Willful Thinking (Invincible/DC | Green Lantern OC-Insert) - Chapter 14 (Patreon)

Zoe Thompson

It took Zoe three weeks to learn Green Lantern’s name, which sounded bad… no, it was pretty bad. In her defence, though, she’d spent the first couple of days being kidnapped, then was nearly exploded and shot at before narrowly avoiding execution. Oh, and generally trying to adjust to the fact that aliens were real and she was currently living on their planet.

So, asking Green Lantern what his actual name was had slipped her mind. Then enough time passed that asking became embarrassing, and she just… didn’t. ‘Green Lantern’ worked fine. He answered to it, and everyone else either called him that or Ward.

Of course, she knew his name was Oscar. He’d introduced himself to Nurr and Veln on the spaceship all those weeks ago. But she hadn’t internalised it, not really. Then, one afternoon, Veln called him Oscar and she remembered the nickname he’d given her when they first met. Ozzy. But by then, she’d been calling him Green Lantern too long to call him anything different.

For better or worse, it sort of just stuck.

Incoming fire.

“I fucking know! Fuck!”

Her jacket yanked her sideways, skimming her feet against the ground, and then she was moving again. Zoe kicked off a tree, hit the ground running, and immediately had to throw herself beneath a fallen trunk as a laser punched clean through the bark. This was apparently progress. Three weeks ago, Nurr had stuck her in the middle of a clearing and told her to stand there while twelve little boxes shot at her. Now, the boxes were chasing her across an entire section of forest while Zoe had to reach the other side without getting hit. 

…This would’ve been considerably easier if she were allowed to fly or shoot back.

A branch whipped past her face.

Obstacle. Jump recommended.

Zoe jumped… except her jacket added enough force to send her sailing over a bush and onto a thick branch several metres above the ground. She landed awkwardly, arms pinwheeling.

“Whoa—!”

The armour corrected her balance before she fell. She didn’t see the next incoming shot, but she didn’t even see it. Her body moved anyway, though. One foot slid backwards to let her head jerk away from the blast.

Zoe grinned as it rushed past her face. “Ha!”

Movement efficiency: 82%

“C’mon! That was at least ninety.”

Movement efficiency: 82%

“...Whatever.”

She started jogging, only for something to hit her square in the ass.

“OW!”

Zoe whirled around as laughter exploded somewhere behind her. Ozzy was floating above the trees with his arms folded over his chest. Another bolt smacked her between the shoulder blades.

Zoe stumbled.

“Surrender control!” Nurr shouted from somewhere ahead.

Zoe gritted her teeth and started running again.

“...This fucking guy,” she muttered.

She was getting better at this whole thing, though, which was the annoying part. Her left leg planted. The jacket took over for half a second and folded her almost completely backwards. Three red bolts crossed where she’d been standing. Control returned to her body as it sprang upright and kept going.

The trees finally broke, and Zoe burst into the clearing on the other side and crossed the glowing line in the dirt.

“Done!”

Zoe bent over with her hands on her knees. If it wasn’t for her tech jacket keeping her body’s temperature nice and cool, she’d no doubt be plastered in sweat after running this stupid course for almost two hours.

Nurr landed beside her, floating herself onto the ground as her suit’s thrusters died.

“...Better,” she said, behind her mask.

Zoe looked up. 

Ozzy chuckled. “You getting hit in the ass is starting to become a running theme. Are you into it or something?”

“Shut up,” she grumbled.

“Oh, well. I was going to congratulate you, but that’s fine.”

“...Bullshit you were.”

He grinned and laughed, practically confessing the lie. Zoe shook her head, totally done with his shit for the day, and lay flat against the grass.

“...Can someone remind me why I’m still doing this? I think I’m pretty used to letting the jacket take over. Isn’t that the point? This thing makes me strong enough for anything. I think I’m basically done, right?”

In the absence of an answer, Zoe stared at Nurr, but the armoured Gelderian stared back without so much as blinking.

Ozzy snorted.

Zoe shot him a glare. “What?”

“...Nothing. I just had an idea, that’s all.” He shrugged. “That thing makes you several times stronger. I’m not talking about your training. You’re stronger than these guys in one because you’re stronger than these guys without one, right?”

Nurr nodded. “The jacket magnifies the physical capabilities of its wearer.”

“So, how about making you guys do physical training outside the armour instead? You might not get as strong as Zoe, but you’ll be better than the twigs you all are now.”

Zoe’s face twisted. “...Do I have to do it too?”

“Yep,” he said. “Trust me, you’ll thank me later. I’ll be training, too. Lord knows I’ve fallen off the wagon since coming out here.”

“Then no.”

Ozzy laughed. “What do you mean, no?”

“I mean no. I’ve already got super alien boot camp every morning.”

“You’re complaining about becoming stronger?”

“I’m already strong! And I don’t need to be built like a fucking bodybuilder!”

Zoe immediately wished she’d kept her mouth closed.

Nurr looked between them. “What is a bodybuilder?”

“Nothing,” Zoe said quickly.

“A person who trains specifically to make their muscles bigger,” Ozzy said at exactly the same time.

“Why?” Nurr asked. “For training purposes?”

“Sometimes, but people do it for aesthetics, too.”

“How strange.”

“Can we move on?” Zoe huffed.

“You know strength training doesn’t automatically make you look like Arnold Schwarzenegger, right?”

“I know that.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“There isn’t a problem!”

She folded her arms. They were bare now that the suit had retracted back into a necklace. They’d always been toned. Of course, Zoe had never been huge or anything close to it, but she’d spent enough time hearing comments about them growing up. Usually jokes, which she didn’t mind, and some compliments.

Sometimes worse.

She liked being fit… but she just didn’t particularly want to get any bigger.

“I’m already muscular enough,” she muttered.

Ozzy stared at her.

“What?” she asked, hugging herself defensively.

“...Nothing.”

“No, that’s a look on your face right now.”

He frowned. “It’s just… I’m confused because you said that like it’s a bad thing.”

“I didn’t say it was bad.”

“You’re refusing to get stronger because you’re worried you’ll get more muscular.”

“That’s not—” She stopped. “Okay, when you say it like that, it sounds stupid.”

“I didn’t say it was stupid either.”

Zoe snorted. “No, but your face did.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said snootily. “My face is beautiful and innocent. For what it’s worth, though.. you look great.”

Zoe’s smile disappeared. “...What?”

“I said you look great.”

He said it so casually, like he’d commented on the weather. Zoe could feel heat crawling up her neck while Ozzy kept fucking talking.

“...and if you put on a little more muscle, you’ll still look great. Probably better, honestly.” Ozzy stopped talking to stare at her as a smile slowly crawled across his face. “Wait, are you blushing?”

Nurr looked thoroughly lost. “Is increased facial blood flow undesirable among humans?”

“YES,” Zoe snapped.

“No,” Ozzy said.

“Shut up!”

He laughed, so Zoe grabbed the nearest thing she could find—a stick—and threw it at him. The stick bounced off a sudden green bubble around his person.

“You threw that with homicidal intent,” Ozzy said. “I could charge you with attempted murder, you know.”

“I’ll show you attempted murder!”

His feet left the ground. “You’d have to catch me first.”

Zoe pointed after him.

“You know what? Maybe I will start lifting! But the first thing I’m doing afterwards is finding out whether this jacket can punch through your stupid shields!”

“That’s the spirit!”

Nurr watched Ozzy float back down, then looked at Zoe.

“If increasing your natural strength will improve the jacket’s output, then Ward’s suggestion has merit,” she said. “It may be worth incorporating such conditioning into your training.”

Ozzy nodded. “Absolutely. Honestly, I’m surprised you guys aren’t already doing it.”

Nurr tilted her head. “Doing what?”

“Strength training outside your jackets.”

Nurr said nothing.

Ozzy looked at her. “...You guys do train outside the jackets, right?”

Zoe slowly straightened.

…Oh, this was going to be good.

【—〄—】

Oscar Ward

It’s been about a month since I discovered that Gelderia, for all its technological advancement, apparently never discovered the gym. To be fair, I can sort of understand why. If I grew up with armour that could make me several times stronger, fly me around, and generally do most of the physical work for me, I probably wouldn’t be hitting the gym either. It’s just a bit unfortunate that the end result is an entire species built like twigs.

So, I’ve spent the last month fixing that. Not with anything particularly strenuous, mind. Turns out you can’t take someone whose muscles have spent their entire life being neglected and immediately throw them into a normal workout routine. I’m trying to make Gelderia stronger, not cripple half its elite warriors.

Thus, a month of rehabilitation. Stretching, walking, jogging, assisted squats, push-ups on their knees, basic core exercises, and a whole load of other shit so easy that Zoe spent the first week laughing at us.

…At least till I got her started on her own regimen.

Veln’s been voluntarily keeping track of everyone’s progress. The difference between now and when we started is pretty ridiculous. Most of them can actually run for more than a couple minutes without keeling over. Nurr was always in better shape than the others, but even she’s seen decent improvement. Every improvement outside their jackets carries over once they put them back on, and a stronger Gelderian means a stronger tech jacket user.

With rehab over, I clap my hands together and grin at the twenty Gelderians gathered in front of me.

“WELCOME TO HELL, MOTHERFUCKERS!”

They stare back.

Veln raises his hand. “Is that the name of the exercise?”

“No,” I say with some disappointment that my drill sergeant bit is lost on them.

I even made a hat, goddamn it!

He lowers his hand, looking more confused than anything. Nurr looks over her shoulder at the five stations I’ve set up around the clearing. Squats, push-ups, a short sprint, lunges, and then a plank to finish things off. One minute of rest and then they do it all over again, three times to begin with.

We’re not too far off from the assault on the moon base, I hear, so there isn’t much time for dramatic improvement. But they’ve grown strong nonetheless.

“This is your people’s superior training methodology?” she asks. “Humans willingly subject themselves to this torture?”

“Some pay money to do it.”

Veln frowns. “Why?”

“To use the equipment.”

He looks around. “You require equipment for these exercises?”

“The more advanced ones, yes. Can we stop interrogating Earth’s fitness industry and get started?”

Zoe snorts beside me. She’s got her arms folded and a shit-eating grin on her face, which is rich considering she spent the last month acting like I’d personally ruined her life every time I added something to her routine.

“Why are you so happy?” I whisper to her.

“...Oh, I’m just happy they’re taking their health seriously.” She flashes me an innocent smile. “I’m supporting them.”

…I don’t buy it for one second considering the way she was cursing at me. Honestly, I’m still pretty sore from the exercise circuit I put her through yesterday. I made construct machines and everything… but I’m not so sore that I can’t lead the Gelderians by example for something so easy. Hell, I’m doing double their amount and am fresh off my own personal training!

“Right!” I clap my hands. “Jackets off!”

Twenty tech jackets retract until I’m looking at what’s probably the largest gathering of unarmoured Gelderian soldiers in centuries. General Vasel is here too after apparently hearing that his son and a growing chunk of Gelderia’s strongest warriors were undergoing some revolutionary training programme.

I told him he didn’t have to join in because he hadn’t done the necessary rehabilitation, but he took it as a slight. So now he’s standing at the front beside Nurr, glaring at me like I’m the one who challenged him.

…Well, when he hits the grass, he can’t say I didn’t warn him.

“Same rules as the last month,” I say, putting away the drill sergeant act for a little bit. “You’re not competing with anyone. Especially not me or Zoe. If something burns, that’s normal. If something actually hurts, you stop. If you get dizzy, you stop. If you feel like you’re about to pass out—”

“Stop?” Veln guesses.

“See? You’re getting good at this.”

He beams.

“Everyone ready?”

A collection of nods answers me.

“Alright. Twenty squats. Go!”

I straighten my hard-light drill sergeant hat and start with them. The month spent exercising has been good for me, to be honest. I wasn’t lying to Zoe when I said I’d fallen off the wagon myself. Turns out flying everywhere for the better part of six months and eating takeout doesn’t do wonders for your cardio, even if the superheroing helped mitigate the worst effects.

The squats are easy enough, though. Even the Gelderians manage them without much trouble, which is a fucking miracle compared to where we started. A month ago, half of them couldn’t squat without their knees trying to fold inwards.

…I’m ignoring General Vasel struggling at six, and so is everyone else for the sake of the moustached man’s pride. At twenty, we drop to the ground to do pushups while Zoe strolls between everyone like a prison guard, revealing the true reason for her presence here.

I knew she was working an angle!

“Back straight!” she calls.

I look up. “Is this revenge for yesterday?”

“...No.” She looks away. “Someone has to maintain standards over you.”

“This isn’t the smartest revenge plan of yours, I’ve got to say. You realise that I can make tomorrow’s workout hell for you if you push me too far, right?”

She pulls her lips into a thin, hard line.

“...Fuck.”

I chuckle my way down till my elbows are at ninety degrees.

“...I’m still having my revenge,” she says. “You spent yesterday looping eight reps out of ten until I hit fifteen.”

“That was for your own good. Good form above all else.”

“I was tired!”

“So what?” I explode back up, straightening my arms. “Look at Veln. He’s tired, but you don’t see him slacking on form.”

Zoe looks down at Veln, who’s six push-ups in and fighting for his life.

She crouches beside him. “C’mon, Veln! You got this!”

He grunts his way up.

“Seven! Three more!”

His head snaps towards her. “Th-Three?!”

“Ten minus seven is three, dude.”

“I a-am aware of the mathematics! B-But I do not think I can manage another one!”

He collapses as his arms give out. I burst out laughing and have to delay my next rep because of it.

“WARD!”

I look over at Veln’s father. “Yeah?”

“How many did you say was required?”

“Ten.”

“I-I have completed twelve.”

“...Okay?”

“Then I… have s-surpassed… your requirement.”

I go on my knees momentarily to look over at him. He’s covered in sweat to the point where it looks like somebody dipped him in a vat of baby oil. Shit, his moustache looks like it’s come to life with how much it’s twitching, too. But the green-skinned, mohawked man is as happy as a clam.

…Surely he remembers he’s got three more exercises and two entire rotations of the circuit, right?

“Congratulations?”

He pushes himself to his feet with as much dignity as a man whose arms are visibly shaking can manage. I finish my reps and hop to my feet. Once everyone’s done, I gather their attention with a clap of my hands.

“Next station! Sprint to the marker and back!”

A collective groan rolls through the clearing.

Zoe cups her hands around her mouth. “COME ON, GELDERIA! SHOW SOME FUCKING HEART!”

I stare at her.

“...What?” she asks.

“You’re enjoying this way too much.”

“Is that a crime?”

Well, at least she’s honest. I take off towards the hard light cone in the distance with everyone else behind me. For their sake, I’m keeping myself at a fairly easy jog (which counts as a sprint for them) when Zoe catches up alongside me.

“You know,” she whispers. “I think Nurr’s beating you.”

“This isn’t a race.”

“I think that’s loser talk.”

I glance over my shoulder. Nurr actually is gaining on me through sheer dogged effort plastered across that emotionless face of hers.

...Oh, fuck that.

I speed up. Behind me, Zoe bursts out laughing.

“YOU SAID THIS WAS NOT A COMPETITION!” Veln screams from somewhere behind us as my gait forces everyone else to go faster.

“It isn’t!”

“THEN WHY ARE YOU RUNNING FASTER?!”

I reach the marker first and turn back. Nurr’s only a few steps behind me, but she’s wearing the kind of expression that tells me she’s absolutely treating this like a race now. She knows I’m jogging!

…Then again, why did I take the fact that she’s gaining on me to heart?

“You said it wasn’t a competition!” Zoe calls.

Ah, right. Her. Well, Zoe’s sealed her fate tomorrow, then.

Nurr and I cross the line practically neck-and-neck. I’m pretty sure I beat her. Veln and the others take a little longer, but they make it too. He staggers over the line, bends over and plants his hands against his knees.

“...I…”

He sucks in a breath.

“...hate…”

I pat him on the back.

“...Terran exercises.”

“Lunges!” I call out as he straightens.

Veln slowly looks up at me.

“Suffering builds character, bud.”

“I have enough character.”

“No such thing.”

I do feel a little bad for my ego race back there, so I let the Gelderians walk back to the circuit station rather than the leisurely jog (by their standards) I had planned. As we arrive, one guy immediately lies down on the grass.

I stand over him. “Up, soldier!”

“...I-I cannot, sir!”

“You absolutely can.”

“My legs no longer function.”

“Good news! We’ve got an entire month of data proving they do.”

Were General Vasel not here, he might’ve gotten away with it, but all it takes is some more swift admonishment from the man to get the poor fella on his feet. Zoe turns away, shoulders shaking, and I admit, it nearly gets me too.

“Alright, lunges. Like this.” I step forward and lower myself. “Knee almost to the ground, back up, switch legs. Ten on each side.”

“S-Sir?”

It’s the guy who just collapsed onto the ground.

“Yes?”

“How many exercises do we have left?”

I smile. “Two, soldier.”

“Do we get to rest afterwards?” someone else asks.

“One minute rest.”

Relief immediately washes over the twenty Gelderians before me—including their general.

“Then we do it again.”

“...Again?” Vasel asks.

“Three rounds today.”

I distinctly hear someone mutter, “You monster,” and grin at the praise.

“Four rounds next week.” I raise my hand to quell the rebellion. “Quit whining! You’re Gelderia’s elite warriors!”

“Our jackets are over there!” someone shouts.

General Vasel thumps his chest. “THEN EARN THEM!”

What follows is a rousing speech building on his earlier one to that one guy. He turns it into a point of planetary pride, which in the grand scheme of things is awesome… it’s just undercut by the fact that this speech isn’t the prelude to some kind of military operation. He’s trying to get them through the final two exercises of one exercise circuit.

But hey, if it works, it works. While that’s going on, I look back to see Zoe happier than I’ve seen her since we got here.

She laughs. “You’re evil.”

“And you’re not for helping me?”

“Yeah.” She makes a so-so gesture. “But it’s funny.”

The Gelderian pride dies after one exercise. They drag husks of themselves over to the clearing meant for the planks. General Vasel is somehow still holding perfect form, though his entire body is vibrating while the rest have started openly insulting me.

One guy keeps asking how long is left.

“Thirty-four seconds!”

A few seconds pass.

“How long?”

“Twenty-nine!”

“Now?”

“Twenty-eight!”

“How long?”

“Thirty-two!”

“I-Impossible!”

I’m planking too, abs on fire as I twist my neck as far around as it’ll go.

“YOU ASK AGAIN, AND WE’RE STARTING OVER!”

…I’ve never seen such murderous rage on a Gelderian before, but I’m sure that if he so much as breathes too loud, they’ll lynch him. Zoe falls onto her back laughing. Then, once she’s had her fun, she sits up and cups her hands around her mouth.

“YOU’RE ALL DOING GREAT!”

“Except Veln!”

He wheezes, hips sagging. “I AM DOING MY BEST!”

A month ago, he couldn’t hold a plank for ten seconds. Now he’s closing in on forty.

“TIME!”

Everyone collapses. I hold mine for another second before dropping flat onto the grass myself.

“...Fuck.”

Maybe I’ve fallen off a little more than I thought. Zoe walks over, planting both feet on either side of me as she blots out the sun.

“...Having fun?”

I squint up at her face. “...I’m gonna make you eat dirt tomorrow.”

“Totally worth it,” she says with a grin.

I lift my head. “Alright! One minute rest, then round two!”

Nobody moves.

“Guys?”

Silence answers me.

“...Round two?”

Veln slowly raises one hand to slowly give me the middle finger—a gesture he picked up from our communal movie nights, no doubt.

“That’s one extra round for you!” I bellow. He slumps in defeat despite his father’s encouragement and Zoe’s laughter.

…Ah. That’s one person thoroughly broken. Not a bad day’s work for a new drill sergeant by any means!

【—〄—】

Zoe called me a sadist today after I added another plate to the leg press in my mobile Green Lantern Jungle Gym. It was hilarious and entirely worth the mad chase she put me through afterwards, shearing through about half a dozen trees while chasing after me. I sigh happily as I trudge out of the lake, water dripping from my hair and down my back.

My ring clads me in its constant green aura, slowly drying me at the cost of half a percent. Admittedly, I could’ve used the ring to keep myself clean in the first place, but that feels weird. Then again, bathing in a lake when I’m living on a planet where people have figured out fucking teleportation probably counts as weird, too.

…That’s one of the few things about Gelderia I’ve come to genuinely despise. They don’t have showers or baths. Why would they? Every Gelderian has a tech jacket, and apparently those things handle hygiene automatically. I found that out when I asked Veln where the toilet was. Gelderians don’t even take their jackets off to shit. Naturally, I decided not to ask how.

Which leaves me, the one guy on this entire planet without a tech jacket, living like a fucking caveman. My house doesn’t have a shower. It doesn’t have a toilet. The nearest thing resembling either is the lake about two minutes away, where I’ve been bathing for the last month.

…Truly, space travel is wondrous.

I pull my clothes back on, courtesy of my ring, and start towards the house Gelderia’s given me. It’s not much different from the others nearby. It’s a smooth white building with no corners. Everything inside is ridiculously intuitive. It took me like three days to stop accidentally activating hidden buttons. Not exactly my home back on Earth, but it’s grown on me.

I grin to myself as I step inside, still relishing the tortures visited upon Zoe. She thought she was real fucking funny yesterday. But it’s not so funny when you’re the one doing Bulgarian split squats, is it?

Taking a seat, cross-legged on the floor, I reach into my subspace and pull out three green lantern rings, sliding them onto my right hand one by one.

Current Charge: 100%

Current Charge: 65%

Current Charge: 50%

That last ring was freshly made last night. Of course, that leaves my original ring at…

Current Charge 71%

I charged it up a little this morning. It’s not only a nice way to start the day, but it’s quite literally the best use of my time, too. The alternative is burning charge by projecting downloaded shows and movies on my wall for entertainment. Now, I don’t think it’s a waste when unwinding after the last boot camp workout of the week, but saving charge is the name of the game.

Meaning when I’m on my own, I only get two hours of that shit a day. Having three battery rings to drain isn’t gonna change that.

I slide the duplicate rings off my hand, placing them on the floor. The ring feels exactly like mine. For all intents and purposes, they’re identical to mine, too, which is still fucking insane. For the last few weeks, I’ve mostly been treating these things as batteries. It doesn’t solve the underlying problem of charging them, but 400% charge is better than 100%... even if I’m currently at?

I frown. …Ring, how much charge do I have in total?

Total Charge: 286%

“Alright... one more wouldn’t hurt. Might stretch myself thin, but I’ve got time.”

Duplication is weird. Constructs are easy because I’m making something out of willpower. A sword is a sword. A wall is a wall. Even the more complicated shit I’ve made ultimately comes down to knowing what I want and forcing it into existence. This feels more like the ring is doing most of the work and I’m supplying the fuel, which is probably right. I don’t know the first thing about forging a power ring.

Green light gathers around my hand and gathers painfully slowly as it thickens beside the ring on my finger. A glowing circle forms, then dulls into a band as the Oan symbol etches itself into the top. Something solid drops onto the ground with a tiny clink, the light around it dying.

Current Charge: 21%

“...Fuck me.”

I slide the depleted ring of my finger and switch it for the newly minted power ring apart from the rest in front of me.

Current Charge: 50%

…By the time I get back to Earth, all of these rings will be maxed out—I hope anyway. I’ll have to confront the thought I’ve been putting off for a little over a month. Hell, I’ll probably have more rings once I get back to Earth because I’ll need a Green Lantern Corps, that’s for sure. I probably shouldn’t get ahead of myself. Four people doesn’t exactly make an intergalactic police force. The question is who the fuck I’d trust with one.

My friends spring to mind first. A lot of the Guardians just don’t have the power to hang with world-ending threats. People like Throwbolt and Shrinking Rae have their niches, but they’re still mostly human, even if the former’s a little bit superhuman. What about Rex and Kate? Rex is barely superhuman on account of whatever fucked-up shit he was put through to gain those powers.

Kate is just really hard to kill. Rex is a bit of a dick, but he’s not a bad guy either. At least, I don’t think he is. And there’s something deeply amusing about giving the guy who throws exploding pocket change a weapon limited only by his imagination.

And doesn’t Cecil have a friend who is literally unkillable? He’d make a crazy lantern, that’s for sure.

Then there’s the obvious choice in Mark. A Viltrumite with a Green Lantern ring. He’s already stupidly strong and is only going to get stronger. Give him this on top of everything else and…

Well, Earth would be a hell of a lot safer. The next time someone like Battle Beast shows up, Mark wouldn’t have to rely purely on being stronger than them. He’s strong enough to not immediately get his shit kicked in by Viltrumites… at least he will be soon. With a ring, he’d just be that much more important of a card.

What about his dad, though? My stomach twists at the thought, but Nolan with one of these would be fucking terrifying. My first instinct is to immediately go “hell no!” but it’s not like I can stop him when he doesn’t have a ring. What’s the point in sitting here worrying about creating a monster beyond my control? Nolan is already a monster beyond my control, and for that matter, so is Mark.

Giving them rings might be enough to deal with whatever Viltrum sends next. Maybe enough…

I frown, scooping the scattered rings between my crossed legs. I’d better end that train of thought there. A month spent meditating has taught me to recognise when to stop thinking about something, and this specific conundrum is a Future Ozzy problem. For now, these rings are batteries that need filling, and I’m here to do exactly that and nothing else.

I close my eyes, focusing on slow breaths for an untold amount of time. Gelderia doesn’t have any clocks, so I kind of have to rely on my very accurate sense of time—

It has been approximately 1 hour and 13 minutes, Lantern.

…Thank you very much, Ring.

Sighing, I slide the four spare rings onto my hand.

Current Charge: 100%

Current Charge: 79%

Current Charge: 60%

Current Charge: 38%

And lastly, the one I’m wearing:

Current Charge: 67%

“Nice!”

I stand and stretch, feeling several joints in my legs pop back to life.

Just then, there’s a knock at my door.

I walk out of my bedroom and across the house. The door disappears into the wall when I approach, revealing a Gelderian standing outside in some kind of formal uniform. He bows his head.

“Oscar Ward, His Majesty requests your presence posthaste.”

…The king? Has something horrible happened? My mind immediately goes back to the twenty Gelderians I put through the wringer yesterday. Was it too early? I double-checked with my ring, and the AI said it was an okay plan to go ahead with!

Fuck.

“Did…” I steady my voice. “...Did he say why?”

“He wishes to formally recognise your contributions to Gelderia.”

I stare at him while my brain catches up to the words that have just left his mouth.

…Got to admit, I did not see that one coming.

Sorry! I forgot to update the chapters on here for like 10 minutes lmfao. All the setup for this arc is mostly done. I was actually thinking of cashing it in, so to speak and simply writing the moon base assault this chapter. But I thought I hadn't attached you guys enough to the Gelderians and whatnot. And considering the world building that they evolved into atrophy, I thought we could have a funny scene that served to bring everyone closer together.

And some more development on the rings front. No more battery issues? All that's left is for Ozzy to be rewarded for his work, and then some sweet sweet action before heading home! ^^