Dreams of Impulse in a bubble of green floated away and popped out of his psyche long ago.
Leaving Kyle alone— aimless, swimming in a cosmic ocean. Stars too far to touch or feel hovered like bugs. Incessantly buzzing and circling around him.
Elsewhere, he circled moons not belonging to earth and split the dust of a red desert planet. Beneath him, white skinned aliens the size of semi's gave chase at his presence. Shifting shapes like liquified rage.
Further beyond, gas giants and rings of debris circled distant planets. He dashed through an asteroid belt and flew low enough to a planet to feel the atmosphere brush his fingers. To see men and women with massive hawk-wings cut across the sky and split the clouds in the midst of a war.
He couldn't tell if they were aliens or angels.
One meant he was dead.
The other meant….
Well, he wasn't sure.
He drifted a while longer. Traveling the stars and beyond. Traveling until he thought the end of the road would welcome him. To a place where no planets hovered alongside him. Fewer stars fought against the frozen black of space.
No debris.
No asteroids.
An unholy quiet spread. A loneliness. Empty and hard. Unending.
He wondered if that's what Hal felt as he walked the ashen crater of his home. If only because he felt he grew closer to him in seeing Alex again.
Was it as permanent as the dark? As pervasive and intense? What if that's all Hal was? The dark forever ending cold of space, left drifting. Will too strong to ever stop moving. Endlessly swimming…..
Was that living?
No.
"I can't be that. I still have people to fight for— promises to keep. I have to be life….. to be will when others can't. That's why I have the ring…."
Green light bloomed in the black, spreading with verdant talons to cut across the dark. Warming it. Warming him. Changing his perspective.
The black expanse laid before him wasn't the end. It wasn't death. It wasn't anything he thought it was.
It was the opposite of the end. It was an infinite beginning. Every nook and cranny and nearby galaxy was a nexus of life and willpower spread forever.
The dark was only cold because of his own warmth.
The lights took shape— or his eyes adjusted.
It was a shark.
Swimming in the expanse of space. Long frilled fins like emerald drapes drifted, blotting out stars as it slithered. It was as large as a planet. Every movement breathtaking and profound. Taking Kyle's breath away.
Then he remembered.
"Ion….?—"
***
"He's waking up!"
Weakly, Kyle opened his eyes and found a world of white welcoming him. A stark contrast to his dreams.
Ganthet hovered over him— white eyebrows stiff and questioning, "What were you just doing?"
"What?"
"The pulsing. What was that?"
"I don't know what you're talking about— where am I?" Kyle sat up and almost cried.
Everything was sore. His head felt like it was microwaved a few centuries too long and his muscles were torn.
He was in a laboratory. Obvious by the test vials, unifinished labs and obvious S.T.A.R Labs branding on every piece of equipment beyond the glass walls.
"They insisted you wait here. Just in case their employees' design didn't help Impulse— are you sure you don't know what you were doing?" Ganthet asked again, still seated criss-cross apple sauce as he floated next to him.
"I was dreaming. I saw Ion I think? Maybe my ring was reacting to my dreams. Like how I sleep-draw." Kyle explained as he got up and left his miniature infirmary.
"You saw…. Ion? Kyle Rayner of Earth, Lanterns don't simply dream of their god and flow with energy, do you understand? Your ring power was in flux for hours. That's not exactly normal— and should be impossible with your ring—"
"Ganthet, please! I have a headache to rival all headaches, let's do the lantern post battle questionaire at another time. I can barely see straight." Kyle approached Nightwing as he stood with his back to him, talking with someone at their desk.
"I guess this would be another moment where I bend to human norms. For the sake of cohesion. Respect me for this."
"Yea, go eat a bowl of ice cream and ketchup. Shoo."
"Is such a meal available here?"
"You're literally omnipotent go find it." Kyle replied.
Ganthet flew elsewhere, leaving a final message, "It's good to have you back, Kyle Rayner. For such a large scale battle, you did well. I'm….. sorry I wasn't there to better assist you."
First time for everything.
Kyle approached Nightwing. His black combat suit was covered in cuts and scrapes.
"How's everyone?"
"Woah— hey! Welcome back." Nightwing gave him a hug.
Behind Nightwing, a man no older than him sat in a roller chair wearing a white lab coat. He was dark-skinned and bright eyed with a wild mane of dreads that hung down to the top of his shoulders. Actually, he looked younger than them both.
Kyle and Nightwing disconnected.
"The newest Green-Lantern. You're impressive."
"GL part four, meet Virgil Hawkins. S.T.A.R Labs very own employed prodigy. He's probably the only sixteen year old electrophysicist."
"Tesla ain't got fizz on me." He held a hand out.
"Right."
They shook hands. Kyle almost jumped from the shock that ran up his arm.
Virgil turned his hand over and eyed the ring.
"What an insane power…." He marveled.
"If only the job wasn't equally as insane." Kyle replied.
"Speaking of jobs, this thing is like an anti-Kryptonian defense tool."
"What?"
Virgil nodded to Nightwings belt, "I watched your guys' fight. That kryptonite snipe was only possible because of your little puff of light."
Kyle remembered thinking he did something and quickly deflating in confidence as Kryptonian-1 looked unfazed.
"You blasted him with low-grade Kryptonic radiation waves. Just enough to dull his abilities and make his defeat possible."
"But the ring can only make constructs…. Can't it?" Kyle asked.
"No. It's a light and energy manipulation device powered by a color based electromagnetic spectrum. Within that spectrum, variations of kryptonite radiation exist I guess….. it's brilliantly convienent, bro. If you learned how to increase the potency….. you could steam-roll Superman. Wherever he is…."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Nightwing added.
"Yea it's only my third day out here."
"Speaking of heads, your buddy Impulse was able to keep his." Virgil turned to face the massive black screen above his desk. He turned it on and showed the video feed of a black shell in a white room. All around the object, crazy numerical readings went off on miniature graphs.
"What am I looking at?" Kyle questioned.
"Impulse. Superboy's psycho-telekinetic blast destabilized his molecules and left him in a state of spacial hyper-accelerati—"
"English, Virgil." Nightwing coughed.
"Right. His powers were knocked off balance by superboy. Your man's almost got evaporated." Virgil explained.
"But he's good now?" Kyle clarified.
"He is—" Something beeped at his desk, "Oh! Perfect timing. He's ready for dismissal."
Virgil clicked a series of key based commands at his keyboard atop his desk. The shell on the video-feed split into a dozen sections, hissing as spirals of steam unfurled and filled the room.
"I've been studying speed-force phenomena for the past year— luckily I had my own stabilization suit for any unfit conduits in the testing process. It wouldn't have fit him well but this grafting shell for burn victims worked out well with a few tweaks." Virgil explained.
The smoke cleared and left Impulse standing alone in the room. His suit was like a second skin of metallic red and gold. The flash insignia pulsed with electricity on his chest and shoulders, connecting to thunderous linework that ran like veins down his arms and legs.
"Flashy….. pun intended." Nightwing said before pressing his ear, "Titans, fall in on me. The Speedster and The Lantern are awake."
In a matter of seconds, the titans came in from a back door, looking no worse for wear. Looking like they didn't just battled an alien super villain and mind controller.
Impulse came in soon after, yawning as he finished scarfing down a donut.
"GREENIE!" He ran across the room, passing the other Titans and hugging Kyle, "I heard you kept me together in your sleep. What, you think you're some type of superhero now?"
"At least some times." Kyle said as they disconnected and shook up.
"Mis hermanos estan vivos!" Bunker celebrated.
Skitter sniffed Kyle's ring, "arrRrRtiiiist…."
"I try." Kyle awkwardly replied.
"Woahhhh— she talks??" Virgil questioned.
"She's got a crush we think." Wonder-Girl replied as she approached Kyle, still in her starstudded red tights and bracers.
Skitter hissed at her and walked away.
"Thanks for the save. You're not a bad replacement." She said flatly.
Kyle smiled, "All it takes to get you to warm up to me is fighting a science experiment, tempering an ocean and giving you my will-power. I can work with that honestly. It's kinda lantern law for me to have endless amounts of it."
She turned her head suddenly in thought, "You don't get uncomfortable jerking yourself off in front of this many people?"
Bunker and Beast-man exploded with laughter.
"Can we just shake hands?" Kyle asked as he massaged his left temple.
"Bad idea." Impulse whispered.
Wonder-Girl held her hand out.
The two shook up.
Then she left.
Only he watched her go. Everyone else eyed him. Impulse held a hand out in front of his lower body for reasons he didn't understand until he watched Wonder-Girl hold an object over her head to study under the laboratory lights.
"Cool trinket. This could really help me get a hold on my silent armor…"
Kyle looked down at his hand to find his ring missing. Suddenly he understood why everyone was staring.
"It's a right of passage at this point." Ganthet sighed.
"You gotta hit the gym, bro." Beast-man commented, "I can be your trainer! Let's get you on a vegan bulk, stat!"
Skitter coughed up a web-ball. Or threw up.
"Already have too many mentors. And detractors, apparently." Kyle held his hand up. The ring flew back onto his finger like a quarter under the worlds strongest magnet.
"Glad we could make progress, Wonder-Girl."
She held up the peace sign and left.
"Alright, now that everyone's back. I found something." Nightwing said.
"Let's hear it."
Nightwing pulled a device out of his belt that gave way to a holographic image of torn cloth.
"Riveting." Ganthet replied sarcastically.
"This is a sample of the tech-weave Kryptonian-1 was wearing."
"Superboy!" Virgil whispered the correction.
"I'm not naming THAT after Superman." Nightwing said before continuing, "I ran it through a couple databases I have at my disposal and got a lead on an underground manufacturing plant. You know, for fibers and threads that require a bit more unethical farming than what the U.S is used to. I sent Red-Robin, Signal and Huntress on a sting and got some information. The plant made gear for Blood Pack."
"That team is disbanded…." Beast-man said, "Isn't it?"
"Yea. But one of its founding members was running a guard route. Guess who?"
"OHHHHH— Major Force!"
Kyle stiffened.
"No, he's too powerful to play guard dog. They ran into Militia."
"Who's that?" Kyle asked.
"Just a mercenary."
"….. and Guy Gardner's brother." Ganthet replied telepathically.
"Wait WHAT?!"
Ganthet spoke up suddenly, "If we request more of your assistance in the future, we'll call. For now, we must leave."
"Wait, wait—"
Ganthet turned to face Kyle, "I'm once again bending to human norms by telling you, it has been two earth days since your battle and Jack has gotten into five fights. Why you find schoolyard fights more important than planetary doomsdays I don't know but you do."
Kyle suited up and flew out of S.T.A.R Labs almost instantly, leaving the Titans alone with Virgil.
Impulse tapped his chin as they watched the green trail dissipate. "If this one goes crazy I'm gonna be heartbroken."
"Too soon, bro. Too soon."