A/N: Just one chapter left after this! I feel super proud of this and I really, really hope you all like the end!

Kilowag tossed the last beast deep into the cave, coughing as he did so. He was pretty banged up, but not as bad as Hal whose right shoulder dislocated during the fight. Hal summoned up a rectangle construct for him to bite into as Aya forced his shoulder back into socket. He let loose a muffled cry; Aya helped him lay back, his head resting on her lap, afterwards.

"What in Oa's name were those things?" Kilowag growled before entering another coughing fit. Because they exerted themselves, nearly draining their rings of all power, they breathed in much more of Varardras' air than they needed to. Their wounds didn't help. Now Kilowag suffered from short but intense coughing fits and felt a little dizzy, but he chalked it up to hitting his head. Hal coughed for up to five minutes straight and could barely stand he was so dizzy. His vision blurred at the edges too, which made it all the more worse.

"Mutants," Aya said matter-of-factly. "Varardras' atmosphere doesn't just kill sentient beings; it transforms them. It's most common in animal-like species but there still remains a possibility for other beings to transform as well."

"You mean some of those things used to be people?!"

"Yes."

"It doesn't matter," Hal muttered, "I don't plan on us to stay here…" He trailed off and coughed again. "We'll get them before that happens." He shut his eyes tightly; even lying down he couldn't shake off his dizziness. "What were you saying before, Aya? About—" More coughing; this time it sounded much, much worse. "—Razer?"

"Never mind that Hal; we've got to get you out of this place."

"I agree with Green Lantern Kilowag. Hal Jordan, you are succumbing to the effects of the poisons faster because of your injuries. We have already been here for 4.7 hours. We have less than eight hours to evacuate the planet before you two suffer from muscle weakness and possibly reach the point of no return, and that's if you both can last the estimated eleven hours." Aya looked outside of the cave. The rain was slowing down; it was a very light drizzle now. "I can construct a shield around us so we may leave now. I cannot say how long it will hold up, but as long as Kilowag has enough energy to fly back to the Interceptor there shouldn't be a problem."

Kilowag nodded. "Don't worry Aya; I've got plenty of juice to fly back to the Interceptor." He walked over and tried to pick up Hal, but he shoved Kilowag's hands away.

"No," he whispered then, louder; "No." Slowly, Hal climbed to his feet. He swayed and had to lean against the wall for balance, and rub his eyes, but was all right. "We are not leaving Razer here. If we do he'll die and I'm not going to stand by and just let that happen." This time Kilowag was put into a coughing fit, although it lasted only thirty seconds, instead of Hal, so Hal continued. "Aya, tell us why Razer came here. We need to know."

Aya stood and stared at them, her face an unreadable mask of green. "Green Lantern Hal Jordan, it's likely you will die if you don't leave. We may barely have time to get to the Interceptor and treat you and Kilowag before the later stages set in. Are you sure about this?" Hal nodded. "And you, Lantern Kilowag? Do you wish to remain as well?"

"Looks like I don't got a choice, now do I?" He wiped slobber from his jaw. "If Hal's stayin', so am I. But we're leaving the second he starts getting' nauseous." Hal smiled and mouthed, "Thanks buddy."

"As you wish." Aya looked down and quietly asked Razer to forgive her for violating his privacy. When she looked up, she went right into it: "Atrocitus killed Razer's wife so that Razer would join the Red Lanterns."

She didn't get any farther before Hal and Kilowag both went, "What?!"

"Yes. Although I was damaged, I could still record and pick up on what Atrocitus was saying."

"Wait, when was this?" Hal asked, suppressing a cough. "Don't tell me this was when Razer went to Shard?"

Aya nodded. "Atrocitus conquered Razer's planet and pitted the warlords against each other. When he saw that Razer could become a truly hateful being he killed Ilana while Razer was out at war; he joined the militia against her wishes so they could live in peace." This part actually pained her to say: "I know this because I entered Razer's memories back at the prison. That was also when I picked my form; I mimicked Ilana's appearance, as I used the last body imprinted into my database." She waited, seeing if Hal or Kilowag had anything to say, but they didn't. "Razer tried killing Atrocitus, and would have, but we had to leave. I am one hundred percent positive he's taken Atrocitus here to exact his revenge."

"Wow…" was all Hal could say. Kilowag however could empathize. He felt both sympathy and rage.

"That filthy piece of slime," he snarled, "I don't blame Red for takin' Atrocitus here; I would've done the same thing!" He thought about his family he lost. He couldn't blame Razer for becoming a Red. Kilowag had been angry, too, but used his work to help distract himself from the pain. What if Razer didn't have that? It could've driven anybody to hate and rage. "When I get my hands on Atrocitus, I'll—"

"You'll do nothing. We are not to kill Atrocitus, but to bring him back to serve out his sentence."

"I'm not treating a monster like they have a right to live."

"Hold on a second. Who said we're killing him?" He punched the palm of his left hand. "But we aren't treating him nicely."

"Now that it has been decided, we best leave now. There may be more of those creatures nearby and we can't waste any more time if we are to find Razer and Atrocitus within a timely manner. Please step closer so I can construct a shield around us so we may fly through the acid rain."

"Got it Aya," said Kilowag as he helped Hal walk closer to her. She constructed a large green energy shield and took flight, quickly followed by Kilowag. Hal flew but let Kilowag take control of steering him, as he wasn't steady enough. Together they flew out of the acid rain and in the direction they hoped to find Razer.

Razer crash landed by some rocks since he'd been so dizzy from flying and avoiding the creatures that chased him for the past half hour. He rolled onto his hands and knees and barfed. The onset of nausea was sudden and incredibly unpleasant. Razer vomited two more times before wiping his mouth and standing. "Why did I let him get away?"

"Perhaps you overestimated yourself."

Razer whirled around and fired a badly aimed shot. He missed Atrocitus by several feet.

"What's wrong Razer, feeling a little ill?"

"You are too."

Atrocitus tried waving off the fact that he could barely stand up straight. "You should've known better than to come here of all places. I can, and will, outlast you."

"It doesn't matter if I die here. You're an intergalactic criminal. I doubt you'll find many people willing to help you before you die." Razer took a deep breath. Looking at Atrocitus, seeing his smug smirk, it made him sick. Memories of Ilana resurfaced causing a red aura of hate to surround him. "All that matters to me is that you die. Whether it's by my hand or because of Varardras, it doesn't matter."

Atrocitus coughed, but his coughs slowly turned into laughter. "Then kill me Razer; I'd like to see you try."

This was it; Razer gathered up every ounce of hate he had left in him. The aura moved wildly around him, lashing out at nearby air. He blinked, and when he opened his eyes they were orbs of flaming red. Razer let out an inhuman scream and flew at Atrocitus, who too was surrounded by red aura, but his was less intense than Razer's all-consuming one.

When Razer reached him they locked hands, fighting for control over the other. When Atrocitus pushed Razer back a bit, Razer reared back his head and slammed his forehead against Atrocitus'. Atrocitus stumbled and weakened long enough for Razer to shove him against the ground. He pulled back his right hand, his ring the only visible thing out of the fire consuming his limb, and punched Atrocitus. He punched him again, harder. And again, and again, and again.

"I came back for you… I came back for you!"

Razer reared back his fist one more time, but stopped to spit in Atrocitus' eye. Then Atrocitus lifted his hand so that his ring was pressed against Razer's chest. Unable to think, unable to act, Razer did nothing as he was thrown back. His battery came off his hip, ripped away with such ease by Atrocitus, and he slammed into a rock. Atrocitus laughed maniacally, the hinges holding his mind together coming undone, not like Razer could hear. All he could hear was the Red Lantern oath ringing mockingly in his ears.

"With blood and rage of crimson red

We fill men's souls with darkest dread

And twist your minds to pain and hate

We'll burn you all—that is your fate!"

With a flash of red, Atrocitus was fully powered. He could leave; he didn't need to wait around any longer. But he still had one loose end to tie up. Razer.

"If only you were a good son. I would've made you great." He sneered and stared down at Razer, who was still blazing full of red energy. But, because of a mental battle, he couldn't move. "Say goodbye."

Atrocitus pointed his ring at Razer, ready for the kill shot. Razer could only think I don't need hate.

I don't need hate. Ilana wouldn't want me to need hate. Neither would Aya, or… Or even Hal or Kilowag. They came back for me. They saved me. But I still have some hate—rage—left. I might as well use it.

Hal, Kilowag, and Aya saw nothing to indicate that either Razer or Atrocitus was nearby. Then they heard the wretched scream and caught sight of the brilliant red lightshow coming from their right. "Is that…?"

"Who cares!" Kilowag shouted, interrupting Hal. "We're checking out whatever it is, so let's go."

"Affirmative. And, Hal Jordan, my guess from the level of power coming from that general area is that both Razer and Atrocitus are there."

"Thanks Aya," Hal said and broke away from Kilowag. "Thanks for the lift buddy, but I can handle it for now."

"Ya sure?"

"Yeah. Anyways, you're getting a little off balance too Kilowag. If one of us crash lands we don't need to bring the other down."

"Don't remind me," Kilowag grumbled.

Razer lifted a rock twice the size, and ten times as heavy, of him. He threw it at Atrocitus without so much as breaking a sweat. With equal effort, Atrocitus blasted it to smithereens and flew through the debris, breathing fiery hot red energy. Razer flew right into it, his red aura acting as extra armor, and constructed a dual headed spear. He tried taking Atrocitus' head off with it, but Atrocitus grabbed the spear and flung Razer high into the atmosphere. He flew after Razer, red construct brass knuckles taking form over his closed fists.

Punch for punch, kick for kick, blow for blow. That's how their fight went; they were practically equally matched with how they were going. Then Atrocitus flew at Razer again after they separated for the umpteenth time; this time he was careless. Razer saw an opening and took it; he feinted right but went left and delivered a devastating punch to Atrocitus' exposed ribs. The blow caused Atrocitus to exhale all air in his lungs, and then some, and plummet to the ground. Razer landed softly next to him, his red glow never fading.

"Kill me," Atrocitus wheezed, "do it now."

"You destroyed my planet and killed Ilana, the first person I ever loved and the only one I ever loved like that. You put me on a path of hate, rage, and self-destruction. I destroyed a planet because of my blind loyalty to you." He looked at his ring, which flickered as the battery reached its lowest levels before his power dissipated. Then he looked to Atrocitus. "I am not your pet. I am nothing like you." His red aura, his armor, and his ring disappeared. "I'm not hateful. I'm not holding on to old anger. I… I'm moving on. Ilana would want that. And I want it too! Do you hear me? I don't need your pathetic ring to keep me going. All I need is my will to keep living and there is nothing, NOTHING you, you or anyone else will EVER do to change that. Don't forget."

"Trust me: We're never forgetting this or your memorable speech." Razer sighed and turned to look at Kilowag, Aya, and Hal. Hal landed, stumbled, then caught his balance and stepped forward. "Razer… Aya told us." That explained their sympathetic looks. "We're so, so sorry."

"Yeah Poozer." Kilowag's ears drooped. "I know what it's like, losin' a loved one. I can see why you did it. Becoming a Red, that is."

"Razer, please forgive me if I have violated your privacy," Aya said, stepping next to him. "The circumstances called for it."

"Don't apologize. I… I owe—" Razer was about to say "I owe you one; I owe you all one," and smile, genuinely smile since he'd lost Ilana, but he fell to his knees and barfed again. This prompted Hal to vomit, which nearly made Kilowag vomit and successfully made him and Aya grab their two sick friends and rush them to the Interceptor (Even Atrocitus, though he was in chains!) before asphyxiation settled in.