Hal's Rebirth

[lanternslight.livejournal.com]

Now that the Rebirth storyline is out, and the various and sundry plots requiring Hal to be the Spectre has passed, Hal is being resurrected.

Because Rebirth involved a ton of characters, but not all of you read the comics, I am including the entire storyline here so that people can get caught up with Hal's change. I want to say that the events listed here -- lifted straight from the comics -- also happens pretty much like this within Watchtower.

I'm putting it up now so that people can review it at their leisure. I plan on having Hal around as a living person again sometime after this weekend or so.

ISSUE 1:

Kyle crashes on earth in a green alien shuttle, possibly of Oan design. He crashes in the wilderness, where he is found by two hikers. He warns them that "it has a name," then he passes out.

Carol Ferris returns to the ghost-town of an airfield where she first met Hal. She is speaking to her husband, when she finds Hal's old plane.

Guy Gardner and John Steward go to a baseball game together, reminiscing about Hal and the Corps, planning to meet Hal there. John claims Guy misses being a Green Lantern; Guy claims John has forgotten how to speak his mind, the way he did when he was first a Lantern. Hal arrives and is welcomed, but soon the crowd begins gathering around Hal, insisting on confessing their sins. Hal is forced to leave.

In Star City, Ollie and Mia are preparing to go out for a night of heroing, when the Black Hand blows his way into the house. He tracks down the spare ring that Hal gave Ollie back on their road trip, but Ollie stop him from putting it on by pinning his hand to the wall. Before further action can be taken, Hal appears. He transforms into the Spectre and rots the Black Hand's hand away. Ollie tries to stop Hal from leaving, but Hal behaves as though he is confused by the activity, and he vanishes.

Guy and John are enjoying a drink in Warriors, still reminiscing, when Guy's skin starts burning and bubbling. Then Warriors explodes.

A plane flying over northern California finds Coast City, unoccupied but whole, right where it used to be.

On the Watchtower, Dr. Midnight and J'onn attempt to figure out what is wrong with Guy as the JLA watch on. His shape-shifting physiology is fighting with itself, turning him inside out. Warriors is completely destroyed save the statue of Hal Jordan, which is completely intact. In Coast City, the roads and street signs are all back, but only one building is there: Hal's old apartment building. Batman theorizes that Hal's jump from Parallax to the Spectre was only part of his plan for more power. John loses his temper and claims that Batman has never liked Hal, because Hal had no fear -- and the Batman, if you have no fear, is just a man. Ollie appears at this point and grudgingly admits that Hal is now no longer the man he once knew.

Carol Ferris stands on the abandoned airfield. Suddenly, all the broken planes are made whole again, and Hal approaches her.

ISSUE 2:

Kyle tries to warn the hikers again, but passes out from pain. His ring begins repeating, "Parallax is coming."

Carol and Hal remember the first time they met -- as children on the airfield, watching as Hal's father crashed his plane, staying with it to make sure it didn't crash on any bystanders.

Zatanna locates the Spectre, and Batman, Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, John Stewart, and Zatanna leave to confront him. Ollie is left behind because, if they fail, he knows Hal best. Ollie is not pleased with this.

Alan Scott is getting ill with a fever; however, he tries to offer assistance to Mr. Terrific, who is about to go to the Watchtower to help Dr. Midnight. Terrific refuses the assistance, and sends Scott back to bed.

The JLA arrive to confront Hal; Hal admits to fixing the airfield, but he does not know anything about the other events. Batman is skeptical, and John loses control altogether. He turns on the JLA. Hal attempts to stop him, but the Spectre refuses to let him, claiming it is not their fight. John's ring begins repeating, "Parallax is coming."

Meanwhile, on the Watchtower, Guy's condition is worsening. The ring that Ollie brought to the tower duplicates itself and attaches itself to Guy with a bright flash of light. Guy turns on the remaining JLA, destroying part of the Watchtower, and he leaves dressed in his old Green Lantern uniform.

Kyle has finally woken up. He warns the hikers that the impurity has a name. That's when Kilowog, dressed in his old Green Lantern uniform, appears, attacking Kyle and telling him to use the ring. Kyle refuses. Before Kilowog can kill Kyle, Ganthet of the Oans appears, ordering him to stand down, and revealing that the body of Hal Jordan remains in the crashed shuttle.

ISSUE 3:

Ganthet sends the hikers home, and battles Kilowog. Kyle is forced to use the ring to protect himself, and he feels something clawing at his mind. He sees Guy, Kilowog, and John, and hears a voice tell him that they are both "mine."

Hal is teleported to Coast City, where he wanders the empty streets to his old apartment. In it, he finds his old green lantern. He wonders aloud who did this; his twisted reflection in the lantern tells him that "we did."

The battle between Kilowog and Ganthet continues. Ganthet exchanges quick words with Kyle, then teleports him (and Hal's body) to the Watchtower. Kyle finds Ollie just regaining consciousness, and tells him to sit down.

Hal's Parallax identity separates itself from Hal, as does his Spectre identity. The Spectre threatens vengeance, but Parallax merely grins, claiming that the Spirit of Vengeance is nothing but a host to it, as Hal Jordan is a host to the Spectre. The Spectre begins explaining the truth to Hal while simultaneously Kyle explains the same to Ollie.

Kyle explains that when he left Earth, he found something on the edge of the universe. The race of people there were terrified that the universe was about to end at the hands of Parallax. They tell a story of a creature born at the beginning of sentience. A yellow entity made of living fear. It created terror and destroyed entire civilizations, then consumed that fear. Parallax was defeated when the Oans imprisoned Parallax within their central battery in a comatose state. Until one day, Parallax woke up. It used the conduit between the central battery and all rings to find Hal Jordan as a host. It warped Hal, making him a changed man. It drove him back to Oa and drove him to destroy the central battery. The entity grafted itself onto Hal's soul, creating Hal's Parallax identity. Even when Hal sacrificed himself to save the sun, it was merely a glimpse of the real man shining through.

Back on Earth, the Spectre explains that he chose Hal as a method of cleansing the taint from his spirit. But Parallax interrupts, claiming that he is more powerful than even the Spectre. He tears Hal off of himself like a second skin, declaring that Parallax lives.

On the Watchtower, Ollie takes a moment to absorb all this information Kyle has given him. As he wonders who could have awakened Parallax, he and Kyle are shot by yellow energy arrows, and Sinestro appears, grinning, asking, "Who else?"

ISSUE 4:

Sinestro starts thrashing Kyle and Ollie.

Meanwhile, Parallax destroys the apartment building and leaves, only be to attacked by Ganthet, who has freed Kilowog of Parallax's influence. Ganthet is then attacked by Guy and John, but Ganthet removes Parallax's taint from them. They understand what happened to Hal, and they team up with Ganthet and Kilowog to take on Parallax, just as the JLA, the JSA, and the Teen Titans arrive as backup.

Sinestro continues thrashing Ollie and Kyle. While Sinestro is focusing on Kyle, Ollie brings the ring to the lantern and charges it. Sinestro is ready to kill Kyle, but Ollie distracts him by threatening him with the ring. Sinestro laughs, explaining that Ollie has not the willpower to operate the ring. He explains that through his actions, he has made Hal as reviled as Sinestro himself is. No one is left to believe in Hal Jordan. This gives Ollie enough to focus his will; it takes almost everything out of him, but he creates an arrow that injures Sinestro and distracts him. This frees Kyle, who is able to help Ollie move out of Sinestro's counter-attack. The two of them start running.

The combined heroes (most of whom are unaware of Parallax's true identity) are attacking Parallax, but they are limited in their effectiveness -- Parallax is making them frightened. When Alan Scott gets close, Parallax admits that he tried to take Alan's mind, too, but his powers are too different. When the evil entity moves in for the kill against Alan, he stops; Hal begins tearing himself out from within Parallax. While struggling to free himself, Hal asks for the Spectre's aid, only to be ignored. With a powerful scream from the Spectre, Parallax's true form, Hal, and the Spectre are all revealed before the assembled heroes. Hal tells the Spectre to destroy Parallax, but the Spectre refuses and leaves. While Hal begins to fade away, called towards the tunnel of light, Parallax possesses Ganthet. Gathet sends a green light after Hal before he is lost completely.

Hal heads into the light, and catches images of Abin Sur, Tomar Re, Arisia, and his father, who remind him of his great work. Hal follows the green light.

Sinestro catches up to Kyle and Ollie. Before he can do anything, the ring on Ollie's finger flies off and returns to Hal's body. Hal's body's hair loses its gray streak. His clothes return to his original uniform, and he rises, commanding Sinestro to "Get the hell away from them."

ISSUE 5:
Sinestro responds to Hal's demands by hitting Hal with a powerful strike. Hal rockets out of the Watchtower, skips a couple of times across the surface of the moon, and finally lands in a crater. His nose is bleeding. He smiles.

Sinestro charges to catch up, and the two begin battling. Sinestro claims that the oath of the corps abandoned him. Katma Tui could not replace him -- no one could. And he wanted "justice." Hal replies that Sinestro seeks not justice, but vengeance -- and Hal doesn't believe in vengeance.

"But you were," Sinestro replies. "You were vengeance. Pure vengeance. And you are a murderer. I made you a murderer, Hal Jordan."

As the fight continues, Sinestro taunts him further, saying that he has forgotten how to use the ring, that Parallax will consume the Earth, that Sinestro will then move on to finish Kyle Rayner and Ollie. Hal stands up for Kyle, saying that he held the torch when no one else did or could.

"Rayner is a fool," Sinestro replies. "I will slice the creature's chest open and rip out his useless heart."

"No," Hal replies. "You will respect him."

"Damn right," Kyle replies, arriving on the scene and filling Sinestro's back with green arrows in the shape of a lantern. "Green Arrow says hi."

Distracted, Sinestro attacks Hal again, and their rings meet. Sinestro's cracks and shatters, and Sinestro is pulled back into the anti-matter universe of the Qwardians. Once they confirm that they cannot pursue Sinestro now, and that they still have work to be done, Hal insists on doing their meeting "right."

He shakes Kyles hand, introducing himself and thanking Kyle. Kyle replies, "I only wanted to help." "Which is why the ring picked you," Hal replies. Kyle confirms that Ollie is okay, and that the others on the Watchtower are okay. Hal then tells Kyle that duty calls.

"Wait," Kyle tells him. "You already know. I'm not like the other Lanterns, Jordan. I'm not a guy that can overcome great fear or whatever."

"Fighting from one end of the universe to the other. Risking your life to help someone who everyone else wrote off. Facing Sinestro one-on-one and living to talk about it. What do you think you've been doing, Kyle? Hiding under your drawing board?" Hal leaves. Kyle smiles and takes off after him.

Back on Earth, Parallax merged with Ganthet is fighting the heroes. Ganthet struggles, but Parallax is winning. Parallax glances down at the assembled league, particularly at Batman, and says that he senses a worshipper -- a disciple.

Kilowog, Guy, and John are wondering what to do when Hal and Kyle show up. Though the three Green Lanterns are confused by Hal's sudden reapparance, they are willing to work with him. They are ready to unite their power against Parallax, when Batman catches Hal's arm in a grapple.

"As long as I'm standing," Batman tells him, "you're not doing anything."

ISSUE 6:
Batman insists on an explanation, but Jordan merely destroys the grapple, telling him to "figure it out." He's focused on Parallax, but Batman refuses to let it stand. When Batman tries to press the case, Hal knocks him to the ground with one punch. With Guy gloating about Batman, the Green Lanterns go to face Parallax. Batman insists that the rest of them need to regroup and take on Parallax themselves, but Alan Scott and Jade interrupt this line of thought, telling them on no uncertain terms that Hal knows what he's doing.

The five Green Lantern Corps members attack Parallax, opening a connection back to the central power battery. Parallax fights back, taking down all of them save Hal. The yellow creature tells him to give up; Hal says he doesn't know how. With his inspiration, the others redouble their efforts, and Parallax is torn from Ganthet, to be returned to the Power Battery... where several Guardians, mysteriously not dead, observe its return.

Batman comes face to face with Hal. "Do you expect me to believe this? That you were influenced? Possessed?" Hal replies, "I don't expect you to believe anything. And quite honestly, I don't care." Batman unhappily accepts this, and walks away.

Hal meets with Carol, who has decided not to sell the airfield. Hal explains that he doesn't remember much of being the Spectre. Carol and her husband will make the airfield whole again, and she offers Hal a job; he refuses it, and leaves with a friendly hug.

Hal meets up with Ollie, who is mostly recovered (after 300 stitches). Ollie has saved Hal's power battery, recovered from his locker at Ferris after he became Parallax. Hal smiles as he takes it. Ollie admits he still can't remember the oath. Hal says that he'll never forget it.

Comments

[bewaresinestro.livejournal.com]

MUWOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA-breathe-HAAAAAAAAAA!

Okay, I'm done.

/For now/.