Guy Gardner's expression darkened.
His grip tightened around the handle of the Green Lantern axe until the skin between his thumb and forefinger split open from the force. Blood slowly dripped down his hand.
The violent collision had already caused serious internal injuries.
A streak of crimson slipped from the corner of his mouth.
Adrian's strength had shaken him to his core.
Guy had already pushed himself past his limits, even burning through his own life force to draw out greater power. Yet despite everything he had unleashed, he had failed to inflict even the slightest damage on Adrian.
Unease crept into his chest.
His expression remained fierce, but behind the anger, something darker surfaced.
Fear.
Still, Adrian had no intention of giving him room to recover.
He shot forward instantly.
Guy reacted on instinct.
The Green Lantern Ring flashed as a glowing shield formed in front of him.
Boom!
The shield shattered immediately.
The green construct exploded into scattered fragments of willpower, dissolving into glowing specks across the night sky.
The force behind Adrian's strike sent Guy flying.
His body tore through the air like a meteor, streaking upward into the atmosphere.
The friction ignited the space around him, leaving trails of red heat as he cut through the sky at supersonic speed.
Even after the Green Lantern shield had absorbed part of the blow, the remaining force was overwhelming.
Guy felt as though the bones in his arm had shattered.
The impact spread through his body, shaking his organs violently.
Pain twisted through his abdomen.
Blood pooled in his mouth.
He clenched his jaw shut, refusing to cry out, but crimson still escaped from the corner of his lips, painting a red trail behind him.
"Oh my God!"
One of the heroes behind Black Canary gasped as she watched Guy vanish into the sky.
"He's completely unstoppable."
"Stop staring," Black Canary snapped immediately. "We need to move!"
Even she had been stunned by what she witnessed, but panic would not save them.
"We leave now!"
Her sharp eyes swept across the surviving resistance members.
"Head to the aircraft hangar. There are still fighter jets stationed there!"
Despite everything, she still refused to abandon the possibility of fighting Adrian.
"Move! Move!"
Without hesitation, she turned and sprinted toward the hangar.
The others quickly followed.
♦ ♦ ♦
The aircraft hangar was already partially damaged, but several jets remained operational.
Black Canary climbed into one of the fighters at top speed.
The cockpit canopy sealed shut.
The engines roared to life.
The moment the systems activated, she opened a secure communication line.
"Oracle, can you hear me?"
Barbara Gordon's voice came through immediately.
"Loud and clear. What's the situation?"
Black Canary exhaled sharply.
"Complicated."
She pushed the fighter forward as it rolled toward the runway.
"We accidentally became the spark that set everything off."
Barbara frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"It means Adrian, Sinestro, and the Guardians are fully at war now."
The jet lifted into the sky.
Below them, distant explosions still shook the airport.
"And trust me," Black Canary continued, "they're not holding back."
Barbara was already operating from a secondary secure location after evacuating the Batcave.
"Understood," she replied. "Good luck."
Before ending the call, another voice suddenly entered the channel.
Batman.
"Black Canary."
His voice carried its usual rough edge.
"Change course."
She frowned.
"To where?"
"Thule Air Base, Greenland."
Batman pulled up encrypted schematics across his monitors.
"There's a hidden facility there. We can modify the jet and prepare countermeasures."
Black Canary was silent for a second.
Then she nodded.
"Understood."
The transmission ended.
Batman immediately cursed under his breath.
"Damn it."
Barbara turned toward him.
"What happened?"
Batman stood before the monitor wall, his jaw tight.
"We need to warn the Green Lantern Corps to retreat."
Barbara blinked.
"What?"
Batman enlarged the satellite feed.
The battle had escalated far beyond orbit.
Green Lanterns and Yellow Lanterns were now fighting across entire cities.
Skyscrapers had become battlegrounds.
Explosions consumed streets.
Buildings collapsed beneath the force of alien warfare.
The people below had become collateral damage.
"They're using Earth as a battlefield," Batman said grimly.
His expression darkened further.
"Sinestro and Adrian wanted this."
Barbara looked conflicted.
"But what can we actually do?"
Batman remained silent for a moment.
His eyes stayed fixed on the destruction unfolding across the screens.
For someone who spent his life preparing for impossible situations, this was different.
The scale had surpassed humanity.
Far below the chaos in the skies, deep within Ohio, the provisional United States government continued to operate in exile.
Their headquarters sat buried underground.
A replacement Oval Office had been constructed in the bunker, though compared to the White House in Washington, D.C., it felt cramped and lifeless.
The room lacked warmth.
Artificial lighting cast dim shadows over cold walls.
Despite the attempt to recreate authority, the underground office only highlighted how much had been lost.
Gathered inside were some of the few people in America considered impossible for Adrian to control.
The former President.
Three retired Army generals.
Former high ranking intelligence officials.
Two former Navy admirals.
Three former Air Force generals.
Several former members of Congress.
These were the last remnants of organized resistance.
If even they had fallen under Adrian's influence, the United States would have truly ceased to exist.
The former President stood silently near the large screen.
His expression was tense.
Satellite footage of the war reflected across tired eyes.
Sweat clung faintly to his forehead despite the cold winter outside.
He loosened his tie.
Even breathing felt difficult.
"Have the allied countries agreed?" he asked quietly.
General Rosslyn stepped forward.
A rising military officer who had earned influence after General Swanwick's death, Rosslyn had become one of the youngest generals within the exiled military structure.
"They've confirmed cooperation," Rosslyn replied.
His face remained serious.
"In addition, the nuclear payloads have already launched."
The room turned silent.
The former President's eyes flickered.
"Can it kill him?"
No one answered immediately.
Everyone knew who he meant.
Adrian.
"Right now, he's occupied with the Green Lantern Corps," the President continued. "If he's distracted…"
He swallowed.
"This might be our only chance."
Rosslyn hesitated before answering.
"These are the most powerful weapons humanity possesses."
His voice lowered.
"If this fails…"
No one needed him to finish.
The consequences were obvious.
If Adrian survived and discovered what they had done, retaliation would be inevitable.
And there would be nowhere left to run.
The room became unbearably quiet.
The weight of helplessness settled over everyone.
The government of the world's former superpower had been reduced to hiding underground, praying for a miracle.
No one spoke.
All eyes remained fixed on the monitor.
Waiting.
Watching.
Hoping.
It was not only America.
Russia.
The United Kingdom.
China.
Germany.
Canada.
And over a dozen other major nations watched the battle unfold through military satellites.
The outcome of this war would determine Earth's future.
High above the atmosphere, Adrian continued fighting.
The battle with the Guardians of the Universe had intensified.
Even Adrian had underestimated them.
The so called "little blue men" possessed power far beyond appearances.
Despite combining the strength of his Kryptonian abilities with the monstrous adaptation granted by his Doomsday physiology, and even fighting under the advantage of night, Adrian had yet to secure complete dominance.
But Adrian possessed something terrifying.
Adaptation.
His body continuously evolved.
Wounds regenerated at extraordinary speed.
Cells that had once been damaged returned stronger than before.
Every attack slowly lost effectiveness.
Every weakness faded.
His body learned.
Adjusted.
Evolved.
This was the same terrifying ability that had allowed Adrian to overpower Kalibak of Apokolips.
Endless stamina.
Constant evolution.
Eventually, even overwhelming enemies became manageable.
And now, the Guardians were beginning to experience it.
Ganthet finally lost his composure.
Boom!
Adrian's fist broke through the Guardian's defensive barrier.
The impact sent Ganthet crashing backward.
He slammed into an orbiting weather satellite.
Metal folded inward violently as the satellite broke apart, spinning helplessly into deep space.
Far below, humanity had already made its move.
At Thule Air Base in Greenland, hidden launch silos opened.
A nuclear missile carrying a thirty megaton warhead ignited and launched skyward.
Elsewhere, Canadian military facilities followed.
More missiles rose into the night.
From secret American, Canadian, and Arc
tic bases, multiple warheads converged toward the same destination.
Space.
Toward Adrian.
The darkness above Earth lit up with blazing trails.
Across cities, people stopped in the streets and looked skyward.
Smoke lines crossed the heavens like scars.
To ordinary civilians, it almost looked beautiful.
Like fireworks.
But hidden behind that light was humanity's fear.