3.22 - Green Lantern John Stewart
“Why are we hanging on this rooftop in the middle of the
night,” I ask Destiny.
“Because I’m waiting on my target to make himself known.”
“And who is your target? The mysterious rooftop jumper,” I
ask sarcastically.
“No, he’s a thief that takes magic artifacts from people’s
homes.”
“Wow, that’s thrilling… we could go watch a movie,” I
suggest.
“This is how I put food on the table and keep my bitches
looking pretty,” she laughs.
“Am I supposed to be bitches? Because I was already pretty
when you met me.”
“Just shut up and practice your little pocket thing,” she gently
pushes me away.
“That’s a great idea. Much better than watching out for
Robin Hood.”
“I showed you a big book of magic, and you landed on trying
to create a magic pocket. Do you want to be Santa? Get a magic sack full of
goodies? I still don’t get it.”
“Because Green Lanterns are awesome. I can’t exactly go
making light projections but I can make a dimensional pocket. I can keep a
change of clothes, snacks, a laptop and a bunch of other stuff. You should
think about learning too. Women’s clothes don’t have pockets so a magic pocket
means I won’t have to carry your stuff,” I give her a big toothy smile.
“You should be honored to carry my stuff,” she makes her way
to the ledge.
I let her concentrate on finding her guy while I go back to
working on my pocket. Right now, I can almost open one up. I think I’m
approaching this one wrong. Green Lanterns basically make a pocket dimension
where they hold their lanterns, and other stuff. That’s how I’ve been thinking
about it too, making a whole dimension, but I don’t think that’s the right way
to go about it. At least not with my mind, I fixate on every single detail. Is
there life in this universe? Is there a source of light? How will I know which
object I’m trying to take out? What kind of environment will it be? No, I just
need to keep it simple. Maybe instead of a pocket dimension I’ll think of it as
something like a locker. Not as big, that’s basically what I need. A blue
locker, padlock no combination, air vents for no reason. Tall and rectangular,
it’s my idea so I want a double wide, not a school locker. Maybe a shelf, I’m
overthinking this, but still less than a universe.
I open my eyes and a little bluish grey cloud floats in
front of me. I think this is supposed to be my locker, or universe. It’s not
like any weather thing I’ve ever seen before. I look around to tell Destiny but
she’s gone. Just me and the cloud, I really want to touch it, I think I have
to. I dig for the penny I kept in my pocket for this moment.
I reach my hand towards it, but there’s a mild electric
shock that makes me pull back. Okay, maybe I should think on it a little more.
I close my eyes again and picture the cloud, this time I picture it letting me
in, a nice little door that only I can reach in. A door that won’t shock me
when I try to touch it, that’s it. I’ve got an image now.
I open my eyes and stare down the cloud again. This time I
clutch the penny tight and jam my hand inside. There’s no shock, it’s a cool
felling, the perfect temperature, almost like liquid. I let the penny go and it
feels like it floats away, but I can’t watch it go, only feel it. Still, I can
feel where it’s at, almost as if there’s a big ocean, and I’m aware of
everything inside, even if it’s only a penny. I pull my hand out expecting it
to be wet, but there’s no difference than when I put it in.
Now, the real test. Can I pull it out? I stick my hand back
in, and it still feels like a cool ocean again. I grasp, but there’s nothing. I
can’t find the penny; I’m thinking I might have just sent it to nowhere. What
did the book say? Right, I have to think about the item and call it forth.
Penny, I choose you. Something small bumps against the palm of my hand and I
grasp it then yank my hand out. I open it up, and there’s the penny. The exact
same penny I put in there. I’m the man.
I turn at the sound of thud against the ground and spot
Destiny with a hogtied elf. From what I know he’s too dark to be a high elf,
brownish skin, he must be a wood elf. What’s a wood elf doing so deep in the
city? They’re supposed to stick to the edges where they can be close to nature,
or just not live in cities. I’m thinking some of those books Destiny gave me
are outdated. There needs to be a Wikipedia for this kind of thing. I’d donate
$5 a month for that.
“So, how do you actually get paid for kidnapping him,” I
can’t help but ask.
“Well, I brand him with my registration number and place a
call. They come pick him up. I don’t even have to wait if I think the
restraints are good enough,” she says like there’s no big deal.
“You’re going to brand him like property, that’s disgusting.”
“No, like a magic brand. If you ever get registered you’ll
get one of these,” she produces a small bingo marker from her pocket and pops
the cap. “Basically, each of these is coded with a number. You just touch it
somewhere like a forehead and you’re done.”
“I don’t see anything.”
“It’s not for you to see, it’s for the Syndicate to see,”
she shrugs.
“How do you call them?”
“On the phone, you dweeb,” she bursts into laughter.
We wait for the pickup and I tell her about my cloud, that’s
still floating beside me. I just need to learn to call it and make it go away
on demand now. I have to go to work in the morning, I can’t bring a cloud with
me.
I’m startled when two people in suits appear on the roof
silently. I don’t know how they got up here, but they go straight to the elf
Destiny had captured. An Orc and another elf, a high elf, both wearing all
black suits with sunglasses. They look like every depiction of the men in black
in comics, movies, TV, books. Some members of a shadowy government
organization. The suited elf waves his hand over the tied up elf and nods to
the Orc. The Orc tosses Destiny’s bounty onto her shoulders.
“Payment will be deposited in 12 hours,” the elf speaks and
they quickly exit.
“We should get pizza,” Destiny says.
“None of that was weird to you?”
“Nope, just work. Look, your little cloud went away,” she
laughs. “We’re getting pizza.”
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