The next day, Lea was already well-rested and looking for something.
"Come on…Where did I leave it?" she questioned herself, retracing her steps until seeing Kilowog. "Oh, hey. Have you seen by drawing book?"
"Yeah. It's at the last place where you and Hal had your Truth or Dare game," Kilowog said, using his thumb to point back.
"Thanks," Lea said, already going there. Once arriving, she saw her backpack that was left there the other day. Even sat down to look inside to bring out her drawing book. "There it is. Let's see if I can finish outlining and coloring."
Around doing so, Razer walked by and saw the Blue Lantern female working while having earbuds connected to her iPod. The Red and Blue Lantern carefully looked behind to see Lea coloring the hair, skin, eyes, and rings.
"You have a very accurate eye in doing Hal and myself," Razer spoke up, his head near Lea's where she felt someone close.
"AH!" Lea jumped with a squeal when hearing someone and got up startled while turning around. Even taking the earbuds off. "Razer! Dude, you really got to stop sneaking up on me like that." She said, having her drawing book wrapped around her arms.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," Razer apologized. "I noticed you were adding color and I was curious about how it looked.
Lea blushed lightly from that. "Well, it's not much. The skin, hair, and eyes are easy to do, but coloring the clothes is difficult."
"Why is that?" Razer asked.
"Let's just say I plan to make them so good that they are pleasing to both of you," Lea said, looking at her drawing book. "But that can wait. I believe I promised to show you the designs of my best take on you and Aya."
Razer smiled when hearing that, taking a seat. "You did. Shall we start?"
"We shall," Lea said, grinning back while sitting next to Razer and opening her drawing pad to share what she created. "Now, just a heads up, my first sketches of you are not great. They were all imagination in how I thought of you until Hal corrected me. I improved over the years later."
The female Lantern showed Razer many drawings of her interpretation of Razer kind of resembling a bat-like alien, and how she imagines Aya.
"Intriguing thought designs you have of me," Razer replied, seeing one of himself in the form of a gargoyle. "However, some are a bit overdramatic."
"I know. My first-year designs were all over the place," Lea admitted. "But I improved and came a long way, since then."
"Where did you learn how to make illustrations this well?" the Red and Blue Lantern questioned, flipping to the next page to more designs involving him.
"I'm mostly self-taught. Just looking at objects where I manage to capture what I see perfectly on paper," the blonde teen answered, giving a sincere smile. "Well, perfect-ish. But I mostly got the passion from my uncle. He worked at the Daily Planet in the Art department while working on a new career to be an awesome graphic artist at the comic company. Always showed me his work plus asked for my thoughts as inspiration, whenever looking after me as a kid."
"I thought Hal Jordan was your caretaker on Earth," Razer reminded.
"He was, but my uncle came first," Lea said, shaking her head on the thought. "Anyway, we're getting off-topic here. Let's just continue."
Before continuing on the subject Lea was brushing off, the Red and Blue Lantern stumbled upon this one page of a female figure with him in sketch form. "Is this drawing of a green woman... Aya?" Razer asked.
"Yes. I never met her in person, so I tried making the most of it with Hal's stories and my perspective imagination," Lea admitted, a little sheepish on that subject.
"Your illustration of Aya is...close to the real her," Razer said, kind of shedding a tear that made the blonde teen notice plus panic.
"Oh, no, no, no, no! I'm so sorry, Razer!" Lea exclaimed, feeling bad for showing him her Aya designs. "This is my fault; I shouldn't have shown this section. Ugh! Should have waited until after we saved her."
"I am not upset. Seeing your illustration of Aya...It makes me think...when we do find her… if she'll look different," Razer explained, using his backhand to wipe away the tear.
"To be fair, we don't know if she made a physical body or is a disembodied hologram or something like that," Lea reasoned, flipping the pages a bit. "All I know is that, when we do find Aya, we'll figure the rest on how things play out."
"…I suppose you are right," Razer said, although unsure.
Without warning, Lea stopped flipping the pages of her sketch pad and placed a comforting hand on Razer's. "Look...I can't make promises here, but I can assure you that you're not alone in this. Not anymore. We have your back in finding Aya and nothing is gonna stop us from that. Count on it."
Looking up from that, Razer smiled gently and, without warning, hugged a surprised Lea. The blonde teen soon relaxed and hugged back. Around the hug fest, Hal came in to see the two Lanterns that made him smile. Along with Kilowog showing up.
"I take it that Razer saw your drawings, Lea?" Hal called out, making his presence.
After finishing the hug, Lea turned her head to where Hal was. "He did. Along with knowing me a little more. Even told Razer that he's no longer along in finding Aya."
"Then, you're in luck," Hal said.
"We're here," Kilowog said.
Lea turned her head quickly from that. "We are? We made it to the Forgotten Zone?"
"Yep. We've arrived and not too far from Razer's home planet." Hal said. "Any messages from Aya yet, Lea?"
"Let me check! I left my phone at my quarters to recharge!" Lea exclaimed, grabbing her things and standing up to get her electronic device.
The blonde teen hurried to her fully charged phone to notice a few new messages sent by only one being.
"All right, Aya, what did you send me this time?" she questioned, opening her unread text messages to become confused. "...Definitely not the response I thought you send."
"What, what does it say?" Kilowog asked, already coming in with the others.
"I wish I knew, guys. It's like my message threw up a bunch of random words," Lea admitted, rereading her message. "The only word that shows up more than once is something called 'Nok'."
"Nok?" Hal asked. "That's odd."
"That's nothing. Listen to what the rest of this message says," Lea said, clearing her throat to try to pronounce the gibberish. "Tor lorek san, bor nakka mur, Natromo faan tornek wot ur... Does any of this sound familiar to anyone here?"
Hal tried to figure out the message, but he got nothing. "Not even my power ring can translate that."
"Neither can both of mine," Razer said.
"Me either. What's going on?" Kilowog asked.
"Maybe Aya's memory is going haywire where she's sending random words?" Lea guessed, shrugging. "Or she somehow butt-dialed me by accident?"
"If the second option was true, then that means she already has a body," Kilowog said.
"I am guessing here, Kilowog," Lea deadpanned, putting her phone away. "And we're about to find out."
Soon, the team arrived at the planet Volkreg. Razer's homeworld in the Forgotten Zone. They had the ship land somewhere safe and discuss their plan.
"Saint Walker, stay here to hold the fort," Hal ordered. "The rest of us will start searching for Aya."
"Very well," Saint Walker said. "Good luck."
Lea chuckled. "I believe you once mentioned to not put trust in luck because, quote on quote, 'she is a fickle'."
"It's just an expression, Lea," Hal said.
"Oh, I know, Hal," Lea assured with a smirk on her face while folding her arms. "Just reminding Walker about what he said from Kilowog's point of view on that Red Lantern armada incident where Walker and Mogo the living planet took them down."
And so, the Lanterns walked out of the ship to begin their search. They looked around rocky regions with small plant life peaking around.
"Any updates, Lea?" Hal asked.
"No, nothing yet," Lea admitted, looking at her old messages. "I even sent Aya about us here and asking where she's at a minute ago. Maybe she's somewhere that Razer would know."
"And she hasn't replied?" Kilowog asked.
"She usually sends me messages at the most convenient moments," Lea admitted, still looking at the last message. "The last message still stumps me. What's Nok? And what does the rest of this gibberish mean?"
"I don't know. It's a language neither our rings can translate," Razer said.
"Best not to think too much about it, Lea," Hal responded, placing a supporting hand on the blonde teen's shoulder. "Let's just focus on the mission."
"Right..." Lea muttered, only to get a 'ping' from her phone. "Oh! Got something! And, for once, it's proper English with no strange symbols or language of gibberish."
The Lanterns then came across a two-way path. "Great, what now?" Kilowog asked.
"Hmm..." Razer was thinking. "It looks like there are two paths in front of us."
"Don't worry. From what I got on the text, Aya mentions, 'Go to where the one in red's Lantern journey began'," Lea stated, looking at Razer. "Didn't you mention how you lost your first true love that started you getting the red ring of rage?"
"Yes. I did. It's in that direction." Razer pointed at the left path.
Hal then noticed something. "Hold on. There's something glowing at the right side," he pointed at the right path.
"But the message states that Aya is at Razer's home and it's on the left side of the path," Lea said, getting confused.
"How do we know which path is the correct one to take, Jordan?" Kilowog questioned, folding his arms.
"We'll split up," Hal said. "Razer, you go with Lea on the left side. Kilowog and I will take the right path. If there's nothing there, then we'll join you or vice versa."
"All right. We'll contact you or Walker if we find anything," Lea said, staying close to Razer. "And Hal? ...Don't do anything reckless while we're gone."
"He, he, heh. That's my line," Kilowog said. "This kid keeps getting better and better."
"Fine. Be careful." Hal said.
"We will," Lea assured, giving a knowing smirk while flying with Razer to the path they're taking.
Razer and Lea, while on the left path, looked around. Razer knew Lea was curious. "You seem interested in my home."
"Is that wrong?" Lea asked, looking a bit embarrassed. "I-I-I mean, I didn't want to be rude or anything. It's...kind of exciting to see where you once lived that started everything. How you became the Lantern you are now today and stuff."
"I am not mad. As a matter of fact, you having an interest in my life...reminds me of Aya," Razer said.
That caught Lea's attention. "Really? I remind you of Aya? You're not just saying that to joke with me."
"I'm not. Aya took interest in me, trying to help me purge my anger, my rage. In a way, she taught me... to hope," Razer said. "Our friendship later evolved into love. You helping me find Aya gave me hope. And seeing you fascinated in me...reminds me of her. Hal's lucky to have a friend like you."
Lea smiled at this, holding back the tears of joy trying to form in her eyes. "Thank you, Razer. I'm lucky to meet Hal in learning about you and the others, too."
Just as the two Lanterns were getting along, something happened. A spear was thrown at them. Cutting the moment.
"What the?" Razer was confused.
"Whoa! Uh, Razer? I don't suppose you had beings like yourself who still live around these parts and are being protective of intruders?" Lea questioned, putting her phone away and energizing her ring.
"No. Most of my kind were killed by Atrocitus. I'm the last one," Razer said. Just then, Razer sees another spear coming from the sky. "Lea, LOOK OUT!" He formed a forcefield around her and himself. The spear bounced off the forcefield.
"Thanks for the save, Razer. So, if it's not people from your world, then who in the name of Oa is throwing spears at us?!' Lea exclaimed, creating binoculars with her ring to look around different areas at the source. "Because I don't think your girlfriend would plan something this extreme."
"No, she wouldn't," Razer said. "What do you see?" He forms a telescope to look around, too.
Lea looked around to spot some odd alien humanoid creatures being responsible for this.
"I see a group of native people wearing clothed warrior outfits and speared staffs," Lea said, then noticing some weird markings all over them plus a somewhat familiar sigil on their chests. "Razer? I get the feeling that these aren't just outside natives."
"I noticed them, too," Razer said. "It looks like they must be...Lanterns?"
"So, I'm not going crazy. Good to know," Lea admitted, seeing the 'Lanterns' get closer. "I don't recall any Lanterns like them before. Not unless these are the Violet Lanterns Hal told me once."
"I highly doubt it. The Star Sapphires are all females and already have their own homeworld called Zamaron that is around the Forgotten Zone," Razer then recognized some of the natives. "It…can't be."
"What is it?" Lea asked.
"Some of these Lanterns...They look like the criminals I've seen years ago." Razer pointed out, looking at them carefully. "That female is Drusa, a skilled hacker who managed to reprogram Aya more than once as her own mindless puppet. And that man with the large bird wings is Byth Rok, a Thanagarian outlaw from that lighthouse prison who is known for being a master thief and deceitful liar."
"Seriously?!" Lea exclaimed, jumping in startlement when one of the energy spears made her shield slowly crack. "But I thought only the Red Lanterns held the worst of the worst. What kind of Lanterns are they?"
"I do not know," Razer said, as the natives then threw more spears and started to look like purple glows. "Looks like they know we spotted them."
"Then, maybe instead of staying in one spot, we get out of here!" Lea suggested, seeing her shield broken down. "Let's fly, Razer!"
As Razer and Lea flew up in the air, they see the natives flying up towards them, too. "They can fly, as well," Razer said.
"Of course. Lanterns equal flight powers, too," Lea remarked, dodging some incoming spears again. "Let's hope Hal and Kilowog are doing better than us."
Meanwhile...
On the other side of the right-side path, Hal and Kilowog were looking around. "What are we looking for, Hal?" Kilowog asked.
"I noticed a yellow glow in this direction," Hal said.
"Yellow glow?" Kilowog asked. "You don't think..."
Hal knew exactly what Kilowog was thinking. The same yellow minerals, also known as Aurems, that the Lantern team came across in Frontier Space Lighthouse Prison and Class G Planet. The Aurem radiates fear when in higher concentrations that infect people in a constant state of paranoia. Even worse, these crystals nullify a Green Lantern's power ring that leaves them powerless. If there truly are yellow crystals growing in Razer's dead planet, then there might be a situation.
"Possibly, but we know one thing, for sure. If our powers shut down, we'll have our answer. And we'll regroup with Lea and Razer." Hal explained.
The Green Lanterns continued searching until they got ambushed by a few glowing purple spears. "What the narts?!" Kilowog said. He then looks up at the cliffs. "Who are those people?"
"Glorika klek natu!" someone shouted.
Hal sees the natives on top of the cliff. "Beats me. They don't look familiar."
"Wait a minute..." Kilowog looked closer at the natives to see an emblem on their chests and tattoos. "Uh... Jordan. I think they're Lanterns. And some of them do look familiar."
"What?" Hal asked, as he forms binoculars and sees the natives with similar Lantern emblems plus two familiar faces. "You're right. That's Ragnar and Zartok. The ex-Prince of Betrassus who became a Red Lantern and that castaway pirate stuck in Mogo. Looks like they're now part of the...Purple Lanterns?"
"Nok!" The natives (along with Ragnar and Zartok) shot more spears at the Green Lanterns while shouting a war chant.
Hal and Kilowog evaded them and formed a protective shield around themselves. "Great, we're being attacked by another batch of Lantern color corps," Kilowog said.
"They also happen to be speaking the same word from Lea's last message," Hal pointed out. "I'm starting to think that random message Aya sent was a warning about these guys inhabiting this world."
They flew away from the natives, as they shoot at them. Hal then noticed a cave. "We'll hide in there." He spoke. They flew into the cave, and avoid being spotted by the natives.
"That was close," Kilowog said. "So, Razer's home planet is now inhabited by these Purple Lanterns?"
"Looks like it," Hal said. "It's odd that Ragnar went from a Red Lantern of Rage to a Purple Lantern Native. Something's not right here."
"Ya think?" Kilowog remarked.
"We'll have to warn Razer and Lea. No doubt these Purple Lanterns spotted them, too," Hal said, about to contact Lea and Razer.
"Their powers are purple, but they do not call themselves Purple Lanterns," A familiar voice said, stopping Hal from calling his teammates.
"That voice... I know that voice before," Kilowog said.
"Me, too. It sounded like..." Hal stopped, as he sees a familiar face walking toward him and Kilowog. It was Thaal Sinestro.
"Sinestro?" Both Kilowog and Hal said.
"Hal Jordon, Kilowog, it's been a long time," Sinestro said.
"But what are you doing here?" Kilowog asked. "Why are you here?"
"It's... a bit of a long story," Sinestro said. "But what I want to know is... what are you doing here in the Forgotten Zone? In Volkreg, of all planets?"
"We picked up a message to come here," Hal said. "Have you noticed these natives?"
"Yes and no. I came here weeks ago to study something until the Indigo Tribe came here." Sinestro replied.
"So that's what they're called," Hal said. "What are they doing here?"
"Even I don't know, Jordan," Sinestro replied. "But what I do know, is that they easily took over this place before I arrived."
"What were you doing here?" Kilowog asked.
"I have discovered something which seems to involve this," Sinestro showed where the yellow glowing was coming from.
"Fear crystals?" Hal asked as his and Kilowog's power rings started to shut down. "Sinestro don't touch them. It's dangerous!"
"Don't be so dramatic, Jordan," Sinestro sneered, causing the other Lanterns to grow weary.
"Sinestro, what are doing with these things? Our green powers won't work on it," Kilowog pointed out, getting a bad feeling about this that's more than just the presence of the fear crystals.
"Simple really... I'm okay with it. My power ring is working just fine," Sinestro replied.
"But you're a Green Lantern. It shouldn't work with that yellow crystal," Hal said.
"Not exactly," Sinestro's Green Lantern uniform shifted... He has changed. His costume was now...yellow. And his ring was also yellow.
"You're a... Yellow Lantern?" Kilowog asked, just as shocked as Hal.
"Indeed, I am," Sinestro smiled sinisterly. "Here's a taste of its power." He used his yellow power to knock out the two Green Lanterns. "Indigo-1, I got them."
Hal was about to pass out when he sees a native walking close to Sinestro. "You were right, they did take the bait. My tribe has told me they're apprehending the Blue Lantern girl and that Red and Blue Lantern, as we speak."
"Good. Once they're out of the way, we'll proceed according to plan," Sinestro said.
"Razer... Lea...?" Hal asked, as he passed out.
Now things are getting interesting. With Hal and Kilowog down for the count, will Razer and Lea save them? Find out next time.