by PaladinLgt
It all began for me when my arch-enemy created a device to destroy my adopted homeworld. I grabbed the device, which burned my hands even through the protective aura my sword surrounded me with. One of my mystical teammates opened a gateway to the realm I called the Hallway of Doors. From there, I ran toward one of the doorways which led to a universe barren of all life, but the countdown ran out before I could make it.
One of those moments happened where your life flashes past as you are certain death will claim you. I could feel my flesh sear and bubble as the device unleashed a fury of energy which surged up and down the Hallway of Doors.
The force of the explosion flung me through one of the doors and sent me spiraling downward. I was at best semiconscious as I fell, smashing through a roof, down through several wooden crates full of metal parts, to be stopped by the wooden floor of the warehouse.
Why wasn’t I dead if I had taken so much damage — first from the explosion, then the great fall — is the question you would ask. Back when I was still young, our king was wounded in a battle with a Chaos Demon and lay close to death. Myredon the Warlock, along with the Circle of Light, put the king in a form of temporal status and sent us knights to recover an artifact called the Chalice of Life.
I was the one who found it, but on the voyage home I was attacked by a gang of outlaws. It was a fierce battle which I managed to win at a great cost. My wounds would soon cause my death if I didn’t use the Chalice. No one mentioned the fact to us Paladins of Light that the Chalice was supposed to be poured on the wounds instead of drinking from it. Fortunately, my thoughts were completely unselfish when I drank, or else the power of the Chalice would have destroyed me. The power of the Chalice infused me with its energy, granting me several gifts. One was the ability to heal from injury.
That’s why I wasn’t dead from what I had suffered. I came back to consciousness in that warehouse within a few moments with only my sword, scabbard, and enchanted ring still intact. I focused my thoughts on the ring, which began to glow brightly before costuming me in a military-style white outfit with white half-mask. The Oracle Ring was one of the more useful trinkets that I have collected over the years; not only could it provide me with clothing that allowed me to blend in with the local populace wherever I found myself, but also enabled me to consult it for knowledge of the area that I often couldn’t gain on my own. I looked around, trying to discover exactly where I was. One of the shattered crates was marked with the words Gotham City, which didn’t tell me anything, truthfully.
Meanwhile, my rather colorful entrance had attracted the attention of one of this world’s mystery-men. He was a wielder of a magic ring known as the Green Lantern. I was later to learn that he was on leave from his recently acquired military service as a private in the U.S. Army and was coming back to Gotham to meet up with another mystery-man. He had spotted the flash of pure white and flew in to investigate. Our first meeting rather got off on the wrong foot. I had just tried to open the locked warehouse doors before kicking one open with a well-placed martial strike, when the Green Lantern landed.
He used his ring to paralyze me with green light. I probably can’t remember exactly the way our conversation went, but this is my best estimate:
“Just who are you supposed to be — the Milkman?”
I looked down at my all-white uniform and frowned in confusion. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
The blond masked man in the red and green costume with a purple cape ignored my comment and pressed on with several other questions. “I’ve seen your type before. Who were you signaling? Where are your compatriots? Talk, or do I have to put the squeeze on you?” He then freed up my mouth while constricting me in place with an ethereal green flame that was cool to the touch.
“This is all a misunderstanding. Any damage I did was purely unintentional.” But I could see that what I was saying wasn’t convincing him at all.
“Don’t try your lies on me, you Nazi spy. I’m turning you over to the local authorities.” He then changed the flames into a long strand that wrapped around me like chains.
“I am sorry you feel that way, then, Emerald Lamp, or whatever you call yourself, because nobody puts me in chains. Also, stop calling me a Nazi, whatever that is.”
As I discovered later, this local costumed hero had good reason to assume that I was a Nazi agent or spy, as the nation I now found myself in had recently become embroiled in a war with the nation of Germany, currently under control of the Nazi Party, along with another country called Japan. In fact, the Green Lantern had singlehandedly stopped a sneak attack on the East Coast by these Nazis, the leader of which had escaped capture and was currently directing his Fifth Columnists in acts of sabotage and espionage from somewhere in this very neighborhood. (*)
[(*) Editor’s note: See “The Green Lantern and Doiby Dickles Join the Army,” Green Lantern #4 (Summer, 1942).]
The Green Lantern made the mistake of turning his back on me while searching for one of those emergency police call boxes. Over the years I had spent a lot of time learning ways to get my sword out of its sheath while being bound. As soon as my sword cleared its scabbard, I summoned one of the powers that the blade gave me and broke the chains.
The Green Lantern was shocked by that but was very much ready to fight. “I don’t care how strong you are — no Nazi stooge can beat the spirit of a fighting American. Take this!” He concentrated and shone a beam of green light to smash me down.
I was just a bit too slow, as the beam slammed into me and flung me back into the warehouse. The sound of breaking ribs was clearly audible as I was smashed into another set of crates. I heal, but injuries still cause me as much pain as anybody else. I grabbed one of the pieces of the crate and flung it at Green Lantern, trying to buy seconds for my injuries to heal. Instead of blocking it with the power of his ring, he flew up into the air to avoid it. I flew up into the air as well, only to find him gone.
“I have you now!” the Green Lantern shouted as he became visible again. He summoned up his green flames once again, trapping me in it. Or that’s what he thought he did as he landed with me in tow. “I’m concentrating now, and there’s no way you can break out until I can get you into custody.”
Another nifty trick my sword could do was absorb magic, which this was. I waited until he was close enough to reach before absorbing all the magic energy that was in the green flames. Then I hit him with a knockout blow that put him into dreamland, stopping afterward to make sure that his vital symptoms were strong. I probably should have waited for the police and explained it all, but I thought I could get back home by finding the doorway. I flew into the sky after putting my defeated foe on the still-intact crates in the warehouse.
My search for the gateway was futile, so I landed back at the warehouse to grab the unconscious Green Lantern and take him to the closest police station. I suppose I did look rather threatening standing over Green Lantern with sword in hand as his friend arrived on the scene. Something slammed into me, knocking me away.
“It’s time to put you down before you can hurt anyone else,” said the Flash, another one of this world’s mystery-men. He wore a red and blue costume with a lightning motif, while atop his head was a metal winged hat that hearkened back to a figure from classical mythology. “But first I need to get Green Lantern to safety.”
The Flash grabbed Green Lantern and raced off at an inhuman rate of speed as I climbed to my feet. “Come back here, Lightning Speed, or whatever you call yourself. This is all a terrible lack of communication.” I went after him by flying up into the air until I could see the blur of red. When I saw it stop, I flew to that spot and landed.
It was the headquarters of the Gotham Police Department that the Flash had raced toward. He was explaining the situation as a local nurse looked after the still-unconscious Green Lantern. The police that were there started firing as soon as I flew down. The smell of cordite filled the air as the bullets raced toward me. One of the runes on my blade flared to life as a protective aura formed around me. The bullets hit and bounced to the ground.
The Flash shouted at the men, “Stop firing! The ricochets might hit some civilian. I will take care of this masked menace.” He then raced at me, grabbing my enchanted blade away and tossing it aside as he ran by. Then he began to go around me in a circle, creating a vacuum of air in the space I was. I fell to the ground, pretending to be unconscious from the lack of oxygen.