Chapter 81: Beware My Power
Disclaimer: All things Supergirl/Superman and Green Lantern belong to DC. No infringement is intended.
Her own heartbeat thundered in her eyes so loudly that it drowned out all other sounds around her. The blood rushing through her veins roared like a storm-tossed ocean. Her eyes were fixed, unblinking, on the ground before her, which was beginning to split apart. She could feel the rumble under her feet, her superior senses easily picking up the agonized screams of the tectonic plates beneath her as they were torn apart by a cataclysmic chain reaction.
"Not again," she muttered, digging her fingers into the ground in the vain hope of holding it together against the pressure beneath. "Not again! Not again!"
"Kara, we're out of time," a voice said behind her.
Turning around, Kara's eyes widened as she saw her parents standing there. Not Martha and Jonathan, but rather Alura and Zor.
"What? How…?"
"No time," her father said, grabbing her by the arm and hauling her to her feet as if she were still a small child. "We need to get you to the escape ship!"
"What? Escape ship? No, please! Not again! I don't want to go!"
In a blur of motion, she was suddenly inside a familiar-looking craft, metal walls pressing in on her from all sides. The ground shook, the sky was on fire, and screams filled the air.
"We need to launch now," Zor said, starting to close the lid.
"No, wait," Kara begged, trying in vain to stop the ship from sealing up. "What about Clark? Kona? Martha and Jonathan! I need to get them. Sandy! My family..."
"No time," Zor interrupted her, pushing the lid close. With a terrifying click the escape ship sealed and without any perceivable motion she was suddenly high up in the air, the blue of the sky giving way to the star-sprinkled blackness of space.
"No, please," Kara begged, her fists hammering ineffectively against the ship's hull. "Let me stay! I cannot do this again! Don't leave me alone!"
In a tremendous flash of light, the planet Earth exploded outside Kara's view port, even as the ship's stasis field dragged her under. Kara did not stop screaming.
"Intense fear detected," the ring on Sinestro's finger whispered into his mind. "Ring charge at 124%"
Sinestro marveled at the ease with which he handled his new ring. After decades of experience, the green ring had become an extension of his arm, but he still remembered how difficult it had been in the beginning. Forcing his will into the ring, shaping its light with his thoughts, it had hurt. Even a single stray thought, a runaway emotion, had caused his ring constructs to fall apart and fail. It had taken rigorous training before it had become easier. Not so with the yellow ring. It followed his thoughts easily, all that he could imagine sprang to life without any effort.
Then why did it feel so very, very wrong?
"Ring, locate Kara-El and Guy Gardner," Sinestro commanded, his eyes taking in the chaos that had taken hold of the human settlement called Coast City. He needed to wrap this up fast, otherwise there would soon be fatalities.
"Kara-El's fears detected," the ring intoned. "Guy Gardner's fears detected."
His targets blazing in his mind, his thoughts propelled him forward on a wave of yellow light and a moment later he was at his destination.
Kara-El was curled up in a fetal position on the ground, screaming, begging someone to let her stay, to not leave her alone again. Sinestro was sure she was somehow reliving the destruction of her home world. For a moment he could see Korugar in his mind, his beautiful home planet burning, ripped apart by chaos and anarchy. He shuddered.
"Ring charge at 137%!"
Guy Gardner was not far away, either. His trainee was kneeling on the ground, trying to grab hold of something only he could see, tears running down his face.
"Mace, please! Come back, Mace! Don't do this!" Gardner sobbed.
Sinestro had no idea who this Mace was, but Gardner had seldom spoken of his family or private life. Not that it mattered, either way. Clearly, he was trying and failing to save someone close to him. Without warning the face of Abin Sur was in front of him, bruised and bloody from his encounter with Mongul. He shook his head, trying to dispel the image.
"Ring charge at 141%!"
"Ring, locate the alien aggressor!" he commanded.
Yellow light swept around his position, searching for the giant red entity that Sinestro was sure hailed from Ysmault. Every time the ring swept over a person close by, Sinestro heard the ring whisper something about that person's fear, but he ignored it.
"No non-native life forms except Kara-El in scanning range," the ring reported.
"That's impossible," Sinestro muttered, his eyes constantly moving to keep his surroundings in sight. "If the demon was gone, the fear should have vanished."
Was the thing something from Earth after all? Some sort of mutant maybe? Had he been mistaken about it being from Ysmault?
"Ring, can you locate whatever it is that is causing all these people to feel such intense fear?"
A bone-chilling chuckle behind him made Sinestro whirl around. The towering red entity was standing only a few feet away from him. It was always dangerous to try and interpret alien mannerisms, but to Sinestro it appeared as if he was grinning broadly.
"Sinestro of Korugar," the red being whispered, its voice sounding disturbingly similar to that of his ring. "Surely you are not that short-sighted."
Without wasting time on a retort, Sinestro's thoughts became action and bright yellow chains exploded out from his ring to wrap around his enemy. The red one made no move to defend himself, even as the chains constricted.
"Who are you?" Sinestro asked, the ring on his hand crackling with barely leashed power. "What do you want here?"
"I am Atrocitus of the Five Inversions," the entity said, sounding amused. "As you have already guessed, Sinestro of Korugar."
"You are one of the Damned of Ysmault," Sinestro growled. "I give you one chance to release my allies and the people of this city from your influence!"
Atrocitus chuckled again, the sound like claws skittering over metal. "My influence, Sinestro of Korugar? Surely you jest."
Sinestro's eyes widened as Atrocitus simply stepped to the side, out of the glowing yellow chains.
"How...?"
The toothy grin of the demon grew even wider. "How can it be my influence, Sinestro of Korugar, when I am not even here?"
Atrocitus' image grew transparent and then vanished, though his laughter remained, echoing through the chaotic streets. Sinestro's eyes darted back and forth.
"Where are you? Ring, where is he?"
"No non-native life forms detected in vicinity except for Kara-El," the ring repeated its earlier statement.
"You amuse me, Sinestro of Korugar," Atrocitus' voice echoed around him. "So blind!"
"Ring, trace the source of Atrocitus' voice! Where does it hail from?"
"Audio projection hails from this ring," the ring told him.
Sinestro froze, his blood seemingly turning to ice. No, this could not be!
"Now you begin to understand," Atrocitus said, his image taking form beside him once again. "I am not here, Sinestro of Korugar. I was never here. This, all of this, is your doing!"
"No," he shook his head. "That's impossible! It all started before I even put the ring on!"
Atrocitus chuckled, the sounds like razorblades across his skin. "You might only have put it on recently, but you have had it with you for days now. You have touched it. And it has touched you, too. Consider it a small taste, Sinestro of Korugar. Just the tiniest demonstration of what the weapon you have acquired is capable of achieving."
The red demon swept his arm out to encompass the city that was caught in the frenzy of fear.
"Fear is the greatest power in the universe! The Weaponeers of Qward forged a perfect ring, equal to those of the Guardians in every way, but they needed us to supply the power for it. Not the imperfect power of the green. Will is weak, Sinestro of Korugar, and courage fails. You have seen this."
"No," Sinestro shook his head in denial. "You are trying to trick me!"
"Trick you? Far from it!" Atrocitus chuckled once more. "There are no strings attached, no deals to be made. This weapon is yours to do with as you see fit! Use it to bring order to the universe, Sinestro of Korugar!"
"How is this order?" Sinestro screamed, bright flashes of yellow exploding out from his ring. More people screamed as their fears manifested.
"You have brought an entire city to its knees without even trying," Atrocitus told him. "They will do anything you tell them! Their fears will control them, bring them to heel. They will fear your light and their lives will be better for it!"
Sinestro fell to his knees. Could it be true? He loathed the Damned of Ysmault with every fiber of his existence, but could they still be right? For all their might, the Guardians of Oa struggled to truly bring order to the universe. They had been at it for millions of years and the universe was still chaotic. There were still monsters that preyed upon the innocent. They were still wars, so many wars.
Was fear truly the answer? If he could truly bring peace and order to the universe, was that not worth any price?
"Kara? Kara! Can you hear me?"
It took her an embarrassing five minutes until she realized that the metal hull she kept pounding her fist against felt like concrete, not metal. That momentary realization kickstarted her brain and she pushed the fear aside, looking instead at the facts.
There was no reason why Earth should explode! No core mining! No pressure build-up! No warning signs at all! And even if there had been, there was no way that her birth parents could suddenly appear here. They were dead, long dead. It made no sense, none of it!
"Come on, snap out of it, girl! Kara!"
It was all an illusion! And something was poking her in the side, too.
She blinked and suddenly found herself back in Coast City again. Which she had never left, she realized. She was lying on the ground, her body shaking. Rao, it had felt so real, all of it. She pushed herself off the ground into a sitting position, her arms only just managing to stay straight long enough. She felt cold all over, her skin tingling. Her analytical mind quickly made sense of it: she was coming down from an intense fear reaction, the strongest one she had ever had. Kara was no stranger to panic attacks or nightmares, but this was at another level altogether.
And someone was going to pay for it!
"You back with us, Kara? How do you feel?"
Green Arrow was kneeling beside her, a huge bruise marring his face on one side, but his eyes were clear. It seemed he, too, had thrown off the fear illusion.
"I have felt better," she said, shaking her head to get rid of the last of the cobwebs. That's when she noticed the arrow in GA's hand. "Did you… poke me with an arrow?"
He shrugged. "Hey, it was that or slap you. Neither was going to hurt you, but I had no interest in breaking my hand."
"Okay, smart thinking."
She struggled back to her feet, her body still shivering from the incredible adrenalin boost, and looked around. The city was still in chaos. Her eyes widened for a moment when she spotted Guy Gardner of all people, apparently caught in some kind of fear illusion of his own.
"See if you can snap Gardner out of it, GA," she told her friend.
"On it!" GA said, maybe a bit too much glee in his eyes at the prospect. Well, if Gardner got slapped around a bit or poked with an arrow, Kara was sure he had done something to deserve it.
Then her eyes zoomed in on the source of all the chaos.
"Oh, Sinestro, what have you done?" she whispered, seeing the yellow ring on his finger.
Not quite trusting herself to take flight, she ran instead. Bridging the distance within a matter of seconds, she heard the tail end of the exchange between Sinestro and the red demon thing that was, apparently, nothing but some kind of projection.
"They will fear your light and their lives will be better for it!"
She could see Sinestro struggling. He had told her of his inner turmoil, only made worse by the vision of the future where he wore this exact yellow ring. This had to stop.
"Scaring people is not the way to improve anyone's life," she growled, addressing the red demon thing. Atrocitus? That was the name she had briefly heard, she believed. She could still feel the tingle of magic on her skin. Brute force was probably not going to win this battle for her, never mind that her opponent was not even really here.
"Back from your little trip down memory lane?" Atrocitus asked, sounding amused.
"It was not fun," she replied, glaring at him. "But it's over now! Your little fear dream has broken!"
"I have tasted your fears, Kara-El of Krypton," Atrocitus whispered, tongue darting out as if he were tasting them right now. "You are lying to yourself if you think you can simply get rid of them."
Kara scoffed. "Get rid of them? Oh, please! I know my fears very well. I carry them with me every damn day of my life. I am always afraid! Afraid for my family! Afraid for my friends! Afraid that this entire damn planet will explode out from under me! You think you can teach me anything new about fear? Get over yourself!"
Atrocitus chuckled. "Bold words, Kara-El of Krypton. But boldness cannot endure the crushing weight of fear!"
He turned towards Sinestro. "Taste her fear, Sinestro of Korugar! Give it form!"
Sinestro looked at her, his pupils widening as the ring on his finger lit up once again, projecting a bright yellow construct directly above Kara's head. A huge statue formed, one she had seen before, one thousand years in the future. It was a statue of herself, towering high above her, impossible large. With a massive thud it came down directly on top of her, the tremendous weight of a millennium of destiny slamming her into the ground even as she grunted in pain. The yellow light burned!
"I see it in your thoughts," Atrocitus said, walking closer to where she was being ground into the pavement. "Seeder of Worlds! Architect of the Future! So many expectations. So much responsibility! So, so much fear that you will fail them all! That you will never be this legendary hero they think you are!"
Kara bared her teeth, ignoring the pain, and braced herself against the ground.
"So what?" she asked, groaning under the tremendous weight that was threatening to crush her. "You think piling my fears on top of me is going to stop me?"
With a guttural scream Kara reared up, throwing off the statue that felt like it weighed thousands upon thousands of tons, the yellow construct shattering into nothingness. She staggered a moment, but got back to her feet.
"My fears give me strength," she growled. "They give me focus! I know what I am afraid of and I work every day, every hour, every second to ensure that the things I fear do not come to pass!"
She looked away from the demon who, for the first time, seemed uncertain. Her eyes met those of Sinestro.
"We all carry our fears, Sinestro," she told him. "Yes, others can use our fears to control us, but only if we let it happen. If we allow our fears to control us! That is the true power of the Green Lanterns, Sinestro. Abin Sur showed me that. And so did you. Courage and will cannot exist in the absence of fear. They exist only when we decide that there is something more important than fear!"
Sinestro stared at her, his pupils wide, the yellow ring on his finger glowing menacingly.
"Do not listen to this fool, Sinestro of Korugar," Atrocitus hissed. "She wishes to use the power you have gained for herself! She has seen the true power of fear and craves it! She would deprive you of the means to establish perfect peace and order in the universe!"
"Bullshit," a new voice joined the conversation. Three pairs of eyes saw Guy Gardner, back on his feet, dirty and exhausted looking, but coming towards them on steady legs. The green ring on his finger was shimmering. Green Arrow was walking beside him, an arrow notched on his bow, looking pissed off and amused at the same time. Maybe it had something to do with the fresh bruise on Gardner's face.
"Goldilocks here is just about the least craving person I ever saw," Gardner chuckled. "Honestly, she's so goody-goody, it's giving me cavities. So cut the crap, Sin!"
Atrocitus growled. "Guy Gardner of Earth, you cannot even control the ring you wear. I have seen your fears as well."
"Yeah, and you showed them to me, too," Gardner replied. "And I'm so going to kick your butt for it, but I should also thank you, I guess. I thought being a Green Lantern was all about being fearless and stuff. I even told Sin here, Green Lanterns don't do fear! Guess I had one last lesson to learn."
He raises his fist, the green ring on his hand beginning to glow brighter. "Like Goldilocks said. No courage or will without fear. Am I afraid? Yeah, sure! Terrified even! But there are more important things to deal with."
The green ring flared brightly, banishing the shadows around them.
"Like getting rid of you!" Gardner growled.
Ever since he had experienced the time shift inside the Kryptonian city of Kandor, Sinestro had been haunted by a sense of inevitability. He had seen the future, after all. A future where he wore a yellow ring. Where he led others, who wore yellow rings. Where he fought against the Green Lanterns. It had seemed nonsensical, but at the same time... inevitable, somehow. Destined!
Then the yellow ring had appeared, and the world seemed to shudder, destiny settling around him with the weight of a universe crying out for order. It was happening, it had already happened, so what could he possibly do to change it? Did it matter that the ring had been forged by the dreaded Weaponeers of Qward? Empowered by the Damned of Ysmault? No, the only thing that should matter was what he could do with it. Right?
Power corrupts, the words of J'Onn J'Onnz echoed through his mind. No one has ever wielded absolute power benevolently for any length of time, Kara-El had said. Fear was a powerful force, there was no doubt about that. A lot could be achieved with that kind of power, certainly.
Was it worth it, though?
"No one can overcome their fears permanently," Atrocitus growled at Kara-El and her allies. "You may believe you are in control of them, but sooner or later you will succumb. You will all succumb!"
Sinestro sighed, rising to his feet. He gazed at the yellow ring on his finger, feeling the power crackling inside it. So much power. So much fear. Once again, he briefly saw his home world, beautiful Korugar, burning before his eyes. Could it happen? Certainly. Might chaos and anarchy prevail? It was a possibility. Did he fear it? Oh yes, he did. For the longest time he would not have admitted it to himself, but if someone like Gardner could do it? How could he do less?
"Use that fear, Sinestro of Korugar," Atrocitus whispered in his ear. "Give it form! Let it make you powerful! Destroy your enemies!"
Superwoman took a step closer to him. "Don't keep your fears hidden in the darkest corners of your mind, Sinestro. Bring them out and confront them!"
Sinestro focused on the ring and yellow light sprang forth, forming a shape directly in front of him. The light solidified into an image.
"I see," he merely said.
Standing before him was an image of himself. No, not quite himself. The Sinestro he saw was older, deep lines were visible on his face, and a ring of yellow was burning brightly on his hand. His face was twisted, his smile cruel, and his eyes were utterly cold. This Sinestro, he knew, had embraced his new power. He had used it to bring order to the universe. An order born of fear and terror.
"Is that who you wish to become, Sinestro?" Kara-El asked, clearly understanding what she was seeing. "Is this the man you wish to be?"
"Of course it is," Atrocitus hissed.
Sinestro studied the image in front of him. Endless possibilities seemed to swirl around him. He could do it. It would be easy. Was there anyone who could possibly stop him? Did he want it, though? Did he want it this way?
"No," he finally said. "It is not!"
With no more hesitation, he slid the yellow ring off his finger and let it fall to the floor.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Atrocitus screamed, his image vanishing into nothingness.
The putrid aura of fear that permeated the city vanished without a trace; the absence of the oppressive weight so tangible that Sinestro actually stumbled. His eyes were on the ring on the ground, now lying in the dirt. He felt... lighter.
"And so, my questions have been answered," Sinestro muttered. "The future is not fixed! My choices are my own!"
"You had me mighty scared there for a moment, Sin," Gardner told him, stepping up beside him. "I thought I would actually have to kick your butt."
Sinestro snorted. "As if that could ever happen."
Kara-El came towards him as well, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"You should have told us about the ring, Sinestro," she told him. "We could have helped you."
He nodded. "It was a mistake; I see that now. I believed... the future seemed set in stone. I..."
"I know how that feels, believe me," she told him.
"That statue... I saw something in your mind..."
She smiled. "Best not to dwell on it too much. The future will take care of itself. All we can do is take care of the present."
Kara-El bent down, her hands moving at super speed as she packed a solid ball of earth around the yellow ring, compressing it until it was hard as stone. She then wrapped a piece of metal from a wrecked car around it and melted it into a solid shell with her heat vision.
"What do we do about the evil jewelry?" Gardner asked, brushing a hand through his dirty hair. He winced as his fingers brushed the bruise on his jaw, which caused him to send a dirty look at Green Arrow, who just smirked back.
Sinestro took his green ring out of his pocket where he had placed it, slipping it back onto his finger. With but a thought his Green Lantern uniform manifested around him once again, the familiar garment providing a feeling of comfort.
"I will take it to the Guardians," he said. "I am certain they were the ones who hid it in the Vega system in the first place. I need to tell them what happened and that a new hiding place will be needed."
"You sure you want to let the bosses know that you almost traded in your colors?" Gardner asked. "I don't think they'll be all that amused."
Sinestro nodded. "It needs to be done. Hiding my… mistake from them would just be another way of letting my fears control me. No, I will tell them and I will accept whatever punishment they see fit."
He turned towards Gardner. "Keep your sector safe, Green Lantern! I think... no, I know that you will do an... adequate job."
"Wow, that almost sounded like a compliment," Gardner replied, chuckling. Then he turned serious. "Take care of yourself, Sin! Don't let the blue midgets get you down!"
The two Green Lanterns shook hands. Sinestro then accepted the wrapped-up ring from Superwoman. The yellow power battery that accompanied it was safely stored in a subspace pocket connected to the ring.
"Thank you, all of you," Sinestro said, addressing the people in front of him. "I came here to teach, but... it would seem I also came here to learn. I hope I was successful in both endeavors."
"Feel free to come by any time, Sinestro," Superwoman told him.
"Yeah, we'll keep your room at the Watch Tower open for your," Green Arrow added. "Just in case you need somewhere to crash."
"Thank you... my friends."
In a flash of green, Sinestro shot upwards into space.
On the planet Ysmault, the entities that had once ruled the mighty Empire of Tears grumbled and complained. On the shore of a lake made of blood, the malevolent being known as Atrocitus collapsed, utterly spent. The sun set beyond the horizon and the chains that bound them all to this planet tightened once more.
"A thousand years spent gathering strength," Atrocitus grumbled, "all to tap into the yellow ring of fear as it found a bearer. All for naught."
"The ring of fear still exists," the others whispered. "It will always exist as long as there are those who know fear."
Still bound in the same place it had been since the fall of the Empire, Qull of the Five Inversions merely smiled.
"Sinestro has proven stronger than anticipated, but it matters not. We have nothing but time. Today or in a million years, the Blackest Night will fall, and the work of the Guardians will come to ruin."
Its gaze unfocused, Qull's smile grew broader. "And the one known as Kara-El of Krypton will pay dearly for her part in this. Very soon the Great Darkness will take that which is dearest to her."
And long into the dark and stormy night, the Damned of Ysmault laughed in anticipation and glee.
End Chapter 81
Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, but this chapter really gave me trouble. I had the ending and Kara's fear scene written over a week ago, but tying it all together into a coherent chapter took way longer than it should. Hope it was worth the wait.
The Damned of Ysmault are fun to write, so they might or might not be back before this story is over, we'll see. Up next, after a series of high-stakes battles and such, the Super Family finds time to handle some more domestic issues instead. Such as an upcoming 18th birthday.