16th April
18:26 GMT -5
"…got records of him being killed twenty nine times, including being flattened by a rockslide." Richard shrugs as we watch the Bio Ship approach across the Gotham skyline. "I think he said something about getting his power from a meteor, but that doesn't really explain how it works."
"Okay, but he could have got through a rockslide more or less intact, right? I mean, there'd be living tissue left.
"
"Of course there would." Wallace looks at me askance. "Why, you wanna try completely disintegrating him to see if that stops him?" He smiles. "Throw him into the sun or something?"
"Yes.
"
He blinks, inclining his head slightly. "You serious?"
"I realise that historians might prefer it if I assimilated him instead, but flying to the sun only takes me a few seconds.
" As the rest of the universe experiences it. From my point of view it's nearly instantaneous.
"And I'm sure that he's been sentenced to death
somewhere.
"
Richard brings up his arm computer. "Actually, I don't think he has."
"Really?
"
"You don't usually have a trial after the one who committed the crime dies.
We know he's immortal, but when he first started showing up people just assumed that he had some kind of lucky escape."
"Okay, I… Suppose that makes sense. But how does he remember stuff if his brain gets destroyed every so often? He should lose just about everyth-.
"
Artemis strolls over. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Oh El wants to throw Vandal Savage into the sun."
"Huh." She looks thoughtful for a moment. "Would that work?"
"Since we don't know how his immortality works, we can't know for certain. Klarion said something-
" The Bio Ship uncloaks and descends to rest on the rooftop helipad.
"-about needing to find his amygdala at New Year after Adom turned Savage into pâté. Savage hasn't ever demonstrated super toughness, and I'm fairly sure that the sun could completely burn up his amygdala.
"
Wallace frowns slightly. "Exactly how much thought have you been giving this?"
"By definition, madness ends in one of two ways: clarity, or death.
"
I lead the way towards the Bio Ship as the other half of the team disembarks. Wolf dashes out first, taking the time to sniff me and then run around the rest of my half of the team. Kon's out next, followed by Kaldur. They both look… Wary? I know we decided on radio silence but I wouldn't have half the team on the roof if the threat was ongoing. The would-be Demons were picked up by the Gotham police department over an hour ago, and the only reason it took
that long was they had to get special equipment -explosive collars- on hand in case they tried demoning out again.
Warning: Spell Eater temperature rising.
I frown.
"Aqualad? Something you want to tell me?
"
M'gann exits the Bio Ship behind them, eyes glowing. I feel a slight pressure on my mental defences, but it disappears after a moment. She and Kaldur make eye contact… They're having a telepathic conversation. This is.. odd, though I suppose that when dealing with mind control technology it isn't an
unreasonable precaution. Garth and Tula are out next, tattoos glowing faintly.
Wallace exhales frustratedly. "Something you wanna share with the rest of us, Aqualad?"
Kaldur turns back to us. "When we arrived to collect the samples, we were attacked."
"By who? Manta?"
"By the researchers. The samples were somewhat more intact than Lantern Gardner had led us to believe."
"How intact?
"
Kon glowers. "I nearly got a Star on my face."
"How did you miss them-
" I hold my right hand up to my face.
"-being infected? Those things aren't exactly subtle.
"
"It took us some time to understand, but closer examination showed that they were under the influence of Starro-tech."
"Oh dear.
" If they can
hide that they're controlling people…
"But, we've all… Except Canis, we've all had the cure.
"
He nods. "M'gann cannot hear your mind, or that of Canis. Tempest and Aquagirl's attempts to confirm your identities by magic are being blocked by your amulets."
M'gann steps towards me a little. "Actually, you've been.. blocking me out for months now."
"Yes, after I was nearly killed by a telepathic weapon twice.
" This.. is tricky. My telepath blocking technique isn't exactly precise. If I let M'gann take a peek there's a risk that she might see something she's not supposed to. I.. don't know where the rest of the team would stand on the subject of Nabu. Zatanna hasn't
mentioned anyone else speaking to her about reversing the possession…
Richard steps up. "Wait a second. We were attacked too."
"The Star Conquerors are already here?"
"No, five people using a drug which gave them demonic super powers." He thinks for a moment. "I didn't check them for Starro-tech, though. Could that have survived them turning into Demons?"
"It worked on everything else. But we can't use Cure-tech on
everyone.
"
Kaldur nods. "Perhaps not, but we should give it to everyone working in this facility." He fixes his eyes on me. "
After we have confirmed that you are who we think you are."
"Alright.
" Ring, subspace my Spell Eater.
Compliance.
I walk around Kaldur and hold out my right arm to Tula, subspacing my torso armour.
"You'll probably need to touch me to get around my tattoos.
"
"Alright." She lays both water-covered hands on my bare skin, her tattoos glowing again as she casts… Hm, I don't know, actually. There are a few different spells that
could be used for this… Anyway, it's good to know that visiting an Atlantean locale didn't encourage her to revert to that cloth 'armour' she used to wear. I didn't
exactly shove her and Garth through the doors of KordTech, but they really needed something mundane -if mithril can be called mundane- to augment their water armo-. "He's clean." She lets go of my arm and turns to Kaldur. "There's no sign of the magics used in Starro-tech."
"Good to know.
"
Kaldur nods. "We should still check Canis."
"Okay.
" I nod.
"How many doses of Cure-tech do you have with you?
"
"Twelve. If we are sending five to your assailants, we will need more. I will contact Professor Vulko while you ensure that the Star Conquerors who assailed us-" Rob wheels out a nitrogen shipping vessel. "-are securely contained within STAR Labs."
