𝓙𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓟𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓭 || D. Grayson

ᴏᴀ

"Welcome to Oa! Please don't make eye contact with any Lantern that isn't affiliated with us... They'll probably try to kill you."

"Don't scare the boy, Kyle," I rolled my eyes as Dick tightened his grip on my hand. "They won't try to kill you, Dick... They'll probably try to kill me."

"That's not as comforting as you think it is, Crimson," Dick muttered. "Where's-"

"Hal's welcoming some new recruits with Kilowog and Laira's supervising the Guardians with Boodikka. We have time," Carol interrupted.

"I don't like her," I mumbled. "She tried to kill me like ten times in three years."

Dick glanced sideways at me, brows knitting.

"Only ten?" he asked dryly. "I feel like that's low for a space police force."

"Give it time," Kyle said cheerfully. "It's still early in the visit and we're gonna hack the Central Battery. I'd say we have at least three hours before Boodikka comes and tries to kill us again."

"And the Alpha Lanterns. Don't forget those," I added and he hummed in agreement. "Okay... The Central Battery is just down the corridor. Kyle, start the traps."

Kyle grinned like he'd been waiting his whole life to hear those words.

"Music to my ears," he said, rolling his shoulders. "Okay. Step one: pretend I'm supposed to be here."

Green light rippled outward from his ring in a soft, controlled pulse. The corridor ahead shimmered, reality briefly agreeing with him as overlapping constructs slid into place. False authorization glyphs, looping clearance signatures, and a dampening field that blurred our presence just enough to look boring.

Dick tilted his head, watching the code rewrite itself in midair.

"You know," he murmured, impressed despite himself, "Batman would hate how elegant that was."

"High praise," Kyle snorted.

I squeezed Dick's hand once, then let go, stepping forward as the air grew heavier, charged with that familiar, teeth-itching hum.

There it was.

The Central Battery chamber opened up before us... vast, cathedral-like, impossible to fully perceive in one glance. Emerald light cascaded down like a controlled starfall, energy lattices spiraling inward toward the massive core suspended at the chamber's heart.

It looked... normal.

Carol slowed beside me, her posture shifting subtly. Star Sapphire instincts. Predator memories. Her ring pulsed once, warning rather than alarm.

"Anything?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing loud," I replied. "Which makes me nervous."

Kyle's constructs finished settling, green symbols locking into place around the chamber's perimeter.