Righteous Lad
INto the comic-verse  #1After spending some time aimlessly flying at a timid pace, Konnence finally descends to touch down upon solid ground again. The soles of his greenish-cyan boots gently meet the pavement of the fairly bustling district of New York City's famous Times Square - the biggest tourist attraction this side of the USA - and proceeds to saunter his way over to the nearby bench to turn and flop down onto. Beside himself, he places his bag holding the only possessions he was able to keep hold of, which is mostly clothing.

"H'aaaah man… last time it was the Justice League movie and now I'm in the Marvel Comic Universe?" He murmurs the question to no one but himself before leaning back in his seat and hooking his arms over the back support of the metal bench. With his head tilting back, his neon jade eyes gaze pitifully up at the big blue sky above.

"Not that it's not a cool thing to happen, but I really wanted to take care of some things. My dad's probably going to think I'm running away, too. Maybe… Would he realize that I got caught up in samaritan stuff?" Konnence ponders further upon his situation, oblivious to how many passing eyes he's drawing to himself with his dark charcoal and vibrant green 'hero suit' standing out like a sore thumb in public. 

Unbeknownst to him, he's in the midst of an amalgamation of timelines made up from the various comics he owns. One of those, particularly Marvel, is the middle of Civil War II.

 

[ Elsewhere… ]

 

"--Bruce, we need to talk." Tony initiates preemptive pseudo-intervention upon entering the former's lab, accompanied by an acting third-party, Carol Danvers. 

Oblivious to the reason, but certainly glad to see the two he calls his friends, Doctor Banner is quick to greet them with a warm grin.

"Tony? Carol? I had no idea you two were dropping by." He begins, then proceeds to read the mood of this visit by the emotions projecting from his friends' faces. Tony bears a soft frown that has 'I'm Iron Man and even I'M worried' written all over it, while Captain Marvel stands with a posture of contempt. Shoulders back, arms crossed, and a fierce glare upon her features. It's an examination that eases his smile into a witless flatline.

"What's going on? I take it there's more to this sudden visit?" Bruce prods.

 

"It's… complicated." Tony responds, struggling to find his words - how to process such an absurd situation.

 

"It's really not. But, we made an agreement. We'll try to sort this out as smoothly as we possibly can by TRYING to do it your way." Carol chimes in sternly. Her eyes then shift toward Bruce again.

"Understand that this is a very crucial moment, Bruce. I need you to work with us here. Will you come with us outside?"

 

"Yeah, I guess trading not wearing my armor suit for your cooperation was worth it. Hopefully. But anyway, she's right. We're here to talk to you, Bruce. ALL of us. I want you to know that I'm your friend and batting for you. Will you come? Just for a moment… we'll get this cleared up in a jiffy. I promise." Tony assures. Truthfully, both of their implications were causing an anxious discomfort to bubble at the pit of his stomach. Even so, he does trust them both on a significant level.

 

"Yeah… I'm.. I-I'm willing to talk. I trust you." Bruce answers to the best of his capability in such a cryptic approach from the two. Soon, the three make their way outside into the open air. What awaits them is an ocean of allies and friends clad in their 'vigilante suits' and wearing uneasy gazes. At seeing this… at the heart-stopping silence that scraps against his nerves like talons along a chalkboard, Bruce looks over his shoulder in desperation at Tony & Carol.

"My God… did I do something wrong?"

 

"No, Bruce–" Tony quickly answers.

 

"Not yet. That's why we're here." Carol informs immediately after.

 

"Can you please explain to me what's going o–" Bruce attempts to get out his question.

 

"We know you've been experimenting on yourself, Bruce." Captain Marvel coldly interrupts with a sharp accusing tone. 

 

"What?" Bruce arches a brow, taken aback by Carol's knowledge of his most recent research endeavor. It's then that Hank McCoy steps forward with a transparent tablet in hand that displays the files from Bruce's computer back inside his lab.

 

"It's true, I'm afraid. There's logs and graphs displaying Bruce's recent activities of trying to manipulate gamma radiation through various methods." Hank informs. 

 

"Bruce, no… why?" Tony asks without truly thinking. It's a question that slips out because of his sudden spike in fear that Carol's handy-dandy Inhuman future teller may have been onto something when sharing a grim flash of destruction and death, given to them by none other than the Raging Hulk. Odd enough, there's a second entity that can see the undeniable boiling pot of anger that's about to be unleashed.

 

"I was trying to find a way to RID myself of gamma radiation. But you… YOU! You two come here, point an accusing finger at me, essentially bring a death squad to put me down, and then go on to invade my private work? MY crucial research!? You've got some nerve!!" Banner exclaims at the top of his lungs.

 

"You NEED to calm down, Banner." Carol warns, forming her hands into tight fists as her glare sharpens.

 

"Go to hell, Damnvers! You don't get to demand anything of me!" Bruce counters. Meanwhile, yards away and atop of a tree branch, Hawkeye inhales a deep slow breath as he readies his bow and centers his aim upon Bruce. A task that doesn't sit too well with him, but one bestowed upon him by Banner himself. He was given a tool and discretion to put Bruce down before that monstrous green beast can push itself to the forefront of Bruce's consciousness and tear them all apart.

Just as Clint is about to release his bow string and put an end to their yelling match, a sudden interruption obscures his target. A tear in thin air. A swirling vortex of red.

 

"WHAT RAGE!!" A deep and gruff voice blurts out as a figure steps out from the hole in space, standing at an imposing height of 8'1. A red and black suit with bits of crimson armor clothes his broad powerful frame, while a peculiar emblem that vaguely resembles a red lantern adorns the center of his chest. His face is inhuman. Demonic-like even, especially those pools of glowing red that make up his pupiless eyes. In his right hand, he holds up a red lantern. Holding it before Bruce Banner as if meaning to shine light on the scientist. 

 

"There… there was no mention of this.. Who the hell are you!?" Carol demandingly shouts, expecting nothing good from this intruder.

 

"I am RAGE INCARNATE! I go where the strongest source of anger beckons me… Know my name, Earthlings. For I am Atrocitus, leader of the Red Lantern Corp." The being introduces himself at Captain Marvel's inquiry. It's then a band of similarly dressed individuals come stepping out of that red rift. All of them just as bitter and unwelcoming in appearance in their own way. All five of them. Though, the one exception being the floating cat who comes to hover beside the tall man in red.

 

"You've got to be kidding me…" Tony utters under his breath, unsure of what to make of such a drastic change in the situation. 

 

"Wha-... What do you want?" Bruce questions as he looks up a mixture of various negative emotions on his face.  

 

"To unleash all that glorious rage you have bottled up inside and give you the red ring you so rightfully deserve." Atrocitus answers.

 

"No, that's not what I want! I've been trying to avoid that!" Bruce retorts. However, his rejection does nothing to deter the demonic fiend in front of him.

 

"It's not up for debate, insect! Let the rage out! " The lantern demands just before regurgitating blood into his mouth. Steam, hot blood… With a beastly roar, he douses Bruce in its corrupting touch. Spewing blood that burns like hot coffee and amplifies his anger. He just barely misses doing the same to Tony and Carol.

 

[ Back with Righteous Lad… ]

 

"I wonder if I should apply to be an Avenger… Would that be weird? I mean, I think they are genuine good and courageous heroes, but I have a pretty strict no-killing policy, you know? I don't know if I could stomach seeing Iron Man disintegrate a guy in front of me. What do you think? Could you still think highly of a hero that you look up to if they kill a villain?" Konnence asks while lifting his right leg and laying its respective shin across his left leg, then placing his hands atop of that elevated limb.

 

"You kidding me? Sometimes I feel like they don't do it enough. So many Superpowered psychos comin' and goin'. It's a merry-go-round of trouble that constantly winds up with the city being hit with some new crazy tragedy or invasion. The less of them there are, the better, I'd say." The middle-aged New Yorker beside responds, abrasive words parting from his lips as he opens and spreads his newspaper to give it a read.

 

"Yeah… I.. I can understand that perspective. It's a fair one." Konnence responds with a demoralized tone, his eyes averting to stare at the ground contemplatively. Taking notice of the young man's dampen mood, the civilian looks over and gently sighs.

 

"Look, kid. I get it–"

 

KROOOOOOM! 

 

KKROOM-KROOM-KROOM-KROOM!!!

 

The sudden explosive impact of something puncturing through a dozen buildings or so erupts through the air like the crackling of lightning from a thunderstorm. The city folk panic and scatter for safety as debris falls to the city streets, especially when whatever is responsible for the destructive damage lands and creates a crater in the ground down the street and right before Konnence's eyes. With his conversation cut short, the young man rises out of his seat and floats his way over to the large hole to investigate. Landing nearby, he steps a bit closer on foot and looks down to see someone laying on their back.

 

"...Captain… Captain Marvel?" Konnence arches a brow with a look of confusion and concern. It's then an animalistic cry sounds off with a massive echo nearly 20 miles away.

 

"HHHUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHH!!!!" A roar that sends birds abruptly taking to the sky out of fear and turns the heads of countless people. Each of them wondering what exactly is going on.