[Third person POV]
"You… You managed to pry open the breach and arrive before us," Queen Aga'po said, her voice heavy with silent astonishment.
"That I did, crazy right?" Danny replied with a confident grin, his fist glowing with ectoplasma. Green energy shimmered off his knuckles, leaving a faint trail behind him as he advanced. His eyes narrowed sharply, voice dark with warning. "Now, like I said—release her."
"I'm afraid that's not possible," Queen Aga'po said, her expression hardening. "She must be punished for her crimes against our Corps. And the severity of those crimes demands immediate action."
Danny's eyes narrowed further, suspicion creeping into his tone. "And what exactly is her punishment?"
"For the unforgivable act of destroying the sacred ring of the Star Sapphire Corps," Queen Aga'po declared with a venomous sneer, "she is to be imprisoned for the duration of her life."
"Over my already dead body," Danny growled. His voice was fierce, trembling with restrained fury. There was no universe—no dimension—where he would let Sam suffer a lifetime of imprisonment for something she didn't even do out of malice.
"Stay your hand, outsider. You have no authority here, no say in our judgment," Queen Aga'po warned coldly.
"Danny!" Sam cried out, desperately trying to run to him, but the guards beside her moved faster. Two Star Sapphires grabbed her arms and slammed her to the floor with unnecessary force, eliciting a sharp groan of pain from her lips.
"Sam!" Danny shouted, eyes wide with rage. In an instant, he vanished from sight.
He reappeared in front of one of the guards pinning Sam down, and without hesitation, drove a powerful kick into her face. The impact sent her hurtling backward, crashing through a window and out of the palace in a shower of violet glass.
Turning to the second guard, Danny raised his hand and fired a pulsing bolt of ectoplasmic energy. The blast struck her center mass, launching her across the room until she smashed violently against a wall and slumped unconscious.
Danny dropped to his knees beside Sam, gently lifting her up into a sitting position. "Are you okay?" he asked urgently, his hands trembling slightly.
Sam blinked, the pain dulling as relief washed over her. She gave him a small, grateful smile. "Better now that you're here."
"Apprehend them at once! Do not let them escape!" Queen Aga'po bellowed, her fury echoing through the palace halls.
Without a second thought, Danny swept Sam into his arms bridal-style. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck as he shot into the air, phasing them both through the wall and out into the open skies.
The Star Sapphires wasted no time. They followed, phasing through the walls with elegant precision, flying in tight formation as they pursued the fleeing couple. Violet bolts of energy zipped past them like lightning.
Danny weaved through the air, dodging the blasts with swift, acrobatic grace. He zigzagged through the massive crystalline structures of the alien city, twisting and turning like he'd flown this route a hundred times.
"By the way…" Danny began, his voice casual despite the chaos around them, "What are we?"
Sam blinked. "What?!"
"I mean, we never really talked about it. We didn't define anything. I mean, we kissed, yeah—but after that, everything happened so fast."
Sam looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "Danny, we are literally being chased through an unknown intergalactic world and you want to talk relationship labels?!"
"Too soon?" Danny grinned, clearly enjoying himself even now.
Sam sighed, but a smile tugged at her lips. She lifted one hand behind them, palm glowing with vibrant purple light. A beam of energy shot out, striking one of the Star Sapphires directly. The woman was knocked off-course and crashed into a massive crystal tower, shattering it into gleaming shards.
Sam turned and fired again at the others, but they scattered, anticipating her counterattack.
"I don't know what to call us," she admitted, glancing at Danny's face. "This is still so new to me. Everything's been a whirlwind."
"Well," Danny said, corkscrewing through another incoming volley of energy, "boyfriend and girlfriend sounds pretty good to me."
Sam flushed a bright pink, burying her face in the crook of his neck. "It sounds just fine to me too."
"Cool," Danny said, smirking with satisfaction.
Before either of them could say another word, a bolt of violet energy slammed into Danny's back. He cried out in pain, smoke curling off his suit where the blast had struck. Sam's face twisted with fear.
Without missing a beat, Danny and Sam turned invisible mid-flight and came to a sudden halt. The pursuing Star Sapphires flew right past them, momentarily confused.
Danny flew silently behind a large crystal spire, Danny held his breath, keeping their invisibility active as the enemy circled back, scanning the area with their glowing rings.
"Are you okay?" Sam whispered, her voice low and laced with concern.
"I mean, I just got a girlfriend," Danny whispered back, his grin evident even in the shadows. "So yeah, I'm on cloud nine right now."
Sam's cheeks flushed a soft pink. She shook her head with a faint smile. "I'll take that as a yes."
Danny's expression turned more serious. He glanced at the nearby patrols of the Star Sapphire Corps, their rings glowing as they swept the area. "Alright," he muttered, voice dropping to a conspiratorial tone. "I've got a plan. It's risky… but it might work."
"Define 'risky'," Sam said, her eyebrows rising warily.
"I'm gonna beat up as many of them as I can, find a ship, and then we escape this love cult planet. Hopefully, we're back on Earth in time for dinner."
Sam blinked. "Did you hit your head or something? That is the dumbest plan I've ever heard."
Danny rolled his eyes as he scooped her up in his arms again, hovering just above the ground as patrols closed in, they flew towards the next one hidden as he said, "Okay then, genius—got a better idea?"
"Yes," Sam said proudly, lifting her chin. "We go to the queen. We tell her the truth—what really happened. I'll appeal to her sense of justice and compassion. Their whole thing is love right, She'll understand and send us home."
Danny stared at her in disbelief. "That plan is even dumber than mine. At least I've got a chance of beating them all up. You really think our star-crossed love story is going to sway the leader of a cosmic militia?"
Sam's eye twitched. "Danny, you're planning to fight what you described as the entire military force of an alien planet that uses mood rings—and your solution is punching?"
Danny gave her a confident thumbs-up. "I was trained by Batman."
Sam groaned. "I swear, I'm going to have the shortest relationship in history."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Danny asked, mock-offended.
"It means you're going to get yourself killed, you idiot," she growled.
But instead of arguing, Danny just smiled and leaned in, giving her a quick, unexpected kiss. Sam's eyes widened in shock, her blush deepening.
"Have a little faith, will you?" he said softly. "Just stay here and watch. I got this"
Before she could stop him, Danny flew off silently, phasing through the structure and reappearing behind a squad of Star Sapphires who were mid-report.
"My lady," one of them said, "we've lost track of them. The outsider seems to possess the ability to turn invisible."
"Then increase your efforts!" Queen Aga'po snapped. "I want them found. Do not let them escape this world."
Just as she finished speaking, a powerful green beam of ectoplasmic energy slammed into the back of one Lantern, hurling her into another and sending both crashing to the ground.
Gasps erupted as the rest of the squad turned—only to see Danny floating above them, arms folded and glowing with energy. He flashed a daring grin.
"Sorry, ladies," he said, "but if you're looking for me, I should probably let you know… my relationship status just changed from single to taken."
Back behind cover, Sam groaned, dragging a hand down her face. "Why is he like this…" she mumbled—but she couldn't stop the small, affectionate smile that crept onto her lips. There was something charming about how proud he was to be claimed in front of others.
But her smile faded as she glanced around her hiding place more closely.
The crystal formation she'd been leaning against… wasn't just a rock.
It was a person.
Frozen mid-motion, preserved in stunning clarity—his expression tender, as if caught in the moment of professing love. Sam's eyes widened in horror as she realized there were more. Dozens. Maybe hundreds. Crystallized figures scattered across the area—men, all of them, sealed in crystal prisons with eerily peaceful, adoring looks on their faces.
Her stomach turned.
These weren't decorations. These were victims—captured by the Corps. Possibly the same fate that awaited Danny and her if he failed.
"No…" she whispered, stepping back in disbelief. Fear churned in her chest, but another feeling surged stronger—resolve.
Danny could distract them.
But she could end this.
'If Danny's going to fight his way out… then I'll just have to do it my way,' she thought, determined.
'I'm not just going to sit back and play the damsel in distress.'
With that, she turned and slipped into the shadows, moving in the opposite direction of the chaos. Danny might need brute force, but she had something just as powerful: truth.
And she was going to make Queen Aga'po listen.
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