The Indigo Light (9)
“What just happened out there?” I said reappearing in the infirmary. “A lesson on treachery, Grandmaster said. “You have a unique position in the Universe. You need to maintain compassion and empathy to remain powered to the fullest, but you must avoid being made a pawn by those who would take advantage of your nature.”
I looked at Grandmaster with a thousand-mile stare. “Does that include you?” Grandmaster had been working at his table, when he turned and looked back at me, hard. “Loki is the master of deception. I know what he told you. I have also told you many things. It is up to you to sort out what you can believe and what you cannot.” He turned back to his table. “Your health checks out. Are you ready for your next lesson?”
What could I say? That could be anybody. I hadn’t face Atrocitus yet. I didn’t even know if I was going to, but Loki mentioned him. I was tired. I just wanted to sleep for 3 or 4 days. But even that wasn’t going to fix what I felt. Pushing forward through the training was the only way to end the stress and get on to what I was really supposed to be doing. “No, but we are going to do it any way.”
“Good answer,” he confirmed. “Sometimes a hero just finishes one challenge, only to turn a corner and find a new, deadly, more challenging foe in wait. That challenger won’t wait until you are rested. In fact, he may seize the opportunity believing he has the upper hand. It’s up to that hero at that time to dig deep and find the grit to overcome the challenger and his challenge.”
“This,” said Grandmaster, “is your next challenge- General Zod. He is Kryptonian, the strongest tactician you will have met to date, and brutally lethal. Whereas Loki will weigh killing a foe to bring about the best advantage to himself, Zod will kill on a whim. You survived turning your back on Loki. You would not survive doing that with Zod. He is as powerful as Kal-El from Krypton, the hero most people know as Superman, but he has none of Superman’s moral restraint- Superman with morals off, as it were.”
“So to review: Lobo wanted to fight, Sugarman wanted to capture and torture mutants, Annihilus wanted to rule our Universe, but from his Negative Zone, Grodd wanted to rule any place he could eliminate humans, Red Hood and Deadshot wanted chaos and anarchy, Captain Trips wanted peace, and Loki wanted his birthright restored and his place in the Multiverse. Zod would gladly kill any one, or all of those foes, for no more than the simple reason that they were standing in front of him. I have loaded Zod’s full history into the ring for your review. You have a limited amount of time to take in a great amount of information.”
“Cliff notes?” I asked. “Zod is Superman with morals off. His physical prowess is not as formidable as Kal-El’s, but his mental acuity exceeds Superman’s. Zod is an engineer and and elite soldier. He is personally responsible for the death of over 100,000 individuals. He has no remorse for the pain nor the destruction he has caused on a galactic level. You will need to think through your attacks and defenses with this opponent.”
I looked at the ring. “No remorse. My kind of guy.” I smiled. “I guess everything else need to know, I will find out in the arena.” “One more thing,” Grandmaster added. “This battle will be too large to hold in the standard arena. You will be fighting on Earth’s moon, with a force field to keep you both in combat until there is a victor. As per my usual, Zod has been promised a great reward if he defeats you.”
I stood for along time in silence. “You’re ready then?” Grandmaster asked. “Ready,” I whispered. I was being transported away when I heard the Grandmaster in the distance, “Impetuous.”
I awoke in the infirmary. My ring was in the lantern at the end of my staff, fully charged. Grandmaster had his back to me. “Got your glutes kicked, didn’t you?” I sat up, showing my anger. “That was completely unfair! I was completely unprepared for that guy!”
Grandmaster turned around and pointed a big finger at my face. “And whose fault was that? You assumed because he had a history of oppression and anguish that all it would take to win was a couple of super-charged psyche blasts, and he would fall over crying.”
My face softened. “I did, didn’t I? What happened after he hit me?”
“He wanted that ring, so he attempted to remove it from your hand. The ring transported you back here immediately. Its fortunate that the ring has life support or you may have died from the force of that punch. I had to go to the moon personally and award him his prize.” “Which was?” I asked. Grandmaster frowned. “His own ring. A Red Lantern ring.”
“Red Lantern? Wait! You said the rings pick their owners. How could Zod get and keep and Red Lantern ring?” Grandmaster explained. “Unlike the other rings, the Red Lantern rings only require rage from their owner to power them. They’re not picky, as long as their wearer is full of hate.”
“So Zod, the angry Superman, is now 100 times more powerful because of a trophy he won by beating me? How could you let that happen?” “I didn’t,” said Grandmaster. “You did. I gave you everything you needed to have an even chance in that battle.” I hung my head. “But I let him get past me, because I didn’t understand the threat, or the solution.”
I lifted my head. “I really could have beaten him? I’m really that powerful?” Grandmaster almost smiled. “You really could have. But winning against enormous threats is not simply a matter of psyche scanning someone, and turning their brutality back on themselves. Sometimes it takes a two or three or four step process to get them weakened, or distracted or furious or any of a dozen other reactions that you can use to your advantage. If you are paying attention. Don’t forget that.”
“Will I have a chance to make it right? With Zod I mean. He’s even more dangerous now.” “That’s true,” Grandmaster said. “But don’t forget, you aren’t the only hero in the universe.”
