[Third person POV]
Danny soared through the air in rapid, twisting somersaults, each rotation narrowly avoiding the relentless violet energy blasts hurled at him by the Star Sapphires. The sky lit up with every missed shot, painting streaks of magenta across the battlefield. He quickly conjured a protective shield of glowing ectoplasmic energy around himself, the green bubble flaring bright as each violet bolt slammed into it with explosive force.
The pressure mounted with each impact until finally—crack!—the shield shattered like glass. Danny cried out as the force hurled him downward. He crashed hard, skidding along the cracked stone ground, kicking up debris and dust as he came to a rough stop.
Before he could regain his footing, he found himself completely surrounded—dozens of Star Sapphire Corps members formed a tight circle around him, their elegant yet deadly spears of violet light all aimed directly at his chest.
"Stand down, outsider," the lead Lantern said sternly, stepping forward with authority as the energy of her weapon pulsed menacingly. "Or you will leave us no choice—"
She was interrupted.
Danny rose slowly to his feet, cracking his knuckles by intertwining his fingers, the sharp pops echoing through the tense silence. "If you think you're scaring me with your threats and your fancy pointy sticks," he said coolly, voice laced with defiance, "save it. I might be scared of a lot of things... but a fight sure as hell isn't one of them."
His hands flared to life, glowing bright with neon green ectoplasmic energy. "If you're trying to punish Sam," he continued, voice hardening, "then you'll have to get through me first."
The lead Lantern's eyes narrowed as she bared her teeth in a cold grin. "Gladly."
Without hesitation, the Star Sapphires charged. Some conjured weapons of pure emotion-fueled light—hammers, whips, glaives—while others launched beams of concentrated energy from afar. The air exploded into chaos.
Danny exhaled sharply, steadying his mind. Then, with fluid grace and honed reflexes, he moved. He twisted, ducked, and spun, slipping through gaps between their attacks. His body weaved between spears and energy blasts with the finesse of a phantom dancer, every movement precise, every breath measured.
He caught one of the spears mid-swing, yanking the alien woman wielding it forward with startling strength. Using her as a living shield, he blasted over her shoulder, his hands unleashing a barrage of tight, concentrated ectoplasmic energy bolts that slammed into the surrounding Lanterns before he discarded her.
Pivoting sharply, Danny leaned away from an oncoming bolt and generated a protective screen of green energy beside him. With a grunt, he pushed it outward like a battering ram, sending it crashing into two Lanterns and hurling them into a nearby wall with a heavy thud.
A glowing pink morning star attached to a tether came hurtling toward him. Danny dropped low, spun to the side, grabbed the tether mid-motion, and yanked it hard. The Lantern attached to it was pulled off her feet, flying toward him. With a snarl, Danny backhanded her mid-air, smashing her through a crystallized structure that shattered into a hail of rose-colored shards.
Before he could fully recover, a pink lasso snared around his torso, tightening like a vice.
"Not today," Danny muttered, phasing through the ground with a ghostly shimmer and slipping out of the grip.
He reappeared behind the Lantern who'd ensnared him, hands glowing and locked together. As she turned, startled by his sudden appearance, Danny brought his fists down in a double-handed hammer strike, sending her plummeting into the dirt with an explosive boom, a cloud of dust marking her impact.
Then—BAM! BAM! BAM!—blasts struck him from behind. Danny screamed out, his body arcing from the impact as violet energy scorched across his back, sending him crashing forward again.
Pain seared through him, but he rolled onto his side, instinct taking over. He dodged incoming energy blasts, the ground exploding around him as he twisted and turned to avoid each strike.
"Why are there so many?!" he groaned in frustration, conjuring a glowing green lasso of ectoplasmic energy. He whipped it around, the lasso snaking toward a Lantern shielded in a force field. With a heave, he yanked her into the air and started swinging her like a wrecking ball.
"And to think I once believed I wasn't popular with the ladies!" he shouted over the chaos, half-laughing, half-strained.
He spun her like a flail, smashing her into other Lanterns' force fields until they shattered one by one. The final swing sent them both flying in opposite directions, crashing into the ground with a heavy thud.
"Urghh!!" Danny cried out as a sudden spear slashed across his side, drawing blood.
He whirled around, eyes blazing, just in time to duck beneath a slash aimed for his head. He caught the spear with both hands, locking himself in a vicious struggle with the Lantern. Their eyes met, neither backing down.
Then Danny growled, and with a flicker of ghostly light—two extra arms burst from his back. The surprise was enough. One of the spectral arms sucker-punched the Lantern across the jaw, blood spraying from her mouth as her head snapped back.
Danny didn't let up. He fired twin barrages of energy blasts from his normal hands like a living turret, forcing her back, each shot detonating over her body. His extra arms summoned large protective panels behind him, deflecting the incoming fire from the others.
Then one of the panels detached and flew off like a drone, reshaping itself into a glowing green orb mid-flight. It slammed into another Lantern, enveloping her in a sphere of ectoplasm that sealed tight. The extra arm gestured downward, and the sphere rocketed to the ground with brutal force, shattering on impact and sending the Lantern bouncing violently across the battlefield.
A glowing tether snapped around Danny's leg midair, yanking him down like a ragdoll. He hit the ground with devastating force, the floor beneath him splintering and cratering on impact. A sharp crack echoed throughout the arena as fractures raced outward from the epicenter. Danny's cry was ripped from his throat, hoarse and strained.
The tether didn't relent.
It dragged him across the battlefield, whipping him through the air like a flailing puppet. His body collided with a towering crystal formation—shatter!—the structure exploded into glimmering shards as Danny's body tore through it, leaving a trail of glowing dust in his wake.
The tether yanked him upward, suspending him briefly like a trophy—then pulled him down with earth-splitting force. The impact rocked the ground again, a shockwave blasting outward. Danny's body slammed into the crater, blood bursting from his mouth in a spray of green. His cry was barely audible—a painful, gurgling rasp, choked by the blood pooling in his throat.
Before he could recover, a Star Sapphire dove from the sky with a glinting sword construct in hand. She descended like a falling meteor, blade-first. With surgical precision, she drove the weapon straight through Danny's shoulder. Green ectoplasmic blood splashed upward, spraying across her emotionless face.
Danny gritted his teeth, blood dribbling down the corner of his mouth as his trembling hand grasped the construct embedded in his shoulder. He glared up at her through pained eyes.
Then, without warning, Danny opened his mouth—FWOOSH!—and unleashed a concentrated beam of ectoplasmic energy. The green blast struck her directly across the face, searing through her mask and burning part of her features. She screamed as the blast sent her flying backward, tumbling midair before crashing into a nearby wall.
Danny gasped as he wrenched himself upright, blood dripping from his chin. He barely got a breath in before a group of Star Sapphires descended upon him, tackling him with brute force and all piling up on him.
"AAAAAHHHHH!!" Danny howled, the sound raw and filled with agony. Blades of energy stabbed into his torso, shoulders, legs—over and over, puncturing his body with relentless fury. Blood gushed from his wounds as he gritted his teeth and curled himself building up energy.
Danny's eyes glowed faintly, and a white light began outlining his body, the same white light that Danny uses to transform himself, flickering brighter with each passing second. Deep within the growing silence of his mind, he focused. His breath grew steady. His muscles trembled from strain.
Then he roared.
A blinding pulse of energy exploded outward from his core as Danny threw his arms wide. The wave of repulsion hit all around him like a bomb, blasting the Star Sapphires off of him and hurling them in every direction. They crashed into crystal walls, shattered columns, and the arena floor, landing in heaps, dazed and winded.
Danny rose shakily, panting heavily. His green blood dripped steadily from dozens of cuts and punctures across his chest and limbs. His clothes were torn, his skin bruised and burned, and his white hair was matted with sweat and grime. His body swayed slightly from blood loss and exhaustion, but his eyes still burned with fury.
Just then, a concentrated beam of violet energy lanced across the field and encased his feet and legs in solid pink crystal. The trap immobilized him, locking him in place.
Danny didn't panic. Instead, he grinned—a twisted, feral grin that exposed his bloodied teeth. Slowly, he raised both hands to himself, fingers spread wide.
And then… slits began to open across each of his palms.
The slits stretched wider, curling into leering mouths filled with gleaming white teeth. They grinned with the same confidence he wore on his face.
"If you really wanted to stop me," Danny growled through his teeth, "you wouldn't have gone for the legs… you would've gone for the mouth."
With that, he aimed his palms downward.
Both mouths unleashed a sonic wail—a devastating, spectral scream that shattered the violet crystal instantly, breaking it into thousands of glittering fragments. The sound wave rippled across the arena, sending nearby debris scattering.
More Star Sapphires, now recovering, began to fly in, reforming their constructs, preparing to finish him off.
But Danny was ready.
He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, puffing out his chest. His fists clenched. His arms crossed in a windup, gathering every ounce of energy he had. His glowing pupils snapped open—pure, radiant emerald light bursting from them.
Danny stepped forward and let loose.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"
The Ghostly Wail tore through the air like a nuclear blast. The sound wave shattered the ground beneath him, leaving a jagged path of ruin and upheaval. Rocks, crystals, and debris were flung into the air as the concussive force roared forward.
Danny swung his arms outward to his side. The mouths in his palms screamed too, releasing their own wails in perfect harmony. From each side of him, pulsing beams of sonic destruction erupted, tearing through the battlefield. Every structure, every formation, every trap was obliterated in an instant.
Crystals shattered. Walls cracked and collapsed. The air rang with the overwhelming pitch of spectral power.
The Star Sapphires screamed as the shockwaves slammed into them. Bodies were hurled into walls and through pillars. Cries of pain and gasps of terror filled the space.
"Ahhhhhh!!"
"Ughhh!!"
"No—AAAHH!!"
"Hnnngh!!"
Many tried to fight back, desperately forming new constructs—shields, domes, chains—but the moment they formed, they shattered under the pressure of Danny's assault. Concentration broken. The force of his scream overwhelmed them all.
Even the hands behind Danny's back had joined the chorus. Each sprouted its own leering mouth, and each mouth added its voice to the devastating wave of sound, covering every angle, every blind spot. There was no escape.
None were spared.
When the wail finally ended, and silence returned like a vacuum pulling at the void, Danny stood alone amidst the carnage—bloodied, trembling, but unbroken.
Every Star Sapphire now lay strewn across the battlefield—groaning, unconscious, or too stunned to move.
Danny took one slow, heavy breath, and then let it out.
"Let that be your lesson," he rasped, voice hoarse and cracked but unwavering. "Mess with Sam… you mess with me."
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