The ring had given him power. All the power that he really needed. Power enough to right wrongs, destroy fear, and stop the bad guys. He had never really shirked from responsibility, but Guy Gardner had a casual attitude as far as the daily grind went. He was willing to put in the work, but as far as putting on a suit and tie to clock in by eight o’clock every day, it really just wasn’t for him.
So, he often hated having to report into Kilowog on a regular basis. He took care of his sector, shared the glory with Stewart and Jordan, and even that Rayner kid, and put in his face time on Oa. Why did he have to file reports with the big oaf? Couldn’t the ring just beam a transmission back to Oa for him?
Yeah, the ring was great, but it apparently didn’t take the place of paperwork, or face to face meetings. He remembered rolling his eyes when Kilowog laid out his schedule: in-person meetings once a month, a weekly debriefing via ring communication, and a semi-annual review with their mutual superiors.
Heck, even the Justice League had been sending him memos left and right. He had gotten one just this morning, and in an act of passive aggression, just deleted it from his inbox.
In short, it was almost enough to make him go back to being a body-shifting, bar-owning warrior. Almost.
The ring was total freedom. People called the ring the ultimate weapon, limited only by its user, but for Guy, it was the key to the ultimate sports car. He could fly out to Neptune, check out the sun-bathing aliens laid out on the rings, and be back home in time for happy hour.
Plus, he could put some serious hurt on people that deserved it. Like right now, while some ridiculous mook that used to give Jordan a hard time tried to flex his muscles in downtown Keystone City.
“How many of you stupid Lanterns are there?” Goldface screamed as he pulled the trigger on his patented gold-gun. A spray of some noxious liquid, golden in hue, jettisoned out at Guy.
“Plenty,” Guy said as he simply moved out of the way of the stream. He was sure that his green aura could protect him, but didn’t want to take any chances. When it came to weird science stuff, Guy knew enough to know that he knew nothing. “But I’m the only one that counts.”
Guy cocked his fist back and let it fly, pushing an emerald construct shaped like his own fist out of his ring and directly into Goldface’s…well, face. Usually one blow would be enough, but it seemed like this character was a little sturdier than most. It was probably because his skin had been transformed by whatever exotic material could do something like that, making him a little more durable.
So he hit Goldface again and again. He pounded him until his golden armor was bent, dented, and dirtied. He drove him back into the front of the bank he had been trying to rob when Guy had picked up the alert, smashing into the brick storefront and crumbling to his knees.
“You don’t understand!” Goldface said, but Guy wasn’t paying attention.
Instead, he conjured a birdcage around Goldface, and a straight-jacket around Goldface himself. The bad guy was down for the count, finally. Guy had almost broken a sweat, so he had to commend the crook for at least that much. He finished up by putting a muzzle around Goldface’s golden jaw.
With a slight mental push, Guy sent a strand of green energy into the cage to retrieve the stainless steel briefcase that Goldface had extricated from the bank’s vault. “When are you guys going to learn?” Guy said. “Crime just doesn’t pay these days. Robbing a bank? In broad daylight? It’s like you want to get caught, especially in a city that’s home to a Justice Leaguer. You know we get automatic alerts for any super-crime in one of our home cities, right?”
The police arrived shortly thereafter. He had no idea where the Flash was, because this was his hometown and he should have taken care of business here today. But it didn’t much matter, given how far the speedster could travel in a nanosecond. He was probably in Gibraltar screwing around with Captain Cold or something.
Guy handed off the case to the police, did the local niceties like having his pic taken, waved at the crowd, yadda yadda. The boys in blue said something about paperwork, some kind of approval, questions on why he was there, did the bank know, why hadn’t they been told beforehand, blah blah blah. That’s when he decided to take his leave.
The emerald glow of his ring flashed and he rocketed into the air. Encased in its power, he was out of sight and straddling the atmosphere within seconds.
Yeah, the ring gave him enough power to take down weirdos and nutjobs, and it gave him unlimited freedom to come and go as he pleased. All he had to do was show up and knock some heads, and everything worked out fine.
Just fine.
# # # # #
“Guy, you’re out of the League.”
Guy Gardner almost used the ring to construct a cup of coffee so he could throw it in Batman’s face. He hated the snarky freak. Not once had they ever seen eye to eye on a mission, not really. Even when Batman had been running his own crew, the Outsiders, you would think that things would move a little more fluidly. But even then it seemed like Batman used every excuse he could to shove people around.
That kind of made him a bully. And Guy hated bullies.
“You want to run that by me again, Bats?” Guy said through ground teeth.
In the Hall of Justice, the Justice League’s earthbound headquarters, Guy had popped in after skirting by Detroit to visit some of his old buddies. Kord, while annoying, had always been there for him. So had Booster. Heck, even Hawkman was more respectful to him than Batman. He never should have stopped by, because now he was sure that Batman was going to spout some bureaucratic nonsense at him.
Even standing among the statues of the founders of the League, arguably one of the most serene places on the planet, Batman still came off as a know-it-all jerk. Guy just wanted to punch him right in his open facemask.
Batman split the folds of his cape to hold out a manila folder. “Goldface had been hired by the bank to test its metahuman detection and security systems,” Batman said. “It was part of a villain reform program. You interfered, causing unnecessary property damage. When the local police tried to question you, you posed for pictures, insulted them, and left without answering any questions. The bank’s insurance carrier is threatening to sue both us and you.”
“Screw that! I got a League alert about the robbery,” Guy said. “If this was just some kind of test, then why wasn’t that shut off?”
“They were specifically testing the League alert, Guy!” Batman said. “We were fully aware of it! A memo went out this morning to all League reservists, which I’m sure you ignored. Why do you think that Flash never showed up to a bank heist in his own town?”
Guy threw him arms up. “Oh, this is some kind of railroad job! You people are always looking for an excuse to kick me out of your little club. You know what? I’m done. I’m out of here. Call me when Darkseid shows up again, but until then, just lose my number. Got it?”
“Don’t act like a martyr. This is just the latest in a long line of screw-ups that you’re unwilling to take responsibility for. The problem isn’t that you’ve made mistakes; it’s that you won’t even admit to them. It makes you dangerous. You’re reckless and you don’t pay attention to anyone but yourself. You even fell asleep at the last meeting.”
“You’re saying that J’onn’s fiscal report wasn’t boring?”
“You’re disgracing all of the other men I’ve known that wear a Lantern ring. Your membership is being revoked, Guy. We can’t trust you. You’re a liability. Turn in your card.”
Guy rolled his eyes. This was so silly. Batman was acting like a little snot-nosed kid on the playground. Give me all my toys back, because we don’t want to play with you anymore. Well, Guy could take his ball and go home, too.
He pulled the Justice League membership card out of his wallet and tossed it on the floor at Batman’s feet. He desperately wanted to take a swing at him, but knew better than that. He could be the bigger man here. Batman could go back to his cave with his little folders and sneer at him as much as he wanted.
They wouldn’t have Guy Gardner to kick around anymore.
# # # # #
Guy could travel all around the multiverse, but for as much as he had seen, none of it compared to his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. His folks had raised him here and he always loved coming back. Every time he spent time off of the planet he made sure to stop at the harbor when he got back, just to ground him again. It could be easy to get lost in all of these super heroics, especially when jerks like Batman decided to wag their fingers at him.
Entering the city limits, Guy flew down through the sky and hovered just over the harbor. He took it all in: the water, the tourists, the mall… It all just seemed like home to him, which was kind of strange, since he didn’t spend much time here anymore. Maybe he just had a need for nostalgia these days.
He saw all of the people flooding the harbor, looking for gifts, souvenirs, and other treats. It was a large part of why people came to Baltimore in the first place. The would flock in like sheep, spending money without really thinking about it.
Sheep. That was a good way to describe them. Worthless, mindless sheep. In fact, he would only be doing them a favor by killing all of them. Putting them out of their misery. Certainly out of his.
Guy charged his ring and started to think of not just who he would kill first, but also how he would kill them. Maybe he could use the ring to create a medieval guillotine. He could even bind every single person there, force them into lines, and march them one by one to their deaths.
What was to stop him? It was just a matter of willpower, really. And as a Lantern, he had that in spades.
The ring flashed and he sneered. Yes. It would be so easy to just let loose. And then he could head back to the League and slap them around a bit, too. Especially that smug Batman.
He blinked. Paused. Hesitated. The glow of his ring faltered and he dipped down in the air, just a few inches.
“Damn,” someone said. “So close. I really thought I could make you do it.”
Guy spun around just in time to see a crimson beam of light smash into his face. It shocked him, sending him spinning head over heels down into the water. A huge splash sprung up from the impact, spreading water all over the harbor.
The cold water got through to Guy, extinguishing his confusion and the muddled mess in his head that he hadn’t even realized was there. Sadly, it was a familiar sense, too. Even before remerging from the water, and getting his eyes set on the man who had attacked him, he knew who had been messing with him lately.
As soon as he breached the water, he rocketed up into the air surrounded by a reinforced green aura, and shouted, “Psycho-Pirate!”
The comically garbed villain, his face hidden behind his golden mask, lashed right back at Guy, sending a barrage of emotions pummeling into his head. Guy felt himself become overwhelmed by the intensity of the various emotions – anger, love, hatred, lust, fear, bravery – it was too much for him to handle.
He clasped his hands against his temples – sadness, joy, disgust, pride, surprise, anxiousness – and dipped down in his flight. He couldn’t focus, couldn’t even know where his enemy was any longer.
“I’ve been subtlety invading your mind all week!” Psycho-Pirate said as he hovered down to Guy’s level over the harbor. “Your mind was so susceptible. It was almost too easy!”
The villain cold-cocked Guy across the jaw, sending him spinning, but not totally falling out of the air. Guy was having trouble even knowing which way was up – friendship, shame, kindness, pity, envy, suffering – and his vision was growing blurry.
“Isolating you was easy enough,” Psycho-Pirate said with another swift punch to Guy’s lower back. “I made you reject the Lanterns. I made you reject the League. Thoughts of jealously and ineptness were at home in your mind already. Now you’re all alone, with no support and no friends. I’ll invade your mind completely, and you’ll be my willing slave!”
He kicked Guy in the gut – trust, disdain, astonishment, shyness, horror, patience – and the Lantern thought that he might black out. He tried to shuffle through the emotions, to find out where he started and the Psycho-Pirate ended. It didn’t even seem possible. How could he burst through the cloud of psychic assimilation? He had to concentrate. He had to just focus on one emotion and use that to power through.
He filtered through and finally landed on one that was not only familiar to him, but could serve to reinforce his sense of self.
Determination.
For a Lantern, it was the cornerstone of willpower.
Guy’s fury exploded out in the form of a battering ram, slamming straight into Psycho-Pirate’s torso. Six Vikings charged through the air, a log of sturdy oak gripped between them and driven straight into the center of the villain. Psycho-Pirate tumbled backward over the harbor, until he was caught by a giant, green catcher’s mitt, with a thin trail of energy leading back to Guy’s ring.
“You’re in for a world of hurt!” Guy said as he caused the mitt to transform into an iron maiden. It slapped green iron around Psycho-Pirate, holding him in place, with nothing but a small slit for the villain’s eyes to see through.
But the eyes were all that the villain needed. His gaze pierced into Guy’s, instantly pummeling him with emotions once more. This time Guy was ready, and while he didn’t flounder like before, his concentration was still wrecked. The iron maiden vanished and the Psycho-Pirate was free once more.
He laid the barrage on thicker than ever. “Impressive!” Psycho-Pirate said. “Maybe I’ll just need to scramble your brain instead of enslaving you. You’ll be a blithering idiot, but who would even notice a change, Guy Gardner?”
Guy fought, searching for his internal foundation once again that had somehow gotten lost in the murk of emotion. He felt himself fading, fading quickly. Blackness was encroaching his vision again and he could barely string two thoughts together again, let alone free himself from this monster’s control.
Then, suddenly, the fog lifted. The blackness ebbed away. His mind was clear and so was his vision, which gave him a sight for sore eyes.
Psycho-Pirate was pinned against the wing of a sleek, black jet careening over Baltimore. The gaudy villain’s appendages flapped uselessly from the centripetal force generated by the aircraft. The plane swung far out over the city and turned around back toward Guy, who despite himself, was happy to see the new arrival.
“Thanks for the assist, Bats!”
The Batwing headed straight for Guy, who readied himself. They had pulled this maneuver before, years ago shortly after Guy had first joined the League. He braced himself, and the Batwing yanked upward, rocketing high up, and Psycho-Pirate was cast off the edge of the wing. Guy was prepared, conjuring a fishing net that swarmed around Psycho-Pirate and trapping him in midair.
Guy quickly created a huge set of green pliers, using them to rip the golden Medusa mask off of Psycho-Pirate, the source of his power. Now just an ordinary man, he slumped back into the net, powerless and at the mercy of Guy’s will.
The Batwing hurtled around them, tipping in just enough for Guy to see into the cockpit, where Batman glowered at them. Even at half the speed of sound he still looked intimidating. Guy saw Batman nod, motioning behind the Lantern, and Guy turned to see several other familiar faces.
Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Martian Manhunter all lowered themselves through the air toward him. They exchanged glances before Superman finally said, “You alright, Guy? Do we need to take precautions?”
“No, no,” Guy said. “He’s out of my head, don’t worry. How did you guys know to come?”
“Whenever a Leaguer’s home city is attacked, it sets off an alert in the Hall of Justice,” Wonder Woman said. “Your town was set up, too. Didn’t you get the memo?”
“We’re glad that you’re unharmed,” J’onn said. “When the Hall’s sensors scanned you after your departure, we detected some kind of psychic interference with your faculties.” His eyes flashed red. “I detect no such disturbances now.”
“Glad to have you back up to snuff,” Superman said, and held out Guy’s membership card. “I believe this is yours.”
Guy shot a quick glance at the Batwing, which had turned around and was spiriting away from Baltimore. It had already nearly reached the horizon. He wasn’t quite sure what that meant, although the fact that ol’ Bats had showed up to help at all really spoke volumes anyway.
He felt like garbage; how much of Psycho-Pirate’s influence had it really taken to turn him away from the heroes that he had come to trust after years of fighting alongside them? How long would it take to get their trust back?
He looked at Superman’s extended hand, grabbed his membership card, and smiled.
“What would you guys do without me to save your butts all the time?” Guy said.
END
So, he often hated having to report into Kilowog on a regular basis. He took care of his sector, shared the glory with Stewart and Jordan, and even that Rayner kid, and put in his face time on Oa. Why did he have to file reports with the big oaf? Couldn’t the ring just beam a transmission back to Oa for him?
Yeah, the ring was great, but it apparently didn’t take the place of paperwork, or face to face meetings. He remembered rolling his eyes when Kilowog laid out his schedule: in-person meetings once a month, a weekly debriefing via ring communication, and a semi-annual review with their mutual superiors.
Heck, even the Justice League had been sending him memos left and right. He had gotten one just this morning, and in an act of passive aggression, just deleted it from his inbox.
In short, it was almost enough to make him go back to being a body-shifting, bar-owning warrior. Almost.
The ring was total freedom. People called the ring the ultimate weapon, limited only by its user, but for Guy, it was the key to the ultimate sports car. He could fly out to Neptune, check out the sun-bathing aliens laid out on the rings, and be back home in time for happy hour.
Plus, he could put some serious hurt on people that deserved it. Like right now, while some ridiculous mook that used to give Jordan a hard time tried to flex his muscles in downtown Keystone City.
“How many of you stupid Lanterns are there?” Goldface screamed as he pulled the trigger on his patented gold-gun. A spray of some noxious liquid, golden in hue, jettisoned out at Guy.
“Plenty,” Guy said as he simply moved out of the way of the stream. He was sure that his green aura could protect him, but didn’t want to take any chances. When it came to weird science stuff, Guy knew enough to know that he knew nothing. “But I’m the only one that counts.”
Guy cocked his fist back and let it fly, pushing an emerald construct shaped like his own fist out of his ring and directly into Goldface’s…well, face. Usually one blow would be enough, but it seemed like this character was a little sturdier than most. It was probably because his skin had been transformed by whatever exotic material could do something like that, making him a little more durable.
So he hit Goldface again and again. He pounded him until his golden armor was bent, dented, and dirtied. He drove him back into the front of the bank he had been trying to rob when Guy had picked up the alert, smashing into the brick storefront and crumbling to his knees.
“You don’t understand!” Goldface said, but Guy wasn’t paying attention.
Instead, he conjured a birdcage around Goldface, and a straight-jacket around Goldface himself. The bad guy was down for the count, finally. Guy had almost broken a sweat, so he had to commend the crook for at least that much. He finished up by putting a muzzle around Goldface’s golden jaw.
With a slight mental push, Guy sent a strand of green energy into the cage to retrieve the stainless steel briefcase that Goldface had extricated from the bank’s vault. “When are you guys going to learn?” Guy said. “Crime just doesn’t pay these days. Robbing a bank? In broad daylight? It’s like you want to get caught, especially in a city that’s home to a Justice Leaguer. You know we get automatic alerts for any super-crime in one of our home cities, right?”
The police arrived shortly thereafter. He had no idea where the Flash was, because this was his hometown and he should have taken care of business here today. But it didn’t much matter, given how far the speedster could travel in a nanosecond. He was probably in Gibraltar screwing around with Captain Cold or something.
Guy handed off the case to the police, did the local niceties like having his pic taken, waved at the crowd, yadda yadda. The boys in blue said something about paperwork, some kind of approval, questions on why he was there, did the bank know, why hadn’t they been told beforehand, blah blah blah. That’s when he decided to take his leave.
The emerald glow of his ring flashed and he rocketed into the air. Encased in its power, he was out of sight and straddling the atmosphere within seconds.
Yeah, the ring gave him enough power to take down weirdos and nutjobs, and it gave him unlimited freedom to come and go as he pleased. All he had to do was show up and knock some heads, and everything worked out fine.
Just fine.
# # # # #
“Guy, you’re out of the League.”
Guy Gardner almost used the ring to construct a cup of coffee so he could throw it in Batman’s face. He hated the snarky freak. Not once had they ever seen eye to eye on a mission, not really. Even when Batman had been running his own crew, the Outsiders, you would think that things would move a little more fluidly. But even then it seemed like Batman used every excuse he could to shove people around.
That kind of made him a bully. And Guy hated bullies.
“You want to run that by me again, Bats?” Guy said through ground teeth.
In the Hall of Justice, the Justice League’s earthbound headquarters, Guy had popped in after skirting by Detroit to visit some of his old buddies. Kord, while annoying, had always been there for him. So had Booster. Heck, even Hawkman was more respectful to him than Batman. He never should have stopped by, because now he was sure that Batman was going to spout some bureaucratic nonsense at him.
Even standing among the statues of the founders of the League, arguably one of the most serene places on the planet, Batman still came off as a know-it-all jerk. Guy just wanted to punch him right in his open facemask.
Batman split the folds of his cape to hold out a manila folder. “Goldface had been hired by the bank to test its metahuman detection and security systems,” Batman said. “It was part of a villain reform program. You interfered, causing unnecessary property damage. When the local police tried to question you, you posed for pictures, insulted them, and left without answering any questions. The bank’s insurance carrier is threatening to sue both us and you.”
“Screw that! I got a League alert about the robbery,” Guy said. “If this was just some kind of test, then why wasn’t that shut off?”
“They were specifically testing the League alert, Guy!” Batman said. “We were fully aware of it! A memo went out this morning to all League reservists, which I’m sure you ignored. Why do you think that Flash never showed up to a bank heist in his own town?”
Guy threw him arms up. “Oh, this is some kind of railroad job! You people are always looking for an excuse to kick me out of your little club. You know what? I’m done. I’m out of here. Call me when Darkseid shows up again, but until then, just lose my number. Got it?”
“Don’t act like a martyr. This is just the latest in a long line of screw-ups that you’re unwilling to take responsibility for. The problem isn’t that you’ve made mistakes; it’s that you won’t even admit to them. It makes you dangerous. You’re reckless and you don’t pay attention to anyone but yourself. You even fell asleep at the last meeting.”
“You’re saying that J’onn’s fiscal report wasn’t boring?”
“You’re disgracing all of the other men I’ve known that wear a Lantern ring. Your membership is being revoked, Guy. We can’t trust you. You’re a liability. Turn in your card.”
Guy rolled his eyes. This was so silly. Batman was acting like a little snot-nosed kid on the playground. Give me all my toys back, because we don’t want to play with you anymore. Well, Guy could take his ball and go home, too.
He pulled the Justice League membership card out of his wallet and tossed it on the floor at Batman’s feet. He desperately wanted to take a swing at him, but knew better than that. He could be the bigger man here. Batman could go back to his cave with his little folders and sneer at him as much as he wanted.
They wouldn’t have Guy Gardner to kick around anymore.
# # # # #
Guy could travel all around the multiverse, but for as much as he had seen, none of it compared to his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. His folks had raised him here and he always loved coming back. Every time he spent time off of the planet he made sure to stop at the harbor when he got back, just to ground him again. It could be easy to get lost in all of these super heroics, especially when jerks like Batman decided to wag their fingers at him.
Entering the city limits, Guy flew down through the sky and hovered just over the harbor. He took it all in: the water, the tourists, the mall… It all just seemed like home to him, which was kind of strange, since he didn’t spend much time here anymore. Maybe he just had a need for nostalgia these days.
He saw all of the people flooding the harbor, looking for gifts, souvenirs, and other treats. It was a large part of why people came to Baltimore in the first place. The would flock in like sheep, spending money without really thinking about it.
Sheep. That was a good way to describe them. Worthless, mindless sheep. In fact, he would only be doing them a favor by killing all of them. Putting them out of their misery. Certainly out of his.
Guy charged his ring and started to think of not just who he would kill first, but also how he would kill them. Maybe he could use the ring to create a medieval guillotine. He could even bind every single person there, force them into lines, and march them one by one to their deaths.
What was to stop him? It was just a matter of willpower, really. And as a Lantern, he had that in spades.
The ring flashed and he sneered. Yes. It would be so easy to just let loose. And then he could head back to the League and slap them around a bit, too. Especially that smug Batman.
He blinked. Paused. Hesitated. The glow of his ring faltered and he dipped down in the air, just a few inches.
“Damn,” someone said. “So close. I really thought I could make you do it.”
Guy spun around just in time to see a crimson beam of light smash into his face. It shocked him, sending him spinning head over heels down into the water. A huge splash sprung up from the impact, spreading water all over the harbor.
The cold water got through to Guy, extinguishing his confusion and the muddled mess in his head that he hadn’t even realized was there. Sadly, it was a familiar sense, too. Even before remerging from the water, and getting his eyes set on the man who had attacked him, he knew who had been messing with him lately.
As soon as he breached the water, he rocketed up into the air surrounded by a reinforced green aura, and shouted, “Psycho-Pirate!”
The comically garbed villain, his face hidden behind his golden mask, lashed right back at Guy, sending a barrage of emotions pummeling into his head. Guy felt himself become overwhelmed by the intensity of the various emotions – anger, love, hatred, lust, fear, bravery – it was too much for him to handle.
He clasped his hands against his temples – sadness, joy, disgust, pride, surprise, anxiousness – and dipped down in his flight. He couldn’t focus, couldn’t even know where his enemy was any longer.
“I’ve been subtlety invading your mind all week!” Psycho-Pirate said as he hovered down to Guy’s level over the harbor. “Your mind was so susceptible. It was almost too easy!”
The villain cold-cocked Guy across the jaw, sending him spinning, but not totally falling out of the air. Guy was having trouble even knowing which way was up – friendship, shame, kindness, pity, envy, suffering – and his vision was growing blurry.
“Isolating you was easy enough,” Psycho-Pirate said with another swift punch to Guy’s lower back. “I made you reject the Lanterns. I made you reject the League. Thoughts of jealously and ineptness were at home in your mind already. Now you’re all alone, with no support and no friends. I’ll invade your mind completely, and you’ll be my willing slave!”
He kicked Guy in the gut – trust, disdain, astonishment, shyness, horror, patience – and the Lantern thought that he might black out. He tried to shuffle through the emotions, to find out where he started and the Psycho-Pirate ended. It didn’t even seem possible. How could he burst through the cloud of psychic assimilation? He had to concentrate. He had to just focus on one emotion and use that to power through.
He filtered through and finally landed on one that was not only familiar to him, but could serve to reinforce his sense of self.
Determination.
For a Lantern, it was the cornerstone of willpower.
Guy’s fury exploded out in the form of a battering ram, slamming straight into Psycho-Pirate’s torso. Six Vikings charged through the air, a log of sturdy oak gripped between them and driven straight into the center of the villain. Psycho-Pirate tumbled backward over the harbor, until he was caught by a giant, green catcher’s mitt, with a thin trail of energy leading back to Guy’s ring.
“You’re in for a world of hurt!” Guy said as he caused the mitt to transform into an iron maiden. It slapped green iron around Psycho-Pirate, holding him in place, with nothing but a small slit for the villain’s eyes to see through.
But the eyes were all that the villain needed. His gaze pierced into Guy’s, instantly pummeling him with emotions once more. This time Guy was ready, and while he didn’t flounder like before, his concentration was still wrecked. The iron maiden vanished and the Psycho-Pirate was free once more.
He laid the barrage on thicker than ever. “Impressive!” Psycho-Pirate said. “Maybe I’ll just need to scramble your brain instead of enslaving you. You’ll be a blithering idiot, but who would even notice a change, Guy Gardner?”
Guy fought, searching for his internal foundation once again that had somehow gotten lost in the murk of emotion. He felt himself fading, fading quickly. Blackness was encroaching his vision again and he could barely string two thoughts together again, let alone free himself from this monster’s control.
Then, suddenly, the fog lifted. The blackness ebbed away. His mind was clear and so was his vision, which gave him a sight for sore eyes.
Psycho-Pirate was pinned against the wing of a sleek, black jet careening over Baltimore. The gaudy villain’s appendages flapped uselessly from the centripetal force generated by the aircraft. The plane swung far out over the city and turned around back toward Guy, who despite himself, was happy to see the new arrival.
“Thanks for the assist, Bats!”
The Batwing headed straight for Guy, who readied himself. They had pulled this maneuver before, years ago shortly after Guy had first joined the League. He braced himself, and the Batwing yanked upward, rocketing high up, and Psycho-Pirate was cast off the edge of the wing. Guy was prepared, conjuring a fishing net that swarmed around Psycho-Pirate and trapping him in midair.
Guy quickly created a huge set of green pliers, using them to rip the golden Medusa mask off of Psycho-Pirate, the source of his power. Now just an ordinary man, he slumped back into the net, powerless and at the mercy of Guy’s will.
The Batwing hurtled around them, tipping in just enough for Guy to see into the cockpit, where Batman glowered at them. Even at half the speed of sound he still looked intimidating. Guy saw Batman nod, motioning behind the Lantern, and Guy turned to see several other familiar faces.
Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Martian Manhunter all lowered themselves through the air toward him. They exchanged glances before Superman finally said, “You alright, Guy? Do we need to take precautions?”
“No, no,” Guy said. “He’s out of my head, don’t worry. How did you guys know to come?”
“Whenever a Leaguer’s home city is attacked, it sets off an alert in the Hall of Justice,” Wonder Woman said. “Your town was set up, too. Didn’t you get the memo?”
“We’re glad that you’re unharmed,” J’onn said. “When the Hall’s sensors scanned you after your departure, we detected some kind of psychic interference with your faculties.” His eyes flashed red. “I detect no such disturbances now.”
“Glad to have you back up to snuff,” Superman said, and held out Guy’s membership card. “I believe this is yours.”
Guy shot a quick glance at the Batwing, which had turned around and was spiriting away from Baltimore. It had already nearly reached the horizon. He wasn’t quite sure what that meant, although the fact that ol’ Bats had showed up to help at all really spoke volumes anyway.
He felt like garbage; how much of Psycho-Pirate’s influence had it really taken to turn him away from the heroes that he had come to trust after years of fighting alongside them? How long would it take to get their trust back?
He looked at Superman’s extended hand, grabbed his membership card, and smiled.
“What would you guys do without me to save your butts all the time?” Guy said.
END