- And don't you even look at Ray Palmer. You're not "warriors" together. All you do is posture and threaten and cut people with blades, like primitives have done for millennia. But Ray-- Ray imagines. Ray invents.
Convergence: The Atom #2 is an issue of the series Convergence: The Atom (Volume 1) with a cover date of July, 2015. It was published on May 6, 2015.
Synopsis for "Return of the Atom"
Ray Palmer has just learned that the voice in his head for the past year was not merely a symptom of his own insanity, but that of an ostensibly alive Ryan Choi, who was thought to have died at the hands of Deathstroke. Bolstered by encouragement from the young man who bore his legacy, Ray attacks his opponent, the Barracuda with renewed vigour.
Ray considers that Ryan must have been displaced, somehow, into the alternate dimension where their mass goes when they shrink using their Bio-Belts. Ryan supposes it was a survival mechanism - but he is alive - and in partial control of a quantity of mass, which happens to be Ray's right hand. Ray realizes that he's been using Ryan's predicament unwittingly, and he'd rather see the young man live than live through him. Rather than let Ryan do so, as he seems intent on doing, Ray grows his left hand to a phenomenal size, and takes a swing at Barracuda - who severs it at the wrist.
Hurriedly, he urges Ryan to do what he needs to, and within moments, Ryan forms a body for himself out of the giant, severed hand. Ray tosses him his own belt, and Ryan uses it to shrink down to a speck. Turning on a now vulnerable Ray, Barracuda prepares to make the killing blow, only to suddenly fall flat on his face. It was Ryan's doing, and the young man shrinks down even further to enter Barracuda's body, and essentially render his arms useless.
Ryan hurries to Ray's side and uses the belt to cut off circulation to the stump at his wrist, and prevent further blood loss, as Barracuda is teleported away, having lost the battle.
Some time later, Ray wakes in a hospital bed with his friend Maria at his side. Weakly, he calls out for Ryan Choi, wanting to know where he's gone. Maria explains that while Ray's battle ended, there are still other fights for Gotham's survival going on, but she leads him to the window to show him the crowd of supporters who showed up outside, to thank him for doing his part. Ray can't accept this, knowing it was Ryan, who did all the work - but Maria refuses to believe that Ryan really is alive.
That night, Ray wakes - still in his hospital bed - to find Deathstroke standing over him. The assassin tosses the belt out of reach and reminding that it was Ray who wouldn't let things lie. He had tried to lay low when the dome came down, but Ray had to keep going public with his complaints against Slade Wilson. He warns Ray that he just has to accept the fact that people die, preparing to swing his sword down on the unarmed man. Suddenly, Ryan leaps up out of the belt and knocks Deathstroke's sword away, grimly explaining that he knew Slade couldn't resist killing another weakened target, like he had been.
Together, Ray and Ryan knock Deathstroke off his feet, and then Ryan wraps the shrink-belt around both Ray and Deathstroke's hands, explaining that he's going to do a bit of redistribution. He activates the belt, and when it's done its work, Ray discovers that he has his hand back - and Deathstroke has lost some mass in both of his.
Afterwards, Ray introduces Maria to Ryan, and offers her a job running their physics lab together, hopeful that whoever else is fighting for Gotham's sake is as successful as they were.
Appearing in "Return of the Atom"
Featured Characters:
- The Atom/Ray Palmer (Pre-Flashpoint)
- The Atom/Ryan Choi (Pre-Flashpoint) (Flashback and main story) (Also as a spirit)
Supporting Characters:
- Maria (Pre-Flashpoint)
Antagonists:
- Deathstroke/Slade Wilson (Pre-Flashpoint) (Flashback and main story)
- Barracuda (Earth-8)
Other Characters:
- Amanda Turner (Pre-Flashpoint) (Mentioned only)
- Professor Choi (Pre-Flashpoint) (Mentioned only)
- The Extremists (Earth-8) (Mentioned only)
- Justice League (Pre-Flashpoint) (Mentioned only)
- Batman (Bruce Wayne) (Mentioned only)
- Titans (Pre-Flashpoint) (Mentioned only)
Locations:
Items:
- Barracuda's Trident
- Bio-Belts (Flashback and main story)
- Deathstroke's Sword (Flashback only) (Cameo)
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Divergence: Green Lantern"
Hal Jordan is now a most-wanted fugitive, and has turned up in a bar on the outskirds of the mining belt in Sector 2813. He is no longer a Green Lantern, and as such, he no longer commands the respect of the police sent to capture him. Impulsively, he grips the captain of the police force with his gauntlet, and drags him out of the place, dodging the gunfire of his captive's own men.
Later, he imprisons the policeman on board the Class III Light Cruiser Darlene. Unexpectedly, he offers his captive a sling for his dislocated arm, and explains that whatever he was told, he is not the only cop who'd sacrifice everything - a family - for a job. Hal Jordan is the same. He outfits the policeman with a space-suit and a beacon, explaining that once he's safely away, he'll let the man's friends know where to find him.
Hal explains that he never had any intention of killing him. The universe needs men like them. The universe needs hired guns.
Appearing in "Divergence: Green Lantern"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Green Lantern Corps (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Sector 2813
- Way Station 26
Items:
- Hal Jordan's power gauntlet
Vehicles:
- The Class III light cruise Darlene
Notes
- The "Return of the Atom" story takes place before the epilogue of Convergence #5.
- "Divergence: Green Lantern" is an original eight-page story providing a "special sneak peek" at the upcoming "Hal Jordan: Renegade" storyline in Green Lantern (Volume 5). It was also released separately as a free digital comic. It can be read here: DC Sneak Peek: Green Lantern.
See Also