Chapter Eleven: Green Light, Black Truth
They didn't wait long.
The very next day, the sky tore.
Not with thunder. With will.
Yellow streaks of light cracked across the clouds like burning veins. Five figures followed—Sinestro at the center, flanked by four Lanterns bearing the twisted symbol of fear. Their constructs were ready. Blades. Chains. One shaped like a crawling thing with too many limbs.
Nelson had already activated the wards.
But Kane stood outside them.
He wasn't hiding.
He was waiting.
Because someone else was coming.
He felt it before he saw them—a pulse, steady and unwavering. A rhythm that didn't tremble. A light that calmed instead of provoked.
Then it hit—emerald fire, cutting the sky with precision.
A single figure descended, fast, clean, controlled.
John Stewart.
Green Lantern. Marine. Architect. Strategist.
Sinestro paused mid-air, frowning. "How predictable."
John hovered between Kane and Sinestro's group, arms crossed. "I figured if you were showing up to strong-arm kids, you'd bring backup."
One of Sinestro's Lanterns growled, projecting a spiked whip from her ring. "We gave him a choice."
"He said no," John shot back. "That means you leave."
Sinestro sighed. "He's not a child. He's a weapon. One that wasn't made by us, trained by us, or checked by any Corps. You know that's dangerous."
John glanced back at Kane. Then to Nelson, who nodded grimly.
"Still not yours to take," John said.
Sinestro's smile was slight. "Then maybe he can speak for himself."
Kane stepped forward. The air buzzed around him—power thrumming just under the skin.
"I'm not going," he said.
Sinestro gave a shallow nod. "Then we take you."
---
The first blast came from the left.
A construct axe, the size of a car, screamed toward Kane.
John deflected it mid-air, creating a shield wall of hardened will.
Then it began.
Yellow light split the sky. Constructs of nightmares descended on Kane and John—snakes of thought, chains of regret, blades made from screaming faces.
John moved like a machine. Cool. Sharp. Efficient.
Kane didn't.
He moved on instinct—dodging faster than he should've, hands tracing runes in the air that flashed gold, green, even violet. At one point, he reached into the earth and pulled up a barrier of shimmering crystal forged from compressed thought.
Nelson watched from behind the ward line, resisting the urge to intervene. Kane needed this. To be tested. To bleed, maybe. But not break.
One of the yellow Lanterns broke through John's flank and made for Kane. She screamed as she charged, projecting a saw-like wheel that spun with blood-colored flame.
Kane didn't run.
Instead, his eyes narrowed. The golden light within surged—and a pulse radiated from his chest.
The saw slowed.
Then shattered.
The Lantern froze, mid-air, trembling.
Kane stepped toward her, voice low but steady.
"I can see your fear."
Her ring flickered.
"I can taste it."
The construct dissolved completely. Her ring dimmed—and she fled.
The others hesitated.
Sinestro didn't.
He surged forward, construct spear forming, aiming directly at Kane's heart.
John intercepted, locking him mid-air. "Don't," he warned.
"You're too late," Sinestro hissed. "You think you're protecting him. You're just delaying the inevitable."
"Who sent you?" Kane shouted, eyes blazing. "Who's behind this?"
Sinestro didn't answer.
But Kane felt it.
In that moment, when their powers clashed, something tethered Sinestro's ring to a force behind him. A cold, ancient intelligence.
Not the Guardians.
Older.
Emptier.
It wasn't fear itself.
It was Oblivion.
The Empty Hand.
Kane staggered back, gasping.
John's eyes narrowed. "You saw it, didn't you?"
Kane nodded. "It wants me. Not to destroy. To… use."
Sinestro broke from John's hold, but didn't strike again.
Instead, he hovered above them all, looking down with unreadable eyes.
"You've made your choice," he said. "But this was mercy."
He turned to the others. "Withdraw."
Three of them vanished without hesitation. The fourth looked back at Kane, her expression unreadable. Then followed.
Sinestro lingered.
"You'll see the truth eventually," he said. "And you'll beg for structure."
Then he vanished into yellow light.
---
Silence.
John exhaled and dropped to the ground.
Kane stood shaking, eyes dimming, adrenaline wearing off.
Nelson finally stepped out, arms crossed.
"You okay?" John asked.
Kane nodded, then looked at him. "Why are you here?"
"I keep tabs on people like you," John said simply. "Even if the Corps doesn't."
"You saw it too," Kane said. "The force behind Sinestro."
John's jaw tensed. "Yeah. The Empty Hand. That's not a name I say lightly."
Kane looked up at the sky, now calm.
"He's watching me."
"Then you better get ready," John said, offering his hand. "Because you've just declared war."
---
Should I continue writing....