The Interceptor broke out of Oa's orbit and prepared to activate the ultrawarp when a whole squad of Green Lanterns, led by Hal Jordan and Kilowog cut its path. Ring arms were promptly extended and threatened to launch a flood of green hardlight on the Interceptor, though most of the GL's gathered would've preferred to avoid that scenario.

"Atrocitus, you were going to leave without saying goodbye? I'm hurt" Jordan said.

"Were you really?" Kilowog asked in earnest.

"We need to fine tune your sarcasmometer big guy"

"Your wit is a linguistic jewel of ineptitude, human. Now why don't you and your minions make way" Atrocitus replied.

"You are not going anywhere" Hal warned, turning serious.

"But I am. Ilana, activate the self-destruct sequence"

"Affirmative. Self-destruct sequence... initiated. Detonation of the ultrawarp core will take place in 30 seconds"

"You won't blow yourself up, Atrocitus! You are too big of a narcissist to let that happen" Hal shouted trying to sound convincing.

"Even if that's true, believe me Jordan, I would rather die than return to one of your infernal science cells. And in my demise I will also take two of your crew members with me. Razer and the computer... what was its name again? Alia?"

"Aya, my lord" the Ilana AI replied.

"Ah yes, Aya. Thank you, lovely Ilana"

"Ilana... you're helping him? Why!?" Hal asked.

"It is my mission, Green Lantern Hal Jordan. The reason I was put in this universe, as your friend Kilowog expressed. And may I remind you that you have 10 seconds before this vessel detonates"

Hal looked in Kilowog's direction and glared at the Interceptor's bridge through its screen. With a grunt of frustration he lowered his ring arm, and signaled the other Green Lanterns to do the same.

The Interceptor cut a path through the Green Lanterns and then jumped out of sight, to an unknown location on the other side of the galaxy.

Razer came to in the familiar setting of the Interceptor's brig. He rubbed his jaw which caused him to wince in pain.

"The prince awakens" he heard Atrocitus say.

Razee glared at him, feeling his blood starting to boil. If only he had his ring. He was sure he had enough rage to disintegrate every single atom of Atrocitus` being.

"Are you getting the same sense of deja vu as I am Razer? Once again you are within my grasp and once again it is your beloved Ilana that has brought you to me" Atrocitus stepped aside to reveal the android body that once belonged to Aya.

Atrocitus placed his giant hands on her shoulders, holding her to him. The robot did not seem to mind, and even though Razer had been recently betrayed, he could barely contain his fury at the sight of Atrocitus touching her.

"I am sure you are wondering how this was possible. I confess, I myself was surprised at what curious shape my angel took. But beggars can't be choosers, isn't that right dear?"

"You are no beggar, my lord Atrocitus" a familiar feminine voice said.

"Drusa" Razer said with contempt. "I should've known you were behind this"

Drusa came forward and stood beside her 'lord'.

"Yes, you should have. After all, you're the one dumb enough to spare my life that day"

Drusa crossed her arms and looked at Razer defiantly.

"Do you like my little project?" she asked gesturing towards the android. "I created her just for you. It wasn't easy. I had to go all the way back to the forgotten zone to retrieve a copy of your memory scan. Add to that the identity source code acquired from Aya when she was under my control, a sprinkle of my own genius and voila... Ilana's triumphant return, and your inevitable doom"

"You went to all this trouble just to rescue Atrocitus, who doesn't even give a damn about you" Razer spat.

"Liberate Atrocitus and make you suffer. You know, I can see why you and Aya are so drawn to each other, you are both nothing more than puppets on a string... so easy to manipulate"

Razer growled, unable to take anymore and propelled himself forward. He was caught in the force field that held an electrical charge it never did before. The current slashed through him, making him feel like insides would combust. He was thrown back and hit his back against the wall, sliding down.

"Now, now... calm down" Drusa cooed. "There is another reason for this little charade. See, Aya went to some extra lengths to insure her system would be less vulnerable to outside influences. So I knew I couldn't deliver just any type of overriding command. But if I built a program based around information she already acquired, namely your memories, it would be easier to assimilate. Then it was just a matter of getting close enough to deliver the package. Thankfully, the space pirates were happy to help, in exchange for the manhunter technology"

"Why are you telling me this?" Razer snapped.

"Because I want you to know" Drusa said leaning in, her face less than an inch away from the force field that kept him captive. "I want you to know just how responsible you are for everything. You should know that and you should spend the last days of your miserable existence racked with guilt"

Razer felt hopelessness take him over. He didn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing him weak, but he had to ask.

"What about Aya?"

"Aya? She's still in there somewhere" Drusa replied running her fingers over the android's helmet. "Watching... completely powerless. I thought that would be fitting. Why should she miss out on the fun? I will erase her files eventually, but first, I think I'll let her watch you get tortured a couple of times".

Razer didn't think it was possible to hate anybody more than Atrocitus at that moment, but Drusa was making it easy to despise her at that moment. His anger was literally making him shake.

"Why do you hate us so much, you evil bitch?"

"You and your little robot side-kick humiliated me, twice. I'm woman enough to admit that. And I am also woman enough to get my vengeance. And if I can do that and serve Atrocitus at the same time... It makes all the sense in the world"

"And I suppose he promised you a piece of the galaxy in return for your loyalty" Razer asked.

"A small piece, I'm not greedy"

"It's going to be a small piece of nothing once the Anti-Monitor and his manhunters are through with it. Atrocitus, you have terrible timing"

"Don't you presume to tell me about the Manhunters, boy" Atrocitus spat, his own anger flaring. "I have suffered more at their hands than anybody in this universe or the dimensions beyond it. I will destroy them... but after they have laid to waste the Green Lantern Corps. The prodigal sons will return home. There is a certain poetic justice in this that I love so much..." Atrocitus paused, absorbing the depth of his own words. He came to shortly out of his reverie and asked:

"Drusa, have you contacted Ysmault?"

"Yes my lord, Zilius Zox will arrive shortly with a new Red Lantern ring for you"

"Excellent. Let's go and leave young Razer to thoughts of his own past failings and upcoming horrors"

The two left, with the android trailing behind. She threw Razer one last look over her shoulder and joined her new masters. Razer slumped down and allowed himself a moment to panic. He remembered Saint Walker's calming techniques and proceeded to push his fears away and his anger to the side, concentrate on the task at hand... how does he take control of the Interceptor?

"You don't say much, do you?" Atrocitus asked while studying the android.

"There's nothing for it to say" Drusa replied from her station on the bridge. "Its mission has been completed. Whatever personality it had, has been archived".

"Interesting. I've met this android before, if only I knew the tale behind this pretty face"

Atrocitus studied the blank, emotionless pretty face. He'd heard by now the story about how this thing looked like Razer's dead love, Ilana. Though he had never seen her himself, he did orchestrate her death. And it was a strange feeling to look on the face of your victim, after she had been buried.

He raised his hand to touch the robot's face, but to his surprise, she jerked back, grabbed his arm and twisted it, causing Atrocitus to fall to his knees.

"What are you doing?" Drusa said getting up alarmed. "Let him go!"

At the sound of her master's voice, the female android instantly released the arm she nearly broke.

"No personality? Seems to me she has an excess of personality" Atrocitus said getting up.

"I'm sorry Lord, it must've been the automated self-defense protocol" Drusa tried to explain embarrassed. "I'll take her away"

Drusa practically dragged the android into the conference room and sat her in a corner.

"You're lucky the Aya program is still in there and I want to have my fun with her, otherwise I'd throw you into a black hole first chance I got. Now, shut down" Drusa commanded it.

The robot cocked her head like she didn't understand the command, but then straightened up and with a hiss, she fell limp the floor. Drusa threw Razer a nasty look through the force field, and then left the conference room to return to the bridge. Razer watched the entire episode unfold with the feigned curiosity of a prisoner that was pacified... but as soon as Drusa left he returned to his efforts of trying to dislodge a panel from his cell's wall, to get at the controls behind it.

After a couple of minutes, the android's eyes glowed with their distinctive blue light. She hummed to life, getting up. She looked towards the bridge, but carefully made her way to the brig.

At the sound of her footsteps, Razer turned around and threw another hate filled stare, but not quite as harsh as those he reserved for Drusa and Atrocitus.

"What do you want?" he asked annoyed.

The android cocked her head and simply stared. Her eyes flickered around as if she was trying to remember something.

"Well?"

"I loved you once", she finally said. "And then... I think I loved you again...:"

"Drusa, if this is another one of your sick games" he called out.

"Shhhh"

The android gestured to him to be quiet.

"I control the surveillance monitors, but they might still hear you"

"And what if they do? Aren't they your masters?" Razer asked with contempt.

She looked away confused, shook her head and brought her hands up to stare at them.

"Something's happening" she whispered. "It's the Aya program" she realized and looked straight into Razer's eyes. Upon hearing that name he looked up hopeful. They both took a step closer to each other, still separated by the cell's force field.

"Aya?" Razer asked tentatively.

"She stopped fighting. She's figured out that she can't counteract my programming... so she's not trying to anymore. She's deleting her files..."

"Aya, don't!" Razer shouted, hoping the AI could hear him.

"She's rerouting all accessible processing power to me, allowing me to grow, to change, to... become more like myself" Ilana continued.

"No, Aya, please stop. There must be another way"

"There isn't" she declared resolute. She took an extra step through the force field and into his cell.

"I can't let them hurt you. Soon I'll have to help you... I won't be able to stop myself" she realised, her eyes growing large as she run the simulation in her mind.

"If that happens. If I help you escape and we defeat Drusa and Atrocitus together... What will happen to me afterwards?"

Razer clenched his fists and took a deep breath, trying to get his feelings under control. There was only one possible answer, even though it was the answer that would guarantee his doom.

"You will be deleted".

Ilana kept her silence for a long moment, looking away, analyzing her options.

"I always did love you for your honesty" she whispered.

She extended her hand and opened her palm. In the centre of it was his Red Lantern ring. Razer hesitantly took it from her, still harboring his suspicions this might be some kind of game. The walls of the ship vibrated brusquely, signaling the ships full stop. Ilana's suddenly jerked her head to the side.

"Zilius Zox, he's here. Be prepared" she said and then head straight for the corner where Drusa left her and resumed her position on the floor.

Less then a minute passed and Drusa came down from the bridge to escort Zilius Zox's hovering form. The tiny ball of rage was so nervous he didn't even bother to look at Razer's cell.

"I had my doubts about you Drusa, but you are a true and loyal soldier of the Red Army. They will sing of your bravery and your cunning. There will be statues, huge statues..." Zox went on and on doing what he does best.

"Ass-kissing" Razer thought.

After the doors to the command deck rolled shut, Razer could hear Zox's high-pitched cries of hypocritical delight at seeing his master again. He would go on and on for a while, before giving Atrocitus his ring, he was sure of it. Ilana got up once more, the force field to Razer's cell powered down and he put on his ring. Once in uniform, he felt like his old self again.

"We have to intervene before Atrocitus has a chance to take his ring" Ilana said in a hushed voice, after Razer came over to her.

"I want to speak to Aya" Razer demanded.

"There's no time for that. Maybe if we decompress the bridge..."

"I want to speak to her now" Razer pressed on.

Ilana gave him a hard look, her lips pressed tightly.

"There's nothing left for you to talk to" she finally said.

Razer closed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw. He lowered his head, his body shaking with barely contained rage.

"Razer, you have to focus, we need to..."

Red flame engulfed Razer's form and when he opened his eyes to look at her, his blue irises were replaced with two crimson orbs of hatred and rage. He held his ring arm up and propelled himself forward through the doors.

"Razer!" Ilana shouted after him.

Razer burst on the bridge with a growl just as Zilius Zox was handing Atrocitus his ring. With a roar he focused all his power on that shiny piece of red metal and let the red energy pour into it. Zilius Zox yelped in pain as the ring burned him and dropped it. Atrocitus tried to grab it but he too was burned by the red wave. The ring that was supposed to be his started to crack under the downpour of crimson light... the cracks spreading, until the ring exploded in a cloud of fine red particles.

The power of the explosion propelled Zox and Atrocitus backward, their backs violently slamming against the walls, knocking them out. Drusa knew to hide herself behind Ilana, where the robot's defenses protected her from the blast. The explosion also shattered the Interceptor's viewing screens. Zilius Zox and Atrocitus would've been sucked in the vacuum of space, had Razer not enveloped them in the hard light constructs generated by his ring. Drusa held on to a console until Ilana generated new screens, and resupplied the bridge with oxygen.

Razer's rage subsided only temporarily, while Ilana restored the atmosphere. He lowered his former masters to the floor. He caught Drusa trying to crawl away off the bridge and rushed over. He grabbed her by the neck and slammed her body against the wall, feeling the force of the impact vibrate through his arm. Drusa winced in pain. Eyes closed, she felt the heat emanating from Razer's red ring. Combined with the feeling of being near-suffocated, it made her cheeks flush and her eyes water.

Razer was breathing heavily, preparing to unleash his fury on the aggressor, when Ilana came over and gently grabbed his shoulder.

"Razer, put her down"

"No!"

"This isn't you any more. You don't want to do something you'll regret"

"I guarantee you I won't regret this" Razer said, his eyes locked to Drusa's.

"You don't kill in cold blood"

"Not innocents. After everything she's done, can you honestly tell me she doesn't deserve it?"

"That's not for you to decide"

"Aya's gone because of her!" Razer screamed in anger, his arms starting to shake. "You finally got what you wanted didn't you. Well congratulations... because it's the last thing you'll ever accomplish"

"Wait!" Ilana shouted just as Razer was preparing to strike. "Drusa, you said you downloaded Aya's source code. I know you carry it with you. Give it to me!"

Flushed and terrified, Drusa obediently looked in a pocket on the inside of her vest. Razer squeezed her neck just a little bit harder, just to let her know that if she was hiding any kind of weapon, her end would come even swifter than he had originally planned. Drusa removed a silver memory stick.

Ilana grabbed it and introduced it in one of the stations.

"Combined with the ship's data base... we may retrieve Aya... Intact" Ilana muttered.

Razer waited, never taking his eyes off drusa.

"You better hope this works" he whispered.

Ilana typed a few commands in the console. A loading bar appeared, the database going through the process of being integrated in the ship's software. After a few minutes, a familiar voice was heard.

"Razer..."

"Aya?" the Red Lantern asked, feeling a mix of despair and hope.

"Yes. Listen to Ilana. Release Drusa"

Razer felt his relief wash over him like a waterfall. His rage flowed right out of him and he felt his knees might give in. He thanked all the gods worshiped on Volkreg and whatever gods may be out there. He refocused his attention on Drusa, the hopeful and scared Drusa he held by the neck. He let her go.

"What do we do with her now?" he asked Ilana.

"What else?" she answered his question with another question and came close. Ilana raised her fist and jabbed Drusa across the chin. She spun around comically and fell on her face.

"Ha, I never could do that when I had an organic body" Ilana commented looking at her fist.

Razer smiled faintly at her and then went to the main console.

"Are you sure you are alright?" he asked the manifested green globe of light that was essentially Aya's face when in her ship form.

"I am operating at full capacity"

"Do you remember everything that went on..."

"I've experienced everything in some form or another. The Interceptor's memory banks can assist me in filling in the blanks".

"That's good..." Razer muttered, though he didn't necessarily want Aya to retrieve the memories of the past few days.

Certain things had been said that were better left unsaid. But he couldn't think about that now. They had three big problems on their hands. The unconscious bodies of Drusa, Atrocitus and Ziliuz Zox.

Make that two unconscious bodies, since Zilius Zox was coming out of it. The little globular man massaged his rather enormous forehead as he pushed himelf off the floor of the interceptor. When he saw Razer, he instantly assumed a defensive stance.

"Curse you Razer. How did you get on board!?" Zilius Zox asked outraged.

"I was already on board, Zox. If you hadn't been to busy with brown nosing, you might've noticed"

"I will destroy you for this offense" Zox shouted, his ring lighting up.

"I wouldn't do that Red Lantern Zilius Zox", Aya warned. "A message has already been dispatched to the Green Lantern Corps. They will be here momentarily"

"No!"

"However... I made no mention of your presence"

"You... didn't?" Zilius Zox asked, hope creeping up in his voice.

"Aya... what!?" Razer asked, stupefied.

"There is no need for this incident to ruin the peace between Red and Green Lanterns" Aya explained. "We understand your loyalty Zilius Zox, it's a commendable characteristic, but surely an intellectual like yourself can understand that Atrocitus in a science cell suits everybody's interests better"

Zilius Zox pondered the nav-com's words.

"What will you tell Lord Atrocitus?" he asked squinting his eyes.

"You escaped to bring reinforcements" Razer offered, understanding where Aya was going with this.

"Yes... yes... reinforcements. I... I think I'll do that now. And if you're still here by the time we return, you will all be dead!"

"Seems fair"

"And if you're not... well... the Red Lanterns are doing much better under my care any way"

"Of course" Razer and Aya said at the same time.

Zilius Zox seemed content with that settlement. He went over to his Lords' unconscious form, and kicked him once in the shins for good measure. And with that, Zox was off, going back to get... reinforcements.