by Amalia (mention) » Wed Sep 23, 2026 2:29 am
Hal’s power ring was long since spent when Sinestro’s minions dragged him before the leader of their Corps, stripped bare, scrubbed clean, and held in manacles formed of yellow light. Sinestro hovered above them, and Hal assumed he did it to force everyone to look up at him. He smiled down at them almost beatifically, though his fanged grin held nothing but wickedness.
“Wonderful,” said Sinestro, “you managed to get the right Green Lantern.” He drifted down to get a better look at Hal. “And unharmed, I trust?” He took Hal by the chin and lifted his head to examine him.
“Thanks for the concern,” Hal deadpanned.
“It’s almost a shame you never learned to mind your ring’s charge. I planned the ambush. Catching you in space, far from any system, I knew you’d fight until there was nothing left to shield you. What would you have done if they’d meant to let you die in the vacuum?”
Hal’s hands clenched into fists. He wanted to punch Sinestro.
“Luckily for you, I want you alive,” said Sinestro. “I plan to break you personally.” The certainty in his voice made Hal’s fists clench harder.
Sinestro summoned a yellow ring upon a golden chain. “That is, unless you’d rather join my Corps, of course. That offer remains open and always will.”
Hal opened his mouth to tell Sinestro exactly where he could shove his ring, but a gag appeared over his mouth, the construct virtually clamping it shut.
“No need to answer yet,” said Sinestro. “After how many times we’ve had this conversation, I assumed the order would be to break you first, and only then, when there is nothing left but fear, you’ll join me. I’d honestly be disappointed if you didn’t want to do this the hard way.”
Other Sinestro Corps members stepped forward with a device Hal had never seen. Sinestro came forward, pulled Hal’s green ring off his finger, and placed the necklace holding the yellow power ring around Hal’s neck.
“Your ring is useless,” said Sinestro, “the ring I just gave you is fully charged, and where you’re going you’ll need it.”
Sinestro let the gag fade, dismissed the chains and other constructs, then grabbed Hal and held him aloft.
“Have you ever seen a fish caught by a seabird?” Sinestro asked. “I’m going to reduce you in sizeHal Jordan, and then I’m going to eat you. Swallow you in one gulp like a seabird with a fish.”
Before Hal could respond, Sinestro switched on the machine, and Hal shrank while Sinestro held him in place, hovering at face height.
“There,” said Sinestro, “perfect size, you’ll slide right down my gullet and begin your stay in my stomach.”
“What?” Hal bit out. He’d thought nothing Sinestro could sink to could surprise him anymore, but this? Shock and disbelief hit at once. He couldn’t be serious. “Why?”
“I’ll take a moment to educate you,” he said. “I’ve studied humans. Despite being the dominant species on your planet, your ancestors weren't apex predators, and even modern humans aren’t always at the top of the food chain. Human beings seem to have a deeply ingrained fear of being eaten. What predators you didn’t drive to extinction are on the brink, and if a human is taken, your people will slit the belly of every possible culprit until you can pry the body back. It’s fascinating; what other creature is so desperate not to be prey? Consciously, you’re fearless, Jordan, but subconsciously? In the base part of your brain driven purely by instinct?”
“What are you, an evil anthropologist? Was lowering me into an alien shark tank too cliché?”
“Since my ancestors, unlike yours, did evolve from apex predators, why shouldn’t I have the pleasure?” Sinestro chuckled. “I told you, little Lantern. I’m going to break you, or break you down, depending on how far into the digestive process you get. No where was I…oh yes, after I’ve swallowed you I will give you a moment to get acquainted with your new home, settle in and consider your options. Though you should make your mind up quickly. Your stay in my stomach won’t be long, I’m afraid. Once you’re in there it should take five to ten minutes before the digestive acids and enzymes start to make things uncomfortable. How long you’ll survive after that may vary, though we are obligate carnivores, my kind tends to digest things slowly. In any case, you’ll still have plenty of time to get yourself out of your predicament.” He hooked the tiny necklace with the tip of his claw-like obsidian fingernail, “This ring,” he said, “can protect you—if you use it.” He let it fall back against Hal’s chest. “Either way, I am going to have you, Hal.”
He drew Hal closer and licked his lips before leaning in to whisper, “And I like the way you taste.” Then he gave the gentlest lick over Hal’s cheek.
Hal remembered how, in what seemed like another life, Sinestro had kissed him so fervently—greedy, hungry kisses that trailed down his body, sometimes giving way to sharp, fierce bites as if his lover needed to mark him.
“Let me know if you change your mind, Hal,” said Sinestro. “Would it really be so bad to be together again, fighting on the same side? You’d be my right hand, the second most powerful being in the universe. Think of what we can do together.”
“Fuck you, you son of a b-” The gag returned.
“So crass, Jordan,” he said with an air of disappointment. “Dinner it is then.”
Sinestro’s lips parted, revealing slightly pointed teeth and saber-sharp canines. Bird and fish was the wrong analogy; this was more cat and mouse. Hal was small enough to fit in Sinestro’s mouth, but he doubted he was small enough to swallow whole.
Sinestro wants you alive, Hal reminded himself. He isn’t going to bite you in half. Still, his stomach twisted at the thought.
Sinestro used the energy holding Hal aloft to lift him above his mouth, turn him upside down, and hold him there dangling by his legs. Then Sinestro opened his jaws wider and lowered Hal slowly into his mouth. Hal found he could move his arms. Right—put on the ring and end this.
Even without saying the oath, Hal knew Sinestro could sense the moment the ring slid onto his finger. Then it would stop, the gag would come off, and he would speak the oath and give Sinestro what he wanted.
Fuck that. Sinestro could take his life if he wanted, but he wouldn’t take his free will. Let him do his worst. Hal hoped he gave him indigestion.
Without warning, Hal was dropped into the gaping maw below him, and the gag vanished along with the force holding him. For a moment, he thought he’d fall straight down Sinestro’s throat, but then Sinestro lowered his chin, leaving Hal splayed over his tongue. His legs pressed against the top edge of Sinestro’s teeth, but the jaws didn’t close.
Scrambling to turn around, he saw Sinestro’s finger push his legs inside over the teeth and past the gums before withdrawing with a smacking sound; then the jaws snapped closed, trapping Hal within the tight confines of his mouth.
Then Sinestro pressed Hal against the roof of his mouth with his tongue and rolled him around on it, sucking him like a piece of candy. Hal tried to find his footing, to right himself, to get leverage to force Sinestro’s jaws open, but it was useless. Everything was slick, and every time he pulled himself up, Sinestro’s tongue pressed flat again.
“Mmm,” Sinestro gave a soft sound of satisfaction verging on a closed-mouth moan as he continued to lick at Hal. Then he began to purr, adding a faint vibration to the sensation of his tongue toying with him.
Was Sinestro drawing out tasting him to torment him, or simply enjoying it?
He had to stay calm. Maybe if Sinestro spent enough time playing with his food, someone might even show up to rescue him. Of course, once Sinestro swallowed, no one would ever find him. Please don’t swallow, he silently prayed. You like how I taste, you sick fuck, so go on, take your time.
Hal could feel his heart pounding. He was starting to panic and forced his mind still. Just think, he told himself, he’s going to swallow you alive. He forced himself to see an objectively horrific statement as something calming. For now, it meant he was safe.
The movements of Sinestro's tongue were careful and controlled, like tying a knot in a cherry stem. The force was never enough to crush, just enough to pin him gently. Sinestro dextrously avoided covering his face so he could still breathe.
This wasn’t so bad, as far as torture went; there wasn’t even any pain. The sensation itself could have almost been pleasant if it wasn’t for the fact that he was inside a fucking mouth.
The tongue pushed him around again, turning and repositioning Hal until his head faced the front of Sinestro’s mouth. The teeth parted slightly. Sinestro was fucking with him, goading him to fight, pry his jaws open, and maybe lose some fingers in the process. As long as there was enough of a stump to slide the ring on, it wouldn’t matter. Maybe Sinestro wanted to keep a bit of him even if Hal did agree to join him, or maybe he just wanted a taste of Hal’s blood.
Then Sinestro tilted his head back again and let gravity pull the saliva-slick Hal toward his throat. As he did, he opened his mouth again, allowing Hal one last look at the outside world as the last light he’d ever see poured in to frame the silhouette of Sinestro’s teeth. Hal scrambled, bare feet seeking purchase but only sliding deeper before—
Gulp.
Sinestro’s gullet pushed Hal down as he was pumped through by the rhythmic squeeze of Sinestro’s throat. It wasn’t like sliding or falling, not fast but steady and tight. For what could have been only five to ten seconds but felt longer, Hal couldn’t breathe, but before panic could set in, the pulsing flesh surrounding him pushed him through an opening into a larger chamber. Hal gasped for air as he fell into the soft, squelching flesh.
Welcome to Sinestro’s stomach, Hal thought, followed by a string of curses as his mind began to race despite himself…
Sinestro let out a belch, and Hal heard several thumps as Sinestro gave his belly a satisfied pat, purring all the while.
Oh, shit, oh shit, oh shit. Sinestro had really done it; he’d eaten him, and no one would ever know unless he told them, which Sinestro might. Hal went cold. He imagined rescue showing up too late to save him, Sinestro laughing as his friends demanded, ‘What have you done with him?’ ‘Oh, he’s long gone, and I’d offer to let you retrieve the body, but it’s somewhere in my lower intestines by now.’
“Stop it,” Hal hissed at himself. He didn’t need to invent scenarios in his mind to torment himself when reality had enough torment in store. He heard a large gulp and fresh air down into the stomach, no doubt to keep him conscious for when the acid started.
Then a disorienting weightless feeling hit him, but he shook it off. He knew the feeling of lifting off well enough and had never been motion sick.
The purring stopped as the vague sense of movement around him continued. Sinestro probably left the audience chamber, heading back to his rooms to gloat in private. But Sinestro’s voice, when it came, was not as smug as he’d expected.
“Are you alive?” he asked.
Hal did not dignify the question with a response. He kept still.
“Answer me, Jordan,” Sinestro ordered.
Then the world shifted again as Sinestro lay back in the bed, and Hal instinctively tried to right himself and find his footing, which he immediately lost as his fleshy prison rippled with Sinestro’s chuckle.
“I can feel you, Hal,” said Sinestro, “what a curious sensation. Though I thought you’d fight more on the way down. I was worried I might have…well, needless to say I’m pleased that you’re all right. For now.”
“Can’t have me dying too quick, right?” Hal said bitterly. “You want this slow, painful.”
“With plenty of time for you to come to your senses, my dear,” he said, resting his hand on his belly again.
“I’m surprised you can hear me,” said Hal.
“I’ve modified the ring,” said Sinestro, “both to ensure that when you do put it on you will not be able to use it to attack me or otherwise harm me, and to allow us to communicate in the meantime.”
“Better to hear me scream?” he asked.
“I don’t want it to come to that,” said Sinestro. “You know I never wanted to kill you; nothing’s changed, even if the manner of your death is probably the best scenario I could devise.”
“Because it’ll hurt?”
“Because you are mine.” The words were practically a growl. He felt the outline of Sinestro’s hand pressing against his belly as if to cradle Hal through the walls of flesh. Hal kicked the side of his stomach wall.
Sinestro made a sound of surprise. “Kick all you want,” he said, “it actually feels nice.”
“This is so fucked up,” he growled, sitting down, arms crossed, determined not to move or do anything that sick bastard might enjoy.
“I can’t help my instincts,” said Sinestro, “or that I like having you so close, in a way we’ve never been closer to anyone than we are to each other right now.” The purring started again, and Sinestro yawned deeply.
“I’m going to die here,” Hal barked.
“Put on that ring, and you’re perfectly safe,” Sinestro countered. “If you insist on suicidal stubbornness, that’s your own choice. An unfortunate one, but at least you’ll always be a part of me.”
Hal huffed at that, a rhyme vaguely remembered from a children’s book came unbidden to his mind. “Oh please don’t go—I’ll eat you up—I love you so.”
“The clock’s ticking Jordan-”
“Oh shut the fuck up! Do you always talk to your food this much?”
“Jordan,” Sinestro scolded, “I do not make it a habit of eating food while it's still alive, let alone sapient beings.”
“Great, I’m just special.”
“No one more so,” he said, his words dripping with fondness, “you’re the greatest Green Lantern who ever lived, the dearest friend I’ve ever had, and the love of my life. That’s the tragedy of it.” The purring stopped again.
“And let me guess, it doesn’t have to be this way,” Hal said mockingly. “I just have to submit. You know I’m not afraid to die, even like this- though I’d thought we’d have it out fair and square in an equal fight, you sadistic son of a bitch.”
“Sadistic? Oh my dear,” Sinestro crooned, “when it comes to hurting you, it’s entirely masochistic. I’m sorry this isn’t the glorious battle you wanted. I did consider it,” said Sinestro, “but I want to give you one last chance to change your mind, and I trust you will. You’re not stupid, Jordan. This is senseless-”
Sinestro’s words were cut off by Hal’s cry of pain as the chamber started to slowly fill with corrosive fluids, the sound of his scream mingled with gurgles as Sinestro’s stomach began to churn. Hal breathed in through clenched teeth and choked on air itself.
“Ah fuck,” he groaned. He wondered how long it would take him to die. And he could stop it; the ring was there, it would be so easy.
And then what? Lose himself to fear? Serve Sinestro, become a killer, a tyrant? He’d rather endure this pain than hurt anyone.
The stomach’s churning intensified, pushing him further into the pooling acid at the base so the burning moved beyond his calves to his thighs before he could scramble out.
Could Sinestro feel him struggling? Was he waiting to see which would come first, the cries and struggles fading or sensing Hal put on the ring? Was he enjoying Hal’s struggles, despite himself, a predatory satisfaction buried deep within the Korugian’s evolutionary history mingled with the influence of the ring, which fed on fear and made the wielder revel in it?
And being afraid to put on the ring, of losing himself to it, wasn’t that letting fear master him too?
His hand reached for the chain and found the ring. He had to get it on before he lost his footing again or passed out. Disoriented in the midst of pulsating muscle and noxious fumes and his own agony, he groped for the ring and slid it on his finger, choking out the oath as fast as he could say it. The ring instantly raised a protective field around him. Hal drew in clean air as he slumped, curling into the fetal position as its power shielded him from further harm.
“Hal!” Sinestro’s telepathic cry as their rings linked their minds, but more than thought, a wave of emotion. Sinestro’s terror crashed over him like a wave before ebbing into relief. “You stubborn, pigheaded idiot- why did you wait so long?”
He felt the weightless sensation again; the gentle rocking as Sinestro moved felt almost relaxing. Right, if the pain stopped, either his nerve endings were gone, or he was going into shock. “Not good. Very not good.”
“Hold on,” Sinestro said telepathically, as if giving an order. “Stay awake. I’m taking you to med-bay. You are not allowed to die on me now, do you understand me?”
For once in his life, Hal did his best to obey at least until Sinestro spat him out onto a medical bed.
“You sounded like a cat with a hairball,” Hal mused telepathically, ready to pass out and not really caring if he died in a way that felt less like fearlessness and more like utter inability to give a fuck anymore.
***
When he woke, he was back to his normal size, covered in fresh bandages. No pain, which was probably thanks to the painkillers being pumped into his vein by the bedside IV. Also at the bedside, slumped in a chair, was Sinestro, who looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
“Don’t you have more important things to do, oh great leader?” he sent telepathically.
Sinestro raised his head and looked at him with bloodshot golden eyes.
“You know I’m going to get my ring back, fly the fuck out of here, and then pry your fucking ring off my finger,” he spat telepathically, pouring venom directly into Sinestro’s mind. Willing his body to rise in flight only to make it less than an inch off the bed before collapsing back down as his head swam.
Right, so evil alien space morphine and power ring did not mix.
“But maybe not right now,” he slurred, speaking instead of projecting into Sinestro’s mind. Hal felt like he was drowning in a wave of exhaustion. He let his heavy eyes slip closed.
“Get some rest, Hal,” Sinestro murmured gently, voice somehow soothing. Hal didn’t have the strength to pull away as Sinestro took his hand and held it, begrudgingly accepting the comfort. For now, at least, they were on the same team again. Hal drifted back to sleep to the sound of Sinestro’s purring.
"Female sexuality is... different—which is not to say that female sexuality is lesser than or inferior. If we don't view male sexuality as the standard...pointing out female sexuality is lived and experienced differently is no slam."Dan Savage