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Chapter 223: Ridding the Universe of a Menace
Hal Jordan had a vague premonition that this might be the end of his short career as a Green Lantern.
Parallax was coming.
As always, that bunch of cowards who called themselves the Guardians of the Universe were consistently themselves, experts at bullying the weak and fearing the strong. When they encountered someone weaker, they would deploy at the speed of light. But the moment they heard Parallax was coming, they cowered in fear, not daring to even let out a peep. Not only were they hiding and trembling on Oa, but they also forbade any Green Lantern from leaving Oa to confront the threat.
And so, Hal ultimately came to Earth alone, becoming the only Green Lantern to step forward and prepare to face Parallax.
After returning to Earth, he encountered a series of disasters. His old friend, Hector Hammond, had mutated into a big-headed monster after coming into contact with extraterrestrial matter. While gaining abilities like telepathy and telekinesis, his personality was also twisted, turning him into the first supervillain Hal encountered on Earth.
He had kidnapped Hal's girlfriend, Carol, to force Hal to hand over his Power Ring, but Hal turned the tables on him. Hal rescued the girl and defeated his friend, but before Hector fell unconscious, he struggled to say one last thing: don't celebrate too soon, the Lord of Fear is approaching, and you're all doomed.
It was basically the final battle from a certain flopped Green Lantern origin movie that Warner Bros. never brings up.
Hal relied on his willpower to break free from the mind control and defeat Hector. After rescuing Carol, he held her in a tight embrace.
After a passionate kiss worthy of a story's main hero and heroine, Carol looked at him with concern. "The Lord of Fear that Hector mentioned, is that real?"
Hal nodded with a grim expression. "Parallax. A terrifying monster. Even the Corps is helpless against it."
"Then you're going to fight that thing... Are you confident?" Carol asked worriedly.
"Nope," Hal smiled. "But you know me, I love a challenge."
"This is different. Your old planes... at least you could parachute out, you had a safety net." Carol lowered her head and said softly, "All these years, I've never told you how I feel, I've never even said sorry to you. Now, finally... you have to go... It's not fair..."
Contrary to the trope of many superheroes, Hal was a deadbeat who couldn't even afford rent, but his girl was a young, beautiful, and super-rich woman. Carol was the new Chairman of Ferris Aerospace; the planes Hal used to fly during his service were all from her company.
Even the incident where Hal's father died in a flight accident—that plane also belonged to Carol's family.
Carol had never said it to Hal's face, but she had always felt incredibly guilty.
"There's nothing to be sorry about. It wasn't your fault." Hal gently cupped her face. "It's okay, it's all in the past."
"Do you have to go? Why can't it be someone else?" Carol bit her lip. "Like Superman? Or Ultraman? Or... anyone else. Why does it have to be you?"
"Because this is my fight. I'm a Green Lantern. We never retreat, and we are never afraid," Hal said with a confident smile.
"I just wish we had more time..."
Hal had known her since they were young, but his impression of Carol was mostly of a cool, aloof, and serious Chairman. Seeing her genuine display of emotion now, his heart couldn't help but flutter, and he reached out to pull her into another kiss.
"It's okay, everything will be okay..."
Their foreheads touched, and they remained silent for a few more minutes, as if time had stood still.
A moment later, Carol finally couldn't help but break the silence. "That Parallax thing you mentioned, when is it supposed to arrive?"
"Soon... Strange, my ring's radar detected Parallax's energy signature near Mars just a moment ago. At this distance, it should have arrived by now." Hal glanced at his Power Ring. "Ring, where is the Parallax energy signature? What's its location?"
The Power Ring replied: "The Parallax energy signature has disappeared."
Hal: "?"
Dis... disappeared?
Was it a feint?
Hal was baffled. "How could that be?"
"Radar scan detected an extremely high-intensity energy signature. Data reconstruction shows that someone engaged Parallax in a fierce battle near Mars," the ring continued. "It is speculated that Parallax has been killed."
Killed? In just the last few minutes?
Hal was stunned.
That was Parallax! An enemy the entire Green Lantern Corps couldn't defeat, one that had scared the usually arrogant Guardians—the Little Blue Men—into hiding like turtles in their shells.
And it was taken out in an instant?
Wouldn't that person be even more of a monster than Parallax?
"Radar identification has found a match," the ring continued. "The energy signature matches that of the individual with the codename 'Ultraman'."
The surprised look on Hal's face immediately vanished.
Oh, that monster.
Never mind then.
Overpowered individuals are usually outside the scope of our discussion.
"What's wrong?" Carol asked, nestled in his arms, her face full of worry.
"Well, there's been a slight change of plan." Hal turned to look at her and said seriously, "Parallax is gone."
Carol: "?"
She looked blank for a moment, then asked uncertainly, "Gone?"
"Yeah, just like that, gone. It was strangely sudden." Hal looked at the beauty in his arms and couldn't help but grin, brazenly wrapping an arm around her slender waist. "Everything's fine now. How about we go over to my place? My bed's pretty big..."
Carol froze.
Hal's heroic rescue just now had already made her heart flutter. On top of that, she had just thought Hal was about to march to his death, and in her emotional state, she had inadvertently revealed the feelings she had hidden for so many years.
But now, the monster he spoke of had disappeared without a trace, just like that?
At this thought, Carol's face flushed red.
This guy... he didn't just make all that up to trick me, did he?
But in terms of sheer shock, no one was more stunned than the Almeracians and Cyborg Superman, who were watching from the front-row seats.
Especially when that Giga Specium blast hit, and that massive Parallax was just... gone.
The Almeracians trembled in fear, and Cyborg Superman was momentarily silent.
Well... it was insta-killed just like that.
Cyborg Superman's original plan was for Parallax to be the main carry, with the Manhunters flanking to secure a victory through numbers. Now that the main carry was dead, sending in the rest seemed like a pointless sacrifice.
Over on Norland's side, his mind was racing.
Norland watched the terrifying monster explode into smithereens at the hands of the red-and-silver giant. As the glowing figure shrank back to normal size, Norland immediately realized that he and his group would be next. If they wanted to save themselves, this was their last chance...
And so, when Orin Vale reverted to his normal size and turned around, this was the scene that greeted him.
Norland suddenly gave an order, and the Almeracian warship in mid-air opened fire without warning. An energy cannon blast struck Cyborg Superman in the back, sending him spinning through the air before he face-planted into the ground, creating a giant pit.
Cyborg Superman climbed to his feet, absolutely furious. "What do you think you're doing!?"
"We Almeracians have had enough of you terrorists!"
Norland roared.
"Today, we will rid the universe of a menace!"
(end of chapter)
Hal Jordan had a vague premonition that this might be the end of his short career as a Green Lantern.
Parallax was coming.
As always, that bunch of cowards who called themselves the Guardians of the Universe were consistently themselves, experts at bullying the weak and fearing the strong. When they encountered someone weaker, they would deploy at the speed of light. But the moment they heard Parallax was coming, they cowered in fear, not daring to even let out a peep. Not only were they hiding and trembling on Oa, but they also forbade any Green Lantern from leaving Oa to confront the threat.
And so, Hal ultimately came to Earth alone, becoming the only Green Lantern to step forward and prepare to face Parallax.
After returning to Earth, he encountered a series of disasters. His old friend, Hector Hammond, had mutated into a big-headed monster after coming into contact with extraterrestrial matter. While gaining abilities like telepathy and telekinesis, his personality was also twisted, turning him into the first supervillain Hal encountered on Earth.
He had kidnapped Hal's girlfriend, Carol, to force Hal to hand over his Power Ring, but Hal turned the tables on him. Hal rescued the girl and defeated his friend, but before Hector fell unconscious, he struggled to say one last thing: don't celebrate too soon, the Lord of Fear is approaching, and you're all doomed.
It was basically the final battle from a certain flopped Green Lantern origin movie that Warner Bros. never brings up.
Hal relied on his willpower to break free from the mind control and defeat Hector. After rescuing Carol, he held her in a tight embrace.
After a passionate kiss worthy of a story's main hero and heroine, Carol looked at him with concern. "The Lord of Fear that Hector mentioned, is that real?"
Hal nodded with a grim expression. "Parallax. A terrifying monster. Even the Corps is helpless against it."
"Then you're going to fight that thing... Are you confident?" Carol asked worriedly.
"Nope," Hal smiled. "But you know me, I love a challenge."
"This is different. Your old planes... at least you could parachute out, you had a safety net." Carol lowered her head and said softly, "All these years, I've never told you how I feel, I've never even said sorry to you. Now, finally... you have to go... It's not fair..."
Contrary to the trope of many superheroes, Hal was a deadbeat who couldn't even afford rent, but his girl was a young, beautiful, and super-rich woman. Carol was the new Chairman of Ferris Aerospace; the planes Hal used to fly during his service were all from her company.
Even the incident where Hal's father died in a flight accident—that plane also belonged to Carol's family.
Carol had never said it to Hal's face, but she had always felt incredibly guilty.
"There's nothing to be sorry about. It wasn't your fault." Hal gently cupped her face. "It's okay, it's all in the past."
"Do you have to go? Why can't it be someone else?" Carol bit her lip. "Like Superman? Or Ultraman? Or... anyone else. Why does it have to be you?"
"Because this is my fight. I'm a Green Lantern. We never retreat, and we are never afraid," Hal said with a confident smile.
"I just wish we had more time..."
Hal had known her since they were young, but his impression of Carol was mostly of a cool, aloof, and serious Chairman. Seeing her genuine display of emotion now, his heart couldn't help but flutter, and he reached out to pull her into another kiss.
"It's okay, everything will be okay..."
Their foreheads touched, and they remained silent for a few more minutes, as if time had stood still.
A moment later, Carol finally couldn't help but break the silence. "That Parallax thing you mentioned, when is it supposed to arrive?"
"Soon... Strange, my ring's radar detected Parallax's energy signature near Mars just a moment ago. At this distance, it should have arrived by now." Hal glanced at his Power Ring. "Ring, where is the Parallax energy signature? What's its location?"
The Power Ring replied: "The Parallax energy signature has disappeared."
Hal: "?"
Dis... disappeared?
Was it a feint?
Hal was baffled. "How could that be?"
"Radar scan detected an extremely high-intensity energy signature. Data reconstruction shows that someone engaged Parallax in a fierce battle near Mars," the ring continued. "It is speculated that Parallax has been killed."
Killed? In just the last few minutes?
Hal was stunned.
That was Parallax! An enemy the entire Green Lantern Corps couldn't defeat, one that had scared the usually arrogant Guardians—the Little Blue Men—into hiding like turtles in their shells.
And it was taken out in an instant?
Wouldn't that person be even more of a monster than Parallax?
"Radar identification has found a match," the ring continued. "The energy signature matches that of the individual with the codename 'Ultraman'."
The surprised look on Hal's face immediately vanished.
Oh, that monster.
Never mind then.
Overpowered individuals are usually outside the scope of our discussion.
"What's wrong?" Carol asked, nestled in his arms, her face full of worry.
"Well, there's been a slight change of plan." Hal turned to look at her and said seriously, "Parallax is gone."
Carol: "?"
She looked blank for a moment, then asked uncertainly, "Gone?"
"Yeah, just like that, gone. It was strangely sudden." Hal looked at the beauty in his arms and couldn't help but grin, brazenly wrapping an arm around her slender waist. "Everything's fine now. How about we go over to my place? My bed's pretty big..."
Carol froze.
Hal's heroic rescue just now had already made her heart flutter. On top of that, she had just thought Hal was about to march to his death, and in her emotional state, she had inadvertently revealed the feelings she had hidden for so many years.
But now, the monster he spoke of had disappeared without a trace, just like that?
At this thought, Carol's face flushed red.
This guy... he didn't just make all that up to trick me, did he?
But in terms of sheer shock, no one was more stunned than the Almeracians and Cyborg Superman, who were watching from the front-row seats.
Especially when that Giga Specium blast hit, and that massive Parallax was just... gone.
The Almeracians trembled in fear, and Cyborg Superman was momentarily silent.
Well... it was insta-killed just like that.
Cyborg Superman's original plan was for Parallax to be the main carry, with the Manhunters flanking to secure a victory through numbers. Now that the main carry was dead, sending in the rest seemed like a pointless sacrifice.
Over on Norland's side, his mind was racing.
Norland watched the terrifying monster explode into smithereens at the hands of the red-and-silver giant. As the glowing figure shrank back to normal size, Norland immediately realized that he and his group would be next. If they wanted to save themselves, this was their last chance...
And so, when Orin Vale reverted to his normal size and turned around, this was the scene that greeted him.
Norland suddenly gave an order, and the Almeracian warship in mid-air opened fire without warning. An energy cannon blast struck Cyborg Superman in the back, sending him spinning through the air before he face-planted into the ground, creating a giant pit.
Cyborg Superman climbed to his feet, absolutely furious. "What do you think you're doing!?"
"We Almeracians have had enough of you terrorists!"
Norland roared.
"Today, we will rid the universe of a menace!"
(end of chapter)
