ISSUE 09 MIND OVER MATTER

The figure threw Impulse aside and charged them. There was no hesitation, no more words or fight stances to be made.

The being moved like he was on a conveyor belt charged by the speedforce. Just one blinding burst forward.

Kyle threw a wall up to defend the charge only for Wonder-Girl to get ahead.

The two clashed like bullet trains. His ears popped and a mushroom cloud of dust rose from the center.

Within the shadows he heard Wonder-Girl finally abandon her cold standoffish tone and swap it for something…. Worse.

Fear.

He could hear her fear.

"Kryptonian!"

A lazer beam split the dust and burned through his brick wall construct.

Skitter kicked him out of the way, saving him from losing his head.

Immediately everyone was on the move. Beast-man turned into a giant green skinned baboon with a rhino horn and scorpion tail. With Skitter, they traveled the walls, making their way for the flanks.

Only the flanks disappeared and changed in flashes.

Wonder-Girl and the Kryptonian fought like a tornado.

Bunker charged past Kyle, "Move it or lose it, gringo!"

Kyle wasn't interested in losing anything else, so with Bunker, he moved.

Like a puzzle piece from the wrong set, he tried to fit into the violent picture and failed. Couldn't adjust to the speed. Couldn't stop flinching as figures whizzed past him and lasers bit his shoes.

But he was a student of Guy Gardner.

Sometimes you had to jam your way in.

"Watch out, amateur!" Wonder-Girl shoved him aside and front kicked the Kryptonian in the chest.

He flew backward, heading straight out into the open air.

From there she threw her gleaming red lasso, wrapping it around his neck.

She pulled him back. Or at least attempted to.

Then he grabbed her lasso.

Red energies warbled and spasmed from his head like miniature psionic supernovas. The reaction spread down the whip and hit Wonder-Girl, freezing her on command.

"RAHHH!!!" Beast-man charged from the cieling.

The Kryptonian continued to manipulate the red energy holding Wonder-Girl, using it to throw her into the green monster and Skitter who lingered behind.

They crashed and burned.

Kyle blinked and Bunker was out.

He blinked again and a hand was around his throat, crushing his windpipe.

Psimon spoke through the alien juggernaut, "This prototype is yielding great results. That was easier than expected. You were supposed to be str—"

The Kryptonian slipped the moment he tried to walk with Kyle.

Kyle recovered, flying above the grounds that were now covered in a green field of ice. "I feel like that shouldn't have worked."

The Kryptonian burst to his feet.

He tried to run only to find straps and manacles holding him in place. Holding him to a treadmill.

He ran in place. Unable to outpace the construct.

All the while, Kyle fired blasts from his ring.

They hit the Kryptonian like snowballs and his stamina was doing the opposite of waning.

He was getting faster. Stronger. His legs were a blur on the treadmill.

"[Ring charge: 85% Remaining…]"

"Think Kyle….. Think."

He tried to consider anything the titans discussed that might've been useful information. All he had was memory of Nightwing telling Impulse to get Aqualad.

Kyle didn't have the speedforce. He couldn't trigger the alarm and he also lacked the speed or multitasking ability to go get him.

But he did have the water.

The treadmill construct shattered as the Kryptonian blasted it with eye lasers.

Kyle had never seen something so horrifying.

He held firm— as much as he could manage. The verdant smoke of his fading construct coalesced and changed form, molding and shaping— expanding into a small focused ocean of green. Immediately, he spun his fist.

The ocean spun like a toilet in flush. The Kryptonian struggled to gain his footing and air.

Kyle pressed on until a small green hurricane spun in the middle of the warehouse basement— so strong portions of the floor and cieling were ripping apart. The winds combed through his hair and ruffled debris until it was almost hard to breathe where he flew.

It wasn't enough. Inside the waves, the alien monstrosity zipped and dashed whenever he found stillness and tried to rip his way free. He'd get free.

Kyle flashed his ring elsewhere.

Suddenly a massive green bucket hung above the hurricane, tipping until it spilled out six megalodon-swordfish hybrids like a nightmarish water park contraption. Beast-man was his current muse. A sentence he never thought would grace his mind.

Lasers boomed from the hurricane, eviscerating three constructs.

The giblets turned into hundreds of piranhas breathing green fire as they descended.

[Ring power: 55%]

He didn't stop. His finger still itched. His creative mind bloomed like a warming muscle.

Finally, the Kryptonian struggled. Within the tumultuous waves of a hurricane full of magical sea monsters.

"Do I kill him?.... No right? I mean— I don't know if Kryptonians pass out easily….. or if they can hold their breath for hours or have a weakness to fishes. I don't have enough charge for that. I don— Focus. Just focus." Kyle stopped the spiral before it could consume him and his constructs. He'd never held so many at once. The migraine was unreal.

"Keep going, Lantern." Wonder-Girl said as she put a hand on his back, suddenly flying beside him.

"You're doing great, Lantern." Nightwing said from his other side.

Behind them, Bunker held up the rest of the Titans on his psionic constructs, now taking the form of a magic carpet.

Kyle hesitated as they watched him proudl—

Rule number one.

The Kryptonian exploded from the nightmare hurricane, lunging for Kyle like a mad dog off the leash. His red eyes steamed like hot coals. His face a mask of oxygen deprived fury. His suit a second skin that did nothing to hide the bulge of his inhuman muscle.

"LANTERN WATCH OUT!" Wonder-Girl shoved him aside right before he lost his throat.

She wasn't fast enough to save herself.

From the ground, he watched as the alien in the shape of man grabbed hold of her head.

She screamed and scrambled. The other Titans tried to fight him off. He didn't budge.

He focused.

He shot his lasers right through her skull.

Bloodcurdling screams ate up the silence.

Then, he dropped her.

Kyle shivered. He could hear her brain sizzling inside her skull.

The other titans fell to the monster in a blur. Before he could even try to steel himself.

He simply lay on the ground. In shock. In disbeleif. He'd never seen the heroes lose. They were too strong. Too fearless. Too smart. "It never happened like this on t—"

"The Lanterns greatest weakness is fear. Quite a foolish folly considering you can make the greatest weapon in the universe simply a parlor trick when in the hands of a naive boy." Psimon whispered into his ear.

Kyle spun around and fired with his ring.

Green smoke fizzled out, illuminating the villains face as he leaned down to face him, not even flinching.

Impulse was right.

He was hideous.

Pale skinned and gaunt as all hell. He looked like he was supposed to be in a tomb. The top of his head was comprised of translucent skin that allowed the world to see his massive brain covered in glowing purple veins and polyps. It almost looked like some alien virus feeding on the human organ.

He took his hands out of his trench coat pockets and shrugged.

"You fought well for a while. Had me a little nervous. But, Kryptonian-1 is a success. I think we'll call him… Hmmm… that's to be determined, actually." Psimon rambled.

Kyle wasn't listening. The illusion had faded. "I should've known. Wonder-Girl doesn't call me Lantern. None of them do. Only Ganthet and my enemies call me that. I should've known…."

The Titans lay around him unconscious. Psimon and his alien hunting-dog stood before him. With a simple snap and eye flash, the Titans began getting to their feet, now controlled by Psimon.

They surrounded him.

Psimon held a hand out. "I'm feeling charitable. Hand over your ring. You're afraid. Powerless. Be smart."

He stopped listening as Ganthet's words entered his mind.

"It's never been a weakness…"

"What?"

"Fear. It's not a weakness, Kyle Rayner. It's our greatest challenge. The challenge that keeps us good— moral. And what is a challenge if not something to be overcome? Overcome this Kyle. Face your fears. Isn't that what she wanted for you? What you promised her?"

Kyle stood up suddenly.

Psimon regarded him carelessly. "Really? Wonder-Brat, get him."

She grunted and tackled Kyle.

From the ground he watched her take top mount. Her silver and gold bracers moved like liquid metal on her arms, spreading and transforming. She looked different from before.

She was fighting. He could see it on her face.

He could feel it in her will. He'd never been so sure of something.

She brought her fist up to flatten his skull.

He brought his up to free hers.

His ring tapped her chest. A pulse of green spread through her. Incinerating the controlling effect of Psimon if only for a moment.

A moment was all it took.

The bracers expanded and transformed into a fully encompassing armor. Spikes adorned her shoulder pauldrons and arm guards. A curiass of gold held her midsection and gave way to a Spartan style helmet that tied up her golden locks of hair.

Then, she roared.

Everyone went down.

Even the rest of the building.

When Kyle came to, it was from an energizing shock to the heart.

"Welcome back, hero!" Impulse said as he rubbed his hands together at blinding speeds. "Want another hit?"

"Hell no!" Kyle could feel the sting in his toes.

"I'll take one, amigo." Bunker said from his other side.

Impulse placed his charged hands against Bunker's chest. He went rigid and suddenly looked fully energized.

"Ok, Vamanos! We have to move."

"What's happening?" Kyle asked, suddenly aware of the rumble and roars of chaos in the distance.

"All of the mind probing and swapping knocked Wonder-Girl off her game. So in a way, greenie, you saved us and killed us possibly." Impulse explained with a shrug and smile— as if he wasn't sporting a bruised throat and bloody lip.

"What?"

"Her curse!" Bunker explained as he helped Kyle to his feet.

They were fighting on top of the ocean.

They were moving fast enough to fight on top of the ocean.

They were creating tidal waves with each punch.

Small vortexes with every spin kick and telekinetic blast.

"That's a curse?" Suddenly the Kryptonian didn't look so strong. She was wiping the floor with him, actually.

"She's gone berserk. She's not herself. The silent armor has awakened and wants nothing more than to roar." Bunker whispered as he watched with the others.

"Then let's do our best to put a muzzle on it." Nightwing said as he approached them from behind with Skitter and Beast-man.

"Hey! New mission prompt! Restrain a blonde bombshell powered by ancient monster slayer armor and take out a mutant Kryptonian! Our adventures continue, crabface! Let's surf!"

Impulse took off.

A hand fell on Kyle's shoulder— he jumped.

Nightwing laughed as if he wasn't covered in cuts and bruises.

"You with us?"

Bunker and the others watched him from behind Nightwing.

"Yea…. I am."

"Good. You saved us once, now I need you to save her one more time and give us some ground to walk on." Nightwing explained as he pointed to Wonder-Girl in the distance. Her lasso looked like red lightning as it traveled in cutting arcs after Kryptonian-1.

Kyle adjusted his ring on his finger, "It's just a challenge..."

A construct of a football field overtook the ocean.

The titans didn't have the time to watch in awe at the detail and realism of the gigantic construct.

Neither did Kyle as another hand fell on his shoulder.

"... Alex?"