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SM/DC Chapter 157 : Taken or Taking Over?
🕑 Added 2025-06-23 22:38:05 +0000 UTCARKHAM ASYLUM –
The Batwing descended silently through the haze of smoke that still rose from the cracked earth surrounding Arkham, landing in a smoldering patch of dirt near the broken front gates.
Batman emerged, his cape fluttering briefly as it caught the wind. The gloom clung to the air.
He moved with silence through the halls of the asylum, the glow of emergency lights flickering. The damage was extensive: shattered walls, scorched metal, and a trail of bodies some twisted, some burned, others with expressions frozen in silent terror.
His cowl’s HUD scanned every surface, tagging blood splatters, footprints, heat signatures. A trail of chaos winding through Arkham like a scar.
Batman muttered to himself, low and clipped:
“Bastards... these Yellow Lanterns.”
He passed row after row of holding cells. The inmates who were still alive shrank away from the bars as he approached some shivering, some murmuring nonsense, others dead silent, their eyes still wide and unblinking.
Fear had already done its work.
And then he found it Arkillo’s corpse.
The massive alien lay in a heap, headless, thick blood pooling around him like a foul halo. Batman crouched beside the body, examining the clean slice at the neck.
He reached toward the severed arm lying nearby.
No ring.
He studied the hand.
One finger missing.
His eyes narrowed behind the mask.
“Arthur’s doing…”
He stood slowly, gaze lingering on the corpse.
“And the ring is gone..”
Without another word, Batman turned and exited the asylum. The air outside was thick with ash and dread just as bad as the place he was just moments ago. His boots crunched over debris as he followed the faint trail of scorched stone to a fresh crater just beyond the asylum’s perimeter.
Sitting atop a half-melted slab of concrete was Kara.
Her elbows rested on her knees, cape draped loosely behind her. Her gaze was fixed on nothing in particular, lost in thought or frustration. Standing beside her, arms folded across her chest, was Galatea. The Shadow’s violet-glowing eyes didn’t move from Kara for even a second.
Batman approached without a sound.
Kara looked up as he arrived, eyes weary but still burning beneath.
“Where is Arthur?” Batman asked plainly.
Kara didn’t answer right away.
Then, voice flat, she said,
“Taken by the Yellow Lanterns.”
Batman’s eyes narrowed slightly beneath the cowl.
“Taken… or did he let himself be taken, did he wear the ring?”
She turned toward him sharply, a hint of irritation flashing in her eyes.
“Is that what you really think of him? You already pieced it together didn’t you?”
Batman nodded once.
“I found the dead lantern. His ring is gone. I assume Arthur took it.”
Kara stood up, brushing ash off her hands.
“I don’t know, Bruce,” she muttered. “And I don’t care.”
And with that, she floated up into the sky without waiting for another word.
Batman watched her go, cape unmoving in the dead air.
Then his gaze shifted to Galatea.
She hadn’t moved still watching Kara vanish into the sky. Her posture was relaxed, but there was tension beneath it. As if she were a wire pulled taut.
Batman stepped closer.
“What about you?” he asked. “What do you know? What is your master planning?”
Galatea finally looked at him.
Her violet eyes glowed brighter in the gloom. She tilted her head slightly… and laughed.
It wasn’t mocking. It was simple and dismissive.
And then, without a word, she rocketed into the sky after Kara, vanishing with a sonic boom that sent cracks through the nearby wall.
Batman stood there, still as stone, dust brushing his cape.
“I guess that’s a no,” he murmured.
Something far larger was unfolding and Arthur Blackwynd was right at the center of it. Those were his internal thoughts.
His cowl buzzed.
Incoming transmission.
The symbol of the House of El flickered in his HUD. He answered.
Superman’s voice came through calm, but burdened with unease.
“I just searched the entire globe. No trace of...”
Batman cut him off. Voice low, clipped, but certain.
“They were here.”
There was a pause. Wind rustled through the broken pillars of Arkham behind him.
“In Gotham?” Superman asked, confused.
Batman’s eyes narrowed.
“At Arkham. A Lantern’s body is here. Someone took his ring. Arthur was also here... and now he’s gone.”
Static hummed quietly in the channel.
Superman tried to push through the fog of Batman’s delivery.
“Wait...gone? You mean captured? Taken where?”
“We’ll talk in the Batcave.”
There was no emotion in Batman’s voice. Just finality.
Before Clark could respond again, the signal cut out with a click. The comm line went dead.
Then he turned, vanished into the dark once more, and made his way back toward the Batwing.
The canopy hissed open as he approached. He climbed it smoothly, the cockpit sealing behind him. Screens lit up in green and white, the city’s map scrolling rapidly as coordinates locked in.
The Batwing lifted off silently, slicing through the rain.
Behind his cowl, Batman’s jaw tightened.
He replayed the facts in his head
A power ring missing.
Arthur choosing to be captured.
And now the Sinestro Corps vanishing from orbit after a brutal skirmish.
No, this wasn’t random.
Arthur was planning something.
And Batman hated not knowing what it was.
****
DEEP SPACE – EDGE OF THE MILKY WAY
A swirling maelstrom of yellow light pulsed at the heart of the converging Sinestro Corps. Lanterns of all shapes and alien sizes floated in formation, their glowing sigils casting sinister golden halos across the void of space.
Amon Sur and Romat-Ru, dragging with them a battered but conscious Arthur Blackwynd, locked within a spherical cage of yellow energy. Bruised and bloodied by design, Arthur sat there, one arm holding the wound in his abdomen, eyes half-lidded but still glowing faintly with energy beneath.
The lanterns gathered, forming a jagged semicircle as they parted for their leader.
Sinestro floated forward tall, poised, regal in his twisted authority. His yellow and black uniform shimmered faintly under the cosmic light, his ring pulsing with a calm, contained menace.
“Deliver him,” Sinestro ordered coldly.
Amon grunted and waved his hand, the sphere drifting forward and landing softly before Sinestro like a prized offering. Arthur simply blinked up at the former Green Lantern with mild annoyance, as if the whole ordeal was becoming tedious.
Sinestro’s gaze narrowed with intrigue as he slowly circled the sphere, examining Arthur like one might a rare artifact.
“Hello, Earthling,” he said at last. “May I have your name?”
Arthur exhaled sharply through his nose. “I’m kind of in pain right now, so…”
Before he could continue, Romat-Ru stepped forward, snarling, “It’s Arthur. The Kryptonian girl kept screaming it, after all.”
Sinestro paused for a beat, then turned his attention back to Arthur with a faint smile. “Arthur… You know us don’t you?”
Arthur gave no confirmation. Just met Sinestro’s stare with the same dull expression of someone who was merely waiting for the coffee to brew.
“You bested Arkillo,” Sinestro continued, voice dropping into a slow, almost thoughtful cadence. “Whether through luck or not… he still died facing you. That in itself speaks volumes.”
He gestured casually at Arthur’s slumped form. “Though… I can see it clearly took its toll.”
Arthur, still hanging in the sphere of light, tilted his head slightly.
‘Not really,’ he thought to himself. The pain was real, yes but far from overwhelming. The damage was intentional. Necessary.
“I’ve observed your energy for some time,” Sinestro went on, drifting closer. “My ring detected an anomaly on your world… a source of power saturated in fear. I had to see it for myself.”
Arthur blinked slowly. “Impressive, right?”
That drew a brief chuckle from Sinestro. “Indeed. It is rare. very rare to find a mortal being so steeped in fear without drowning in it. You don’t succumb. You… command it.”
Sinestro's eyes sharpened. “From what I know, it might even rival Parallax itself.”
Arthur’s brow lifted slightly. 'Now that’s flattering, and insulting at the same time.'
The yellow light flickered around him as Sinestro hovered close enough to touch. Arthur didn't flinch. “I have a proposal for you,” Sinestro said softly. “Not here, though. Once we arrive in Qward. The cradle of fear. The true home of the Sinestro Corps.”
Arthur let a smirk curl across his lip, letting his head lean back against the edge of the sphere.
‘That’s exactly where I need all of you to be.’
He didn’t say it out loud, of course. Just gave a subtle nod, like a man humoring a tour guide.
Sinestro turned, speaking into his ring in his native tongue.
“Prepare the warp. We return home.”
Behind them, the rest of the Corps roared in silent agreement constructs shimmering to life around them, forming monstrous beasts and bladed shapes in celebration.
Arthur remained still, arms limp, his gaze fixed on Sinestro as he opened a path using his ring. Towards the Yellow Lanterns home world.
Qward.
