SCOOTER JOINS THE PARTY

By Tobias Christopher

Kyle Rayner paced around the living room, trying to make the hardest decision of his life as Terry lay on the couch, playing with G’Nort.

“Don’t do it, Kyle,” Terry said. “You’re going to regret it.”

“No, I regret seeing that ‘Jem’ movie. I regret thinking that anything after ‘Return of the Jedi’ might potentially be good. I regret encouraging my mom to invest in ‘Blockbuster Video. But this? This is something I really want. I love Alexandra. I want a life with her. I want to have a family with her.”

Kyle paused to think about his relationship with Alexandra as he played with the zipper on his shirt nervously. It was his first stable relationship he’d been in since his father walked out on the family. Kyle was determined to put everything he had into a strong relationship and give her the things she needed like a supportive man, who would never let her go without telling her what she meant to him. He’d watched his mother suffer for years, and he’d never let someone he cared for have that kind of treatment, which was why he felt Terry and Marvin worked so well together.

“You haven’t even had sex with her,” Terry told him. While Terry had lost his virginity the night of prom, Kyle had yet to lose his. Maybe he was scared to have sex, maybe he just couldn’t get it up – feeding into Terry’s belief that Kyle just needed a handsome man to take his hand – but for whatever reason, he trusted Kyle to make his own love choices.

“Relationships are more than sex, Terry,” Kyle said. “You lost your virginity to someone you thought you loved, then you got your heart broken. Alexandra and I are waiting for the right moment, not for a cheap motel room,” 

“Cheap? I paid for a whole day. And we were extremely safe about it,” Terry said. He rubbed G’Nort under his chin. “And I don’t regret having sex with Marvin. He made me feel, I don’t know, special. He knew how to touch me and–”

“Stop! I don’t need to hear about this,” Kyle said as he covered his ears. “I’m telling her the truth tonight. I love her, Terry.”

“Look, I like Alexandra, too. But you’re a superhero, what if someone kidnaps her, or stuffs her into a fridge?”

Kyle looked behind Terry at the small refrigerator. He was already planning to get rid of that fridge. “That’s not going to happen, Terry. At least, I hope not. But I’m doing this anyway. I’m going to grab a shower.”

Kyle headed into the bathroom as Mitchell appeared.

“Hey, kid,” Terry said to the construct. “Where have you been?”

“Everywhere,” Mitchell whispered.”When I got downloaded into the central battery, I– I got to see everything. Every active Lantern’s POV, I see through their rings. I don’t even think they know I’m watching. It’s like… I’m everywhere and learning new things, and feeling new emotions.”

“Whoah,” Terry sat up. “You’re an AI construct, how are you–”

“I think the more I spend time in the ring and experience life with the Lantern energy… I think I’m getting a soul.”

“Alright, we almost have our band,” Marvin White said. He walked down the street with his friends Jason and Jay. The trio were planning to start a band to help Jay raise the money to get home to Australia, but they were short a lead singer. “We just need a frontman. And a name.”

“I still say we use ‘Infinity Gauntlet’,” Jason said.

“That’s a metal band name, and I think it’s copy-righted with another company,” Jay said. “We agreed we wanted to do soft rock or pop. Something family-friendly.”

“I think we also need haircuts,” Marvin said. His red hair had become even shaggier over the last few weeks. The boys looked as if they’d stepped out of the ’70s.  “Look at these mop tops. We look like action figures or– or baby dolls. We’re way too cute to rock.”

“We’ll discuss it if and when we find a frontman,” Jay told them. “No sense in changing our looks if we don’t have a band.”

Marvin stopped when he heard the sounds of music coming from a house nearby, followed by singing. It was soothing and seemed to welcome everyone that heard it to come closer. It was almost like a siren’s song, welcoming sailors to their deaths. 

“That voice…”

They followed Marvin to a nearby house. There, a young man was sitting on a stool in the open garage while giving guitar lessons to a younger boy.

“Hello, salty goodness,” Jay, Jason, and Marvin all said in unison at the beautiful mop topped young man.

“Can I be that good if I practice?” Dennis Anderson asked with hopefulness in his voice. Music was something the boy wanted to do, and had all but turned his horrible attitude around and was behaving.

“You have to keep at it and practice your guitar every day, Time’s up. Dennis, I’ll see you on Friday,” the 21-year-old said in a Yorkshire accent.

Dennis grabbed his things and headed past the other boys. He loved his guitar teacher, maybe a little too much, and was eager to get home and tell his father he’d finally found something he loved besides vandalism.

“You’re damn good,” Jay said as he stood at the door of the open garage. You could feel the cool air from outside flowing in. It was flowing through their shaggy hair with the light gleaming behind them as if a music video could start at any time.

“Who the hell are you guys?” the singer asked.

“Guys in need of someone with a golden voice like yours,” Jason said, not wanting to admit that the singer’s voice was almost erotic to his ears. “We could really use a lead singer for our group.”

“I don’t sing in public anymore,” the singer told them. “I just give guitar lessons.”

“But we–”

“Are out of luck,” the young man told them. “I can’t help you.”

He looked at his watch and realized he had errands to run. He had no time to muck around these boys and left without saying another word.

“So, now what?” Jason asked.

“We’re not giving up,” Marvin said. “We’re getting that guy for our band. We’re getting,” Marvin looked at the calendar on his bench. “Mr. Scooter McCartney. Who names their kid ‘Scooter’?”

“Who names their kid ‘Marvin’? Get off your high @#$%ing horse,” Jason said.

“You do have a point,” Marvin said.

Terry had gone for a workout when he met Alexandria. Changing into his gym clothes, Terry first hit the treadmill. The two had become good friends and neither gave another thought to their past quarrels.

“So, you meeting Kyle later?” Terry asked. He’d already started building up a sweat.

“Yeah, we have dinner plans,” Alexandra said as she hit the punching bag. “Sounded kind of nervous though. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, you know Kyle will freak over the little things. Remember when they canceled ‘Angel’?”

“He wouldn’t leave the house for two weeks. His pillows were soaked with tears, “ Alexandra said. “Is his news that bad?”

“No, but… just remember that Kyle loves you,” he told her. “You’ve made him a very happy man. Just don’t… freak out when he tells you what he’s going to tell you.”

“Oh.” Alexandra thought about it. “Okay, I’ll keep an open mind. You know, I brought your name up to a socialite’s son last night. He’s very interested in meeting you. Very rich and very handsome.”

“I don’t think I’m ready to date yet,” he said. “I just broke up with Marvin. I need time to move on before I meet someone new.”

“You’re young and single, Terry. You should–”

“Todd’s moving into the apartment over the garage,” he blurted. “Just as friends. He’ll be paying rent and helping out around the house, nothing more. I just…need some ‘Terry Time’ right now. I don’t need a man chaining me down. At least not until I’m comfortable enough with a guy to do that.”

“Ready to find out what your kinks are?” Alexandra teased. “I know of a few clubs you can check out to test your mettle.”

“Why, Alexandra DeWitt.” Terry looked at her with a shocked expression. “You’re wanting me to visit a sex dungeon?”

“It’s completely safe,” Alexandra said. “My father used to frequent them. My mother and I are well aware of his hobbies. Let me know if you’re interested in checking one out.”

“Well, a sex dungeon couldn’t be any worse than shadow stealing monsters,” Terry told himself.

Kyle was downtown, looking at gifts. A gold chain was perfect and within his price range. He and Alex could move in together now, get married in a few years, then after that they’d welcome their first child. He’d watch his son or daughter grow up in a happy and healthy neighborhood. After that, they’d welcome their grandchild into the world. Nothing could possibly go wrong.

An explosion rocked the street.  Kyle looked out of the window to see a giant robot stomping down the street. It was fifteen feet tall, made of shiny metal, and could probably pass for a basketball player.

“Another psycho in a battle suit,” Kyle said as he ran into the alley to change into his Green Lantern costume.”Like I haven’t seen enough of those lately.” He shot out of the alley and fired bullet-shaped constructs at the robot, which just bounced off of it.

“Alright, pal. Pull over–” Green Lantern said. The robot smacked him into the skyline. A green bus immediately pulled back up the street as Green Lantern got off. 

“Okay, we’re going to do this the hard way.”

The robot started stomping away as a green spatula ran under it, flipping it into the air like a pancake. A green hand plucked it out of the air and started slamming it to the left and right.

“Alright, come on out before I have to come in!” Green Lantern shouted with a hard-light megaphone in his hand. He was already getting behind schedule. He still needed to pick up flowers, meaning he might have to fly to the best flower shop in the city, which was miles away.

Before Kyle could move, something shot out of a cannon and into the distance, faster than Superman heading to the bathroom after a massive-sized Big Gulp.  It looked like a small metal pod. Before Green Lantern could follow it, his wrist started beeping. He looked at his Steven Universe watch and stopped. He had just enough time to pick up Alexandra in his car, which was already on its last legs. Did he pursue the pod or just let it go?

“Damn, he got away.” Green Lantern said as he inspected the abandoned robot. Whatever was in that pod, he’d deal with it later. Tonight was too important for him. “What the hell was this all about? Where did this thing come from?”

“You stopped it! Did you get what it stole?” A group of soldiers asked.

“What exactly did it steal?”

“An artifact from the museum.” a soldier told him. “A World War II artifact. No significance outside of it being said to have contained some of Hitler’s DNA.”

“Who would want that psycho’s DNA?” Green Lantern asked, unaware of where the artifact was headed currently. “I’d better start flushing out the Nazi scum that I’m assuming is about to start forming around the city. @#$%ing Nazis, always ruining everything.”

“I can’t wait to meet Kyle’s main squeeze,” Mitchell said. “I’ve heard so much about her. I mean, yeah, I knew her as a human puppet-like thingie, but I’m sorta brand new. I can wear different clothes now, watch!”

sat on the couch in Kyle’s apartment, shapeshifting his clothes to something fancier, one of them being a nice dress. Terry just raised an eyebrow at him.

“What? You never thought about wearing a dress?” Mitchell asked.

“I played Edna Turnblainn’ ‘Hairspray’ to rave reviews. I’m getting off track here. I still think it’s a bad idea,” Terry said. “Kyle needs to keep his identity a secret.”

“But he told you.”

“Exactly, I’m the only one who needs to know,” Terry said.

“Are you,” Mitchell leaned in to give him a knowing smile, “jealous?”

“What? Of course not, I just–” Terry said. “When Kyle told me, I was the only one who knew until Todd found out, and even then, he couldn’t talk. I just felt special. The more people that know, the less special I am in Kyle’s world. It’s bad enough that he’s replacing me as his partner with you.”

“You’re Kyle’s brother. You’re always going to be special,” Mitchell promised. “At least you have a family. All I have are you and Kyle. I’m the jealous one. I don’t have a mom or a dad, or any real friends. I can’t even grow up.”

“I still don’t feel right about Kyle telling people who he is,” Terry said. 

Michell’s eyes briefly went black, like some outside force had taken control of him. Two seconds later, his eyes were green again. 

“What was that?”

“I don’t know. I just felt weird for a second, like something took over my mind.”

“I hope that doesn’t happen again,” Terry said.

The trio waited for Scooter to leave his house, then trailed him.

“I’m not cool with this,” Jay told the others. “I mean, the guy is cute, but this isn’t the way to start a relationship.”

“Something’s wrong with this guy, I know it,” Marvin said. “My detective senses tell me he’s in some kind of trouble.”

“I didn’t know you were a detective,” Jason said.

“Foot patrol officer,” Marvin told him. “But I was working my way up before I got shot. This guy can help us, I know it.”

“Because you have a sixth sense?” Jay asked.

“I just feel like we’re meant to be a group,” Marvin said. He paused and thought about why he was so drawn to Terry in high school. He was willing to take beatings for him when Kyle wasn’t there, the same sense of right that made him want to be a cop and help people. “It may not seem right to others, but this is something I need to see through.”

“Why not?” Marvin asked Scooter as they followed him through the market. 

After they left Scooter’s house, Marvin started putting his detective skills to use. He saw that Scooter’s shoes were worn, so he did an awful lot walking. The knees of his pants were dirty, so he spent a lot of time scrubbing floors. Then the most damning thing of all, the long-sleeved shirt he had on, possibly hiding bruises, along with the healing black eye on his right side. 

“Did– did someone hurt you?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Scooter told him.

“Whatever it is, we can help,” Marvin promised. He wasn’t strong, but he could hold his own in a fight. His academy training might just pay off yet.“We’re going to help Jay get home, and I don’t know what Jason wants, but we’ll help him, too!”

“There’s nothing I want. My dreams are dead,” Scooter told him. Well, maybe if… no, forget it, Marvin would never be able to help him with his problems. “Just leave me alone.”

“Not until you join the group,” Marvin said. Maybe it was the constant pressure from his father and the guys at the Police Academy that was pushing Marvin. Either way, he felt compelled to help Jay out.

Scooter sighed. “Fine. I’ll join you long enough to get your money, then I’m out. That’ll get you off of my back and I can go about my life. Happy?”

“Sorta,” Marvin told him. Now he felt guilty about pressuring the guy. He’d have to find a way to make up for it.

 “Just be at my house tomorrow and bring your instruments,” Scooter said. “Plan for hours of endless practice. We have to be perfect before we perform for live people.”

Scooter walked away, wondering why he’d just promised this when he knew the price he’d have to pay. But maybe this band would keep him from having to go home for at least a few weeks. 

Marvin smiled at Jay. “Hear that? We’ll have the money to send you home in no time!”

After Scooter got home with groceries a while later, he pulled off his shoes and left them on the porch, hoping the neighbor’s dogs didn’t steal them again. It’s taken him forever to earn the money for the ones he had and couldn’t afford to replace them again. He couldn’t let new people into his life to see how far he’d fallen since he’d left home.

Scooter pouted a little before he fell down the wall with tears in his eyes. The home was nice, but it wasn’t his home back in England, and his family here didn’t let him forget it. He had to keep it spotless at all times, for even a seed of dirt would earn him a beating from the relatives. 

Scooter didn’t even have a picture of his mother to look at. He had nothing of his former life beyond a broken promise. 

“I’m sorry, Mum. I’m so sorry.”

Later that evening, Kyle met Alexandra at a fancy restaurant.

“Are you sure you can afford this?” Alexandra asked.  Kyle pulled out her chair.

“I can afford a lot more now that I’m not just a temp,” he told her. “I can finally afford to buy nice things for you as you deserve.”

“You don’t have to buy me things,” Alexandra said. “Just having you is more than enough. And I have to say, I am loving the more confident man you’ve become over the last few months.”

“Well, I’ve made some… changes in my life,” Kyle said as held her hand. “I can’t wait to tell you all about them.”

“We convinced him to play with us,” Marvin said. He brought his keytar into the club. “So that’s a start.”

“Now we just have to figure out if we’re any good,” Jason said. “Uh… what if we suck as a group?”

“Then we need to find out,” Marvin told him. “Then we’ll go from there.”

“You’re pretty confident,” Jay said. “Can I buy some of whatever you’re offering?”

“If only I knew why I was so brave,” Marvin said. Terry dumping him should have shattered his confidence. “Want to meet back here tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Jay told them. “Later.”

As they headed for the exit, Marvin noticed Jason still sitting there, like he’d been punched in the gut.

“We’re going home, Jason,” Marvin said. “You going to get some rest for tomorrow?”

“I… I have nowhere to go,” Jason said. The shame in his voice told Marvin everything he needed to know. Jason would talk when he was ready. “I’ve been living on the streets for a while. I was kind of hoping that if we found a talent scout, then… we’d hit it big and I’d have money.”

“For the love of– ” Marvin said. He grabbed Jason’s arm. “Come on, You’re staying on my couch until we find you a better place.”

“You don’t have to.”

“No, I don’t have to, I want to,” Marvin told him. “Friends don’t abandon friends, so move your ass.”

Kyle and Alexandra went for a walk along the beach, holding each other’s hand.

“That was nice,” Kyle told her. “Every date just makes me love you more.”

The two kissed. Alexandra touched his cheek.

“I love you, too,” she smiled.  

Kyle rubbed the back of his head nervously. He’d have proposed right there if he thought he’d have the money for it, or if he didn’t think that Alexandra’s mother would hire a hitman.

“I told you earlier, there are… things I’ve been wanting to talk to you about,” he said. “Before you say yes to any of this, let me get it all out. First… we’ve been together for a while and I really want to take that next step in our relationship. Will you move in with me?”

Before Alexandra could answer, Kyle put her fingers to her lips. “Don’t answer yet, there’s more.”

“More?”

“Before you hopefully say ‘yes’, I have to tell you something, and that’s going to be difficult because it’s something I’ve been hiding for a while.” Kyle took a deep breath. “I have no idea how to tell you this.”

“Is this the part where you tell me that you’re Green Lantern?” she asked.

To be continued…