A/N: First and foremost, wow, such a response, and even in the first TWO HOURS of this little thing being posted, so many GL:TAS and Razaya Fans have come here and to the DeviantArt post of this!
Thank you guys for your support. Without you guys, this thing wouldn't have gone past the first chapter! *hugs you all*
However, I must inform you guys that I won't be updating as often as most of you may hope. Because of school and other RL situations, I usually can only update about once a month per story (very unlikely more than that however).
I hope you'll all bear with me as the plot continues along, but please be patient, and enjoy.
To say that Hal Jordan and Kilowog walked into the Interceptor would've been one of the greatest lies told in the history of the universe. They nearly bulldozed over Saint Walker as they bounded into the familiar bridge of the Oan ship.
"Please do not run on the interior of this ship!" L.A.N.O.S. said to them. They ignored him.
"AYA?!"
"AYA?! WHERE ARE YA KID?!"
"She is here . . . by technicality," Razer explained as he walked up to the Green Lanterns. The pair turned around to face him, bewildered.
"What do you mean, kid?" Hal inquired.
"It's better to show you," Saint Walker explained. The various Lantern Corps members followed the first Blue Lantern. It was to the room where the extra berths and few medical supplies were stashed. It was just as Hal remembered. Though to his shock . . .
Aya occupied one of the berths.
"What happened?" Kilowog asked. Aya's body had massive scorch marks and dents that marred the white metal protecting her body. The female AI seemed to be unconscious.
"We found her right when a star went supernova," Saint Walker explained. He looked to the prone body before him. "However, we've scanned her head, and physically she's here, but . . ."
"It's as if she's in a coma, though not at the same time," Razer exhaled. "It's a perplexing paradox."
"Wait, so, where is her mind then?" Hal questioned.
"If I knew I would've found her, Hal Jordan," the Volkregian exhaled. "Quite frankly, it's a mystery to all of us, including Ganthet."
"Speaking of our favorite ex-Guardian, how's he doing?" Hal murmured. The topic at hand was getting to depressing, and everyone knew it. Saint Walker led the way back out. No one missed the sad look Razer had as the Blue Lantern looked back at Aya's prone form.
Razer the last one to leave. He didn't get very far, for he was just to about two feet away from the entrance. The Volkregian turned around stood just outside the door in silent vigil. A few minutes later, Hal poked his head around the corner. The sound of Hal's incoming footsteps broke the Blue Lantern out of his concentrated stare.
"You all right kid?" Hal asked.
"I am fine: no need to fuss over me like a mother," Razer retorted. With one last look to the room, Razer finally followed the Green Lantern out into the bridge.
O*O*O
Several hours later . . .
"Hey! Saint Walker!" Kilowog exclaimed. The Blue Lantern slowly turned to face the Bolovaxian, a serene expression on his face.
"Ah, greetings Kilowog," Saint Walker nodded. "Are you here to ask me about Razer?" The sergeant gaped at him for a moment. He quickly composed himself and nodded at the slender alien.
"Is Razer ok?"
"You'll have to ask him yourself," Saint Walker replied.
"Yeah, uh, slight problem: Hal and I can't seem to find him lately. He hasn't been on the Interceptor, according to L.A.N.O.S., and we can never seem to find him."
"Hmm, he's avoiding others again . . ." Saint Walker murmured.
"He's still upset that he didn't exactly find Aya, isn't it?"
"It appears so. Even when he received his Blue Lantern ring and came to Odym, he avoided me for some time until he decided to continue with his training."
"Can you talk to him?" The paler Lantern looked up at the taller Bolovaxian.
"I have. I believe he's meditating in one of the storage rooms. Good day."
Before Kilowog can even say anything else, Saint Walker floated into the air and was off like a shot.
O*O*O
"Take a deep breath. Focus on the calmness of the lake. Clear your mind of all emotions . . ." Razer had whispered to himself repeatedly as he sat slightly above the ground. Being a Blue Lantern now, he was able to sit cross-legged and meditate. However, his thoughts kept returning to Aya.
"Ugh," Razer groaned bitterly. He forgot where he was situated and let out a yelp as he landed on his rear on the hard floor. "Ow," he muttered. He got to his feet and stretched.
Behind him, the door slid open and a "There you are," greeted him. Razer turned around to face Hal Jordan.
"What do you want?"
"Geez Kid," Hal responded. "You may be a Blue, but you still get annoyed easily." Razer managed to stamp out the urge to roll his eyes at the Earthling.
Seeing that he wasn't getting anywhere, Hal decided a different approach. "L.A.N.O.S. has been getting some weird signal for the past few hours. Want to take a look at it? Not even the new Science Director of the Guardians can figure it out."
Razer frowned slightly as he weighed his very few options.
"All right, take me to your nav-com." It may not have been much, but it was a start.
O*O*O
The Interceptor . . .
Just as Hal and Razer entered the Interceptor, there is a flurry of activity. All the consoles were going haywire.
"What in the name of Grotz is going on?" Razer inquired, stunned.
"Pr-processing-processing-" L.A.N.O.S.'s voice went on like a broken record.
"What happened here Kilowog?" Hal added. The Bolovaxian stared helplessly at the blindingly flashing keys.
"I dunno!" Kilowog exclaimed. Razer floated over and examined the console as Kilowog continued, "You went off to get Razer and I was waiting. L.A.N.O.S. here was in the middle of decoding the message, and well, this happened!" He gestured to the malfunctioning nav-com.
Razer scrutinized the console for a few seconds before rapidly punching varieties of keys. Eventually, the consoles stopped their wild fluctuations. Soon, a message projected onto the main screen. The trio of Lanterns stepped back in awe as the gibberish mixed and matched with one another. Slowly, symbols crawled across the screen and rapidly trilled from the bottom of the rectangle and up.
"Whoa," Hal Jordan gaped. He quickly checked his ring, and soon it constructed out the translation of the insanely rapid moving words. Kilowog and Razer mimicked him, reading in their respective languages. As soon as Razer read the first line of the translation, a surge of hope filled him.
"Is this from who I think it's from?" Kilowog stated, stunned. Razer stepped forward to the console.
"L.A.N.O.S., can you verify who this is from?" the Volkregian asked.
"It is unconfirmed," L.A.N.O.S. responded. "However, it seems to be of a somewhat familiar energy source, once that once commandeered the Interceptor."
"Aya," Razer whispered.