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

[Mr Zoat]

4th May
21:36 GMT +11

The Major in charge of the facility steps aside with a smile. "This is as far as I have clearance to proceed." He holds out his right hand in the direction of the doors to the laboratory as an older man in a suit comes through. "I will hand you over to Doctor Egorov. If you need anything, let me know."

"Thank you, sir." Sergeant Pushkin turns to Doctor Egorov. "Do I need to present my orders again?"

"No." The doctor shakes his head. "The Director informed me that you might be coming." He turns his attention to the rest of us. "And these are the Americans?"

"Actually, I'm Themysciran."

"Ah. I stand corrected." He steps forward and looks Wallace over. "And you are Kid Flash."

"Yeah, that's me. Do you know if you've got Blue Trinity in there, or is there someone else we need to talk to?"

Doctor Egorov turns around and beckons us to follow him. "Not out here. Inside."

He pushes his way back through the double doors, Wallace hot on his heels. Robin, Sergeant Pushkin and I follow on behind. Canis opted to stay outside with Brut rather than 'waste his time on more purposeless debate'. Through the doors there's a short corridor which terminates in a heavily fortified door. Doctor Egorov is leaning over an iris scanner mounted on the wall next to it, his access card pressed against the adjacent reader. There's a clunk and the door unlocks and starts to slide open. On the far side is… Another short corridor with another fortified door.

"This way."

We file on through, and I note that there are several cameras mounted at points on the wall. The door we just passed through clanks shut behind us and the lights around us dim slightly.

"Good. Now I may answer your questions. Yes, the surviving members of Blue Trinity are held here."

Richard cocks his head to the side. "Surviving?"

Doctor Egorov nods. "Doctor Krulik was more concerned with getting a functional result as swiftly as possible than with the subject's long term survival. The three you know as Blue Trinity were simply those who lived the longest. Of the rest, their remains were either cremated or they are stored here."

Wallace starts to smile. "Can I talk to them?"

"No." Doctor Egorov shakes his head. "They are kept in a state of… Biological hibernation, for their own safety."

"You mean suspended animation, right?"

"No, not suspended. But slowed down a great deal." There's a loud buzz from a wall-mounted speaker and the inner door clunks open. "You will not be able to speak with them, but you will be given access to all of our records."

"Why are they in hibernation?"

"One of the symptoms they developed was a constant super speed shaking. They became a danger to themselves and to everyone around them. In a state of hibernation, this is not a problem."

He leads us into the inner laboratory. The first things I see are the stationary gun positions and a group of soldiers. Richard frowns. "What's with all the security?"

"All of this was developed from a few notes passed to us by an informant in America in the forties. With what we have here, a person could create their own super speed soldiers. In the Cold War America and Russia did not dare use such weapons on one another, but today there are hundreds of groups around the world who would not hesitate. And once one person does it, everyone else will need to follow suit." He shakes his head. "I have no desire to live in such a world. We do not have the budget for the more extreme anti-metahuman defences, but we have taken fairly comprehensive steps against the threats we can predict."

"All of our cameras are ultra high speed, relaying their images to a high speed computer server with advanced pattern recognition programming. That in turn controls explosive shrapnel charges. I know that people with super speed struggle to fight at full speed." We go around another corner and get our first view of a laboratory. "By timing the detonations, we can corral an attacker into an area and kill them even at high speed. Particularly when the gas is taken into account."

"Wouldn't that kill you too?"

He nods. "Probably. When we found out that the current Flash had the ability to vibrate through solid objects we had the walls reinforced with multiple materials of differing density, with a constant high voltage electric current running through wires contained inside it."

"Yikes."

Doctor Egorov smiles faintly. "It would work, then? That is good, because we were working from very limited information."

"Maybe. I'm not trying it to find out."

"We also have more twists and turns than someone like the Flash could navigate at his maximum speed. Even if it is-" The corridor we're in doubles back on itself. "-a little inconvenient."

Richard taps his arm computer. "What about someone with super strength?"

"That would depend on the degree. At lower levels, we have enough conventional anti-armour weapons to cope. And again, gas has often proven to be effective. They still need to breathe, after all. If all else fails we have a nuclear self-destruct-"

!!!

"-system." We all look shocked. "Oh, there is no need to worry. It is a tactical nuclear device only, and both the American and Chinese governments have been informed of its existence. If we are forced to utilise it, it will not be the start of World War Three."

"That's not really the point."

He smiles in a rather creepy way. "Do you want to go and see it?" I shake my head. "Ah, anyway, we had to shut them all down while you are here. They all have to be automated, because normal Humans can't respond quickly enough and we did not have time to program the computers with your particulars. One last corridor."

Wallace looks around us. "So… What's protecting this place now?"

"A platoon of soldiers and four superheroes." He stops just outside another security door. "How long were you planning to stay?"

"I don't know. I need to see everything you've tried to make Blue Trinity better."

Doctor Egorov frowns. "Why? You had access to the pure form of the Garrick Formula, and I am reliably informed that he himself is in good health."

"I had access to his records, sure. But I tried replicating it with a high school chemistry set when I was thirteen."

"Hah!" Doctor Egorov smiles, slapping Wallace on the back with his right hand. "Young man, you would fit in around here very well!" Wallace doesn't look particularly pleased as the door opens and he leads us into the room.

The three pods containing Blue Trinity are raised off the floor on biers displaying their medical information. Heart beat and respiration very slow, brain activity low. Not even dreaming. Inside the pods they're technically naked, but all the equipment plugged into them does a reasonable job of disguising it. Their heads are shaved to allow better access for the brain monitors, their mouths held open by tubes meant either to make sure that their airways remain unobstructed or feed them, I'm not sure. I can see seven different tubes going into their veins at various points.

The three of us just stand in front of them, staring. Sergeant Pushkin actually gasps. Doctor Egorov nods. "A sad way to treat them, but it is the best we can do for now." He points to a computer terminal at the side of the room. "What you want is over-."

Time slows.

Doctor Egorov flying backwards, his chest compressing past the point where his lungs could be intact.

The floor approaching my face, my environmental shield flaring.

Richard falling backwards, arms trailing out in front.

Sergeant Pushkin starting to crouch as the explosive charges appear all over his armour.

And a vague black shape standing in front of the pod containing Ivana Christina Borodin Molotova, hands thrusting forwards as the machinery flies apart.

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th May
21:39:41 GMT +11

:41.4

Super speed attackers protocol. Construct armour begins to manifest around me along with tendrils which in a few relative moments will drop vertigo inducers onto the floor.

Wallace is blurring into motion, fighting… Someone. One of Richard's hands is reaching for a smoke bomb while the other stretches out to arrest his motion. Sergeant Pushkin's armour shudders as the first explosive goes off and at this speed I can see the expansion and compression of the air around the charge. I think that means that it failed to penetrate.

:41.7

The heavy external surface of the hibernation pod cracks and explodes away from where the black blur is standing, small pieces of metal and plastic shrapnel flying outwards in all directions.

Then there's a clear liquid in the air where the blur was standing and the blur is gone, joining in the yellow and white blurs currently making the dull grey painted-concrete walls a little brighter.

:42.0

Another explosive goes off on Sergeant Pushkin, this time on the back of his left knee. To someone unfamiliar with the design of his armour that might look like a vulnerable point, but it's certainly well beyond the capacity of a conventional explosive of that size to pierce. It does manage to make his leg jerk just as the guns on his forearms start to glow in preparation for firing.

:42.2

Doctor Egorov hits the far wall hard enough to cause the concrete immediately under his point of impact to crack and throw out a small cloud of concrete dust. I start sending a filament his way but I very much doubt that it will reach him in time to preserve his life.

:42.5

Sergeant Pushkin is wreathed in explosions as the rest of the charges detonate. I still don't think that those will be enough to actually hurt him through his armour but his sensors will probably take a second or two to adapt to the stimuli.

A cloud of smoke starts radiating outwards from Robin's smoke bomb. He hasn't bothered throwing it, he just set it off as soon as he got hold of it. He's worked out what we're fighting. One of those bombs will briefly fill this room, and this fight will be over before it can disperse. Wallace will have his goggles on, so hopefully it will impede his opponents more than him.

:42.8

The clear liquid strikes the floor and Ms Molotova's pod, whatever it touches steaming into nothingness. Wallace's Essence of Vitriol. Can't tell if it's going to hit her. One of the shapes darting around the room moves in an irregular fashion for a moment. Someone hit them? Can't tell for sure, and whoever it was recovered too quickly for me to identify them.

Sergeant Pushkin fires probably-blind across the room, two waves of purple plasma rapidly expanding outward. Area effect attack, sensible.

Richard jerks in the air, spinning around just before he hits the floor. I think something hit him in the head. Danner should be enough to keep him safe unless they really focus on him.

:43.0

Richard hits the floor, his smoke having spread around enough that the dashing speedsters are making visible air currents. I don't know what effect it's having on them. If they're saying anything it's happening too fast for my ear to make sense of it.

My construct armour is fully formed. A few cracks suddenly appear but like the Flash our assailants aren't able to hit at anything like F=MA. From the specifications the Russians gave me I know that it can take Sergeant Pushkin's shots as well, which is good because his explosion-affected aim means that I'm going to take a good hit from his right arm gun. The filament I'm sending towards Doctor Egorov is about half way across the room. I think I-

:43.1

-can reach him in time.

The white shape pauses just in front of him, right hand vibrating as it strikes out. Doctor Egorov's head bursts, flesh and bone cracking and ripping around the intruding limb as his cranium comes apart. Brains have excellent blood supplies and his is starting to spurt.

:43.2

The white shape is gone, moving back to the pods. Not Miss Molotova's pod, Mister Uminski's. Its hands touch the metal at the head end.

The vertigo inducers appear from subspace and I activate them immediately. White shape staggers visibly, and for a fraction of a second I see him.

:43.3

White body armour, looking unpleasantly like that worn by Truggs' mercenaries last year. Silver lightning bolt covering most of the chest. Flash fan? No, stupid. Given the publicity Mister Garrick's had over the years the lightning bolt is probably the image most strongly associated with super speed, if it wasn't anyway.

:43.6

Sergeant Pushkin corrects his aim at our stalled target and fires a narrow beam directly at them.

:43.9

The White Flash throws themself to the floor, ducking under Sergeant Pushkin's shot which burrows through the concrete wall on the far side of the medical bay.

:44.1

Wallace slams into the wall to my left.

:44.3

The door to the medical bay collapses as the black figure takes advantage of the momentary distraction of the one of us who can actually keep up with him to vibrate a series of holes in the metal. They don't appear to have been affected by my vertigo inducers at all. They're wearing ear plugs while their partner isn't?

:44.6

Wallace and black figure blur into motion once more while White Flash -NO!- shoves their left hand through the metal of Mister Uminski's pod. Their forearm turns red, though I can't tell whether the blood is theirs or his.

:44.8

Richard would survive chlorine gas but I'm not sure that Wallace would. And with the door open I'm not sure I could transmute enough to be disabling anyway.

My eyes glow orange as the smoke becomes too dense to see through conventionally. I try flying towards Mister Gregorovich in the faint hope that I can provide a distraction but I'm too damn slow!

:45.0

Richard rolls as he lands, reaching for a flashbang grenade.

White dashes to Mister Gregorovich's pod while black does something which appears to force Wallace to evade. Black then goes for Miss Molotova's pod.

Energy pulse!

Mental pathway damage limit reached. Acceleration discontinued.

Shit!

There's a gust of wind as Richard completes his roll and throws his flashbang towards the ruined doorway. Too late. Wallace staggers to a halt, his right hand holding his upper left arm as blood seeps through his costume. Outside I hear a series of explosions, then Sergeant Pushkin sprints for the exit.

I take a moment to check Blue Trinity. No, no good. The male members have had their heads shattered in the same fashion as Doctor Egorov while Miss Molotova has been removed, the tubes connecting her to her pod cut through. Orange light surges over Wallace as I repair his arm. It looks like Black Flash threw tiny fragments of metal at him with tremendous force. That done, I transition out to the speed wing's entrance.

"Aaaagh!" / "uuuuuuuUHHHHH."

The soldiers we passed on the way in lie on the ground, either dead or seriously injured. Black charred areas on the walls mark… The explosives. Someone must have reactivated them. But-.

Machine control. Sergeant Pushkin did it. He activated the explosives because stopping our attackers was more important than the lives of the soldiers.

He's just ahead of me in the antechamber, holding the bloody remains of the white attacker in his right arm. Black's… Not here. Must have gotten away. I scan on the off-chance, but I'm not surprised when I find nothing.

The rings glow as I turn my attention to the injured soldiers.

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th May
01:22 GMT +11

"An unfortunate -though not wholly unanticipated- event."

The Director was here within two hours of the Major reporting the attack. We're standing in the base's briefing room and the Major has been glowing bright yellow since he got off the telephone. It's a bit of a joke about excessive security precautions; so secret that even his name is classified. Major Adam's name was sort of a secret while he was being 'Cameron Scott' but it was never actually classified. The whole masquerade was technically for his benefit.

The Director's name actually is a secret. On no document that I've been able to see is his real name recorded, which is weird given that he's technically just a political appointee. I can see his patterns of emotion easily enough: green-orange with no indigo. That might mean that he's a psychopath, but lower intensity examples of psychopathy often lend themselves to office environments. Did he used to be a Soviet superhero? I'm pretty sure that was Steel Wolf with him as a bodyguard, and for that nutter to be willing to do bodyguard work he must consider the Director to be absolutely essential to the good of Russia.

The Director makes eye contact with the Major. "You have arranged to have the bodies of the deceased members of Blue Trinity cremated."

"Yes, Director."

"With Blue Trinity no longer present, this facility has served its purpose. We will discuss this further when this matter is resolved. Dismissed."

The Major about faces and marches from the room. Even once he is outside with a wall between him and the Director he doesn't relax at all.

"Sergeant. Members of the Justice Youth. Given the speed with which the attack took place, you are to be commended on the speed of your reactions." He focuses on Wallace. "Kid Flash, you will be given all computer records we possess on the treatment regime given to Blue Trinity."

"But that Black.. Flash.. guy got away!"

"I am fully cognisant of that fact. But a brief review of the case suggests that the attackers took opportunistic advantage of a gap in our defences. No one but you knew exactly when you were coming here for long enough to arrange anything sophisticated. I see no reason to deny you our aid simply because your presence coincided with this incident."

"I didn't mean that! Why aren't you going after them?"

The Director's expression doesn't change. "Kid Flash, under my direct command I have Sergeant Pushkin, ten Rocket Reds with advanced suits, two platoons of Red Rockets with standard suits, a company of soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and various other specialists. With a phone call I can call upon any of the resources of the Russian government. I have the authority -should I deem it essential to the national good- to deploy a tactical nuclear device on my own recognisance. But where should I deploy it? If this 'Black Flash' is as fast as you then he could be anywhere within three thousand kilometres and moving faster than anything we could send after him. If he is as fast as the Flash then he could be anywhere on the Earth." Wallace wilts slightly. "No. Now is not the time for rash action. Now is the time for a careful discovery and examination of facts."

Canis grimaces. He is not happy about missing the fight, though I'm not sure what exactly he thinks he could have done. "What if your people have betrayed you?"

"Operative Truth of the Alliance will be interrogating everyone who could have known, but I think it unlikely that she will find what we are looking for. Postings here are not easily predictable and all communication is closely monitored."

Richard nods. "Who knows about this base?"

"That this base exists is not a secret. Precisely what was housed here was a secret known to very few, though as you yourself discovered it is a logical place to look for someone interested in Russia's attempts to create super speed."

"Did you have any kind of tracking devices on Blue Trinity?"

"Yes. They were removed from them during the attack."

Richard looks at me. "Oh El?"

I shake my head. "Tried and failed, I'm afraid. Mister Director, do you have any idea how long it would take to reverse engineer a workable version of the Garrick Formula from Miss Molotova's body tissues?"

"When the Russian project began working on replicating Mister Garrick's work, we had more intelligence to go on and it still took us more than a decade. Now, with modern medical equipment and spectrographs, it may well take a lot less time. What is of greater concern to me is that they already have some method of bestowing super speed."

Wallace shrugs. "It was just Velocity Nine, right? That stuff still shows up in the US a couple of times a year. I guess if someone actually trained with it-."

"The initial blood test results do not appear to contain any Velocity Nine. Or show any of the signs of prior Velocity Nine use. That result will need to be checked of course, but the equipment here is advanced and the researchers are highly experienced with super speed related medicine. It is unlikely that they would make such a mistake."

Richard looks puzzled. "So if they've already got a way to give people super speed, why do they need the Garrick Formula?"

"Yes. That is an excellent question. If it is not Velocity Nine and not the Garrick Formula, what could it be? If we do not know what it is then it is far harder to narrow the range of possible culprits."

"So we've got no idea at all?!"

"I would not say that." The Director walks over to the room's podium and an image appears on the projection screen behind him. An elderly man's face, grizzled rather than frail. "This is Feodor Kerimov. He once held the rank of General in the Soviet Army. He resigned his commission during the early nineties. While he was on active duty he was a proponent of the aggressive use of enhanced soldiers, and I have uncovered people feeding him information on Russia's older programs on several occasions."

Richard frowns. "Then why haven't you arrested him?"

"As the Soviet Union's influence went into decline, he acquired certain business interests in Azerbaijan and now has a joint nationality. He has not returned to the Russian Federation for several years and has many well placed friends in the government of his new homeland. While I could arrest him, doing so would require me to send Russian operatives into an independent country."

Richard nods. "Which would be an act of war."

"Russia against Azerbaijan? No, it would not be much of a war. But the political fallout both internally and internationally as a result of Russia behaving in such a way towards a former Soviet Republic would be quite serious. I am not prepared to order that yet. Instead, I am minded to increase our intelligence gathering operations against him. If I have hard evidence to present, it may be that he would find that his new friends become a good deal less friendly."

Wallace makes a curling gesture with his right forearm. "We could go in. We're not Russian."

"If he ends up in Russian custody, I do not think that our critics will be mollified by the fact that he was put there by Americans."

"We can take a look around for you. If we find Miss Molotova or… Information he stole from Russian intelligence, you could get him arrested, right?"

The Director nods. "Yes, pressure could be brought to bear to make that happen. The Russian government would be grateful for any assistance you feel that you can provide on this matter."

"Alright, stop." Wallace twists his head in my direction. "Mister Director, are you sure that General Kerimov is responsible?"

"No, but I have no other active investigations into anyone with his proven interest and capacity. There are Russian officers and politicians who have expressed an interest in expanding our metahuman program, but none of them have been actively spying on our programs. There are paramilitary organisations who would like to gain information for terrorist purposes or for sale, but they lack the resources to perform such an attack."

"Right. Thank you for the information, Mister Director. We will relay your request for assistance to Batman."

"Oh El!" Wallace looks pained. "That could take all day! We need-!"

"We gather information covertly, Kid Flash. We wouldn't be charging in in any case. Taking a few additional hours to get there wouldn't change much. More importantly, deciding whether to deploy the team remains Batman's responsibility."

He takes a moment to get his instinctive truculence under control. "Fine."

"Since it's clearly so important to you, I will suggest that he send us. Mister Director, could you please give us everything you have on General Kerimov?"

"Of course. I would be pleased to."

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th May
10:03 GMT -6

"So when the fook are we actually gonna start doin' somethin' worth whyle?"

Chester's covered in sweat from his latest exercise session, and on his bare chest I can see the angry red marks from his not yet fully healed injuries. Given the internal damage which is similarly still only mostly healed, I can only imagine that he'd be in a great deal of pain were it not for his mental abilities. But he seems determined not to let his injuries slow him down.

"Chester, the world hasn't fallen apart in the month you've been away."

There's a tiny green-purple flare around his eyes as he squares up to me. "No, but that bunch of bleed'n' murderin' pederast tossers 're still runnin' the show back home! I don't seem to recall you bein' this slow off the mark where Klarion was concerned!"

"That was because I could kill Klarion without a nation collapsing into anarchy." I raise my hands in a gesture of surrender. "I fully accept that eventually we will have to forcibly remove a sizable chunk of the British ruling class. But before that, there are things we need to do in preparation."

"When?"

"When the preparatory tasks are complete."

"You'll 'ave t'do a damn sight better than that, cock!"

"I'm not going to set an arbitrary deadline if the result of going ahead then would be just the same as going ahead now. But, since this has clearly got you so riled up, I'm prepared to involve you in the preparations. Is that acceptable to you?"

Chester's eyes dim and he tilts his head to the right, stretching his neck. "Think it might be. What d'you 'ave in mind?"

Vera glares at me. "Chester's not fully fit yet. You shouldn't-."

He looks at her in irritation. "Leave it out, Vera love."

I shake my head. "Miss Black, it is not my intent that you or your brother should directly engage the enemy. But I am not prepared to remove one government only for them to be replaced by another which is just as corrupt. Or for them not to be replaced at all. I need to know who is irredeemable, who is tainted, who is redeemable and who is virtuous."

"Not gunna be many o' that last one, I'll tell y'that fer nothin'."

"Be that as it may, I need to know. I need you and Miss Black to act as intelligence gathering operatives rather than thugs. Find out how far the canker goes, but do not take action against it yourselves."

"So, what? If we see one o' the bastards grabbin' a kid right in front of us-."

"Chester, please don't be facetious. In the unlikely event that happens, feel free to remonstrate with them. But this is a covert mission. The aim is to avoid contact where possible. I don't want to tip our hand until the time arrives to act."

Vera puts her hand on her hips. "And how exactly are we supposed to werk under cover? The police will all have awer pictures."

"I can provide holographic and arcane disguises." Thank you Queen Clea. "Unless they're putting a great deal of effort in, they won't be able to spot you."

"Alright." Chester grins as he nods. "This is a bit more my style. I'll take a shawer, then we can get right ont' it."

"Yes, once you've had a shower you can start writing me a mission plan." His grin droops a little. "I'm not having you go off half cocked again. Doctor Robbins is going to be monitoring you full time, and she's going to be in operational command."

His face creases up. "That old biddy?"

"'That old biddy' has more experience of this sort of work than the two of you put together. So yes. When you've put the plan together, get her to approve it and you can start right away. Is that acceptable?"

"Not bloody likely, cock. I've only been doin' this me entire adult life-."

"Manny, knock it off." The siblings Black have a brief staring contest, Chester's outrage competing with Vera's growing irritation at his behaviour. "He's right and you know it."

"Chester. Do it for a month, and if you've proven that you don't need the oversight I can reconsider. You're too valuable to me to risk you dying doing something stupid."

Vera gives her head a small nod. "Again."

"Both a' yeh?" He turns his head back in my direction, rolls his eyes and tosses his head. "A'right, fine. But this better-" He jabs his right forefinger at me. "-be goin' somewhere."

I smile a little more confidently. Losing Chester's services would be decidedly unfortunate, given his abilities. "It most assuredly is." Hm. Something I was going to-. Ah! "Before you go. Is there any chance you might be able to talk your former colleagues around?"

Vera snorts. "Not bleedin' likely. You saw what they did t' Manny."

"Actually-" I frown at him. "-Chester never said exactly how that happened. I assumed police marksmen."

"Fook off. Police marksmen me hairy white arse." Chester wrinkles his nose. "Hard to shoot someone who knows what yeh thinkin'."

"Does the British government have telepath blocking technology?"

"Nah cock. They've got fookin' robots, h'ant they?"

I fold my arms across my chest. "News to me, chum."

Chester points to his forehead with his right forefinger. "Can't hear 'em 'cause they don't really think."

"They're built and operated by awer former colleague, Penny Dolmann. Doubt they'd 'ave told her why Manny did what he did."

"Not that she thought all that much a' me in the furst place. Probably jus' though I was livin' down t'her opinion."

"Exactly how good are these robots?"

Chester shakes his head. "Bit tougher than a normal bloke an' they can fly. I coulda coped, 'cept fer than fooker Derek Kelly."

I look at Vera with my eyebrows raised. "Awer old boss. He's in charge of awer unit. Used t'be in the SAS."

"Right bastard he is 'n all."

Vera nods. "My country, right or wrong."

I raise my eyebrows. "If right, to keep it right; and if wrong, to set it right?"

"What?"

"That's the rest of the quote. By a man named Carl Schurz?"

"I didn't know that, and I don't think Derek does either."

"Okay, so what's so scary about him?"

"He's invulnerable. Can't 'urt 'im at all." Chester sneers in disgust. "I can't even hear his brain, let alone mess about with it."

Vera nods. "That, and he's as strong as he needs t' be. Hit him and it won't even knock him over. Try wrestling with him and youw'll lose, however strong you are."

"Invulnerable? I was about to say that there's no such thing…"

Chester shakes his head, apparently pleased at getting the chance to lecture me. "Not 'avin' you on, cock. His dad gave him this magic jewel thingey. Don't remember what it was called. His dad used to wear it 'round his neck on a chain. Derek -bein' a crazy bastard- had 'is chest cut open so they could stick it inside."

I nod. "Logical. It can't fall off that way."

"You might wanna watch yerself. If I'm on his shit list, you'wer definitely there as well."

"Eh, if it comes to it I'll just throw him into space. Alright, I think that's everything. You can go and get started-."

"Robbins to Grayven."

I raise my ring to my ear. "Grayven here, go ahead."

"Your guests are here."

I nod. Today's other scheduled activity. "Thank you, Doctor. I'll go and greet them. Would you please ask Lynne and Sunset to join me downstairs?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th May
10:09 GMT -6

I step out of the boom tube into the mildly landscaped ruins of Challengerville. One of Jean's ongoing projects is directing the G-Trolls and G-Elves to do a bit of a tidy up, but I didn't want them to remove anything structural. Just as the US military dumps spare tanks to create havens for marine life, these ruins are now home to many different types of insects, birds and small mammals, to say nothing of all of the plant species.

"Hi Grayven."

Zatanna is in full costume… Or rather, armour. The same armour I created for her. It seems that she hasn't taken advantage of Scott's services. That pleases me. I'd judge that the gold glow is a little brighter than last time I saw her, but… That was a while ago. I should probably have done more in that regard.

Wallace merely nods at me. He's in costume as well.

I bow. "Once again... Welcome to my home. Come freely. Go safely; and leave something of the happiness you bring."

Zatanna's face goes blank for a moment, then she gets it and giggles. Wallace looks slightly perturbed. "I'm sure that was some kinda movie quote, but can you just get on with whatever you wanted us for? I've got plans for this week."

"As you wish. There is something… Somethings I wish to show you. But first… Zatanna, that commission I asked you to investigate..?"

Wallace glances at her with a slight frown. She looks down for a moment. "I can do it. But… You're with the Light now. I'm not sure I should."

Wallace's eyes narrow. "What commission?"

I decide to spare Zatanna the awkwardness. "A personal mana infusion device. It would increase the recharge rate of a mage and rapidly improve the growth of a New God's soul structures. I can create a crude approximation myself-" Or at least get Sunset to do it. "-but it would require the user to remain in one place while it's active."

"Whow. No. Zatanna, you can't."

"Wallace, what do you think the Light is trying to do?"

"Take over the world. Wipe out the Justice League. Have.. Tuesday renamed 'Savageday'! They're bad guys."

"Sort of, eventually, no… Ye-eah, okay, you've got me on the last one." I open a boom tube behind me. "Can we walk and talk?"

Wallace and Zatanna look each other in the eyes for a moment, then head towards me at a slow walking pace. I turn and lead the way through the tube into the lower part of the Mountain. "I'm sure you've read my reports on my initial meetings with the Light, but to reiterate: the Light wants to advance the lot of the mass of humanity. They see the League as a plaster over-. A band aid over a wound, falsely giving the impression that the problem is dealt with while actually encouraging people to remain indolent. Savage wants to defeat the League, mind control, kill them all, whatever. I think that's putting the cart before the horse. If we're successful, the League will be largely obsolete. Until we are, they do an essential job and it makes more sense to work around them."

"I am a member of the Light, which means that I can vote on policy and objectives. If Savage proposes an anti-League initiative which serves no other purpose, I say so, point out what else could be done with those resources and vote against. If my argument is rational, Lex, Brain and Ra's -who doesn't really mind mass murder but is actually pretty logical - vote with me. Mordru votes with Savage and they lose."

No local space coilgun for Savage. I mean, really. All the effort it would take and agents we'd have to burn to get it there and it wouldn't last more than five minutes after its first shot. I'm glad that at least Ra's learned his lesson from last time.

"On the other hand, if someone proposes a course of action that actually benefits humanity then I speak out in favour and it gets enacted."

I can feel Wallace's confusion. "So you think you're neutralizing-? Wait, Mordru!?"

"Didn't know about him? Yeah, one out, one in, as far as Lords of Chaos go. How's Miss Kane doing?"

"What? Ah. Okay..? As well as she can."

"Was my guess-?"

He looks away. "Yeah."

Ah. Unfortunate, but it's inevitable that a few first manifestations of metahuman powers would be destructive to their possessors' surroundings. And the people most likely to be in those surroundings… Sad, but there's not much I can do about it. "I realised afterwards that I should have known that it was something serious."

"What, because I came to you?"

"No, because you didn't try hitting on Sunset."

"Who's hitting on me?" Sunset emerges from a junction and falls in behind me, taking a moment to look Zatanna over. Magic goddess, meet someone who wants exactly what you have.

"Wallace wasn't. Zatanna Zatara, Sunset Shimmer. She's here to study magic."

Zatanna smiles at her. "Hi."

"Hey."

"Yeah, I guess it.. kinda put me off my game."

"Oh, you." Sunset looks him over, then appears to dismiss him. "There wouldn't be much point. I don't actually find Humans physically attractive."

Wallace frowns. "You.. don't..?" The frown is replaced with a squint. "Huh. Well, what do you find attractive, then?"

"Ponies."

He blinks, then jerks his head away. "Oh, I'm so not touching that one." He refocuses his attention on me. "Where are you taking us, anyway?"

"The vaults. It's where we keep the children I'm using as test subjects."

"Yeah, that's not as funny as you think it is."

The heavily reinforced door in front of me slides open with a quiet hiss. "Who's joking?"

Lynne is standing next to the cell containing-. I get a moment's dizziness before I stop trying to think the name. Ugh, my old name. He's in his early teens, a little older than she is. His brothers and sisters are in the other cages. Eight in total and he's the oldest of them. All the survivors of one of John Constantine's fuck ups. I'm pretty sure that I got all of them, but I left some monitoring equipment on Gruinard Island just in case.

Sunset walks over to Lynne while Zatanna and Wallace stop dead. The cells are designed to have a 'public' section and a private section, though all areas are monitored around the clock. Each one has its own toilet and shower unit, though curiously they don't produce much in the way of waste material. And I've found it's important that they can see and talk to each other all of the time. After all, they're all the company they've known for nearly their entire lives.

Zatanna's eyes widen in horror. "What are you doing here?"

"Helping them." Lynne steps away from the cell while the young man within walks around the edge until he's facing me. "Young man, would you mind providing my guests with a demonstration?"

He gives me a small shrug. I have talked with him about what I'm trying to achieve here, but I can hardly blame him for not being more enthusiastic.

Activate.

It only takes a second for him to get the scent. His eyes dart around his cell, his nose sniffing constantly. He winces, trying to resist. He's an extremely responsible young man, especially considering his circumstances.

"What are you doing!" Zatanna's eyes are blazing with golden light, triquetra forming around her hands.

"Offering him food."

And then the change happens. His face elongates, his skin darkens and his fingers sprout claws. He gets his clothes -sweat shirt and jogging bottoms- off before his body's change rips them, but after that his coordination fails him and he collapses against the inside of the clear dividing wall. His eyes turn red, the muscles on his shoulders grow and membranous wings sprout under his arms. His mouth opens and displays his pearly white fangs.

He's still fully intelligent like this. But -like the rest- he just can't resist the hunger.

"A fascinating case. He and his siblings are Vampire-Succubus hybrids. They can only feed on adults, and they don't have enough self control to stop themselves. When I found them, they'd been living in starvation conditions on a small island, having eaten both their mother and their four older siblings. I'm trying to help them learn to control their instincts." The youth regains his balance, hunched over as his gait now is. I deactivate the pheromone sprays. "That, plus I've been using the G-Gnomes to educate them."

"Hello." His voice is raspy but coherent.

Wallace's mouth is still open. Zatanna closes her hands.

"This is what I do with my time. Advancing the interests of humanity without punching people in the face. When was the last time anyone in the League tried something like this?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th May
21:08 GMT -6

I back carefully out of Lynne's bedroom. "Goodnight, Lynne. Sweet dreams."

She rolls over, pulling the duvet more tightly around her. "Mruuuuh."

Aw.

I sneck the door silently, then turn away and head back towards the living room. I'm smiling in total contentment. Today's going great. Well, aside from Lynne wanting me to read her bedtime story in the cells so that the Succupires could benefit from my delivery. I negotiated her down to playing it to them over the internal communications system. Fact is, as part Vampires they're more alert and active when it's dark so a bedtime story doesn't really make sense.

I suppose I could just change the light/dark cycle of the synthetic lights down there…

Jade glances up as I walk into the living room. As is her ingrained habit she's sitting in a position that lets her keep both doorways under observation and is far enough away from both that she could ready a weapon before most attackers could close the distance. At her feet Mister Tawny also flicks his eyes in my direction but otherwise remains still, his huge head resting on his forepaws. The Sphere chimes once, but otherwise doesn't react.

"Nine o'clock, huh? I didn't think you'd be that strict."

I nod as I cross the space between us and then lower myself into the settee. "Children benefit from safe boundaries. Routine." I reach down and give Mister Tawny's head a rub with my left hand, getting a quiet grunt in return.

Jade leans into my right side as I settle back, and I carefully put my right arm around her. "I wouldn't know."

"I've been reading up… If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing properly."

"From what you said about Apokolips, I can't imagine you had that sort of parenting either."

I take a slightly deeper breath, shaking my head. "I honestly don't remember. But -for my second childhood, on Earth Prime- I did. And that's the guide I'm using… Except where the other is unavoidable."

She nods, then looks up into my eyes. "I've never asked, but how old are you?"

"Well… That depends on where you count from. I've got thirty years of memories… Not perfect, but… The sorts of things a person would remember from thirty years of life. Before that..? Flashes of recollection at best, and I think they could be a result of my mind interpreting what Father Box has been showing me."

"So you could be..? A hundred years old?"

"I could be. Or two or a thousand or ten thousand. If it matters to you I can try and get an exact date."

She looks away, thinking about it. A moment later she shakes her head. "No, not really." Hn. Something there seems a little-. "Why did you invite Kid Flash here along with Zatanna?"

I smile again as I look over to where the first version of the mana siphon sits on the coffee table. Sunset and Zatanna spent most of the day working on it, and neither was happy with their initial effort. But it's still a massive improvement on what I had before and it's nice that they've each got a study buddy now.

"Why wouldn't I? I still consider him a friend."

"Because he's a superhero and you're a part of the Light. I can't see him being in favor of Zatanna helping you."

"He wasn't. That was the point." She narrows her eyes slightly. She knows that I have the explanation ready and am drawing out relaying it for my own gratification. "Alright. Zatanna still likes me. But, there are very good reasons for her not to help me. If I invited her here on her own, she'd have to raise them herself when I tried to persuade her. And if she did that, she would identify them as being her position. But-."

"If Kid Flash is here, he'd make the argument first and she'd see it as his position." Jade nods. "And she likes you more than she likes him. So why not invite Robin instead? You only just helped-." She stops. "Because you'd just done him a favor and he'd hesitate, making his position look weaker."

"Partially. My relationship with Kid Flash isn't exactly bad, you understand. If I gave up this Light stuff he'd be the first to welcome me back. Buuut at this point I don't think that Robin would bother making a rational argument against what I'm doing and 'Grayven equals Evil' is a narrative I want to avoid."

She nods again. "You're not planning on doing that, right?"

"Of course I am." A slightly more concerned frown. "Alliances between supervillains are.. unstable at best. And if it doesn't fall apart I will eventually outlive most of them. But I'm committed to our cause. As long as they are, there shouldn't be any problems."

Which is increasingly true. I've been pleasantly surprised by how non-mental my new colleagues are behaving. If things continue, if my mere presence neutralises them… Maybe I won't just hand them over to Batman. Goodness knows that I've found the work I've done since I left far more fulfilling than what I did with the Team.

"Grayven, I…" Jade looks away, towards the photographs decorating the wall. Pictures of us and the girls. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Okay? What is it?"

She steels herself before returning her gaze to me. "I need to talk about our relationship."

I smile. "And you think I will respond to your inquiry like some callow Human youth? With fear and evasion?" I shake my head. "Jade, I love you. Speak your mind, and be heard."

"Why?"

"Why?"

"Why do you love me?" I just about stop myself chuckling. "I know you do, but I've been trying to see what you get out of this, and I can't work it out."

"I get you. Why isn't that enough?"

"You're one of the most powerful men on the planet and I'm a League of Shadows operative. I don't feel bad about what I am-."

"No, you're… Parsing the relationship wrongly. Why am I more powerful? The orange power ring?" I shrug. "A cosmic accident. I still don't know how I got it. My strength? An injection, one you could have this evening if you wanted it. Godhood? Already on the table. And yes, that was a nudge. I can't fight at super speed. You can have that ability, if you want. Or something you can take off at the end of the day?" I hold out my right hand. "In a couple of months I'm going to relieve Larfleeze of the Orange Central Power Battery. Once the orange ring is functional again, I'd be perfectly happy to make this ring a gift to you."

Corpsman-.

Oh come, Sinestro. Her life has been far more defined by fear than mine has. She has far more potential as a wielder.

Jade arches her right eyebrow. "The ring you don't want?"

"The ring I can't use as effectively as you would be able to. Goodness knows that your nature is far closer to the yellow light than mine is."

"Alright, but I still need to know why."

"Your father tried to break you, and you grew strong to spite him. I know that in your place I would not have been so strong. Had Darkseid focused on me as Lawrence Crock did on you I would have died… Or if not dead, have reached adulthood as a broken, pitiable thing. You thrived, became a wonderful young woman so that you could throw your achievements in his face. You are more psychologically vicious than I am. I admire that immensely. I came to love you for your mind and soul. The.. physical.. aspect… Transitory economic issues… Can be fixed. Will be. In all the time we will have together, a few years… They won't matter. You will be a goddess, my equal and partner."

Her face is still, listening to what I have to say and taking it in without as yet letting her thoughts show through.

Ploong.

"Perhaps… If I explained a little about the way Apokoliptians conceive of 'love'?"

"I didn't think Apokolips had that."

"Of course it does. But… We don't… Fetishise romantic love of the kind that is so popular on Earth. There are… For example, the relationship between Canis Senior and Hellga would be considered unusually romantic by our standards. They were… Two senior warriors in Darkseid's service. She was given to him as a reward for his good service, but they both respected one another. Admired one another. They were equals. As I understand it your two previous sexual relationships were of a similar vein." Her eyes flick aside for a moment. "But their lives were apart. Their relationship was one between comrades, they did not.. share of themselves in it. Then there are other types of relationship. One between people who are unequal. Darkseid's relationship with Mortalla. I do not believe that Father loves Mortalla, and I do not believe that she retains the freedom to choose not to love him. That would be like… If I were to change the character of my relationship with Miss Amane. I would hold all of the power, the control. It would be a servant loving her master. I could love Miss Amane, but she could not learn to be my equal. She would gladly do anything I asked-."

"She'd do that now."

"Love and devotion are not the same thing. She is devoted to me, yes, but it is not… I don't think I can express it properly in English. I accept her service because it is something valuable she chooses to give to me. Love would be…" I shake my head. And I actually can't express it. Not properly. "The love of an owner for their dog. Genuine, but… Lacking."

"And how would you describe your love for me?"

"Open, in that I keep nothing of myself back. I would share even my soul if you had the mechanisms to experience it. Free, in that there is no exchange. I do not seek repayment for my time, you are your own end. It is a love which when it was offered by my brother Scott it freed Barda from a lifetime of Anti-Life exposure. And when she reciprocated, did the same for him. It is the union of people to the exclusion of rationality. Among New Gods, it is really only common on New Genesis, but then… I never much liked living on Apokolips."

"I love you, Jade Nguyen. Your soul calls to me in a way that none other has before. It takes me away from the horror of my origin and shows me something of transcendent beauty. Does that answer your concern?"

She nods, not quite meeting my eyes. I think she's… Crying.

"Yes. Yes it does."

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th May
08:18 GMT +4

I hear the door open, and turn my head around to see Kaldur walking in. "Has anything of interest occurred?"

We're in a small suite of rooms in a nice-but-not-top-of-the-range hotel in Sumqayit. General Kerimov's mansion home is located on the outskirts of the city, and this is as close as we could set up shop on short notice. Getting the team's non-speedsters into the fray quickly could be a bit tricky without either myself or Canis assisting, but given that we're up against either people with super speed or baseline Human mercenaries I doubt that will matter. It also has the advantage that we're far enough away that we're not going to arouse any suspicion. Dressing up as backpackers appears to have convinced the staff well enough for now.

"Yes… Sort of." I have one of the monitors play back a section of what I've recorded since he was last in the room. A military truck being used for personnel transportation comes to a halt at the back of General Kerimov's home. "He's bringing in additional security."

"From where?"

"He's part owner of a private security company. Their work is mostly legal, and the bits that aren't are sufficiently close to being so that they're generally ignored." Azerbaijan certainly isn't a terrible place to live. Here, anyway. I don't remember what it's like back on Earth Prime now, if I ever knew. But here? Secular government, good Human development rating, high literacy and employment. Bit of a corruption problem, but considering… "These lads have been booked for this for a couple of months. A lot of them are ex-military and they're all pretty well trained. Nothing we couldn't deal with…"

He nods in understanding. "But then we are the ones who would be in the wrong. I take it that you have made no progress against the building's wards."

"Nope." Honestly, the whole scry warding thing is getting a bit beyond a joke now. "You know anything about roleplaying games?"

"I do not."

I return to watching the feed from my stealth drones, leaning back into my chair. "For balance reasons, certain types of boss character are often rendered immune to certain types of attack. A one hit kill attack that would normally kill one normal enemy in a horde if it hit would be far more valuable against a single powerful opponent. Game-breakingly so."

"I can see the logic. But I am not certain that I see what bearing it has on your situation."

"I can scan anything I like, but whenever I try doing it to anything actually important to a mission?" I throw my hands up. "Ward. It's like I'm not allowed to or something."

"Do you regret having used it against the League of Shadows?"

"Nnnnnnno."

"Then it seems that you had little choice." He stands next to me, studying the screens. "I will admit that such events have cured me of my belief that surface worlders know nothing of magic."

"You not having any luck either?"

"Garth and Tula are certain that we could penetrate his defences."

"But not without letting him know what you've done." He nods. "Is that pretty much it or is there a chance they could find a work-around?"

"Not without knowing exactly how his protections work. Robin and Kid Flash are attempting to track down the plans, or builders who worked on the original construction."

"I imagine it would be a later addition. Christianity might have moderated its position on magic use lately but Islam hasn't." Yes, spell breaking might technically be Qu'ranically permissible, but if you know enough to break a spell then you know enough to make it. The Ottomans decided that the difference was splitting hairs and their successor states have rather tended to follow that line. "If the builders had seen anything like that there'd still be rumours about the place."

"Do you know of anyone in this part of the world who could have created them?"

"The League of Shadows could have found someone, and an ex-Soviet General sounds like the sort of person who would know how to get in touch with them. Magic users who are actually local?" I shake my head. "If there are local magic users, I'd be astonished if they knew enough to make a ward that encompassed a whole mansion for years on end, let alone one that a couple of people with an actual magic education couldn't easily bypass."

"Could he have brought in someone to replenish it?"

"Yes, but anything beyond a charm-necklace would get noticed and commented upon. We can send Canis and Rocket after local charm-sellers and hope they find someone if you want, but I don't think we'll have any luck."

"We could pursue a more aggressive approach."

"The Director's suspicion aside, we don't really have any evidence that he's responsible. I don't suppose that there's an easy way to detect the Garrick Formula using magic, is there?"

"None that we are aware of. Though I do not believe that the subject has been studied in any detail."

Another lorry pulls up, this one decorated with the logo of a local caterers. We know he's got some sort of party planned for this evening. Unfortunately, since we don't know the guest list we can't really judge how safe sneaking in as an extra guest is. It would be fine if his home were being used as a venue for a corporate social event type party where no one there would know all of the people invited, but it could well be a smaller event with his friends and allies. If that were the case we'd stand out like sore thumbs.

One of the guards walks over to the lorry's cab and has a brief conversation with the driver. The passenger side door opens for a moment, then closes itself again. No one gets out.

Wait, what?

I've only got one drone with countermagic capacities, but I redirect it from the main entrance to the rear entrance where the lorry is and move its feed to the main screen while flickering through the visual modes of the drone already in place. Infrared shows a small area of hot air… EM shows nothing… I could pulse the place where I suspect an invisible person is with something but I'm a little nervous that they'll detect it.

Then the countermagic drone gets a clear shot.

Kaldur's eyes narrow. "Is that not John Constantine?"

It shouldn't be. Since that thing with the Beast I've kept myself updated on his itinerary. Right now he should still be in Kahndaq. "I can phone him and check?"

"Do so. Having heard of what often happens to people who oppose him, it seems wise to ensure that we are not operating at cross-purposes."

I raise the right to my left ear, generating a phone construct. Dial John Constantine.

Compliance.

There are a few rings, then a click. "Yeah?"

The figure on the screen is strolling in the direction of the front entrance, cigar in mouth and no phone in hand.

"Mister Constantine-."

"Oh right. One o' those, is it?"

"You wouldn't happen to be in a former Soviet republic at the moment, would you?"

There's a slight delay. Hopefully he knows that this isn't a Nabu-related call. Only my dealings with him outside that are Justice League knowledge and Batman might check his phone records at some point.

"Not right now. Why d'you ask?"

The figure on the screen stops for a moment, looking around in a nonchalant fashion for a moment before looking up into the sky. And sticks up the middle finger of his left hand.

"Then I think we've tracked down your doppelgänger."

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th May
08:27 GMT +4

"If we know he's here, why can't we just go in?" Wallace is leaning over Richard's shoulder, having used his friend's arm computer to watch the recording of The Demon Constantine's arrival. "There's no way the Azerbaijan government's going to protect someone doing business with a Demon."

Richard nods. "Especially not one who was involved in what happened in Fawcett."

"Well, yes, and if I'd recorded General Kerimov meeting him at the front door with a handshake I'd agree with you. But as it stands all him being here proves is that he's here. If anything, the fact that he went in while invisible and.. the fact that he knows that someone saw him but the guards haven't altered their patrols or just cancelled the party… That suggests that he's not meant to be there."

Kaldur looks slightly pensive. "In that case, do you believe that it would be prudent to warn the General?"

Wallace's eyes narrow slightly. "What, after he had two members of Blue Trinity killed and kidnapped the third? I think we can let him take his chances."

Kaldur remains impassive. "We do not have concrete evidence linking either him or one of his employees to that attack. Until we do, we are obliged to protect him from those we are certain are our enemies."

"On that subject…" I make deliberate eye contact with Kaldur. "In Fawcett City, I wanted to shoot him dead with the Ace of Winchesters. Captain Marvel ordered me not to. But, he's a Demon and involved in the murder of a very large number of people. Since he's back on Earth already, clearly just sending him back to Hell barely slows him down. I'd like a little forward guidance."

"Imprisonment is my preferred option."

"If that's your final word, I won't complain. But I have summoned Demons while in the Conservatory of Sorcery and with the knowledge of Queen Mera for the express purpose of shooting them dead with the Ace, aand... Justice League rules of engagement expressly exclude Demons from the 'do not kill' list."

Wallace frowns. "Can Demons even die?"

"Maintaining their bodies consumes arcane energy. Damage them enough and it falls apart and they lose whatever they invested in it. Being Demons, they tend to invest everything in the one they're using to keep them looking strong. Techniques for killing-" Arcane life forms of all kinds. "-Demons permanently usually revolve around starving them, taking so much away that they can't sustain themselves. It's difficult, though. If even a little bit survives they can eventually come back, which is what usually happens. The Ace works by sending its own magic into what it is that connects every bit of the Demon and -as far as we can tell- burning everything. One hit and the Demon's gone."

Kaldur's eyes drop as he considers my request. "Is there a less lethal option which you believe can work?"

"As far as I know, he's only a bit stronger than a baseline Human. A lot tougher, but if we knock him down binding chains will keep him there unless he gets external help."

"Then in the event of hostilities that is the option we will pursue."

I nod. I'm.. not happy about that, but our team is supposed to follow the League's example and William's order didn't leave any room for doubt. Still, I doubt Kaldur will mind if I shoot him a few times with Mage Slayers just to make sure that he stays down. Not as if the Demon actually needs his internal organs.

Kaldur returns his attention to the screen. "We need more information. For that, we will need someone inside."

Richard taps something on his computer and one of our screens changes to a wire frame drawing of the house. "Once it gets dark, I should be able to sneak in."

"True. But Roy could do it now."

Richard looks surprised. "Ah, no disrespect to Speedy or anything, but I don't think he's quite that good."

"He's been practising with my stealth armour." Richard hesitates, then nods. "Phasing and invisibility. Unless they know exactly what to look for and have some very specialist equipment, they wouldn't be able to stop him."

"And you're sure you've ironed out the whole 'it makes you crazy' thing?"

"Our testing showed that repeated exposure at low levels was pretty safe. Mister Crandell wore it for hours at a time when working and not at all otherwise, which is the worst combination."

Working out exactly what is happening in the Human body when the adaptation takes place is proving a little tricky. Best guess is that it's something really small that fits within the bounds of normal biological activity. That or something metaphysical, and I don't want to drag Sephtian into analysing something else like this when we've already got a workaround.

Kaldur taps his earpiece. "Aqualad to Speedy." Who's currently lurking in the back of a locally rented van near the mansion. "Activate stealth systems and investigate the mansion. If you get the opportunity, plant listening devices and cameras in areas likely to be occupied during the party. Try to observe General Kerimov or the Demon Constantine, but fall back immediately if you think you've been detected."

"Roger, Aqualad."

"Both Canis and Orange Lantern are available if you need immediate extraction."

"Orange Lantern? You're sure this'll work, right?"

"I checked the armour before you put it on. It's in perfect working order, so… Barring certain exotic detection systems, yes. Have you noticed any problems?"

"No. It's just a bit of a change from using just a bow. Makes me feel like I'm a walking arsenal or something."

Hah. Nice one, universe. It doesn't even have that many integrated weapons. I think it was Artemis' super strength which persuaded him that he needed to up his game when it came to armaments. Neither Green Arrow nor Red Arrow have mentioned anything to me about upgunning themselves and I think I've pushed the League as much as it's productive to for the time being.

"It'll take me about two minutes to do final checks and get inside. I'll be out of contact while the stealth system's active. Depending on where the guards are it should take me about half an hour to plant the bugs. Speedy out."

"Good luck, my friend."

There's a click as Roy hangs up.

"Something's been bothering me." Richard looks pensive. "The Demon Constantine was working for Satanus. If he was telling the truth in Fawcett City, Satanus basically rules Hell now. Which means he at least knows about DMN-."

Wallace smirks. "You mean 'Devil Jizz', right?"

"Batman.. didn't.. go for that name. Anyway, Satanus would at least know about it, right?"

I nod. "Given the usual level of intelligence and creativity Demons show, the most likely sources are him or an unusually well educated cult of some kind."

"Can your ring detect things in Hell?"

"Um. I only went in there briefly. I could navigate alright, though I don't have a map or anything."

"I mean, from Earth could you detect things that were there?"

"Unless there was a portal nearby? No, probably not."

"What about that quintessence waveform scan?"

"I'd have to scan everything on the planet and every part of the Earth's associated magic field. I'd get there eventually, but I'd expect everyone I knew to be dead of old age related causes when I came out of it. And I'd have even more trouble making sense of what I'd seen."

"The Demon Constantine was added to the international watch list, but he's a Demon. Going back to Hell and getting out again is probably something he can do for himself. But Batman's had Squire and me looking at criminal movement patterns. There have been a couple of cases of criminals we knew were in one country appearing in another with no sign of how they got there. Is it possible they're travelling through Hell?"

"Yessss. Though it's a pretty horrifying place, if a major power in Hell like Satanus offered safe passage, it could work."

"And how valuable would that ability be to the Light?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th May
17:35 GMT +4

Another limousine drives slowly up the driveway of General Kerimov's home.

"Nothing on that one, either."

I don't look round when Tula speaks. No magic users so far. It's gotten to be routine. General Kerimov has invited a large number of people from all across what was once the Soviet Union. Some of them I could write off as old comrades in arms. Others are clearly more recent business acquaintances. But the rest…

Richard brings up the faces of the most recent set of passengers on his terminal. "Oleksander Hryshchuk and Dariya Osipenko. Both of them work for the People's Party of Ukraine. No significant criminal record."

The rest are politically active sorts from around the former Soviet Union. There hasn't been any sort of public announcement that such a gathering was taking place, and no one we've seen so far was a 'face' for any sort of campaign. These are advisors and deal makers, people who can be dumped if they do something 'brave' in public. Just the sort you'd send to a meeting called by a ex-Soviet General with a big idea he wanted to share with you.

But I'm sure that the Director knew it was happening when he suggested that we come here. So, what, was he hoping we'd just charge in and disrupt it? It isn't as if the Justice League aren't going to be keeping an eye out for Ms Molotova regardless of what we turn up here. And he must know that we're not anything like stupid enough to just leap right in.

"Okay, thinking out loud here. Two political parties of any significance in modern Russia. Unified Russia and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Unified Russia was founded by Boris Yeltsin and has been in power since nineteen ninety six. The Director works for their current leader."

Wallace looks up from the video feeds from the bugs he's monitoring. "What, you think the General's trying to restart the Soviet Union? And the Director wants us to stop them?"

"But he must know we wouldn't care about that."

"Ah, bringing back the Soviet Union sounds like the kind of thing we'd care about to me, Oh El."

I shake my head. "The Justice League doesn't get involved in the internal politics of nation states. Case in point: the ongoing Bialyan civil war. If the Russian Communist party somehow won an election and their neighbours wanted greater political or economic integration, good luck to them. But if that's what he's after, Unified Russia would be happy to talk to him. Or them. In terms of the political reality, life under either party would be quite similar. They're even starting to take major nationalised companies back into state ownership. Unified Russia is very much in favour of close relations with its neighbours. Right now, having good relations with Moscow is a good way to bring your gas bill down. I'm struggling to work out what he's got to offer that they couldn't get by working with people already in government."

"Maybe they just… Really like Communism?"

"Why? A nationalist police state has all the advantages of a communist one, as far as the ruler is concerned. And doesn't leave them shackled to an unworkable economic model. The only thing it lacks is a unifying morality, and you'll note how much more pro-Orthodox Christianity the current President is than his predecessor. If I had to guess, I'd say it's just attracting people who didn't win positions of power in the new state as it developed. They're just… Looking for an alternate route to power."

"No one we've seen so far has been an oligarch or a representative of one. Some of the oligarchs have come to terms with Unified Russia, some are keeping their heads down and a few are starting their own political movements. None want communism back because it would threaten their livelihoods."

Roy's still watching his monitoring equipment, but he looks a bit more thoughtful than a few empty rooms really warrant. "So what's this guy got that's got everyone so excited?"

Wallace shakes his head. "Can't be Molotova. He's barely had her a day. And even if he woke her up right now he's got no way to know whether or not she'd be willing to cooperate."

"And if he showed her off to anyone, Russia would hear about it and could openly come down on him like a tonne of bricks." I shake my head again. "I've got to say, if we hadn't seen the Demon Constantine I'd be suggesting that we just leave."

Roy presses a button, switching from one trivial conversation to another. "Yeah, well, we did, and until we find out what he's up to we're stuck here."

Wallace suddenly jerks, then tries to relax a little. Too late, we're already all looking at him. "Ah…" He looks around the room. "It was just-. The Demon Constantine comes from Hell, right?"

Richard smirks. "This is usually where Demons come from."

"So… He could have talked to anyone who's died and gone to Hell, right? Basically every bad guy in history."

"No. To go to Hell you have to have associated yourself with a mythos that includes Hell. Otherwise you'd just go… Wherever."

"But that includes Edward Clariss. I don't remember anything about him picking up another religion.. and.. he's.. dead, so..?"

"It's a possibility. But it would be rather hard for the Demon Constantine to find him, if he'd even heard of him."

"Do you think super speed soldiers would be enough to do whatever it is he wants with Russia?"

"Um. Maybe. But the old Soviet Union tried for over a decade and couldn't get it quite right. None of.. these people have the sorts of contacts they'd need to get a research program up and running-."

"Except for Doctor Conrad Bortz of Genetech, New York." Richard turns around, pulling the image from his monitor and transferring it to his hologram projector. We see a car carrying a thin and slightly ragged-looking man with a mop of orange hair and bushy eyebrows. As we watch he fiddles with his tie, clearly uncomfortable with it. "Think he'd be able to do the research?"

Ring, review personal history? Ooh dear.

"Yes, though I'd point out that researching super speed isn't actually a crime."

"Maybe not, but a super powered arms race doooesn't exactly sound like something that would help world peace."

"It wouldn't get that far. All we'd have to do is tip off the US authorities and Genetech would lose its export licence. I doubt that the US really wants a super power arms race either."

Wallace looks directly at me. "Unless they're offering Doctor Bortz a job here. How friendly is this guy with the Azerbaijani authorities?"

"Friendly enough that he could set up a laboratory without too much hassle. But we still don't know that he's got a source-."

"We do now."

Raquel points to her monitor, drawing all of our attention. Standing next to General Kerimov as he greets his guests is a man in tight fitting blue trousers and a loose white shirt, open at the chest to display his man-cleavage. It looks like some sort of ill-advised seventies hang over, and to be fair that's the last time anyone saw its wearer.

Max Mercury shakes Doctor Bortz' hand.

"Think they could study him?"

Max Mercury, who at some point told Mister Garrick that he derived his speed from a potion given to him by a Native American shaman. And if someone like that could make it, a modern laboratory should be able to crack it pretty quickly.

I raise my left hand to my ear. "Ring, get me Aqualad."

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th May
17:53 GMT +4

"And that's where we are, sirs."

With Batman, Mister Allen and Mister Garrick in here as well as as many members of my team as are available, things are starting to get a little crowded. I used a construct zeta tube to bring them in without the loud bang that a boom tube would generate. Kaldur had been away for consultations on how to proceed, given how political the situation was becoming. But for this they wanted to review the situation first hand.

Mister Garrick nods as he straightens up from where he'd been lent over a monitor. "That's him alright. I'd recognize that getup anywhere."

Batman's standing back a little. "Have you run an analysis of his facial expressions?"

Richard and I look at each other for a moment, then I make a small gesture with my right hand. He nods, then activates his arm computer. "There aren't enough recordings of Max's face from his previous periods of activity for a conclusive analysis. Vocal analysis doesn't quite line up, but.. that could be natural change. It has been forty years."

"Hn." Mister Garrick shakes his head. "Not for him it hasn't. He found a way to use his speed to take himself out of time. From his point of view it might only have been a few days since he and I last spoke."

Mister Garrick is in a suit rather than his Flash gear. From what Wallace has told me that was most likely down to Missus Garrick's influence. Apparently she didn't have a problem with him being the Flash but she shares Alan's opinion that superheroing is a young man's game.

Mister Allen sighs. "Whether Max is there or not, I don't think I'm okay with an ex-Soviet General developing a super speed formula."

Batman's eyes narrow slightly. "There's been no further sign of the Demon."

Kaldur draws himself up a little. "There has not."

Batman turns his head slightly towards Kaldur. "How far do the wards extend?"

Kaldur presses a button on the display. It changes to show an image of the property, a line around the outer edge of the boundary. "So far as we have been able to tell, it extends all of the way around the property at uniform strength. Since we could not penetrate it without revealing ourselves I do not know if further areas inside have their own protections."

Batman studies the image for a moment, then nods. "Team. Your objectives are to locate and recover Christina Molotova, and to capture The Demon Constantine, ideally without being detected by any local group. Any political consequences of General Kerimov's actions are a problem for the League."

Kaldur and I both nod. That's a relief, though I'm a little worried that 'problem for the League' really means 'we're not going to do anything about it'.

"Orange Lantern, zeta tube."

I nod again and create the required construct. Batman walks into it immediately. Mister Allen steps towards it, then hesitates when he realises that Mister Garrick isn't following him. "Jay?"

"You go on home. Think I should stay on for a bit. I knew Max best…"

"Okay, but I'm gonna catch hell from Joan if anything happens to you."

"I'll be fine. Get going before you're late for work again."

Mister Allen nods and dashes into the tube, disappearing in a flash of light. I dismiss the construct as Kaldur moves to address the team. "We have our task. Tempest, Aquagirl, how quickly can you perform a scrying ritual from inside the wards?"

Garth's eyes dip as he considers the question. "If we're not worrying about anything else, we should be able to locate a Demon within… Six minutes. But if they've got any sort of defences up it might not work. The Demon Constantine is a demonic copy of the man who invented Orange Lantern's tattoos, there's no way to be certain that he isn't protecting himself in a similar way."

I shrug. "The next best option is walking around with rune stones and hoping one of them starts glowing."

Kaldur nods. "Then that is what we have to do." He half-turns to the image of the mansion. "The easiest point of ingress for people who cannot walk through walls appears to be the wall at the rear of the property."

Richard nods, pressing a button on his arm computer to bring up a closer view. "There are lasers and razor wire at the top of the wall and another set of lasers right at the bottom on the inside, as well as cameras on the external surface."

Roy crosses his arms across his chest. "I can deal with the cameras. Being able to turn invisible almost makes it too easy."

Tula takes a closer look at the hologram. "If the cameras are down, our kinetic belts can get us over the walls easily. But that still leaves the guards and their dogs."

Raquel frowns. "Can't you just wear Orange Lantern's invisible armor stuff?"

Garth shakes his head. "We haven't practiced with it. Our water armor is usually more useful."

"Canis-?"

He grins. "I am not so subtle as Kanto, but I think myself able to kill a few Human guards without alerting their fellows."

…

"That's good to know, but I was actually going to ask if you could collect a bucket of Brut's urine." And now everyone's staring at me. "It was on Mythbusters? Wolf urine made guard dogs hesitate and Brut is far bigger than a Wolf." Still staring. "We could use a sonic device instead if urine makes you uncomfortable. If the dogs are acting up it's more likely that the guards will ignore them."

Richard brings up the patrol routes. "There are four moving patrols, but it looks like they're trying to keep them out of sight of the guests. If you go in here, unless they actually see or hear something you shouldn't have a problem. Will the spell make your tattoos glow through your clothing?"

Garth shakes his head. "Not for something simple like this. Demons stand out a great deal against background magic. Casting the spell won't take much power."

Kaldur nods. "Robin, Speedy. It is extremely unlikely that General Kerimov would keep anything incriminating in his home. Once the cameras have been neutralized, you and I will travel to the offices of his private security company and gather any intelligence that could lead us to Miss Molotova." He warded that place, too. "Canis, Kid Flash, Orange Lantern and Rocket. You will remain outside of the mansion and either move in to capture The Demon Constantine when he is located or assist Garth and Tula in evacuating if he is not."

Wallace nods. "Oh El? Anything else you can tell us about what sorts 'a magic this Demon can do?"

I shake my head. "Sorry. John can perform a wide variety of minor magics but I've got no idea how becoming a Demon has changed his abilities. Still-" I shrug. "-the chains can hold him and bind him and I've seen no sign that he's become anything like as fast as you."

Raquel points her right thumb at the picture of Max Mercury. "What do we do about him?"

Kaldur sighs quietly. "If we are fortunate, he will never know that we were here. Otherwise, he can be fought using the anti-speed techniques which we have practiced before. Your force field will hold him off indefinitely and he cannot fly. Kid Flash can fight at near his speed, Orange Lantern has a supply of Vertigo Inducers and Canis is extremely resilient. But if that should happen, the priority is to disengage. We have nothing to gain from such a fight."

There's a round of nodding, though Canis' head remains still. "And if we are detected and identified?"

"Then we were acting on legitimate intelligence on the presence of a dangerous criminal. General Kerimov may well not be aware of the Demon's presence, and even if he is I doubt that he will be willing to affirm an alliance with a Demon in public."