Post by Spider-Man Beyond on Oct 2, 2006 15:15:23 GMT -5
Legends of the Green Lantern Corps #13
The Legend of the Green Flame
The Legend of the Green Flame
Written by Scott D. L. Kruger
Edited by Daniel Dyer
Chapter 1: Questions
Hal stands in his living room staring dumfounded at General Alan Scott. Alan wears a black turtle neck sweater, gray gauntlets, grey trench coat & green slacks. Emblazoned on his chest, a flaming Green Lantern symbol.
"General, Sir." Hal wills his mask off & stands at attention out of habit.
"At ease, Hal, you no longer report to me," the General says with a half hearted smile.
"Sorry, sir, habit," Hal replies, slightly embarrassed.
"What can you tell me about this?" the General asks, cutting through the pleasantries and going straight for the jugular.
He shows Hal the ring on his left hand, then unceremoniously removes it from his finger, tossing it to Hal. As soon as the ring leaves his hand the burning symbol leaves his chest and the gauntlets disappear. Hal stares at the ring, noticing many similarities between it & his own… But something else as well. Something, ancient… something powerful. His own ring begins to glow brighter than he’s ever seen.
"It’s not like mine…" he states, his curiosity peaked.
Hal slips the ring on his left hand & instantly a flaming GL symbol appears on his chest. He pours his will power into it & manifests an image of a Guardian. The image appears in the center of a green flame.
"Its functions are basically the same," he says staring at it & the odd reaction it has with his ring.
"That’s nice… what is it?" Alan asks again, his patience beginning to wear thin.
"Honestly sir, I have no idea." Hal removes the ring from his hand and stares into it. "As far as I can tell, it is an older version of mine. I have actually seen many rings, but none this old & none that function the same way."
Hal manifests the same image of the Guardian as before, but this time with his own ring. The image is crystal clear without the green flame.
"I’m assuming a little blue guy in a green & black dress didn’t give it to you, correct?" Hal asks. Alan just stares at him, not sure how to respond. "And, I assume, no one dressed like me."
Alan wanders over to Hal’s small Dining Room and sits down on one of the 2 chairs. Hal wills his uniform away, revealing blue jeans & a black button down shirt. He follows Alan, and takes a seat across from him.
"I’m almost afraid to ask what you mean about a little blue man." Alan fakes a smile, but it quickly fades. He places his head in his hands. "When I saw you on TV… the memories came back… and I thought I would finally have the answers… at least an answer. Some answer… I don’t know…"
"I’m sorry sir," Hal reaches across the table, placing his hand on Alan’s shoulder. "I’m still pretty new at this myself… I… I’m sorry."
Hal takes a deep breath in anticipation of the question he is about to ask. He is sure that the answer will cause great pain to the General. But, being a member of the Corps, he feels he must know.
"Sir? Where did you find it?"
Alan lifts his head from his hands and stares blankly at Hal. He is, at first, unsure, can he trust him? "I’ve never spoken about this to anyone. Not even Molly. Mainly because I didn’t remember any of it until you and Gardner crashed in the desert. Not until I saw this fragment."
Alan reached into his coat and pulls out the small fragment from Abin Sur’s shuttle, a tarnished GL symbol showing.
"That’s when everything came back…" his head lowers again, staring at the table, his voice trails off like a man haunted.
"Sir…?"
Alan raises his head up and stares at Hal unsure of what to say. The truth? Until seven months ago he had forgotten the truth. Now he can’t get the damned truth out of his head.
Every night, the nightmare… no, not a nightmare… the memory returns. The screaming. The gunshots. Men, women & children. The green burning jungle.
"Vietnam…"
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