Hal barrelled through the atmosphere of the uninhabited planet of Gorn as golden blasts of parallax energy zipped past, detonating the mountains behind him into clouds of shrapnel. Jordan thrusted his ring hand forward, pegging a steady volley of his own at his two foes.

A handful of the bursts went wide and collided with the surface of the picturesque world. The resounding explosions almost drowned out the sound of his voice as he snapped "Dammit! Stay on 'em!"

Vell was at his side, in pursuit of the two Sinestro Corps recruits. They had discovered them whilst investigating leads on the movements of Arkillo. Sinestro's fresh plans to create a Lantern Corps of his own were finally coming to fruition, and his latest move involved sending Arkillo to bestow the first two standard yellow power rings upon subjects of his choosing. According to how these guys fired bolts of parallax power, flew through the air, survived a deep space pursuit, and forged hard-light constructs, they definitely fit the descriptions of Yellow Lantern Corpsmen.

Suddenly, the pair of Yellows darted in opposite directions. "I'll take the one on the right!" Vell shouted, spearing after her quarry.

Hal gritted his teeth and kicked up the thrust, banking around another mountain. This Yellow was still a newbie, and Hal's had a lot of millage up his sleeve. He wasn't about to be outflown by a greenhorn, pardon the expression. Two trans-light engine cores manifested on Hal's back, fastened to his suit by a series of structural reinforcements.

Within the blink of an eye, the human shot forward like the fastest man alive, colliding with the Yellow Lantern. Hal's constructs dissipated as he wrapped his arms around the Yellow Lantern and fell out of the sky. The pair impacted onto the green grass plains of a Gornian wild, skidding along the earth and burning it up as they went.

Hal finally got a good look at his opponent. It snarled at him with the face of a panther, fur black with a cobalt sheen. Its eyes glowed crimson. The alien wrestled with Hal as their momentum slowed. "Give up, pal! I want Sinestro, not you!"

"Mortess bows to no one! Least of all, a pink-skinned buffoon like you!" The Yellow Lantern charged up his ring and it discharged one gigantic burst of energy...or so Hal thought.

Everything was consumed by white light, and Hal thought this Mortess guy detonated his ring and took Hal with him. However, the light slowly dulled and he found himself alone on that same green hill they crashed on. Brow furrowed, Hal eventually got up as he muttered to himself "Okay...?"

Before long, Vell arrived and set down by his side. "Where are they? The one I was following basically vanished."

"Same here. This is getting weird..."

Suddenly appearing before the two GLs was a mote of light, bobbing up and down like a sprite. "Warbringer. Destroyer of worlds! You bring destruction to this place!"

Hal's ring detected no life signs before him...it only picked up a ball of gaseous energy. Was it possible that he and Vell had just discovered a new energy-based lifeform with no real physical body? The other strange thing was that since it was an undocumented species, the ring's translator was useless...but somehow Hal heard it talking in English.

Leaning over to his partner, Hal whispered. "Did you understand that?"

"Yes. It was Bekkorian. Wait...did you?"

"Yeah... I think this thing is beyond language. Maybe its telepathic and we're interpreting its thoughts in our primary languages."

Vell then asked the strange floating orb "Who are you? What do you want?"

The voice spoke once more "We are the Kalton. You bring your conflict with you across the stars, like vicious animals!"

In another flash of light, the two Sinestro Corps soldiers were whisked over to Hal and Vell's location. Out of pure instinct, Hal raised his hand and fired a beam of ion at the one he recognised as Mortess. The Yellow flinched, but the green beam was stopped before it could touch him. The ion beam turned off as it someone had flicked the switch on Hal's ring.

The Kalton roared "See your foes! Know them before you strike!"

A strange sensation seized Hal's brain. He felt ice cold water running through his skull. As it finished, he found himself in possession of new knowledge. Mortess was from a planet called K'tull whose occupants were still in a tribal period of life. He was a hunter and father before Arkillo arrived on his world and gifted him a prototype Yellow Power Ring.

Next to Mortess was Olengurr, a gelatinous creature from Myzek IV. Olengurr was a slave driver who captured unsuspecting travellers and sold them into lives of servitude. Much like Mortess, he was made a Yellow Lantern by Arkillo who had visited the bustling interstellar hub world of Myzek after hearing tales of his cunning.

Olengurr's native language was translated by Hal's ring. "Mortess...it's him. Jordan."

Mortess seemed shocked. He nodded curtly.

"Kalton, we don't understand. What do you want with us?" Hal pleaded.

The Kalton, amused, answered "Then perhaps I have overestimated your intelligence. This technology you bear brings not an end to your petty bickering, but ensures that the fire consumes everything it touches. You have become reliant upon it; you have it fight your battles for you. Enough, we say! A truly advanced lifeform is not advanced because of its technology, but because of its inherent abilities. End this conflict for yourselves, with nothing but yourselves and the will to survive!"

Jordan's uniform disintegrated, leaving him in his tan pilot's jumpsuit. The same happened to Vell and she was in another of her contemporary Bekkorian outfits which was a leotard that cut off at her legs like an Earth bathing suit and had full sleeves.

Mortess was clothed only in rough furs, like a tribal huntsman from Earth's past. Olengurr was suited in a fitted suit of a member of a highly advanced space-faring species.

"Now...without your beloved technology, you will end this feud. For it to end, there must be a loser. Kill your opponents, and we shall permit you to leave as victors. We desire peace. Now you go to your arena; an island without escape."

White consumed everything once again, then the image of a beautiful island faded in from the blackness; it was surrounded by sky blue waters and framed by golden sands. Hal, disoriented from the strange teleportation, whistled to Vell as he spun around to gauge their surroundings "This just keeps getting weirder and weirder..."

There was a slight pause before Vell replied "Ncrte? Wur bekra cep'ret?"

Hal, with a rather puzzled look on his face, turned to face Vell. "W-What? What are you..."

Vell didn't look any less confused than Hal did. "Ncrte!? Deowma! Deowma gu ame deur!"

Hal glanced down at his right hand...and realised that his ring no longer resided on his finger. His eyes widened. "Oh shit..." Without their rings, they had no way to understand each other. The only way they could in the past was because of the onboard translator. Hal didn't speak a word of Bekkorian or Interlac and Vell didn't speak a word of English.

Vell's sudden sharp gasp told Hal that she came to the same conclusion. Hal growled "What...the hell is happening!?"

"Wmvre... Jerntus dkep cme woifn." Vell muttered to herself.

"That thing just zapped our rings off and transported us away?" The human Lantern said to himself in disbelief. He ran himself through the other consequences of being without his weapon. They couldn't leave Gorn without those rings...but Hal recalled that Gorn's atmosphere should be lethal to humans. That new lifeform, the Kalton, must be keeping him alive somehow. It had exhibited incredible powers so far; teleporting the Yellow Lanterns as well as the two GLs, relieving them of their power rings, blocking Hal's energy beam from hitting Mortess, and now providing life support for Hal with no visible apparatus.

The Kaltons seemed to be able to manipulate energy so finely that they were capable of anything. The only plan Hal had now...was to give them what they wanted. The catch was that he and Vell had to do this without being able to understand a single word the other said...and that was easier said than done.

Hal marched over to Vell who was just as busy talking to herself as Hal was moments ago. He pointed up a single finger, trying to go over their number one priority. Hal then mimed a roof over his head to communicate 'shelter'. Vell glanced over Hal's shoulder, and her face promptly sparked with excitement. "Urperta?" She said, pointing.

Hesitantly, and with great confusion, Hal turned and noticed a stone cave just sitting there on its own almost as if the Kalton wanted to make sure each side had a place to fortify. Hal nodded as he spun back to Vell. "Urperta! Yeah, sure. Okay." He raised two fingers then mimed eating something.

Vell nodded confidently. She pointed out to the sea where several fish leapt out of the baby blue water. The Bekkorian then held up three fingers, and slashed her hand around the air like a sword.

"Oh, weapons! Right, I'll get on that." Hal said to her, despite knowing she had no idea what any of his words meant.

Several minutes later, Hal found himself within the embrace of the forest as he sought components for the construction of weapons. Because of the high temperature, Hal had his jumpsuit unzipped and its sleeves tied around his waist. His white tank top was already beginning to be dampened by sweat. The plant life here, although differing in shape, were coloured and textured much like Earth flora. Whether this was Gorn's natural state or if the Kalton had engineered it for the little contest was beyond Hal's knowledge.

Before long, Hal had gathered a handful of branches, several feet of vine, some more wood to start a fire, and filled one of his pockets with stones that would be perfect for spearheads and sharpening tools.

It was only then when he began to make his way back to the beach that Hal thought about how Mortess and Olengurr were naturally inclined to win. Mortess was a career hunter who could track and kill creatures three times his size with nothing but a wooden spear, and Olengurr used his unparalleled intelligence to plan traps and improvise intricate weapons. Hal had no real special talents aside from knowing fighter planes and being of above average fitness for a human.

Hal didn't see any sign of Vell on the beach, so he assumed that she had gone fishing. Back at the cave, he began to tie sharpened stones to the branches whilst keeping a keen eye on the forest wall. Mortess could be prowling about already...he might've been watching Hal before when he was in the forest too. With his human eyesight, there may be no way of knowing for sure until it was too late. Hal's best chance was to stick close to Vell; she had better hearing, strength and agility. The only thing he had was probably his unconventional human mind.

Hours passed, and Hal had finished putting together some sharpened wooden spears, arrows with wooden shafts and stone arrowheads, and a wooden bow. He lumped the tools in a pile then turned his attention to the firewood. Using a stone, Hal dug a small fire pit in the dirt, placed some wood inside it, and started rubbing a piece of flint against stone.

It took twenty minutes for sparks to be made, and even then another twenty for him to actually light the thing up. Those total forty minutes were filled with Hal cursing to himself and was probably the most frustrating minutes of his entire life. But when he sat there with the fire crackling in the stone cave, he felt a great deal of satisfaction.

Glad that all of his stuff was done, Hal slipped outside to find Vell and show her the fire. Once again, he didn't see her. Now that he was looking properly, he noticed something laying in the sand by the water. He tensed his brow and approached it cautiously. It was a black pile of something...

Once he was close, he picked it up...and realised it was an outfit. The one that Vell was wearing earlier today. "Oh. Oh boy." Hal sighed with a smirk. Another few minutes looking out to sea and he made out some splashes in the distance. In seconds, the splashing was already back to shore. Vell's head emerged, a fish locked tightly in her mouth, then slowly the rest of her muscled body emerged from the water. In each hand was at least five fish, still flipping around in a near-death state.

Vell approached Hal, stopped in front of him then cocked her head with an air of pride. Hal swallowed, glanced down at her hydrated, shiny form then back up at her face. He handed her the outfit, but she scoffed and tossed one handful of fish into the cave...which was a good thirty feet away. She did the same with the other hand, pulled the one out of her mouth and pegged it over too.

She then pointed at her forearm, highlighting the fact that it was wet. Vell plucked her outfit out of Hal's hand and dropped it on the ground. The human could only assume that she didn't want to wet them...

Hal, however glad that she wouldn't take offense to him looking, was also overwhelmed by the Earth custom that looking was bad. It may have been indecent on Earth, but most likely it wasn't on Bekkor. He instead focused on Vell's face. Hal could've sworn that her hair had gotten shorter. It was now no longer lengthy enough to tie up, and it instead hung in a bob around her face.

She just stood there, looking at him.

"U-Uh...okay...this is...really weird." Hal stammered as he picked up Vell's clothes and attempted to hand them to her again. This time she slapped his hand aside without breaking eye contact. The woman gently laid her fingers onto Hal's cheek, then forced his gaze back down. Hal suddenly felt an urge overtake him. It was stupid, seeing as there were two highly dangerous lifeforms out there and they were out in the open, but hey, it seemed like Vell's intention for this to happen.

He lunged forward and seized the back of Vell's head as he pressed her lips against his. Vell's eyes didn't close and Hal could feel her breath hastening. He pushed her backwards and the pair fell onto the sand, bodies pressed firmly against each other.

Hours passed, and Hal found himself lying beside Vell with his heart pounding in his chest. He panted viciously as he wiped the perspiration that soaked his face and neck. He pulled the jumpsuit back over his waist and zipped it slightly. His tank top was thrown into the same pile as Vell's outfit.

Vell laughed at Hal's exhaustion, propping her hands underneath her head. Jordan turned his head and took some time to admire Vell who was now damp with sweat much like how he was. This reminded him of something. After being a Lantern for years, he'd become seasoned...jaded. When he was a few years younger, he was constantly getting charged with insubordination and disobedience. The Guardians threatened to relinquish him of service but in his arrogance, Hal reckoned that they knew he was too good to fire. Doing something as stupid as getting intimate in the open whilst two ferocious killers were hunting them reminded Hal of the kind of person he really was, the person that he forgot existed. A hotshot pilot with a death wish and a distaste for rules.

"Wow." Hal muttered as he sat up. He was extremely attracted by Vell's immense lack of shame; she didn't cover up, she laid there without any care. She looked at him with a confused yet amused smirk. "Wow?" She repeated.

"Wow." He laughed.