"He is getting better," Superman commented as the Justice League Trinity watched Hawkgirl and Flamebird chase each other in the air. "She was the better option to mentor him in his flying abilities."
"Well, they both have wings," Diana commented with amusement. "Their method of flying is different from yours."
"You are right," Clark agreed. "Though, it does make me feel a little bit sad. Here I thought that I would finally be able to teach a bat to fly."
"You already have enough on your plate with Superboy, Bizzaro, and your son," Bruce grumbled. "Get your greedy hands off my son! I already have enough with the Lanterns trying to steal him!"
"Possessive," Diana teased laughing with Clark. "How is Flamebird dealing with his new physiology? Yesterday we were sparing, he could match me in physical strength, speed, and stamina. Though, I still beat him, as it was clear that he still has no complete control of them."
"It's challengingly," Bruce answered slowly. "His body changed from one of a human with magical fire powers to one with fire and the physiology of a Nephilim."
"His control is outstanding," Clark praised him, chuckling when Bruce preened like a proud papa. "I was not at that level when I found out about my abilities. What is his secret?"
"A cup of tea, meditation, and yoga in the morning," Bruce answered in amusement. "He has a very healthy lifestyle, he wakes up with the sun and goes for a run with his pets, then finishes his morning routine with meditation. Then he has a vegan healthy breakfast with a cup of tea, and then meditates before starting with his day."
"Is he truly fourteen?" Clark asked his friend in disbelief.
"He will be fifteen soon, though I also ask myself that," Bruce agreed with his friend's surprise.
"I can't wait for the party, I am sure Flamebird will love my gift!" Diana exclaimed with excitement. "I also can't wait to meet Constantine's new kid. She is young Abuse and Shrike's age right?"
"Yes, she is 12," Bruce hummed, watching as Flamebird barely evaded Hawkgirl's grab and won their game of tag not by ability but by outsmarting her. Bruce could only smile in pride of his wonderful son. "Her name is Nika Constantine, her hero name is Flatline, and she used to work under Lord Death Man. However, Lord Death Man's immortality and powers came from the Lazarus Pits. With the passing of time and them gone..."
"Ouch," Clark winced. "How is she handling his death? And what about her reaction to Flamebird?"
"She does not blame him, as she realizes that Lord Death Man's death was never Flamebird's objective. Honestly those kids are more mature than most adults I deal with," Bruce answered. "The two of them became quick friends really, I would even go as far as to say she has a crush on him."
"The Wayne charm strikes again," Clark teased with a chuckle. "What is it with you Waynes? Making us all fall for you as if it is a game to you. Poor Jon now has some competition."
"Us?" Bruce turned to Clark with a raised eyebrow, making him blush and stutter until Bruce had pity on the Kryptonian. "I should say the same about you and Diana."
"R-really?!" Clark asked him in excitement.
"Really," Bruce agreed with a small, barely there, smile.
"Boys, what would you do without us?" Diana shook her head. "I love you, the two of you. And you both love me and each other. See? Simple!"
"Hahaha!" Bruce laughed, taking them both by surprise. "Yes, simple. We should talk about us when we return from Apokolips."
Right, the Batclan was taking The Nest and traveling all the way to Apokolips for the signing of the Acrobaleno Alliance that symbolizes the unity of the Lantern Corps. They were taking Hal Jorda, John Stewart, and Guy Gardner with them. In Oa they would be picking up the new Earth Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. Flamebird's friends Da-kun, Pa-kun, An'ki, and Zanny, were already in Akropolis waiting. The Birds of Prey, the Constantine Coven, Arsenal, Cheshire, Batwoman, Signal, Agenct C, Spoiler, and Bluebird, were in charge of patrolling Gotham City and Bludhaven until they got back. It truly showed how much Bruce has grown, as before he would have never trusted others like this before.
"You are dividing the new team!" Clark booed teasingly. "New team?" Bruce turned to Clark confused.
"Well, yes, the future superhero team made of young warriors," Diana agreed with Clark, with a teasingly smile. "Flamebird, Shrike, Respawn, Abuse, Corvus, SomeBody, Signal, Flatline, Superboy II, and Lightning, Black Lightning's youngest daughter."
"What is the name of this superhero team?" Bruce asked them, barely hiding his amusement. "It's still undecided," Clark hummed. "It will be up to them to choose."
"I believe that's fair," Diana agreed.
"Incorrigible, the two of you," Bruce shook his head, but he was smiling- with Superman and Wonder Woman counted as a win.
"Baba!" Flamebird called out for Batman, gaining the attention of his father. "Redbird and Blackbird were finally able to drag Robin out of his Photography Black Room! They are waiting for us by The Nest!"
"So, you are finally going to see the famous Nest," Clark teased. "Lucky you, Hal called it a work of art and a beauty of no comparison."
"We'll see," Batman grunted. "Jordan likes to exaggerate and act like a kid."
However, he would eat those words soon. The Nest was truly magnificent. It would be expected coming from a powerhouse galactic empire like Apokolips. But still, the idea of his son owning a mother ship like that... it blew Bruce's mind.
"Fuck!" Redbird cursed; jaw dropped.
"This is a beauty!" Robin and Batgirl praised, eyes shining with stars in them. "See! I told you!" Hal gloated.
"You do know this is my ship, right?" Flamebird turned to the Green Lantern with a raised eyebrow.
"I know! But you are a lantern from Earth, so in a way the ship is ours!" Hal answered cheekily.
"He is a bat!" The Batclan was quick to snap back in unison, making Flamebird smile and blush slightly.
"He is a lantern, see that pendant on his neck?" John raised an eyebrow, pointing at the Grey Lantern Force hanging on Flamebird's neck. "Grey Lantern."
"He is the Flamebird to my Nightwing," Dick stepped forwards with a deadly sharp smile. "He is a bat, no matter what powers he has."
"Hear, hear!" Redbird cheered.
"Ok, let's get inside," Damian stepped forward to stop the brawl that was coming. "How is it that my pets are more mature than all of you and are already inside the ship? Even Goliath is already inside, and he had just reunited with his family!"
"Sorry," everyone mumbled ashamed, following him inside.
Soon Hal, Bruce, Tim, and Barbara were lost admiring the beauty of the ship and how advanced it was. They were in awe at how easily Damian set the automatic journey to Oa. The rest of them were discovering the various corners of the ship. Dick caressed the mural in the communal cafeteria gently with a soft smile on his face. It was clearly done by Damian.
"So much love," Cass spoke up softly, from behind him. Dick turned around to smile at his little sister, who was clutching the Kevlar above her heart. "So much love and happiness. This place was home... it's still a home."
"We all heard the stories, from the lanterns or from Flamebird," Dick hummed. "But to see it is different. They had nothing but each other and created a community, a family."
"There are a couple of rooms situated as classrooms," Redbird told them as he entered the cafeteria. "That's where they must have learned about the different races, traditions, and languages in the ship."
"We saw a calendar filled with dates and anniversaries," Shrike informed them, arriving next to Respawn.
"There was New Year written there," Respawn commented. "And other celebration we do not know about, most likely of the various races that were in the ship."
"What should we do?" Blackbird turned to Nightwing, prompting the rest to turn towards their oldest sibling.
"Be there for baby bat," Dick answered simply. "He will be reuniting with a family he found and made in a horrendous situation, but he will be very happy to see again. Leaving them after the signing is over will hurt him, so we need to be there for him." Dick looked at his siblings with determination. "We are his family after all."
They were determined to focus on Damian, that is until they reached Oa and things got sidetracked to Hell.
"Wow!" Tim awed for the hundredth time as Hal finished giving them the tour around Oa.
"It is a beautiful planet," Damian smiled at his brother- he does not get to see Tim acting his age a lot. "Though, I did not get to see much of it last time I was here. The tour was well-appreciated."
"Well, I could not let an honorary citizen of Oa not know their planet," Hal teased with a smirk.
"You have an Oa citizenship?" Bruce turned to his son in surprise but making sure to keep his expressionless Batman facade.
"He did not tell you?" Hal exclaimed in mock affrontation. "Then again you have so many citizenships that it is hard to keep count of them all."
"Stop it," Damian sighed. "Yes, I have an Oa citizenship, and one for every planet that has a Lantern Corp, Apokolips, and most of the planets of those I saved from Darkseid and returned home."
"How many planets in total?" Dick asked in disbelief. "... 15," Damian admitted.
"Not bad, baby bat," Jason whistled impressed, while everyone else turned to him in stunned silence- even Hal, who had not known the actual number until now.
Luckily, John and Guy had returned with Kyle just then, changing the topic of conversation to the new Green Lantern. Damian could not stop himself from noticing how the White Force of his Grey Force reacted to Kyle, even now he was still chosen to become a White Lantern. Damian was very relieved that he had not changed his old friend's path irrevocably. Though, what came to a surprise was the Black Force also reacting to Kyle. Damian stared at Kyle for a long time, trying to figure out if this was something else he had changed or if this was something that was always suppose to happen and without the intervention of the Guardians would finally become true.
"Everything ok Dami?" Cass asked him, because, of course, someone in his family of detectives would notice it.
"Nothing," Damian sighed, entering his chamber in the ship, only to huff at finding his whole family in there. "What is this? An intervention?"
"Nothing of the sort, baby bat," Dick was rapid to assure him and come to his side, caressing his adored brother's hair gently. "We just wanted to know what is wrong with Kyle Rayner?"
"Nothing is wrong with him," Damian huffed, but leaned in Dick's touch, making his brother smile and snuggle him even closer.
"Then why are you staring at him so much?" Alec asked him with a pointed glare.
Damian mumbled something in Nightwing's Kevlar that no one could understand. "Akhi, speak up," Mara chided him. "It's unbecoming of you."
"I said that the Grey Lantern Force is reacting to him!" Damian admitted, taking his face off Dick's chest.
"The Grey Lantern Force?" Batman was quick on the uptake. "As in his lantern color is changing to grey?"
"Is that possible?" Jason asked surprised, he did not know much about lanterns even with Damian being the guardian of a Lantern Force- Batman made sure his clan did not interact a lot with the annoying lanterns.
"There have been many cases of that," Tim pointed out. "Razer turned from a Green Lantern to a Red Lantern, and there's the most famous case of Siniestro leaving the Green Corps to create his Siniestro Corps, the now Yellow Lantern Corps."
"I can feel the Grey Lantern Force demanding me to create a grey lantern ring for him," Damian told his family, plopping himself on his bed next to Bruce- who rapidly covered him with his Batman cape and cuddled him to his side. "However, I also know that he is not ready to be a Grey Lantern... he has a lot of potential, but he still needs to grow as a hero before moving into the care of the Grey Force."
"Then what is the issue?" Barbara asked him, almost as good as Cass in reading people.
"The Grey Lantern Force calling for someone like this has never happened before, the pull is strong," Damian confessed with a frown. "It took me by surprise."
"That means that you've felt this pull before," Jason pointed out with a raised eyebrow- looking a lot like Alfred.
"Yes, with Alfred and Cassandra," Damian told them to his family's surprise. "Both of them already figured it out, even without me needing to tell them," Damian chuckled when Cass smirked victoriously. "I can't do this baba," Damian whined, allowing himself to behave as his physical age. "My flames and Nephilim physiology are already enough things on my plate. I can't add creating grey lantern rings to the mix right now."
"Then you do not, we'll figure something out together," Bruce assured him firmly. "I'll talk to John about this and have him keep Kyle away from you until the mission is over."
"I think he can feel it too," Damian said softly. "Maybe I should tell him, otherwise he might think he is going insane. It is my duty..."
"Baby bat," Dick called out softly, kneeling in front of Damian and putting his hands on his little brother's knees. He only started speaking again when Damian turned to look at him. "You told me once, years ago, that overworking myself will do no one any good. So, do not do the same. It is not your duty, you owe no one nothing. Dad and I will talk with John and explain the situation, who in return will explain it to Kyle. He is a good guy, I'm sure he'll understand and wait for when you are ready. Ok?"
"Ok," Damian sniffled with a small smile.
"Good," Dick leaned forward to kiss Damian's forehead. "Tonight, we are have having a puppy pile! The bed is large enough for all of us!"
Damian laughed making his family smile, they had been worried about Damian's strange behavior. That night they did all sleep together and a batglare from Batman stopped Hal from making any comments the next morning. The batkids were sure to always keep Rayner and Damian separated, it was easier once Kyle understood the situation (Damian had been right and he had felt the pull too) and once they had reached Apokolips. In there, Flamebird was quick to be dragged by the lantern survivors. Batman did not like having strangers take his son away, but seeing Flamebird's carefree laugh and smile stopped him from saying anything. He had never seen his son look so relaxed.
"Their bond is something special," Guy commented, coming to stop next to the Dark Knight as An'ki threw himself at Flamebird. "They've all survived something that it would have killed anyone else. By all accounts it should have destroyed them! But they came out stronger and better. Most likely thanks to Flamebird. He became the Galaxy's Guiding Light, at the helm of the Acrobaleno Alliance."
"He is a boy; he shouldn't have to carry that weight!" Batman growled with a batglare.
"Can you honestly call him a boy after all he went through?" Guy turned to Batman with a sad expression on his face, one that brought Batman to a sharp stop. "In a fair world he should be in high school right now, focusing on his studies and what to do about the girl or boy he likes. But this is not an ideal world, much less a fair one."
Batman could not say anything about that, not even as he watched his son stand alone in the middle of the castle's main hall signing the Acrobaleno Alliance. The lantern groups having divided in colors, leaving Flamebird on his own. But instead of that being what stood up, it was how every lantern, veterans, turned towards Flamebird as flowers to the sun. Their looks of respect and adoration made Bruce's skin crawl.
That was a kid. His kid.
Not the savior of the fucking universe!
But Guy was right. This was not a fair or ideal world, and there was nothing Bruce could do about it but keep on watching.
-----------------------------------------------
"Ah," Damian sighed.
"What's wrong baby bat?" Dick was quick to turn to his precious little brother in concern.
"I just don't get why An'ki could not come back with us? I was supposed to show him Earth," Damian pouted, making Dick's heart melt.
The Acrobaleno Alliance signing was a huge success, and the team was making their way back to Earth in The Nest. "I'm sure he'll make it another time," Dick was quick to comfort his baby bat.
"An'ki's training might be over, but he has grown leaps and is now in charge of the Apokolips Red Lantern branch," Guy informed the Batclan as he entered the mother ship's monitoring room with the rest of the lanterns. "Also, I think he has a crush on Zanny."
"Oh, he totally does, it's pathetic," Damian scoffed. "And here I thought the code was bros before hoes!"
That sent the whole room laughing like hyenas, even Batman sported a smile. "I thought you liked Zanny?" Hal asked between giggles, he had to come to his fellow Green Lantern's aid.
"I do, she is awesome," Damian deadpanned. "She is still a hoe that took my bro from me." "Hahaha!" John was rolling on the floor laughing in a very uncharacteristically way.
"Never change Flamebird!" Guy gasped for breath as he laughed.
"Why should I? I am perfect!" Damian replied regally, making them all lose control again. Damian shared a secretive smile with Bruce, which had Batman's heart ache at his beautiful son. So caring and compassionate, he must have sensed how tense the Batclan was behaving around him and had decided to do something about it. However, the familiar and happy scene was interrupted by an urgent S.O.S message from the Watch Tower. "Watch Tower, this is Flamebird, Captain of The Nest, what is going on?"
"Flamebird! Earth is under attack!" An unknown young hero appeared on the screens of the monitoring room. Unknown to all, but one person. Damian's breath hitched at the sudden appearance of Impulse, easily hiding it as worry for Earth's safety. "The Reach has come with battle ships and has surrounded our planet! They have half of their army here! We need you, the Batclan, and the lanterns!"
"Who are you?" Batman was quick to get control of the situation, entering the correct commands to speed their journey back home.
"I am Impulse, grandson of the actual Flash and I've come from the future," Bart Allen told them. "In it, The Nest did not come back in time and The Reach conquered Earth after killing the Justice League!" Many heroes blanched at the young hero's words; Batman's knuckles whitened as his hold almost broke the chair's arms. "At the end, Flamebird was able to win Earth back with the aid of the Justice League Dark and the Acrobaleno Alliance... but by then the damage had been done and most of Earth was in an apocalyptic state. So, I planned on going back and stopping it... but my time machine was a bust and I made it only a couple of days before the invasion!"
So, this is how I rewrote Bart's destiny, Damian thought grimly. Why do I keep failing? Why does Earth keep on being destroyed?! Damian took a deep sigh. Stop this! This is simply Destiny's way of allowing Bart to travel back. He needed to become a paradox and join the Teen Titans, that will always be his destiny. Earth was never meant to be destroyed by the Reach; they were simply a means to an end. You've got this Flamebird, let's save your home!
"Where the fuck were they to begin with?!" Jason snarled, eyes blazing with rage. "Why did they allow Earth to fall to begin with?!"
"They are in Hell," Damian grunted, barely keeping the panic attack at bay. "Trygon's Realm is finally being recognized as the tenth region of Hell. The Justice League Dark was invited to the banquet, we were as well but we already had a duty in Apokolips. No message will get through to them, not even mine. Only if Hell was under attack is reason enough to leave a banquet hosted by Lucifer Morningstar. Otherwise, you'll get executed."
"That's bullshit!" Hal cursed, alongside Alec and Jason.
"It's Hell, did you expect it to be all rainbow and roses?" Damian snarled, gaining concerned looks from everyone.
"Breath in and breath out," Cass stepped in front of her brother and repeated the same words Damian had told Alec all those years ago- the first interaction she had seen of her family. "Breath in and breath out." They repeated the process over again, with the Batclan hovering around worriedly, until Damian had finally calmed down. "Better?" Cass asked with a kind smile, but she already knew the answer.
"Better," Damian sighed. "Thank you, akhti," he smiled at her, before turning to Hal. "Apologies for snapping at you. Most of Hell's rules are being revised. That one did not seem to be one of the most urgent ones."
"Well, now it's biting us on the ass," Kyle snorted humorlessly.
"I realize that now," Damian glared at him pointedly, ignoring the pull of the Grey Lantern Force- by the look on Kyle's eyes he felt it too. "I will take care of it as soon as we deal with The Reach."
"How is Gotham City?" Jason asked Impulse worriedly. "Agent C? Arsenal? Cheshire? The brats?"
"They are safe," Impulse answered. "Gotham City survived the raze, Flamebird's flames plus Constantine's spells created a fire cocoon around the city."
Everyone turned to Damian in surprise. "I have nothing to do with this," Damian raised his arms in surrender. "Though, now that I think about it... while I was dealing with Firefly's bombs, after Constantine had transferred the curses to me, he was muttering something. That must have been a spell."
"Curses?!" John Stewart turned to the young hero in disbelief. "He put curses on you?!"
"It was all part of a plan, and I am all right," Damian quickly assured the lanterns. "Constantine must have bonded the flames I released to save Gotham to the city to act as a shield."
"He did," Impulse agreed, gaining everyone's attention. "Though, it could only be used once, it was a last method protection. What? I was raised in Gotham, most of the orphan heroes did," Impulse defended himself at the startled looks he received. His words reminded the heroes in The Nest of how much they had failed their planet... will fail their planet? "Shit! They are attacking!" Bart cursed, looking at the screen in panic. "Come quick! Most of the battle is going on space, but there are some Reach squads that have made their way to Earth. I need to go out there! Remember, the first one to fall is Superman! Don't let him die or we will be lost!"
With that said the screen went black, leaving the Batclan and lanterns filled with dread.
No one spoke for the remaining of their journey back to the Milkey Way and Earth. Only Batman did, and mostly just to give out orders. The most important one, that Robin, Shrike, and Respawn had to get to Gotham. They would have argued but got shut down by a batglare and the reasoning of their city needing protection. It was a weak reason, as they all knew that Gotham had survived, but the kids still obeyed- they knew better not to, when Batman was on that mood. The only reason Batman did not order Flamebird to do the same was because they needed him to win the battle, and Bruce had learned that as much as he hated it... his son could not be treated as a normal child.
Because he was not a normal child by any account.
However, Batman would curse that decision as soon as they made it to Earth. From The Nest Respawn, Shrike, and Robin beamed their way to the Watch Tower, which was barely holding on, and from there back to Gotham City. The lanterns and Flamebird had joined the battle raging on around Earth, while the Batclan had spread around The Nest monitoring room and commanding the mother ship to take down the various Reach War Ships. The reason why Batman would live to regret the decision to let Flamebird stay was because of what happened next.
"Superman!" Flamebird shouted pushing the Kriptonian away and being struck by a (huge laser) from the largest war ship in The Reach armada.
The Batclan watched in horror as Superman screamed in anguish. The Justice League stopped in their track as the attack finally stopped... there was no one there. Nothing left of the great hero Flamebird. All gone because he had sacrificed himself for Superman.
"This is a joke, right?" Redbird asked, almost hysterical. "Come on baby bat, come out from wherever you are. This is not fucking funny! Damian!"
"No, no, no," Nightwing was grabbing his head in his hands as he sobbed.
Blackbird, on the other hand, was staring at the screen in shock, not moving at all. She could not believe that her Dami, the little brother that had saved her from that hell she had called life, was gone. That could not be right. It could not be real!
Barbara could only stare in shock, this could not be happening. She had not known him well and was regretting it now.
Batman, on his part, stared as Wonder Woman let out a war cry and began fighting off The Reach with a viciousness he had never seen. Superman's eyes were red, and he was not holding back, destroying the same ship that had taken out Flamebird, with an ease that once upon a time would have scared Batman. But now... now he felt nothing. His world filled with colors was grey, the life was taken away from him. His son was dead.
He was dead!
A lonely tear left Batman's eye. He was that same weak and powerless boy that had watched his parents die before him, he was back in that alley... but this time he was holding Damian's body in his arms.
His son was dead. They had lost him.
"He is still alive!" Kyle's voice cut through the coms, startling everyone- both the Batclan and those Justice League members fighting. "He is alive! I can still feel the pull of the Grey Lantern Force! That godamn bastard is still alive!"
"D-dami is alive?" Cass stuttered with fragile hope.
Jason cursed in relief, as Barbara sagged back on her chair. Dick sobbed in his hands, this time in relief. But Batman stopped himself from feeling anything, he could not hope only for it to be taken from him again... he would not survive that.
"He is!" Kyle assured her. "Martian Manhunter! Try looking for his mind, use the pull of the Grey Lantern Force I feel as a guide!"
"J'onn! Do it!" Wonder Woman barked the order, noticing how Superman and Batman were out of it.
"He is alive!" J'onn exclaimed, much to everyone's relief. Many heroes celebrated, Batman barely keeping himself conscious from the relief he felt. "But he is weak! I feel him unconscious... he is in the sun! The laser pushed him all the way to the sun! I don't know if he'll manage survive the radiation of the sun, someone needs to save him!"
Before his words were done, Superman was already flying towards the sun, faster than ever in his life.
"Stop..." Batman gasped, his brain finally functioning. "Stop it Kal-El!" "Shit!" Barbara cursed, realizing the same thing as Batman had.
But it was already too late.
A boom resonated throughout the Milky Way, rocking The Nest from its force and sending the huge ship flying away. By the time the Batclan had managed to regain control of the ship and recovered from the whiplash, everything was done. The Batclan observed in horror as The Reach armada burned away to ashes.
They knew of Flamebird's powers and abilities. How could they not? They saw all the miracles he was able to do, they were in awe of how much he had aided the Gotham community and how Akropolis was saved by his flames. But... they had only seen one side of his powers, the miracles he was able to create. This was the other side of the coin... the horror and destruction that came before creation.
Now they understood the words Damian had used to explain what he does. 'To create is to destroy. To destroy is to create'.
Two sides of the same gift.
The Justice League put down their weapons and stared in shock as well. They turned to each other in disbelief, as if they were asking each other: Is it really over? Was it that easy?
Over, it is. Easy, it was not.
Superman then appeared, a look of pure agony on his face as he held Damian in his arms. Batman quickly noticed how the Kriptonian's arms were covered in burn marks. Flamebird was not capable of controlling his flames, his body temperature must be too much for the Kriptonian to handle.
"Get him in The Nest!" Batman barked, finally snapping out of his trance- the Batclan quickly getting to work around him.
Superman took him, being followed closely behind by the rest of the Justice League, he put him down in a med pod. However, the pod burned away, Flamebird's flames being too much. That was when Martian Manhunter took control of the situation, screams via telepathy to wake up. He had to do that without entering Flamebird's mind, as his mind was protected by mental flames, the perfect shield against Martians.
"Let me do it!" Kyle stepped forward, using his lantern ring to scan Damian. "The ring says that he is concussed, but the Grey Lantern Force should be kicking in soon as the excess of flames has been released."
"So, it was Flamebird," Wonder Woman commented. "Thank Hera he is alive."
"I was flying towards the sun, when the blast exploded," Superman sighed, wincing at the uncommon sensation of pain he felt. "It almost had me crashing in Mercury."
"It was not him," Kyle corrected them, almost shyly- he was correcting two heroes of the Trinity! "What do you mean by that?" Batman growled, batglaring at the nervous Green Lantern.
"B, calm down," Nightwing stepped forward and placed a hand on Batman's arm. "He will explain to us what happened, everything." Nightwing smiled, but his smile was anything but comforting. It was almost threatening; it did not help that the rest of the bats closed ranks behind him.
"The Grey Lantern Force communicated through my green lantern ring," Kyle informed them nervously.
"Is that possible?" Hal asked him stunned.
"I've never heard of a Lantern Force working like that," John agreed confused.
"The Indigo Force does share emotions, but because of my affinity to the Grey Lantern Force and my ring it seems to be communicating with my easier," Kyle told them. "That was also explained to me by the Grey Lantern Force."
"That's all good," Redbird smiled, stepping forward threateningly.
"But what about Flamebird?" Blackbird finished for her brother, her smile being anything but sweet.
"Right!" Kyle rushed to explain, otherwise he might get himself killed via overprotective batsiblings... not that he blamed them after everything that had just happened. "The Grey Lantern Force took control as soon as Flamebird lost conscious. Flamebird had absorbed too much sun power and even though the Grey Lantern Force is keeping him balanced, it was still too much power for his young body and needed to release it. Obeying his unconscious desire to save his family, the Grey Lantern Force took control and released the extra sun flames into the enemy." He explained to the stunned hero crowd. "It was not a conscious decision from Flamebird... he did not mean to kill anyone."
"He is a true hero until the end," Wonder Woman stepped forward, standing protectively in front of Damian's unconscious body. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at everyone. The batsiblings closing rank around her, while Batman went to check on his son- who had finally managed to take control of his flames and was healing. "I will not have anyone disrespect the great sacrifice and boon Flamebird has given us."
"Of course not! He is a hero!" Hal jumped in and defended himself, many other Justice League members were quick to follow his example.
"He saved my life," Superman told her with a look of pure anguish on his face.
"Don't blame yourself!" Jason snapped with a glare. "My brother did what he did because he is an altruistic dumb hero, don't undermine his actions by giving yourself a pity party!"
"His vitals seem to be under control," J'onn pointed out, after moving Flamebird to another medical pod. "Though his flames reserves have increased, it will take him some time to get used to it. He might feel disoriented for a while."
"We'll be there for him," Cass quickly answered him. "We are a family after all."