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

[Mr Zoat]

26th June
04:26 GMT +13

I exit the hush tube into a corridor in the Paihia Beach Resort Hotel and start heading in the direction of Jade's room.

"Would you like to.. swing on a star?
Carry moonbeams home in a jar?"

Guess the League of Shadows pays its people alright. Used to pay them alright.

"And be better off than you are?
…
Or would you rather be a mule?"

In my left hand, a bouquet of freshly plucked roses. Thorns still on. In my right hand, Presidential Pardon and engagement ring. Haven't got the actual wedding ring yet. She's going to want to be involved in that decision, and I still remember -and how sad is it that this is my best reference?- that in Sex and the City Carrie had a bit of an episode after Aidan proposed with a rubbish ring. This engagement ring is a simple platinum band with a representation of her genetic structure picked out in silver. I did consider something a bit more… Technological, but I didn't want to give her something she'd have to take off when she decides what super power she wants. A ring made from two non-magnetic metals should be pretty safe. And anyway, you can't fit a weapon worth a damn in a ring. Not without replacing the finger.

Speaking of, I've got my proximal phalanx back. Hooray for the mana infuser. Even with all of the running around I've been doing, it could still buff my regeneration enough to regrow an entirely missing component. I need to see about seeing Zatanna before I leave, see if she's had any ideas about the personal version.

Maybe I could make that a ring? Functional and decorative. And I can't quite stop myself thinking 'like Jade herself'. Is that offensive? She's pretty, lives without regrets and can kill people without being a complete psycho about it. Or being reduced to a neurotic wreck about it. I am truly privileged to have her in my life, in a way I just couldn't imagine before coming here. If I do ever find out who was responsible for that… I'm going to punch them less hard than I originally planned.

"A mule is an animal with long, funny ears,
He kicks up at anything he hears."

I'm not wearing my visor at the moment, so I give myself a quick burst of augmented vision. Plenty of sleeping people, a few employees on night duty… Jade's awake. Bit of a privacy violation there, but I didn't want to burst in if she was asleep. Not like waiting a few hours would kill me.

Ah, hell. I was thinking about doing this anyway… I awkwardly slide my yellow ring off my right ring finger. I mean, there's no way she would be able to keep up with me without augmentation when we go to Vega, but a power ring will be a decent placeholder. And Sinestro can't complain, because he's already off my finger!

Right, rings, Pardon, flowers. Ah… I twist my left hand awkwardly, trying not to put pressure on the flowers as I knock on Jade's door.

Inside, I see her look up instantly, and press… Some sort of device.

"Ah..? Who is it?"

The voice is that of a middle aged Australian man, speaking as if he just woke up. A recording. Clever not to use her own voice. I lean forwards so that my mouth is next to the wood of the door. "Mister… White.. Ven."

She crosses the room in an instant, pulling the door open as I blink to dismiss my visual augmentation. "Were you followed?"

"Flowers!" I gently push the bouquet towards her.

She looks at me over the top of the roses. "Is this really the-?" She cuts herself off with an exhalation, then reaches forwards and grabs the flowers by the wrapping paper before stepping backwards into her room. "Is this really the time to be bringing me flowers?"

"I haven't seen you for over a week, so… Yes. Yes it is." She tosses the flowers onto her settee and then stands in a somewhat dejected pose in the middle of the room. "You know, if you put them in water they could last for-."

"How can you be so calm? The Justice League just destroyed the League of Shadows."

"It was.. really more of a joint exercise. It was the Fourth Fleet that took Infinity Island, the Great Ten who wound up operations in-."

"How do you-?" She takes a breath to steady herself. I'm honestly not sure what she's so worked up about. "How do you know they're not coming after me next? This isn't a safe house, but they've got my name and face." She turns away, heading towards the toilet. "How could they have learned so much? Batman spent years trying to-."

"I told them." She stops dead, facing away from me. "As I said during our first conversation, the plan was always to destroy the Shadows. Once I knew enough. Of course, knowing what I know now I obviously had to destroy the rest of the Light as well. Took some doing."

"V… Vandal Savage is immortal."

I nod cheerfully. "That's what he said, too. And as Lex Luthor would say… Wrong!" Heh. "Just a matter of disintegrating his entire body and eating his soul, like I did with your father. Good luck coming back from that." I exhale. "Look, I… Realise that you might have some… Lingering attachment for the people who took you in after you left home, but their latest plan had about a twelve percent chance of destroying this planet and everyone on it. And about a forty percent chance of inflicting deaths in the hundreds of millions."

"So… You're.. a hero again."

"Really more of an anti-hero. Paragon types don't have my body count. So, anyway: I've got your Presidential Pardon right here. If anyone asks, you were instrumental in getting me vital intelligence."

"Vital…"

"That's officially why you're getting it. Pardoning a friend's girlfriend doesn't go over that well with Congress. I'll talk to Chairman Jiang, but China doesn't pardon people very often. You'll probably just have to… Avoid the place." Hm. About time. I kneel down, ring-bound Pardon balancing on my upturned palms. "Jade, I want to ask you something-."

"You could have been one of the rulers of the world."

Um. Okay? Semi-witty reply? "I.. wouldn't want to rule a world.. that would.. have me as its ruler?"

"And you… Just… Was.. our relationship.. just… Cover? For you?"

I grin. Oh, is that all she's worried about! "Turn around and find out."

"Get out."

I.. frown. "I'm..? Sorry?"

"I trusted you, Ra's al Ghul trusted you-."

"I did.. say. If you thought that I'd.. changed my mind, then-."

She wheels around and-. I've misjudged this rather severely.

"You used me as cover and you betrayed everyone." She turns, reaching into her jacket and pulling out a pair of knives. "Get out. Get out now."

"B-. B..I…" I sort of wiggle the scroll in my hands. This… This..?

What?

"Get out!"

She steps towards me, knives held in a combat stance.

Why-?

She slashes at my hands, and I shuffle backwards in case she hurts herself when the knife jars out of her hand.

W-what-?

"Jade, please, I-."

Another frantic slash and I stand, stepping backwards.

"Jade, I would never-."

"I never. Want. To see you. Again." She's breathing fast, and…

Wh-w-wh..?

"GET OUT!"

I stare…

I…

…

I…

F-father Box, hush tube.

Ploong. He comes.

 

[Mr Zoat]

25th June
09… something, GMT -6

She…

My breath comes out as a whimper.

Sheshe…

"Erauh…"

Okay… O-okay. That happened. I-I guess I guess I should have… Reconfirmed that we were on the s-same page.

I walk down the corridor between the entrance to Challenger Mountain and the living quarters in what I distantly appreciate is something of a daze. The G-Gnomes are apparently finding it fascinating, sitting along the walkway and staring blankly, their horns aglow.

Jade… Jade's…

And it… Appears… That I have lost the capacity for tears.

I'm not sure it would help but but but at this point, I'd…

Okay. It's Sunday. Lynne… Is probably here. I need to… Pull myself together. A bit. I stop walking, raise my hands to my scrunched up face and just hold them there. I hold them there as my ragged breathing slows a little, as my shoulders ease back a little from their hunch.

Alright.

Maybe.. when she calms down a little, she m-m-m-ight-might-might-.

I dig my fingernails into my face.

…

Some time has passed. I'm not sure how much, but I'm… I'm not any happier… In fact, I'd say I that I'm downright miserable. But the shock of her rejection has at least… Dimmed, a little. I… I don't really know what to do with myself now. My plans… They all involved her… I start walking towards the living room. I mean… Yes, I suppose that I… Should go to Vega anyway. Kill Larfleeze, take the Central Power Battery… Make sure that Tamaran is more or less alright.

Ugh.

To be honest, how I'm feeling right now? I could just not come back. Lynne could travel to school by boom tube… Or I could just get a telepath to tutor her, someone who comes from a telepathic species. She could go to school with the Tamaranean children. I doubt that she'd… Mind.

No. It's an entertaining fantasy, and at the moment I really would. But I'm sure that in a day or two, I'll feel a bit better. A bit more rational. Just.. avoid making any major decisions… Maybe avoid people until I know that I won't explode at any of them… I don't feel particularly explosive, but… I've changed a lot this year.

I close my eyes and breathe out.

Alright. Just.. spend the day watching television. See if there's something on that Lynne wants to watch, put her on my lap and let my brain go to sleep. That sounds like a… An acceptable idea. Feeling a little more like myself, I push open the living room door and-.

!!!

"Hello, my son."
Self=Darkseid
Darkseid sits quite calmly in my chair, a clearly terrified Lynne silently weeping on his left knee. His left arm lays on the arm of the chair while his right hand closes a book… Victoria, which he then puts on the table.
Self=Darkseid
"Father." I bow while I wait for any idea of how to handle this situation to occur to me. "I had no idea you were coming."
Self=Darkseid
"Do I need a reason to visit my family? My… Only grandchild?"
Self=Darkseid
Since we seem to be doing this informally… I straighten up, and see that his right hand is now gently stroking Lynne's hair. Thinkthinkthink! "Of course not, Father. But if I'd known I could have laid on some sort of entertainment. Or at least food. Has my seneschal offered you anything?"
Self=Darkseid
"I regret that this will have to be a short visitation. I am here to offer my congratulations."
Self=Darkseid
"Thank you, Father. What.. particular part of my actions here have.. earned them?"
Self=Darkseid
"You are too modest, Grayven. I refer of course to your recent betrayal and utter ruination of the other members of the organisation which you called… The Light. I must admit, when you accepted such a subordinate position, I was… Sceptical. Even after you defeated Devilance and Brimstone, I had thought that your sojourn into the Bleed had reduced you to the level of Kalibak: that of a thoughtless brute. But I see that instead it has taught you patience and cunning, traits that are entirely absent in him. This pleases me."
Self=Darkseid
"I'm glad to know that you approve, Father. I will admit, I was concerned that you might look unfavourably upon my way of operating. Being so contrary as it is to the style of Apokolips."
Self=Darkseid
"I have turned Apokolips into an extension of my own self. But having done so, there is a limit to what else it can teach me. By studying your actions and decisions, I will learn more of myself."
Self=Darkseid
His glowing eyes and rocky face reveal no expression. I have no idea what he's really thinking, why he's… Here. I have no idea how to handle this. "I am humbled at the idea, Father."
Self=Darkseid
"I particularly like the way in which you refused to take a formal position in their government. It has been some considerable time since I operated so indirectly myself. It stirred… Old memories. Nonetheless, it is important to me that your successes.. and your failures.. are your own."
Self=Darkseid
I've got no idea what he means. Beyond the obvious. He's giving every impression of believing that I'm Grayven, but at the same time he's showing that he has considerable information on exactly what I've been doing here. I'm not sure how he's been getting it. I've checked every so often and there haven't been any other New Gods on Earth-.
Self=Darkseid
Ploong.
Self=Darkseid
No.
Self=Darkseid
Ploong.
Self=Darkseid
You-.
Self=Darkseid
"Something troubles you, my son? I could not help but notice the absence of your consort, Jade Nguyen. I do hope that she is not unwell."
Self=Darkseid
"No. Thank you for your concern, Father, but she is quite well. We… Had a… Disagreement about… Work…"
Self=Darkseid
"Ah. I understand."
Self=Darkseid
I think that's a smile. Is this… Apokoliptian father-son bonding? Scott described the whole civilisation as rather different, but I suppose that Darkseid's never had a son so apparently on his wavelength as I appear to be. He gently picks up Lynne and deposits her on the floor before rising. As Lynne collapses, hugging her knees to her chest, he takes a few steps over towards me. We're actually about the same height, though he's a little broader.
Self=Darkseid
"When it comes to romantic relationships, I really have only one observation for you. Perhaps you may learn something from it."
Self=Darkseid
"What would that be?"
Self=Darkseid
"When one is in love, everything is right in the universe. One's enemies are less significant, one's trouble at one remove, one's ambitions closer to realisation. And then something happens, something causes that emotion to curdle, to sour in our souls. This artfully draws our attention to a fundamental truth of the universe. One with which we are now both well acquainted."
Self=Darkseid
"Truth, Father?"
Self=Darkseid
"Yes, my son."
Self=Darkseid
He lays his right hand on my left shoulder, then leans forwards slightly so that his mouth is next to my right ear.
Self=Darkseid
"Life=Pain."

 

[Mr Zoat]

27th June
12:32 +3 GMT

The crowd fills the forum of Themyscira City completely, not just overflowing into the surrounding streets but leaning out of the windows of the surrounding houses. Due to the clement climate and their limited technology, Themyscira started using glass for windows only since Diana returned from America the first time. Most houses just make do with shutters, which are being pushed aside so that the residents… And probably their friends, neighbours and.. just whoever shows up can either lean out or climb up onto the roofs.

All watching as my fraction-of-real-size hologram of Kon slams into Oceanus' helmet.

There's a gasp, and a pushing in the crowd as Oceanus collapses 'towards' them, calming only as the image loses integrity before hitting them. Guy's shield is still in place, though I'm depicting him with Ion floating just behind him as the truth doesn't really suit a visual medium. The image of me then flies down into the steam, Diana and Kal-El shortly behind me. The image then dissolves, switching to me flying Kon out to safety.

Yes, by Amazon standards the image presented is a fairly homoerotic one, but I hope that they'll overlook-.

Kon cringes slightly as the crowd turn towards us, cheering and-. I blink as I'm hit in the face by a shawl. What? Oh, right. Throwing clothes at performers is how Greeks show approval. They're clapping too, the applause echoing off the walls of the buildings until it sounds like it's coming from all directions.

Or perhaps it genuinely is.

"Sisters!" Queen Hippolyta is standing on a construct platform just ahead of me, her arms raised to focus her countrywomen's attention. "You have witnessed the valour of my grandson this day! He won the highest blessing of Helios and used it to defeat a Titan, the ancient foes of the Olympians!"

That's not quite how it works, and from the slight wince on Donna's face I know that I'm not the only one aware of that. Diana takes that as the signal to hug Kon from behind, making him cringe more.

"Can there still be any doubt that he is worthy of his title?!"

"No!"

The crowd don't quite cry that out as one, but it's not far off.

"Do you agree then, that we should amend our law and allow this man, this hero, into the line of succession?!"

"Yes!"

Queen Hippolyta smiles, and I… Well, that's one way to do it. Public holograms are something Diana never tried to introduce and they're far more immediate than word of mouth or plays. Kon doesn't seem to care one way or another, but I know that Diana and Queen Hippolyta regard this as one way to help my… Social engineering project. Give the Amazons male heroes.

Donna sidles over to me as Kon is shoved towards the front of the floating platform. "You could have come and got me, you know? I might have been able to talk him down."

"Diana tried. And, we're still not sure whether Orm was influencing him or not. You're not… Quite as tough as Diana. The lightning bolts she took might have killed you." She looks a little dubious. "Yes, it was something we could have tried and yes, it might have worked. But I'm afraid that I'm… A little less hesitant to use lethal force than an ideal superhero would be, when the aggressor is as dangerous as he is. If you want, I can give you a lift to Porto Santo. The magic holding Oceanus inside isn't absolute; you could probably still talk to him."

"Thank you. I think I should try, at least."

"Um…" Oratory might have been a common skill amongst Ancient Greek political leaders, but Kon wasn't programmed with much in the way of public speaking skill and hasn't taken the time to learn it. I'm… Not sure that Queen Hippolyta has realised that. He takes a look at the crowd, his admirers and countrywomen gazing up at him and waiting for him to speak. I make momentary eye contact with the faintly scowling Clyemne and smile at her. "Thank you? I-." He glances back at Diana, who smiles reassuringly. "A.. little under a year ago, I got my first glimpse of the world outside of the pod where Cadmus grew me. My first chance to interact with real people. It took a while before I learned to really appreciate the skills they had and how much.. of an impact they could have on my life." This time he looks back at me. "And I like to think I've… Made an impression on them as well. And not always just with my fists."

There's a little polite laughter as he takes a moment while he works out where he's going-. No. He knows where he's going, he's just not entirely sure how to get there. Several of those present have watched while he spars with various volunteer Heraklya. He doesn't usually win, but he's doing better than most one year olds would.

"I'm not really sure I'm ready to be a prince. I'm certainly not gunna be ready to take the throne any time soon. But I'm learning as fast as I can. If I'm not worthy now, I will become worthy. It is a great honor you have bestowed upon me, and I will live up to its demands."

"Pavlos." I look left as Queen Hippolyta speaks my name. "The rest of this will be a… I believe my daughter has referred to them as 'meet and greet sessions'. If you wish to absent yourself, you may do so."

"Thank you." I nod, floating the platform backwards towards a solid-looking rooftop. The forum isn't really designed for public events of this size. Maybe I should have done this in the amphitheatre instead? But this is where the crowd was, and… That was the point. To get across a heroic tale from 'Man's World'. Once the royal party is safely down on a solid surface I eliminate the construct and turn away, floating in an arc in the direction of the closest empty street.

"Where are you off to?" Donna's following on behind me, apparently considering my dismissal to include her as well.

"In less than two weeks, I'm leaving the Earth. Possibly for years." I wonder if that counts if Klarion or Nabu manage to kill me? There's a good chance I'd end up in Erebos… "So there are more than a few things I need to get settled first."

Donna nods, pulling up alongside me as I head down into the streets. "You know, I didn't really think about it until Megan handed me the invitation, but Kon's birthday is on the fourth of July."

"Yes?"

She looks at me as we touch down, her head bowing slightly as she maintains the stare. "The fourth of July? In America-."

"Treason Day, I know. I think half the reason why Zatanna's so enthusiastic about it is that it's the only way she could ever persuade me to take part."

"You know, after midday, saying things like that is a pretty good way to start a fight in some places."

"Why after midday?"

"Most people hesitate to take a swing at a guy whose eyes glow orange. But once they get a few beers in them…"

"We're doing the party mid-afternoon and into the evening, and most of us aren't old enough to drink."

"Right. Because that always stops teenagers."

"And I can… Probably avoid making remarks likely to undermine the American nation." … "For a day."

She nods as we enter a building and start up the stairs. "Are you leaving right after?"

"No, I'm planning on leaving on the eighth. Assuming that nothing comes up." I suppose I.. could ask Mister Free to boom tube me part of the way. It would save a good deal of time… Mm, can't hurt to ask. I stop outside my destination and knock on the door with my right fist.

Donna grins. "What, is this your secret Amazon love-" Iola opens the door, her abdomen swollen with a six month old foetus. Donna's eyes widen. "-neeeest?"

"Pavlos!" Iola steps out of her house and carefully embraces me. "It is good to see you!"

"Just thought I'd give you a quick check up while I'm here. Have you noticed any-?"

"Uh. As I have told my mother, my grandmother, my great great and many more greats grandmothers and every single one of my cousins, I am fine. Practice contractions, uncomfortable stretching, anal bleeding and clumsiness are all perfectly normal parts of pregnancy."

"Okay, then.. I.. guess I'm just here for the imaging scan. Assuming that you want to-."

"Oh yes! Tekla!" She turns away, heading back into the house. "Pavlos wants to show us what our daughter looks like!"

I take a hologram projector out of subspace. Hope this goes better than last time.

9th May
12:32 +3 GMT

Iola looks uncertainly at the holographic image.

"Is it.. supposed to look like that?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st July
20:32 -5 GMT

This is going to be uncomfortable.

This will be the first time that I've spent any time in the company of Mister Luthor since the citizenship ceremony. The first time I've been alone with him but for Ms Graves since he decided to double down on his allegiance with the Light. It's… I'm not used to being impolite to people who are being polite to me. In fact… I'm usually pretty polite to people who are being impolite to me. And I know that he's going to make some reference to it, some snide comment about 'turning into Superman' or something. And I won't get annoyed. It always sounds a bit stupid to me when people say it, but I really am just disappointed.

I float down towards his office window… Given how often this sort of thing happens, he really should look into getting an external entrance put in or something. As I drop into view the woman -Miss Teschmacher- on the far side of Lex's desk starts, stepping back and pointing. Lex doesn't move for a moment, then leans back and twists slightly in his seat to look my way. No real reaction in his face, but he then turns back to his guest and says something that has her bob her head and exit the room with some speed, Ms Graves opening the door for her.

Ring, phone Lex Luthor.

Unable to comply.

Alright then. Electron inductor construct.

The strange and vaguely ray gun like device manifests just in front of me, pointing at Lex's desk phone. It's actually a tool of intelligence gathering, capable of remotely reading or generating patterns of electrical activity. Seems a bit.. daft to have to use it to make a telephone call, but there we go. Unless he's got a force field generator around the phone, this should work fine. I pick up the construct handset. Ring, try now.

Connection established.

This time, Lex picks up the telephone and stands, turning around to look at me. "Orange Lantern. It's been a little while."

"Would you mind if I came in, Mister Luthor?"

He steps away from the window, a polite smile on his lips. "By all means."

I dismiss the construct and trigger my armour's phasing system, floating forwards and p-.

I tap the exterior of the window. Huh. I'd known that phase disrupting technologies exist, of course. But… Ring, manual phase shift.

Compliance.

Orange light flares around me as the ring directly aids my armour, an effect not unlike the flame aura Alan gets when he uses his ring. See, while a force field can block certain types of exotic effect, unlike with magic it's a simple 'who has the most power' fight. And I have two power rings in addition to my armour's bleed torsion generator while Mister Luthor is restricted to Human technologies. Of course, if he's somehow secretly replaced his glass with some sort of phase shifting material…

I move forward, passing through the window and.. probably overloading whatever was generating the effect. Lex himself doesn't seem unduly troubled, simply walking around to the far side of his desk and putting the phone down.

"May I offer you something to drink?"

"No, thank you." I dismiss the effect and return my armour to subspace, taking out a hologram projector as I do so. "But please, feel free to drink yourself."

"I'm really more of a social drinker. What.. brings you into my office today?"

"Power armour with pink force fields. Mister Luthor, the agreement was that you would share everything that you learned from the OMAC technology."

"And I have. STAR Labs and the Justice League have received a copy of every test and every scan. I did not agree to share data on every technology LexCorp developed from what we learned. We didn't simply… Cut parts out of them."

"Fair enough, I suppose." I take a quick look around the room. Doesn't look like anything else has changed. "What do those things retail for?"

"I'm afraid that's a confidential matter. Was… That what you came here to talk about? The armour?"

"No. No, it wasn't." I give him my full attention. "I'm here because I want to get a message to someone and I think… No. I know you can help."

"I'll do my best. Might I enquire as to the identity of the recipient?"

His tone is polite, enquiring… Helpful, even. "Klarion the Witch Boy."

His face grows sombre, his brows frowning. "Wasn't that the name of the individual primarily responsible for the Roanoke Island event?"

"Yes."

"I'm.. not sure why you think-."

"Mister Luthor. As I said before, I know full well that you're a member of the Light. Not to the extent that I can prove it in court-" Yes, there's the picture. A meeting of the members of the Light. Meeting Klarion caused just enough fear for a trace to become visible inside him. "-but enough for my own purposes. I offered you an out, you didn't take it. So… I may as well take advantage."

Lex thinks for a moment, his eyes dipping to the floor. "If we say… For the purpose of this conversation, that I could pass on a message to him, what exactly would that message contain?"

I nod, walking a little further into the room. "The Light knows from the Justice League's files that the Lord of Order Nabu is currently occupying the body of Mister Giovanni Zatara. I want to remove him. Unfortunately, I lack the… Skills required. Lords of Order are rather… Resilient."

"You intend to ask him for help? I'm rather surprised. He's responsible for the deaths of-."

"I'm not keen on it, and any arrangement we come to will last exactly as long as it takes to get rid of Nabu. But I… Need him."

"I doubt that someone like that would simply volunteer their services."

"I have his cat hostage. I'm willing to return her, in exchange for his cooperation." I feel a flicker of yellow… He doesn't want Klarion back at full power. Nice to know that he hasn't completely taken leave of his senses. "Ideally, I would like to meet up with him tomorrow to discuss the matter. On Roanoke, where the ritual took place."

"I.. was.. rather under the impression that he hated you. From what you've said-."

"Oh, he does. But he can always kill me after taking advantage of my offer."

"Well…" Lex shrugs with his forearms, hands turned upwards. "In the extraordinarily unlikely event that I come across him-."

I hold up the hologram projector, and an image of Mister Truggs materialises.

"It will devastate everything on the Atlantic rim. But you know we're going to try and stop him. Why are you telling me?"

"I work for the Light. But my actual employer is… Our mutual friend. And-."

"Lex Luthor is rather quite attached to Metropolis. He wants action on supers, but he doesn't actually want the attack to be successful."

"Sounds reasonable ta me."

"If Klarion doesn't show up, that gets released to whatever news stations want it." I close the hologram down. "Not conclusive, and certainly not admissible in court. But that wouldn't be the point. The point would be to associate you in the minds of the general public with Klarion. The point would be to hound you. The drawback of secret identities… Is that they matter when you can't use them any more. Can I assume that Klarion is going to be there?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

2nd July
19:45 -5 GMT

"…which meant that I had to change a few cards which affect mutual tension so that they move it two places."

Zatanna cautiously leafs through my binder. "Okay. That.. sounds like it makes sense."

"And adding the game AI means that you don't have to remember whose turn it is, or what different things are doing."

"Wouldn't it be easier to just put it all on a computer?"

I glare. "Heresy."

She holds her hands up in mock surrender. "'kay."

"I also got rid of the need to use a card to declare war, because-."

"Hsssssssss-hhakk-kk-k."

My Babylon 5 folder goes back into subspace and construct armour appears around both me and Zatanna as Teekl hisses in the general direction of the tree line. Zatanna stares in the direction of Teekl's ire as she takes a firm grip on her staff. Her new armour is a little more sensible than the Sororitas gear she wore during the assault on Black Manta's base, and does far more to empower her magic. It's mithril based, since I doubted that she was up to fighting in anything heavier without power support she hasn't trained to use. Combined with my new generation mage slayers, we might well be able to kill Klarion without using exotic techniques.

Not that I've done anything so stupid as leaving the Sword of the Fallen at home.

Talking the warden into closing the memorial down for a couple of days wasn't that hard. It's not really all that popular anyway. We just had to say that we wanted to check that Oceanus' summoning hadn't caused any of the spells here to reactivate. Which technically could happen. That left us with plenty of time to make our preparations, but we still didn't have any idea when Klarion would actually turn up. If he would at all. So we've been stuck waiting here.

Klarion himself steps slowly into view, eyes glowing purple and an expression of severe disgruntlement on his face. "Stoopid… Cat." Wisps of purple smoke curl around his fingers, but aside from one or two facial… Oddities, he looks more or less Human.

"Raowraowraowraowraow!"

"Nobody asked you!"

"Klarion."

He walks clockwise around the clearing. "Don't even think I'm coming any closer!"

"Klarion, if I wanted you dead-" I tap the pommel of the Sword with my right forefinger. "-you'd be dead. Or bound. Remember New Year?"

"You know, at the time, I really couldn't work out why you tied Nabu up with me."

"I'm assuming that Lex told you everything I told him."

Klarion taps his lower lip with his right forefinger. "I don't think I was meant t' confirm that. And I don't really think anyone would believe me." His eyes glow brilliant purple as he throws his arms wide! "Hey everybody! Orange Lantern and me have totally been working together the whole time!"

"Klarion."

"It's a novel experience for me! Hating two people and hating them this much!" In an instant he calms again. "Maybe I should just tell Nabu that you're plotting against him. Maybe I'll just watch and see who wins. That oughta be fun."

"You could do that. I suppose it all depends on how much you want to be a Lord of Chaos again." His eyes narrow. "I'm sure-."

"I'm still a Lord of Chaos!" Klarion whips his right hand back and then swings it forward, a burning purple ball heading our way!

Zatanna raises her staff. "Eb edamnu!" The Star Sapphire flares violet, then Klarion's ball detonates in a blast of violet. "Who's using baby magic now, oh great Lord of Chaos?"

"Why can't I just hate you to death!"

"We've been over that. You're not currently attached to the Plane of Chaos. Thus, the overwhelming power you're accustomed to is cut off. And I'm sure that you've tried... Performing the ritual again. Fixing it yourself. Any luck so far?"

"What d'you want?"

"Let's not kid ourselves. You hate me, I hate you. The moment any agreement we come to is over, we'll try and kill each other." He grins. "But. You also hate Nabu… And you really really want your full power back. So… Let's make a deal."

"You want me to get all my power back? That doesn't sound too smart." He frowns. "Truggs keeps saying that you're the smart one. What are you up to?"

"I have a plan to deal with Nabu, and for it to work you need to try to reconnect with the Plane of Chaos. I took the liberty of-" I wave my right arm around. "-preparing the ground."

Klarion follows my gesture, sniffing. He flicks his fingers out, flashes of purple light leaping from his hands and running over the ground. Swiftly, his magic finds the runic design I embedded into the ground. "Huh." He carefully studies the designs. "That won't stop Nabu detecting what we're doing."

"No. But it will delay him long enough that you'll either be at full power, or… You'll know for sure that you're not getting it back, and we can all flee before he gets here."

"I don't trust you."

"And I don't trust you. I know for sure that if he's not here when you get to full power, you'll attack me. And since-."

He smiles. "Yeah, that does sound like me."

"And since we have to do that first, I'm the one taking the risk here. You shut down this ring last time we fought here, and I'm sure that you've been dreaming of doing all of the horrible things to me that you'd be capable of if you were at full power."

"Some of them were mutually exclusive."

"Nice to know that your mind is still working. So? Do you want to keep skulking around, clasping those epic level scry wards to your chest like a teddy bear? Or do you want to be you again?"

"How about you die first, and I think about it?"

"I'm not repeating the offer, Klarion. Power and revenge now, or irrelevance and obsolescence forever." I make a sad face. "It didn't exactly escape my notice that Orm and Satanus handled the recent fun-and-games without you. Not able to..? Keep your end up? You wouldn't want to end up like Ra's now, would you?"

I can't see his emotions. But I think I can guess.

"Come ooooon. It's an alliance where we both plan to betray each other at the first possible opportunity."

"That sounds like me too!" He squints. "What's your plan? If you think you can just give Teekl back-"

"Raaaaaaaoooorwwww!"

"-that won't work. I need a proper reconnection. One you can't revoke whenever you feel like it."

"I know. That's why I set this up. Why don't I… Talk you through it?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

2nd July
19:51 -5 GMT

Klarion puts his hands on his hips. "Huh. That's kinda clever. But I still don't see what's supposed to stop me just blasting you the first chance I get."

Klarion has allowed himself to get a little closer, though he hasn't been so foolish as to enter the area marked out in glowing purple and I strongly suspect that he's got at least half a dozen emergency escape spells in place upon his person.

"Nothing, really. Except it turns a three-on-one-in-your-favour fight into a three-on-one-against fight."

His face creases up in confusion. "Why would Nabu fight with you?"

"Because he hates you more than he hates me. And while I have friends whose opinion has a material impact on his life, you don't. Plus, he'd only have your word for it that we were working together. All I'd have to do is say that I set up an ambush and got in over my head..."

Klarion.. twitches, in a way which nearly has me reaching for the Sword. "I know there's a trap, there's gotta be a trap. Teekl-?" Without thinking, he turns to Teekl and then remembers that she's a construct. His face twists, flesh moving in ways that Human skin just can't to form a scowl of truly inhuman rage. "Why is everything so hard?!" His head darts around, looking for… I don't know. "Fine, let's do this. I can just kill you after."

"You can certainly try." I indicate the glowing purple circle that is the focal point of the ritual space. "If you would please take your place."

He stares at me, then cautiously walks around the side of the ritual space until he's as close as he can get to the circle without entering the general area. "Oh, is that how it is?" He brings his hands together in front of him, the space between them glowing purple. Then he wrenches them apart, the runes around the circle flaring and being subtly altered. Klaron smugs at me. "Can't trick me that easy."

No, I didn't expect that I'd be able to. Still, it helps me if you spot one or two traps. I don't really want you looking too deeply. What's he done..?

"Zatanna, will that still work?"

"Cigam wohs em eht cinur scinahcem."

A complicated series of glowing violet runes appears in the air in front of her, spinning and oscillating as her spell calculates the interactions of the set up we made for Klarion.

"You're asking her? P-lease. I just took out the thing you were gunna use to drain me, and-."

"Aaaand changed it so it will flood your circle with raw chaos from the start."

"I happen to like chaos."

"Okay, but will it still work?"

"Of course it'll still work. Hmpf." He picks his way around the layout, takes a last look at the circle… And then steps inside it. "Much better." He pirouettes, the whole rune layout flaring slightly as he does so. "Now let's get started!"

"Klarion." Zatanna shakes her head. "You have to release control over the network. If you extend your magic outside that circle-."

"You don't tell me what to do!"

"Do you want this to work or not?"

Scowling, Klarion sits down on the bare earth and thumps his hands against it. Immediately, the rest of the layout dies down to a faint glow. "Happy now?"

"My father's possessed by Nabu and I'm having to put up with you. I'm a long way from happy."

"Look on the bright side. Soon, you'll be dead."

"How is that a bright side?"

"Pretty bright for me." He looks over to me. "What's the hold up? Upset I saw through your little scheme?"

"Just enjoying you being powerless for a little longer. Teekl."

"Teekl not help nastybad-."

"Teekl." The rings on my fingers glow brightly. "Obey."

Teekl shudders, the orange sigil on her forehead shining brightly for a moment. "Not-. Not like! Bad! Not like!"

She-. No. I know perfectly well that she was complicit in everything Klarion did before I assimilated her. This has to happen. "Do what I tell you."

Her fur standing on end, Teekl grudgingly stalks in the direction of her smaller circle. That part of the spell will mirror her link to Klarion's presence in the Plane of Chaos while bypassing her. It won't be instantaneous -at least it shouldn't be, and we checked pretty thoroughly- but it will allow Klarion to gradually pull himself together. It's… It's not at all like hacking a computer, actually, but that will do as a metaphor. Guessing a password is hard. Getting the user to enter it for you is far easier.

Teekl reaches her circle and curls up inside, paying as little attention to the world around her as possible as she purrs to calm herself down.

"She's in place."

"So start already! The sooner I get my powers back the sooner I can kill you!"

"It won't work while you're still using Bedlam. The system isn't designed-."

"I know." He waves dismissively at Zatanna and I with his right hand. "Take a few steps back."

"Why?"

"Simple. I don't trust you. So I'm gunna bind Bedlam to a magic shield around the ritual space, and you need to be outside a' that."

"Fine." I lift Zatanna and I up with the rings and float us backwards until we're clear of the design by a decent margin. "Happy now?"

Purple light radiates out from Klarion's eyes and mouth, coalescing in the air above him as Bedlam looks out on the world for what may be the first time since the Roanoke Island Incident. His apparent freedom lasts for about four seconds as Klarion tugs downwards on the last few strands that link the two of them.

"Get down."

Bedlam billows towards the ground, half his mass apparently being torn off his upper torso to form a translucent purple barrier between us and the ritual area. Hopefully not a critical problem… No, that should still work.

"Okay, whatever, but you'll still need to cut your links completely."

Klarion shakes his hands, as if trying to get rid of water droplets. "Fine. Done." As Bedlam loses all connection to him he eyes me warily, wondering if this is where the double cross comes in. No, not quite yet. "Can we get started now?"

I nod. "Zatanna, if you'd be so good?"

She takes a deep breath, then taps the butt of her staff onto the ground. "Etavitca."

And that's when the full ritual space activates, four times the size of what Klarion uncovered. The look on his face is priceless.

 

[Mr Zoat]

2nd July
19:55 -5 GMT

"Whaaaat's that do?"

"Interesting story there, Klarion. After I-."

"What's it do! Tell me!"

"After I hit Infinity Island… Gosh, it's ten months ago now." Doesn't time fly. "After that, I started losing the ability to locate people by-" I hold up my hands so that the rings are clearly visible. "-power ring. When Bane attacked the Rhelasian peace conference I discovered that that was probably due to a rather vexing piece of arcane kit called a 'scry ward'. You see, it seems that a power ring's scan is similar enough to magic-based detection that it can be thrown off by some very simple magic countermeasures, while at the same time being sufficiently mystically weak that it can't just punch through."

"You have no idea how frustrating that's been for me. At times… I honestly felt like the universe was conspiring to remove my greatest advantage, just to make the job of rounding people like you up harder."

I walk a little closer, coming right up to the Bedlam barricade at the closest point to Klarion. "These days… It seems that every single supervillain I run into has a ward of some kind. And there are so many different types! You know, I.. catalogue them carefully after each encounter, in the hope that doing so will allow my magic using colleagues to find a way around them." I shake my head. "It doesn't work, because the designs keep changing, each drawing on slightly different arcane traditions… I can't even be sure that they're coming from the same originator. Maybe they weren't. Maybe just releasing the information that it was possible was enough."

"As a result of banging my fucking head against a wall over this for months now, I… Probably know more about scry wards than anyone else on the planet! Funny how that works. Hehaha!" I throw my arms out to the sides. "The design was made with carbon nanotubes which I transmuted from the soil itself. The-."

"That-! No, that couldn't work!"

"I wasn't sure it would. I really wasn't sure. Not until we worked out an activation system that linked it directly to me. As you probably know, I'm the best warded thing on the planet when it comes to counter detection techniques. And it turns out that it's actually pretty easy to link an existing ward to a new ward using a sympathetic link. It still took quite a lot of my blood to do it, so I might have ended up a little bit cranky, but I'm choosing to associate my current lack of comportment to you being a mass murderer."

"You want to know what it's designed to do? See, this isn't a trap for Nabu. We're doing that in a few days. We talked about asking for your cooperation back when this first happened, and the answer was a resounding 'no'." Klarion gestures at the circle around him, prompting Zatanna to stamp her staff on the ground again. This triggers the enhanced circle around the one he thought that he was standing in. He yelps and pulls away from the edge. "One thing I learned from Mister Truggs: if you're going to monologue, make sure that you're not going to be interrupted. And you're not going to interrupt me." I look over the diagram again. "This magnificent piece of work just won't allow it."

"Frankly Klarion, you're useless to me." I glance at Zatanna. "To us. Too much we don't know about your full capacities, too much mutual hate. But some other Lord of Chaos, that could be useful. So we looked into that, with a little help from The Changing Man. We could ascend a mortal mage… Eventually. But apparently there's some sort of cosmic balance thing which stops too many of you being in the same place at once. They'd probably just disappear. So that wasn't any good. And as for recruiting a current Lord of Chaos, well… I talked to Adom about Oggar. Mad, bad and/or dangerous to know."

"That was when we hit on this idea. You've got a roiling mass of energy just waiting for someone to connect to it. As far as 'the authorities' are concerned, it's already assigned to Earth… So there won't be any problem there. So we just needed a candidate and… You."

"It's my power you can't have it!"

"Want to bet?" I draw the Sword of the Fallen with my right hand. "I could kill you now. No Chaos power and no Djinn make you extremely killable. In fact, I could probably do it with-" I generate two construct railguns. "-mage slayers. But I'm not going to. Hijacking your power requires your cooperation-."

"I'm not going to!"

"Yes, you are. Because if you don't, I am just going to kill you. The only way for you to have even the smallest chance of survival is to grab that power just as fast as you can. That way, you'll stand a fighting chance."

Klarion… Goldfishes, his eyes boggling and his mouth chewing on air. I'm actually a little worried that he might explode from confusion, rage or hate. Him killing himself is one of the few things I couldn't work out a way to prevent. I don't think it would present an insurmountable barrier, but it would require a good deal of rethinking on our part.

"Would you like to meet your replacement, you feculent piece of excrement?"

"Yes! Because that way I know who else I need to torture to death!"

"Lively one, inne." John steps out of the shadows around the memorial, tossing aside a spent cigarette as he does so. He left his jacket at home, his shirt sleeves are rolled up and his coat is folded over his right arm. "Always assumed if I ever stopped bein' Human it would be 'cause of a Demon." He heads towards his appointed part of the enlarged diagram, glancing at Klarion only for a moment. "Name's John Constantine, by the way."

He steps over a smaller circle, dropping the deflated fish balloon into it with his off-hand. He had to keep it with him for as long as possible, as we found that it swiftly throws off organised magics placed upon it. Including scry wards. John's had his work cut out keeping it contained, but since we're about to start… Zatanna's spotted it as well. She doesn't do anything as dramatic as slam the butt of her staff down, but she does start quietly muttering the incantation.

"Dnib lla strap rehtegot-" John reaches his own circle and drops into a cross-legged sitting posture. I had thought that him getting into the required headspace might be an impediment, but I was worrying unnecessarily. John is perfectly capable of various forms of mystical projection, but when dealing with Demons those sorts of thing are more dangerous than useful. "-dna ekam siht tiucric elohw."

"That's it? You couldn't do better than him?" Again, with his inhuman facial expressions and whatever it is he does to block my empathic vision I can't tell whether Klarion is genuinely not impressed or just putting a brave face on things. "He's barely even got a whole soul already! He won't last five seconds of pure Chaos."

John looks faintly amused by the outburst. In his case I know that he's not faking. He's taken on scarier things than Klarion with far less preparation than this before. "If you're that sure, we might as well get started, hadn't we? No sense hanging about."

Klarion lashes out with his right hand, slamming it into the edge of his circle only for it to bounce off harmlessly. Each of us is treated to a last snarl, then his face goes perfectly blank and calm. He sits down cross-legged, his hands clasped together in what looks almost like a praying gesture. "I'm gunna tear your soul apart, magician."

He says it without any particular malice, in the same tone with which one might describe the weather.

"Better than you tried, mate. An' the only one ever managed it was me." John closes his eyes, hands resting on his knees.

There's a sort of… Hissing noise. It's faint, and it's… Coming from the ritual space, everywhere the nanotubes run. Chaos magic is pouring into the system and changing the magics we put there. That's my part done, now that Klarion's started. Zatanna's watching the ritual, ready to unleash the power of love if it looks like Klarion's won. Or is cheating better than us. I'm on Nabu-monitoring duty, because if he spots this through the wards then we're all in deep trouble. I think I could talk my way around the Justice League, justify it on the grounds that we'd get someone so it may as well be John, but that would cost us the element of surprise when it comes to fighting Nabu.

Nabu is supposed to be answering questions on the Oceanus incident and magic more generally to a UN committee today. They're still meeting, and I've got an eye on the internal cameras. He doesn't scry ward himself routinely, but I'm reasonably confident that he can detect it when I scan him so I'm trying to make this as indirect as possible.

All up to John now.

 

[Mr Zoat]

2nd July
20:09 -5 GMT

"Pirt pu!" Zatanna backpedals as the blue and red Tiger-striped man falls toward her, turning it into a controlled tumble as he does so. "Who are they?!"

I fire a bolt of orange energy at the turquoise and red one, a hole opening in his chest to allow the bolt through. Fortunately, it doesn't stop the gauntlet construct from savagely backhanding him across the face. "Don't know. Some of Klarion's hangers on, presumably."

A large weight clearly marked as '10 tons' materialises over John's head. I generate a construct hand, catch it and shove it aside to land in a pile with the others. I think I'm noticing a theme here.

"bOSS kLARION SAYS-."

"Dnuob dna deggag!" His red stripes peel away from his skin, looping around his wrists, ankles and mouth. He falls, squirming against his bonds. "I think I've worked out-!"

"Cartoon style effects only." Cartoons like Road Runner use horrific acts of violence -including people being crushed to death or incinerated- as entertainment. Should have realised that would be Klarion's thing. It also explains all of the dead Coyotes and Road Runners that have been found lately. So naturally his entourage are proof against everything else. Not quite as dangerous as Onomatopoeia… Or maybe we're the ones who have improved? Of course, that's-.

Another one runs at Zatanna with two sticks of dynamite. As expected, they're marked with the brand name 'ACME'.

"Ekar."

A rake appears out of nowhere, jumping up to slam into the madman's face.

"Erifsim."

The dynamite explodes weakly, knocking her assailant down and covering him in soot. It's not like the cartoons, though. I can see blood all across his skin where the pressure waves have torn his flesh away… Looks like under those garish colours he's Human after all. More blood from his ears where his ear drums have ruptured, and he'll be lucky if he keeps full use of his hands.

Of course, seeing them reminds me of what happened the first time I tried fighting Klarion. I've done a lot since then to try to ensure that that couldn't happen again, but I'm getting a sort of phantom ache from the lower left side of my torso. John… Really needs to win this.

Another weight appears, this one… '1 Million Tons'. That's a bit more than I can lift. I generate a gravity nullifier construct underneath it before it can start to fall. It stops in mid-air. Okay, it's still got inertia, but if I can shove it hard enough… "Zatanna, if you get a moment, could you possibly-?"

"Ekar ot edaps. Gid a eloh."

Um. Okay..? The giant weight is slowly moving, three opponents down and I can't see any others. I cautiously take a runestone out of my armour's left hip pouch and float it over to the one bound in his own-. It melts before it gets close enough for a reading. That's a problem with this sort of ritual; there's so much magic around that delicate sensors can't survive it. They just get overloaded and break. I've got seventeen less precise ones around the edge of the site to try and record the event… Give us some idea of when it's coming to an end so we can brace for a fully repowered Klarion. Not that we really have anything to compare it to.

"Eb ni eht eloh."

The busy shovel is now out of sight, earth showering upwards and raining down on the surrounding area. Then it-.

"Eip yrujnoc."

A yellow and red striped man shoots upward, propelled by the shovel. He flails around as he falls to the ground, and as he turns to look at Zatanna she slams a custard pie into his face hard enough to break his nose.

…

"I bow to your mastery of cartoon physics."

"Hm." Zatanna takes a moment to look down at her fallen opponent, then looks up at me. "Do you think this means that Klarion's winning, or that he's losing?"

"I don't really think we can tell. You heard the description John got from The Changing Man."

"What do the readings say?" She nods at the fallen.. clown-zebras. "Eb dnuob yb ruoy sepirts."

"Lots of power, far more than when we started. It's slightly more focused around Klarion… But that would probably be the case if John was winning, because he's.. basically hijacking Klarion's connection, which he-."

She nods. "Can't do if there isn't a connection in the first place."

"Any progress with Bedlam's binding spell?"

She looks up at the pained expression on his purple face. "I think so, but I don't want to push too hard in case he actually gets free." She looks through him into the ritual area. "I know we talked about what this would be like, but doesn't it seem strange to you that they're fighting some sort of huge magic battle and there's no external sign anything is happening at all?"

"No explosions, fire, lightning, monstrous creatures… Present company excepted. That sort of thing?"

"Even a… Visible clue about who was winning. A burning candle… Maybe… If the circle was part one color and part another?"

"As convenient as they are, progress bars aren't realistic." Ah… "Unless you can-?"

"Not with this much chaos magic around."

"Because, I mean, those guys were annoying, but if there was actually a way for us to hit our opponents as hard as we can and for the worst that could happen to them to be that they get knocked out-."

The magic in the ritual space surges, red light flaring across the diagram! Sympathetic explosions mark the deaths of my larger runestones. Drat. Sephtian is not -I generate construct railguns and load mage slayers as I take the Sword of the Fallen from its sheath- going to be happy about that.

"Uuuuughhh…"

I'm not.. sure where the moan come from. John's body is sort of slumped forward while Klarion collapsed-. Klarion's eyelids open, the eyes behind them burning with the same red light as his spells. He slams his right hand to the ground, groggily pushing himself upright.

John's still not moving.

Ah, shit.

Klarion stumbles towards us, the lines marked out on the ground fading away as he thoughtlessly stumbles through them. He squeezes his eyes shut, hands coming up and clasping his head in obvious discomfort.

I'm sorry, John. I train my guns on Klarion's head. Let's see if I can add to his discomfort a little.

"Fuckin' hell."

…

What?

"Oh, hang on."

Klarion stops, looks around and then walks towards the fish balloon. "Won't be needin' this." He bends down to pick it up, the fingernail of his right index finger growing to the length of a short sword and puncturing the rubber of the fish. There's a squeak as the hole he made sucks air in, the fish reinflating and pulling away from his grip. It flies a short circuit around him and then flies off into the air.

Then… Whoever that is turns back to face us. "I miss anythin'?"

"Jjjjohn..?"

He makes a gesture of appeal with both hands. "What, were you expecting the bleedin' tooth-" He appears to notice his hands. "-fairy. Oh. Thought it felt a bit odd."

"Are you..? Stuck..?"

"Gimme a sec." He clenches his fists, and then steps forward, the surface of his skin and clothing running as if liquid, gradually shifting until it takes on the form he's more accustomed to. If a little more sombrely dressed.

"It worked?"

He nods, then shudders. "Never again. That was… Pretty fuckin' horrible." He turns away, strolling in the direction of his former circle and nudging the pile of clothes with his right foot. Klarion turns onto his back. He.. seems to be unconscious. John reaches down next to him and picks up his coat, putting it over his left shoulder. "Right then. We'd best be making ourselves scarce before Nabu turns up. Who wants the Witch Boy?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

2nd July
20:13 -5 GMT

"I've got a plan for that. Can you..?" I sheathe the Sword, then gesture vaguely towards the insane clown posse with my right forefinger. "Do something about them? Whatever Klarion did-."

John claps his hands together, red flames flaring from our assailants. As the flames die down, four normal-looking naked men are revealed. "That should undo everything that's happened to them since they met Klarion. You know who they are?"

Ring, scan. Anything on missing persons?

Matches found.

"Yes. They're Hub City natives, reported missing… Beginning of last month. Minor criminal records, but no outstanding warrants on any of them. Shouldn't be any problem just handing them over to the local police."

"Right." John waves his right hand, crackles of red energy momentarily linking him to each of them. They flicker then.. disappear, replaced by small black/red.. stars..? The stars shoot high up into the air and then turn north north west, accelerating as they go. "That's that sorted. What about-?" He notices as Zatanna and I glance at each other. "Look, the whole point of doin' this was to give me the power I need to fight Nabu, right? I know hundreds of spells and whatnot that I couldn't use without begging some dodgy Demon or uppity god to do the heavy liftin' for me. Now, I've got all the power I could ever need." He holds his hands in front of him, palms upwards, as blood red flames flare up from them. "Might as well get used to it."

Zatanna looks him over. "Are you.. okay..? What..? What exactly happened in there?"

John starts patting down his coat until he finds a pocket. "Best you don't ask." He pulls out a packet of cigarettes, extracts a cigarette and puts it in his mouth. "Alright if I leave the cleanup to you? I don't have a lot of time to get used to all this."

"Of course. I'll phone you Tuesday if I haven't heard from you-" My helmet's camera shows Nabu stand and walk out of the meeting room. "-by then. Nabu's moving. Go."

John nods and turns away, a slash opening in the air like the one Klarion used to escape Roanoke. "One thing first." His right hand twists, pulling an oil lamp from nowhere and holding it out towards Bedlam. "Not leaving you hanging about. In you go."

The Genie snarls, but is unable to resist as it's pulled inextricably into the spout. Once the purple has completely disappeared John looks the lantern over, nods to himself, then strides towards the tear. "Be seeing you."

I turn to Zatanna as the tear seals over. "Okay, you handle-."

"Lla cigam secneulfni, eb detapissid!"

Alright then. I raise my hands as violet light surges through the area, sending a wave of orange through the ground and resetting it to how it was before our arrival. Though I'm not completely sure that Nabu would notice the nanotubes -they are very small- it's best not to leave any sign at all. Him finding us here isn't a problem. Someone's almost certainly going to mention that Zatanna and I were here all day. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that the comatose Klarion is here it would probably be better if we stayed until he arrived. As it is…

"I'm done."

Zatanna's eyes glow violet as she focuses on her task. "My bit is a little more complicated. Is Nabu coming here?"

I generate a gurney construct underneath Klarion and strap him in before pulling him over to us. I then take out a runestone and hold it over his forehead. No, barely any reaction at all. Huh. Okay, if a Lord of Chaos replaces the normal worldly magics in their soul with chaos magic, what happens when the chaos magic is taken away? No, no, it can't have been completely removed. If it had, then he wouldn't have been able to use magic after I took Teekl. Still, these symptoms are the same as those shown in Hollow Men who achieve that state through misadventure.

"Not sure. He's left the building. Can you give me a count down?"

"No… I'm about a third done."

"Checking television cameras… I've got him. If he's coming here he doesn't seem to be in any sort of hurry about it. He's-. No, he's going north west. I think he's following John's transportation star things."

"Of course, if I get this wrong he's going to turn around pretty quick."

"Yes, but the time pressure's off a bit. Do a good job rather than a good enough quick job."

"I have been doing this longer than you." I dismiss my construct armour and raise my left eyebrow at her. "Just saying."

"I know. I apologise for doubting your professionalism. It's just that I have effective operational command, so it's my responsibility to make sure that everyone is on the same wavelength."

"That's okay. Annnnd… Done. Eugh." She blinks, her eyes returning to normal and her grip on the Staff of Love loosening slightly.

Ring, message to Major Fang and Chairman Jiang. Tell them that I need an urgent appointment.

Compliance.

"Are you alright?"

She holds the staff up slightly, looking at the Star Sapphire at its head. "I've never used it quite this much before. I think-." I attach a construct to it and yank it out of her grasp. "Hey!"

"Remember the safety procedures."

"I wasn't-!"

"You were staring at it. Zatanna, I know how dangerously addictive the emotional spectrum can be." I hold the staff up. "You can have this back tomorrow, but right now, you're going home."

She breathes in as if about to protest. Then she exhales, bowing her head. "Yeah, you're probably right. Do you think…?"

"What?"

"Do you think it would help if I did the same thing you and Guy Gardner did? Made contact with the.. Predator?"

"No. I survived that by pure luck, and Ion seems to like the Green Lanterns. The chance of you successfully integrating with the Predator is slim to say the least. And even if you could, we've got five days. That isn't enough time to completely rework our plans. Or deal with a rampaging Embodiment if something went wrong." She nods reluctantly. "Okay, let's get out of here. Teekl!"

No response. Where's that blasted Cat gotten to?

"Teekl!" Nothing. Can't see her. "Ring, where's Teekl?"

"Not found."

I frown. "What do you mean, 'not found'? The Cat, the Construct Lantern."

"Construct Lantern Teekl not found."

I-. Oh. I… suppose.

Zatanna looks at me, her face sombre. "Is she.. dead..?"

"Unable to quantify. Construct Lantern 'Teekl' is no longer associated with this ring."

"No, I… I should have guessed." I shake my head. "From the way she was protesting… She was Klarion's link, and if he's not linked anymore…"

"Oh."

I just… Killed my Cat. And not just in an are-Construct-Lanterns-still-people sort of way. She's… Gone. No, no. I can't worry about that now. "Let's go."

Our surroundings flicker, and we appear in Zatanna's front garden.

"Right, I'm off to China to hand Klarion over. You.. just.. do something that doesn't involve love for a day or so."

"I should probably get some practice in-."

"A day, Zatanna. Practice, fine… Just not with the Staff. Alright?" She nods, and I reluctantly hand it back. I can't be seen out and about with it in case someone realises what it is. "I'll see you later. Ring, plot route to the Great Wall Complex."

 

[Mr Zoat]

3rd July
10:02 GMT +8

I don't think that Major Fang can narrow his eyes, but he can certainly still glower. "What do you have in the box, Orange Lantern?"

I keep my posture neutral. He's returning the favour by not quite pointing his spear at my face. Meeting me on neutral ground in Hong Kong was one thing, but me actually being on the grounds of the Great Ten's headquarters seems to be putting his back up. Judging by the Xeno-Team soldiers not quite covering me and Socialist Red Guardsman very obviously covering me.

"I want to say 'classified', but then… I'm a civilian. So let us say that it's… Sensitive."

"You expect me to allow a mysterious box inside our headquarters?"

"Major, I have two power rings. I'm struggling to think of what I could put in a box that would do more than a technology I have on clear display. But if you -and just you- want to see…" I step slightly away from the construct box containing Klarion and gesture to it with both hands. "Take a look."

I wave my right hand, and a viewing tube extends itself from the box just above Klarion's face. I leave the viewing window opaque. Major Fang stares at me, trying to discern my motive. Gaining no further information, he steps smartly forward and leans into the viewer. For three seconds I turn it transparent before rendering it opaque again.

His reaction is minimal, a slight hissing as he breathes in. He remains where he is for a further two seconds, then steps back. "Socialist Red Guardsman, you are dismissed. Detail, return to your posts."

I see Gu Lao glower at me from inside his mech suit, turning away before closing the aperture over his chest cannon. From the corner of my eye I see several Xeno-Team soldiers make a point of trying to minimise their time in his arc of fire. Does he realise how much they hate and fear him? Or is it like North Korea back home, and he still thinks his comrades back him in any circumstances? It's ridiculous really; you don't see Diana behaving like this and she's at least a decade older than him.

"Is Chairman Jiang at home?"

"He is here. And I believe that he will want to see you. Accompany me."

He turns and heads towards the entrance of the main office complex. I let him get a short way ahead and then start walking after him, the box floating along beside me. I've had some fairly advanced medical technology try and work out what's going on with Klarion and I think that my initial supposition was correct: he's been hollowed. There simply isn't any biological reason for him to not be awake. It's like his brain just can't get.. awake enough for him to do anything. His heart is beating and he's breathing unaided, but that's about it. I suppose… Using the system that I have tattooed onto my skin it might be possible to restore him to wakefulness, but… It's Klarion. I don't think that anyone wants him awake that badly.

Major Fang presents his identification at the front entrance. The technician on duty runs it through some sort of scanner… I could scan it, but I don't think that would be appropriate. She then turns the scanner on Major Fang. Presumably it's looking for evidence that he's Durlan, which must give it some trouble as his body is a product of Durlan technology. Whatever it is they're looking for, they appear to find it. His identification is handed back and he's waved through. Once past the checkpoint he turns and beckons me. I walk forwards, stopping in front of the desk when he holds out his right hand in a 'stop' gesture.

Given that it's reasonable that they don't want me turning into a sentient explosion of metal blades in the middle of their command facility, I turn down my environmental shield as far as I can while they scan me. They should have basic information on me on file as part of the data the Justice League shares with Security Council members, but I doubt that it's enough to be completely certain that I'm not a shapeshifter pretending to be me. Or maybe they just want a scan so they can confirm my identity next time. I wait, and a few moments later I get a nod from the technician.

Environmental shield back to full. I think it was Rogal Dorn who said 'sleep well in the camp of your allies, but always keep your bolter within arm's reach'. I don't seriously think that the Great Ten are going to act against me, but it doesn't hurt to take reasonable precautions. I once more follow Major Fang as he leads the way into the administrative part of the building. I get a few curious looks, but I imagine that they're somewhat used to odd-looking people around here.

"I did..? Call ahead? If that wins me any points at all?"

"It is why you were not met by Thundermind's fists. Given that you intruded without permission in our most secure facility, I do not think that we have been unreasonably hostile."

"Thank you. Um, point of fact? Thundermind probably couldn't get through my defences fast enough to prevent me disengaging." Though his lack of easily exploitable weaknesses would make actually beating him harder than beating most flying bricks.

"I will remember to include that belief in our next briefing session."

He stops outside of a meeting room door and knocks carefully on the wood once.

"Come!"

Major Fang pushes the door open and then steps aside, allowing my cargo and I to enter first. Chairman Jiang nods at me before turning his attention to my cargo. He's a pretty nondescript man, a little young for his position and carrying a little more weight than is healthy, but otherwise physically unremarkable. He waits while Major Fang shuts the door and takes up position behind me.

"And what do you have for me that required an immediate meeting?"

I float the box forward, tilting it so that the feet end is down, then dismiss the lid. Chairman Jiang's eyes widen slightly as he takes in the sight, and he takes a moment to get himself back under control.

"You are certain it is him?"

"Yes, completely."

"How? How did you do this?"

"A baited trap. A lot of very powerful life forms have exploitable weaknesses, and I've spent months determining his."

"Is he.. safe? Like this?"

"He's in a coma. It's unlikely that he'll ever wake up, and if he does the chains will prevent him doing anything."

Chairman Jiang nods, cautiously. "Why are you here, Orange Lantern? All the world wants this.. thing dead, and yet I have heard nothing."

"It's been less than an hour, and we carried out the ambush in an isolated location. I don't believe that anyone except those who took part knows that it happened. Why..? I don't want to explain that. I have my reasons, and they don't really matter to you. I want to hand Klarion over to the People's Republic. I'm perfectly happy… No, I'd prefer it, if my name was kept out of it. Give credit to one of your people… As long as it's not Gu Lao… Or don't explain, I don't care. I want him tried and punished according to Chinese law, with full videos made publically available after the event. And I need you to not announce that it's happened until the eighth. British time. And he's not to be harmed until the conclusion of the trial. This needs to be seen as completely above board, completely just."

He nods. "Anything else?"

"No. That's it."

"I agree to your terms, of course. But it seems like a paltry reward. Even if you want the matter kept secret… I would like to know who worked with you to achieve this. Both for the State and.. my family, I would like to know the names of the heroes who brought this monster down."

I suppose there's no harm. "Zatanna Zatara and John Constantine took part in the ambush with me. Several Atlanteans helped craft the spells, Professor Sephtian chief amongst them."

"The girl? And… I have heard of Constantine. He is a street magician of low repute."

"But incredible cunning. Though this time I'm the one who set things up while he directly confronted Klarion." I look aside, smiling to myself. "And I'm afraid that's as much as I'm going to tell you about what happened any time soon." I dismiss most of the construct holding Klarion, revealing the arcane binding chains that are there just in case. "Can I leave him here?"

"Certainly. If we put him in a body bag, we can conceal him. I am not certain that we can assemble a proper panel of judges within five days-."

"Longer is fine. Just not sooner."

He nods. "I will keep my end of the bargain." He stands, and bows from the waist. "Thank you, Orange Lantern. You have performed a great work today."