Not much changed here either. A few details and a scene or two eliminated.
Chapter 3 is coming soon.
C&C is always welcomed.
Agreeable Komodo
He who bought it, supplied it.
Just say yes to prophylactics.
"Richard was an Alpha Werewolf.
It was his only serious flaw.
We'd broken up after I'd seen him eat somebody."
-Anita Blake, Blue Moon.
**************
The next day after school, Akane dragged her weary body into Doctor Tofu's
office. Over tea, she explained the events of the previous day and then
demonstrated what the ring did, though she had to admit that transforming her
clothes wasn't much of a feat and said as much. Tofu was silent for a while
before speaking.
"That may be Akane," he said when he finally spoke. "But if I'm right, then
there's more to it then just changing your clothes."
"Like what?"
"Just a moment," Tofu replied as he went to his bookcase. "Now where did I. .
.Ah ha!" Triumphantly, he pulled a large binder from the rows of books and
took them back to the desk. "This has been a hobby of mine for some time," he
said. "I was fascinated by him and a colleague of mine has been kind enough
to send these when he finds them," he said as he opened the binder. "These
pictures date back to nineteen eighty-six," Inside were various newspaper
clippings and one of them made her gasp.
"That's him!" She cried, jabbing her finger at the page.
"That's who?"
"The one in my dream! The one who burst into flames and destroyed all those
people in that city!" She paused, frowning. "Only, he's younger in this
picture."
"Hmmm. . ." Tofu said and turned to a page towards the back of the binder.
"These are more recent pictures, taken in Los Angeles in nineteen ninety-four"
"Oh my God!" Akane gasped upon seeing the picture of a young man flying
straight at the camera. "That's the one. The guy who came out of those
ashes!" She frowned. "But he was wearing a different costume."
"Very interesting," Tofu said and laid aside the binder. "Akane, it would
seem that you are a Green Lantern."
"A what?" Akane asked incredulously as Tofu reached for the binder again.
"A Green Lantern. It's a Corps of some kind." Turning to a page near the
front, he showed her one of the clippings. "This is an. . .ah. . .interview
from nineteen eighty-nine with a man named Guy Gardener." He looked up as he
heard the bell on the door jingle. "Excuse me a moment," he said as he stood
up and left the room to see who had come in.
Akane, curious, pulled the scrapbook closer and started to read the article.
By the time Tofu had returned she was shaking her head in disbelief. Gardner
hadn't been interveiwed, he had boasted. A spotlight hog. Like. . . like. . .
<Like Kuno?> Akane had to smile at the comparison.
"What's the smile for?" Tofu asked as he sat down.
"Just this," she said, tapping the "interveiw" with her finger. "I was
thinking that he and Kuno would get along great together."
"They probably would," Tofu agreed. "But the real question is, what are you
going to do with that ring?"
"I don't know," Akane replied as she finished her cup of tea. "I guess I have
some thinking to do." She started to leave when her eyes fell on the book.
"Can I borrow this?" Tofu nodded.
Picking up the book, Akane left.
*********************
By the time Akane got home, it was after dark. She did not eat dinner, but
instead went straight to her room where she stayed up until nearly two in the
morning going through Tofu's scrapbook, page by page with the proverbial fine
tooth comb. When she was done, she sat back in her chair with a sigh. Save
Gardener, none of the Lanterns seemed inclined to talk to reporters.
Gardener seemed to be her only hope, if she could get to him. 'And how am I
supposed to get to America?' She asked herself acidly. 'Borrow money from
Nabiki?'
Laughing to herself, she got up and prepared for bed. If anyone could get her
on a plane, it would be Nabiki. But Akane was pretty sure that even Nabiki
didn't have the thousands of yen it would take to buy even the most basic
plane ticket, and Akane knew she didn't have what it would take to buy her
elder sister's silence. "I don't suppose you know where I can find a teacher
do you?" Akane asked the ring and then mentally gave herself a slap across
the face. 'Kami, I'm talking to a ring, I need sleep.' with that, she set the
ring down on her nightstand, crawled into bed, and went to sleep.
*********************
He floated in a strange cloud.
"Where am I? What's going on?"
"You are needed," said a voice from in front of him.
"Who's there?" he demanded, his hand automatically clenching into a fist as
green fire leaped into existance around it.
"I'm. . .a friend. Kyle's ring has somehow been split. You must go to the
Nerima Ward of Tokyo, Japan, and find the new ring bearer."
"But how will I know her?" he asked, and then a split second later wondered
why he had said "her".
"She will know you," the voice replied and then he was lying in his bed,
staring at the ceiling, his breath coming in short gasps.
"Is something wrong love?" came the sleep fogged voice from the woman beside
him.
"N-no hon, everything's fine," he said quietly. "Everythings fine." But even
as he tried to find sleep, his mind was already compiling a list of things to
do before leaving for Japan.