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(Michael's P.O.V)
"Ugh, did anyone see the number plates on that truck?"
I rose out of the debris covering my body, the Green aura around me dimly flickering.
The Zetabeam control room was a mess.
Sparks flew from shattered consoles, and the walls groaned from the cracks running along the chamber.
We had been fighting for close to a minute when I was overwhelmed and blasted away.
For all the Willpower I had, Batman still held the edge in terms of...everything.
A single Green Lantern/Yellow Lantern had nothing on the Spirit of Vengeance. The solution?
I had to become both. At the same time.
It made no sense in practice. My version of a Green Lantern was a fusion of the Yellow Light and Blue hellfire.
Luckily, I had a renewable source of yellow light from Captain Atom's terror. So maybe my idea was workable.
In the few seconds it took to stand, partly because my opponent underestimated me, I separated a part of the yellow light from the fusion, and segregated it to the left side of my body while the Green light of Willpower remained on the right.
This crude transformation made me both a Yellow Lantern and a Green Lantern at the same time.
Willpower and Fear—locked in a constant, delicate balance. Fear to sharpen my Willpower. And Willpower to refine my Fear.
(Ring Charge: 100%/100%)
My mutated ring informed me.
'I hope it will be enough.'
"NO MATTER HOW MANY POWERS YOU ACCESS, IT WON'T BE ENOUGH."
Batman rumbled out, standing across from me- hellfire wrapped around him like a second skin, his eyes glowing with hatred and fury.
"Says you. But I think I have a chance."
A yellow blade and a green Shield formed in my hands.
Batman shook his head at the constructs. "YOU CAN'T STOP ME, MICHAEL. MY FURY AND CONVINCTION ADD TO THE RIDER'S POWER. IT IS INEXHAUSTIBLE."
True enough I could sense the emotions radiating off him, feeding into his hellfire cloak.
Once familiar, the flames now made my skin crawl.
'Fear has no hold on me.'
I refused to back down.
Countless times, I'd faced the Ghost Rider in my nightmares. The battlefield had simply shifted from my dreams to reality.
"You can use that rage, Bruce." I said, clenching my fists, creating battle armor around my body. The plates, a perfect fusion of fear and will. "But I'll still kick your ass. Just like last time. Remember?"
His eyes narrowwed.
"I'LL INCINERATE YOUR ENTIRE BEING."
With a roar, he leaped at me, summoning his Hellfire Constructs. And throwing them in a salvo.
Batarangs, burning with red fire, and bombs that screamed through the air. They were faster than I expected, almost too fast.
My shield flared, enlarging into a green barrier just in time, but the heat seared through the outer layer.
I gritted my teeth against the hellfire scorching through the shield, but it held on. Reinforcing it with more energy, it molded into a round green shield with yellow spikes jutting outward.
With a yell, I pushed through the flaming projectiles with my shoulder, running forward and slamming into his midsection.
I was like a child pushing against a mountain. He didn't move an inch.
Late to react, Infernal chains burst through the walls and floor, ensnaring my limbs and pulling me onto my knees.
It annoyed, that he was using my own moves against me.
While I struggled, Batman opened the jaws of his monstrous skull, and hellflame lava poured out.
Terror surged within me but the ring absorbed it, sharpening my will. A spinning umbrella blocked the hot liquid, which melted the floor under, so that I fell through, still entangled in Chains.
From personal experience, I knew they were unbreakable. Hence I found myself in an even worse position.
A set of barriers blocked the hole above in case of an attack, while I worked to remove the chains.
No use, they were entangled around my limbs too tightly.
Too soon, a buzzing sound reached my ears. From above, swarms of insects ate through my Green and Yellow barriers and in no time and I was next.
"Shit! Ring, vibrate my limbs and phase me out!"
(There are risks...)
"Fuck that! Now!"
My hands and legs tingled unpleasantly, body slipping through the Rider's chains to land on the floor below.
A flame thrower construct helped me light up the approaching swarm, though the insects looked unharmed and swirled in front of me to form...Batman.
"I'm so fucking Jealous. I could never do that when I was the Rider."
"YOU NEVER TRIED. JUST LIKE YOU NEVER TRIED TO SAVE YOUR FAMILY."
'Okay, that's too far.'
This time, I initiated the attack. Chainsaw constructs tried to hack through the Rider's chains, in a bus to get to him.
The shockwaves of the clash, shattered walls and decimated chambers as we moved from the West Wing to the East.
The Watchtower couldn't handle our fight.
It groaned, the structure bulking. It was like fighting in the belly of a beast.
Alarms which sounded like painful cries blared out through the hallways and corridors. Things became dire as The Hellride station tilted and fell toward Earth.
"Give up Bruce! The Zetabeam control room is destroyed, you've failed!"
I tried to reason with him. Maybe we could still stop this.
"SHUT UP!"
Silly me. Batman wouldn't back down, not with the Rider in control.
The shaking structure cost me and before I knew it, the Chain of Damnations wrapped around my body, tight and burning, pulling me toward him.
"I AM ENDING THIS!"
He growled, grabbing my shoulders. Shit. I knew what was coming.
The Penance Stare.
His hollowed eyes locked onto mine, and the world around me fell away.
The memories came rushing back.
Every person I'd killed, every mistake, every drop of blood. Their screams filled my head, trying to crush me under the weight of their pain.
I was screaming in agony at having my soul scoured but my Willpower held on. It was tormenting but I forced myself to hold the gaze, reinforcing my spirit with the ring.
"I- I have no regrets! Every life I've taken d- deserved it! Every judgment passed has been necessary! You CANNOT JUDGE ME! I refuse!"
His Penance Stare failed to break me, and I saw the flames in his eyes flicker with frustration.
"It's not working, is it?" I chuckled, my voice a forced calm. "I carry zero Guilt, Bruce. Vengeance comes with sacrifice, and I made mine before all this began!"
"LIAR! YOU WILL BE RIGHTLY PUNISHED FOR YOUR SINS!"
The chains burned hotter, but I pushed back. Fear-Will Amplification surged through me, my power multiplying as the terror Batman threw at me only made me stronger.
(Ring Charge: 50%/50%)
(Ring Charge: 100%/100%)
...
(Ring Charge 500%/500%)
...
(Ring Charge: 1000%/1000)
The chain disintegrated in my hands, and I exploded with incredible amounts of radiant green and yellow energy, which merged into a lime green color.
The crude transformation became streamlined. My body and soul ached under the weight of the amplified emotions. Too much power for a single person to bear.
But I was no normal man. My soul had been expanded to host the ghost rider, and my body had been enhanced by J'onn.
This was the dawn of a new type of Lantern. With A TRUE balanced scale of Fear and Willpower...existing in Harmonious synchronicity.
The Pale Lantern.
Power erupted out of me pushing him away.
"IMPOSSIBLE."
Batman growled, throwing up Hellfire Constructs, trying to block me out. But my aura unravelled them to pure energy.
Hellfire whirled around him, molding into his body to create wings of flame and a demonic armor very simlar to The hellbat armor.
It wasn't enough.
With a casual thought, My own Enhanced Constructs formed, lime-green colored and so detailed as to appear real.
Sharper blades, stronger weapons, they pierced through his armor, tearing through the hellflames and the Rider's wrathful appearance to expose the mortal man underneath.
"NO! DON'T LEAVE Me. IT's not over..."
Bruce bitterly cried out, the Rider's influence and power slipping through his control.
But the burning skull had disappeared, leaving him in a torn up Batman suit.
Defiant eyes looked up at me in hate.
"You! It's your fault! It's all your fault! I'll kill you...mmmhhh."
With a sigh, I bound his mouth with a construct tape, adding lime-green chains that wrapped around his body, holding him to the floor.
"It's over Bruce. I beat you like I promised. And now I'm taking back what's mine."
To ensure no interruptions, I created a dome of energy around us. Which doubled as protection since The Watchtower was still collapsing.
Parts of the structure burned up in the atmosphere, exposing the dome to the open air. It held beautifully.
Good. Even the Justice League—if they were even watching—couldn't stop.
Ignoring his desperation, I focused, tapping deeper into the emotional spectrum.
Emotion Manipulation—a trick I'd learned to balance the fear and willpower inside me.
I pushed my Will into him, using my emotions to create cracks in their connection.
The Batman Who Ride's spirit was strong, but I could also feel the real Bruce fighting back, buried somewhere inside.
His struggles slowed, the unity between him and the Rider breaking apart.
"That's it, Bruce, take back control. " I whispered, urging him on. "You're still in there. You don't really want to be the rider...so cut him out, get rid of his corruption."
For a moment, I thought I had him.
Then seals flashed across his body, containing magic.
"No!"
My will was forcibly pushed out.
The magic fed into the Rider and It's influence renewed. Like a cornered animal, Batman cloaked himself in a cocoon of hellfire.
The flames had changed from red to blue and thickened, solidifying into a ferocious heat that rapidly melted my enhanced chains, further surprising me.
Unfortunately for him, I had one final card to play.
The Hope-Eater appeared behind him.
But it was different from before. Enhanced under The Pale Lantern ring to become the most powerful construct I'd ever made—a massive, twisted maw of lime green.
It radiated hunger, a void that could consume anything: emotions, matter, energy, even the strongest Hellfire.
Batman tried to escape, blasting out tongues and whips of flame that didn't reach me, as the Hope-Eater behind him absorbed it all.
More chains were created by my ring. Hundreds of locks and weight to keep him down.
"You remember this scene Bruce?"
I asked, maintaining multiple constructs.
"You and your friends held me down and stole my power. Now I do the same. What goes around..."
"DAMN YOU MICHAEL!!!"
A voice that wasn't quite his roared out.
The Hope-Eater opened wide, engulfing him. For a moment, I thought it wasn't enough. His flames clashed against the walls of the Hope-Eater's jaws.
His howls of rage gradually dissappeared and slowly, the Hope-Eater did its job, and pulled Barman into its depths.
I closed my eyes, focusing on the connection between the Hope-Eater and I.
By enhancing the construct with the Lime-green, I had gained the ability to influence anything the Hope-Eater devoured.
Meaning...I could remove the Spirit of the Ghost Rider from Batman.
I pushed harder, amplifying my will, pouring everything into the construct.
The Hope-Eater's jaw opened and Bruce's body collapsed on the floor before me, unconscious but alive.
"...comes around."
Meanwhile the spirit of vengeance hung in the Hope-Eater's Stomach, formless and bound.
I wasn't going to let it go this time.
"Welcome home," I whispered, and with a final surge of willpower, I absorbed the Rider back into myself, using my connection with the Hope-Eater as a bridge.
The flames of vengeance roared inside my soul. The link was reastablished. I could feel It once more.
(Ring Charge: 1000%-1000%-> 50%/50%)
It had taken a lot out of me but...
(Ghost Rider Template: 70% Progress)
A curious thing happened. The Spirit of vengeance seemed to be attracted to the mutated ring on my finger. Despite that, I stopped them from merging. Not until I knew what to expect from such a fusion.
On the plus side, I was Ghost Rider once again.
It was over.
That said, the Watchtower was still in its fiery descent, headed for the ocean. I would survive the impact. But Bruce wouldn't.
We were enemies, so I had no obligation to save him...but, I still encased him in a protective sphere.
I wasn't saving him out of pity. I had a use for him.
Before we could crash and kill who knows how many fish, everything stopped, reminding me of the time with the Specter.
The air around me shifted, and time itself froze. I turned, and there he was.
"This is unexpected."
I muttered.
Dr. Fate hovered, glowing and serene, with the iconic helmet and a golden ankh portal behind him.
"Enough destruction for one day." he said, his voice echoing in the stillness.
With a wave of his hand, the Watchtower stopped its descent, suspended in time and space.
I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding, my energy flickering out, as I looked down at Bruce who seemed to be waking up.
"Next time Mr.Wayne, just leave the guy with the burning skull alone. You're not cut out for this demon stuff."
He groaned, eyes blinking open.
"And as a reward for saving your life...I'm definitely taking the Batmobile."