IN BRIGHTEST DAY - Mod Plot [LOG POST | 1 | THE RINGS CHOOSE]

[relativityspeaking]

Who| Everyone participating in the plot
What| Finding the lost Lanterns and getting Lantern rings
Where| The remains of the sentient, once-living planet Mogo, at the edge of the galaxy
When| After the network post
Warnings/Notes| N/A for now.

Their little adventure took them to the edge of the galaxy. Towards the end, they couldn't even use the threshold gates anymore, due to star-weights and gravity wells crushing and constructing the way there. Instead, they had to rely on the stargate abilities of their ringwielding allies.

Their journey ended in a strange and beautiful nebula at the very edge of the galaxy, one that had swirling gases in blue and green and violet and indigo. There, they found a dead, broken planet, the remains of the being once named Mogo, with four ancient structures.

The Green Lantern Central Power Battery. The Central Power Battery of the Star Sapphires -- the violet Lanterns. The Blue Lantern Central Power Battery. The Indigo Tribe Central Power Battery.

And in piles and piles around these ancient sources of power...were rings. Countless rings in all four colors. All without owners.

"Who dares disturb the resting site of the Green Lantern Corps?" an ominous voice said from the shadows after they landed.

"We come in peace," called out Kid Quantum. "Several groups of ringwielders were pulled against their will into this universe from a time and place when the War of Light was still ongoing. Some of those ringwielders were from the red and yellow Lantern Corps. Those who wear rings of green, violet, blue, and indigo, want to stop them from reigniting the war in this universe. They want to capture the red and yellow Lanterns and take them back home to their universe and time."

"And who are you?" the man asked.

"Kid Quantum, of the Legion of Superheroes. The Legion protects the people of this galaxy, the citizens of the United Planets, and we offered our aid to these displaced Lanterns. We heard that remnants of the Corps that were allied against the Red and Yellow Lanterns possibly existed on the edges of the galaxy. We've come seeking your help."

"It does my heart glad to learn of you," the voice said slowly. "We wondered if anyone else had ever risen up to take our place. But we had to stay here, to guard the last remnants, to watch over the Power Batteries and the rings. To make sure they were never used again. With the various Corps gone, anyone seeking them would only have wanted to misuse them."

The man stepped out of the shadows and now he glowed with the light of his green ring.

"I am Sodam Yat." He gestured to two other glowing figures that joined him. One was just a teeny speck of light, as if the being was normally too small to be seen by the naked eye. This was because the Lantern was a benevolent, superintelligent smallpox virus. The other was a battered robot that used his ring's energy in replacement of some of his parts.

"This is Leezle Pon." The speck. "And Stel." The robot. "We're the last of the Green Lanterns."

He looked at the Lanterns the Legion had traveled with and was clearly overcome with emotion at seeing faces that were, for him, 1000 years gone.

"I never dreamed that this could happen." He inclined his head at them all. "It's wonderful to be able to welcome you home."

Comments

[ex_eraserhead411]

"It's nice to meet you, Alexander," Aizawa bowed his head in awknowledgement. Alexander was polite and cordial enough. He didn't see why he shouldn't have been polite in return. Even so, he realized it was a little difficult to keep a good mood in his current state of dress.

Though, with his little bit of practice--he supposed he could properly dress himself. Aizawa didn't bother with the Green Lantern outfit in its classic form, though. He donned his own hero's outfit--the baggy attire with his usual slotted goggles made to obscure his eyes. He didn't bother with any sense of fealty, since his only concerns were operating as a hero. Uniforms and ties to an organization were background noise to him at his current point of life.

"Aizawa Shouta. Codename Eraserhead. 'Iudex' is a pretty serious name for a hero, by the way."

[got_gud]

"Aha, I suppose you're right," Alexander chuckled, a bit embarrassed. "I didn't realize there was a...tradition, I suppose, when I chose it. I thought they were simply asking me for a title to go by, and they told me 'knight' was too general to use."

Still, he picked it, so he was going to stick with it.

"We don't have 'superheroes' in my world. The closest would be Lords and Undead with more noble demeanors."

[ex_eraserhead411]

"Two things I didn't expect to hear much of, today," Aizawa admitted immediately, realizing he should have taken 'time' into account with the supernatural aspects of his new life. He knew that people from other worlds and countries were present, but times? That should have been less surprising than it was.

"That's my bad, then. I just thought you were being a bit of a traditionalist."

The armor didn't necessarily tell him that he was from another era--rather, he assumed it was created by one's active imagination.

"A Professional Hero's name, where I come from, is meant to do a number of things. It's supposed to either instill fear in criminals or hope in civilians, for example."

[got_gud]

That got a laugh out of Alexander.

"I suppose from the perspective of most of the Legionnaires, I am something of a traditionalist."

It amused him how often he seemed to shock people with it, given that he'd adapted relatively quickly to living in such a far-flung future. It seemed many assume someone like him would be more of a fish out of water, but he had always been adaptable.

"I seem to have gotten the 'fear' part right with my name, at least, given how often I'm told how severe it sounds. As for hope, I'm not so sure, but I'm told some of the Legion's younger fans on the holonet think it's 'cool'."

[ex_eraserhead411]

"That's how kids tend to think," A sigh escaped him. Aizawa reached up to rub his forehead with two fingers--transitioning cleanly to his temple. He had trained students for a few years, but not enough to really be considered a peerless expert but he had seen and dealt with plenty of various attitudes.

He knew a few of his students that would think, 'Judge' was an excellent title for a hero but the implications were worse for an adult. As a hero who was used to dealing with scrutiny in his job, Aizawa knew there were heroes who took too much of the burden of law under their umbrellas of responsibility.

Some considered themselves judge, jury and executioner. From what he could tell, Alexander sounded like a placid and kept together man but he never kept his evaluations that simple. Anyone with a telling title like that bore the need of a bit more attention.

"It's a word that inspires a sense of power," Aizawa made an all encompassing, wide gesture to the display of rings still transpiring. "That is an amazing amount of power, for example. Something that inspires a great deal of concern. Unfortunately, I'm not one for hero names. My own, I let someone else choose for me. If latin is your go-to language though, I would have recommended 'Gladio'."

[got_gud]

He folded his arms, obviously thinking deeply, even though his expression wasn't visible through his armor's helmet.

"You speak the truth, friend," he replied simply. "Admittedly, my specific word choice did stem from how I envisioned my role in the Legion based entirely on how I had been fighting back home."

"After the rise of the Undead curse and the desertion of Anor Londo by the gods, the land of Lordran became a lawless place, everyone for themselves. Undead were corralled there so they would pose no threat to the living, which left little in the way of hierarchy or law there. If one sought justice, one had to mete it out oneself. And given that all who passed through those lands were Undead themselves, every conflict was a fight to the death, as transient as the concept was to most."

He looked Aizawa dead in the eye, the serious expression on his face evident in his eyes peeking through the helmet's visor.

"Three centuries in an environment like that left me with a...somewhat bleak concept of the term justice. When I was told of what the Legion did, I thought it a more severe law-keeping organization that carried the trappings of so-called heroes. I am glad to have been proven wrong, however. If I never have to take another life, I will be satisfied."

He chuckled, partly to break up the bleak atmosphere he realized he was creating by talking so seriously.

"Still, I have made an oath under the name Iudex, and while I am aware the Legion makes exceptions should one wish to change their name, I do not take oaths lightly. For now, I will keep the name, and let my actions speak for themselves."

[ex_eraserhead411]

If he really took it into consideration, Aizawa would have come to the most simplistic conclusion--that the man speaking to him was an insane remnant of the distant past and someone who, without a doubt, didn't have the qualifications to be a hero or a representative of the innocent. When he heard, 'If I never have to take a life, I will be satisfied' he grew complacent and with extreme ease.

There were people born into terrible situations all over the world. Many, many people had to make decisions so severe and permanent that they could easily be labeled villains as well as heroes depending on who suffered their involvement. Aizawa didn't press his preconceptions of previous times any further than that.

"It's certainly true that brutality and war-like mentalities have been removed from the personalities of law enforcement and the definition of a 'hero' has changed over time," He turned to Alexander once again, his tone somewhat dark even as he managed a sardonic smile. "But, don't be fooled by our era of apparent law and order. The concept of Justice hasn't ever changed. The people who practice it have changed their uniforms and stuck themselves under the right banners."

"Many heroes think they're beyond reproach. They think they're the judges who control life and death. However, one key condition to being a real hero means being willing to be compassionate to your enemy even at your own risk. Given what you've said... I think you're fully capable of being an inspirational and admirable hero."

Aizawa paused, looking away and heaving another long, draining sigh.

"That is, in theory. I like what I've heard, but actions and words are two different courses."