"You're going to attack me in the Hall of Justice?"
Though Sinestro refused to back down verbally, he still raised his Power Ring.
Whatever else happened, taking a punch from a reckless brute like Shazam would definitely hurt.
Flash and Hal exchanged a glance, then moved up alongside Shazam.
"Superman won't allow this. Don't make this uglier than it needs to be, Sinestro."
Yellow Lantern Hal issued his warning in a low voice.
Sinestro froze.
Then, under the three men's baffled gazes, he suddenly burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! I thought you were about to offer some profound insight. Is that all...? Don't tell me you think this is the first person I've arrested and tortured?"
Sinestro licked the corner of his mouth and flashed a savage, bloodthirsty grin.
"Just how much have you been slacking off lately? This is the thirteenth person I've tortured! Want to guess how many survived?"
Hal's pupils contracted sharply, but Shazam was already seeing red. He couldn't withstand that kind of provocation, and lightning began crackling all over his body. He suddenly raised his fist, gathering immense power in an instant as every table and chair in the lounge began to tremble.
"You! Are! Dead!!!"
Sinestro quickly stopped laughing and instinctively took a step back.
He hadn't expected Shazam to be so easy to provoke. Back when he and Hal, who had still been a Green Lantern then, traded trash talk, they'd said things far more outrageous than this.
At the crucial moment, Flash seized Shazam's wrist.
"Don't attack him-if what he's saying is true, that means Superman has already tacitly approved it."
Shazam's eyes widened slightly. Then his expression grew even angrier, and he shook off Flash's restraining hand.
"Superman approves of this?! This bullshit regime..."
Before Shazam could do anything else, however, an