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"IT'S GOTHAM... SORT OF,"
With the reputation that preceded the infamous city, one would think they would immediately recognize the place when they step foot in it. The superheroes certainly thought so, having been to Gotham several times, but there was something even more unsettling about the city.
—aside from the fact that they were just in Metropolis a second ago, racing to stop the Joker from detonating a nuke that would take the city down with them.
"So... temporal displacement? Alternate Earth?" Oliver guessed based on Hal's assumption.
"Could be either," Diana said. "We may have jumped to a different dimension, or events in our own timeline have changed and we're in a new, altered present,"
"We need to determine which, soon," Arthur told them. "If Joker's bomb detonated, we have to get back,"
"The Watchtower should have picked up any anomalies, right?" Green Arrow asked.
Wonder Woman shook her head and said, "The Watchtower might not exist. I can't make contact,"
"We need to find out. Once my ring is charged I can get us there," Green Lantern told them, holding his hand up.
Aquaman got an idea and pitched, "The Atlantis archives. If this is an altered timeline, we might find a record of the triggering event there,"
"Assuming there's an Atlantis," Green Arrow raised a brow, echoing Diana's reservation.
"It's worth investigating," The woman told the male archer. "Let's you and I check things out here,"
Oliver nodded and stood up while Hal held up his ring and said, "Ring. Where's the nearest power battery?"
"The Ferris Aircraft facility in Coast City,"
Hal shrugged in relief and said, "Well, at least that hasn't changed. Stay low. I'll be back ASAP,"
The heroes nodded, and the Lantern flew off to the opposite end of the country to his hometown.
THE HALLWAYS OF THE FERRIS AIRCRAFT FACILITY was a rush of soundness to Hal Jordan in the twisted reality that he and his colleagues wounded up in. Each step was familiar, but he couldn't keep his guard down.
"Where did you say the battery was?" He asked his ring again.
"Locker #407. Locker room located on the fourth door on the next hallway to the right,"
"Locker room?" Hal uttered with furrowed brows.
That wasn't right. His lantern was supposed to be in Carol's office.
He continued down the hall anyway, pausing when he heard shouting behind one of the doors. The Green Lantern pressed his ear onto the door, hand held up and his ring glowing ever-so-slightly as he tuned in. He couldn't make out proper sentences, but the demon-esque and robotic voices were unmistakable.
"Raven? Cyborg?" He whispered, his tone almost relieved that he found other teammates. He pushed the door open slowly, walking through, but the closer he got, he started to realize that he couldn't exactly call them his teammates.
The Titans had a man strapped onto a table, the gear unmistakably belonging to the assassin Deathstroke. Green Lantern would've understood that resentment coming from the two, but it sounded like it was more of a persecution than it did an interrogation—and that was unlike the Titans.
"The rest of the Titans died after Metropolis five years ago," Cyborg snarled.
"I had nothing to do with that," Slade choked out, Raven's powers pinching his throat.
"Doesn't matter," Cyborg retorted. "You're still on the wrong side of the law,"
"This how things work here?" Green Lantern sneered, creating a protective shield around Slade and stalking over to them.
They looked different as well. Cyborg's technology looked like it doubled, bulking up his appearance, while Raven had embraced her demon-side, skin looking more like her father's red undertone than her purple one.
The two had snapped up, and at the sight of the brilliant green, their faces fell in utter confusion.
"So you're green again?" Cyborg asked, raising a brow, and Hal incredulously faltered, "What?"
Raven took a closer look at the Lantern, narrowing her eyes and uttering, "Something's not right. He's Hal Jordan, yet...,"
"Stand down! You're done here!" Green Lantern ordered them.
"High Councillor's not gonna like this, Hal," Cyborg warned him. "What happened to protecting Legend?"
The Lantern stopped in his tracks, confused as his friend was mentioned.
"Legend?" He repeated warily. "What do I have to do with protecting Legend?"
That was the giveaway for Victor and Raven, and the Cyborg shook his head, "He's definitely not ours,"
Raven shot a blow of his magic, causing Green Lantern to grunt and fall to his knees. Raven kept her grip on him tight, making sure he was motionless.
"After we're done with Deathstroke, how 'bout the three of us have a little talk?" Cyborg said, circling around Deathstroke and approaching Green Lantern. "We're not risking Legend's life because of your carelessness,"
Green Lantern was utterly confused why one of his best friends was constantly being brought up, and he used his ring to escape Raven's magic. The blast was also directed at Cyborg, who was knocked into the pile of airtight containers.
"Enough!" Raven ordered. "Whoever you are, you're under arrest,"
She blasted her magic at the Lantern, who quickly ducked and rolled to the side. He directed a blast from his ring at Raven, knocking her back, then held her down with chain constructs. The demoness was quick to counter that, her magic breaking the constructs after a brief struggle. She took two airtight containers by Cyborg, throwing them at the Lantern, and Hal constructed a shield that bounced the cans to the side.
Green Lantern constructed chains once more, locking Raven and throwing her to the opposite side of the room, and blasted her mid-air, enough to knock her out.
"Now who's this High Councilor?" He demanded from Cyborg. "The one who's turned you into a second-rate thug?"
"I'll show you second-rate," Cyborg snarled.
"Talk. You. Now," Lantern snapped, holding his ring up. "Who's this High Councilor, and why do you keep bringing up Legend?"
Cyborg merely shot a glare at the guy, refusing to give away any information now that he knew that this man in front of him wasn't Hal Jordan.
"Why don't we talk about the mess you're in instead?" He retorted, his arm morphing into a cannon.
Hal didn't have much power left in his ring, so he had to use its juice wisely. He constructed a shield against the blast and decided to target Cyborg's systems instead. He managed to disable his offensive systems, shutting him down and knocking him out.
The Lantern proceeded to free Slade, breaking the straps on his limbs, and the assassin cursed under his breath, "Damn scum!"
"Look, I'm not with them," Green Lantern reassured him.
Slade only glared at him and said, "Whoever you are, they know you now. If they catch you... You have the stones to refuse their amnesty?"
"Who are they working for?" Green Lantern asked.
"Who's the only one who could keep metas like them in line?" Slade returned, raising a brow.
A hard look plastered itself on Hal's face, considering the possible answers to that question when his ring started speaking static. There was a faint line on the opposite end. It was Diana.
"Hal! Hal, are you there?"
The Lantern turned around and spoke, "Wonder Woman,"
"You better get back here! Sinestro's here!" The Amazon told him.
"On my way," He responded. He shut off his ring and muttered, "I need to charge my ring, then you and I are gonna take a little trip—son of a bitch,"
When he turned around, Slade was nowhere to be found.
AFTER FINDING THE POWER BATTERY IN HIS LOCKER, Green Lantern flew back to Gotham City as fast as he could. He got there in time to defend Green Arrow from a yellow ax construct, creating a green anvil in front of his friend.
"Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, now Hal Jordan?" Sinestro said in amusement. "This just keeps getting better,"
"Oppressing your home planet isn't enough, Sinestro?" Hal spat.
"The One-Earth government is similar to mine of Korugar," Sinestro told him. "An alliance was logical, so for now I tolerate humans. Even Hal Jordan,"
"So my doppelgänger has joined your side," Green Lantern glowered, his assumption proven true when Cyborg was surprised to see him wearing green—as if he shouldn't be.
"As do all who wish to live," Sinestro retorted, holding his ring up. Hal was quick to deflect the attack that Sinestro threw at him. If there was one thing that he was confident in, it was that he could kick Sinestro's ass without a problem.
"I'm resisting arrest... again," Green Lantern scoffed once he did. He flew over to Diana, bending down to her and offering her a hand, asking, "You okay?"
Diana groaned, pushing herself up, but her eyes widened when something caught her eye behind Green Lantern. "Hal!"
"Someone call me?" They heard, and Green Lantern turned around sharply at the sound of his own voice.
"You're Sinestro Corps?!" Green Lantern condemned in utter disbelief and disgust.
"I had no choice," Yellow Lantern stated through gritted teeth.
"There's always a choice," Green Lantern responded, flying up to his doppelgänger's level. "So you'd ditch green for yellow, the color of cowardice,"
"I did what I had to do for my wife," Yellow Lantern snapped, blasting power at his duplicate's direction. The Green Lantern was quick to counter that, meeting the yellow light with an equally powerful green blast. "I'm still about Order. Like the Guardians,"
Diana had stood up, but Yellow Lantern quickly blasted her back down again.
"And I'm sure Carol and the Guardians are very proud of you," Green Lantern provoked angrily, firing missile constructs at his doppelganger, which were easily deflected by a large yellow shield.
"I didn't marry Carol, Glowstick," Yellow Lantern retorted.
Green Lantern's eyes widened at the callsign, and Cyborg's sentiment made so much more sense to him now.
"Looks like I'm not the coward between us two," Yellow Lantern smirked, utterly amused with the look on his face.
"Save it," Green Lantern snapped. "Time to kick my ass,"
The intergalactic space cop, arguably the most powerful and strong-willed Lantern to ever exist, had done many things in his time of service. He had faced his fears and overcame them. He had taunted death many times, most of the time rather cockily and stupidly, but every time, he would come out alive. When he thought he couldn't see much worse, there was always something else.
This fight was definitely one of them. Every combat was like any other, no matter the opponent. It was always about outsmarting the other, but it was troubling Hal Jordan because he was fighting himself. The Lantern across him was himself, his strengths and his weaknesses, and fighting his doppelgänger was a testimony to a fact he constantly pushed to the back of his mind.
His fear was just as strong as his will. Green Lantern knew that his stubbornness and impulse to act strengthened his will-powered constructs, and it seemed like his yellow counterpart was wielding just as much fear as he did his will.
"Well, that was surreal," Green Lantern huffed once he managed to knock out the Yellow Lantern, but his mind said, Surreal was wording it nicely.
"And a bit disturbing," Diana added, walking up to the Lantern. Oliver joined them and snorted, "Yeah. All that yellow's really tough on the eyes,"
Disturbing wasn't the nicest term to word it either, Hal thought. He had just faced the person he feared he would become, but also learned something else that maybe gave him hope or maybe terrified even more, which was—
"He said he has a wife," Diana pointed out, coming back to her point of what was disturbing.
—Hal Jordan was a husband in this reality. He was married.
"Looks like you were able to marry Carol," Oliver smirked, nudging his friend as he referred to Hal's lengthy, if a bit sporadic courtship with his childhood friend and employer.
Hal didn't even spare his friend a glance as he shook his head conflictingly, muttering, "It's not Carol,"
Oliver's eyes widened, more curious about who else Hal may have and could've courted, and the archer asked, "Then who—?"
Loud wailing sirens pierced through the air, and the three heroes immediately perked up.
"We need to move," Diana told them.
Oliver and Hal nodded in agreement, and the three heroes slipped into one of the alleyways, stealthily running away from the sirens.
"Hiding from the cops," Oliver scoffed. "Aren't there any good guys here?"
They stopped in their tracks when they bumped into Batman, but not theirs. His suit was different.
"There just might be," Hal responded to the male archer.
LATER, THE HEROES FOUND THEMSELVES IN A LEAD-LINED HIDEOUT that belonged to Batman and his Insurgency. Their encounter with the yellow-clad Hal Jordan confirmed that they were in an alternate Earth instead of an alternate timeline, and this world's Batman had filled them in with a brief recount.
The Gotham vigilante had also given Green Arrow a pill, one that he said would enhance his body's capabilities and strengthen his immunity system. The archer was about to swallow it when hellfire scorched at the side of the room. Diana, Hal and Oliver stood combative, but they lowered their guard when it was revealed to be Arthur.
"How'd you get here?" Green Lantern asked.
"Ares," Aquaman answered and quickly added, "Not our Ares,"
"We know," Green Arrow shrugged. The door Batman disappeared through opened, and the archer pointed at it, saying, "Meet Not-our-Batman,"
He was clearly expecting Batman to walk in, but he did a double-take when a female archer walked in instead.
"That's not Not-Our-Batman," Oliver uttered, and the Earth-One heroes' gazes were drawn to the Hooded Archer. The Legend looked different, much like the counterparts that Arthur had met back in Atlantis. Her suit was pitch-black, not illuminated in the brilliant blue of her magic.
"Nope, brooding isn't really my thing," Legend told them. She turned to Arthur and said, "I was about to get you out of Atlantis, though. Looks like someone did the work for me,"
Despite her casual tone, there was a certain exhaustion in the way she carried herself. Her eyes were lacking the light that they usually held. Her stance felt like she was ready to pounce yet refuse to budge. It was like she had survived tens and thousands of hurricanes, and the tornados had sucked out all the warmth that would radiate from her and left a shell of the Legend they knew.
But while the rest chose to not comment on any of that, knowing better than to ask anymore than what Batman had filled them in with, Hal Jordan's gaze lingered on the archer with a different look in his eyes.
The Legend was easily one of his closest friends in the League—his best friend, in fact. She was in the same tier as Barry Allen in his eyes, and now he knew she was supposed to be his wife—a word and a commitment that scared the heavens out of him.
That's what the Yellow Lantern meant when he said he wasn't the coward between both of them.
Despite wielding fear, this world's Hal Jordan had the willpower to get his shit together and start a new chapter of his life.
Despite giving into the Sinestro Corps, this world's Hal Jordan didn't give up his life and his future on Earth.
Despite wearing the color of cowardice, this world's Hal Jordan had the guts to pursue Brooklyn Wayne, love his best friend, and marry her even as a Lantern.
"Headache?" Aquaman asked, nodding towards the pill that Oliver was about to swallow.
"Trying to prevent one," Green Arrow replied, flicking it into his mouth.
"It's a durability enhancer," Insurgency Batman explained, finally walking in. "Five-U-93-R,"
"How can a pill allow—?" Aquaman was quickly answered by Batman, who said, "Kryptonian nanotech. Increases the tensile strength of bone and tissue by several thousand percent,"
"Bats can tell you the rest later if you're having trouble sleeping," Green Arrow told Aquaman as the group sat down by the table. "He borrowed the recipe from Superman. Supes gives it to his flunkies,"
"Yes. I met a couple of our evil twins," Aquaman said.
"They're not evil," Legend corrected the Atlantian, but her gaze was locked on Batman. There was a murderous look in her eyes that reflected the pent-up emotions she had towards the vigilante. Whether the simplification of how the Insurgency attained the components of the pill was Bruce's or Oliver's doing, the term borrowed couldn't be farther from the truth.
"Most obey Superman out of fear, or they believe he's right and has lost perspective," The female archer stated, each word spoken like she wanted them to know it was the truth.
"So you two are the only ones left," Aquaman gathered, looking between the two Gotham vigilantes.
As if on cue, Lex finally entered the room and corrected him, saying, "Not the only ones,"
"What is this?!" Aquaman demanded, slamming his fist on the table while Green Arrow said, "How. Are. You. Even. Alive?"
"He's with us," Batman reassured them, extending a hand at them.
"Unlike your Luthor, I've never indulged in law-breaking," Luthor explained as he made his way to the empty seat by the table. "Superman doesn't suspect his best friend is funding the Insurgency,"
"Gotta give it to you. Took me a while to figure it out," Legend commended, sitting beside Luthor. She then addressed the rest of the duplicates, saying, "Luthor's involvement is a secret. People critical of Superman disappear or die—government officials, activists, reporters...,"
The way the female archer's voice trailed off sounded like she was about to add something else. She decided against it, but the heroes didn't fail to miss that there was more than she and Batman let on.
"Well, now that we're all here, explain why you chose us," Wonder Woman said, and Green Arrow added, "And why you didn't ask before yanking us over. We were kinda busy,"
"The nuclear bomb? It didn't go off," Luthor said, sharing a look with the female archer. "Your transfer somehow prevented it,"
"How did you know about—?"
Luthor cut Aquaman off, saying, "We've been monitoring your world for some time—you four specifically,"
Batman nodded and said, "I have a weapon to take down Superman: a Kryptonite-based laser that—,"
"Hold on, a Kryptonite weapon?' Green Lantern spoke up, leaning forward. "You kill him, you're no better than he is,"
"It isn't going to kill him," Legend reassured the guy.
"It'll incapacitate him, nothing more," Batman told the heroes, successfully averting the group's attention from the eye contact Hal shared with the female archer a second longer. "The weapon's in the Batcave. I need your DNA to unlock it,"
Legend quickly averted her gaze from the Lantern, cursing at herself. She had prepared herself and told herself to not get hung up on it, but seeing Hal in green again. She never blamed him for what happened, but seeing his brown eyes glimmering emerald again... She had to admit, she missed it.
An alarm in the Insurgency headquarters suddenly rang, and the heroes were startled, looking up as Green Arrow asked, "What's that?"
"We're needed somewhere," Insurgency Batman answered. "It's over in Arkham,"
Legend furrowed her brows, "Who—?"
"Harleen," Batman answered, standing up.
The heroes' heads snapped up in her direction in complete and utter shock, saying, "Harleen?!"
"Like Joker's Harley Quinn?" Green Arrow clarified.
"Things are different here," Batman told them. "With everyone else backing Superman's reign, I had to turn to other allies,"
"Yeah...," Legend drawled, rolling her eyes as she raised her hand. "They won't be happy to see me,"
"Get used to that," was Batman's only answer as he marched out the door.
The archer rolled her eyes, grumbling, "Be grateful you have help, Batsy, or you would've needed my duplicate,"
"I heard that," Batman called at her, and she retorted, "You were supposed to!"
The archer stood up, her suit then only glowing blue as her magic lit up in her annoyance towards the Bat.
The Earth-One duplicates exchanged looks as they watched the brunette follow Batman. The Hooded Archer's demeanor towards Batman was different than what they were used to, like it was rooted in genuine antipathy and resentment instead of her usual inclination to annoy him.
Though they were on the same side of the war, Legend and Batman weren't exactly allies, and it was clear that the story Batman told them, the brief history he filled them in with, had barely scratched the surface.