A/N: Sorry for the wait. I've had this chapter ready for a while, but in the busyness of life, work, and the madness that is the world (and the lack of reviews prodding me to do so :P), I forgot about updating. Oh well - better late than never!
Chapter Twenty-Two: Green Lantern's Light
Sinestro slashed through Star Sapphire's crystal like it was paper, outraged. "We had a deal, Sapphire!"
"Yes, that's what I thought too!" Star Sapphire fired another blast at him.
"I'm not the one who broke it."
"Excuse me? You attacked me!"
"You interfered in my affairs!" Sinestro accused.
Star Sapphire dodged his beam. "I don't care about your affairs!"
"Then why protect Hal Jordan? Who is he to you?"
"Jordan?" Star Sapphire paused and nearly got skewered by Sinestro's sword. "Wait — wait!"
Sinestro held back his construct, lifting an eyebrow.
"You've got the wrong Star Sapphire! It's the other one — she's the one who loves Hal Jordan."
Sinestro's eyes flashed as he realized he'd been tricked. "Why, that little —"
"I'd be very careful what you say next, Sinestro."
Sinestro whipped his head around. Hal Jordan smiled grimly at him through his mask, prominently displaying the green ring glowing brightly on his finger. Next to him was the second Star Sapphire, who was eyeing her counterpart with steely determination.
"So you borrowed your ring back," sneered Sinestro. "It still won't do anything against me."
"We'll see."
By now Doctor Fate and Zatanna had arrived on scene, with Flash watching on from the rooftop of the nearest building, while Vixen nursed her broken arm on the ground below.
Hal raised his voice so the Leaguers could hear him.
"Everyone stay out of this. This is my fight."
"And mine," Carol added, locking eyes with her competitor.
The other Star Sapphire curled her hands into fists. "Time to settle this contest."
The two Star Sapphires collided into each other the same time Hal and Sinestro traded their opening blows, but it wasn't long before the battling pairs separated, each taking their duel to their own arena. The Star Sapphires, still unable to make full use of their hard light constructs, resorted to more flying acrobatics to try to literally gain the upper hand; they therefore moved higher and higher into the sky. Hal and Sinestro, meanwhile, both extraordinarily skilled Lanterns, remained more or less where they had started, bringing the full force of their rings against each other. Hal's battering ram clashed with Sinestro's giant claw in a dazzling burst of light, holding only for an instant before yellow began to bleed into green.
"Stubborn as ever, Hal Jordan," sneered Sinestro as Hal struggled to keep the yellow at bay. "You were not able to defeat me last time; you will not defeat me now."
Hal clenched his fist harder. "You…wanna…bet?"
With a great cry, Hal poured more will into his ring, tapping into a reservoir he didn't know he had to make it cut through yellow fear. The ring burned and pain shot up his arm, but Hal gritted his teeth and persisted. This was a new kind of willpower — raw, pure, utterly unshakeable — the kind of will that came only from having forced one's way up from the lowest of lows, relying only on one's own determination to scramble up an impossibly steep mountain. Hal Jordan had been beaten down by tragedy, betrayal, and his own fears and failures, but like a phoenix, he had risen again to reclaim his place as a Green Lantern; and the journey, as it usually does in such cases, had propelled him to an even higher pinnacle than before.
Sinestro might be the master of fear, but Hal had overcome it to a degree never before seen in the Green Lantern Corps.
As the Yellow Lantern watched with wide, disbelieving eyes, Hal's green battering ram halted its yellow counterpart, before surging forward with vengeance. Sinestro had to dart upwards to avoid the burst of power from his former apprentice. When the battering ram faded, Sinestro turned and found Hal rising up to match his altitude with a familiar smirk on his face.
"Now, what were you saying?"
Carol aimed a blast of crystal at Debbie, who disintegrated it with ease and wasn't slowed in the least as she advanced.
"You really should have practiced more with the crystal," Debbie taunted, firing her own beam; unlike Debbie, Carol had to shield herself against it. "Your structure is weak, easily broken. It wouldn't hold anyone."
"Excuse me for not wanting to 'practice' trapping innocent men," Carol retorted. She fired an energy beam, which Debbie easily dodged.
"Well, then, you should have at least practiced the other stuff." Debbie's fist glowed as she punched, landing the hit squarely on Carol's jaw and knocking her off her flight course. "Look at you! It's so clear you don't know how to make full use of your powers. We are fighting to be Queen and you were busier talking to Green Lantern than competing!"
Carol rubbed her jaw, glaring at Debbie. "I wouldn't expect you to understand."
"Oh, I understand." Debbie tapped the jewel glowing in her mask. "I get the same information you do, remember? Love," she scoffed, "only works if he loves you back — ahhhh!"
Carol had taken advantage of Debbie's monologue to pin her against a skyscraper with a clawed hand. "How do you know he doesn't?" she challenged as another, smaller hand began reaching for Debbie's Star Sapphire gem.
Debbie blocked Carol's searching hand, then used a giant knife construct to slice through the violet fingers keeping her trapped.
"Look what you gave up for him! You did so much, both as Carol and Star Sapphire. You helped him pull himself back together after Ace. You were his pillar of support in his time of doubt. You gave him second chances over and over again. You saved him from Doctor Polaris, picked up his slack and guarded his city when he failed his duties as a Green Lantern. And what has he given you in return?"
Debbie sneered as she conjured a violet image of Hal angrily marching away from a frustrated and disappointed Carol. Carol recognized the scene well — it was the end of their fight the day after the failure of the first Peregrine. They had never properly made that up, even till now; they had mended fences somewhat over the last three months, but neither of them had addressed that fight or the grievances aired that day, choosing instead to walk on eggshells around the elephant in the room.
"Grief, loneliness, and a broken heart…every time," Debbie finished softly, as the hard light version of Carol reacted the same way the real Carol had three months ago — burying her head in her hands, trying to ignore the tears that threatened to spill. Carol was painfully reminded of the many, many times Hal had put her in that position, not just that day, but for years.
And Debbie's next question drove the point home. "Tell me, Star Sapphire — how is this love?"
Hal dove under Sinestro's hard light left cross and sucker-punched the Yellow Lantern with a green fist of his own. The Korugarian stumbled backwards, but regained his bearings in time to dodge Hal's next blow, before launching into a series of offensives of his own. Hal, however, avoided all of them with ease, countering with a barrage of energy blasts. Sinestro responded by erecting a dome shield around himself, no doubt to buy himself time to strategize his way out of his current predicament.
Sinestro clearly hadn't been expecting a fair fight. Hal darted around him, poking and prodding at his shield. Overcoming the nullifying effect of Sinestro's yellow light against his own green will took more effort than merely making constructs, but Hal found it was getting easier with each strike. Sinestro appeared to realize this too, and he scowled as Hal's persistent jabs at his shield threatened to break through altogether.
And then one did.
Sinestro, though, had been waiting for it. He dropped the shield at once, veered to one side, and tossed coils of yellow rope around Hal. Having trapped his quarry, Sinestro flung Hal into some nearby telephone wires, where the latter endured an unpleasant buzz that wasn't entirely dampened by his bodily force field.
Hal severed the wires with one snip of a giant scissors construct, which he then quickly molded into a mace to parry the strike from Sinestro's axe. They continued in this vein for some time, until Hal got in a lucky hit at Sinestro's back that sent the renegade Lantern crashing deep into an underground construction site through a hole that Doctor Fate's protection spell had missed.
Hal landed next to the destroyed scaffolding, peering into the depths for any sign of Sinestro. Flash dashed up next to him, closely followed by Hawkgirl, wringing out her waterlogged wings.
"Nice mace," she remarked to Hal.
"Yours was the inspiration."
"I figured."
Flash leaned over the opening as far as he dared. "Where is he?"
As if in answer, a blinding yellow explosion burst from the hole, sending shockwaves rippling through the street. An enraged Sinestro caught Hal by the neck and soared back into the sky, without any care for the consternation he was causing Hal's friends.
"He'll be fine, he'll be fine, he'llbefine," muttered Flash. He glanced at Hawkgirl, who looked equally worried. "He will be fine, right?"
Hawkgirl could only shrug her wings. She had faith in Hal's abilities, but she also knew that he had not been Green Lantern for almost two months and was still shaking the rust off his skills. Sinestro, on the other hand, was powerful, at his peak, and royally pissed off — and to top it all off, he'd trained Hal.
Flash anxiously scanned the sky, hoping to see green rather than yellow.
"Hal, please don't die."
Carol watched the various images created by Debbie traipse around her, drawn out by the Star Sapphire's power. Every negative moment she'd had with Hal — every argument, every disappointment — was playing out around her all at once, like some warped version of a film, all in purple.
"This is your love, Carol Ferris," Debbie spat. "It is broken and pathetic, and you cannot be Queen of the Star Sapphires with such a love."
"And what is yours, then?" Carol asked quietly. "Whom do you love, Debbie Darnell?"
Debbie actually blinked. "I…"
"You don't remember, do you?" said Carol. The simulacrums of her thorny periods with Hal had started to fade. "You've been so caught up in Star Sapphire you've lost yourself." Her eyes widened as she had an epiphany. "That is the contest, not this battle. It's not about who wins a physical fight — it's who can hold on to their love and stay true, even when it's difficult."
"No," Debbie denied. "No, that's not it."
"Yes, it is." Carol swept aside the last of Debbie's images and replaced them with her own. Instead of a slideshow of hers and Hal's low points, Carol showed Debbie — and also reminded herself in the process — the many good, even great, moments they had also had.
"Love is patient." Hal coming to her the day after Christmas, apologizing profusely for missing the day itself and making it up to her with a thoughtfully planned Boxing Day surprise.
"Love is kind." Hal agreeing to test pilot Ferris Air's military planes without any monetary compensation, when a hesitant Carol at the start of her vice-presidency was trying to renew her company's contract with U.S.A.F.
"Love is selfless." Hal during one of their numerous breakups, telling her to find someone better and be happy.
"Love is sacrifice." Hal putting his life in Carol's hands to free her from Star Sapphire's influence.
"Love perseveres." Twelve years of knowing each other, a decade of being on and off and on and off again, countless times hurting each other — and yet, here they were, still loving each other even when they weren't together.
"Love," finished Carol, with a final image of hers and Hal's earlier embrace after Carol had conquered her Star Sapphire persona, "is acceptance."
"Love is a battlefield!" screeched Debbie. She reached for Carol with glowing pink tentacles; Carol created pincers to pry them apart. "You have to fight for it, make it yours! Otherwise you leave yourself vulnerable and there's no end to the pain they could cause you!"
"Perhaps." Carol shielded herself against Debbie's strong, but sloppy, crystal attack. "But that's part of love. And any Star Sapphire, if she truly understands love, must accept that." She looped a violet lasso around Debbie and held her fast, and despite the latter's struggles, she couldn't loosen the bonds. "Sometimes, Debbie," Carol said compassionately, "it takes more strength — more love — not to fight."
Debbie's aura blazed in a last, desperate attempt to break free, but Carol was stronger. Her lasso construct did not budge, and she pulled her captive towards her.
"Sometimes, love is pain, or love is letting go. A Star Sapphire has to accept all aspects of her love, and not just the ones she deems desirable. If you can't understand that…" Carol's finger brushed against Debbie's Star Sapphire jewel. "…you cannot be Queen."
And Carol Ferris claimed her second Star Sapphire gem. The instant her hand closed over it, the gem glowed brilliantly. The Star Sapphire gem in Carol's own mask responded in kind, extending its radiance to join that of its twin. Out of this glorious convergence of violet light materialized a solid purple ring, etched with a star insignia that matched the midriff-baring cutout in Carol's and Debbie's leotards.
Carol Ferris of Earth. You have great love in your heart. Welcome to the Star Sapphires.
Carol did not hear Debbie's protests as the violet haze transported her away — back to where she was supposed to be now that she was no longer a Star Sapphire Queen candidate. As the two jewels dimmed and then vanished, their purpose now accomplished, the Star Sapphire ring floated towards Carol and nestled on her finger as if it was always meant to be there.
Carol Ferris of Earth. Welcome to the Star Sapphires. Welcome, our Lady Queen.
And instantly, the ring's power — the full potential of love's violet light — filled Carol more completely than the gem's influence ever had. Unbidden, the words of her oath came to her lips.
"For hearts long lost and full of fright,
For those alone in blackest night,
Accept our ring and join our fight.
Love conquers all with violet light!"
Sinestro tossed Hal around in the air like a rag doll, using a large yellow paddle to bat him around like a human baseball. Hal finally managed to break his momentum by cushioning the next swing with green energy, but Sinestro was on him almost immediately, using his ring to enhance his strength and shove Hal all the way down to the ground.
"Do you know," said Sinestro as he used a construct to mash Hal's head into the asphalt, "I'm quite glad you got your ring back. This way, when I kill you, you'll know it wasn't because I had a superior advantage." He leaned in close to make sure Hal heard every word of his next line. "When I kill you, you will know that you just…weren't…good enough."
Though his vision was filled with yellow and dirt, Hal blindly aimed a punch that staggered Sinestro long enough for the former to maneuver his legs to kick him off. Hal jumped to his feet, ignoring the residual headache and the blood trickling from his cuts, and met Sinestro's next power ring attacks blow for blow.
"You're losing your touch, Sinestro," he taunted. "That little speech might have worked a day or two ago — hell, even two hours ago — but I'm not afraid anymore."
"Everyone is afraid of something," Sinestro scoffed. "You overcame the last fear you had, fine — but there is always something. I just have to find it."
"You're welcome to try. Nothing you could do to me could be worse than what I did to myself."
In his peripheral vision, Sinestro glimpsed a flare of violet, and his expression became bloodcurdlingly malicious. "Is that so?"
Without warning, he stopped attacking and zoomed away. Hal saw where he was heading and immediately realized what he was up to.
"No!" He streaked after Sinestro as fast as he could. He was fast enough to catch up to the Yellow Lantern just as he reached his target location, but too slow to prevent Sinestro from spearing Carol through her back. "NO!"
The wickedly sharp, curved blade of the yellow weapon tore into the Star Sapphire's unprotected back and emerged from her front just below her ribcage. Carol's eyes went wide with pain and shock; Sinestro withdrew his construct and her violet aura faltered and dimmed before flickering out completely as she lost consciousness and dropped from the air.
"Carol!"
Hal dove to catch her, but Zatanna got there first. The Mistress of Magic had been watching the battle of the Star Sapphires, and she reacted quickly to save the new queen.
"Sisats Dleif!"
The spell gently caught the falling Star Sapphire in mid-air and locked her into a state of suspended animation, to prevent her from succumbing to her wound before they could get her medical attention.
"Carol!" Hal hovered near her, his expression anguished, but he dared not touch her lest he disrupt Zatanna's spell.
"I've got her — Hal, I've got her," Zatanna assured him as Doctor Fate suddenly appeared next to them. "Fate and I will manage Carol, I promise — you just go get that son of a bitch."
Hal looked up at where Sinestro was still floating. For the first time in this whole sordid series of events — the first time since Sinestro's trial — he was truly enraged at his former mentor. His gaze hardened and his hands curled into fists. "Oh, I will."
With a last, worried glance at Carol, Hal rose again to meet Sinestro.
"Well?" Sinestro drawled. "Was that worse than what you 'did to yourself'?"
Instead of answering, Hal uttered an inarticulate howl of fury. He socked the smug Yellow Lantern across the jaw with all the force he could muster, longing to feel the crunch of bone beneath his knuckles, but denied the satisfaction by Sinestro's protective aura.
"How dare you?!" he bellowed, punching Sinestro again.
"Ah, so it was worse," said Sinestro, wiping the blood from his mouth. His eyes darkened and became menacing. "Good." He powered up his ring and plowed a bowling ball into Hal, who willed his force field to defend him. The ball cannoned off his newly impenetrable armor with a deafening clang, then morphed into an enormous dragon that screamed its scorn at the city and snapped its hungry jaws at Hal.
Hal stayed right where he was, his eyes flashing green fire. With an almighty roar, another dragon materialized in front of Sinestro's beast, snarling at its yellow foe. "You are not getting away with this, Sinestro!"
"I already have!" thundered Sinestro. "If I cannot have my revenge on you personally, I will have it on the ones you love! That Star Sapphire is the Carol Ferris you so often spoke of, is it not?"
Hal's emerald dragon let loose an earth-shattering growl. "You will not touch her again."
The first impact of the two draconian constructs was jarring. The second shook the very air. Sinestro's dragon wrapped its massive tail around its adversary's neck, while Hal's dragon clawed viciously at yellow scales. The Justice League members in the vicinity watched in awe as fear and will fought for dominance through their reptilian avatars.
"By Poseidon!" Aquaman exclaimed in disbelief. He had made his way to Flash and Hawkgirl and was half-supporting a limping John Stewart.
"Can somebody explain what the hell is going on?" John demanded.
In response, Flash dazedly pointed towards the sky. "Giant dragons."
"Yeah, no shit," retorted John. "Who the hell is using my ring?"
"Your predecessor," Hawkgirl replied succinctly, her eyes still tracking the war waging above.
Abruptly, the green dragon vanished. Flash swore, frantically scanning the airspace for Hal.
Up above, Sinestro was just as taken aback by the sudden disappearance of his emerald nemesis. His yellow dragon hovered, awaiting further direction, while Sinestro himself ordered his ring to scan for the missing Green Lantern. His ring promptly reported that Hal Jordan was right in front of him.
"What in Korugar's name —"
"Boo."
Hal burst out from within the depths of the yellow dragon's maw, his blinding green radiance disintegrating the rest of the construct in the process. Sinestro barely had time to register Hal's presence before the Green Lantern proceeded to hammer him with dozens of green fists. Sinestro instinctively lashed out with a blazing yellow explosion that bought him enough space to strike at Hal from a distance. Hal, however, met his energy beam with his own green force. Both Lanterns had given up on constructs by now, each trying to overwhelm the other with sheer power.
And Hal was winning.
"This…is…impossible!" Sinestro exclaimed.
"No." Hal smiled grimly as his green ray ate through more and more of Sinestro's yellow beam. "It's will."
Hal drew back his ring hand and solidified his will for the final push. Green light streamed forward, completely overtaking Sinestro in a blinding eruption that momentarily shone brighter than the sun.
When the dust settled, it was plain to see that Sinestro had finally been soundly defeated. Just to be certain, Hal flew over to the dazed Yellow Lantern and rendered him unconscious with a single, swift punch. Sinestro went down like a sack of bricks, only to be caught by Hal just before he crashed into the ground.
Letting the limp Korugarian collapse into a heap, Hal reached over and removed Sinestro's ring, separating the master of fear from the source of his power with extreme satisfaction.
Today, at least, will reigned supreme.
"Hal!"
Hal turned to see his former League teammates running up to him. Flash, naturally, reached him first. The speedster promptly pulled his friend into a bear hug.
"You idiot. You could have been killed."
"What else is new?" Hal pulled away and acknowledged the other Leaguers — Hawkgirl, Aquaman, Vixen — with a nod at each of them. When he came to John, he paused, then strode forward and extended his arm.
"Hal Jordan."
John eyed his outstretched hand for a few seconds before he shook it resolutely. "John Stewart."
"Good to meet you, John." Hal took off his ring and held it out to his successor. "I believe this belongs to you."
John accepted the ring with a contemplative expression. "Maybe. Unless you want it back?" He arched an eyebrow.
Hal huffed ruefully. "I wish, but I'm afraid I lost my right to it when I resigned from the Corps. Besides," he said sincerely, "it suits you."
"Thanks." John slid the ring back onto his finger. "And thanks for dealing with Sinestro. That yellow ring of his is a pain in the ass."
"Yes, well…" Hal handed over said yellow ring. "Be sure to keep it away from him, wherever he's locked up."
"Yeah, I'll make that real clear to the blue midgets." John looked Hal up and down, seemingly still trying to make up his mind about the man who had been Green Lantern before him.
Hal, however, was impatient to be elsewhere. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I got someone who really needs me."
Without another word, he took off running. He found Zatanna and Doctor Fate easily enough — they had taken shelter in a nearby shaded laneway to tend to Carol. Barely able to suppress his frantic worry, he all but leapt towards them. Carol was still unconscious, her front soaked scarlet.
"Oh my God, Carol…" He collapsed next to her. Not like this, please. Please. Not again. Tears blurred his vision, but he furiously blinked them away and stared pleadingly at Doctor Fate. "Tell me you can fix this."
"It will not be easy —" Doctor Fate began.
"No, dammit, you have to fix it!"
"I have, Hal," Fate stressed.
Hal stopped. "What?"
"As I was saying," the sorcerer continued, "it will not be easy, but Carol will eventually make a full recovery."
Hal let out such a large breath of relief he felt nearly light-headed. "She'll be fine? She's gonna be okay?"
"It will take some time. The wound was serious, and even magic cannot heal all — especially when the damage was done by hard light."
"But she'll be fine?" Hal insisted.
"Yes, Hal," Fate assured him.
Hal finally dared to look closely at the blood covering Carol's front, and he winced. "She's still bleeding…"
"That's blood from the initial wound, before Fate closed it up," Zatanna explained.
Hal looked amazed. "You closed her wound?"
"With great effort, yes. And I wouldn't have been able to without Zatanna helping to keep her in stasis long enough for me to do so."
"That's just…I…" Hal swallowed. "Thank you," he said feelingly. "Thank you, both of you."
"You're welcome," said Zatanna. "She still lost a lot of blood, even with the stasis field — and we couldn't heal all the internal damage. She's going to be feeling this for a while."
"It's fortunate she was able to earn her ring before Sinestro attacked her," Doctor Fate commented. "It seems being Queen of the Star Sapphires grants some protection from hard light constructs. Had her aura not softened the blow, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"Christ," Hal muttered, struck cold by how close he'd come to losing her. He shuddered and resolved to put that out of his mind. She was going to be fine.
He took Carol's hand in his, his gaze falling to the violet ring on her finger. When he brushed his thumb across it, marvelling how similar and yet how different it was from a Green Lantern ring, it emitted a soft glow and transformed Carol's Star Sapphire outfit into her regular clothes. There was no longer any blood to be seen.
"Is there going to be a debrief?"
"Most probably," Doctor Fate replied. "Batman or Flash will be in touch, I'm sure."
"All right." Hal gently picked up Carol, carrying her bridal style. "But for now, I'm taking her home."
A/N: Review, please! It helps to remind me to update on time ;)