"No problem at all," Green Lantern assured them as they took their places around the table. He broke
off as Batman appeared, then waited for the vigilante to seat himself before announcing, "I figure it's
time I got my explanation. Or am I fated never to learn why you and Manhunter ganged up on me that
night at the pyramid?"
"It's simple," Batman told him. "You were still hypnotized."
Green Lantern frowned. "But you and Manhunter freed us from the Stone King's influence," he
protested. "I snapped out of it, just like the others."
"The others snapped out of it," Batman corrected him. "Not you. I quickly realized that. Although you
seemed to be fine, you were in fact still under the spell of a deeper hypnosis."
"I was?" Green Lantern was skeptical. He looked to the other team members, hoping for
corroboration.
Wonder Woman shrugged. "We're as much in the dark as you are," she said to Lantern.
The Emerald Warrior glanced back at Batman.
"Okay," he nodded, "lay it on me. How could you tell I was still under the Stone King's influence?"
J'onn J'onzz took up the story.
"Our first indication was the demonic figure you conjured up to carry Cassandra and Jenny Ayles to
safety," the Martian began. "It was too out of character—as if it wasn't your will that was powering
your ring. That demon was something the Stone King might produce."
"I think we all noticed that," Wonder Woman admitted. "But we merely accepted Lantern's explanation
that he didn't have time to think of anything else."
"When Batman asked you to probe the energies with your ring," Manhunter continued, his gaze fixed
on Green Lantern, "you claimed you had already done so. But you were imprisoned in the rock, not in
control of your own thoughts. You couldn't have used the ring."
Puzzled, Lantern shook his head. "I guess not. But I had this overwhelming impression that I actually
had used it."
"The final clue"—Batman took up the story again— "was when the Stone King created those
bodyguards. He only made five, yet there were six of us present. He must have figured that he didn't
need one for you. You were his ace in the hole, his secret weapon to use against us if all else failed."
"You could have been wrong about Lantern," the Flash pointed out. "I noticed these things, too, but it
didn't occur to me that there was anything out of the ordinary."
He paused, then added wryly, "Guess that's why Batman's a detective, and I'm not."
"So the Stone King hit me with a double whammy?" Green Lantern shook his head in wonderment.
"Incredible!"
"I couldn't tackle you on my own," Batman resumed. "I had to wait till J'onn figured it out, too, and
used his telepathic power to negate your personal force field. With the threat you posed negated, we
were free to attack."