The first person the enraged Hal Jordan encountered was Khann of Varva.
Khann had once served as the second instructor of the Green Lantern Corps and Kilowog's trusted assistant. Known for his uncompromising standards, he had failed countless rookies during training. Yet every Lantern who endured his instruction emerged as an elite warrior.
Among the Green Lantern Corps, Khann was recognized as a towering figure with a powerful build and a reddish complexion.
Beside him stood Laira.
Laira was Khann's daughter. After Sector 112 lost its Green Lantern, Kentar Omoto, Khann personally brought her into the Corps and oversaw her training. Through relentless dedication, she quickly distinguished herself as an exceptional Lantern and eventually inherited responsibility for Sector 112.
Now, father and daughter stood as the first obstacles in Hal's path.
"Hal, wake up!" Khann shouted. "You need to understand what you're doing!"
Khann knew Hal well. Their relationship went back years, and if there were any way to avoid fighting him, he would have taken it.
Hal's expression remained hard.
"I know exactly what I'm doing."
The emerald glow around him intensified.
"Hand over your rings and get out of my way. A good dog doesn't block the road."
A fully charged Green Lantern Ring gleamed on Hal's finger after he had already taken John Stewart's ring.
Without hesitation, he unleashed a powerful green shockwave.
Boom!
The attack slammed directly into Khann.
"Argh!"
Khann cried out and was thrown backward.
Hal seized him by the uniform and pulled him close.
"Nothing is going to stop me from reaching Oa," Hal growled. "Not you, and not the Guardians."
Before he could continue, a sudden strike came from behind.
Laira attacked.
Her red hair streamed behind her as she launched forward.
Whoosh!
Using her Green Lantern Ring, she created a massive vine construct.
The emerald vine snapped through the air like a living serpent and wrapped tightly around Hal's neck.
Instantly, it constricted.
"I won't let you succeed, Hal Jordan!" Laira shouted.
She flew behind him, pouring all her strength into maintaining the construct.
Her entire body tensed from the effort.
"I swore an oath to the Guardians. I am proud to uphold their laws!"
Hal grabbed the vine with both hands.
The pressure around his throat increased.
"Cough... cough..."
His muscles bulged as he struggled against the restraint.
"Then you..."
With a furious roar, he tore the construct apart.
"You're an idiot!"
The broken vine remained connected to Laira's construct.
Hal seized it and swung it violently.
Laira was yanked through the air before she could react.
"They've been using you!"
He hurled her toward Khann.
"Just like they've always used me!"
Khann had no time to evade.
Laira crashed into him, sending both Lanterns tumbling backward through the sky.
Groans of pain escaped them as they fought to regain control.
Hal immediately transformed into a streak of emerald lightning and pursued them.
Laira managed to stabilize herself, but the previous impact had already left her injured.
"Why?" she demanded, clutching her chest. "Why are you betraying the people who gave you your power?"
Each word came with visible effort.
Hal's ring shone brighter and brighter.
The emerald radiance became so intense that Laira instinctively shielded her eyes.
"Because the Guardians turned me into a slave."
Pain flashed across Hal's face.
"When I finally decided to protect something that mattered to me, all that remained was a crater."
His voice grew harsher.
"The city I wanted to save was gone."
The memories fueled his anger.
"I've served long enough. I've sacrificed enough."
Hal grabbed Laira's arm.
Before she could react, he thrust his glowing ring toward her face.
The brilliant light forced her to avert her eyes.
"And now it's time to collect what's owed."
His hand closed around her Green Lantern Ring.
With a violent pull, he tore it free.
"If the Guardians won't give it to me..."
The stolen ring blazed with emerald light.
Hal slid it onto another finger.
"...then I'll take it myself."
The power surrounding him surged dramatically.
Turning toward Khann, Hal shot forward without the slightest hesitation.
His goal was obvious.
He wanted another ring.
And soon, he got it.
One after another, Green Lanterns fell before him.
One after another, their rings were taken.
By the time the battle subsided, all ten of Hal's fingers bore Green Lantern Rings.
The combined energy illuminated the heavens.
Hal clenched both fists.
The emerald light pouring from the rings was so overwhelming that it nearly swallowed the sky itself.
"Nothing ends here!"
The power flowing through his body felt limitless.
Then his attention shifted.
Toward a colossal figure approaching from the distance.
Mogo.
The living planet-sized Green Lantern.
"And now it's your turn!"
Hal roared and charged forward.
At this moment, he felt unstoppable.
The combined power of ten rings coursed through every part of his body.
Even a casual attack carried terrifying destructive force.
Boom!
A devastating energy blast erupted from Hal and slammed into Mogo.
The massive Lantern planet trembled.
To Hal, Mogo was merely another obstacle.
If he wanted to reach Oa unhindered, Mogo had to fall.
Only then could he reach the Central Power Battery.
Only then could he gain enough power to reshape reality itself.
Naturally, the Guardians could not stand by and watch.
Hal had already defeated multiple Green Lanterns and stolen their rings.
Now he was attacking Mogo.
But before a Guardian could intervene, Sinestro blocked his path.
"What are you doing, Ganthet?"
The Guardian's expression remained solemn.
"You know as well as I do that Hal Jordan is no longer himself. Some dark force has corrupted him and driven him toward destruction."
Sinestro remained unmoved.
"This is war."
His voice was steady.
"You cannot stop this conflict, and you certainly cannot stop Hal."
A yellow aura flared around him.
"Admit the truth. You don't care about this world. You only care about preserving your own interests."
As soon as he finished speaking, Sinestro attacked.
Golden yellow shockwaves screamed through space toward Ganthet.
Boom!
Yellow and green energy collided violently.
The resulting explosion echoed across the void.
"I see through your schemes," Sinestro continued. "I see the future you're trying to create. I see a universe built entirely around your control."
His Yellow Lantern Ring forged a massive battle axe.
He swung it without mercy.
At the same time, he continued speaking, deliberately distracting the Guardian.
Ganthet's attention remained divided between Sinestro and the increasingly dangerous Hal Jordan.
Against an opponent like Sinestro, even a momentary lapse could prove fatal.
After all, Sinestro was the greatest Yellow Lantern in existence, possessing combat experience and tactical intelligence far beyond ordinary Lanterns.
"I want to tell you a story."
Dodging another attack, Sinestro widened the distance between them.
"One day, you brought a young man to me."
His eyes narrowed.
"You told me, 'Sinestro, among all Green Lanterns, you are the greatest. Train this recruit. Help him become stronger.'"
Whoosh!
Sinestro accelerated suddenly.
The distance vanished in an instant.
"You said that if he became even half the Lantern I was, history would remember him forever."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Their attacks collided repeatedly, unleashing violent explosions throughout space.
Sinestro's voice remained steady.
"But I looked at him and thought, 'What garbage have they dumped on me this time? This fool doesn't have what it takes. He'll never amount to anything.'"
Another explosion erupted between them.
Then Sinestro smiled faintly.
"I was wrong."
His gaze drifted into the distance.
"I discovered that his will and emotions were more complex than anyone else's."
The smile faded.
"If he became a Green Lantern, he would become one of the greatest warriors ever known."
His expression darkened.
"But if fear ever claimed him..."
For a brief moment, an image appeared in his mind.
A monstrous Hal Jordan.
Yellow light burned within his eyes like twin lanterns.
Ancient fear stained his body with dark golden markings.
Ten pairs of elongated insect-like limbs stretched from his back, transforming him into something terrifying.
The vision vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Sinestro immediately refocused on the battle.
He dodged another energy blast and charged forward.
Two streaks of light raced through space, colliding repeatedly like living meteors.
Each impact illuminated the darkness of the cosmos.
Then everything changed.
A burning pain erupted across Sinestro's shoulder.
The Guardian's attack struck him directly.
Like an object hurled through foam, Sinestro was blasted out of Earth's atmosphere.
"Ugh!"
The impact was devastating.
The immense force rippled through his body.
His chest expanded involuntarily as the shockwave traveled through every muscle and bone.
Pain flashed across his face before he regained control.
Then his eyes widened.
He looked down at his right arm.
The arm wearing the Yellow Lantern Ring trembled uncontrollably.
Muscles spasmed.
Blood vessels pulsed violently beneath his skin.
For a single instant, the Guardian's strike had dispersed the energy flowing through his arm.
The sheer force had nearly shattered the limb.
Taking a deep breath, Sinestro clenched his fist.
Yellow fear energy flowed from his shoulder, down through his arm, and into his hand.
Strength gradually returned.
His fist hardened once more.
His expression became grim.
Below him, Ganthet charged upward.
The Guardian's small blue figure was wrapped in blazing atmospheric friction and a brilliant blue shockwave as he accelerated into space.
He was heading straight toward Sinestro.
Then a thunderous explosion interrupted everything.
Boom!
Sinestro's eyes narrowed sharply.
He looked toward Earth.
What he saw made even him tense.
Mogo was falling.
The living planet-sized Green Lantern was plummeting rapidly toward Earth.