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This is right, Hal knows. He knows it, with the same certainty he uses to power his ring. It's right, and it will be worth it.
There's no other option.
That doesn't make it hurt less to kneel over Kilowog's remains, feel the last warmth leave them, and know that it's his fault.
"You taught me to be a warrior", he says quietly. "I never thought I'd have to use it against you."
There's nothing that can stop him now. Not anymore. No matter who or what the Guardians throw at him.
The Central Battery flares and glows as he steps towards it, a figure slowly taking shape within it, power flowing over and around it as it steps up to meet him.
"No", Hal whispers, feeling shock cut through the raging storm within him. "You're dead. I saw you die."
"There was a spark within me still", Tomar Re replies. "And the Guardians have nurtured it ever since you brought me back here."
"And now they're trying to use you to stop me", Hal spits, "The bastards."
Tomar's eyes are wide and sad, glittering with unspoken emotion.
"What happened to you, dear friend?" He asks quietly, a mourning thrill in his voice. "You know they don't need to ask me to defend the Corps. They are my family, and they used to be yours."
"The Guardians never saw any of us as family! We were just tools for them, to use and discard as they please! I just wanted my home back and they stopped me!"
"If that's true, then why do they grieve when one of us falls? Why have they spent years trying to heal me?"
Tomar's voice is even and calm, sad and collected, iron in its strength and no hatred lurking within it. His belief is strong, clear and pure, in a way Hal's own has never managed to be, unbroken and undaunted.
"You can't change the past, dear friend", Tomar continues. "None of us can, not even the Guardians. It would only cause more grief. You have not lost more than others."
"I don't care!" Hal yells, rage bursting out of him, spilling over his lips like magma, hot and burning and unstoppable. "I've given my life for them and been everything they asked of me and they don't respect me enough to even -"
"To rewrite the past for you? Tear a hole through the universe for you? Kneel at your feet and worship you?"
"I've given them everything! I deserve this!"
"You haven't given more than others", Tomar says. "You used to know this. Oh, Hal, is your grief truly clouding your mind so strongly that you've stopped seeing us?"
"Maybe I've just decided I deserve to be selfish for once in my life", Hal snaps. "Now get out of my way or I'll make you."
"I don't wish to fight you", Tomar says, closing his eyes, a tremor in his voice that Hal has never heard before.
"Then step aside", Hal pleads, "Just step aside and let me pass. You can't stop me and neither can I. I have to see this through to the end, don't you get it?"
"No, dear friend." Tomar's voice is quiet but strong, his eyes clear when he opens them. "It's not too late for you to stop. You can overcome this still. I will be right by your side, I promise."
There's tears burning in Hal's eyes, and power crackling on his fingertips, distorting his vision.
It's too late for him. He must go on. There's no other option.
That doesn't make it hurt any less to kneel over Tomar Re's remains, feel the last warmth leave them, and know that it's his fault.