At the heart of the ruined battlefield in Coast City, Adrian stood amid destruction, his body locked in a relentless cycle of collapse and regeneration. Muscles tore apart and reformed in rapid succession, each reconstruction stronger than before. Though Hal's earlier blast had inflicted catastrophic damage, the Doomsday gene module within Adrian refused to let him fall.
The nuclear explosion from earlier had not been wasted on him. He had absorbed its energy, stored it, refined it. That power now sustained him against Parallax.
Even if Hal's strength currently surpassed his own, Adrian could endure. And once he endured, he would adapt.
Hal did not notice, or perhaps he simply did not care. His focus remained entirely on Clark, who attacked with unrestrained fury.
Clark's strength alone might not rival Hal's, but his relentless assault forced Hal onto the defensive. Each strike came with desperate intensity, leaving little room for Hal to counter cleanly.
While the two clashed, Adrian completed his recovery.
His uniform hung in tatters, barely clinging to his body. The composed image he once maintained had shattered along with it. His hair fell loose and disordered, blood traced a thin line from the corner of his mouth, and his eyes sharpened into something cold and unforgiving.
His body had evolved again.
Muscle fibers thickened and swelled, his skin splitting open and healing in rapid succession. Bone protrusions formed along his arms, reshaping him into something closer to Doomsday itself. Within him, countless genetic recombinations had already taken place, refining him into a more lethal form.
Adrian clenched his fists, his expression hardening.
"Good," he said under his breath. "Now you face death."
On the other side, Clark surged forward, his fist tearing through the air toward Hal.
Hal responded without hesitation. With a flick of his hand, a green chain lashed outward, wrapping around a damaged skyscraper behind them.
In a single motion, he hurled it.
The half-destroyed building, encased in emerald energy, slammed toward Clark.
The impact detonated through the night.
A thunderous crash echoed across the city, vibrations rippling for miles. Debris rained down in a chaotic storm, mixing with the relentless downpour.
Clark could not evade in time.
The building struck him head-on, burying him beneath its mass.
The ground trembled violently, shockwaves tearing through the surrounding area. Nearby structures collapsed under the force, and fragments of concrete and steel blasted outward in all directions.
The roar of destruction drowned even the thunder above.
Hal lowered his hand, watching the rubble settle.
Clark was pinned beneath the wreckage, unmoving.
That was enough.
Hal had never considered Clark a true threat. Compared to Adrian's overwhelming presence, Clark had always seemed secondary, almost invisible. Even among the ranks of heroes, he lacked the weight Adrian carried.
Hal turned away from the ruins, his attention returning to Adrian.
Adrian stood once more.
Hal's expression remained unchanged. There was no concern in his eyes, only cold certainty. He had defeated Adrian once already. Doing so again would be no different.
Confidence radiated from him, sharpened further by his victory over Sinestro.
Then everything shifted.
A streak of yellow lightning tore through the rain, descending with impossible speed.
Hal's eyes narrowed.
It was a Yellow Lantern Ring.
The ring cut through the storm, leaving a glowing trail before stopping above Adrian's head. Its light reflected off Adrian's battered yet imposing form, illuminating his sharp features and unwavering gaze.
For a brief moment, Adrian simply looked at it.
Then he raised his hand.
The ring slid onto his finger.
Golden light erupted into the night.
The storm itself seemed to recoil as the glow spread outward, casting long, distorted shadows across the ruins. The yellow radiance carried something deeper than power. It carried fear.
"Intelligent life detected. Adrian of Krypton. You have the ability to instill great fear. Welcome to the Sinestro Corps."
Adrian remained silent.
He studied the ring with quiet focus, turning his hand slightly as the yellow energy coiled around his fingers like liquid light. The surface felt smooth, almost fluid, as if it existed between matter and energy.
He had not called for it.
He had not sought it.
Yet it had chosen him.
Perhaps it sensed something deeper within him. Something darker.
His thoughts flickered briefly to the indescribable entities buried within his mind. If the ring drew power from fear, then it had found an endless source.
Adrian lifted his gaze.
In the distance, Sinestro lay on the ground, barely conscious after his earlier defeat. Even in that state, his expression twisted with shock as he saw the ring on Adrian's hand.
Adrian did not linger on him.
"A weapon fueled by fear," Adrian murmured.
He closed his eyes.
At once, the world changed.
Fear flooded into him.
Not just from the battlefield, but from everywhere.
He felt it spreading across the planet, seeping into his awareness. The cries of frightened children, the despair of the abandoned, the silent terror of those trapped in suffering, all of it converged within him.
War-torn regions bled fear into the void, entire populations drowning in violence and loss. Cities burdened by invisible pressure contributed their own quiet dread, the everyday anxieties of countless lives feeding the same current.
Every whisper of fear was drawn into the ring.
And into Adrian.
To an ordinary mind, it would have been overwhelming. Crushing. Enough to shatter sanity.
Adrian did not falter.
Compared to what already existed within him, this fear was insignificant.
His eyes opened again, unchanged.
Yellow lightning crackled around his body as he stepped forward.
Nearby, Clark pulled himself free from the rubble. He stared at Adrian, stunned by the transformation, by the sheer presence radiating from him.
Hal felt it too.
Something was wrong.
The Parallax entity within him stirred uneasily. For the first time, doubt crept into Hal's thoughts.
Why did this feel more dangerous than Parallax itself?
Adrian did not give him time to understand.
The skin around Adrian's eyes glowed red, heat building rapidly. His pupils burned with focused intensity.
Then he exhaled.
Twin beams of Heat Vision erupted into the storm, blazing through the darkness. The crimson energy, laced with the swirling yellow power of fear, tore across the battlefield toward Hal.
The air warped under the force.
The impact came instantly.
A violent explosion ignited the sky, flames surging outward as a hurricane of energy tore through the rain. The night lit up in blinding brilliance.
Hal was swallowed whole by the blast.