With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Story Only)

[Mr Zoat]

5th September
07:56 GMT -6

I clap my hands together, smiling at the assembled munchkins.

"Everyone ready, children?"

Jean looks mildly offended at the idea that she'd have allowed things to become so disorganised that they wouldn't be, but most of the Succupires smile as they hold aloft their backpacks. A good job that they aren't all the same age, otherwise Rifle Middle School might have needed an extra class this year. Sad to say, for purely academic achievement it isn't actually a particularly good school. Certainly not compared to places to which I could send them. But for learning how normal Humans interact with each other it's near-perfect.

I considered trying to sort out a camera system for Bethany and Mary, but I don't think that it would really be possible for them to learn the social interaction lessons properly that way. I've stuck them on duty monitoring my wildlife habitats, and generally doing whatever Jean wants them to do. As sexless creatures Genomorphs don't set them off, so that should be reasonably safe. Nothing else I can do that I'm not doing already. Assuming that things go well on Friday I'll ask Circe to have a go at fixing the two of them.

"Lynne?"

She gives me a little eye roll, then half-heartedly holds her satchel up as well. "Ready, Dad."

"Alright then." A boom tube appears next to me, the far end opening a little way from the school entrance. Stephan dashes forward, but I reach down and stop him by picking him up and holding him against my right shoulder. "Just a minute. Knockout?"

Knockout strides forward, fists balled and eager for affray. I'm not sure that she entirely understands the nature of her assignment, but unlike whatever it was that led her to Earth in the comics this is an official Darkseid-sanctioned mission. As long as I don't ask her to do anything outside her nature and throw the occasional fight in her direction I'm reasonably confident that she'll do as she's directed.

Quite what effect the sight of the buff, 6 foot 1 tall, auburn haired, 200 pound super strong alien woman will have upon the good people of Rifle, Colorado, I'm not entirely certain. But they've adapted reasonably well to the other oddities that come with me living here so I doubt that there will be any huge problems.

"Alright, file through."

I put Stephan down, and he giggles slightly before scurrying through slightly ahead of the pack. The Lad -responsible chap that he is- follows through after his brother, making sure to keep an eye on everyone else as well. Then Maeve, Christopher, Clare and Sarah head on through, with Lynne bringing up the rear.

I hold out my left hand to Mortalla. "Mother? Shall we?"

She's stepping towards me to take my hand even before she's decided that she will. She's just so used to obeying that her body is in motion before her mind entirely registers the instruction. Which has been useful, as I didn't get all that much information on her background from Father Box and I don't remember her from the comics at all. It turns out that one of the modifications DeSaad made to her removed her memories of her life on Earth. And since he clearly altered her face and her genes I can't track down where she came from originally. It was quite a while ago though, certainly over five hundred years as she remembers when Kanto first joined Father's retinue.

Sadly, one of the other modifications DeSaad made is a strictly limited version of my Awakening. Intentionally. The energy systems are arranged in such a way that after a certain point they shed power rather than gathering it. Mortalla will never reach full power. Mother Box was quite dispirited when we realised that we couldn't fix it without… Basically unpicking her whole soul. I mean, she doesn't need more power or anything, but… Why not be as strong as you can be? The March of Progress Shall Be Eternal.

We walk out into the morning sun and the boom tube closes behind us. Knockout is eagerly scouring the crowd for potential threats while The Lad is busy dispatching his siblings towards their teachers. Lynne looks up at me and I bend down to envelop her in a hug. "You'll be fine, poppet."

She holds onto me for a moment, then pulls away and gives me a nod. "Okay Dad. I love you."

"I love you too. Now, run along."

She nods, and then looks up at Mortalla. "Bye, Grandma!"

Mortalla hesitates for a moment before nervously smiling at Lynne. "Goodbye, Lynne."

Mortalla hasn't really adjusted to Lynne yet. She clearly doesn't know how to interact with her: nothing in her Apokoliptian life giving her any experience as to how to handle it. So far she's opted for a sort of nervous politeness as if dealing with someone related to someone important. Lynne was surprised to be introduced to a mother I had never previously mentioned, but she at least knows how that sort of thing is supposed to work and has taken it in her stride.

"Morning, Grayven!"

I stand, looking around as I do so. "Good morning, Clara." She works at Wingnutz Bar and Grill, and since making a policy of spending at least one evening a week there we've become friendly. "Doing the school run as well?"

"Today and every other day." We both turn to look at the children stream in and I catch sight of her elder son, Patrick. "Was that whole swarm of rugrats yours?"

"I… Sort of? They don't have any other surviving family-"

That I know about. Their father's DNA had broken down by the time I scanned his remains. I don't know enough about Vampires to know if that's typical or not. I suppose that their mother technically had however many thousands of sisters.. and quite possibly brothers as well, but I doubt that they'd show much of an interest in the upbringing of their nephews and nieces.

"-and I've taken it upon myself to look after them. I haven't actually adopted them."

Clara stops smiling, looking serious and… A little impressed. "I.. think that's a really good thing you're doing, Grayven. I mean, it's not-."

"Not cutting someone's head off." I nod. "Yeah, that's-."

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that. I mean, you don't usually see superheroes doing that."

"Robin's adopted."

"Right. And Batman has him fighting violent criminals on the streets of Gotham."

"Superboy and Match were adopted by Wonder Woman."

"Sure, but they were already teenagers. Younger kids take a whole lot more effort." She frowns at Knockout, who is following Lynne into the school building. "Who was that?"

"Knockout. Lynne's bodyguard. I wish it wasn't necessary, but after what happened in Metropolis I don't think it would be safe for her or for the other children if there wasn't someone on hand. Oh, and this is my mother, Mortalla."

Clara takes a look at the lithe, white skinned goddess standing next to me. "She's-? You're his mom?"

Mortalla glances at me, uncertain how to respond. "Yes?"

Clara grins in a friendly sort of way. "Hope I look that good when I'm your age!"

"I.. am.. over five hundred years old. I mean no offence, but it is unlikely."

Despite having nothing to work off, Clara has another go. "You wouldn't have a big folder of Grayven's baby photos, would you? 'Cause I've been wondering what he looked like back then."

"I-. No. I have no photographs, or other images." She appears to shrink in on herself slightly. "I was not… Permitted…"

Clara clearly doesn't know what to make of that. "Er..?"

I lay my right hand on Mortalla's shoulder. "My father is a loathsome man and I am very glad that my mother is now living with me and not with him. And that is all I want to say on the matter."

"Oh. Oh, I'm sorry-."

"It's fine." I rotate my right hand slightly, directing Mortalla in the direction of the boom tube I just generated. "I will see you this evening."

And I'm going to ensure that Mortalla is surrounded by decent people like you for as long as she's here. No one deserves Darkseid.

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th September
14:58 GMT -5

"You know… I had a plan. And you were going to be a part of it."

For the first time in some considerable time, I make use of one of Guy's mental exercises. I take control of my breathing, close my eyes, count to five… Picture something happy…

"I know I'm not… My people skills… Need work. I can be persuasive, beguiling… But I generally associate with people on my wavelength. Killers. Or, at least people who understand that killing is sometimes productive. You didn't, you weren't… That wasn't you."

My conversation partner remains entirely silent.

"And… I excluded you. I didn't think you had anything useful to teach me. I'm not… Not sure I was wrong, but I should have-. I should have given you the opportunity to demonstrate… One way or the other. Especially after I left the team. I think… I think you'd have liked being involved with Lynne and.. the other girls and the boys. And after… After my undercover work finished… I might have done something then if Father hadn't decided to pay a visit, but afterwards I just… I needed to get away from Earth for a while."

An unamused laugh escapes through my teeth.

"And then I came back and I thought… 'Now's the time'. 'Seize the day'." I bow my head. "And everything-."

I'm shaking as I glare at Alan Scott's grave.

"And you have the temerity to die in my absence! You managed ninety years, could you not manage a single month!?"

No, no, it's-. It's stupid. It didn't even occur to me to check! This isn't a comic; named characters can die here!

We weren't even that close, why do I feel like… Like some important opportunity has been snatched from me?

"I'm a little surprised to find you here."

I don't look around as Diana walks up behind me. "He was a good man."

She doesn't say anything, just stands there beside me.

Gah! I tilt my head back, twisting my head back and forth. "He was a good man and he deserved better than me as his heir!"

"I don't think he saw it like that. He gave you back-."

That makes me turn around. "Yes, well, he was wrong about lots of things. Don't try and pretend to me that he actually wanted someone like me. He shouldn't just have-. He shouldn't have had to give everything and get nothing back, like..."

I look away from her, standing in silence for a few moments. Then I crouch down and pick up the box at my side. "You served as the executor of his estate, did you not? You may as well have this."

I pass it to her and she carefully takes it in both hands, looking it over carefully. A simple polished wooden box about nine inches square at the base and fifteen tall. She frowns slightly, then holding the base with her right hand opens the lid with her left.

"Hera."

I look away. "Not that there's any point without him."

She reaches up and pulls out the green personal lantern with her left hand. "Does this mean that the Green Lantern Corps recruited you?"

I shake my head. "Of course not. They'd never recruit an Apokoliptian, and I'd be far too fearful to pass their selection criteria if they did." Something… Some uncertainty enters her-. "No, I didn't kill anyone." I shake my head. "The last Green Lantern to use that was killed during their attack on Apokolips. The Guardians themselves recognised it as being Darkseid's war prize. He was free to dispose of it however he liked."

"He gave it to you?" I nod. "Why?"

I throw up my hands. "Because I asked nicely. Why does he do anything? He's probably learning all sorts of interesting things about the Anti-Life from me this very minute."

"And why did you get it for Alan? I'm sure that he would have appreciated the thought, but he was an old man-."

"No. He wasn't." I shake my head. "Didn't you notice?"

"Alan was in his nineties."

"Alan was becoming a god. Whatever the Guardians did to his ring and lantern, he was-. He was absorbing the green light into himself, empowering his soul-. Didn't you notice how much younger he'd started looking just before I got here?"

She considers for a moment, then dips her head. "I… I hadn't thought about it. We hadn't been seeing as much of each other as we used to. How long had you known?"

"I'd suspected that something was up for a while. But it wasn't until I got back from Earth Fifty… What I did to their John Stewart… That I was sure. And before you ask, I didn't say anything-"

"I wasn't going to-."

"-because I didn't have any way to fix it. Once Guy told me the Guardians were avoiding recruiting him intentionally, once I checked that Qwardians and Controllers can't make green personal lanterns, there was only one place I could go for one."

"You went to Apokolips?" I nod. "You said that your father terrifies you."

"He does. He'd terrify you if you actually used your divine abilities. You know. Near him."

I sigh. Did he actually know, or did he just not care? This isn't the sort of pain that Jade… Jade caused, but it's still… In theory, I could have repaired my relationship with-. If Father hadn't appeared. If he hadn't appeared I might well have decided to do so. I'd assumed that it was about appearing before me at my lowest ebb, but… Did he assume that I'd manage? And he just wanted to encourage me to isolate myself from someone I loved? No, there's no way for me to find out. I can't assume that he's fixated on me in that way. The point is, Alan's dead. I can't improve our relationship now. Opportunity well and truly lost. Well done, Grayven.

Diana closes the box. "What would you like me to do with it?"

"I don't know. The whole reason I got it was for Alan." Think… "Do you still have his ring?" She hesitates. "If Jordan took it-."

"No, he didn't. And yes, I do. But I don't think that wearing a power ring-."

I hold up my right hand. "Don't even finish that sentence. You're wrong, but… Whatever. You could find someone to use it, or…" Huh. "The Watchtower was originally a Sector House, wasn't it? You could probably bring a whole lot of its advanced functions back online with a personal lantern."

"I think that the Guardians might find that insulting."

"What, that it's being used to aid a group of heroes rather than being displayed in an Apokoliptian trophy room? They're a pretty logical bunch. I'm sure that they'll get their heads around the idea."

"I will discuss it with the rest of the Justice League." She looks me over, then her eyes drift in the direction of Alan's grave. "There was something else I wanted to talk to you about, but I'm not sure that now is the time."

"Oh, you may as well. He's not going to get deader."

"You were seen in the company of Circe. Given-."

"Given that you apparently aren't prepared to kill her, I thought that acting as a civilising influence would be a good thing. See if I can… Solve her whole 'prophecy' problem so that she doesn't feel obliged to kill you any more. It's surprising how many supervillains have a great deal to offer the world but don't. Did you know that Leonard Snart, his sister and their mother were regularly beaten by his father for their entire childhoods?"

"I-. No, I didn't."

"So I thought, if I've got to keep an eye on Lex to make sure that he stays on the straight and narrow… Why don't I try that with other people as well?"

"Orin mentioned that you were on good terms with Queen Clea."

"Right. And I'm sure Billy will get around to mentioning Teth Adom eventually." I shrug. "I need something to do, working with the League… There'd be some fairly major trust issues. But if I can solve a few intractable problems, maybe that'll go some way to repaying my obligation to Alan."

Diana smiles, and for a moment everything feels right. She does know how to use it!

"I think he'd have approved greatly."

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
02:31 GMT

I step out into.. a small room and oh shit. Four construct wire clippers manifest around me and snip at the sinuous robotic limbs pinning down the shaking jellyfish-like alien on the slab in the room's centre. Despite their slender design, they manage to resist for a couple of seconds before the severed ends flop and the metal parts fall to the floor with a clunk. The one carrying what looks like a cross between some kind of surgical implement and a circular saw I simply disintegrate with an orange bolt.

What kind of fucked-up world is this?

I try to make eye contact with the jellyfish, and fail when I can't spot its eyes. "You alright there, chum?"

"What? What's happening? Who are you?"

"I'm-." Somewhere outside the room-. Ah, a cell. I suppose that makes a certain sense. Through a ring round window in the door I see flashing blue lights and the ring lets me sense the vibrations that are almost certainly an alarm. "I am the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps."

He? Yes, that's a 'he'. Or.. close enough. He rises off the bier, the robot clamps that had been holding him in place falling from his prehensile tentacles. How is he holding-. We're under water. I actually hadn't noticed. Nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, space, methane: environmental shield. Water, same answer. Exactly what was around me just stopped being relevant some time ago.

"Orange..? Lantern? I have heard of Green Lanterns. They are some sort of universal enforcer."

"Partially true. Do you know who your local one is?"

"No. We don't have crime here. Other than..." Two of his more powerful tentacles make a figure of eight gesture. "Social… Deviants like me."

"Social deviants? What could you possibly do that would justify maiming you?"

I can see, of course. Following the same overwhelming drive that drew me here. A forbidden life style. Quite a few of the people I've been recruiting have been the same, and you'd be amazed what gets forbidden in some places. But I've also found that getting them to talk about it eases them into the idea of taking me up on my offer.

"We are a zero tactility culture. We practice total physical isolation. Aside from when I was arrested, this is the closest I have ever been to another living creature." He experiences a whole body twitch. "You are… Real..? Aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm real. Is there a convenient way out of here?"

"I-I don't know. They put me in an isolation unit to move me here. Can I..? Um."

"Can you what?"

"Can I touch you? I haven't ever really touched anyone before. We were… There were a group of us, and we… They arrested us before we could."

Ah. "I'm wearing an environmental shield and my species isn't aquatic, but if that's good enough for you? Go right-."

I'm enveloped in a mass of tentacles, the stronger ones wrapping themselves around my chest while two smaller ones prod and poke at my appendages and face.

Well.

This is…

Novel.

Um.

"Wrut?" I gently tug aside the tentacle rubbing itself over my lips. "What's your name?"

"Ratchetohthisisgood."

It's a minor relief that as far as I can tell this isn't a sexual thing for him. He is literally just this desperate for the touch of another living being. But he was intelligent enough to suppress it, then disguise it for-. Ratchet. The Red Lantern jellyfish. I'm not seeing a lot of-. I pull a tentacle away from my collar. I'm not seeing a lot of anger in him right now. Presumably this is from an earlier point in his timeline.

"Why did you come here?"

"I'm here to rescue you and offer you a job somewhere where touching people isn't a crime." Ah. "Where touching people with their permission isn't a crime."

"Are you still alright with me-?"

The door drops open and an armoured drone swims in. "Deviants will cease-."

I disintegrate the drone, then I fly-. I use constructs to lift Ratchet off me, then fly over to the doorway and cut though the metal of the door structure with an orange guillotine construct. "Do you know how far your planet's interdiction fields extend?"

"Three times the distance to our outer moon, but they aren't designed to stop Lanterns."

"Excellent news."

I tune my empathic vision to his particular desire and look around us. Seventy six individuals whose desire sets are a close match. And absolutely nothing to stop me grabbing every single one! Ah, I want to visit more planets not absurdly well equipped for fighting Lanterns, it makes my life so much easier. Beams of orange bore through the walls around me, blazing through armour, weak force fields, pipes and wiring -huh, they seal their maintenance ducts against the water, interesting- and into the other cells. The surgical devices have… Done their work with some, while others remain whole. Extend environmental shield… And one blast directly upwards.

And transition.

Space. A place that stopped being a final frontier for me some time ago. Toward the planet I see… Oh, that's… Slightly disturbing. They've set up a network of hologram satellites, and from the projections… They can't see space from the planet any longer.

Why would anyone do that intentionally? That sort of network can't be cheap to maintain-? No, focus.

"Hello everyone." Most of the shoal of jellyfish floating in my environmental shield turn to face me. "I'm the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. I am extending to you an offer of sanctuary on Maltus, where touching people is allowed. If you would prefer to return to prison, please indicate that desire now."

No one indicates that desire now.

"Please stand by for warp. We should arrive in about half an hour, then any of you with injuries will be provided with medical attention. Warp in three, two, one." Space bends as we leap away from the planet. "Warp."

And Ratchet has grabbed hold of me again. "I don't want to sound ungrateful. I like having all of my tentacles. They're my favourite part of my body for holding things. But why did you rescue us?"

"I don't think that what you did should be considered a crime, and it certainly shouldn't be punished in the way you were being punished. But mostly, because your desires are strong and stable and I think that means that you would make a good Orange Lantern."

"How so?"

"Orange Lanterns are powered by our desires."

"My strongest desire is for real social contact. How many people are there on Maltus?"

"About fifteen billion. And virtually none wear environmental suits."

"So… Many… People…"

Ratchet collapses.

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th September
21:03 GMT -5

Circe fidgets in her seat. "Why isn't she here?"

I look around the bar, full of people who are curious but nonetheless careful not to come too close to either me or the shimmering figure in the seat next to me.

"Amazon culture has many virtues, but punctuality is not one of them. Probably to do with the lack of-" Diana -wearing a trouser suit rather than her armoured bustier- pushes open the café door and walks towards us. "-accurate clocks."

Circe takes a deep and calming breath, which hisses a bit more than I suspect it was supposed to. "Couldn't she dress up a little?"

"She doesn't have a lot of clothes that don't draw attention. You did specify-."

Circe tosses her head as Diana passes through the ward before treating her long term foe to an almost believable smile. "Diana!"

"… Circe." Huh. Never heard Diana hesitate like that before. She pulls out a chair for herself and sits down. "I must say, I was somewhat surprised when Grayven told me that you wanted to meet with me."

"'Want' is…" Circe looks away for a moment. "Probably too strong a way of putting it. Having.. taken… Advice… I reached the conclusion that it really was the best way forward."

"Why the change of heart?"

"The most significant reason for me setting myself against you was to escape Hecate's prophecy. Having.. been given an alternative escape, the only reason I have left to fight you would be pride and I'm too proud to allow myself to be defined by my relationship to someone else."

Diana looks decidedly uncertain about what she's hearing, her eyes moving to me in suspicion. "Grayven's awakening process."

"Yes. I thought that… Meeting with you before undergoing that would serve to draw a line under our adversarial relationship. Certainly, one way or another I'm not going to want to fight you any longer."

Diana shakes her head slightly. "That isn't the only reason. You still have about a hundred people enslaved on your island. I'm not going to simply pretend that they don't exist."

"They're free to go." Circe actually sags slightly as she says it. "I have already returned the more recent ones to their Human forms. I even.. sent them back to their homes, or, well, close by at least. With a compensation payment."

And wasn't persuading her to do that a mission.

"But the older ones, the ones who have been like that for more than a mortal span… They're… Stuck. But they're free as well. Would they be welcome on Themyscira?"

Diana nods. "I will speak to my mother. But I believe so, at least on one of the smaller islands."

"I'm glad to hear it. I'll be.. staying with Grayven for a few days." Circe stands with an imperious motion and I put a fifty dollar note on a plate in the middle of the table. "Send word when you have news."

"I will. And… Circe." Circe ceases turning away and glances back with her eyebrows raised. "I'm glad that you're doing this."

"Yes, I'm sure that you are. Grayven?"

I come to my feet, turn away from Diana and open a boom tube back to Miss Shimmer's heavy duty research laboratories. Miss Shimmer more or less threw us out this afternoon after giving up on politely trying to dissuade Circe from poking her machinery. She may have gotten a wee bit possessive, but she's got cause. She designed and built most of these machines herself. Circe seemed to find everything here fascinating, though whether that was simply displacement activity or a genuine concern that the machines are going to be used against her in some fashion I'm not sure.

Circe walks though first, heading towards the prepared centre of the ritual space. I walk through after her, letting the tube close behind me as Miss Shimmer makes final adjustments to a rather complex thaumic resonation monitor control system. She's still interested in attaining Alicornhood and hopes to get some good readings from the process of deconstructing and reconstructing a demigoddess.

"We about ready over here?"

Miss Shimmer turns away from her device, flickering lights reflecting off her goggles in a slightly unsettling way. "I've been ready for days."

Circe scowls at her, but her heart's not in it. "I-. Yes. Yes, I'm ready."

"Good show." I take my orange ring off my left ring finger and put it into an equipment pouch. "Since you're clearly still worried about this, I'll be using the yellow ring. Give Hecate the bad news whenever you're ready."

"And this..?" Her eyes move swiftly over the machinery, over Miss Shimmer and then back to me. "It will take moments?"

"A heartbeat. You probably won't even be aware of it." She still hesitates. "Circe, this is why you are here. A chance for a life free of fear. You've spoken to my employees and you've checked the mechanisms that will be employed. Either you're ready now, or… This is it. You'll feel this fear permanently until your fear is finally realised."

She nods. "I will… Need a moment."

I settle slightly as she begins muttering to herself. I appreciate that this is a big step, but she's had all week to get her head around the idea. This is why I'm using the Sinestro.

"Ah-!"

Pink mist rises a little from Circe's skin before being viciously pulled towards the floor! Miss Shimmer's machinery chatters wildly while Circe stares at me in horror! Various sigils form momentarily on the ground as the mist pools briefly on the floor before… Apparently being pulled down and vanishing. Circe jerks as the rate of transfer increases and her body starts to wither, her skin wrinkling and eyes dimming.

Okay, that's my cue. "Sinestro, rejuvenate. Aim for the mid-thirties."

"Small problem with that, Corpsman." Three thick streams of yellow energy reach out but struggle to pierce the mist. "Perhaps you shouldn't have spoken of your intent where Hecate could hear it?"

Circe realises that there's a problem as her flesh shrivels and she collapses to the ground. She gapes at me, desperation clear on her face, unable to form words properly.

Sinestro!

She is immortal, Corpsman. But with your own fears fully engaged… The streams of energy glow brighter, punching through this mist and connecting with Circe. Golden lights shimmer under her skin as the withering ceases and slightly reverses. I-. No, hold onto the fear, the cold sickening sensation flowing from the idea that I might have just killed a highly valuable ally.

Keep feeling it.

Circe's skin is in a state of flux, healthy one moment and wizened the next. She's not saying anything, but she appears to at least be a little more aware of her environment than she was a moment ago. She gasps and attempts to stagger to her feet before another pink mist ejection sends her crashing chest-first onto the floor. This collapse appears to be the trigger for the final surge, her whole body pinking over for a moment and severing my no! I WILL NOT BE DENIED!

The mist finally vanishes and the yellow light surges in to replace it, lifting Circe to her feet and… Making good on the repairs. She wobbles and I step forward to offer her my hands with which to steady herself.

"Circe?" She pants as she grips my hands for dear life. "Circe? Are you with us?"

"I feel… Hollow. But… Yes. Yes!" She beams at me. "I'm f-finally… Finally free!"

"Are you ready for the next stage, or would you rather remain mortal for a spa-?"

"Don't be ridiculous." She pulls her hands back and readies herself. "The sooner I gain your empowerment, the sooner I become-"

I reach forward and tap her lightly on the forehead. "Awaken."

"Ping."

"-a goddess agai-. Was that it?"

"The process itself doesn't grant you power, it merely makes-."

"Yes, yes. You said." She looks away for a moment. "And the best way for me to regain my power quickly is to use your mana infusion chamber, correct?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th September
21:14 GMT -6

I gently push open the door to Lynne's bedroom and stick my head around the opening. "Poppet? Are you asleep?"

"U-uh? Dad?"

"I'm sorry I didn't read to you. Circe just turned up, and then.-" I push the door open further and come fully into the r-. Mortalla next to her bed, a guilty expression on her face and.. The Ship of Adventure held in her right hand.

"That's okay, Dad. Grandma read it instead."

"I-I'm sorry if I overstepped bounds, but you-."

"You did exactly what I wanted you to do." I smile at the poor woman in an attempt to reassure her. "Of course that's perfectly fine."

"See?" Lynne shuffles around in bed to look at Mortalla. "I told you it was the right thing to do."

"Mother, the system is that Lynne goes to bed at nine and gets a chapter read to her. I make an effort to be here, but that isn't always possible. You're family." I consider that statement for a moment. "Whom we actually like. Lynne poppet, you're happy with Grandma Mortalla reading to you, aren't you?"

"Yes, Dad."

I smile at Mortalla. "See?"

"Then…" She looks nervous, but a little more confident than she was a moment ago. "I had just finished the chapter. I will leave you to say goodnight." She starts to walk around the bed, then freezes. "If.. you do not object..?"

I smile, nod my head and motion to the door before approaching Lynne's bed and sitting down on the floor. Mortalla risks a small smile in return before heading out of the room.

"Good day at school?"

"It was okay. I… Think I made a friend?"

"Sounds like progress. What's his or her name?"

"Her name's Imra. She's starting school this year too." She wriggles around to face me. "Dad, how common are telepaths? You know, Human ones?"

"Pretty uncommon. I don't have the precise figures, but I don't think there are a hundred worth talking about in the United States. And maybe a couple of them in your league. Why do you ask?"

"Um." Eyes drifting away. She's.. about to lie to me. Wonderful! She's not so dependent that she's unwilling to act like a teenager! "No reason. I just wondered."

"Okay. Well, because it's hard for them to get training, and because until recently psychiatrists weren't trained to differentiate between early manifestation telepathy and schizophrenia, there aren't really any reliable figures. I only have rough numbers because I looked into it myself." I lean back slightly and look away from her face. "If you.. did encounter a telepath, it might be a good idea for you to mention the Centre to them. Some of the things that happen when they don't get training-."

"I didn't say I'd met a telepath."

"And I didn't say that you'd said that you'd met a telepath."

She glares at me. "Dad!"

I snigger, then stand and lean forward to kiss Lynne on the forehead. "Goodnight Lynne. Sweet dreams."

"'night Dad."

I turn away and exit the room, the sound of Lynne's quiet breathing in my ears as I gently shut the door. That was a little surprising, but I am pleased. And not just because there's someone I can hand reading duties over to; Lynne accepting someone else in that sort of situation is a sign of just how far she's progressed, and Mortalla actually doing something without specific authorisation means that my worse case scenarios for her rehabilitation can remain purely theoretical. Lynne coping with a wider variety of social interactions is a pretty good sign as well.

Right. I'm up in six hours to sort things out in the Netherlands before everyone arrives. Bed time for me as well. In fact, Mother Box?

Ping?

Hush tube.

Ping.

I step through it and push open my door. It'll be nice to-.

Knockout is lying on my bed, facing the door.

I blink, slowly. "Did you get lost on your way to your room?"

"No."

"Because this is.. my room. Your status is now such that you aren't expected to share. Your room is-" I step back into the doorway. "-that w-."

The door slams into my face! I'm not really hurt, but it was so unexpected that I'm not up to speed as the door is shoved aside and Knockout surges out, knocking me back into the wall behind me with a shoulder charge and then bringing her right fist up under my chin! I get my left arm in the way, absorbing her blow with a small wince before my right hand shoots out and seizes her around the neck and slams her against the opposite wall!

Like me, she's far too tough to actually be injured by the impact, but I use her momentary disorientation to squeeze her throat while I pull her back and slam her into it again. This time I'm braced and this time concrete is pulverised and fractured by the force I employ!

I then wait, hand still around her neck, for her to regain her senses.

"What was that in aid of?" "You DARE raise your hand to ME!?"

"Thought-. You were-. Soft. One who hides-." I squeeze a little to remind her that she's winding up the wrong New God right now. "Hides behind others."

"What? Because I can hold a civil conversation? Because I have retainers who don't live in terror of me?" But okay, if she likes the traditional Apokoliptian style so much… I pull back my hand and slam her into the concrete again. This time it fractures the whole way through, metal mesh keeping the fragments more or less in shape as a section the size of my fist crumbles through on the far side. "Please do not assume that simply because brutal violence is not my first recourse that I am in some way incapable of utilising it." I pull her towards me slightly and loosen my grip a little. "Is that it? Was there some other reason for this visit?"

She blinks, trying to clear the concrete dust from her eyes. "Granny said that I caught your eye. I would not mate with a man who did not know how to fight. But I like a man who does."

Oh. Ew.

"Why would I-? No, I don't want to mate with you." And that's when it comes to my attention that she's only wearing her boots and gloves. Huh. No, irrelevant. "I didn't bring you here because I wanted a concubine. Your skills as a warrior are what impressed me. It is those skills which I wish you to utilise on my behalf." I turn in the direction of her room, raise my right hand and open it, depositing her on the floor. "Now go. I would have said 'please don't do this again'. However, since you don't appear to understand basic courtesy…"



I step forward and kick with my right foot, catching her in the chest and sending her flying down the corridor and into the far wall hard enough to crack that as well.

I wait a moment for her to look up. Then I smile politely.

"Please don't do this again."

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th September
19:57 GMT

I know… That I shouldn't be totally surprised. Standard pattern humanoids are standard pattern humanoids. It's a universal shape which comes with a wide variety of standardised features. There are exceptions, obviously, and social factors can vary wildly-.

The point is, patriarchy is not unique to Humans. Humanoid men are generally stronger than humanoid women wherever you go. It's part of the role-specialisation. This often -not always, but it does happen in far more places than the reverse- results in societies being male-dominated. If one group is where most of the war-fighters are coming from, that group are going to end up disproportionately in positions of authority. I don't think that it's 'good' or 'proper', but that's how it tends to go. And greater strength has advantages in other areas as well; pre-industrial farming and metalwork, for instance. That advantage largely disappears once heavy automated machinery starts providing most of the physical force, but by then the idea of 'male's work' and 'female's work' has set in…

Patriarchy happens. But it doesn't usually result in a continent of women having their eyes gouged out.

"Who's there?"

The mistress of the house doesn't wear a blindfold. Those are forbidden, as they might conceal eyes that hadn't been removed. And since they're removed with hooked knives with no anaesthetic-.

I'm very glad that enlightenment means that my rings aren't shutting down because I don't remember being this angry since I read Handmaiden's Tale. I like structure and as a result nothing gets to me quite like tyranny enthroned to the point where people think it's normal.

"Jerrd?"

"No."

She doesn't have a cane to help her get around. She's well into middle age, and I'm sure that she knows the structure of her own home far too well to need one.

"Who-?"

"I suppose you could say that I heard your prayers. Your eldest daughter was taken to the temple today, wasn't she?"

She shudders, then falls to her knees. Why-? No. No! "My Lord, I am sorry for my wick-"

"No." I land in front of her and place my right hand on her shoulder. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"-edness, but Taranna loves to paint and-."

"Stop." When I am confronted by the evils of the universe, I will rejoice. F-for when I am done, there will be one less. I know that the point of this is to motivate others, but in this case it's bloody hard not to deal with the situation myself. "I am not your god, or its servant. I am the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps, and I heard your need." I move my left hand to her left and pull, encouraging her to rise. "Why do you beg forgiveness for hating something you know to be wrong?"

"Because I shouldn't feel like this. It should happen, it needs to happen. All girls go through it-."

"The fact that something is common does not make it right." I look a little deeper into her. I see a younger version of the young woman I arrived on this fetid planet just a little late to save from going under the knife leading her mother over to a flower bed and describing them to her. "You know this is wrong."

"I-if she could be spared-."

"What's so special about her? What makes her pain different from the pain of any other girl? Yours, from any other mother forced to stand by while the Temple of Unseeing does its work?"

"I… Nothing, I'm not important, but Taranna doesn't need to-."

"It's too late." But that was a colour I can use. "She's already being led away into the-."

"No!"

The 'o' sounds like a yelp. Shame, fear, all useless.

"Do you think that's right?"

She's breathing quickly, water seeping from her tear ducts… Stress, no use to me. Come on, I felt you!

"What you feel now is the same as how your own mother would have felt. And her mother, and her mother before her. And in time, what your own daughter will feel." I lean closer. "What do you want?"

"I-. I…"

"I came here to help you realise your desires. But I can't do that if you won't tell me what they are. Not 'won't someone rescue my daughter', that wasn't what I heard. Tell me." Her mouth tremors, no words coming out. "You know what I'm asking. You're thinking it but you're not saying it. What do you want?"

"I want every bastard member of the priesthood dead. I don't want any girl to go through the Rite of Unseeing ever again."

"Coutara eh'Jerrd of Space Sector Four Nine Five." I step back as the ring I brought for her approaches her. "You have a great need in your heart. Join the Orange Lantern Corps, and see it realised."

I'm still not totally happy with the introductory spiel, but at least it's better than the version Dox suggested. Far too wordy.

Her breathing slows, her shoulders square and her back straightens. "You will help me?"

"That is this ring's function."

Doubt gone, Coutara reaches out with her right hand. "I want that."

The ring leaps onto her middle finger, shattering the grey stone ring that was there already before coming to rest.

"Lantern Coutara, welcome to the Orange Lantern Corps."

A wave of orange light runs through her smock and loose-fitting trousers, adding orange highlights. Hm. I'll need to talk to her about armour at some point-. Her head jerks around to face me, orange light flaring from her eye sockets.

"This ring has made me strong enough to kill them?"

"It's not all about physical strength, but none of their defences should slow you down all that much."

She bends her legs slightly, as if to leap into the air. Then she stops herself. "And what happens then?"

"In what regard?"

"To me, to my daughter, to… Everyone else. I can't just… Tear everything apart, and… Let our civilisation collapse."

I smile at her mindfulness. So many people would just leap right in… "Yes you can and yes you could. When a civilisation is this fundamentally disordered, tearing it down and starting again is a perfectly valid thing to do. But since you ask, I am prepared to offer sanctuary to you, your daughter and anyone else needing rescue. Furthermore, I am prepared to assign Lanterns to keep an eye on your country until things stabilise." Komand'r and Koriand'r in this case. Try gouging their eyes out, you living shits. "Is that satisfactory?"

"Yes." Her environmental shield flares. "Perfectly."

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th September
09:28 GMT +1

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Nearly time. Nearly time. I'll have my own Elite. True equals, not near-subordinates.

The monitor and cameras which Lex will be using to join in are all set up. Sunset created a few basic wards with pure magic and I added a few with Apokoliptian technology.

Ping.

Fine, we added a few with Apokoliptian technology. I'll have to strip it out once we're finished, but that's a simple enough affair. The seats are arranged in an arc, those of our invitees pointing in the direction of the main monitor, which I'll be using for my presentation. I was a little worried that we'd be a man short until yesterday, but I was eventually able to persuade the relevant authorities that I could order Adom's temporary release. Once this is done, he will technically be under house arrest at my house. Which is a pretty handy outcome for me, actually. Ah, glasses of water, air conditioning… Reasonable… I think we're good.

I turn and head through the doors into the antechamber, Knockout's fists balling excitedly as she sees me. "My Lord. Let me demonstrate-." "Fight!"

"Calm yourself, Knockout. This is a social event." "A bodyguard should be seen and not heard."

After our confrontation last night she's been far more eager to please me in the performance of her duties. I took advantage to compel her to change her 'costume'. Her.. green swimsuit was barely acceptable, but now that I've had time I've had her replace it with decent body armour. And a mana infuser. Heh. She didn't seem all that convinced about the armour but that thing is New God catnip. She's still been getting a few admiring looks from the staff here, but hasn't condescended to notice any of them. I don't think that she totally understands what a hotel is, but she appears to have pegged the staff as well-disciplined House Lowlies.

"But I do have a task for you."

"Someone to kill?" "Fight!"

"Knockout, if I wanted a mad dog I'd have hired someone local. I need you to take the measure of the retinues the others bring. The image they're trying to portray."

"How easy they will be to kill." "Fight!"

"Worth knowing, but not a priority. And before you complain further, I've scheduled your sparring session with Orana for Saturday. And if you really can't manage until then I'm sure that Adom will be happy to oblige you."

She nods, reluctantly. "And Barda?" "Fight!"

"I want to be more certain of your self discipline before I even tell her that you're on Earth. I brought you here to guard my daughter, not rampage at will."

"But-." "Fig-!"

"That's enough, Knockout." You Will Obey Me!

She shudders, her mouth working but no sound emerging. Then she smiles, bows her head slightly and steps back. Ugh, she's going to be like this all of the time, isn't she? Tiresome. I mean, if I had normal Apokoliptian attitudes it wouldn't be a problem, but I'm used to Human ways of interacting. Perhaps I could offer her services as a training aid to Komand'r? The princesses are skilled, but super strength combat has its own rules…

Mortalla rises from her chair as I approach, smoothing down her skirt and shuffling a little in place. It's going to be a little while before she's convinced that she's safe here, but I'm going to keep working on it. "And Mother, I would appreciate it if you could observe all other aspects of their behaviour. Family is.. important here. You will be acting in my stead." "You have my faith."

"I…" For a moment she looks a little lost. Then she nods and manages a weak smile. "Of course."

"Then all is in readiness. Mother Box?"

"Ping."

The disdainful sound-

"Ploong."

-from Mortalla's Father Box is drowned out by the sound of the boom tube opening to Aberrance. A brief moment passes, then Otto steps through with Cranius perched on the top of his spine. He looks around, then grins at me. "Grayven, my boy!"

I smile, stepping forward to shake Otto's hand. "Doctor Cranius. Thank you for joining us."

Niko steps through next, her missing arm earning a frown from Knockout. Of course, anyone with such a visible sign of weakness would swiftly be dead meat on Apokolips. Which to Knockout's way of thinking means that either Niko's so powerful that it doesn't matter, or Cranius is so powerful that his servants can afford to advertise vulnerability.

I nod to her. "May I present-."

"Hey, Gravy! Wassaaap, man!"

I just about manage to prevent myself wincing as The Face walks in behind the people I actually wanted here. Oh, why couldn't Cranius have broken him up for parts by now? "Mister The Face." I turn aside, allowing them to get a clear look at my own entourage. "May I present my mother, Mortalla." Cranius gives her a small nod, but I can tell that he's frowning inside. Trying to work out why her skin is white, and what other augmentations she might have. Niko smiles, her eyes moving to me for a moment. What, didn't she think that I had antecedents?

It's not hard to work out why The Face is leering.

"And my bodyguard, Knockout. Today she's here for your protection as much as mine."

Knockout's size and musculature make her speciality more obvious to a casual observer. Another nod from Cranius. "I am certain zhet we are in good hands. Are.. we.. zhe first to arrive?"

"Yes, but unless you're bringing anyone else I'll redirect the boom tube and bring our second guest here now."

Cranius leads his party away a few paces, then turns around with an air of considerable interest. "I am most fascinated to see whom it is zhet we will be doing business wizh."

"Ping."

The boom tube aperture collapses and then reopens with a double-bang. We wait a moment, then Adom floats through under his own power. Unlike what I had assumed, he wasn't interested in wearing a variant of Theodore's costume. In fact, he was quite definite that he didn't want to 'wear the Wizard's lightning bolt' at all. Instead, he's wearing a white sherwani with gold embroidery and loose cream trousers. I was surprised by his choice, but I suppose that there's a definite advantage to having a clear visual distinction between him and Theodore.

His gaze passes briefly over everyone so far assembled before settling on me, only The Face earning a mild frown of puzzlement. He lowers himself in the air slightly so that he's only centimetres above the carpeted floor.

"Lord Grayven."

"Teth Adom. Thank you for joining us." I offer him my right hand. He in turn reaches out with his right arm and wraps his hand around my forearm. Well, as much as he can given the size difference between us. I mirror the gesture, though I'm careful not to over-grip. He's grateful for my help, but we're not yet so close that he'd be prepared to ignore a significant breach of propriety on my part.

A moment passes and we separate, me turning aside to introduce the group. "This is Doctor Cranius, who will be taking part in discussions with us."

"Doctor Cranius."

A little tricky. The form of Ancient Kahndaqi which Adom speaks doesn't have a word for 'bio-engineer'. And its word for 'doctor' doesn't quite have the same connotations which the English word does. Still, we can clear up exactly what everyone brings to the table during the meeting proper.

"Mister Teth Adom."

"His aides, Niko Parish and The Face."

His eyes linger on Niko's wings for a moment, but his only formal response is a nod.

"My mother, the lady Mortalla. And my bodyguard, Knockout."

Knockout is looking at Teth Adom with undisguised interest while he seems less interested in her. To Mortalla on the other hand he lands and reaches out to take her left hand-.

"No!" I intercept him just before he touches it. He looks decidedly put out by my behaviour. "I'm sorry, but it amused Father to bind spells to her hands. The left one kills people. I'm not certain that it would work on you, but it would be an unfortunate way to start a meeting."

He nods, satisfied. "I see. I thank you for your warning. What does the right do?"

"It-." Mortalla responds, then clams up, looking to me for approval. I smile and nod. "It induces sleep."

Teth Adom takes that hand instead, kissing her knuckles to no apparent ill effect. Mortalla smiles a little confusedly. "My lady."

"My lord."

Mother Box, next boom tube.

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th September
09:35 GMT +1

Lord Cyprian comes through first, barely reacting to the dryness of his new environment. He's a Pureblood Atlantean man in his late fifties, greying shoulder length hair swept back with some sort of styling product that makes it look constantly wet. He's wearing the knee-length breeches and decorative jewellery common among the Venturian nobility, though I know for a fact that as well as being a capable administrator he is also a capable magic user. The jewellery is almost certainly enchanted, though it would be gauche of me to blatantly check it out now. His bare chest is fairly well muscled for a man of his age, and there are a couple of scars visible on his right side.

Queen Clea walks through next, her own clothing somewhat more modest but also more regal. She's wearing a small diadem rather than the full crown of state she would wear when taking an audience or the helm she used to wear while in combat. Four soldiers follow her through, three Purebloods and one Eelfolk. The Eelman has an enchanted pendant which connects to his gills with a glowing line of water, but he still winces as he comes into contact with the air.

I give Queen Clea a shallow bow. "Your majesty. May I present our colleagues Teth Adom and Doctor Cranius."

Cranius can't really bow while mounted on Otto, but he manages a nod. "I understand zhet I heff you to zhank for my supply of thaumaturgical literature."

"Are you a sorcerer, Doctor Cranius?"

"It would be more true to say zhet I am zhe product-" He stands on the tips of his fingers. "-of sorcery. I study biomancy by necessity as well as for pleasure."

"I imagine that is an area where we might profitably-" She looks askance at The Face for a moment. Fortunately he's distracted by Mortalla. "-cooperate further, Doctor. And Teth Adom."

"Your majesty. During my former life I had a productive working relationship with an Atlantean queen. I hope that our relationship will be similarly beneficial."

"Oh?" She raises her eyebrows slightly. "Who was she?"

"Queen Gamemnae of Poseidonis." Queen Clea twitches as she recognises the name. Wonder who she was? "We were allies for several decades."

"Yes… That would be useful."

Hm. If Queen Gamemnae is known in Atlantean society even after all of this time, they may also have records of Teth Adom himself. Might be worth looking up.

"If the three of you would like to follow me..?" I turn away, the three of them walking alongside me as we head into the meeting room.

Clea takes a moment to look over the rest of us. "It seems that we're a little short?"

I nod. "Alas, one of those I had intended on inviting had died during my time away from Earth. The two others who will be appearing in person insisted that they could make their own way here-."

Shadows pool in the far corner of the room, then Mister Swift marches out of them as if climbing a staircase. "A wizard is never early or late, Mister Grayven. He arrives exactly when he means to." He reaches up to the brim of his top hat with his right hand and raises it slightly. "Your majesty, my lord, doctor."

I send a filament behind us and close the doors with it, before heading towards the monitor. "Presenting Mister Richard Swift, also known as the Shade."

He holds his hands out to the sides. And then another set of hands made of shadows. "For reasons which I think are quite self-explanatory."

"If you'd all like to take your seats, we should be able to begin once our last but one guest has realised that she is now fashionably-" Circe wafts into being, sections of her body appearing as if emerging from behind some invisible fabric that is being gradually tugged away. "-late." She's nothing like at full power, but apparently this little trick isn't too power-intensive.

"Circe!"

Queen Clea walks towards her old comrade, arms outstretched. Circe takes a barely noticeable moment to work out who Clea is, then smiles at her in turn. "Clea, darling! You're looking simply marvellous!"

They embrace, kissing one another on each cheek before pulling back slightly.

"I'm looking like an old woman. I know it full well."

Mister Swift smiles at the assemblage before having his shadows pull out a chair for him and dropping into it. "Is the gang all here?"

I nod. "Nearly." I flip a switch on the monitor, and Lex's avatar appears on the screen. "Our last colleague is unable to attend in person."

Cranius takes a seat near the opposite end of the arc from Mister Swift. "And we are not to see zhis person's face?"

"I apologise for the deception, Doctor." Lex's synthetic voice is as flawless as it is impossible to recognise as being his. It helps that he's speaking French rather than English and letting the computer handle the translation. "But I cannot afford to allow knowledge of my participation to become widely known. I have all too many enemies who would work against anything we produce were the fact that I have any input into its creation to become widely known."

Mister Swift lounges back slightly. "Or we could just work it out ourselves."

"Acceptable." Adom takes the seat on the far end, between Cranius and the door. "For now."

Walking past Clea, Circe takes the middle seat and leaves her old friend with the chair between herself and Mister Swift.

I smile. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming. I asked you all here today because I have a problem, and I believe that each of you could help me solve it. Essentially, my problem is that the Human species isn't living up to its potential. And despite the fact that I'm an alien, that's a problem for me because my father-" I put a life size image of him up on the monitor. "-is working on a plan to mind control the universe and I rather need to stop him. To do that I need weapons, technology, powerful warriors, all things that Earth has, but doesn't have in sufficient quantity. So: I need to improve Human civilisation. And to be completely clear, I don't mean by conquering it. The economic systems which I need are more or less in place. I merely need to ensure that certain things which are not currently happening start happening."

"Despite living on what is probably the most magic-rich world in the universe, ninety nine percent of Humans have never used magic and about thirty percent don't actually believe that it's real. Despite reliable Human augmentation having existed since before Atlantis sank, most Humans are little different biologically from the primitive ape-men who left East Africa three hundred thousand years ago. Despite having tried every form of government I know of, vast numbers of people live under corrupt and inefficient governments more interested in building palaces than roads, more interested in inflating their rulers' bank accounts than their nation's GDP. In other circumstances I might shrug it off. What does the stupidity of aliens mean to me? But with the threat of my father hanging over me, I need them, I need Human ingenuity and ferocity."

"I don't need Human stupidity."

"So here's what I want us to do. I want us to fix that and enrich ourselves doing so. And I'm willing to offer you whatever it is that you want if you'll help me." I look around. "Doctor, you want more people to use the augmentations you create. I've already been helping you with that, but we can always do more. Particularly-" I move my hand to indicate Queen Clea. "-with the aid of Atlantean biomancers. While you, Queen Clea, want more political independence and to avoid having to fight over your succession. A simple fix; I can extend your lifespan and build profitable bridges between yourself and various interested surface world groups. If you're doing what King Orin wants anyway, then he won't interfere. Particularly if no one else is. Circe, you've already received my aid. Would you agree that it will make your life considerably more pleasant?"

"It.. will."

"I can also ease your passage to the renown which you want, though you would have to put in a good deal of work yourself."

She tilts her head back, narrowing her eyes slightly. "How?"

"You would found a school and start teaching surface people magic. As more and more people become trained in sorcery they would know that the teacher of their teachers was you, that their entire magic tradition flowed from you as the traditions of Atlantis flow from Ahri'Ahn. And naturally, the governments of the world would call upon you to consult when faced with a question on magic. Teaching staff Queen Clea can provide… And I could locate one or two myself on the surface. You would probably have to use a false identity, at least at the start. But that's nothing you haven't done before."

"Me, a teacher?"

"A headmistress."

She smiles. "That is an interesting suggestion."

"Teth Adom. I've been dodging your questions about how Kahndaq is governed in the present day because I don't want you to fly into a rage. It's… Bad. I'll give you the full details after the meeting. But naturally, I'm sure that you'll want to change that. I have political good will in just about everywhere, and-." I gesture to the screen. "-my colleague has the economic infrastructure. But Kahndaq would just be the first country that needs some careful, considered and vicious regime change. Humanity deserves better than having myopic thieves in suits as its rulers."

Mister Swift purses his lips. "And what of me, and your good friend 'The Screen'? I'm happier with my life now than I've been for centuries. And he already has a SCART lead."

"I believe that the existence of the Justice League is exacerbating the problem Human society is experiencing. However, I do recognise that they are presently near-indispensable as far as protecting the Earth is concerned. If all goes well, we will eventually render them obsolete, but for now they must survive."

I stare him straight in the eyes. "So it would be most convenient if the most powerful superhero on the Earth were to join them."

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th September
09:40 GMT +1

Mister Swift smiles with his mouth slightly open, as if he were about to speak but is so entranced with the idea that he can't quite shape the words.

Teth Adom turns to look at Mister Swift. "'Most powerful'?"

Mister Swift shrugs. "One doesn't like to blow one's own trumpet… But I'd say so. Particularly with Mister Culp removed from the equation and the Great Darkness gone on its merry way."

"I will concede that you have some power. You manipulate shadows with a greater skill than I have seen before." Adom shakes his head. "But I have seen many great and powerful beings. What proof do you have that you stand so far above them?"

Mister Swift merely smiles, and raises his cane.

Then every light in the room dies and every surface turns black. I raise my right hand, orange light texturing the darkness just enough to pick out the edges of the walls. And then.. the edges become indistinct, fading away as the primordial blackness becomes at once nebulous and solid, my rings' own light visibly weakening…

And then the sheer black peels away, revealing a desolate greyscale landscape of bare earth and stones. The only hint of life I can see is a small copse of apparently dead trees, their bent and wizened trunks completely bereft of leaves. And the only light… I look up at the starless sky, wondering what light illuminates a place like this.

There's a… Hole… In the black sky. And along its circular boundary I can see flickers of light-.

I look down instead.

"The Shadowlands?" Circe nods in realisation, putting her elbows on the table and resting her head on her hands as she leans towards him. "A risky proposition."

"Oh, I know. Staring the Great Darkness in the eye… Such as it had, drove me quite peculiar on the first occasion. And whenever I went back I felt that I was as a mouse treading none too carefully around the lair of some great and malevolent beast. Which gives me far too much credit; I was far less than a mouse to such an entity. But, no longer. It is gone and…" He indicates the landscape with the head of his cane. "I am master of my own estate."

"Mister Swift." I indicate the Shadowlands with my right hand. "Would you mind..?"

"Ah, of course." He taps his cane against the sandy ground, shadows rising up around us and flowing in his direction, seemingly being sucked back into it. The landscape is only obscured for moments, but in the shadow's wake only our meeting room remains. "Your pardon, dear comrades. I did not mean to alarm you." He returns his attention to me. "But the Justice League. I am intrigued. How do you intend to make that happen? When last I checked, you weren't a member."

"No, but my brother and sister-in-law are. And I believe that you know Wonder Woman?"

"Yes, as do two of my esteemed colleagues." He glances at Clea and Circe. "And in much the same fashion. I don't think that I could expect a reference."

"Tell me, Mister Swift: does keeping Opal City safe require a significant proportion of your full power?"

He scoffs. "Pff. Hardly. I live there because I like it, not because it's part of my exercise regime."

"And if you were to exert yourself a little more? Could you develop a national presence? Perhaps..? A global presence?"

"I… Could…"

"Combine that with formally burying the hatchet with-." Ugh. "With the surviving Justice Society members, perhaps offering an explanation for your actions? You were working as a superhero even while possessed by a malevolent super dwarf. You're not a particularly bad fit anyway. They just need to be reminded that you exist."

"Hahahaha!" Mister Swift tosses his head back as he laughs in what sounds like a good-humoured way. "Oh my word. And what precisely would I be doing as this august assemblage's 'man on the inside'?"

"You would be making sure that they stay alive. As a beacon of heroism they're useful, as long as they're an example people are actively following rather than one to whom they are passing the buck."

He regards me for a moment, his head tilting slightly to the right. "You know what? The idea tickles me so-. Yes. Yes, I'll do it. I'll campaign as an unstoppable scourge of the underworld until the League let me in. Why not? I'm sure that the change of pace will do me the world of good. Hahaha! Oh, what a time to be alive!" He sort of flops to his right. "And you, your majesty? Will you be joining us?"

Queen Clea looks cautious, though whether that's because of the temptation I'm providing or the presence of the shadow god next to her I'm not certain. "Extend my lifespan to what degree?"

"You are aware that great magic users gain dramatically extended life spans due to their expanded metaphysiques?" She nods. "I can… Shall we say, remove the limiters on your spirit. Grant you the benefits without anything like the work. I've already tested the process; it's safe and reliable. Several of my colleagues already use it… Including Circe." Clea frowns at her and gets a shallow nod in return. "And if you want an immediate rejuvenation…" I raise my hands, displaying my power rings. "I can do that as well."

"And this airport? How do you intend to make that happen?"

"A little while ago an alliance of supervillains calling themselves 'The Light' did some rather unfortunate things. Most of them died, but one of them -a man named Lex Luthor- was an apparently legitimate citizen. President Horne felt that simply killing him would be setting a bad precedent." Heh. "And there were any number of ways Mister Luthor could have dodged criminal conviction. As such, he was told that he could either keep himself squeaky-clean from now on… Or he could mysteriously disembowel himself while shaving, if you get my drift. And I'm his parole officer, which means that I basically own the third richest man on the planet. Arm-twisting him into building an airport won't even be hard."

Not much point in not telling them who the monitor is if LexAir start flying flights to an airport built by LexConstruction. Not unless there's some other explanation.

"And I know that you've had your man Mister Valjek checking out potential trade opportunities. What is it you're most interested in?"

She looks at me. I think that she's making her decision-.

"Gold. High purity. Other metals too, but gold most of all. And I will agree to participate. Though I will want to see-" I start walking towards her. "-some evidence that-." She frowns as I approach. "What is it?"

"You want proof? I can augment you now. Do you want to be restored to your prime, or merely to early old age? A more subtle approach has its advantages, but then so does full physical fitness."

She sits up slightly, blinking. "And what do you want now in return?"

I grin. "Nothing! At worst, I help Atlantis avoid a distracting internal conflict. At best, you feel grateful enough to become an active participant in my project. Either way, I benefit." I look around. "This isn't a zero-sum game, a grudging trade between people who can barely keep their paranoia in check for long enough to have a conversation. This is to be an alliance serving our shared interests. Not merely can we all win, but the whole of the world can as well. Though obviously… We win by most."

She nods, pushing back her chair and standing. "Mild rejuvenation. If our alliance is supposed to be at least somewhat covert, it might be best if I didn't suddenly change my appearance."

"Very well." In the corner of my eye I see Circe watching with unconcealed interest as I gently reach for Clea's forehead with my right hand. "Please focus your mind on your fear of your nation collapsing and it all being your fault."

"Hm." She closes her eyes for a moment. "There's always a.. price, isn't there?"

Sinestro, Mother Box, we need to be somewhat precise here.

We can manage, Corpsman.

Ping.

Well, aren't you the overachiever?

"Rejuvenate."

Yellow light flows though her body, and the changes… Are subtle. Her skin smoothes a little, a small amount of colour returns to her hair, though the dominant colour is still white. Her muscle tone improves slightly… Good work, both of you. Now Awaken!

Ping.

Queen Clea's eyes snap open, and she staggers back a step. "I felt that. Is that-." She holds out her hands, studying her own skin. "Ooh."

I take out a bracelet-type mana infuser. "Wear this as much as possible. It will speed up the process."

She breathes in, regaining her composure. Then she takes the infuser and sits without putting it on. "Thank you. You have my consent to send your man Luthor to speak with Lord Cyprian. He will oversee the work on my behalf. And…" She turns her head to Circe. "Will you be requiring a teaching staff?"

Circe looks down for a moment, but that hunger makes it all too obvious that she has decided as well.

"I do believe that I will."

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th September
09:47 GMT +1

I back off a little towards my monitor. I have detailed economic and political plans, timelines and cost/benefit analyses, but it's far more important to get agreement in principle. "Teth Adom? Is there some further reassurance you need?"

His face is impassive as he regards me. "It would seem that I do not have an alternative."

"Not at all. Your bail conditions do require that you stay with me, but I am perfectly happy to offer you the use of my home for as long as you need it without any precondition. Getting a state prosecutor to accept that you are not guilty of Theodore Adam's crimes might take a couple of months, and then you would be a free man. In fact-" I take a deliberate step away from the door and pointedly look at it. "-you could choose to leave this very minute if you wanted. I am not bound to pursue you."

"I will not sneak out like a guilty thief."

"Well.. then… If it's me you're objecting to, I can probably talk a member of the Justice League into putting you up. William Batson owes me a favour for saving his life after he lost a fight with Sabbac."

"Who is that?"

"Sabbac was a demonically-empowered champion of Hell. I decapitated him."

"No. William Batson."

"The wizard Shazam's new champion." Teth Adom's hands clench through the table. "He's a good kid, as are his two similarly empowered friends."

"The Wizard-!" Something occurs to him. "Kid?"

"Yes, he's eleven. Frederick and Mary are still ten."

Mister Swift frowns. "You're certain? That.. seems a little-."

"The Wizard uses children?!"

I nod. "Yes, he does and yes, I'm certain. I think he said it was something to do with William being the most moral person the Wizard could find-."

"If he claims that there was not a single adult that could match the moral intuitions of a small child then he is a liar and a monster! He chose children because they would not have the wit to challenge him!"

I nod. "That could be the case. Would you care to see to his education yourself? I could set up a meeting, but I assumed that you would want to prioritise Kahndaq."

Teth Adom takes a few deep breaths as he attempts to regain control of himself. "Yes. Yes. That should be my priority. But the Wizard betrayed me in a way which I cannot forgive. I will have my revenge against him."

"I am not going to insist you give up your vendetta, but I would point out that not only do I not share it, I don't think that killing a man who has so little to do with the world actually helps anyone. I will however help you with Kahndaq. Normalising international relations, industrial development… Anti-corruption work?"

"Why would I not simply fly to the palace of its ruler and slay him?"

Queen Clea makes a scoffing noise in her throat. "Modern states are a little more complicated than that, Teth Adom. Present day Kahndaq has a population of ninety million. Simply slaying the president would create anarchy and most likely make the situation worse still."

"Ninety.. million..?"

I huff faintly. "Adom, the fact that you didn't know that underlines my point. I'm happy to bring you up to speed, but you'll need to hold off until everything is ready. Including you. It's been a long time. You need to learn about the modern world. My Genomorphs are uniquely well equipped to help you in that regard, but, I'm not insisting."

"It-." Adom rubs the fractured wood from his palms and retakes his seat. "It would speak ill of me were I to reject your hospitality when you have made an effort to aid me. I will make a firm decision once I am better informed."

"As you will. Doctor Cranius?"

"I… I would not reject any cooperation, but… I will need to discuss matters wizh Janus unt Crassus before making a firm commitment on a broader alliance. I heff.. only so much time, and a great many demands upon it."

"Not a problem. Alright if I visit you in Aberrance on Tuesday?"

He considers for a moment. "Yes… Zhet shoult be enough time."

Queen Clea leans forward slightly so that she can look him full in the face. "And is there anything the rest of us can do to persuade you?"

Cranius smiles. "Unless you have magics for making more time, I fear that you cannot. Though if you could lend me zhe services of an Atlantean biomancer… Perhaps zhere is an efficiency saving zhet I could make?"

"There are a few people in my employ who may be of use to you. If Mister Grayven could arrange transportation?"

I nod. "But of course."

"I still-" Mister Swift jabs the head of his cane at Lex's monitor. "-want to know what the box's angle is."

"About ninety degrees."

Neither Mister Swift nor myself can prevent ourselves making a sort of gasp-laugh noise at Lex's pronouncement. Oh, there's no way he came up with that himself. No way. He can make jokes, but that sort of off the cuff witticism is not him at all. Or perhaps he used it intentionally to further separate Mister Monitor from Mister Luthor?

Mister Swift bows his head slightly. "A droll observation, but I'm curious. What do you want, and what do you bring to the table?"

"I bring information networks, and what I want is more information. At present, data relating to the most advanced forms of science and magic propagate only poorly around Earth society. I want to learn more, and I want more Humans to learn more. This gathering presents me with the opportunity to spread knowledge myself and ensure that it is spread by the actions of others. This satisfies me."

Ah! Pretending to be an AI! That makes sense. It also gives them a ready explanation for the monitor; if he doesn't have a body he couldn't 'appear' in person. And I don't think he's actually outright lied yet. Lex certainly wants knowledge of advanced technologies to spread. Just so long as he's the supplier.

"Teth Adom, I am already contacting Kahndaqi groups who may be sympathetic to your efforts with a view to assisting you in forming a government post-takeover." Adom nods. "I will contact the rest of you with data I think will be pertinent to your operations as and when I have it. Development opportunities, avenues of research and useful personnel. I have every faith that our work together will be mutually beneficial."

Mister Swift considers for a moment. "Alright, I've got one for you. What is.. Jay Garrick's favourite liquor?"

"He keeps a bottle of five year Glenmorangie whisky in his home-" And the fact that Lex knows that isn't creepy at all. "-but I'm afraid that I can't tell you-" Mister Swift sticks his left hand through a pool of shadows on the table surface and pulls out a two-thirds finished bottle of Glenmorangie whisky. He notes the 'Five Year' label and nods approvingly at the monitor. "-whether that's his actual favourite or not. I don't know everything."

Mister Swift puts the bottle back. "Reasonable enough. If there's nothing else, I'd best make a start on this 'hero' malarkey. Any suggestions on where to start?"

"Caracas in Venezuela is the most dangerous city in the world. In pure efficiency terms, that would seem like a good place to start."

"And it will give me the opportunity to brush up on my Spanish! Marvellous."

"Otherwise, there are a number of active Kobra cells that you might like to target."

"They're like serpentine piñatas! The gift that keeps on bleeding!"

I take a look around my gathered allies. "If there's nothing else?" A few shakes, and no comments to the contrary. "Let's pencil in another full meeting for a month from now. Circe, Adom? If you'd like to accompany me, I'll get you situated."

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th September
19:47 GMT

Come on come on, where is she?

Maybe it was unrealistic to expect her to come here every day, but I'm on a a deadline and I'm.. getting the impression that Dox is losing patience with me. My recruitment campaign has -within our original parameters- been quite successful. My new Lanterns have been rapidly grasping the lessons I've been teaching. Lantern Yat in particular has grasped the opportunity with both superstrong hands, even if he is.. a bit younger than I really want to recruit. I wonder if he'd like to meet Kon or Kal-El? His friend Tessog was offered the opportunity to stay on, but he was rather keen on getting back home. Understandable, and his home is sufficiently far from the border of Reach space that I doubt we could persuade them to join.

Anyway, my 'mystical' technique has produced better matches than Dox's statistical technique, as confirmed by Hinon. But it has also left me responsible for a country full of blind women with no government, to say nothing of the hundreds of refugees with no medical records. I need someone who wants to heal, and who won't get bored with it after the first dozen.

I need Soranik Natu and I can't afford to soft pedal her any longer.

It's quite unlike my previous visits to Korugar City. With my rings on (under gloves) I can hear the background voices in clear English and as such I'm ignoring them as I would any English speech, rather than compulsively focusing on each borderline nonsense phrase in an attempt to make sense of it. I'm not even trying to act like a merchant or 'recruitment agent', even though -heh- this time I am planning on recruiting someone.

Ah, if the security forces can detect power ring scans that's just too bad. Ring, where is she?

Subject found.

Thank you.

I rise from my seat, nod politely at the waitress as I leave payment -the blank precious metal coins which are the standard way for visiting merchants without local accounts to pay for things- and head for the door. Okay, she's.. at a bar over there…

In for a penny…

I step out, and then back in inside an alley next to the bar before jogging back onto the main street and entering the establishment. Probably harder to detect than a transition, and without the orange glow. Civilian teleportation isn't allowed virtually anywhere in Korugar City, though as far as I know the locals don't have the technology. Ordinarily that would mean that they probably don't have teleportation detectors, but much like 'average speed zones' back home their camera network is perfectly capable of working out that I just covered more ground than should be possible. But since I'm not planning on coming back, there's no need to avoid committing crimes if their detection would require significant time.

I head towards her table as soon as I'm inside. She, Nakkoa and a man I don't recognise are drinking some sort of translucent purple drink from slightly-smaller-than-pint glasses. The man spots that I'm heading their way first, regarding me curiously as I approach. Nakkoa notices that he's seen something, turns to look at me and then smiles before elbowing her fellow doctor.

"Doctor Natu?"

"O-oh." Despite how well our last meeting went, she doesn't look all that pleased to be dealing with me. "Pawl." It was the closest I could do with written Korugari phonemes. "What brings you here? Killed anyone interesting lately?"

"No, they were quite dull. Look, I-."

"And apparently you're now fluent in my language. Or was it another translator upgrade?"

"Technically, a translator upgrade. I really need to talk to you about something. If your companions can spare you..?"

"I'm fine here." She takes a long sip from her drink.

"Okay, look, I was working up to trying to recruit you. I was going to take my time over it, see how you responded… But events have rather gotten away from me and I need to make my final offer now. Can we go somewhere-?"

"You know what? Yeah. Okay." She takes another glug and then rises from her seat. "I've had-" I transition us both to one of the pub's currently unused function rooms. "-about enough-." She blinks at the sudden change in location. "You can teleport."

"Yes. Shall we?" I gesture to a couple of nearby barstools, and after a moment's consideration she selects the furthest and sits down. "Doctor Natu, I recently overthrew the government of a nation which routinely gouged out the eyes of its female citizens upon them reaching adulthood. I desperately need someone-."

"What? Why would they-?"

"Some god or other, apparently. If I ever find them then I'll kill them too, but that isn't the immediate concern. I can give you all of the personnel and equipment you could want, but there's a country full of blind women-."

"You need an administrator, not a neurosurgeon. You'd be better off hiring Nakkoa-."

"You can hire her, if you want."

"And I still have my bond to pay off."

"Done. Anything else?"

"Why are you even offering this to me? You must have thousands of other people you could go to." She realises something. "Including doctors who are actually the same species as the patients."

"I'm an empath. There may be better doctors around, but of all of the ones I've met, you've got the closest emotional makeup to my ideal."

"What's that got to do with-?"

I palm a power ring on my left hand, lay it flat down on the bar and then slide it towards her. "Your signing on bonus." I lift my hand away-

-and she leans away from it as though it were a hissing cobra. "That's a power ring."

I pull off my gloves and allow my environmental shield to brighten slightly. "Yep. I'm an Orange Lantern. And since I don't like the-."

"What makes you think I'd want to touch that thing?"

I hold up my left hand, palm facing her. Then I generate a construct knife and sever my index and middle fingers. I let the wound bleed for a moment before recreating the fingers and disintegrating the severed ones. "There is no greater healing tool in the universe than an orange power ring wielded by someone who genuinely wants to heal people. And while I don't think you like power rings any more than most Korugari, I think that you recognise the utility of such a useful tool."

"I'd be exiled."

"Only if any other Korugari saw you with it. Sector Four Nine Five is a long way from here. No one need know."

Her eyes narrow. "How can you possibly think you know me that well after meeting me twice?"

"Because that's my job. I know things about you that you don't know."

She folds her arms across her chest. "Like what?"

"You know that you're adopted. And since you're a doctor, you almost certainly know that you're a hybrid." A shallow nod. "Do you know what species your other parent was?"

She frowns slightly, shaking her head. "No one knows that. But I guess you think you do."

"Your parents know. You're half Ungaran. And since a grand total of two Ungarans have ever been to Korugar..."

No backing up this time. She just freezes. "No."

"I imagine that they're keeping the information from you because they promised your natural mother. But it's too late; your natural father found out about you years ago. So-" I pat the ring. "-this isn't just about doing the Four Nine Five a good turn. It's also about protecting you. And everyone around you." I smile. "The pay and conditions are generous and you'll get to do far more good than you would in a Korugar City show hospital." I smile at her. "So how about it?"

And that's when she punches me.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Resolution

12th September
18:13 GMT

Dox and I walk side by side along the upper gantry over Ranx's ventral docking bay. Below us, the dock crew are busy making ready our latest aid transport to Tillettit in Sector Four Nine Five. Most of them are Urrigen natives. Their new government is strongly anti-Reach, and leapt at the chance to join Dox's mutual defence pact. While I've been rushing around trying to make sure that the women I intervened to aid actually have something to look at once their sight is restored, Dox has been working on his war plans. Involving a world the Reach already made a run on is a bit of a risk, but historically the Reach have responded to temporary setbacks by holding off and watching carefully.

"In some ways, this is a useful test of our processes."

"That wasn't why I did it, and I do appreciate-."

"Your primary function here is to train new Lanterns in your methods, so that they remain sane and focused. You have now spent several days not doing that."

"I couldn't very well leave their country in turmoil."

"You did not have to create turmoil. Once you made your initial assessment, you should have realised that intervention would do more harm than good without the application of resources we are ill-disposed to provide in a location far from Reach space."

"They're late nineteenth century at most. It shouldn't require that much to-."

"I ran the social dynamics equations. Their society may not have technically been a theocracy, but it was strongly organised around their religious practices. And now that authority has gone. Violent crime will increase by between one hundred and eighty and two hundred and twenty percent, depending on precisely how well Lantern Coutara can take charge of the situation."

"And in the long term?"

He glares at me for a fraction of a second. "There are too many unknown variables to calculate with any accuracy." He heads towards the edge of the gantry and stands ramrod straight, hands behind his back. "This is a vast investment of time and effort which is unlikely to see any return within the foreseeable future. I do not want this repeated."

I walk up beside him and lean on the railing. "While I'll avoid setting out with the intention of doing something like this, I'm afraid this sort of thing will probably just come with running a Corps of Orange Lanterns. If you ask us to do something we don't want to-."

His eyes narrow slightly. "You will all disobey."

"Part of your job is finding out how to make sure that doesn't happen. I do realise that that won't come as easily as-."

"My Lord Illustres!"

Lantern Coutara zips up to our level and comes to a halt in the air in front of me, her eye sockets still glowing orange. We have offered her replacement eyes, either cloned or cybernetic, but she's turned it down. Made some comment about not being able to get used to them after so long. Which could be a genuine medical thing; I seem to remember that phantom limb syndrome is a result of the brain repurposing bits of itself when areas of input vanish. Her brain would relearn to see eventually, but the ring can show her the world around her immediately.

"Lantern Coutara, I'm not a 'lord'."

She pauses for a moment, then nods. "As.. you say, Illustres. We are ready to depart. It.. seems that my desires relating to my homeland-" Her environmental shield flares as she says it. "-are still sufficiently strong that I am the best choice for creating the required spatial warp."

"Hardly surprising. Are you adjusting alright?"

"That…" She half turns in the air, looking down to where Lantern Taranna is laughing as one of Ratchet's people decides that she's looking down and therefore needs a hug. "Doesn't matter. My daughter is, and that does."

"Have you..? Had a chance to look at the briefing material.. on-?"

"The Reach?" She turns back towards me and nods. "Yes."

"Please understand that our offer of help to your people is not conditional on-."

"No, I understand." She nods decisively. "And once my country is stabilised in a way that is not evil, I will return here to aid you." She smiles demurely. "My daughter is quite taken with the Princesses."

"I thought that they might serve as positive role models." I lean slightly to my left. "And she also appears to be quite taken with-."

Coutara's face sobers. "I will be chastising them both for behaving so in public momentarily."

"Alright, well, dismissed. The sooner you get home, the sooner things start getting fixed."

She performs her people's version of a salute, both hands rising to obscure her eye sockets. Then she flips in the air and flies back towards Lantern Taranna, whose cybernetic eyes widen as she tries to persuade her new friend to let her go in a hurry.

"And then there's that."

I wince. "I.. am her line manager. She does.. strictly speaking.. report to me."

"The entire Corps believes that I am your secretary. That is not what I agreed to."

"Alright. What would you like me to do about it?"

"Go home."

…

"Igd-? What?"

"You have explained your methodology. Lanterns Koriand'r and Komand'r are both perfectly capable practical instructors. Your interstellar teleportation ability means that in the event of an incident you can return here within a minuscule span of time. And I imagine that you will find things on Earth which will keep you occupied without causing me any further difficulty."

"Um. Yes..? What about the missing rings?"

"Controller Vosk Vit Vorlanni believes that he can remotely drain them using the Central Power Battery, or at the very least prevent their use. Construct-rings are apparently different enough from true rings that he can do so without affecting our operations at all."

"And the Ophidian? I was going to supervise putting her in the-?"

"I've already spoken to Hinon; she's ready at the Central Power Battery now." Dox has stopped looking at me. "I will call you when your return is required."

I stand up straight, come to attention and salute, letting my environmental shield flare just a little so that some of the people below will look this way and see me deferring to Dox's authority. "Sir. I will depart shortly."

"Good."

No salute back… Though to be fair, Coluans don't have an equivalent gesture.

Right then. I.. guess I'm going back to Earth.

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th September
18:19 GMT

I hold my personal lantern up to my face, staring into the scintillating orange flickers within. This time last year I was dealing with the fallout from my 'contest' with Artemis. Now look at me. Here I am, on the grandest planet in the universe-.

"Having trouble letting go?"

I exhale, then lower my lantern to look at Hinon. "No. Just thinking."

"Is it likely to take long? I realise that Clarissi Dox is supposed to be the brains of the outfit, but I do like to think that the number two man can spark a couple of neurons now and again."

I huff, then step forward to plug my personal lantern into the indicated attachment point. "I just think there should be more ceremony to something like this. We're transferring the Embodiment of Avarice into our Central Power Battery. There should be a parade… Line of Lanterns hailing her…"

"You can have a parade once the Reach is destroyed. How about that?" She waves her hands at the Central Power Battery. "Control systems good, structure sound…"

"That would be a parade of celebration. Being a Lantern-."

"If it makes you feel any better, we didn't have one when we bottled Ion either." She turns away from the Central Power Battery and looks up at me expectantly. "Mm?"

I raise my left hand to my mouth. "Illustres to all Orange Lanterns and Controllers. The Ophidian is about to enter the Orange Central Power Battery. You shouldn't notice any ill effects, but if you do, report them immediately."

Ophidian.

Yes, my Agent?

It's time. The Corps is ready. Not as big or as strong as it will become, but they're ready for you. The Central Power Battery is ready to receive you, and we made sure that you will be able to access our full data stores from inside.

Thank you, my Agent. I will delight in being able to feel every desire my Corps experiences!

And I'm glad you will, but Dox is getting a bit shirty about people calling it anyone's Corps but his, so…

I will be mindful of his fragile ego. At least, I will be once I experience it from his perspective.

"Alright then, I think we're about-."

"Wait!" Hinon and I look around as Kalmin flies into the Central Power Battery Chamber, landing just behind us and holding out some sort of monitoring device. "And begin."

"Well, so long as it's convenient for you…"

He nods distractedly. "It is. Begin."

Ophidian.

I press the interlink button.

Now.

There's a momentary flare in my lantern, then in the connection attachment and then the lights being emitted by the Central Power Battery itself oscillate for a moment before settling down to a new, brighter and faster-pulsing level.

I wait for a moment. "That it?"

"Yes." / "Yes."

I flip the switch again, then lift my slightly duller lantern out of the slot. "Any problems?"

"No, of course not." / "Not yet."

I sigh inwardly as I return my personal lantern to subspace. "Let me know if anything changes. Kalmin, is the item I asked for ready?"

He nods, and holds out a decorative box near-identical to the one which Alan used to keep his personal lantern in. "I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to find a sufficiently strong source of hope to make the connection. Fortunately, those people you gave refuge to have no idea that you brought them here merely so I could study them."

I smile indulgently at him. "I knew that you'd need subjects…"

He holds the box out to me, grinning. "I've murdered a few religions in my time, but I've never had the devotees thank me for it! I knew that you were worth my attention!"

I take the box, my smile probably slightly more strained. "I had.. enthusiastic help."

"It's a curious approach, motivating people like that." He nods. "I never bothered while I laboured for the Anti-Monitor. But I think I like it."

"I'm.. glad it meets with your approval-."

"What have you got there?"

"A present for Alan. Kalmin, will it survive me teleporting? I wouldn't want to ruin your work."

"On its own, I would not recommend it. Not without a Central Power Battery providing additional stability. But I added protective systems to the box; it will endure."

Hinon raises her hands, and a sphere of orange light surrounds us. "What have you lunatics done?"

"Our Illustres taught me of the fearsome power of hope. I spent some time in repose and study, and then I built-."

Hinon regards the box with polite horror. "A blue personal lantern. Archor preserve me, you actually…" She shudders, and drops the orange sphere. "Go!"

"Hinon, what-?"

"Go!" She makes a fanning motion with her hands. "Shoo! Shoo! Before you… Do anything else!"

"Ah… Alright? See you when I see you." I raise my left index and middle finger to my forehead, Goku style, and then step out.

Alright, where's Alan? His desires were always a bit harder to see than most people's. All that green light, and the fact that they weren't a big part of his character.

Huh. That's… Odd. Can't… No, no, no… Ah. Can't feel him at all. Oh well, not as if I'm an expert at this yet. It's midday in New England, so no appearing right next to my friends… Probably shouldn't jump a League member, not when the last thing I did before leaving was kill one of them. Then where..?

I step back into the universe inside a robotic laboratory.

12th September
19:19 GMT +1

Immediately, about thirty turrets pop out of the ceiling, walls and floor and aim at me and Thaddeus Sivana Junior's head appears from underneath some sort of flying vehicle. He takes one look at me and then turns his head in the direction of the doorway.

"DAAAAAD! THE TELEPORT JAMMER'S NOT WORKING!"

"You're perfectly capable of fixing it yourself, Junior!"

"BUT IT'S YOUR DESIGN!"

"I have every confidence that you can improve on it, my boy! Who was the intruder?!"

"THE ORANGE LANTERN!"

"Oh, that's a pity! I didn't think he was too bad! Still, if you can scrape up-!"

"HE'S NOT DEAD, DAD!"

That seems to give Sivana Senior pause. "The teleport jammer and the turrets? Oh dear me. Perhaps I should take a look at them."

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th September
19:32 GMT +1

"Keeping yourselves busy, then?"

Thaddeus Junior has gone back to his air car, but Georgia appears far more happy to see me-.

Ring, nothing's gone missing from my subspace pocket this time, right?

Subspace security remains in place. No objects detected as missing.

"Oh, yes. In addition to all the work with creating working versions of the Sheeda technology which Father studied while in the future, I've been trying to model probable modifications we could make to Human society in order to better resist their next Harrowing. You see, we received an offer from-."

"SOFT SUBJECT!"

Georgia turns her nose up. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

"Ah, I'm afraid that the only social scientist I know who might be able to help-."

She gives me a sharp look. "I don't need help."

"Alright, not.. 'help', but someone who could understand your work at your level and perhaps make pertinent observations. Thaddeus Junior has made his opinion known and I doubt that it's really your father's field."

Georgia considers for a moment, then nods. "No, it isn't. He tries to show an interest, but… You know him. Who did you have in mind?"

"My immediate superior in the Orange Lantern Corps is a genius by the name of Vril Dox the Second. I know that he's been studying social heuristic programming. If you've got a quantum entanglement communicator, or something else that can-"

She nods. "Yes."

"-commun-. Ah, okay. If you give it to me then I'll drop it off on his desk next time I go back."

She frowns. "It's a little big for that. But I can improve it. Give me… Two days."

"Okay. And there's a man in the Greek finance ministry, Professor Demetrios Prokopios. He's not a general genius, but-."

"Ooh, I've read his work!" She grins excitedly. "His secretary keeps screening me! And I could never persuade Thaddeus that we should kidnap him."

"Ah. Well, yes, don't kidnap him. I can either set up a meeting or arrange a phone call, whichever you would prefer."

"Probably a phone call. But I'd be grateful if you could get him to autograph a photograph for me." She.. blushes slightly. "After I read his dissertation of catastrophe theory I… Developed a slight attachment, and-."

"I will certainly ask. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to America."

"I would offer you our teleportation system, but if you've got your own…" She frowns, then pulls a not-tricorder out from her lab coat and points it at me. "Then where is it?"

"I'm afraid that it's an innate ability, but you're welcome to scan me when I use it."

She puts her hands on her hips. "As if you could stop me."

"Ready?" In lieu of a verbal answer she raises her scanner and presses a few buttons. Alright then, armour, invisibility, and step out. Now, aim for Alan's neighbour Mister Davis and step in.

12th September
13:35 GMT -5

I appear in Inwood Hill Park, with Mister Davis walking his dog a short distance to my right. Still invisible? Looks like. Good. I drop to the ground, walk over to a large tree and then walk around it as I send my armour back into subspace. That way, anyone who wonders why they didn't see me will just assume that I was behind the tree last time they looked this way. Then-. I stop for a moment as I look over to Alan's house. It feels a bit… Home-y. I mean, I have quarters on Ranx, but even after I decorated them, they didn't really…

I shrug, and start jogging down the path towards the road.

Ring, dial Alan.

Compliance.

I hear it ringing as I check both ways and then cross the road, pulling my key out of subspace as I go. The gate to his drive is opening before I'm even on the pavement, and I jog up his drive to his front door and insert my key.

"Alan? Are you in?"

I can hear his phone ringing-. Ring, end call.

Compliance.

The ringing stops.

I push the door open and step inside. I hope he wasn't taking a nap or something. "Alan?!"

I frown slightly as I walk through his house towards the kitchen. Not here, not in the garden… There's a small layer of dust on the windowsill. It evaporates as I see it, but it shouldn't have been there in the first place. Unlike pre-ring me, Alan's always very particular about his housekeeping. It's unusual for him not to be home at this time of day, but-.

…

I transition back to Mister Davis. "Excuse me Mister Davis, do you know-?"

He starts as he sees me. "Oh, hey Paul. How's Alan doin'?"

"I-I don't know. I've been away. Where is he, what happened?"

"Oh, ah… I'm not sure exactly. He.. kinda collapsed about two weeks ago? Ambulance took him to the hospital. I'm not on the contact list, so I don't really know-."

"Thank you." Blow secrecy. I transition directly to the foyer of the Allen Hospital, accelerating my perception as I dodge around a man pushing a boy in a wheelchair and run up to the front desk and why am I bothering? I turn my empathic vision up and look around there! Green! I transition again, coming to a halt outside his room before shoving the door open-.

Alan's lying on the bed, asleep and looking like death warmed up. But not actually dead. Okay, immediate panic over. Get-get-get his ring.

I transition back to his house, appearing in his office with my right hand outstretched as I focus my will. Nothing, okay, that was a long shot. I tear open the safe and grab the small box withinyes. Not glowing much, but I didn't expect there to be much power left at this point. Transition back to the hospital.

"Ugh?"

Alan blinks blearily as I reappear, grabbing his right hand and shoving his ring-.

His hand's cold.

"Oh. Paul." He smiles weakly. "You're back."

"Yes. I am."

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th September
13:36 GMT -5

He weakly shakes his head and blinks, then pushes himself upright. "I was… Ugh." His arms shake and I don't know whether to offer to help or not. Reaching what he appears to think is an acceptable verticality, he leans back against the headboard. "I was a little worried that I wouldn't.. last… Long enough. So?" He smiles weakly. "How'd it go?"

His ring isn't… Doing anything. Out of power completely, I assume. But since I'm here, that's not really critical any longer. "Fairly well. The Orange Central Power Battery was recovered and transferred to Maltus. Controller Hinon improved it to the point that future Orange Lanterns shouldn't have quite the same problems with the…" I wave my right hand at the side of my head. "Mental effects. I've recruited a few good people, and our Clarissi is organising the whole thing into a military force that will -with a little time and a little luck- be able to hold off the expansion of the Reach."

Alan's head tilts back, his eyes closing. "I'm very glad to hear it."

"We haven't finished building our infrastructure yet, so… Sorry, but building a statue of you had to get put on the back burner."

His smile widens slightly as he returns his full attention to me. "Heh. I don't… I don't need a statue. Just knowing it all worked out for you is plenty." He momentarily raises his right hand. "Sorry. I did follow your advice, but there isn't a drop of power left in it."

"Yes, I see. Um, Alan? I-."

"You meet any nice girls in space?"

"Ah… Yes? Actually, I think I recruited slightly more females than males. Or.. 'other's."

"No. I mean, good, but what I meant was-."

"No, I didn't meet anyone I was more interested in than Jade. And I'm not really a casual.. hook-ups kind of guy."

"J.. ade…" He frowns. "That was the… Asian girl?" His eyebrows rise slightly. "The assassin?"

"Former… Um. Person who was involved in an organisation that did occasionally-."

"I'm not a lawyer, Paul. I'm just.. a little concerned. Getting involved with a supervillain didn't work out too well for me."

"I'm happy to.. bring her round. You can get to know her, and if you still think it's a bad idea… We can talk about it."

Alan's eyes drop for a moment. "I.. doubt that I've got the time I'd need to-."

"I got you a present." I put Kalmin's box on the bedside-. I put Kalmin's box on the bed next to him so that he can reach it without stretching.

"Heh. Hope it's not a long book."

"It isn't a long book."

"Okay." He picks it up, and with visible effort puts it on his lap. "Let's take a look at-" He opens the long side. "-this…" His eyes widen slightly as he looks at what is probably Universe 16's first blue personal lantern. "W-what is this?"

"The Guardians have you on the 'Do Not Recruit' list, no one else can make green personal lanterns without their permission and the only other place I know of with unused green personal lanterns is Apokolips. So that was out. But after I consulted with a few experts, we concluded that you would probably-."

"You-? You got me a blue lantern?"

"I had it made for you, yes. Did you really think I'd tolerate you dying, Alan? I saw a problem, and I worked to fix it."

"I-." His eyes move uncertainly from me to the lantern and then back again. "How does it… Work..?"

"You said I made you feel hope. So I got you a personal lantern that runs on the stuff."

"Paul, I'm…" He shakes his head. "Not getting out of this bed. I-."

"Yes you are. You remember when you tried to separate me from the Ophidian and I told you-."

"You said I was becoming.. living green light. That was why you couldn't heal me after I had that fall…"

"Fortunately, blue light isn't quite as antithetical to green light as orange light is. Literally all you have to do to be well again is point your ring at that lantern and… Hope."

"And… Then what? I…"

"Whatever you want. I can't spend all my time healing people because I can only get properly invested in a certain number of lives. A blue ring doesn't have that restriction. Or… You'll be physically fit enough to become a full time superhero again… If you want."

"I… I don't know what to say…"

"I think it went: 'I will spread my light over dark evil, for dark things-'."

"Did I ever tell you that I only ended up with that because I made a mistake with what I was meant to be saying, and I didn't know how to wipe it and start over?"

I blink. "No. What was it supposed to be?"

"The first part was supposed to be: 'I will spread my light over all things dark and evil', but I got… I don't know, distracted or something as I was saying it. I had to spend sixty years saying something that made no sense with a straight face."

My face creases up as I snort with laughter. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. It didn't come with a user manual. What was I supposed to do?"

"I-. I don't know… But right now you need to come up with a new one. I mean, you'll be fine after you use it, but at the moment you're still dying."

"Oh, I ain't dead yet, son."

The lantern flares, and I stand back as the blue light pours into Alan.

"Oh, not again."

"Connection established. Please stand by."

"Ah?" Alan raises his ring slightly and a pure blue beam connects it to the glowing core of his lantern. "Is it supposed to feel..?"

"Hopeful?"

"Ye-ah."

"Restoring AI support structures. Updating database. Installing AI assistant. Copying communication protocols."

The undulating blue energy gives off a strangely musical noise as Kalmin's update system goes to work.

"Establishing user interlink."

For a second Alan's eyes flare blue, and his skin…

"Restoring innate empathic spectrum energy."

His skin starts to swell as muscle and fat are added beneath it. YES!

"Final checks in progress. Stand by."

One last surge of blue light and the lantern dims back down to normal resting levels. Alan's lantern-shaped ring is now glowing bright blue, and the man himself looks much as he did when I first met him.

"Welcome back, Alan."

"Thank you." He takes a moment to check his rejuvenated arms, then gingerly raises his hands to his face to check for wrinkles. He then exhales as he lowers them. "It's good to be back."

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th September
14:12 GMT -5

I fly backwards across New York harbour with my arms folded across my chest as Alan tries to relearn flying with his upgraded ring. "Are you managing okay back there?"

Alan grimaces, then wobbles in the air for a moment before chuckling at his error and stabilizing. "It's taking a bit of getting used to."

"Get used to it quick. Lantern Stewart needs a new sparring partner."

"Oh, great." He accelerates, coming alongside me and forcing me to turn in order to keep facing him. "Boot camp. You know that I'm ninety, right?"

"You're ninety four, but that's okay. Age-related memory loss is now a thing of the past."

"Who did you rope into making this, anyway? I'll have to thank them." Another slight wobble, but he comes back under control immediately. "Maybe wait until I've gotten a better grip on how to use it, though."

"His name is Kalmin, and I'm sure he'd love the chance to watch you use it. He was actually quite interested in how you function as well."

"Is he..? One of those Controller people?"

"No, a Qwardian. And before you say anything, he's going to do less damage on Maltus than he would on Qward."

Alan smiles in bemusement as he shakes his head. "Paul, I've got no idea what a Qwardian is."

Oh, right. Of course he wouldn't. "Then this is an excellent chance for you to learn to access your ring's database."

"Ah, I suppose it is. Okay then, ring." He holds his right fist just in front of his face in a way which I've really got to train him out of. "Why don't you tell me all about the 'Qwardians'?"

"Certainly, Alan. Data burst in two, one-"

"Ah, pardon me?"

"Zero."

A beam of brilliant blue blasts from his ring to his forehead, a shockwave of blue energy radiating away from his head! Alan stops accelerating, going limp in the air.

"Data burst complete. Have a nice day."

I stop too. What did Kalmin-?

"W-? Wh-?" He blinks, then raises his left hand to rub his forehead. "Someone get the number of that bus?"

"Are you alright?"

"Ahh. I think s-. Wait, that's who the Qwardians are?"

"As I said, less damage-."

"On Maltus than on Qward." He nods. "How do I know all of this?"

"Power rings can transfer data into the wearer's mind. Now that…"

He nods. "Mine's been repaired, so it can do that as well. That is going to take some getting used to." He frowns to himself. "Why do I know what their poetry sounds like?"

"Data burst in two, one-."

"No, you knock that off right now."

"Certainly, Alan."

"Mine just gives me information closely related to the topic. I think Kalmin decided that larger amounts of information made more sense. You might have to… Fiddle with the setting a little. Um. Until you get to a level you're comfortable with."

"I'm not complaining. Just… Take a little getting used to." He straightens up, looking around the harbour. "Were we headed anywhere in particular, or just doing a tour?"

"I was planning to see Diana at some point today. I'm not… I'm obviously not happy with how we left things, but there's no massive rush…"

"No, no. I'm not doing anything I really need you watching me for." He turns, looking back towards the city. "In fact… Why don't we go there together? I should probably let her know that I'm not at death's door any more."

"You should probably tell Jay, too."

Alan spreads his arms. "If you can find a pay phone before we hit the embassy." I hold my right hand next to my head and make an eighties mobile phone construct. "Oh. How do I do that?"

"Data burst in two-."

"You, stop that."

"Certainly, Alan."

I dismiss my own construct. "You just.. sort of hope that a phone will appear. You don't need to picture it perfectly, just hold out your hand..."

Alan holds out his hand, his eyes unfocusing a little as… Hah! As a circular dial-faced telephone construct appears with the handset on a cradle on the top. It also has a handle on each side. Odd.

"Ah…"

"I don't think those work without wires. But maybe if you hope really hard..?"

"At least you didn't make a crack about my age."

"You… Sort of made that for me."

Alan reorientates himself in the direction of the Themysciran embassy, then accelerates towards the land while a filament of blue light works the phone's construct-dial. I fly along after him. The last I heard from Wallace was that Jay had fully recovered from his possession, and if Alan didn't say anything then I'm going to assume that there's no update on that.

"It's ringing."

"Ah, the audacity of hope."

Alan lifts the handset to his ear, managing to metaphorically walk and chew gum in a way Jordan still struggles with. "You got any plans for the rest of the day?"

"I was planning to visit Jade... I'm not trying to blow you or.. Diana off or anything, but I… Was in space for two months." Huh. Felt like longer. "I want to… Um. Reregister my interest."

"Oh, it's not a problem. I've got plenty of time n-. Oh, hey Jay. Yeah, I'm out of the hospital. No, no, they were right, but a new lantern fixed me up good as new."

Right. Diana. I'm not angry with her any more, though I am going to be looking for some indication that she wouldn't repeat… That whole thing if it happened again. Wouldn't behave in the same way if someone else got grabbed. People worked hard to split me and the Ophidian up and… The 'me' part of 'us' had far more agency-.

"No, I'd never ask them for something like that. Paul's back. No, we're going to go see her right now."

Totally not still angry about it.

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th September
14:22 GMT -5

People back away as Alan and I land on the street outside the embassy, though I think it's more out of respect than fear. Cameras rise and I hear 'cake dude' in at least three different voices as I head for the open gates. At this time of day they're wide open, in what I've always thought was a fairly optimistic way. I wonder how many Amazons have been taking advantage of their ability to come here? I mean, I'm assuming that Diana's arranged some sort of culture shock classes by now…

"Think I should be worried about the whole… Mask thing..?"

"My opinion is that tiny-"

He nods like someone who's heard a point reiterated entirely too often. "Tiny masks are pointless."

"-masks are… Yes, pointless. They are. And.. if you do become active again, people are going to spot that you look a lot like 'that Green Lantern from the thirties'."

"And forties and early fifties."

"Right." I press the buzzer. "Now, I'm happy to redesign your costume as fully enclosed armour that might actually preserve your anonymity, but… Do you really want to look like that?"

Alan considers for a moment. "No… I don't think I do. And.. I… Suppose that at my age a lot of the other reasons for having a secret identity don't really apply. I don't have a civilian job, and… Most of my friends are super heroes."

Alan does have family. His brothers both married, and most of their children are alive -if retired- today. I got introduced to one of his nieces once, and she definitely knew what Uncle Alan used to do in his spare time. But none of them live in New York. And… Well…

"And… I think everyone who might take a pop at your family already knows your secret identity. It was on the Justice League database…"

Alan looks down for a moment. "Mm."

"Who is it?"

Much as I enjoy trying to work out what Ms Candy is trying to say to me, things will go a bit quicker with Alana being on duty. "Alana, good afternoon. Is-?"

"Paul?"

"The.. very same. I sort of assumed that the orange glow and mutters of 'cake' that follow in my wake were a giveaway, but-."

There's a faint 'clunk' from the door as the lock releases.

"Come in, I'll.. see if Her Highness is available."

I smile towards the security camera, push the door and walk through, turning around on the far side to hold it open for Alan. He smiles bemusedly. "I can probably manage doors myself."

"You're welcome."

"Hello." A voice I recognise comes from a room adjacent to the reception area. "If you're here for the language class, it will be-" Mala walks through the doorway with a small pile of files in her hands. "-starting at-" She sees us. "-goddess!"

I stare at her for a moment, then pat my upper chest with both hands. "Not unless they've really relaxed the requirements."

Alan smiles. "Mala. I didn't know Diana had you working here."

"Save for the princess, I am the best English-speaker Themyscira has to offer." She lays her folders down on the front desk before approaching us. "Alan, I was told that you were dying. How..?"

He raises his right hand, ring glowing calmly. "Not any more. Right now, I'm feeling better than I have in-" Mala walks past me to embrace him. "-years."

There's a sound of footsteps as Alana comes down the stairs. "Paul, Her Highness is oh my God-!"

"For sufficiently low standards of god, yes. I-."

"Alan?"

"I'll just show myself up, shall I?"

"Ah-?" She drags her attention away from Alan for a moment. "Yes-. Yes, of course. How-?"

I transition myself up to the corridor just outside Diana's office, then step up to the door and knock.

"Paul, you can just come in."

I open the door.

Diana's in her preferred casual chiton-. No, she isn't. What she's wearing now has a good deal of ornamental embroidery that the one she actually likes doesn't have. And.. she's wearing her tiara. There have been a few additions since I was last here, and my eyes linger for a moment on the photograph of myself and Kon. I frown as I head towards her desk. "You having guests in?"

That appears to wrong-foot her slightly. "Yes, quite a few people have shown an interest in learning of Themysciran history and culture. It means that I am obliged to dress more like a princess."

"Could always just wear the bustier." I sit down opposite her. "I doubt that you'd get any complaints. Oh." I hold out my right hand to the side and take a sword and scabbard out of subspace. "I got this for you."

She reaches carefully across the desk between us. "Thank you. What is it?"

"A qwa-sword. Bit larger than standard to account for your strength. If an opponent can be killed with a mortal weapon, that will do it." I lean forward slightly and open my right palm in her direction in a warding gesture. "But really don't touch the blade to anything you don't want to kill."

She pulls it an inch out of the scabbard, notes the glow of the blade and then returns it to the scabbard and lays it down in front of her. "Was your.. time away from Earth successful?"

"You're looking at the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps, so yes." I lean back and smile ruefully. "All thirty three of them. And I didn't run into any problems I couldn't blast my way through."

Diana nods. "Lantern Gardner told us about your attack on Qward."

"Oh, that-" I point to the qwa-sword. "-wasn't a prize of war or anything. It was custom-made."

"Paul." Diana sighs. "I need to talk to you about Alan."

"Yeah, I… Just came from the hospital. That and a stop off to check up on the Sivanas is why I wasn't here an hour ago."

"Then… You know that he-."

"That he's fine, yeah. I really.. sort of wanted to talk to you about where I stand in relation to the League."

She looks at me sadly. "Paul, Alan is dying."

I roll my eyes. "Diana, it took me eight months to work out how to kill a Lord of Order. I had longer than that to work out how to keep Alan alive. Did you really think that I'd tolerate him dying? He's downstairs being stared at by Alana and Mala. He's fin-"

There's a roar of displaced air as Diana goes from a sitting start to maximum flight speed in less than a second, narrowly missing smashing through her desk and actually smashing through her office door in her hurry to get downstairs.

"-e?"

And quietly I hear:

"Ambient hope detected. Charging. Charge: ninety eight percent."

I lean back.

"I'll just… Sit here on my own, then."

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th September
14:24 GMT -5

"…staying with me for the time being."

I'm getting more than a few stares as I walk along the streets of Opal City, construct phone gleaming in my right hand. But no one's actually screaming or fleeing. I'm an oddity, but not cause for alarm.

I look down at my suit for a moment. I'd gotten so used to grey that the yellow-orange check pattern is making me feel strangely vulnerable. Heck, maybe that's why I'm getting stared at. People aren't used to seeing me out of my armour.

"I must admit, I'm surprised that you've been so effective." Diana being pleased with me is a novel experience, but a far from unpleasant one. "Whenever I fought her, I found her to be remarkably single-minded."

"She's not some criminal chancer you could talk into rethinking their life. You being alive threatened her core interests. The only way to change her would be to change that dynamic. So that's what I did."

"I did try-."

"Diana, listen. You threaten her core interests by existing. She would interpret anything you say as a ploy, no matter how sagacious. Because that's what she'd do. Only someone who didn't threaten her in that way could make a successful approach."

"And where did this insight into supervillain psychology come from, Grayven?"

I can hear her amusement. "Are you joking? Compared to Apokolips, this is a child's playground squabble. I can't imagine DeSaad becoming so accommodating just because I resurrected his pet Cat, and they're actually a pretty similar age."

"DeSaad had a Cat?"

"Sort of. Not an actual.. Earth-Cat. Kind of a… Purple Wallaby-Sabre-Tooth?" Objective in sight. Knights Past, place of work of antiquer, author and firmly retired superhero Jack Knight. It got rebuilt about three times when he was active, the first time on the day his brother was killed. After what Mister Swift did to the last demolisher, no one's tried since. I slow my pace. "Listen, I-."

"Kon was asking about whether you'd want to rejoin the team." Oohh. That I was.. not expecting. "I said that I'd talk to you about it, if I heard from you before they did."

"Yeah, sorry… You're right. I should have done more than just leave them a message."

"And?"

I stop in the street, my mouth twisting slightly. "Did you ever talk to Guy about why he stopped being a prisoner counsellor?"

"Lantern.. Gardner and I aren't.. particularly close. I think… Hal said something about the two of them being caught up in a prison riot. I could understand-."

"No, it wasn't that. Oh, there was a riot, and Guy laid out three guys when they came after him. Three big guys. Everyone else backed the hell off. Thing is… He liked helping them, even the ones who only saw him so they'd get paroled a little earlier. But hitting them, fighting them? That felt right to him. He told me during one of our anger management sessions that he was this close to just laying into the rest. He left because he couldn't take the risk of becoming that man."

"I.. see."

"I mean, at least Snart Senior was consistent. He didn't play favourites. So… Yeah… If you really need me? Call me. But I don't.. think regularly fighting people I'd be perfectly happy killing… While surrounded by impressionable teenagers… Is.. really a good idea." I shrug. "I'll tell Kon and Mitchell myself, naturally."

"As you wish."

"Anyway, the reason I phoned you is that I need a reference."

"What sort of reference?"

"The best way to keep Lex on the straight and narrow is to give him things to do. So I started looking around for underutilised technology that could benefit humanity, and I came across the Cosmic Rod."

"I remember you mentioning it during your appearance before the Defense Subcommittee. Do you think the Earth needs another weapon?"

"No. I think it needs a new way of generating electricity."

"I knew Theodore Knight, and I don't remember him using it for that."

"How long do you think it will take Lex Luthor to fix that wrinkle when he realises that it will give him exclusive control of the cheapest method for generating electricity on Earth?"

And then I actually get to hear Wonder Woman splutter. I have Found My Cow.

"I tried to do this months ago, but Jack Knight knew I'd had a falling out with the League and hung up on me. I was hoping..?"

"But why do you want to give it to Lex Luthor?"

"Because he needs something to do, just like Circe needs security. Because I can't watch him every moment of every day, and if I don't give him something to do he'll… Tear up the veranda with his teeth, metaphorically speaking. Plus, if we were able to adapt it, it would slash electricity bills everywhere we could put it into operation. To say nothing of slashing corruption and conflict in places selling oil."

"By undermining their main product."

"Plenty of places have perfectly functional economies without selling oil." I look both ways and then cross the road. "Well?"

"I will tell him that you were working for Batman during your time with the Light. Anything else is between the two of you."

"Fair enough." I push the door open and… Whaw, this is some bric-a-brac. Just looks like random detritus to me, but I seem to remember Jack and his writer knowing their stuff. Should probably pick up a souvenir… "Just a moment." I put her on mute. "Ahoy the shop!"

"Just a moment, buddy." I hear a rumble of metal rubbing against metal from the stockroom. "You here for something in particular, or just browsing?"

I actually don't think I'll fit between these shelves. "Yes, but I'd like to purchase a souvenir as well."

"Okay, well, I can-." I see the shadowy outline of Jack Knight as he gets a look at me. "Grayve-? I told you I-. What are you wearing?"

"I thought you liked old stuff." I unmute the phone and send it his way. "Phone for you."

He takes the phone as he steps out of the shadows. This Jack Knight is a lot older than the one I remember from the Starman comics. He's carrying more weight and more facial hair and there's more grey streaks in the untidy mess of hair on top of his head. But it's still recognisably him. "Who is-?" He blinks, standing a little straighter. "Ah, yeah, sure… I think we.- Right." His face creases up. "Batman? No, no, I can see it. Yeah, heh, yeah, he does. Okay, ah, yeah. Good to hear from you."

He hangs up, and I let the construct evaporate. "Huh." He looks up at me. "So, you want a look at Dad's journals and stuff?"

"It would be a start. I wouldn't mind… Actually getting a look at a gravity rod or a cosmic rod..?"

"Heh hah." He shakes his head. "It's funny, you asking about that. When I first started out as Starman, I made Dad promise he was going to work on that sort of thing."

I raise my eyebrows. "If he made any progress..?"

Jack Knight shrugs. "Handed it all over to a high tech development company before he died. If they ever made anything out of it they never told me about it."

I nod. A bit surprising, but I'm glad that I'm not the only one doing this. "If you could give me their contact details? I have.. resources not available to most people. Perhaps I can assist them."

He shrugs again. "Sure, I don't have any problem with that. I always wanted Dad's scientific work to have a bigger impact. But I'm kind of surprised that you're not asking about his starship."

…

I blink.

"Starship?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th September
14:26 GMT -5

And she left the sword. A supervillain could make a decent career for themselves with a weapon like that. I stand, then lean across the desk slightly to take hold of it. Press down and activate the scabbard-lock, and… She has a safe in here, but it's too small for this sword. I settle for taking a nondeterministic transponder out of subspace and attaching it to the pommel.

I mean, she's had seventy years of seeing Alan walk around. I've been gone for two months after we had a fairly major falling out. Did she not think-? No, no, she honestly thought he was going to die. For some reason. I mean, you'd think after killing Nabu -and Klarion- they'd have stopped underestimating me like that.

Ugh. I leave the sword on her desk and then follow Diana through the door at a more sedate pace than the one she used. At the top of the landing I pause, half-turn towards the splintered remains of her office door and apply a little orange light to restore it to its pre-smashing state. Then I stroll down the stairs with my hands in my pockets.

"…as a fiddle, Diana."

Looks like I missed seeing the Crown Princess of Themyscira tackle-hug Alan, but she still can't quite bear to take her hands off him. Her right hand is on his left shoulder while her left is on the right side of his waist.

"It's… Such a change…"

"I did say."

Diana turns towards me, her left hand coming free while her right hand stays exactly where it is. "I apologize for doubting you."

"Not a problem. Just try not to do it again."

"That may be difficult."

"Princess?" Mala looks… A little smug, actually. Wonder what that's about? "Should I reschedule the language class? If you would like some time with Alan and your student?"

Diana's eyes dip for a moment as she considers. "Paul, are you on Earth for long?"

"For the foreseeable future."

Alan smiles as Diana nods. "And Alan's change of health. Is it-?"

"Permanent, as long as he retains the capacity for hope and keeps his ring charged. His lifespan is indefinite, the same as mine and yours. Alan?"

"Yeah?"

"Try not to get shot in the head."

Alan chuckles. "I can't say I was planning to anyway, but sure."

"Then, no, Mala. I will still be able to attend. But if you-" Diana looks briefly at Alana to include her in the order. "-could give us some time now?" They nod deferentially, then Mala leads the way out of the room. Diana returns her attention to me. "And do you have any particular plans?"

"See Jade? Check out the place for good Orange Lantern recruits?" I sigh quietly. "Normalise my relationship with League members, but… I don't want to…" I stop. "We don't have to do that now…"

Diana sighs as well, then removes her remaining hand from Alan. "The League… Discussed the subject at some length."

I nod. "After Batman sent you all to your corners, Guy said."

"No, after that." She takes a breath. "We.. came to the decision that… We were too accommodating to Nabu. Certainly, we should have been looking for alternative hosts."

"At least." Alan starts to open his mouth, but closes it when Diana glances back at him. "And?"

"There wasn't any consensus on what to do about you. Some.. League members felt that having exhausted all reasonable measures, attempting to arrest Nabu was… If not sensible, at least reasonable."

"Do you intend to tell me who, or should I find out from them?"

"If… If you intend to keep working with the Justice League-."

"Heh." I smile. "Oh, I wasn't expecting my invitation to join to still be open or anything."

Diana takes another deep breath, then lets it out. "No. It isn't." I shrug. "Hawkman spoke in favor, and Major Atom and Red Arrow agreed with him. They believe that once you identified Nabu as an enemy, searching for ways to kill him and using them when he lashed out was a reasonable course of action."

"I guess I know who's getting Christmas cards from me this year, then." Alan winces. "And everyone else?"

"Several… Hadn't taken the time to read all of the briefing documents Batman prepared concerning Doctor Fate."

"They didn't read-? No… Okay, that's fair enough. They're busy people. Do you mean 'Doctor Fate' as in Nabu, or 'Doctor Fate' as in Mister Zatara."

"Nabu and his hosts."

I nod. "And what's the consensus there?"

"Once.. you made your particular interpretation of the facts clear, they… Were displeased with the way we had managed the situation. Though they by and large don't support your particular response, none of them feel that your actions warrant further sanction."

"Fair enough. Tell me who they are and I'll make a point to ask them how they would have handled it better."

"Plastic Man didn't even know that Zatara had been possessed. He-."

"Wait, what? How did he meet Justice League requirements for basic compet-?"

"Paul."

I close my eyes, tilt my head downwards slightly and raise my right hand with my palm towards her, breathing out audibly.

"Atom wasn't aware that Nabu was in full control of Zatara at all times. Icon hadn't realised that Nabu had.. blackmailed Zatara into accepting the position of host. I assume that Guy spoke to you concerning his reasons-."

"Actually, no. I was so focused on building an improved relationship between our Corps that I didn't ask him."

She nods. "Guy was unaware that the host found themselves in a featureless void while Nabu controlled them. He also hadn't realised that Nabu intended to keep Zatara as a host for the remainder of his life."

"You just…" I shake my head and look away. "You just say it like that and it just reminds me why I still hate that bastard Lich."

"Black Canary didn't believe that it was possible to free a host externally. And I think that Hawkwoman would have agreed with you if you had managed to avoid directly insulting her during your diatribe."

"And the rest?" I don't say 'including you', but she'd have to be far stupider than she is not to realise that I'm still wondering.

"For the most part, we feel that you should have communicated your intent to us and allowed us to attempt to persuade Nabu. Particularly given how your choice of Eris as a patron had already made him.. skeptical where you are concerned. Even if you did not believe that most of the League could help, Batman and I were your supervisors. You should have come to us."

"I may well have done so if you hadn't made Nabu a League member."

Diana gives me a shallow nod. "I suppose we'll never know for certain."

"No." I exhale. "But what I'm taking away from this is that no one actually misses Nabu, everyone's going to be reading their e-mails more carefully in future and no one is going to be able to get away with possessing anyone again. Would that be broadly correct?"

"It…" She nods. "Yes, I suppose that it would."

"Then.. I'm.. good." About as good as I could expect. I smile. "I should.. probably go and talk to Batman. Let you get back to work. Alan? See you this evening?"

He nods. "Sure. You don't want me to come along?"

"Ppppprobably best if I handle this myself."

Diana nods. "I believe that he is spending the day in Gotham, but-."

"Oh, don't worry. I've learned how to teleport." I raise my right index and middle fingers to my forehead and step out.

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th September
14:31 GMT -5

"Intruder detected. Deploying-"

I don power armour and generate construct armour, then fold my arms.

"-countermeasures."

A laser turret to my right deploys and fires a weak beam at my helmet, aiming to blind me. Rubber bullets and beanbag rounds strike my construct armour to little effect. There's a quiet clang as gas and flashbang grenades land at my feet and a quiet hiss and not so quiet boom as they detonate.

"Batman?"

"Subject has metahuman durability. Escalating."

A metal rope bolas spins through the air and winds itself around me before flaring with electricity. Fortunately, constructs don't conduct electricity unless their user wants them to and it all arcs into the surrounding metalwork. Ooh, I would not want to have to repair that. Next come the low power plasma shots, causing weak ripples across my construct armour.

"Batman, I know you're there. I just came from seeing Di-."

I wince as the crumbler round triggers on my construct armour, destroying the outer layer. My return shot from a rapidly generated railgun smashes the turret responsible to pieces and penetrates the metal behind it, causing two of the nearby lights to go out.

"-ana seriously?!"

"Computer, stand down."

"Standing down."

I look around suspiciously for a moment, then deactivate my construct armour and float in the direction of Batman's work station. The man himself has his hood down… Which actually makes this the first time I've seen his face while he's wearing his costume. He's actually got noticeable mask-hair. It's off-puttingly humanising. It's.. not his Bruce Wayne persona, but I'm forced to relate to him as a person.

"I appreciate that we didn't part on particularly good terms, but I didn't think things were so bad that you were in a 'shooting on sight' kind of mood."

"The cave's defenses weren't set specifically to attack you. Until Diana notified me a moment ago, I didn't even know that you were on Earth."

I land and regard him for a moment. "That was a crumbler round."

"Crumbler rounds are highly effective against a wide variety of targets. As you know." His face remains remarkably expressionless. "I see that you've learned to teleport."

"Sort of."

"And found a way to bypass the wards protecting the cave."

"No, I-. Actually, I didn't try to scan for you. I just stepped out of the universe, looked for the patch of desires I know are you and then stepped back in. Since you're almost certainly only warded from other parts of the material universe, the only way to get around it would be to completely stop wanting things." We look at each other for a moment, though inside him I can see him starting to want a way to block that as well. "How have you been?"

"Busy. Crime didn't stop just because you left the planet."

Fair enough. I leave my armour on, but send my helmet back into subspace. "So… Diana gave me a summary of the League's feelings regarding the Nabu situation. Since your name wasn't specifically listed I'm going to assume you still aren't happy."

"You killed the League's magic expert without giving me any prior warning. Regardless of my feelings about your methodology, that created a major weakness in our ability to respond to magic threats."

"You've had eight years in which to find more magic users than the one you've been relying on. King Orin has dozens he could call upon, and I gave you a list last year. Did Diana speak to Doctor Tolon?"

"Doctor Tolon didn't feel that she could commit the time that League membership requires. The world wouldn't accept a Demon as a League member after the attack on Fawcett City, which makes Doctor Blood ineligible. And the Security Council has stated that they are reluctant to let the Justice League become 'an extension of the Atlantean military'."

"And the others?"

"They are proving somewhat difficult to locate. If you're interested, I would appreciate it if you could help us find a replacement."

"Were you not listening? Depending on one replacement is a bad idea. If you were planning on taking action against Nabu-"

"I was."

"-then-. Oh." I frown. "You didn't mention that."

"You have expressed an awareness of the fact that I have plans to counter the strengths of every League member." I nod. "Developing a method for combating Doctor Fate-. Nabu-"

"Nabu." Oh.

"-required knowledge well outside my normal area of expertise. In addition, I had to contend with the same need for secrecy that you did."

"I still managed it inside eight months."

"Yes. You did. Finding the right people or equipment to perform a task is something you've proven remarkably adept at."

Is he saying… That I out-Batmanned Batman? I guess that's a compliment.

"Okay, anyway… You need at least two. With a twenty one person Justice League four would be better, but…" Huh. She should be around… "I think I can.. get two within a reasonable timeframe. Neither are active superheroes, but they've got the magic skills you need."

"Is one of them the current owner of the Helmet of Fate?"

"Not unless things have gone seriously awry while I was away." Though I am going to need to speak to John… "I don't think… That person would be inclined to join the Justice League."

Batman looks at me, then his eyes narrow slightly. "John Constantine."

"I will neither confirm nor deny any guess-."

"He's a magic user you know well, believes himself to be in debt to Giovanni after the death of Sindella Zatara and has proven himself against stronger opponents on numerous occasions. What I'm not clear on is why he's keeping the Helmet. Or why -if the Helmet is intact- you claimed that Nabu was dead."

"Oh, Nabu's dead. Brain dead. If you read my full-."

"His consciousness was magic-based. Your mana batteries drained it when they overloaded."

"No, they deformatted it. Power still flows from the Plane of Order, but there's no mind present to do anything with it."

His face relaxes as he nods. "Except Constantine."

"I was gone two months. I don't know what he's doing with it now. But he was keeping hold of it when I left."

"Do you intend to return to active duty?"

"I'm the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. I'm always on active duty. What you mean is: do I intend to work for you?"

"If you prefer."

"You asked me to find two magic users and I'm planning on doing it. So it sounds like the answer's 'yes'."

 

[Mr Zoat]

13th September
02:46 GMT +3

I walk across the bare earth surrounding Lalibela's famous cut-rock churches. At this hour just about everyone is asleep, but I tread lightly past pilgrims slumbering with their packs for pillows. I should-. Well. Maybe it isn't as important as it was before we killed Nabu, but I wonder if Zatanna would be interested in coming here? I'm not sure exactly what Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity thinks of magic, but there isn't any bar on female visitors. I'm sure that she'd get more out of it than I would.

Maybe she'd like seeing St Mary's as well? I've mostly tried to avoid the place where Westham isn't, but St Mary's still exists and it's nearly a thousand years old. I'll ask. I could understand her having an interest in the history of Christianity, and St Mary's has still just about spent longer as a Catholic church than as a Anglican church. But the point is, I've got no idea why the man I'm here to visit is anywhere near here. He certainly isn't Christian. Ah, not unless the information John gave me is really out of date. I mean, there's no reason why he couldn't have converted. It just strikes me as improbable.

Since I don't want him to just up and vanish as soon as he sees me, I've taken steps to make sure that he knows I'm coming. I'm unscryable, but my Praexis Demons aren't. I'm also.. making a point of lightly touching the desires of the sleeping pilgrims and tourists around me. Not doing anything to them, just making enough contact to ensure that anyone keeping an eye on them would be able to spot that it had happened. Hopefully. At the moment the only things watching me are the Rock Doves.

I mean, what does it say about my life that I can turn up in the Sivanas' lab and nothing much happens, but if I turn up in the Batcave I get shot? Shouldn't there have been some sort of warning? I mean, in other circumstances I'd applaud his preparedness but his computer had at least enough time to identify me after the initial volley-.

I stop.

That's a lot of Rock Doves. Silent, watchful Rock Doves. Like a very old man's Gimball drone. A simple yet intelligent way to bypass my ward. I guess you don't live eleven thousand years without learning to keep watch. Okay, I don't really want to raise my voice…

I head towards the closest tree and look upwards as the Doves carry on looking down.

"I'd like to speak to Doctor Balewa, if that's at all possible."

They blink unintelligently at me, and-.

I look down, seeing that the earth under my feet has rearranged itself so that a path of pressed earth now leads away from me and towards one of the nearby shacks. I suppose that's my invitation, then. I hear a flapping and look back to the tree as half of the Doves fly away and the rest twitch and compulsively preen.

"Thank you, Doctor."

I walk along the path a little faster than before. Nommo Balewa has been around for a very long time. John told me that he's a good guy, altruistic and certainly powerful… But on the two occasions the two of them met he told John that he'd rather never see him again.

John just has that effect on some people.

Mostly the people who've had to clean up one of his messes.

"Come in, young man. Come and speak to me."

I hesitate for a moment outside his door. His accent is a little hard to place; he's wandered all over the world before, though for the most part he has stayed in Africa. If the stories about 'Doctor Mist' are even slightly right then he came from somewhere called Kor, but… Given how old some of those stories are, that could be just about anywhere on the continent. His English is flawless, if a little slow.

"Having come so far, why do you hesitate now?"

I push open the door, seeing an old but still vital man sitting on a camping bed. He's got various tattoos across his arms and on his chest -a few whose purpose I can guess, the rest might be decoration or just.. something else- and a series of dots painted across his forehead. The combat trousers and heavy boots seem a little at odds with his legend, but I suppose there's really no reason for him to have to wear robes all of the time.

"Doctor." I bow. "I hesitate because this meeting is important, and I cannot read you as I do most people."

He nods. "It is not wise to become so dependent upon your supernatural abilities that you lose your capacity to make judgements without them."

I nod. "I like to think that I'm not there yet, but it does take me a little longer."

He nods, then gestures to a camping chair opposite him with his right hand. I sit, leaning forwards with my hands on my lap.

"What can an old man such as I do for a young superhero such as yourself?"

"Normally, I'd… Try to build up to it… But last time I did that my target punched me in the face."

"I am not much given to committing acts of violence against my fellow men." He smiles, pearly white teeth gleaming in the dull light of the overhead lantern. "But I suppose I can understand."

"The Lord of Order Nabu is dead. I killed him."

He nods. "I felt his ending. What was your reason for killing him?"

"He required a host to function. When he takes them, he's in total control of their body. He extorted his most recent host's servitude by holding the man's daughter hostage. And then he refused to either accept my alternatives or submit to arrest. You can… Read my full report, if you want..." He nods. "But his death has left the Justice League without a magician."

He nods again. "And you wish to recruit me?"

"You and… One other. I thought that relying on any one person was a bad idea. Single point of failure…"

He leans back, regarding me carefully as he ruminates on the request. "If you had asked me last year, I would have refused. I have.. a great power." He holds out his left hand and purple not-lightning dances around it, seemingly distorting space as it does so. "And I do not believe that men such as myself should rule over mortal men. I do not like what you and Adom have done in Kahndaq."

"We improved the lives of millions of people."

"By making an immortal demigod their king. A 'single point of failure', as you say. No. Mortal men should rule over mortal men."

"The Justice League don't rule people."

"They go where they like, they do what they like. I do not mean to say that I think that they are bad people; I know that they are not. But they are too… Big, what they are doing is too big, too much. The effect which it has on society is not a good one."

"So… Is that a 'no'?"

He sighs, then sags slightly. "A year ago, it would mean 'no'. But, in a single year, Wotan attempted to block the sun, Klarion divided parents from children and a Titan attempted to drown the world. I have reached the conclusion that if I want there to be any world left for my descendants, then I must participate more in its affairs. So." He stands. "I will speak with the Justice League. And if we can reach an agreement, I will stand with them in the battles to come."

"Thank you, Doctor."

"Just so long as I do not have to work with that man Constantine. He brings misery and discord wherevah he goes. I cannot stend him."

I consider my response for a moment. "John Constantine is not a member of the Justice League."

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th September
19:02 GMT -5

Solstice Fitness is unusual in Gotham City in that despite having an ominous name, it actually isn't owned by a supervillain or secret society. The owner/manager is a member of the Gotham Business Association, the legitimate successor to the mob-owned Gotham Small Traders Association. A couple of the staff have criminal records, but since one of them is Paula Nguyen I'm not going to throw any stones. Selina and Holly come here too, though when last I asked Artemis didn't.

But Jade does.

Doctor Balewa said that he wanted to contact the Justice League on his own, so I took the hint and left the runner-up in the Oldest Living Human competition to get some sleep. That's the thing about using wards: while they do protect you from minor magics, from the point of view of an ancient magician all they do is shout 'there's something interesting here' really loudly. Doubly so if you're using one in a location where hardly anyone uses wards, like Gotham City. I assume that Batman…

Should I still be calling him that? He isn't my controller any longer. I mean, obviously I'd call him that when we're on duty or on a mission, but in a secure environment or in my own head… What should I call him? I guess.. 'Mister Wayne' being three syllables means that 'Batman' wins out over it. Calling him 'Bruce' would just be weird. Or is it? I mean, I'm pretty sure that's what Lex calls him and Lex has tried to kill him at least once. As Bruce Wayne. I wonder if he'd call Batman 'Bruce' to his face just to needle him? No, of course he would, but 'as a matter of course' or 'if it were useful in a specific case'? Oh, I'll just stick to calling him 'Batman'. I doubt that I'll be spending any time with him socially.

Anyway, Bruceman-.

…

Anyway, Batman has almost certainly realised that, and then gone on to realise that a magic user powerful enough to do that isn't going to find it all that hard to work out that Batman = Bruce Wayne anyway, so he might as well encourage them to teleport into somewhere with automated defences.

But enough of work. I'm here for something personal. Jade doesn't work Mondays, and at this time of day she's usually having a post-exercise massage, and.. she's there now. While her masseur is currently heading home early because an orange-glowing stranger offered him $2000 to go home early. After I got my ring to record his vocal cadence and the pattern of his footfalls.

This is either a really great idea, or a terrible idea.

I push open the door to the massage room. Jade doesn't even bother looking up. I can barely imagine the Jade I first met not carefully watching the door of any room she found herself in. "Hi there, Jade."

"Hey Todd."

Or disarm hers-. No, she hasn't locked her locker and there's a knife-. Under the towel she's laying on. She's still wearing her knickers, but aside from them and the towel covering them she's naked.

My word, she's beautiful.

"Anything in particular you want me to work today?"

"My neck."

"Sure, I can manage that." I stick my right hand under the spout of the industrial massage ointment bottle next to the bench and squirt a blob onto my fingers. Then I approach the right side of the massage bed, rubbing my hands together to spread it over both of them. "Tough workout session?"

"Too much time on the uneven bars."

Too much time parkouring across Gotham with Selina, more like. Rolling might deal with momentum without breaking your legs, but it doesn't do much for your spine. I lay my hands on her shoulders for a moment, then gently begin spreading-.

And there's a knife against my throat and Jade's glaring at me, towel held over her breasts. "Did you th-?!" She stills, staring into my eyes. "Paul?"

Ring, dismiss mimicry program.

Program dismissed.

I smile, ignoring the knife. "Good evening."

"You're back."

"Yes, yes I am."

"What happened to Todd?"

"Went home early. I thought I'd surprise you. How'd I do?"

"Somewhat surprised." She lowers the knife. Slightly. "Todd's been my masseur for a while. Your hands feel different from his."

"I'll bear that in mind should I feel the need to masquerade as your masseur in the future."

She leans lack slightly, shifting her legs into a more comfortable sitting position and raising her eyebrows. "Did you want to surprise me, or did you just want an excuse to put your hands on my naked body?"

I smile. "Why can't it be both? I like to think that I've made no secret of my interest in you, naked or otherwise."

"All finished in space?"

"More… I annoyed my boss so much that he sent me home. But I'm going to be able to stay on Earth for a while."

The ghost of a smile appears, which she does her best to conceal. "And all the green-skinned space girls could bear to let you go?"

"While I have met green humanoid females, I didn't.. become involved with any of them."

"Are you going to make me guess the colour?"

"One or two orange-skinned Tamaranians expressed an interest. I.. turned them down. Oh, and a blue-skinned Okaaran with a fairly impressive set of-" I make a curving gesture with both hands. "-tusks."

Jade tilts her head downwards slightly and raises her eyebrows. "Tusks?"

"And she was seven feet tall and five feet wide. I mean…" I shrug. "Perfectly attractive by Okaaran standards-" I lean towards her slightly. "-but not really my thing. How about you? Meet any nice Earth boys?"

"None worth more than two dates. Hm."

"What?"

"I just thought half the reason why you said 'no' before you left was so you could have some fun before you came back. And the other half was that you didn't know how long it would be. But you didn't, and it's only been two months."

"If I'd known it would only be two months…"

"You really didn't have any sex at all?"

Uum. I pull away slightly. "What..? Exactly counts?"

She raises her eyebrows. "If you have to ask, it probably counts."

"Uuugh." I look away for a moment. "Well it… It didn't… Do anything for me, but…"

"Now I'm curious." Jade looks amused by my discomfort. "What didn't do anything for you?"

I avert my eyes for a moment. "She said they were spiracles."

Jade blinks, then frowns. "Spiracles?"

"They're what.. insects breathe through. Spider Guilders don't really-. They're not exactly spiracles, but that was the closest translation. And… She needed anti-chafing cream applied-. And the back one was okay, because that actually was a spiracle-."

Jade's expression has sort of frozen. "Uh-huh."

"But then I got to the gap between her second and third sets of legs, and the hole looked a little different? But she didn't say anything?"

"Oh God."

"So I thought, 'okay, just carry on', and... Now all of Vega thinks I'm a macroarachnophile."

Jade's mouth sort of opens and closes a few times. "Oh-h…"

"But that was it, and like I said, it didn't do anything for me and I didn't even realise it was sexual at the time. Moving-"

She nods. "Yes."

"-swiftly on, I am a fully trained humanoid masseur, so would you like me to finish your session? And then.. we could.. go and have dinner somewhere?"

"Are you actually asking me out?"

I lean further forwards, and kiss her lightly on the lips. "Yes. I am. So?"

She puts her knife down, and twists so that she's lying face down again. "My neck could use some attention."

"Ok-."

"And my inner thighs."

I grin. "Happy to be of service."

 

[Mr Zoat]

13th September
Something's buzzing

I open my eyes, the blackout curtains covering the window of Jade's bedroom maintaining their dutiful watch against the encroachment of the day.

Bzzt. Bzzt.

Jade's still dead to the world, face down in the pillows next to me. She doesn't appear to have curled up against me in her sleep, but she was pretty tired-.

Bzzt. Bzzt.

I lean up slightly and sight her phone on the bedside table, then transition out of bed, pick it up, and then transition into her kitchen.

Bzzt. Bzzt.

I look at the phone for a moment.

07:23 GMT -5

Artemis, right. I press the answer button and hold it to my ear.

"Good morning."

"Hey Jade. Arte wants-." There's a pause as Wallace's brain readjusts. "Oh El?"

"Wallace. Good morning."

"Ah, yeah, hi. How long have you been back?"

"A few hours short of a-"

"Is she ready yet?"

"-day. I was meaning to-."

"Hold on a sec. Artemis, Oh El's back."

"Why's he answeringohmyGod."

I look slightly nervously around the kitchen. Jade moved out of Holly and Karon's house shortly after I left. I suppose this is more convenient for work. "Um."

"Heh. Pretty smooth, Oh El."

"It's not like we hadn't been… I mean, we've spent a lot of time together during the past year."

"Oh, I wasn't trying to say you were easy or anythi-."

"Give me-! That!"

"Um."

"Hey Paul."

"Ow! Careful!"

"Good morning, Artemis. How have you been?"

"Ah, yeah, I'm good. Uh, so… You and Jade, huh?"

"Yes." I walk over to the closest cupboard and pull the door open. "You don't know what she eats for breakfast, do you?"

"Ahh-I think she just has a coffee before we go running. Is she.. there?"

"Yes, but-" I glance back towards her bedroom, sniffing the air. Probably.. should do a quick ring-clean of the place… "-she's still asleep and she was pretty tired-."

"Oh, ew!"

"Be.. cause we were out late… Cccatching up?"

"Yeah, that's not gunna stop me seeing-."

"Err…"

"Ask him if he's going to come 'round the mountain this afternoon."

"Wally wants to know if you're coming to the mountain this afternoon. Or.. at all, I guess."

"What? Why wouldn't he-? … O-kay."

"Um… Yes, I.. plan to. Batman's got me chasing down-."

"You've.. spoken to Batman? I mean, since you've been back?"

"Yes, and I've got the electrified anti-metahuman bolas to prove it."

"He shot you?"

"Batman shot Oh El? What's going on?"

"No, Batman's automated defences shot me after I teleported into the Batcave. There wasn't any specific malice."

"Oh, okay."

"What's okay about that? Gimme the phone b-."

"Ggh!"

"He wants me to find a couple of replacements for Nabu-. Um, as League magic users, I mean. I already knew about one but the second one's going to take a bit longer. I don't think it's really… I'm not going to be moving back in or anything at least until I've finished doing… Finding her." … "Are you still-?"

"Yeah! Still here."

"Totally unfair."

"So who'd you get?"

"Batman… Ah, and the rest of the League, they haven't approved it yet. But he's an African man called Nommo Balewa. He sometimes works under the name 'Doctor Mist'."

"I've… Never heard of him."

"How many African superheroes can you name?"

"Ah-. Ssseven?"

"Really?"

"Rocket did a lecture. She didn't mention him."

"Mention who?"

"Some African guy called Doctor Mist."

"Who? No, it's Oh El, there's no way I'm gunna have heard of them. I'm gunna go look him up."

"He's powerful and non-interventionist. And doesn't need a host-slave. And I think he's actually older than Nabu was. Ah… Maybe."

"'kay. Who's the other one?"

Yeah… "You remember Satanus, right?"

"Heh, the Devil Jizz guy?"

"Yeah, that's the one. He's the son of the wizard Shazam and a Succubus."

"Really?"

"Shazam spends all of his time on his own in a magic rock fortress. And if you're a powerful enough wizard to get away with it without getting your soul ripped out…"

"Okay, ew again, but so what?"

"He's got a sister. And they hate each other. And she was friends with Adom. So if Satanus has made new friends-."

"You think she might want new friends too. Huh. It's… Kinda twisted. But I can see you doing it."

"Thank you."

"So… Is she a superhero, or..?"

"Last I heard, she ran a nightclub and did some 'magic for hire' work. But… Guarantees about her behaviour can be part of our negotiation."

"Wait, is he talking about Blaze? Ask him if she's hot, because-."

"You better not be-!"

"I'll.. talk to you later?"

"O-okay. See yah."

I take a look at the phone to make sure it's off, then put it down on the work surface. That went okay, and it was nice to hear-.

There's a knock on the door.

Ah..? Oh, it's Paula. I walk over and open the door. She blinks at me in mild surprise. "Good morning, Paula."

"Hello, Paul. Are you joining us for our morning run?"

"Run?"

She nods, and I notice that she's wearing tight-fitting sportswear. I do good work.

"Yes. Artemis, Jade and I have been running together-."

"Oh, Jade's still asleep." I point my right forefinger in the direction of her bedroom. "I don't think-" Paula raises her eyebrows. "-she's going to be…"

I look at her.

She inclines her head slightly and raises her eyebrows a little more.

"I shouldn't have said that, should I?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

13th September
08:11 GMT -5

"Of course." I find myself nodding, even though there's no way that the man on the other end of the construct phone can see me. "That's fine. Teth Adom is a busy man."

"In your case, if it is an emergency, I can-."

"No, it's not. I'm just trying to get into contact with a friend of his and hoped that he could point me in the right direction. It isn't urgent. Just… Pass that on when the meeting's over."

"Of course, sir. Um, would you like to give me the friend's name?"

I wonder if he realises exactly how few friends Adom has in this era? Particularly ones I wouldn't know how to find. "Probably best if I don't. No offence intended, but the fewer people who know…"

"Not a problem, sir. I understand completely."

"Thank you. Have a nice-" A dressing gown-clad Jade walks awkwardly into the kitchen. "-day."

"Thank you, sir. You as well."

I dismiss the construct and rise to my feet, arms wide. "Good morning, oh-!"

"Just-." Jade raises her right hand in a warding gesture. "Just give me a minute."

"Um." She walks over to a cupboard and opens it, pulling out a mug and a jar of instant coffee. "Okay?" Next, she switches on the kettle and opens a drawer to take out a teaspoon. I note that her arms aren't straying much from a folded, defensive position. In fact, she seems to be doing everything a bit gingerly. "Jade..? Are you… Alright..?"

Two teaspoons of instant coffee go into the mug as the kettle comes to the boil. "Tired and.. sore. I wasn't expecting… Some of that."

"Oh." Um. "Ssorry?" I raise my left hand. "I can-."

"No." She half-turns my way. "No, that's… That's fine."

"Are you sure? Because you don't look fine. Um. Are we far enough into our relationship that I can say that and-?"

"I… Know how I look." She picks up the kettle and pours hot water into her mug, then puts the kettle down and gives the coffee a stir. "I wasn't…" She stops, looking down as she works out what she wants to say. Perhaps… Playing for time, she turns away again and awkwardly bends down to open the fridge door and pull out a small container of milk. She then straightens up and puts it down next to the cooking mug. Only then does she turn to full face me. "I… I didn't think you had much sexual experience. I think I assumed that I'd be taking the lead-."

"Oh, I don't."

She raises her eyebrows slightly. "Really?"

"Any, actually."

Her face falls slightly. "Any?"

"Well… Assuming that you don't count the.. Spider Queen." I nod. "That was my first time having sex. I mean, I'd done research, but-."

"Oh God."

"So..?" I wiggle my head side to side. "How'd I do? I didn't expect to get everything right first time, but I'm always willing to accept feedback."

Jade picks up her mug and holds it up to her nose, breathing in the scent for a moment. She closes her eyes and controls her breathing. "I wasn't expecting the power ring."

"Most people don't. I mean, for most of power ring history there were only Green Lanterns, and the level of mental focus they'd need means it isn't really practical for them to use it like that." Huh. "I mean, there are probably a few-."

"I meant-. I wasn't expecting what you did with it."

"Jade… The spirit is eager, but the flesh is that of a male humanoid. I couldn't have done most of that without-."

"And I don't remember you…" Her eyes widen slightly, not looking at me. "You didn't..?"

"Didn't what?"

She transfers her mug into her left hand and picks up her milk carton in her right. Then she… Twists her wrist so that milk splashes out into the coffee. Then she raises her eyebrows slightly in my direction. Then she spills another splash of milk into the coffee.

Why is sheoh.

"Um. No."

"Oh God."

"You see… You… Sort of..."

"Oh God."

"Stopped… Responding near the end of the second hour-"

She puts mug and milk down and brings her hands to her face. "Oh God."

"-and I don't really know the etiquette, but I thought… Carrying on wasn't really-."

"Oh God."

"Jade." I take a step towards her. "Jade, it's fine."

"Ohhhhh." She semi-flops against my chest as I gently put my arms around her waist. "Uuuugh."

"Too much?"

She takes a couple of breaths with her face against my chest. "Next time, you don't use your rings."

Next time. Which there will be. Good-oh. I nod. "I'm perfectly happy to not use my rings. And.. um… If you don't want me to deal with the… Soreness, with my rings, I have a purple healing ray?"

She manages a somewhat fragile smile. "Not going to offer to kiss it better?"

"My kisses don't have any particular healing properties. I'm happy to try, but… To be honest, that would probably just make the situation worse."

"Mpf." She pulls back slightly, and I release my hold to allow her to pick up her coffee. "Did Mom come by?"

"Sheeeee did."

She takes a sip, watching me over the rim of the mug. She's smiling as she swallows. "You told her I was still asleep, didn't you?"

"Yees, I did. And.. Artemis phoned."

"I wasn't planning on keeping this a secret, Paul. Mom and Artemis both like you. And you certainly weren't my first."

I nod my head to the side. "Anyone I need to worry about?"

"I wasn't with either of them for long." She walks around me and pulls out one of the chairs around the table. "And I haven't thought about them much, either. I suppose they're either dead or in prison after the League of Shadows was shut down. Given how I wasn't picked up, I think they'd probably come after me before you." She puts her mug down on the table and then carefully sits and jumps back to her feet a second later, her buttocks clenched. "I think I'll stand."

"The purple healing ray-." I take it out of subspace and put it down on the table next to her mug. "I'll just leave it here. Use it.. if you want."

She gives me a look of combined amusement and irritation. "Thank you."

"Um. Speaking about your mother… Is there a… Good time to introduce you to…"

She frowns slightly. "Your family?"

"No, my family is on Earth Prime. But there are.. people… I'm close to. Who I'd like you to meet."

"I'm drinking this, taking a shower and then going back to bed. But.. my next day off is next Sunday. I could meet them then?"

I walk up to her and kiss her gently on the forehead. "That would be splendid."

 

[Mr Zoat]

13th September
08:17 GMT -6

I press down on the writhing carapace of the horror beneath me, doing my best to keep my head away from its flailing raptorial forelegs. Perhaps the most disturbing part of this is that rather than chittering or screeching as I'd expected, the abomination is near completely silent as it tries to bring its natural weapons to-.

Gughuh! And it reminds me with a spray of toxic gunk from its spinnerets that it's anything but natural.

I turn to the observation window. "Do you need samples of this as well?!"

Cranius raises Otto's hand to his mouth. "If it is not too much trouble!"

I nod, taking a syringe in my right hand and doing my best to suck up the larger congealing pools. Insectoid Unmen. I have no idea what Arcane was thinking when he made these and frankly I'll be perfectly happy if I never do gain that sort of insight. This poor bastard used to be Corporal Frank Cruz before his disastrous assignment to General Sutherland's research project. Real zombies don't have infectious bites. In fact, they usually won't bite at all, lacking the animating spirit from which normal people derive motivation. These things on the other hand are totally infectious, symbiotic cells in their blood, digestive systems and venom glands straining with all their might to turn any animal they come into contact with into more Insectoid Unmen.

I turn my head aside and spit, a wad of transformed Unphlegm flying from my mouth. It has.. veins growing on it, the mass twitching as it attempts to develop a heart beat. My divine resistance is enough to prevent my body being transformed, but anything else…

I slide the syringe back into my armoured holdall, then take out another. This one is a bit tricky, and there's next to no chance that the creature itself will cooperate. Extreme option, then. I lift my hand from its thorax, braced for it to start writhing again. There's a token wriggle, but I think even its animal intelligence has worked out that it can't throw me from this position. Okay, step two. I slam my fist forward, striking it directly on the vertex. Nothing like a full strength hit, but hopefully… Yes, its eyes aren't focusing on me. I shove the needle into its mouth, piercing its venom gland and sucking a syringeful out.

Okay, done. I activate my aero-discs and rise off its body, forelegs swiping at me instinctively but being harmlessly turned aside by my armour. Well, that was revolting. I send a wave of orange light over myself to burn away any lingering goop. Mother Box, boom tube.

BOOM!

I slide the venom syringe into my satchel as I fly through, shutting the tube down as I land on the observation platform.

Cranius turns around on Otto's shoulders to grin at me. "Excellent work, my boy! Usually taking samples from zhe insectoids takes us weeks and costs us a great deal in equipment."

I unclamp the satchel from my armour and hold it out. "Happy to help, Cranius."

"Unt… You are not suffering any… Ill effects?"

Oh, my mouth is dry. Mother Box?

Ping.

Ring?

No abnormalities detected beyond the usual.

Huh. I think it might be learning bad habits from Sinestro.

"No, none that I can detect."

Otto turns around to face… To chest me and takes the satchel before walking in the direction of the stairs back into the main part of the Uncorporation headquarters. Cranius manoeuvres himself so that he can look back at me as Otto ascends. "I am very glad. You, I zhink, would be an even more troubling specimen zhen zhey are."

"I'd like to think so. What.. do you intend to.. use that for?"

"Eh, a back burner project of mine. I do not zhink zhat reversing zhe effects after zo long would… Be of use to zhose poor unfortunates. But, if anyone were infected in zhe future, possessing a way to arrest zhe changes would be wizhout price."

"And it would serve to improve your understanding of Doctor Arcane's workings."

His face twitches slightly. "Even I would stop short of creating somezhing like zhat."

"Glad to hear it." We leave the insectoid vault proper and step into the airlock, an entirely sensible precaution against airborne toxins and transmutative agents. And people trying to come back through without knowing that they'd been infected. The inner door clanks closed behind us and Cranius hops onto his perch while Otto begins stripping himself of clothing. "And your work more generally?"

"Zhe next round of zhe implantation procedures begins on Wednesday, unt zhen I will be fully occupied with zhe testing." He strums three fingers. "I am… Finding it an adequate replacement for zhe uncreation." He looks me over. "But… Zhis is not a purely social visit, no? You want my answer."

"I want to give you the opportunity to ask any questions so that I could allay any remaining concerns you may have."

"I…" He looks down for a moment. "I will be honest wizh you: I am minded to accept wizhout furzher qualification." He looks up again. "For zhe work you have done for me, for us, and zhe opportunities you have provided for us… I owe you zhis. And I believe zhat it will benefit us to continue zhis relationship. However."

"Yes? Please, any reservations-."

"I have no knowledge of my own expiration date. I could drop dead tomorrow, or… I could still be as I am a century from now. If I am to devote myself fully to zhis great transformative work you would heff me perform… I need to know zhat my people can continue wizhout me. My… Students are capable unt my brozher Crassus is skilled… But zhey do not have my experience, my insight."

"If you need me to go looking for more of Arcane's books..?"

"No." His neck bulges briefly as he passes more air through it, sighing. "At zhis point, zhere is little more a written text could teach me. Razher… Zhere are two.. furzher… People, who might lend zheir efforts to my work. I know where one is unt where zhe ozher was, but zhey are both beyond my reach. If you could get zhem, persuade zhem to come here…." He nods. "Zhen I am your man."

"Alright. Who are they?"

Cranius smiles in satisfaction. "Many of zhose… Zhe papers call 'mad scientists', zheir work has no obvious predecessor. In science, we are always standing on giants' shoulders, but sometimes… Zhat freeze ray you are so fond of. It is contrary to everyzhing in heat physics. Mister Snart read some zhings und zhen 'poof', it just appears in his mind. Arcane… It was nearly zhe same, but! Zhere was one man whose research he sought after and acquired, one man who inspired him."

"Victor Frankenstein."

"Jah. Yes. Frankenstein himself had long since died in zhe arctic circle, unt he destroyed many of his own records… But in his creations lie zhe secrets of his work. Find zhe creature or zhe Bride, unt we will heff zhat. Zhe last record we heff for zhem is zhat zhey worked for zhe American government during zhe Second World War. Your contacts in zhet area are better zhan mine."

Looks like I'm going to have to talk to Katarina again… "Okay, I can probably manage that. Who else?"

"Doctor Arcane had no true friends or peers… But for several years, he had an assistant. An Englishman wizh whom he had a certain… Familiar relationship. He came to us in zhe fifties, stayed for several years. Zhey parted on good terms."

"That… Really?"

"He was a somewhat unusual man himself. His name was Grymleigh Gartside Fiendstein, unt he continued his work after he returned to England. He is currently in zhe special prison underneath zhe Tower of London."

Well, I was planning on overthrowing the British government anyway… "What was he convicted of?"

"Robbery, arson, murder unt gross indecency." I raise my eyebrows slightly. "What? You zhought a friend of Arcane's would be a 'nice man'?"

"Probably not. On the other hand, I doubt that an eighty year old is much of a threat to anyone. Are you sure that he's still alive?"

"No, but his crimes had a certain notoriety unt zhere has been no announcement. I hope."

I nod as the exterior door opens. "I can't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do."