Hal conceded.
Bruce immediately withdrew the bats, the yellow constructs dissolving into light and flowing back into the ring.
At the same time, he felt relieved.
At least the bottom spot on the rankings still belonged to Hal.
That was good enough.
Clark and Morin were out of the question. One was a natural monster, the other was a super monster. Bruce had already accepted that he probably couldn't beat either of them.
"Perfect control..." a Guardian murmured in disbelief. "He is a born master of fear."
"I concede," Sinestro said flatly.
There was no room to argue.
Between the ring's choice and Bruce's performance, Sinestro had no grounds to protest-especially with the Guardians and Abin Sur clearly siding against him.
The facts were clear.
Whether he followed the rules or broke them, he would lose.
In that case, conceding was the only sensible move.
"Failure isn't frightening," Abin Sur said calmly, his gaze softening slightly as he looked at Sinestro. "What's frightening is lacking the courage to admit it."
Sinestro: "..."
If he still had his ring, he would've attacked Abin Sur on the spot.
He might have won before.
But now-
Wait.
The ring.
Sinestro's eyes sharpened as he turned to the Guardians.
"Guardians, I am willing to wait for the next Yellow Ring. But forging one will take time. During that interval, I require my Green Ring to maintain my combat strength. That way, while Abin Sur and the others go to Earth to stop Parallax, I can remain here to protect Oa."
The others looked at him.
Their faces were composed.
Their eyes were not.
How could someone be this shameless?
"That is a desecration of the Green Ring!" Abin Sur snapped, any lingering sympathy vanishing instantly.
"I still have the right to wield it," Sinestro replied coldly. "Fear has not defeated me. My will remains intact. I am still worthy of the ring's recognition."
"Enough," a Guardian said, raising a hand. "The ring will determine its own master."
He lifted the discarded Green Ring.
"Activate selection protocol."
The ring pulsed faintly and floated upward, releasing a wave of emotional scanning.
Morin immediately raised his maximum mental shielding, even reinforcing it with an electromagnetic field-effectively turning himself into a human Faraday cage.
He had already rejected yellow.
There was no way he wanted green.
As for willpower, Morin was confident he didn't lose to anyone.
The Green Ring flew straight toward Sinestro.
A smile finally appeared on Sinestro's face.
He reached out.
Relief flooded him.
Even if he failed to become a Yellow Lantern, remaining a Green Lantern was still acceptable.
However-
Just before his fingers closed, the Green Ring abruptly veered aside.
It looped cleanly around Sinestro's body and shot past him.
Straight toward Bruce.
Bruce had just finished retracting his fear energy, his suit returning to matte black.
"Intelligent lifeform identified. Bruce Wayne of Earth. You possess the will to overcome great fear. Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps."
Bruce: "..."
Everyone else: "!!!"
Sinestro's stare could've killed.
You stole the Yellow Ring I spent my life trying to create.
And now you're taking my Green Ring too?
That wasn't rude.
That was inhuman.
Bruce thought calmly: I just didn't want to stay yellow, so I adjusted the output. The ring came to me on its own.
Judging by Sinestro's expression, that explanation would not be accepted.
"Unprecedented," a Guardian said, stunned. "Dual selection."
Two rings.
Two opposing energies.
"We have never witnessed a dual-bearer," the Guardian continued. "Let alone one chosen simultaneously by Will and Fear. Green signifies the ability to overcome fear. Yellow signifies immense fear that can be wielded."
Abin Sur glanced at Sinestro-already red-faced and furious.
Correction.
More red than usual.
He felt an unexpected surge of satisfaction.
Earlier, he had felt some pity. Sinestro had truly lost everything.
But the moment Sinestro tried to reclaim the Green Ring like a spare tool, that pity evaporated.
In Sinestro's eyes, was the Green Ring nothing more than equipment to be picked up and discarded?
Unacceptable.
Seeing the ring reject him outright filled Abin Sur with pure joy.
Sinestro treated the ring like garbage.
Now the ring returned the favor.
Karma.
Beautiful karma.
Morin wasn't surprised.
In the original canon, Bruce was infamous for forcing nearly every ring-except Black and White-to work for him, even without formal selection.
Protocol said it was impossible.
Reality disagreed.
Classic Batman.
DC's golden child.
Seeing Bruce obtain both rings here wasn't shocking at all.
"I see," Bruce said, calmly reaching out and taking the ring. "So I just need to make sure the two energies never meet."
"I get it!" Hal suddenly lit up. "It's like being a player! If you're seeing multiple girls, you just schedule them so they never meet!"
Everyone: "..."
The logic was sound.
The experience behind it was concerning.
Bruce ignored Hal. Otherwise, he'd feel like an actual player-dating two people at once without either knowing.
That required terrifying technical skill.
In simple terms, Bruce would need absolute control over both fear and will to prevent violent interaction between the energies.
He took a breath.
Then put on the Green Ring.
Light flared.
Bruce recited the oath.
"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 glow faded.
Bruce immediately suppressed the willpower output.
He was still in full Batman gear.
If it turned green-
That outcome was unacceptable.
Morin was standing right there.
Bruce knew, with certainty, that it would become permanent blackmail material.
"Phew..."
Bruce felt his strength rise sharply.
He glanced at Morin.
Then stopped.
He looked at Hal instead.
Wait.
What were those three doing?
Morin, Clark, and Hal were huddled together, whispering.
Bruce felt a bad premonition.
Are they plotting something?
Then he relaxed.
If Morin wanted to teach him a lesson, he wouldn't need help.
It must be something else.
Still-
Even with two rings, the gap between him and Morin felt clearer than ever.
He still couldn't win.
And strangely, the rings didn't feel prestigious at all.
No one seemed impressed.
Bruce felt oddly hollow.
At least he wasn't last anymore.
That feeling...
Acceptance?
Not quite.
In reality, the trio wasn't discussing Bruce at all.
It started with Hal's "player" comment.
That had caught Clark's attention.
Clark didn't want to be a player.
But Jor-El did want him to "seed" Earth with Kryptonian blood.
Whether that was feasible-or acceptable-was another matter.
But during training, Jor-El's constant pressure had worn him down.
Clark figured he might eventually need to look like he was trying.
Just to get his father off his back.
Classic "I'm working on it" behavior.
The real problem?
Lois Lane.
She absolutely could not find out.
As Clark pondered this, Hal's words felt like revelation.
He pulled Hal aside and started whispering.
Morin noticed.
And heard everything.
This is bad, Morin thought.
Doing this without consulting me?
As a retired professional, Morin had experience.
Plenty of it.
So naturally, a lecture began.
On forbidden knowledge.
"Dating for Players."
Bruce wandered over, curious. He had nothing left to flex with anyway-there were seven thousand Green Lanterns just like him.
They didn't stop talking.
They just made room.
Bruce listened.
Then slapped his knee.
Being a player?
That was his domain.
Clark's respect skyrocketed.
He realized he was surrounded by veterans while he was still a rookie.
Determined to learn, he asked Bruce for advice.
Bruce said calmly, "Simple. Grab a random supercar. Invite a few actresses or models. Five-star hotel for dinner. If they have too many conditions, buy the hotel as a Wayne Enterprises expansion. Everything flows naturally after that."
Morin and Hal: "Rich people, get out."
Nearby, the Guardians were deeply uncomfortable.
The first dual-bearer in history had just acquired both Yellow and Green Rings-
And immediately ignored them to hold a group discussion.
Given the context, the Guardians strongly suspected the topic was something like:
"So these rings are actually easy to get?"
"Is the Corps kind of a joke?"
They were furious.
But helpless.
Abin Sur was calm.
Even smug.
Especially when watching Sinestro.
Sinestro's inner monologue was screaming.
Where is my ring?
My Yellow Ring?
My Green Ring?
Give me something!
If this were a game, floating debuffs would be stacking endlessly above his head.
-1
-1
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Negative Emotion.
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