The jungle was a suffocating blanket of heat, charged, like the air right before a lightning strike. As I knelt by the generator, the needle of green light extending from my ring hissed as it pierced the heavy casing of the control panel.
I didn't need to explain the code. I just let my willpower flow into the circuit, feeling the pulse of the factory's security network. With a thought, I created a looping feedback. To any guard looking at the monitors in the command center, the clearing was empty, the shadows undisturbed, and the jungle perfectly still.
"The cameras are ours," I whispered, retracting the construct. I looked up at Conner, who was crouched beside me, his eyes scanning the treeline with an intensity that left out no detail. "We have a ten-minute window before the system does a hard reset. Where is Robin?"
"Heading for the catwalks," Conner grunted. He looked at me, his gaze lingering on the ring before moving back to my eyes. "You said there was something colder than Venom. What did you mean?"
I stood up, brushing damp leaves from my knees. "Venom is just a chemical steroid. It enhances what is already there. But what they are cooking up in that vat... it is designed to forcefully gain the subject's loyalty. It is not just a muscle enhacer it is a mind control serum. And the man behind it is not someone we want to let finish the batch."
"Bane," a voice rumbled from the darkness.
A massive figure stepped into the dim light of the generator's hum. He was a mountain of scarred flesh and tactical gear, his eyes burning with a cold, calculated hunger. Bane didn't look like a mindless brute; he looked like a general.
"You are not with the ones in the masks," Bane said, his gaze settling on me. "You have the eyes of a demon and that ring... A green lantern? Who are you?"
Conner stepped in front of me instantly, his posture shifting into a protective stance that made my shoulder rise. "Back off," he warned, his voice a low vibration that seemed to rattle the very ground.
"It is alright, Conner," I said, placing a steady hand on his lower back. I felt him tense, then slowly relax yet he still carried a confused expression. I looked at Bane. "We are the people who are going to ensure your little coup against Kobra actually works. You want your island back, and we want that factory turned into a crater. It seems our interests are aligned for the next hour."
Bane let out a short, guttural laugh. "I see you're a no-nonsense type huh? I respect that. Kobra has a new champion. A beast that does not tire. If you wish to destroy the vat, you will have to go through him."
I activated the Sharingan. The world bled into that sharp, high-contrast crimson, and I saw it. Beyond the factory walls, a massive signature of energy was moving—not the erratic flare of a human heart, but something steady, rhythmic, and terrifyingly efficient.
"The Kobra-Venom hybrid," I muttered. "He is already out of the tank." I turn from the factory, noticing that Bane had vanished as fast as he arrived.
"Then we stop him," Conner said, his fists clenching. He turned to me, his blue eyes searching mine for a sign of hesitation. "Can you handle the gate?"
"I can handle anything as long as you keep their attention," I said. I reached out, my thumb grazing the side of his jaw for a brief, electric moment. "Do not be a hero, Conner. Be a wrecking ball."
He gave a sharp, determined nod, and before I could even draw another breath, he launched himself toward the factory doors. The sound of reinforced steel buckling under his strength was the only signal the rest of the Team needed.
I followed near his flank, the ring glowing with a fierce, steady light. As we burst into the main chamber, the smell of the hybrid hit us. A sickening mix of ozone and rot. There, standing in the center of the room, was the creature. It was a man twisted into something monstrous, his veins glowing with an eerie, pulsating orange light.
I didn't waste time with constructs. I knew those wouldn't hold. Instead, I used the Sharingan to track the creature's internal flow. Every time it moved, I saw the surge of the hybrid chemical through its arteries.
"Aqualad, hit the floor with everything you have!" I shouted. "M'gann, I need a telekinetic shield around the vat! Now!"
As the Team reluctantly moved into their roles, I saw the hybrid lunging for Conner. The creature was faster than a normal human had any right to be. I didn't think, I acted. I channeled every ounce of my will into the ring, manifesting a series of heavy, interlocking gears that jammed themselves into the creature's path, grinding against its momentum just long enough for Conner to land a devastating blow to its midsection.
The impact sent a shockwave through the room, shattering glass and buckling the catwalks. Amidst the chaos, I moved toward Conner. He was breathing hard, a small cut on his forehead bleeding silver-red in the green light of my ring.
"You okay?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper over the sounds of the battle.
He looked at me, a fierce, primal sort of pride shining in his eyes. "I told you. I can take care of myself."
"I know," I said. "But I'd prefer if you didn't die on our first mission together."
The fight was far from over, but as the vat began to crack under the pressure of the Team's combined assault, I knew one thing for certain. I wasn't just here to follow the plot. I was here to win.