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SM/DC Chapter 151 : Recruiters
🕑 Added 2025-06-17 23:50:18 +0000 UTCKara surged forward again.
She was a blur of blue and red, her fists crashing into Ultra with raw force. He blocked the first strike, but the second sent him flying back. Kara didn’t relent. Her knee came up slamming into his gut with enough force to rattle the arena floor. But before she could follow up, heat vision flared.
Ultra’s twin beams of energy lanced across the space, burning molten trails into the reinforced walls. Kara twisted mid-air, narrowly dodging the blast. She hit the ground rolling, dust and sparks flying, cape scorched along the edge.
“Pathetic,” Empress hissed and pounced.
Her sword arced in a wide, graceful sweep. Kara barely got her arms up in time. The impact rang like a bell. Kara reeled from the strength behind the blow, brutal, precise. Empress kicked her away, landing lightly, almost mockingly.
“Too slow, princess.”
Kara skidded across the floor but rolled back to her feet, teeth clenched. Her eyes glowed not heat vision, but fury.
She lunged again, going straight for Ultra again. He raised an arm to block, but this time she feinted, pivoted and landed a hard elbow under his chin. His head snapped back, and before he could recover, Kara caught his wrist and spun him into Empress just as she charged.
They collided with a crash. Sparks and a small shockwave burst out.
Kara took the moment to catch her breath, sweat dripping down her brow, her heart hammering like a war drum.
From above, Arthur leaned forward behind the glass, he simply observed.
Empress disentangled herself first. Her sword scraped the floor, leaving a scar behind.
“You’re very distracted, little girl. Your mind is elsewhere.”
Kara growled. “Say that again.”
Empress smirked. “Gladly. Little girl.”
This time Kara let go of everything form, patience, thought. It was rage, raw and unfiltered. Her blows were wild, powerful, but sloppy. Empress dodged, countered, her sword almost grazing Kara’s shoulder, but Kara didn’t flinch. She grabbed Empress mid-spin and hurled her across the arena.
Ultra came back into the fray heat vision erupting.
Kara sprinted straight through the blast, screaming in defiance, she slammed into him full-force, fists pounding like hammers. She drove him back step after step until she lifted him off the ground and threw him into a reinforced support pillar. It shattered.
Empress returned with a furious battle cry.
She tackled Kara, driving her into the floor. The two rolled, Kara blocking the sword again with sheer strength. With a growl, she headbutted Empress stunning her then punched her square in the jaw.
Empress slumped to her knees.
Kara stumbled back, panting. but she stood.
Ultra staggered upright again. Empress slowly rising again.
The moment Kara’s fist pulled back, her eyes burning with rage, Arthur appeared in front of her no sound, no warning. One step forward, and his palm was lightly pressed against her shoulder.
“Move.” Her voice was low, biting.
But Arthur didn’t flinch. He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t lecture. He simply locked eyes with her and said, “Stop. You won.”
The heat behind her eyes flickered. The rage, the tension it hit an invisible wall made of calm. His hand dropped from her shoulder as if inviting her to do what she wanted but that calmed her.
“Besides,” Arthur continued, glancing behind him toward Ultra and Empress, “they won’t tire. They’ll regenerate endlessly. It’s not a fair fight from the beginning, not really.”
As if to punctuate his point, Ultra straightened, nodding once with that cold, calculating silence. Empress did as well only for it to fade back into shadow, like the damage had never happened. Without a word, they both bowed toward Arthur, then vanished into the ground, like smoke sucked into his shadow.
The arena fell quiet.
Kara stood in the center, shoulders tense, her chest rising and falling. She was still facing away from him, but her fists were clenched at her sides. She didn’t speak.
Arthur stepped around, moving in front of her not close enough to invade, but close enough to see the way her expression was fighting itself. Anger, pride maybe even a little shame. She wouldn’t meet his eyes. Not at first.
“Now do you wanna tell me what this is all about?”
His tone wasn’t sharp. If anything, it was too gentle. And somehow that made it worse.
Kara’s jaw tensed. Her lips parted for a moment but nothing came out. Her eyes flicked toward him, then down again, trying to find refuge in the polished floor. But there was none.
“Nothing.” she muttered, too fast. Too flat.
Arthur tilted his head, searching her face. The storm she carried inside it was all there, right under the surface.
“Is it about me?” he asked, quietly now.
He reached out slow, deliberate and took her hand. Not forceful Just there. Present.
Kara’s lips twitched. Her eyes narrowed slightly as if she wanted to deny it, to push it away, but the warmth of his hand in hers stilled something in her.
She finally looked up.
There it was. That flicker in her expression barely a whisper of vulnerability behind the fire.
“You and Rav...”
Before she could finish, Arthur’s body stiffened. His hand dropped hers as his head turned, eyes snapping open with sudden intensity. A cold glow ignited in his irises sharp, alert, glowing faintly.
“Something’s wrong.”
His voice wasn’t loud. But it carried weight. Finality. Like a thread had been pulled, and the world knew it was unraveling.
Kara blinked, her posture straightening. “What... what do you mean?”
Arthur didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he turned and strode toward the far end of the arena where a panel had shifted open, revealing Owl his silent, shadow soldier of owlman standing like a sentinel beside the sleek, high-tech computer console.
The screens lit up before Arthur even touched them.
Kara followed, stepping beside him as data began to stream across the massive interface. Holographic projections hovered in the air like ghostly warnings.
Owl gestured toward three glowing red dots on the Earth projection. One pulsed over Gotham. Another blinked above Metropolis. The third shimmered near Jump City.
Each dot pulsed with energy readings before vanishing seconds later.
“What are we looking at?” Kara asked, squinting. “Couldn’t that just be Justice League members?”
Arthur glanced toward Owl.
The shadow soldier didn’t move, didn’t speak. But with a flick of its finger, data streamed down the screen. Arthur’s jaw tensed.
“No. Owl’s dismissing that. The readings aren’t from them, these energy signatures are all similar.”
Kara folded her arms, still catching her breath from the sparring match, but narrowing her eyes. “Similar ? Then what are they?”
Owl zoomed in on the residual traces. A distinctive aura coiled in bright yellow.
Arthur’s breath caught. He knew that glow.
“There aren’t that many Lanterns on Earth,” Arthur said slowly, stepping closer to the screen. His eyes were narrowing, scanning every trace, calculating. “And that isn't Willpower.”
Kara looked between him and the map. “So who—?”
Arthur straightened suddenly. The pieces clicked.
“Sinestro Corps,” he said flatly. “Hal was right.”
Kara stared at him, stunned. “Seriously? How the hell did they even get here without tripping every Watchtower alarm?”
Arthur’s tone darkened. “I don't think they care... You don’t need stealth when you’ve got an entire corps backing you. And they might be the strongest of the bunch, besides they can be scouts as well..”
Kara’s brows drew together. “scouts?”
Arthur’s eyes burned faintly, and he turned to her. “More like a recruitment pitch.”
Kara frowned. “To who?”
Arthur let out a dry breath, his jaw tightening.
“Me.”
She stared at him for a beat, stunned. “They want you?”
Arthur nodded. “I already had a feeling. Hal asked if I’d been approached by a yellow lantern… but I hadn’t. Not yet. Clearly they were watching. Waiting to see if someone fit the mold.”
Kara’s voice was cautious. “Because of your power?”
“Because of what it represents,” Arthur said. “Shadow. Death. Fear. If Sinestro is looking to expand, he’d want someone like me to lead that expansion. Someone who can truly weaponize fear with a flick of a thought.”
He looked at Owl. “How many are there?”
Owl raised a single digit.
“One?”
Arthur’s brow furrowed. “Just one entered each city?”
Kara looked confused. “Why just one?”
Arthur’s gaze turned toward the screen again. “They’re lanterns. They don’t need backup. But be damn sure they will get backup when necessary. The full might of a lantern corps is not to be underestimated.”
Kara muttered under her breath, “Cocky bastards.”
Arthur remained still for a moment longer, quiet.
Then he spoke, his blue eyes burning, voice calm and resolute. “I'll give them what they want, a true display of fear.”
