mattmanganon

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

Introduced President Biden in my second post. Was tempted to go with the old The Presidents Brain Is Missing route, but decided to play it a bit more respectful.

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

The Lanterns

---

Area 51 - Nevada

It had been a week since the incident. Hal sat in his Quarantine booth after having been exposed to the crafts exotic energies. At least they had given him a TV to watch while in here. Watching the Stark Expo only served to make his blood boil. Rhodes and Danvers he had worked with before, different squadrons and little more than a "Hi how are you" handshake at a few of the big officers hullabaloo's but he had heard they were good people. But Jordan... Jordan was a different story. A hotdogging womanizer with no moral scruples, disobeying orders, pushing crates far beyond their safety limits in order to impress the girls, buzzing the control towers, Hal had done all of those things himself but here he was locked up in Alien Central, while there was a Major, getting a promotion and now a chief test pilot of Stark's new Mutant-Buster battlesuits. Now, Hal didn't really have a problem with Mutants, mostly he just saw them as anyone else armed on the streets of America. Some who are gonna shoot up a school, some who are just gonna carry it around their entire lives without using it. But it was still a lucrative job and there he was. Some prissy ivy-leaguer who's daddy probably bought his position. He couldn't help but flip the TV the bird. But as he did so, he looked down at the ring on his finger. Shortly after he had gotten here, the ring seemed to have run out of juice and he hadn't been able to do anything with it. The boys in the lab tried to take it away from him for study, but the moment anyone took their eyes off of it, i was back on his finger. It seemed to phase through reality itself or teleport or something, but it just kept ending up back with him.

Getting up from the bunk, he had choices galore. Read that magazine for the 17th time, watch one of the other 3 channels, or maybe have his 3rd shower of the day. It was just as he was about to take his shirt off for that 3rd shower that there was a knock at the door. "Come in." He replied. At that point, the door opened and a guard walked in.

"Captain Jordan, your quarantine is officially over and you are being summoned by the chief." He said, saluting him. Jordan saluted back before following him.

"Honestly, i'd have accepted a summary execution before staying in there longer." He groaned, finally being allowed to walk around and stretch his legs. He was lead to an office several floors up. "So, which Chief is it?" He asked, before being shown into the room. Inside of the room was a comfortable sitting lounge with leather sofa's and everything. There were a couple of guards, some guys with weird symbols on their jackets, the Alien in yellow he had rescued, and on a monitor was THE chief. As in, the Commander-In-Chief. Hal immediately stood to attention and saluted "Mr President."

"At ease, son." The president replied, Hal took the opportunity to sit down. "Well, gentlemen, we're in a dally of a pickle here so i've had the call in the best of the best of the few as possible. God knows can't let this stuff get out. You've signed your NDA's, right Captain?" The president asked looking at Hal. Hal nodded in response. "Good man. This is Agent May of our Strategic Homeland Intelligence Evaluation and Logistics Division." He motioned over to the woman sat on another sofa in the jacket. Yeah, now Hal recognized that logo. Usually a couple of those guys hanging around the base just before he went on sorties with mutants involved. "Our visitor has a heck of a tale to tell. Want to fill Captain Jordan in on this?" He asked. The alien in yellow nodded, before getting up.

"Hal Jordan of Earth, my name is Thaal Sinestro of Korugar. I have come to your planet because of a grave threat not only to you but to the entire universe." He said. "I will first thank you for my rescue as well as the kind hospitality your government has chosen to show me." His ring started to glow as a hologram of a immense being weilding a hammer appeared "Ronan the Executioner. Formerly one of the chief enforcers of the Kree Empire, ever since their war with the Thanagarians ended in a truce, he has since gone rogue. Deeming any and all of the universe to be unworthy of remaining alongside the Kree. His government has officially denounced his actions, but they have also done very little to try and stop him."

"Oh, that ol' chestnut..." Hal shook his head.

"Ronan is exceptionally strong and determined. He has been searching for the power to wipe out some of the other alien races of the galaxy. That is what lead him to the Lantern Rings... He tricked us. A trap that isolated us and destroyed us. But i was able to get all 5 of the other rings before he could get his hands on them." Sinestro pointed to the ring on Hals finger. "In total, there are 7 Lantern Rings of Power. Each dedicated to a different emotion, each powerful enough to destroy a planet or banish evil from the galaxy, depending on who's hands they are in. I weild the Gold Ring, it represents the ability to instill great fear in those who would serve evil. You, Hal Jordan have been chosen by the green ring. It represents Will. Pure, unadulterated will, to do what is necessary in the universe."

"I feel honoured... Did it choose me because of Abin-" But before Hal could respond, Sinestro interrupted.

"Abin Sur died a hero, defending what he knew was right. One of the greatest souls this universe has ever known. You, Hal Jordan, are now in charge of keeping his legacy alive." Sinestro and Hal stared at each other intently, both trying to get in the others head, but it was Sinestro who decided to move on. "The other rings are Blue that represents hope. Red that represents righteous rage. Star Sapphire that represents love. Indigo that represents compassion and Orange that represents the insatiable avarice for justice. I, however, have no idea what happened to the rings, i can only assume they were scattered in the crash." He sighed, but Hal piped up at this point.

"Wait, i remember seeing them. When Abin died, he said something about he can't be allowed to use them. He said something and then there were 5 lights that shot off in different directions. Blue, Orange, Pink, Red and Purple." He said, Sinestro stared at Hal for a second, silently.

"Clearly in his final moments, Abin felt the need to scatter the rings in case we were followed by Ronan or one of his men." Sinestro sighed.

"A wise precaution. If what you say about these rings are true, then we are very lucky that it was you and Abin that had them in your possession." The president replied. "So, Mr Sinestro, how do we plan to gather these rings? And how would we choose who wields them?"

"That, Mr President, is both an easy and difficult answer. The rings are currently searching for those who may use them. They will seek out those best suited to their use, who feel the strongest of their set emotions. Red will seek out a champion of Anger, Indigo a champion of compassion, etc. And in the meantime, i suspect Ronan is on his way, if not right now, then as soon as he has picked up our ships trail. But we must be cautious with the rings. In their tempremental phase like this, they may grab ahold of anyone feeling strong enough emotion and drain them to continue their search."

"That sounds incredibly dangerous, we have to warn the public." Hal stated.

"It sounds a lot worse than it is. They will transform people into some sort of Pseudo champion. Force them to feel their emotion at their absolute zenith, then drain that energy from them and leave. The victim in this scenario will be left rather weak, but nothing a few days of bedrest won't cure. There is little foreseeable chance of actual fatalities."

"But what if it's someone who's already rather weak from disease or something. Or heaven forbid, the opposite. What if it grabs one of those hyper-powerful mutants and makes them go on a rampage. There's a few mutants out there who're probably angry enough that if the Red ring grabs them, they could kill people." Hal reiterated.

"We are quickly approaching rampant speculation." The president stated. "Mr Sinestro, please do answer Captain Jordans question though." Sinestro looked at the computer screen, then to Hal, then back to the President.

"I don't know... But if they are as powerful and as angry as you say, then it may be entirely possible."

"That's a worrying answer, Mr Sinestro, but i appreciate your honesty." The President sat and thought for a second. "But this is why Agent May is here. Captain Jordan, I am hereby officially giving you an effective immediate leave of abscence from your duties in the United States Airforce while you focus on personal matters. I am then unofficially giving you orders to accompany Agent May and Mr Sinestro to S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters in New York City where you will coordinate efforts to hunt down these power rings and recruit anyone who these rings choose." Hal put his hand up and the President stopped to allow the question.

"What's the official story on the plane going down?" Hal asked.

"Technical fault with the plane itself, don't worry, this won't effect your military record." The President replied.

"Is there any way we might be able to say that there was no test flight? Just sweep the whole thing under the rug?" He asked. "I just don't think it's too fair for Ferris Aircraft to take the blame for this. Also, they are a fairly large manufacturer of our military jets, we can't afford to shake public trust at the moment, can we?" Hal said, putting his best foot forward, also hoping to save Carol and her family some face. The president thought for a second, before relenting.

"Alright, Captain, have it your way. But remember we are walking on eggshells here. If this is done quickly and quietly enough that Ronan doesn't discover the rings were ever here, then we can discuss moving them to whichever planet Mr Sinestro would like. If not... Well, we'll make decisions as they come. In the meantime, i am going to quietly kick some extra military funding for Stark Enterprises Mobile Battle Suits. If these rings are as dangerous as you say and can truly choose anyone to go on a rampage, then we may need some extra precautions on our streets. Good hunting gentlemen" The president saluted to the room with Agent May and Hal saluting back, Sinestro looked around and awkwardly copied the hand manoeuvre before the president signed off. Agent May turned.

"Gentlemen, if you would please follow me, we have a plane waiting. Your possessions have already been packed." She said, before looking Sinestro up and down. "We may need a disguise for you."

"Why?" Hal asked. "All i see is a minor skin mutation on an otherwise regular human being." He smiled. Sinestro stared at Hal for a second, before his ring glowed and in an instant, Sinestro seemed to change to look like a regular human.

"Alright, we'll sort you out with ID in flight. As well as brand new NDA's." She replied, before starting to walk, followed by the 2 Lanterns.

"Trust me, i've seen enough freaky stuff that's getting me sent to the nut house if it ever comes out. I ain't telling nobody nothing."

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

Major Major is going to look so good by the end of this season.

@Lord Wraith

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

@Hound55

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

@Sep BASTARD STOLE EVERYTHING ELSE, DID HE WANT MY WIFE TOO? MAYBE MY KIDNEY! ALL I KNOW IS THAT HE WILL PAY ONE DAY!!!

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

@Sep It was supposed to be the funny haha "Flash is a little slow" but mostly because i enjoyed Iris and Barry's interactions in that first post.

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

@Retired Jokes on you my entire lineage is already cursed by my very existance

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

@Lord Wraith You know, what, screw you. I'm still going to be using it. Hal's old nemesis who stole his thunder, stole his promotion, stole his chance to work for Stark. His Dinkleberg.

No thoughts on mine?

@Master Bruce

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

So, thoughts on First Issues so far.
@Supermaxx Love it. Russell, Kieth, Wilford... All i'm saying is that hammer better not grow spider legs.
@Simple Unicycle Punisher: Very nice, but that black writing is REALLY hard on the eyes. Also, for some reason, my brain translated it to Michael Madeson's voice.
Question: "Because my editor didn't let me have total control of my article's contents and so I kicked his teeth down his throat and watched him choke on them." His eyes go wide at that. I turn away from him and look at my computer. "And then I kept beating on him until the cops got here and it took four of them to pry me off of him. Have I made my point, Oscar?" Yes, the point is that you need some fucking therapy, buddy.
@Retired You know what, i'm gonna say it. It reminded me of the original 2005 Fantastic 4 movie in a good way, because fuck everyone i like that film.
@Sep Bit slow, but hope to read more of these 2.
@Half Pint Sorry, but i was reading that opening and when he starts smearing it across his face, all i could think of was this
@mattmanganon Purile shit, ban this bitch.
@Lord Wraith Thanks for the Cameo, only input i would add is that Hal is a Captain, not a Major in this continuity. But i will definitely be using this.
@AndyC See, now i want to see a Predator movie where the Predator in question is Wolverine.

Ultimate One Universe: Emergence

The Lanterns

---

2am Over the Nevada Desert

The serene calm of the desert was suddenly shattered by a 15,000kg streak of lightning moving over half the speed of sound."Tower this is Highball, Highball calling tower, over." The pilot, Captain Hal Jordan said into his mask as he pulled it up to his face. It took a second before he got a response.

"Highball this is tower, we've got you on radar, you are looking 5 by 5 from over here. How is the new crate holding up?" Inside of the tower of Nellis Airforce Base was a number of the joint chiefs of staff, including the Chief Air Marshal. At the station was Carol Ferris, chief engineer of Ferris Aircraft INC. "Are you ready to make the push? Over." Inside of his Cockpit, Hal checked his instruments. Everything was so far looking good, but that wasn't surprising. Ferris were known for sturdy craftsmanship. This was the equivalent of a gentle stroll in the park as far as testing was concerned.

"Roger. All lights are in the green, looks like she's as ready as she's ever going to be. Over." Hal responded. The big concern wasn't so much it breaking apart. After all, this was a prototype, it was his job as a test pilot to try and break it. But the big concern was doing so in front of the woman who designed it. Especially when he had a date riding on this. He flicked the safety on the of the afterburners to make sure they were still in place "And our deal is still on. Mach 3.3 and you treat me to steaks?

Carol laughed nervously as several of the old men in chairs behind her seemed to grunt disapprovingly. "Mach 3.5 and i'll pay. She looked around, several of the other engineers monitoring the Jets systems quickly made some last second adjustments and gave her the thumbs up. "Highball this is Tower, you are go for test. Repeat you are go for test. Over."

Hal simply laughed as she mentioned Mach 3.5. He seriously doubted this thing could reach Mach 3.3 let alone 3.5. MiG 25 Foxbat held the current speed record for a fighter jet of Mach 2.83 in a dive. Carol was confident the new F-24 "Blackhawk" was going to be the fighter of the future. "Time to make a pretty ladies dream come true" He whispered to himself away from his mask, before strapping it on fully. "This is Highball ascending to 50,000ft where i shall commence testing." He reported as he pulled back on the stick gently. He didn't want to put this thing through any more stress than it needed to before something this... Well, frankly insane. But Hal had done stupider things when there was a pretty girl watching... That was a lie, but he probably would have done stupider things if a pretty girl had been watching when he was given $150m worth of equipment. After 20 minutes of gentle climbing, levelling out ever 10,000ft to make sure the engines were doing well enough. Here he sat, among the clouds, the black of the night above him, the rays of the sun on the other side of the planet BARELY just peaking over the horizon. He made the final preparations and checks, made sure he had his checklists ready in case anything went wrong... Not that he'd have terribly much time to go through them if he couldn't pull out of the dive. At least the last thing that would go through his mind would be Carol's plush, doughy ass... Followed by the canopy of the aircraft crumpling in front of him at 3 times the speed of sound. "Tower this is Highball, we are at optimal altitude, all systems continue to register green." He flicked the safety off of the afterburners. "Awaiting final clearance. Over."

Carol looked at the rest of the team, before double checking her instruments. Thumbs up from everyone. "Highball this is tower. You are go. Repeat you are go." Carol took a deep breath and hoped that 7 years and $3t of development wasn't about to smash into the desert floor along with a kinda cute jet jockey who refused to stop hitting on her.

Hal made the last possible checks as every single part of his body went numb from a combination of fear and excitement. He reached a tingly finger up and flicked the switch of the afterburners, before reaching down to the throttle and slowly pushing it up. Immediately he felt himself being forced back into his seat. Barely 5 seconds later and he felt the sound barrier smashing around him. With so little wind resistance up here, it was fairly easy. "Highball to Tower, we are at Mach 1 and continuing to accelerate." He reported. "All systems continue to register green." He sat there as he saw the world rush by him, one hand on the stick to keep her steady, the other slowly and cautiously pushing the throttle up. "Mach 1.7. Goodbye Lightning II." He laughed. There was another jolt about a minute later as he checked his speedometer. "Mach 2." Hal began to feel blood try to push to the back of his body, but luckily his flightsuit was compressing his arteries and making sure everything flowed at a constant and even rate so he didn't pass out. "Mach 2.6, Congrats, Blackhawk just became the fastest American Production Jet Fighter... Assuming the very handsome men sat behind you choose to go forward with her." Hal laughed. There was also a few courteous laughs from inside of the tower. He then saw a warning light on the console in front of him.

"Highball, your oil temp is starting to rise. Watch that." Carol stated.

"It's all good, Tower, it'll stabilize. Hal replied, as the jet reached Mach 2.7... 2.75... 2.78... 2.79... 2.8... "Looks like in level flight, 2.8's best we're getting." The speedometer ticked one last time over. "Correction 2.81. Permission to begin dive? Over." Hal asked.

Carol and the team monitored the data. He didn't have too long on the afterburners left. But everything was in surprisingly good shape to continue. There was a series of thumbs up from around the control room. "You are go to initiate dive. Pull out when you reach 10,000ft.

"F.A.B. Vergil." Hal laughed. "Highball beginning my descent. Over." He slowly eased forward on the control stick. Partially because the shallower the dive, the more time he had to accelerate before he was a bug on a windscreen, but mostly because the G forces were pushing against him on this. With Gravity's help the speedometer began to climb again. "2.85, goodbye Foxhound." Another jolt "Mach 3, about to leave the Valkyrie in the dust.

"Highball this is tower, abort the test immediately. I repeat, abort the test immediately." He heard come through his comms. He frantically looked around the cockpit for what the malfunction was.

"All my instruments are fine up here, she's going strong. 3.06, we've just left Valkyrie behind."

"Radar just picked up something entering your area. Abort." Hal quickly checked his instruments. It wasn't coming anywhere close.

"I'm not seeing anything. Maybe Towers equipment is faulty. 3.1." He replied. Looking around. As he looked out of the cockpit above him, he could see a bright, glowing meteor heading down. "Nothing on port, nothing starboard, nothing fore. He said. Technically true, technically not court-martialable.

"It's right ontop of you, abort the test now and take evasive action." Carol ordered.

"With all due respect Tower, as a captain, i do outrank you. I am not seeing any danger in continuing. 3.14 We are pie in the sky." He lied, seeing the very imminant danger coming towards him. But if he continued to accelerate at this rate, it should miss him. He pushed forward on the stick a little more to get even more speed out.

"IF YOU BREAK THAT PLANE YOU ARE GOING TO BE IN THE MILITARY FOR ANOTHER 500 YEARS BECAUSE THAT'S HOW MUCH SALERY IT'S GOING TO TAKE FOR YOU TO REPLACE THAT THING!!!" She roared at him, rather unprofessionally, Hal may add. The Chiefs behind her all looked at each other, a little scared of her, but mostly scared of flushing that much money down the drain. At that point, the instruments in the Tower all went dead. Nellis blacked out completely. There was a flurry of activity as the crews rushed to get the emergency backups working again. Of course, Hal had no idea of this, because he had his own set of problems to worry about. Including the fact that his own plane had gone dead at 35,000ft.

"Tower? Tower come in this is Highball! Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, this is Highball, we have lost control. Engine has died, electronics inoperable. Do you read me tower?" He called out. In his panicked state, he forgot that the radio was electronic as well and was also obviously dead. As the fireball came closer, he began to notice that... Wait, that's not a meteor... Wings, fuselage... That's a plane... No, too strange a design... Aliens? Well, he was right next to Area 51, maybe there was a mix up in booking airspace for test flights. The nose of the plane started to slowly pitch down as he accelerated due to Gravity. He tried to pick up the checklist, but the G's were too intense. "Dammit!!! He grunted, before grabbing the handle between his legs. He saw the altitude meter reach 10,000ft and he pulled as hard as he could. Instantly the canopy blew and a loud roar sent him hurtling safely away from his 500 years repayment scheme. The parachute deployed and he was throttled a bit as the air was caught in the super-highspeed-specialized parachute. He blacked out for a few seconds at this, but quickly regained consciousness. He down to see the rest of the plane smash into a desert mesa, while the UFO smashed into the ground not far from it. It took about 15 minutes for him to land. tucking his legs so he could roll as he hit the dry desert dust. He quickly detached the parachute and bundled it up before taking stock of the situation.

Well, the plane was a rightoff to start with. But the other one seemed to have smashed down relatively intact. Instincts and adrenaline took over as he began to run towards the UFO (Unidentified F****d Object). Getting close was when the tingly feeling returned. "HELLO!!!" He called out "ANYONE IN THERE!?!?!? He ran towards the front screen to see two people inside, flames around them. Climbing up, he put his boot into the screen, but as he did so, it didn't smash, but instead vanished, Hal falling through into the cockpit. These two were clearly very badly burned, their skin was all VERY pink, almost rosey, both of them. He quickly undid the straps holding the one in yellow in place, hoisting him over his shoulder, he carried the man out to safety away from the craft, before turning back, running back in and grabbing the man in the green outfit.

"Sin... Sine..." The man hacked and spluttered as he tried to talk.

"Don't try and talk, i've got you. Captain Hal Jordan, US Airforce." He quickly carried him out and lay him next to the first one. "Sorry, but i don't have a medkit or anything. There's little I can do until help arrives. But let's keep you talking. That's the one i do know. What's your name?"

"Sur... Abin... Sur..." He coughed out.

"Ah, another military man. Abin, what kind of name is that? Greek? Arabic?" Hal sat down next to them.

"Noti... No time..." He coughed, writhing around and trying to grab his own hand, before pulling off a green ring that was in it. "Gotta k... Gotta keep... Gotta stop... Him..." He began coughing hard as he weakly threw the ring at Hal. "Keep them... He can't... Don't let... Him... Tor lorek san, bor nakka mur" He managed to cough out, as suddenly there was a bright explosion from the ship, and 5 brightly coloured lights began to zoom out in different directions. A blue, a pink, a purple, a red and an orange light. Abin then began to cough harder and harder "KE-EEP HIM-STOP HIM- HE CAN'T! until one final last deep breath and then Abin fell silent and still.

"Abin... Abin, buddy, stay with me." He ran over to Abin and started slapping his face lightly, shaking him a little. He then started chest compressions. "ABIN, BUDDY, COME ON! He yelled. "ABIN! DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON ME!" He continued compressions for 10 seconds before he was distracted by a glowing green light.

"Hal... Hal looked over to see the ring that Abin had thrown at him it was now glowing and floating in the air. "HAL JORDAN OF EARTH. I SENSE GREAT WILL IN YOUR HEART! SAY THE OATH AND JOIN OUR RANKS!!!"

Hal instinctively reached out towards it as he felt his lips moving on their own.

"In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night
No Evil Shall Escape My Sight
Let Those Who Worship Evil's Might
Beware My Power, Green Lantern's Light!!!"

In a bright flash of light, Hal was stood now wearing a green and black outfit with white gloves. The Ring on his finger glowing brightly. He looked down to see the man in yellow slowly start to rouse. "Wow, buddy, you need to lay still." He said, once again, going into protective mode, not focussing on the freaky ring that just pimped his outfit. The man slowly started to lean up.

"The ring... It chose you?" He asked. He then let his head slump back as he clearly tried to stiffle his tears, but that didn't work as Hal saw them flowing. "Abin Sur... Why...? He cried softly as he slumped back down.