Spreading Fear

"Soul, divine power, and magic?"

Shane clenched his fists, a look of surprise crossing his face.

"I seem to be able to sense something extra inside my body, but..."

Before he could finish, Shane's expression suddenly turned solemn.

The itchy sensation deep within his body, which he had thought would calm down after the evolution finished, suddenly struck again.

With no other factors to interfere, Shane quickly locked onto the root cause behind his body's repeated changes.

Gesturing for Rachel to stay quiet, Shane first looked up at the iron roof of the Abandoned Factory warehouse, then hovered slightly and drifted toward the factory's main doors.

Nightwing turned off his earpiece, shifted his position carefully, and peered through his previous observation hole.

Only the grey-robed Girl was left in the open space, while Shane had completely vanished.

"Crap!"

Just as Nightwing thought to quickly relocate, a slightly teasing voice sounded right beside his ear.

"What are you doing lurking up here?"

Nightwing stiffened all over, holding his breath instinctively as his mind raced for an excuse.

Although he already knew that Batman had likely sent him merely to monitor Shane, the two of them had spent three days staking out various nooks and crannies in Gotham together.

Shane was bound to be thoroughly familiar with his hairstyle, accent, and build.

Considering the Kryptonian-like physical stats of the other party, his superhero disguise—complete with a changed tactical suit and an extra domino mask—might not fool the opponent's senses at all.

Nightwing turned his head awkwardly.

"Uh, being a private investigator moonlighting as a superhero should be totally reasonable, right?"

Yet Nightwing found that Shane was not even looking at him.

Instead, he gazed solemnly at the sky, pointing toward the yellow-and-green light that nearly enveloped half of Gotham.

"What is that?"

A deep, raspy voice answered Shane's question.

"A Green Lantern, and a Yellow Lantern ring searching for a host capable of spreading fear."

At some point, a dark figure had also appeared on the edge of the factory roof, staring intently and warily at Shane.

Batman watched Shane's expression closely; he had already guessed who the Yellow Lantern ring was coming for, and Batman had seen firsthand what kind of scum the Sinestro Corps members were.

Just what kind of composition Shane possessed to attract the Yellow Lantern ring was a bit hard to say.

The only problem right now was why the Yellow Lantern ring was taking so long to come down.

"Spreading fear?"

Shane wore a look of seeming bewilderment.

Yet he actually had some memories and impressions of the Yellow Lantern ring, and at the same time, he knew why the ring was currently hovering back and forth over the skies of Gotham.

From the moment his soul fully integrated, he had rejected that call from the deep cosmos.

Naturally, this was not enough to make the Yellow Lantern ring completely give up its search for a host.

On one hand, Gotham City had more than one person compatible with the Yellow Lantern ring; on the other hand, it could still sense Shane's existence.

It was just that the smart program inside the ring could not comprehend why the host that had moments ago appealed to it so overwhelmingly was now emitting such a vague signal.

"The Sinestro Corps, like the Green Lantern Corps where the Green Lantern belongs, are both cosmic-level organizations. But unlike the willpower sought by the Green Lanterns, what the Yellow Lanterns seek are warriors who can spread fear—and you seem to fit that standard."

Batman watched Shane until the latter stopped observing the light in the sky and turned to meet his gaze.

"I see. A corps that likes to spread fear—sounds practically like a man-made Viltrum civilization."

Shane suddenly "came to an understanding," then flashed a meaningful smile at Batman and Nightwing, who was slowly backing away.

Afterward, he slowly extended his right hand toward the sky.

The bewildered Yellow Lantern ring instantly stopped wandering blindly, its smart program recapturing Shane's signal—a powerful individual who could easily spread fear.

In the ring's identification code, the Gotham City below seemed to suddenly light up with a signal flare that overshadowed everything around it.

It shook off the exasperated Green Lantern and plunged downward regardless of the consequences.

"Intelligent Life locked!"

"You belong to the Sinestro Corps!"

"What are you doing?! Shane!"

Nightwing widened his eyes in disbelief, unable to hold back a shout.

Though he was unclear about what Shane had experienced in the past, he found it hard to credit that the gentle boy who had spent three days with him would make such a decisive choice after learning the background of the Sinestro Corps.

Batman remained silent at the side, though he had already lowered his posture and clutched three darts equipped with high explosives in his hand. He wore no particular expression, nor any trace of surprise.

Shane's choice right now had long since appeared in countless scenarios running through his mind.

High in the sky behind the Yellow Lantern ring, Hal Jordan had long since ignored Batman's warnings, roaring as he flew downward.

The only one whose expression remained unchanged was Raven, who was leisurely walking out of the factory.

She readjusted the hood of her grey robe, lifted her chin slightly, and watched the scene above with a blank face.

"How boring..."

All the atmosphere abruptly ceased at Shane's suddenly shifted gesture.

The moment before the Yellow Lantern ring was about to slip onto his finger, he jerked his arm back a fraction, then quickly thrust his hand forward to grip it firmly within his fist.

Nightwing was so startled by this abrupt maneuver that he nearly tweaked his leg, sliding clumsily across the rusted iron sheet.

The Green Lantern had already condensed a massive Green Light fist; he swore that whoever was down there, as long as they dared to become a Yellow Lantern warrior right in front of him, he would punch that damned person and the ring away together.

Yet when he clearly saw the boy's actions, he pulled off a screeching halt in midair.

No one knew better than Hal Jordan just how difficult a temporarily unbonded Power Ring was designed to capture; sometimes even Superman could not always stop it from forcefully slipping onto the finger of its chosen wielder.

Yet Shane was able to effortlessly clutch it in his hand.

Hal gave an awkward cough.

"Uh, whoever you are, what you're holding in your hand isn't a toy. It's an extremely dangerous cosmic-level strategic weapon. Please... please hand it over."

After a rare half-second of stupefaction, Batman tucked his darts away without a change in expression.

"Why is everyone so tense? It was just a joke."

Shane shook his fist, and the intensely struggling Yellow Light still leaked continuously from between his fingers.

"To be honest, this light can actually stimulate my body to evolve. It really is a rare treasure."

Shane slowly drifted over to the silent Batman and extended the hand holding the Yellow Lantern ring.

"But I finally managed to escape from Viltrum, not to join another cosmic organization that spreads fear."

"The Sinestro Corps? Forget it."

Shane looked at the silent Batman, then glanced at the slowly descending Green Lantern, raising an eyebrow.

"You guys should be able to keep this thing safe, right? Besides, I have some additional questions regarding this Yellow Lantern ring."

"Keep it safe? The radiation from the Fear Spectrum is extremely dangerous. Earth doesn't have anything capable of handling--"

Just as Hal intended to state that he would take custody of the Power Ring and transport it back to Oa headquarters for disposal, he saw Batman produce a black square box.

A deep voice carried an unquestionable certainty.

"Put it in. This box can block the radiation of spectrum energy."

With a click, the box snapped shut. Hal first stared in shock at the Green Lantern ring, which had truly ceased its alarm, and then looked at Batman with a horrified gaze.

"No way? Where'd you get that thing? Oa told me that kind of material doesn't even exist in the galaxy!"

Ignoring the shrieking Hal Jordan, Batman snapped his cape out in a fluid sweep and launched himself directly off the factory roof.

"Your questions—we'll discuss them in the Batcave."