Chojin Patriarch
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I know, humiliating, isn't it? Evidently the difference is age, nationality or Spectrum colour didn't clue her in. If all the Highborn were this single-minded, it might have been a little easier to mess with their combat plans.26th June 2012
15:27 GMT -5
Jordan smiles incredulously.
"She thought I was you?"
Most of them are from Abrahamic religions where that sort of thing is... not entirely palatable. And those that aren't have better options. Plus, I doubt many of them have much in the way of the magical skill required, or the willingness.Aeres is currently dressed in prison clothing and bound by metal clamps, Dr. Balewa's magic and the Lasso of Truth, and is giving Batman and Mr J'onzz everything that they want. For some reason it doesn't appear to have occurred to the Justice League to try summoning demons during their fights with the Highborn.
Can't imagine why.
Well, that's impressive. Someone actually noticed it. And I see Hal's been checking up on reports."According to her, their records name you as Earth's most powerful Lantern. And since as far as she could tell that's the position I hold, I had to be you."
"You know, a few years ago I'd have argued that." He glances away for a moment. "Why don't time travellers know about you? Was it something to do with your fight with Krona?"
One more thing for the increasingly large to-do list, if it isn't already there. Presumably it's falling in priority with each event that comes up."It could be? It could be that the future they're coming back from isn't our future any more, with… Something about my arrival being the point of differentiation? Though whether that's because of Krona or because of whatever it was that brought me here in the first place, I don't know."
He nods. "You ever find out what that was?"
Dude: Batman. Despite his 'cool dad' veneer, he's still the paranoid, slightly cracked detective guy under there. Of course he'd know about Sivana.I shake my head. "No, but I haven't really been looking into it lately. Maybe if Sivana gets pardoned I'll ask him to take a look. It should keep him entertained for a little while."
"Did-?" He takes a sharp breath before giving me his full attention. "Did Batman know about that?"
Heh. And it's not like OL hasn't had success reforming other super-criminals before."I don't know. I didn't keep in touch with Sivana because Batman asked me to, and other than a report on what happened with the Huntsman I didn't tell him, but that doesn't mean-."
He nods. "Doesn't mean he didn't know." He exhales slowly. "I feel like should be tearing you a new one over that, but it might end up being the best thing that could have happened."
I wonder if they ever thought about sending in teams of lanterns to help clean Vega up once Larfleeze was removed from the picture. Or were they debating it before this happened? Probably one of those 'talk about it when there's nothing else urgent' topics."How did the Guardians takes the news about the psions?"
"I was there when Green Man reported in. They didn't sound surprised. Disappointed, maybe."
Man, even in-universe, they can't keep their historical continuity straight. Then again, when they're the ones writing the history books, I guess they get to choose the offical version."In the actions of the people of Vega? In the psions? In themselves?"
"I don't know. I'd guess all three." He shakes his head. "I mean, on the face of it, their plan made a lot of sense. The only thing in Vega at the time was Larfleeze. Stick the psions out of the way, keep an eye on them, no one gets hurt. They'd been self-isolating on the Guardians' old homeworld for their entire history. It must have seemed like a safe bet."
There had to be a period when the original Maltusians weren't in residence, wasn't there? After all, the 'Clickers' come from Maltus, right? A few million years away might easily allow another species to evolve.I frown. "I sort of assumed that the psions came from Maltus."
"I did to. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but from what the Guardians were saying it didn't sound like that was the case. Was Maltus ever uninhabited?"
Well, you're older and wiser now. You know to not accept the official line at first sight. I bet you could easily overcome the yellow weakness now..."Do you know, I haven't asked."
He shrugs. "I used to think that Oa was the Guardians' homeworld." He turns to face the monitor, watching as Aeres struggles and fails to hide information from the Lasso. "What do you think I did?"
That way lies far too many 'what if's' and 'maybes'... Be who you are, not who you think you want history to record you were."I'm sorry?"
"What makes them think I'm the greatest? Was.. something supposed to happen that didn't because of you?"
That an amusing way to look at it. And a little obnoxious. I'd say, always aim for second place. Why not first? Because as the Disc's second-greatest lover, Casanunda, said: second place works harder."I'm wary of the word 'supposed'. It always makes me want to ask 'according to who?'. But if I had to guess; without my input Guy stayed in obnoxious jock mode and didn't improve as much as he has."
Jordan snorts with amusement. "So it's not so much that I was better as everyone else was worse."
No hard feelings because he managed to Host Ion? That's a pretty big bump to his rep in the Corps. No wondering if you could have managed it, or have been found wanting?"You might have been worse, too. If it wasn't for Guy, would you have gone for the M'eelam Na'aquall?"
"Not for a while. It's weird; Guy's almost tolerable now. And I'm not sure whether that's because he's changed or because I have."
Too bad your ring's full of bobblehead malware, you could have it assist you on that front. Good to know you're not so scatterbrained, though."I think it's mostly him."
Jordan smiles faintly. "Yeah, probably. But… I've changed too. I'm less… I don't need to obsess over a construct to keep it strong. And I don't forget about things that aren't right in front of me any more."
Trying to embarrass OL by turning it around on him? You fool. You know OL has no shame.
Getting a little bit inquisitive there, Hal? What a gentleman and a lady get up to in private is their business."Doing well, thanks for asking. She's mostly doing counter-intelligence work, and since she's up against the Reach she's doing a lot of good."
"Are the two of you actually spending any time together-?"
While it may not seem like we see her often, we've got to keep in mind, we aren't seeing every minute of every day of OL's life. There's got to be some stuff happening offscreen..."Yes." I roll my eyes. "Now that her training and orientation are over, yes, we are. I didn't want to make her appointment look cronyistic so I gave her space to find her feet. But now she's got a few successes under her belt that's not an issue."
His eyes dip, and he looks a little sad. "That's… Not something I ever managed to make work. I used to think I had it hard when the Corps could call me away at a moment's notice, but you have Cheshire… How often do you see her?"
Like the movie said: "I've known you my whole life! I've seen you NAKED! You don't think I wouldn't recognize you because I can't see your cheekbones?!" Honestly, The only reason Green lanterns even have masks are the old Superhero tropes about secret identities, isn't it?"Every few days. No now, obviously, not if one of us is on a mission, and she lives in a fortified barracks and can't visit me." I shrug. "It's not great, but we manage." I frown. "It wasn't a secret identity thing, was it? I thought that Ms Ferris and her father knew?"
"Not… Right at the start. And that was a big deal. I was eating crow for…" He shifts awkwardly. "Ah, a while. And it didn't help that she knew, because I still wasn't around. As.. her boyfriend, and… One of her employees. She needs a boyfriend and a test pilot she could rely on to be there. And I… Wasn't."
Heh. To be fair, they had a good point there. It's a good idea to live by, and a lot harder these days with so many things competing for our time. I doubt it would be any easier for guys like Hal.
Legion... That would be the foe Hal was recruited by Abin Sur to fight, yes? And that was only because he was the closest valid candidate... That's honestly a good question. If you knew the job was that dangerous, why keep doing it? The thrill? The 'duty'? Because no-one else could?"No. Star Trek: Generations. If it was Orange Lantern Corps philosophy, it would be: 'if you want something enough'." If frown. "That's a point. I never asked: after Legion was defeated, why did you keep your ring?"
He jerks his head in my direction, frowning.
It's to do with why he's such a good Green Lantern, isn't it? That determination... That stubbornness that makes him so strong..."If it was a second job that kept you away from your girlfriend, your job and flying planes… What made you stay on?"
That prompts a slow exhalation, and his gaze returning to the screen.
Plus, the ability to fly without a plane? What pilot hasn't dreamed of that? The movie made strange choices, but Hal's joy at flying with the ring? That's one thing it got right."I don't quit." A quiet snort. "Even when I should. If it was a choice between being a pilot or a Lantern…" He raises his right hand slightly, clenching his fist. "You know what I picked. But I didn't see it as a choice, not until Carol made it one. I just thought that if I worked a bit harder I could have it all. And… After I got fired and dumped, it was the only thing I had left. If I had my time again, I'd have come clean with Carol right at the start, quit Ferris Air as soon as we could find someone to take the job. That could have worked. Wouldn't have been easy…"
...What. Wait, are we talking about that pilot, callsign 'Cowgirl', from the post-Infinite crisis stories or someone else? It better not be Arisia, that's wrong on way too many levels.I nod. "No chance of patching things up now?"
That prompts a smile. "I don't think my current girlfriend would like that too much."
Local Carol, of course. I doubt Earth-14's Dame Carol wouldn't have any history with him, besides her version (maybe?) being Power Ring Green.
Ah, man! Put that on the to-do list, OL: Find out who Hal's dating now. Just for the sake of heading off future trouble?
Heh. Might be one of the longest one-on-one scenes we've seen between Hal and OL in a long time. It's usually Guy doing the Green-Orange buddy-buddy thing. And no comment on what the Guardians had to say about the Sheeda invasion? Beyond the presumed 'It's an Internal matter, none of our concern?' I guess Hal was visiting on break from honour Guarding...