Razer set foot down in the tower that had become his refuge on the tomb world. He checked the charge on his red power ring's battery: nearly depleted. He shook his head at how lax he had become. This was not a misstep he would have made even a year ago.
Razer approached the red lantern battery and held the ring close to accept its power. He summoned his frustration and anger and began to chant the Red Lantern Oath, but as he spoke his thoughts turned inevitably toward Aya, her sweet and curious demeanor, and his anger faltered. Tongue in cheek he began to recite the chant she had composed for him, a chant she had thought would achieve the same effect as the Red Lantern oath because it had the same rhythm and cadence. It worked no more now than it had then, but it made him smile.
"What is this pathetic creature?" an intruding voice questioned derisively.
Razer whirled away from the battery, his shock written plainly on his face. "Atrocitus! How did you get here?"
"I am certain that I don't care," responded the hulking creature as he lowered himself onto the ground and took menacing, earth-shaking steps toward Razer.
"The only thing that matters to me now is taking revenge on the traitors who left me to rot as a prisoner." Atrocitus grinded a fist against a palm as red light began to suffuse his form, "They aren't here right now. You are. So you will have to suffice."
Razer glared back at Atrocitus as red-lighted daggers formed in his hands, "You aren't the only one in this room who wants revenge." He lunged for Atrocitus, lashing out with a series of arcing slashes.
Despite his bulk, Atrocitus nimbly sidestepped each attack. "Are you still upset about your lost love? Pathetic."
His arm suddenly wreathed in crimson flames, Atrocitus dodged Razer's next attack then counter-punched, sending Razer reeling backward until he burst through the far wall of the tower, freefalling for a moment before he managed to right himself.
Razer clenched his teeth, steeling himself as Atrocitus exited the tower to loom above him.
"I do not need to explain why I seek vengeance on you!" shouted Razer, "Your crimes are without number! Why do you think your own people abandoned you?"
Summoning his hatred, Razer brought a serrated spear to life in his hand and charged Atrocitus, aiming for his heart. Atrocitus grinned and formed lashes from each of his hands before seizing Razer's spear construct and reeling him in closely enough for Razer to feel the heat of Atrocitus' foul breath on his neck.
Atrocitus cackled, "You are trying to make me angry? Good. You add to my strength and hasten your own end. There is not enough rage within you to stand against me. I am wrath! I am ruin! I am DEATH!"
"I have rage enough to see you dead!" Razer spat back.
Atrocitus laughed, "No you don't. You never did. I was wrong about you. Even when I told you I murdered your woman you didn't have the strength to kill me. You were nothing then and now you are so much less."
Razer released the trapped spear construct and went for Atrocitus' throat with his own hands. Atrocitus laughed and made slashing motions at Razer with both of his lash constructs, sending Razer flailing over the tomb of a city until he crashed through a dome before landing hard within what had once been a building of state.
Razer rolled to his side and coughed up blood, then he heard a loud crash and looked upward to see cracks forming in the dome he had fallen through. With another crash the cracks grew larger and segments of the dome fell as the entire structure began to cave inward. Ignoring his pain, Razer vaulted into the air as the dome began to collapse, dodging massive chunks of debris as he went.
Atrocitus rumbled in contemplation as he watched Razer escape, a massive red hammer construct in his hand, "Hmm. This isn't about Alana anymore is it? No . . . hmm. Ah, I remember. That robot. The one you quit our battle to rescue all those years ago . . . yes. I remember hearing during my confinement that she had perished."
"Do not speak of her!" shouted Razer as he lunged toward Atrocitus, striking him with an enormous impact and smashing him against the skeletal remains of a towering skyscraper before landing blow after blow across his face.
Atrocitus snickered and caught Razer's fists as they were in motion. "So that is what has you wallowing in misery. A pet machine."
Razer struggled against Atrocitus, "Aya is no machine. She is alive!"
"What pathetic delusions are you clinging to? And whom are you trying to convince, me or yourself? I recall a time when we reprogrammed your pet to take us to Oa. It was easy. Your 'love' was never anything more than an overly familiar appliance. Her delusions were surpassed only by your own."
Razer finally wrenched free of Atrocitus. Pouring all of his wrath into his power ring, he formed a long sword construct and clung to it with both hands before striking out with an overhanded slash.
Red flames engulfed Atrocitus's hands and he seized the blade of the sword construct.
"I want you to tell me, how did it feel to fail again? To know that another of your loves lay dead because of your own incompetence?"
Atrocitus clenched his fists around the sword construct, annihilating it before he seized Razer and wrenched one of his arms behind his back. Razer cried out in a crescendo of pain until his shoulder dislocated from its socket. Atrocitus bellowed a laugh before letting go of Razer and delivering a swift kick to his spine, sending him plummeting downward to crash into the street below.
Razer rolled over to his side and struggled to push himself back up to his feet with his remaining good arm, wincing in pain as he did so. He glanced downward as his power ring flickered red and died. At the same time the protective shell encasing him failed and then his Red Lantern uniform faded away, leaving him standing with only his gray fatigues.
Atrocitus descended slowly to street level, his face full of smug victory as the lambent fire of his rage coruscated around him.
"No Green Lanterns to save you, no pet robot to mourn you. I will rend you apart. Slowly."
Razer lowered his eyes. He removed the dead Red Lantern ring from his finger. Aya, I can't die here. I can't . . . . Suddenly, Razer spotted the blue power ring on the street only a short distance away. Hello again, old friend.
Atrocitus glared sharply at Razer, "Then again. I have important work ahead of me. And you really aren't worth the time. Better to finish you and be on my way." With a sadistic grin, Atrocitus formed a gleaming executioner's axe in his hands and brandished it high overhead before descending on Razer.
Razer steeled himself for the coming pain and rolled forward, avoiding Atrocitus' axe as it cleaved through the decayed pavement of the abandoned street with an explosion of force. Razer did not so much as wince when he rolled over his bad arm.
He took hold of the blue ring and, remembering his training on Odym, he put aside every doubt in his mind and pressed the ring onto his finger, leaving nothing but hope. "Aya, I am coming for you!"
Atrocitus pulled his axe free of the cracked pavement and brandished it once more as he rounded on Razer with a snort of contempt. "You will join your pet soon enough."
Razer focused on his hope, on Aya. No more rage, no more doubt, no more fear. Only hope and certainty.
She is out there and I will find her.
The blue ring gleamed brightly, like Razer hadn't seen since observing them in use by the Blue Lanterns on Odym. He stared at it in awe, not even noticing when the uniform of the Blue Lanterns began to cover him.
Razer aimed the ring toward his foe, then, unbidden, the familiar outline formed in front of him, at once artificial and at the same time so completely alive. He had seen the image emitted from the blue power ring before, but it was different somehow. At first Razer could not understand the change, but then her wide eyes looked at him directly, and then she blinked.
Razer's eyes widened. His heart pounded. He pushed everything else out of his mind. Only hope and certainty. As he focused, what had been a ghostly visage became solid. Razer's jaw gaped as he stared.
Then she spoke, a soft, mechanical voice, ringing with sincerity and more alive than any other Razer had ever heard, "Hello, my love."
Razer pushed air out of his lungs but didn't quite manage to make a sound, even when Aya ran forward to embrace him.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, blinking and looking up at him with wide, curious eyes.
Finally, Razer managed to speak: "Duck!" He grabbed onto Aya with his good arm and pulled her to the side, avoiding the axe that would have chopped both of them in half.
Summoning a burst of speed, Razer held onto Aya tightly and accelerated high into the skyline and away from Atrocitus.
Atrocitus bellowed after them, "Run! You'll tire soon enough and I will find you!"