Take a Breath

Superman:

"What is this," I ask, looking myself over. I stare at my arms and hands. I move my fingers back and forth. I then look over at Wonder Woman, Black Adam, and Hawkgirl. They're all doing the exact same. They're staring at their own arms and hands, moving their own fingers.

"These suits," I say, looking at the skin-tight blue sleeve. It feels like there's nothing there, but when I touch it, it also feels like some sort of hardened wool. It's soft to the touch, and yet somehow, I know from fights on Apokolips, it's also incredibly durable.

"Whatever these suits are made from," Cyborg says, typing away at one of the computers onboard my ship, the sound of his typing echoing like thunder. "It's unlike anything I've ever seen before. The material alone is so different, I can't even form a full report on what is it exactly."

"Can he?"

I ask and point to Bruce as he pulls his head back from the microscope. He enters some notes into a nearby computer and returns to his microscope. Cyborg walks over to the computer and looks over Bruce's notes.

"What did he write?"

"A synthetic polymer," Cyborg reads over. "Made from an unknown source. Unlike anything on Earth or from any of the alien species, we know of. Capable of unique transformation. Incredible resistance."

I clap my hands together and grab everyone's attention.

"You already told us all of this," I say, "We already know all of this. What I want to know is how it's made."

As I look over my arm and hand again, I realize something else.

"What I also want to know is why Sinestro and his yellow lanterns are still attacking Oa."

I look around my ship but see only Cyborg, Bruce, Wonder Woman, Black Adam, and Hawkgirl. Normally, my ship would be filled with betas guarding the rooms and hallways. There would be yellow lanterns in the hangers, awaiting their next order from Sinestro. At the current moment, I don't see any betas or yellow lanterns.

"I ordered a full retreat! Why isn't Sinestro retreating? Why aren't the yellow lanterns? Why aren't the betas?"

I feel myself losing control. I can feel the blood in my vein starts to boil. The boiling blood is rushing to my head and it soon starts to cover my eyes.

"Diana," I scream, turning around to face my own friend. "Did you relay my order? Did you?"

Diana, staring back at me, throws her shield and sword to the floor.

"No," she answers, "No, I did not."

As soon as I hear her answer, I want to hit her. I want to grab Diana by her throat and throw her into the floor and through it. Instead, I try my most damn to stay calm.

"Why not?"

"Because we are on the verge of victory," Diana answers. "The Green Lanterns, even with the help of the man with the sunglasses and the Insurgency, will fall. We have Sinestro, Batman, and Cyborg to thank for that."

I turn my head toward Batman and Cyborg. When he sees me, Cyborg turns away.

"They help to unleash Parallax," Diana goes on. "With his power, along with Sinestro's yellow lanterns and our betas, this will be the end of the green lanterns. And possibly even the Insurgency."

"The end of the Insurgency," I repeat to myself. "The end of the Insurgency. The end of the man with the sunglasses. The end of Kara. No. I want them alive."

I look toward Oa and see a massive yellow explosion.

"Move," I say, pushing Diana out of the way after walking up to her. I make my way to the door and open it with my mind.

"Where are you going," Black Adam asks.

"To capture the man and Kara," I answer. "The rest of them can die for all I care. I want those two alive."

I walk only a few steps before flying through the empty hallways and out through the hangers. I then fly toward Oa.

The Man:

"Arisia," I scream, seeing Arisia, Harleen, Kilowog, and all the Guardians get eaten by a yellow beam. I rush to see them but as I turn to run, I feel something wraps around one of my legs. Looking down, I see a green chain. I follow the chain to Lobo who is holding the other end in one hand and a shotgun in the other.

He fires multiple shots but I quickly block them with my twin swords. I look down again at the green chain. With a quick but heavy swing of my sword, I slice the chain clean off.

Lobo stumbles back as the chain breaks. He loses focus and the chain fades away. He's about to fire his shotgun again but before he can, I inhale as much as I can. I then exhale, watching as my own breath turns into dragon fire. Even with the green lantern ring, the dragon fire is so hot, Lobo couldn't stand it. He screams and backs away as dragon fire hits me. It shatters not only the barrier Lobo summoned but the glow around his body. He screams and falls off the platform.

With Lobo gone, I turn to see Clayface as he struggles to pull himself. His face rises from a pile of clay and so did an arm. He pulls back his arm and prepares to throw some mud at me but exactly like Lobo, I inhale as much as I can. This time, when I exhale, I watch as my breath turns into ice. It hits and freezes Clayface, rendering him motionless as he stays stuck on the ground.

"Rat bastards," I say as I leave them and head over to the others. As I run, I look myself over. I'm still pulsing, the pitch-black glow still running through my veins. However, the pulsing seems to be quicker than before. "It's getting dangerous for me to be here, but I can't leave. I just have to be more careful."

By the time I reach the spot, I can feel a smile starts to form. There, as the smoke is fading away, I see Arisia and Kilowog with their rings risen. The two of them, along with the Guardians and even Harleen are safe underneath a green barrier.

"What is that," Kilowog screams as he and Arisia drop to the ground. The barrier around them disappears as well. While Harleen catches Arisia, I think to catch Kilowog but instead, step back and watch as he falls to the ground.

"Opp," I say with a shrug.

"You did that on purpose," Harleen says.

"What can I say? I'm petty."

I look up to see Parallax looking down at us.

"You are him," Parallax says, his voice sounding like growling. With his giant, bald, cloudy head, yellow eyes, and sharp, cloudy teeth all put together, it brings back a lot of painful memory.

"I was told of you," Parallax goes on. "No matter. You cannot stop me from consuming the battery."

Parallax prepares to fire again. Yellow energy rushes from the other parts of him to his mouth. It gathers in his throat until it was enough, and he fires.