“That is not a word,” sixteen year old Dean Highmore said as he looked at his father, who was a high ranking senator. Dean was only a sophomore, but was already looking at early graduation. He planned to attend Harvard and follow in his father’s footsteps by getting his law degree. He had a great future to look forward to.

“It is so a word,” John Highmore told his oldest son as they sat at the table with the rest of the family during game night. “Check the dictionary.”

Dean sighed as he pulled out the dictionary and looked through it. “See? I told you ‘Rockadoodle’ was not a word.”

“Fine, it’s not a word,” the senator told him, cursing that he had such an intelligent offspring. The clock in the living struck 8 o’clock, giving off eight chimes in a row to signal the new hour. “What’s the penalty for making up words?”

Dean just looked at his father, a cold stare coming over his eyes. His hand trembled as he reached for a butter knife, grabbing it from the plate. Before anyone realized what was going on, Dean stabbed the knife into his father’s throat, pulling it out and stabbing it back in several times. Dean’s mother and sister screamed as they watched young Dean Highmore stab the senator to death in their living room.

NO STRINGS ATTACHED

By Tobias Christopher

The next morning, Kyle Rayner sat in a chair in the kitchen as he held a cold compress to his head. His mother had stopped by to make sure he had done his grocery shopping and found him passed out in his bedroom, where Kyle had hit his head on the floor. After making sure Kyle was breathing, she dialed the police department to file the report on the break-in. Within twenty minutes, Officer Marvin Harris was sent to his apartment to check out the scene. “You’re sure nothing was stolen?”

“I’m pretty sure, nothing that I’ve noticed, anyway,” Kyle told him as Marvin dusted for prints. He still had his most valuable possession, the Green Lantern ring, sitting on his finger. He wondered why that hadn’t been stolen. But he’d figure that out when he went searching for the would-be thief later. “You think she was after something in particular?”

“No telling, but I’ll run the prints,” Marvin told him. “But without a proper physical description there’s not really much to go on. Just keep your doors and windows locked and be careful about who you let in.”

Marvin saw a picture of Kyle, Marvin, and Terry at Terry’s high school graduation earlier that year. “How is he?”

“He’s good, throwing himself into his art,” Kyle told him. Marvin had admitted to Kyle’s alter ego, the Green Lantern, about the reason why he had ended their relationship. So now Kyle knew a secret that was hurting his best friend, and he couldn’t tell him without risking his secret identity to Marvin. “He really misses you.”

“Yeah, well, we’re better off this way,” Marvin said as he finished up. “I’ll call you as soon as we run these prints. Please don’t tell Terry that I asked about him.”

As he watched Marvin leave, Kyle looked over at his mother, who was fixing him breakfast.

“Well, I’m just thankful that you’re alive,” Maura said as she started fixing him breakfast. “The next person that gets robbed might get hurt even worse.”

“You’re right, I’ll go down to the store and pick up some deadbolts for the doors and windows this afternoon,” Kyle said as he watched his mother cooking for him. “First I’m going to call this number Terry gave me. I might have a job opportunity on the horizon if this works out. Really, mom, you don’t have to cook anything. You really should be resting, you just got out of the hospital. That psycho nearly killed you.”

“You just had a traumatic experience yourself, you need something in your stomach,” Maura replied as she put the bowl of oatmeal in front of him. “Now, eat this while I make you some eggs and toast. I notice you haven’t done your shopping, your cabinets are empty. It’s a good thing I brought some food with me.”

“I fell behind,” Kyle replied as he took a bite of oatmeal. It was perfect, not like the lumpy mess that usually resulted from him trying to cook. His mother knew him well, she always seemed to know when he needed her. “I’ll go later today.”

The cherry red Mercedes-Benz pulled into the grocery store parking lot, driving past two guys who stared at the hot blonde behind the wheel.

“Check it out,” one of the guys said as he smirked at his buddy. He was short with brown hair, had braces and was wearing an AC/DC t-shirt. His friend was blond with a Metallica t-shirt. Both of the young men were unemployed stoners and typically spent their days at the same location, hitting on the hottest women who came by. “Watch me get this girl’s number.”

Slicking his hair back, the guy strolled the car as it pulled into the parking space, ready to hit on the girl as soon as she stepped out. “Hey, baby.”

The gull-wing door opened up, smacking the guy in the face and sending him flying back. Alexandra DeWitt, not even having noticed him, stepped out of the car and looked at the grocery store in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she walked toward the foreign world she was about to step into.

As she set foot on the pad, the door opened right in front of her, startling Alexandra briefly. She walked in and saw the shopping carts lined up in the corral. Approaching one, she looked for the place to insert the key to start it. “Where’s the steering wheel?”

“Haven’t you ever been shopping before?” a little old woman asked as she stood behind her walker. “You push the cart.”

“Physical labor?” asked Alexandra with a shocked gasp. She looked back at the cart and sighed. “It’s alright, I’m doing this for Kyle. He’d do the same thing for me.”

Jordan Weir stood in the darkened parking garage, where he was meeting with his contact to receive the payment for a task he’d recently performed. Thanks to him, a U.S. senator was dead and the law he’d been intending to pass, which would enforce strict gun control measures, would never make it into the law books.

Weir wasn’t a very tall man, but still looked menacing. He was bald with a goatee, and thick glasses on his face. Soon, a man arrived and handed Weir an envelope containing the rest of his fee which he was to receive upon the news of Senator Highmore’s death hitting the media.

“Highmore’s son is under psychiatric evaluation,” the man told Weir. “It’s as if his mind completely shut down after the murder.”

“A mere subliminal command to ensure that the boy is never able to talk about our little meeting should he even remember it,” Weir smirked as he put the envelope into his pocket. “He’ll spend the rest of his life as a drooling vegetable.”

“This won’t be the last law I need to shoot down,” the man told him. “I trust you’ll be able to do this again should the need arise?”

“Do you think this is my first rodeo?” Weir asked with a malicious grin. “You know my price if you need another job done.”

A bright light from a passing car flashed by as the man turned his head. When the light went away, he turned his head back and saw that Weir was already gone.

“Alright, thank you,” Kyle said as he hung up the phone. He’d dialled the number Terry gave him and set up an interview at Feast Magazine, which would hopefully lead to a fulltime job. No more temp jobs for him. With a steady income, he’d finally be able to keep his cabinets filled and take his girlfriend out for a nice dinner once in a while. “Well, G’Nort, it looks like I’m going to have a full time job real soon. And you know what that means? Quality doggie treats, my friend. No more imitation horse meat chews for you.”

G’Nort just whimpered as he looked up at Kyle. He’d grown fond of his imitation horse meat chews. Kyle just patted him on the head as he headed to the bathroom to grab a shower before he headed out.

Alexandra was pushing the grocery cart down the baking aisle of the supermarket, looking for the next thing on her list. She had looked up on the internet what she wanted to make, and so far had the gathered ingredients in the front seat of the cart: A box of strawberry cake mix; a jar of frosting; and two single eggs, both wrapped in plastic that made the eggs look like they were wearing protective diapers.

“Okay, I just need a cup of oil and two cups of milk,” Alexandra said as she found a shelf filled with bottles of oil. “I see the bottles of oil, but where are the cups to pour them?”

It was then that Terry had turned the corner into the aisle and saw Alex with her shopping cart. It was too late to turn around as she had already seen him.

“You do know where you are, right?” Terry asked her.

“I’m grocery shopping for a special occasion,” Alexandra told him. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me,” Terry said as he picked up one of the eggs. “You do realize that have to buy the whole dozen, right?”

“But I just need two,” Alexandra told him as Terry rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers. He knew he’d regret doing it, but she really needed some help with this. He took the list from her and looked at it.

“You’re making a cake? Don’t you have cooks or something to do this for you?” Terry asked.

“Kyle’s 21st birthday is coming, and I wanted to do something special for him,” Alexandra told him. “Since he doesn’t like me buying him expensive things, I just figured that I could, you know.”

“I get it,” Terry told her, seeing a side to her that he’d never seen before. He looked at the box of cake mix, seeing she had picked out Kyle’s favorite cake flavor. “Strawberry? You’ve done your homework. Come on, I’ll help you do your shopping.”

As the two started talking, the boy in the AC/DC t-shirt turned the corner just in time to get his foot flattened by the grocery cart while Alexandra wasn’t paying attention.

Kyle had spent a good portion of the afternoon searching for the person who had broken into his apartment, with no luck. Even using the ring to try to follow the trail, he still came up empty. He’d just have to get stronger locks for his doors, or maybe invest in an alarm system.

Having given up searching for the burglar, Kyle decided to go grocery shopping like he’d promised his mother. Having stopped along the way for a newspaper and coffee, Kyle looked at the headline about the Senator’s son killing him the night before.

“What is this world coming to?” Kyle asked himself as he took a sip of coffee. As he was about to cross the street, a car barrelled right past him, nearly hitting him. The car was followed by several squad cars as Kyle sighed and looked up into the sky. “Really? You’re going to make do the hero thing now? Thanks, God.”

Seconds after ducking into an alley, the Green Lantern flew out and was on his way to stopping the speeding vehicle before anyone got hurt. Flying through the streets, he soon caught up the vehicle containing the armed robbers who’d just stolen money from the local bank. Flying alongside it, the hero looked into the window.

“Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?” Green Lantern asked.

The robber pulled out a gun and fired three rounds as the hero held up his ring hand, creating a baseball mitt to catch the bullets. “Strike one! Strike two! Strike three! You’re out!”

“Kill him!” the robber on the passenger’s side shouted.

“I’m trying!” the driver replied as he looked out at the hero.

“You know, you really should keep your eyes on the road,” Green Lantern said as he pointed forward. The driver looked ahead and saw a large green loop de loop ahead. Both of the robbers screamed as the car drove into the two large loops. At the end of the second loop, the car flew off a ledge as it landed on a large green cushion. The hero landed beside the car and leaned his elbow on the driver’s side door. “Maybe I should open my own amusement park. What do you guys think?”

Both of the robbers opened their doors and started vomiting as Green Lantern got a disgusted look on his face. “Note to self: Make the loops smaller next time.”

Jordan Weir had witnessed the car chase from the small café he was seated at while he enjoyed a nice meal. He watched as the police arrested the crooks, noticing the person who had created such a marvellous spectacle.

“Where does he get such wonderful toys?” Weir asked himself as he wiped his lips with the napkin in his hand.

“Okay, I think we got all the ingredients,” Terry said as he looked at the shopping cart. “You sure you can bake this thing without burning the house down?”

“I think I can manage,” Alexandra told him as Terry carried the bags to her car. She hated saying the following words, but knew she had to show her appreciation somehow. “Thanks for helping me.”

“Well, it is for Kyle’s birthday,” Terry told her as he put the bags into her trunk. “It is nice what you’re trying to do for him. I never thought you’d do something so… personal.”

“Let’s just say that I got some perspective on relationships,” Alexandra told him. After a recent conversation with her mother, she didn’t want her relationship with Kyle to end up like the one her parents were in. “You’re the last person I expected to help with this.”

“I’ll admit, when you and Kyle started dating, I was a little jealous,” Terry told her. “You were taking my best friend’s time away from me. I thought you were just using Kyle and I didn’t want to see him get hurt. I promised Kyle I wouldn’t be so harsh on you. I guess I kind of started to see what he sees in you.”

“Look, I love Kyle,” Alexandra told him as she opened the gull wing door. “I’d never hurt him. He’s lucky to have someone like you watching out for him. Maybe we should try to get along for his sake.”

“Deal,” Terry told her as he closed the door after she got in. “Look, if you need help making this thing, give me a call. I’ll walk you through it so you can tell Kyle you did it all on your own.”

“Thanks,” Alexandra smiled at him. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Terry watched her drive off as he sighed to himself. His best friend was happy, that’s all that mattered. Now if only he get his own love life in order.

At the police station, Marvin was sitting in the crime lab, running the prints through the analyzer.

“Alright, let’s see if we come up with a match,” Marvin said to himself as he waited for the results. After a few minutes, the computer notified him that there was one match. As he pushed the button to find out who the prints belonged to, the screen suddenly went blank. “What the hell?”

Almost instantly, the computer turned back on, displaying that there were no results found.

“Kyle, there’s something wrong!” Terry shouted as he ran into the living room. “There’s food in your fridge! Quick, call the authorities before a party breaks out!”

“I went shopping this afternoon, wise ass,” Kyle told him as he sat at his computer. “I figured since I’ll be gainfully employed soon, I might well live it up and eat some real food for once.”

“Well, good luck,” Terry told him. “Wouldn’t it great if we ended up working in the same place?”

“No offense, but I’d rather not be a mail jockey,” Kyle replied as Terry tossed a pillow at him. “I got an interview set up for Thursday afternoon.”

“Thursday? You could be employed by your birthday,” Terry smiled. “Just in time to call in with a hangover when you’re out drinking.”

“Oh, yeah, my birthday is next week, isn’t it?” Kyle asked, suddenly remembering. “But I’m not planning on getting drunk that day. I remember what my dad was like when he hit the bottle. I’m staying as far away from that road as possible. I’ll probably just spend the night having a nice dinner with Alex, just like last year.”

“You spend every birthday having dinner with her,” Terry told him as he leaned back on the couch. “Remember when the tradition was going to a ball game with me?”

“Terry, we both hate baseball. That was always because your dad had tickets and we had nothing better to do,” Kyle said as he sighed. He got up and sat down on the couch next to Terry, putting an arm around him. “You know that just because I’m dating Alex, I’m not going to stop hanging out with you. You’re by best friend in the whole world, kid. Nothing’s ever going to change that. Besides, we still have your birthday to look forward to. That day is still reserved for just the two of us. No dates, no parents, just you and me.”

“You know, Alex isn’t so bad,” Terry told him. “She’s kind of starting to grow on me. I promise, we’ll be better towards each other.”

“That’s what I want to hear,” Kyle said as he hugged him as Terry looked at his watch.

“I’d better get home, got an early day at work tomorrow,” Terry told him as he got off the couch. “I’ll call you tomorrow after I get home and get you an outfit together for your interview.”

As Terry left, Kyle picked up the phone to see if Alex wanted to get together for a late dinner.

“Where is it? Where is it?” Weir asked as he dug through his gadgets and gizmos, which were laid strewn around the warehouse he’d rented out to keep his equipment. “Aha! There you are, my beauty. The cheese with which trap a green colored mouse.”

Weir pulled out a humanoid looking exoskeleton and smiled, looking for the rest of the pieces to it. He’d found a new plaything to have some fun with.

Next: Green Lantern meets the Puppet Master!