Zoe Thompson
It took Zoe three weeks to learn Green Lantern’s name, which sounded bad… no, it was pretty bad. In her defence, though, she’d spent the first couple of days being kidnapped, then was nearly exploded and shot at before narrowly avoiding execution. Oh, and generally trying to adjust to the fact that aliens were real and she was currently living on their planet.
So, asking Green Lantern what his actual name was had slipped her mind. Then enough time passed that asking became embarrassing, and she just… didn’t. ‘Green Lantern’ worked fine. He answered to it, and everyone else either called him that or Ward.
Of course, she knew his name was Oscar. He’d introduced himself to Nurr and Veln on the spaceship all those weeks ago. But she hadn’t internalised it, not really. Then, one afternoon, Veln called him Oscar and she remembered the nickname he’d given her when they first met. Ozzy. But by then, she’d been calling him Green Lantern too long to call him anything different.
For better or worse, it sort of just stuck.
Incoming fire.
“I fucking know! Fuck!”
Her jacket yanked her sideways, skimming her feet against the ground, and then she was moving again. Zoe kicked off a tree, hit the ground running, and immediately had to throw herself beneath a fallen trunk as a laser punched clean through the bark. This was apparently progress. Three weeks ago, Nurr had stuck her in the middle of a clearing and told her to stand there while twelve little boxes shot at her. Now, the boxes were chasing her across an entire section of forest while Zoe had to reach the other side without getting hit.
…This would’ve been considerably easier if she were allowed to fly or shoot back.
A branch whipped past her face.
Obstacle. Jump recommended.
Zoe jumped… except her jacket added enough force to send her sailing over a bush and onto a thick branch several metres above the ground. She landed awkwardly, arms pinwheeling.
“Whoa—!”
The armour corrected her balance before she fell. She didn’t see the next incoming shot, but she didn’t even see it. Her body moved anyway, though. One foot slid backwards to let her head jerk away from the blast.
Zoe grinned as it rushed past her face. “Ha!”
Movement efficiency: 82%
“C’mon! That was at least ninety.”
Movement efficiency: 82%
“...Whatever.”
She started jogging, only for something to hit her square in the ass.
“OW!”
Zoe whirled around as laughter exploded somewhere behind her. Ozzy was floating above the trees with his arms folded over his chest. Another bolt smacked her between the shoulder blades.
Zoe stumbled.
“Surrender control!” Nurr shouted from somewhere ahead.
Zoe gritted her teeth and started running again.
“...This fucking guy,” she muttered.
She was getting better at this whole thing, though, which was the annoying part. Her left leg planted. The jacket took over for half a second and folded her almost completely backwards. Three red bolts crossed where she’d been standing. Control returned to her body as it sprang upright and kept going.
The trees finally broke, and Zoe burst into the clearing on the other side and crossed the glowing line in the dirt.
“Done!”
Zoe bent over with her hands on her knees. If it wasn’t for her tech jacket keeping her body’s temperature nice and cool, she’d no doubt be plastered in sweat after running this stupid course for almost two hours.
Nurr landed beside her, floating herself onto the ground as her suit’s thrusters died.
“...Better,” she said, behind her mask.
Zoe looked up.
Ozzy chuckled. “You getting hit in the ass is starting to become a running theme. Are you into it or something?”
“Shut up,” she grumbled.
“Oh, well. I was going to congratulate you, but that’s fine.”
“...Bullshit you were.”
He grinned and laughed, practically confessing the lie. Zoe shook her head, totally done with his shit for the day, and lay flat against the grass.
“...Can someone remind me why I’m still doing this? I think I’m pretty used to letting the jacket take over. Isn’t that the point? This thing makes me strong enough for anything. I think I’m basically done, right?”
In the absence of an answer, Zoe stared at Nurr, but the armoured Gelderian stared back without so much as blinking.
Ozzy snorted.
Zoe shot him a glare. “What?”
“...Nothing. I just had an idea, that’s all.” He shrugged. “That thing makes you several times stronger. I’m not talking about your training. You’re stronger than these guys in one because you’re stronger than these guys without one, right?”
Nurr nodded. “The jacket magnifies the physical capabilities of its wearer.”
“So, how about making you guys do physical training outside the armour instead? You might not get as strong as Zoe, but you’ll be better than the twigs you all are now.”
Zoe’s face twisted. “...Do I have to do it too?”
“Yep,” he said. “Trust me, you’ll thank me later. I’ll be training, too. Lord knows I’ve fallen off the wagon since coming out here.”
“Then no.”
Ozzy laughed. “What do you mean, no?”
“I mean no. I’ve already got super alien boot camp every morning.”
“You’re complaining about becoming stronger?”
“I’m already strong! And I don’t need to be built like a fucking bodybuilder!”
Zoe immediately wished she’d kept her mouth closed.
Nurr looked between them. “What is a bodybuilder?”
“Nothing,” Zoe said quickly.
“A person who trains specifically to make their muscles bigger,” Ozzy said at exactly the same time.
“Why?” Nurr asked. “For training purposes?”
“Sometimes, but people do it for aesthetics, too.”
“How strange.”
“Can we move on?” Zoe huffed.
“You know strength training doesn’t automatically make you look like Arnold Schwarzenegger, right?”
“I know that.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“There isn’t a problem!”
She folded her arms. They were bare now that the suit had retracted back into a necklace. They’d always been toned. Of course, Zoe had never been huge or anything close to it, but she’d spent enough time hearing comments about them growing up. Usually jokes, which she didn’t mind, and some compliments.
Sometimes worse.
She liked being fit… but she just didn’t particularly want to get any bigger.
“I’m already muscular enough,” she muttered.
Ozzy stared at her.
“What?” she asked, hugging herself defensively.
“...Nothing.”
“No, that’s a look on your face right now.”
He frowned. “It’s just… I’m confused because you said that like it’s a bad thing.”
“I didn’t say it was bad.”
“You’re refusing to get stronger because you’re worried you’ll get more muscular.”
“That’s not—” She stopped. “Okay, when you say it like that, it sounds stupid.”
“I didn’t say it was stupid either.”
Zoe snorted. “No, but your face did.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said snootily. “My face is beautiful and innocent. For what it’s worth, though.. you look great.”
Zoe’s smile disappeared. “...What?”
“I said you look great.”
He said it so casually, like he’d commented on the weather. Zoe could feel heat crawling up her neck while Ozzy kept fucking talking.
“...and if you put on a little more muscle, you’ll still look great. Probably better, honestly.” Ozzy stopped talking to stare at her as a smile slowly crawled across his face. “Wait, are you blushing?”
Nurr looked thoroughly lost. “Is increased facial blood flow undesirable among humans?”
“YES,” Zoe snapped.
“No,” Ozzy said.
“Shut up!”
He laughed, so Zoe grabbed the nearest thing she could find—a stick—and threw it at him. The stick bounced off a sudden green bubble around his person.
“You threw that with homicidal intent,” Ozzy said. “I could charge you with attempted murder, you know.”
“I’ll show you attempted murder!”
His feet left the ground. “You’d have to catch me first.”
Zoe pointed after him.
“You know what? Maybe I will start lifting! But the first thing I’m doing afterwards is finding out whether this jacket can punch through your stupid shields!”
“That’s the spirit!”
Nurr watched Ozzy float back down, then looked at Zoe.
“If increasing your natural strength will improve the jacket’s output, then Ward’s suggestion has merit,” she said. “It may be worth incorporating such conditioning into your training.”
Ozzy nodded. “Absolutely. Honestly, I’m surprised you guys aren’t already doing it.”
Nurr tilted her head. “Doing what?”
“Strength training outside your jackets.”
Nurr said nothing.
Ozzy looked at her. “...You guys do train outside the jackets, right?”
Zoe slowly straightened.
…Oh, this was going to be good.