The brave, the bold and the belly
There's one thing you have to remember. For all her smarts, all her insight, all her maturity and storytelling acumen, LJ is eight-years-old. Which means, at times, elements that are somewhat... grotesque... will creep into her tales. Events will be a little more Super Hero Squad Show than Lee/Kirby Avengers, if you follow my meaning.
So it was with her most recent adventure. I was more than a little surprised when the plot twist was explained to me but, I'll admit, laughed myself silly when it came to pass. I've a feeling you'll all enjoy it, too (you're an open-minded lot). And anyway: this latest installment continues LJ's brilliant take on the Kyle Rayner/Wally West rivalry/friendship, so there's plenty to love.
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The air was crisp, the weather was fine and the view from atop the hill was spectacular. Kyle Rayner took a deep breath, paused, and then added another delicate brush-stroke to his painting. It was a rare day off for the Green Lantern of Sector 2814 and he was determined to enjoy it by indulging in his true passion: art.
Unfortunately, his companion for the day was not so easily occupied.
“You done yet?” Wally West, aka the Flash, asked as he zipped up to Kyle’s side. “Because, you know, we’ve been here for three hours and most normal people would be done by now.” He held up a stack of paper. “I’ve done, like, twelve paintings in the time it’s taken you to dab a little paint on that canvas and they’re awesome, so surely you’re finished and we can go do something else. Right?”
Kyle suppressed a sigh. “You can go if you like, Wally. I’m enjoying myself.”
“Oh, no way,” Wally exclaimed, shaking his head vigorously. “No way am I going anywhere! Wonder Woman told us we had to stick together today to ‘better our team work’, and I’m not going to get my scarlet-and-gold butt kicked for being the one who gave up!”
When Kyle didn’t respond, he sulked and kicked at the lush green turf. “Come on, man, give me something to do. Hey - why don’t you summon your power battery! I’m a science guy and I’d love to analyse that thing! I can sit here and muck around with it and you’d have peace and quiet for your fingerpainting!”
Kyle turned and looked at his Justice League teammate. “My power battery isn’t a toy, Wally,” he said. “Without it, my ring’s pretty much useless. You’d have to be really careful and promise to look after it.”
“I will, I will,” Wally replied eagerly, nodding so fast his head became a blur of red hair and freckes.
“Don’t make me regret this,” Kyle warned. He concentrated and, in a flash of emerald energy, his power battery appeared on the grass. With a whoop of delight, Wally scooped up the alien technology and dashed a short distance away. He sat cross-legged in front of the battery, ooh-ing and aah-ing appreciatively. Kyle sighed, rolled his eyes and returned to his canvas.
So engrossed in their hobbies were the off-duty heroes that neither noticed the dangers that crept toward them.
Clock King’s plan was, as always, exquisitely timed and flawlessly executed. It took but one second for his accomplice, Captain Cold, to freeze Wally solid with a blast from his cryo-gun. A few seconds later, Cold and Clock King had the power battery in their evil hands and stole away, unseen.
Concerned what the peace and quiet might mean for his power battery, Kyle turned around… and saw his flash-frozen team mate! He took to the air - transforming his clothes into his Green Lantern costume as he flew - and thawed Wally out with an enormous green hair dryer. As he recounted how he’d been suckered, the speedster’s teeth were chattering so fast that they created a small sonic boom.
“I can’t believe this,” GL cried over the din, “Wally, I told you to take care of my battery! My ring doesn’t have much power because it was due a recharge soon. Now I have to get it back and battle a bunch of villains when I’m running on fumes!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Wally repeated as he hurriedly donned his Flash costume. “But don’t worry, we’ll get it back lightning-fast! And I have a fantastic way for you to search without using up any power!”
Moments later, an eager-to-please Flash zoomed across the hills with a very disgruntled GL clinging to his back. “Isn’t this great?” he beamed.
GL arched an eyebrow and stifled his response.
Meanwhile, in a cave a short distance from GL’s canvas, the villains met with their conspirators. The Leader greeted them warmly; MODOK looked on jealously. Sportsmaster, the highly-skilled martial artist, said nothing.
“Success,” Clock King laughed. “They didn’t know what hit them.”
“Excellent work,” Leader replied. He took the power battery and eyed it greedily. “The next phase of Amora’s masterplan relies upon this device. I’d be lying, though, if I denied my excitement truly came from the possibilities the power battery presents. Its capabilities, coupled with my superior gamma-irradiated intellect, will make a truly devastating combination. At long last, I will be more than a match for heavily-muscled, tiny-brained ‘heroes’ like the Hulk!”
He pushed the top of his elongated head into the battery’s base and wore the Oan artefact like a bizarre hat. “It’s wonderous,” he hissed malevolently. By channelling his brain power through the battery, Leader willed a wormhole - a temporary short-cut through time and space - into existence.
Before the villains could move, two very angry heroes arrived at the mouth of the cave. “Not so sneaky this time, are you?” Flash growled, descending upon his foes with a flurry of super-fast punches and kicks. Green Lantern made a beeline for Leader - but was so focused on regaining his battery that he failed to see Sportsmaster. The assassin caught him off-guard and sent him flying.
“The wormhole will take us where we need to go,” Leader yelled to his men. “Hurry through, all of you!” As the villains dashed for the portal, Leader used the battery to erect a glowing green barrier between them and Flash. The speedster tried and failed to knock it down; the villains vanished into the dimensional rift… taking the battery with them.
“Oh boy,” Flash moaned. He grabbed his unconscious partner and slung him over one shoulder. “C’mon, Kyle, we’ve got a rapidly-closing rift in the fabric of time and space to catch!” Drawing on the power of the speed force, Flash ran vertically up the green wall and leaped into the wormhole just as it closed.
Hundreds of thousands of light-years from Earth, an immense and armoured creature prepared itself for a feast. Galactus, Devourer of Worlds, was ravenously hungry. To his ancient eyes, the unpopulated planet on which he stood looked just like an “all-you-can-eat” buffet. He tucked in with gusto, gorging himself like a greedy big. Thus was he facing down when a dimensional portal opened above him and dropped Leader, MODOK, Sportsmaster, Clock King and Captain Cold smack-bang onto the top of his head!
The element of surprise only boosted the villains’ efficiency. Clock King’s plan worked, as always, like a dream: he and the others shoved Galactus’ head down and immobilised the titan’s limbs while Leader directed a beam of pure battery energy at his stomach. MODOK hovered over Galactus’ mouth, a huge plastic baggie in his hands, as the behemoth’s delicate gourmet stomach bubbled, churned and gurgled. Then, with a massive belch, Galactus let forth a geyser of world-devouring vomit! The nauseating torrent engulfed MODOK and propelled him into orbit. His screams of terror could be heard as he spiralled out of sight. The villains, not wanting to push their luck, immediately released Galactus and fled in pursuit of their hapless comrade.
“Who dares?” Galactus roared as he righted himself. Unfortunately, at that moment, the wormhole yawned wide once more and dumped Green Lantern and Flash at the angry giant’s feet. “Humans?” he bellowed. “Filthy, insignificant, pitiful humans? Know that by daring to interrupt Galactus’ buffet, foolish ones, you have forfeited your lives!”
Flash yelped as sizzling hot eye-beams lanced into the ground around him. GL had no choice but to use some of his dwindling energy to create a force field. “Please, mighty Galactus, stop,” he cried. “I am Kyle Rayner, Green Lantern of Sector 2814, and I am not your enemy! My dopey friend and I have come in search of those who have spoiled your appetite!”
Galactus paused. “A Green Lantern? Your kind have been allies to Galactus for several years now. Very well, Kyle Rayner: Galactus will listen. But speak quickly and well, lest your answers displease me and you be annihilated.”
Very quickly, Green Lantern recounted what had happened on Earth and how Flash had lost his power battery (“Your companion appears to have little regard for the property of others,” Galactus sniffed, making Flash wince). The giant nodded, unsurprised the “former servants of Doctor Doom” would seek to ambush him. “My only question is why,” he intoned. “Of what benefit would the contents of my stomach be to them?”
“Gross as that is,” Flash grimaced, “I suggest we stop thinking about it and go find out.” He offered his back to GL. “Climb on, buddy!”
“I’ll pass, thanks,” GL replied, waving him off. “My ring may be low on power, but I’d rather walk than ride the West Express ever again!”
“Allow me, Green Lantern,” Galactus said. He held up his hand and, with a crackle of Kirby-dots, manifested a ball of cosmic power. The potent energy source drifted slowly down and enveloped Kyle, turning the skin beneath his emerald uniform to purest silver. A surfboard formed under his feet and, with a cry of delight, Kyle rose into the air and began to soar. “This is but a temporary loan,” Galactus said, battling a wry smile borne of the youth’s enthusiasm, “but the Power Cosmic will serve you well until we reclaim your battery and redress your friend’s incompetence.”
“Hey!” Flash started to protest, but then thought better of it.
In an asteroid belt several light-years away, Captain Cold and Sportsmaster fished a very disgruntled MODOK out of a puddle of planetary puke. “This is intolerable,” the big-headed villain seethed. “I don’t see why Amora decided I should be the one holding the barf-bag! Doom would never have asked something so low, so menial, so disgusting of me!”
“Doom is gone,” Leader reminded him, “and your task is not yet over. The light of the power battery worked exactly as I’d hypothesised - it caused Galactus to vomit up the contents of his enormous stomach. It now falls to you, MODOK, to complete our mission by sifting this… mess… for the remains of the Ring of Gavache. That moon rock gemstone is essential to Amora’s scheme!”
MODOK crossed his pudgy arms. “I won’t do it,” he pouted. “If Amora wants the rock, she can come get it herself!”
Sportsmaster glowered and hefted one of his explosive basketballs.
“OkayfineI’lldoitoutofmyway!” MODOK yelped, diving head-first back into the slop. Sufficiently motivated, it took the organic supercomputer no time at all to locate what was left of the Ring of Gavache. “Got it,” he grinned, popping the moon rock remnants into the barf bag. “Can we go home and shower now?”
“You don’t need a shower,” Flash said from on-high. “You need your clocks cleaned!”
MODOK cowered behind Sportsmaster as the heroes attacked. At first, the villains had the upper hand. GL had yet to master his borrowed powers and was battered by Cold and Clock King. Flash, meanwhile, struggled to land a blow on Sportsmaster. His super-speed was of little use against an enemy who made his living dodging high-velocity projectiles. Sportsmaster simply side-stepped every one of Flash’s attacks, and then slapped the speedster upside the head. Galactus encountered problems of his own; Leader’s muscular mind made great use of the stolen power battery, using it to push the planet-eater away with beams of emerald energy.
Fortunately, things turned around. GL used his new surfboard to absorb Cold’s freeze-blasts and redirect them at Clock King. Flash ran circles around Sportsmaster to create a vacuum (“man who cannot breathe, cannot fight!”). And Galactus surged forward, pushing the emerald energy to one-side as he stormed toward Leader.
“I don’t understand,” the villain wailed. “How can this be? My mind is linked to the most powerful weapon in the universe - you can’t resist me!”
Kyle surfed overhead. “The mind’s only one part of being a Green Lantern, jerk,” he called. “The other part’s will and, if we know anything from battling you all those times, it’s that you have absolutely no willpower at all!”
With a thunderous crack, Galactus punched the power battery off the top of Leader’s head. It bounced and rolled away… just as Leader did. MODOK watched his allies fall, tucked the barf bag under one arm and giggled. They’d left him to swim in vomit, so he would leave them to the mercies of the heroes! He activated his rocket sled and took off into space, bound for Earth and the rapturous welcome he deserved for recovering the Ring of Gavache.
GL and Galactus were too busy gathering up the other villains to give chase. “Damn,” Kyle said. “Now we’ve got no idea why they wanted your vomit so badly.”
Flash had other priorities, too - he raced to the discarded power battery, picked it up and zoomed it straight back to Kyle. “Here it is, safe and sound,” he beamed, the very portrait of innocence. “I told you I’d look after it for you!”
“Oh gee, thanks,” Kyle replied sardonically.
“You don’t have to take it back,” Galactus said thoughtfully. “You acquitted yourself nobly with the Power Cosmic. Why not stay here in outer space, with me, and serve as my herald? With you and the Silver Surfer at my side, I’d never go hungry again.”
“It’s a most gracious offer, mighty Galactus,” Kyle said deferentially, disguising his absolute lack of interest in the job, “but I’ve sworn an oath to the Green Lantern Corps and wouldn’t feel right about abandoning it.”
Galactus nodded. “A most noble position; I approve.”
“Sorry to interrupt the love-fest,” Flash sneered, “but there was another guy involved in this battle, you know! The one who recovered the power battery and all!”
“The same one who lost it?” Galactus asked, arching one huge eyebrow.
“Uh… so, anything I can do to make amends?” Flash asked brightly.
“I could go for some dinner,” Kyle grinned, winking at Galactus.
“Yes, speedy one, get cooking,” Galactus thundered. “Twenty-four dozen moon rock dumplings, quick as you can!”
Flash sighed deeply. “And to think I complained about being bored…”
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Greet the Fire as Your Friend,
SF
So it was with her most recent adventure. I was more than a little surprised when the plot twist was explained to me but, I'll admit, laughed myself silly when it came to pass. I've a feeling you'll all enjoy it, too (you're an open-minded lot). And anyway: this latest installment continues LJ's brilliant take on the Kyle Rayner/Wally West rivalry/friendship, so there's plenty to love.
-----
The air was crisp, the weather was fine and the view from atop the hill was spectacular. Kyle Rayner took a deep breath, paused, and then added another delicate brush-stroke to his painting. It was a rare day off for the Green Lantern of Sector 2814 and he was determined to enjoy it by indulging in his true passion: art.
Unfortunately, his companion for the day was not so easily occupied.
“You done yet?” Wally West, aka the Flash, asked as he zipped up to Kyle’s side. “Because, you know, we’ve been here for three hours and most normal people would be done by now.” He held up a stack of paper. “I’ve done, like, twelve paintings in the time it’s taken you to dab a little paint on that canvas and they’re awesome, so surely you’re finished and we can go do something else. Right?”
Kyle suppressed a sigh. “You can go if you like, Wally. I’m enjoying myself.”
“Oh, no way,” Wally exclaimed, shaking his head vigorously. “No way am I going anywhere! Wonder Woman told us we had to stick together today to ‘better our team work’, and I’m not going to get my scarlet-and-gold butt kicked for being the one who gave up!”
When Kyle didn’t respond, he sulked and kicked at the lush green turf. “Come on, man, give me something to do. Hey - why don’t you summon your power battery! I’m a science guy and I’d love to analyse that thing! I can sit here and muck around with it and you’d have peace and quiet for your fingerpainting!”
Kyle turned and looked at his Justice League teammate. “My power battery isn’t a toy, Wally,” he said. “Without it, my ring’s pretty much useless. You’d have to be really careful and promise to look after it.”
“I will, I will,” Wally replied eagerly, nodding so fast his head became a blur of red hair and freckes.
“Don’t make me regret this,” Kyle warned. He concentrated and, in a flash of emerald energy, his power battery appeared on the grass. With a whoop of delight, Wally scooped up the alien technology and dashed a short distance away. He sat cross-legged in front of the battery, ooh-ing and aah-ing appreciatively. Kyle sighed, rolled his eyes and returned to his canvas.
So engrossed in their hobbies were the off-duty heroes that neither noticed the dangers that crept toward them.
Clock King’s plan was, as always, exquisitely timed and flawlessly executed. It took but one second for his accomplice, Captain Cold, to freeze Wally solid with a blast from his cryo-gun. A few seconds later, Cold and Clock King had the power battery in their evil hands and stole away, unseen.
Concerned what the peace and quiet might mean for his power battery, Kyle turned around… and saw his flash-frozen team mate! He took to the air - transforming his clothes into his Green Lantern costume as he flew - and thawed Wally out with an enormous green hair dryer. As he recounted how he’d been suckered, the speedster’s teeth were chattering so fast that they created a small sonic boom.
“I can’t believe this,” GL cried over the din, “Wally, I told you to take care of my battery! My ring doesn’t have much power because it was due a recharge soon. Now I have to get it back and battle a bunch of villains when I’m running on fumes!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Wally repeated as he hurriedly donned his Flash costume. “But don’t worry, we’ll get it back lightning-fast! And I have a fantastic way for you to search without using up any power!”
Moments later, an eager-to-please Flash zoomed across the hills with a very disgruntled GL clinging to his back. “Isn’t this great?” he beamed.
GL arched an eyebrow and stifled his response.
Meanwhile, in a cave a short distance from GL’s canvas, the villains met with their conspirators. The Leader greeted them warmly; MODOK looked on jealously. Sportsmaster, the highly-skilled martial artist, said nothing.
“Success,” Clock King laughed. “They didn’t know what hit them.”
“Excellent work,” Leader replied. He took the power battery and eyed it greedily. “The next phase of Amora’s masterplan relies upon this device. I’d be lying, though, if I denied my excitement truly came from the possibilities the power battery presents. Its capabilities, coupled with my superior gamma-irradiated intellect, will make a truly devastating combination. At long last, I will be more than a match for heavily-muscled, tiny-brained ‘heroes’ like the Hulk!”
He pushed the top of his elongated head into the battery’s base and wore the Oan artefact like a bizarre hat. “It’s wonderous,” he hissed malevolently. By channelling his brain power through the battery, Leader willed a wormhole - a temporary short-cut through time and space - into existence.
Before the villains could move, two very angry heroes arrived at the mouth of the cave. “Not so sneaky this time, are you?” Flash growled, descending upon his foes with a flurry of super-fast punches and kicks. Green Lantern made a beeline for Leader - but was so focused on regaining his battery that he failed to see Sportsmaster. The assassin caught him off-guard and sent him flying.
“The wormhole will take us where we need to go,” Leader yelled to his men. “Hurry through, all of you!” As the villains dashed for the portal, Leader used the battery to erect a glowing green barrier between them and Flash. The speedster tried and failed to knock it down; the villains vanished into the dimensional rift… taking the battery with them.
“Oh boy,” Flash moaned. He grabbed his unconscious partner and slung him over one shoulder. “C’mon, Kyle, we’ve got a rapidly-closing rift in the fabric of time and space to catch!” Drawing on the power of the speed force, Flash ran vertically up the green wall and leaped into the wormhole just as it closed.
Hundreds of thousands of light-years from Earth, an immense and armoured creature prepared itself for a feast. Galactus, Devourer of Worlds, was ravenously hungry. To his ancient eyes, the unpopulated planet on which he stood looked just like an “all-you-can-eat” buffet. He tucked in with gusto, gorging himself like a greedy big. Thus was he facing down when a dimensional portal opened above him and dropped Leader, MODOK, Sportsmaster, Clock King and Captain Cold smack-bang onto the top of his head!
The element of surprise only boosted the villains’ efficiency. Clock King’s plan worked, as always, like a dream: he and the others shoved Galactus’ head down and immobilised the titan’s limbs while Leader directed a beam of pure battery energy at his stomach. MODOK hovered over Galactus’ mouth, a huge plastic baggie in his hands, as the behemoth’s delicate gourmet stomach bubbled, churned and gurgled. Then, with a massive belch, Galactus let forth a geyser of world-devouring vomit! The nauseating torrent engulfed MODOK and propelled him into orbit. His screams of terror could be heard as he spiralled out of sight. The villains, not wanting to push their luck, immediately released Galactus and fled in pursuit of their hapless comrade.
“Who dares?” Galactus roared as he righted himself. Unfortunately, at that moment, the wormhole yawned wide once more and dumped Green Lantern and Flash at the angry giant’s feet. “Humans?” he bellowed. “Filthy, insignificant, pitiful humans? Know that by daring to interrupt Galactus’ buffet, foolish ones, you have forfeited your lives!”
Flash yelped as sizzling hot eye-beams lanced into the ground around him. GL had no choice but to use some of his dwindling energy to create a force field. “Please, mighty Galactus, stop,” he cried. “I am Kyle Rayner, Green Lantern of Sector 2814, and I am not your enemy! My dopey friend and I have come in search of those who have spoiled your appetite!”
Galactus paused. “A Green Lantern? Your kind have been allies to Galactus for several years now. Very well, Kyle Rayner: Galactus will listen. But speak quickly and well, lest your answers displease me and you be annihilated.”
Very quickly, Green Lantern recounted what had happened on Earth and how Flash had lost his power battery (“Your companion appears to have little regard for the property of others,” Galactus sniffed, making Flash wince). The giant nodded, unsurprised the “former servants of Doctor Doom” would seek to ambush him. “My only question is why,” he intoned. “Of what benefit would the contents of my stomach be to them?”
“Gross as that is,” Flash grimaced, “I suggest we stop thinking about it and go find out.” He offered his back to GL. “Climb on, buddy!”
“I’ll pass, thanks,” GL replied, waving him off. “My ring may be low on power, but I’d rather walk than ride the West Express ever again!”
“Allow me, Green Lantern,” Galactus said. He held up his hand and, with a crackle of Kirby-dots, manifested a ball of cosmic power. The potent energy source drifted slowly down and enveloped Kyle, turning the skin beneath his emerald uniform to purest silver. A surfboard formed under his feet and, with a cry of delight, Kyle rose into the air and began to soar. “This is but a temporary loan,” Galactus said, battling a wry smile borne of the youth’s enthusiasm, “but the Power Cosmic will serve you well until we reclaim your battery and redress your friend’s incompetence.”
“Hey!” Flash started to protest, but then thought better of it.
In an asteroid belt several light-years away, Captain Cold and Sportsmaster fished a very disgruntled MODOK out of a puddle of planetary puke. “This is intolerable,” the big-headed villain seethed. “I don’t see why Amora decided I should be the one holding the barf-bag! Doom would never have asked something so low, so menial, so disgusting of me!”
“Doom is gone,” Leader reminded him, “and your task is not yet over. The light of the power battery worked exactly as I’d hypothesised - it caused Galactus to vomit up the contents of his enormous stomach. It now falls to you, MODOK, to complete our mission by sifting this… mess… for the remains of the Ring of Gavache. That moon rock gemstone is essential to Amora’s scheme!”
MODOK crossed his pudgy arms. “I won’t do it,” he pouted. “If Amora wants the rock, she can come get it herself!”
Sportsmaster glowered and hefted one of his explosive basketballs.
“OkayfineI’lldoitoutofmyway!” MODOK yelped, diving head-first back into the slop. Sufficiently motivated, it took the organic supercomputer no time at all to locate what was left of the Ring of Gavache. “Got it,” he grinned, popping the moon rock remnants into the barf bag. “Can we go home and shower now?”
“You don’t need a shower,” Flash said from on-high. “You need your clocks cleaned!”
MODOK cowered behind Sportsmaster as the heroes attacked. At first, the villains had the upper hand. GL had yet to master his borrowed powers and was battered by Cold and Clock King. Flash, meanwhile, struggled to land a blow on Sportsmaster. His super-speed was of little use against an enemy who made his living dodging high-velocity projectiles. Sportsmaster simply side-stepped every one of Flash’s attacks, and then slapped the speedster upside the head. Galactus encountered problems of his own; Leader’s muscular mind made great use of the stolen power battery, using it to push the planet-eater away with beams of emerald energy.
Fortunately, things turned around. GL used his new surfboard to absorb Cold’s freeze-blasts and redirect them at Clock King. Flash ran circles around Sportsmaster to create a vacuum (“man who cannot breathe, cannot fight!”). And Galactus surged forward, pushing the emerald energy to one-side as he stormed toward Leader.
“I don’t understand,” the villain wailed. “How can this be? My mind is linked to the most powerful weapon in the universe - you can’t resist me!”
Kyle surfed overhead. “The mind’s only one part of being a Green Lantern, jerk,” he called. “The other part’s will and, if we know anything from battling you all those times, it’s that you have absolutely no willpower at all!”
With a thunderous crack, Galactus punched the power battery off the top of Leader’s head. It bounced and rolled away… just as Leader did. MODOK watched his allies fall, tucked the barf bag under one arm and giggled. They’d left him to swim in vomit, so he would leave them to the mercies of the heroes! He activated his rocket sled and took off into space, bound for Earth and the rapturous welcome he deserved for recovering the Ring of Gavache.
GL and Galactus were too busy gathering up the other villains to give chase. “Damn,” Kyle said. “Now we’ve got no idea why they wanted your vomit so badly.”
Flash had other priorities, too - he raced to the discarded power battery, picked it up and zoomed it straight back to Kyle. “Here it is, safe and sound,” he beamed, the very portrait of innocence. “I told you I’d look after it for you!”
“Oh gee, thanks,” Kyle replied sardonically.
“You don’t have to take it back,” Galactus said thoughtfully. “You acquitted yourself nobly with the Power Cosmic. Why not stay here in outer space, with me, and serve as my herald? With you and the Silver Surfer at my side, I’d never go hungry again.”
“It’s a most gracious offer, mighty Galactus,” Kyle said deferentially, disguising his absolute lack of interest in the job, “but I’ve sworn an oath to the Green Lantern Corps and wouldn’t feel right about abandoning it.”
Galactus nodded. “A most noble position; I approve.”
“Sorry to interrupt the love-fest,” Flash sneered, “but there was another guy involved in this battle, you know! The one who recovered the power battery and all!”
“The same one who lost it?” Galactus asked, arching one huge eyebrow.
“Uh… so, anything I can do to make amends?” Flash asked brightly.
“I could go for some dinner,” Kyle grinned, winking at Galactus.
“Yes, speedy one, get cooking,” Galactus thundered. “Twenty-four dozen moon rock dumplings, quick as you can!”
Flash sighed deeply. “And to think I complained about being bored…”
-----
Greet the Fire as Your Friend,
SF