Summary

Individual:
[7] Hal Jordan (E Unl Green Lantern)
[1] E Katma Tui
[0] E Jade {Can't believe I missed with every shot with her!)
[4] R G'nort
[3] Tomar Tu (E Tomar Re)

Guests:
[3] E Or Sentinel (Alan Scott)
[] U Kilowog (8/8)
[1+2(hit on Sinestro)=3] V Arisia
[] E Ch'p
[13] U Ganthet

Team
[34] 8 TXP, 2 TAP

KO’s
Krona (Anti-Monitor: Destroyer) 600 pts.
V Cr Sinestro I-17 146 pts.

Total 746

Total (746)/4 = 186.5 TAP = 187 TAP = 46 TXP 3 IXP WOW! Individually I didn't do so well, but as a team I did superb!

Totals for this game:
Individual:
[7] Hal Jordan (E Unl Green Lantern) 1 IXP 3 IAP
[1] E Katma Tui 0 IXP 1 IAP
[0] E Jade {Can't believe I missed with every shot with her!) 0 IXP 0 IAP
[4] R G'nort 1 IXP 0 IAP
[3] Tomar Tu (E Tomar Re) 0 IXP 3 IAP

Team
55 TXP, 1 TAP

Old Totals:
E Unl Green Lantern (Hal) *, 26 IXP, 0 IAP {6 left for the Crisis version}
* With Force Field
E Katma Tui, 26 IXP, 1 IAP
E Leg Jade (Jennifer-Lynn Hayden), 11 IXP, 0 IAP {4 more for the V}
R G’nort, 9 IXP, 1 IAP
E Tomar Tu (Tomar Re), 8 IXP, 1 IAP

Team: 124 TXP 2 TAP

New Totals:
E Unl Green Lantern (Hal) *, 27 IXP, 3 IAP {5 left for the Crisis version}
* With Force Field
E Katma Tui, 26 IXP, 2 IAP
E Leg Jade (Jennifer-Lynn Hayden), 11 IXP, 0 IAP {4 more for the V}
R G’nort, 10 IXP, 1 IAP
E Tomar Tu (Tomar Re), 9 IXP, 0 IAP

Team: 179 TXP 3 TAP

End of Arc rolls and End of Annual Rolls (sent the rolls to TVK)
E Unl Green Lantern (Hal) *, 27 IXP, 3 IAP {5 left for the Crisis version}
* With Force Field
Crisis Hal - E Leg Hal = 157 = 32 = 3d6 = Arc 1 6 5, Annual 4 2 4 = 22 IAP = 5 IXP 2 IAP

E Katma Tui, 26 IXP, 2 IAP
1 version = 1d6 = Arc 4, Annual 6 = 10 IAP = 2 IXP 2 IAP

E Leg Jade (Jennifer-Lynn Hayden), 11 IXP, 0 IAP {4 more for the V}
V Leg Jade 107 - E Leg Jade 92 = 15 = 2d6 = Arc 1 2, Annual 4 6 = 13 IAP = 4 IXP 1 IAP

R G’nort, 10 IXP, 1 IAP
1 version = 1d6 = Arc 1, Annual 5 = 6 IAP = 1 IXP 2 IAP

E Tomar Tu (Tomar Re), 9 IXP, 0 IAP
1 version = 1d6 = Arc 4, Annual 2 = 6 IAP = 1 IXP 2 IAP

New Totals:
E Unl Green Lantern (Hal) *, 33 IXP, 1 IAP = UPGRADE! to V CR Green Lantern 1 IXP, 1 IAP
* With Force Field
E Katma Tui, 29 IXP, 0 IAP
E Leg Jade (Jennifer-Lynn Hayden), 15 IXP, 1 IAP = UPGRADE! to V Leg Jade 0 IXP, 1 IAP
R G’nort, 11 IXP, 3 IAP
E Tomar Tu (Tomar Re), 10 IXP, 2 IAP

Team: 179 -32 -15 = 132 TXP 3 TAP

Team size calculation:
157 V CR Green Lantern
* With Force Field
89 E Katma Tui, 29 IXP, 0 IAP
107 V Leg Jade 0 IXP, 1 IAP
70 R G’nort, 11 IXP, 3 IAP
111 E Tomar Tu (Tomar Re), 10 IXP, 2 IAP
Total= 534 Round up to 550
Squad Size = 550/2 + 50 = 325 point squad

WHEW! that was a lot! Finally upgraded Hal though. and Jade is maxed out. By the next arc I should be able to recruit another person. John maybe? Kilowog? I know! CH'P! LOL!

End Post:

The field of battle seemed to have gone silent. But for the flashing of emerald and yellow, they might have thought the war was over. Jade saw Hal’s green fighter jet coming in for a landing on the eradicated platform that had held their fight with Krona. At the last moment, it faded into nothingness and Hal landed roughly on the rubble-strewn building top. He had a bare second of pain and weariness on his face, but he shook it off before anyone but her had seen it. He smiled, trying to evoke the boyish rogue they expected to see in him. He stood proud, and only she could see the wariness in legs that could only barely support him.

“Sinestro?” Arisia asked with wide, hopeful eyes. The t-shirt of her uniform was slightly torn, her hooded sweater-jacket lost, but her ring still flared with resolution.

“He’s done,” Hal said as confidently as he could manage. Her relaxing posture told him he succeeded.

“But we aren’t,” Katma said. “There’s still a war to win out there.”

“No,” Alan shook his head, pushing past them to come to his daughter’s side. “The war is right here.” He gently put a palm over Jade’s heart. “It’s in you, Jenny.”

“What’s going on?” Kilowog shouted. “Lanterns are pushin’ themselves to their last breath up there and you’re jawing about this rookie and her--“

“She’s the secret to all of this,” Alan said, staring the big man down in a way few could attempt. It took the certainty and worry of a father. “She’s why we’re here and somehow she is the secret to the end of all of this.”

“Jennifer…” Katma asked softly. “What--?”

The green-skinned earth-girl looked at all the eyes on her and felt deeply uncomfortable and far from ready for any of this.

“Krona had already started taking over my body before you came,” she explained, words halting as she tried to find just how to explain what had happened. “I fought him off a-and drove him out. I-- well, mostly out. H-he’s still… he’s still in here. There’s part of him in me, even now.”

Tomar frowned. “But Ganthet--“

“Whatever he did, he didn’t get the part of Krona still inside me. And I-- I t-think he’s what’s powering the yellow rings, somehow. He makes them work.”

“Then we’re going to burn him out,” Alan nodded.

“How do we do that?” Katma asked.

“I think I know a way. And I think Kyle can help, isn’t that right?” Alan turned to watch the young man land at the edge of the building top. He was obviously hurt badly, his clothing torn and covered in patches of grease and soot-like smears. He rushed to the group, ring armed and looking surprised.

“I’m here!” he shouted. “I’m here! Where’s the-- the guy? I’m on it! I took a bad one, but I’m okay now, so--“

“Kyle, focus,” Alan said, holding up a hand. “That part is finished. Krona fell.”

“You mean I-- I didn’t do anything?” he said, looking utterly deflated and shattered. “I took one hit and was-- I didn’t-- I mean, I wanted to help. I wanted…”

“You can. And forget what came before, because I think this right here, right now - this is why we came.” Alan turned to Katma and Hal. “You and your people can go face those Yellow Lanterns. There isn’t anything you can do here; this is for the three of us to finish.”

“You’re sure…?” Katma asked.

“Go. Help your friends. With luck this won’t take long.”

“Come on,” Hal said, pulling her by the shoulder. “The man knows what he’s doing - trust me. He’s been at this longer than any of us.”

Hal led the rest into the air, splitting into disparate streaks of green as they engaged enemies wherever Lanterns most needed help.
_______________________________________

Jennifer watched them leave, holding her hands to her heart. Her pulse had been speeding up ever since Ganthet had done… whatever it was he’d done with that glowing cube that had taken Krona away. Sweat was running down her face, freezing and burning her skin where it touched. Her father said something to her, but she could only hear the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears, like racing drums about to explode.

“Daddy,” she whispered, vision getting blurry. “I’m scared. He’s-- h-he’s trying to take me again.”

Alan took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. She could feel calm reassurance seeping from his big, tough hands into her.

“It’s okay, baby,” he said, and she heard him through his power deep in herself. “Daddy’s here. I won’t leave you. We’re going to end this, now.”

“I don’t know how,” she whimpered, feeling her eyes watering from a deeper pain that she couldn’t yet feel with her physical body, but which held her spirit in agony. “I thought I’d pushed him out before, but he was in me the whole time-- he’s been t-taking me over all along, and I--“

“The Starheart, Jenny - remember the Starheart.”

“I d-don’t know how,” she pleaded. Her legs gave out and she would have fallen, but her father’s power held her aloft. It lapped at her like green flames, but felt cool and soft on her body. He was so strong and she was just an empty-headed model playing dress-up. It should have been him. “Y-you should have gotten it, Daddy. You should have b-been-- should’ve gotten the Starheart. You’d know how to… how…”

“Jennifer, stay with me!” he said sternly, and suddenly she was a little girl with a skinned knee, fallen from her bike, and he was standing over her telling her to get up and try again. “The Starheart isn’t some thing that you can have - it’s a person. It’s you. You were born to this. You’re stronger than you know, just believe it.”

He said something that she couldn’t hear over her percussive heartbeat, and then another pair of hands touched her, holding her shoulders. A fresh wave of calm rushed through her, and she turned her head to see a young man she’d never met and couldn’t remember smiling softly at her. Something inside of her immediately bonded with him, reaching out for him, recognizing him in some deep, spiritual way and wanting him to stay close. He was safe. He was her protector; a guardian.

“We’re with you, Jennifer,” her father said. “But we can’t do this for you. We can only help you find your power - you’re the one who has to use it.”

She closed her eyes and felt transported. Soothing torrents of peace and serenity rushed through her from both sides. It warmed and lifted her, and her heart slowed. For the first time, she could actually feel the icy shards of power, like shrapnel surrounding her heart and slowly cutting its way to the core of her. It was Krona, and he almost had her. She’d been blind to the depth of his skill, never realizing just how deep within her he had burrowed or just how much of himself he’d forced into her soul.

But at her heart she also saw the green. A pure, resonant hum echoed out from an energy that felt like the touch of creation itself. It was sunrise in May, soft rain on a hot day, an endless field of grass blown by the most gentle wind, the shade of an ancient tree. For the first time, as she stared inward, she didn’t see it as separate from herself. It wasn’t an outside force or an alien power - it was her. The power was her, as natural to her as breathing and as intrinsic to her being as life itself.

“It’s you, Jenny,” Alan said, “Just reach out… and grab it.”

When she did, her eyes opened and the green poured out.
_______________________________________

“What’s happening?” Tomar shouted as his opponent suddenly dropped from the sky. “What is this?!”

“Some manner of trickery, perhaps,” Ch’p said, narrowing his tiny eyes and arching a fuzzy brow. “Stay on your toes, fellows! We know not what they are planning… Medphyl!”

“Yeah, partner?”

“Ring our allies. See if they’re experiencing the same phenomena.”

But it was unnecessary - one look around and they could see hundreds of yellow streaks falling to the city below. They fell between ruined buildings, battered by the intensity of the battle in their skies. Some struck rooftops or collided with glass and steel walls, exploding through the structures and in more than a few cases taking the buildings down with them when the largest, bulkiest yellow-ringed monsters hit.

“I don’t understand…” Tomar gasped, blinking his unbelieving eyes and shaking his head clear.

“Hmmm,” Ch’p rubbed his chin with a white-gloved finger. “Perhaps not, friend-- but I believe I may. I may, indeed.”

The little squirrel-Lantern tore off in a rush and Medphyl and Tomar followed. They arrived at the rooftop where Jennifer Lynne Hayden and her Father stood, discovering Hal and Katma already there.

“It wasn’t easy,” Jenny was saying, leaning heavily on her father for support. “It was-- was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I thought I was… but when I found the light-- my power’s source inside of me-- after that, I wasn’t afraid anymore. It wasn’t easier, but I realized it was possible. That was all it took.”

“And Krona?” Hal asked.

“Gone,” she nodded. “Completely. Anything he had in me I tore out.”

“Then all that’s left is what Ganthet captured in that cube,” Katma said, sharing a look with Hal. The other man just nodded in response, and both looked like they had shared an entire conversation in that look and that nod.

“This is excellent news,” Ch’p said, floating to Jennifer with a smile. “Now all we need do is make sure these villains’ rings won’t be a problem any longer and then we can return home at--“

His sentence was cut off by a flash of green, and when it cleared they were gone. Qward was silent but for the wind rushing through the streets of the broken city. Slowly, the screams of the wounded and survivors of fallen family and friends filled the afternoon sky. The battle had ended, but the people would have to carry on in the aftermath.

From beneath a pile of concrete and masonry, a battered figure rose. Rubble fell from the pile as he tore himself free, and Sinestro looked with black eyes to the horizon.

“This is not the end.”
_______________________________________

Hal shook his head to see that he had materialized in the middle of open space, floating in the infinite alongside Katma, G’nort and Tomar. Jennifer was there, too, with her father and the young Lantern, Kyle. But what held his attention was the small man watching them all with a patient stare.

“Ganthet,” Hal said, not sure how he felt about the Guardian at this moment. “You pulled us out.”

“I and my fellows, yes,” the Guardian nodded. “Your mission was completed. The threat of the Yellow Lanterns was neutralized. To tarry in Qward was unnecessary.”

“Those people,” Katma frowned. “Their city was broken. There must have been hundreds of wounded innocents. We should have--“

“There are no innocents in the anti-matter universe,” Ganthet waved a hand dismissively.

“That’s just ridiculous,” she scoffed. “It isn’t possible for an entire city of people to be uniformly wicked, let alone an entire country-- an entire world would be preposterous, and to suggest that a whole universe was absolutely undeserving of justice is asinine.”

Ganthet frowned at her, clearly disapproving. “It seems Lantern Jordan has rubbed off on you to an unhealthy degree. Mind your tone, woman - you address a Guardian of the Universe.”

Katma hade to bite her tongue and swallow down her retort.

“The war is ended and Krona’s threat removed,” Ganthet continued. “I have contained him within the Energy Storage Cube where he will remain indefinitely. Likely until the end of time. We Guardians will be able to monitor him and study his incorporeal form to determine how he powered the Yellow Rings.”

“What, they didn’t work like our rings?” Hal asked. “Why couldn’t they have just been using a yellow energy instead of green?”

“True Yellow Lantern rings?” Ganthet arched his brows disdainfully. “Absurd. The very idea is ludicrous. Besides which, there was no central battery to contain the power if such a thing did exist. Without a focus, the rings cannot draw a charge. No, the power was Krona’s, merely shaped to resemble ours as a way to add further insult in his scheme.”

“Then… we won?” Jennifer reluctantly said, smiling only slightly.

“Hardly,” Ganthet harrumphed. “You all seem to have been useful only as a distraction allowing me to do the job myself. Had I not interceded, you would have been decimated as easily as one might swat an irritating insect.”

“That’s hardly a fair assessment,” Alan said. “These kids were up against something leagues beyond their capacity to--“

“Mr. Scott,” Ganthet interrupted. “I will thank you to reserve your judgements for areas that fall within your expertise. Archaic audio transmissions carried on radio waves, perhaps. Or the even more ludicrously outmoded steam-powered locomotive. In this area, however, you have no idea what you are talking about.”

“But…” Jenn stammered, “B-but what were we supposed to do? There were Yellow Lanterns and a-- a-a Demigod…”

“You outnumbered the Yellow Lanterns five-to-one, and Krona was hardly a deity,” he waved his hand dismissively. “What were you supposed to do, girl? You were supposed to master your power and face him as the Starheart unleashed! You were supposed to meet his force with your own and destroy him utterly! Instead I was forced to intercede on your behalf, and now you have lost your greatest chance to achieve spontaneous insight through a challenge equal to your potential.”

“What?” she shook her head in confusion.

He sighed. “Within you lies all the power of the Central Battery. You, Jennifer Hayden, are the avatar of the green light; the first sentient born with a direct channel to the power only we Guardians can perceive in its untapped form. As you are a singular, unique being, there exists none who can teach you to reach your potential.

“Therefore, the best opportunity for you to quickly master your abilities was to face a foe who was so far beyond you that only the true Starheart, in control of the totality of her power, could defeat him. Had you the fortitude to stand up to Krona without my aid, you might have received an epiphany of immeasurable proportion that would unlock all that lay within you.”

He spread his hands in defeat. “Instead, you leave the field of battle with little more understanding of your true potential than you had before the fight began. Did you win the day? Perhaps. But the true power within remains locked away in a cage with no key, and when next such a threat emerges we will have no defense. I would not call that a victory, but a stay of execution.”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve, pal,” Hal thrust an accusing finger at the Guardian.

“Mind your temper, Jordan,” Ganthet said.

“Mind this, midget,” he spat. “We practically had to drag you Guardians into this fight, and even then you complained. We beat the bad guy, and now you’re berating this girl for not winning enough?”

“You would prefer a comfortable lie to a painful truth?” Ganthet clucked his tongue. “You shall have to uphold a higher standard as an Honor Lantern.”

“You don’t tell me what standard I--“ Hal started, then paused mid-sentence. “Wait, what?”

“With Sinestro fallen and gone, his post is vacated. While his failure was absolute and… regrettable, the post was not without merit. You and Lantern Tui shall fill his vacancy.”

“Both of us?” Katma asked. “I don’t understand.”

“Power corrupts, my dear,” Ganthet almost smiled. “To share power will keep you… honest. As Honor Lanterns, you will be tasked with those missions no rank-and-file Corpsman could pursue. You will have no sector and will work with fewer restrictions than your fellows. You will follow whichever goals you feel most deserving of your attention and will answer only to myself and the Guardians.”

“This sounds like a trick,” Hal squinted. “What’s the catch?”

“You take orders from the Guardians of the Universe. While you may take up whichever missions you deem important, when we give you a direct order you must follow it. You will be two of only four beings in the Corps with direct access to us, and in return for your expanded freedoms and greater autonomy, you will occasionally be required to take whichever mission we proscribe.”

“So we’re free to go where we choose unless we aren’t,” Katma said. “I suspect we’ll find more restrictions as we go along.”

“What about Jennifer?” Hal asked. “And Tomar?”

“And me?” G’nort whimpered.

“You will be expected to form a unit of Lanterns within your ranks who will assist you on your missions as you see fit. Should you choose, Lanterns Hayden and Tu may be added to that roster. And G’nort as well, if that is your wish.”

“Lantern Hayden?” Jennifer asked. “You mean…?”

“Yes, my dear,” Ganthet nodded, waving his hand and forming the symbol of the Green Lantern Corps on the chest of her uniform. “Consider this your graduation into the Corps. Welcome, Lantern Hayden. And remember this day.”

“And me?” Alan asked. “And Kyle? You Guardians stole my ring once before - what will you do, now?”

“I was the one who allowed your ring to seek a new host, Scott,” Ganthet harrumphed. “It would seem unlikely that I would strip him now, even if he did have such a poor showing against Krona. Rayner has served his purpose and will be allowed to continue in his station. As for you - your powers have internalized. You are not like Jennifer, and yet you are no longer a ring bearer like Rayner. You are something entirely else. I could not strip you of this power if I wanted to.

“You will be allowed to continue as you choose, but now as a hallmark of what will be. Through the ring of Yalan Gur, you became attuned to the green. Perhaps a day comes when all our Lanterns will surpass the need for a ring. Perhaps not. Time will tell the tale.”

Ganthet departed abruptly with little more than a nod for his goodbye, and the rest remained. It was a long goodbye for Alan and his daughter, and an awkward one for Kyle and Jennifer. Neither acknowledged the strange bond between them, but it was clear both had felt it. His place was on Earth with his Alex, though, and Kyle chose not to dwell on why he seemed to feel drawn to exotic, magical women. First Raven, now this…

Eventually, only the Green Lanterns remained.

“I won’t lie,” Katma sighed. “I don’t know what any of this Honor Lantern business will mean for us.”

“Me either,” Hal agreed. “But I don’t see us turning it down, either. The only question is are you three with us?”

“Y-you mean it, old buddy old pal?” G’nort reluctantly gasped, tail starting to wag in anticipation.

“Yeah, G’nort. It wouldn’t feel like the same team without you and Jenny.”

“Oh boy oh boy!” he barked happily, tongue lolling and ears perked up. He flew circles around them in excitement and they all laughed despite themselves.

“Why me?” Tomar asked. “We’ve only just met, and I’ve little experience compared to others you might have chosen.”

“I know your father,” Hal said. He saw Tomar’s spirits drop at the mention and he smiled at the bird-faced younger man. “And I think you could be better. You’ve got promise and potential, kid. I’ll take greatness that hasn’t happened yet over some hot-shot who’s already peaked or some old hand past his prime any day of the week.”

“Then this is a new beginning,” Katma nodded. “I don’t know precisely how to feel.”

“Relax,” Hal smirked. “You and me running an elite squad of Lanterns into the darkest night, nobody but the Guardians to answer to… what’s the worst that could happen?”

She politely decided not to respond. Her expression betrayed her thoughts, though, and his laugh was as loud and rich as it was unexpected. She found she had joined in despite herself. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, after all.

If this was her future, she decided that she didn’t mind.
_______________________________________

“It is finished.”

“We are aware, Ganthet.”

“Nothing is finished! You are fools to think otherwise.”

“Brother is correct - since the dawn of existence Krona waited for this moment to attack. Can we be so sure he is gone?”

“I was there, brothers. I ended him myself. He is utterly destroyed to the last fragment.”

“You are too proud Ganthet. Pride is a failure of the will.”

“You left the fragments of Krona in the Starheart.”

“Which she destroyed. Brothers, we are free of him.”

“Yes. It is true. Free at last, we are.”

“The shadow is passed.”

“And the cube? They know not its true use?”

“They believed our ruse and think it a containment cell.”

“As we knew they would.”

“Simple creatures. And trusting.”

“They did not recognize it killed Krona.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

“Perhaps…”

“You are unconvinced, sister?”

“The yellow flame still burns. Sinestro will return.”

“Impossible. Krona powered their rings.”

“Dead, he is. Lost are they. The yellow flame is a myth now extinguished, his farce ended.”

“No, brothers! Remember the prophecy!”

“There is no prophecy, sister.”

“Be not fooled by myths.”

“There is only the rantings of madness and ill-understood metaphor.”

“Always in motion is the future. Impossible to predict with certainty.”

“You are wrong. The yellow flame exists alongside our green. Willpower and fear. Matter and antimatter. To all things an equal opposite. Sinestro will return.”

“Perhaps you are right.”

“You too, Ganthet?”

“We could take precautions. There is no harm in being watchful.”

“No. We have already given too much to this madness.”

“Agreed. Too open to emotion have we become. Polluted.”

“Contaminated.”

“There is agreement on this?”

“Aye.”

“Aye.”

“You will find no dissent here. Ganthet and our sister are too open to fantasy where scientific observation must be our guide.”

“Fine. You may have it your way, brothers. But we may yet observe.”

“Oh, yes, sister. We may yet, indeed. Though their eyes be shut, ours will remain opened.”

“As you wish. But this body is through with your flights of delusion.”

“The case of Krona and his Charlatan Corps is closed.”

“It is over.”
_______________________________________

It wasn’t over. Not yet. He knew it in his soul; in the deep places - the dark places. The places he was only just learning existed. He was weary and weak from battle, his ring nearly drained, but he knew the Yellow Lantern Corps would not be finished this easily. Krona would not have fallen so simply. The Guardians were putting on a show, but it was false. Again.

He reached within the recesses of his ring for what remnants he could find of the source. It was faint - almost imperceptible, but it was still there. He landed roughly on the top of what had been the citadel before it crumbled beneath the final strike of the Green Lantern Corps. He couldn’t get inside-- it was too far gone to enter, but he had to retrieve the source. His ring was nearly empty, and if he didn’t find out for certain what condition it was in…

If he could not enter to search for it himself, he would have to draw it to him.

He went to his knees, focusing on the power in his ring. He pushed his will through it, shaping reality to his demands. With faint fingers, he felt the last remaining spark of that which had been Krona. It was nearly dead, little more than an ember at the center of a pile of ash that had once been a roaring inferno. But he could see it. He could feel it. With his mind’s eye, he took it into a fist and pulled it to him.

The remains of the citadel exploded in a wave of gold. It tore at his face and body, but he was already so wounded and ragged that he was beyond noticing a handful more injuries to his person. The wounds would heal, from the superficial to the critical, and when they had he would perfect the shell that caged his iron will. He would rebuild himself better, stronger, faster-- the superior to any who wore the ring.

It drifted to his palm; a speck of light infinitesimally small yet containing an endless magnitude of power. To anyone else, it was insignificant and beneath notice. Surely the Guardians would never have recognized it at all, too sure of their omnipotence to entertain the notion of their own shortcomings. They didn’t kill Krona. They ruined his mind, perhaps-- shattered his soul and eradicated all that was the man before. But his power! Ah, his power still remained.

But then, it had never been his power to begin with. Perhaps everyone else had bought into his lies, but as the man clenched his fist around the last speck of an immortal he knew he’d been right all along. Krona was merely a channel through which a greater power had been harnessed. He wasn’t the source of the yellow flame, merely a conduit.

Maybe Krona had died, but the conduit he’d become still existed.

His will pulsed outward like a physical thing, visible in the air as yellow-distended space. It was a swirling bubble of force that beat like a heart and commanded existence around it to obey. Obey! The rubble of the citadel lifted and swirled in a tightly controlled whirlwind. It took on the sickly golden hue of his power as it spherized and solidified.

When the hundred-meter tall yellow lantern was complete, he held his hand out and the spark of power drifted on the winds to the opening and then within. Like a burning wick setting off a nuclear blast, it burst into blinding radiance and lit the immense power battery. He could feel the sudden birth through his ring as it throbbed on his finger.

Sinestro would have smiled if he still could, but his heart was frozen and he couldn’t bother himself to discern why. There was too much left to do, now, to become introspective. He had a city to rebuild and a people to rule. He had a Corps to build and men to lead. And then, when he was ready, he would see the Green Lantern Corps butchered like swine.

And he would start with Hal Jordan.

The End