The other side of the plaza looked like a war zone.
True Green Lantern Alliance and Guardians of Classic Cinema protesters—fifty or sixty of them—stood in tight formation. Uniform printed signs showed classic white Hal Jordan's face staring down at everyone.
"NOT MY GREEN LANTERN!"
"BRING BACK HAL JORDAN!"
"SKIN-SWAP = BETRAYAL!"
Guys with bullhorns kept chanting the same line on loop: "Reject any color that pollutes our hero!"
Security tape barely held the two crowds apart, but the air crackled like it was about to ignite.
On social media the hashtags were already exploding:
#GreenLanternPremiere
#NotMyGreenLantern
Top three trending nationwide. The fight had jumped from online to the sidewalk.
"Damn, they brought the whole circus," Gina muttered, sunglasses on, peering through the tinted SUV window. She wore a sharp black suit and a tight ponytail today—like she'd shown up ready to throw hands instead of pose for photos.
"Crowd's louder than my UFC walk-outs."
"This is the new normal, honey," Keira said beside her, voice steady as ever.
The British rose looked cool in her simple beige trench and slacks, but Cassius caught the tiny flicker of nerves behind those gray-blue eyes. She wasn't used to this level of raw hostility. Her usual roles got polite applause and red-carpet compliments, not racist chants outside the theater.
Cassius, the guy at the absolute center of the storm, just sat there looking half-asleep.
Keira couldn't help but admire him for it.
Only he knew he was actually staring at the panel in his head:
Acting Attribute Panel
Lines: Lv3 (580/600)
Body Language: Lv4 (245/800)
Expression: Lv4 (10/800)
Eyes: Lv4 (85/800)
Emotion: Lv4 (155/800)
Rhythm: Lv3 (577/600)
Aura: Lv3 (570/600)
Lines, Rhythm, and Aura were all jammed right at the edge of Level 4—one last push away from breaking through.
"Everybody ready?" Rob twisted around from the front seat, face serious. "Same flow: quick red-carpet stop for photos, inside for the twenty-minute highlight reel, then thirty minutes of audience Q&A."
He jerked a thumb at the chaos outside. "But with that crowd… Q&A's gonna be spicy."
"Spicy?" Gina snorted, cracking her neck. "As long as nobody's packing heat, I can dodge knives all day."
Keira took a slow breath and looked at Cassius. "How are you planning to handle it?"
Cassius opened his eyes, calm as still water. "Answer what needs answering, ignore what doesn't. We're here to talk about the movie, not win a debate club trophy."
His chill seemed to bleed into the two women. Gina shrugged and loosened her shoulders. Keira sat a little straighter.
The door opened.
The roar hit like a wave—fans screaming, protesters booing and chanting at the same time.
Cassius stepped out first.
Flashbulbs turned the world white. He wore a tailored dark-gray suit, no tie, collar open just enough. Standard smile, real enough to sell.
Aura wasn't Level 4 yet, but it kept him steady on the outside.
"Cassius! This way!"
"Cass ! I love you!"
From the protest side the shouts sliced through: "Go back to your own country!"
"Hal Jordan is the real Green Lantern!"
Favorability numbers over the protesters sat mostly in the single digits—some even negative. Cassius felt a tiny flicker of unease. Last time he'd seen -99 it came with a gun. These were only around -10, but this was America—guns were legal. He kept his pace steady on the red carpet but definitely didn't linger for extra poses.
Gina and Keira followed close. Gina rocked the "I don't give a fuck" cool-girl face that got cheers from the fans. Keira kept her elegant smile but walked faster, clearly wanting inside the theater as quick as humanly possible.
Red carpet done in record time.
The moment the doors shut behind them the noise cut off. Everyone let out a breath they'd been holding.
Inside, the house was packed. Hundreds of seats filled, giant screen already running the final trailer—green energy exploding across the darkness.
The highlight reel landed perfectly.
When Cassius took the brutal Oa training beatings and finally summoned that massive Azure Dragon construct with pure willpower, the theater erupted in applause and gasps.
When the quiet, charged safe-house scene with Keira played—the one full of raw emotion and restrained intimacy—Cassius heard actual people suck in air behind him.
He sat in the front row and felt the shift in the crowd. The supporters leaned in harder. Even a few of the skeptics got pulled into the story for a minute.
Attribute orbs started drifting in from the audience—mostly blue ones:
[Audience Immersion & Emotional Resonance +5]
[Action Scene Appreciation +3]
His Expression bar was only seven points from Level 4.
Q&A kicked off.
Host warmed the room, then pointed to the first hand—a polite-looking white college guy.
He took the mic, tone civil but the question sharp: "Mr. Cassius, the clips look great, but speaking for a lot of comic fans—why not stay faithful to the source and let Hal Jordan tell this story? What's your personal take on making such a huge change to a classic character?"
The theater went dead quiet. Every eye locked on Cassius.
He adjusted the mic, voice even. "Great question. First, we never forgot or replaced Hal Jordan. The Green Lantern Corps has 3,600 sectors and 7,200 members."
He paused for effect. "We're telling the story of one new recruit in Sector 2814. Passing the torch, expanding the legend—that's always been part of Green Lantern."
His gaze swept the room. "As for the changes—any time you move from page to screen you have to adapt to the medium and the era. We kept the ring that only the strongest willpower can wield. We kept the core journey: an ordinary person handed impossible responsibility and forced to face fear. Those themes are eternal."
Solid answer. Pulled it straight back to the comics lore and the heart of the hero instead of skin color.
Scattered applause rippled through the seats.
The guy sat down looking thoughtful. His favorability ticked from 40 to 50.
But right away a sharper voice barked from the back—no mic, no patience: "Sounds real pretty! But everybody knows this is just pandering to the Asian market! Look at the protesters outside—real fans aren't buying it! You really think an Asian guy can represent American heroism?"
Bearded white dude, pure challenge in his tone. A couple of his buddies chuckled.
The room exploded into murmurs.
The host froze, unsure what to do.
Then a clear, angry female voice cut through from the other side: "Can I say something?"
Everyone turned.
A young Arab-American girl stood up. She reached over and snatched a classic Hal Jordan poster right out of a protester's hand.
Facing the crowd, voice shaking with emotion, she held it high. "Since when did heroism become a racial or cultural trademark? In your precious DC comics there's a Lantern named Simon Baz—an Arab-American! After 9/11 he faced endless suspicion, got called a terrorist, the whole nightmare."
"But that same man had so much courage and unbreakable willpower that the ring chose him anyway. His story matters! Cassius is playing an ordinary guy fighting prejudice and self-doubt until he finds the strength inside—that's exactly what makes Green Lantern powerful!"
"Willpower has nothing to do with where you come from!"
Her words hit the theater like a grenade.
Minority audience members lit up. Even some neutral faces started nodding hard.
Cassius felt it in his chest. He never expected to hear another Lantern's story—Simon Baz—used to defend him right here, right now.
A golden attribute orb floated from the passionate girl:
[Belief Resonance & Public Speaking Power +15]
He absorbed it instantly.
Lines: Lv3 (597/600)
A hot, steady surge of conviction flooded his chest—the raw power words could carry when you stood against injustice.
The bearded guy's face turned beet red. He tried to spit back, "That's just a minor—"
"My turn," Cassius said calmly into the mic, cutting him off.
The fresh orb had his Lines attribute vibrating right at the breaking point.
He looked straight at the man, then across the entire theater. "The lady is exactly right. A hero is a hero because of the choices he makes when facing fear, prejudice, even his own flaws—not because he was born looking a certain way."
His voice grew stronger, eyes sweeping the skeptics. "In this movie my character doesn't just fight an alien fear monster. First he has to fight everyone doubting him—and the voice in his own head saying he's not worthy."
"The ring didn't pick him because of who he already was. It picked him because of who he could become."
He let that hang for a second. "I know not everyone will love the new story right away. That's fine. But I'm asking—before you walk into the theater and see the whole film, at least give it a fair shot."
"Give this story about courage, growth, and rising above prejudice a chance. And give every kid out there—who's ever wondered if they could be a hero—a chance to see someone like them on screen and believe it's possible."
No anger. No defensiveness. Just clear truth and an honest ask.
The theater went silent for one heartbeat.
Then applause erupted—first scattered, then thunderous, rolling from every corner.
Favorability numbers across the room spiked.
The bearded guy opened his mouth, closed it again, and sat down red-faced under the wave of clapping.
Right at the peak of the applause, as Cassius gave a small nod of thanks—
A purple attribute orb dropped straight from his own body:
Lines Impact +8