Frenzy #157

Hal Jordan's expression was at an all-time worse as he alternated his gaze between the power ring-created hologram and Gray, who was floating in the air over an empty crater, panting.

The Green Lantern recognized the young man as the latter had already dismissed his red energy armor after depleting most of his energy to defeat Brimstone.

"Is that a red power ring...?" Hal Jordan muttered, his expression turning grave as he read through the guardian's database and failed to find anything to explain the presence of a red power ring on earth.

Sinistro and himself had brought the only known red lantern, Atrocitus, to justice for the murder of his predecessor, Abin Sur, putting him in the fortified prison world, Ysmault.

"Young man," Hal said as he floated towards Gray, getting his attention as the latter turned to him. He momentarily froze as he stared into the young man's striking red eyes, shining ominously.

"I don't know how you got your hands on that ring, but power always comes at a price, and that thing is not safe..." Hal calmly said as he gathered his bearings and stopped some distance away out of caution.

"I have to agree. I feel an incredible flow of negative emotions radiating from the ring..." Wonder Woman said in an equally calm. However, she was anything but that, as her empathy allowed her to understand the ring's side effects.

"Prolonged exposure to its effect might permanently alter your mind," she added, her calm expression cracking for a second as she frowned, clearly concerned.

"You must take it off before it's too late," Wonder woman concluded, her tone firm and kind as she smiled gently and extended her hand towards Gray, waiting for him to take it.

"No!" Hal Jordan interjected before Gray could answer. "We don't what effects that might cause. Taking it off is dangerous," he added as he scanned Gray with his ring, to which the latter stood still, staring at the Green Lantern with a blank gaze.

"It's as I feared..." Hal said, his expression turning a degree worse. "The ring destroyed his heart and replaced it. Taking it off would be lethal..." he added, shaking his head without commenting on Gray's unusual physique.

Hal already knew about Gray's unusual circumstances as he'd read through his profile in the Justice League's database, provided by none other than Batman.

"Come with me... I will take you to the guardians. I'm sure they would know what to do..." The Green Lantern concluded, going quiet to let Gray process his words.

"No... not yet..." Gray replied, his voice gruff and deep, almost grating to the ear. Furthermore, he struggled to speak but seemed in control, much to Wonder Woman and Hal Jordan's relief.

"The ones responsible... are still out there..." Gray added, and the mere mention of those people seemed to agitate him as he gritted his teeth while speaking and the red shine around the ring intensified.

"First..." Gray muttered, raising his ring hand in the air to scan the area, causing a thin, transparent red sheet to appear, engulfing the entirety of Gotham, searching for a specific individual.

"There... you... are..." he remarked as he turned to a faraway corner of the city and immediately took off. However, he crashed into a wall of green light before going farther.

The force of the impact shattered the green wall. However, Gray still stopped and turned to Hal Jordan. "Don't... get in my way..." he said, his tone still blank, but the aura he emitted spoke another tale.

"Afraid I can't do that... I don't know what's going on, but if I let you go, I'm sure we'll both regret it...." Hal Jordan said, crossing his arms as he firmly shook his head.

"I... won't... repeat myself..." Gray carelessly replied as he turned around to fly away, only for another green energy wall to appear before him, cutting his path.

"Look--" and that was all Hal Jordan could say before a red missile him in the stomach, tackling him to the ground as it exploded, generating a massive heated shockwave.

Gray turned away from Hal, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before turning around to leave, only to stop again as Wonder Woman appeared before him.

"This is for your own good, child..." Wonder Woman said, brandishing her Lasso Of Truth to the side as she unwaveringly stared into Gray's eyes, making her stand clear.

"You... you don't understand..." Gray replied, struggling to maintain his composure as his expression rapidly shifted between calm and the extreme opposite.

"You... you're not.. helping... move... now...!" He raspily concluded, his body stiffening as he unconsciously prepared to fight back despite looking very reluctant.

Hearing those words, Wonder Woman looked conflicted as she realized something. However, she did not get to hesitate for long as Hawkgirl came charging from behind Gray, mace in hand.

"Stop...!" Wonder Woman exclaimed, but it was too late as Hawkgirl was already upon Gray, loudly roaring as she swung her mace at the back of his head.

"Kick ass first, ask questions later...!" Hawkgirl exclaimed as she swung her mace, only for her eyes to widen as Gray suddenly turned to face her and stop her Nth metal weapon with his bare hands.

The feathered heroine tried to pry the weapon off, but it did not budge, and she suddenly could not move as Gray's other arm reached for her nick and squeezed tightly.

"Hera..." Wonder Woman barely held back the slew of curses threatening to slip from her mouth as she watched Hawkgirl let go of her weapon and claw at Gray's hand, who clearly had no intention of letting go.

She could clearly detect the bloodlust radiating off Gray and had little choice but to intervene. Letting out an Amazonian battle cry, Wonder Woman charged.

Gray noticed her coming and reacted accordingly, guided by nothing more than instinct at this point. He materialized a constructed bomb, attaching it to Hawkgirl's torso, before throwing the latter towards Wonder Woman.

The Amazonian heroine's first instinct was to catch Hawkgirl, and she succumbed to it, only for the bomb to explode as the two heroines made contact, sending them flying in different directions.

Wonder Woman did not suffer any damage thanks to her god-bestowed invulnerability. However, a giant constructed spear came hurtling towards her before she could gather her bearing, slamming her into the ground.

Again, she barely got the time to catch her breath, chased out of her lungs by the force of the impact, before a giant constructed canon materialized in the sky, unleashing a red energy beam that seemed to bend gravity, pinning her to the ground.

Gray turned his attention to Hawkgirl, who'd just recovered and flown back in the air, despite the injury she took from the bomb, flying with a visible limb in her left wing.

He extended his arms, materializing two giant constructed palms around Hawkgirl. The two energy constructs copied Gray's gesture as he joined his hands quickly, creating a loud clapping noise.

Gray's expression was blank as he began squeezing, and it remained indifferent even as Hawkgirl screamed in agony, her bones slowly cracking as they neared their breaking point.

Suddenly, green chains flew toward Gray, restraining him before he could react, and forcing him to dissipate his constructs as he focused on freeing himself.

A giant green-constructed mech appeared, punching and sending him flying. And Before Gray could crash into anything, Hawkman intercepted his flight and sent him hurtling him to the ground with a devastating mace swing to the young man's chest.

Gray violently coughed as he hit the ground, each cough sending out a stream of plasma that melted the ground upon contact with a loud sizzle, sending out smoke.

He looked down at the bloody gash on his chest that broke through the bones, exposing his red-constructed heart, and grunted but showed little reaction beyond that as he raised his ring to the wound, immediately healing it.

Still, the sudden assault seemed to enrage Gray even more as the red ring's shine intensified and red energy constructs appeared one after the other around him.

Before he could unleash his attack, a red electric trail appeared, moving at an incredible speed and reaching Gray. He felt a hand grip his collar, and the scenery blurred before he could even process the situation.

Gray looked up and immediately understood what was happening as he looked into The Flash's eyes. Unfazed by the bumps constantly hitting his head, he unleashed an omnidirectional shockwave of red energy that forced the speedster to let go.

However, The Flash didn't go far before tripping and falling face-first into the ground, unaware of the red constructed rope clinging to his ankle, courtesy of the enraged young man.

Gray let out a grunt that sounded like a growl as he materialized a red constructed sword in his hand and approached The Flash, his intention, written all over his face, clear for everyone to see as he chanted.

"With blood and rage... of crimson red, Ripped.... from a corpse so freshly... dead..." Gray muttered, slowly losing the last vestiges of his reason as the red ring took over.

He did not seem to care for the heroes rushing toward him in a desperate bid to save their friend. Alas, The Flash had run too far. They were not close enough to intervene.