Oscar Ward
I wake up staring at a sky that isn’t the sky. Dark beyond darkness, at least at first. There are stars everywhere. Sharp, clear points of light scattered across a smooth black sheet. For a few seconds, my half-asleep brain just accepts it. I lie there, blinking stupidly, trying to figure out why my bed feels like concrete. Then something big and blue fills my vision. Why the fuck is it so big and blue? I frown and lift my head slightly. Earth stares back at me. I freeze. There’s a solid five seconds where I’m unable to process what I’m looking at. My planet—the planet—hangs above me in impossible detail. White clouds curl over oceans so blue they hurt to look at.
It’s all so impossibly huge and… well, beautiful. But my first coherent thought is: this is not good. And then, why am I not on Earth? I jerk upright so fast I send myself tumbling backwards. Dust kicks up around me in slow motion, floating strangely before settling again. Grey ground stretches in every direction. No trees. No buildings. No sound. My stomach drops straight through my body. No gravity? Or so little that there might as well not be any. I slap both hands against my face instinctively and suck in a breath. Air fills my lungs. Warm air. In space. I stop. Slowly, carefully, I lower my hands.
“Oh. …No fucking way.”
I breathe again. I’m still alive. No burn in my lungs. Okay. Okay, that’s good. My panic recedes just enough for my brain to start noticing other things. Like the fact I’m wearing skin-tight black and green spandex. I glance down. White gloves. Green boots. Black and green everywhere else. The faint green glow running along the suit practically lights up the darkness around me. I see the emerald band wrapped around my right index finger. For a second, I just stare at it, then every single neuron in my body fires at once.
“No fucking way.”
Life Support Active. Current Charge: 99%.
An indistinct voice blares into my ears. I flinch and look around wildly for whoever that was. There’s no one there. Of course there isn’t because I am apparently standing on the fucking Moon with a Green Lantern ring.
“Oh my god.”
My voice comes out somewhere between awe and hysteria. I look at the ring again, and then at Earth.
Then back at the ring.
“...O-Oh my god.”
Fear detected.Avarice detected.This ring requires Will to function.
A laugh escapes me before I can stop it. This is insane. Actually insane! I’m on the moon with a power ring. A Green Lantern power ring. I stare at my hand for another second. A completely different emotion bulldozes straight through the panic.
“...Wait one goddamn minute.”
I hold my hand out awkwardly. Nothing happens.
“Okay, uh…”
How do Green Lanterns even do this? Do I think about it? Say something dramatic? How did their oath go again? Should I ask the ring? In brightest day, in blackest night… something something green lantern’s light? The words elude me. I squint at a nearby rock.
“Gun.”
Nothing.
“Okay, not gun. Uh…”
I squint harder till an idea comes to mind.
“Ooh! Sword!”
A burst of green light explodes from the ring. My body seizes as something solid forces itself into my gloved grip. I lift a gigantic glowing broadsword to my face with both hands. It’s completely weightless. I gawk at it with my mouth hanging open. Then I start laughing.
“This is awesome!”
The sword flickers, then vanishes the moment my concentration slips. I immediately try something different. A war hammer appears in my grip.
“...Wait!” I grin. “How about Mjölnir?”
Green light flashes, and I’m holding Thor’s MCU hammer in my hand, identical in every sense except it’s made of solid green light. I hurl the hammer, recalling it right when it’s swallowed by the darkness. The hilt slaps against my palm. I transform it into Cap’s shield. Then, after several increasingly embarrassing attempts, the shield becomes a glowing green minigun that spins so loud I nearly drop it.
“Oh, this rules!” Unarmed now, I chuckle and bring my hands in, one over the other. “Fuck it—why, not? …Kamehameha!”
A massive beam of green energy erupts from my hands, blasting off into the surrounding abyss, permanently gouging into the lunar surface on its way.
“HOLY SHIT!”
I’m grinning so hard my face hurts. Every anxious thought in my head is drowned under a tidal wave of adrenaline and dopamine. I jump for joy and shoot into the air, screaming and laughing the entire way up. The Earth fills my vision again. I stabilise and hover there in total silence, green energy flickering around my body.
I can fly.
I’m flying.
My eyelids fly apart. “...Oh, shit! Ring, current charge?”
Current Charge: 96.99%.
“Okay. How do I recharge?”
No Central Power Battery connection detected. No conduit to Sector network available. Oan power infrastructure inaccessible.
There’s a brief pause.
Green Lantern Corps operational link: absent. Standard recharge protocol unavailable.
My stomach tightens slightly.
“…Okay. So how do I recharge?”
Alternative directive engaged.
The air around me hums faintly.
Lantern absence detected. Power continuity may be maintained through two non-standard variables.
I wait. The ring continues.
Variable one: absolute will exertion.Variable two: external will resonance. Emotional induction of resolve in proximate sentient subjects.
“…Come again?”
User may minimally sustain charge through personal resolve or by inspiring resolve in others.
I let out a slow breath. “So I either… really believe in myself, or I make other people believe in something.”
…Right. Well, I would’ve preferred to be able to stick it into the lantern thing and recite the oath. Not that I really remember it very well.
“Ring, can reciting the oath help recharge my power?”
Outside of recharge functionality, the Green Lantern oath may focus willpower.
A yes-no answer. My favourite kind of answer. Goodie. I look out at Earth again. My head suddenly feels very full. A hysterical laugh bubbles out of my chest. I don’t hold back, laughing so hard my eyes burn and my belly hurts.
“Okay.” I suck in cold air with my hands on my hips. “This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.”
My life back on Earth wasn’t anything to complain about. Neither good, nor bad. I lived my life and did what I wanted without much to look forward to as the state of the world continued to plummet. Not that I could do shit about it, but that was its own slow kind of torture in the end. Anyone with an internet connection turned into cynical, brain-fried couch potatoes. Myself included. I look down at my bejewelled hand with a grin.
“Not any more, though!”
My face falls. …I’m a fucking prick. The realisation hits me like a truck manned by a drunk driver. Here I am, with no way of going home, and I’m geeking about a power ring when I might never see my family again. But what am I supposed to do?
‘Ring, can you take me home?’
The question’s on the tip of my tongue. Why the hesitation? I love my family. Deep down, though, like a stone lodged in the base of my throat, rough and coarse and all too willing to make itself known… is a question.
Do I even want to go home?
I—
External kinetic anomaly detected.
“…What?”
There’s nothing I can see. Just darkness, stars, the moon I’m standing on, and Earth hanging far away.
“Wait—”
I barely have time to process those words because something just… hits me. It’s pure impact, too fast and too hard to judge. Air I didn’t realise I was still holding gets knocked out of my lungs. My body folds and spins end over end. The earth tilts and the stars around me smear into streaks. I’m tumbling through empty space, flaring with green light as I spin further away from the lunar surface and into the darkness. There is nothing but rotation and panic.
Fear detected. This ring requires Will to function.
My motion snaps mid-spin, hard-light flaring out in a ragged burst that arrests my drift. My body jerks as inertia bleeds off unevenly. I end up hovering wrong for a second. I’m sideways to Earth. The moon’s somewhere behind me, and darkness is everywhere else. I suck in a breath that actually works this time.
“Okay,” I choke and twist myself upright. “Okay, what the—”
I choke again when I see him. He’s certainly humanoid, alright, and is drifting off my line of sight. Blue. Black. Yellow. Familiar in a way my brain hates immediately because boy am I fucked if this is where I think it is. No, that costume is undeniable. My thoughts collapse into each other. I’m in the Invincible universe. I just got decked by goddamn Mark Grayson. He looks at me. I look at him and I realise, with a delayed, sinking clarity, that he didn’t hit me by accident… and he’s already moving again. The ring reacts instantly, overlaying my turmoil with the clean, brutal certainty of its AI voice.
Threat Incoming.
My body moves before my thoughts finish catching up. A construct forms between us. It’s a wall, messy at first, but instinctive. The shifting green barrier catches Mark as he collides with it head-on. The impact rings through my arms. Whatever stunned confusion was still hanging around gets ripped away in the same motion. There’s no time for it. Mark pushes. The construct strains, and I feel it very clearly. This isn’t a situation I get to think my way through. Mark drives forward again, one fist buried against the surface of the construct. Green light fractures across the wall in jagged lines under the pressure. My arms shake violently just from holding it together.
Holy crap he’s strong.
The thought barely finishes before the wall explodes. I throw myself sideways on instinct as Mark tears straight through the construct in a burst of green shards. A fist whistles past my face close enough for the air displacement to sting. Air displacement? In space. My brain latches onto that detail for exactly half a second before Mark twists mid-flight and slams his elbow into my ribs. Pain detonates through my side… but my ribs don’t disintegrate like I expected them to. Is he holding back, or is the ring’s life support buffing me? I grunt hard and spin away, barely catching myself before I start tumbling again. I throw up another wall that lasts maybe a second longer. The construct bursts apart like glass.
“Okay, nope! Guess we’re fighting!”
Fear detected. This ring requires Will to function.
I thrust my hand forward desperately. A giant green boxing glove slams into Mark mid-charge. It stops just long enough for me to see the surprise flash across his face. Then he punches straight through the construct and keeps coming. I jerk upward, throwing walls behind me one after another. Mark smashes through all of them in a straight line, each impact flashing emerald against the dark backdrop of space.
I barely get my arms up before he grabs me by the shoulder and hurls me downward. The Moon rushes up to meet me. I hit hard enough to carve a trench through the lunar surface, dust exploding around me in slow motion. For a second I just lie there staring upward. Mark descends through the cloud of dust, hanging above me like some angry god.
Right, he thinks I’m an alien. My brain finally catches up fully. Invincible. This is the Invincible universe… but when? It’s important to figure out when in the timeline I am. I only ever watched the TV show, but my knowledge’s spotty, which means—
Mark’s expression hardens instantly. He rockets downward. I react without thinking. Green light erupts around me as I throw both hands up. A dome-shaped barrier forms overhead just as Mark slams into it feet-first. The impact rumbles through the lunar surface. Dust sprays everywhere. The shield groans violently.
I grin despite myself.
“Alright,” I mutter, dragging myself upright beneath the barrier. “Time for random bullshit, then.”
“What?”
I drop the shield and stand, cupping both hands to the side. “Ka…. Me… Ha… Me…”
Green light floods between my palms instantly. Mark hesitates.
“HA!”
The beam erupts forward in a tidal wave of green light. Mark’s eyes widen before the blast engulfs him completely, swallowing his body in emerald energy and carrying him far into the distant darkness in a massive streak. I snicker, holding the beam steady with both hands.
“Oh my God,” I wheeze. “Oh my God, I’m actually doing it—”
Then the beam shifts. My smile drops. A silhouette punches through the centre of the blast, forcing its way upstream against the torrent of energy. Mark bursts through the front of the beam surrounded by green light and flying debris, fist pulled back. Pure instinct takes over. I hurl myself at him, visualising it with crystal-clear, terrified clarity. The light around my bejewelled fist thickens. Something snarls around my arm, clawed, and angry, but fuck it!
“DRAGON FIST!”
I’m sucked into the gigantic dragon’s body, pulled along with it as it roars forth. A muted boom shudders its way down the construct’s body, but I push back with all I’ve got. Something gives, and I rocket forward unimpeded. As the emerald dragon fades from around me, I turn to see Mark point at me.
“…Huh?”
Mark gestures to his throat, then points at the Earth. …Ah, right. He’s holding his breath. I fly back to him, creating an emerald bubble around us. He tentatively exhales, grinning once he starts to breathe.
“...Dude!” Was that Dragon Ball?!”
My brain stalls. Dragon Ball’s a thing here? What about DC?
“The beam! The dragon thing! It’s exactly like Goku! How?!” Mark blurts out excitedly. “I thought you were some kind of alien trying to invade Earth. The one from the Coalition of Planets already left, and I’ve already fought off two invasions… so I was a little on edge. ...But you’re a human, right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m a human.”
…Okay. I guess DC isn’t a thing here? No way he wouldn’t recognise me as a Green Lantern otherwise. Mark’s eagerness is bleeding off him, even if I can’t see his eyes. How do I wanna play this? Hm…
“I woke up on the moon, with my power ring, and nothing else. I don’t know how I got here, though.”
“Were you in some kind of space fight where you lost your memory?”
I fold my arms. “I was at home, asleep. You’re a superhero, right? I’ve never seen you before.”
“...O-Oh. I’m new.” Mark scratches his cheek. “I’ve been helping out Teen Team against these green aliens. They’ve tried to invade the Earth like twice now.”
“That’s the thing, I don’t recognise the Teen Team either.”
Mark frowns. “That’s strange. What about Omni-Man, then? He’s the strongest superhero ever. Surely you know him.”
I shake my head.
“Dude, are you sure you’re from Earth and not Urath?”
...It takes a monumental amount of willpower from me to hold my laugh in. Mark’s stupid smirk at the joke isn’t helping either.
“...W-What?”
“Nothing,” Mark snorts. “Forget it. Inside joke.”
“...I’m starting to think your Earth ain’t my Earth. On my world, the strongest superhero ever is Superman. He’s part of the Justice League.”
Mark perks up. “We have… well, had the Guardians of the Globe.”
“As in past tense?”
“Someone killed them—oh, shit!”
“What?”
Mark grabs his head. “...Fuck. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone that.”
“I won’t tell anyone if you won’t. Now, let’s head someplace else. We’re burning my charge sitting out here.”
“Charge?”
I gesture to my glowing power ring. Speaking of… Ring, what’s my current charge?
Current Charge: 65%.
…Nice. My thoughts work just as well as speech. But still, just over 30% gone from a single fight? My guess is that I’m burning too much energy due to inexperience. Which means to improve, I need to expend even more to figure things out. And without a lantern at that. Vicious fucking cycle, huh.
“What’s wrong?”
I fix my expression. “Our fight ate like 30% of my ring’s battery.”
“Can’t you… recharge it?”
“I would, but I don’t have my lantern.”
I can’t see his eyes, but his face hasn’t changed, so I assume the dead set to his face means he’s confused.
“It’s basically my charger.”
“Oh!” He smiles. “I’m sure Cecil and the GDA can help? They’re the Global Defence Agency. They’re a secret branch of the government that works with superheroes.”
“Like ARGUS?” Then, I add: “...Advanced Research Group Uniting Superhumans. Also, a shadowy government branch created after some evil god called Darkseid tried to take over the planet. Only once, though… to my knowledge.”
Mark sighs. “Our aliens just don’t know how to quit. They shrivel up when they’re on Earth, though. Time flows differently between our dimensions. There was even this one-eyed alien dude from space a few days ago who was looking for Urath instead of Earth to invite them into some secret club.”
“So, that was the joke.” I finally let my laughter out. “It’s stupid.”
“Know what’s even more stupid? Allen—that’s the alien—had been coming here regularly every few years to make sure we could defend ourselves. But he never once checked he had the right planet. Now, c’mon! I’ll take you to the GDA, but I’ve got to head back to school. I’m technically on lunch break right now.”
…Fuck. A power ring might be awesome, but with Omni-Man essentially being a ticking time bomb, I’ve got like, what? Half a year at best before he goes to town on Chicago? I can’t for the life of me remember the other Viltrumite weaknesses. I wasn’t the most avid fan and watched the show more for the cool fights, goddamn it! I swear Tech Jacket gets her suit after the Chicago fiasco, right? I really hope she’s got it beforehand, though.
“Hey, uh… dude?”
I look up. “Yeah, man?”
“You were spacing out. Also, what do I call you?”
“Green Lantern. Unless you were asking for my actual name?”
“Nah. Secret identity and all.” Mark shrugs. “I go by Invincible.”
I try not to point out that I’m not wearing a mask, so secret identities don’t really count. But I guess it’s a courtesy thing. Don’t ask for what you aren’t willing to give or something.
“Are you? Invincible, I mean.”
Ah, the memes. It’s not actually all that funny considering he’s going to be beaten within an inch of his life by his father… but for the memes I had to ask, at least once.
Mark turns to face me, a smirk lifting the corner of his lip. “...I mean, I was kind of kicking your ass.”
And just like that, my sympathy is washed away in the fires of indignation.
“Let’s get out of here,” I huff out. “I’d like to conserve as much battery life as I can, which means undoing this bubble. Hold your breath?”
Mark nods, and the two of us descend on the mud ball we call home.