Seeing Green Episode IV: Close Encounters

Chapter Ten

Shadows and shades of gray.

An empty void that stretched on seemingly without end. On her knees, The Bat clawed at the floor in desperation, trying to escape the overwhelming feeling that was racing through her body. She gasped and suddenly it was over. She stared down at herself with wide eyes. Her body had turned completely gray and opaque. "Hal?" She whipped around to find him standing doubled over. When he slowly raised his head, his blue eyes blinked at her with confusion before they too turned gray.

"What the hell just happened?" He said, looking down at himself with shock. He was wearing his normal clothes. "Where the heck did my suit go?!"

Bruce rose, her cape lifting from its sprawl. "Your ring, is it dead?" She asked anxiously.

Hal brought up his fist and flicked at his ring. "Crap, I think it is! How does that make any sense?"

"Your willpower hasn't run out but..." Bruce's brow knit. "Maybe you can't give it to the ring when you're..." She turned her head to consider their surroundings. "...a phantom."

"I guess we made it then, huh?" Hal said as he joined her, obviously distressed about his lack of power.

Bruce frowned with worry. This was not good. If Hal didn't have his powers, just how the hell were they supposed to get out of here? "Yeah, I think we did." Bruce considered their gray bodies and then the misty gray expanse before them. What other surprises did this strange place have for them?

Hal was studying their surroundings. "What a charming place." He shook his head. "This is bullshit. How are we supposed to know which way to go?"

Bruce got down on hands and knees and pressed her ear to the ground.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Shut up! I'm trying to listen!" Bruce scowled. She concentrated for a moment. "Nothing." She proclaimed sadly as she rose.

"Great." Hal said, curving his lips to the side in a grim expression. "I guess now all we have left is yelling for him."

"Let's not." Bruce said as she began walking. "The less attention we can attract here, the better."

Hal sighed and began walking beside her. Bruce looked over at him, now just in his regular jeans and sneakers from before. "Sorry about your ring."

"Ugg...I know." He crossed his arms. "How are we supposed to fight a bunch of Super-people now? We're so screwed."

"Wait..." Bruce said, her gaze going introspective. "Wait just a second. They aren't going to have their powers here."

"Why not? Because they're phantoms too?"

"No, because there's no sunlight here. No yellow sun equals no powers. Everyone in here is just normal." Bruce grinned. "A bit of good luck."

Hal was nodding. "Yeah...but Superman, he'd had plenty of sunlight when he got sucked in. Maybe he still had his powers...at least for a little while."

"Let's hope that's the case. Maybe he won't be in as tough a spot as I feared."