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

[Mr Zoat]

9th January 2004
05:17 GMT -7

I stumble across the cell, clutching the side of my head with my right hand. Ow! Whoever just did that fires again and this weapon has a little kinetic force behind it. My gauntlet armour takes the hit but I have to strain to keep it in place. Alright, who-? Guy from the previous cell. Either the elastic bloke released him.. or there was a remote release mechanism. And he's an energy projector. Vacant gaze, check. Justified. Which probably means that I'm going to have to fight the other two as well. No good deed -he aims for my head again and I interpose my bracer- ever goes unpunished. The bracer is more designed to take hits like ow. Like that. The energy bolt comes from his hand. Okay, I can work around that.

He doesn't back away as I dash towards him. No sense of self preservation anymore. Instead, he cups his hands and builds up for a more powerful blast. I grab his wrists with my right hand and shove them away, causing the blast to gouge the concrete wall of the cell. My left performs a carotid artery pinch. Ring, any idea what the other two do?

The heavy reinforcements in the bonds of the first suggest augmented strength of some sort. In the case of the second-.

The energy projector loses consciousness and I drop him. "No metal."

Yes. Either some sort of magnetic field manipulation or elementalism. Obviously, magnetic control would only enable her to manipulate iron, cobalt or nickel, though the electromagnetic flux itself might present a problem. If she controls metal more broadly she has vastly more options. The intensity of her ab-.

A spear-shaped piece of metal flies through the hole in the cell wall and strikes me in the chest. That's a relief. Sinestro's right, with these things you can never tell how strong the effect is. I felt that impact but it was far-. Another knife flies in and I batter it away with my right hand. Far weaker than she'd need in order to seriously threaten-.

Whoooooh!

Urg. Yep, black lad has super strength. Fine, I don't have to kid gloves this fellow. I pull myself out of the remains of the back wall and generate an Agony Matrix construct at the end of a filament before shoving it into his neck. And… And he's immune to pain. Wonderfough! And quite a lot stronger! I grab his wrists and shove his arms aside as he tries to punch me again before slamming my head forwards into his nose. It cracks, but that doesn't hold him back. Airways. Poison? Ring, generate strong knockout gas.

If you insist, Corpsman.

A filament shoves itself down his throat and a second later I hear a gasp of displaced air. Funny thing about super strong Humans, they seldom adapt their resilience to physical attack to other forms eergh. Owowow! Metal Manipulator Lass just hit me in the face with some sort of metal and she's doing her level best to insert it into my eyes, nose and mouth. I fortify my environmental shield and grit my teeth, forced to trust my divine aura to keep it out. I don't think having metal inserted inside me would actually kill me but I'm not sure how I'd get it out again. The pressure Strong Lad is exerting on me is dropping -which is good because I can't see well enough to judge the force I'm bringing to bear- so I opt to maintain my hold and go looking for her.

Still where I put her. Magnetic sense for remote targeting? Probably something like that. Using the drone I send another filament out and shove another dose of knock out gas down her throat. Another creepy thing about the Justified: no reflex actions. She doesn't choke or gag, she just keeps her arms up and pointed in my general direction -does she need to do that in order to manipulate the metal?- for as long as she can then collapses. Immediately I feel the metal harden on my face as Strong Lad loses consciousness as well and collapses into me. I shove him over with my right hand and grab at my metal facial with my left, pulling it away.

Huh. Actually looks kind of cool. Think I'll keep it. Subspace. Explore. I pick him up by his-. His vest rips. I pull him up by his underarms and wrap my right arm around his chest. Father Box, ping Scott's Mother Box.

Ploong.

Ping.

A small hologram of Scott appears to my left. "Grayven. Looks like you weren't lying about the Thanagarians."

"I'm full of surprises."

"I'm still not going to let you conquer the Earth."

I grab Blasty Hand Man with my left hand and lift him up as well. "Is that specific to me, or is it a general thing?"

"What are you doing with those people?"

"The reason I ask-" I start walking towards the next cell, hoping that Rubber Chap is still there and still unconscious. "-is that SHADE is using the Anti-Life equation. I've got four unconscious and Justified metahumans here."

"That's impossible. Darkseid's dead. No one else knows enough about how it works-."

"Scott, shut up. Someone has, okay? Bloody soldiers here have pretty much been Justified just by hanging around the crappy Human equipment they're using to transfer it."

He pauses for a moment. "SHADE is already in control of all official metahuman activity in the US. Why would they want to use the Anti-Life Equation on them?"

"Maybe their employees liked being independent more? Maybe they want all metahumans, not just those willing to work for them? I don't know. Heck, I never understood why Father made such a point of using it whenever possible. The reason I'm calling is that you're the best chance these people have of getting their souls back."

"I'm.. not sure-."

"Scott, they haven't had full contact. I can still see emotional resonances inside them. They could… They can lead normal lives again. Please, I'm not asking this for myself-."

"I don't know if I can do it." He sighs. "I'll send you a set of coordinates. Boom tube them there."

Ploong.

"Thank you. They'll be with you shortly."

"So. SHADE?"

"We're looking into it. Frankly, if they've replaced the President with a mechanoid and they're using Anti-Life… Are you sure you won't reconsider my offer? I mean, it's not like I'm going to be worse than the people they've chosen to put over them-."

"No."

"Scott, I know I look more like Father than our other brothers, but that's a really petty reason-."

"It's not that. I've got a life here, Grayven. I like being an entertainer. With everything that's been going on I'm starting to think Barda and I need to get a bit more involved in what's happening-"

"Well then-."

"-but I'm not helping you take over. Just because they've made bad choices a few times doesn't mean they can't learn to make better ones."

"There's something you didn't learn in the X-Pit." He frowns. "No, really, I admire the way you overcame their attempts to condition you. Always have. Heck, you're the guy who inspired me to break free. Both of you have my respect."

"Huh. I hadn't realised-."

"And once I take over, I'm going to avoid killing you and Barda if at all possible."

"Uh. Thanks."

"I'm sending the first two through now." Father Box.

Ploong.

The tube opens and I walk through… Huh. Not Earth. Breathable atmosphere and.. slightly above normal Earth gravity. Barda scowls at me from about twenty metres away as I set the two of them down reasonably gently. I give her a wave before walking back through and picking up Rubber Chap and putting him over my shoulder. Metal Manipulator Lass should still be in her cell. I send a filament out into the corridor. No soldiers yet. Probably setting up somewhere. I jog through Rubber Chap's cell and into Metal Manipulator Lass's. Ring, quick check? Yep, basically healthy. Father Box.

Ploong.

A new boom tube opens to the same location. I could have opened it next to Barda, but I'm playing nice at the moment. I set the two of them down next to their cellmates, give Barda a formal bow and then step back.

Okay. What next?

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th January 2004
05:22 GMT -7

And the lights are out. Bit odd. Doesn't really impede my vision, not with these goggles on. The augmented reality display the soldiers are using should allow them to see in the dark as well. Were the lights there for the prisoners, or for inspections by people not afflicted by Anti-Life? I stroll through the ruined cells and out into the corridor, following the route the eel drone indicated. My busy little drone has gunned down a few more soldiers but hasn't encountered any heavy opposition as yet. To be honest, evacuating seems to be their best bet. Still can't.. feel any fear from the people around me. A shame; at least if I could I would know where I was heading.

Okay. According to the old plans the cell room used to be accommodation, for use as a short term fallout shelter in the event of a nuclear exchange. At the end of this corridor is a junction room leading off to several more such rooms. I'll do a quick check-.

"Help me! Somebody help me!"

Sounds like there's at least one other person here. Young and female by the sound of it. 'Give me a child until he is seven' and all that. Right, no pressing hurry. I reach the junction and wait for another sound.

"Boo hoo!"

Ah. I take a turn to my left and set out at an even pace. 'Boo hoo'? Really? At least I might get some information out of this. The room I come to is the same design as the one I wrecked except that all but one door is open. Ring?

Not even locked, Corpsman.

Honestly. I walk over to it and press the button to open it.

"Who's there! I can't see in the dark!" Oh, for goodness sake. A girl of perhaps seven years old is crouched in the corner. She's not even tied up and the blue and yellow dress she's wearing is in perfect condition. She has bows in her hair. "I'm scared!"

"Hello there."

She turns her head in my approximate direction. "The mean men threw me in here then ran off. Are you going to let me out?"

I suppress a sigh. "Malice, knock it off."

"But I'm scare-."

"No, you're not." I raise my right hand slightly. "I can see fear. Quite aside from the fact that I know perfectly well who and what you are, a normal child would freak out even worse when a large man in glowing yellow armour walked in. Scream, probably." Her faux doe eyes begin to take on a harder and more contemplative look. "The door wasn't locked, you're not strapped in and you clearly haven't been Anti-Lifed. Well, no more than the rest of us. Your clothes and hair are too neat for someone who's been viciously manhandled and there are no tears on your cheeks."

She scowls. "You're no fun. Who are you, anyway?"

Ring, turn the lights in this room back on, would you?

I think I can manage that.

Miss Malice Vundabar blinks as the lights come on, then looks more closely at me before jumping to her feet in a truly child-like way. To be fair she is a child by New God standards. "Hm. You look a bit like Darkseid, Human. What's your name?"

"Please. I'm no more Human than you are. My name is Grayven, and I'm-."

"You're the one who told Uncle to fuck himself when he asked you for help."

"That does sound rather like me. What are you doing on Earth?"

"What are you doing on Earth?"

I take a moment to look at the Female Furies' youngest member. Then I step forwards, pick her up by her head with my right hand and slam her face first into the concrete wall. I give her just long enough to process that, then I do it once more before dropping her. "Slamming insolent little girls into walls." "Answer me."

She wipes away a trail of blood from her nose with the back of her right hand. "Granny wanted more warrior slaves. The Humans said they'd trade them with her for weapons."

"And the Anti-Life fragment?"

"We stole it from Desaad." She smirks. "But Granny couldn't make it work."

"Who did?"

"Why do you want him? He's boring." She looks up at me again. "Why haven't you come back to Apokolips? Everyone else has."

"Because it's a pointless meat grinder of a war. No one's trying to build anything new."

"But it's fun!"

"Darkseid would hate it. You're fighting over rubble while High Father Izaya looks on and laughs."

"We'll get to him in the end."

"No, you won't." I turn away from her. "Darkseid made you so you could barely conceive of doing anything actually worth while. You'll just keep maiming and killing until someone does it to you." "You're not worth my time."

"Oh, aren't I?" "Eat him."

I step through the doorway and reach backwards to lock the door again. "No, you're really-."

Teethteethteeth!

A yellow mouth guard forces its way into the maw of the.. shadowy thing currently trying to bite me in half. The purple holes that mark its eyes narrow slightly as the pointed purple teeth bite down harder, the very tips piercing my construct. What is this thing?

Ploong.

I was hoping for more than a name. Chessure opens its mouth wide and its face appears to shrink away for a moment before attempting to flank me. Ring, status of the lights in here?

Thoroughly broken. Though I would point out that you have-

I fire pulses of yellow light into Chessure's face but they pass through with minimal impact.

-a power ring on your finger.

"Light up the room."

Thin beams of yellow light radiate out in all directions, flow up the walls and terminate in lantern constructs. Suddenly illuminated from all directions Chessure's darkness patch shrinks to less then a metre across almost immediately and then continues to decay. Some sort of living darkness entity? Interesting. If I still had the orange ring I'd take a crack at branding or assimilating it-. The lights flicker for a second and the darkness patch takes the opportunity to dive into one of the cells.

"Leave my Chessure alone!" Miss Vundabar dashes out with knives in her hands. There's some sort of circuitry in the handles and I've no doubt they could do me a mischief.

I fold my arms behind my back in best Darkseid fashion and fire yellow beams of energy from my eyes, slamming her into the far wall and binding her there with a series of chain constructs. A filament from my right forefinger snatches her knives and deposits them in subspace. "What are you prepared to offer for its safety?"

She tries straining against the bonds, but I'm finally starting to get some feedback. Not sure whether it's because Chessure couldn't eat me or because I'm looking like Darkseid. In any case, the chains hold strong. "What do you want?"

"I want you to leave and never return. I want the name of the Apokoliptian scientist running this end of the operation. And-" I take a radion blaster out of subspace and take hold of it in my right hand. "-I want you to hold out your left arm."

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th January 2004
05:36 GMT -7

Yellow beams blast from my eyes and cut through the thick metal of the bulkhead. My drone is already cutting down the Justified soldiers on the far side and I wait patiently for it to finish before reaching forwards and shoving the freestanding plate to the ground.

I don't fight Lowlies. But there's one here I'll be only to happy to put out of my misery.

His name's Esak and I've honestly never heard of him. But I can feel the fear coming from the room at the far end of this corridor. Miss Vundabar was kind enough to volunteer that there was one more metahuman test subject as well as the base's Director in there with him. I'm not sure why he hasn't just disengaged. I doubt that I'd be able to prevent a boom tube from forming and I'm certainly not going to rush. If they were confident of their preparations they wouldn't be afraid. So, an uncertain counter to my presence, and he's more afraid of returning a failure than they are of me.

Soon fix that.

I get an image of the interior. Three soldiers left, the containment unit for the Anti-Life fragment… The metahuman -a pale skinned black haired girl who looks about twelve- plugged into it. The yellow skinned midget genius himself. Father Box, boom tube. Kill the chaff.

There are thumps as the soldiers take glowing purple beams to the chests and collapse. This time I defuse one set of explosives and grab and subspace a set of the gear before the explosives can go off. Esak is fiddling with some sort of control panel but spares a moment to look up at me in obvious panic. A man in a suit charges me from my right, trying to grapple me. I hold out my right arm and force him back with little effort before turning my head to see exactly who… Oh, Director Bones. The skull face is a little off-putting, but he has only slightly augmented strength and I'm immune to cyanide. Not that Esak has thought to have him take his gloves off. Ring, just stun him.

There's a flash of yellow light and the Director collapses.

Are you leaving him alive because he is more important, Corpsman?
Self=Null

He'd have to have given Father Time status reports. That means Esak had to leave his mind and soul intact. Scott can handle him as he's handling the youths. Also, someone will need to take over what's left of SHADE when we're done.

"Esak. I'm here with your eviction papers. Earth is now off-limits. Go back to the brawl on Apokolips." "Get out."
Self=Null

"You can't stop me!" "No! No!"
Self=Null

I swing my right hand, throwing Miss Vundabar's arm at him. "Sure you won't reconsider?"
Self=Null

"Yes!"

…

"Is that 'yes, I'm going to leave' or 'yes, I'm s-."

"Hahhah!" He grabs a lever-



-and I shoot him through the chest with my radion blaster. Honestly. His remains collapse, his hands clamping around fucking fuck! I transition across the room and take in the control system. Father Box, analyse.

Ploong.

That's just wonderful. How about-?

SELF=NULL

…

U-uh-uh-uhhagh.

I… I…

SELF=NULL

Ploong.

I frantically start following Father Box's directions. I should be able to take a degree of exposure without critical identity loss, but-

SELF=NULL

Ploong.

-I can't take this foulness indefinitely. Every time it pulses, it's like I forget my own motivation. Every piece of factual knowledge is still there, but the schematic system that binds them all together and gives them meaning-.

SELF=NULL

I… I'm… I was…

SELF=NULL

For a second I feel a clear memory. My Gran. Not.. Granny Goodness or Queen Hegra. My actual-.

Ploong.

I'm Grayven. What would Grayven do?

The device is using the metahuman in place of sophisticated New God technology they don't have access to, forcing it into the universe around her. She would have been broadcasting it, using the antennae as local substations, but Esak just spent twenty minutes reconfiguring it to affect me.

SELF=NULL

For some reason I clearly picture my primary school's misery inducing outdoor swimming pool. Darkseid would have loved it. But… That's not helping me at the moment. I shake my head. Play… Play the role. I can reset it to broadcast. That would activate the antennae but take the heat off me. Or I can disconnect it and try tanking the full effect for however long it takes me to get it somewhere safe. First, reset the shielding around the source.

SELF=NULL

A little better. Father Box, any errors in the containment system?

Ploong.

A channel? Oh shit, I guess I should have left some of the soldiers alive. So, broadcast?



Scott bloody better put me back together after this.

Father Box, boom tube to the Source Wall.

Ploong.

"Do I look like I care! Do it!"

I decouple the cables linking the fragment to the metahuman. She slumps slightly in her restraints, though I've no idea if that's a good sign or not.

SELF=NULL SELF=NULL SELF=NULL SELF=NULL SELF=NULL

Anti-. Anti-Life-. Somewhere, someone staggers towards a hole in space.

SELF=NULL SELF=NULL SELF=NULL

Someone passes through into a void. They see lines of colossal figures, some light years tall. Behind them, still visible in places, the walls of a mighty and impenetrable citadel.

Fuck, it's getting to me.

SELF=NULL SELF=NULL

He can't remember-. FUCKING THROW IT NOW!

The containment unit flies from my hands. I'm not actually particularly close to the Wall, but I'm well within the 'it's a bad idea to be here' zone. The place exerts its own gravity on the souls of New Gods. Darkseid's obsessive behaviour and the New Genosians' pathetic worship.

SELF=NULL SELF=NULL

But-. But there's no one to affect here but Grayven. And he's not entirely here anyway. Fuck. Ring, it's not going fast enough. PUSH!

SELF=NULL SELF=NULL

The yellow beam blasts from my eyes, shoving the container as fast as I can manage towards the Wall. Don't get trapped. Don't get trapped. Don't get trapped.

SELF=NULL SELF=NULL

The space here doesn't make sense either. It should be… It's not… My metaphysique is too weak for me to understand. The container moves towards one of the radiant eyes of the trapped titans. Okay, that's close enough. I'll-.

I can't turn off my eye beams. Fuck. I'm being drawn forwards. Ooh this isn't good. Okay, removing the ring should force a shutdown. No, it won't come off. What else? If I were unconscious the ring couldn't operate. Shoot myself? No, with this much fear my environmental shield could probably block the shot. What then?

SELF=NULL SELF=NULL

Name. Before… There was a name. What was it?

SELF=NULL SELF=NULL

What was his name? What was..?

No. What is my name? I know my name.

"My name is Paul-."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Not sure
Give me a moment

This is getting old…

I push myself up off the gritty ground and check myself over. No new holes this time. Progress of a sort. Ring? Check. Father Box? Nnnnnot check. Huh. "Ring, where are we?"

Corpsman, this system is not on my charts.

Oh dear. Then again, I did just voluntarily leave the Earth. My cause was just, but if Gaea didn't count coming to Earth 50 as 'leaving Earth voluntarily' then this will certainly set it off. Irritating, but hardly disastrous. Okay. No Father Box means no boom tube until I can build one. Building one with a power ring and personal lantern is more a matter of time than…

Wait a moment. Not on your charts?

No one is more surprised than me, Corpsman. I had believed the Guardians' charts to be exhaustive.

Okay. What are the chances of us finding somewhere interesting by jumping from system to system?

If by 'interesting' you mean 'in contact with wider interstellar society', and given that you are immortal in the sense that you do not age, it is a guarantee that we would eventually reach 'somewhere interesting'. If you mean 'within a reasonable time span' it is impossible to say. I nod and keep looking around. Assuming a random distribution of inhabited systems and your intent to return to Earth in time to orchestrate the fall of SHADE, fairly low.

Alright, how about finding Father Box?

You'll have to do better than that if you want any sort of range, Corpsman.

He was attached to my armour. If he isn't right here someone removed him. Presumably, whoever… No tracks… You don't think we're inside the Source Wall, do you?

I lost external awareness when you lost consciousness. However, given the apparent normalcy of the physical laws it seems unlikely.

Glad to hear it. Now, up into orbit for a quick survey, then we can-.

BOOM!

Or not. I armour myself as I reorientate on the boom tube opening. Not just going to charge at it. Best case… Scott? Worst case, Grayven 50. Uh, no, worst case Darkseid 50.

Please don't be Darkseid 50.

A figure steps-. "Ah! Barda!" I bring my left hand up to cover the lower part of my jaw. "How are the children?"

"Scott's working on them." She's wearing her armour, Mega Rod in one hand, Father Box in the other. I don't like how close those two objects are together. Her face is impassive. Not seeing much fear…

"There were another two, in the final room. The senior SHADE agent and a girl. She was the telepath they were using as-."

"I know. I got them out after you left."

"Ah. Good." We stay looking at each other for a few moments. "Can I have Father Box back please?"

"Where is it?"

"It's-" I point. "-in your hand right there."

"The Anti-Life equation. It's not in your Father Box and it's not in you. Where did you put it?"

"The Source Wall." She reacts… Slightly. It's too little to be called a flinch. "Can I have-?"

"Why?"

"Because it was foul. Pressing against my soul, trying to make me not-be." I never really understood how 'equation equal reality' worked. The universe doesn't break if you write '2+2=7' but that thing was spouting… I frown. Something about… Not being a person? Huh. I can't… Clearly remember. I suppose I got off lightly there. "The Source Wall was the one place I could think of that it wouldn't be able to escape. Where no one else could get at it. I didn't want it on Earth or anywhere else."

"Huh."

"Why didn't you know where I was? It's not like you can just miss the Source Wall."

"Scott's Mother Box was tracking you. I didn't try following you, I just told it to open a boom tube and drop you here."

"Where are we, anyway?"

"You don't recognise it?" I shrug and shake my head. "This is one of the worlds Darkseid had Superman conquer for him. Apokolips isn't far. Easy for you to go home."

I shake my head again. "I'm not going to Apokolips. I've still got work to do on Earth."

She moves her Rod into the ready position. "Wrong answer."

"SHADE were going to use a piece of the Anti-Life Equation to Justify the citizens of Earth! They've probably still got what they need to establish some sort of spirit-crushing network. Batman was dealing with it when I left. I need to get back and make sure they don't try again. Barda, please. I don't want to fight you." Ring, plot course.

For a moment I was worried that you were going to rely on reason, Corpsman.

First resort of a civilised man, sole resort of the fool. No, wait, that doesn't sound right. A fool wouldn't… Oh, you get what I mean.

Indubitably, Corpsman.

"That's too bad. I've been-." Transition. "-looking-."

I appear right behind her and leap into the mouth of the boom tube, appearing in.. her home in Hartford. That was lazy.

"Back already? I though-." Scott looks up. "Oh."

"Seriously Scott: does she come with a clicker or something?"

"You might want to step away from-" Yep, I do. "-there, because-."

Barda charges back through, Rod at the ready.

I smile. "Nice place you got here."

"I will-."

Scott raises his hands in a warding gesture. "Not in the house, honey."

She trembles as she does her best to burn the flesh from my bones with her stare. I do my best to look harmless. "Scott, how are the children?"

"It's not going to be quick, but I should be able to help them. Except…"

"What?"

"The younger girl." He sighs. "She had more exposure than the others did, but more than that; her own metahuman power is slowly eating her brain. Even when I finish extracting the Anti-Life from her, I don't know how long she has."

"May be able to help there." He raises his eyebrows. "Turns out that Human soul structures are compatible with godhood. I've upgraded a few of my allies already and I'm more than happy to take a look at her."

Scott transfers his gaze to Barda. "Okay. Guess it can't hurt."

"But I'm going to need Father Box's aid." I hold out my right hand to Barda. "If you wouldn't mind?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th January 2004
16:43 GMT -5

Scott lifts the goggles I gave him from his eyes and looks at me. I think he's impressed. "How did you learn to do that?" "That was amazing."

"I took Father Box from Desaad. Not all of his research was… Irredeemable."

"Ploong."

Scott's eyes drop to Father Box for a moment. "How badly injured?"

"Ploong."

"Is that even possible?" "You shredded your own soul?"

"Yes, though I wouldn't recommend it." "I went to a place in which they can't exist." "And it ended up not working; I was overconfident when I met Desaad and Darkseid found out anyway."

Barda looks at me with a little less hostility. "Scott. Will she recover?"

The younger girl lies on a New God technology medical bier. This version of Scott has long since reunited with Izaya and as such has access to whatever materials he needs. The upper part of the house looks much like his home on Earth 16 but the basement is a haven for alien technology. I'm familiar with all of-.

Ploong.

Alright, most of the devices here. I haven't built them, though. Not really much call for them on Earth… The other youths are lying on similar devices, which are both monitoring their condition and keeping them unconscious. Though Scott's done his best to wrangle out their remaining connection to the Anti-Life, it is far better to be safe than sorry with something like that. Plus, we've got to decide what we're going to do with them in the medium term.

"I think so. If I understand what Grayven's done properly, her power can't harm her any more. In fact, she can probably purge the Anti-Life effect without our help."

She squints at me. "Why did you help her?"

I take a moment to look down at… Ace! They're the Royal Flush Gang! Can't believe it took me that long! She looks more relaxed now than she ever did in the animated series. Sweet, really. I don't usually like children… Should probably talk to Jade about the subject. Okay, she's only nineteen and she's going to be immortal so it's not like we'd be on a clock or anything… I reach down with my left hand and brush a strand of her hair from her forehead. "How could I not?" I look over to the secure cell containing the last guest. "Are you sure you want to be there when I talk to him? I can just take him to the Watchtower, you don't have to be involved."

Scott shakes his head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"We wouldn't kill him. Even if he was there voluntarily at the start, being exposed to the Anti-Life is more punishment than anyone deserves. We'd get the information we need then hold him until a trial could be arranged."

"I've seen the people Batman sent to Arkham. What's left of them."

"Scott, those people were serial killers. Even Izaya would have-."

"Killed them? Maybe. But that was sick." "He took away what made them them."

"If you'd given Batman the technology for neural reprofiling I'm sure he'd have used it in preference." "I gave that up voluntarily myself. Sometimes that's what needs to happen." "But I don't think we're going to agree on that. Barda, would you mind staying with her?" I nod towards Ace… I should try and find out what her real name is. "In case she wakes up?"

She doesn't acknowledge me, but she does shift her attention to the girl. Alright then. Scott opens the cell door and leads the way through. I close it as I follow him in. Director Bones is strapped to a chair, minus his jacket and shirt. Despite the look of the thing it is every bit the medical instrument the beds in the other room are. In this case it will be monitoring his body's responses to our interrogation. It's also designed to disrupt supernatural abilities, and as such is having the rather odd effect of deactivating his partial invisibility. Without transparent flesh the only oddities in his appearance are the pale grey streaks under his arms where his cyanide-rich sweat has dried.

Scott taps his belt, causing his own costume to appear. "Mother Box, would you wake him up please?"

"Ping."

"Uruuh?" Director Bones' eyes flicker for a moment, then he becomes aware of his environment. The chair registers a slight hitch in his breathing when he blinks and for what is probably the first time in his life can't see anything. His mouth drops open slightly and whatever attempt he might have made to play dead falls by the wayside as his head jerks around. "Wha-?"

"Director Bones." I give him a nod. "Welcome back."

"I… I…" His head twists, his eyes unfocused. "There was a… A voice…"

"Try to stay with us. I took a rather significant risk getting you out. You were in the SHADE Rocky Mountain facility."

"Yeah. I… Ah… Bones. Senior Agent. Super-Human Advanced Defense Executive. Pay code BC seven four one two-."

"Oh, don't even. We're not at war and you're not a soldier. You know who we are?"

I don't get any recognition, but Scott does. Bones looks him over carefully. "Mister Miracle. From Apokolips."

Scott folds his arms across his chest. "New Genesis, originally."

"We know you took receipt of Apokoliptian technology from STAR Labs during the Luthor presidency. I know Mister Miracle just spent some significant time clearing Anti-Life out of your soul. I want to know what the hell's going on."

He takes a couple of heavy breaths, then squeezes his eyes shut for a moment. "Bones. Senior Agent. Super-."

"Ping."

A holographic representation of Senior Agent Bones' head appears over the back of the chair. "Our job was investigating all aspects of Apokoliptian technology, with a particular focus on military and paramilitary devices. Where possible, we were to attempt to reverse engineer it for US use."

"The hell?" He tries to turn but between the straps and the chair he can't move his head around far enough.

"We have ways of making you talk. The chair's basically modelling your mind at the moment. I don't bear you any personal grudge, but I do need the information."

He breathes out through his teeth. "After the Justice Lords took over, we switched to running dark. Father Time had us researching technologies to break their control. Weapons wouldn't cut it; good people were working for them and we didn't want to cause a civil war. When…" He hesitates, looking slightly puzzled. "What we had wasn't enough to develop anything like that. We needed-."

Scott frowns. "You contacted someone on Apokolips."

Senior Agent Bones nods. "We'd had a look at the Parademon corpses early on. Their brains… They should have been intelligent, but all their reported behavior was like some sort of near-feral beast. They had the capacity for higher reasoning, they just couldn't use it."

"Who did you get hold of?"

He shakes his head. "Oh, it wasn't me."

"Who was it?"

"It was…" He looks puzzled. "It… It was… He was…"

Anti-Life. He's disassociated what he did while under the influence. "Who answered?"

"Some British-sounding guy. He gave Father Time something and he ordered us to focus on it. After a while the guy in charge-."

"What was their rank?"

"Senior Agent."

"How many Senior Agents were there in the facility?"

"Just one. Anyway, he brought in an Apokoliptian scientist. Little yellow guy. Early on we wanted to see if we could control specific individuals. Get one of the Lords or someone close to them. Wouldn't work with the Manhunter, but he hardly ever left the Watchtower. But… Later on, the plan changed."

"To what?"

"I.. don't.. remember…" He looks up at me. "I know I read the orders, but I… I can't remember…"

"Where did the metahuman test subjects come from?"

"Military training facility somewhere. Families signed them over. We needed to check it even worked on metahumans before we moved onto oh God." His eyes widen and the grey starts to trickle down his body once more. "He was going to use it on everyone. Make-make sure the coup couldn't ever happen again. Why was I..?"

I nod. "And the President?"

"What?"

"Scott?"

"Ping."

"He really doesn't know."

"Okay, Senior Agent Bones. Let's start talking details."

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th January 2004
17:08 GMT -5

Scott helps Senior Agent Bones up as I leave the cell. Even thinking about his time under high-level Anti-Life exposure takes it out of him. I can relate, actually. Hopefully he'll be able to tell us more later, once he's had time to process the event. Fuck. Father Time was rotating the guards. Given the size of the base's complement there could well be thousands of Justified SHADE soldiers out there, and you better believe they're not going to listen to a command to stand down after I deal with Father Time. Scott's going to have to hunt down every single one and purge them. On the very limited bright side it sounded like Father Time wasn't able to internalise the thing. Still not completely sure how Gonzo got here, but I suppose that isn't a primary con-.

"-your name, child?"

Ace is awake and freaking out. She's hiding behind the bier Blasty Hand Man is resting on, peeking out at Barda as she kneels down and tries to persuade her to come out. How resistant is Barda to telepathy? I'm not really worried for myself… Well, maybe in a few years once the Awakening has really gotten hold, but at the moment she's not going to be stronger than Chester and I can keep him out no problem.

"M-m-m..?"

Barda isn't good at maternal. I can see her struggling to prevent herself storming over there and pulling the poor girl up by her hair for showing such weakness.

"Barda, she's a telepath. If you ease up on your mental defences-." Ace stares at me for a second, then charges out from behind cover and.. runs at me and.. wraps her arms around my waist..? Huh. I put my left hand on her back and awkwardly rub the top of her head with my right. "Okay. You're free now. You're never going back."

"Where am I?"

"You're at my brother's house in Hartford, Connecticut. We needed to make sure that there was nothing left of the Anti-Life Equation-" She grips tighter, pressing her face into my armour. "-inside you."

"Hey, you made a friend." Scott helps Senior Agent Bones over to the now empty bier.

"It happens sometimes." I pull away slightly in order to kneel… To sit down in front of her. I smile, trying to get her to look directly at me. "My name is Grayven. Will you tell me yours?"

"I'm-." She cuts off suddenly, shrinking in on herself. "I'm subject four. Subject four. No one else."

And then I see it. Tiny… Father Time might not have been able to internalise the Equation, but she could. You can tell the damage a tractor has done to a field of wheat by the broken stalks left in its wake. The damage a supervillain's rampage has caused by the burning cars, cracked pavements and spurting fire hydrants. Likewise, while there is no Anti-Life left in her I can perceive the passage of the thing. Given time, that could call it back.



And I'm not fucking having that.

Conqueror's Pride. The girl cringes for a second, no doubt a response conditioned from long hours of Anti-Life exposure. When Zatanna's magic healed me, she channelled raw and unrefined arcane energy into me. What I force into the girl is formatted, shaped to the God of Conquest. The disgust at the notion of bowing my head, the urge to grow in power and authority. The absolute rejection of the idea of being controlled by another. Strictly speaking, this is an attack. I'm forcibly altering her nascent divine nature.

Better me than Anti-Life.

The structures shift… And the patterns are gone. Oh good.

Ploong.

Ugh. Uoh, that took quite a bit out of me.

The girl isn't clinging any longer. She's holding me, but there's a firmness to her posture that there wasn't before. Behind her, Barda stares at me, customary hostility replaced by astonishment.

"Feeling better?"

"A.. bit? I-I think?"

I give her another smile and this time she responds a little. "Shall we start again? I'm-."

"Grayven. And I'm Lynne. Lynne Wayland. I felt you when you destroyed the machine." She turns away slightly, taking in Scott and Barda. "What are they doing to the others?"

"Making sure that they're free of it too." I stand and gesture at Senior Agent Bones. "Even him. The use of Apokoliptian technology takes this far beyond normal government brutalism. Now, I need you to stay here and cooperate with my brother and sister-in-law while I finish off SHADE. Can you do that for me?"

"I think so." She pulls away, looking at each of her fellow victims in turn. "Then what happens?"

"I… Don't know, I'm afraid. Given your power as a telepath… Probably 'whatever you want'. Scott?" I look at him. "I need to get going. Batman and the others were going to hit SHADE broadcasters-."

He shakes his head. "Already happened. It was on the news. They hit seven targets then got away before SHADE's agents could reinforce them. Grayven, can I talk to you for a minute before you go?"

"Sure." I pat Miss Wayland on the back and she takes a step towards Strong Lad. I don't remember what number playing card he was supposed to be. Scott leads the way up the stairs and I follow him back into the main body of the house. As we pass into the upper hallway his costume fades from around him, leaving him in Human clothing. Not much point me doing that. "What is it?"

"I still can't work out if you're playing an angle on this."

"Of course I am. I told you exactly what it was."

He shakes his head. "You shared part of your soul with her. That doesn't get you anything."

"In ten years it gets me an Elite telepath." I wince at my own off-the-cuff response. "No, sorry… That's.. not why I did it. I hate the Anti-Life. It is a foul and repugnant blight upon the universe and I will not willingly see it win even the smallest victory. I would not see a young girl slain before her time by such malevolent callousness. I'm not Darkseid, I don't cripple my followers. I exalt them, I help them acquire the greatest power they can wield."

"The carrot rather than the stick."

"Just so. And when I take over this world, that is how I will rule it."

He sighs. "Still planning on doing that, huh?"

"It's the only logical response. I doubt the American government are the only ones doing things like this. I may not be able to compel global obedience but I can make the penalty for non-compliance be that they fall too far behind all their rivals to compete."

"Not much of a choice."

"That's because they keep making bad ones. Scott, I would still like your help. Ifff not with my regime, then at least with finishing SHADE off."

"We'll see."

I grin, then lunge at him and clasp him to my chest. "Thank you."

"'oo're wukum?"

This location would already be marked if anyone were watching. And the fact that the Lords still exist is now common knowledge. Father Box, Boom Tube. Straight to the Watchtower.

Ploong.

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th January 2004
22:16 GMT

I stride out into Operations-

"-Chay-Ara! It doesn't even have the same root word!"

-and shut the boom tube down.

John glances back at me and then returns his attention to the main screen. "Just try and put up with him."

Shayera exhales heavily, then cocks her head to the side. "Some men get annoyed when someone else shows an interest in their mate."

John smiles. "I've got nothing to worry about."

"Hmn. Hawkgirl out."

John presses a button to terminate the connection, then turns to me. "And where have you been?"

"The Source Wall. It was the only place I could think to put the Anti-Life fragment. Had to knock myself out to avoid getting stuck. Then, stopped off at my brother's house to make sure that the children we rescued from the SHADE base were going to be okay. We also had an enlightening chat with the Senior Agent in charge of the place." He nods. "How did the attack go?"

"We hit every site Shayera and Batman could locate, wrecked the equipment and fell back. Best of all, no one died."

"I wouldn't be too happy about that."

He gives me a mild frown. "Why not? This is the first chance I've had to do something heroic since that parallel Luthor destroyed my power ring."

"If a person's been exposed to Anti-Life long enough, it doesn't go away. Somewhere out there are a company or more SHADE soldiers who are already… Hollowed out."

"Can they be fixed?"

"You could create a new person with some of their memories in their body if you wanted. Seems a bit.. perverse…"

"Is there a way for the rest of us to tell who's been affected?"

"Not ones that are practical in a combat situation." Hm. I lower my goggles and take a good look at his metaphysique. Developing nicely, but I doubt he'd be able to sense low level infections quite yet. "It would probably be easier to leave it to Scott once we've overthrown the President and killed Father Time."

"Horne was the one who got elected. The robot's just a fake."

"No. No. Do not take this away from me. I'm the only person on the team who hasn't overthrown a president yet. I'm feeling left out!"

"That's not the sort of thing you're supposed to feel good about. Besides, I'm not sure we really need to overthrow him."

"Why ever not?"

"We took out the Anti-Life Equation broadcast system. Can they get hold of more Anti-Life?"

"Almost certainly not."

"And even if they did, they'd have to rebuild the distribution system. There's no way they could hide that from us."

"I.. suppose… I agree that there's no need to rush. The problem is, Gonzo can alter his appearance again. All SHADE have to do is keep an eye on likely future Presidents and have him replace them at a suitable moment in the campaign. Or after they take office. And leaving that aside, you've still got the risk of them using what material they've got left to Anti-Life a few of their more powerful agents. I imagine that Kara would have been first through the process once they had it perfected."

He nods, evidently reluctant. "How do you think we should play it?"

"Will there be some sort of memorial service? A public acknowledgement of what Kara, William and Kyle did in Libya?"

"There's a ceremony planned in DC, but it's scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. That's not a lot of time to prepare."

"I'm confident of my ability to destroy Gonzo. Father Time's a bit iffier. I don't know enough about what he can do." Black Adam killed him easily enough in the comic… If I had access to the orange ring I'd assimilate him just to be sure that I wasn't missing something.

"And then?"

I shrug. "Then I give my potential Justice League members a chance to triumph over the evil alien demigod and leave. Come back here and then take a.. dimensional window thingy back to my cell."

"They might not be so keen to let you leave."

"With a power ring I can move at faster than light speed. Does Kyle know how to block power ring FTL?"

"Hm. He didn't three hours ago."

I give him a small smile. "Ran into him, did you?"

"Yeah. Was he ever surprised."

"How'd it go?"

He holds up his right fist. "I've got beams and simple shields-."

"So basically all the things you ever used?" He gives me a look. "I.. may have heard Lantern Tui's observations about your skill level. You know, I can give you some pointers-."

"Kyle likes fancy constructs too. Shame they weren't stronger. You want me to show you my 'skill level' we've still got a sparring arena."

"Ordinarily I'd leap at the chance to put a Greenie in his place, but… Ugh, I need to get something to eat and then get started on the rest of my drone swarm. Maybe after we've dealt with SHADE. Does this place have a fully stocked kitchen?"

"Yeah, but so does the Thanagarian Command Carrier. Shayera wants to introduce us to the joys of Thanagarian cuisine."

"It's twenty past ten. Haven't you eaten already?"

"We're all on Eastern Standard Time. I was just waiting until Batman got back to head over. You in?"

Thanagarian food… Ring?

Perfectly palatable, Corpsman.

Right, only you were Korugarian. I doubt that our sense of taste is the same.

Very well. I'll upload my database.

Ooooh.

"John, do you know anything about Thanagarian food?"

"No, but I know the foods Shayera eats. I don't think it'll be a problem."

I regard him carefully for a moment. "O-kay. Is Zatanna joining us?"

He nods. "She's over there already. According to Shayera the ship should be shipshape-" The teleportation platform activates and Batman materialises. "-in a couple of days."

"Well then. Best not keep them waiting."

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th January 2004
23:46 GMT

"-just handed it to me!"

"Hahaha!"

John's grinning despite himself. "And the next thing I know, this huge grey guy with a horn coming out of his face shoulder-checks me through a table!"

Zatanna snorts and Doctor Gardner smiles as he shakes his head.

Shayera is unapologetic. "You should have seen your face when I pointed you out to him." She stares at her fork, pantomiming an expression of utter cluelessness.

"Yeah, yeah."

I don't know exactly what this stuff we're eating is, but actually? The texture and taste are okay. I've certainly had worse at restaurants before now. It's some sort of stew, though the colour is a little.. purple? I think all the Humans at the table breathed a sigh of relief when Shayera said that while the meat was traditionally supposed to be chemically cooked in the creature's own digestive juices, they didn't have any of those on board. Some civilian vessels from advanced civilisations either have their own gardens or use a form of animation suspension to keep things fresh. Thanagarian military vessels don't have those sorts of luxury.

Ooh, now I'm remembering that time where my parents and I went down to the harbour and I had chilli pasta and ended up needing to down the whole water jug. Ah, a pleasantly non-Grayven memory. I don't know if it was the Anti-Life or the relaxation, but my pre-Earth 16 memories seem to be coming to the fore more than they had been for months.

Gardner's wearing a restored Thanagarian uniform, presumably created using Katar Hol's grave goods for the Nth metal and modern tailoring for the cloth. Every so often Zatanna's eyes drift to his chest, but the rest of us are pretty much used to it. He started this conversation when Shayera asked what Chay-Ara was like. Turns out? Much less aggressive than our Hawk. I'll need to get a scan of Chay-Ara's skull to do a facial reconstruction to know what the physical resemblance is like; at the moment his artificial memories of her just aren't reliable enough.

Shayera waves her fork at me. "What about you? Any good stories you wanna share about you and.. Jade?"

"Ah… Well. Jade is a member of…" I frown. "Your version of Ra's al Ghul. What's his organisation called?"

"The Society of Shadows. You mean she's an assassin?"

"Yes. She's the daughter of two supervillains: Huntress and Sportsmaster."

"Sportsmaster?" Shayera turns to John. "Wasn't that the guy we ran into in Seaboard City?"

"No, that was Sportsman. Your guy doesn't wear a football uniform, does he?"

"No, his body armour had a fairly sensible design. And most of his weapons were only 'sporting equipment' in fairly broad terms: swords, explosive javelins and discuses, a little plasma gun designed to look like a crossbow. By baseline Human standards he was a highly skilled mercenary. Long story short; a job the two of them were on went badly and Huntress ended up paralysed from the waist down and in prison. Jade… Well… Sportsmaster was a fan of the Spartan style of child rearing."

My fellow diners make eye contact with one another and John loses. "He beat her?"

"Yes, but he did it because he was trying to train them. Her and her sister. After their mother went to prison Jade left home and joined the League of Shadows. The training wasn't any easier, but she told me that the people there were nicer. And there was a mutual respect she didn't get at home."

Shayera nods. "How old was she?"

"Thirteen. Anyway, she was nineteen when I met her. The League were trying to assassinate a nanotech expert my team and I were looking after."

She smiles. "And your eyes met over crossed blades..?"

"No, it was actually a really short fight. I basically pounded her colleagues to mush then let her run away. I mean, I had augmented strength, toughness and a power ring. They had glue guns, knives, and one of them had replaced his right arm with a crane?" I shake my head. "That still makes no sense to me. I tracked her down to a safe house later and she agreed to act as my source inside the League."

"How did you go from interrogating her to dating her?"

"I'm still not completely sure. Though, I think the fact that I killed her father about a minute after meeting him for the first time had something to do with it." That gets a few eyebrows. "She did completely hate him. Anyway, working for the Shadows, we don't fight alongside each other much. Only time we have so far was when Darkseid decided to throw me a challenge match. If my friends and I won, he'd leave the Earth to me. If we lost, we'd be too dead to worry. Jade was carrying a piece of Star Conqueror based technology her boss wanted the League to take possession of. The Apokoliptians were supposed to attack us to make it look like an ambush, but they decided to stop playing by his rules and make it an actual attack."

Zatanna 50 looks curious. "I'm assuming one of these friends was your Zatanna?"

I nod. "On our side, Superboy, Mat-."

"Your Superman has a son?"

"No, our Luthor just had better luck with cloning than yours did. Same with Match. Then there was Rocket, Miss Martian-. Our Mars is still fully inhabited. Robin-" I open my hands towards Zatanna 50. "-Zatanna, Kid Flash, Celestial Archer, Artemis and Aqualad. Jade and Riddler were there as bait, but when the Apokoliptian leader said what the stakes were I convinced Aqualad to permit me to release her. On the Apokoliptian side, Devilance the Pursuer, two Gravi-Guard, two flights of Aero-Troopers and quite a lot of Parademons."

"Does Jade have super powers?"

"Not yet, but I gave her a shot of something called 'Velocity Ten'. It grants short term super speed. That, plus a few x-ionised blades and she was ready to go." I sit back slightly. "I wish I could have seen more of the fight, but I was rather occupied."

Shayera nods. "I remember when we killed our version of Devilance. His spear's powerful."

"Oh no, Kon and Match took him on. I got to fight a Brimstone class plasma servitor."

"The giant radioactive robot?"

"Ours was a walking sun. The only vulnerable point is the techno-seed in its chest that serves as its control system. Anyway, Jade got busy slaughtering any Parademon stupid enough to land -something my team mates refused to do- while I had to work out how to harm an object at the core of a star. Without the star incinerating everyone around me. I ended up using the orange power ring to generate magnets powerful enough to force Brimstone's body to deform so that I could get at it. Once I had a link to the techno-seed I ordered the thing to be passive, picked it up, flew it to the edge of the star system and set it to shut down after I left." I frown. "Should probably go back at some point and make sure that the techno-seed didn't survive."

Shayera nods. "And what did Jade do after she finished off the less intelligent Parademons?"

"She went after the Gravi-Guard. Cut one up before they knew they were under attack. Unfortunately, the other realised more or less what was happening and dramatically increased gravity around it. At the speed she was going… She fell, then got her legs mangled. I fixed them up afterwards, but they must have been incredibly painful." I look away for a moment. "I need to nag her again about getting super powers permanently when I get back. Anyway, Kon and Match dealt with Devilance easily enough."

"How come?"

"Brimstone was a walking sun. A walking yellow sun." John nods, while Shayera bows her head with a snort of laughter. "I don't think Devilance realised quite how stupid he was being. Not until after they broke his fingers, stole his spear and punched him out. Our Zatanna spent most of the fight keeping everyone from getting incinerated or irradiated by Brimstone just being there. She also restored the area to mint condition after we were finished. It turns out that planets aren't really meant to have suns walking on them."

Zatanna 50 looks curious. "How powerful is she?"

"She has your natural ability, New God soul structure and a Lord of Order as a teacher. I'm not sure exactly, but I'd say 'very'. Okay. Joseph-."

He winces slightly. "Could you please call me Katar?" He sighs. "I know you think I'm just-."

"Fine, it's fine. Katar. Any good stories about ancient Egypt?"

He smiles slightly, then nods. "One or two. Let's see… It was about a year after we first landed…"

 

[Mr Zoat]

26th February
11:14 GMT -5

I take a moment to check my watch before ringing the doorbell of the Beecher residence. Just one of the many ways in which real life is different to comics: people have extended families. And parents. Reverend Grace Beecher is the local Episcopal vicar. No, wait, they call them… Ministers.. or something, don't they? Her husband Dylan is a gardener. Anyway, Karen thought that she might want me to give a talk to the local churchgoing parents on the subject of meta teens and sure enough the Reverend invited me around for a chat. Um. I didn't quite lie to her. I am fully qualified to provide entry level counselling to newly empowered metahumans, even ignoring the power ring aspect. Public speaking doesn't bother me any longer. It's just… I really don't have any sort of connection to the local community. I don't even shop around here any more.

I hear footsteps on the far side of the door and a moment later Reverend Beecher opens the door. "Hello! You must be Paul."

She holds out her right hand and I shake it. "Reverend. Pleased to meet you."

"Oh, call me Grace." She backs up slightly. "Come in, come in."

"Thank you." I step forward into the house.

She leads me in the direction of the living room. "Did you have a long trip?"

Only a couple of miles from the mountain. "No, not really."

"Karon said you were a.. metal trader?"

"That's the bit of what I do that I get paid for, certainly. But it isn't what I spend most of my time doing."

"Oh? So what do you do?"

"Various things. My work with metahumans takes up some of my time, though.. sad to say, they usually come to my attention when they're already involved in the criminal justice system."

"That's a shame. Take a seat?"

I sit down in an armchair. "Thank you. You see, there isn't… Metahumans are such a small percentage of the population that.. outside of war time, it just isn't worth the government putting any sort of outreach program into effect."

"What about private programs?"

"I work for… Well, volunteer, for a charitable organisation, but its income just about covers its operating costs. There's no way it could manage any sort of outreach work. A few businesses have expressed interest in the past… Then they hear what the hit rate is like and decide to put their money somewhere else. Apart from the ones who're looking for a superhero to sponsor and we.. really don't like dealing with them."

"Why not?"

"Do you have any idea what the mortality rate for rookie superheroes is? Because I do. So many people think they can do a few self defence classes -or do a tiny amount of practice with their innate powers- and go out and take on people armed with guns. A lot of metahuman abilities aren't even all that useful in a fight, most are less useful than a gun would be. And that's not even getting into the legal issues associated with vigilantism."

"I guess superheroes and supervillains are what most people think of when they hear 'metahuman'."

I nod. "But… Like in a lot of things, the ones you hear about don't represent the largest part of the community."

She nods. "How do people usually find out that their son or daughter is a metahuman?"

"Any number of ways. Sometimes there'll be a physical alteration which is visible when they.. go in for an ultrasound scan. Sometimes it won't get picked up there, but there'll be something obvious at birth. We sometimes get calls from obstetricians who want to check that an apparent deformity is just that and not something more exotic. I don't.. usually handle those myself. For those abilities which manifest later-."

"I'm sorry, do you know what proportion that is?"

"I know what proportion it is of the cases we deal with. There isn't any sort of.. nationwide register, so I can't tell you what actual proportion they represent. As far as we know, it's probably less than a hundred each year in the United States."

"Okay, what about abilities that show up later?"

"Some are active nearly immediately even though they don't look different from other people. There's an eight year old girl I met who was always unusually strong. Other abilities only kick in at puberty. Though that's.. all leaving aside abilities which come purely from external sources."

She nods again. "Do metahumans face any sort of discrimination?"

"No, not really. I don't know if it's because the strongest associations are positive ones… All the work superheroes do… Or because people just regard it as a medical thing. The only significant hostility comes from medical professionals."

"Why do you suppose that is?"

"They have to deal with all the idiots who try ingesting dangerous substances in the insane belief it will give them superpowers rather than kill or maim them. There's been a resurgence of that lately."

"Why would anyone do that to themselves?"

"Plastic Man joining the Justice League, basically. He got an amazing power in an industrial accident and that fact got leaked to the press. He ended up having to do a press conference to remind journalists what usually happens when someone does that, but even so a lot of people have taken it upon themselves to try following his example. Anyway, doctors also have to deal with the fact that metahumans don't always respond in the usual way to medical intervention and sometimes lose the ability to precisely control themselves when they're injured or ill. And because in an emergency they don't always know if the person they're working on is a metahuman."

She nods again. "You told Karen metahumans can't give blood. Is that why?"

"Pretty much. They can't predict… Because there's no such thing as 'metahuman blood', just the blood of a particular metahuman. The studies that have been done show that in a lot of cases, blood taken from a metahuman will behave exactly the same as any blood of the blood group."

"But not always."

"No. And most national blood services impose a general ban as a precaution."

"How would someone find out that they're a metahuman?"

"Usually, the first manifestation of their powers. There are blood tests for known markers -those are what the blood service use- but they only work on known markers. Even the companies who offer the tests to people who send in samples make it clear that they can only tell people if they are, never that they're definitively not. Some universities have programs where they'll try more intensive approaches, but those usually only want to deal with known positives."

"How long does it usually take for a metahuman to learn to control their powers? That.. girl you mentioned with super strength, for example."

"That answer changes for every example. That girl had near-perfect control from the start. When she was very small she accidentally crushed a few things and involuntary actions are still a problem, but a fairly minor one. A lot of metahumans have an intuitive understanding of what they can do. Others have to learn their triggers. The tricky ones are the ones governed by emotional states. The people who get those often never get complete control."

"What happens if someone gets a power they don't want?"

"Usually, they can simply choose not to use it. Failing that, there are suppression collars for certain types of ability, though those make you look like a Belle Reve inmate and they're fairly expensive. At the moment, there's so many ways a person can get powers that there's no way to remove all of them. Heck, most of them simply can't be removed without radically altering the person in a way that's beyond medical science."

She nods again and sits back. "Thank you. I found that very interesting. Would you be willing to give a talk on the subject in the church hall? We've got a space in the schedule two weeks on Wednesday."

"I'd be happy to."

 

[Mr Zoat]

13th January 2004
09:57 GMT

Unlucky for some.

I watch as the guests take their seats in the garden below me. The stage is literally set for the President's speech. Heck, Lantern Rayner, Kara and Billy are attending in person, making awkward small talk in a White House drawing room while they wait to be ushered out. As a result I'm forced to watch from orbit, above the gaze of observation satellites and too far away for anyone to easily detect. Ideally I'd be watching this through a hush tube window, waiting for the most dramatic moment to barge in and ruin things. Unfortunately, building my new drone squadron and making the Thanagarian Command Carrier shipshape took up enough time that I couldn't justify spending the time required to create a hush tube generator merely to look cool.

Father Time's lurking around, taking frequent calls from his subordinates as he tries to keep his concern from showing. He's got good self discipline but whatever he is he's still susceptible to yellow light scans. He's definitely worried. Gonzo, I can't get a read on. Could be that this version isn't mentally complex enough or it could be some form of Apokolips tech scrambling. It's also preventing me getting a good scan of his interior, though the ever-present whiff of Anti-Life is unmistakable. Doesn't really matter, I'll have to kill him anyway. Richard's down there too, disguised as an usher. He hasn't deigned to reply to the messages we've been sending him. Not sure where he stands.

The only one I want here who isn't is Ms Harmon. She dosed herself with the formula as planned, gained the expected celerity and has been practising with it, in out of the way places where the chance of being spotted by the local SHADE office is kept to a minimum. I suppose I was putting a little much hope into the idea of a rookie superhero suddenly turning into League material. It's not as if seven is a magical number or anything, and she can always join up later. Perhaps Oracle could claim the spot. Zatanna would almost certainly be interested as well…

Batman, Shayera and John are watching from the Watchtower while Doctor Gard-. While Doctor Hol keeps watch on the Thanagarian Command Carrier. Shayera and John took him back to the original Katar Hol's tomb while I was busy droning up and I think he accepts intellectually the idea that he isn't a reincarnation. Certainly Chay-Ara's face was clearly different from Shayera's once the reconstruction was complete. Perhaps the problem was something to do with an imprecision in the transfer process? That thing was designed for Thanagarian minds rather than Human ones. Can't help but wonder if there's a reincarnating version of him back on Earth 16 as well as the alien version.

An usher walks into the room containing the three superheroes and says something, prompting them to file out. Rayner's in his field uniform. Looks weird with that sort of.. eye symbol replacing the normal green sigil, but otherwise it's the regulation black and green. Unarmoured -sigh- and without other technological improvements. Don't really know how good a Lantern he is.

Surprisingly good.

Yeah, if I'd had my arse kicked by a rookie that's what I'd say too. It's like Doombots or Darkseid -I mentally air quote- Avatars. Anything to pretend that it didn't count.

Corpsman, your attitude-.

John beat him without a ring. Besides, I'm aiming to lose.

Sinestro 12 fought in his Silver Age black bodysuit with blue decoration. I've redesigned my own armour with a more modern look in mind. Regal looking, if ostentatious. Makes it clear that I've mastered the yellow ring though. And I think the gold suits my grey skin better than it did Sinestro's dark pink.

Anyway, Kara's in what I think is a SHADE dress uniform while Billy is in his red, white and gold ensemble. Really, he's the only one standing up for bright and primary coloured superheroism. And that's why -whoever else we don't get- he needs to join up. And -ugh- several of the people doing security work are pinging my Anti-Life sense. Justified. I'm not seeing any serious firepower down there, aside from what the superheroes are packing. Oh, there's air cover from the US air force and those missiles would certainly hurt, but none of this is anti-super… Supervillain quality.

Ah, the robopresident's starting. He's actually a better public speaker than the real President Horne, though he has most of the mannerisms off pat. May as well listen. Ring?

"…fellow Americans, distinguished guests. We're here today in gratitude for our deliverance from the alien threat that came very close to destroying our world and everyone on it. The Thanagarians came to Earth claiming to be the allies and protectors of its people when in fact…" He takes a moment to make eye contact with a few cameras from the more notable news agencies. Real Horne never did that. His speeches are dry and factual, verbal essays taking you to his conclusion without doing anything so base as arousing interest. He was also careful never to use religious imagery. In America of all places. "They were here not merely to destroy us, but make us complicit in our own destruction. If it were not for the swift intervention of the forces of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing-" He gestures to the right side of the audience, where the front few rows are filled with air force personnel in their dress uniforms. The Major General in charge of them is behind him on the stage. "-and for the three individuals we are here to honor today, they may well have succeeded. Ladies and Gentlemen-" He gestures to his left. "-Supergirl, Green Lantern and Captain Marvel."

The three of them walk on. Kara's face is deadly serious. She's not-? No, no feel of Anti-Life. Guess she's just playing the order-following SHADE agent role to the hilt. Kyle looks impressed. First week back on Earth and he's getting patted on the back by the President? No reason why he wouldn't be. He's quite a bit younger than me. So's Kara, but I'd expected that. Kyle's been a Lantern as long as I've been reading comics. Finding out that he's twenty four here was a surprise. Captain Marvel has a belt rather than a sash but otherwise he looks identical to his alter ego. Even carries himself in the same way.

The audience applauds. Hardly any of them stare at Kyle. I mean, he is coming to a country where the last Green Lantern was part of the ruling junta for two years. But no, no hostility that I can see. Good sign. Also a sign that it's time for me to crash the party. Should have invited the evil fairy…

Ring, let's have some fun. Transition.

I appear at the back of the audience. They don't see me, facing the stage as they are.

"Gentleman, Ma'am, I wanna extend the-"

Kara spots me first as Gonzo greets them.

"-thanks of the-"

Kyle and William notice that she's not looking at the President and follow her gaze.

"-American… People." Gonzo looks outwards at me, squinting slightly.

And that's my cue. "Oh, please. Don't let me stop you." Faces swivel as I stride down the central aisle. "I mean, I'm only the first person to notify you of the Thanagarian treachery. I'm only the person who single-handedly attacked the Thanagarian Command Carrier, bested Commander Hro Talak in single combat and forced him and his people to flee the system. I'm only the one who tricked him into transmitting a full confession on a worldwide broadcast so that everyone would know what they were up to. Easy to see how you might have overlooked my role." Everyone's looking at me now, from the guests to the security personnel frantically whispering into their microphones. "A lesser man than I might be annoyed by that. But that's okay." I swing my forearms out to the sides and then bring them together in front of me in a clap. "That's okay." I'm just coming up to level with the front row of seats. "You just carry on with your speech. Always said that Kara,-" I make eye contact. "-Kyle and William don't get enough recognition." I stop level with the front row of seats and tilt my head right, towards the Senate Minority Leader. "I'll be taking that seat now."

"Like hell you will, you-!"

"Tobacco money. I've seen the accounts. Hop it."

His eyes widen, then he hops. I take a moment to look around, reinforce the chair with a construct and then sit down, smacking the House Majority Leader in the face with my pauldron as I do so and knocking him out of his chair. Two ushers rush over to help the man up, and a third-.

"Grayven, what the hell are you doing?!"

Oh, it's Richard. "Finishing what I came here to do. Oh, and Kara? There's a proper Supergirl uniform in a bag backstage. Put it on and I'll give everyone a chance to evacuate before the fighting starts."