This story takes place after 'Prisoner of Sinestro' and before 'Loss.' In no way do I own this series or its characters.
What is Love?
Chapter 6
The walk through the village the second time was nearly not as nerve-racking as it had been the first time around, something Razer was thankful for. After the initial shock had worn off, most of the locals had gone about their business, stopping only to glance at the new visitors before continuing. Also, Hal had ceased all his showboating and just walked idly behind Adira and Zafeer, which was also a plus. But what relieved him the most was the idea that the elders had (mostly) accepted their presence. In all honesty, Razer had had no idea how the elders would welcome them. It had been dumb luck that Amon had happened to recognize him, a feat he had to give him credit for considering the last time he'd seen the Musa elder, he'd only been 9 years old, over a decade ago. Perhaps things were beginning to look up for him after all! He glanced over at Aya, just as she was turning to look at him, causing their eyes to meet. Almost immediately, she turned away and increased her pace. He frowned. Ok, maybe they weren't.
All of a sudden, Adira stopped, clutching her right arm. The others looked back at her curiously, wondering what was wrong. She rubbed it slightly, lifting it up and attempting to straighten it. Despite her efforts, the slight bend at the joint was visible to all those there.
"Uh, sorry for the sudden pit stop. It's just my arm has been bothering me ever since I snapped that green bat of yours," she explained, looking at Hal. "Zafeer, could you take a quick look and see if you can fix it?"
"Of course," he replied, making his way over.
Hal raised an eyebrow at the two. "Yeah, those constructs aren't meant to break so easily. I can see why attempting to do so might hurt your-,"
Whatever the human had planned to say next was suddenly thrown back in his face when she removed her glove and pulled up her sleeve. Where they'd expected to see flesh and bone, instead they saw wires and silver metal. Her entire right arm up to her shoulder was purely robotic with mobile fingers that clenched and slackened and a ball and socket at the joint, even miniature shock absorbers at the wrist. Zafeer pulled out a wrench seemingly out of his sleeve and began loosening some of the nuts on the side as if it were just an everyday occurrence.
"I think you may have bent the main support beam and you also popped the gears meshed at the elbow, that's why it won't straighten," he told her as he removed the metal sheet that kept it all hidden, revealing the inside gears and cogs. He took a closer look before he also took out a pair of pliers and began reattaching some of the fallen wires. "We will have to replace them once we return to my workshop later this evening."
Adira sighed. "Great, so I'll be walking around the rest of the day with a potentially broken arm. Wonderful."
"If I may," Razer interjected, taking step forward. "Do you mind if I take a quick look?"
The two looked back at him, Adira with surprise and Zafeer with cool indifference. "Uh, sure I guess. I don't see the harm."
Zafeer gave his head a tilt. "You know how to handle and operate machinery?"
"Heck yeah! On the Interceptor, Jordan and I handle all the minimal repairs while Red here takes care of all the complicated stuff!" Kilowog replied optimistically. "This one time he even managed to sabotage our ship without any of us knowing."
Adira blinked. "Sabotage?"
"Er, don't listen to him," Hal said nervously. "Anyway, Razer why don't you take a look!"
She held up her arm hesitantly. Wrapping his hand around her wrist, Razer gently lifted it to about eye level, inspecting the mechanisms with avid interest and intensity. After a few seconds, he pulled back and said, "Zafeer is right about the gears as well as the support beam but that shouldn't be too difficult to fix. You may not even have to replace the beam."
"The beam is too misshapen to keep and you need to maneuver the gears back into place without disrupting the other circuits. The process can be quite delicate," Zafeer pointed out.
"I am aware of that," Razer said. Holding up his ring, he constructed a special wrench which he slipped into the joint where it latched on to the two misaligned gears. With a light squeeze, the two came together with a satisfying snap. He then latched the wrench onto the beam where the construct then reformed itself into a clamp. All it took was another firm tug, and after a light pop, the beam was straightened once more. Razer took one more moment to examine his work before he stepped back. "There it should be fixed. Now try straightening it."
Sure enough, when she lifted her arm, the prosthetic limb straightened easily without a hitch. Adira smiled brightly. "It's good as new! Thanks so much!" she beamed.
"No problem. But I suggest replacing the barrel. It's far too heavy for someone your size."
"It needs to be heavy otherwise it will not support the amount of weight that she exerts on it each day," Zafeer argued lightly.
"Not necessarily. If you replace the barrel with a smaller one made out a special steel alloy, not only will it be more lightweight but it will also be strong enough to withstand lifting anything ten times her weight," Razer countered.
"Hm, interesting." Zafeer turned away, his brows coming together, suggesting that he was deep in thought. "Very well, I shall keep that in mind. Thank you."
"Anyway, I think we've stalled long enough," Adira said, pulling her sleeve back into place and slipping her glove back on. "It's starting to get late. Come on, we shouldn't be too far away now!"
But before any of them could take another step forward, a loud voice rang out, one that caused Adira to visibly cringe in disgust.
"DOES MY EYE DECIEVE ME?"
"Oh Grotz, it's him…"she muttered in disdain.
From the other side of the path, a young man came bounding out towards the group skidding to a halt once he'd caught up to them, a big grin plastered onto his face. The boy was a Musa, wearing the exact same markings as Razer, and was around the same height. Although, he not as well built as the red lantern was. Instead, he was very wiry and ropey with long limbs that flopped about all over the place in comparison to Razer's fairly toned figure. In fact, the two appeared to be complete opposites. A notable difference was the eye patch that the guy wore over his right eye.
"Adira in a dress?! Has the end of all living existence finally come?!" he asked dramatically.
"What do you want Archer?" she asked dryly, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Just came by to say hello to my favorite Lady Hunter!" he declared.
"And now that you have said hello, goodbye!" she replied turning away.
"Aw, don't be like that sweetie!" he said, sliding next to her.
She glared at him. "I will hit you!" she warned.
"No you wouldn't you love me too much!" he scooted in closer. "Deep down beneath that tough exterior you struggle to uphold all the time, I know you're a caring, lovable, and shy soul just begging to be swept off your feet at a moment's notice and led away into the sunset where the beautiful-,"
WHAM!
With a single punch, she sent him flying a meter into the air, landing four meters away flat on his back. He lay there for a moment before sitting up, clutching his head slightly. "I think I see stars," he muttered.
All the while, Hal was struggling to hold back his laughter. Kilowog hadn't even bothered to try and was close to rolling on the ground he was laughing so hard. Razer simply wore a deadpanned look, rolling his eyes slightly, while Aya watched curiously. "Analyzing interaction," Razer heard her say. Zafeer sighed slightly before making his way over his fallen brethren and helping him to his feet.
"Oh, hey Zafeer," he said dizzily. "How're you today?"
"I am quite well, Archer of Musa, thank you for asking."
After shaking his head a few more times, he was back on his feet and mostly back to normal, unfortunately. "But really Adira, have you made up your mind yet? I mean, you've only got, what, two months left to decide?" he stated, his voice turning serious.
"I KNOW! I don't need everyone to keep reminding me!" she yelled, her patience growing thin.
"Hey, I'm just saying. How hard can it be to decide? You've only got three options!"
"I'm aware!"
"And I'm available!"
She growled. "For the last time, I am not marrying you! You are the last person I would ever marry!"
"Ouch, that's cold!
"Go. Away." With that, she turned away from him and began leading the group in the opposite direction. But Archer just couldn't seem to take a hint and chased after them.
"Hey wait, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" he asked forlornly, and then jumped in front of Hal with enthusiasm. "Hi there, I am Archer! And you are?"
Hal smiled back. "I'm Hal Jordan of the Green Lanterns. This is Kilowog, Razer, and Aya. They're my shipmates aboard the Interceptor," the green lantern explained.
"Nice to meet you all!" he said, placing a hand over his chest and bowing slightly. "I take it you're new here?"
"Yeah, we just landed a couple of hours ago. We'll probably be staying for a few days though."
"Great! That'll give you plenty of time to take a tour of the village, try out some new food, meet the locals, and ooh-ooh, and best of all: the yearly God's festival! This year, Adira will be representing the Musa clan during the story dance!" he informed them excitedly.
Adira rolled her eyes. "Please don't remind me."
"Sounds like fun!" Hal replied.
"Hey, you had me at new food!" Kilowog said, rubbing his hands slightly.
"We don't have time to spend messing around. In case you've forgotten there are still Manhunters running about and we still need to repair the ultra-warp coils," Razer said pointedly.
"Aw come on Razer, these are your people, I thought you'd be more eager to share your customs with us!" Hal said.
"Hey, I know you!" Archer stated, getting up in Razer's face.
"No you don't."
"Yes I do!"
"No, you don't."
"I never forget a face! I'm sure I've seen you before," Archer said, tapping the side of his face in thought. After a minute or two, he snapped his fingers as a light bulb went off over his head. "Now I remember! We fought in the militia together back on Volkreg! Remember that time when the captain ordered us to dig the trenches in the dead of night before the battle of Kor?"
"And you kept getting him angry because it was supposed to be a sneak attack, yet you wouldn't stop talking?"
Archer gasped dramatically. "You do remember me!"
"Unfortunately…"
"I never knew you were in the militia Razer."
"Yep, the two of us were on the same team from time to time. Lost my right eye in the Battle of Kor! A tough fight that one was. That damned warlord had us all cornered but we managed to keep him back and protect the village another day!" he declared proudly. "By the way, nice outfit. Very…red."
Razer only scoffed.
"It's been a while hasn't it? The last time I saw you, you were leaving us to go home and check up on your wife!"
Everyone froze. Razer's eyes widened in horror as all eyes turned towards him. Hal and Kilowog both had their mouths hanging wide open, while Aya looked at him sympathetically. Adira's eyebrows had risen as high as they could go to the top of her face, while Zafeer blinked at him curiously. Archer remained oblivious to bomb he'd just dropped and continued to babble on.
"What was her name again? Lena, Leila?"
"Ilana…"he whispered.
"That's right, Ilana! How is she by the way? Is she traveling with you guys too?"
"No…" Razer muttered, his fists clenching.
"Really? You two seemed real close. Did something happen?"
His breath grew labored. "Stop talking…"
"Razer-," Aya said with worry, taking note as his vital signs began to grow abnormally high.
"Did you guys split up or something? Or did she just get tired of waiting and-,"
"SHUT UP!" Razer exploded, his eyes changing from blue to deep crimson red. The red light of rage emanated from every inch of his body, blaring around him like a torrent of red flames, no different to when he'd destroyed the Manhunter on Odym singlehandedly. Archer backed away fearfully until Razer grabbed him by the front of his shirt, raising him off the ground. He aimed his ring hand dangerously close to his face. "Say that one more time, I dare you! Say it!" he threatened.
"I-I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I was only joking! Please don't kill me!" Archer begged.
"Razer!" Hal yelled, jumping into action. "Razer, put him down before you do something you regret!"
"Come on kid, get a hold of yourself!" Kilowog demanded. However, he paid no heed to them. Instead, his ring only began to glow even more in intensity, the red waves flowing over him in large bursts.
"Razer," Aya said comfortingly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It will be alright," she whispered.
Razer looked back at her, breathing heavily, as she continued to stare at him with those bright blue eyes, silently begging him to calm down. Slowly, but surely, the red light began to dissipate, and with a final growl of frustration, Razer threw him down to the ground before the light died away completely.
Off to the side, Adira and Zafeer could only watch in shock. Hal's shoulders slumped in relief while Kilowog let out a breath.
"Y-you, you're crazy!" Archer cried before getting up and running off without even looking back.
"Idiot," Adira said, shaking her head.
"Hey, you okay kid?" Hal asked uncertainly. Without warning, Razer levitated off the ground, pulling away from the human's touch.
"Leave me alone," he whispered before taking off, flying further and further away from the group. Aya watched him sadly as he left.
"HEY, we're supposed to be keeping an eye on you!" Adira called to him, but he was already too far away to hear. "Ugh, what did I do to deserve this?"
"If I recall, there was that one instance-,"
"It was a rhetorical question Zafeer!" she snapped. "Look, you take these guys to their sleeping quarters. I'll go after him."
"Very well."
Thus, Zafeer returned to the group of disorientated Green Lanterns as Adira hitched up her skirt and took off in pursuit of their missing crewmate, muttering a string of curses under her breath as she went.
Whoo-hoo, chapter 6, I'm on a roll this week! I gave up precious homework time to write this, so I hope you guys enjoy it! Razer kinda went nuts at the very end, though who can blame him? I knew someone who acted just like Archer and by the end of the day, I just wanted to stick a piece of duct tape over his mouth! He wouldn't stop!
Reviews, comments, and criticisms are greatly appreciated!