Green Lantern's Blight!
258 AA (After Arrival in the DC-verse)/ 364 AD (Valentinian I The Great becomes the last great Western Roman Emperor and founds the Valentinian Dynasty)
It had been several centuries since I stranded on Stupendous McAwesomeface III and things were going… well, they were going as well as could reasonably expected from a human who found himself in an unknown region of space in a fictional universe with the only sentient company for lightyears around taking the shape of talking piece of jewelry.
++ I am afraid I have to ask you yet again: would you please cease blowing up mountains?++
"I AM LORD AND MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE! ALL SHALL BOW IN TERROR AT MY AWESOME POWER AND BLINDING DANCE MOVES!"
A distant explosion and the sound of tons of rubble collapsing in on itself were my only answer.
++ Curious. I wasn't aware that Lantern Rings could develop a yearning for alcoholic substances. Please hold while I try to determine whether that is impressive or worrying.++
See? I was doing just fine. All things considered.
The reason for my latest emotional breakdown and lapse of sanity (Number 256 I knew, since Ring was diligently keeping count) was because of a failure in my latest exam involving manipulating extreme gravitational forces. Ring didn't exactly do standardized tests whenever she wanted to see my grasp of whatever latest info dump she had unleashed on me, believing more in… practical applications of knowledge.
In the beginning, this was fine. During what amounted to an entire human lifetime, I had devoted myself to the sciences, at a pace and regarding subjects not too different from what could be achieved by my kind back in my own universe. It was fairly standard, if ridiculously expansive, covering literally all subjects Ring could think off, ranging from advanced mathematics, to astronomy, to microbiology and so forth. Additionally, there were several electives more suited to a fictional universe, such as xenobiology, intergalactic politics and economy and god-biografies. Ring had been created by one of (if not the) oldest sentient species in the universe, and they had watched everything else in the universe develop since then. They had seen gods rise and fall, stars be born and die, civilisations bloom only to crumble and they had recorded it all.
And then they put (parts of) that in Ring.
As you can imagine, some of those "lessons" took years to complete. Ring was an advanced AI created by some of the smartest beings in the universe, but I was still human, and thus limited by my human brain and intellect, at least at first. I think I was almost 80 or 90 years old (and even though I had begun to look it, Ring was capable of keeping me in the fittest shape of my life, even when compared to my mid-twenties something self back in my old universe) before Ring approved of the first major improvement to my brain and thus my intellect, mostly because she felt that trying to teach me any further would yield less and less results.
Sure she could guide me towards scientific discoveries unknown to humanity, but there's only so much information that the human brain can store, or leaps of logic the human mind can fathom. In short, my hardware was falling behind on the updates she was trying to apply to my software.
Thus began a long road of shedding my human limits and embracing the intergalactic possibilities of transhumanism. It began rather tame (by DC standards that is), with drugs and gene-editing, but as my knowledge about varying branches of biology expanded, so too did my jumps in physical abilities increase in size as I learned how to incorporate alien organisms into myself. Eventually I started designing and building bodies from scratch, sometimes from templates taken from other species, sometimes building on several theoretical principles, almost always augmented by new technological advancements.
As this happened at what would have normally been the end of my normal lifespan, the changes to my body helped my mind accept the new scale of thought that was required of multi-centenarians. Human brains weren't meant to experience immortality and it had been sometimes speculated that even if humans were able to live for millenia, most of us would end up committing suicide somewhere between 200 and 300 years. The mind of a human simply couldn't cope with such an extended existence.
However, I technically (and literally) no longer had a human brain, so while the transition was still mind-boggling at times (accounting for mental breakdown Number 198 to 246 according to Ring's scorekeeping) I could deal with it, embracing both my increased physical abilities and above all my vastly improved intellect.
Unfortunately, this had also meant that Ring felt she could step up the pace, going in-depth on some of the theoretical problems of science that humans had only dare guess at. One of the more memorable ones were her insistence on completely exploring everything known (and unknown) about black holes.
More importantly, she wanted to focus on the common use of black holes.
It had taken me some time to completely wrap my head around the fact that a singularity in the space-time continuum (not even a thing really, just a pinprick in the fabric of the universe that laughs in the face of the laws of Nature) could even be utilized, and on a regular basis at that.
At least by species on the level of the Guardians, that is.
Before we could even get started on the usefulness of some of the most destructive objects in the universe (not counting stuff like gods or Doomsday-like beings), we first had to deeply explore the science behind gravity, which took a significant amount of time, partly because at that point I was also busy travelling to other planets and going on small adventures in and out of my personal Sector and partly because it's just really fucking complicated stuff.
Even back in my home universe, gravity was recognized as one of the fundamental forces of the universe and one that had only recently been studied in depth on the same level that, say, electromagnetic forces had been for decades. There was still much that wasn't known about it when I left, but which Ring already had a full database on. But in this universe, the rabbit hole went even further.
Beyond the knowledge that humans had yet to stumble upon (such as all the interactions that gravity could have with matter, anti-matter and dark matter, just to name a few), there was the comic book-aspect to consider. Because, just like back home, gravity is a fundamental force here in the DC Universe. Unlike back home however, here fundamental forces tended to be somewhat more… noticable.
The Speed Force was perhaps the most well-known one, due to its curious affinity for bonding with gingers from a small backwater planet, but it wasn't the only Force out there. Directly tied to gravity was the Strength Force, which imbued any conduits with… well, strength. The moment Ring started my lessons on gravity I had chomped at the bit to turn myself into a conduit, but my best friend this side of the universe (and, sadly, the other side as well given that she was my only friend in this universe) metaphorically bopped me on the head and shut that down hard.
It's all fun and games until your hard-light weaponry gets used on you for a change.
Not only wouldn't she allow me to turn myself into conduits for extra-dimensional energies before I fully understood the science behind them (I whined until she very ominously told me that "darker and older things than universal forces are watching". I quickly shut up after that), she also reminded me that it was useless to try for now. The Strength Force alongside the Sage Force were still trapped behind a Force barrier until Zolomon manages to trick the two Flashes to break it in some 1500 years or so, and the other Forces were out of the question as well. In the 25th Century of the future, Eobard Thawne might have would have shall made (I think?) the Reverse Speed Force, but since there's no Flash to battle in this time, there's no real reason for him to emerge in the timestream here, which means access to his dimension is a no-go as well. Considering it will still take well over a thousand years before the Flash is born, there might even be a chance that there's no future yet in which Thawne has been inspired by him to create his personal extra-dimensional energy (and wasn't that a feat I'd like to replicate), meaning that even if I had already managed to time travel, there might not even be something for me to teleport to.
Even worse than that, the true counterpart to the Speed Force, called the Still Force, was still hidden away behind the Source Wall, alongside some of the nastiest aspects that the writers of DC had managed to come up with. Interesting stuff when it's a comic book you're just holding in your hands of course, but another matter entirely when you actually share a Multiverse with such horribleness. Just the thought of breaking the Wall and freeing what's kept a bay behind it might cause the Source to vaporize me on the spot and honestly I'd agree with its decision-making skills.
So, no extra-dimensional energies and Force conduits at the moment, which is somewhat of a bummer. Still, there was plenty about gravity that Ring could teach me and especially about its varied uses. We were discussing one such use as I was floating in the middle of outer space, looking at a collection of large gas giants orbiting a yellow star several million kilometers away from me with a pensive look on my slick grey face, yellow slitted eyes glowing with intelligence.
++ … advances in Artificial Gravity Well Transponders in the year D.C. 13256 has allowed several Empires to expand across-++
"Ring? What would happen if I were to put a black hole inside of that planet there?"
++ … Confused query: come again?++
Ring had quickly recollected herself, bopping me on the head hard enough I went hurtling through space again, but eventually she gave in to my unyielding oratory skills (otherwise known as whining), agreeing to help me discover a way to place a miniature black hole inside a stellar object without destroying it, myself and potentially this entire sector.
It's a comic book universe: you could never know after all.
This required long discussions on a variety of factors: how would the black hole be formed? How could stability be ensured and maintained? How would the black hole be introduced to the planet? Did I have containment plans and fall back options?
For every possible concern or obstacle, Ring forced me to do a "safe" test run back on Stupendous McAwesomeface III. I thought to myself that I really ought to eventually learn how to terraform planets on a large scale, 'cause the poor little planet was definitely looking worse than I was after centuries of being stuck with each other for company.
The latest collapsed mountain range was only further proof of that.
++ Michael. Calm down. Please. ++
The glowing energy field surrounding me shut off without warning, letting me fall several feet to land flat on my back on the dirt below as Ring took matters into her own… hands.
Metaphorically speaking.
As I laid on the ground, the cool earth of Stupendous McAwesomeface III pressing gently into my back, I started to calm down again, my breathing slowing from its earlier frantic pace. Looking to my left, my glowing yellow eyes take in the ruined remains of the cause of my latest mental break down.
It was metallic and vaguely cylindrical, the delicate connecting structures to the remains of a base and an engine compartment hinting at something that had once been very sleek and high-tech looking. It was meant to be a test for the delivery system of my personal miniature black hole, depositing it in a controlled manner at the desired spot within my targeted planet. Additionally, it would be able to stay relatively close to the resulting accretion disk and even be able to either siphon energy off of it, add energy to it, and if necessary, shutdown the black hole in its entirety.
While Ring was fully capable of summoning a black hole (or imitating the effects of one at the very least) herself, she refused to fly me to a random planet, place a highly dangerous object in its core and then just wait and see what happened. She demanded that I could achieve something similar through technological means myself first, allowing for the both of us to have back ups and containment plans in place.
This little project of mine had taken me the better part of nearly ten years to complete, in part due to some of the incredibly rare super-materials that had gone into its construction. I would've said that it was ridiculously expensive to make (on Earth it would have probably consumed billions if not trillions of dollars by now), if not for the fact that I didn't really use money.
I was the only person for lightyears around, how was I gonna keep a monetary valuta up and running on my lonesome?
Still, gathering the materials, refining the concept, mastering the science behind it all, pouring all of my sweat, blood and tears into it (the last one is figurative, this particular body doesn't come with tear ducts), I was finally ready for the big test… and then Ring simulated a black hole in its containment compartment, and the whole thing first imploded on itself, waited long enough for me to creep closer for a better look, and then exploded with enough violence to throw me hundreds of kilometers away, tossing me over the horizon.
As a result, I became rather… miffed.
And poor Stupendous McAwesomeface III lost another mountain range because of it.
… Again.
After contemplating the road that led to me lying here spreadeagled on my back next to the most expensive hunk of junk in this entire Sector, I took several deep, calming breaths, before a dull 'whump!' rumbled through the air, a wave of power making the ground shudder as my personalized Green Lantern outfit burst into existence around me.
Rolling up my metaphorical sleeves, I floated upright again, approaching the heap of slagged and warped metals with a determined look on my face, Willpower flaring up inside me.
I would get this right dammit, no matter what!
++ Michael, why not take a break? I don't understand why you insist on rushing through this project. What use do you have of creating artificial suns when this Sector already has plenty? ++
A gentle green glow erupts from my Ring as I pass it over the wreckage, a detailed scan showing me what parts are still salvageable as I think on her question. Why the need for the ability to create artificial suns? Well, this is DC. And DC happens to be the home universe of a rather famous individual who is powered by the sun. Said individual's powers would be immensely useful to my vague and ill-defined plans to protect my little Sector of the galaxy from universal and Multiversal threats. The conclusion was simple.
I smile as Ring continues scanning the remains of my latest experiment gone "kablooey!"
"It's a surprise tool that'll help us later."
++ I realize that. That's why I asked.++
You know, for all their genius, I think the Guardians made a grave oversight when they didn't include knowledge of memes in their Ring's databases.
Present Day
1702 AA/ 1818 AD (Chile gains independence from Spain)
"So, where are we going?" a voice to my left says as we leave the Palace on the largest continent of Stupendous McAwesomeface III behind us.
Glancing down at the recently turned 19 year old Sul-Da, I smile with my now humanoid looking face. Building a new body with Kryptonian DNA as a template has eliminated the need for several of my earlier augmentations. Such as the Prothean head: with my current senses, there was no need to incorporate a multitude of eyes suited for the various spectrums of light and a single Kryptonian brain was advanced enough that I didn't need to design my head so that I could fit multiple upscaled normal ones in it.
I wasn't really all that hung up on how human-like I looked, but Ring suggested that the kids and I would bond better if we looked more like we came from the same species, so I didn't tweak the Kryptonite data I gathered from them too much. I could've gone crazy with designing my new sleeve as I really only needed to isolate the part within their genetic structure that expressed the organs and organelles used to absorb solar radiation, which I could then carry over into a new body design, but I followed Ring's advice and used the whole of their DNA as a base to build off from instead.
I still made some changes though, like keeping my stingray like tail and my four arms. I had become attached to having a tail (heh, get it? attached?) after walking around with one for the better part of 700 years and I have found having multiple arms simply too useful to not incorporate into my bodies.
This meant that as we were walking amidst the tall, lush grass plains that covered much of Stupendous McAwesomeface III's idyllic landscapes, Sul-Da and I looked remarkably both alike and different.
My extra appendages and large stature at over seven and a half feet (or somewhat over 2,30 meters by normal measurements) were a clear difference between us, as were my blazing green eyes (a cosmetic change, the eyeballs themselves were still Kryptonian in nature). But the shape of our facial features were nearly identical, if it weren't for our age difference and the fact that I had given myself a long mane and a glorious beard that reached down to my bulging pecs.
Our likeness wasn't a coincidence: much of the DNA samples used to create this body were copied from Sul-Da's own genetic structure, making us biologically related. I shared at least some DNA with all of the children, but much of it was dormant since I only really needed the one strand in order to gain Kryptonian powers, though I mixed and matched so I got the best parts of their collective gene pool.
I was a Super-Superman.
"Well, I feel I've fully acclimatized to this new body, so now it's time to power it up. Once it's fully powered up, we can go on our first adventure outside of this Sector."
Sul-Da perked up at my mention of going on an extended adventure beyond the strict borders that I maintained around my Sector.
When he and his siblings arrived in my Sector eight years ago, Sul-Da had taken my half-assed "successor" story far more seriously than I had expected. He had almost immediately begun training himself and asking both Ring and Tala for literature on tactics and even diplomacy. He almost naturally claimed a leadership position amongst his siblings, with even the older ones looking towards him with some measure of respect as he fully committed himself to becoming what he felt an aspirant Green Lantern ought to be.
While at first I had been somewhat awkward around the intense youth (well, I was awkward around everyone that wasn't a sentient AI really) I couldn't help but respect the kid for his commitment and had begun to "train" him to achieve his goals.
This was mostly centered around combat and the like, since Ring was perfectly fine with handling all of the Kryptonian's education and eventually I had taken him and some of the other more mature children with me on "adventures", such as check ups on the wild animals and plant life on my Jungle moon. Still, even though I occasionally slingshotted us back to Krypton, I had made it very clear that the borders of my Sector were to be respected. Since most of them were still in their teenage years, the majority of them couldn't fly yet and the three that did hadn't left Stupendous McAwesomeface III's stellar system yet so no-one had broken my rule yet.
Thala had been the one to first question me on it (as an adult Kryptonian under a yellow sun, she was capable of interstellar flight in little under two years), but she agreed to my terms when I explained that, even as powerful as Kryptonians could become, they weren't invincible and I didn't want to draw any prying eyes to my little haven of the universe. Though she bought my story, I could tell she was suspicious that I kept us closed off from even other Lanterns in the nearby Sectors, who were supposedly my colleagues.
I know it's only a matter of time before Sul-Da starts wondering why I never contact my bosses or visit Oa with him, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, I'm content to rise up from Stupendous McAwesomeface III's surface and soar through space alongside the bright eyed teenager (who is the youngest amongst his siblings currently capable of flight through both training and sheer stubbornness).
Said teenager taps his ear, activating the communications unit, allowing him to speak to me (while we can survive hard vacuum just fine, this does nothing to change the fact that in space, nobody can hear you talk).
"Michael, what do you mean, "power up"? It's been a little under a year since you transferred to this body, the fact that you can fly with it clearly indicates you have absorbed sufficient levels of energy from our sun?"
"Adequate? Perhaps. But tell me, when have I ever settled for 'adequate'?" I reply with a cheeky wink, earning me a raised eyebrow and an unimpressed silence.
Oof. Teenagers. Though crowd.
"Don't worry so much about things Sul-Da. It's good to see you take your duties as my successor seriously, but you are still young and we are safe here: relax a little! We are keepers of the peace, but we aren't machines, there's nothing wrong with unwinding from time to time. If you don't, you'll stress yourself out eventually."
Sul-Da gives me a reluctant nod, before looking ahead again as we rapidly approach a collection of extremely bright lights floating in the middle of space. It's still half a lightyear away, giving us a few minutes of peaceful silence.
I have never regretted taking in nineteen Kryptonian children. But I have begun to appreciate silence again after my stint in isolation since then. That tends to happen when children get strong enough to tackle each other through the thick walls of the immaculate palace you've painstakingly built over the course of a century during a simple game of tag, or when they glomp you and break your spine on accident (I had to switch bodies twice before I finally got this one finished), or when they get the sniffles and each sneeze causes a small hurricane or when-
"Uhmm… Michael? Are you crying?"
"What?! NO! It's just… some space dust got in my eye, that's all."
++ I take objection to the implication that my shielding is insufficient at keeping even common debris at bay. Do not blame me for failures in your own emotional composure. As a side note, the West Wing of our palace had a supporting structure taken out: Val-Zel says he's sorry and promises they won't play baseball inside again. Also, you'll need to check in on the Brontadon. Mar-Da wasn't paying enough attention when she was overlooking that Zoo of yours and it tried to bite her in half. It shattered most of its teeth. Oh, and Tala is looking for you. Said something about dinner. ++ Ring gleefully droned from around my finger, her integrated systems in Stupedous McAwesomeface III and his four moons allowing her to keep an eye on our home while I was away.
"Let's fly a little faster shall we?"
Sul-Da was right on my heels when I rapidly accelerated.
At our new pace, it didn't take long before our destination came in to view and I could see the young Kryptonian slow down in sheer shock when he realized what were flying towards.
"Those stars! What-... what are they doing?!"
Following his outstretched finger, I glanced at the culmination of nearly a millennium of some of the hardest work me and Ring had ever done in our lives and I let out a loud laugh (which of course only Sul-Da could actually hear). His confusion was easily understandable of course: it's not often that you see a stellar constellation in which 2 blue giants are arranged in a perfect circle, equidistant from each other by only a few hundred million kilometers, orbiting something flat, square and clearly artificial.
Everything Sul-Da had been taught by Ring, Tala and me about how the universe works told him this entire mess should've collapsed in on itself in a spectacular exploding fashion the very moment it was created, and yet he couldn't deny the fact that it clearly still existed, the blue suns swirling with relatively low speed around the ridiculously small looking platform at the centerpoint of their impossible formation.
As we got closer, their combined blue light washed over us and almost immediately, without any conscious input from our part, we began flying even faster. In a matter of moments, we had rocketed through the narrow gap of several millions of kilometers of empty space between the two blue giants, a shimmer quickly rippling over our forms and then we slammed down onto the platform, the design of which I had blatantly ripped off from the Cell games. When put in the centre of a ring containing twenty suns it looked hilariously small, but when we landed its true size became apparent.
There must have been over a thousand squares in each direction, yet the closest edge of the square we were currently standing in was still kilometers removed from us. The four pillars at each end of the platform were hundreds of times larger than even the tallest mountain peak back on Stupendous McAwesomeface III or his jungle moon. Sul-Da took all of this in with his mouth hanging open.
"Keeping the suns in a stable orbit without having them siphoning material from each other of this platform was the hardest part to be honest. That's what the shield we flew through is for and I had to do some impressive engineering to create a fixed orbiting point, over which I built this platform. It looks like a lot, but put a couple thousand automated construction forces on it for several centuries and you'll realize it's just lugging around of material. My kind back on my home planet used a similar principle in ancient times to built some of the largest objects we had ever seen, only using physical labor instead of course." I say with a proud smile as I puff my chest, overlooking my greatest achievement with a proud smile.
"This is…-" Sul-Da said, at a loss for words.
"For you."
He whipped around to face me, his face highlighted by the two suns still circling us, leaving barely any shadow, throwing his surprise in clear contrast.
"Under a red sun, Kryptonians are powerless. Still strong my the standards of most species in the galaxy, but nowhere near what they are capable of under yellow light. So, simply slide further along the spectrum and you get-"
"Blue." Sul-Da finishes for me, looking up at the closest giant with an understanding look in his eyes.
"That's what you meant with 'powering up': you wanted to absorb blue light to transcend what we would normally be capable of back home." he muttered while facing away from me, meaning he thankfully didn't see me get choked up when he referred to the Palace on Stupendous McAwesomeface III as 'home' instead of Krypton.
Sure, it's been eight years and it's hardly the first time something like this has happened (especially amongst the younger ones), but it still gets me every time.
"Wait. If you're capable of this, then why not simply turn the star back home blue? Wouldn't that have been easier?" Sul-Da asks as he turns to look at me again, causing me to cough slightly as I slightly tug at my (glorious!) beard.
"Well, that's because I originally was a little more ambitious. I wanted to give a blue giant to all of you, one per person. But I never made more than two work and by that time I had invested so much time and effort into building this damned thing that I'd rather finish this than continue tweaking with Stupendous McAweseomface III's star." I admit with a frown, which is quickly replaced by a surprised look when I hear a loud laugh which is followed by a tremendous impact as Sul-Da gives me a humongous hug, lifting me clear off the ground.
Still laughing, the teenager sets me back on the ground, grin growing only wider when he sees my confused look.
"You know, most parents give their kids toys, like a gaming station or a stuffed animal. I don't think I've ever heard of someone wanting to give a personal star to their children." he sniggers.
Somewhat embarrassed, I tug on my beard again as I give a small shrug.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Still grinning, Sul-Da claps me on the shoulder (or rather my upper torso as he can't quite reach my shoulder), shaking his head.
"You're a great dad, but you're absolutely crazy. I fear for the galaxy when Ma starts going on adventures with me instead of keeping you in check, really I do." He grins and I swear I can feel Ring getting choked up as well when he refers to her as his mom.
We're not so different after all, me and Ring.
"So! What's the plan? Is there a set amount of time that we need to absorb this energy for? What's next? Should I do some exercises?" Sul-Da speaks up in a more serious tone, going into 'leader-mode' as some of his siblings have started calling it (or occasionally 'stuck-up mode whenever they were feeling less charitable).
Spreading all of my arms, I tilt my head back and close my eyes, basking in the blazing rays of the two nearby stars.
"Once you're more powerful, we can go closer to the stars themselves without being damaged by them. Eventually, I want to get you to a point where you can mediate inside of them. For now, their gravity is still more powerful than your strength so I'd rather not risk it. There's not really anything we can do to draw in their energy faster than we are already doing, so feel free to do whatever you like for now. Once you've gotten strong enough that you can walk across their surface without falling into their centre, we're going to embark on our adventure."
At the mention of adventure, I can feel Sul-Da's gaze zoom in on my face and I can just imagine the hungry expression on his face.
"What's this adventure about anyways? What's important enough to leave the Sector for?"
"While researching the photo-absorbing qualities of Kryptonians has contributed significantly to my level of power, I feel there is still more that can be achieved. There are far more diverse and esoteric sources of energy that I have tapped that aren't stars after all, yet for the most part I'm forced to interact with them through Ring. I cannot internalize them as I now can with sunlight. So, in order to further my advancement, we're going to pay a visit to a species remarkably similar to your own, Sul-Da. They aren't friendly to outsiders, even less so that Kryptonians, but hopefully I can convince them that I wish to adopt one of their orphans."
I didn't mind sharing the fact that I sought to adopt someone because I wanted to get a closer look at their power with someone that I had adopted because I wanted to get a closer look at his power. The children knew that I had incorporated Kryptonian DNA into my new body, making me more powerful, but I had always tried to make their lives as joy-filled and carefree as possible, so they hardly minded my original motivations. Tala was a bit upset with me at first, questioning the sincerity of my friendly demeanor towards the children and my role as a parent-figure in their lives, but it hadn't taken her long to see that I truly considered these young powerhouses as my own kids.
They just happened to be kids that would make me immensely powerful.
Similarly, while my reasoning for wanting to adopt a new kid for his powers might be less than morally upstanding, that didn't mean that I would care for this child with all of my three hearts (during my adventures, I had found that it pays off to have a set of spares of anything that has 'vital' in its name, like 'vital organ').
"Who are we visiting?"
I smile at Sul-Da's question and open my eyes, showing that they are blazing with power.
"We're gonna check in on the Daxamites, my boy."