*clapclapclap*

When I get my finale done, it'll have to be a DVD extra, now that we've hit the credits. Hope to get it finished tonight, although I may have to forego some planned Photoshop work to do so.

When this series first started, I was hoping Thanos could be a White Lantern. And Jean with her perpetual cycle of dying and rising again is really suited for it. In fact virtually everyone on that list is someone I wish I played more and was bummed were gone.

Guy and Thanos: the next awkward buddy cop movie.

Selfishly, SUPER psyched to see Magneto's story is continuing. I wasn't ready to give up playing him yet.

Yeah I suspect I'll need to finally track down one of these:

Question!

Have we established the history of Xanshi? Does it still exist? Or is it gone as part of John Stewart's eternal shame and Fatality's character?

Xanshi I believe still exists--I can't remember which empire had possession of it most recently, but I know it started off as part of the Shi'ar / Spartax Empire.

We really didn't do much with John or Fatality during this arc. I wish I'd played both of them more, because the WOL John and Fatality pieces are pretty fantastic and John's always a welcome sight.

Fatality as "The Spear of the Star Sapphires" is pretty cool. Maybe we'll save the Xanshi disaster for the next time we're out in space.

Calling her the Spear of the Star Sapphires was kind of a spur of the moment thing, but it works as an honorary title as their kind of chief butt-kicker, doesn't it?

I'm going to miss our space adventures, but man my mind is ping-ponging around about the next arc... there's like 40 characters I'd love the chance to RP as for the next story.

xanshi is part of the shi'ar/spartax empire. it's the central hub of my gamma quadrant holdings.

take a right at korbin, you can't miss it


it was never 'asploded. it was conquered by the clockmaker during the pre-campaign backstory and a few lengthy battles required to reacquire it. first, under glc occupation, then they transferred custody back to me. it was in a sweet ploy to keep the sinestro corps off their backs back when j'son and sinestro had a non-aggression pact going and was the crucial first hub of the logistical supply linking the peacemaker coalition (the initial name for the glc/nova alliance) and the shi'ar/spartax

I swear I'll pay attention enough to know the fates of planets at some point. I did tweak the last part of the story to reflect accurate Korbin existence.

I liked my clockmaker and the worlds he wiped out and repopulated with robots. I thought it was a clever way to beat Galactus and preserve the culture of each planet. That makes my top 5 cool things I thought of for the HRS list.

I really liked the logic behind it. He was going to win, too, but at the cost of so much.

I think my favorite moment was Ebony Maw trying to use, as old Ben Kenobi would say, the truth from a certain point of view to try to shame the alliance into letting New Titan live. I had a lot of fun having Thanos' daughters roaming the galaxy in his name though.

Random favorite thing: Using Spock as a member of the Nova Corps. I laughed every time he made a move that battle.

Don't leave us in suspense, what's the rest of the list?
Also, reserving speed demon, juggernaut and captain Britain for TNG!
Hey, Spock fits in The Next Generation!
Also, status on the flash???

The Flash has been weirdly absent, I think. I know I used him as a Nova in the first chapter of this arc, but I don't think he's officially anywhere.

I'm sure Mikkisaur will have an updated roster with the next chapter, but this was where things stood for who was where when we left Earth:

CHAOS REIGNS

---


"HELP NEEDED! *KIKKKKKK* HELPING NEEDED! FURIES!"

Miek screams to all who can hear as he scampers into the citadel, which is all the Sakaarians need to hear to brace themselves for defense. Steppenwolf is trying to reclaim what was once Darkseid's?

Caeira answers that call for help - one that's hard not to hear - and she has a special flame behind her eyes at that warning. She was forced to fight for Granny Goodness for too long, and she despised her cohorts among her crew. Charging to meet the threat as Miek scampers past her, she finds an unfamiliar foe with fiery red skin, sending Sakaarans flying everywhere with a massive sword she can identify as one forged on Apokolips. Perhaps Granny's replacement for Caiera, sent to retrieve or kill the wayward one. Granny will be quite disappointed, as Caeira hardens her will as well as her skin with her Oldstrong power.

The red woman is near-crazed with the rush of battle, not uncommon among Furies, and her charge is wild, and Caeira quickly knocks the sword from her hands with her staff. Denied. A fierce fist is deflected with the staff once again. Denied. A swirl and an elbow, blocked and returned with a knee to the back, sending her staggering back. Denied. The craze is tempered with frustration now, scrambling for her sword, only to be blocked by the bladed end of Caeira's staff. Denied. She tries a leg sweep she saw in a movie, not remembering that the leg sweep didn't work in that movie, and it is sidestepped with ease and answered with a kick to the stomach. Denied.

Whistling like a meteor is heard overhead, and a crater is formed by the landing of the Worldbreaker not far behind Caeira. "Who is this?" The sight of the green goliath stirs a bright flare of yellow in the eyes of the intruder, as if paralyzed by a hundred conflicting thoughts at once. She wants to punch him. She wants to kiss him. She wants to pummel him. She wants to run away with him. She wants to talk to him. She wants to reclaim him. She really wants to punch him a lot because he's wearing that freaking green monster face that was the source of so many problems and terrors and frustrations without end - a green monster face that he always treated like a burden and solicited her pity when it was actually the greatest feeling possible and she feels so damn MANIPULATED and she REALLY WANTS TO PUNCH HIM A LOT.

"No one of any consequence, beloved," comes Caeira's response, and those particular words cause the intruder to want nothing more than to beat the hell out of everyone on this planet. She slams her hands together to create a sharp thunderclap that rattles Caeira for just long enough to reclaim her sword and find a stance again. The two women bring their weapons to bare once again, in what would be a titanic test of strength - if not for the blast of red light that sends Caiera into the ground savagely, and the big ass sword whiffs unsatisfyingly, sending its wielder spinning awkwardly back. Denied.

No one of any consequence.

Betty Ross looks to where that blast came from, and sees her blasted father, hovering with a cabal of red and green glowing people, barking something about delivering Bruce a special message from the President of the United States. She has a pointed word or twelve for her old man, but before she can vocalize them, the Hulk has launched himself into the sky and tackled him, continuing their eternal pissing match over her but never about her. Never including her. Denied. No one of any consequence.

The remaining Warbound spring into action to back up their leader, with a ferocity that catches the Green Lanterns off guard. Thundra snares John Stewart with her chain, Lyra catches Katma Tui with a double-axehandle, Warlord and Killraven make the rookies look like rookies. No one is being greeted as liberators here. But then, suddenly, that foursome finds themselves strangled by tendrils of chronal energy, generated from a device wielded by Angmo, the former Red King. Their bodies begin to flicker. Being displaced in the timestream already, this temporal attack is sending them back into the timescape - and it is having a strange effect on Skaar, Son Of Hulk as well. Whatever temporal tampering that Darkseid did to advance his age artificially seems to be affected by Angmo's assault as well. Aside from that, Skaar sees what's happening to Lyra, his half-sister and the only being he's come to care for in this life - and that includes his parents - and he dives for her, hoping to free her from the snare.

Instead, he vanishes into the timestream right along with them.

Caiera has recovered just enough to see this, and she shouts out a horrified "NO!"

The Hulk, who has been trading nasty blows with a determinedly angry Red Hulk, turns sharply at that sound, and then sees the far-too-pleased-with-himself face of the presumed-dead Red King, and he immediately lunges at the small figure in what looks to be a highly mis-matched squashing about to happen. However, he instead lands on a green dome over Angmo, generated by Katma and John - the former is looking determined and ready to fight this barbarian despot perverting the good of the color green once again, while the latter is really starting to regret how quickly they've rushed into this confrontation without a proper briefing about all the players involved. Hulk's head swivels, snarling as he spots the Lanterns, and then whips his hands together in a deafening thunderclap to knock them backwards, disorienting them and rattling their focus, and that dome vanishes immediately. As a giant green foot lands right on Angmo, the little red man's eyes widen in pain, and he whispers a choked cry for help.

That's when a streak of pure blackness bursts from the shadows, knocks the Hulk off his feet and sends him skidding across the ground - a feat that Sakaarans watching are stunned by - and then materializes over the injured body of Caeira. The form it takes is that of a Black Lantern. One that three people here recognize instantly. Betty Ross is the one to verbalize it.



"BLONSKY!"

That familiar evil grin only got more evil in death, it seems. Emil Blonsky. Russian spy. Saboteur in the gamma bomb experiment that created the Hulk, a being of such power that he eventually transformed himself into an abomination in pursuit of that power. Murderer of Mrs. Elizabeth Banner.

"Death claims us all," comes the unearthly growl from the dark behemoth, before his giant scaly hand slams down onto Caeira's throat, draining life from her instantly. Betty Ross charges at him immediately, needing payback desperately, but she is denied, as a black tendril deflects her leap and knocks her into a heap. Denied. Denied. Denied.

The Hulk's savage attack is next, but hits nothing but black smoke, as Blonsky quickly dematerializes once again, absconding with Caeira's body back into the shadows of the unknown. But the words he leaves them with will prove haunting.

"The plan worked, Ross!"

Thaddeus Ross was frothing at the mouth with blood at the sight of Blonsky. He'd been frothing since the sight of Banner, as he had devoted his entire existence to wiping this man out, robbing him of his power and making sure he could never threaten anyone with it again, and that he could never turn anyone else's daughter against them ever again. That quest had filled him with rage at every frustration - the rage that drew the red ring to him. To that quest's end, he had sought out support from Green Lanterns he knew he could manipulate. He had known Banner's style was not that of Sinestro's, and he'd known Angmo likely had ulterior motives, but he knew he was using these people for a greater good, to end a greater threat. He was one with the rage. He knew he was strategizing for ends that would justify these means.

But Blonsky's words shake him out of that certainty. He'd eliminated Blonsky back on Earth. One of the first things he did with his Red Hulk power - killing the bastard who poisoned his daughter to death. Black Lanterns, he had no experience with yet, but it would seem he was successful in killing Blonsky, but not in ENDING him. But this, Blonsky claiming to be working with him, it cracks the cocoon of righteous anger and introduces doubt. Confusion. Which leaves him completely defenseless against the snarling rage of a green goliath who just lost his family and has no one to punish for it besides Thaddeus Ross.

The beating is brutal beyond words. Merciless in a way the Hulk has never been before. Ross can't clear his head enough to fight back hard enough, or try to siphon Bruce's power. The pain is too great. Something in his brain tells him this is how he was always meant to die - at Banner's wild, furious fists. He's failed. He's been played. He deserves this. The rage in him shatters.

"Robert Bruce Banner of Earth. You have great rage in your heart."

The ring on Ross's finger abandons him, and wraps itself around the finger of this savage Hulk, the outward expression of Bruce's inner turmoil. The personification of anger.

The last thing Ross sees before it all goes black:






The rage is boundless. Once he's done with Ross, he turns to the Green Lanterns and just attacks with the fluid, animal nature of a tormented beast unchained. The rookies are panicking, and even John and Katma are struggling. The Red Lantern rookies are confused, but they've seen that this Hulk is the alpha rage monster, and their loyalties are quick to shift to he who they can learn the most from, and they're fighting the Greens as well. All he can see is red. Everything and everyone must be smashed. He hears the agitated chorus of boos coming from the onlookers, as if he's back fighting in the gladiator pits, but there's so much green light to fight. Two large blue arms wrap up one of his arms, trying to restrain him, and he swings around to gutpunch the monster attacking him, freeing himself up again. Some humanoid wearing a comet emblem flies into him swiftly to try and hit his face, and meets only a devastating headbutt that drops him back to the earth. The voices, the boos... they aren't Sakaaran.

Those aren't boos, either. It's a name he's not heard in over a year. Bruce.

He fights to see through the red and green blinding him, and he sees the face of his someone he cares about. One he never expected to see again. Dissonance.

"Bruce! BRUCE! Calm down, Bruce!" Jen Walters shouts, hands extended, but open, trying to be non-threatening. Behind her is Amadeus Cho, struck wide-eyed by the fight, trying to piece together what's happened to the Hulk since he left Earth. Dr. Leonard Samson is next to Jen, echoing her stance to be supportive, but letting her take the lead, knowing Bruce will respond to her more than him. John Irons is wearing a metal exosuit with a mask that covers his face, and although he would deny taking any inspiration from Tony Stark, that's all the Hulk sees when looking at him. Stark, the former friend who betrayed him. That earns Irons a backhanded swat of frustration, which sends him flying backwards towards Rick and Comet, who are in the process of picking themselves up after learning the lesson of how NOT to soothe a savage beast.

Betty Ross watches this unfold. All of her friends, focused on the ex-husband who hasn't even looked at her yet (denied), who just destroyed her father (denied). Focused on him instead of her (no one of any consequence). Her blood boils as her emotions pound against that lifetime of repression and restraint and self-denial she'd lived for so long.

"Bruce! We are NOT here to fight you! We're here to help!" Jen continues to try to push through the rage, as she's managed before, although she has NEVER seen it like this. Even amplified as it is by that ring, she's not sure it had to be. Something horrible has happened here. That much, she can sense.

The Hulk shakes his head like a rabid dog fighting its own disease. He doesn't know anything about this ring. He just knows it belongs to him now, and it should have belonged to him long ago, and he knows it wants him to go somewhere called Ysmault. Caeira is dead. Skaar is gone. The Warbound are gone. There is nothing here anymore. He manages to focus his blood red eyes on his cousin for one moment. She came here from Earth. Ross came here from Earth, an extension of Luthor's attempt to control or destroy him, aided by people he called friend. He called these people friends. He called Ross family. Earth not only exiled him, but now it has reached out into space to murder his life on Sakaar.

The rage spikes again, and he roars "LEAVE ME ALONE!" Then he brings his two massive fists down to smash the ground, sending everyone flying through the air from the shockwaves, before launching himself into outer space as a red streak of light. (Denied)

The Hulkseekers found their Hulk, and they're now rubbing their pained heads and questioning their own motives. Everyone who isn't Jen, at least. She gets to her feet quickly. "What the hell happened here?"

The question isn't answered, as suddenly the sky lights up with different colors of the rainbow like shooting stars. John Stewart, certain they've been played and feeling deeply humiliated by it, consults his ring. "The alliance invaded Apokolips," he says to the others, not particularly caring if they know what he's talking about. "Those... those are the rings of the dead, looking for new recruits."

"What's he talking about?" Rick asks Comet.

"There are Lanterns for every color of the rainbow, and each color corresponds to the emotional spectrum. You saw Bruce, he has rage-red covered."

Samson's eyes widen at that. "... the Hulks... tend to have very... amplified emotions as part of the transformative process."

Cho suddenly looks excited. "I think this is about to get interesting."

"Jennifer Susan Walters of Earth. You have the capacity for great compassion. Welcome to the Indigo Tribe."

"Richard Milhouse Jones of Earth. You are a source of great hope. Welcome to the Blue Lantern Corps."

"I knew it!" Cho shouts, pumping a fist in the air.

Jennifer's eyes go dark, as an indigo staff materializes in her hand. "Nok." Without another word, she takes off to the stars as well.

Irons gazes upwards. "That... doesn't seem good."

Stewart approaches the group, determined to get to the bottom of things. Even Katma is starting to be convinced they were in the wrong. "Don't worry about her. Indigo Tribe recruits sometimes act like that at first. If you let us know who the hell you are, how the hell you got here, and what you're doing here, we'll try to keep you posted on what's going on with them."

While the Lanterns exchange information with the crew of the Cometeer to try to make sense of this chaos, Betty Ross is gazing down at the body of her father. Resolution is denied. Goodbye is denied. Daddy is gone. Her friends haven't noticed her. No one of any consequence. She could not even touch Bruce's new wife in battle, despite all this new power. Denied. She couldn't lay a hand on Blonsky. She couldn't lay a hand on Bruce. She couldn't say a word to Bruce. She came out all this way to RESCUE him and all he did was kill her father, because all her father did was follow them here to kill Bruce. Fighting over her like she was a title belt. All this new power, she was supposed to be on equal footing with them now, but she wasn't... and now these Hulks are getting even MORE power! Power to lord over her again! Denied her father. Denied her husband. Denied everything, even her revenge! Her fists clench, and her body shakes with unbridled emotion. She can't deny herself any more.



"I WANT WHAT'S MINE!"

An orange light erupts around her. Somewhere, an ugly, furry beast-man rears back, feeling part of his power siphoned away, and immediately heads out to find this thief. An orange ring forms around Betty's finger, and finally, it all comes together in her mind. Singular focus after so many emotions conflicting.

"MINE!" she shouts again, this time having the full attention of all present, a moment too late for her to care what they think. She is now rocketing off into space in search of the rest of this Orange power.

"THAT doesn't seem good," John Stewart says, flashing a concerned look to Irons.

"Hey, everybody, we got this," A-Bomb says with his spikey grin. "Comet, you take Cho, Samson and Dr. Steel here back to Earth. This is looking to be a Lantern thing now, and judging from what this ring is telling me, there are more of them than you can shake a drumstick at. You guys try to figure out what happened to Vic. All will be well, baby."

A sudden hail of rocks comes their way, as the Sakaarans have apparently decided they don't want these intruders on their world anymore. They've been robbed of the Green Scar, their hero and liberator, and they are not happy. A whole hell of a lot of them are not happy.

"Go!" Katma says, throwing up a green wall to protect them. "Get out of here! We'll regroup and try to piece this thing together and figure out what kind of amends we need to make later!"

--

Thaddeus Ross dimly hears the voices of angry aliens and the Green Lanterns he duped fading into the distance, so he's not entirely dead. It is really hard to kill a Hulk. What they don't tell you about this kind of power is how excrutiating it is to feel every inch of your body knit itself back together after being completely demolished. Gives a body time to think about how it got here. Where it went wrong. He wasn't supposed to hurt like this anymore with this power, but here he is. The rage that consumed him for so long is gone. Shame takes its place. His eyes had focused just enough to see his daughter glowing orange... and he knows what that means. Greed. Can't be a result of good fatherly choices. Led Blonsky here to set off the powder keg, and now Banner's got even more power than ever... and how much of that rage that snatched the ring from him was due to being the insufferable "Thunderbolt?" His body shouldn't even bother to heal. Let the old man die.

NO. No, that's milksop thinking. Mistakes happen, and you don't run from them. You answer for them. You make things right, no matter how hard it is. All a man has is his honor, and it's high time to spit-shine that honor so it shines brighter than that anger. That damn lust for power that's left him half-dead on an alien rock. Be a MAN, dammit. Deal straight with Stewart and his wife. Let them know the truth. This planet is damn sure better off without Banner, but this wasn't the way to do that - half-truths and stoking paranoia. Leave that chain of command back home to rot. It's damn well obvious that Luthor is dirtier than a Mississippi s**thouse, and maybe being derelict of duty won't look good on the epitaph, but honor is not always about the permanent record.

Eventually, Ross is able to muster up that famous iron will of his to lift himself up and slowly get back to his feet, rising with a new determination. Cleared of his personal delusions (for the most part). Picking oneself up off the ground after a crushing, painful, humiliating, shameful defeat like that isn't easy, but it wouldn't be a soldier's job if it was.

The first thing he sees is Angmo getting his brains eaten by some weird beetle monster. Yeah. High past time to get off of this rock for good.

His eyes are drawn to the sky, and the spectral light show still visible. And suddenly, his way off this rock becomes surprisingly clear.

"Thaddeus Ernest Ross of Earth. You are capable of great willpower. Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps."




****

EPILOGUE


"Welcome to Death."

Caeira's eyes open slowly, immediately noticing how weak she feels. Her connection to the Oldstrong is being hindered somehow. The next thing she notices is that she's being restrained. Held upright against a wall. All she can move is her eyes. And all she can see is the monstrous face of this strange Black Lantern. She's heard of them - minions of Thanos. She did not know they were this hideous. She tries to demand his identity and his reason for this, but her voice is muffled. She's been gagged.

"Well, not Death so much in reality as it is in perception," Blonsky says. As he backs away from her, she notices she's in some place of high technology. "But perception is so often reality that reality ceases to matter."

Her eyes narrow. Blonsky looks around. "I know. A little disappointingly scientific instead of the supernatural spookiness you were expecting from a Black Lantern, but that would be reality over perception. I used to be a spy, you know, before all this happened," he explains, waving his fingers around his face, indicating his abominable appearance. "Then I wasn't for a while. Thankfully, someone out there recognized just how scary I can be, and now I can deal in subterfuge again."

With that, the Black Lantern facade melts away, and his skin becomes a brighter shade of green. With a yellow glow about him. "Magic wish rings are really something. You see, Ross thought he killed me, so I wanted to use that against him, and nothing's scarier to a soldier than an enemy who won't ever die when you kill him. I also knew that would set Banner off, and blaming Ross for bringing me there was a particular stroke of genius on my part, I have to say, because Banner is such a slave to the rampage that he'd never listen to anything Ross said to proclaim his innocence - which would be a lie anyway because Ross is the furthest thing from innocent."



Caeira does not know these names, but she is certainly able to discern that this creature enjoys hearing himself speak.

"That has to be the easiest 'provisional government destabilization' job I've ever undertaken, and what's more, that makes the SECOND wife of Banner's I've 'killed,' which means he'll be terrified to ever try again... although the fact that two of you agreed to marry that oaf is beyond me. But the beauty of it is that even if he somehow finds out you're alive, he'll be going in the completely wrong direction trying to track me down, and I don't like his chances if he winds up running into the Black Order, even without Thanos. It'll be perfect. Nothing is scarier than confusion and uncertainty, the constant fear that you are wrong about everything, and he's going to have that in spades now. The spy's job well done."

Blonsky leans in closely to her again. "Take you, for example. The Oldstrong power is no longer yours, and your confusion and uncertainty are scaring you. I can feel it." Punctuated by a wiggle of his finger with the yellow ring on it. "But I'm done with you. I've got other work to do in the name of fear. But I won't be leaving you alone. A friend of mine has a vested interest in you, and I'm sure you'll enjoy his company."

The Abomination soon leaves, chuckling pridefully to himself, but Caeira knows there's another person out of her line of sight. She can sense that much.

"Caeira. Presumed Queen of Sakaar. You presumed too much, to believe you could rule a world beside that irrational, temperamental cretin. Your empire would have crumbled on its own in due time, but I wished to hasten the matter, as I have plans for this planet."

Finally, a lithe, sinister figure steps into her view.

"With your Green Scar out of the way, and the Old Power at my command, I will show the Sakaarans who their true Leader is."

I know everybody's moved on from this to the new hotness, but just as a coda to this whole Planet Hulk storyline, here's a funny bit. I was looking around for images for the Red Lantern Red Hulk, because I knew that someone somewhere had photoshopped that, and I came across the image of Red Lantern Green Hulk that looked vaguely familiar.

Then I realized why. I made it for an article I wrote 4 years ago and had completely forgotten about. But I remember writing it specifically because I wanted to think about the idea of Hulk Lanterns, and you can tell because the rest of the list is kind of padded (but everything had to be a list on the internet!)

So in the notion of "what these characters will be working towards," as requested by Mikkisaur, I'm thinking a little something like this.



Except we'll need replacements for Skaar and Korg. But a New Guardians Hulk Family seems like it has interesting possibilities.

Thanks!