章節 311: Unchecked Power #311
"Home sweet home..." I muttered, smiling as I plopped down on my couch and saw Little Soot approaching me. There was nothing little about anymore as he was already a fully grown cat, but you get the idea.
Besides Gotham's transformation, a lot happened in the past three years, and that's putting it mildly. There were alien invasions (because why not?), four of them, to be more precise. Lex Luthor became president for one year (again, because why the fuck not?), then the secret society of villains happened, and he got kicked out of office.
Naturally, the balding genius attempted to weasel his way out of suffering the consequences, and he would have succeeded if I didn't interfere. I had no problem with Lex Luthor, but his stunt with the society hindered my work, and I was nothing if not petty and vengeful.
I had to pull my fair share of strings and do more political maneuvering than I was comfortable with, but I managed to force Lex Luthor to face the consequences of his actions for once.
He didn't appreciate the idea of spending even one day in prison, so he fled, and I would have been content to leave him be, but the guy was too smart for his own good.
He did a lot of digging and realized my involvement, then went out of his way to threaten me and claim he'd make me pay for what I did, and suddenly the idea of leaving him be didn't seem so bright anymore.
It took some effort, but I managed to track him down and put him out of everyone's misery quickly enough. To the world, Lex Luthro was still out there plotting his revenge, but only I knew he was no more than cosmic dust floating around in space near the remains of Planet Mars.
Once I was rid of Lex Luthor and worrying about future headaches he might cause, I had the bright idea of ridding myself of even more possible threats, and so I did.
The first people on my list were Zoom and Reverse Flash. Tracking them down and taking them out proved more difficult than I'd hoped, thanks to their powers. But once I found them, taking them out was as easy as ambushing them with two vibrating bullets to their respective heads after exposing their countless crimes.
Then there was Gorilla Grod, yet another Flash villain. The damned animal was again too intelligent for his own good (in a literal sense) and had too high an opinion of himself, going as far as to presume he had the right to rule Earth. Taking him out was as easy as infiltrating Gorilla City and turning his own people against him.
I took even more irredeemable villains who were bound to bring about catastrophe over the past three years, but none gave me more trouble than Vandal Savage. The man wasn't as intelligent as Lex Luthor and Gorilla Grod, not as powerful as Zoom and Reverse Flash, but damn, was he cunning.
The guy had contingencies for contingencies and seemed prepared for everything as he foiled my plans to expose him, forcing me to relent and take him out the hard way. He still eluded me for several months thanks to his incredible ability to cover his tracks, but he couldn't hide forever.
Naturally, I didn't just go around killing villains as I only targeted the ones I deemed irredeemable, and although it might not be my right or place to decide such things, I didn't care.
There were also those who were capable of redeeming themselves, such as The Penguin, Mr. Frieze, and Clayface, amongst many others, and I gave them the push they needed and the help to change their ways and integrate back into society.
If I could turn a former terrorist into a public figure and civil servant, then who says I can't do the same for these guys? Actually, Barabara Gordon and Katherine Spencer did most of the work, but I still contributed. Kind of.
As for me, I was just as paranoid and anti-social as ever, and I reckon that will never change, but I've learned to keep my paranoia and anti-social tendencies in check if need be.
On the romantic level, I was still a loner and preferred my own company. But once I recovered my memories of that night with Harley and Lady Vic, I discovered the joys of hedonism, and I made a bit of indulging myself on occasion.
I still haven't heard anything for Kara since she left Earth three years ago, not that I tried to stay in touch or informed about what she was up to, so it came as no surprise.
I would always care for Kara and be the first to rush to her aid if she was in trouble, but it didn't take me long to get over our short-lived romance, despite struggling for the first month.
I had already realized we were too different for anything between us to work after Maxwell Lord's incident, and that's precisely why I didn't put any effort into stopping her when she left that day, but that's enough yapping about my feelings.
Strength-wise, I was already the most powerful creature on the face of the Earth and possibly the entire universe. I had already maxed out every class, skill, and stat ll from the system.
If I faced Darkseid again, I most certainly bet on myself, even if I had to do it alone without the heroes and Nabu's help. I could now do almost anything and everything you could imagine because of the many skills I received from the system.
However, "almost" wasn't enough, not by a long shot. To truly level the playing field, I needed to be capable of doing everything and anything. "Almost" wasn't good enough.
Still, I had a plan to overcome that hurdle. It involved an all-out war with a specific race of blue-skinned, hyper-intelligent bauble heads who presume to know better than everyone else.
'Speaking of blue-skinned aliens...' I mused, smiling as I heard my phone ringing, and took it out of my pocket to see who was calling me. "Hello, Jack... it's been a while..." I said as I answered the call.
"As well as I could, I suppose," I said with a grin. "How about you...? Oh, I meant to ask you about that, actually..." I continued, pausing as I listened to the blue-skinned alien while he explained his situation.
"Twenty-three, eh? As long as they match the criteria, twenty-three people will be more than enough..." I said, nodding in satisfaction. "Sure thing, buddy. Take your time, but don't keep me waiting for too long. Yup, take care," I concluded as I ended the call.
"For someone who is about to start a war, you sure are carefree, Grayson Whitlock..." Said a robotic voice as soon as I finished the call, prompting me to sigh in exasperation.
"I thought we agreed you'd stop lurking in my network, Brother Eye?" I said, rolling my eyes in annoyance as I looked at the hologram that suddenly materialized before me.
"No. You agreed I'd stop lurking in your network. I didn't," Brother Eye calmly replied. "Wait! Wait! I'm just kidding! Bazinga!" He quickly went on, a hint of panic in his mechanical voice once he realized I was about to kick him out of my network.
"Learn to take a joke, will you? Where's that good old human sense of humor?" Brother's eyes said in a begrudging tone. "I'm here to tell you that I got multiple readings of alien Green Lanterns lurking near Earth..." He explained.
"Looks like the Guardians aren't intent on waiting for you to bring the battle to them..." He concluded with a chuckle, which was promptly cut short as I rebooted my systems and kicked him out of it.
'Fucking Bruce Wayne... still a pain in my ass even after his retirement...' I mused with a bitter sigh. 'It's not enough that I have to clean up his city, but now I gotta take care of his fucking mini-mes...' I rubbed the back of my head as I activated the sensors I'd placed all over the solar system.
'They're really here...' I raised an eyebrow as I received readings of at least four Green Lanterns lurking about. 'And they aren't playing around either...' I couldn't help but scoff as I realized their identities.
"Kilwoog, Hannu, Sodam Yat, and Soranik..." I muttered, rubbing my chin in thought. "Oh well... might as well leave them be for now..." I added with a shrug as I deactivated the sensors.
"I still need to sort out my affairs before shit hits the fan..."
...
Kilowog floated in the vast emptiness of deep space, his green and black uniform hugging his muscular frame. His red, glowing eyes scanned the darkness, searching for any sign of movement.
The Green Lantern's skin shimmered in the dim light of the distant stars. It was rigid and scaly, a testament to the harshness of his homeworld. His nose was wide and flat, and his large, pointed ears stuck up from the sides of his head.
Kilowog's lips parted in a deep breath, his sharp teeth visible for a brief moment. He closed his eyes and focused on the task at hand, waiting for the arrival of his fellow Green Lantern.
A bright flash caught Kilowog's attention, and he opened his eyes to see a small spacecraft approaching. As it grew closer, Kilowog could see the pilot inside, a fellow Green Lantern named Sodam Yat.
Kilowog's power ring glowed with energy as he propelled himself towards Sodam's ship, his massive frame moving with surprising speed in the weightless environment.
As Kilowog reached the ship, he wrapped his powerful arms around the hull, securing himself in place. Hal opened the hatch, and Kilowog climbed inside, his muscular form barely fitting through the small entrance.
"Good to see you, Kilowog," Sodam said, a smile spreading across his face. "So... what's this sudden, secret mission all about?" He asked, frowning in confusion as he looked at a red-skinned alien.
Kilowog grunted in response, his sharp eyes scanning the ship's interior before he replied. "We're here to investigate and capture a dangerous human from Earth if he proves to be a threat..." He calmly explained as he sat on the nearest chair.
"A human from Earth, you say?" Sodam Yat asked, his eyes widening at Kilwoog's words. "Isn't that Hal's sector? Why are we really here?" He asked, frowning in a mixture of confusion and concern.
"Here's the thing, kid..." Kilwoog replied with another grunt. "The guy we're after... there's a possibility he might be bad news for the universe, but he's done nothing but good for his home world..." He added, his tone grim as he shook his head.
"The Guardians didn't inform me why they didn't want to give this mission to Hal and the other earthlings..." Kilwoog continued, trailing at the end of his sentence. "But if I had to guess... the Guardians probably know they won't accept this specific assignment..." He concluded.
"But what makes the Guardians suspect this Specific Earthling?" Sodam yet asked without bothering to hide his skepticism. "Even Hal isn't suspicious of this Earthling, and you know how paranoid he tends to be after what happened with that traitorous bastard, Sinistro..." He added in a hesitant tone.
"Who knows what's going on in the Guardians' heads...? But I'll tell you this much..." Kilwoog replied, trailing at the end of his sentence. "You know about Jack T. Chance deserting the corps and keeping his ring?" He asked, to which Sodam Yat nodded with a frown.
"And how there was a sudden breach in the guardians' vault?" Kilwoog continued, getting another nod for his effort. "Well, the Earthling we're after is responsible for both..." He added, raising his hand to stop Sodam yat from saying anything as the red-skinned alien had more to say.
"To make matters worse.. the earthling stole the Starheart Crystal from the vaults..." Kilwoog said, causing Sodam Yat to frown in confusion. "It's an ancient artifact, not too different from the central green battery, but more chaotic and unhinged..." He explained.
"According to the reports, the Earthling was already powerful enough to give a Kryptonian a run for his before stealing the Starheart..." Kilwoog said. "That kind of unchecked power is enough to make the Guardians sweat... and I'm on the same mind," He concluded, shaking his head.
"That... that is rather concerning, indeed..." Sodam Yat said after a brief pause as he processed Kilwoog's words. "The fact that Earthlings were infamouse of abusing power makes this even more worrying..." He added with a frown.
"Still... that happened three years ago..." Sodam Yat said as he suddenly realized something. "Why did the Guardians chose to act now of all times?" He asked, his confusion growing the more he thought about it.
"I'm afraid your guess is as good as mine on this one..." Kilwoog replied with an anooyed expression. "The Guardians rarely keep us in the loop, but I guess there's only way to find out..." He added as he scratched his chin.
"We just have to do our jobs..."
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