In the space above Ysmault….

The battlefield was silent. No scraps of Manhunters floated, while ships drifted without power. Razer was the first one to awaken, confused as to what had happened. He had been talking to Aya in the middle of the battle. Then a hand touched his shoulder, and then nothing. He looked out the Interceptor's windshield, expecting to see the Anti-Monitor and its horde of Manhunters. But all he saw were the damaged and powered-down vessels of the Red Lantern fleet. He looked around, seeing his fellow crewmates incapacitated as well. But then he realized he couldn't see Erin. He started to search the whole ship, looking for any trace of the wild human he called his friend. The only trace he found of Erin was his pet Manhunter, sitting deactivated near the bridge doors.

"What happened?" Razer said more to himself than any of the unconscious crew. He saw movement near the front of the bridge. It was Aya, who seemed to be slowly awakening. He pulled her into his arms and helped her stand up. She looked at him and then around the bridge.

"Razer, I detect no hostile forces but my scans are limited. Something drained the Interceptor of nearly all power." She inquired of him. He didn't know how to answer.

"I-I don't know. But Erin is missing and everyone else seems to be out cold."

"Then we must take advantage of this time to finish our discussion."

"Aya, I already told you…" But her hand on his mouth stopped him.

"After you and I last spoke, Erin came in and told me that you had lied in order to spare both of us pain in the long run. He claimed that you were doing this out of a misguided attempt to protect me. I am unsure of which of you is telling me the truth. Razer, answer me truthfully: Do you love me?" Razer was spared answering by two occurrences. Hal and Kilowogg chose that moment to awaken and a large indigo light moving into the bridge. Aya and Razer turned to the blinding light and it resolved itself into the shape of Erin, only it was pure energy. One of his construct copies.

"What happened? The last thing I remember is Erin knocking us all out." Kilowogg grumbled as he sat up. When he saw the construct, he charged it thinking it was the real thing. He missed it entirely as it nimbly jumped over him and padded to the center of the bridge.

"Hello crew of the Interceptor. I come bearing a message for you. If someone would please reactivate the artificial being known as Emmitt I will begin to answer your questions." The indigo being passively ordered them, crossing its legs and floating. Razer held Aya close as he circled over to the side of Hal, watching the construct with fascination as it waited patiently. Kilowogg grunted and went back, and brought the now active Emmitt with him.

"First question, what happened? Where's the Anti-Monitor and the Manhunters?" Hal directed at the construct. The indigo being looked at Hal with a sad smile, shaking its head like they had seen Erin do so often before.

"Erin happened. He defeated the Anti-Monitor and wiped all of the Manhunters from existence." It said, unfolding its legs but not quite touching the floor.

"Query: Then how am I still in existence if all Manhunters were eliminated?" Emmitt asked, beating Razer to the proverbial punch.

"You are not a Manhunter. You are not defined by your past Emmitt. You are as alive as Aya is." It explained, pacing a few inches above the floor.

"What do you mean? And if he beat the baddie, where is our little shiny guy anyways?" Kilowogg asked. The construct's face fell as it tried to not waste its valuable energy on distracting thoughts.

"I meant exactly what I said. Aya is alive. Emmitt is alive. Aya is alive because she is a child of Ion, the living entity of willpower. The former science director stole a piece of the entity to create Aya. Much like Aya, Emmitt has been infused with the essence of a living being. I do believe that the proper terminology is that they are truly alive." It stated, its eyes on Razer's as the words sunk in. Razer couldn't believe it. What he had said to her, what he had nearly done to her. He felt shame build beneath his collarbone as the words sunk in.

"You didn't answer Kilowogg's other question. Where is Erin?" Hal asked the construct directly. The construct sighed.

"In order to prevent the future that he foresaw, Erin was forced to prevent certain actions from being taken. This made it his responsibility to fulfill his role as Mirror Lantern and eliminate the threat."

"That's not an answer. Where. Is. He?" Hal threatened the construct with his ring. The indigo being was unfazed.

"In order to eliminate the threat that was the Anti-Monitor, Erin was forced to use all the power he had available." The construct kept dodging the question.

"Last time. Where is he or so help me…?" Razer intervened. The construct sighed again.

"You simply do not understand. Erin used everything at his disposal. Including his life." The indigo creature turned its back to them, no longer resisting their questions.

"You mean he… he…." Kilowogg was speechless.

"Correct, Erin died to end the threat of the Anti-Monitor. He sacrificed himself to permanently remove the threat to existence and change the future."

"No, this is a joke. A terrible joke by him. C'mon out kid this isn't funny. We know you're hiding somewhere." Hal yelled out into the common area of the ship. No reply greeted his call.

"This is not a joke. Take a look at this." The indigo construct put a data drive of some kind into the view screen. The crew watched as Erin disabled them and fought the Manhunters alongside his construct copies. They watched as he defeated the Anti-Monitor and watched in horror as their friend disappeared from this universe.

"So he's alive over there. The kid's practically un-killable. We know if we can get the ring back he's always fine." Hal insisted until they saw it. A large ring on the other side of the windshield. It phased through and seemed to wait and hover near Emmitt. That ring could have only come from one place.

"No." Razer denied.

"Yes. You are simply experiencing grief, but there are other pressing matters." The indigo construct told them, seemingly uncaring that it was the last act of a dead man.

"What? What could be so pressing?" Razer couldn't help but feel his rage flare.

"This." The construct's hand swept out. A haze clouded the crew's vision and they saw the impossible. They saw Aya give up her emotions and replace the Anti-Monitor. They watched as Aya rampaged across the galaxy, and they watched the final battle. The haze and visions faded but they couldn't forget what they had seen. Razer turned to Aya, and threw his hands around her and pulled her into a kiss that she eagerly returned. Hal and Kilowogg couldn't care less about that right now, they were too busy trying to understand the vision that they had just seen.

"Would that have really happened?" Hal asked their mysterious indigo friend.

"Yes. But my time is nearly up. Take these. This one is for Gi'ata. It would be….compassionate of you to take this to her." The indigo construct handed him a large data drive and a small box. He looked at the box, wondering what it could be so important that Erin needed to leave a special message behind.

"Of course. Wait…" Hal told the construct as it started to fade.

"Know this Hal. What happens from here on is your choice." And the cryptic message passed on, the indigo construct dissipating. The Green Lanterns and Emmitt decided to leave Razer and Aya to themselves and focused on the Mirror Lantern ring that continued to circle Emmitt.

"You going to do something about that?" Kilowogg asked the former Manhunter.

"I do not know what is expected of me." Emmitt's eyes tracked the ring's orbit around him. The ring stopped circling and faced Emmitt.

"Emmitt the Manhunter, son of Oa," The ring spoke in Erin's voice, reminding them of their loss. Uninhibited the ring continued:

"You have shown yourself capable and have already accepted the freedom of choice. Will you accept this choice and defend the freedoms of living beings and balance the spectrum?"

Emmitt looked at the Green Lanterns, who nodded to him. He reached out for the ring.

"I will." He said as the ring slipped onto his finger. As soon it settled on his finger, Emmitt began to glow, blinding the Green Lanterns. They didn't notice as Razer pulled back from Aya as she also started glowing. The two robots seemed to disappear and eventually the glow faded. What the Lanterns saw when their eyes readjusted was impossible.

Where Emmitt had stood, a large human stood. It was Emmitt, yet it wasn't. The muscular human had a thin fuzz of hair on the top of his head and the same thick features Emmitt had had. The chest piece with its insignia was now a sleeveless shirt, revealing powerful tanned arms. The wristbands had extended, becoming full bracers. The shorts were relatively unchanged, but the kneecaps and boots had fused into thick armored boots. When he opened his new eyes, they glowed the same green as their power rings.

What had happened to Aya was even more drastic. Her gauntlets had become thin white mesh, revealing her green skin and leaving her fingers free of the material. Her tank top had changed into a full shirt, still emblazoned with the Green Lantern symbol over her new breasts. Her shorts had extended, thankfully far enough for Hal's tastes. Her tall boots had become shorter, only coming to her knees and now had 3" heels. Her face was unchanged but a small tuft of white bangs escaped from under her helmet. Her eyes opened, revealing the same two-toned blue eyes she had before. The two former robots looked down at themselves in astonishment.

"I'm…I'm…" Emmitt stuttered, shocked to hear his own voice without the electric synthesizer.

"Human." Razer said, gently pulling Aya's helmet off, letting her glowing white hair cascade to her new and exposed shoulders. The two looked back into each other's eyes, and embraced again. Laughter bubbled out of both of them. Neither noticed as Razer's red ring slipped from his finger soundlessly. When it fell off, it didn't fly away as Razer's armor dissipated.

"A new start. In honor of the new future." The Mirror Lantern ring spoke from its new position. They all looked at it, and took a moment to silently thank the one who had done this. The one who had given back three lives and countless others for his own.