With Hope and Will Chapter 3

When Hal woke he realized he was lying on the ground and he sat up rubbing his head as it pulsated.

"Ugh, what did I do to deserve this?" he muttered and opened his eyes.

He realized he was in the holding cell; he looked up to see Aya sitting in the command chair and watching them. She watched as Hal stepped up and looked at the bars on the front of the cell and he looked at her.

"Aya, what is going on? Why am I in here?" he asked.

"You were imprisoned by Ewil after he knocked the three of you out, handicapped me, and removed your power rings as you slept." she explained.

Hal stared at her in shock before checking his hand, indeed his ring was gone and he was in his civilian attire, he turned to see his comrades on the ground in a similar state to him. He looked back at Aya only to stumble back to see Ewil directly in front of him, recovering he glared at the robot and got as close to the cell door as he could.

"Let us out!" he demanded.

Ewil watched him for a moment before turning and walking to Aya, turning her chair towards the console, revealing a circular device attached to the back of her helm and gripped it. Hal watched in horror as the device glowed and Aya began to type commands into the console, mathematical equations and star coordinates appearing on screen. Hal couldn’t read the coordinates or the map without his ring and scowled, wondering what the robot was up to.

A groaning from behind him made him turn and look as Kilowog began to wake. He sat up and shook his head before looking around and scowling before spotting Hal.

“Poozer? Umbacka oondreda?” he growled and stood up, walking over to the door and seeing Ewil controlling Aya.

“Gomo rendayjhah?” he whispered to Hal.

Hal groaned and rubbed his head, hating the situation they were in.

“This couldn’t get any worse.” Hal groaned.

Kilowog blinked as he too realized the situation and looked at the mathematical symbols, frowning as he studied them before looking at Hal.

“Dejah gomburamah revangala de lavula gom Odym.” he whispered.

“I can’t understand you…wait did you say Odym?” Hal asked.

“Giamn lenok ralick mor ama?” Razer suddenly said having woke up when they were whispering to one another.

“Oh for the love of- Hey! Can you at LEAST give us something to help us communicate with each other?!” Hal shouted at Ewil, clearly angry at their current situation and that he had been tricked.

“Ewil, what is the meaning of this?” a familiar robotic voice said.

Every Lantern turned to look at Ehopel as she stepped from the hallway.

“I’ll tell you what happened, your little partner here locked us up and took our rings when we found out you two were lying to us.” Hal snapped.

Ehopel looked towards them before turning on Ewil and walked towards him.

“This was not the logical choice to make Ewil.” She said.

“The only logical solution is that I made a mistake trying to help you two.” Hal growled.

“Umbacka! Regala dun Poozer!” Kilowog shouted.

Ehopel turned back to them and went up to the door and held up her hand to deactivate it.

“I am sorry Ewil has overreacted but our directive remains the same.” She said and unlocked the door, letting the bars fade into nonexistence.

She turned to look at Ewil and held out a hand.

“Ewil, return their rings.” She ordered.

Ewil did not move and still held the device on the back of Aya’s helm.

Kilowog roared and dived forward, trying to take down Ehopel who simply stepped out of the way, letting him fall to the ground as he missed her.

“Evala Aya!” Razer snarled only to be held back by Hal.

Ehopel looked at him then to Ewil and made a firm nod, clearly not wanting the tension to grow.

Ewil stayed still for a moment before twisting the device and pulling it off, releasing Aya from its binding.

Aya stood and walked over to Razer, standing by his side as Kilowog jumped back to his feet and stood by Hal.

“I apologize for this, Ewil must have assumed you would be a danger and-“

“Dem ahal pume Poozer!”

“Cut out the act, we know what you really are.” Hal spat.

Ehopel blinked and looked at Ewil then back at the group before sighing and motioning for him to hand her the rings.

Ewil stood frozen before he stiffly pulled the rings from his hip compartment and handed them to Ehopel who held them out to the lanterns.

“I am sorry…I truly am but you don’t understand-” she tried to explain, her robotic walls falling and revealing a young but strained complexion.

“You did it to hide yourself from the Guardians didn’t you?” Hal said as he and his comrades put on their rings.

Ehopel looked at him and nodded guiltily.

“We are technorganics, living super computers, the first of our kind, created before the war destroyed our creators,” she admitted then quickly added an explanation.

“We DID come back to end a war, the Blue Lanterns ARE gone and we need their power to end the war.”

“You better explain the whole story to us, and explain how Ewil escaped and how he managed to knock us out with that weird glow of his.” Hal added.

“Glow?” she blinked before looking at Ewil who only crossed his arms before she turned back to them, a suspicious look on her face.

“Was it yellow?” she asked.

“Stop the whole robot charade, we KNOW you’re faking it.” Kilowog growled and came face to face with Ewil.

Ewil’s mask suddenly began to glow yellow, his mask shifting into a monstrous form as his suit became sharper and sleeker.

Kilowog stumbled back, his green aura flickering as he did.

“Do not test me.” Ewil suddenly growled, his voice was smooth and youthful but with a menace to it that sent shivers down Hal’s spine.

“Ewil!” Ehopel commanded.

Ewil’s suit reformed back to its original form and he turned to look at Ehopel who seemed more pained at what he had done than angry.

“No wonder they do not trust us, you cannot go around using the frequencies just to scare our allies.” She said steadily then turned back to her nervous looking lantern friends.

“That was an example of the frequencies we managed to attain, we need all of them to create the White Lantern signet ring.” Ehopel tried to explain.

“Wait, White Lanterns?” Hal asked getting over his earlier surprise.

“We have reason to believe if we manage to combine the powers of all the frequencies we will be able to bring forth the power of the White Lanterns and end the war.” Ehopel explained.

“Wait, wait, how do we know you’re even telling the truth?” Kilowog growled.

Ehopel held up her palm and an image appeared, it was a recording and it began to play once it was fully formed. It showed what looked like a partially damaged lab, they watched as three familiar figures appeared, two were the figures that stood before them, the last was Aya, or what looked like Aya. The figure was much more like Ehopel did, more sleek, more advanced, but she was damaged heavily and lay on the ground, missing a few limbs and by the small craters and scorch marks she had seen battle recently.

“Take these, I went through great pains to receive them.” Aya said, her voice crackling from the damage.

“What are they?” Ehopel asked, taking the small device.

Both she and Ewil had different armor, much thicker and both had helmets, only Ehopel had hers under her arm.

“They are the frequencies I promised, once the last is recovered you must say the oaths before saying the White Lantern creed to bring an end to this darkness.” She buzzed, her voice breaking as she began to dim.

“Use the teleporter I gave you to finish the task,” she whispered then they watched as her green glow faded and only her shell remained.

A sudden onslaught of fire made Ewil grab Ehopel, making her drop her helmet and they rushed away into a secure room. Ewil set Ehopel aside and held the door as the sound of carnage roared on the other side, claws and snarls were heard as Ewil called for Ehopel to open a gate.

Ehopel quickly stowed the device into her hip component and pulled out a second one that reminded Hal of a television remote, just more alien. She held the device towards a blank wall and pushed a button, sending a glowing beam that grew and created a fluctuating portal into space.

“GO!” Ewil cried and a sudden explosion sent them both to the ground.

Ehopel and Ewil jumped up and sent a sheet of raw green energy at the figures that tried to pass through, creating a wall to hold them back.

Ewil nodded towards Ehopel who dropped her defense and flew through the portal before Ewil dropped his and hurried through as it closed behind him, letting the dark figures rush up to the closing portal before it vanished.

Once the recording had ended Ehopel looked at the stunned audience before her.

“We knew the last frequency was hope since Odym was the first to fall and its inhabitants hunted down by our enemy force.” Ehopel explained.

“The frequencies give us the abilities that anyone who bears their power would hold, advanced will for the Green Lantern frequency, rage for Red Lanterns, fear for Yellow Lanterns and etc.” she explained gesturing to Ewil glowing each color as she listed them off.

With each change his suit conformed to the said corps, his normal green, a sharp and dangerous looking red suit with a slick helmet and the frightening apparel of his yellow form.

“Exactly how many frequencies are there?” Razer asked.

An image of 6 symbols appeared in a floating circle on Ehopels palm, each with a different color, in the swirling circle there was one space that Ehopel pointed out.

“There are 8 known lanterns but we need these including the missing one, Hope, to create the 9th, the White Lantern power ring.” Ehopel explained.

“You know a few of them,” she said, pointing them out.

“Green, Red, Pink, you are familiar with these.” She said the circle pausing at each symbol listed.

“The others include Purple, Yellow, and Orange.” She said pointing to the alien lantern symbols.

“I recognize the orange one, Atrocitus fought against them in his attempt to gain more power.” Razer said.

“They were quite formidable.” He murmured, clearly impressed by that lantern corps.

“Considering their emotion is avarice it is no wonder they were so formidable.” Ewil said, his voice taking a flat tone.

Razer glared at him but Ehopel interrupted their glaring and continued.

“Yes, next is purple, the Indigo Lanterns are powered by compassion while Yellow is powered by fear.” She clarified.

“And the 8th?” Kilowog grunted.

“You said you needed these ones, what about the 8th one?”

Ehopel shifted her palm and the dark image of a triangle with a series of lines that seemed to rain down upon it in a corps circle symbolized the indicated lantern insignia.

“This is the Black Lantern Corps, they are the ones who we are fighting against.” She murmured darkly.

Everybody looked at each other when Ewil stepped up.

“We need to hurry, we are not the only ones who have the ability to jump time.” He warned.

“Just because you came up with a story and showed us some other lantern corps it doesn’t mean we are still taking you to Odym.” Razer growled.

Ewil and Ehopel looked at one another, a distraught expression her face.

Aya stepped forward, brushing away Razer’s protective hold on her shoulder and began to type commands into the console.

“I will bypass the 24 hour protocol for transwarp, we will be at Odym in a few moments.” She said and pressed the final button, the ship whirring as its transwarp drives came to life and it aligned itself properly.

“Aya, we don’t know if they’re bluffin-“ Razer tried to reason.

“You and I know this data could not have been falsified and if what they claim of their enemy is true we must act upon it.” Aya said firmly and nodded to the two, Ehopel smiled at her gratefully while Ewil nodded in gratification before the ship went into warp.

The whole ship sped forward and within a few minutes they exited the warp field and flew towards Odym, its healthy colors illuminated by its gentle sun. Everybody but Aya went to the window to examine the bountiful planet as it turned below them, eyes alight at the beauty it beheld.

“So this is where my blue friend went to after we defeated that Red Lantern armada.” Kilowog huffed and chuckled.

“At long last…hope is found.” Ehopel murmured relief evident on her face.

“We better get down there, if what you say is true we don’t know how long we have until your friends arrive.” Hal interrupted, breaking the awed silence and nodding at Aya to land.

_@_@_@_@_@

On Odym they stepped out and looked around at the view when a familiar figure flew up to the group.

“Welcome, Hal Jordan, I see you have finally found us.” Ganthet said, smiling.

“Ganthet! So this is where you went to.” Hal grinned as he was joined by a tall figure adorned in the Blue Lantern attire.

“Bluey! It’s nice to see ya again.” Kilowog roared in delight, smacking the newcomer on the back.

“Indeed it is nice to meet friends again.” He managed to gasp out.

“Wait…you…you’re-” Razer started, looking at the newcomer in surprise.

“As I said, it is nice to meet friends again.” Saint Walker replied having recovered.

“I am sorry to interrupt but may I ask why you are here?” Ganthet asked then noticed the two figures in the back.

“Actually, we need your help.” Hal said and pointed his thumb towards the two travelers as they stepped forward.

“Well, THEY need your help, they need to get a sample of the Blue Lantern frequency to save their home and ours.” Hal explained.

“What for?” Saint Walker asked.

A sudden rumbling sound filled the air and immediately Ewil, Ehopel, and Aya looked to the sky soon followed by the others.

“A bridge has been opened.” Ehopel whispered with dread.

She looked at Ganthet and Saint Walker and motioned for them to stay.

“Stay here and stay hidden, we must deal with this immediately.” She said before she and Ewil took to the sky and sped towards where they had heard the sound.

“I advise you take her advice, stay and keep hidden while we deal with the anomaly.” She said and she too followed suit.

Hal looked at Ganthet and nodded before he, Razer, and Kilowog took off.

“We’ll be back, get to somewhere safe.” He urged before speeding off after the receding robots and catching up to them.

“So what’s the plan?” Hal asked.

“The bridge opened and reclosed quickly, I assume it only let out a single Black Lantern.” Ehopel explained and nodded towards Ewil.

Ewil formed a handheld tracking device from solid green light and followed the signal that appeared on its screen, following it to a nearby field of asteroids.

“There, in that field.” He said, pointing.

As the group flew towards their destination Hal kept sending glances towards Ewil and Ehopel, both flew in sync, though Ehopel seemed to move at a more destined rate. He wondered why this war they spoke of couldn’t be solved without going into the past.

“We are approaching our destined area.” Aya chirped, knocking Hal out of his thoughts.

“Aya, scan for any life forms nearby.” he said, looking around for anything out of the ordinary.

“Understood, scans underway.” she replied as she began to scan.

“Warning,” she suddenly said.

“a strange anomaly is approaching our current position at an accelerated rate.” she said, stopping to hover and look at a humanoid dark figure.

It seemed to radiate black energy with a deep purple aura as it swerved and snaked dramatically in the sky towards them. The second the figure was within range Ewil and Ehopel intervened and made a large sphere of green energy, mimicking a dome, around the group.

The group was confused at their actions until the dark figure rushed in and slammed into the solid globe. It began to claw and screech at the globe for a moment before backing away and leaning back, as if taking in a deep breath.

“NOW!” Ewil shouted and both he and Ehopel let down the sphere and formed a large alien shield as the figure let out a dark flaming blast, crackling the shield and nearly shattering it altogether.

The others went into action, once it seemed the blast was dimming they flew forward as the shield was let down, sending blasts of energy from their rings towards the malicious figure.

The thing screeched as the green and red projectiles enveloped it and after a moment of its screeching it went still, letting the dark aura around it disappear, revealing its physical nature.

Everybody froze and looked at the figure in a mix of horror and shock, especially Razer, who the dark figure resembled. The dark figure floated in the night, its body horribly mutilated and broken, though the lanterns knew they were not the cause.

“Wh-what- it looks like...Razer!” Kilowog blundered out, his red eyes wide as he neared the figure.

Razer stared in complete slack jawed silence at the figure. It...no HE looked like what he did without his Red Lantern ring. His tunic was shredded in several areas, and it seemed a lot of it had been ripped away, even mutilated he could tell this version of him was...older. He looked at the lifeless figure for another moment before moving forwards to inspect it closer.

“Do not approach him.” Ehopel said, placing herself in between the approaching lanterns and the lifeless creature, but was careful not to put her own back to it.

Hal floated up her, only to be confronted by Ewil, who held his hand up to stop Hal's approach.

“We have ample reason to ensure you that you should NOT approach this creature.” he said, his tone as level as his sister's.

Hal gave him a suspicious glare before taking an authoritative pose.

“Why? Why is there a SECOND Razer over there? And what happened to him?” he said, trying to keep his tone level.

Ewil did not waver, staying as automaton like as he usually did he began to explain.

“This is why Ehopel and I came here. To prevent what happened to OUR Razer from happening to your Razer. As for what happened to him, he was consumed by the power of the Black Lanterns.”

At this Aya approached.

“I have no data of the Black Lanterns in my data processor. Please elaborate.” she said.

Ewil looked in her direction.

“Black Lanterns are the lantern corps whose energy is composed of death and destruction, their creed is to end all life and light in the universe.” he replied.

“That is why we have come to this time.” Ehopel said, putting their world Razer in a suitable bubble of green light.

“To prevent this from happening.”

After a moment of silence Razer spoke up.

“E...exactly what are you going to do to...your Me.” he said, obviously feeling awkward at his wording.

Ehopel looked at him, showing no emotion.

“I am going to send him back to our time, I have no will to destroy him.” she said calmly.

Ewil floated to her side.

“Ehopel, it needs to be destroyed-” he started, only for her to hold a palm up to him, rejecting the rest of his sentence.

“I cannot destroy him, nor am I willing to let anybody destroy him. If there is a chance the effects of the Black Lanterns can be reversed I want him to be among the first we heal.”

Ewil was silent for a moment.

“It’s a useless endeavor Ehopel, if they-”

“Do not give up, Ewil, I will not.” she said, calmly she pulled out her teleporter and created a passage to send the Black Lantern through.

“Farewell.” she said, but before she could put the lantern through he awoke, instantly he was enveloped in the dark energy and the shock wave from it shattered his prison, and startled the lanterns.

“Send him through the portal! Hurry!” Ehopel shouted, attempting to create a pressing hand on the lantern.

The other lanterns reacted by sending flurries of energy towards the lantern, only for him to dodge them and shoot randomly at them, forcing them to back away. With an unnatural screech the Black Lantern Razer rushed Ehopel, shooting randomly at her, only to be stopped by Ewil, who put a protective shield around them before the other lanterns joined in shoving the lantern towards the portal. The lanterns fought together, pressing on the unwilling lantern before shoving him into the portal.

“Ehopel, NOW!” Hal called.

Ehopel quickly deactivated the portal, with a final screech the Black Lantern sent a final shot through the closing portal before it closed. The shot hit an asteroid harmlessly and the lanterns regrouped. Razer, Hal, and Kilowog looking unnerved.

“We must get that frequency and get back to Oa.” Ehopel said.

“If one came here it is likely they had only sent him to deal with the Blue Lanterns, it’s the first step in their attack on life.” Ewil said darkly.

Hal and Kilowog looked at each other, the new information they had just been told telling them they were now involved in a very dangerous game of war, something much more dangerous than even the Red Lanterns.

“Hal Jordan, we require your help to get us to the main power battery on Oa, they will attempt to extinguish it and take out the corps.” Ehopel warned.

Hal looked at her before nodding.

“Let’s get that frequency.”