Jack T. Chance #274

Aeolla central city

Inside a fancy restaurant

"I was really hesitant to try this thing, but I'm glad you talked me into it..." I said as I cut a piece of the strange colorful meat and put it in my mouth, chewing slowly and enhoying the bizzare flavor.

If I had to describe the dish's appearance, appetizing would be the last word I'd use, with its purple color and veiny exterior. And if you ask about the taste, I'll say good and leave it at that.

I don't think there are any English words to describe it since it tasted like nothing I've ever had.

"The drink isn't half bad either..." I added as I took a sip from the rainbow-colored liquid, which was sweet at first, sour, then bitter, followed by all sorts of strange but refreshing aftertastes.

It supposedly had intoxicating properties like alcohol, but it's not getting past my metabolism unless I went out of my way to let it, which I won't since I prefer to stay sober.

"Would you say it made fighting the creepy alien crawlies, as you call them, worth it...?" Kara said with a chuckle and turned to me as she enjoyed her meal.

"I wouldn't go that far. I really hate spiders, you know...?" I jokingly said with a shrug. "But we got a decent paycheck. I'm sure it'll be worth it once we spend every last penny of it..." I concluded.

"Oh, we'll get our money's worth. Don't you worry about that..."

...

Aeolla central city

The Champion's Quarters

A humanoid alien with rough brown skin in a strange, mechanical white and black suit sat on a throne, looking down at his lab, seemingly deep in thought.

He slowly raised his head as the wall opened before him, and a similar-looking alien in a soldier outfit walked through, prompting bowing before him. "Great champion, I have news..." The newcomer reverently said with his head down, to which the champion nodded, gesturing for him to speak.

"Kara Zor-El, the Kryptonian you instructed our warriors to find, appeared in Aeolla several hours ago..." The soldier said. "She arrived alongside an unknown Earthling with an undetermined power level..." He explained, causing the champion's expression to turn sharp.

"They have applied for an intelligence test for the earthling, completed a hunting commission, and are now touring the city..." The soldier said as he raised his head to look at the champion. "What are your orders, champion...?" The soldier asked, going quiet as he waited for an answer.

"Leave Kara Zor-El, and her companion be for now, but keep an eye on them, and be ready to act at my say so," The champion said, a strange glint flashing in his eyes.

"Now leave..." The champion concluded as he resumed a thoughtful pose without bothering to see the Aeollan soldier out. "Our last confrontation did not end pleasantly, but fate brings you to me once more," He muttered, a viscous smile tugging at his lips.

"But now I have a new body capable of walking the very son, and an army of powerful warriors at my beck and call..."

...

Aeolla central city

Somewhere in the sewers

"If I've learned one thing after living in Garnet, which is called planet hellhole for a reason..." Said a blue-skinned, humanoid alien in a tattered red coat as he stood over a defeated Aeollan soldier.

"It's to never cover your tracks... lead the enemy to an ambush instead..." He calmly added as he retrieved a crude firearm behind his back and promptly finished the soldier.

The blue-skinned alien's name was Jack T. Chance, and he, like many others on Aeolla, was a mercenary here to seek fortune, or so one would think after noting his rugged appearance.

However, that couldn't be further from the truth. Jack was, in fact, a Green Lantern, and even among the Green Lantern Corps, he was an anomaly, an exception to many of the rigid rules and regulations the Oans forced on their agents.

Not only did he refuse to wear the green corps iconic outfit, but he also refused to abide by the Oans' no-killing rule, resorting to more direct and brutal methods to solve most of his problems.

Yet, the Oans had no choice but to tolerate Jack and let him have his way as he excelled at his job, which was keeping the peace in his homeworld, Garnet, or as the locals fondly called it, Planet Hellhole.

Jack had an arrangement with the Oans where he may do as he pleased inside Garnet, granted that the Planet Garnet native continued to redeem his home world and that his ring would cease to function once he stepped outside its confines.

He was more than content to stay in his homeworld, doing what he did best, hunting and killing bad guys with his trusty sidearm, as the Oans refused to remove the lethal force restriction on his ring despite their arrangements.

But Jack's benevolent, mega-brained overlords, as he would sarcastically call them behind their backs, had other plans. They had learned of a sentient weapon from Krypton that had infiltrated Aeolla and taken control of their leader, causing them to send many Green Lanterns to investigate, only for their agents to disappear alongside their rings.

Eventually, they realized they needed someone else for the job, someone with a different perspective, and that man happened to be none other than Jack T. Chance.

The Oans promised him to increase his jurisdiction area in exchange for doing the job. Jack happily agreed as he immediately traveled to Aeolla, disguising himself as one of the many mercenaries flooding the planet.

However, the Aeollans were far more competent and alert than he gave them credit for, as they almost caught him when he tried to snuck into one of the central city's databanks.

Still, he managed to flee unscathed, leading his pursuers into one ambush after the other to cull their numbers. Jack even learned that two people of interest had arrived on the planet recently from the stolen data he managed to salvage, which made it all worth it.

Surprisingly Jack wasn't interested in Kara Zor-El but in the young man accompanying her instead. The Kryptonian blonde had built up quite the reputation during her days as a red lantern, and Jack was fully aware of how capable she was.

However, Jack didn't wish to deal with her as she adhered to the same rigid morals and ideals the Oans preached, and he only knew one way of doing things, extreme violence, and underhanded tactics.

The young man was different, Jack knew it, and it wasn't thanks to a hunch or anything so frivolous. He had heard about Grayson from his friend, Guy Gardner, a Green Lantern from Earth.

Guy told Jack about how the young man refused Hall Jordan's invitation to join the green corps, and that simple fact ignited Jack's curiosity, leading him to ask Hall and learn about Grayson's origins, which he found were similar to his own.

"What to do..." Jack muttered to no one in particular as he put away his sidearm and walked away, seemingly deep in thought. "If that kid is anything like me, he wouldn't budge unless there's something in it for him..." He went on, rubbing his chin.

"Maybe that dumb old box would do..."

...

Aeolla Central City

The shopping district

"You do realize we have a tail...?" I remarked, chucking several blue bean-like candies from the bag straight into my mouth as I followed behind Kara, who seemed too busy around for more shops to waste our money like a hawk searching for its next meal.

"And do you really need this much clothes...?" I said, frowning as I looked down at the bag I held in my other hand, overflowing with alien clothes and accessories.

"I know. These guys have been following us since we left the restaurant, but it's just protocol," Kara said with a shrug. "The commission we finished wasn't an easy one," She added as she spotted her next shop, causing her to smile as she walked towards it.

"Those giant spiders eat the usual mercenaries and Aeollans for lunch. These guys are probably just nervous," Kara concluded as she walked into the shop and immediately began browsing its wares and chatting with the clerics.

"If you say so..." I said despite believing otherwise, as I stopped at the door to wait for Kara and keep an eye out.

The more I stayed here and saw of the planet and the city's seemingly utopic shell, the more I believed that our trip wouldn't end as peacefuly as planned, but that's no reason to ruin my fun or that of Kara by acting like the paranoid asshole that I was.

I've learned to trust my paranoia as it had already saved my life on more than one occasion, and that didn't change, nor will it ever. But I came here to have fun. And that's what I intended to do.

I'll deal with whatever comes when it comes.

...

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