Second Chances: Green Lantern

Chapter 6

When James returned to Metropolis, he was not at all surprised to find Clark waiting for him in his apartment.

"Well, now I see why I've had to pull double shifts here and everywhere else." Clark said, all traces of annoyance leaving his face as he saw James wearing Green Lantern gear, since in addition to the records at the Fortress, Kara had told him about the Green Lantern Corp and how one of her biggest dreams as a kid was to be selected as a member of the Green Lantern Corp, but Krypton had exploded before she'd gotten her chance to earn it, and then she'd landed on earth with powers.

Anyways, he was well aware of what the Green Lantern Corp was and he had to admit, no one deserved the honor more than James did.

"Yeah, sorry I kind of disappeared, but in my defense, it's not like I planned on suddenly being recruited into an elite intergalactic peacekeeping force. By the way, I met Hal Jordan, the guy who actually defeated Parallax." James said.

"He asked me to take the credit for that, since he didn't want the world to know that I wasn't its only hero. But something tells me that won't be the case with you." Clark said and James shook his head.

"Nope. And honestly, now I finally feel like I'm the hero I was always meant to be. I think that being a Green Lantern can bring a light to this world that I never could as Guardian." James said and Clark chuckled.

"To be fair, the Guardian suit kind of gave off the same impression that Batman does. One of fear and intimidation, darkness, not light." Clark said.

"Well we can't all have bulletproof skin, so I need something to protect myself. Though I have a feeling that won't be necessary anymore. I just hope Winn won't be mad that I won't be using the suit he made for me anymore, though I have to admit, my new suit, which is my Green Lantern uniform, has a lot more features, not to mention it's much easier to transport, since all I have to do is put the ring on and the suit appears." James said.

"That's provided you remember to charge it every 24 hours." Clark said with a chuckle.

"One good thing about being human, I know how important it is to keep all my important devices charged at all times. I'm just glad that the Guardians were smart enough to give every lantern their old individual lanterns that are connected to the central battery. It saves me the trouble of having to return to Oa everyday and waiting in line to recharge my ring." James said and Clark chuckled.

"On that we agree. Especially since Green Lanterns are one of the few beings in the universe who have power equal to Kryptonians on Earth." Clark said.

"Really." James said, since that was something he hadn't known.

"Yeah, you do know your power is only limited by your own will and mind right?" Clark asked, since he'd learned a lot about the Corp, not only from the archives at the fortress, but also from his conversations with Hal in the past.

"I did, but I didn't realize just how powerful it could be." James said, looking at his ring with even more reverence.

"Kara's gonna be very proud when she finds out you're a Green Lantern." Clark said and James chuckled, since that confirmed that they both remembered the old world.

"Yes she will." J'onn J'onzz said as he phased through the door of the apartment.

"J'onn." James said to his old friend.

"I agree with Clark that Kara will be proud that you were made a Green Lantern, though I'll admit that I have mixed feelings about the Corp." J'onn said.

"Why?" James asked.

"There was a time where I admired the Corp like most species, then the war came to my people." J'onn said.

"And the Corp didn't do anything to help." James said and J'onn nodded.

"We even sent a request to the guardians for help, but they never answered us and my people were wiped out as a result." J'onn said and Clark and James both sighed.

"I'll talk to Hal, the other Green Lantern of this sector and ask him if he knows anything about that, since the Guardians aren't exactly ones who like answering questions about their competence, but I have to admit, I'm kind of surprised that they didn't get involved in Mars or in Krypton." James asked, looking at Clark.

"There's nothing they could've done for Krypton. That was a disaster that was brought on by its own people, Kara said that herself. That was environmental damage, not war. There's nothing they could've done. Kara and I both made peace with that." Clark said, since he'd also been curious about that when he'd found out the Corp, but Kara had answered it for him.

"I have no ill will towards the actual members of the Corp, since it's not their fault, but the Guardians on the other hand, I don't think I can ever truly put my faith in the Green Lantern Corp until the Guardians explain why they abandoned my people when we needed them. Their intervention could've changed my people's fate." J'onn said bitterly.

"I'll see if I can find out why. I promise." James said and J'onn nodded at him gratefully.

"Oh, one last thing. I also paid Winn a visit and apparently he's annoyed you ghosted him, but he does have some kind of surprise waiting for you." J'onn said.

"I can only imagine what that means. Thank you J'onn, better see what he's been up to." James said and both Clark and J'onn chuckled.

"I always thought you'd do great things James. And this just confirms it. I'm sure we'll be working together at some point." J'onn said before he left.

"I should get going too. Lois will be happy to hear you're back and I think that now that you can fly, she'll expect you to start visiting more." Clark said and James chuckled before they did their special secret handshake before Clark left as well.

"It's good to be." James said.