5th July 2010
Mid day
Ouwgh!
The lawn flashes past my eyes and then
agh!
I'm.. folded around a tree. Urg, what? OW!
Fix. Ah.
Turn around and..
shield..?
Lantern Sunao walks lightly across the lawn,
glowing ring on the middle finger of his right hand. He raises it, and
a glowing green hand reaches out and takes his lantern from the plinth and brings it to him. Lantern Sunao is clean shaven and bald, but his musculature is solid and his gestures
certain. The lantern in his hand, he takes a moment to check it over before regarding me carefully.
And then just stands there,
green light spilling from his ring.
Okay?
The ring isn't a simple circular sigil attached to a circle of… Whatever power rings are made of. It looks like a small carriage lantern attached to a ring. The glow is constant, but now I'm looking at it I can see
the faint green aura all around him. It's.. not stable in the way mine is. Rather, it's.. like a
flame, billowing around him. I frown slightly as I look at my own left hand. Is it..
supposed to do that? I'd say
not, but-. Wait. That's what Alan Scott's ring did, isn't it?
"And who might you be?"
"I'm-."
I
stagger, my construct shield flickering for a moment.
He raises his eyebrows, smiling politely. "Are you unwell?"
"I-. No, I…" I frown. "I'm-."
I'm on my knees, propping myself up with both hands on the grass. I.. can't say my name? That's ridiculous. P-.
I
shudder, but I don't collapse this time. Great, I can't
think my name either.
"Are you having difficulty remembering?"
I rise to a crouch, frowning. "No. I remember, but if I think about it too
directly…"
"I see." He nods. "And do you know who I am?"
"Yes. Green Lantern Sunao Souma."
He nods. "And do you know where you are?"
"A.. park? I came here because this is where the-. Where
your personal lantern is."
"And before that?"
"The sky above it, then space."
"And before that?"
"Aaaah… Not.. clearly? I think I was at home in bed-." I stand. "I'd very much like your lantern."
He nods. "I had gathered that from your attempt to steal it."
I flick my right hand to the side. "I didn't think you were using it. Heck, I didn't think you were even
here. Ring,
why did you tell me he wasn't here?"
"Subject not detectable by standard scan."
"
Tremendously helpful. So,
yes, since you don't appear to be using it I would very much like it. I've.. got
no idea what currency is used around here, but if you'll name a figure.. I can probably work something out."
He blinks. "You would offer to buy the lantern of
Jong Li from me?"
"Yes..? It was just in the middle of nowhere, the ring couldn't find any recent records of you being active and I couldn't detect you. For all I knew you were dead or something. But
since you're not,
yes."
His eyes fix on my left hand. "Where did you get that ring?"
"I-. I don't know, it was just
there."
He nods. "Had you heard of me before you decided to take my lantern?"
"No." Ah. "Ah, hang on. Ring,
anything I'm not remembering?"
A series of images flicker through my mind, too fast for me to really perceive them individually. Weirdly, that's actually easier to cope with than trying to think my own name. I just shake my head.
"And my fellow Heavenly Guardians?"
I shake my head. "Is that a Japanese superhero team?"
He appears to find that
very slightly amusing. "No. No, it is not. Have you noticed any things which… Seem strange to you? Facets of the world which are different to how you think they should be?"
"Yes. Why would anyone fire a nuclear weapon at Mount Fuji? In fact, why are there so many nuclear blast points in Japan and China?" I point upwards with my right forefinger. "And there were actual
space ships up there."
"Hm." He nods. "Then I have two possibilities in mind. But I wonder; what would you do if I refused to relinquish my lantern?"
"Um."
!Get lantern!
My environmental shield flares and I take a step towards him. He doesn't really
react… What.. would I do..? "
I'd… Ah, ask you why?"
"You know nothing of my character." He waves his left hand. "Assume that all reasonable avenues have been exhausted."
"Then…" I don't
like it, but… "I'd.. try and take it from you. Using.. the minimum amount of force."
"I
see." He nods. "That is generous of you, considering my age."
"I-. Yes, I'm not exactly feeling
proud of myself, but I..
do need it."
"
You don't get to make that decision."
Lantern Sunao and I look up as a woman -yes, that's very
definitely a woman-
glowing with the power of a green power ring flies over the clearing,
construct dragons hovering to either side of her. That's a bit stereotypical, isn't it? Her eyes are solid green in colour -some sort of visual enhancement?- and she's got
small construct lanterns placed over her ears.
Lantern Yifei.
Problematic.
Ah, ring?
Can I go faster than light from a standing start?
Affirmative.
"Lantern Yifei, I feel this young man is somewhat confused. Until he takes directly aggressive action-."
"All he's guilty of is trespass and theft? And dealing with whoever gave him that cheap power ring knockoff?"
Oh no you didn't.
Orange plate materialises around my body as I match her height. "I assure you, Lantern Yifei, this is very much a power ring." Hm. Dragons are
obvious, but… "What's that you're doing with your eyes? Some sort of.. expanded visual field..? I'm using a heads up display myself but I haven't had time to experiment yet."
"
What?"
"As I said, Lantern Yifei, he is confused. He does not know who we are."
She doesn't turn her head. "How can he not know..? Is he from one of those
crazy European monastic community things?"
I frown. "No."
"Possibly. I was endeavouring to find out. I really do think that a less confrontational approach is called for."
"Alright. No, I'm not doing anything with my visual field. I'm blind. They just.. glow like this when I'm wearing my ring."
Huh. I'd have thought that the Guardians could have fixed that. Or they'd have cloned eyes or cybernetics or something like that. Odd.
!Perfect!.
On the other hand, given what the ring did to my body, it shouldn't be too hard…
I smile, raising my left hand. "
Let me help you with that."
"Hu-?"
Orange light flashes from the ring, punching through her environmental shield and striking the upper portion of her face. The eyeballs themselves are basically fine, but there's damage to the optic nerve and.. visual cortex. Nasty, but perfectly fixable. Change that change that good-good-.
And then the giant sumo wrestler construct slams me head first into the soil.
"
Jade.
Are you injured?"
And it's holding me here and I'm really not sure that my armour can take this.
What's going on?
In my mind's eye I see Lantern Yifei pick herself off the ground, blinking as she does so. Lantern Sunao comes forward to cover her. Her constructs fail and her environmental shield dims as she stares at her hands with her fully healed eyes.
"No, I-. I can..
see."
"
Are you certain that is all that occurred?"
"Ah." She turns to face him, pointing at her eyes. "
Yeah."
"I see." He
waves his hand and the pressure vanishes with the sumo wrestler.
I pick myself out of the hole and turn to face him as he looks me over carefully.
"Young man, would you care for some tea?"
