way, this can not be avoided. At worst, I may be able to convince him to take me there alive. I will figure out how to deal with it from there. If I am not here, the threat to this planet is lessened. It’s not ideal but it’s all I have given the options.”
She shook her head at the offer of his hospitality, “Thank you. We have much work to do.”
GREEN LANTERN: “Then I’ll do the scan, but I’m going to veto the meeting with the bounty hunter here on the planet. Even if you go somewhere uninhabited it doesn’t mean that someone won’t be watching. Like I said Earth needs to be removed from the equation. If that means we leave the planet then we leave the planet.” Fights happen yes but the moment this takes a turn for the worse and someone catches wind of it it will make things incredibly difficult going forward.
“Put yourself in my shoes in anyone on Earth’s shoes. Would you want that going down on your planet? If it could be avoided? We have an individual that possibility caused the destruction of his entire species. An entire species. I’m not say one or two Czarnian’s and entire species. They were once a peaceful race and then things took a turn for the worst and he is either directly responsible or indirectly responsible. Whether it is true or not that is not a risk I’m willing to take. It is an unacceptable risk.”
There were other reasons why Kyle wanted him off planet. “His regenerative abilities are off the charts. His mere presence…” A chill ran through him as he considered. The possibilities. What if NOWHERE got their hands on a sample just enough to create some last resort type of weapon. What if he was turned against Conner, Wonder Woman, any metahuman that got out of line. What if they made dozens of them them that they could control. What if they behaved as the original. Was this a game of hypotheticals? Yes. However, given the rumors, what he gathered from Conner, and various bits of rhetoric if something wasn’t recovered from the Mariposa this Lantern in training would rather avoid gifting them with anything of that sort.
“The risk is too high. As for not being permitted to leave. Let me worry about that.” Among other things. They would have to figure out where this meeting and/or confrontation would take place. He didn’t care if he sounded or was behaving like an alarmist, but this wasn’t the time for him to go conservative when it came to risk.
“Let’s get the scan completed.” With a thought visor glasses appeared over his eyes they were tinted green and appeared to be a single piece that spanned across his eyes. They began as outlines that quickly were filled in as if they were bring drawn out of air. To Kori they looked like nothing more than high tech specs, but Kyle there was a HUD that gave him various readouts that were projected in front of him. They could be made visible to Kori, he was making sure everything is working order which it was.
“I’m going to need you to stand up so I scan you.”
ALAN: … and then…
Everything around the two turns green, just seconds before the spirits all around them begin to take shape. Little ghostly elements of the green spawning to life. Small impish creatures. With blue-white eyes, white hair, and smurf-like skin tones. Kyle has seen the figments of his Mentor’s before. They don’t normally have any other coloration but that of the green, similar to his own constructs. This is different. One by one their eyes turn toward Kyle and Koriand’r. Each of the impish creatures seems to have the ability to look through you with those thousand yard stares.
Except that their shapes are suddenly dispersed by…
“…. times up, Lantern. If you’re going, you’re going now. They’re coming,” Alan Scott isn’t wearing his mussed up old three piece suit, his hair isn’t loosely kept and for perhaps the very first time he doesn’t seem even the slightest bit inebriated. “If you’re both here when they get here. She’s going in a Cage and you’re going back to your Mother, without the Ring.”
“Make a choice. Right now. What do you stand for, Kyle?”
GREEN LANTERN: Kyle was in the middle of completing his scan which provided him with useful information, but noting that seemed to speak of the Daemonites. He was about to speak when the ring decided to convey some important information.
[Warning: This deals with a banished sector, please return to your central battery and await instructions.] The scan stopped and the construct disappeared.
That was not good. Definitely not good. Just then the images began to appear, they seemed to be fading into reality out of nothingness the green images, but as they came into focus he saw the eyes, eyes he had seen before. This had gone from bad to worse it seemed as Kyle took a deep breath and within in a flash they were gone and…Alan?
Was that really him? He didn’t have time to can’t his head to the side because even when they were training Alan still did it with a smoking jacket on and a drink in his hand. They’re coming. He didn’t need to be told who they were given the eyes that had gazed upon him. He had a choice to make. Hadn’t he already made it?
Saying it is one thing doing something about it is another and right now he wasn’t going to surrender the ring. Not because of something that needed to be done. He knew that there would be consequences, but if they were going to come and reclaim the ring then it was going to have to be done for something more than a simple scan.
“I think both know answer to that. I was given a ring to help keep the peace. To do what needs to be done to protect others. To help restore order. I chose to help those that need help. That’s never going to change.” It was time for them to go. They really can’t be the Guardians of the Universe less one Sector. That’s really not what they call themselves right? They say Guardians of the Universe. They are empowered to help keep order. Things have gone wrong and now it’s on his doorstep. He has no time to argue that point doubtful that they would listen.
“Time to go Princess. My superiors are coming to try repo my ring and put you in the clink.” And that’s not happening. Time to stay a step ahead as long as they can.
KORIAND’R: Kori shot up on the couch. She was on her feet, hands balled in fists and standing far taller than everyone in the room because she was actually standing on the couch itself. It was the quickest reaction she could have. The room went green and there were very strange figures and suddenly, two Lanterns. Were there two here?! How was that even possible and was this planet in that much of a threat that they needed both here?
She was shocked, looking between the two of them. She wasn’t sure what happened exactly but there was certainly something happening.
“That is not going to happen, I don’t even want to know what a clink is.”
She was trying to picture what that might be in her head but she had trouble figuring out something that made sense. It seemed such a silly word and it was conjuring similar silly imagery.
“Then we go…”
Her eyes were on the other Lantern, perhaps considering whether or not he was going to stop them or hinder their escape from this incoming threat. She wasn’t even sure where they were going, out of their reach? To Tamaran? To some far corner of space where nothing was?
ALAN: POST MISSING
GREEN LANTERN: Kyle can feel his heart racing just a tad faster. Adrenalin was kicking in. He focused on what Alan was saying. Six or seven recharges at the most then he would be cut off. Then he would have to use Alan’s old Lantern to recharge his ring. Kyle closed his eyes for a moment and remembered what Ganthet told him in the prerecorded message. Kyle was the only one that could limit what he could do. If there was a enemy that stood before him it would be Kyle himself. That’s what he focused on. He understood the risks of charging up his ring with the Starheart Lantern, but if he didn’t try then Ganthet had every right to take the ring back.
“Got it. Ration my power. Last resort is your Lantern.” He took the Lantern from Alan nodding. “Lobo on the dark side of the moon.” He looked at Kori then back to Alan. “Thank you, Alan. I promise I won’t let either of you down. Thank you Starheart.” He didn’t have time to go on about anything. “I don’t know how long I’m going to be gone. My friend the one I was going to seek out Ted Kord for. Pass Ted’s name to him. Tell him I think he can help with his situation. He’ll know what I’m talking about.” His mom. She’ll be okay. She’s always okay.
“We have to go.” He held onto the Lantern his own was with him at all times. He made sure of that. It just wasn’t visible. He wasn’t sure if he could do the same with Alan’s lantern. He considered what he could make part of him thought Falcon, but he needed conserve his power.
Walking towards the door Kyle nodded. “I’ll make sure I keep my ears open for you.” Was he ready? Was he ever going to be ready? His mother told him that sometimes there was nothing to it, but to do it. This was one of those times.
The moment they stepped outside a construct began to appear before them. It was a interesting design. It was a shaped like a ‘T” with the end coming to the point and the top making the wings. The cockpit was spherical, but large enough for two. There was a gun that was along the bottom of the ship tip and the back of it appeared to have a booster of some kind. Anyone that was familiar with Cowboy Bepop would instantly recognize the Sword Fish II with some modifications.
Kyle got into the front when the cock pit opened. “Strap yourself in.” He told Kori as he did the same once she was inside. Once she was in the hatch closed. The craft roared to life and they were already lifting off, rocketing towards the sky. They needed a ship and now they had one. They were comfortable, but there would be no walking around or auto pilot, they were basically going to be hot rodding it.
“Our first destination. Darkside of the moon. Best to meet this head on. Agreed?”
KORIAND’R: Kori was a little annoyed, but she only allowed it to show a moment. She didn’t understand what was going on between the Lanterns, only that the Lantern she was dealing with was on a ration with his power. It was noted. She may need to do quite a bit of the heavy hitting if they encountered problems to avoid him using his own power. Everything was going so quickly, moving at such a pace that it seemed difficult to keep with but she adapted, she was quick to catch on. Some things weren’t worth questioning.
Part of her annoyance was the fact he could craft a space-worthy ship so easily. He could have just mentioned that it wasn’t a problem as she had indicated multiple times. She said nothing though, instead following his orders and settling into the cockpit quickly, the harness straps quickly clicking into place. This wasn’t her first rodeo with a quick escape and she doubted this would be her last. She just didn’t like that she had very little control over the situation at the moment.
“No. No stopping. Swing close enough for him to see us. He’s been stalking after me, he’ll continue to do so if he sees I’ve left. The faster we pull him away, the sooner we can get to our destination.”
Tamaran. Home. She wondered if it was even the same anymore, she had such fond memories of her home planet. Those words were not forgotten though, advice to not trust her sister no matter what she says. Perhaps time and their experiences had changed them both. She hoped it didn’t change Kom for the worst but there was no telling what happened in the years since Kori had been away. She only hoped her sister didn’t endure the torment she did. She didn’t deserve that. No one did.
“If he is able to catch up, we can deal with him then. Let him work for the prize…or his demise.”
Something had certainly changed over time. Kori felt a little bit like her old self at the moment, the personality she had to adopt for her survival, the darker edge she needed to claw through each day and each victory. Those passions she often wore on her sleeve were tossed aside for the moment and the gaze she had towards the unfamiliar evening sky was full of determination. It was time to end this, to find some closure and discover the true reasoning for the events that changed the course of her life so violently.
