Ssh! The Game's On! [ Hal ]

[circe]

Players: Circe and Hal Jordan
Location(s): Coast City
Plot Summary: A goddess is trying to lure Wonder Woman into a trap . . . but she apparently doesn't know whose city this is.

Sometimes, you have to wonder . . . do super villains wake up in the morning with the intention to cause mayhem and trouble?

Circe was at it again, this time in Coast City, the City Without Fear. California, a hideous state on the outskirts of America. Not that Circe was particularly fond of any place in the modern world, but this California was one of the worst. Overpopulated and too busy. . . though, the fact that it had huge cities worked to a villain like Circe's advantage. Masses to terrorize. It was just before the big "Coast City Sharks" game started, and the stadium was where Circe's focus would be on.

She didn't choose this city for any particular reason, just that she had heard a rumor that Diana had recently been in California and this is as good as any other place in America to lure a superhero to their death. How was she going to take Wonder Woman down this time? Not important. What was important, however, was getting Diana to even show up in this place. The City Without Fear. Circe would show them that no one was without fear . . especially not when you were at the mercy of a goddess.

The teams were on the field, and the crowd had already poured into the stadium. . . the pathetic mortals and their foolish games. Football? Did they honestly believe themselves the most intelligent beings on the planet? The game hadn't started yet, but Circe didn't care. It was time to strike, under the lights of the big city. Wonder Woman would come flying in, to save all the mortals from dying at a football game. The thought was nice, though. A mass graveyard was more useful than a sports stadium to Circe.

And, to the surprise of many, a fissure began in the middle of the field, right down the 50 yard line, and stopping only right before the bleachers. The stadium -- in fact, nearly all of the Westport District of the city -- began to shake, and Circe hovered in, eyes aglow with a ghastly pink and hands crackling with purple energy. "I'm so sorry to ruin your little game," Circe mocked, her voice magically enhanced so that everyone in the stadium could hear her well enough. "But I'm sure I can be much more entertaining."

[Hal Jordan]

A monday night Sharks game. Hal hadn't been out to enjoy the simple joys life - and his city - had to offer in some time. Living as a superhero a lot of your time was absorbed into keeping the world safe and though Hal worked diligently to keep Coast City out of harms way he did not have much time as of late to just enjoy what it was that made him love his home in the first place. A night out with his brother and some friends at the Sharks game was a good reminder of what he was protecting and why. The game had yet to start and already emotions were high, everyone in the stadium was looking forward to a good time and a great game.

"Come on, right down here. Here's our seats!" Even as a seasoned pilot Hal rarely got good seats in the Sharks Stadium, but somehow his brother had managed to get them the greatest seats ever, Hal could practically smell the turf from where they sat. "Are these great seats or what?" One of Jim's friends commented as he took a seat beside Hal's brother. "Yeah, good job." Hal elbowed his brother Jim with a smirk just before their entire group each drank from their cups of beer at the same time. "So? Bets?" Another one of their friends asked cheekily, the group laughed and Hal shook his head. There wouldn't be any betting for him, he was only out to enjoy a good game.

Taking another sip from his cup Hal raised a brow as the ring in his pocket began to move. He lowered his plastic cup and glanced down at his jacket pocket, but immediately he snapped his head right back up. The turf before them had split raggedly and a large crevice worked its way through the field. Some people screamed, beers were wasted, and visitors cheered. Immediately Hal slipped his hand into his pocket and his ring onto his finger. Gripping the armrest of his seat to keep stable as the entire stadium shook violently Hal looked out at the field as a cloaked woman appeared before them.

"Circe," he spoke under his breath as he narrowed his eyes on the sorceress. Jim looked over at his brother and nodded. While frightened sports fans began clearing out and rushing for exits Hal raised and disappeared amongst them. Quickly Hal discarded his jacket and once in a safe location willed his Green Lantern uniform over his civilian clothing. Moments later the Green Lantern descended seemingly from nowhere behind Circe. Hal's first order of business was shooting a number of large green staples into the ground to keep the fissure from opening wider, next he created a green translucent wall that kept those in the bleachers separated from himself and the villainess on the field. "I don't think these football fans are in the mood for a magicshow, Circe." Hal spoke with a scowl upon his face as he drifted a (somewhat) safe distance away from the woman. "What do you want?"

[circe]

Circe was incredibly, unbelievably and tremendously pissed. How dare one of these . . . these . . . Lanterns think they can try and stop her? The audacity! It was an outrage, simply unheard of! The goddess of deception had a whole lot of magic in her arsenal, and at this moment, at Coast City Stadium in the Westport District, all of her anger was directed at one man. One stupid, arrogant man. A Hal Jordan, a "hero" with a fascination for green tights and jewelry. No, no, no -- this would not do. Circe was not going to lose her cool because of one of Diana's colleagues. (And especially not one that wasn't on top of Circe's "feared" list.) She would get rid of him and hope that the next superhero to fly to the rescue would be Wonder Woman.

If not, she would simply kill him.

Circe wasn't in the business of killing the friends of her foes on a whim, but when one insulted her, she couldn't help but want them a little dead. So, if the body of the Green Lantern here could send a message to the other heroes of his caliber, she would be happy to oblige. Though . . . it would probably prove bothersome to take him out completely. If all else failed, she could just turn him into an ape or a tiger or something. Football fans loved vicious things, right? Especially vicious things that tore one another apart.

Oooooh, that was good. That gave Circe a splendid idea! She wasn't going to try to stop the fissure in the ground from sloppily closing or try and break free of the Lantern's light construct. She would just make a huge mess and keep the fans interested. Circe loved to entertain. "Oh, it's just you," Circe said, as if Hal were just a bothersome fly. "What do I want? You know, you really know how to make a girl feel wanted." Circe looked at Hal with mild interest. "I want to have a little fun with you, that's all," Circe gave a rather malignant smile, as she floated there in the center of the football field. That was not what she was here for at all. But, you have to play the cards you're dealt, right?

Circe raised her arms, which were bursting with a stream of violet magical energy, towards Hal. She blasted him with pink lightning, hoping to send him spiraling at the field goal post. That was just a display of power, a way to keep Hal down for a few moments while she cast a spell . . . Ah, there we go! The two opposing football teams hadn't yet evacuated, and Circe made sure they didn't exit. Within moments, helmets and various other garments were discarded, and the football players were replaced by large humanoid creatures. Circe's improvised beastiamorph army. There were tusked boars, rhinos, tigers, and wolves. All were overgrown and bloodthirsty. Circe narrowed her eyes as her cruel grin spread.

"Get him!" She hissed, pointing at Hal. The monsters happily obliged.

[Hal Jordan]

Only Hal Jordan could look forward to a football game in his hometown and end up somehow pissing off an ancient, all powerful sorceress. Inwardly the man cursed his string of bad luck but on the outside surface he carried himself well and remained stationary before the woman that threatened his city. He didn't know what the woman had hidden up her cloak sleeves (probably a lot of deadly things) but he wasn't about to let her cause any further damage to his home without returning the favor.

"A little fun with me?" Hal quirked a brow and the mythical woman of sorcery. "I bet you say that to all the guys." Regardless if she did or not Hal knew that Circe's type of fun could only be something that meant danger and disaster for others, Hal had read the Odyssey. Her true purpose wasn't yet clear to the man but as far as Hal was concerned that didn't matter too much. What really mattered was making sure that everyone managed to get out of the stands and out of the stadium safely, from there his priority would simply be stopping Circe and making sure she never came to bother Coast City again.

"Shouldn't you be some place berating and festering over Wonder Woman's superiority over you?" Man, he really wished Diana could keep her gods and witches under control. Circe, it seemed, had other things in mind though as with the lifting of her arms came a powerful surge of colorful magicks sent directly his way. Hal's mind, will, and ring reacted immediately, projecting a green image of the emblem predominantly displayed on Wonder Woman's chestplate before him. Braced against his construct Hal felt himself pushed back a few feet as the purple lightning of Crice's crashed into it, yet did not breach. When the blast of lightning finally dwindled Hal's construct dissipated and the Green Lantern swiftly retaliated with a blast of his own green energy toward Circe.

Unfortunately for Hal he soon realized that Circe's play wasn't quite done with just her blast of colorful lightning. Her command of 'get him' caused the Lantern to glance down at the field and look upon the grotesque creatures that were formerly human and now something much worse. They were clearly crosses between human and some specific sort of animal but the mix was not logical and cleanly done. There were tiger men who still had skin but with orange stripes, and their heads were bulbous with teeth much too large jutting from their gaping jaws. The werewolves were shaggy from the midsection on down, their upperhalves still clearly wolf-like like the rest of their body but naked and an ugly shade of grey with snouts that poked out of otherwise humanly faces. There was also a man-boar, with tusks pushed through his jaws and a face that was like a package of meat that'd been through a grinder; it was hard to say it was either man or animal, its legs were muscular and human but its arms were thin and ended in black hooves.

Hal tried desperately to tear his mind off of the ugly sights as he climbed higher into the air, he now had to deal with the beastiamorphs and Circe herself. Hal's ring glowed brightly before the image of a green hawk was willed into existence, its size about half the length of the football field. The green bird soared overhead, its watchful eyes intent on each and every moment of the creatures below before Hal directed it to swoop downward with talons bared.