Second Chances: Green Lantern

Chapter 1

The last thing James Olsen remembered was being vaporized in some kind of energy wave while trying to help people evacuate to the armada of spaceships to take them to Earth One to escape the antimatter wave, though James had refused to get on board a ship until every single person in Calvintown already had, which unfortunately meant that he could not get to a ship in time.

However, the next thing he knew, he was once again alive, but no longer wearing his Guardian armor, instead he was wearing a black shirt and jeans and he was very confused about what the hell was going on. Especially since he was now standing on a strange round platform in a starry night area that seemed to go on for miles.

"Where the hell am I?" James asked, not expecting an answer.

"A place where you can get all your questions answered." a new voice said as James turned to see a man who could only be the Monitor based on the description Kara had given him and the rest of the Superfriends about the man, so James had to resist the urge to try to smack him.

"Okay, so start talking. Why the hell am I here?" James demanded.

"I'm surprised that your first question isn't how you're alive?" Novu asked.

"I figured that the explanation of why I'm here will cover that." James said and Novu chuckled.

"Fair enough. But anyways, to answer your question, I brought you here because unlike most, who will be able to survive with just having their memories of the old world restored by J'onn J'onzz, your unique situation meant that it would be best if I handled your transition personally, due to how different your life will be in the new world your friends helped create." Novu said.

"So Kara and the others found a way to bring back our world?" James asked.

"Not exactly. They, along with others, created a new reality that's a sort of merger of your world with several others, which means that several things have changed. Including your life. You're here because I felt it would be best for you to receive the memories of your counterpart here instead of from J'onn J'onzz." Novu said.

"Why, how much has my life changed?" James asked, honestly concerned, but to his surprise, Novu just chuckled.

"It's nothing to be too worried about. In fact, I think you'll be very happy with how your life turned out. It'll just be a lot for you to process." Novu said.

"Okay, so how does all this work?" James asked.

"Like I said, this is a special case, which is why in order to properly restore your memories, you'll need to put this on." Novu said as suddenly a glowing green ring with some kind of lantern insignia appeared in his hand.

"A ring?" James asked.

"This ring belonged to your counterpart of the new reality. It'll give you his memories and essentially merge your consciousness with his." Novu said as James took a closer look at the ring and realized what it was.

"You recognize it now?" Novu asked him.

"Only from stories Clark told me about his travels in space. And if the me of this reality had this, then clearly he made a larger mark on this world than I did on mine." James said, a little disappointed.

"It's not that Mr. Olsen. You were always destined for this kind of greatness, but you were always overshadowed by your friends. But now you finally have the chance to shine brighter than you ever thought possible. All you need to do to claim that destiny is put the ring on." Novu said as James took the ring from the Monitor and wondered if he genuinely deserved to wear this, since he hadn't earned it, his counterpart had. However, the fact that he didn't feel anything from it.

"Are you sure this is meant for me?" James asked.

"You need to settle your doubt. Until you do, you won't be able to leave this place or unlock the ring." Novu said.

"What doubt?" James asked, even though he already knew.

"You doubt that you're worthy of it. You need to accept that it truly is yours. Your will is strong enough to overcome fear. You've already done it in your world. You just need to own up to it." Novu said and James nodded as he took a few deep breaths as he realized that Novu was right.

This was no different then when he'd had trouble accepting the harun-el last year. He wasn't going to give into fear. Not anymore.

And as soon as he made that decision, got into that mindset, he felt like something inside him unlocked as suddenly the ring began to glow on his finger and it seemed to be projecting words in James's head. Words that he knew he had to say out loud in order to properly establish his commitment and he had no issue saying them.

"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!" James shouted that last part as he felt the ring's power fully unlock as he accepted its power and was knocked out as he vanished in a flash of green light.