Earth, the White House, the Oval Office.
The blond-haired President of the United States was pounding his thick palms against his desk over and over again.
He struck with such force that even his beloved Coke—sitting atop that very desk—toppled over on the spot.
Cola spilled across half the desk, but right now, not a single civil servant in the presidential office had the presence of mind to deal with the beverage.
Because the blond-haired President was staring down every person within his line of sight with the dark circles under his eyes—circles far darker than the skin of his face.
Bang! Bang! Bang!!!
"Why the hell is there a goddamned planet hovering above our Metropolis?! A planet so goddamned huge you can't even see where it ends!
Wait—this isn't live right now, is it?"
"Yes, Mr. President!"
The civil servant hurriedly shook his head, and the blond President exhaled in frustration.
"I am the President—soon to be reelected! The next four years, we're supposed to be sitting in this godforsaken office dealing with this godforsaken bullshit!
But I'm telling you now—that's not happening!
Who's going to explain to those goddamned voters that their great President can't do a thing about that godforsaken planet?!
Who can come up with a proper PR strategy for this?!
And most importantly—who can come up with a solution?!"
As his words fell, the blond-haired President forced himself to glance at the video feed before him.
He watched the satellite footage—the camera pulling back farther and farther, yet still unable to capture the planet's full form. The President quickly looked away, unwilling to watch any longer.
So he turned his gaze to the think tank surrounding him. Normally, this group churned out crooked ideas by the dozen, but today, they were more silent than ever.
"I pay you to extend my time in office! I need exposure to keep driving up our group's stock prices!
I want a solution—so who the hell is going to give me one?!"
His words finished, the blond-haired President slammed the desk once more, blunt and direct.
But this time, his hand came down right onto the spilled cola.
The splashing soda instantly surged up onto his pale blue shirt. As the black of the cola crashed against the light shade of the fabric...
Staring at the mottled black spots across his chest and belly, the blond-haired President suddenly remembered something.
"A few days ago—didn't some Black woman submit a proposal to me? What was her name...
Amanda something?"
"That's right. Amanda Waller. She works under General Steve Trevor of the Department of Defense."
"Yes, her—that Black woman!
Dig up the proposal she submitted a few days ago. There might be something in there I need!"
At the President's command, the think tank members sprang into action. Before long, Amanda's proposal was in the President's hands.
After skimming it briefly, the blond-haired President nodded helplessly.
"She wants to form an organization specifically designed to deal with special individuals like Superman and Batman?
And the name...
The American Ultra-Human Advanced Secret Joint Research Group?"
The President tapped the proposal in his hand, then shook his head as he thought it over.
"That name is ridiculous. It's almost as convoluted as that thing from the comics—what was it—the American Strategic Defense Attack and Logistics Support Agency or whatever!
But her description of the Argus Project does intrigue me. In a world where miracles like that planet keep appearing before our eyes...
Even if we can't mobilize against them, we should at least be able to see them clearly!"
His words finished, the blond-haired President snapped the report shut and gave his final order.
"Have this Amanda come see me. Set it for tonight!"
Meanwhile, above Metropolis, Heisenberg's hands were rapidly bound by the energy-link conduits that the God-Mind had routed toward him.
Surging energy burst from within his body in an instant, rushing into the ship—a vessel as infinitely deep and dark as a black hole.
As divine power was continuously unleashed, the space within the God-Mind's realm expanded at an exponential rate.
The Kryptonians still inside immediately lost their footing. The narrow patch of land beneath their feet had long since become a drifting island within a Möbius space.
At the same time, high in the sky, Little Broken Ball was curiously observing everything around her.
She swayed as she drifted, then formed a small green sphere that bounced over beside Heisenberg.
"Dad, this is the first time I've been this close to so many living beings!
So weird—how come this time I can get this close to other planets?
Usually, whenever I drift toward them, they just shatter in an instant. They really do shatter!!!
Beezer says it's because my gravity is too strong, but I'm really not that big. I'm pretty small, you know.
I never expected that seeing these cute little lives up close could be so much fun~~~"
"That's..."
Heisenberg froze for a moment, then broke into a wry smile.
"Getting close to you—hah—those poor planets must have suffered terribly. The gravity on your surface is probably over four hundred times that of this Earth beneath my feet!
Without a force field to modify your gravitational pull, the Earth under my feet would be torn apart by you in an instant!"
"Okay..."
Hearing Heisenberg's explanation, the little green sphere beside him pouted in grievance, her symbol-shaped eyes squinting shut.
After a moment of sulking, the little green sphere once again carefully surveyed her surroundings.
This time, she took a close, scrutinizing look at the Earth beneath her feet.
The moment her gaze swept over areas of heavy pollution—the moment she saw the filth and squalor of countless slums across the human world—
In that instant, a massive exclamation mark flashed above the green sphere floating beside Heisenberg!
"Oh my god, this planet is so tragic! The lifeforms on it are way too good at destruction!
What is all this?! The plants have been so thoroughly chopped down! And why are there rivers that stink that badly?!
Oh my god, this is horrifying. I never want a bunch of these things living on me for as long as I live!
Thank goodness they're not like Dad—otherwise I'd want to... I'd want to go back to Sector 2261. Wuwuwu!!!"
At this point, the scatterbrained and innocent little sphere suddenly froze.
"Oh, right—did I forget which sector this area is in?
Which sector is this anyway?
Let me check the prompts. Green Lantern Ring Instruction Manual, Wearing Recommendations, Lantern Code of Conduct, Oath of Service.
Ummm, location settings...
Oh, found it!"
The little broken ball flashed a big, beaming smiley face, then nudged closer to Heisenberg like a kid who'd just unlocked an achievement.
"Dad, this is Sector 2814! So I'll contact the Lantern stationed here right away.
I remember this sector is pretty famous. The Lantern guarding this region must be really kind.
Let me check their name. Ummm... Abin Sur...?"
The little broken ball muttered the name with a note of hesitation as she opened her Green Lantern communication system.
At that very moment, Abin Sur—who was racing toward the solar system from beyond—was abruptly drawn to the communication channel lighting up on his ring.
When he recognized the unique frequency of the channel, he was genuinely startled.
The caller was none other than the Green Lantern Corps' greatest trump card—the legendary Mogo! The fabled planet whose mobility was so abysmal that she only bothered to move once every two million years on average. Mogo the Go-with-the-Flow!
In order to be able to rouse that indolent planet in moments of crisis, the Green Lantern Corps had outfitted her with the most powerful communication device they had!
And even then, this planet had still managed to arrive late to the Corps' great battles against cosmic evil!
When other people were late, they were late by a few hours at most!
But Mogo, when she was late...
Eight hundred thousand years ago, when the Green Lantern Corps faced a cataclysmic crisis, they frantically called upon their greatest trump card!
But...
Mogo, who had verbally promised she would come, never appeared on the battlefield—not until countless Green Lanterns had died!
Then, thirty thousand years ago...
When the Green Lantern Corps encountered yet another evil that swept across the entire universe, Mogo arrived.
But in that crisis, no one had even thought to call her!
It wasn't until later—when the Green Lanterns who had been inexplicably saved by Mogo finally pieced it together—that they understood.
Mogo hadn't received advance warning and come of her own accord to help.
She... she had been trying to return to Oa headquarters in response to that crisis from over seven hundred thousand years ago!!!
Other people, when late, were late by a few hours at most!
And you—you got lost for a full seven hundred and seventy thousand years!!!
So, to ensure Mogo wouldn't get lost again, the Green Lanterns specially assigned the most skilled tracker among them—the insect Lantern, Beezer—to the sector where Mogo had aimlessly wandered off to after getting lost.
But then, why—why—would this myth and legend among the Green Lanterns be contacting him?
Abin Sur immediately grew tense. She hadn't gotten lost and wandered into his sector this time, had she?
She couldn't have... right?
With that thought, Abin nervously opened the channel and spoke first.
"Mogo, is there a problem?"
"Ah, this is Mogo Mogo! Are you the kind Lantern of Sector 2814?"
"Uh... I suppose I might still qualify as kind. But could we get to the issue itself?
Are you in danger?"
"Ah, Dad, Dad—this person really is kind!
He's worried about me!!!"
Hm?
Mogo just called someone "Dad"?
Had she encountered another sentient planet?
Abin froze for a moment, but before he could ask, Mogo on the other end continued.
"Mogo Mogo appreciates your concern, but I'm fine.
I'm in Sector 2814 right now. I want to..."
"You got lost again, didn't you!!!
I knew it!!!
Damn it! Where's Beezer?! Isn't he accompanying you?!"
Abin's shout—filled with a sense of "I knew it all along"—made Heisenberg's face fill with black lines, and at the same time, it completely enraged Mogo beside him.
A blazing fury of an emoji surged up on the little green sphere, and then Mogo roared back at Abin Sur.
"Mogo did NOT get lost!"
"Yes, yes, I know—you just went astray!!!
I've been busily working in Sector 2814 for over seventy thousand years. I love my sector deeply, so don't think you're pushing me out!
Alright, let me check your coordinates. I'll personally escort you back to Sector 2261."
"I won't go!
I didn't get lost, and I never get lost!
I'm going to settle down right here in Sector 2814!
And don't even think about sending Beezer to see me. In order to catch that once-in-a-lifetime intelligent sun, I knocked Beezer unconscious just so I'd have the chance to follow along!
Don't try to make me go back—... Hm?
Wait...?!!"
The little broken ball was completely dumbstruck. It seemed she had let slip something she really shouldn't have.
She stared blankly to her left. Heisenberg, his face full of black lines, was slowly turning his back to her.
Watching Heisenberg's inscrutable silhouette, watching the lava coursing endlessly through the gaps in her father's armor...
The little broken ball thought for a moment, then suddenly detached a tiny green light-construct hand.
She pointed her round little spherical paw into the distance and spoke to Heisenberg with exaggerated excitement.
"Dad, Dad, look!
There are so many people on this planet cheering, and so many people crying—they're cheering for you, crying for you!
Dad, come look!"
Listening to the little broken ball's desperate attempt to change the subject, beads of sweat glistened on Heisenberg's forehead for the very first time.
With a wry smile, he swept a glance in the direction the little broken ball was pointing and shook his head with disinterest.
"They cheer. They wail. Heh.
Nothing but ants..."
/-\
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