Although Barry claimed he was not suited for photography, he somehow ended up with a camera right in the middle of the battlefield.
From the ground, Bart Allen, the Wonder Twins, and Mera looked up nervously at Adrian's fight raging high above the city. Each time they tried to focus on the battle, they heard the repeated clicking of a camera shutter.
Click, click, click.
Confused, they all turned their attention to Barry.
He was completely absorbed in what he was doing, moving at super speed across different positions on the ground just to find better angles. Each moment he stopped, he snapped more photos of the sky like a professional paparazzi chasing a celebrity.
J'onn's sister, Jena, frowned slightly.
"What is he doing?" she asked Bart.
Bart shrugged. "No idea. Maybe he suddenly discovered he likes photography."
Jena squinted at Barry as he darted from spot to spot.
"He looks a bit…"
She hesitated, searching for the right word.
Bart finished it for her. "Creepy?"
Jena blinked.
Before she could respond, Zan nodded firmly. "Yes, creepy."
Jena stared at both of them in disbelief. "Do you really have to say that out loud?"
At that moment, her attention shifted as another Green Lantern crashed from the sky nearby.
Her expression hardened. "Enough watching. We have work to do."
---
Ten minutes later.
Boom.
Boom.
Two powerful shockwaves tore through the upper atmosphere as Hal Jordan and John Stewart broke through the boundary of space and entered Earth's airspace.
They had finally arrived in Metropolis.
What they saw below made both of them freeze.
The city was in ruins.
Entire buildings had collapsed. Craters marked the streets like artillery impact zones. Long fissures stretched across the ground, splitting roads and plazas apart. The city hall square had been completely destroyed, reduced to rubble and broken stone.
John slowly descended first, scanning the devastation.
He knelt and picked up a chunk of debris, then stood back up with a heavy expression.
"Are we too late? What happened here?"
Hal did not answer immediately. His eyes moved across the battlefield, taking in everything.
The damage was not random. It was the result of overwhelming force concentrated in one place.
Then they saw a figure buried in the rubble.
A Green Lantern.
Both of them rushed over.
Hal used his ring to lift the debris off her body.
"It's Aresa," John said immediately.
She was barely conscious, covered in dust and injuries.
"I can stabilize her," John said quickly. Green energy flowed from his ring, beginning to mend her wounds.
"Can she speak?" Hal asked.
"It will take time," John replied.
But before he finished, Aresa forced her eyes open.
"Go… save them…" she said weakly.
Hal leaned closer. "Where?"
Aresa raised her hand slightly, pointing in a direction.
Then she lost consciousness again.
Hal immediately stood up. "Stay with her."
He shot into the sky without hesitation, heading in the direction she indicated.
---
Far from the city hall, in the sky above the ruined battlefield, Kilowog hovered unsteadily.
Blood covered his face. His armor was shattered. His breathing was heavy and uneven.
He lowered his head, unable to even look at Adrian directly.
"We surrender," he said.
His voice carried humiliation and exhaustion.
"We failed. Let us take our injured… and our fallen."
The Green Lantern Corps had been nearly wiped out.
One man had done it.
Adrian.
Kilowog clenched his fists tightly. His pride had already been destroyed, but what remained was worse, regret.
If he had made different choices, if he had stopped earlier, maybe none of this would have happened.
He hated Adrian.
But he hated himself more.
Behind Adrian, Wonder Woman shifted slightly, as if considering stepping in. Shazam looked conflicted but stayed silent.
Kilowog waited.
Adrian's response came immediately.
"No."
A heavy silence followed.
"Why?" Hal Jordan's voice suddenly cut through the air.
He landed between them, walking directly toward Adrian without hesitation.
His expression was strained, but controlled.
"Adrian, I don't know what you think you're doing, but don't make that decision."
Hal glanced at the battlefield around them. The destruction. The bodies. The surviving Lanterns.
His voice lowered.
"You're going too far."
Adrian looked at him calmly.
"I cannot let them return to Oa," he said. "Not after this."
Hal shook his head quickly. "Then this becomes war. You understand that, right?"
"It already is," Adrian replied.
Hal stepped closer. "No, listen to me. There is still a way to fix this. That's why I escaped Oa. I came here because I believe you can still choose differently."
Adrian's gaze sharpened slightly.
"You talk as if I am the villain here, Hal. And them as heroes. That is not reality."
Hal clenched his jaw. "I am a Green Lantern. I don't take lives unless there is absolutely no other choice."
John Stewart arrived quietly and stood nearby, observing both sides without interruption.
Adrian exhaled slowly.
"Letting them go guarantees future conflict. You will see them again, and next time it will be worse."
Hal's voice rose slightly. "And killing them guarantees war now."
A pause followed.
Then Hal added more softly, "We can still resolve this without more death."
Adrian's expression remained unchanged.
"The decision is made."
He turned slightly, preparing to leave.
Then his voice came again, colder.
"Shazam. Finish it."
He began walking away with Wonder Woman.
The injured Green Lanterns remained behind.
Shazam did not move.
Adrian stopped.
His eyes narrowed.
"Shazam?"
Shazam looked down, clearly struggling.
"I… I can't do it," he admitted.
The words hung in the air.
Adrian turned fully toward him.
"That is your answer?"
Shazam swallowed. "I think… they already surrendered. They are not attacking anymore."
Wonder Woman stepped forward calmly.
"Surrendered enemies are still enemies," she said. "History is full of prisoners who were executed after defeat. It is not unusual."
Silence returned again.
Adrian looked at Hal, Shazam, and John.
He studied them for a long moment.
Then he spoke.
"I will not kill them now."
Relief barely began to form before he continued.
"But they are prisoners of war."
He turned toward Kilowog.
"Hand over your ring."
Kilowog's expression changed instantly.
"No," he said firmly.
His hand tightened around the ring instinctively.
"That ring is everything I am."
Adrian took a step forward.
"Then you remain here and die with it."
Hal raised his hand quickly. "Kilowog, give it up. Now."
Kilowog hesitated.
His body trembled slightly.
Finally, slowly, he removed the ring.
His hand shook as he extended it toward Adrian.
The ring was taken.
Kilowog lowered his head in silence, humiliated but alive.
And deep inside, he held onto one thought.
The Guardians would come.