Chapter Three

Sinestro

Aldera Middle School - Izuku and Katsuki's Home Room

As the teacher babbled on and on, Katsuki Bakugou simply stared out the window, only half paying attention. He couldn't shake the weird feeling that he had been having that day. Izuku was conspicuously absent from class today, as apparently Auntie Inko had called him out sick to recover from having been caught up in that Sludge Villain attack.

While the rest of the class seemed more than willing to accept this explanation, as someone who had known the shitty nerd for all his life, something about that didn't sit well with Katsuki. Deku was a useless nerd and a mere pebble on his road to greatness and glory, but two things that Deku certainly wasn't was frail or delicate. Rather, he had a relentless determination that was on par with a professional boxer who "didn't hear no bell," and kept getting back up for more punishment rather than stay down and accept the fact that he had lost.

That very fact was why Katsuki would do everything in his power to show Deku his place in life. He had no right to be a hero, and yet no matter what Katsuki did, Deku was never brought down. No matter how many times or how badly he'd blasted the shitty nerd with his Quirk or beat him to a whimpering pulp, it never changed. Deku would keep coming back.

Granted, it was nice to have a break from having to knock Deku back down to his place in the world and not have to put up with his creepy mumbling and stalker tendencies, but it still felt really weird nonetheless. Guess doing the song and dance for a decade and suddenly changing the routine would feel unnatural.

Oh well. Deku would recover soon, and then it would be business as usual for the next ten months. After that, he would finally be rid of Deku, and there would be nothing to hold him back from seizing his destiny and becoming the greatest hero to have ever lived. Not only that, it would mean Katsuki finally got Deku to fade away in the background with the rest of the extras, completely and utterly forgotten like the shitty piece of trash he was.

If only that was the case. If only he knew not only just how wrong he was, but if he only knew what Izuku Midoriya was really up to.

…

As the days on Oa passed, Izuku noticed that he was changing. Not only by becoming physically more muscular thanks to the absolutely grueling physical conditioning of the Junior Lantern training, but taller as well thanks to a coincidentally timed growth spurt.

However, what Izuku wasn't aware of, at least consciously, was that his personality was changing as well. Bit by bit, he became less shy, less awkward, and became more confident and assertive in the process. Granted, it was probably the military-like training, which did push the teen thanks to there being no constant insults and beatings that he would usually get. The training was firm, where he would get criticized at times, but it was to push him to be better rather than just pushing him down.

Not only that, Izuku couldn't help but be fascinated by everything he learned. Admittedly, it was somewhat reassuring to know that both the Green Lantern Corps all treat each other as allies and comrades, but there were also allies out there in the cosmos. There was the Blue Lantern Corps and the Star Sapphires, who they could count on if the situation got extremely dire. However, when Izuku was told about Red Lanterns and the Sinestro Corps…not only did they sound like they would give All Might a run for his money, possibly adding more wounds in addition to that nasty one he had, but their leaders sounded like the living incarnations of evil itself. Unsurprising since their names were "Atrocitus" and "Sinestro." What was surprising however, was that Sinestro had actually been a Green Lantern, only to become corrupted by the Yellow Light of Fear. It was haunting to know that Green Lanterns weren't incorruptible. Then again, could he really say the same of the heroes of his home world, what with the rumors surrounding the likes of Endeavor, among many others.

Speaking of his home world, Izuku's mother was in tears when he managed to make contact with her. When he explained what had happened and where he was, Izuku's mother was practically beside herself with worry. It took Izuku a bit to calm her back down by assuring her that he was fine, and that he actually wanted to become a Green Lantern. After all, the ring gave him the one thing he had always wanted. The power to become a hero, and it was even better than he had ever expected as he could not only become a hero on Earth, he could also become a hero among the stars. When he said that, his mother told him that she loved him, and that if this was what he wanted, then Izuku had her support.

However, it wasn't all physical training and learning about the other Lantern Corps. Naturally, a large portion of his training included learning how to create constructs made of solid will power, firing energy blasts, manipulating willpower-fueled energy fields, and all other associated things involved with using his power ring. The ring fascinated the teen, and he really wondered what he would have done if he was more support-course interested when he stared at the ring.

Thankfully, owing in no small part to his high level of conventional intellect, Izuku had no shortage of imagination when it came to things he could create with his constructs, particularly when it came to heroes and their support equipment. From Eraserhead's Capture Scarf to All Might's fist, there was no shortage of items or weapons that he could conjure up, on top of more mundane things such as miniature ballistic missiles, giant hands, jet engines, baseball bats, giant drills, among many, many other things.

Before he knew it, Izuku's training came and went. And soon, it was graduation day…

Oa - Citadel Square

Never before had Izuku felt so nervous as he was standing on that platform, the teen being carefully studied by numerous alien lifeforms. It was to be expected, he supposed. After all, he was the first human member of the Green Lantern Corps, and the successor to someone who was apparently one of the most accomplished Green Lanterns in recent memory. Finding out that especially made him nervous, which didn't help with the now high expectations that were being placed on the teenager. But despite this, Izuku knew he would do everything humanly possible not to let down the Corps or the people of his home world.

Due to this, it wasn't long before the ceremony came winding down to its end. All those on the platform were asked to speak the Oath of the Green Lantern Corps by Tomar-Re.

"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power… Green Lantern's light!" Izuku and his fellow Junior Lantern chorused in unison before they and every other Green Lantern present raised their rings toward the heavens and fired an energy beam upward.

And as this happened, a loud explosion rocked the platform, knocking most off their feet. Izuku quickly scrambled to his feet at this, only to see a sudden scene of chaos in front of him. Energy blasts of both green and yellow exploded out of the ground and in the skies, Izuku soon glancing up to go wide-eyed as he saw a group of aliens wearing yellow uniforms not dissimilar to the Green Lanterns' own.

"So sorry to drop by unannounced, but I thought I'd come by and see if the recruits were up to snuff," a regal-sounding voice spoke up from behind Izuku and the other junior Green Lanterns, causing them to spin around, only to immediately falter before steeling themselves again.

Before them was a figure everyone present immediately recognized with his hands clasped behind his back, inspecting them all as though he were a military commander. Though they recognized this figure clad in his Yellow Lantern uniform, they also recognized that they stood no hope against them without the help from some of the more senior, more powerful, Green Lanterns.

Thaal Sinestro's eyes wandered over the newly-minted Junior Green Lanterns before they landed on Izuku. Tilting his head to the side in curiosity, Sinestro squinted at Izuku's ring, seemingly recognizing it in an instant.

"A... boy?" Sinestro chuckled, sounding equal parts offended and amused. "After everything Abin Sur has done for the universe, all the threats to peace he's brought to justice, the Guardians select a mere boy from an infantile race to succeed him?"

Before anyone could do anything, Sinestro fired an energy blast from his ring at Izuku. The sight made the teen go wide-eyed, only for his reflexes to instantly kick in, his ring shining as a protective aura covered him. The beam hit the shield with an intense push, making Izuku flinch, only for the teen to narrow his eyes as he let out a grunt, channeling all the will he could possibly muster into pushing back Sinestro's attack. And much to both Sinestro and Izuku's surprise, the beam of will power energy began to push the beam of fear energy back. Gritting his teeth together, Izuku funneled more of his will into the energy beam, pushing the beam of fear power farther back.

"Enough!" barked Sinestro before a second beam of fear energy zapped Izuku in the side, breaking his concentration. Sinestro's beam then cut through Izuku's, the attack making the teen gasp before he leapt away, dodging the beam. The teen then aimed the ring at Sinestro again, firing another beam, only for Sinestro to flick the finger wearing the ring, a small yellow shield swatting the beam away. He then conjured several constructs of daggers and hurled them at Izuku, who quickly made a construct of a giant dartboard to block the attack.

But as he did this, Izuku readied himself for another attack…only for nothing to happen. Instead, Izuku made his construct vanish as he saw Sinestro just glare at him. "Your will is strong, boy…" Sinestro commented with a small smirk, "But, I sense something more in you…I do believe I will be following your career with great interest."

And with that, Sinestro took to the skies, speaking into his ring as he did so. Slowly but surely, the chaos and carnage began to die down as the Sinestro Corps began to retreat, some of the Green Lanterns taking off to pursue them. The sight was almost unbelievable to Izuku, the teen shocked at just how powerful Sinestro felt, along with the pain now in his side from the previous attack.

Citadel - Infirmary

Izuku was now lying in a hospital bed, Lantern Kilowog and Tomar-Re standing by his side. The Guardians had ordered all the Junior Lanterns to report to the infirmary for treatment after the attack. Izuku had to admit, one of the benefits of being a part of an intergalactic police force and/or military is that they had access to far more advanced recovery methods than on Earth. However, Izuku felt there were still Quirks on his world that were still more potent in regards to healing, but maybe that was just what he was used to, so perhaps he was a bit biased in that regard.

"Gotta admit kid, I am impressed," Kilowog chuckled as he smirked down at the young human. "You were actually able to hold your own against Sinestro! Heh, we'll make a great Lantern out of you yet!"

"Indeed, except Sinestro was merely toying with you Lantern Midoriya, likely because of your age," Tomar-Re added, "If he was taking you seriously, there is no doubt you would be in much rougher shape, or worse."

"Yeah…I don't doubt that," Izuku moaned out while recalling just how powerful Sinestro had felt when his power had clashed with the leader of the Sinestro Corps. "But why would he launch a direct attack on Oa? And for that matter, why would he toy with me like that?"

Tomar-Re hummed in thought. "Perhaps he meant to test your mettle, Lantern Midoriya. No doubt he suspected that Abin Sur's ring would have chosen a successor by now, and wished to see what that successor was made of. And it seems that he's taken an interest in you."

"Great…" Izuku groaned. "So…what are we gonna do about this interest that Sinestro's taken in me? Because I have a feeling that it can't lead to anything good, both for me or my home world."

Kilowog sighed and shook his head. "Unfortunately, there's not much we can do about it for the time being."

"Indeed," Tomar-Re continued, "Just make sure you stay on your guard on your way back to your home planet. We'll make contact if we learn anything more, or if we have a mission for you. Until then, simply continue to live your normal life. Understood?"

Izuku nodded back. "Understood."

Kilowog and Tomar-Re then took their leave, the green-haired boy watching them go before thinking about what had just happened. He couldn't help but shake the feeling that thanks to Sinestro taking an interest in him, despite the fact that he had no clue what the villainous Yellow Lantern saw in him, his job as a member of the Green Lantern Corps had just gotten a lot more complicated.

Still, as long as he was able to use his powers to become a hero and help the people of his world and beyond, Izuku was more than willing to roll with the punches for his dream.