About an hour later, at Alex DeWitt's apartment, Kyle and Alex were naked and tangled around each other. Alex had wanted to take a long, hot shower when she came home with frostbite on her nose, fingers, ears and toes—and it hadn't taken Kyle long to do the math once he had her undressed. Of course, after a long day of fighting and a month of “no nakedness” as a result of a series of small spats between the pair, the actual act hadn't taken long either. Now they both lay on the bed, breathing heavy, and while Kyle had visions of round 2 dancing in his head. Alex rolled over and punched a few numbers into the cell phone on her bedside table. Kyle closed his eyes and pulled the soft sheets up around his chest while she talked.
“Hey, it's Alex,” he heard her say in her telephone voice. “What was the name of that girl you were telling me about? You went to high school with her? She did military PR, got blown up, now she does corporate and celebrity stuff?” She paused. “Great, thanks. Do you have a number?...Great.”
She hung up, punched another series of numbers into the phone, and a few minutes later was saying, “Hello, Cass? No, you don't know me, but I'm friends with Katrina Keichline, who went to...yeah, she's doing alright. Her name is actually Kincaid now....Well, I was hoping you could help me with a little issue. I need a PR perspective on something....Yeah, I can talk.” She tapped furiously away on Kyle's shoulder until he opened an eye and glanced lazily her way. When he did, she tossed him a “thumbs-up” sign. “Well, my boyfriend—he's Green Lantern.” There was a long pause. “Yep, that's what I said....Okay. How's tomorrow? You think what? Oh, wow. I should tell you now, he lost the powers already. So it was really just a flukey thing....He was what? You're kidding. Alright, well, I'll see you in the morning, and I'll let him know.”
She hung up and Kyle, still not opening his eyes, raised his eyebrows a bit. “You'll let me know what?” He asked lazily.
“Apparently, Green Lantern scored very high on the hotness scale.”
“Come again?”
“Teenage girls everywhere want to be your girlfriend.”
Kyle smiled. “Same as it ever was, I guess,” he said, and Alex jumped on top of him.
“Say that again while I'm on top of you,” she teased. “I dare you.”
“You're forgetting, little girl, that I'm a superhero,” Kyle said. “You know I can toss you off me anytime I want.”
“Yeah?” Alex smiled. “Give it a try.” She tensed her legs and braced herself against Kyle while he writhed under her, trying to gain the upper hand, but his skinny girlfriend was deceptively well-balanced and it was only about a minute before he was surrendering in frustration.
“I guess I'm not that great of a superhero if I get my ass kicked by a naked girl, hmm?” He asked her.
“Not so much, no,” she said, “but I agree that you're hot. Want to do things to me that you're not allowed to do to a teenage fan-girl?”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Kyle smiled. “Where should I start?”
“Oh, you've still got to start by getting on top,” Alex said matter-of-factly. “I'm enjoying being stronger than the superhero.”
“And if I can't?” Kyle asked, a little embarrassed.
“Then...” Alex stopped, and thought. “Then you have to KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!” She giggled. “Well, make me some brownies anyway, the ones with the little bits of peanut butter in them.”
“Well, I'll make you a deal,” Kyle said. “I'll admit you're stronger, and kneel before whomever, if you'll make me brownies instead.”
“Deal.”
“But it has to be after.”
“Deal.”
“Okay, Miss DeWitt. You just got a conditional surrender from your favorite superhero. What do you want to do next?”
“Well, for starters,” Alex said, “I want you to stick--”
She was interrupted by a flash of green light, and suddenly Ganthet was in the room.
“Kyle Rayner,” Ganthet said. “Rise.”
“Oh, he's already done that, little man,” Alex chortled.
“What?” Ganthet asked, his eyes narrowing.
“Nevermind,” Kyle said, rising from the bed with the sheet still wrapped around him like a toga. “What are you doing here?”
“I have come to return to you the ring of the Green Lantern.”
“What's wrong, Superman turned you down?”
“He was determined to be...unworthy.” [
Editor’s note: Happens in E8 Supes #8]
“Oh.”
“It is an issue that may require your attention.”
“Oh, good. Because you know, I was just telling Alex here that if there's one thing I regretted form my week as a superhero, it's that I didn't get to fight with an ultra-powerful, invulnerable, living legend, national treasure type guy. I just want to face off against someone like that, you know, for fun.”
“You have a strange sense of enjoyment, Kyle Rayner,” said Ganthet. “But you are needed.” In a reversal of the last time, the ring disappeared out of Ganthet's palm and reappeared in a puff of green smoke on Kyle's finger. “Use it well,” Ganthet said sternly, and then he disappeared.
Alex raised her eyebrow.
“I so bet that we can get you on SNL this weekend,” she said.
“When was the last time that show was good?” Kyle said, smiling and looking down at the ring on his finger. “Eff them. I'm hot! I want S60.”
“You know what I want?” Alex asked, smiling.
“I think you want me to stick...” Kyle started, but she kissed him hard and tossed him down on the bed.
“You see?” She laughed. “Even with your ring, you're no match for me.”
See Ganthet and Kyle guest star in E8 Superman #8
