After just 6 hours of sleep, I found myself in the middle of a forest, several miles away from the city, where I was planning to continue my training. . According to Overseer, there are several combat scenarios, training exercises that required open spaces and this was the best place I could imagine, it was away from civilisation so there was no risk of injuring a civilian and I wouldn't attract too much attention.
I descended onto the ground before asking the Overseer to display the training exercises. I chose energy projection as it was the most basic form of a ranged attack in the ring. Almost immediately, the ring created a construct of a late green lantern who began explaining the concept to me. After that, several moving targets materialised several feet away from us and I was tasked to destroy them with my energy projectiles.
I began the training and found that it was easier said than done. The targets were varied in their durability, speed and size and I found it difficult to keep adjusting the output of the ring while picking my targets. According to my trainer, I am supposed to shoot all of the targets down within a specified amount of time but as of now, I could barely take out 25% of the targets before time limit.
I stopped training around 8. I was noticeably better than when I started but not enough to complete the exercise. I then flew back to New York, this time making sure to take my time as I attempted various aerial tricks in an attempt to test my limits. Would have been an excellent time to test the portal creation ability of the ring, let's be honest who wouldn't pass up on flying through the sky.
I landed in an alley near my school 5 minutes before the clock struck 9. I changed back into my casual clothes before using the ring to open a small portal to its pocket dimension. From it, I pulled out my school bag which I had stored inside it earlier today before making my way to my school, Midtown High(Yeah its only school I know in Marvel. That's and Empire State University)
It was a normal enough place that suffered from the same woes as the rest of the city, Supervillain attacks, alien invasions, and on one occasion, a schoolwide Freaky Friday event where the students and the teachers bodies were swapped. I still shudder at the memory since I had the misfortune of being swapped with that slobbish mouth breather from my economics class. Dude probably hadn't showered in a year and the smell from his armpit could be considered a biological weapon. . Thankfully the switch didn't last long but nevertheless, I was left traumatised by his BO.
Regardless, I walked inside and sure enough, not many were attending the classes. Most of them were underachievers while the rest, like me, merely wanted some extra credit.
Thankfully, the class I was assigned to didn't have anyone that was either my bully or part of their clique. With what happend to my mom, I wasn't in the mood to deal with those people. However, I was paired with one of the most troublesome groups in the school in my opinion. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but trouble seems to follow these 5 people in particular. The group consisted of a burly African American boy named Luke Cage, a blonde Caucasian boy named Danny Rand who was into meditation and zen and all that crap, Ava Alaya, a Hispanic girl who was seemingly obsessed with studying. Then there is Peter Parker, a brown haired Caucasian boy, I had been sharing my classes with since the 1st grade and finally, Sam.... something. Honestly, I never really paid attention to him since he is kind of douche. Aside from Peter, all of them had been transfered here earlier this year coincidentally at the time the school's principal changed as well.
Now like I said, perhaps it's just my imagination but I always seem to notice odd behaviours from them, infact considering the fact that none of them really had anything in common, I found it odd that they even hang out. I have also seen them sneaking out of school, go missing at odd times and many more. Not that I really did anything about it though as I had my own shit to deal with most of the time.
I was seated next to Ava who was engrossed in a book the moment she sat down. Aside from the 6 of us, there doesn't seem to be anyone else in this class which I found odd.
It was right about then that the door opened and out teacher came inside and almost immediately, I felt my breath hitch. The teacher was a gorgeous bespectacled woman with red hair who was wearing a white shirt and tie along with a pencil skirt.
"Morning. My name is Natalie Rushman. I will be your teacher for upcoming months." she said before placing her books and files on the table.
I sudden heard somebody squeal and I looked to my side to see Sam looking at her like she was his favorite celebrity until luke slapped him over the back of his head. The rest of them had similar expressions as well even Ava, which made me wonder if the woman in front of me is a celebrity of something though i couldn't place her face anywhere.
Still, I chose not to dwell too much on that as I focused on her teachings. These classes only lasted 3 hours and 2 hours and 30 minutes seems to pass by in a blink of an eye. At some point, I began conversing with Overseer while the woman turned around and began writing on the board.
"Overseer? Any luck with the probes?" I asked.
[Negative.]
"Damn it. OK, do you have any suggestions on how I should proceed with my training?"
[This unit recommends that the user master construct creation and energy projectiles before moving onto forcefield generation and advanced flight training. This unit also recommends that user allocate time in physical trainings to buildup muscles and enhance your stamina.]
"OK. So do have any train..."
The school's intercom system suddenly boomed followed by Principal Coulson's voice.
"Attention all students. There has been reports of an altercation between superpowered individuals a few blocks from the school. For your safety, we are hereby cancelling today's classes. Please move to the exits in an orderly manner."
I looked over at Parker and his group, who seemed to share a look before taking off with their belongings. I followed behind them soon after only to see them moving away from where the exit was.
"Hey where are you guys going? The exit is this way." I called out before running after them.
The one named Sam, upon hearing my voice, turned around before approaching me with his arms spread out.
"It's OK babe. We just.... forgot one of our projects yesterday. So let us just grab it and we'll be on our way home." he spoke while exuding confidence but one didn't need to be a detective to know he was lying. He then gave me a wink before running after the rest of his friends. At first, I wanted to go after them, I assumed that they were attempting to sneak off to try and watch the fight. I should know, after all, I used to do the same thing. I knew further attempts at persuading them was futile, I have never spoken to any of them before today except for Peter so there was no way they'd listen. I could look for a teacher but that would take too long. So I had no choice but to relent and leave them to whatever they were doing as I ran to the exit.
And why was in such a hurry, you might ask. It was because I planned to participate in that fight as well. Get myself some experience in the field. It would certainly be better than training. Of course a part of me thinks that this is a stupid idea and turns out, so does Overseer.
[I do not advice this course of action Torchbearer. Your training is still insufficient to be used in a combatitative situation.]
"It will be fine Overseer. I don't plan on getting involved. Just observe it from the distance" I replied and began making my way back to the alleyway before fishing out the ring. I'm one smooth motion, I put it on and my clothes transformed into the Green Lantern Uniform. I then flew out of the alleyway ascended higher up into the sky in an effort to find where the fight was. It didn't take long though as I saw an explosion roughly 200 meters away from where I was.
I then flew towards it and found the Wrecking crew causing havoc in the middle of the streets. However, upon a closer look, I saw that they were battling one of the members of the Squadrons C team, The Robro. Its apparently amalgamation of robot and bro. Yeah its stupid. Robro utilises what is essentially a dollar store Hulkbuster suit to battle enemies and he was said to be very good at subgugating villains.
Unfortunately, they never spoke of how much collateral damage he causes. Even now, most of the property damages can be attributed to him, not the Wrecking Crew.
I suddenly saw part of the armour on his back shift and a rectangular object emerge. A brief scan by the Overseer revealed what it was and I was horrified. It was a missile launcher armed with micro missiles with a concussive payload. Which wouldnt have been a problem if it weren't for the fact that he was about to use it while his targets were at such a close range. There were even still civilians in the vicinity, especially near where Robro was aiming.
I wasted no time, throwing caution to the wind, pushing myself to mach 1 before landing in between the civilians and the war one just as Robro launched the missiles. Tens of the small projectiles were launched in succession, woth most missing their intended targets and instead headed towards my general area. I tapped into the ring and conjured a large wall which I placed between myself and the oncoming attack.
Upon contact with the green construct, the missiles exploded but the resulting force threatened to throw me off balance. Even so, I held on, digging my feet towards the grounds even as the other missiles hit the construct. The onslaught ended less than 10 seconds later but I was throughly winded. I guess thats why Overseer wanted me to exercise more. I dispelled the construct before turning towards one of the civilians I potentially just saved, a woman and her daughter.
"Are you all right?" I asked them. The woman nodded vigorously while clutching onto her daughter who was staring at me in awe. I give the girl a smile before waving at her, causing the girl to turn her head away making me slightly chuckle.
It was then, someone shouted." Watch out!!!"
Almost on instinct, my ring flared and I made a circular disk before placing it in front of me just in time as a fist collided with it. The resulting impact cracked my construct and my entire body exploded in pain. Despite this, I managed to dispel the disk then pool a lot of power into the ring before firing it at the man who attacked me who turns out to be Piledriver. The latter stood in place confident that he could withstand any attack I could throw at him.
He was proven wrong as I fired a concentrated bolt of energy that hurled him into a truck 10 meters away.
I then turned to the civilians and yelled.
"Quick get out of here.!!" before turning towards Piledriver. The man in question got up from the wreckage of the truck, mildly disoriented but otherwise unharmed before shooting a glare at me making me uneasy.
He charged at me and I began shooting a barrage energy projectiles at him. These weren't meant to harm him but merely block his vision as I concentrated at his eyes. I then flew into the air when he got close and watched overtake my original position with a smirk.
[Incoming attack from behind] The overseer suddenly warned suddenly and I turned around to see a large metal ball with a chain connected to it coming my way. I tried to dodge it I was too late. The ball hit my torso knocking the wind out of me and causing me to crash on the ground.
I got up coughing and hacking only to find myself, face to face with Piledriver who was looking at me with a cruel smile. I tried to attack only for him to grab my arm before pulling it onto the ground along with the rest of my body. He then lifted his foot and brought it down on my forearm. I heard a sharp crack before it was followed by the worst pain I ever experienced. I cried in pain as I clutched my now broken arm and laid whimpering on the ground. A while later, my cries of pain were diminished to soft sobs until Piledriver grabbed my broken arm before lifting me above his head as I howled in pain.
"Hey!! Let her go!" I suddenly heard someone yell before I felt Piledriver grip loosen. I fell onto the ground and began crawling away, fearful that he might attack me once more. But when I glanced back at him, I found Pile driver wrestling with Powerman. His arms were covered in the trademarked white webbing and sure enough I saw Spiderman swing in, landing feet first on Piledrivers head. Powerman then used that opputunity to get behind him and wrapped his hand around the torso of Piledriver.
"You know, I always wanted to do this." I heard Powerman say before lifting Piledriver in the air and in a twist of irony, Piledrive him into the asphalt. He then stopped, looking at his handiwork just as Spiderman approached me.
"Are you alright? " he asked with a concerned tone. I nodded weakly as he began to examine my arm.
"Hey um... Can you show me your arm?" he asked with awkwardly upon seeing no way to bypass my suit and look at my arm.
I couldn't help but chuckle at his antics as I removed the lantern armour on my broken arm with a mental command. He then proceeded to examine my arm.
" OK. I don't see any extensive damages aside from the.. you know, broken bones. I suggest you sit this one out and try not to move your arm too much. I'll be back once." he said before princess carrying me to a nearby undamaged bench and setting me down there.
I watched as he jumped back in the fray, before biting back a curse as my mind went to the beating I just got.
" Overseer. What happened back there?" I asked with gritted teeth.
[Green Lanterns drawn powers from there willpower. The stronger their will, the stronger their powers. However, negative emotions that break your resolve such as rage and fear make the Green Lantern's powers weaker. User has grown up away from conflict and therefore in no way psychologically ready for conflict at the moment]
"I see." was all I said as I watched spiderman and his team systematically take down Wrecking Crew. It looks like I still had a long way to go on the path of a hero. I thought forlornly as I lowered my gaze.
But then, I remembered the civilians I saved from Robro's missiles and how they would be able to go home to their family, without being maimed or injured and it lifted my spirits. I may have long way to go as a hero but still, rescuing those civilians, that was a start.
I then clutched my arm and a green cast wrapped around my broken arm.
"Well on the bright side, this is an excellent chance to test the ring's regenerative effects." I thought out loud before chuckling.