The Rage Of A Child

How Fast Things Change

Vera sighed. She always though training with Kilowog would be fun. Or at least hard. Not so today.

As she blasted small asteroids, Vera's mind kept wandering back to the book she was reading back on earth, Solitare, a book which Dex-Starr seemed to like. As much as the cat could like anything, like curling up on Vera's bed when she was already fast asleep.

"Kid, focus!" Kilowog shouted.

"On what?" Vera called back.

Her family was back on Earth, and Hal And Kilowog were watching her on Oa for the week to train. But right now she was stuck with the last-of-his-species target training a a nearby asteroid belt.

Vera briefly wondered if there was now an astroid patch where his planet used to be, then shook it out of her head.

"I've hit every-" Vera's voice trailed off as she noticed the red glow behind a big rock that floated behind the green lantern.

"DOWN!" he ducked just as Vera shot a blast at the rock behind him.

As it crumbled into dust, Vera thought it had all been a part of Kilowog's training, but then the dust settled.

Atrocitus flew there, smiling down of them. "Good work, little lantern."

"Vera. Get back to Oa. Now." Kilowog ground out, making the contrux of a hammer.

"But what about--"

"NOW!"

She considered staying. She didn't want to leave Kilowog, and she could take on Atrocitus. But she also didn't want to distract Kilowog. And he too could take on Atrocitus. She hoped.

Problem was they were on the middle of an astroid belt, with no clear path to Oa, and Vera couldn't make portals like Mal.

So she just shot off like a shooting star, or some red Tinker Bell of death, just trying to get away.

Unfortunately someone who had grown up was watching her.

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Kilowog found himself landing hard against a big rock.

"Nice try." He said as he pulled himself up. "But you're gonna have to try harder than that."

"Am I now?" The ex-red lantern leader asked.

Unlike Hal and Razer, Kilowog had never gotten a good old one on one fight with Atrocitus. Well now was his chance.

Or would have been, but a human scream distracted him. A very familiar human scream, though he'd never heard such fear in it before.

"VERA!"

The GL turned around, searching the rock-filled void for the girl's red glow, but she was hidden by the stones.

Kilowog turned back to Atrocitus--a rookie mistake, turning his back on the enemy--but when he did, the red lantern was gone.

Kilowog floated there for a second. Then took off through the belt, crying for his ward.

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Vera thought about all those times in books she'd read about people who chopped their hair short so as not to be able to be dragged by their own long locks.

She thought this as she was dragged into the iron grip of a black-garbed woman with a lightning bolt insignia on her chest.

It took Vera a second to recognize her. But she'd seen this woman--on tv, in the newspaper, on the computers in all the hero hideouts she wasn't supposed to know about or visit--Mary Broomfield. Sergeant Marvel. A hero, part of the Shazam trio, student of Zatana, possible member of the Justice League reserves (she wasn't supposed to know about that last one, but her ring helped her learn lots of things).