"What was that?" On the Moon, Roland suddenly sensed someone in San Francisco calling to him. "Strange—"
"What happened?" Starfire asked warily.
"I don't know, but I need to take a look—" Roland teleported away as he spoke.
Starfire glanced at Lobo, pulled Nightwing behind Raven, and continued trembling.
"Is he really that scary?" Raven asked in confusion.
"Very." Starfire nodded. "He's immortal and has strength on par with Superman—well, the old Superman. And when he was seventeen, he killed everyone else on his planet."
"That terrifying?" Francis perked up. "Could he be my opponent?"
"Probably not." Wally shook his head. "You can't beat him yet."
"Oh." Francis looked a little disappointed. "I wonder how much longer I'll have to wait before I can fight someone that strong."
"At the rate you're growing, probably not long," Wally said. "I wonder when Roland will be back. In a situation like this, I feel a little less safe without him around."
San Francisco.
"You really came." Seeing Roland appear before him, Zauriel finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Were you calling me?" Roland asked. "What happened?"
"Something underground is about to awaken," Zauriel said. "An immensely powerful being—even its emergence would destroy San Francisco."
"Malak Kalu—" Roland said. "Looks like it's him."
"Thank goodness you actually appeared." Only then did Zauriel rise to his feet. "My instincts were right—this really was my last chance."
"Calling Wonder Woman would've worked just as well, actually," Roland said, planting a foot on the ground. "Let's begin."
His psionic power spread in an instant, and the earth began shimmering with brilliant colors. Across the world, everyone who was asleep saw Roland's figure as he stood there in their dreams.
Humans could not withstand an alpha-level psionic gift, but Roland clearly no longer counted as an ordinary