Chapter Text
Oscar Ward
I wake up staring at a sky that isn’t the sky. Dark beyond darkness, at least at first. There are stars everywhere. Sharp, clear points of light scattered across a smooth black sheet. For a few seconds, my half-asleep brain just accepts it. I lie there, blinking stupidly, trying to figure out why my bed feels like concrete. Then something big and blue fills my vision. Why the fuck is it so big and blue? I frown and lift my head slightly. Earth stares back at me. I freeze. There’s a solid five seconds where I’m unable to process what I’m looking at. My planet—the planet—hangs above me in impossible detail. White clouds curl over oceans so blue they hurt to look at.
It’s all so impossibly huge and… well, beautiful. But my first coherent thought is: this is not good. And then, why am I not on Earth? I jerk upright so fast I send myself tumbling backwards. Dust kicks up around me in slow motion, floating strangely before settling again. Grey ground stretches in every direction. No trees. No buildings. No sound. My stomach drops straight through my body. No gravity? Or so little that there might as well not be any. I slap both hands against my face instinctively and suck in a breath. Air fills my lungs. Warm air. In space. I stop. Slowly, carefully, I lower my hands.
“Oh. …No fucking way.”
I breathe again. I’m still alive. No burn in my lungs. Okay. Okay, that’s good. My panic recedes just enough for my brain to start noticing other things. Like the fact I’m wearing skin-tight black and green spandex. I glance down. White gloves. Green boots. Black and green everywhere else. The faint green glow running along the suit practically lights up the darkness around me. I see the emerald band wrapped around my right index finger. For a second, I just stare at it, then every single neuron in my body fires at once.
“No fucking way.”
Life Support Active. Current Charge: 99%.
An indistinct voice blares into my ears. I flinch and look around wildly for whoever that was. There’s no one there. Of course there isn’t because I am apparently standing on the fucking Moon with a Green Lantern ring.
“Oh my god.”
My voice comes out somewhere between awe and hysteria. I look at the ring again, and then at Earth.
Then back at the ring.
“...O-Oh my god.”
Fear detected. Avarice detected. This ring requires Will to function.
A laugh escapes me before I can stop it. This is insane. Actually insane! I’m on the moon with a power ring. A Green Lantern power ring. I stare at my hand for another second. A completely different emotion bulldozes straight through the panic.
“...Wait one goddamn minute.”
I hold my hand out awkwardly. Nothing happens.
“Okay, uh…”
How do Green Lanterns even do this? Do I think about it? Say something dramatic? How did their oath go again? Should I ask the ring? In brightest day, in blackest night… something something green lantern’s light? The words elude me. I squint at a nearby rock.
“Gun.”
Nothing.
“Okay, not gun. Uh…”
I squint harder till an idea comes to mind.
“Ooh! Sword!”
A burst of green light explodes from the ring. My body seizes as something solid forces itself into my gloved grip. I lift a gigantic glowing broadsword to my face with both hands. It’s completely weightless. I gawk at it with my mouth hanging open. Then I start laughing.
“This is awesome!”
The sword flickers, then vanishes the moment my concentration slips. I immediately try something different. A war hammer appears in my grip.
“...Wait!” I grin. “How about Mjölnir?”
Green light flashes, and I’m holding Thor’s MCU hammer in my hand, identical in every sense except it’s made of solid green light. I hurl the hammer, recalling it right when it’s swallowed by the darkness. The hilt slaps against my palm. I transform it into Cap’s shield. Then, after several increasingly embarrassing attempts, the shield becomes a glowing green minigun that spins so loud I nearly drop it.
“Oh, this rules!” Unarmed now, I chuckle and bring my hands in, one over the other. “Fuck it—why, not? …Kamehameha!”
A massive beam of green energy erupts from my hands, blasting off into the surrounding abyss, permanently gouging into the lunar surface on its way.
“HOLY SHIT!”
I’m grinning so hard my face hurts. Every anxious thought in my head is drowned under a tidal wave of adrenaline and dopamine. I jump for joy and shoot into the air, screaming and laughing the entire way up. The Earth fills my vision again. I stabilise and hover there in total silence, green energy flickering around my body.
I can fly.
I’m flying.
My eyelids fly apart. “...Oh, shit! Ring, current charge?”
Current Charge: 96.99%.
“Okay. How do I recharge?”
No Central Power Battery connection detected. No conduit to Sector network available. Oan power infrastructure inaccessible.
There’s a brief pause.
Green Lantern Corps operational link: absent. Standard recharge protocol unavailable.
My stomach tightens slightly.
“…Okay. So how do I recharge?”
Alternative directive engaged.
The air around me hums faintly.
Lantern absence detected. Power continuity may be maintained through two non-standard variables.
I wait. The ring continues.
Variable one: absolute will exertion. Variable two: external will resonance. Emotional induction of resolve in proximate sentient subjects.
“…Come again?”
User may minimally sustain charge through personal resolve or by inspiring resolve in others.
I let out a slow breath. “So I either… really believe in myself, or I make other people believe in something.”
…Right. Well, I would’ve preferred to be able to stick it into the lantern thing and recite the oath. Not that I really remember it very well.
“Ring, can reciting the oath help recharge my power?”
Outside of recharge functionality, the Green Lantern oath may focus willpower.
A yes-no answer. My favourite kind of answer. Goodie. I look out at Earth again. My head suddenly feels very full. A hysterical laugh bubbles out of my chest. I don’t hold back, laughing so hard my eyes burn and my belly hurts.
“Okay.” I suck in cold air with my hands on my hips. “This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.”
My life back on Earth wasn’t anything to complain about. Neither good, nor bad. I lived my life and did what I wanted without much to look forward to as the state of the world continued to plummet. Not that I could do shit about it, but that was its own slow kind of torture in the end. Anyone with an internet connection turned into cynical, brain-fried couch potatoes. Myself included. I look down at my bejewelled hand with a grin.
“Not any more, though!”
My face falls. …I’m a fucking prick. The realisation hits me like a truck manned by a drunk driver. Here I am, with no way of going home, and I’m geeking about a power ring when I might never see my family again. But what am I supposed to do?
‘Ring, can you take me home?’
The question’s on the tip of my tongue. Why the hesitation? I love my family. Deep down, though, like a stone lodged in the base of my throat, rough and coarse and all too willing to make itself known… is a question.
Do I even want to go home?
I—
External kinetic anomaly detected.
“…What?”
There’s nothing I can see. Just darkness, stars, the moon I’m standing on, and Earth hanging far away.
“Wait—”
I barely have time to process those words because something just… hits me. It’s pure impact, too fast and too hard to judge. Air I didn’t realise I was still holding gets knocked out of my lungs. My body folds and spins end over end. The earth tilts and the stars around me smear into streaks. I’m tumbling through empty space, flaring with green light as I spin further away from the lunar surface and into the darkness. There is nothing but rotation and panic.
Fear detected. This ring requires Will to function.
My motion snaps mid-spin, hard-light flaring out in a ragged burst that arrests my drift. My body jerks as inertia bleeds off unevenly. I end up hovering wrong for a second. I’m sideways to Earth. The moon’s somewhere behind me, and darkness is everywhere else. I suck in a breath that actually works this time.
“Okay,” I choke and twist myself upright. “Okay, what the—”
I choke again when I see him. He’s certainly humanoid, alright, and is drifting off my line of sight. Blue. Black. Yellow. Familiar in a way my brain hates immediately because boy am I fucked if this is where I think it is. No, that costume is undeniable. My thoughts collapse into each other. I’m in the Invincible universe. I just got decked by goddamn Mark Grayson. He looks at me. I look at him and I realise, with a delayed, sinking clarity, that he didn’t hit me by accident… and he’s already moving again. The ring reacts instantly, overlaying my turmoil with the clean, brutal certainty of its AI voice.
Threat Incoming.
My body moves before my thoughts finish catching up. A construct forms between us. It’s a wall, messy at first, but instinctive. The shifting green barrier catches Mark as he collides with it head-on. The impact rings through my arms. Whatever stunned confusion was still hanging around gets ripped away in the same motion. There’s no time for it. Mark pushes. The construct strains, and I feel it very clearly. This isn’t a situation I get to think my way through. Mark drives forward again, one fist buried against the surface of the construct. Green light fractures across the wall in jagged lines under the pressure. My arms shake violently just from holding it together.
Holy crap he’s strong.
The thought barely finishes before the wall explodes. I throw myself sideways on instinct as Mark tears straight through the construct in a burst of green shards. A fist whistles past my face close enough for the air displacement to sting. Air displacement? In space. My brain latches onto that detail for exactly half a second before Mark twists mid-flight and slams his elbow into my ribs. Pain detonates through my side… but my ribs don’t disintegrate like I expected them to. Is he holding back, or is the ring’s life support buffing me? I grunt hard and spin away, barely catching myself before I start tumbling again. I throw up another wall that lasts maybe a second longer. The construct bursts apart like glass.
“Okay, nope! Guess we’re fighting!”
Fear detected. This ring requires Will to function.
I thrust my hand forward desperately. A giant green boxing glove slams into Mark mid-charge. It stops just long enough for me to see the surprise flash across his face. Then he punches straight through the construct and keeps coming. I jerk upward, throwing walls behind me one after another. Mark smashes through all of them in a straight line, each impact flashing emerald against the dark backdrop of space.
I barely get my arms up before he grabs me by the shoulder and hurls me downward. The Moon rushes up to meet me. I hit hard enough to carve a trench through the lunar surface, dust exploding around me in slow motion. For a second I just lie there staring upward. Mark descends through the cloud of dust, hanging above me like some angry god.
Right, he thinks I’m an alien. My brain finally catches up fully. Invincible. This is the Invincible universe… but when? It’s important to figure out when in the timeline I am. I only ever watched the TV show, but my knowledge’s spotty, which means—
Mark’s expression hardens instantly. He rockets downward. I react without thinking. Green light erupts around me as I throw both hands up. A dome-shaped barrier forms overhead just as Mark slams into it feet-first. The impact rumbles through the lunar surface. Dust sprays everywhere. The shield groans violently.
I grin despite myself.
“Alright,” I mutter, dragging myself upright beneath the barrier. “Time for random bullshit, then.”
“What?”
I drop the shield and stand, cupping both hands to the side. “Ka…. Me… Ha… Me…”
Green light floods between my palms instantly. Mark hesitates.
“HA!”
The beam erupts forward in a tidal wave of green light. Mark’s eyes widen before the blast engulfs him completely, swallowing his body in emerald energy and carrying him far into the distant darkness in a massive streak. I snicker, holding the beam steady with both hands.
“Oh my God,” I wheeze. “Oh my God, I’m actually doing it—”
Then the beam shifts. My smile drops. A silhouette punches through the centre of the blast, forcing its way upstream against the torrent of energy. Mark bursts through the front of the beam surrounded by green light and flying debris, fist pulled back. Pure instinct takes over. I hurl myself at him, visualising it with crystal-clear, terrified clarity. The light around my bejewelled fist thickens. Something snarls around my arm, clawed, and angry, but fuck it!
“DRAGON FIST!”
I’m sucked into the gigantic dragon’s body, pulled along with it as it roars forth. A muted boom shudders its way down the construct’s body, but I push back with all I’ve got. Something gives, and I rocket forward unimpeded. As the emerald dragon fades from around me, I turn to see Mark point at me.
“…Huh?”
Mark gestures to his throat, then points at the Earth. …Ah, right. He’s holding his breath. I fly back to him, creating an emerald bubble around us. He tentatively exhales, grinning once he starts to breathe.
“...Dude!” Was that Dragon Ball?!”
My brain stalls. Dragon Ball’s a thing here? What about DC?
“The beam! The dragon thing! It’s exactly like Goku! How?!” Mark blurts out excitedly. “I thought you were some kind of alien trying to invade Earth. The one from the Coalition of Planets already left, and I’ve already fought off two invasions… so I was a little on edge. ...But you’re a human, right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m a human.”
…Okay. I guess DC isn’t a thing here? No way he wouldn’t recognise me as a Green Lantern otherwise. Mark’s eagerness is bleeding off him, even if I can’t see his eyes. How do I wanna play this? Hm…
“I woke up on the moon, with my power ring, and nothing else. I don’t know how I got here, though.”
“Were you in some kind of space fight where you lost your memory?”
I fold my arms. “I was at home, asleep. You’re a superhero, right? I’ve never seen you before.”
“...O-Oh. I’m new.” Mark scratches his cheek. “I’ve been helping out Teen Team against these green aliens. They’ve tried to invade the Earth like twice now.”
“That’s the thing, I don’t recognise the Teen Team either.”
Mark frowns. “That’s strange. What about Omni-Man, then? He’s the strongest superhero ever. Surely you know him.”
I shake my head.
“Dude, are you sure you’re from Earth and not Urath?”
...It takes a monumental amount of willpower from me to hold my laugh in. Mark’s stupid smirk at the joke isn’t helping either.
“...W-What?”
“Nothing,” Mark snorts. “Forget it. Inside joke.”
“...I’m starting to think your Earth ain’t my Earth. On my world, the strongest superhero ever is Superman. He’s part of the Justice League.”
Mark perks up. “We have… well, had the Guardians of the Globe.”
“As in past tense?”
“Someone killed them—oh, shit!”
“What?”
Mark grabs his head. “...Fuck. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone that.”
“I won’t tell anyone if you won’t. Now, let’s head someplace else. We’re burning my charge sitting out here.”
“Charge?”
I gesture to my glowing power ring. Speaking of… Ring, what’s my current charge?
Current Charge: 65%.
…Nice. My thoughts work just as well as speech. But still, just over 30% gone from a single fight? My guess is that I’m burning too much energy due to inexperience. Which means to improve, I need to expend even more to figure things out. And without a lantern at that. Vicious fucking cycle, huh.
“What’s wrong?”
I fix my expression. “Our fight ate like 30% of my ring’s battery.”
“Can’t you… recharge it?”
“I would, but I don’t have my lantern.”
I can’t see his eyes, but his face hasn’t changed, so I assume the dead set to his face means he’s confused.
“It’s basically my charger.”
“Oh!” He smiles. “I’m sure Cecil and the GDA can help? They’re the Global Defence Agency. They’re a secret branch of the government that works with superheroes.”
“Like ARGUS?” Then, I add: “...Advanced Research Group Uniting Superhumans. Also, a shadowy government branch created after some evil god called Darkseid tried to take over the planet. Only once, though… to my knowledge.”
Mark sighs. “Our aliens just don’t know how to quit. They shrivel up when they’re on Earth, though. Time flows differently between our dimensions. There was even this one-eyed alien dude from space a few days ago who was looking for Urath instead of Earth to invite them into some secret club.”
“So, that was the joke.” I finally let my laughter out. “It’s stupid.”
“Know what’s even more stupid? Allen—that’s the alien—had been coming here regularly every few years to make sure we could defend ourselves. But he never once checked he had the right planet. Now, c’mon! I’ll take you to the GDA, but I’ve got to head back to school. I’m technically on lunch break right now.”
…Fuck. A power ring might be awesome, but with Omni-Man essentially being a ticking time bomb, I’ve got like, what? Half a year at best before he goes to town on Chicago? I can’t for the life of me remember the other Viltrumite weaknesses. I wasn’t the most avid fan and watched the show more for the cool fights, goddamn it! I swear Tech Jacket gets her suit after the Chicago fiasco, right? I really hope she’s got it beforehand, though.
“Hey, uh… dude?”
I look up. “Yeah, man?”
“You were spacing out. Also, what do I call you?”
“Green Lantern. Unless you were asking for my actual name?”
“Nah. Secret identity and all.” Mark shrugs. “I go by Invincible.”
I try not to point out that I’m not wearing a mask, so secret identities don’t really count. But I guess it’s a courtesy thing. Don’t ask for what you aren’t willing to give or something.
“Are you? Invincible, I mean.”
Ah, the memes. It’s not actually all that funny considering he’s going to be beaten within an inch of his life by his father… but for the memes I had to ask, at least once.
Mark turns to face me, a smirk lifting the corner of his lip. “...I mean, I was kind of kicking your ass.”
And just like that, my sympathy is washed away in the fires of indignation.
“Let’s get out of here,” I huff out. “I’d like to conserve as much battery life as I can, which means undoing this bubble. Hold your breath?”
Mark nods, and the two of us descend on the mud ball we call home.
【—〄—】
Cecil Stedman
“Run it by me one more time, Donald?”
He walked while he talked, running all the possible ways this conversation could go through his head. Sat behind reinforced glass was the teenager he was on his way to see. He was being watched both on camera and via biometrics, by over a dozen people, Donald included. At worst, this was yet another alien invasion, but by all accounts, the teenager was human. Which was important, because very little about today felt manageable.
The strange black-haired, bronze-skinned teenager leaned back in his chair with one leg bouncing restlessly beneath the table. His body glowed a subtle green from time to time, but even without it, his eyes were emerald gemstones in his head, stark against the sterile white room. Formless constructs flickered unconsciously around his fingers before vanishing just as quickly. At one point, he’d made a tiny green dragon fly in circles around the room for thirty seconds before dissipating.
“Donald?”
“Yes, sir. Subject was retrieved peacefully following first contact with Invincible. No resistance offered after de-escalation.”
“Mm.”
Noteworthy in itself.
Most people with that level of power eventually tested boundaries. The fact that their guest had willingly come into custody either meant he was cooperative… or confident enough not to care. Neither possibility was comforting, but one was immediately better than the other.
“Anything from the Moon footage we missed initially?”
Donald hesitated slightly. Always a bad sign.
“He appears genuinely inexperienced. His early constructs were unstable. Mostly simplistic defensive barriers. Force fields, walls, blunt-force projections, but he improved extremely quickly.”
Cecil rubbed at his temple. “I’m aware.”
“The energy output increased in proportion to emotional engagement,” Donald continued carefully. “Once he stopped panicking and started… enjoying himself, the constructs became noticeably more refined.”
Cecil looked back through the door’s one-way glass. Their guest was currently spinning a tiny construct hammer over one finger while waiting. Like a bored college student, not an existential security threat.
“What’s Invincible’s assessment?”
“Positive. He thinks the subject’s harmless.”
He snorted softly. “...Mark also thought eating gas station food was harmless, so forgive me for not jumping to trust his assessment.”
Another flicker of green appeared inside the room. This time the stranger formed what looked suspiciously like a miniature robot before dismissing it with visible disappointment. The kid was restless and fidgety. Nowhere near calm enough for a trained infiltrator, nor disciplined enough to be a conqueror… which honestly made things worse.
“Likelihood he’s lying?”
“Low confidence across the board. Current biometrics indicate stress, confusion, excitement, and intermittent existential dread.”
Cecil frowned. “Existential dread?”
“According to Invincible, he is from a parallel Earth, and so finds himself marooned here. If he is to be believed, everything the subject has once known and loved is gone.”
…That’d do it.
“And the ring? Have the eggheads been able to figure something out?”
“Not without a closer look, but from what we can tell thanks to the lunar footage and his current distractions, the ring appears to generate and channel all observed energy phenomena. Constructs respond directly to cognitive impulse and the subject’s emotional state impacts output stability.”
“It’s psychoreactive?”
“Seems that way, sir.”
…Great. The kid’s emotional condition was now officially a matter of national security.
“Fantastic,” Cecil muttered. “Invincible mentioned a recharge issue?”
“Yes, but besides the ring running on some kind of battery, there’s not much information on that front. You’d need to ask the subject for more information.”
Cecil’s eyes narrowed slightly. He’d heard everything he needed to know before going in himself, but there was still one more question to ask.
“...So what’s your read?”
“I think he’s exactly what he looks like. A confused teenager who got handed something absurd. Perhaps he was only recently granted these powers before being marooned in our dimension.”
That would have been reassuring if Cecil hadn’t spent most of his career learning that those were often the most dangerous people alive. Trained monsters followed observable patterns born out of habit, but normal people with impossible power? Those were loose canons till they could be figured out.
Inside the room, the stranger suddenly brightened. Two green constructs appeared over the table. Tiny and humanoid, one wore a martial arts uniform. The other, meanwhile, wore some kind of eyepiece and plastic-looking armour over spandex. The first fired a microscopic beam attack at another construct while the young man watched on with a gigantic smile.
Cecil stared through the glass in silence.
“He also appears to be a giant nerd, sir.”
“I gathered that, Donald.”
He twisted the door handle, stopping whatever puppet show was unfolding on his desk. The kid’s gaze snapped up to him immediately.
“What’s up, kid. I’m Cecil Stedman, director of the GDA. You?”
“Ozzy Ward, short for Oscar!”
“Subject’s biometrics point to a 90% likelihood of truthfulness.”
“Why shorten an already short name by a single letter?”
Ozzy grinned. “Because Ozzy Osbourne, that’s why. My grandma loved him. …You guys have Black Sabbath here, right? Oh, Oh! Is he still alive here?”
“Yes to the first, no to the second.”
“...Damn.”
Cecil took the seat opposite the teen. If nothing else, the kid had an infectious kind of cheer to him. Though it wasn’t free from nervous undercurrents, which was to be expected. It wasn’t every day that one found oneself in another dimension.
“So, I hear you’re a dimensional asylum seeker. Any clue how such a thing happened?”
“...No. I went to bed one night and then boom. I’m on the moon.”
“And back in your world, you’re a hero, yeah?”
“Green Lantern.” He tapped the symbol on his chest. “...Though it’s not a unique title. Everyone with this ring is called Green Lantern. We’re an intergalactic peace-keeping corps. Basically space police. I’m a… new recruit.”
Cecil raised an eyebrow. “How new?”
“Very?”
“Truth,” Donald said in his ear.
“What do you want, Ozzy? To go home? Because that can be arranged. Eventually, anyway.”
“R-Really?”
“Judging by his physical reaction, the subject seems averse to returning home.”
Cecil frowned. “There something wrong with your home world?”
“Nothing’s wrong with it per se… it’s just trending to the negative. I miss my family, but I don’t think there’s a place for me there anymore.”
Thankfully, the natural silence gives Donald enough time to respond.
“Truth again.”
Huh. Interesting.
“I thought your world had the Justice League and… what did Invincible call your GDA equivalent again?”
“ARGUS.”
“...Let’s just say that I hope you never have to find out what happens if your world’s strongest hero turns into the ultimate heel.”
“Superman, right?” Cecil asked. “What happened?”
“Some lunatic ended up killing 11 million people, so he killed the lunatic. If he stopped there, things would’ve been fine. Only, he decided to crack down on all crime, and well… let’s just say everything spiralled. I ended up shunted here before things could get really bad. There was talk of Superman creating robot armies with his alien tech to enforce his will.”
“He’s an alien?”
“Crash landed on Earth as a baby, raised by two salt of the Earth farmers in Kansas. He was a symbol of hope everywhere till his wife and unborn kid died. It was one really shitty day, and well…”
“When the strongest guy on the planet has a shitty day, everyone suffers,” Cecil finished. “But where were your space police when all that was going on?”
Ozzy smiled. “...As always, we were too late. Let’s just say I’m not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth after finding myself here with no guaranteed way to go back.”
“Hm. …Well, if you don’t want to go home, then you’d be seeking asylum?”
“Will you grant it?”
Cecil leaned forward. “There’ll be some stipulations, but yes.”
Muted joy warred with caution on Ozzy’s face. It was almost adorable that the kid thought he could hide it from him. At the very least, the biometric data pointed to truth, and unlike Nolan, who declared his intent and forced the GDA to do damage control, Ozzy seemed at least intent on playing ball a little.
…He also wasn’t the strongest being on the planet, even if he had the potential to be terrifying, so that helped.
“You’ll have to earn your keep.”
“Like a job?”
Cecil nodded. “Of course, you’ll be paid for your efforts, and pretty generously, too. You’d be doing superhero work directly under the GDA. I don’t know about your world’s ARGUS, but we’re dedicated to one thing and one thing only: protecting the planet. I guess things wouldn’t be all that different from your time in the Green Lantern Corps, only you’ll be limited to Earth for the time being.”
“...Again, I’m really new,” Ozzy smiled nervously. “The power rings travel in search of worthy wielders, and I was picked.”
“I’m sure we can work something out. What’re your thoughts on school?”
Cecil had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing. The number of expressions Ozzy cycled through alone were hilarious, ranging from mildly uncomfortable to looking like he was severely constipated.
“Relax, kid. You’re what, eighteen? No point in putting you through a single year of school.”
He sighed. “...Good. So, what now?”
“Um… sir? The Flaxans have invaded downtown Baltimore again. Invincible and the Teen Team are en route.”
“Got any city preferences?” Cecil shrugged. “I was thinking Baltimore.”
“Baltimore?” Ozzy made a face. “Why Baltimore?”
“For one, it’s home to your new best buddy Invincible. I just thought it’d be nice to have a familiar face around.”
It was also home to the world’s strongest hero and tons of GDA operatives to monitor things, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Baltimore it is!”
Cecil smiled and extended a hand that the teenager shook firmly.
“In that case, welcome to the GDA, Ozzy.”
He smiles. “Thanks. When’s my first job?”
“So, about that…”
【—〄—】
Oscar Ward
…Man. My meeting with Cecil was the most stressful half an hour of my life! To say nothing of the other half-hour spent sitting in paranoid boredom. I’d spent 2.5% of my charge just to make sure I didn’t psyche myself into a stuttering mess before Cecil even stepped through the door.
Once he did, mixing truths and lies seemed to be the best approach. Emotionally, I tried to tie what I was saying to actual lived experience… even if the bit about coming from the Injustice universe was a crock of bullshit. The real question is whether they bought it. No way for me to know for sure since antagonising me probably isn’t smart considering how my powers work. Cecil seems like a decent enough guy. Hard man making hard choices and all… and I’m nowhere near smart enough to think ahead and anticipate those choices.
But I stopped worrying about shit I can’t do shit about a long time ago. Luckily, my first assignment as a GDA-employed hero is right up my alley. It’s time to fight off an alien invasion, baby!
I’m a lot more excited for this than I ought to be, especially considering I know the kind of massacre in store for me. But the alternative is a lot worse and will probably put me out of commission forever, so fuck it!
Fear detected. This ring requires Will to function.
…Right. Yeah. Any chance of you quitting it with those notifications?
Negative. Fear and other negative emotions serve to weaken a Lantern’s Will.
...Then could you at least hold off on doing so until said emotions begin to overwhelm me? I’m a perfectly capable human being, you know.
Affirmative.
Lovely. Now, what’s my charge?
Current Charge: 62.5%.
I call the only number on my GDA phone, which I’ve ingeniously dubbed ‘the work phone’.
“...Yeah?”
“I’m ready.”
A faint crackle precedes a bright flash. When I open my eyes, Cecil’s scarred face stares back at me.
“I’ll drop you off close enough.”
I nod. “Thanks.”
Despite the decent chance I’ll be able to somewhat charge up my ring thanks to this current crisis… I don’t want to be too wasteful. Cecil places a hand on my shoulder. I close my eyes, take a breath, and we’re gone. I can hear the distance whine of evacuation sirens, and the constant cacophony of people fleeing for their lives. We’re on some kind of rooftop in the city. A complete traffic jam blocks all the streets my eyes can see. A lot of people have given up being able to drive away and abandon their cars to escape on foot.
“Good luck, kid.” Cecil lifts his hand off my shoulder. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry your first day on the job is… well, this. Trust me. It’ll get better.”
“If I live.”
He gives me a lopsided smile. “...If you live.”
His body flashes azure, almost white-hot, and disassembles before my eyes. Now I’m alone on a random rooftop with a faint buzzing in my ears. I float off the ledge and lean into a nosedive, headed exactly where everyone else is running from. It quickly becomes apparent to me that the city’s on fire. I blast past a shawarma restaurant. Inside, people are huddled inside around a TV mounted to the wall which is likely the only reason the restaurant is even open. Not that the people inside can really go anywhere if they decide to suddenly close. Smoke billows between skyscrapers in massive black plumes while three hellish orange-black portals mark downtown Baltimore. They’re so vast that they seem big even from this far out. The Flaxans themselves are barely larger than ants comparatively, but holy fuck are there a lot of ‘em. The green bastards and their war machines pour through the portals in endless waves, ugly jagged things and glowing red weaponry.
The streets below are complete chaos. Cars clog intersections bumper-to-bumper. People scream over each other as evacuation sirens blare loud enough to make my skull ache. …That’s if they don’t get gunned down into ash piles first. And right in the middle of all that is the Teen Team. Eve’s focusing on rescue efforts, cordoning off civilians trapped in rubble, or the ones too injured to move. Dupli-Kate’s horde are more bodies in the way, completely unequipped, but regardless, she’s the main player here. Robot’s on some hover bike, with Rex perched behind him, lobbing explosives at the war machines to great success. As for Mark… I can see the Flaxan leader’s hulking figure. He’s clad in bulky mecha gear. It’s more than enough to keep him in check… but the vice versa’s also true to a point. Mark might be weaker than him, but he’s not so weak to be easily ignored.
And so, the Flaxans are being wiped out without their leader. They’re doing well, all things considered, only the hordes are unending. One dies, and two take their places, going for anything that moves. Eve keeps the property damage to a minimum and reinforces the buildings, so the people inside can run... but she can’t save everyone. I grit my teeth and kick things up a notch. The thrumming green outline around me thickens, gaining a wisp-like texture as it broadens. The closer I get, the clearer the battlefield becomes. Teen Team’s scattered across several blocks trying desperately to keep things contained. I duck under Robot’s swarming drones and Rex’s explosive charges.
“Hey! Who the fuck’s this guy?!”
“Okay, first superhero team-up,” I mutter nervously. “Don’t embarrass yourself.”
My first order of business is to free Mark from the general Flaxan in the back. I thrust my hand forward and a gigantic green baseball bat materialises sideways across the street. The construct slams into the cluster of Flaxans crowding Mark and their leader with a deafening crack and sends them hurtling through nearby buildings like bowling pins.
Mark jerks mid-fight, clearly startled, and his grin is bloody. “D-Dude?!”
“What’s up!” I flash him a thumbs up, but don’t stop moving. Can’t stop moving. So many fucking screams, even over the blaster fire. A collapsing office building catches my eye first. Eve’s there. I rocket downward just as the upper floors begin to cave inward. People are trapped behind shattered windows, pounding desperately against the glass.
She’s reinforcing it as best as she can, but it’s on a time limit. “Move! Move, move, move!”
“What do you need me to do?” I slam to a stop behind her. “The name’s Green Lantern. I can make hard light constructs and can fly. I can also take a decent beating on account of being somewhat superhuman!”
...Upper limits to be figured out later? Eve looks at me. Whoa… her eyes are really fucking green. And pretty. But so is her everything, really. I’d feel bad about checking out another man’s girlfriend, but he’s cheating on her, so Rex Splode will have to forgive me.
“I need you to take care of these people. There’s too many to save.”
...Welp, that’s one way to sober me up.
I give her a firm nod. “Got it!”
Pink energy lights up under her feet and carries her away. I stare suspiciously at the pink structures with my gaze. I haven’t got the first clue about engineering, but reinforcing what she’s already got shouldn’t be too hard. I can’t afford to fail. Not when all these lives depend on me. Green light erupts from my ring. Massive construct braces slam into place against the building’s sides, arresting the collapse just enough for debris to stop cascading downward. My arms shake violently from the strain, but it holds. Heavy doesn’t quite cut it, and instead of taking the lifeline, everyone inside’s staring at me like I’ve got two faces and four arms.
“...C-C’mon, people. I know outside is fucking terrifying, but trust me, you’re in a lot more danger in here. I’ll keep you guys safe. I promise.”
A middle-aged woman clutching her purse glares at me. “...You swore. Heroes don’t swear.”
I bite my tongue to stop myself from swearing at her.
“That’s what you worry about, Sheila?” Her… husband? The man scoffs, takes her by the arm, and crosses to safety first. “...Thanks, kid. You’re doin’ good work.”
Current Charge: 58%.
Everyone else is frozen between action and inaction, and it’s not because they’re stupid. …Okay, maybe they’re a little stupid, but I know the look.
“You!” I point directly at a young woman. “Blue shirt! You’re good! Grab your kids and GO!”
Her eyes snap toward me instinctively. “Y-You’ll catch us?”
“I literally flew here in glowing spandex! YES! Just bundle up on the ledge, and I’ll make a platform once all of you are across.”
That finally gets movement. Others start moving too once the first few do. Fear spreads fast, but people following people spreads faster. The second office worker helps another. Then the whole floor suddenly comes alive. I guess that’s the corporate world for you, not that I’d know.
I grin. “That’s it! Keep at it, everyone,’cause we’re almost there!”
Current Charge: 61.1%.
…Wait. It’s going up! I freeze at the sound between my ears, basking in the satisfaction until a bus hurtles through the air towards us.
“OH SHI—”
I barely catch it with a construct platform before it crushes the people underneath. The impact jars all the way through my shoulders anyway. Several civilians scream inside the tilted vehicle. Of course there are people inside...
“It’s okay!” I shout immediately. “Nobody’s dying today! Probably!”
Someone sobs. …Bad wording on my part. I create a platform, rushing everyone inside the building onto it before flying them to safety. Please let the bus people be okay! I fly back, cutting off a middle-schooler gearing up to thank me. Everyone’s streamed out of the bus and are running around in sheer panic. A hole explodes through the street twenty feet away. Flaxans pour from it immediately, firing wildly into the already panicky crowd.
Fear detected en masse. This ring requires Will to recharge.
“I FUCKING KNOW!”
I throw up walls between civilians and incoming fire while diving straight into the middle of the chaos. Green barriers shimmer into existence one after another as laser blasts splash across them. One slips through. A teenager trips near an overturned taxi. The Flaxan nearby levels its rifle at him. My stomach drops. I move instantly, hand outstretched. My ring glows. The Flaxan’s muzzle flashes red-hot first and the civilian’s upper body disappears. His lower body crumples onto the pavement smoking. Everything stops. Something hot twists violently in my chest. I can’t help it. It’s pure, helpless rage at being unable to save an innocent life. The Flaxan turns its weapon toward another group of civilians. A construct wall intercepts the blast instantly. The ring burns against my finger hard enough to hurt. My breathing roughens.
The civilians from the bus behind me stare with wide terrified eyes. Some are looking away in tears. Some frozen in fear, unable to. All of them are fucked without help.
Without me.
“In brightest day...”
My voice shakes.
“In blackest night...”
Green light intensifies around my body in violent waves.
“No evil shall escape my sight—”
The ring’s glow erupts outward, so brightly people behind me yelp. The power ring’s butter-smooth voice continuously pings notices between my ears that I can barely hear over the roar of my own pulse.
Current Charge: 73% … 81% ... 90% ...
“Let those who worship evil’s might beware my power—”
The emerald aura surrounding me detonates skyward, bright enough that it might as well be a second sun.
“GREEN LANTERN’S LIGHT!”
Current Charge: 100%.
For one impossible second, the battlefield goes still. I’m not gonna give these monsters a second more to compose themselves. I—
External kinetic anomaly detected.
Something clad in white and red slams through the centre of the Flaxan forces like God personally throwing a punch. Bodies explode. Shockwaves tear through entire streets simultaneously. I swallow, feeling the stone-certain power ebb slightly at a single realisation.
It’s Omni-Man.
Overwhelming Fear detected. Comport yourself, Lantern.
…Not all the fear the ring detects is mine. The Flaxans are in full retreat after a thirty-second laser barrage at Omni-Man does absolutely fuck all. They stream through the portal that brought them here till only their leader remains, and only because he’s too stupid to see the writing on the wall. Maybe if he did, Omni-Man wouldn’t barrel into him and disappear through the last portal, where he would commit near-genocide on the Flaxan people. Once the portal closes, GDA people materialise in flashes of blue light, like fireflies, immediately going for the injured. I drift towards the square, where Teen Team and Mark are gathered.
They’re all staring at Mark in shock.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa… Omni-Man’s your dad?!” Rex Splode gawks. “Bullshit!”
“No, actually. Omni-Man’s his mother, duh,” I say.
They all look up.
Rex Splode jabs a finger at me. “Okay, who the fuck’s this gimp supposed to be?!”
…Did this fucker just call me a gimp? In that abomination of a costume?!
“Haha. I wouldn’t be insulting anybody in that getup, man.”
He makes a face. “What’s wrong with my suit?”
Well, don’t mind if I do! I open my mouth. “You look—”
“Thanks for the help back there,” Eve says, interrupting me. “A lot of people survived because of you.”
“And because of you,” I point out to her. “All of you, really. Yes, you too, asshole.”
Rex snorts. “Get fucked, buddy.”
“That surge of energy…” Robot’s eyes throb in sync with his words. “...was you.”
“Eeyup!” I touch down and try to nudge Mark out of his catatonia. “By the way, I fixed my battery issue. Dunno if you saw the huge green light show.” He hums, staring at the spot his father barrelled through moments before. “So, your dad, huh? You saw how he mopped the floor with the Flaxans, right? He’ll be fine, especially if he’s the Superman of your world.”
“Your world?” Rex repeats with a snicker. “Dude, I think you’ve got a few screws loose.”
Mark pulls his gaze back to us with a forlorn sigh. “...No. Green Lantern here’s from another Earth. Wound up in ours by accident and can’t go back. GDA vetted him.”
I raise a finger to stop the incoming flood of questions from everyone sans the moping Mark.
“I’ll answer any question you guys have… but on one condition.”
Kate tilts her head. “What?”
“You ask them over some shawarma. I am starving like you wouldn’t believe.”
Rex grins and throws an arm around my shoulders. “Now you’re speaking my language!”
“...Lantern?” Mark frowns. “What’s a shawarma?”
Kate stifles a giggle.
Holy shit, he’s a spoiled brat. Then again, who wouldn’t be a spoiled brat when take-out consists of pizza from Italy.
“...Dude. I’m gonna pretend you didn’t just ask me that.” I lay a consoling hand on his shoulder. “All you need to know is that it’s the food of the gods. You’ll understand once you taste it.”
Rex nods. “Amen, brother.”
Amazingly, the shawarma place I flew by earlier is somehow still open, and better yet, open for business now that the aliens are gone. It’s genius! A bunch of people were already holing up in there for shelter, and there’s nothing like almost being turned to dust to get the appetite going! GDA agents and emergency crews swarm the city around us while fire engines scream somewhere in the distance. The adrenaline’s finally starting to wear off now that the fighting’s done. My limbs feel heavy in that weird post-workout way. The little bell over the door jingles as we step inside. Every table’s occupied by exhausted civilians glued to their phones over a box filled with meat and fries, or wraps as thick as my arm. The TV on the wall is replaying footage of the invasion on loop. Half the restaurant goes quiet when we walk in. The other half starts whispering immediately.
“…Oh my God, it’s the Teen Team!”
“Is that Atom Eve?”
“Who’s the blue and yellow guy?”
“Fuck that, who’s the green guy? Did he fire off that massive blast?”
Rex immediately points finger-guns at some teenager recording him. “You got my good side, right?”
“Rex,” Eve sighs.
“What? Public image matters, babe!”
I hang back slightly near the counter, suddenly hyper-aware of my glowing green suit. The attention feels different after actually seeing people die. Earlier it was exciting. Now it just feels strange. The broad older man behind the counter clears his throat. He’s got tired eyes and wears an apron stained with grease.
“You are paying, yes?” he says in accented but clearly understandable English.
Rex looks offended. “We literally just helped save the city, boss. Can’t we get it on the house?”
“And I literally still have bills.”
Eve snorts.
“…Fair enough,” Rex admits.
Robot quietly walks over and pays for everything without another word. We end up crammed into a corner booth clearly not designed for this many people. Then again, this entire restaurant isn’t built for the amount of people currently occupying it. Dupli-Kate solves the issue by making two extra selves who steal two chairs from another table. Nobody complains, and our food arrives in no time at all. I lift my shawarma wrap immediately and take a bite. Not even the blisteringly hot contents within can dull the heavenly flavours bursting into my mouth.
“Oh, this is fantastic!” Mark says. He turns to me with the enthusiasm of a man discovering religion. “Thank you!”
I’ll forgive his ignorance. For one, I’ve converted another soul, and for two... he’s looking a little better with a mountain of food before him. The rest of the Teen Team groan and moan over greasy goodness, except for Robot. He sort of just sits there, watching. Watching me specifically. Rex eventually breaks the silence first.
“So.” He points at me with his half-eaten wrap. “Parallel universe.”
“Mhm.”
“You got superheroes named the Justice League.”
“Yep.”
“And your powers come from a magic mood ring.”
“It’s not a mood ring.”
“Your battery literally charges off feelings.”
I open my mouth. Coming short of any witty reply, I close it.
“…Fuck you.”
Kate snorts into her drink.
“Say, are those actual clothes, or magic bullshit?” Rex asks.
I shrug. “The ring made it.”
“What are you wearing underneath it?”
“Honestly? There’s a 50/50 chance I’m completely naked under here. I’ve no clue. Either that, or I’m in the clothes I was wearing last night. So, some shorts and a wife beater.”
Kate winks at me. “There are like three girls over there who wouldn’t mind Option 1. Four girls, including me.”
“...On behalf of all the guys in here, please don’t flash us,” Rex says, bringing his hands together. “I’ll take you being a human glow stick if it means not seeing your wang.”
Mark nearly dies on his shawarma. Eve turns a plastic fork into a bottle of water and passes it to him. Then she leans forward across the table.
“You really just woke up on the moon today?”
“...About three hours ago, yeah.”
“And you fought Invincible on the moon.”
“Let the record state that it was against my will.”
“Mmph!” Mark rushes through a mouthful of food. “...I thought he was invading Earth!”
“You punched me into deep space before introducing yourself!”
“Then you blasted me, then turned into a dragon and nearly ate me!”
“Because you elbow-dropped me through the fucking moon! It was self-defence!”
Robot tilts his head slightly. “Technically, both of you engaged each other mutually.”
We both point at him.
“Not helping.”
“Are you two married?!” Rex laughs so hard he starts hacking up a lung. Eve and Kate laugh at him as he fumbles for his drink.
It’s weird. This whole thing should feel impossible. Alien invasions. Superheroes. Omni-Man tearing through another dimension like a human missile. I’m sitting here glowing green in a shawarma shop with the fucking Teen Team. And yet this is probably the calmest I’ve felt since waking up on the Moon. I glance around the table.
At Mark laughing.
At Rex loudly arguing with one of Kate’s duplicates over stolen fries and Eve rolling her eyes.
At civilians around us slowly easing back into normality.
“…Dude. Are you okay?” Mark asks quietly beside me.
“Yeah,” I say after a second.
Three hours into life on this world and this is the first time I’ve answered a question without twisting the truth. For once, my soul is unburdened.