"There were voices. And thunderings and lightnings. And an earthquake. And there followed a hail of fire mingled with blood. And there fell a star from heaven burning as if it were a lamp. And I beheld and heard an angel saying with a loud voice 'Woe woe WOE be to the inhabitors of Earth.'-"

Jay shook his head, looking over at Rose. "The book of Revelation." He explained to her quizzical look.

"I thought you were agnostic?" Rose commented, looking around the street. The usual downgrade of the world. The street had cracks and chunks missing, buildings full of boarded up windows and even a few boarded up walls, what about ten years ago may have been a fairly livable neighborhood seemed to have rapidly devolved into a typical slum.

He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Something like that." He admitted. "But the visions, they come more frequently lately, and now there's even narration." He sighed. "Bible verses, and scenes of mass destruction. And they come with smaller and smaller gaps between them." He looked distressed, showing his age. And aged he was. He may not have been old, but no longer could he get away with 'Teen Lantern' as his title. His hair was thinning just a bit up front now, and a little lighter, some grey beginning to creep in at the temples, his physique wasn't too bad though, he still engaged in...some form of exorcise with regular frequency.

Rose sighed, rubbing his back. "C'mon, maybe you've just been watching too many movies?" She suggested helpfully. Rose didn't look to different from her youth, maybe she'd grown a bit more muscular, and gravity was taking a slight toll these days, but she was still attractive, and the only truely outward sign of her age was a few crows feet around the corners of her eyes and lips.

"Maybe." He agreed, not sounding like he believed it in the least. "Maybe i'm just too tired anymore."

"Too tired? Of what?" She asked, concern entering her voice.

"Trying to fight the future." Jay sighed, standing upright again. With a quick twist he'd pulled of the Power Ring he'd worn since he began his career, and dropped it into her hand. "Maybe you'll have better luck than me."

"Jay!" She seemed startled by what he'd done. "You NEED this." She insisted, forcing it back into his hands. "You need it to LIVE remember Green Jeans?" She asked, knocking lightly on his head.

"Y-yeah...yeah sorry." He nodded, slipping the ring back on. "Don't know...don't know what came over me." He tried to smile reassuringly, but all that managed was to make Rose more nervous. It was a shaky smile, the kind of smile one gives when they're trying to convince themselves more than the other person.

Rose shivered lightly, but not from the weather, and pulling her jacket just a bit closer as he started walking again. "Come on green jeans." She said, trying to turn their talk away from impending disaster. "We've got a table waiting for us at Planet Krypton. Don't want those meals to get cold do we?"

As the two walked, they passed what looked like the top of a building torn off and thrown to the ground, police lines set up around it. Jay tried not to look at it as they walked past and looked up at the building.

Planet Krypton. It was Booster Gold's last great business venture. Memorabelia of Earth's great champions of yesteryear. The waiters and waitresses were dressed in mockups of their costumes. As they entered, Jay found himself looking at a man in a Hal Jordan style Green Lantern costume.

"Hello Citizen, how may I serve you?" He asked.

"Table for two." Rose answered before Jay could respond.

"Alright. Hey, whaddya think of the costume eh? People tell me I make a pretty good Green...whatsit? Arrow?"

Rose cracked a smile as she felt Jay bristle next to her. "Let it slide Jay." She told him as they took their table. The meal had mostly been smalltalk. Somehow it got around to their usual topics, as often as they came about.

How the world was going to hell. The new breed of 'heroes' had less respect for human life than some VILLAINS they'd fought. Jay professing less and less faith in humanity, and even wondering if Superman had the right idea.

Rose had done her best to talk him out of it, to cajole him into laughing. Telling him he was still too young to be talking like an old man, grousing about the 'young people today.'

Had she known this day would be the last time she'd see him...maybe she would have tried harder too restore his faith in the future. Or maybe they would have spent the day entirely different...

Who can really say?

"Two days." Rose grumbled, her eyes were turned down towards the ground, a scowl gracing her features. "He's been gone for two damn days." The 'him' she was referring too had been, naturally, Jay. She had simply woken up, and he'd been gone. Not a note, no phone call, nothing. It would be enough to put anyone into a bad mood. And Rose's mood was only getting worse from there.

She'd been reading the newspapers, more laws were being enacted in attempts to curb metahuman violence. She doubted they'd make a difference. More destruction all over the country. "Maybe he was right?" She thought aloud. "Maybe Superman DID get it right."

Her internal musings were interrupted however, by a street corner prophet shouting his usual 'Doom and Gloom' prophecy.

"FEAR GOD!" He shouted, clutching his Bible high. "FEAR GOD! AND GIVE HIM GLORY! FOR THE HOUR OF HIS JUDGEMENT IS AT HAND!"

"And we've stopped that too." She grumbled to herself, but for whatever reason she remained and listened.

"And there followed hail and fire mingled with blood! And the third part of the green trees were burnt up, and all the green grass was burnt up! And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit!"

Rose had never been one for religion, neither had Jay for that matter. After all, when you've fought most 'gods' who do you worship? The former heroine had just about made up her mind to leave again when a nearby television began to blare the news.

"N-no way..." She whispered. "That..." Even after all the devistation she had witnessed, all the destruction of the new breed...this...this was unprecidented...and only one thought penetrated through to her mind...

"Jay was right..."