Episode fanfic title: True Feelings Arise Part 3 FINAL!

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ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ɴᴇᴀʀʙʏ...

Razer wandered for hours through the dense forest until he heard a splash nearby. Approaching the sound, he found Cassandra dressed in normal clothes that consisted of shorts over her black leggings and a blue crop top, paired with a black sports bra while her brown hair was let down to her shoulders

Sitting on the ground cross-legged on the ground and her hands placed on both sides of her knees, he realized that she was meditating; Making him pause, captivated by the serene sight before him. The moonlight filtered through the thick canopy above, casting dappled patterns on Cassandra's peaceful glowing form.

He took a moment to appreciate her beauty for quite a while as he stepped closer, Razer could see the blue energy radiating from her power ring, a gentle hum that seemed to blend with the sounds of nature surrounding them.

Razer felt an urge to sit beside her, to join her in this moment of stillness, yet he held back, hesitant to disturb her concentration, 'I should apologize to her later.' Suddenly, a twig snapped and he froze, after realizing his mistake in interrupting her.

Cassandra's eyes flickered open, her expression shifting from tranquility to alertness in an instant. Razer stood still, fear creeping into his heart as he registered the sudden shift in her demeanor. "Who's there?" she asked, her voice calm yet firm.

Razer didn't notice her as she approached him. When he finally turned to meet her piercing gaze, Cassandra asked, "Razer? What are you doing here?" She was surprised to see him out of the blue, but the conversation in the Interceptor earlier today made it awkward and tense:

"I...I... uh, w-was n-not planning to intrude on your meditation, Cassandra." He stammered, feeling embarrassment heat his cheeks, and cleared his throat. Cassandra observed him intently, her silver eyes reflecting confusion, "Is... is everything okay?" 

She asked softly, her tone gentler than he expected. He was puzzled; after their earlier confrontation, he thought she would completely shut him out but seems like he was mistaken: "I wanted to talk to you about what happened earlier..." 

Razer took a deep breath, trying to focus without getting lost in her gaze. She scanned him for signs of dishonesty but found none. With a nod, she gave him the green light to keep going, "I shouldn't have dismissed how you felt about Aya. Calling her 'soulless' wasn't fair to either of you." 

Her expression softened, though she still looked a little hurt, and finally spoke, "I care about her as a friend, she's not just a robot, Razer." she replied, her voice low but clear: "You should know that I don't like it when people say harsh things to my friends."

Razer nodded slowly, taking in what she said: "I know..." He took a moment to collect his thoughts, "And I was foolish to forget how she has her own feelings. I can be a bit irritable sometimes, and I'm sorry for disrespecting you."

Noticing how Cassandra seemed surprised by his words, and yet she stayed quiet; To which he (Razer) took the opportunity to continue on. Taking a step closer, feeling the moment being pulled in, "I've been thinking about what you asked, and to be honest, I don't want to use you as a tool. Because to me, you're a person with feelings and emotions that are all your own."

He paused, fear rising again. He had a chance to start anew and reveal his long-held secrets, yet all he managed to say was, "You mean more to me than words can express." She met his tender gaze, their bodies inching closer as they unknowingly breathed the same air.

"I want to be truthful with you about everything so I propose... that w-we start over." She continues but not after realizing that he slowly held her hand in his, caressing her knuckles gently like she was made of glass, and the thought of it, made her blush: "Not just as before but, something more...Something where we can share our fears... thoughts...dreams... and hopes, where-"

He finishes her sentence, " 'Where you have been there for me as I have been for you.' " 

As soon as those words came out, no words could come out from Cassandra as she was too stunned to say anything but feel grateful that he knew that she's willing to do anything for Razer; Even though her heart raced with a whirlwind of emotions, she felt a warmth spreading within her, igniting a flame of determination. 

It was as if all her sacrifices, the sleepless nights and quiet worries, had led to this singular moment of understanding between them. Cassandra's mind drifted back to the countless times she had faced obstacles, all for the sake of Razer.

Her lips parted slightly, but still, silence enveloped her. Would it be enough to show him that her loyalty ran deeper than mere words? She knew he had faced his fair share of battles, and now, with this unspoken bond, she was ready to stand by him, to lift him up when he faltered. 

"If anything, Razer" she finally managed to look into his icy blue eyes, "I will always stay by your side. No matter what and for that, I forgive you." All of a sudden, Razer pulled her into a loving embrace that wrapped around her like a warm blanket, shielding her from the chaos of the world outside. 

The scent of him—faintly of the forest and something uniquely Razer—filled her senses, grounding her in that moment. She could feel the tension in his muscles begin to ease as he held her close as if he had been carrying the weight of the world. 

Just for her.

Even if she doesn't know it.

They stayed like that until they decided to let go and find Aya.

Time skip~

"What if she doesn't forgive me and holds a grudge against me for what I did?" Razer suddenly asked, anxiety creeping into his voice.

"You'll be fine," Cassie reassures him confidently, giving him an encouraging thumbs-up as she does, "Knowing her and how she handles things, she'll come around and forgive you sooner rather than later."

Razer lets out a deep, relieved sigh, the tension in his shoulders easing as a smile spreads across his face, "Thank you... for believing in me and for forgiving me for my mistakes," he says gratefully, appreciating her unwavering support.

"You're welcome. Now go in there and apologize, I'll be waiting for you out here." With a nod, Razer enters the Interceptor to find Aya, "Aya? Aya? Where are you?"

Only to be welcomed with disbelief to see the medical berth was left empty and no signs of Aya anywhere. Concluding that she left, at the speed of light, Razer rushed outside to meet up with Cassie, who was sitting on a rock while staring at the view from above until she heard his footsteps coming from behind her.

Confused by this, she asked: "Razer—?" "Aya isn't there, nor the Manhunter." He tells her, his voice hinting at fear, making Cassie widen her eyes in shock before they hear Hal Jordan and the others coming to help.

"The Manhunter, it's gone!" Razer exclaims, "Aya is, too. I can't find her anywhere."

Saint Walker, Kia, and Brother Warth flew down to join them, "We have bigger problems, brother." "And that would be more company!" Kia says before everyone is welcomed to see three more Manhunters showing up above them.

"ℝ𝔼𝔸𝕃𝕀ℕℚ𝕌𝕀𝕊ℍ 𝕋ℍ𝔼 𝔻𝔼𝕍𝕀ℂ𝔼 ℂ𝕆ℝℝ𝔼𝕊ℙ𝕆ℕ𝔻𝕀ℕ𝔾 𝕎𝕀𝕋ℍ 𝕆𝕌ℝ 𝕀ℕℂℝ𝔼𝔸𝕊𝔼𝔻 ℙ𝕆𝕎𝔼ℝ 𝕆𝕌𝕋𝕀ℕℙ𝕌𝕋."

"Oh, yeah? Or what?" 

In an instant, Kilowog, Kia, Cassie, and Hal power up as a way to threaten the robots, "𝔸𝕃𝕋𝔼ℝℕ𝔸𝕋𝕀𝕍𝔼𝕊 ℕ𝕆𝕋 ℙ𝔼ℝ𝕄𝕀𝕋𝕋𝔼𝔻. 𝔻𝔼𝕊𝕋ℝ𝕆𝕐."

Without hesitation, Kilowog, Kia, and Hal Jordan went straight on tackling one of them in the air while Cassie, Saint Walker, and Brother Warth used some tai-chi movement to start defending themselves with their power rings by chaining the Manhunter on both arms only to be; As for Razer, not able to use his ring. 

He lifts Ganthet off the ground and runs to protect the Blue Lantern guardian amid the chaos, with the air crackling with energy. His entire suit glows fiercely, channeling willpower as he is suddenly swung toward the rocky mountain in one swift motion.

Meanwhile, Hal and Kia soar through the air, focusing on delivering precise punches that send their opponent spiraling to the ground, only to be battered back into the air by their holographic baseball bat: "AND~~~ HE WINS A HOMERUN!" 

"Not for long, c'mon!" Both left flying when all of a sudden, the Manhunter came back to attack Hal and Kia, only to miss her and hit Cassie's uncle instead: "AAH! UHH!" 

"Mr. Jordan!" She panics but then gets hit by one in the back, "OOf!" 

Meanwhile, Saint Walker and Brother Warth, embodying serenity, amplified her defenses with calming waves of blue energy to unleash bursts of light that confused the machine as Cassie turned her attention to the incoming drone from behind; With quick instinct, she used her tai-chi training, she effortlessly creates a protective barrier of light that buzzed and pulsed.

Cassie grunts but uses her power ring to push back the Manhunters' attack, she pushes her limit and turns to them: "Brothers, go! End it quickly!" Both lanterns nodded in agreement, taking to the air to resume the fight somewhere else. 

As they distanced themselves, she was shot in the back, fell on her knees, and grunted in pain; Looking up to see who had fired was another one: "Damnit, you are really making me lose my patience, huh?" She mumbles in annoyance and uses her power ring to construct a holographic form of a large rifle, "HASTA LA VISTA, BABY!"

In an instant, Cassie shoots it down and flies into the sky to find the others, only to encounter Kia. "How's it going?" 

"Good, what'd I miss?" 

"A lot! I manage to defeat one, and you?" 

"Same." Both laughed and continued their way to the others. As soon as Kia and Cassie joined the others at the Blue Central Battery, they were met with the chaos of the Manhunters clashing with the Green Lanterns. "ℙ𝕣𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕪 𝕠𝕓𝕛𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕," the metallic foes declared ominously.

"Oh c'mon!" Kia and Cassie whined, as their eyes filled with anger and determination. Without hesitation, they plunged into the fray to protect the battery. "Cass, distract them!" Hal urged. 

Cassie nodded and flew out from the protective green barrier. "On it!" she shouted, launching a flurry of kicks against the Manhunters' helmets. Suddenly, one of the massive machines grabbed her ankle, crushing it within. "AH!" she screamed in agony.

"Cassie!" Kia cried, rushing to her side. In a heartbeat, she realized the blue power ring on her friend's finger could heal her ankle, "Wait—what?" Once the energy ended, both girls were left speechless: "Cassie, did you know this?" Kia asked, bewildered.

"I—I don't know! We can talk about it later!" Cassie snapped, her focus already shifting back to the battle. She was determined to put her questions aside after they dealt with the threat at hand, "Go help Uncle and Kilowog with the barrier, I'll go find Ganthet and Razer!"

As she flew downward, Cassie caught sight of them, "That battery made them unstoppable!" she exclaimed, hovering atop her blue energy. Razer nodded in agreement: "She's right; you need to shut it off," he urged.

"=The procedure takes several hours." Ganthet explained, "=By then, the battle will be lost.=" Just then Razer felt something rumbling underneath and thought of something: "I have an idea." He continues by turning to face Cassie and then Ganthet with the other Blue Lanterns, "But I'm going to need some help."

After a few minutes, the sun gradually rose over the horizon just as the barrier of the Green Lanterns was broken and pushed away. The three Manhunters commence to lift the Central Battery. While they were trying to get away, Razer shouted to Saint Walker to start playing his lute (harp idk anymore TuT):, "NOW!" 

A loud sound is played, and Cassie joins in the plan by using her guitar structure to do the same thing for the plan to lure the giant worm out of the ground, of course, it doesn't work so they do it a second time; Only this time, it made the large worm creature appear from the ground and gobbles up the Central Battery along with a half of a Manhunter. 

Kia widens her eyes at this, transforms back to her normal clothes, and quickly takes out her phone to take a picture of the scene before her, "Kia!" Hal scolded her in disbelief, "What? I gotta take this picture for the CodeLight Club so I can post it!"

"Not the time!" The black-Mexican girl blew a raspberry at him and put her phone away after she managed to take a picture of it, as the power levels of the Green Lanterns and the Manhunters returned to normal, "ℙ𝕆𝕎𝔼ℝ 𝕃𝔼𝕍𝔼𝕃𝕊 ℝ𝔼𝕋𝕌ℝℕ𝕀ℕ𝔾 𝕋𝕆 ℕ𝕆ℝ𝕄𝔸𝕃. ℝ𝔼𝕋ℝ𝕀𝔼𝕍𝔼 ℙ𝕆𝕎𝔼ℝ 𝔸𝕄ℙ𝕃𝕀𝔽𝕀ℂ𝔸𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ 𝔻𝔼𝕍𝕀ℂ𝔼."

While the Manhunters try to retrieve the Central Battery, whereas the Green Lanterns (Hal, Kia, and Kilowog) are left confused, "What just happened?" "I had Saint Walker call upon his... 'pet' for a little assistance," Razer tells them, making Cassie and Kia hug each other and let go before they said: 

"It was awesome/wicked!" They sync in unison. Making everyone ignore their weird excitement over the giant worm and continue to finish one of the Manhunters off, "Great job, guys. Now let's clean up this mess."

Time skip~

Before the last Manhunter is finished off, Aya arrives to hear one say, "𝕆𝕓𝕛𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕗𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕦𝕣𝕖." 

"Correct." She agrees, "Your primary objective has failed. But you as an artificial life form can take this moment to choose alternative programming."Everyone stands down when Razer rushes in to see her as they share a worried gaze for one another that the Manhunter begins scanning, starting with Razer: "𝔼𝕞𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕕𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕."

The tension hangs thick in the air, as the Manhunter's mechanical eyes whirl to life, their cold gaze narrowing on Razer with an unsettling precision but then it scans Aya, for any signs of emotion, unfortunately... she held some emotions, "𝔼𝕞𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕕𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕." 

Cassie panics in fear as she clearly realizes what is going to happen, and decides to act fast.

"𝔼𝕝𝕚𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟." Just as the Manhunter started to blast at her, the human blue lantern pushed her out of the way and took the hit: "Agh!" Causing Cassie to get hurt in the process, while Razer's sudden fury ignited like a red flame as he witnessed her take the shot that the Manhunter's lethal energy blast. 

The sight of her unconscious body lying on the ground, only intensified his rage, sending a surge of adrenaline coursing through his veins, "NO!" he roared, his voice echoing through the chamber, a primal fury unleashing within him. 

"How is this possible? Razer's power cannot function near our Blue rings." Saint Walker floats down in shock, watching the red lantern's anger being overwhelmed as he had the urge to protect those he cared about, and the sight of Cassie injured struck a chord deep within him.

With a fierce determination, he charged forward, his fists ignited by the bright red energy of his power ring, "=It is his rage." Ganthet concludes, watching the scene unfold itself, with worry in his eyes: "=It has grown too strong.=" After destroying the Manhunter, Razer slowly goes to Cassie to calm down by calling her name: 

"Cassandra." He slowly lifts her in his arms and continues, "Cassandra, are you all right?" With a bit of hope, Cassie's fluttered her silver eyes widened in surprise at the closeness, "Yes." She blushes and quickly sits up, "I'm okay. Thanks to you."

Razer nods with relief before Aya walks over in full shock at what had happened, "You... You saved me? Why?" Cassie simply smiles, "Because friends don't let others get hurt, they watch your back no matter what. Even if it means getting blasted by a Manhunter. Plus, Razer owes you an apology."

Aya felt moved by her words and smiled a bit, as she turned to Razer who stared at her with guilt, "I apologize for what I said earlier." Razer turns to the female AI: "You have more of a soul than I have ever had."

Later on in the morning...

"=I have extinguished the flame, allowing everyone's power level to return to normal," Ganthet explains, "=It will be some time before I have enough energy to light the battery once again.=" 

Hal then tells him: "Until this Manhunter problem is solved, I think it would be best if you kept it off." "=On hold?" Sounding surprised, he turns to look up at him, "=Whether this Lantern burns or not, Hal Jordan, hope will always remain.="

The Interceptor crew decides to leave, and Saint Walker suddenly suggests, "You should stay and continue your training, Razer." He started, making Razer glance at him to listen: "There is still much anger within you." 

"There are many kinds of anger." Razer comments, "In this case, I believe my rage was righteous. You have helped me to realize my path lies elsewhere." He takes a glance at Cassie, which she notices, and returns it with a wink, making him feel his heart pound ever so fast.

As he still longs for her attention, no one knows how this story will end.

"Get a move on, kid!" Kilowog calls Razer from his thoughts, "We've got Manhunter heads to bust!" Walking passed him with a bunch of crates of food and supplies to take into the Interceptor, Saint Walker then tells him, "You will always have a place here, Razer, if you choose it." 

Razer nods in understanding as a way of saying 'thank you', and heads towards the area where Cassie was waiting for him, as he approaches her; The two share a brief yet significant glance, filled with unspoken connection and anticipation, before making their way into the sleek and agile Interceptor. 

Not long after Saint Walker began saying goodbye to Kia, "If you ever want to contact me about something, let me know." "Don't worry, Walker." She assures him: "I'm a strong independent woman! I can handle anything!" He chuckled in amusement, "I hope you do, Kia." 

Both shared a fondness over each other's gaze until Kia received a call from Kilowog from her power ring, "Rookie! Hurry up or we're leave ya!" "I'm on my way!" Just as she was walking away, Kia stopped in her tracks before running up to Saint Walker by sharing a brief but affectionate kiss; Which stunned him, to say the least. 

With her cheeks flushed and her heart racing from the interaction, she stepped away but was pulled back by the moon alien man who kissed her passionately.

Scene changes after she gets inside and takes a seat next to Cassie in the Interceptor, Cassie, ever observant, immediately notices Kia's rosy complexion and responds with a smug grin that suggests she knows exactly what had just transpired, "So~~, what did I miss?"

"N-No e-es T-TU a-asunto, Cassandra!" Kia quickly lied. Only for Aya to say, "I hardly doubt it. Your heart rate has begun to rise at an abnormal rate." 

The black Mexican girl groans while her friend laughs in victory at how she loves to tease her. Once they were all in space with the Interceptor, Hal Jordan thought it was best if the team got some rest after what happened in Odym. 

Of course, everyone agreed but decided to go to bed...