Coast City
November 16, 08:00 EDT
"You said both Green Lanterns would be on Earth!" the dark voice roared over the ring, causing it to buzz on Charlie's finger as if his anger was affecting the ring from such distance. "I needed you to keep them distracted while the Children of the Lobe attacked. I was this close—" Charlie assumed he was holding up his fingers, centimeters apart, "—to having the Battery until that blonde leech showed up. You have one simple job and I can't even trust you to go to Earth and distract some girl by taking her to a movie?"
A loud bang echoed of something being hit.
"How can you handle anything more? I'd come and kill you myself right now if it wasn't for the fact I believed you still to be useful. Am I right to assume so or should I save myself the trouble?"
The blond boy's teeth gritted. "Yes, I won't disappoint you again, promise."
"Is that attitude I'm hearing?" the voice raised to a new height. "Did all the time on Earth with moody human teenagers get to you? Speak to me with respect, boy! Or I'll throw you back to the traveling hippies you came from, understood."
"Yes, sir," he repeated, his fist clenching dangerously tight around the ring but it didn't so much as dent. "I understand. I'll try to be around the girl more, but she spends all her time as a hero. She hasn't even been at school in a week and even less of that time has been spent with me. She's losing interest."
"Then cause her to gain interest again." Any patience Charlie's mentor had on the other line was thinning by every word. "I picked a pretty boy and told you how to act perfectly. She's a teenage girl. Don't tell me you're failing at that too."
"She isn't an idiot, sir," he said tensely. "Maybe she found out what you were doing. A Children of the Lobe attack is pretty random especially when the Corps knew their our allies."
"Are you challenging my plans right now? The only one who is at risk of jeopardizing my mission is you. Just do the simplistic job as you were told to and try not to screw up anymore. When it comes down to losing or me, you should be much more afraid of me."
"Our."
" . . . what?"
"Our mission." Charlie's lip curled. "You said it was 'my mission' and it's supposed to be our mission."
"Do your part and it will be."
An irritating beep sounded, signaling the connection had been cut. Charlie's green eyes flash red as a growl began to rise in his throat.
"Hey, what's up?" Cyra's amber eyes instantly narrowed as she caught sight of the ugly expression on his face. "You look angry."
Charlie was sitting on his designated picnic table that sat on the yard outside of Coast City hair. The leaves on the tree hanging over the table were beginning to turn brown, one falling into his cheese and macaroni, which tasted like nothing more than sandpaper on his tongue anyways. Charlie instantly straightened his back and forced a dazzling grin onto his face, making sure his dimples showed.
"Nah, just got a bad math grade back is all," Charlie shrugged nonchalantly. "No big deal."
"Ah," Cyra said as she threw one leg over the bench and sat down across from him, resting her face in her hand. "That sucks, buddy."
Charlie's jaw clenched ever-so-slightly at the use of 'buddy'. It just proved the steps backward he had taken. Whatever happened to distance made the heart grow fonder?
"Yeah," he chuckled, uneasily as his mentor's words echoed in his mind. "Hey, are you doing anything after school today. I don't have practice and I was wondering if you'd want to go see a movie?"
Cyra pretended to think about it, even adding in a few hums, before she grinned. "Sure. I think I can scrounge up a couple bucks and we can dig for leftover popcorn in the trash cans like a pair of raccoons. We don't hang out nearly as much."
Charlie felt a nice heat grow in his chest. That was a lot easier than he thought it would be. He choked up a laugh that wasn't as strained as it could have been. "Sounds like a plan. Maybe if I can find an extra five dollars on the sidewalk we can get butter on the popcorn too."
The lies came more naturally now than they first did. Before, everything was carefully analyzed before sliding up his throat and out his mouth. Now, it was almost as if there was no thought at all. His shoulders relaxed naturally into his words and at times, he forgot he was even acting. If only his mentor could see him now—at his finest.
"Too bad I have two classes before the end of the day."
"We could always skip," Charlie shrugged before catching the hesitation that flashed across the blonde's face. Charlie let out a groan. "You've been spending a lot of time in that robotics class. Whatever happened to fun and wild Cyra?"
"That Cyra's still there, just smarter." Cyra tapped her temples with a knowing smirk. "Don't be jealous if I'm finally surpassing you. It was bound to happen."
Charlie's laughter was genuine. He leaned forward on the table. "I highly doubt you're smarter than me."
Cyra mimicked offense. "Fine then! Let's go take an SAT test to find out."
"Go take an SAT test?" Charlie raised an eyebrow, and the pair broke down in laughter.
The bell rang inside the school, only sending a slight murmur outside and Cyra knew how easy it would be to just say she didn't hear the bell and stay out a little longer. Charlie's smile was wrinkling the corner of his eyes and this was the most she hung out with her only normal friend in weeks.
But against her will, she stood up from the table and said she'd meet him after school before heading back inside the newly rebuilt stone-walled hell.
Coast City
November 16, 12:00 EDT
Cyra came out skipping from the movies, pouring the last bit of fresh popcorn in her mouth. Charlie managed to buy some so they were dining out in the trash that night. Charlie followed behind, yelling for her to wait up as a piece of toilet paper was stuck on his shoe from just getting out of the bathroom.
They left the movie theatres in a rush, the mall cop screaming obscenities at them but he couldn't catch up to their sprinting on his little scooter he pushed around.
Breaking through the doors, they leaped over a bush as a shortcut to the corner before they slowed down. Neither were breathing hard as they stopped, Charlie leaning against a corner of the limestone wall more because he was laughing.
"I can't believe you did that. You could have gotten us kicked out!"
"We were watching Jurassic Park, it's not like we haven't seen it a hundred times before anyways," Cyra rolled her eyes. "I was just looking for some entertainment."
"And that included throwing popcorn at the old ladies in front of us?"
"They were mean! They kept complaining that it wasn't loud enough. Well, Karen, you shouldn't have forgotten your hearing aids then," Cyra mocked in a grumpy old voice.
"You do know your half deaf, right?"
Cyra tapped the hole on the left side of her head. "It still works. For the most part."
"Uh huh," Charlie hummed. "How did that happen anyways?"
"You know, I'm probably going to head home now. People waiting for my arrival and all," Cyra said abruptly, throwing him a lazy grin and opened up her arms wide like a parade was cheering for her at the end of the sidewalk.
Warning signs flashed behind Charlie's eyes. "Wait!" Quickly, he reached out and stopped her with one soft hand on her shoulder. Cyra's eyes squinted in confusion as they were suddenly face to face. "Um, I'm up for a long night if you are. We really haven't hung out in a while and I'm beginning to miss my slice of Cyra Brion every day."
He even added a very bright smile despite the panic flitting across his eyes.
A blush grew on Cyra's cheeks and she coughed lightly into her hand. "I didn't . . . yeah, okay. Let's hang out more than." A grin arose on her face. "Why don't you come home with me."
Charlie's eyes widened. "Uh—"
"I didn't mean it like that!" Cyra said quickly. "But why don't you meet my family."
"Meet . . . your family?" Charlie asked, unsure. Cyra's bubbling smirk caused him to swallow. "That sounds fun."
"Oh, it will be."
314 Elk Street
November 16, 12:00 EDT
"Oh my god," Charlie breathed.
Seven, blonde-haired children of a multitude of different heights ran around the house in a chaotic disarray. People were bumping into each other or straight up tackling each other while others stole things and leaped over couches before they were punched. Kailey Brion, Cyra's mother, was groaning over a stack of bills, rubbing her temples as Ronnie bounded around her, his mouth moving at supersonic speeds.
Two distinctive cries came from a crib where pale tiny hands were reaching over the side like demon hands trying to pull you into Hell. Cyra grimaced. Her baby sibling's hands reminded her too much of the Children of the Lobe. Some memories were harder to bury—especially traumatic ones like those.
Charlie moved over to the babies curiously but a hand on his chest from Cyra stopped him in his tracks.
"It's a trap," she hissed warningly.
Charlie's mouth opened, but before he could ask he was interrupted by a sharp cry, "Intruder!" followed by the sounds of pounding feet on the stairs.
Cyra groaned and Charlie gave her another odd look but it was too late as what could only be described as a stampede suddenly came at him from the two hallways that led to the entrance and the staircase directly across from them.
Cyra smiled at him. "Good luck."
"Wha—"
"Mom, Cyra brought home a boy!" Tasha yelled from the top of the stairs while a fourteen-year-old blur ran past her, bumping into her older sister and almost sending her down the stairs. "Hadley! Watch it or I will blow up your bed!"
"A boy?" Alexa peeked her head in from around the corner.
"Is it still alive?" a dry voice asked from within the living room.
"Shut up, Mark!" Alexa snapped as she waltzed in front of Charlie, her high heels putting her a solid three inches over his 5'11 frame. She crossed her arms and looked down at him like a scientist studying a rat in a lab. She hummed, "He's cute. How smart are you, boy?"
"Uh . . ."
"Humph. It's fine, I didn't expect anything better from Cyra anyways," Alexa waved them off and stomped away, her patience had ended and that was near approval.
"Hey!" Cyra barked.
"A cute boy? Where?" a short boy with blond hair and dark gages in his ears said. He was wearing a football jersey and was older by Cyra by a couple of years. His eyes landed on Charlie and a grin overtook his face. He clasped Charlie's hand and shook it vigorously. "Vega Brion, Cyra's older and hotter brother."
"Is Mom telling you lies again? Let me guess, she also said she loved you too?"
"Cyra!" her mom snapped from the kitchen table in the other room. "Don't be rude to your brother."
"He's spreading lies!"
"I don't care, be nice! We have company over."
"It's my company!" Cyra shouted back before growling under her breath. Vega's dark eyes were still scanning over Charlie's body appreciatively, making her friend raise an eyebrow up. Cyra grabbed Charlie's hand and started to drag him to the stairs. "Stop giving him the eyes and go suck your own—"
"Cyra!"
"Yes, mother!" Cyra yelled back sarcastically. Her footsteps were like firecrackers on the creaky steps and Charlie struggled to keep up through a sharp curve in the stairs. A long hallway stood before them and Cyra moved into one of the rooms on the left a few doors down, pushing Charlie inside and shutting the door with her back pressed against it, letting out a breath of relief.
"That could have been so much worse," Cyra shook her head at Charlie.
"It wasn't so bad," Charlie lied. He was plopped down on Cyra's comforters as she looked around her room. Posters of superheroes and movie posters like Star Wars and Star Trek decorated the walls and there was an old wooden desk in the corner that looked like it's been through every human war and came out in desperate need of therapy. A small TV sat on a dresser across from the bed.
"Wow, you must be made of steel then," Cyra grinned and she fell back onto the bed next to Charlie. "My family tends to make visitors run away in fear."
"Good thing fear doesn't hurt me," Charlie grin stuck. He looked back to the posters and snickered. "I never took you for a geek, Brion."
"Hey, they're good movies," Cyra defended, her serious look messed up from the laughter that overflowed from her lips.
"I'm sure," Charlie rolled his eyes.
Cyra suddenly sat up on the bed. "You've never seen them? Not even Star Wars?"
"No," Charlie chuckled. "Was I supposed to?"
"You can't act cool in a time like this, you uncultured swine," Cyra swore. "We're going to have to watch all the movies."
"Do we really have to?" Charlie asked, amusement evident in his half-grin.
"You're the one who wanted to hang out," Cyra pointed out as she connected the DVD player to the TV and slid in the disc.
"I was hoping to do fun stuff."
"This will be fun," Cyra shot back as the movie's ads started to play. She crawled back onto the bed and leaned against the headboard, piling blankets from the floor onto the bed. Charlie took a spot next to her, watching an ad on some other romantic comedy.
"Is this the movie?"
"No."
"How will I know when the movie starts?"
"Stuff will be blowing up and shots fired."
"Ah, interesting," Charlie voiced. Cyra nudged him in the ribs.
"Give it a chance. The movie didn't even start yet!"
"I know, but I'm tired of waiting."
"So impatient. Just trust that 'ol Cyra knows what she's doing and sit there and shut up."
"Yes, ma'am," he saluted and they broke down into snickers.
The movie started and soon Charlie shut up. Cyra found it fun to watch his green eyes flicker across the screen as the scenes changed, taking in the red blaster fire with narrowed eyes and the dialogue with a thinking look on his face that consisted of a twitching eyebrow and a bit lip.
He caught Cyra's eye about halfway through the movie. "What?"
"Nothing," she shrugged smugly. "You just look very focused on this lame geek movie."
Charlie rolled his eyes. "Those wind—"
"Stormtroopers."
"Stormtroopers," Charlie corrected overdramatically, "are very bad shots."
"They are highly skilled killing machines."
Charlie let out barks of laughter that shook his chest as he leaned his chin on his hand, which rested on Cyra's shoulder as he stared to the TV. At their contact, Charlie felt a hump in his heart and he glanced at Cyra from the corner of her eyes. She didn't seem to be affected by the same hand spinning around the organs in his gut, her eyes watching Luke Skywalker take out some stormtroopers.
"I'm going to go to the bathroom," he said suddenly. Quickly, he rolled off the bed and out the door to her room, his heart still punching in his chest.
"Fifth door on the right!" Cyra called out just in time for Charlie to shut the door behind him.
He counted down the doors and entered a decently sized bathroom. There was hairbrushes, razors, and makeup spread over the sink and the shower curtain was half hanging off its hooks. Charlie's hands clasped the cool marble of the sink, looking into the mirror. His tan complexion was just how it should be. Not even a bead of sweat. The unsettling feeling in his stomach had since ceased its tornado effect. Confused, Charlie blinked into the mirror.
"What the hell was that?" he muttered to himself, touching the corners of his mouth thoughtfully. Maybe a Green Lantern power he never knew about? No, his mentor would have told him everything.
His mentor, he repeated the words in his head and remembered the earlier conversation with him. His hands clenched around the sink, causing the stone to crack slightly beneath his fingers. Their partnership was starting to feel more like a dictatorship every passing moment. Mentor was turning into master. That thought made Charlie's nostrils flare as he pushed himself away from the sink. Deep cracks like a spiderweb spanned across where his hands were and he grimaced.
Charlie flushed the toilet and then ran the sink for a few seconds before leaving the bathroom. He doubted anyone would notice the cuts with all that junk piled up in there—let alone connect it back to him. Even if they did, it didn't matter. Endgame was coming soon.
"Hey," Cyra greeted, her eyes focused intently on the screen and a bowl of popcorn in her hands. "You're missing all the good stuff."
"We need more popcorn," Cyra said, looking down sadly into the bowl as her hair cascaded around her pouting lips.
"Maybe if someone didn't inhale it all . . ."
"Shut up."
"Like, I got, at most, three pieces."
"I said shut up."
"How could someone so short even need that much food?"
"Ha ha ha." Sarcasm dripped from her tongue. "So funny. Do you want more popcorn or not?"
"Yes please," Charlie showed his dazzling teeth.
"Too bad," Cyra smiled sickly sweet. She turned the bowl upside down and put it on top of his head. "You shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you."
His eyes peeked from beneath the round of the bowl. "Is that so?" he challenged before he lunged at her.
Cyra laughed as she was pushed backward on the bed, Charlie landing on top of her with the might of a football player. He flipped the bowl off his head and it went clattering onto the carpet. He pinned her down as they fought against each other, Cyra bringing up her legs to try to push his chest off of her, but her body was too busy shaking with laughter.
Jokingly, Charlie took her hand in his and bit down on it softly, letting out a soft growl. Laughing, he rolled off her as he laid next to her.
"How many siblings do you have?" he asked out of the blue, his eyes focused on the ceiling, almost looking mystified at what he was doing. The genuine in his own question shocked him.
"Nine—ten if you count me, five girls and four boys. Tasha is the oldest, then Mark, Alexa, who was the girl who you met at the front door, Vega, me, Darcy, Addie, Ronnie, and Sadie and Sam—they're twins," Cyra explained. Her head laid on its side so she could face him. "What about you? Any siblings?"
"No, I'm the only child. And my dad is . . . off somewhere, probably." Shock flooded his system. It was too close to him and he felt the panic bubble in his throat again. He tried to boil it into anger, clenching his jaw testingly. Cyra was abnormally quiet and that only made his mad mouth spit out more. "I stayed with my mom most of the time but even she was wild, all over the place—crazy. And I had this . . . uncle, of sorts, I guess, who took care of me. He's kind of like my mentor."
"That sucks," Cyra said.
Charlie hummed in agreement. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he decided that it was time to get back on track to his mission.
"But I'm sure your life with your family isn't that great either," Charlie pushed. "Do you have someone like my uncle? That pushes you to do great things?"
Cyra tilted her head curiously. "Why?"
He shrugged. "Just wondering. I can't imagine what my life would be without my ment—uncle."
"Yeah," Cyra sighed. "I do."
A smile twitched Charlie's lips. "That's good. So, besides geeking out over Star Wars movies, do you actually do things outside of school or . . .?"
Cyra barked out laughter and nudged him with her shoulder. "Shut up, I have a life, unlike some people. I hang out with other friends."
Charlie raised an eyebrow, unconvinced.
"You met Wally!" Cyra pointed out. "And I have a ton others! Like, ten, at least."
A smile that made Cyra do a double-take graced Charlie's lips at the thought of his last encounter with the ginger-haired speedster. Seeing the glint in Cyra's eyes, he quickly replaced the look with a wide grin.
"Ten? Are you sure you're not adding a few on there for dramatic effect? I know how you love to be dramatic."
"I'm not dramatic," Cyra gasped, her hand falling over her heart as she rolled off the bed, landing on her feet with whatever the opposite of grace was. She blew a strand of blonde hair out of her face. "That hurts, right here, it hurts a lot." She pointed to the middle of her chest and sniffed. "I may just cry."
"You would if you had a heart."
"Rude." Cyra threw a pillow at him, but he caught it easily and threw it back, hitting Cyra in the head and causing her to yelp like a wounded puppy.
Charlie wiggled back and forth on the bed, laughing as a barrage of pillows landed on him. His breath was suddenly forced from his lungs when Cyra followed, jumping on top of him. Charlie's lungs were crushed and his laughter was suddenly cut off. He pushed Cyra away, where she plopped back on her original spot on the bed with evil cackles.
He laid on his side to face her, smiling softly. Taking the hand that was placed on her chest, he began to trace his fingers of her green ring. Her hand ripped out of his grasp and back towards her as if she was just stung by a wasp.
"Where'd you get the ring?" Charlie's voice came out more stiff than he intended.
"A family friend," Cyra said quickly.
Charlie was about to ask another question if it wasn't for the earthquake that suddenly shook under their feet.
Cyra's TV and DVDs shook at their places while her bed frame rattled across the ground. The screams of her freaking out siblings and the cries of the twins traveled up the stairs to her ears. Before Charlie could blink, Cyra was gone and the door wobbling on its hinges. Without a second thought, Charlie was racing after her.
By the time they got to the bottom of the stairs, the earthquake was over and the house still, but the energy in the air was chaotic.
"Nice of you to finally join us. Hope the earthquake didn't interrupt steamy time," Alexa sneered as she hurried past.
Ronnie was shoving a tablet with an old, half-broken case, in their mother's face. "It wasn't an earthquake! There's some bad guy attacking the city! Look—right there!" His pudgy finger pointed at the screen.
Cyra snapped up his tablet and her eyes widened.
An alien to earth was walking straight down the middle of the roar, throwing cars out of his way as if they weighed nothing. He was tall and muscular with orange skin—or half of him was, anyways. The other half was made out of shiny metal was knobs and buttons and levers. There was a large crater that sunk too deep into the ground to see behind him—his landing pad.
"Robocop," Cyra breathed, awed.
Kailey gave her daughter a knowing look. "Maybe you should walk Charlie home, Cyra. We don't want him to be here in case our house gets destroyed or something."
"I can promise you the house won't be getting destroyed." Mother and daughter shared a knowing look. Cyra was smirking.
Turning, she grabbed Charlie's hand, causing Mark to whistle as she yanked him along towards the door.
"Mom, are you really just letting Cyra out with that psycho on the loose?" Tasha demanded, her voice shrill.
"There's a less chance of the house being destroyed when Cyra's not in it."
Cyra gave her a dirty look and shook her head before slamming the door behind her back. The whole encounter, Charlie had been watching Cyra extremely carefully, having no visible worry about the doom befalling their city.
"I can walk myself home. It's on the outskirts so I probably won't run into Duality," Charlie comforted with an easy-going smile.
"Duality?" Cyra squinted.
"The robot guy? He was on the news before at my old house. He calls himself Duality, didn't you know that?" Charlie tilted his head, saving himself.
"I do now," Cyra shrugged. She shifted on her feet anxiously. "Well, if you're sure . . ."
"I'm sure, go, have some old fun. Try not to get crushed by a boulder or something."
They bid themselves goodbye. Cyra watched him turn the corner at the edge of the street. Getting behind a fence in a neighbor's yard, she checked around to make sure no one was watching before a green light radiated from her skin. It faded, revealing her in her Green Lantern suit and mask. Bending her knees, she took off from the ground with a strong gust of wind.
Farther behind, a blur ran down on the streets, following the green line that zipped through the air.
"I request the audience of Green Lantern," Duality's robotic voice boomed, echoing between the buildings and drowned out the screams of the civilians. He repeated, "I request the audience of Green Lantern."
The blonde landed softly on the top of one of the cars the robot had thrown behind him, her arms crossed. Her foot slipped and she almost fell off the car if she hadn't stopped herself at the last second. Duality turned around as if he sensed her presence.
"Sup," Cyra nodded her head.
"Green Lantern, I am here to test your worth," Duality spoke as she readied himself into a fighting pose.
"If you're sure you can handle it," Cyra said cockily. Her eyes scanned her opponent, unimpressed. "I fought plenty of Robocops a lot better than some cheap copy."
Duality didn't respond.
"Alright then."
With a flick of her wrist, two of the flipped cars launched into the air and fell onto Duality. The robot disappeared under the rubble with a crushing sound from something like a tin can.
Cyra stepped down from the car and sighed. "Welp, that was easy."
The cars burst forward and Cyra just barely put a shield in front of her as she was punched backward, landing on the ground and forcing the breath from her lungs. Gasping, she rolled over onto her knees.
Duality stood, still and completely undamaged, staring at her with white, soulless eyes as he waited for her next move. "Do you surrender already, Green Lantern?"
Cyra's eyes narrowed at the wordless tone in his voice. She cracked her knuckles and two long scythes appeared from her hands. She brandished them overdramatically. "Hell nah."
The Green Lantern lunged, her blades slicing through the air but Duality dodged out of the side with more speed than Cyra thought possible for his tall body and his fist slammed into her back. Cyra went spinning onto the ground, already feeling a bruise blossoming on her back. A groan left her lips.
A noise similar to a sigh of discontent left Duality and Cyra growled into the ground as she pushed herself back up. This was just some robot with a few good moves. Cyra's faced worse before and there was no reason that she couldn't bet this outdated Windows 5 now.
With a roar, Cyra burst off the ground in flight, between Duality's legs, and then up into the air, where she stood, hovering. She thrust both of her hands above her head to create a large piano and dropped it.
Duality swiftly spun out of the way and shot up into the sky after her. Cyra's eyes flashed as her arms punched out in front of her. Two phantom hands broke away, growing, and grabbing Duality by the throat and throwing him back down to the ground. A crater appeared with a puff of dust.
Cyra arced down, a long shield appearing over her hands and her bones jarred as she rammed Duality deeper into the earth. Standing, Cyra stood over his malfunctioning body, his mechanical eye socket smoking.
"How's that test feel," Cyra grinned as she faked an attack at the robot, who didn't so much as twitch. "I hate tests and I still passed!"
"Green Lantern, you have proven to be an average adversary."
Cyra blinked. "Average?"
Duality tore upwards, his hand latching onto Cyra's neck, abruptly cutting off her air supply. Blurred colors danced across her vision. She pawed at his hand uselessly as her ring throbbed on her finger warningly, but the crushing sensation around her neck resisted her from thinking clearly.
"Average, but not nearly the best I've ever seen," Duality's tone took on a growl. "I've challenged many arrogant Lanterns who underestimate their opponents. You have proven to be just as foolish."
Charlie watched from inside a toy store, sitting on the display stage with his chin rested on his hand. His eyes twinkled with amusement the whole time, but now, with Duality choking the life out of the Green Lantern, the boy's lips had twisted into a sneer. His red ring pulsed on his finger. Narrowing his eyes, a rumble rose in his throat.
Cyra, her body falling limp, suddenly felt a bolt of rage hit her chest. Her grip clutched the robot's hands tighter, digging her fingernails into the yellow flesh. Dark anger swirled inside of her, pushing away the dots as a blast of green energy surged through Duality's hand and up to his skull. A clap of thunder boomed as Duality went flying back into a building, breaking glass around him. His back connected with a support beam and a grunt escaped him as he slid onto the ground.
As fast as the anger had come, it was gone and it left Cyra breathing heavy with an empty space inside of her. Her heart was numb in her chest as the world looked dim in her eyes.
Clenching her fist, she advanced nonetheless.
Duality used the support pillar to the building as an old man's stick to help himself back to his feet.
"You haven't been updated in a while, so I'll clear some things up for you," Cyra said. "First of all, I'm much more than average!"
Cyra threw a hard, green-gloved punch and knocked Duality off his feet.
"Second, you were the one who underestimated me!"
Another punch sent him back onto the streets into a car, causing the side door to cave in.
"Finally," Cyra gritted her teeth. "The foolish thing was thinking you could bet me."
Green claws dug into the cement on the ground. Cyra pushed back her shoulders and the ground forcefully rose, flinging Duality off his feet.
"Fore!" Cyra yelled as she reeled back her arms and swung them together.
A baseball bat slapped Duality's flying body straight into the sun. Cyra covered the top of her eyes with her hand as she saw Duality fall back to the ground, miles away. She clapped some of the dust off her hands. People were beginning to climb out of their hiding places, wide eyes and whispering to each other. Some threw Cyra a few thankful comments.
"Just another day on the job, citizens," Cyra said poshly. "But I do accept payment in American dollars."
After flipping all the cars back up and sweeping some of the debris into a nice little pile with a three-story tall broomstick, Cyra gave the people of Coast City a stiff-backed salute and did a loop in the air before taking off towards space.
A smirk ripped the boy's lips up to new heights as he kicked the limp corpse of Duality. The robot was glitching and smoking and his living half were taking a deep nap as its body repaired itself.
Charlie crouched down, pouting, "What a disappointment. You weren't a challenge at all, were you? Not once she had real power. I'd love to see what would have happened if I pushed her just a little harder."
He stood back up and brushed off some of the dust. Duality's eyes snapped open and his robotic hand pounced onto Charlie's foot, locking him in a vise grip.
His jaw clenched as he felt Duality begin to crush his ankle.
"Where is Green Lantern?" the robot demanded.
Sighing, Charlie said, "She's gone. You've been beaten, Duality, not that I'm never surprised. You fought a very special girl." Charlie's eyes sparkled. "You're not needed anymore."
"I must get to the next Lantern then." Duality sat up.
Charlie tsked and shook his head. "That's not going to happen."
"How are you going to stop me?" Duality glared up and his yellow half's eye widened, showing the whites at the edges as he caught sight of the boy's hand. "Red Lantern."
Charlie's hand gripped the back of the robot's neck, causing it to gasp. Red energy arced over his skin and into the creases and buttons of Duality's robotic half, threading between the gears line water.
"Well, that's an easy question." Charlie was grinning. "I can't trust you not to report this to the Guardians, so you have to die."
The red energy exploded outwards.
Once the smoke had died down, Charlie wiped some of the hot liquid running down his face. He let it drip off his hand and onto the ground. His ring burned on his finger, hungry for more, but he pets it to settle it down.
"Kill," the ring hissed.
"Shh, it's done. We have a mission to get back to," Charlie whispered, and the ring calmed down. "We have a Green Lantern to kill."