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

[Mr Zoat]

14th May
21:53 GMT -6

"And you could jus' get tha President on tha phone."

Harleen and I walk down the main road of Montegut, Louisiana. We have our arms around each other's backs and she's leaning into me. We dropped Swamp Thing, Abigail and Tefé off twenty minutes ago and I am now escorting her back to her home. The right hand and the left hand -or perhaps, this being America, the right hand and the further right hand- are now talking to one another and with luck finding a non-stupid legal solution which doesn't involve picking a fight with the God of Plants. I was pleasantly surprised by how President Horne stayed polite and reasonable throughout the conversation.

"Yes. I mean, it wasn't exactly easy. I had to go through a number of intermediaries, but he told me when Mister Luthor and I were campaigning about the Citizenship Recognition Act that he agreed with what we were doing, and if we ever ran into any sort of trouble getting it enforced we should contact him."

"Rilly?"

I raise my right eyebrow, turning my head to look down at her. Street lighting around here isn't all that good, but I'm sharing the ring's ambient lighting enhancement. It makes her eyes look more than a little bit unsettling. I suppose that I'm used to seeing it in the mirror, but seeing it on someone else… "Why wouldn't he?"

"Jus' never rememba him gettin' excited about civil liberties befowah." She looks thoughtful for a moment. "Actually, I ain't sure what else he's actually done."

"I know he was the third head of state to send an ambassador to Kahndaq after Adom took over."

"I don't rememba hearin' nothin' abowd that."

"Probably didn't want to draw attention to it, given how sensitive America was -and still is- to supervillains. I mean, Adom's not, but that sort of distinction's lost on some-" Television channels. "-people."

"I know you said this sorta thing only happens once a week, but is this how it usually goes?"

"No. Usually our opponents are more violent or more secretive. Swamp Thing was just sort of sitting there and having a halfway reasonable grievance. And if there's any sort of dispute about who gets charged with what afterwards superheroes aren't usually involved."

"How come?"

"We're permitted because we're useful and… As you saw today, there are certain practical difficulties involved in stopping us."

She chuckles. "Yeyeah."

"But most of us don't have arrest authority. Justice League members do, but that's about it. The usual procedure is to hand suspects over to police and then let them handle it."

"You can't make arrests?"

I nod. "I can't make arrests."

She tugs slightly on my arm and we turn off the main road onto a smaller road lined on either side with bungalows. Bungalows on stilts. I suppose that it makes sense, given how low lying all the land is around here. If it floods, who cares? As long as it's less than two metres deep you just have to sit tight for a day or so.

"Lived here long?"

"I was just rentin'." She shrugs. "But, once Waller decided she was gonna keep me on, I decided I needed somethin' a bit more permanent." I nod. "A lotta guys an' gals from Belle Reve live around heyah. It's less than an hour's drive t' get t' work, prices are okay, crime rate's low… 'Course, havin' a buncha people from a supervillain prison livin' here probably helps with that."

"Bit quieter than New York or Gotham."

"I dunno. Gotham was pretty quiet today. An' tha flies can get real bad durin' summah. Oh, this is me."

She pulls away slightly, leading me up the solid wooden steps of her bungalow towards the door. There's a small electric light attached to the wall next to the door and I can see a couple of insects crawling over it in an attempt to reach the moon. I've never really been clear why Americans build houses that are this fragile. If I lived in a place that got hit by tornadoes a few times a year I'd want my home built of solid brick.

Harleen takes her key out of her handbag and slots it into the lock. "Nevah did get t' go flyin'."

"We can always do that some other time."

"Yeyeah, we could." She turns back towards me, then nods. "You… Um. You got any plans for tomorrow?"

"Batman's probably going to want to talk to me about the whole Swamp Thing thing at some point, but other than that, nothing that can't be put off. Haven't managed to put you off the whole superhero lifestyle, then?"

"Heck no. So…" Her eyes dart around, moving from me to our environment. I suppose that since she's not used to built in night vision it must be a little distracting. "I was wonderin'-."

"Hello, Paul."

"Ah!" Oh dear. A hand appears over my right shoulder at the same time as I feel a head against my left arm. What the heck is Eris doing in Louisiana? Harleen stares at her. "Who are you?"

"Didn't he tell you?" Eris' right hand trails across my back to my left side, making only a brief stop off at my bottom and Eris walks forw-. What is she wearing? No, I can clearly see what she's wearing. It's a black leather corset which barely covers her breasts, coupled with black knickers, black leather thigh boots, black elbow length gloves and… And she's carrying a riding crop. "I'm his goddess."

Harleen blinks, backing up slightly. "Uuuuum. I… Um."

"And he recently called upon my services." Eris tilts her head slightly to the right, looking Harleen over and grinning. "Will you be joining us this evening?"

Harleen's mouth falls open, her eyes moving from Eris to me and then back again. She gulps. "Ah-h..?"

I sigh. "Harleen, she's my goddess in an entirely literal and not at all metaphorical -or sexual- way. Allow me to introduce my patron, Eris. The Olympian Goddess of Chaos."

"O-oh." She nods. "Because.. that's.. less.. scary."

"She's actually quite a pleasant woman." Eris brings the keeper of her crop to her lips and licks it lasciviously. "Mostly. Sometimes. Eris, are you actually here for something?"

She grins. "Oh, call me 'mistress'."

"I'm not calling you mistress."

She rolls her eyes. "Oh, fine. That thing you asked me about. I've got a lead."

"The thing…" Oh, the thing. "Rrright." I sigh, then focus my attention back on Harleen. "I'm terribly sorry, but I need to get on this."

Eris nods. "He really does."

"Ah. Okay! Well, I had-. Fun, today?" Her eyes dart to Eris again, who-. Shouldn't be doing that with a riding crop in public. "Ah…" She darts forward, puts her hands on my shoulders and pulls my head down to give me a quick peck on the left cheek. Then with another nervous glance at Eris she backs away, pushing open the door of her house and walking through. Then closing it in a fairly definitive way. I hear the lock turning.

Eris nods to herself. "She seemed nice."

"Eris, this wasn't the best time."

"I know. And you!" She turns my way, flicking me lightly in the chest with her right hand-.

Whow! I go flying through the air! Over the roof of the stilt bungalow opposite Harleen's house and I'm still going! Brakes, brakes? Okay. I stabilise, then transition back down to where Eris is now standing at the end of the road. "What was that for?"

"Sinning."

"What? Eris, you don't even have-."

"You were just going to drift into her bed. After all the nagging from me and after all your high-sounding rhetoric, you were just going to go with the flow." She peers at me suspiciously. "You.. did.. realise that she wanted-?"

"I didn't… Think she was going to proposition me… Now."

"You actually didn't, did you." Eris looks away for a moment. "Wrll. I'll let you off. But I expect you to make an actual decision." She comes a little closer, looking me directly in the eyes. "Take a hold of your destiny."

"Eris, that's my crotch."

"I've already got my destiny." She nods. "Now, come on. I think I've found a way to get that chaos focus you wanted."

 

[Mr Zoat]

14th May
22:02 GMT -6

"I'm not sure where you think we can walk to from here that has any chance of-."

The universe around us twists and bends, colours shading into one another as the paint of the universe runs and mixes, swirling in bizarre patterns that I can't quite make sense of. I close my eyes to-. They're still there. Okay, this might just-. No, it's just strange. I unfocus my eyes slightly, abandoning any attempt to follow any one part of what I'm seeing. Treat it like a magic eye picture. Huh. Now I do that it's almost relax-.

I fall face first onto the tarmac as I'm abruptly returned to reality. Ow! Wait, why does this -I push myself up and gingerly feel my nose with my right hand- hurt? My environmental shield should have protected me from a simple face plant. And my nose… No, it's not broken, but it still hurts and I've got dirt and gravel on my face and that.. shouldn't happen.

Eh. I brush the worst of it off with my right hand and look around for Eris-.

This isn't Louisiana. Ring, where am I?

14th May
23:02 GMT -5

Present location is Salem, Massachusetts. Precise location is the last recorded location of the-

FUCKFUCKFUCK I recognise it!

-Tower of Fate.

"He̸h͜eh͢ehé!"

I frantically look in the direction of the laughter. Eris is kneeling in front of a small child. Blonde and.. female, I'm assuming, though too young to have entered puberty. Her clothing is faded turquoise, and it's either a dress that has been cut down to her size or a long blouse or t-shirt that got that tatty through natural wear and tear. On her head is a green knitted bonnet with an orange bobble. The hair which juts out is cut in a haphazard manner, as if some time ago someone stabbed at it with scissors until they got bored and then called it a day. In her right hand she holds a string, and on the other end of that string is a lighter than air balloon in the shape of a fish. She smiles as she sees that I've noticed her and gives me a wave with her left hand.

Then she steps forwards and pats Eris on the head. Eris collapses.

"Hello? I don't think we've met. I'm-" I rise to my feet, fighting against a sudden feeling of dizziness as I do so. "-Orange... Ah. Orange Lantern two eight one four."

"͜Re̛ally̸?̀"͟

"Ah…" I frown. Am I-? Yes, of course I am, why was I-? "Yes." I nod. "Really."

I open my right hand, creating a simple kaleidoscope construct in the air next to me. No, the rings are working, so why does my face still hurt? And why couldn't I remember-?

An image appears in my mind. I'd just got out of the zeta tube in the Hall of Justice, I turned to my right and-.

"You-. You were both there. At the Hall of Justice, before the thing with Kon and the Genomorphs."

"̶Y̧òu͝ ͠n͡ever g̡ave me͡ my c̸a̷k͠e̡."̵

"You never left your address." Eris rolls onto her side, staring at me wide-eyed as she shakes her head. "But I have some in subspace if you want some now?"

The girl beams and nods her head vigorously. Right, fruit and icing… I delete the kaleidoscope construct and turn my right hand palm upwards, fingers raised. A plate appears from subspace with a generous piece of Christmas cake resting on it. I crouch down and hold it out to her. "Here you are. Now…" I glance at Eris, but she seems to be spacing out. "What's your name?"

She lunges for the plate, her mouth w̷iden͞ing b̧eyo̶ńd t̴hé c҉on̡f̨ine̕s ̢ǫf̵ h͞er͘ ͞m͢ơu̕th,̡ ͠r͘i͡n̛gs o͜f̵ vici͘ous҉l҉y ̶sèrŗat̷e̵d ̨tee͘t͟h̸ undùla͠ti͏ng̕,̧ p̸oi͟śe͜d͡ ̡t̴o̶ redu͝c͏e a͡ǹy͟ ̕obje̸c͜t̛ ente̵ring ͘th͠at v̡a͠s̢t m͝a̴w to i͢ts ̨b͢as͠e ̕c̛omp҉o͢nent̵s͞. ͢ A ͏r̷ip̕p͢l̢e, ̶an̕d m͡y̧ ve҉r͘y ey͞e̛s̷ are d̨r̀a͞w̸ǹ ͡f̡u̶r̀t̸h̀er a͠nd furt̕he̡r ̕in̨, ̀p͜a̧s͟t̡ m̡o̢r͢e̵ ̢and m͠o͞r̶e̕ r̡i͏ngs ͡of ̵t̡ee͞th ͢un̷ti̸l̀ beyond̴ all o͞f ͠th͜e ̵teeth,̴ wh҉ere I ̨wơu͝ld̵ expect ̸t̸o͢ śęę ͝he͟r͝ gulle̴t...̵

I͡ ìn͞s̷teaḑ ̶seȩ ͟m͘ysel̵f ͡s̴t͝a̵r̸i͢n̶g ̨b̨ack.

I fall backwards, dropping the plate as I fall onto my arse. She steps forward and neatly catches it as it drops, staring down at me with amusement.

Then she raises the plate to her mouth and takes a perfectly normal bite out of the cake. Okay, using her hands would be more normal, but compared to the Chaos-Wurm…

"What are you?"

She tugs lightly on the string of her balloon, bringing the fish down to the level of my head as she continues to eat the cake. I look the fish in the eyes and the fish looks back.

"I ̶is Sh͏iveri͞n͟g͘ J̨e͏mmy̴ ̢o̵f ̸T̵h҉e̡ ̀Sh̢al͘l̨ow ͠Br͝i̸g̛a̶de̛,̵ ͢an͝d I͘ is a P͡rin̡cęs̷ş of͠ Chao̕s,҉ ̨ąnd͠ I is̷ ̢very ̧im҉p̡ortaņt."

"I'd have hesitated to give you cake if you weren't. Um." I glance at Eris. She just looks back blankly. "Okay? You-" I look up in the direction I know the Tower to be. "-are aware that the Tower of Fate-."

"̵It҉'s̴ ̵no͜t ͞he͝re҉ ̧m̷óḿent͟ari͜l͜y͡. ́ I̵'̡s w͏ant̡s̨ y̕o̡u ̡t҉o̶ t̕ell I͠ ͠w͘h̨at̢ y͘ou i҉s ̛doi̷ng͠.̨"̀

Okay, Eris thinks I can get a chaos focus from… Shivering Jemmy, a phrase which means 'A beggar who parades in rags and tatters in the hope of attracting greater sympathy'. Is a Princess of Chaos the same as a Lord of Chaos? I have no idea what I'm dealing with. But I need a focus from her, and I doubt that Eris would have brought me here for no reason.

I shrug. "I'm going to kill Klarion. I could.. just.. lure him somewhere and stab him with the Sword of the Fallen. But that isn't enough. The bit we've got walking around and making a nuisance of itself is disconnected from the greater part of the Lord of Chaos Klarion that exists in the Realm of Chaos itself." I look from the fish back to her for feedback. "Right? I mean, it seems like you'd know better than I do."

"̢Go̵ o̡n."͢

"But that mass could regrow his mind, or develop an intelligence of its own. And he could just get replaced by someone as bad, and while I'd probably feel a bit better about seeing him dead… That's not why I'm doing this. So I need to deal with that mass and I need to be sure that we get a Lord of Chaos who isn't like Klarion. So… My idea was to kill two birds with one stone. Get someone who could become a Lord of Chaos and use the Human-shaped bit of Klarion to force a connection."

Jemmy looks up from her plate, mouth slightly open, damp raisins and other pieces of cake stuck to her face.

"But to do that, I need a powerful focus of elemental Chaos magic. Eris told me that her apples wouldn't be enough. Which I assume is why she brought me before you."

"You i͝sn͠'̴t̀ very͝ ch͝aoti̸c̀.͢"͡

I nod. "I know. I'm not instinctively a particularly chaotic person. It's just that I look around, and… The existing order is so dysfunctional. It needs to change. The world needs more chaos, and if I'm the person in the right place…" I nod. "Then that's how it is."

"̵Ǹot͟ yo͜u͟ the͟n.̴ W̷ho?"̨

"Eris-" Who has pushed herself more or less upright. "-wasn't interested. So I asked John Constantine."

"Huuuurrrrhh-hahahah! Hehahahahah! RAAHHHAAHHHAAAHHAHHHAH! WOOOHHAHAHAAAHAHHHHAHAHAHH!"

Her body shifts as she continues laughing, childlike form replaced by something more obviously monstrous. Guffawing, she towers over the plaza as a titanic, misshapen figure. A child's clay model of a human brought to life. I've seen far uglier, but the sheer wrongness she now conveys puts her in the top ten things I don't want to see again.

And then the ogreish figure is gone and the girl has returned.

"̵Kl̸ar͝iòn ̢p͡u̸ll͏e͜d͝ ͜I's͟ ha͡i҉r and ̷p̛us͜he̵d͠ ͏I͠ of́f̧ th͞e̶ swi̷ng͡s̀.̷ ͏Yo͠u̸ ͞c̷a͘n hav͟e ͟I͢'̵s҉ fi̛sh҉."

She holds out the string towards me. I glance at Eris again, but she just pulls her head back slightly. Guess she doesn't want to involve herself further. I reach forward and take the string.

The fish deflates, falling to the ground.

"A҉ll ̵you'r̵es.̵ ͞A̕ll ̢doņe̷.̧"͡ She turns and starts walking away. "M҉ake śur͜e ̷you ͝şt̶a̸y͡ ̧iǹter͏e̷s͠t̕ing."

"I will certainly try, oh Princess of Cha-" And she's gone. "-os." I look down at the chaos fish balloon and then at Eris. And then at the place where the Tower of Fate should be. "Eris, can I assume that we need to go now?"

She struggles to her feet and lumbers in my direction. "Yes, yes we do."

I nod and transition us both away.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Escalation

15th May
10:37 GMT -6

"Okay, now, just sort of… Lean forwards a bit?"

Harleen tries to follow my instruction, starts to drift and then immediately straightens up again. I suppose it's a bit like using a Segway. All your instincts tell you that you're about to fall over, despite the fact that that's very unlikely.

I smile encouragingly. "Okay, and again?"

For a second she looks up at me, then her eyes drop back down to the ground. Which is about a metre away. "This ain't easy, y'know. How long did it take you t'learn, anyways?"

"I got the basics after half an hour or so." That earns me a minor scowl. "But, I had been flying with the ring for months before that, so I'd got used to the whole 'being in the air apparently unsupported' thing. Look, it's pretty much impossible for anything to go wrong. Even if you just fall out of the air, hitting the ground won't hurt. The belt absorbs kinetic energy."

"I dunno. That shuwer sounds like somethin' that'd hurt."

I hold up my hands, pull the left ring off with my right hand and then pull the right ring off with my left. I then stow them both in one of the chest pouches in my overalls. "There we go. Just the belt holding me up. Next?"

I flip over, the sky spinning across my field of vision until I can see the ground again. Ugh, that always feels weird when I do it without the rings. The kinetic belt has some inertial stabilising but it's got nothing on a proper environmental shield. Then I shoot forward, accelerating rapidly and boong, ramming face first into the grass-covered ground.

There's a sharp intake of breath from my flying-buddy.

"And I'm fine." Precise manoeuvring with these things is more difficult than large movements, but I twist around while still balancing on my head. "See? No problem."

"Okay." She blinks. "That's a thing."

"You wanna try?"

"I think I'll stick t'normal flyin'."

"Well, go on then."

"Oooooh… Kaaaaay?" She leans forwards in the air, accelerating slowly forwards and upwards. "How'm I doin'?"

"Like a toddler on her first tricycle, but you're going forwards and that's the main thing." I clench slightly, causing my own belt to reverse me back upwards. Then I twist, briefly moving to a position parallel to the ground before accelerating up to Harleen. "Come on! It's really instinctive. Inasmuch as there is a trick, it's to not think about it too much. I mean… You were a gymnast. You didn't think about where every part of your body was the whole time, did you?"

"Okay, but-" She moves her right forefinger into lecture position. "-if this goes wrong you bettuh catch me."

"I won't need to. Unless you fly into a laser or an electricity pylon-" I look around, seeing none of either. "-you're pretty much proof against anything that could hurt you."

She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, then leans forwards and jerks her hands back. Immediately she accelerates forward, forcing me to duck and dive to avoid being hit. "Wwaaahhhoooooo!"

I hold my right hand up to my mouth as she rockets away. "See!" Uh. Maybe I should get after..? Yes, yes I should. I assume the position and fly along in her wake as she powers through the sky… Well, so close to the ground perhaps I should say through the air, above the Kisatchie National Forest. She seems to be enjoying 'forwards' well enough, but the tree line is coming up and-.

She looks back. "This is great!"

"Pull up! Pull up!"

"Huh?" She turns her head to face forwards. "Ah!" She leans back, probably trying to stop. Unfortunately for her, the belt interprets that a desire to change direction, so rather than going at about fifty miles an hour straight forwards she's now going fifty miles an hour straight up. "Agh!" She flails briefly in surprise, then calms down a little and gets herself back under control, slowing to a stop about a mile above the forest canopy.

I follow after her at a slightly reduced rate, giving her a moment to get used to being in the air and to appreciate the view. She glances my way as I come up alongside her. "Well?"

"That was… Heh." She's panting, but the smile on her face says 'excitement' rather than 'terror'. "That was pretty great. Hah."

"Okay, next lesson: flying into the ground at full speed."

"Oh no. No." She shakes her head definitively. "That ain't happenin'."

I lean back in the air, lounging on nothing. "Alright. What do you want to do next?"

Another deep breath. "I wanna…" She nods to herself. "I.. wanna talk aboud last night. While I'm still buzzin' with adrenaline an' not.. fellin' self conscious aboud it."

"Okay." I nod. "Reasonable. Eris is-."

"Tha Greek Goddess of Chaos. An' you work fer Wonder Woman so I guess it makes sense, you knowin' her."

"I.. am actually a Hellenist. I do literally worship her."

"But that don't explain what she wuz doin' showin' up at my house, an'… Dressed.. in that."

"How.. blunt do you want me to be?"

She gives me a flat look. "Hey, I'm a counsellor heyah."

"Okay. I asked her to find a particular arcane artefact for me, and the owner was available to negotiate with right then. As to why she was dressed like that, I'm… I've been somewhat reticent on matters of romance and sex. Depending on how the mood takes her, she finds that either amusing or irritating. She dressed like that as a wind up."

"Ooh. That makes sense. I mean, she's still kind of a bitch, but…"

"Yeah." I clear my throat, momentarily averting my gaze. "Also… She wants me to end my reticence… Deliberately."

Harleen frowns, baffled. "How d'ja mean 'deliberately'? Like, you can't fall on someone?"

"No, she means that I have to deliberately choose a particular person, not just… Go with the flow in a way I don't find objectionable. Can you believe that I didn't actually pick up on the fact that you were propositioning me?"

"Oh." She looks more puzzled than offended. "Rilly? 'Cause I thought I was bein' pretty direct there."

"Yeah. I mean, I see it now, it just-. At the time, it didn't…" I sigh. "Okay, did I ever tell you that I'm a metahuman? I don't mean the rings, I mean…" I make a circling motion with my right hand.

"No." She shakes her head. "What, you got a power and power rings?"

"Not exactly. I got my power as a result of the power rings. I'm empathic. I perceive the emotions of those around me as coloured light. Most.. importantly, I see love as violet light. Last time someone propositioned me I knew… Because I could see… Violet. They were interested in me, emotionally… So it made sense that they might want to have sex with me. You… You're not violet. Not even a little bit."

"Well… We don't know each other that well. I mean… If you wan'ed to wait…"

"The question is not.. why I don't. I can or not. My question is, why do you? I'm pleasant company and I'm good looking, but would you be enjoying this flying any.. more, if we'd had sex last night? At the.. restaurant in New York, you mentioned a teacher at Gotham University in the same breath as Doctor Strange. Then you said that you just needed to find a guy who wasn't a jerk. If I turned my empathic vision up, would I see myself filling that hole?"

"Huh." She looks me over with notably less enthusiasm. "Didn't think you were that insecuwah."

"I'm not. I'm concerned for you. Not only do you not love me, there's no flicker that could become true love. You're not particularly libidinous, so it's not just the endorphin release from sex that you're looking for. Why do you want me? Given.. your history… Do you.. really think that another.. relationship with a man is.. a solution? Eris considers going with the flow to be a sin, and I.. kind of see what she means. If you're just looking for the next Strange-."

"Oh, go t' hell!"

She turns face down and drops through the sky, tears leaking from her eyes.

 

[Mr Zoat]

15th May
10:42 GMT -6

"Harleen, I'm very sorry-" She changes direction again, and I keep pace with her. "-but I feel that it's import-" Another jink, another change in direction. "-ant to be open and honest about-."

She stops suddenly, twisting round in the air and throwing her arms up. "Not always! God!" She's breathing hard as she stares at me. "I must have tha worst taste!"

"Okay, no-."

"I'm not lookin' for a Strange replacement! I thawt that maybe a superhero could be a guy I could trust not t' do any a' the manipulative bullshit he did!"

I was intentionally not using-! "I'm not.. trying to be manipulative? I mean, I'm pretty sure that I've never lied to you-" And -let's be honest here- the number of people I've not lied to is pretty small. "-or tried to persuade you to do anything for my benefit-."

"Then what tha hell was that whole 'flicka of love' stuff?"

"Ah." I nod. "May I show you?" She eyes me suspiciously for a moment, then grudgingly nods. "Try to hold still." I send a filament through the air to her, touching it to her neck and interfacing it with her nervous system. Visual cortex… There we are. Swamp Thing might do this by altering Missus Holland's soul, but.. I.. don't think that's a good idea for me. Simple enough to share what I can see.

Harleen exhales suddenly as her visual field is replaced by mine.

"This is how I see the world. See you. And this is… The lowest intensity. See the colours beneath the surface…"

"Indigo and red. What's that mean?"

"Compassion and anger. Indigo is your strongest colour. Usually. I can.. see how annoyed you are by my behaviour."

"Then why'd ya do it? If ya know how it makes me feel, why don't cha just… Not?"

"Like this I only see the colours that bubble to the surface. If I wanted to predict how… People were going to behave whenever I did something I'd have to look-" I hold up my right hand and drop it forwards. Within my visual arc so that she can see me doing it. "-deeper. And I don't like doing that unless I've got a good mission-related reason to do so."

"Deeper. I wanna see deeper. I wanna see what's so obvious t' you."

"You said you were sure that you wanted me to be blunt."

"Show me."

"Alright. Not sure this will come across properly." And I look… Under..? I don't know the words to describe it properly. If they even exist in English. Should probably talk to M'gann and find out how Martians talk about it. Though… I suppose they usually only talk about it with other Martians…

Under the red are threads of different colours leading off towards various other experiences. Standing in Belle Reve as she starts to believe that Strange was responsible, standing behind the door, listening as that woman takes me away because she's not important enough and more vaguely, wisp-images of why why why? And Strange smiling fondly and someone else I don't recognise and her useless lump of a brother-.

"Stop. Look… Look somewhere else."

I see the two of us walking along the streets of Gotham heading towards the wedding and me talking to her after we broke her out of the psychiatrist's office during the second break out attempt and us having dinner in that restaurant in New York and then she's having dinner with Strange-.

"I jus' wan'ed one relationship with a guy that wasn't a total mess." Her eyes stare at nothing as she starts crying again. "Was that too much t' ask?" I disconnect, floating closer as she blinks and focuses her attention back on me. "Was it?"

I… Um. I float right up to her and hug her, my arms going up her back and my hands on her shoulders. Her head rests on my right shoulder, leaning into my head. "No. No it isn't. But… You're looking for any sort of stability. Not for a loving partnership. And that is… Actually… What I want, ultimately. And… In your case… I don't… You know that your relationships with men have generally been unhealthy. I don't think another dominant man is really the solution you need."

"Oh yeah? What do I need?"

"A friend? One you don't need to sleep with or slave away loyally for in order for your life to keep making sense." I shrug. "Today was just supposed to be pointless fun. I wasn't really…"

"We're jus'… Gowin out flyin'… Fer fun."

"Yeah, I… I've been flying with most of my friends… You seemed to like the idea…"

"An' tha weddin'… You didn't even think that was a date, did you?"

"It had a certain date-like quality. But most of the people I might have invited have secret identities and.. so.. can't be seen with me in certain circumstances."

She pulls back slightly. "You shuwer you ain't jus' afraid of commitment?"

"Yes, completely. I have total awareness of my desires. I have no fear of commitment at all."

"Youwa bein' literal, ain't you?" She snorts as her nose starts to run-. I raise my right forefinger, a wave of orange cleaning off her face. "Oh. Thanks."

"Are.. you.. feeling..?" I don't really know to carry that sentence on.

"I dunno. Given my track rec'rd, maybe friends is bettah." She sighs. "So what yeh sayin' is, I need t'be comfortable bein' me befowah you'd even consider havin' a romantic relationship with me."

"No, it's more than that. Last time I was in this position-" I share my own recollection of Holly's inner self at the time-.

"Wait, two girls? Seriously?"

"The-. The point I was making is that… See that violet? Right. That's.. my guide to 'this relationship is a healthy one'. A genuine commitment of… At least one person to another. You've got.. blue and orange, hope and avarice, but that… Looks like it's because you want the world to work a particular way, the idea that that way is right."

"An' whats youwa violet light look like?"

"No idea. I don't know of any other Lanterns who can do what I can, and I've got.. other things that would make looking at me difficult. And just in case you're wondering, no, looking in a mirror doesn't work."

She nods, looking down at the forest below us. "I ain't sayin' youwa right and I ain't sayin' youwa wrong. An', yeyeah, I was more lookin' forward t' the idea of you bein' there in the mornin' than…" She trails off. "Huh. So, youwa turnin' me down 'cause you don't want me… What, bein' dependent?"

"You could put it like that."

She nods. "Sounds like somethin' I should be grateful aboud. But I'm mostly just annoyed." She sighs. "I wasn't expectin' a therapy session either."

"I… Really should have… Come up with a better way to put that."

She folds her arms across her chest. "So. What'd we do now?"

"Well, you appeared to get the hang of high speed flying back there. Why not keep going?"

"I… Dunno…"

"Come on. It's fun. And perhaps most importantly, you're completely under your own control up here." I tilt my head slightly to the left. "Huh?"

"Ahhhh…" She nods, the slightest hint of a smile appearing for the first time since I dropped my little bomb. "Fine. Race yah t' the trees?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

17th May
08:01 GMT -5

"Mister Grayven?" The young man who serves the same role as Charlie did on the West Wing… What was his actual job title? Chief gopher… No, probably something vaguer. Personal assistant, maybe. Anyway, Irvine does that sort of thing around here. "The President will see you now."

"Thank you." I get up from my chair, return it to subspace and follow him in the direction of our meeting room. Obviously I know where President Horne and General Lane are, but I don't mind observing protocol if there's actually some point to it. It's like the chair. Protocol calls for me to wait at the President's pleasure, instead of having me get a call when he's available and opening a hush tube to whenever he is. But I'm huge and threatening… Or possibly just really interesting, so it's bad for me to be standing the whole time because people stop what they're doing and start staring. So I sit somewhere out of the way in a chair I made myself, because I weigh two thirds of a tonne and some of the chairs around here are expensive antiques.

Bit of a palaver, but it makes getting on with these people a little easier. I'm strange, but… What was the line from Nineteen Eighty-Four? Follow the small rules and you can get away with breaking the big ones. Though, perhaps given what happens to the character who said that…

The door we're approaching actually has a keypad and some sort of junior vault door between it and the corridor. Ah, a properly secure room. In fact…

Weak security measure as these things go, Corpsman. Still, this is a primitive species. At least they're making an effort.

Lead lined walls, sound dampening technology and a weak… Sort of force field. Not as secure as the version the Light use but it should easily fulfil its purpose. Ahead of me Irvine enters his code and allows it to scan his iris. There's a 'ping' of approval and the door unlocks. He takes hold of a lever, pushes it down and pulls the door outwards slightly, sticking his head around the door.

"Show him in, Irvine."

"Yes sir." He pushes the door open the rest of the way, holding it open for me. It's a bit of a tight squeeze -they usually have to open both sets of double doors for me to get around- but fortunately I just about fit.

I nod to him. "Thank you, Irvine."

He nods back, then looks over to his boss to see if there's anything else he wants. A slight shake of the President's head and Irvine backs out of the door, closing and sealing the door behind him.

I walk over to the table and take my accustomed seat next to General Lane. President Horne is sitting at the head of the table with his Chief of Staff Adrian Myer on his left. As a foreigner and a… Non-exclusive agent, there are parts of these meetings I'm not privy to. Not many things, and since they include me in most of their discussions I do them the courtesy of pretending that I don't know exactly what they've been talking about when I'm not here. It's polite lies like these that make the world go around.

"Grayven." A thin smile from President Horne. "Good of you to join us."

"Wouldn't miss it, Mister President."

"Ah, Sam's been bringing me up to date on our.. research programs. Apparently.. you.. have some concerns?"

"Well. One of the things I raised with General Lane-" I look at him for a fraction of a second. "-was my concern about Major Zmeck. Now, I understand that you can't recant on his deal. He volunteered, his murder conviction disappears. But…" I shake my head. "Any plans to use him in any sort of public role… To say nothing of having him act as a national superhero… Nothing in his psychological evaluations suggests that he's changed his views or.. behaviour. I would be extremely concerned-."

"As it happens, I agree with you." President Horne nods. "The problem we have is that out of all of the sixty seven volunteers who went through the process, he and Captain Adams were the only people who ever came out. And while we might be able to persuade a similar number of terminally ill patriots to volunteer today, we would still have to wait forty or so years to see any benefit."

I shrug. "That's not going to get any less because you waited. And I really do think that terminally ill is the way to go, rather than condemned criminals. Frankly,-" I glance at General Lane again. "-you've been lucky that he's played along as well as he has. Even someone without a military mindset would be a better option than… Anyone else like him."

President Horne looks at General Lane. "Sam?"

"To be honest, Mister President, I'm not all that keen on continuing the quantum field experiments at all. We still have next to no idea what happens when people get exposed to it. We've no idea why they got the super powers that they did, no idea why they survived when all of the others appear not to have done. We don't even know much about how they do what they do. Frankly, the whole rig makes me feel like some sorta jungle tribesman playing with a nuke."

"And Major Zmeck himself?"

"We're stuck going into battle with the super soldiers that we have, not necessarily the ones that we'd like to. I don't think taking away his privileges would achieve anything useful. But, I see Mister Grayven's point. Having.. his.. identity… Leak… His victim's family are still around. All it would take is one photograph of him in his Human form getting online, and that's the end of any national program we tried to involve him in."

President Horne nods. "Well, that's that idea put to bed. I assume there's no commensurate problem with Major Adams?"

General Lane shakes his head. "Not at all, sir. To be honest, I think it's worth involving him further."

"I wasn't inclined to meddle with my predecessor's decision when having him as a semi-independent agent was working out so well. I don't wanna twist his arm, General. And the final decision is of course yours. But it would be very useful to have a familiar face leading the campaign."

"I understand, sir."

"Alright, moving on. This… SHADE business."

"I'm glad that Grayven brought them to my attention." He points at the holoprojector. "You mind if I..?" President Horne shakes his head and General Lane presses a button. "SHADE runs a certification program for the military… And federal agents and other law enforcement officials." Various glyphs representing the various agencies appear on the screen, the shield and three black stars of the Super-Human Advanced Defense Executive taking the centre. "Anyone who wants to learn how to deal with metahumans attends one of their courses."

"And how are they funded?"

"Essentially, that's it. They don't get any federal money at all. There are costs for their courses and.. they do consultancy work for just about everyone… Public and private." The corners of his mouth turn slightly downwards. "'Private' is where the problem comes in. I've had no trouble getting the SHADE agents-."

President Horne holds up his right hand. "Wait a moment, General. Are you telling me that an agency that gets no federal funding has the authority to empower federal agents?"

"Yes, Mister President. That's exactly what I'm saying. But that's not all. A good many of the agents my people questioned did not believe that their authority came from SHADE. They seemed to honestly believe that it was a paperwork thing… A technicality, while they were really part of whatever outfit they were planted in. That outfit picks up the bill for the staff. But, they send full reports of everything they do up the SHADE chain of command."

"There's a federal agency so secret that even its agents don't know that they're working for it?"

"That's about the size of it, sir. I made it pretty clear that as of right now they work for me, but that only gets me the agents we know about."

The President looks at him with clear disbelief. "And who was in charge of all of that?"

"I honestly don't know, sir. All of their reports get routed to the Pentagon and to a few secure backup servers. The people at the Pentagon are operating under the same conditions as everyone else. As far as they were concerned, they were contracted as civilian support staff who had to technically be federal agents. From there, we lost the trail. We've got data sharing arrangements with certain private third party agencies who do work for us. Metahuman containment, power harnessing, places like STAR Labs who do research on the equipment tech-villains use… Our best guess is that whoever's running SHADE accesses it that way." He sighs. "I've got people working on tracking everything down, but this has been going on for a long time and they've had plenty of time to muddy the water. Cover their tracks. Unless someone from their inner circle issues a command we can track back to them, I don't know if we'll get anywhere."

"God. A rogue agency." President Horne shakes his head. "Alright. Back off, General. No sense tipping.. whoever it is, off. Keep an eye on their people. Let them make the mistake."

General Lane nods. "Sir."

"Well, ah… Thank you, Mister Grayven, for bringing that to our attention. Next item. Supervillain work release."

 

[Mr Zoat]

17th May
08:38 GMT -5

"…realise that it's not what you want to hear, sir, but that's their final ruling." Mister Myers stops himself. "That is to say, that is the informal opinion of the Justices of the Supreme Court. And if it got challenged, that's where it would have to go."

President Horne nods solemnly. "So, we couldn't get the votes, and if we could get them it would just get struck down anyway."

"That's more or less the size of it, sir."

Horne sighs, head slightly bowed. "I was really hoping we could avoid-" He glances at me. "-another situation like Klarion."

I shrug. "Constitutions. Who'd 'ave 'em?"

Myers nods his head to the side. "We could try fighting it. If we got someone really bad convicted before they could hear the arguments, someone who wouldn't be aware of all of their legal routes, I doubt they'd want to order them releas-."

"No." Horne shakes his head firmly. "I'm not prepared to do that. I didn't become President to try riding roughshod all over the Constitution I swore to uphold. If absentia trials are off the agenda we'll just have to come up with something else."

I fan my hands out. "How about… Mobile courts? I could fly a judge and jury to wherever the malfeasant is, they could do the trial opening, then if the bad guy leaves then they've clearly chosen to absent themselves and there's no problem."

"Heh heh." Horne chuckles, nodding. "That's a great mental image, but I don't think I'd want to try whipping votes for the Bill to make that happen. General?"

"I'm not an expert on the legal situation, sir, but things are a lot simpler if we treat them as enemy combatants. If they're not US citizens and they're powerful enough to present a threat to national security on their own, I don't see why you can't issue an order as Commander in Chief that gets around all that." General Lane's eyes narrow for a moment. "That's not to say we're anything like ready to fight some of these people right now, but in five to ten years it could start to look a whole lot more realistic."

Horne nods. "I'm sure that the men and women of the US armed forces would do their best in whatever situation they were called upon. And I might find myself ordering something like that at some point, regardless of what either of us might ideally wish. But that still leaves the question of what we do with people whom we can only hold temporarily, or who are readying for an attack, or who have to be-" He looks at me again. "-lured out of hiding."

"Well sir, have you considered creating a third category? Someone who isn't an enemy soldier or a civilian criminal?"

Horne sits back in his chair, giving General Lane his full attention. "No General, I have not."

"Sir, the laws which govern how we wage war were drawn up from the customs of medieval European nations who didn't have guns, let alone super powers. The sorts of challenge they faced are categorically different from the ones we face today. We aren't talking about the possibility of being conquered by.. Russia or by China. We're not talking about being forced to pay reparations, or accepting some sort of political restructuring. We're talking about people who would be perfectly happy to kill every last American citizen. We're talking about single individuals with no widespread support who can kill thousands of our people for no greater reason than their own sick personal pleasure. Or someone who can seize control of the minds of a body like the Justice League and send them out against anyone they choose. There are people out there who can equal or surpass the destructive power of nations. I don't think that we can continue to apply the same old laws to this situation. We could get a lot more leeway if the rules for dealing with these people were phrased in such a way as to be clear that they weren't being treated either as soldiers of another nation or as criminals."

"No." Horne looks almost… Tired as he says it. "No, General, I will not do that. I appreciate what you're saying and why you're saying it. I need to hear things like that sometimes, but… No. No matter how convenient it might be, that's not a step I'm prepared to take." He bows his head slightly, closing his eyes and touching his left fist to his chest. "Adrian, talk to some people about the military threat option. See what the possibilities are."

"Yessir. Ah. Sir, I'm.. getting some questions about this. People are asking where you're going. It hasn't gotten any real media attention yet…"

Horns opens his eyes. "I'll do a press conference once we've got something a little more concrete. At the moment, this is all just thinking out loud."

"Sir, I'm… Not sure that the House Minority Leader is going to see it like that. And I'm not sure the Attorney General will either."

"I'll brief Brian when we've got something to brief him on." He nods. "But you're right about Caroline. General? Mister Grayven? You have any particular problem with the Attorney General joining us?"

"No sir."

I shake my head. "I don't know the woman. If you think it's a good idea, by all means."

"Alright then. Unless there's anything else..?"

I nod. Hm. While I haven't reached a final decision on my continued Light membership as yet, I suppose that if I were going with my original plan… "There is one thing I'd like to raise, Mister President. Semi.. personal matter, but pertinent to our work. Have you been briefed on the League of Shadows?"

"I know of the organization."

"I'm investigating them with a view to ending them." General Lane raises his left eyebrow. "I have an informant on the inside. I'd like to be able to offer them… Not an immunity for testimony deal. If I missed even one Shadow their life would be over. A pardon."

"I assume that this person is a murderer?"

"Yes sir. There were extenuating circumstances regarding their recruitment and they want to leave, but… They can't. I realise that this is a big deal, and I'm prepared to work to get federal and state police into position to perform the arrests -eventually- rather than just handling the whole matter myself. You can make the announcements, offer information to foreign leaders and leave me out of-."

"Grayven."

"Mister President."

"Stop trying to bribe me. Getting those murderers is more important than my re-election. Don't do anything that makes it less likely that they'll all get caught just to try and make me look good."

"Alright… Well, depending on what stage General Lane's got to, having police, military and local superheroes in position should be perfect for the arrests. I'll be able to inform you better once I know more than I do now."

"Can I assume that your informant would be keeping a low profile after this? I'm not keen on announcing the end of the League if they plan to go on talk radio right after."

"Extremely low, Mister President." Because if I end up making that choice, Jade and I will be off Earth after a brief stop-off in Las Vegas.

"Then I'm prepared to agree. Conditional of course on the League of Shadows and most importantly its leadership ceasing to exist." He looks around the table. "Anything else?" The three of us shake our heads. "Alright then gentlemen. Thank you for your time."

General Lane and I get up first, and I let him be the one to operate the door. Keypad's a bit small for my fingers really. I follow him out into the corridor where he half-turns to me as we continue towards the exit. "You think I came over a bit strong in there?"

"No. He might, but he doesn't seem like the sort to get petty about it."

"No." His eyes crease slightly. "Y'know, when he was standing against McKeon, I didn't really think much of him. No military experience, kinda wishy-washy on defence. Didn't seem like the kinda guy I'd want running the country."

"And now?"

"Not sure I like him any better, but I sure respect him a whole lot more. Of course, him standing by his principles isn't going to make our job any easier, not where these trials are concerned."

"I doubt there are going to be that many. It's really more of a precautionary thing." A couple of White House staffers come around the corner, spot us -or rather me- and back up to let us go past. "I don't think I ever exactly asked you, but how do you feel about this whole superhero.. thing?"

"They're just a fact of life. Personally, I'd prefer it if they had some kinda oversight… You know, like they did in the Second World War. The All-Star Squadron. On the other hand, it makes me proud to be a citizen of a nation where private citizens are prepared to go out and serve their communities like that."

"Does that extend as far as your prospective son-in-law?"

"Heh." He turns his head away, theatrically rolling his eyes. "Ah, that guy. I'm sure not happy about someone as powerful as he is operating on his own recognizance, but I can't fault what he does. And Lois says I'm not allowed to shoot him, so I guess that working with him is the only option I have left. I understand you had some kind of falling out..?"

"Minor operational disagreement. I'm sure that we'll all pull together, when the time comes."

 

[Mr Zoat]

25th May
14:54 GMT +8

That was a fascinating experience. I've never attended a Chinese wedding before, and the obvious divergence from Christian custom -to say nothing of the divergence between the bride's expectations for the day of her marriage and those of her fiancé- are creating what must be a fairly unique set of circumstances.

Hu Guan -which apparently is either Ghost Fox Killer's actual name or the pseudonym she's decided to use- wanted an ultra-traditional Confucian ceremony. Or something very much like it. Some of the characters on the decorations aren't anything from the modern Chinese lexicon and the dress of the members of the bridal party isn't quite like anything the Chinese wore at any point in their history. No idea how they handled the 'getting her parents' consent' bit; I asked and her homeland is supposed to be totally off-limits to outsiders.

Fang Zhifu on the other hand regards Confucianism as a religion, something that he's supposed to frown on. From the way he occasionally glanced at the décor I rather suspect that he would have been happier with a registry office service.

I shuffle forwards slightly as the line approaching the happy couple moves very slightly. Only a few places to go. Lynne's bearing up pretty well, given how dull this must be for her. I'm dressed in a slightly sinicised set of old-style Apokoliptian court robes while she wears a delightful little pink number Father Box and I put together.

And then there's the third party to the wedding: the Chinese state. After all, Fang Zhifu is a major national hero and Hu Guan.. while less favoured in official circles, is a member of the Great Ten as well. Which explains why the decidedly Taoist Temple of Heaven has been closed off to the public for a week and why most of the guests were party officials rather than friends or family. During the ceremony itself the front row consisted of a group who I think were Ms Hu's parents and eldest sister, Mrs Fang and a picture frame standing in for the groom's deceased father, and then about sixty old men in grey suits. The second row wasn't much better, though at least a few of them were officers and officials actually involved in the Great Ten program.

That's actually how I picked out the bride's party: they were the only ones wearing the coloured robes who weren't part of the staff. I wonder what the official party line on her homeland is? Is it like Taiwan, or are they a little more realistic about a city in a pocket universe populated by people who can kill with a touch? Oh, that's the other thing that gives the bride's family away: the lack of exposed skin.

Fang looks good in the white and gold robes. Must be hard to find clothing in colours that work with his complexion, to say nothing of fabrics that won't get shredded by his dermal plating. Hu is wearing a red dress decorated in gold thread and including a frankly ridiculous train which has to be carried everywhere by a small horde of attendants. She looks… Happy, though. Off to the side I see their parents talking politely, while the siblings of the happy couple seem to be far more uncomfortable.

Line's moving faster now. I think that below a certain level, the party apparatchiks just want a photograph of them with the leader of the country's superfunctionary team and don't have anything much to say. Oh gosh, I should really have talked to someone about the diplomatic protocol involved… Anyone important behind me? No, just lower level functionaries. Ah, I'm sure that's supposed to indicate something, but what? I have absolutely no rank in the Chinese hierarchy. Most of these people probably don't know that I'm even involved with the Great Ten project. More than a few probably don't know who I am. Are the people at the front the most important, or are they just the ones with the highest rank and the ushers want to get them out of the way?

"…thank you for your kind wishes, Comrade Governor."

Fang physically can't smile, which gives him a perfect excuse for his expression. He also can't get physically tired any longer, though the way he's holding himself would suggest to someone who's spent as much time working with him as I have that he'd much rather be somewhere else. The Governor on the other hand looks delighted by the situation. Perhaps it's the prospect of going on a work-funded jolly? I haven't spent enough time in China to get any real sort of feel for how popular the Great Ten are in official circles. The Governor performs a short bow, then turns and walks away.

Huh. Taking most of the photographers and journalists with him. Looks like I really was first of the also-rans. An usherette beckons myself and Lynne forwards. Hm. Apokolips doesn't really have much of a marriage tradition. Certainly no one important enough for this sort of ceremony would be expected to do an epic meet-and-greet session afterwards. Meh, they'll probably overlook any minor breach of propriety as long as I'm a polite barbarian.

I steeple my hands in front of my chest and perform a shallow bow. Lynne glances at up at me and copies the action, then straightens as I do. "I understand that congratulations are in order on two accounts, Lieutenant Colonel. Long overdue, in my opinion."

"Do you refer to my promotion or to our marriage?"

I frown slightly. "Both, definitely."

"It is with your aid that the Standing Committee have been able to convince the high command that my.. alterations do not mean that my devotion has been undermined."

'There are no Durlans' may be on a level with 'we have always been at war with Oceania' as far as blatant lies go, but at least it makes a little more sense that the Chinese government doesn't want the fact that there is a task force of hostile metamorphs inside the country to become common knowledge. Officially, his body modifications are the result of an encounter with an alien vessel of an unknown type. While true at the time, they figured out that it was Durlan pretty darn quick when the rest of the investigation team melted. Some people need to know, most people don't.

I hold out my right hand and he takes it in his. There's a flash as someone takes a picture as we shake hands before I turn to his new wife. "Missus Hu." I extend my hand again. "You look radiant." And she actually does. Though I suppose it might just be because this is the first time I've seen her out of uniform.

"Thank you, Mister Grayven." She doesn't move her hand. Unlike the rest of her family, she isn't wearing gloves. I smile slightly, a pale glow coating my hand. Her life draining ability requires skin contact, but even quite a thin barrier is enough to prevent it from triggering. I had considered trying to tough it out with my divine resilience, but then I considered that she could kill Wotan and I'm not completely sure that I'm tougher than him. And dropping dead at a person's wedding is dreadfully impolite. She extends her hand and I rotate mine, raising it to my lips and miss-kissing her knuckles.

I release her hand and motion Lynne forwards. "And may I present my daughter, Lynne Wayland."

Colonel Fang nods politely. "Miss Wayland."

She bows again, a little nervously. "Congratulations, Colonel Fang. Missus Hu."

"Now, my gift to you on the occasion of your wedding." I reach into my robes and take out a small case, offering it to him. "Took a little time, but I believe that I've finally got to grips-"

No, that's fine Corpsman. No need to credit me at all.

Ploong.

Oh shut up, both of you.

"-with the control mechanism which determines the state of your skin." There's a slight scraping noise as Colonel Fang's face tries to move in shock for a fraction of a second before he clamps down on his feelings. "I'm afraid that I have no idea how to restore you -or if that's even possible- but if you attach what's in there to your epidermis, it should grant you a form which -while still metallic- will be a good deal more Human-seeming. Remove it, and the effect ends."

Colonel Fang's head doesn't move. I'm not sure how much is protocol and how much is shock. Given that his first fiancé broke things off because of his transformation there's a pleasant mirroring of circumstances here. "Thank you, Grayven. I shall treasure this."

"My pleasure. And as for your lady wife…" I make careful eye contact. "The matter which you requested that I investigate." Whether they could have children. There isn't any Human tissue left in Fang Zhifu's body, but like all Xeno-Team soldiers he submitted several blood and tissue samples before going on active duty. Her body is sort-of Human with a variety of arcane and semi-divine effects at work on it. There's no way they could have children conventionally, or even with conventional-level assistance. "Prospects look good. Let me know when you wish to begin a more.. practical study."

"Thank you, Grayven. I believe that can wait for a few months, at least." I spot Colonel Fang's eyes as they uncontrollably jerk towards his wife. I doubt that he's bothered by the idea of having children. I suspect he'd just assumed that it was out of the question for them. For him. "My husband and I will discuss the matter."

I nod. "Of course." I bow again. "May your lives together be joyful and prosperous."

 

[Mr Zoat]

27th May
21:18 GMT

"You're new! You're new!"

Ra's actually bends down, balancing on his toes and offering his right hand to the small pack of Tasmanian Tiger pups.

"You're new and you smell weird!"

One of the braver ones edges closer, extending its nose towards the proffered limb before losing its nerve and backing away.

"I never had the pleasure of encountering them in the wild. I visited the last of them as it lived out its last days in Hobart Zoo in Tasmania. And now, here they are once more."

"It was a straightforward enough business, getting a wide enough variety of genetic samples to recreate them. But I should warn you, some of the other projects are not going quite so well."

He nods distractedly as one of the pups nudges another up the bum, causing the nudgee to turn and nip at its muzzle.

"Off! Not dominant!"

"Do you raise them yourself?"

"No, I abducted a small number of African Wild Dogs and they've been acting as foster parents." I glance upwards. "I've got drones on standby so that my work wouldn't be wasted if they.. realised that the pups aren't their own. And there are always Genomorphs around for problems requiring an organic intelligence." Under the direction of the G-Goblin Guan. "Obviously that means that their behaviour will be a bit off, but…" I shrug. "There aren't any better models for their probable-behaviour."

"You could not have had the Genomorphs implant the Dog's behaviours directly?"

"I could." I nod. "But I thought that it would be better to let them grow to maturity naturally, and I don't really have the space to use both techniques in parallel."

"No! Danger! Come away!"

The pup's mother yaps at them from the top of a small hillock, causing them to look around immediately.

"Foolish! Come away!"

And they're gone, dashing across the scrubland towards her while she keeps her eyes firmly fixed on Ra's and I.

He stands in a smooth motion, the faintest glimmer of a smile on his lips. "Neither tame nor afraid of Humans. So far as they are concerned, our civilisation never existed." He takes a moment to watch them go. "What do they eat?"

"The system introduces cloned prey animals at irregular intervals with simple organic computers in place of brains. They mimic some of the behaviours of the creatures they're based upon… Neither the Dogs nor the Tigers appear to notice a difference."

He turns to face me. "And your other work? I am particularly eager to hear of the Caspian Tigers. It pains me to admit it now, but I myself played a small part in them being driven to extinction."

"Bad news there, I'm afraid. I've got a selection of small enclosures inhabited by them-" I gesture towards the wall to my right. "-through there, but I'm afraid that I can't get enough genetic material to make them viable as a subspecies." For reasons I can't begin to imagine, those are Mister Tawny's favourite enclosures. "It may be best to simply accept that and use what material I have recovered to increase the genetic variety in the Siberian Tiger population."

"That is.. regrettable, but I suppose there are limits. How do you intend to handle the reintroduction?"

"Could be a nice ice-breaker with the Russian government. They're the one superpower I haven't persuaded to take me into their confidence… As yet. Otherwise, I could purchase an area of land and set up a sanctuary for them. No need to say exactly how they came to be, and unless a geneticist knew exactly what to look for it would be very unlikely that they'd think anything amiss." Ra's nods contemplatively. "There simply isn't space to reintroduce Tigers back into their former range."

"That is something of which I am painfully aware. Did you know that according to the Washington University the global population may well continue to climb into the twenty second century? It is entirely conceivable that it could reach double its current level… With all of the associated damage to ecosystems that brings. No, attempting to reintroduce them into their original habitat would be a senseless waste of your work."

I nod. That does rather lead me on to a topic I wish to investigate. Before I joined the Light, I gave the matter some considerable thought: which supervillains should be killed on sight and which could be retrained to do something useful with their lives. Of the Light, I rather assumed that Ra's was one of the ones who wasn't worth keeping around, but now? I'm less confident. Though he himself tends to prefer violent solutions to problems, and he's certainly proud… Yes, pot/kettle, but he's proven to be amenable to reason to an extent which his prior behaviour suggested was unlikely. And if I get to a point where I don't think killing him is productive, Brain is happy as long as he has science to do… That just leaves Savage and Mordru. Savage is loathsome, but at least he's rational. Haven't spent enough time with Mordru to really assess him. Aaaaand I'm going to have to, aren't I?

Ah, I'm genuinely torn. Going back to the League means… Okay, I get to associate with my friends in familiar circumstances, but the Light is responsible for any number of projects which will ultimately benefit humanity. The League are already Leaguing just as hard as they can. Adding myself to that won't improve matters noticeably, particularly as I can give them equipment now. And… Not a trivial issue, I find them quite vexing on a personal level. Going independent works, but the Light genuinely can do more together than apart. I just don't have the reach or the expertise to do the job my fellows do. If they're gone, then it won't get done.

No Lex means no LexCorp. It means reduced political influence, it means far less research and development and it means that the societal nudges that come from siting a factory in one place rather than another just evaporate.

No Brain means that we go back to near-Earth Prime timelines for advanced research, rather than the months it takes us now. No one can take things apart and understand how they work as well as he can, as STAR Labs demonstrate with their ever-growing backlog of projects they don't know enough to start, let alone finish.

No Mordru means no widespread reintroduction of magic into the world. There are other people who could do that, but none are good enough at what they do to become a Lord of Chaos.

No Ra's probably means no League of Shadows. As assassins, my people already outclass them. As an intelligence network they are irreplaceable, quite aside from any...

…

I'm an idiot.

"Ra's, do you have any particular investment in the current British government?"

"I have informants in the British civil service, and a good deal of blackmail material on their ministers. It's profitable, but not exceptionally so. Why do you ask?"

"Well…" I smile in what I hope is a disarming manner. "Last time I didn't talk through what I was doing with a member of the Light, Queen Bee died. I'd feel dreadful if anything like that happened again. I hate seeming incompetent."

A slight tilt of the head. I think he's curious. "You intend to act against the British government, then?"

"Yes. Not.. immediately, but in the not too distant future."

"I have Shadows in Britain, but they are not employed in the infiltration of the government. None of my core interests would be threatened by such an act."

I nod. "I would like to purchase your files. And… Offer compensation for the loss of revenue you will encounter when the blackmail material becomes irrelevant."

Ra's contemplates, then nods. "I'm willing to negotiate a price. I am, however, puzzled. Just what has Britain done that has so enraged you?"

"The Light exists to improve the lot of humanity. Not just through technology, but through social change. But, just as free markets must be tended to by the breaking up of naturally emerging monopolies, so occasionally a state becomes so vile and corrupted that only a thorough purge will solve the problem. Tending to the world's governments to ensure they are doing their jobs is something which I firmly believe we should be doing. And Britain is not."

"Such an intervention as you are proposing is fraught with difficulty. While I will make no effort to stop you, I would express the hope that you have properly thought this through."

"Oh, I'm still in the information gathering stage at the moment. But yes, I am firmly aware of what an attack from the outside does to a state, even if the current government is loathsome. I will take no action until I am sure that I have mechanisms in place to keep the state running, both in the short and long term."

"Removing uncooperative rulers is a field in which I have a degree of experience, Mister Grayven. When you get closer to the time, I would offer my services as a consultant."

"Thank you, Ra's. I may well take you up on that."

 

[Mr Zoat]

30th May
08:53 GMT -5

"Signed…" My pen moves across the paperwork which the Metropolis University's legal department had drafted for me. "And signed." I look up at the President of the University. "Anything else I need to sign?"

"No, no, that's perfectly fine." She coughs, then doesn't quite grab the paperwork from the desk. Still comes pretty close to 'picking up with indecent haste', though. "Since you're one of the trustees you'll have full access to the accounts, and major expenditures beyond normal day-to-day expenses will require majority approval-."

"I did… Read it before I signed it."

"Ofcourse. Of course." To be fair, I did just sign over an awful lot of money. She looks around the room, trying to think of something else to say about it. "I was impressed that you were able to get Mister Luthor interested in our work. LexCorp has made contributions in the past to our science and technology departments, but Paranormal Studies just doesn't attract the same level of interest."

"Mister Luthor lives in a city where a man flies around with his underwear outside his leggings." Her face sort of.. freezes up as I openly disrespect Kal-El's dress sense. I'm wearing a suit. "It's simply that the Centre hasn't had the assistance it needs to really progress its research work. Though I have no desire to insult the work they've done in helping individual metahumans deal with their abilities, that generally doesn't help the Human species as a whole."

"Oh. I'd… Rather got the impression that you were doing this for your.. daughter?"

I shake my head. "I'd have been generous for that alone, but what Doctor Williams and I have mostly been discussing is improving our understanding of the underlying mechanisms for metahuman abilities in general, not just in particular cases. Because -knowing what I know about the wider universe- I can tell you that what you have on Earth is not common. Just imagine if studies conducted here allowed everyone to share the abilities of the few fortunate enough to be born with them."

President Asplund frowns slightly, looking down. "I'm not sure I can. You mean a world where everyone can fly around like Superman?"

"No, no." I shake my head. "Superman's an alien. The only way you could give a Human his abilities is by turning them into a Kryptonian first. But perhaps like Geo-Force?" She looks blank. "Prince Brion Markov of Markovia?" A place the existence of which would bother me more if I remembered what shape Eastern European countries had back on Earth Prime. "If one Human can possess it there's really no fundamental reason why you couldn't all have it." She actually looks a little worried. "Of course, doing it the real-science way instead of the mad-science way takes a good deal of time. But if something's worth doing then it's worth doing properly."

"Well, I can assure you that the Center for Paranormal Studies will definitely be doing it properly."

I nod, smiling. "I'm sure that you're right. Now, unless there's anything else, I'd like to get back..?"

"I… Was… Wondering. Mister… Valjek?"

One of Queen Clea's court mages. Though she's not completely sold on the idea of developing the Greater Azores, she could see no harm in sending one of her people to study the lay of the land. And where better than America's leading magic research institute? "Oh, don't worry, I got all of the work visa stuff sorted out. There won't be any problem there."

"We.. had a few… People… Expressing concerns. Now, I don't share their prejudices myself, but-."

"Is this about magic?"

She exhales. "Yes. Yes it is. With the attack of Fawcett City being only a few months ago-."

"I was there."

"Yes, I… I know. And obviously we don't have to worry about the funding loss any longer, but having a lot of protestors outside the Center might encourage parents to keep their children away."

"The program which Doctor Williams and I discussed would not involve teaching children thaumaturgy." She looks blank. "Ah, the operating principles behind magic. He's here to offer advice on aiding those children who appear to have developed magic abilities spontaneously."

"Wait, spontaneously? That can happen?"

"There was a rather odd religious sect in seventeenth century France who believed that Elementals had no souls, unless they married a Human. The issue of those relationships occasionally manifest abilities relating to their arcane forebear." Which is odd to say the least. It would make sense if the Human half of the relationship was female as the Elemental could use magic to trigger parthenogenesis, resulting in a near-clone of the mother with added Elemental attributes. But the surviving records suggest that the Elementals were female. Ah, I don't really know enough about how Elementals work to know how plausible it is. "And then there are those who more or less fall over a magic technique and can't recognise it for what it is. You have a parapsychic currently here as a boarding student?"

"Yes, but he's never studied magic. Or at least there wasn't anything in his file."

"Magic is a part of this world, inseparable and inescapable. It doesn't go away because you ignore it any more than ionising radiation does. Every Human presently alive uses small amounts automatically, and a few luck into something a little more potent… Just by focusing their souls, by thinking in the right sorts of way. Or, to put it in more mundane terms… You can cut hair without ever having studied hairdressing."

"A-hah. I suppose that's true."

"Look, if it starts to be a serious problem I'll talk to them." That doesn't appear to reassure her. "And I'll ask Mister Zatara to have a word as well." Yes, that worked. "If you have any concerns about magic in general, Mister Valjek is the best person to speak to. That's literally his job, and I'm sure he can do a better job of explaining it than I can." I pause to give her the chance to reply, but that appears to have been sufficient. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to see Lynne before her class starts."

"Oh! Of course."

Father Box, hush tube. No sense deafening everyone.

Ploong.

I turn away from President Asplund and walk through the tube, out into the waiting area where Lynne has been waiting. I know that this place doesn't have a uniform policy for students, but I thought that dressing her in something a little more professional would help engender the appropriate mental attitude. I don't intend to have her do her normal schooling here, but it should help her adjust to an educational environment.

"All ready, poppet?"

"I… I guess I am. You're still going to be here, right?"

"For today, yes, I'll be in the building. I need to talk to Doctor Williams' researchers about the sorts of equipment they want to get to help some of your classmates." I kneel down and put my left hand on her right shoulder. Well, the index finger is on her shoulder. The rest just sort of hang over. "But that's only going to be for today, alright?" She nods. "Okay then. Now off you go. I'll take you home at three."

I lift off my hand and she turns away. Then she turns back and wraps her arms around my neck. I smile and hug her back. After a few seconds she pulls away, smiling slightly nervously, then turns and heads towards her classroom.

"…not even close to being worried, Agent Gallagher, so why don't you make like a tree. And burn to death." I turn to see Miss Selton turn off her mobile phone and… From the way her eyes widen I can only assume that she was so focused on her conversation that she didn't spot me until just then. "Ah. Hey."

"Good morning, Miss Selton."

"Lynne starting today?"

"Yes."

She nods. "Is she going to be here permanently now?"

"I'm.. not sure how long she'll be here for. Probably until the start of the next school year, with weekend visits thereafter. Homework permitting." Hm. "I hate to intrude, but…" I gesture towards her phone with my right hand.

"Government agent. This place was getting funded by his people, so I had to be nice to him. And now it's not, so I don't."

"Glad I could help."

She regards me for a moment. "Lynne said you had other superpeople living with you. Is that so?"

I nod. "Yes?"

"You interested in another?"

I look at her for a few moments. "Perhaps we should have a conversation about that."

 

[Mr Zoat]

30th May
08:59 GMT -5

"I don't remember my parents." Miss Selton moves her fingers over the surface of her coffee cup. "One of the social workers at a home I was living in left my file out one time so I know what they look like, but it was just a photograph. I could probably find out why I got put up for adoption if I wanted to, but-" She raises her right hand and a gout of fire leaps forth. I don't flinch. "-I can probably guess. I've been able to make fire for as long as I can remember and my control didn't use to be all that great. Maybe I burned down their house. Hm." She closes her hand and looks away. "Maybe they're dead, and I'm the one who killed them. I wouldn't have been old enough to know what I was doing… But I think I'd rather not know."

She shrugs. "I didn't get adopted. Might have been because I could set people on fire. Might have just been unlucky. One of my case workers read about-" She looks around the canteen. "-this place, and got in touch with Doctor Williams. I came from Vermont originally-." She slumps slightly. "Least, I think I did. Anyway, I got transferred here when I was eleven."

"How old are you now?"

She looks at me, right eyebrow slightly raised. "I thought you were supposed to know everything."

"I could hack your personal records. I'm asking you."

"Seventeen. Which is why Agent Gallagher's bothering me. My grades are…" She closes her eyes for a moment. "Okay. But there's no way I could afford to go to college even if I could get in. He wants me for some kind of research program."

"Isn't.. this a research program?"

"This is a school. I watch movies, I know what happens to people with powers who go to government laboratories."

"Point of information. I know the man who runs the United States metahuman development program. His name is General Samuel Lane, and I'm reasonably confident that he wouldn't be on board with dissecting people."

"I don't really want to be a weapon either. Just because I can set people on fire doesn't mean I'd like doing it."

All well and good, but fairly useless for my purposes. "Miss Selton, if I did offer you employment, precisely what did you think you would be doing?"

She shrugs. "What can I say? Lynne made working for you sound really appealing."

Awakened, with New God armour… She could be useful. But not all that much more useful than a well equipped lowlie. Her power doesn't make her stronger, tougher or faster. She doesn't have any particularly useful skills… And I don't have any personal obligation to her. "What exactly can you do?"

"I make fire. I usually throw it from my hands, but I can actually make it come from anywhere." She tilts her head upwards and blows out-. A ring of fire, as if she were exhaling a smoke ring. A circle of.. burning…

Sinestro, what the fuck?

A most curious phenomenon, Corpsman. Normally, a fire would require heat, oxygen and fuel. She appears to be able to bypass at least one of those requirements. The heat does not appear to be radiating away from the flame, but when I scan the fire directly it reads as being fifteen hundred degrees.

Stuff like this is why metahumans need to be studied. It makes no sense and yet is clearly happening.

On that we are in full agreement.

Father Box, any ideas?

Ploong.

Yes, I realised that.

"The biggest fire I ever made was a sphere about half a mile across. I can make them hot enough to melt steel, but I have to focus on it to do that. And obviously I can't be hurt by fire myself."

"Can you make it hotter than melting steel requires?"

"I don't know. I probably could, but that wouldn't be safe for anyone nearby."

Hm. Aside from the obvious combat applications there is welding, performance art…

"Can you turn fire off?"

She frowns, opens her right hand and lets fire dance over her palm for a moment before closing her hand and snuffing it out.

I shake my head, then take a ceramic bowl filled with copper chloride powder in methanol out of subspace. I tap my right index finger against the bowl and ignite it. "Can you put it out?"

"Kind of." She holds her right hand over it, the air around her skin flaring with blue fire. Then she closes her hand and the fire goes out, both around her hand and in the bowl. "I can't just turn it off, but I can consume all of the oxygen around it. That puts most fires out."

"Have you considered applying to work with the Metropolis fire service?" She gives me a weary look. "You seem to be reasonably physically fit, you're fireproof and can burn oxygen and so starve fires. You'd have a leg up with the fireproof thing alone."

"I don't know."

"Military or paramilitary work is the obvious application for heat generation. If you aren't willing to do that then there aren't many areas where what you can do is an advantage. What do you like doing?"

"I like using my power. I like not being forced to do things." She turns away, looking out of the cafeteria window. "What I want hasn't really been a big part of my life."

"How about performance arts? Some sort of dance routine which involved your pyromantic abilities?

"Dancing? I don't know how to dance. Not the kind people pay to watch, anyway."

"I might be able to help there. I have in my employ a species of telepathic Gnome-like creatures. If you want, they could implant knowledge into your mind. You could learn the moves of someone who had been trained in ballet since they were three years old, and it would take a few hours at most. A little longer to fully integrate it with your own proprioception, but it would skip an awful lot of learning."

"And what's the downside?"

"The G-Gnomes are kind of creepy if you're not used to them. And you may find them going into your mind disturbing. I know I would, I maintain flawless mental barriers at all times to prevent things like that occurring. Also, you would be quite disorientated during the integration process.

"That doesn't sound-." She blinks. "Wait a second. I could learn anything like that?"

"Anything known to someone the G-Gnomes could reasonably access and comprehend, yes."

"So I could go to college. I'd just need them to teach me math, science and English rather than whatever I needed for a job. If I got straight A's I could get a scholarship no problem."

"I.. suppose you could. I should warn you though: that's a lot of information you'd be taking in. The only two people I know to be taught like that were much younger than you are now. I can't guarantee how well it would work. And -from personal experience- I wouldn't advise going in for further education purely as a way of avoiding making a decision about future employment."

"I want to try it. If there's a risk, I'm fine with that."

"Alright. I'm pretty sure that you pass Gillick competency standards. I'll talk to the Genomorphs about setting the upload up. Anything else?"

"That agent guy I was talking to. Kurt Gallagher?"

"An irrelevance, really. I have regular meetings with both General Lane and President Horne. I'm fairly sure that between the three of us we can slap some sense into him if he bothers you any more." I shrug. "What agency does he work for, anyway?"

"His identity card says 'SHADE', but I don't know who they are."

"SHADE?" Hmm. "Now, isn't that interesting. Tell.. me.. more."