With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Twelve)

[Mr Zoat]

Date Night

24th March
21:47 GMT -4

I ring the doorbell of Holly and Karon's home. Remarkably, I was able to navigate the mean streets of Gotham without being unduly disturbed this time. I'm not sure if that's due to the word about me getting around or things just not being so openly lawless as they once were. I think I saw Artemis -or someone anyway- on a rooftop part of the way, but it might have been a trick of the light.

Tsaritsa will be held in the Themysciran embassy until such time as her long term location is agreed upon. President Horne appears to not be entirely horrified by the idea of sending her to Tartarus, but it's not as if the final decision will be entirely his. It was a bit off the cuff on my part, but Tartarus could be an excellent place for long term supervillain storage. Good luck getting anyone out of there, because if the Titans can't manage it…

The door opens. "Hey Hol-." Karon blinks in surprise. "Oh, hey Paul. Holly's not back from work yet."

"Actually, I was hoping to speak to you, if that's alright?"

"Sure, come in." She steps back from the door and I follow her inside, closing it behind me. The weather's still fairly chilly, so I'm wearing a suit jacket with a roll neck jumper underneath. I subspace the jacket as I head towards the comfy chair that I habitually occupy when I visit them here.

"I caught that play you were in on TV."

I look mildly pained. "You didn't."

"I didn't know you could act!"

"I can't-. Well, I can, but in that instance I was-" I sit. "-getting mind controlled by a supervillainess called The Queen of Fables." Karon sits down on the settee. "I only went onto the stage to try and arrest her and that's when her spell caught me."

"You got mind controlled by a supervillainess and all she did was made you act in a play?"

"She made me live the play as if I was the character I was playing. I honestly thought that I was Prince Pavlos of Themyscira while it was going on."

"Whaw. Do you, like, ever get a normal week?"

"Not really." I smile, shaking my head. "You know.. it's funny. You're actually the most normal person I know."

She looks like she's not quite sure what to make of that. "Thank you?"

"My favourite author is a man named Terry Pratchett. In one of his books, he wrote that… See if I can remember the quote… Ah, 'Individuals aren't naturally paid-up members of the human race, except biologically. They need to be bounced around by the Brownian motion of society, which is a mechanism by which human beings constantly remind one another that they are.. well.. human beings.'."

"What book was that?"

"Men at Arms, but I'm afraid it doesn't exist in this parallel."

"So I remind you that you're Human?"

"I have a soul made out of orange Snake. You remind me what being Human is like. And I'm grateful, because none of my other friends can manage that."

She shakes her head in bemusement. "You're.. welcome, I guess?" She glances in the direction of the kitchen. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Ah, yes please. Milk. Full fat, if you've got it."

She gets up, looking at me over her shoulder as she heads for the kitchen door. "Bit early in the evening to be on the hard stuff, isn't it?"

"Oh, you know us superheroes. Living each moment as if it was our last. Oh, I haven't checked: how are the plays going down?"

I hear the fridge door open. "Effects were better in the first one. Was that the Queen of Fables' magic?"

"Mostly." There's a 'chink' noise as she removes the cap from a beer bottle. "The sword I made while being guided by Hephaestus and Helios was actually real. Superboy's got it now."

I hear pouring. "And the fish?"

"Sadly, not real." Karon walks back in, glasses in hand. She hands me my milk glass before sitting back down. "Other thing I wanted to talk to you -and not Holly- about… Back in February."

She pauses for a moment, thinking back. Then her eyebrows shoot up. "Oh, you mean…"

"Yeah, the threesome thing. Um…"

We both glance away from each other.

"Ah… I thought you said you weren't interested..?"

"No, no. Look… One of.. my abilities.. is empathic vision. I can see.. patterns of emotional association in a person's mind."

"But I thought you didn't have your rings..?"

"No, that ability's innate. I… I don't need the rings for it. And what it means is, I know why someone's doing something. You weren't anything like as up for that as Holly was."

"Wait, is that why you said 'no'? I mean, I noticed at the time you didn't say why…"

"That was a good part of it. I mean, I'd be up for it in theory, but not if you didn't really want to or were only doing it to make Holly happy."

She's not looking at me. "I'd… Um…"

"You're not into men, it's fine. I'm not offended."

"No, it's… It was just kind of a high pressure situation… Holly just.. sprang it on me-."

"And you weren't sure how you felt about it or how you'd feel while actually doing it or how you'd feel afterwards because emotions aren't things you can just turn on and off." I nod. "I get it. I was in the same place."

She looks at me, a little surprised and a little relieved. "Oh."

"Like I said. Fine. Though in future, you might want to just tell Holly. 'Cause, there's a reason why I said that you're the most normal person I know and not.. her."

Karon nods. "So…" Her eyes flick back to me for a moment. "Theoretically… If I decided I did want to…"

"Assuming that I wasn't in a relationship at the time, yes."

"Huh. I'll.. bear that in mind."

"I also wanted to ask a favour. Not about, not about that."

"What is it?"

"A friend of mine is.. getting out of prison in a couple of days. She lived in Gotham before, but I don't think she really wants to move back in with her mother-."

"You want us to put her up?"

"To rent her a room. She can pay for it."

"What was she in for?"

"Membership of a proscribed organisation. But I broke up the organisation and she really does want to sort her life out. And I-" I point to my eyes with my right hand. "-can tell for certain that she's telling the truth."

Karon's back to looking at me, apparently relieved for the change in topic. "She do anything violent?"

"Only professionally. She was never wantonly violent."

She does a sort of cough-laugh. "That's not as reassuring as I think you meant it to be." She nods. "I'll.. talk it over with Holly."

"Thank you."

The front door swings open and Holly hurries in. "Hey K-. Paul!"

"Good evening, Holly."

She looks slightly blank for a moment, then grins. "Hey, we're going out for dinner with some friends tomorrow night. You wanna come with?"

I nod. "Yes thank you, I would. Where and when?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

25th March
20:34 GMT -4

I'm not sure what Holly meant by 'some friends', but at the moment it's just me at the table and-. My phone beeps and I pick it up to read the message.

"Delayed at work. Carry on without us. K plus H. Uuh"

No one else has arrived. I push the ice around my orange juice filled pint glass. I could order, but to be honest I doubt the food here is good enough to justify me sticking around if the only people I'm likely to know at this gathering aren't going to-.

I glance up as the door opens, more out of habit than… Oh, good, finally someone I recognise. I wave my right hand as Selina looks around the room before slipping off her jacket and passing it to the… What are they called? Whatever, to the cloakroom attendant. Looks like she's dressed up a bit more than I have, a relatively modest red dress and a little jewellery which I don't scan and try to match to a missing property database. Looks like she's grown her hair out a little since last time I spent any significant time in her company out of costume.

As she walks in my direction I note approvingly that despite the dress she's wearing flat soled shoes. I stand as she reaches the table and with a brief flicker of orange upgrade my own apparel to match hers. "Selina, good to see you."

"Likewise." She's smiling, but there's something a little… No, I'm not going to look. Selina is definitely one of the people likely to be offended by that sort of thing. "Anyone else here yet?"

"No, and I got a text message saying that Karon and Holly-."

"Late?"

"Yes."

Her eyes flick to the side for a moment, her smile growing a little. "Have you.. ordered yet?"

"No, I wasn't sure who else to expect."

She pulls out a chair on the opposite side of the table and seats herself. I sit back down in turn as a waiter heads over to take her drink order. "A glass of Prosecco. Then, come back in.. five minutes?" She looks at me with her eyebrows raised slightly and I nod. "Five minutes. We should be ready to order then."

The waiter nods and heads off towards the bar. Which prompts me to have another look at Selina. Okay, of the women I know, she's one of the few that are actually within my half plus seven range. And, y'know, isn't the mother of one of my friends. I certainly find her attractive -the image of her slinking around in her Cat suit before we met Mrs Gordon-Hewitt appears in my mind- and I'm pretty sure that we know each other's worst characteristics. Okay, why not?

"I take it you know about the wedding."

"If you're referring to the imminent deflowering of Gotham's most eligible ba-" She splutters with laughter, covering her mouth with her right hand. "-chelor, yes, I do. If we're going to talk about that, would you mind if I used a sound deadening field?"

She glances around as the waiter places her wine glass in front of her before retreating towards the kitchens. "Do they stop lip readers?"

I take a couple of sound ward stones out of my pocket and pass one over to her. She picks it up in her left hand, delicately turning it around so that she can get a look at its whole surface. "No, but these do. Keep it on your person."

She weighs me up for a moment. "Okay. Let's see what it's like."

Ring, sound baffle.

Compliance.

She takes another look around the room as the background noise drops away. "I assume that someone's checked to make sure that he's not being drugged."

"Yeah. Richard, probably. But I gave him a scan too, just in case." I shrug. "Sorry. Ba-." I bow my head slightly. "You know, I have trouble even thinking of him by his actual name?"

"The other guy does make a stronger impression."

"Yeah. Anyway, he does indeed appear to be doing this of his own volition. And for what it's worth, she's showing up in-" I point to my right eye with my right forefinger. "-violet too, so I don't think this is a trick."

She sighs. "No, I didn't really think it would be. He actually sent me an invite."

"Are you going to go?"

She slumps forwards, chin resting on the back of her right hand. "I don't know. I'm not sure I could restrain my instinct to claw Al Ghul's eyes out."

"She's.. not called that anymore."

She pulls a face. "Heeeeed."

"Heh, yeah."

"Are you going?"

I nod. "I think Richard's going to need the moral support." I raise my eyebrows.

"Mmmnm." She shifts slightly in her seat. "Haven't decided."

Clearly not a comfortable subject for her. Something else? "Did you see the play? Or.. plays?"

The smile reappears. "Mind control, right?"

"Yep. Though.. it was.. interesting to experience a completely different set of social assumptions. I now know what it was like to actually live in Old Themyscira. For a man."

"Do you know the director?"

"I'm the one who persuaded them to come to America in the first place."

"Tell her, the second play was funny? But.. it needs more work on the localisation. And the English. People don't go to the theater to read captions."

"Clio needs to spend a lot more time in America before that would be a realistic expectation. And the play was really more for diplomatic purposes than entertainment."

"How did that go? I doubt the President getting mind controlled helped much."

"He seemed okay? Seemed okay. And he seemed enthusiastic to have a new place to send magic using supercriminals. Um…" I look around. "How many people-?" My phone beeps again. "Excuse me." I press a button to read the message. "Oh."

"Holly and Karon cancelling?"

"Yesss… Who else are we expecting?"

She leans back slightly. "No one. We got talking about the wedding and.. I.. think she decided to try and hook up her single friends."

"That's surprisingly duplicitous of her. Still, if you need a date for the wedding…"

"Ah, look. You're a nice guy? But you're a decade younger than me and-."

Poot. "I'm a very mature eighteen." Feels really odd to be on this side of this conversation. "I have a steady job, I'm independently wealthy, I-."

She shakes her head. "And I'm sure you'll make a great boyfriend. For someone.. your own age. It.. wouldn't.. be right."

…

Drat, drat and double drat.

 

[Mr Zoat]

26th March
10:02 GMT -4

I stand at parade rest just outside the perimeter fence as the doors of the Gloria McDonald Prison open. First out is one of the wardens, who walks down the steps and makes eye contact with me -I think I see a slight smile- before turning back towards the open door and nodding. Next, Jade walks down the steps, travel bag slung over her left shoulder. She's wearing grey, tight fitting jeans, plain white t-shirt and a green coat. She takes a moment to look over the area on the other side of the fence and I decide that the correct thing to do is grin manically and wave my arms like I'm trying to guide a jet aircraft down.

I think I see her sigh.

She turns to face the warden and says something. I can't hear it from here unaided and I don't want to start off by eavesdropping. A moment later they shake hands and the warden pats her on the shoulder as she turns away and heads towards the outer gate. Huh. She didn't flinch or tense up at all when the older woman touched her. Sounds weird to say this, but maybe the time in prison has done her some real good. I mean, she's always looked fine when I've been around but that's only a few hours a week.

There's a loud buzz as the gate is remotely unlocked. Jade stands still until it's fully retracted and then slowly walks out of the prison, looking slowly around as she does so. I hurry towards her with a slight spring in my step. "Hi Jade!"

"You know, you could have waited inside."

I frown. "No I couldn't."

"You dropped off my clothes fifteen minutes ago."

"I honestly hadn't realised that you only had that sawn off kimono thing until I got your phone call."

She rolls her eyes and looks around again. "I was kinda hoping Artemis or Mom might show up."

"They're busy setting up your 'Welcome to Freedom' party. It's quicker for me to just pick you up and take you there."

"Oh."

I blink. "Oh, Jade, did you-?" I step forwards and wrap my arms around her shoulders, pulling her into my chest. I haven't done this for a while, she usually just complains… She's relaxing. Oh. That's new. She's not exactly hugging me back, but her hands are sort of around my waist. I incline my head slightly. Okay, so how long is 'nice' without being 'creep-'.

She stiffens. "Did you just sniff my hair?"

Um. "Jade, I'm fifteen centimetres taller than you. That's just where my nose is."

She doesn't say anything for a moment, a little of the tension easing out. "I've been using prison conditioner for six months."

"Was that my cue for a prison shower soap joke?"

"No."

"Because I didn't think they'd be funny while you were still inside, but now that you're out-."

She transfers her hands to my chest and pushes me back. "So where's this party happening? Mom's place?"

"Artemis didn't tell you?"

Slight frown. "No?"

"Your grandparents are hosting. But first I though we'd-."

"Grandpa died when I was seven and Grandma lives in a hut."

"Oh! Right. I never said… Okay, that's not true anymore." She gives me a 'not-sure-if-crazy-person' look. "No, he's.. still dead, but I gave Grandma Nguyen's house a bit of an upgrade a few…" I frown. "Um… Just after you transferred here, actually. And we're picking her up, but we're actually going to your paternal grandparents' house."

The first flicker of alarm appears in her eyes.

"No, it's cool! Your grandfather hates your dad even more…" No. "About as much as you do. I haven't met your uncle, your aunt or your cousins yet, but they decided to turn this whole thing into a bit of a family get together."

"My..?" She frowns. "Dad never mentioned-?"

"I know! They had a massive falling out after he left the army and became a mercenary. Oh! Oh! Did you know that his name's actually 'Lawrence Crock Junior'!?"

She stares at me for a moment. "Junior?"

"Yep."

She blinks, eyes not entirely focused. "They call him.. 'Junior'? That's…" She shakes her head. "Are we picking up Grandma right away?"

"I sort of want to talk to you about some stuff first. First off." A beam of orange light illuminates her bag and deposits it in subspace. "Second thing, I'm not sure where you were planning to live now, but I've spoken to a couple of friends of mine in Gotham and they're willing to rent you a room… If you don't want to move back in with Artemis and your mother."

"Mm. Not planning to offer me a place to stay yourself?"

"I live in a superhero base. It's going to be a while before my superiors are willing to give you access."

"I thought you lived in that ice fortress?"

I shake my head. "No, and while you can if you want, it's only really accessible by flight or zeta tube… Using the Justice League's network, so… Same problem. Also, the Spetsnaz boarded it one time…"

"Moving back in with Mom… I don't think that would work. Who are these friends, exactly?"

"A former cat burglar and a travel agent. House is a bit big for them, really, but it was in a good part of town and cheap thanks to the murders."

That last point gets a small smile. "I'll look it over. Anything else?"

"Yeah." I take a deep breath.

"Here we go."

"I had to do this some time. I.. really don't want you to fall back into your old habits, so I'm appointing myself your.. 'sponsor'."

"Sponsor. Really?"

"Really. I've already destroyed the League of Shadows. I can find outlets for your talents that are either legal or.. less illegal. But, I'm worried it won't be enough. So I've decided I'm going to have to whitemail you."

She inclines her head slightly. "White mail."

I beam. "Last time I checked!"

She slowly closes her eyes, exhaling as she does so. Then she breathes in just as slowly and opens them. "Blackmailing someone involves threatening to reveal things they'd rather people not find out about. I already know you've got everything you need to send me to prison for the rest of my life."

"Yeah, funny thing? After Batman and I went through all the stuff we got from the League of Shadows to prepare it for being passed to the prosecuting authorities, two files ended up not getting handed over. Yours, and Talia al Ghul's." I shrug. "He's watching her, I'm watching you. But that's not what I'm threatening you with."

"You're threatening.. not to tell people things?"

"No, come on."

She looks away from me as she tries to work it out. A few seconds later there's a moment of realisation. "I had to be moved from Belle Reve because people knew we were friends. You're threatening to tell people good things about me."

I smile and nod. "Of course, first comes the entrapment. I have to trick you into doing something so good, no criminal will ever trust you again. And then I have to publicise it." I reach out and tap my right forefinger on her left shoulder, the scenery around us flickering as I make contact.

26th March
21:06 GMT +7

We appear in the sky high over Vietnam, the whole of South East Asia spread out below us.

"Tell me: what do you know about Agent Orange?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

26th March
21:07 GMT +7

She takes a moment to look at the greenery below us before shifting her gaze to the coastline. Probably trying to work out exactly where we are.

"It's a chemical herbicide the US military used on Vietnamese jungles and farms during the Vietnam War."

"Yep." She glances at me. "Keep going."

"They didn't just use it to attack the North. It also got used on rural areas in the South that they thought supported the Communists to drive people off the land and into cities the US could control."

"That worked pretty well." I blink, and national borders appear in our field of vision as thick orange lines, with thinner ones for provincial boundaries.

"I also know that it causes cancer and birth defects and that there's enough of it still in the soil in a lot of places that people are still being affected."

I fill in the national boundaries with orange intensity corresponding to the level of contamination. "Yep. Vietnam being what it is, it's hard for me to get completely reliable figures on how much, but it's a lot."

"The Vietnam War was bad. I get it. I went to school in America. No one really tries to defend it anymore."

"Ra's did. Batman actually wrote down what he said about it during one of his post-Pit rants. He thought that the longevity of the toxins involved suggested great potential for his whole 'depopulate the world' mission. No, it's not a chemical warfare agent, it's a herbicide. An insecticide. He actually tried to-."

"Are we here for a reason?"

"I was hoping you'd be a bit more annoyed than this."

I get a puzzled frown. "I'm an American. I've been to Vietnam twice my entire life."

I nod. "You know, I have the same problem. Hard to care about things you don't have a personal investment in, isn't it?" I nod, more to myself than to her. "When Klarion split the world... There were a lot of injured children right in front of me, and I could only heal a few of them. If they'd been my friends… One wave of orange, no more problem. People I don't know?" I pause for a moment. "How well do you remember the funeral?"

"I don't remember much. There were a lot of strange people around and I didn't speak Vietnamese very well."

"Do you remember… Artemis called him 'Funny Uncle Hien'? One of your mother's younger brothers?"

She frowns, trying to think back. "I think I remember him. He was looking after the children."

"No, he wasn't. It was just easier for the person looking after him to keep an eye on the rest of you as well." I highlight the -I hesitate to call it this- hospital below us. They do their best, but this isn't a rich country by any stretch of the imagination. Then I create a construct showing his distorted face, his stick-thin and malformed limbs and the ichthyosis on his skin. "Obviously you wouldn't have realised what was wrong with him at that age. The fact that both of your maternal grandparents were exposed to the stuff shouldn't really be a surprise. If anything, the fact that they had unaffected children at all is the odd thing. He's forty five and he has the mental age-."

Jade doesn't look at the image, instead focusing her full attention on me. "And what exactly-" I take hold of John's ring with my left forefinger and thumb. "-do you expect me-" I pull it off- "-to do about it?" -and hold it out to her. She blinks, looks down at it, then back up to my face as her eyes widen.

"I want you to want to fix it. I want you to see the same wrongness in this as I did when I heard that the government of Britain used the same stuff during the Malayan Emergency. And when you feel that, I want you to take this ring-" I wiggle it. "-and fix it."

"Why haven't you?"

"No personal investment at all. The sad fact is, these faces…" I generate constructs of a few cases. Young children for the most part, though of course they won't remain young children. "I could do Malaya because it was Britain… Even though I'm not a British citizen, I feel.. responsible. Britain kept out of Vietnam." I shrug.

"So, what? That's your plan? Get me to join the Orange Lantern Corps?"

"No, this is a one off. Maybe -if you don't find the experience completely horrifying- you could start learning how to use the orange light in a controlled way with a view to eventually joining. For this exercise, a strong impetus to bring about a change is all that is required. The ring-" I wiggle it again. "-has all the data on Human physiology and soil chemistry it needs. It just needs someone who cares. Someone whom I trust to try."

Her eyes go to the ring again. She's definitely nervous about touching it. "I thought those things drove people crazy."

"Definitely a risk. But I'll still have a ring and I'm a much more capable Lantern than you'll be. Unless I've very much misread you, short term exposure -even high intensity exposure- shouldn't cause lasting psychological harm."

"That's reassuring."

I close my left hand and then open it again, John's ring lying flat on my palm. "Well?"

I can clearly see the orange inside her, swirling and churning. I'm certainly not going to tell her quite what the percentage her desire to prove her value to me is of her final decision, but it's in the mix along with her desire for power and purpose. That's fine, empathy isn't what I need. The normal reaction of the Human psyche to such horrific deformity is there, but there's no special connection to the country as a whole. I suppose it was a bit of a stretch to think that she'd regard the people of Vietnam as being hers. She also wants a combat challenge after six months' imprisonment, and this is the closest I could arrange. I'm not putting her in an actual fight with a ring without doing an awful lot of preparation first. There's the ever-present need to defy her father. The final significant factor is the fear she feels, both of the ring and of the radical change in her life I'm forcing on her.

A fear she instinctively reacts against, wanting to overcome it without its existence being noticed by anyone.

She reaches out with her left hand and I pull the ring back slightly. "No, not like that. Call it to you. Focus your mind on your desires, your wants, your needs. Focus your mind on actualising them through this ring. Demand that it appear on your finger."

Her eyes narrow, remaining fixed on the ring as she raises her left hand slightly and spreads out her fingers. Her breathing slows as she puts those mental techniques she learned with the Shadows to use. Inside her I see the confusing blur of lights slow as she makes herself consciously aware of them and imposes structure. Similarly, I still my own mind so as not to crowd out her far weaker grasp.

I feel a very slight vibration from the ring in the palm of my hand. The minutest flicker of orange light running around the inner surface. Everything in Jade that isn't orange fades into the background. The ring is glowing now, not with the brilliant light it has when I use it but she's definitely formed a connection.

She stretches out her left hand once more. "It's mine."

The ring shoots onto her ring finger and Jade is consumed in orange light.

 

[Mr Zoat]

26th March
21:11 GMT +7

Immediately I shift position, moving behind her, pressing myself against her back and placing my arms under hers. I can't see her, but I can feel her both by the pressure on my skin and by my awareness of the orange light. She doesn't appear to be changing herself in the way I did when I first got hold of the ring. Better self image I suppose. Internally… She looks more or less the same, though the orange light pouring through her is reinforcing her desire structures.

I feel her grab onto my wrists as the lights begin to fade away. She hasn't changed her body but -pfff!- her hair is back to its puffed-up Cheshire mode. The green of her coat has been replaced with dull orange, decorative stitching glowing bright orange to match the sigil in the centre of her chest. Her face is covered in a glowing construct mask.

"H-aaah."

"How do you feel, Lantern Nguyen?"

Still holding onto my wrists, she pulls her arms into her stomach. "Strange. I... No, that's not important. You gave me this ring to do a job. How do I do it?"

"To complete the task, you need precise information on the physical state of those beneath us. Don't try taking it all at once, that will just overwhelm you. Pick a single individual-"

"Uncle Hien."

"-and have the ring show you his body in detail. You don't need to focus on every individual change you need to make, the ring can handle that far better than you can. Focus instead on the objective you wish to achieve. The ring knows what a fully healthy-."

The orange light around Jade flares and a tight bundle of orange cables extrudes rapidly downwards, shooting towards the hospital. I.. suppose that.. would be a bit more instinctive than the filament and orange light pulses I use.

"Do you have a clear idea of what you're doing?"

She pushes gently back into me, leaning a little to the left and turning her head right so she can look me in the face. "Is it like this for you all the time?"

"I imagine in my case it's rather stronger. Can you create a construct to show me what's happening?"

"Can't you see for yourself?"

"I can do lots of things. I want to see what you can do."

An image of Mister Nguyen's room appears in front of us as the cables shoot through the open windows and latch onto him. He struggles for a moment and then a cable attaches itself to his forehead. "Sleep." He relaxes. "I can see everything wrong. It's…"

"Then you know what you have to do, don't you?"

"Skin." The image shows his skin smoothing, though the effect is probably more obvious in colour. "Arms." Bone, muscle, fat and skin flow out of the unfinished end of his right arm, creating a forearm and a hand. Both arms swell as more muscle tissue is added to them and I'm sure other minor defects are being corrected as well. "Legs." The legs are as thin as the arms, joints malformed in a way that makes me wince to examine it. They swell with new muscle and straighten out as Jade fixes them. "Head." His features shift as she goes to complete-. "His brain. Parts just.. aren't there. How-?"

"Don't worry about it. When I healed Mister Huang in Taiwan I didn't have a prior scan of his brain to work from. Add the bits that are missing, the ring can work out what they should look like from his DNA."

"You improved his brain."

"If you don't know exactly what it should look like, why not make it as good as it can be?"

"Then Uncle Hien gets the best brain." He's still unconscious as the cables deposit him back on his chair. "That wasn't so hard."

"You haven't finished the assignment yet, have you?"

"No, I haven't." The image explodes, the light reforming as a three dimensional model of the hospital. I see the cables extend out through the doors of her uncle's room and spread out up and down the corridor. Staff dive out of the way and the cables begin branching and pushing their way into the rooms of the other patients. "Fixed." A girl child with a head that looks like someone squeezed and then twisted it. "Fixed." A youth with no eyes or eye sockets seeing for the first time. "Fixed." Cancerous growths to match any Argonate user, gone. "Fixed. Fixed. Fixed. Fixed. Fixed. Fixedfixedfixedfixedfixed…"

I have the other ring check her work. Aside from the slightly odd way her orange light is pulsing, she's doing a great job. Clearly she's got a much better sense of professionalism than I have.

"…fixedfixedfixedfixedfixed…"

Shame I can't compare this to Richard's situation. I just didn't have the same awareness back then.

"Aaaaagh!"

I glance down to see several members of staff fleeing the building. Didn't want to get their hopes up by warning them, though I did notify someone from the Central Commission of Internal Affairs that I intended to operate in the area. They appeared to still be pretty grateful for all the construction work I did last time so I don't think this will be a problem.

"Fixedfixed… All done." Jade closes her left fist, deleting the cables and the image of the hospital. She's glowing quite brightly. "I want more! What'snext!"

Ah yes, the old crazy/power balancing act. I haven't lost control of the situation yet and this situation does require more power… "Next, is the soil. We need all the residual herbicide gone in order to prevent another generation of cripples being born. Can you do that for me?"

Her grip on my hands tightens. "Yes."

Orange shifts inside her as conflicting desire strains are discontinued-. That actually might be a bad idea. Hm. The glow around us intensifies as the ring feeds her data on the magnitude of the task. One hundred and twenty eight thousand square miles. Goodness knows how many tonnes of the stuff. If I was properly invested, I could probably do it but I've got no idea what the peak output of a rookie Orange Lantern is.

"Hrwaaaagh!"

A translucent orange column blasts downwards, passing through solid objects to get at the ground. I keep watching as the energy radiates out across the province and further, out across the country. Marvelo-. Oh dear, Jade's breathing hard and the activity in her brain-.

"Jade, you've done a good job. You can stop now."

"I'm nearly..! Nearly there!"

No, this is getting to the point where she risks harming herself. I extend my own aura into her and press against the orange strands.

Still.

The blazing orange light dims and disintegrates. She gasps for air, mask construct disintegrating as her grip on my hands loosens. I pull my arms free and drift around to her front. "How was it?"

She bends over slightly in the air, still breathing hard. "That was… I-. I wanted…"

"Yes." I generate constructs, showing before and after images of the people she just healed. "You did a very good job." She straightens up slightly, looking at the images. I hold out my right hand. "Will you please return that ring to-?"

She pulls it off her finger and tosses it back before I can finish asking, and I attach a filament to her before she can plummet to the ground. "I-. That was… Overwhelming. I don't think I'm ready for that."

"I wasn't expecting you to be." I return it to my right forefinger. "But if you do decide to take the training, that's what you'd be letting yourself in for. Now: time for you to take the credit."

 

[Mr Zoat]

26th March
10:37 GMT -5

"I don't think anyone in America will care about that, even if it did get televised."

We're in Ripon, Wisconsin, walking along Newbury Street on the way to the home of Cynthia and Lawrence Crock. Senior. We could have just appeared in front of their house, but I thought that Jade might want to talk about events… Decompress a bit. Missus Nguyen Senior is ambling along in front of us, appearing to be thoroughly enjoying her outing. Haven't told her the good news about her son yet and I don't plan to until I can do a proper assessment of his mental state. Of course, I'm not going to stop Jade doing so if she so chooses.

"Prospective employers will. Working with a known superhero, saving lives with no thought to payment…"

Jade's effort in Vietnam almost completely drained John's ring, conducted biological repairs on about five hundred people and reduced the total soil contamination of Vietnam by about forty percent. An outcome like that -where you can't say that the problem is definitively dealt with- isn't particularly satisfying. Well, I've never found it particularly satisfying. And it would feel strange to have boasted about it in a press conference. As it was, we got a recorded meeting with the Head of the Central Commission of Internal Affairs, parts of which will be played by the state broadcaster as soon as they can finish editing it.

I'm.. probably.. going to feel obliged to go back and finish the job. It'll take me longer, but seeing what that crap does to people firsthand is giving me the motivation.

"You were taking a big risk." She glances at me, then returns her gaze to the pavement in front of us. "Lending me your ring like that."

"My objective is getting you on the straight and narrow. In the pursuit of that objective I am willing to take quite significant risks." I rock my head from side to side. "Though… Unless you flipped out completely-."

"You could have taken it back."

"If you were good enough that I couldn't, you wouldn't have needed me to." I nudge her with my right elbow. "So? Think you'd be interested in learning it?"

"I…" She shakes her head. "No. Not any time soon, anyway." She looks away, taking in the houses on the opposite side of the road. "I think I'm going to just try 'normal' for a little while."

"Really? What brought this on? Was it.. that bad?"

She doesn't reply for a moment, a small frown appearing on her forehead. "You remember Madison? You met her in the kitchen a few times."

"Yes?"

"Apparently her son's been doing much better in school lately."

"I'm glad to hear it?"

"He had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder."

I nod. "It's such a shame that psychopharmacology isn't advanced enough to safely and reliably treat that."

"Stacey's building super fixed their heating about a month and a half ago."

"Good of him."

"About two days after she complained about it when you were there."

"Is that so?"

"Shannon's husband owed money to a loan shark. He's now being investigated by the police."

"Sounds thoroughly deserv-."

She stops suddenly, grabbing my upper right arm with her left hand. "Did you fix everyone's personal problems?"

"No, not everyone. Just anything I could fix through legal mechanisms or by my own labours. Didn't realise there was that much lead paint left in Rhode Island."

"Lending money isn't illegal."

"No, but if you don't have the right licence the debt may be unenforceable. And even if you do have a license, sending a burly bloke around once a week to demand money isn't allowed. The restraining orders and the police investigation should stop things getting further out of hand."

She studies my face for a moment. "You did that… What, so I'd be in a happy prison?"

"Reduced stress, reduced instances of violence, generally more…" I nod. "Optimistic outlook." I shrug. "I'm a little surprised you didn't spot it before, actually. I wasn't trying to hide it so much as not draw attention to it."

She rolls her eyes as she turns to continue down the street. "Some of us only just got your brain upgrade."

..!

"I'm sorry, what?"

She glances back, slightly puzzled. "The amygdala thing you did to Mister Huang? I've only had it for half an hour-."

My eyebrows go up. "Y-you did that?"

"Of course I did. Why wouldn't I? You know how much smarter it made him."

"Yes, but… It alters the way you process information. It pretty much forces you to be more empathic."

"If you've got it then it can't be all that bad."

I shake my head. "Jade, I… I.. didn't do that to myself."

Her eyes widen slightly. "Oooh."

"I've done some work on my brain… Gradual incremental improvements… I did consider adding in new inter-hemispherical connections, but I didn't want to risk doing anything radical in case it became a problem and I couldn't undo it."

"How much of a problem is this going to be?"

"I don't know, I've only ever done it to one person before. It.. shouldn't be a problem at all. I mean, assuming you only did what I did to Mister Huang. If you went beyond peak Human there might be problems."

"Okay." She nods. "You might want to put some kind of warning on that file. Though on the positive side you've got plenty of people to study now."

"A-all of them?"

"Hey, you said-!"

"Yes. I'm not saying that was.. wrong." Could be an invaluable opportunity, actually. I've been a bit nervous about… Call it what it is, Human experimentation. And they are going to need to pick up new skills rapidly… "No, you know what? Good choice. I was just a bit surprised."

"Is it this house?"

We both look over to where Missus Nguyen is standing in front of the Crock residence.

"Yes, that's the one. Sorry, we just got a bit-."

"That's quite alright. I am glad to see little Jade making friends." She pauses for a moment. "When we are inside, I may need one of you to translate for me. I have not spoken English regularly for over fifty years."

Jade and I look at each other. "Table this for now?"

"That's probably best. So, let's meet my family."

 

[Mr Zoat]

26th March
10:41 GMT -5

I press the doorbell and then step back from the door.

Jade gives me a slightly nervous glance. "What are they like, exactly?"

"Your grandfather's a less malevolent grey-haired version of your father. Your gran's just really nice."

"You did tell them what I was in prison for, didn't you?"

"I didn't-."

Missus Nguyen taps her lightly on the arm. "Jade, they are family. If they have invited you here, they do not care."

"Grandma, I don't think it works like that."

"I was once put in prison by the American government. Did you know that?"

"Why? What did they think you'd done?"

"They thought that I was a communist sympathiser because they found me in the wrong village." Missus Nguyen appears to consider this sufficient, returning her attention to the door.

"I'll get it, Grandma!"

"What was that like?"

"I mostly remember it being boring. Plus, it made it very hard to kill them."

Jade gives her gran a look of surprise. "Kill them?"

"I was a soldier in the Vietnamese Army. I killed Japanese,-" For a moment I think she's going to spit. "-then I killed the French and then I killed-"

The door opens and a young man smiles at us. Well muscled chap, though given the sorts of people I usually hang around with I'm getting a bit jaded about that sort of thing. He has a crew cut and an open and honest face, though if you squint a bit you can still see the family resemblance.

Missus Nguyen nods, a bright smile on her face as she looks at him. "-Americans."

"Hey. You must be Jade." He steps out into the front step and holds out his right hand. "I'm Matthew Crock, your.. cousin. Good to meet you."

"Ah. Hi." Jade steps forwards and takes his hand, giving it a brief shake.

"Hey, nice coat. I didn't realise that crazy cake guy was doing merchandising." I didn't meet Matthew Crock during my last visit. As far as he knows I'm just a family friend. This should be amusing. "Did you have far to travel?"

"One fifty seven."

"Yeah, but the traffic was really light. It didn't take long at all."

"Glad to hear it. And you must be Jade and Artemis' grandma on their Mom's side. Oh." He catches himself and then looks at Jade and me. "Can she understand English?"

Missus Nguyen nods. "Yes, I can speak English." She holds up her hands and brings the palms close together. "A little bit."

"I'm sure it's better than my Vietnamese. And you're Paul, right?"

"That's me. Pleased to meet you, Matthew."

"One fifty eight."

We shake hands and then he steps back to lead us into the house. "Everyone's sorta gathered in the living room. My brother Jon couldn't make it but my folks are here." Jade follows him in, followed by Missus Nguyen and with myself bringing up the rear, closing the door behind me. Over the hall table there's a framed piece of embroidery with the words 'God Bless This House' along the top and 'Non Classiarius Fascis Heic' along the bottom. I frown. No.. bundles of wood-?

Oh. Heh.

"Come on, Dad! Nearly there!"

"You must be Jade!"

I turn back in the direction of the living room as Cynthia Crock embraces her elder granddaughter. Jade appears to be a little off-put, but she keeps it under control.

"Mom!" Next to them Paula hugs her own mother.

"Tuyet, it is wonderful to see you in person."

Next to me, Matthew smiles. "Hey, I'm feeling kinda left out over here."

"I can hug you if you want."

"Ah... I'll pass."

Paula gives Jade a hug as well, this one a rib-crusher.

"One fifty nine!"

The huddle around the doorway breaks up a little, allowing me to catch a glimpse of Warren Crock giving encouragement to his red-faced octogenarian father as the older man holds himself off the ground, having completed another push up. Artemis is in a similar pose next to him.

"Is he alright?"

Cynthia notices me watching them and rolls her eyes. "Lawrence can't turn down a challenge. I've tried telling him to act his age, but he won't listen."

"Soon have the girl licked, Cynthia." He turns his head towards Artemis. "Getting tired yet, Arty?"

"As if. Hey Paul, hey Jade."

"Can we place bets..?" Artemis shoots me a look as the two of them lower themselves to the floor. "No, forget I asked."

Matthew turn to me. "I'll bet you dishwasher loading duty."

I hold out my right hand. "Done." He shakes it again. "They let you load the dishwasher? Because my dad was always a bit particular about that."

Warren looks up for a moment. "If he can handle OCS, he can handle a dishwasher. Come on Dad, you can do it."

"If that's the best you can do to motivate me then it's no wonder you never made Sergeant, boy."

"You know Mom would never let me cuss like that inside the house."

"And just you remember it." Cynthia shakes her head. "Honestly."

Jade looks her new relatives over. "Are you all military?"

Cynthia nods. "Army nurse." She gestures to her husband. "Enlisted soldier." To Warren. "Warren served for a while to pay for college, he's a gym teacher now. Jonathan -that's Matthew's brother- he's deployed in Saudi Arabia at the moment. Have you considered a career in the army?"

"Not.. seriously." I suppose she could, though her skills lend themselves more to special forces units rather than normal infantry or officer duty. "I'm not sure they'd take me."

"One Sixty!"

"Still alive over there, Grandpa?"

"Army can…" Mister Crock Senior pants for a moment. "Take anyone. Straighten you out."

Cynthia nods. "You should hear about some of the things Lawrence got up to before the judge signed him up."

"So do the Crock men just escalate the competitiveness throughout the day..?"

Matthew shakes his head. "Not if we want dinner. Why, you wanna join in?"

"I'm not really one for physical combat. But if your ego can take it I'm sure Jade will be happy to kick your arse in a spar later."

Jade gives me a look of pure irritation.

"Oh yeah?" Matthew raises his eyebrows at her. "You think you're that good? Army doesn't go easy on officer cadets, you know."

"One sixty one! Going great, Dad."

"Six years, mixed martial arts. And that's in addition to what Mom and… Taught me."

Matthew nods. "Alright, I'm up for that."

"Yeah, just don't let her kiss you."

Jade strikes me in the stomach with the back of her right hand. Matthew looks puzzled. "Why not?"

His grandfather looks around from the top of his most recent push up. "Because you're not some g-." His wife gives him an interrogative glare. "-osh darn hillbilly from deepest darkest Kentucky, that's why."

"What? No, no, Grandpa, I wasn't-."

"Drugged lipstick. She tried that on me once."

Jade rolls her eyes. "I'm not wearing drugged lipstick, Paul. For some reason they didn't let me take that in prison."

"Next you'll be telling me you don't have any concealed weapons!"

"I don't."

I reach over to her left ear with my right hand before pulling it slowly away, revealing the sai I just took out of subspace. "Really?"

In one smooth motion she plucks it out of my hand and conceals it within her coat. "Oh that's where I put it."

 

[Mr Zoat]

26th March
12:26 GMT -4

It's interesting, seeing the White House lawns from this view point. So similar to my sojourn to Earth 50 and yet.. totally dissimilar in tone. This time rather than intruding on someone else's ceremony I'm attending my own. I'm wearing a suit rather than glowing yellow armour. I even invited a few guests. Doctor Robbins and Orana have already taken their seats in the audience while A-. While Mister Scott has just been shown through to the backstage area by the Secret Service.

I need to talk to him. I should probably have had this discussion when I returned his lantern, but I was.. busy… Not a great explanation, but a true one. And I had to wait to see exactly how far the League… How far Diana was going to push things. And, yes, this is a better occasion than just turning up at his home or inviting him to my own unfinished one. Really, Genomorphs need an intermediate labourer caste because while G-Trolls are great for clearing debris they don't really have the skills for delicate work. Maybe they could revisit the old G-Promethean design? Or heck, I could offer Dubbilex my services in upgrading the existing ones. I'll run it by him later.

Mister Scott makes eye contact with me. He looks… Old. Worn down. Huh, maybe he and Doctor Robbins can compare notes or something. I nod in greeting and start walking towards him.

"Grayven."

"Mister Scott." I hold out my right hand. "Good of you to come."

"I was.. a little surprised to receive the invite." He watches me for a moment, then reaches a decision and takes my hand. For a man of his generation not doing so would have been a major slight, after all. "I rather got the impression that you didn't want to have anything to do with.. us."

"That's… No, Mister Scott…" Sinestro, sound baffle.

As you wish.

A barely visible yellow barrier forms around us. "I respect you. I admire all your achievements. And I still respect the League."

"You've got a funny way of showing it. They took you in, offered you training and friendship and you just threw it back in their faces."

"Because of their…" Control. Control. Remember your anger management. "I slew the greatest living mass murderer and Diana tried to tell me I'd done a bad thing. This-" I spread my arms wide. "-whole thing is the country saying I was right and they were wrong. Why should I hide? Why should I follow her instruction to sit in a cave while the world celebrates my action?"

"She was trying to help you. And what you did to Hal-."

"That was a harmless joke! And Diana was trying to control me. I could not bear it any longer. That…" I exhale. "That doesn't mean I suddenly forget all the.. good things she does. That the League does. And I certainly haven't forgotten my friends. It just means that wasn't the place for me any longer." I look around. Anyone look like they're trying to lip read me? No. "Besides, it's not as if I did anything you wouldn't have done."

He huffs. "You've got some nerve, saying that."

"Do I? Mister Scott, I'm one of three people alive who know what really happened to Rag Doll." For a second his face shows his shock, then he masters it. "I spoke about the scenario to Diana -didn't mention names of course- and she told me that she thought that the three of you chose wrongly. I -on the other hand- agree with you completely."

"That makes one of us."

"Why? He was a foul and murderous example of humanity who devoted himself to spreading misery and destruction. I mean, it's not like he was the first person you killed-."

"That was in the war. And before you start on how war isn't special, I know. I hadn't ever killed a man before that, and seeing.. all of the death the war involved caused me to never want to kill again. And if he hadn't threatened our families then I never would have."

"So is that alright then? You can kill if it's personal but not if it's a considered decision? Save the people close to you.. but not other people? Mister Scott, no court would have convicted you."

"Maybe. Maybe not. But someone like you might have followed our example. I can't imagine what it woulda done to Jay if Barry had taken that as his example."

"Central City Rogues aren't usually that bad… Okay, Murmur, maybe-."

"That's not the point. You know what a copycat killer is?"

"Of course. But I'm afraid we're all out of Klarions."

"They won't be that specific. By getting away with this, you will inspire other people to murder other criminals. And they won't have your sense of priorities."

"I know. That's why today is so important." I dismiss the yellow bubble. "I need to make it clear to everyone exactly why I did what I did. How I think the law should treat metahumans, what the guiding principles should be. Once I've done that, anyone who claims to be following my lead when they're clearly not is just another criminal." I lay my right hand on his left shoulder. "Please. I got them to save you a seat at the front. Hear me out before rendering final judgement."

He hesitates for a moment and then nods. "Guess I can do that." He turns away, one of the ushers escorting him around to the front of the stage.

I watch him go for a moment, then about face and amble in the direction of President Horne.

"…just the cost, General. Your own analysis shows that it can't maneuver as well as the F-Sixteen, that the next generation radar systems the Russians and Chinese are bringing in can see it as easily as they can regular aircraft and that it isn't mechanically reliable yet. There simply isn't any reason to rush implementation." The air force general looks distinctly unhappy with the President's pronouncement. "And I seem to remember you taking a rather different line last time we talked about the A-Ten."

"Mister President, those aircraft simply aren't compara-."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, General, Mister President, but I'm ready when you are."

"Okay then. Thank you General, that will be all."

"Sir." The General looks at me for a moment before turning away and heading in the direction of the White House.

"Having trouble there?"

Horne bows his head slightly, then shakes it. "I'm a little slower to fund their toybox than some of my Republican colleagues might like. And now there's a distinct possibility they could be stuck with me for another term they're making more of an effort to try to talk me around to their way of thinking."

"Didn't seem to be working."

"PR is no replacement for facts and figures. The case doesn't make sense yet." He half-turns and starts moving in the direction of the steps up to the stage. I follow, mindful of my far greater weight. "Maybe they'll work the bugs out eventually. I don't really want conventional defense to take up too much of my administration's time or energy." He pauses just at the edge of the stage. "You're ready for your speech, right?"

"Of course."

"A few people on my team were a mite annoyed that you wouldn't use our speech writers or show us the text ahead of time. I have to say that I'm a little nervous about it myself."

"Mister President, I've got… About as much riding on this as you have. I'm not going to make a pig's ear of it, but the impact will be all the greater if it isn't trailered."

He nods as we walk up the steps to the rear of the stage. "Were you serious about the other me being a killer robot?"

"It isn't any longer, Mister President."

"I get the impression that's kind of a theme with you."

I shrug. "By the time I usually get called in…"

"I suppose." He nods to himself. "You at least read our briefing material, right?"

"Every bit, Mister President."

"Then okay. Let's get this show on the road."

 

[Mr Zoat]

26th March
12:33 GMT -4

"…not just for acting to safeguard American lives, but the lives of every living thing on Earth. Grayven, it is my very great pleasure to present you with this Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction."

He pauses in the act of holding it out to me in order to let the cameras get a good shot. Even though I know full well modern photographers don't use them in situations like this, I'm still half-expecting flash bulbs. Behind President Horne's podium -and concealed from the audience- is a box, and standing on it he's just about tall enough to put the medallion's ribbon over my head.

"Thank you, Mister President."

Blue… That's going to clash with my uniform. And with my environmental shield. Ah, no, my ring has decided that the gold parts are sufficiently yellow to mean that it's supposed to make them glow. Fortunately, there aren't going to be all that many situations in which I'm going to be expected to wear it.

President Horne holds out his right hand, doing that 'awkward sideways handshake for the cameras' thing. There's no real way for me to disguise the fact that my hand is massively larger than his, but I'm careful with my grip and that appears to work. This whole thing's.. obviously staged, but I find that I'm.. oddly touched. This wasn't part of our original agreement so he clearly… It could be purely political, but the impression I'm getting is that this is his genuine view on the matter.

"No, Grayven. On behalf of America: thank you."

I give it a few more moments, then release his hand and step back slightly.

"Grayven's going to be working with this administration to further develop our policies on how to respond to crises like the one Klarion created last year. Now, to give you some idea of what you can expect, I'm going to hand you over to the man himself. Ladies and Gentlemen, Grayven of Apokolips."

He steps off the box, going backwards and stage left so that the sudden decrease in height is partially concealed by the fact that he's moving away from the audience. I wait a moment for him to choose a place to stand before walking up to the podium and prodding the box underneath it so that I'm just standing on the stage. I take a moment to make eye contact with Mister Scott and… Ah, I see that the Daily Planet sent Mister Kent to cover this. Scott and Barda are a few rows back and I give them a small wave. I didn't actually invite them so I've got no idea why they're here… Don't suppose it matters.

Now, which of the seven or eight possible introductions that I came up with do I want to use? The magnanimous one, I think.

"Well, first, I'd like to thank President Horne and the people of America for bestowing this honour on me. I don't think anyone really becomes a superhero for the material rewards, but it's always nice to know that our efforts are appreciated. I'd also like to thank those in the superhero community -they know who they are- who helped me find my feet when I first arrived on your planet. Without them I wouldn't have been able to achieve a fraction of what I have."

I pause, taking a deep breath.

"Last November a grave crime was committed, not against any one nation but against the whole of your world, the whole of your species. Millions of people -most of them young children, the most vulnerable members of your civilisation- died as a direct result of the actions of the being I slew last month. This is not the first time in the history of Human evil that such an obscenity has emerged from a single diseased mind. What was unusual about it was that -unlike every other mass slaughter in Earth's history- a small group were able to carry it out without wider support. Usually, when a leader turns people against their neighbours it takes a great many people to participate in the killing to make it happen. Mass public involvement in the case of charismatic leaders, bureaucrats to organise, transportation infrastructure to move the target population to places where they may more readily be disposed of…"

I take a moment to look around the audience. "I doubt that anyone here is completely ignorant of the evils of the twentieth century, so let me get to my point. Klarion required none of that. He required the assistance of precisely four individuals and a single mystical artefact which he was able to procure for himself. No one else had any prior knowledge of what was about to happen. There was no mass involvement at all. The first anyone knew of it, it had already happened. This puts Klarion in a different class to all the genocidal statesmen in Human history. You can't simply prevail upon the better instincts of his supporters or work to bring existing communities together because those things aren't relevant. Klarion existed as a force external to your civilisation exerting pressure upon it but not really receiving any in return."

"Since I killed him, I have been asked repeatedly -often by those I consider my friends- if there was not some other approach I might have used to render him harmless. My answer is: no." I solemnly shake my head. "There wasn't. Klarion's arcane abilities make him either immune or highly resistant to most forms of attack. I had precisely one weapon which I was confident could injure him. More than that, there was no realistic prospect that if he were imprisoned he could be persuaded to change his ways. Killing him was necessary to ensure the safety of this planet." I slowly breathe in and out again. "But sadly, he isn't the only person around with that potential for causing mass slaughter."

"I hadn't even been on this planet for a week when Wotan tried to put out the sun. I'd only been on the planet for a few months when thousands died when the 'Injustice League' attacked several major cities with Smilex-infested vines. It is a fact that some types of criminal are capable of inflicting colossal damage upon their fellow man. And the question in this situation is: how should a civilisation confronted with such people deal with them?"

"Felix Faust and William Zard were each known to the police before Roanoke Island. Wotan and Blackbriar Thorn were known to the superhero community, though their crimes were often outside the usual range of mundane criminal activity. Given the danger they posed, my view -and it appears to be the view of a good many other people- is that they should have been executed for crimes committed prior to Roanoke. None of them showed even the smallest amount of remorse for their actions, each of them was a murderer before they signed up with Klarion. I do not believe that I acted wrongly when I killed Klarion. However, I am aware that vigilante killings are very far from the ideal situation."

"So, what do I think should happen in future? Firstly, let me say that there is absolutely no appetite amongst the superhero community in this country for widespread use of lethal force. And I don't think there should be. Your judicial system is at its best when the facts are studied dispassionately and a jury reaches a conclusion on their basis. Most superheroes are unwilling to kill criminals themselves but few have hesitated to hand them over to police in jurisdictions with the death penalty." I lean forwards slightly. "I handed myself over in one."

"What I would like to see… What I think is a sensible step, is a greater use of trials in absentia, and a greater weight given during sentencing to the damage an individual is able to inflict. Ideally, if a person was so malignant that they needed to be slain then those called upon to bring them down would have had a warrant of execution issued by a court in advance, and so would not have to concern themselves with the possible legal fallout in the aftermath."

"Let me be clear that I do not envisage such mechanisms being required when dealing with the vast majority of what many police forces still insist on referring to as 'theme criminals'. Most use whatever metahuman or technological edge they have acquired to commit essentially conventional crimes. In particular, I have observed that despite having a far higher than average supervillain population density Central City and Keystone City actually have lower than average costume murder rates, and at least one incident the police are aware of in which a group of supervillains 'dealt with' one of their own number who'd crossed.. whatever they think the line is. This would purely be used in cases of individuals capable of single-handedly committing genocide."

I reach up to my chest with my right hand, taking hold of the medallion. "I had to become a murderer to get this. The next person who is in my position.. shouldn't. Thank you for listening."

I take a step back from the podium. It takes a moment for them to fully realise that I've finished, then that part of the audience reporting on the event leap to their feet and begin shouting out questions. I raise my right hand in a farewell wave, then turn away to face President Horne. "I do an alright job?"

He nods. "I'd say so."

Someone who I'm going to assume is the White House Press Secretary hurriedly takes to the podium and President Horne and I walk off the stage. He waits until we're definitely out of auditory and visual range of anyone who doesn't work for him before stopping and facing me.

"Is that what you actually want?"

"It's the best idea I've been able to come up with for dealing with the top fraction of a percent of supervillains. I'm not going to go all out to try and force it to happen, this is a decision that would need widespread popular support. And if you can come up with something better, I applaud you for it. But, if that did happen… I would be happy to serve as a court executioner."

"I'll bear that in mind. Keep a hole in your diary for the Senate Judiciary Committee. They're going to want to talk to you at length."

"I think I can handle them. Any probable dates? My calendar is pretty flexible but I'd like to be able to plan around it."

He nods. "Since we're going to be working together, you should probably meet my staff. And now's as good a time as any."

 

[Mr Zoat]

26th March
13:26 GMT -5

"…forty nine?" Marilyn Crock looks across the table at Paula in complete amazement. "How do you manage it?"

Paula shoots a slightly awkward glance at me. "I.. suppose it would be just.. a good diet, regular exercise and favorable genetics."

It.. is sort of noticeable. She hasn't mentioned anyone else commenting on it, but at close quarters with the extended family it was inevitable someone would ask. I didn't ask Paula not to clue them in about who I am but I suppose that she's used to disguising Artemis' vocation, and if I get spotted there's an increased chance she will as well. After LexCorp, pictures of us are out there on the internet and with Artemis just wearing one of those mini-masks she is easy enough to recognise. Luckily it doesn't look as though the family Crock are much interested in that sort of thing.

Having struck out with Selina, I.. think I'm not going to bother trying hitting on Paula. Even if she said yes, it would just make things awkward with Jade and Artemis. And I know that she isn't really looking for that sort of relationship at the moment.

Marilyn looks impressed. "You'll have to show me your exercise plan some time."

She met Warren at the school where they both teach and they'll have been married for twenty six years this August. It used to be that in situations like this lunch I'd have no idea what to say, just finding the whole complex mass of cross purpose dialogues confusing. Now -I'm not sure if it's the ring or all the adventures I've been on this year- I have to hold myself back from constantly interjecting. This is about letting Jade -and to a lesser extent Artemis- form social bonds with her family.

"Huh. Maybe you should use Arty's plan instead." Laurence Senior's right hand shakes slightly as he lifts his bread to his mouth. He's trying to eat while moving his hands as little as possible, forearms resting on the table surface when not carrying food. He lost -obviously- but I doubt many octogenarians can manage as many push ups as he did before Cynthia made him stop. Cynthia notices the shake and as she does so he notices that she's noticed, returning his arm to the table surface as she makes a very small shake of her head.

Matthew rubs his left shoulder where Jade used a shoulder lock on him during their spar. Nice to see her letting her hair down like that, though I think he found it to be a somewhat humbling experience. "Hey, ah… Jade? If it's not too personal a question?"

She shifts very slightly in her seat. "You can always ask."

"That.. organisation you were a member of..? What exactly was it? I mean, was it some kind of terrorist-."

Marilyn shakes her head at her son. "Matthew."

"I'm not saying-."

"It's okay, Missus Crock-."

"Oh, call me Aunt Marilyn dear."

Jade hasn't quite got her head around this yet. I suppose it's her first exposure to a normal family. Her normal family. "I'm-. I was a member of the League of Shadows."

Lawrence Senior frowns. "Wasn't that some kinda crazy supervillain cult the Justice League broke up last year?"

I suppose it makes sense that they'd have heard of it. The attack on Infinity Island was on the news, though interest in the trials and arrests rather petered out after a week or so.

Paula glances at Jade, who goes completely still for a moment. "You.. could put it like that. I'm sorry, my lawyer said that I shouldn't talk about-."

Cynthia pats her hand. "That's fine, dear. Paul, could you pass the salad dish?"

"Certainly." I nearly float it over, but remember myself a split second later and pick it up with my right hand instead to pass it across to her.

Matthew rolls his shoulder again. "Sure did a good job of training you up."

"All the best businesses invest in their people. And the Shadows were really more of a business than a cult. Kobra are the more culty ones."

Cynthia takes the bowl with a certain firmness which I take to mean that the topic is to be dropped. "So Paul, what is it you do?"

"Whatever takes my fancy, really. I suppose the most interesting thing I've been doing recently is, ah… Working with a company called KordTech and a chap from Atlantis to create a weather control system."

Lawrence looks interested. "What sort of weather control are you talking about there?"

"Earlier this week I watched the prototypes create a miniature storm inside a warehouse in New York with three control drones."

Warren frowns. "KordTech. I know that name from somewhere…"

Lawrence leans forwards slightly. "Is that a weapon they're planning on selling to Uncle Sam?"

"No, they're… The aim is to have the system ready for hurricane season, stick them in any major storms that make landfall and.. pretty much turn them off. Ted's not keen on making weapons."

"Why the-" A fraction-second glance at his wife. "-heck not?"

"Plenty of people build weapons, but the only people who've built weather control systems to date have been crazy." I shrug. "What's more important, another very expensive way to kill people or a way to prevent billions of dollars of property damage each year? To say nothing of the loss of life."

He doesn't look entirely happy with my tree-hugger response, but it looks like he's going to let it go for the moment. "KordTech's an American company, yeah?"

"Mostly." I nod. "There are some foreign shareholders, but the company is registered in America and the fellow running it is American."

"Oh, that's it." Warren nods. "Wasn't there some sort of demo back in.. February..? They're working on teleportation, aren't they?"

"The system they've got works, it's just a matter of getting to the point where they can produce enough units to sell as a coherent system."

He nods. Either he's covering it pretty well or he doesn't remember the face of the person doing the announcement well enough to match it with the face he's seeing now.

"Mister.. Crock Senior? May I ask you a question."

He smiles at Missus Nguyen. "Ah heck, you don't need to call me that. Lawrence is fine."

"Thank you. You would have been with the American army during the Vietnam War, yes?"

He nods. "I was serving with the First."

"Where in the country were you stationed?"

"Oh, a bunch of places. Anywhere that had the front line near it, I was probably there sometime." She nods. "You have a lot of contact with the army back then?"

She nods. "Yes, but not with you. I was organizing resistance units in American occupied cities. I was worried that we might have shot at each other, but now I do not think that can have happened."

He stares at her for a moment, before making a small snort and giving her a lopsided smile. "Well if that don't beat all. Finally found a VC."