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Thaal was going to die. He was sure of it.
He had made the, in hindsight, questionable decision to go after Jordan’s new significant other. The Batman . It truly should’ve been easy: the human, pathetic from birth, lacked the abilities of his teammates and the equipment that Jordan had been ingloriously been blessed with.
But it wasn’t easy. It was so difficult, in fact, that not only had this Batman forced Thaal from the cave he dwelt in, but he had also gotten Jordan to arrive within seconds of contacting him. Which lead Thaal to his current situation, a thousand light-years from Earth and barely faster than Jordan himself, who was not only equipped with Abin Sur’s ring, but also a Red Lantern ring, face twisted into an expression reminiscent of the pure rage Thaal had only ever seen on Atrocitus himself before.
Thaal thought he just might have enough charge to increase his speed when he felt a grip on his ankle, gracelessly being thrown into a nearby barren moon. The impact itself didn’t harm him, but the feet colliding with his back at several times the speed of sound certainly did. He was going to feel that in the morning.
A grip on his neck had Sinestro kicking, hands attempting to rip Hal’s hands from his windpipe to no avail. He was turned to face Hal, who seemed unfazed by Thaal’s struggling; if anything, his red rage-filled eyes seemed equal parts entertained and murderous when they met Sinestro’s own eyes.
“You’re really something, Sin. It’s not every day I go full-on Christmas.” Hal said, voice normal except for that edge to it that Thaal detected through less than fabulous experience. “You really need to learn some boundaries.”
Before Thaal could respond, he felt the hands around his throat tighten. It wouldn’t suffocate him, not with the ring on his finger, but he could already feel his vertebrae creaking in response to the pressure around them. None of Thaal’s kicking and scratching seemed to change anything, and all the constructs he sent towards Hal just dissolved in a cloud of red.
Was this it? Had this of all things been where he finally overstepped with Hal?
Before any more pressure was added to Thaal’s throat, Hal’s ring blinked: someone was trying to contact him. It was evidently someone more important than Hal’s want to break Thaal’s neck because the pressure stopped growing, even loosened as Hal listened to whoever contacted to him before Thaal was dropped completely.
“You’re in luck, Sin. Bruce doesn’t want any blood on my hands before dinner.” Hal rose in his red-green glow, leaving Thaal rubbing his neck on the dusty ground beneath him, making his sure way back to Earth. “I can’t guarantee anything for dessert though.”
Perhaps Thaal could convince Farfleeze to protect him.