| Synopsis
| - At the Hand Mortuary, young William Hand looks at a body bag. As he unzips it, his mother comes in, telling him that he's been told to stay out of here, but Hand only insists that he just wanted to look at the body. Mrs. Hand asks why he can't be more like his brothers, and young William replies that he doesn't know.
At Ferris Aircraft, Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris buckle under Hector Hammond's telepathic onslaught. Hammond is aware that Hal is Green Lantern and demands that he turn over the ring. Hammond then sees Hal looking at Carol, and tells her that he can't have her. Hal says he doesn't want her, and Hammond throws him across a airstrip. Hal feels the ring slipping off, so he temporarily blinds Hammond. Helping Carol up, Hal tries to get them away, but Hammond throws a fighter at them. However, they're shielded by Sinestro, who has been watching an informs Hammond that he's in violation of 34 laws, both terrestrial and interstellar, including assaulting an officer of the Green Lantern Corps. Sinestro throws a bubble around Hammond's head, rendering him unconcious, and chastizes Hal for being so easily attacked by such a novice telepath. His features obscured by the sun, Carol assumes that he's the Green Lantern from the other week. Sinestro then takes Hal away, leaving a confused Carol behind.
At a local gunshop, Atrocitus, having just killed all the people inside, is building a device which will store the power of the Black for his return to Ysmault. Complete, he holds the device which will take him to William Hand—a cosmic divining rod.
In the desert, Sinestro chastizes Hal for his recklessness, and feels that he needs far more training. Hal says that Kilowog already taught him how to ringsling, and Salakk already instructed him on Power limitations. The only question he has is why the Yellow Impurity exists. Sinestro chuckles, saying that he's also sought the cause for the Yellow Impurity for years, and was even suspended when he accused the Guardians of the Universe for placing the cause in the Central Power Battery. Finally, they reach Abin Sur's burial site. Sinestro explains that Abin was his mentor, and reflects that he was as insolent to Abin as Hal is to him. Sinestro admits that they are both individualists, which lead to Sinestro's questioning, but Abin taught him how to temper that without losing his inquisitive nature.
At that moment, Hal's power ring says that it has a message ready for Sinestro. The message is from Abin Sur, in the vent of his death. Abin wishes Sinestro good fortune, but asks him to complete his final mission. Abin recently discovered the prophecied doom of the universe, which has its origins in the Manhunters fall from grace—the Massacre of Sector 666. Billions of years ago, the suffered a simultaneous gltch which lead them to conclude that there could only be order in the universe if there was no organic life. They descended on the worlds of Sector 666, wiping out all life. There were only five survivors in the entire sector. These beings became the Five Inversions, lead by Atrocitus, who have sought to harness the power of the Blackest Night to take revenge on the Guardians for unleashing the Manhunters. Abin begs Sinestro to complete his mission and stop the Five Inversions. As Hal comments that Abin looked terrified, Sinestro realizes that it was Atrocitus that killed Abin Sur—and that he's still on Earth.
At the Hand Mortuary, a funeral is concluding. Slipping away, William Hand goes to touch the dead body in the casket, only for Atrocitus to break through the wall. Atrocitus throws the casket at William's mother and throws William out of the building into the graveyard. Saying his insides hold the doorway to darkness, Atrocitus prepares to strike, but Sinestro and Hal appear. Declaring them as guilty as their masters, Atrocitus breaks the green chains they wrap him in and attacks. Hal tells William to run, making some dog constructs to get him going. Suddenly, his power ring starts draining. Sinestro says that Atrocitus has a divining rod which can locate and take power. They're going to have to defeat Atrocitus without their rings.
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