In brightest day, in blackest night.
No evil shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil's might.
Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!
The first time Hal heard this oath, unique to the Green Lantern Legion, its majestic words had shaken him to the core.
The oath was not merely a passphrase for charging a Green Lantern ring. It was a banner beneath which every Green Lantern warrior reaffirmed their convictions.
Whenever Hal activated his ring, he silently recited the oath. It gave him limitless inner strength, and every time, his ring answered with immensely powerful green energy.
As he threw his punch, looking at Brad's seemingly innocent face, Hal felt certain he looked incredibly cool.
Brad tilted his head slightly, then turned toward a back door in the hall. He appeared to be walking normally, yet each step carried him four or five body lengths. Strangely, no one noticed, as though he did not exist at all.
Of course, a hall intended for public tours would not contain laboratory equipment. But the Skynet Research Institute lay just beyond it, and he could hardly wait to start studying the Green Lantern ring.
Puzzled, Hal withdrew his fist. He had sensed no response from his ring. No energy had filled his body, and his standard uniform had not appeared.
A crystal-clear Yellow Lantern ring sat on Hal's middle finger. Meanwhile, Brad, nearly at the back door and disappearing behind the crowd, held Hal's Green Lantern ring between his thumb and index finger.
"Damn it! When did he do that?"
The Green Lantern ring on Hal's hand had somehow been replaced with a Yellow Lantern ring without his noticing. He had just silently recited the Green Lantern oath to a Yellow Lantern ring. No wonder it had not responded.
Barry shuddered