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SM/DC Chapter 156 : Into the Lion’s Den
🕑 Added 2025-06-22 22:38:24 +0000 UTCThe yellow lanterns were on thier way to leave the planet and then.
Suddenly the sky above Gotham cracked with the thunder of force as Kara shot downward like a comet, her eyes blazing with fury and panic. She had barely broken atmosphere before the Yellow Lanterns noticed her.
“Well well,” Romat-Ru sneered, clenching his ring hand, “the Kryptonian brat came back.”
Amon Sur narrowed his eyes at the streak of blue and red. “I knew she was there watching somewhere. Prepare for—”
Kara didn’t wait. She was already hurling forward, fists clenched, the sonic boom of her descent splitting the clouds. “I had a feeling something like this would happen!” she muttered through clenched teeth. Her voice rose, strong and sharp. “I’m not letting you take him!”
The Yellow Lanterns raised their rings in unison, yellow constructs forming a massive shield, claws, chains, jagged spears of energy.
Arthur, bleeding and half-conscious between them, cracked one bloodied eye open. His lip curled into the faintest smile, even as blood dripped down his chin.
‘And I knew you’d come back… idiot, thankfully I anticipated this.’ he thought.
Then like a scream from the void a black blur streaked from the sky and slammed into Kara mid-flight.
The impact was thunderous, the shockwave rippling through Arkham’s broken grounds. Kara was flung sideways, spiraling mid-air before crashing through a concrete pillar.
“What the hell was that?” Romat growled, scanning the skies. His ring lit up in warning.
Amon’s eyes widened. “Some… thing. I don’t know what it is, but we mustn’t tarry. We move. Now.”
But the figure that now hovered above Kara wasn’t just “some thing.”
It was Galatea.
Her black and violet figure shimmered with residual impact energy. Her glowing eyes narrowed on the recovering Kryptonian.
Galatea landed hard, the ground cracking beneath her boots. She didn’t waste a second her fists were already flying.
A left hook slammed into Kara’s side, a right uppercut to the jaw. Kara grunted, parrying the next blow and trying to push back, but Galatea was relentless. Another punch, another jab.
“You idiot!” Galatea shouted between strikes, her fury barely restrained. “Stay out of it!”
Kara finally shoved her back with both palms, eyes blazing red. “What the hell are you doing?! They’re taking Arthur!”
Galatea surged forward again but this time, instead of striking, she grabbed Kara by the shoulders and pinned her against the broken pillar.
“It is my King’s will to be taken,” she hissed.
Kara froze.
“What?” she breathed.
Galatea’s eyes softened just enough. “He planned for this. Every piece of it. My King will go where the Green fools should’ve gone long ago… into the lion’s den.”
She released Kara and turned her back.
“He’s going to end this before it begins.”
Kara stood frozen in shock as the Yellow Lanterns, still stunned by Galatea’s interference, took flight again dragging Arthur’s weakened body with them into the sky.
And Arthur, half-slumped, opened one eye once more.
Just enough to see Kara staring up, confused and torn.
‘Forgive me, the reason why I’d go this far is...’ he thought. ‘I kind of hate Sinestro and yellow lanterns, and I want to wipe them out.’
****
EARTH – ORBIT
Constructs collided in bursts of energy across the stars. Sinestro’s Corps battled some of the Green Lantern and the Justice League with merciless precision. Somewhere between the chaos, Sinestro floated untouched, hands behind his back, as if he were merely observing a chessboard.
Then, a faint pulse shimmered through the ring on his finger.
Sinestro’s gaze sharpened. He raised his hand, letting the information stream silently into his mind.
‘Amon Sur and Romat are Returning with the target.’
‘And Arkillo… is dead.’
For the briefest moment, his expression stiffened. A breath held. Then, he smiled.
Hal Jordan burst through a construct, blazing with will, headed straight for him.
“You’re not smiling because you’re winning are you,” Hal snapped, eyes locked on him. “What did you just learn?”
Sinestro turned his head slowly, unbothered.
“All Sinestro Corps units,” he spoke coldly, his voice resonating through his ring. “Stand down. Disengage. Return to Qward.”
All at once, the yellow lanterns began pulling away from the fight constructs vanished, pressure dropped, formations dispersed in eerie coordination. It wasn’t panic.
It was a planned retreat.
Hal blinked, hovering mid-air, disbelief setting in. “Wait what?! What the hell do you mean done here?!”
Sinestro’s eyes glittered with quiet menace. “You’ve always been slow Jordan, It means we’ve already won.”
Hal’s chest tightened. “What did you take...?”
Sinestro’s smile widened as his ring began glowing brighter, energy gathering at his fingertips. “Sometimes, the point isn’t victory in battle. Sometimes…” he raised his hand, “…it’s knowing exactly where to strike and when to pull your fist.”
A blast of yellow slammed into Hal’s construct, shattering it like glass and sending him flying backward.
As Hal stabilized, he hissed into his ring. “Batman, come in. They’re pulling out, something’s wrong check things on earth.”
Back on Earth, Batman was already moving.
He swept across Gotham’s skyline atop the Batwing, eyes fixed on the tracker in front of him. His fingers moved across the controls, calm and exact, but there was a sharpness in his voice when he responded.
“I’m already in Gotham. There’s been a disturbance near Arkham Asylum.”
Hal’s voice came through again, strained. “They were after Arthur and probably some others. I fear that he might actually agree to join them without a fight.”
There was a pause. Then Batman’s voice, low and grim, came through the comm.
“I’ll check Arkham first.”
Hal floated in space, staring at the last trace of Sinestro’s retreating form, burning away toward the void.
He gritted his teeth.
“Damn it all!…”
Hal hovered in the vacuum for a bit longer, his green aura dimmed slightly as exhaustion pressed at the edges of his posture. Superman floated beside him, arms crossed, cape flowing like a crimson flame behind him. His eyes were narrowed not in anger, but in calculation.
“They’re retreating fast,” Hal muttered, scanning the emptiness. “Too fast. Whatever they wanted, I know this was a distraction of some sorts, so whatever it was it appears that…”
Superman didn’t finish the thought.
“They’ve already succeeded,” he said quietly, more to himself than to Hal. “I’ll return to Earth. See what damage they’ve done. There has to be something.”
The Green Lantern nodded absently, still gazing into the direction Sinestro had vanished. The stars gave no answers. Just silence.
“Or,” Superman added, voice sharpening, “I can pursue them.”
Hal turned to him immediately, the motion quick and firm. “Don’t.”
Superman raised an eyebrow.
Hal’s voice carried the weight of experience. “Their forces are too great. I’ve fought them before. Even you, with all that power… an army of yellow lanterns doesn’t fight like anything else. It’s not just brute force. It’s fear, deception, manipulation. They know how to wear you down. Break you.”
There was no pride in his words, only truth. Hal didn’t flinch from Superman’s gaze.
Superman’s jaw clenched slightly. “I can handle myself.”
“I know,” Hal replied. “But it’s not about you handling yourself. It’s about the risk not being worth it, yet. Also Clark, don’t underestimate a power of an entire Corps.”
He turned away, floating a few feet toward open space, his ring flickering again. “I’ll go.”
Superman’s brow furrowed. “You?”
“I’m not going in guns blazing. Just to infiltrate, gather intel. Their base is in the Antimatter Universe. Qward.” Hal’s voice darkened. “Not the kind of place you take a picnic. I'll try to request this from the Guardians, they should know how to get me in. Quietly.”
“You’re going alone, you sure that’s not a risk?”
Hal looked over his shoulder, offering the faintest smirk. “It wouldn’t be the first time I do something like this, trust I know them very well.”
Superman was silent for a long moment, then nodded once, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly.
“I won’t stop you,” he said. “But if you can make contact, do it. Anything. Even just your location. We’ll be listening and if possible we’ll come.”
Hal’s expression shifted, the humor gone. “You’ll know if I’m alive.”
Superman didn’t like that answer.
With a brief flare of green energy, Hal began to drift away his silhouette outlined in space. The ring on his finger pulsed with determination, and something quieter underneath it.
Will.
Superman lingered a moment longer, watching the space Hal had left behind. Then, without a word, he turned and soared back toward the planet below faster than light, faster than thought.
