"Who can guarantee that a purely energy-based entity won't develop consciousness?" Tony Stark shook his head slowly, his voice tinged with uncertainty. "There's no such thing as absolutes in the universe. There's far too much out there that we don't understand."
"That's true," Bruce Wayne replied, not disputing Tony's point. He began focusing intently on the power within the Yellow Lantern Ring, the dark energy surging through his body swirling and pulsing erratically.
"Wait, isn't this... the Shadow Legion's power?" Constantine, who had fought against the Shadow Legion numerous times, recognized the dark energy coursing through Bruce almost instantly. The other Avengers who were present exchanged surprised glances. The Shadow Legion's forces had been destroyed by Robert, and yet Bruce, without the Ego Mask, still carried that power.
Hum! Bruce gave no explanation. His body trembled slightly as the dark energy writhed and stretched, reaching into the Yellow Lantern Ring. Inside the ring, a faint yellow light flickered in resistance against the encroaching darkness.
"Hmm? This is... not just one power?" Bruce frowned, sensing something unusual. After a long moment, he opened his eyes and turned to the others. "I've detected another presence in the Yellow Lantern Ring. There's a second fear-based energy within it—similar to the primary power of the ring but distinctly different."
"A second fear-based energy?" The Avengers were taken aback. They knew that different dimensions and forces could produce similar energies—like the differences between the Dark Dimension and the Shadow Dimension. It wasn't impossible for another entity to harness fear-based energy independently of the core Fear Energy powering the Yellow Lantern Ring.
"Where's the other Yellow Lantern Ring?" Bruce quickly asked, thinking of the ring previously wielded by Scarecrow.
"Here," Tony said, extending his hand. A second Yellow Lantern Ring materialized in his palm. This wasn't due to any teleportation powers on Tony's part, but rather a clever application of Stark Tech and a remote mechanical arm delivering the ring via a portal.
Hum! Bruce took the second Yellow Lantern Ring without hesitation and slid it onto another finger. He focused again, his dark energy probing into the ring to investigate its power.
"It's the same. This ring also contains a second fear-based energy," Bruce concluded after a moment. Having already identified this anomaly once, it didn't take long for him to confirm it again. "If you don't believe me, you can sense it yourselves."
"I'll give it a try," Steve Rogers said, stepping forward and taking the ring from Bruce.
As the current strongest Green Lantern, Steve's willpower and combat prowess far surpassed even Hal Jordan's, with or without the added power of Shazam. This made him uniquely qualified to wield the Yellow Lantern Ring without fear of succumbing to its corruptive influence.
Hum! As Steve's consciousness connected with the Yellow Lantern Ring, the ring flared to life with a terrifying yellow glow. The Avengers instinctively stepped back several paces to avoid being caught in its aura. Even Bruce frowned at the sheer intensity of the power Steve was releasing.
"There's definitely something impure about this energy," Steve said as he opened his eyes. Thanks to Bruce's earlier explanation, he quickly located the anomaly within the ring. Now, the Avengers faced a pressing question: Who was behind this second fear-based energy?
A foe with such power would be a significant threat. The damage caused by Parallax across the universe and Scarecrow's recent rampage in Gotham were enough to show how dangerous fear energy could be, especially to ordinary people.
"We have to find out who's behind this," Tony said gravely. Fortunately, the Avengers had plenty of manpower to investigate, and their previous experience tracking Steppenwolf gave them a solid starting point.
The Avengers swiftly mobilized. Meanwhile, at Vought International, the Seven and their associates remained uncharacteristically quiet. Robert's earlier energy wave had terrified them, leaving even their strongest member, Homelander, in need of psychological counseling. They were in no condition to interfere with the Avengers' activities.
Homelander's therapy sessions, it should be noted, were rather peculiar. One of the methods used to calm him involved drinking milk, which helped him relax enough to undergo Vought's relentless brainwashing.
Vought, however, wasn't out of cards to play. The Seven, as formidable as they were marketed to be, were merely one part of Vought's experiments. Despite internal divisions within the company, the ultimate goal of Vought's leadership was the same: to create a perfect superhuman—free of flaws, free of weaknesses, a god on Earth.
Whether they aimed to replicate someone like Clark, Robert, or even Diana, their ambition was clear. The current batch of supes, including Homelander, were far from perfect specimens. Even Homelander, engineered with Hancock and Kryptonian DNA, fell short of the power displayed by Kryptonians during their invasion of Earth.
This underscored the fact that Homelander and his peers were essentially failed experiments. Vought had other projects in development, but these weren't yet ready for prime time. The company was still far from achieving the level of mastery required to create a truly perfect superhuman.
And even if such a flawless specimen were created, would Vought be able to control them? If their creation turned out to be a once-in-a-lifetime anomaly, replicable only by pure luck, Vought would be left in a precarious position.
After all, research into superhuman abilities was inherently unpredictable. Captain America's super-soldier serum, for example, had been a one-in-a-million success. Despite decades of attempts, scientists had never been able to recreate it without introducing side effects or instability.
This unpredictability was the biggest hurdle for Vought. Their experiments continued, but the path to a perfect superhuman remained fraught with challenges.
"Homelander's not cutting it. We should've eliminated his weaknesses during development," one Vought executive grumbled during a meeting. "Every time he faces a setback, he cracks under pressure."
"We can't keep brainwashing him. He's undergone too many sessions already," another executive countered. "If we push him any further, his mind might completely break."
Homelander had indeed undergone countless rounds of conditioning. As Vought's most powerful asset, every faction within the company wanted control over him. His repeated brainwashing was an attempt to ensure loyalty, but it had taken a toll on his psyche.
To prevent further damage, Vought's leadership had implemented a shared control mechanism, where all major decisions involving Homelander required collective approval. This arrangement was far from perfect, but it was necessary to avoid driving their most valuable asset insane.
But even as they debated Homelander's future, an alarm blared throughout Vought headquarters, interrupting their meeting and throwing the executives into a state of panic.
"What's going on?" The executives immediately retreated to their secure rooms, activating emergency protocols as they demanded answers.
"One of our test subjects has gone rogue!" came the frantic report. "It's Robert Reynolds. He's injected himself with multiple experimental serums!"
"Why?" one executive exclaimed. Reynolds had been one of their more promising subjects. In fact, he had been groomed to rival A-Train as the fastest man alive. Vought had planned to pit Reynolds against A-Train in a public showdown, a PR stunt to elevate Reynolds as the new face of speed.
But instead of following the script, Reynolds had gone rogue, breaking into the lab and injecting himself with every serum he could find.
"He's either overdosed or decided he doesn't want to play by our rules anymore," the report continued hesitantly. Reynolds had been controlled through the use of psychotropic drugs, which kept him compliant and helped him access his super-speed abilities. Without them, he risked both mental instability and a significant drop in power.
It seemed that Reynolds, tired of being a pawn, had decided to take matters into his own hands. But instead of dying from an overdose—a common outcome in such cases—Reynolds survived. The serums triggered something dormant within him, unleashing a power that even Vought hadn't anticipated.
Reynolds was no longer just a failed experiment. He was something far more dangerous.
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