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

[Mr Zoat]

1st April
09:16 GMT -5

"…you and the other Roy decided who gets called what yet?" I frown. "And.. the other Mister Harper, come to think of it."

Roy I slowly swings his right arm out to the side while opening and closing his hand, giving the armour's computer the data it needs to interpret his actions. "Yeah. We're keeping the same names, but he's going to ask people to call him William.. or 'Will' I guess.. instead of Roy. It's our middle name, so it shouldn't be too hard to remember."

"My Dad's family had this weird habit of referring to their menfolk by their second names. My great grandfather 'John Jeffrey' was always called 'Jeff'."

He opens and closes his right hand, watching curiously as the armoured pieces move to allow the motion while maintaining the protective layer. "'Uncle' Jim Harper is going to keep his name. Huh, guess that's one of the reasons why they had to remove me."

"How do you mean?"

"Obviously I knew that I didn't have an Uncle Jim. But when they copied my memory for-. For Will, it was easy enough for them to add him in."

"You're probably right. And your… Professional names?"

"He's keeping Red Arrow. Jim's retiring from being Guardian. He said he was thinking of joining the police force." He shrugs, and the pauldrons match his movement. "Not all that much call for out of work superhero laboratory managers."

"Look, um… Given how he was programmed, I'm trying not to hold the Genomorph thing against him?"

"Yeah. Sorry."

"Are you keeping 'Speedy'?"

"I never really thought about it. It was just a nickname I picked up when my foster father taught me to shoot the bow. Using it as my code name just sort of followed from there." He stretches his right arm out and then rotates his hand from palm down to palm up. "I guess I can see why the other R-. Why Will changed it. It does sound kind of.. juvenile." He pulls his arm back and makes a fist. "How long does this armor take to adapt?"

"To be honest, you could probably wear the lightweight version now. It's the heavy versions where the synchronisation is most imp-."

"Would all team members please report to the briefing room."

Roy glances at the workshop speakers. "What, all five of us?"

"Batman knows most of us aren't available during the week." I dismiss my data pad construct. "He's either going to give us a mission to plan for this weekend or give us something that is within our abilities with just the five of us." I look him over. "Do you want to keep the armour?"

Roy stands up, performing what looks like a squat to check the motion of the legs. "For the briefing sure. I'll make a decision about the mission once we know what it actually is." He slings his quiver over his left shoulder and checks its position before picking up his bow and nodding to me.

"Transition in two, one."

The room flickers and we appear in the briefing room. Batman and Mister Freeman are already there, and as I glance left I see the Atlanteans emerging from the direction of our miniature arcane laboratory. Seeing what Sephtian and I have achieved appears to have set off a burst of creativity amongst some parts of the Atlantean thaumistic community, and having our three work together has allowed them to rebond while simultaneously allowing Kaldur to catch up with his arcane education somewhat. Roy and I exchange nods with them, then we come to a parade rest line.

Kaldur makes eye contact with Batman. "Do you have a mission for us?"

"Yes, but we're still waiting for a member of your team."

Kaldur glances back at me and I make a small shrug. "I was under the impression that they were all attending school at-."

The external door opens with a with a gust of wind, then Rob precipitates out of the air. "Sorry I'm late, sir. Came as fast as I could."

Roy looks him over. "Skipping class?"

He bends slightly, breathing hard. "Inset day."

"Now that you're here." Batman takes a moment to make eye contact with each of us. "The Apokoliptian Canis Minor has expressed an interest in joining the team." Can't say I'm completely surprised. I imagine that our lifestyle is far more similar to what he's used to than how the Frees live. "He has considerable skills and experience, though his attitude can be highly abrasive. Both Orange Lantern and Superboy have spent time in his company and can brief you on his personality characteristics. Since he is not being mentored by a Justice League member, the choice on whether or not to admit him will be yours."

Kaldur nods. "Thank you, Batman. We will consider the matter carefully."

I'd say, better inside pissing out. We are going to end up fighting Apokolips eventually, and the more our people can get their heads around how their society operates the better. Plus he's Kon-strong and doesn't need to go to school five days a week.

And him coming here does suggest that Mister and Missus Free are a bit closer to agreeing to join the League. Heh, the Frees, Fire, Ice and Red Rocket. Blue Beetle's a bust but if Booster Gold turns up we'll have the entire Justice League International line up available. Maxwell Lord was one of the people I checked out very carefully early on, but the Earth 16 version isn't telepathic and has no obvious reason to hate metahumans, meaning that the personality shift he underwent in the comics hasn't happened and hopefully won't.

Batman activates the holographic display and a picture of Antarctica taken from space appears. "Approximately ten minutes ago the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station registered a significant seismic disturbance which we believe was caused by the impact of an object crash landing nearby. The object was extra-terrestrial in nature and I'm concerned that it might carry either a weapon or a hostile life form of some kind." The image zooms in on the pod, the scale showing it to be approximately cylindrical, about eight metres long with a diameter of about two metres. It doesn't.. look open, but the resolution at the distance this was taken from isn't good.

Easily fixed. "May I, sir?" Batman gives me a curt nod and I raise my left hand. Ring, scan. The grainy image is replaced with one of crystal clarity. We can see the impressions in the ice left by the landing, though the object doesn't look damaged. The pod itself… Externally, everything looks normal. Internally-. My scan starts glitching out. I get flickers of the interior but something's working against me. "Sorry sir, that's the best I can do."

Roy's eyes narrow slightly. "Clearly something's in there."

Batman studies the image. "The Watchtower is currently monitoring the area. If we see anything moving away from the Station we will notify you immediately. Aqualad, Icon will be accompanying you for this mission." Several not entirely friendly eyes move to the League member in question. "You will remain in command, but Icon has had the most contact with alien species of any available member of the League. If the entity responsible is not mindlessly hostile, he stands the best chance of reaching a negotiated settlement."

"That would be preferable."

Batman nods at him. "Dismissed. Maintain constant radio contact with the Watchtower."

"Um. Batman?" Tula hesitantly raises her right hand. "Isn't making first contact with potentially hostile aliens something the Justice League would normally do?"

"Yes. But with the Green Lanterns all away from Earth it would take a Justice League task force longer to get there than it would take your team." A few glances my way. "And in situations like this time is of the essence. Furthermore, I believe that this mission is well within your team's capabilities."

That gets a few more half smiles as Kaldur turns to face the rest of us. "Gather your equipment and rendezvous in the hangar as swiftly as possible. Fall out."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st April
14:24 GMT

That is a truly hideous sock. I mean, I'm no fashion guru or anything, but green, red and white stripes? Remind me never to go shopping for clothes on Schwab.

Oh. I frown. Right. I suppose that isn't a problem any longer.

I return my attention to Lynne. "So, ah, I'm not quite sure how you being a New Goddess will affect your growth, but assuming that you now match our maturation rate you should age like a Human until you get to about thirty and then just stop."

Killing the robobug appeared to neutralise the exotic energy effect, but as predicted any analysis beyond 'this isn't normal' proved impossible. At least these days I know that's because I've genuinely run into something just that weird, not just because I'm dealing with a gimped database. Sinestro suggested forwarding my findings to Qward and I told him where to stick that idea. While I probably will end up coming into contact with the Weaponers at some point I'm going to wait until I'm in a much stronger position before I do.

"There are real outliers like Granny Goodness, but I assume that her current appearance is something to do with her divine nature. Or possibly Father blasting her with the Omega Effect until she looked like that." I create a construct in the image of the New Goddess of Child Abuse. So glad I didn't actually grow up on Apokolips.

Lynne isn't gagging quite as much as she was a few minutes ago, but she definitely looks a little queasy. "Did you have to give me this talk now?"

"Nooo, but it seems to me that it's best to get it out of the way early so it's not so much of a thing, you know? Leaving it to your school seems like an abdication of parental responsibility and putting it off in the hope that you won't get curious… In this day and age that seems like painfully blinkered optimism. This way you're properly informed before you even start to care! I mean, I'd certainly want plenty of warning if I was going to start bleeding from my genitals every month."

Her eyes widen. "You just said I wouldn't do that!"

"Probably. I mean, I've only got the one data point… Anyway, the important point is that you won't have a fertility cycle, getting pregnant is a conscious, directed proc-"

Ploong.

"-cess." I start looking around. "Which is not to say that you shouldn't insist future partners wear condoms as it's a good habit for them to get into." Ah. Only four places on Earth have hush tubes and the fact that I can't see who came through strongly suggests… Yes, I can see the Bioship now. "Now, I think that covers the basics, but if you have any other questions at any time, it is always right to ask. Apokoliptians are very open minded people and nothing you can say on the subject will disgust or offend me."

"Thaanks."

"Okay, awkward bit over. We're about to meet some of my friends." I drop the yellow wall I erected around the pod when some people from the nearby research base came to have a look just as the rear hatch of the Bioship opens up, revealing Kaldur, Tao.. Tula and Garth. Hadn't realised that they'd be joining. A moment later Arnus steps forth as well, remaining a little behind the younger members. A field supervisory role? In deference to the fact that until recently we were allies they don't point their weapons or spells at me. In deference to the fact that they aren't idiots they have them prepped and ready to go. I smile, flare my armour and start walking towards them. "Hello, chaps. How have you been?"

Kaldur's eyes move from me to the pod before shifting to the construct-armoire. Lynne gets a momentary and very slight look of puzzlement before he returns his full attention to me. "Why are you here?"

"Same reason as you, probably. I saw an alien object approaching the Earth dangerously quickly and got here as fast as I could. I actually.. intercepted it in space, made sure it wasn't a threat and then waited for it to land."

"The occupant?"

I float the construct kill jar over from the top of the armoire, then rattle the late occupant at him. "One alien techno organic pseudo-insect. Non-sentient. The pod wasn't intended to have an occupant."

"Then what was inside?"

"Fifty two pairs of socks, sixteen hat boxes and the corresponding hats,-" The look of puzzlement is back. "-five oven gloves designed for humanoid use, one union suit -green- and this mask." I hold up the strange ski mask with the yellow antenna. Obviously I recognise it as belonging to Ambush Bug. Or rather, it's the mask that would have belonged to Ambush Bug if I hadn't intercepted it. Nothing special about the mask itself as far as I can tell, not with the exotic energy sucked back into the insect thing. Only thing I ever read with Ambush Bug in it was 52, where he joined the very short lived version of the Justice League that existed in the missed year. He could teleport, couldn't he? Plus some sort of fourth wall awareness. The first wouldn't help me much and I'd be genuinely disturbed to encounter the latter.

Tao frowns. "That seems a little strange."

"Having heard the message the former owner recorded, I don't think we're dealing with a first class intellect here."

Kaldur nods. "Thank you for securing the crash site. We will take it from here."

"Ah." I shake my head. "No. This is.. my pod."

Kaldur's grip on his water bearers tightens slightly. "We have the authority of the Justice League."

"Nnnot exactly. The governments who signed the League's UN charter didn't want the League thinking it had unlimited authority to remove alien technology from their own research centres. Even League members don't have the authority to just seize whatever they feel like. And, obviously.. you're not a Justice League member, thissss-" I look around. "-isn't the sovereign territory of any UN member and there isn't an imminent threat to life." I shrug. "I'm not seeing your legal argument here."

He starts to turn to Arnus for confirmation, then stops himself. "Even so, I would.. ask, that we be afforded the opportunity to confirm that for ourselves."

"Of course." I step aside and hold out my left arm in the direction of the pod. "Be my guest. I'm assuming that Arnus is here because there's some small chance he might actually recognise this?"

"That is our hope." Kaldur walks past me and cautiously performs an examination of the pod's exterior. "Our team's own expert on alien technology resigned recently."

I nod. "People like that, you've got to make sure that the opportunities for professional development are there. Otherwise, someone else will just make them a better offer."

"Do you intend to deliver this to the Light?"

"Who?" I smirk. "This is going to a LexCorp research facility, where it will be studied and the technologies derived from it developed for the good of all the peoples of Earth."

Arnus floats over the pod, flashing me a look of… Actually, given how unexpressive he is I can't actually tell. Disappointment, probably. "For the good of Lex Luthor."

"Welcome to capitalism. He can't make money on it by sticking it in a shed and forgetting about it. Which is what the League would do."

"The proper procedures for-."

"And how was it you found out about this, anyway?"

Kaldur glances back at me. "It was detected by the Watchtower's sensors."

I nod, my right finger thinker-posing against my chin. "Remind me who it was that put those back online, Arnus? And.. who it was.. built the hush tube you used to get here right now rather than hours from now after I'd already removed the pod?"

He turns away. Hah-hah.

Kaldur walks around the side of the pod and stops just in front of Lynne. They look at each other for a moment. Ah, I should introduce them. "Lynne, this is Kaldur. Also known as Aqualad. Kaldur, Lynne."

"I am pleased to meet you, Lynne."

"Hello."

"How did you come to know Grayven?"

Lynne looks awkwardly at me for a moment. Oh, I'll field it. I'll have to accelerate my plans for telling Jade to make sure that she doesn't hear it from Artemis first... "Kaldur, you read that mission report I wrote after I got back from Earth Fifty, right?"

"I have indeed read it." He hesitates as he tries to call it to mind. "Lynne.. Wayland. The girl from the SHADE facility."

"Scott and Barda Fifty dropped her off. I'm adopting her." His eyes widen, and I studiously avoid looking directly at him. Instead, I open my killing jar construct and shake the insect out onto my right hand. Sinestro, scan the thing in detail-. The bug flickers with scintillating colours for a second before vanishing.

That was… Odd. But.. probably nothing to worry about. I'll just have to remember to create teleport jammers around sites like this in future.

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st April
09:25 GMT -5

Rob shifts awkwardly as the two of us wait outside the Bio-Ship. Roy's inside with Mister Freeman, familiarising himself with the controls. He's flown the Bio-Ship a few times in training but out of all of us he needs the experience of flying on a mission most. "Um. Look, I didn't want to say anything when Batman was there… But…"

"What is it?"

His eyes flick up towards the ceiling for a moment. "You know I..? Teleported here, right?"

"Yes, you said."

"Right. Err. There's a… In the grove? There's a naked woman? I think she's drunk? I dunno what the procedure is."

I look around as the lift door opens and the fully tooled-up Atlanteans emerge to join us. "Oh, that's Euanthe."

"Oh, right. Euanthe. Yeah."

"Yes." He keeps looking at me as I turn away to enter the Bio-Ship. Antarctica is ice over rock rather than just ice, so our Atlanteans don't have quite the same options they'd have in the Arctic. Still, the temperatures mean that a water spray would be pretty disabling. How quickly would it freeze..? No, they can manipulate ice without turning it back into water, and airborne ice particulates are fine for electrical generation.

Mister Freeman is sitting in the front left while Roy's at the pilot station. I focus for a moment and the ship extrudes a chair for me next to Roy. He's still wearing the light power armour I made for him. I should be able to upgrade it to mithril in a couple of weeks but I want to prioritise the Justice League's metamaterial equipment upgrade ahead of my team's. They're the ones who regularly do heavy direct combat, after all.

He glances at me with a wry smile. "You're that confident, huh?"

"This is just in case we encounter a lot more resistance than we should. We're just going to-." I look around as Kaldur and the others board, Garth and Tula taking the seats on the left side of the cabin. "Aqualad, how far out do you want me to put us?"

"Two kilometers." He takes the seat just in front of me and turns it around to face me. "I am a little concerned about Euanthe's state of intoxication."

"I told her to go easy on the fruit. I'll have a word when we get back."

From the back left of the ship Rob looks at us with obvious confusion. "Okay, seriously. Who's Euanthe?"

"A Dryad of my acquaintance."

"Oh! So she's been eating Swamp Thing's fruit to… Power up?"

"Yep. Only to her-"

Kaldur waves his hand over the instrument panel and the hangar doors begin to open.

"-they're like catnip. She'll be a bit out of it until she's adjusted."

Roy raises his hands over the controls. "I'm taking us up. Engaging camouflage." The Bio-Ship rises smoothly up from the landing pad and accelerates forwards, stealth system coming on as we pass through the external doors and accelerate into the Happy Harbour sky. "Minimum distance for transition in.. forty seconds."

I start plotting the route for the transition. Weather at the other end seems clear. No real reason to pick one direction over another.

"Aquagirl." Kaldur looks across the cabin. "Send a message to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station as soon as we appear. It would be best if they kept their distance while we investigate."

"Right."

"Orange Lantern, do you recognise the design of the pod at all?"

I shake my head. "Sorry, it's too generic. Hundreds of species -including all the spacefaring ones in this Sector- could have built it. Might be able to tell more with a closer look."

Roy looks around. "Minimum distance."

I nod, turning my attention to the front window. "Transitioning in two, one, now."

1st April
14:28 GMT

The window is suddenly filled with clear blue skies and an expanse of white ground beneath, flecks of grey visible where the snow has been blown clear of the underlying rocks. I keep a filament attached to the hull just in case I have to put construct armour around the Bio-Ship. No, doesn't look like the pod thing suddenly turned into a killbot on us.

"This is Aquagirl calling the Amundsen-Scott Station. Come in, please."

"Coming up on the alien pod now."

I narrow my eyes and look out through the ring's sensors. Yep, that's a pod alright. There's a snowmobile next to it, but no sign of the rider. The snowmobile tracks lead off in the direction of the Station, so… Someone went out to investigate, then disappeared. No blood or ash and according to Batman it's only been minutes…

"Rats."

Kaldur inclines his head slightly. "Someone has visited it already."

"Whatever was disrupting my scan of the pod is no longer in situ." I sit back slightly, a cut away construct of the pod appearing before me. "Nothing special about the pod itself. No life support… I'd say it was a cargo container."

Mister Freeman looks the image over carefully. "Not quite. A standardised cargo pod would either be larger for bulk transport or better protected for valuables."

I shrug. Sure, I knew that most would be, but no other purposes leap out at me. "What do you think it is, then?"

"The thing which most comes to mind is a refuse pod, but that does not seem to fit its behavior."

"This is Aquagirl calling the Amundsen-Scott Station. Please respond."

Roy turns his eyes in my direction for a second as he floats the Bio-Ship towards a landing area. "What's it carrying?"

Wha-? "From the looks of it… Socks."

"Socks?"

"Yep."

"You can't be serious."

"Fifty one pairs, neatly ironed. And…" Huh. "A fifty second pair which appears to be of Earthly origin. A couple of other boxes have been opened. Tentatively, I… Think whoever brought the snowmobile out here changed their clothes before they left."

"Wouldn't they freeze to death? It's got to be ten below outside."

"Minus twenty one-. Wait, Fahrenheit or Celsius?"

Kaldur smiles very slightly. "In either case, it would not be healthy for a normal Human to be exposed to without their clothing."

Tula looks up, shaking her head. "They're not responding."

Ring, scan-. "Whatever it was that was stopping me scanning the pod earlier, I'm getting the same thing from Amundsen-Scott Station's dome. Not picking up any people."

Garth frowns. "How many people are there at this time of year?"

"Fifty or so. And I can't see any corpses, either. This is… Really quite odd."

Kaldur nods. "Aqualad to Watchtower."

"Go ahead, Aqualad."

"We believe that an object has been removed from the alien pod and transferred to the Amundsen-Scott Station. We will confirm that the pod is safe and then proceed on to the Station."

Batman barely pauses. "Confirmed. I will continue monitoring from here."

Roy looks at me as the Bio-Ship sets down. "This armor has heating elements, right?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st April
14:31 GMT

The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is an ugly jumped-up portacabin of a building balancing on stilts over a foundation of densely compacted snow. Mister Freeman and I float over the structure, looking down. "Not seeing any sign of a disturbance. No sign of forced entry. One snowmobile missing, the one left by the pod… Apart from the lack of people everything seems to be in order."

Down below, Kaldur looks pensive. Usually, this sort of scenario goes one of two ways: 'obvious enemy' or 'nothing to worry about'. Large numbers of people disappearing completely is weird. Someone wearing power armour could have survived travelling in that pod, but if they were hostile they'd have attacked the first person to investigate and wouldn't have bothered cleaning up after themselves this well. Same with a predatory creature; even if they ate everything there would be blood on the snow, to say nothing of how the snow itself would be disturbed.

"Orange Lantern, Icon. Do you have any idea what this could be?"

"Best I've been able to come up with is a nanotech swarm. One of those could completely disintegrate a person, and they love cold weather. And with the right programming it could build something to interfere with power ring scans."

Mister Freeman looks thoughtfully at me. "That seems unlikely to me. The nearest place in which such weaponry has been used is far outside of this Space Sector."

"I agree it's unlikely, but…" I shrug. "Other than 'something which does exactly what we've encountered and hasn't ever been seen by anyone before' it's the only thing I can think of." I look down. "Sorry, Aqualad."

"It is hardly your fault that you are not omniscient. Tempest-."

"What the-?!"

All our heads snap in the direction of the geodesic dome which housed the previous incarnation of the Station. Garth and Tula are standing at the base of the dome, peering inside. For some reason not only can the rings not scan inside there but the transparent dome surface is opaque.

"Tempest, report!"

"No, it's-. I'm fine, it's just… The dome's warm, and.. I can feel a large body of water inside."

Wat?

Kaldur halts his jog towards his friends' position. "You are sure?"

"Dowsing's a first year spell, Aqualad."

How does that work in Atlantis? 'Yes, I'm underwater'?

Tula holds out her hands and there's a brief pale blue glow. "He's right. There's definitely liquid water in there."

Mister Freeman and I look at each other. I throw up my arms in bewilderment.

"Cornwall, Speedy, attempt to gain entry. Pull back at the first sign of a threat." They turn towards him, nod, then they walk into the short tunnel containing the door. "Orange Lantern, are you still able to track them?"

"Yes. No problem so far. Do you want me to put construct armour on them?"

He thinks for a moment. "There is no direct evidence that anyone has been harmed, and if we have an alien visitor I would rather not alarm them unduly."

"Right you are."

Roy walks up to the door and triggers his armour's thermal vision. "The door's definitely warmer than the surrounding environment. Can't see any traps. Cornwall?"

"Can't feel any magic affecting it. Thermodynamics are weird, though. The ice should be melting a bit with the door this warm."

"We're not going to learn anything else out here."

Kaldur starts walking in their direction. "If you believe that it is safe to proceed, do so."

Roy takes a step back, putting an arrow on string but keeping it pointing downwards. I'm pleased to see that the armour doesn't seem to be impairing his mobility. He nods to Rob, who pauses for a moment and then tries the door handle. It turns easily, Rob pushing it open slightly further than he meant to and then pulling it to again. "Door's not locked. Warm air coming out. No smoke or anything."

Roy raises his bow slightly. "Let's keep going."

Rob pushes the door wider.. and.. I've lost picture. "Boundary effect on the door. I've lost picture."

"Speedy, Cornwall, report."

"It's.. a…"

"It's a beach."

"Come again?"

"Like, with sand and that. Feels like thirty degrees in here. I can.. just about see the dome up in the sky, but it's miles away."

Mister Freeman's frown deepens. "Spatial warping? Unlikely. Aqualad, I advise checking for holographic imaging equipme-"

"Hey there!"

-nt."

"Speedy, right? Or is it Arsenal? Or Red Arrow? Hey, whatever you want to call yourself, you're cool with me. Put her there, pal!"

"Ah. Aqualad? Some weird looking guy just walked up to us. He's wearing a green onesie with a weird mask and then he's got Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt on top of that."

"Is he armed?"

"And.. I know you! You're Cornwall Boy! Huh, and people say I'm niche. Aloha, one shot wonder!"

"Just with a cocktail. Ah, looks like all the other scientists are here as well."

"Any more out there? Invite them in already!"

"Are they in good health?"

"Think so. Speedy just went to check. Yes, I'm-. Excuse me sir, but who are you?"

"Doctor Irwin Schwab, but you can call me-" A green figure with yellow.. thingies extending out of the top of his mask materialises next to Kaldur. "-Ambush Buuuuuuuug!" Another flicker and they disappear. "Hey, you guys work with Jackson Hyde? Weird. But, y'know, cool. Take a load off."

"Jackson… Hyde..?"

"Oh, okay. Kaldur'ahm. I can respect that. Anyone else?"

I look at Mister Freeman. "A man got super powers from an alien crash and used it to create a beach in Antarctica. There are.. worse things he could have done."

There's a flicker, and… Doctor Schwab is perched on Mister Freeman's shoulders. "And Icon? Glad they're finally letting you out of the Dakotabox, buddy. And…" He orientates his head on me. I can't see his eyes under the red goggles that appear to be part of his green with yellow antenna ski-mask. In fact, I don't think I can see any part of his skin at all. Ambush Bug… Vaguely remember hearing about him. "I.. don't know who you are."

"Doctor Schwab, we rather need to talk to you about the alien pod you-."

"Wait!" He leans closer and.. I'm.. not sure why he isn't falling off. "I know what you are." His right hand tremors slightly as he raises it to point it accusingly at me. "You're not from around here."

"Antarctica? No. I'm-."

"You're an SI!" He dives at me, shimmers and then reappears directly in front of me, his right fist swinging around and- "Ow." -bouncing off my power armour's faceplate. "We'll see about that." There's another shimmer and my armour-. My armour's gone! I hurriedly generate construct armour as another flicker signals his reappearance. "No filthy SI in my story!" Ahghah! He's not very strong but his fist went right through my construct and my environmental shield. I transition away and-.

"Canon for the Canon God! Scribes for the scribe throne!"

There's some sort of robotic looking insect on my chest-.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Suicide Squad, part 0

1st April
10:16 GMT -6

Amanda Waller looks up with a sigh as I walk into her office, before sliding the paperwork she had been doing aside and steepling her hands. "What is it this time?"

I shake my head. "I can't believe you actually did it." I come to a halt a metre away from her desk. "I warned you what would happen when we met in Washington, I got you your job back so you wouldn't need to… And you got your Suicide Squad created anyway!" She nods. She's not going to bother denying it. "What the hell?"

"Our prisoners are Americans and some of them want to volunteer. I thought you'd be all over something that might get your friends out a few years early."

"You're planning to use them as deniable assets. Leaving aside the fact that they'd be killed if whoever you sent them after caught them… Can you imagine what would happen to Belle Reve if their identities were revealed? It would look like this place was full of holes again! After all the trouble we both went through to get people on-side again after Strange-."

Waller reaches into her desk and pulls out a small pill. "Know what this is?"

Ring, scan. Oh.

"Suicide device. Looks like the same thing the Chinese give their Xeno Teams."

"Some sorta alien technology-."

"Durlan."

She looks directly at me for a moment, then returns it to her desk. "You'd know. We'll give one to every operative. They die or get captured, no evidence."

I stare at her for a moment, then pull out the visitor chair and sit down. "I assume that the existence of this group isn't intended to become public knowledge."

Her eyes narrow. "I'm not even sure how you found out about it."

"I have my ways."

She sits back. "Alright. So, you know. What do you plan on doing about it? The Taskforce X project will still go ahead anyway. It's legal-."

"I wouldn't go that far."

"We have Senate oversight. The US government doesn't need to announce everything it does."

"Fine. But this is an issue that might result in the League refusing to cooperate with Belle Reve any further. And you can certainly forget about getting any more cooperation from me."

She nods. "I thought as much. I still don't understand why you have such an issue with it. Most of the convicts here are violent thugs -and yes, I'm talking about your friends - and we're giving them a chance to channel their abilities into something useful."

"The problem I have is that the most violent ones will jump at the chance, then get better treatment and earlier release than the ones who are actually reforming. That's what prisons are for, not to serve as black ops recruitment centres for the US intelligence services. And if you don't reform them, then they'll go right out and start offending again."

"We've.. made arrangements. They'll be kept under close observation after their release."

"Closely observing supervillains? Yeah, good luck with that. If it was that easy you wouldn't need superheroes."

"Look, Orange Lantern, this is happening whether you like it or not. But, we could use someone's help wrangling the inmates."

"You want me?"

"We've got a couple of guys lined up to act as officers. Having someone outside the chain of command who they could talk to might help things along. Even our most violent convicts know you're only 'trying to help'." Heck. "Obviously, we'd expect you to maintain secrecy-."

"I won't-."

"We don't care about the Justice League knowing, but there would be.. consequences, if you took the position to release classified information to the general public."

Okay. I exhale. They're going to do this anyway, and unless I'm prepared to drop everything and really campaign… I can't stop it. Keeping tabs on it… There's value there, and if things get really bad I can just blow the whole thing up then and try getting rid of the people involved before they revenge themselves on mine.

"Okay. I'm.. on board. Do you have.. some papers I need to read?"

She pauses for a moment, then shakes her head. "On second thought… No."

"What? But you just.. offered it to me? How can you just-?"

She shrugs. "You didn't buy the DLC."

…

I boggle. "Suicide Squad is DLC!?"

"Uh-huh."

"But the basic game references it about a.. dozen times. There were event triggers and everything!"

"I don't make the rules."

"This is ridiculous! The content's on the disc! A bunch of procedurally generated missions using characters in the main game and one unique scenario, which would be pretty weak even if it was new content."

"You bought the Hellblazer DLC. I can see it on your hard drive."

"Hellblazer was released two years after the main game, added new characters, mechanics and events and had them interact fully with the main game! The resolution I got in Prayer this playthrough came from that DLC, partially because of the fans campaigning for it! It wasn't on the fricking disc I already paid for!"

She raises her eyebrows. "This isn't your first time through and this is news to you?"

"It wouldn't have been in character for my other characters to bother finding out about the Squad. Agh, this is such bullshit! I paid for this disc! Why don't I own it?!"

"You actually paid for a licence to use-."

"Oh, don't even."

"Look, a triple A game like this costs you sixty dollars."

"Forty pounds."

"And you spent how much on the last Hearthstone expansion? You spend more than that for sixty packs." She shrugs. "It wouldn't cost them any more money to give everyone access to all of the cards, but they make you buy them in packs instead. How is that any better?"

"It isn't! I know that's bullshit too! I know they're taking advantage of the sales model that comes from hard copy cards, where there were costs in printing and distributing and a secondary market they didn't directly profit from, but this is not something I'm prepared to put up with." I get up. "Forget it! Forget it. I won't do it. I just won't follow this quest line. All the rewards are crap anyway and I can grind relationship points later on."

"Okay. If you're sure." I nod, then turn away and start towards the door. "I've just got.. one more thing I need to say to you."

"What?"

"You've paid your sixty dollars-"

"Forty pounds."

"-and now you want to play
But all the game's bullshit is getting in the way
Companies don't have to listen to what the fans say
They keep offering you extra content on the first day."

There's a hidden mockery song? Oh that is total-!

She stands up.

"The DLC! The DLC!
You haven't bought the DLC!"

Oh fuck this. I storm out of the office-

"Peasant, get the fuck away from me!"

-to emerge onto a veranda overlooking an entire cell block as the prisoners and guards combine to perform a display of interpretative dance to the song now playing from the prison's speakers.

"'Cause you haven't bought the DLC!"

I try transitioning away, only to find that the function is disabled.

…

I lean back against the wall in frustration. I could be playing Young Avengers right now.

"We already know you like it, so how is it a risk?
To make you buy characters already on the disc?"

Fuck it. At least I can put this on YouTube later.

"Proper bug testing? Why bother with that?
You can download fixes later for our pile of tat!"

"The DLC! The DLC!"

They're still going?

"You haven't bought the DLC!
Peasant, get the fuck away from me!"

Oh… Come on..!

"'Cause you haven't bought the DLC!"

"AAAAA-"

 

[Mr Zoat]

"-AAAAA-"

Sororicide, part 21

26th July 2003
21:32 GMT -8

Even after a month and a half, I'm still not entirely used to it. The strange flashes of heat which run unbidden through my body. The sudden surges of violent impulse that all too often threaten to crowd out my rationality. A couple of times I've come perilously close to trying to find a way just to chuck the whole thing in.

But as some guy on the internet said: how stupid do you have to be to give up a power ring?

My first fumbling attempts to improve the Earth with the universe's most powerful weapon were.. inefficient, at best. It wasn't until Dharma noticed what I was trying to do and started feeding me information that I made any real progress. More than a little blood on my hands now, but: Red Lantern. My current ongoing assignment required that I set up shop here in… Jump City.

And if that isn't the dumbest name for a city I've ever heard…

No, no, not helping. Yes, I… Would like to live in a city with a sensible name. I'd like to have a power ring whose AI responded to my questions a little more intelligently than this one does. But, flying's always fun, helping people is satisfying and -I thrust both hands forwards as I unleash a scintillating beam of red energy at that fucking dropship- occasionally I get to take out my constant frustration on someone truly deserving.

The beam strikes the flying platform thing the aliens are using as their getaway vehicle directly in the centre, gouging through the armour before hitting the primary anti-gravity control system. The red and grey armoured figures look up in shock even as they activate their boot clamps in an attempt to remain upright as the vehicle starts to fall from the sky. One thing I've learned about red rings is that they're shit at anything that doesn't involve wrecking something, but at anything that does? Kind of awesome.

"Friend-?" My vision goes red for an instant and Koriand'r shrinks back slightly in the air. "Acquaintance Red Lantern, what are you doing!?"

"I'm making a neural shock generator." Both aliens cry out in pain as the construct goes to work on their central nervous system, rendering them incapacitated without doing -much- lasting harm. The third alien on the platform, the one being held in some sort of force field bubble thing, smiles savagely at their misfortune before trying to pound her way out with her fists. Emergency anti-gravity should keep them from landing too hard, but… I really want everyone to know exactly why I'm doing this. Red, spike-wreathed clamps manifest around the falling ship, thrusting it towards the ground and then yanking it to a halt.

Koriand'r's eyes and hands glow green as she tries to work out whether she needs to attack me or not. "You will tell me why you have attacked them and you will tell me now!"

I descend towards the ground as the other members of the Teen Titans -actual early to mid teens here, rather than late teens to early twenties like in the comics- form a half circle and ready themselves for combat. Control, control. Reasonable mode on. I lean forwards slightly, my toes nearly touching the ground. "Simple, Miss Koriand'r. I've been flying around like a blue-arse fly all day getting absolutely nowhere and it's made me somewhat cranky."

Mister Logan puts his right hand over his mouth and leans a little towards Mister Stone. "Crankier more like."

"Also, I'm preventing a kidnapping." A tin opener construct slices a hole into the force field around Komand'r and a chain construct pulls her out before releasing her. "Don't go anywhere. I can fly far faster than you." She raises her eyebrows slightly and folds her arms across her chest as I generate heavy manacle constructs for her would-be abductors.

Mister Grayson lowers his staff slightly. "They're not kidnapping Blackfire, they're arresting her."

"Oh, you think they're police officers, do you Mister Grayson?" I stare him down, eyes wide and probably a little manic. "Really? Let's just.. let's just check that, shall we?" I raise my right hand to my right ear. "Ring, give me the non-emergency number for the Jump City Police Department, would you?"

"ERRRRRwrrrrrrrrrrrrrahhHHH."

Helpful as ever, but the phone sounds like it's dialling.

Koriand'r floats around, coming to a stop near to Miss Roth. "Why does he call Robin 'Mister Grayson'? Is it some sort of Earth joke that I do not understand?"

"I do it because I don't like using silly pseudonyms."

Someone answers the phone. "Jump City PD. What can I do for yah?"

"Hello, officer. I was wondering if you could please tell me… How many aliens the Jump City Police Department employs?"

There's a slight pause. "What is this?"

"A simple question, sir. A number of aliens have made their homes on Earth, I was just wondering if-?"

"No, we don't have any aliens on the force! Now stop wasting my time!"

She hangs up, and I lower my ring. "Turns out, they don't! Who'd have thought, hey?"

"They're not local police, they-!"

"Oh, they're FBI, are they? Shall I phone Washington and check?"

"They're from the Grand Centauri Empire. Blackfire stole from them and they're taking her-."

"Absolutely nowhere." I yank one of the kidnappers through the air towards me before releasing the clamps on hirs right arm. "You. Identification."

Ze shakes hirs head slightly before reaching to hirs equipment harness and pulling out a small shield-like medallion. "Here. I am an officer of-!"

I read the inscription on the shield. "Fuck all, from what I can see. My power ring has a universal translator. You're not a police officer at all, you're a bounty hunter. Brotherhood of Zvort, according to that."

"We can't send planetary police halfway across the galaxy! Our warrant is valid-!"

"Yes, in a region of space that's about… Ahh…" I point out in the approximate direction of their homeworld. "About seven thousand light years that way! You are totally beyond your authority! Did you think I didn't have a stellar map?"

"Waaait." Mister Stone tilts his head slightly to the right. "What you sayin'?"

"I'm saying that while you can make arrests thanks to Batman's deal with the local police, and while I can make arrests under the same United Nations Security Council resolution which authorises Lantern Stewart to operate on Earth,-" They probably only meant it to apply to Green Lanterns, but the text doesn't actually specify a colour. "-they have no authority to make arrests here. This, was a kidnapping attempt." I float closer to my prisoner. "The Brotherhood of Zvort are usually quite well regulated. Tell me, did you make any effort at all to secure an extradition warrant? You know, like you're contractually obliged to?"

No response.

"You didn't, did you? What was the discussion like? 'Oh, it's just some primitive place. Might as well just fly in, grab whoever we want and leave again, it's not like anyone there can stop us.'" I float closer to hir. "Well done for picking up the wrong woman, by the way. Do all Tamaranians look alike to you? Was an identity scan really too much like hard work you lackadaisical fuckwit?"

I pull back slightly. "I'm remanding you both in custody for assault, kidnapping, criminal damage, and such other offences as may be revealed by a full investigation. Your equipment will be impounded to be returned to you either when you are found 'not guilty' or at the conclusion of your term of imprisonment." I subspace the remains of their flying platform before tearing the armour from their bodies. They look a good deal smaller without it. "I will also be forwarding an official complaint to the Grandmaster of the Brotherhood of Zvort, which will with any luck result in disciplinary action being taken against you at the conclusion of your sentence."

"But…" Mister Grayson appears to be a few steps behind events. "What about Blackfire? She stole-."

"Was accused of stealing, Mister Grayson. She has not been convicted. And if their guild ever sorts out an extradition treaty with Earth or with the United States of America, she may in the fullness of time face trial for it. In the mean time-" I turn to Komand'r, eyebrows slightly raised. "-dare I express the hope that you have not committed any crimes during your stay on Earth?"

She affects an expression of total innocence, pressing her right hand to her chest. "Me?" She slowly shakes her head. "Noo."

"Glad to hear it. I've taken the liberty of applying for refugee status on your behalf, based on the same arrangements which gave Miss Koriand'r leave to remain. It should take a few days for the application to be processed. Do you have somewhere to stay at the moment?"

She takes a few steps in my direction. "I was staying at a place." She glances at the Teen Titans. "But my roommates were kind of a drag."

Mister Logan looks shocked. "Kind of a.. drag? But she said I was funny!"

Miss Roth pats him on his left shoulder. "Maybe she didn't mean 'funny, hahah' funny."

"In that case, you're welcome to my spare room for the duration of your time here." I rise into the air, dragging the bounty hunters and their armour along with me. "I'll show you the place once I've dropped these two ne'er-do-wells off at Jump City Prison." I return my attention to the Titans. "If you wish to register a formal complaint about my conduct, travel to Ysmault, request and complete form seven zero one b and then prove your worth by defeating Senior Lantern Kultonius in single combat. Then submit the form as directed." I nod. "Farewell."

Miss Komand'r flies after me, her eyes moving over my armoured body and to her two attackers, still bound in construct chains. "I think this could be the start of something beautiful."

I glance back as the Titans watch us go, Mister Stone looking thoroughly bewildered. "What just happened?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

"-AAAAA-"

Sororicide, part 22

26th July 2003
22:09 GMT -8

"…not really sure why you did that."

A tiny spike of irritation allows my ring to manipulate the mechanisms of my apartment's lock. As a security measure it doesn't have any externally accessible components.

"I dislike bullies, Miss Komand'r."

The two pillars rotate in response to the lock being deactivated, causing my door to open down the middle. It's designed to be very difficult to force, externally applied pressure just pushing the two parts together more strongly. I don't look back as I stride in, letting the automated security system get a good look at me.

"Recognised, Red Lantern two eight one four. Welcome home."

I stop just ahead of the inner door, hearing Komand'r's faint footfall follow on behind me. "Computer, one guest. Indefinite leave to remain. Name: Komand'r."

"Recognised, Komand'r. Welcome home."

The pillars behind us rotate closed with an audible thump, then clank as the mechanism engages. I had this place refurnished when I started living here by people whose usual clients were supervillains. Perhaps I should have been more annoyed that that's actually something it's possible to make a living at, but they did good work. A moment later the inner blast door slides aside, granting us access to my richly furnished living room. There's quite a lot of red, but perhaps not quite as much as my theme would seem to demand.

I walk slowly through the living area in the direction of my armoury, dumping the alien armour off to one side. Another tiny surge of irritation and my own torso armour unlocks, allowing me to start pulling it off my body. Would have been nice if my ring could have given me some sort of physical tune-up as well as the Lantern-powers, but the best I've been able to get it to do is burn away excess fat. On the other hand, I'm more physically active now than at just about any point in my life, and the ring does appear to improve my endurance and reduce my capacity for boredom while I exercise. I'm no Mister Universe, but there's definitely muscle definition present in a way there didn't used to be. "Make yourself at home. I'm just going to grab some normal clothes."

In a wall-mounted mirror I watch as her face goes contemplative for a moment before appearing to dismiss me as I move out of sight. The armoury door has a palm reader, so I drop the cuirass on the floor for a moment to allow me to pull my left hand free of my gauntlet and then put in on the reader. It flickers into life for a moment, then the reinforced door slides open. This armour was a gift from a guy in New York. Well, I say gift, it was really more of a 'I'll make you armour if you don't kill me' kind of thing. Fucking mob armourers… Anyway, the flat's AI can do maintenance to my armour which my ring certainly can't -and clean it as well- so I usually leave it here instead of in subspace.

I put the gauntlet under my right arm and pick up the cuirass with my left before ambling in. Not a large room, just a few weapons and the armour stand as well as the maintenance armatures. Haven't quite been able to get an Ironman-type system set up, but this is body armour, not true power armour. Gauntlet goes on the bench, then I lift the cuirass with both hands and put it on the stand. Then the left gauntlet and rerebraces follow the right gauntlet and I'm nearly free. I throw the gambeson into the washing basket and pick up a towel to dry myself off. I don't really get hot any longer, but sweating is a normal physiological response to stress and I feel a lot of that most days. Boots come off next and get stored in their own slot, followed by my greaves. I take a moment to do a few stretches before towelling my bare legs and chest and my crotch dry. Oh, that's better. Towel goes into the washing basket and I take a pair of loose cotton trousers off the bench and put them on, followed by a t-shirt printed with the logo of the Death Metal band 'Atrocity'.

Last step… I walk over to the medical scanner and stand on the platform. "Update."

The machine hums for a moment, green lights dancing over me. "No change detected since last scan."

Great. I close my eyes for a moment, listening to the beating of my heart. I know the Corps of which I am a member isn't quite like the one in the comics. No 'rage zombies'-. Well, not exactly. Still, the ring is changing me. It would be nice to be able to monitor it better. Oh well.

I walk out of the armoury, hearing the armatures whir into life as the door closes again. Looking down the short corridor into the living area, I see Komand'r holding her right hand out to one of my trophies, comparing the size and shape of her hand to the size of the shape melted into the bone.

"Do you like it?" She pulls her hand back in to her body as she turns, a little more wary now. "For people who make me really angry, I-" I hold out my right hand, fingers outstretched. "-like to hold them by the head and have the ring burn the flesh off. That little shitter was the leader of a militia which murdered about… Wwwwwhw… Two thousand people? After my employer confirmed the kill they let me keep his skull. The bounty payment paid for this place, actually."

Say what you like about Dharma, he pays well.

"Those guys from earlier?"

I shake my head. "They didn't deserve it." I walk over to the aliens' armour. I'll have to hand this over to… Star Labs? But I can do that tomorrow. First, I burn holes into the chest plates around the transponders and pull them free. Couldn't risk setting these off by putting the armour into subspace.

"What are those?"

"Emergency FTL transponders. If the wearers die, if the armour gets destroyed or they trigger it themselves, a call for help goes out. I'd rather avoid that for the moment." I put them down on an empty shelf.

"What did you mean by 'bullies'?"

I walk into the centre of the room and flop down on one of the settees. "People from more technologically advanced societies who think they can do whatever they like on our world. They had no right to remove someone from this jurisdiction yet they tried anyway because the people whose job it normally is to stop things like that wouldn't have been strong enough to stop them." I tilt my head to the side for a moment. "Not that I have to tell a Tamaranian what that's like."

No visible reaction to that. I suppose I couldn't be sure that this Komand'r would care. She keeps walking around the edge of the room, taking in some of my other kill trophies, each skull with a hand-and-red-lantern-sigil burn on the forehead. "Were these murderers too?"

"Mostly. Murderers, brigands, warlords…"

She nods at the smallest skull. "Children?"

"That little shit had murdered seventeen people, twelve of them tortured to death, by the time I met him. I saw no reason to wait for an arbitrary age limit."

Dharma's little test of my resolution, before he attempted to sic me on Miss Roth. Apparently she's responsible for.. something very bad happening some time in the next couple of years and he wanted me to 'intervene early'. I took the deposit, checked his information and then refused the commission on the grounds that she hadn't done anything. And frankly that it doesn't look like she ever would. He couldn't give me more information -a lot of Shadow Cabinet operatives get pissy about that, but it's not like he knows everything- so he told me to stick around until I change my mind. Can't hurt to keep an eye on her, and it's his money.

"You… Did all this with your power ring..?"

I hold out my right hand, taking a good look at it and noticing the renewed interest in her eyes. It's not the original ring. Lord Atrocitus took that when he took me to Ysmault for my 'induction'. "Red rings are catalysed by anger and hate. Though -because I know this is why you're asking- taking it from me would-."

Pantomime of innocence time. "Oh, no, I wouldn't-."

"Yes, you would." Her face goes back to a somewhat more honest expression. "But it wouldn't work. It's bound to me by blood and magic. Take it off and it would just crumble to dust." I pull my right arm back a little. "Of course, if you want one of your own, there's no real reason why you can't go to Ysmault yourself. I'd be happy to take you."

Her eyes narrow slightly. Curious but cautious. "How would that work? What does 'Lord Atrocitus' want in return?"

"There's a.. three day ritual. Senior Lantern Qull gradually regresses your mind to its most primal, rage-filled state, until you're reduced to a savage, animalistic level. At that point, they throw you naked into the Lake of Blood which surrounds the Red Central Power Battery and Lord Atrocitus himself calls forth your rage with which to forge your ring and personal lantern." I flick my eyebrows up for a moment. "As to what he gets out of it, I'm really not sure. I think.. that he likes giving people filled with righteous anger the strength to fight against their oppressors. But, he hasn't said anything definite to me."

She turns her head away again, looking at an ornate sword I took from a previous target. "Maybe. Maybe not."

I nod, then wait for a moment. "Have you given any thought to what you're going to do? Now you're not having to evade those bounty hunters?"

"I've got a few things…"

"I ask, because one of my regular employers has another target for me. I'm planning to go after them in three days' time. I'm not.. hurting for cash myself. I'd happily split the commission with you."

She looks at me out of the corner of her eye. "What kind of split?"

"Half the money for half the work. The job should be well within our combined abilities."

"Hmmm." Appraising look now. She turns to face me, hip tilted slightly to the side and her eyes... Ah. Not a huge surprise. And I think I'd be… Okay with it. No, more than that. I'd like to have someone around to share -she saunters forwards, poses above me for a moment then drops into my lap- this life. Or, hey, just until she gets bored. Frankly, having someone who's a little more on my wavelength-.

Her left arm goes around my shoulder as she leans in slightly, her eyes studying my face as she tries to gauge my reaction. She's a lot stronger than me, but that's not.. a problem, as far as I'm concerned. I raise my eyebrows and give her a small smile. Her grin expands and in an easy motion she twists to straddle my legs, staring down at me from above with both hands on my shoulders.

"Interested in Human males?"

"You're not that different." She leans forwards. "And I do owe you for your help."

I interpose my right hand and press my index and forefingers against her lips. "No. Not like that."

She blinks in confusion. "Like what, Red?"

"Because you find me attractive, because you like me… Because you've got an itch and I'm a convenient penis… That's fine. But never because you owe me. Never for.. obligation's sake. I don't.. own you. I don't want to."

She leans forwards, pushing my fingers out of the way and nuzzling the side of my face as her right hand ah. "I think I can manage that."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st April
23:47 GMT +9

The great thing about being the focus of a Tentacle Ogre orgy is that there's no need to worry about what you're going to say the morning afterwards. Everyone's clear what they're there for and you're all going to be heading back to your own homes at the end of the evening's festivities.

I look around the shop. "So… How have you been?"

The fact that I don't live anywhere near Aichi meant that the chance of just running into someone I'd met there was minimal, but… This is the Japanese city I know best. And I knew that this shop had a personal shopper service and stayed open late. Seemed like such a good idea at the time.

"I… Haven't been back since you stopped going, if that is what you are asking Mister Grayven."

Hara Takako is the manager here and was one of my more.. ardent admirers, right up until the point she nearly… No, did, cause herself a rather nasty injury on… Me. I healed her with the ring, but the screaming and blood rather put a dampener on the festivities. I did warn her not to try something like that.

"I think you can probably get away without using the 'Mister'. Given…"

"Oh no, that would be quite improper."

I raise my left eyebrow slightly. I once used seven construct tentacles to… Okay, I guess it's.. probably a company directive or something. Don't I.. remember something about the Japanese being big on those?

"Was it..? Did what happened between us drive you away?"

"No, not… For me, it wasn't a lifestyle choice. It was something fun to do in my spare time. I met a woman who wasn't part of that scene and… That was that."

She nods. "Is the young lady her daughter?"

I look over to where a young Japanese woman with blonde hair -bleached rather than natural, but done well- is helping her pick out items of clothing that are to her taste. "No. Lynne… I'm adopting her."

She looks a little surprised. "I realise that I only saw you in one.. role, but it does surprise me that you are the paternal sort."

I nod. "Surprised me a bit."

"You know…" She looks me over. Ooh dear. "They may be busy for some time."

"Could well be."

"There is an.. office…"

"Ahh. I'm afraid that Jade and I are monogamous." She nods disappointedly. "But.. if you like, I can give Guy Gardner your phone number?" I still go to the anger management classes. Lynne's presence makes it doubly important now. "He doesn't look like an Ogre but he can make tentacles just as well as I can."

She looks thoughtful. "Maybe I could ask him to wear a mask."

"I'll.. pass that along. Um." I wiggle my right forefinger in the direction of the personal shopper. "What did she do to get lumbered with us?"

"Miss Amane is a wonderfully vivacious young lady. I was certain that she would be able to help you and whoever it was you were buying for." Ms Hara watches her for a moment. "She only works here part time now. She was scouted by a modelling agency and I imagine that she will leave us entirely once that contract generates enough work to justify it."

"Ah. Then I am honoured that we are considered suitably armigerous to deserve her attentions."

She looks me over again, this time a little less amorously. "Will you be purchasing anything for yourself?"

"Do you stock my size? I mean, I know that I'm not as big as I used to be, but I'm a fair bit bigger than your usual customers."

"Still…" The tone says innocent enquiry. The expression- "Too big, Mister Grayven?" -says something rather different.

"No. You just have to be careful with the fit."

Ms Hara smiles salaciously. "I can imagine. We have a tailoring service, and we can order clothing in to your specifications if you find a style that you like."

"Then…" I nod. "Certainly. It would hardly do for me to let the side down by dressing shabbily when my daughter is so chic."

"Let us see if Miss Amane has finished her first set of selections." Ms Hara leads the way away from the counter and towards the young women's clothing section. Should I pick something for Jade? That would probably be a good idea. Nothing too racy or fetishistic… A dress? Blouse? Oh, I'll ask Miss Amane what she thinks.

There's a small and neatly folded pile of clothing on a cushioned seat near to where Miss Amane and Lynne are going through a rack. "…pierced ears? I think these would look so cute on you." She holds up a couple of surprisingly large earrings in the shape of a fleur-de-lis.

"Oh no, I'm dad-vetoing that. No self mutilation until you're eighteen." Lynne just rolls her eyes -I'm calling that a success- while Miss Amane turns to look at me with genuine nervousness in her eyes. I shake my head. "It wouldn't work, anyway. We heal our injuries too fast. The hole would be gone-" I flap my right hand at my own right ear. "-before they could put a placeholder stud in."

Miss Amane's eyes dart from me to her employer and back again. Then she performs a shallow bow, hands clasped at her waist. "I apologise, Prince Grayven."

Bit melodramatic of her. "That's fine. No way you could have known." Her own ears bear some sort of cross design. Being Japanese she's probably not Christian. Maybe she just likes right angles? I think I heard something about the Japanese liking symmetry? "Lynne? Found anything you like so far?"

"Uh-huh." She looks at the pile. "Is that alright?"

"Of course it is, poppet. Buy what you like."

"Miss Lynne." Ms Hara smiles at her. "Why don't you pick that up and come to the changing rooms with me. Miss Amane, Mister Grayven has expressed an interest in acquiring a new wardrobe himself."

I didn't.. go that far. Oh, the sell-me-the-shop thing. Can't really complain. I'll admit that my non-armour clothing isn't something I've paid a great deal of attention to. On Apokolips it's basically 'body armour or leotard' and my wardrobe wasn't much better organised back on Earth Prime.

"Yes, Madam Hara. Prince Grayven, please come this way?"

"Lynne, I'll be right over here-" I point as Miss Amane leads me towards what I assume is the men's section. "-if you need me." She nods as Ms Hara picks up the clothing and leads her towards the changing rooms. "Lead on, Miss Amane."

I follow her across the shop floor, past the-. Huh. "Isn't men's clothing over there?"

She glances back for a second. "Yes, Prince Tentacle Ogre." Hah! Oh, Japan. "But I am afraid we will need to take your measurements first." She leads me over to a slightly remote part of the shop towards what looks like a tailor's work area.

"What exactly did Ms Hara tell you?"

Miss Amane looks away, and I think I saw a blush. "Madam Hara did not tell me anything. I heard… Rumours. About you. And I saw the news report that you killed the monster Klarion."

"And what do you think about that, Miss Amane?"

"There's nothing wrong with liking sex, even with a.. Tentacle Ogre."

"Hahaha! No, I meant about Klarion."

She walks over to a work bench and picks up a tape measure. "He was evil. Killing him was a righteous deed. Could you please take off your shirt?" I hold my arms out to the side as I send my shirt to subspace. She unwinds part of the tape and walks up to my right arm. "Did.. someone ask you to kill him?" I raise my eyebrows. Not quite sure where she's going with that. "I mean, did someone offer you… Something? You know… This, or that?"

I suppose that the Light did. "I was compensated, but.. I wouldn't have killed an innocent. He had it coming."

She steps behind me to put the tape around my chest. "I.. believe in you, Prince Grayven. Would you do the same thing again?"

"Yes. I mean, I'd prefer it if the legal side was a bit better organised, but some people need killing."

"Okay." The tape is no longer around my chest and I extend my left arm. "And Tentacle Ogres like Japanese girls best, is that right?"

"Hahaha. I'll.. admit to a certain fondness, but, ahh… First, they were all consenting adults." I turn to face her. "And I wasn't offered-." I blink. "What happened to your clothes?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st April
09:37 GMT -6

A thoroughly dejected looking Amane Misa sits opposite Lynne and I in Olive Ridley's Coffee & Tea Company Café in Rifle, nursing her hot chocolate. I've erected a sound baffle around us as I get the feeling that this isn't a conversation any of us want becoming wider knowledge.

I sigh. "Miss Amane, just because I played the role of a Tentacle Ogre during a sexual role play, that doesn't mean that I actually am one."

"Yes, highness."

"I mean, for goodness sake, you're-" Only about a year younger than Jade, actually. She just.. acts younger. Or maybe Jade acts older? Certainly, Amane has a certain girlish air to her than Jade hasn't had as long as I've known her. Probably the pig tails. "-asking me to trade sex for a hit?"

"I-I'm sorry."

"Who did you even want killed?"

The change is instantaneous. Her hands whiten as the strength of her grip on her mug increases, the muscles of her face tighten, her teeth are bared, her eyes flare with rage. "The man who murdered my parents."

"Oh." Sugar. "Would you.. care to explain to me what happened?"

And the passion's gone, as if that moment drained her. "It was a robbery. He broke in through the back door while we were out at dinner." She's staring at her mug, completely still. "When we came back, we didn't realise that he was in the house until he came into the living room with a kitchen knife. I-I don't know why he killed them, but I was-." Her eyes are watering. "I was right there, and he stabbed them! And they were bleeding and I couldn't do anything. And after he ran away I phoned the ambulance but by the time they got there-." Her voice hitches, her body hunching slightly. "By the time they got there it was too late. They were dead! He killed them!"

"The police?"

Her eyes are running freely, and she absentmindedly dabs them with a napkin. "I told them what happened. The man who did it was arrested three days later. At the trial, his lawyer said that I wasn't a reliable witness."

I lean forwards slightly. "And?"

"He's in prison, but the trial is still going on. Because I was the only witness and there wasn't much physical evidence, the prosecutor said that he isn't sure if the man will be convicted."

"And you want me to kill him. Without a conviction."

"He murdered my parents and the court isn't going to punish him."

"You don't know that. They might well decide that he's guilty." Sinestro, connect to the Mountain's hush tube generator and open a small aperture to the Amane family home. Scan for biological material, hair and skin cells. And access the prosecutor's database to get any other pertinent information. Confirm the accused's guilt.

In progress, Corpsman. Hm, curious. It looks like he wore gloves while carrying out the theft. No finger prints or biological traces there. There is some biological material from him at their home.

"You didn't see the way the jury looked at me when I gave my evidence. You didn't hear what the defence lawyer said to me in court. A-and the newspapers said that I might have made it up. They said… They said that my father might have killed my mother and then himself and seeing it drove me crazy."

Did the police not find it?

Lynne is looking at me expectantly. Does she think I can fix this? Would killing this… Komon Eiji actually bring Miss Amane any peace? If I could see into her soul… I can't ask Lynne to read her mind, that wouldn't be safe and in any case Lynne doesn't know enough to be able to judge things like that. Would a G-Gnome.. or Jean herself? Don't know. Probably not.

They searched diligently and found hairs, but they were unable to prove how they came to be there. The defense said that they could have been blown in from outside.

The jury believed that?

Humans do not shed that many hairs. I can detect his skin cells in situ, but with Human technology that would be next to impossible for the police. I assume that we will be killing this man?



Hm. No, I don't think so.

Murder is murder, Corpsman. Japan has the death penalty. I fail to see any reason for hesitance, now that you are free of the aegis of the Justice League.

That's because you're a surprisingly small minded individual. Now shut up and let me work.

"No. I'm.. sympathetic, but compared to many of the people I've encountered, two murders barely registers. Mister Napier alone has killed-."

"He didn't kill my parents."

"Lots of people's parents die every day. Why should the man who killed yours get special attention?"

"Because it's what he deserves."

I shrug, shaking my head. "Why me?"

"Because-. Because I can't. I just sat there. They fell on the ground and I just sat there. I couldn't move, I couldn't think, I just stared up at him and he laughed at me."

There we are.

"Then, wouldn't it be better for you to be able to kill him yourself?"

She stills again. "I.. can't do that. I'm not a fake Tentacle Ogre with magic powers-."

"No." I tilt my head a little to the right. "But would you like to be?" Her eyes widen. "I ask, because I can make that happen. If it's what you want."

"An.. Ogre?"

"The Ogre thing isn't actually necessary. But if you like, I can give you power. Perhaps… Super speed? Like the Flash? You could pass through the prison walls like they were nothing, run down the halls faster than the cameras could track you… Vibrate his brain to pulp? Strike him repeatedly faster than the eye could see? Or perhaps a bladed weapon? Would you rather slice through his neck and watch his head fly off as his blood spurts out of his neck stump?"

Her eyes are wide and her mouth hangs open slightly. I don't need an orange ring to know how much she wants that. "What… What do you want from me in return?"

"I was serious, when I asked what was special about your parents. You aren't unique in your situation, Miss Amane. Any number of young women feel the same pain that you do, for the same reasons. Does that not seem.. unjust, to you?" She nods, hesitantly. "Then -once your own situation is resolved- I would like your assistance in doing something about it. I would not take up too much of your time. There would be no need for you to abandon your career-."

"You want to make me a superhero?"

I smile. "I want to make you a goddess. I want to set you free of your mortal limitations. I want to give you the power to decide who lives and who dies, and the guidance to use that power responsibly. If you say yes… Then it will be a difficult and violent road, my little death goddess, but this I will promise you. You will never be powerless again."

She's nodding before I've even finished my offer. "Yes. Yes, please, Prince Grayven. I want it. I want it so much. I want to be able to-."

I stand and move to the side into an empty area of the floor and motion to the space in front of me with my right hand. She gets up, not entirely steady on her feet, and stands before me for a moment before kneeling. "Please."

I lean forwards, touching her lightly on the forehead with my right forefinger. Sinestro, Garrick Formula infusion.

The air around us crackles with the signature electrical discharge that signals the Formula taking effect.

Done, Corpsman.

Father Box, Divine Awakening.

Ploong.

And I can feel it. Feel her soul expanding. Feel the idea of speed and motion making itself part of her at the most fundamental levels. It's glorious.

"Rise, Iname, New Goddess of Death." Miss Amane gets to her feet, taking a moment to stare at her right hand and vibrate it to a blur. "Now…" I look around the room, outside of my sound bubble. We've drawn a small crowd, passers by who decided to stop and gawk at the superhero and his coterie. I drop the barrier. "Shall we celebrate our compact in the traditional Japanese manner?"

She nods twice enthusiastically- "Yes, Master." -and then appears to hesitate. "Here? In public?"

"Of course. Where else would you perform karaoke? Bret!" I turn to face the chap a the counter. "This place has a live music licence, right?"

He nods. "Sure does, Mister Grayven."

"Right then." Can't muster that much fear power, but what the heck. Singing's not exactly a high power activity. I turn back to Amane. "I'll go first, you think about what song you want to do." She nods, and I walk towards the rear of the café before turning to take in my impromptu audience. Easy choice. Two yellow construct speakers appear next to me and a construct microphone appears in my right hand.

And then the music starts.

"Like an unsung melodaaaaa-aaaay!
The truth is waiting there for you to find it." I will help you.

I clench my left fist for emphasis, enunciating violently with all the passion this song requires.

"It's not a blight, but a remedaaa-aaaay!
A clear reminder of how it begaaaaan! You will become strong.
Deep inside your memoraaa-aaay!
Turned away as you struggled to find iyat."

I stare directly at Amane.

"You heard the call as you walked awaaaay.
A voice of calm from within the silence."

Then at Lynne.

"And for what seemed an eternity.
You wait and hoping it would call out agaa-aain!
You heard the shadow beckoning.
Then your fears seemed to keep you blinded.
You held your guard as you walked away." Trust me.

Now I'm not looking at anyone, throwing all of my energy into the song.

"When you think aaaaall!
Is forsaken,
Listen to me now. I will guide you.
You need never feel broken agaaaaaain!
Sometimes darkness can show you the liiiiiiiiiiiight!" You will be magnificent!

 

[Mr Zoat]

"-AAAAA-"

Mayday, part 3

Day 6
10:57 GMT -5

It's amazing what you can become accustomed to, really. And how quickly.

Five days ago I committed my first murder. I suppose I could argue it down to manslaughter. My choices after all were -and still are- severely curtailed. But I feel that would be dishonest. I didn't choose to kill, but I did have a free choice of the target. Or I.. could have chosen to die myself. I'm not surprised I wasn't… I'm not brave, certainly not enough to suffer through what I would have had to in order to make that choice. Learning things about yourself isn't always nice.

Four days since I started committing what even a relatively sympathetic jury would have to admit was unarguably murder. I am.. a serial killer. I'm sure that various law enforcement organisations around the world are trying to assemble a profile of me even as I float here in the skies above Detroit. My victim profile probably doesn't make much sense yet. The Society of Shadows doesn't exactly advertise its employees' occupation, and local police most likely have not yet been informed by their country's intelligence agencies exactly who the bodies in the morgue belong to.

And… I'm okay. I'm okay with it. I really am. I'm okay with them being dead so long as I get to live. Obviously, there's the argument that I'm saving lives by killing assassins but in my own head I'm not completely sure it would matter.

Three days since my first suicide.

Less than a day since my most recent. Carbon monoxide really is the way to go. None of that nasty business with needles or slicing your own wrists open and having to watch the blood pour out. Between pulling myself out of the Lazarus Pit and going to sleep with the gas mask on, I get about eighteen hours. The first time it took me half an hour to get my head together, but on the second the fucking ring-.

"GGAHGAAAAAAGHHHHH!"

The slave-animal will address this ring as 'Master'.

Yes Master, I'm.. sorry, Master.

The slave-animal will complete its appointed task within the next half an hour. If it does not, first stage punishment will begin. Comply.

I can taste blood in my mouth. I'm not sure if I've bitten something or if th-. If Master just burst a blood vessel by punishing me. I suppose it doesn't matter. Master will heal me if it looks like my effectiveness is being impeded.

I will comply.

There are some things I'm not allowed to think. Surprisingly few things I'm not allowed to do. Master had no objection to me attempting to cut off my right middle finger, confident that the level of energy channelling it would need to do in order to protect me from myself would be its own punishment. It doesn't object to me reading about local superheroes or supervillains, even though it knows I'm trying to find someone who can help me escape. I'm just… I'm too interesting a test subject. Through me it's learned too many interesting things to casually discard me. I suppose that's.. nice to know, but I dread to think what the Weaponers are learning from what I do.

Why I'm here is simple. I don't have a personal lantern, and I'm told that aside from a handful in the workshops back on Qward there aren't any 'green antithesis personal lanterns' or 'anti-green lanterns' to be had anyway. No, Master is designed to recharge by taking power from a Green Lantern. I was putting it off, but Master's charge is now low enough that it's decided to force the issue.

This is a DC universe, obviously. Nothing here quite tracks with any particular continuity I remember. It looks like it's most similar to the Justice League Animated continuity, with a load of canon DC stuff thrown and other differences as well. Cyborg -Victor Stone- was a founding member of the League here, and he appears to have a sidekick I've never heard of. The Flash's sidekick is Impulse rather than Kid Flash. In fact, the sidekicks appear to go on League missions a lot more than I would have expected.

Not that I've got any grounds for feeling morally superior.

There's some sort of giant robot assisted crime wave going on down there at the moment, but I'm not here to help. I'm going to wait until Lantern Stewart is on his own, attack him and steal as much power as I can before the League turn up to assist him.

Ushh.

"Magnify."

Uuehh. As ever, making a construct feels like I'm undergoing amateur brain surgery. Antithesis rings -or as the Qwardians call them 'slave-rings'- were originally designed to be used on mass cloned slaves with little mental activity bar what was imprinted on them so they wouldn't soil their owners' laboratories. Whenever I use it to make a construct it 'boosts' my mental acuity in the same way it would have boosted theirs. I suppose that their lives were so generally unpleasant that the added discomfort didn't really register, but it does for me.

Master has so far refused to tell me whether it has to do that every time or if it can work like a normal green ring.

On the other hand, there are advantages to having my willpower artificially increased. The increase in mental clarity while it's active is really quite noticeable. Right now I'm tracking the League members as they move from trouble spot to trouble spot. Here, Wonder Woman blocks some sort of particle beam shot from a robot's arm gun with her bracers, defending a crowd of people. There, Superman sends one staggering back with a punch to the head, pushing it away from its objective. Over to the west, Batman directs the sidekicks in attacking a warehouse that was used as part of the criminals' staging area. Lantern Stewart…

He's in the south east. From the way a collection of rough-looking types are tied up with bent steel I'm going to assume that he beat his Human assailants before their robotic support unit arrived. As I watch hatches open in its torso, firing out a volley of missiles in his direction. He creates a construct barrier to block most of them, but whether by intent or by faulty guidance systems three get past him and slam into the America-side tower of the Ambassador Bridge just behind him. They detonate and the entire bridge begins to tilt to one side. Stewart hears the screams slightly before I do and turns to look, but the robot takes advantage of his distraction to shoot him in the back with its arm mounted plasma cannons, sending him careening through the sky with a yelp.

Oh heck. They're going to-.

I shoot forwards, support pillar construct already projecting into the water of Lake St Clair as the other end comes up under the bridge. Careful not to damage it further… Okay, stabilised. Stewart recovers from the attack and spots me, giving me a slight frown before returning his attention to the robot.

The slave-animal will explain itself.

I-It will be easier to lure him in if he thinks I'm a friendly.

Master doesn't say anything further. Guess that means I'm in the clear. The robot fires its plasma cannons again, but Lantern Stewart's able to block them before forming a sniper rifle construct and shooting the cannons directly in the barrels. From the electrical crackling and smoke I'm going to assume that he wrecked them. Another batch of hatches opens, and as the robot lumbers towards him it fires missiles one at a time as a distraction.

Master blinks. What does that-? "Hey, kid. If I hit it full power, can you stop it crushing anything?"

John Stewart's voice. He's talking to m-? Oh. "I can probably do that, sir. Just give me a little notice."

"You're not Rayner." I see him shoot out the missiles and give a little ground as the robot advances. "Did something happen to him?"

"I don't know, sir. I'm not actually a Green Lantern, I just have similar powers."

"Alright then. On three. One. Two." His ring glows brilliantly for a moment. "Three." His beams strike the robot in the head, chest.. and open hatches.

The remaining missiles detonate first, then I see his green beam erupt from its back. Immediately I extend.. ugh, an X-clamp construct around its torso, catching it before it can fall too far. I'll have to lie it down in the road… Anyone there? No? Okay then. Gently does it, the civil engineers are going to be busy enough as it is after this. Right, done.

"Good job. Now hold still while I fix the bridge." His beam goes to work on the tower, pushing broken metal back into place and fixing it good as new. I suppose it only needs to last until people can evacuate… "Alright, that should do it. You can take the support away."

Check for myself… He's right. I drop the construct and fly up to land on the bridge's road surface. Well. Now here comes the.. shitty part. Lantern Stewart floats down through the air to land just in front of me. Unlike the Anti-Green Lantern uniforms I vaguely remember from the comics, I'm wearing normal street clothes. Unless he spots the ring he's got no particular reason to be cautious.

He looks me over. "Are you sure you're not a Green Lantern?"

"Yes sir. I'm afraid that I'm-" I raise my right hand and for a second his eyes widen as he sees the twisted symbol Master bears. "-quite the opposite."

"Bwaaagh!" The dull-green beam strikes him in the chest, causing him to shudder and fall to his knees.

"Recharging."

Master, please let me know when he reaches nine percent charge.

The slave-animal will explain its request.

We'll need to feed on him again. He needs that much to get away safely without being able to pursue us.

Acceptable.

Lantern Stewart's glow has noticeably decreased. Antithesis rings were specifically tailored to shut down Green Lanterns after all, he'll be basically powerless until I stop draining him. He manages to get his head up to stare at me, shock and anger at my betrayal clearly showing on his face.

I look away.