It wasn't like Green Lantern to be so snide. "Everybody go careful," he cautioned. "We don't want it happening again."
Without warning, the light column expanded in width until it covered the entire summit, enveloping the startled heroes before they could react.
Suddenly, they found themselves fighting for their lives.
Green Lantern was astonished to find himself surrounded by a thick, blue-green mist that seemed to cling to his body.
He ordered his ring to clear it, but as fast as the green beams dissipated the mist, more appeared, so thick he could barely see his hand in front of his face.
I could be at this for days and not make any difference, Lantern concluded, futilely trying to brush away the dull turquoise tendrils that wafted round his face. Time to try a different tack!
Another thought, and the ring responded at once, creating a green spotlight that shone brighter than the noonday sun. It penetrated the mist, but only partially. Not enough for Lantern to see what was happening to his companions.
How come I can't even hear them? he wondered anxiously. Surely this thing hasn't managed to kill them?
The thought tailed away, to be replaced by a feeling of what he could only call dread in the pit of his stomach. Something was moving through the mist toward him, something ancient and powerful and unspeakably hideous.
It walked on all fours, its feet scaly and clawed. Its body was massive, covered in armored plates like a dinosaur. A knob of sharp spikes bristled on the end of its long, heavy tail. Huge jaws opened wide, showing foot-long teeth festooned with scraps of meat and rotting flesh. And its cobalt-blue eyes blazed with a hatred that he could actually feel.
Obedient to Lantern's every whim, the power ring armed him with a double-bladed battle sword. As the monster lunged at him, its drooling jaws snapping, Lantern swung the sword with all his might.
His blow embedded the blade deep in the huge beast's skull. Blue sparks flew, and a wild shriek of pain assailed Green Lantern's ears.
He raised the sword to strike again, but already it was too late. The beast's nightmare jaws snapped shut around his torso. In agonized disbelief, Lantern felt the creature's teeth puncturing his flesh as if the ring's protective field was no longer in place.
Burning pain, the likes of which he'd never felt in his life, scorched through him. And the whole world seemed filled with his own terrified screams. . . .
The bull-headed figure's massive hand had closed around Superman's body, lifting him high off the ground and squeezing with a power the Man of Steel found hard to believe possible. Bracing himself, he flexed every muscle in his body in an effort to break free, with scant success.
At any moment, he expected to hear Martian Manhunter's telepathic voice inside his head, detailing what he and the others must do to overcome mis predicament But J'onn wasn't here, and the only thoughts in his head were his own.
Exerting all of his fantastic strength, Superman managed to pry the figure's treelike fingers apart for a fleeting moment. Everything was swirling blue-green light. He could see no sign of his comrades.
Superman blinked, bringing his heat vision into play. He trained the focus of the narrow beam on the fingers that held him in their unbreakable grip, the heat quickly mounting until it felt like the surface of the sun. Black smoke poured from the creature's charred flesh, and Superman seized his opportunity as its hand relaxed its grip slightly.
With one superhuman effort, the Man of Steel broke free. Powering into flight, he tried to put distance between himself and the sixty-foot-tall bull-headed figure. But no matter how hard he tried, he could only move a few inches. The air was thick and viscous, and the more Superman struggled against it, the harder the air seemed to ding to him and slow him even more.
"Batman? Superman?" Wonder Woman's voice sounded thin and hollow as she narrowed her eyes and tried to
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