Birds of a Feather (Oswald Cobblepot)

Assembling the Team

    Just as Alan and I exit the GCPD, my communicator goes off. It's Barbara.

"Natalie! ...the yellow space man, creature, thing...it's Ed! It's really Ed!" Barbara is speaking slowly, still gathering her senses and still in a lot of pain.

Alan looks puzzled, but I turn to him, "Ed is a friend of ours, he works in forensics at the GCPD."

"So if he's wielding the powers of the Yellow Lantern, that means he's already in possession of the Yellow Lantern ring, or rather, it's in possession of him," Alan realizes aloud.

I raise an eyebrow, "The ring possess the wearer?"

"Somewhat. While my Green Lantern ring draws upon its wearer's courage, the Yellow Lantern ring draws upon fear, or the desire to imbue fear."

"Yellow Lantern, Green Lantern, what is this all about, Natalie? And uhm, who's the hunk?" Barbara chuckles.

"I am Green Lantern, protector of Sector 2814, and a member of the Green Lantern Corp," he introduces himself, "but my civilian name is Alan Scott."

"The superhero? ...Natalie, what is going on?"

I chuckle, "I'll explain later, trust me, I haven't quite grasped it all myself. But in the meantime, where did you see Ed?"

"In the warehouse district, by the docks, I woke up here...the last thing I remember...someone carrying me from a car..."

I shake my head, "Oh god, Oswald, he said you'd be taken care of-"

"Cobblepot? What happened? What happened to me after I fell?"

"Like I said, I'll explain everything later. First priority, we need to get you out of the warehouse district, then we need to find Ed."

Barbara slowly nods, "I'll send you my coordinates. You have a lot of explaining to do, Natalie."

The communicator shuts off, and I turn to Alan, "The warehouse district is on the other side of town, it's going to take us hours at get there. We're going to need to hurry if we wanna get to her, she's clearly still hurt-"

"No need to fear, the power of the ring of courage will guide us!" he declares, without any sarcasm or self-awareness.

Leading me into a secluded alleyway behind the GCPD, Alan activates his ring, transforming him into Green Lantern. His ring projects a bubble that encases me, and carries me with him as we fly up into the sky.

"You know, you can be a bit strange sometimes, but I like having you around," I admit.

    Spotting her from above, Green Lantern and I land right by Barbara. As soon as the energy bubble around me disappears, I run to her.

"Oh my god, Barbara, are you alright? Are you in pain?"

Barbara, hiding in a discreet alleyway between two warehouses, in slouched by a dumpster, her Batwoman costume in tatters, seeming to have been scorched.

"No, no, I'm fine, I just can't believe Ed hit me with a laser beam..." Barbara exclaims, before she turns and notices Green Lantern, "you...you're the other one, aren't you?"

"Yes. Green Lantern, protector of Sector 2814, which includes Earth, ma'am. I assume you're the 'other' masked superhero as well?"

"We're not superheroes...I don't know what we are. It feels like we run more than we fight," Barbara grumbles, as Green Lantern and I help her onto her feet.

Green Lantern points his ring at Barbara, and a green light emits from it, scanning her body, "She's been hit by a blast from the Yellow Lantern ring. She needs rest, and time to recover. Natalie, you should stay with her while I confront the holder of the Yellow Lantern ring."