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

[Mr Zoat]

15th September
08:33 GMT -5

A little way away I can hear Zatanna singing something to herself as she continues her search for grimoires relating to the structures of Demons' souls. There are a lot of books in Shadowcrest's library, and with its owner returned to it some of the safeties designed to keep younger members of the household away from anything too dangerous have shut down. Even I can tell that the passageways now go further than they did when we were looking for information on Lords of Order.

"It wasn't my idea."

"I don't remember accusing you."

"I'll lend you a mirror." There's a slight huff and a glance aside from Mister Zatara. "I may have mentioned the applications for telepathic learning… In reference to potential employment for Genomorphs, once. I certainly didn't encourage Zatanna to-."

"I do believe you. My daughter is an intelligent young woman. She is quite capable of making decisions for herself. But I hope that you recognise that my daughter has made this choice by applying the approach which you taught her to other areas of her life."

Hooray for utilitarianism. "How much of an.. actual problem is this?"

"It would make it more difficult for her to get into college, but she has made it quite clear that she has no desire to do so. I would be far more hostile to the idea if it meant that she was restricting her educational opportunities, but from what I understand of the process from Mister Dubbilex and from Conner, she has received a better education than most schools can provide and will retain it better than most children do."

"How.. many languages can she speak now?"

"Before, she could speak a little French and Italian in addition to English. Now she speaks both fluently, as well as Spanish and Latin."

"Latin? Odd choice."

"It was the Frankish language of Europe for nearly two thousand years. Many books written across the continent were written in Latin so that they would reach a wider audience."

"I would have thought that Atlantean Greek would be more useful for a magic education."

"Mister Dubbilex told me that he was unsure if learning more languages in that manner was safe. If it is, then I am certain that she will ask."

I nod. "I wanted to ask: have you noticed any lingering effects from your time with Nabu? Has it altered your magical abilities at all? That was my largest concern-."

He points to the piles of books already in front of us with his right hand. "Skoob, esinagro sevlesruoy ni redro of ssenlufesu." They each rise off the table and into the air, then fly around one another until they're arranged in three piles. "I was weaker for a time, but when I recovered I found that my powers were much the same. If anything, I think that I have a little more endurance now."

I nod again. "Batman asked me to find the League new magic users."

"Please tell me that you are not doing this in the hope of cleansing John Constantine."

"No." I clear my throat. "No, a woman named Angelica Blaze. But… Look, if it were me, and the League had treated me like they did you, I wouldn't want anything to-"

"That is not-"

"-do with them-"

"-why I have not-"

"-either, but-."

"-rejoined the Justice League."

"Okay, so… Why, then?"

"I have decided to take a genuine leave of absence in order to repair both my professional career and my relationship with Zatanna. I.. may rejoin the League, in the fullness of time."

"Sounds pretty reasonable. More reasonable than I'd be."

He reaches forward and picks up one of the books from the pile closest to him, then sets it down in front of him and opens it. "Stnetnoc egap."

The pages blur back and forth for a moment, then open at what looks like a new page close to the front. "Hm. Who else did you find to replace me?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You mentioned an 'Angelica Blaze'. Who else?"

"A man named Nommo Balewa."

"Ah, Doctor Mist. I met him once. I am a little surprised that he was willing to come out of seclusion, but I think that he will be a worthy addition to the League."

"I hope so, because Ms Blaze is more a case of needing someone to counter Satanus than someone who is actually a good fit with League ethos."

"Is that why she needs information on Demon metaphysiology? So that she can fulfil that purpose?"

"Um…" Um… "Under what circumstances would you want me to withhold an answer to that question?"

His jaw tightens. "None."

"She's currently.. something I don't have a word for. Her soul is made of Hell-magic, much as my own is made of orange light. We're looking for a way to correct that."

He looks a little relieved. "Paul, I have no objection to you studying magic in order to remove a curse."

"Honesty compels me to say that it's only a curse metaphorically."

"Did John find her as well?"

"No, found her myself."

"That is not as reassuring as you mean it to be."

No, I suppose it's not. "Does Zatanna still use the Star Sapphire?"

He glances up, then starts flipping through the pages of his book. "I've seen her train with it occasionally. Why?"

"Slight concern on my part that it might affect her in the way my ring did me." He looks up at once, eyes wide. "But we did everything we could to reduce the chance… And if she hasn't shown any odd behaviour at this point, it's probably nothing to worry about."

"Paul, I missed eight months of her life. I would not know if the changes in her behavior are a result of the increased maturity she has gained through the work you did to fight Nabu or a result of the crystal."

Ah. "Okay, but violet is the light of love-."

"That is not quite how Lantern Jordan described it. But she has not started behaving as Ms Ferris did, so-."

Zatanna strides back through one of the side doors, holding her mobile phone. "Wally just called. The Justice League are fighting an alien in some place called Thayer's Notch in Massachusetts. Wanna go join in?"

"I.. don't think so, Zatanna. I doubt that the alien uses magic, and if it does? Then Batman has my telephone number."

"I really wanted more time before I had to deal with the whole League professionally. Just a sec-."

Ring, scan.

Oh dear.

"Excusemeneedtogo."

 

[Mr Zoat]

15th September
08:38 GMT -5

Mister Queen leaps from the roof of a collapsing building, loosing his arrows while in the air. Konvikt uses what's left of a Bradley IFV to block the shots, quick hardening gel coating the side of the wreck even as it leaves his hands on course to intercept Mister Queen at his landing zone.

"Ah, cra-"

Mister Freeman's there to catch the Bradley, Mister Queen rolling out of the way and sprinting for cover as Konvikt takes advantage of Mister Freeman's Bradley-obscured vision to leap, smashing into the vehicle from the opposite side and dragging it and Mister Freeman down to the wrecked street where they land in an explosion of concrete.

I really wish I'd finished reading Trinity.

A red blur rushes past them, blowing the billowing dust clouds aside. I can see the crowd forming at the edge of the town as Mister Allen deposits the civilians whose town is being torn apart by the conflict and-.

A pair of Apache helicopters fly under me, keeping low and then opening fire on Konvikt with a volley of hellfire missiles the moment they get a clear shot. Konvikt pauses in punching Mister Freeman in the face just long enough to toss a wrecked car in their path, then dodges to the side. One missile hits his left leg anyway, the detonation knocking him over. He simply rolls into a tumble and then continues dashing towards the helicopters, who try to rise and back off. Two other missiles fly past him and slam through the wall of what had been a reasonably intact structure before detonating, chunks of debris flying through the exterior window holes as they do so. I'm just glad that hellfire missiles aren't incendiaries, because-.

The fourth missile hits the dazed Mister Freeman in the chest and detonates. He is sent flying into a wrecked building hard enough to smash through brick walls, and there's blood on his chest.

Konvikt leaps for the helicopters only to be knocked from the air by a shot from Major Adams. He recovers none the worse for wear, climbing the building he was smashed into as artillery shells from a trio of US Army Paladins finish off its neighbour. What kind of lunatic is trying to use unguided artillery on someone that tough?

Mister O'Brian telescopes up from the far side of the building as Konvikt grabs chunks of roof to throw at Major Adams, wrapping himself around the hulking alien. Who ignores him for long enough to bean Major Adams, then grabs his head in his right hand and slams it flat with his left. That's not fatal, but it's clearly left Mister O'Brian stunned.

Ring, is there enough left of the recordings for us to work out how this mess got started?

Multiple series of images taken from security cameras and mobile phones appear in my mind. Arranged by timestamps and attempting to fill in the rest with observed data…

Konvikt's crashed mini-ship landed over there. Broken trees and huge footprints mark his path from there to the nearest road. It was early morning, but there was still some traffic. One crashed car, but it neither appears to have hit him or been hit by him and no one was seriously hurt. That's where the first pictures come from. He then walked at a relatively slow pace into Thayer's Notch. People run, but there's no evidence that he started actually attacking anyone. No further car crashes; it was still early morning and low urban speed limit meant that cars had plenty of time to stop and back the heck away. Phone calls to the police increased substantially at this point… And someone phoned the Fort Devens US Army base.

Where General Hardcastle is presently stationed.

I thought Kal-El was joking, but this mess has his signature all over it. He's wanted the US Army to get responsibility for dealing with high-end supervillain rampages for years. Fort security cameras show military vehicles already rolling as the local police formed a barricade with a couple of cars. Thayer's Notch is too small for its own SWAT team, but from the recordings I got from what's left of their dashboard cameras they'd tooled up somewhat. Konvikt approached the police line in clear violation of instructions to stop in a language he almost certainly doesn't understand… And then the banging starts and I don't have good footage.

Gaaaaaaaah!

Mister Hol ducks under a swing, but takes a knee to his chest.

You'd think a world where this sort of thing could happen-

Konvikt winces at Ms Lance's scream, but closes the distance between them and she's forced to dodge as he swings at her. A glancing blow, and a red blur moves her out of the area before his second swing can crush her.

-would have better processes. Just hope he doesn't have construct disruption.

I step out and then reappear just behind him. His desires are almost exactly as I was expecting: the need to lash out at his oppressors and the burning rage at his mistreatment. I tag him with a filament before he can turn and transition us to a small clearing in the woods near to where he first landed.

My armour returns to subspace, my construct armour fades and I sit cross legged on the grass as he takes a step away from me, searching for his enemies. Two steps before he turns around to look at me, and I take a thermos flask of tea out of subspace along with two-.

There's a fist in front of my face.

I blink at his fingers, then tilt my head to the side so that I can see around them. "May I offer you some tea?" Konvikt's eyes narrow slightly as he pulls his arm back. "I'm afraid that my people don't really have a formal guest ritual, but I hope-" The fist comes around again, but the thing about these 'honourable warrior' types is that while they're perfectly happy ripping apart anyone who fights back -regardless of whether they were actually a threat or not- hitting non-combatants is still a major no-no. "-that you'll accept this in its place." Ragnar's exactly the same. If any of the people he fought for rings had turned down his challenges he'd have torn himself apart resisting the orange light drive to recharge himself. He really would have made a good Green Lantern.

I smile. "Tea?"

He looks down at the flask as I pour the liquid into both mugs.

"I quite understand that you're not feeling particularly trusting at the moment, so perhaps if I take a drink first?"

And in the spirit of honesty I don't simply use my ring to alter the taste. No, I take an honest mouthful of leaf water instead. And I swallow.

"It's honestly not as bad as I'm-"

"This is pointless." Konvikt starts to turn away. "They attacked me, I should-." He stops.

"Forgive me for violating the conditions of your sentencing, but I felt that this might be easier if we could actually talk to each other."

"I can.. speak again?"

"Not exactly. My ring-" I hold up my left hand, palm towards him. "-can interpret any form of communication. Even the intent to communicate. And then it can play it out loud."

He stands completely still for a moment, staring at my ring. Then he takes two steps towards me, sits down cross legged just in front of me and picks up his cup. He sniffs it, but there's surprisingly little suspicion in the gesture. He's more worried about the taste than the idea that I might have dosed it with something.

He takes a sip, a tiny mug in huge hands against a huge mouth. He appears to like it better than I do.

"Why is this happening?"

"The universe is fundamentally mechanical and hence uncaring."

He snorts, the sound coming from his nostrils rather than my ring. "No. Why did they attack me?"

"Because you're big and scary-looking. The ones who shot first are supposed to look after the rest and judged that you were threatening them."

"I did not threaten them. I walked to the town without hurting anyone."

"Now, I didn't say it was a good judgement."

"Fools." He turns his head in the direction of the town, spotting a thin trail of smoke rising up above the trees. "And what about the rest?"

"People honour bound to help the first people if they found themselves in a fight they couldn't handle."

"Oh."

"So. What's say we talk about your situation like rational people, hm?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

15th September
08:45 GMT -5

Konvikt holds out his mug. "I would like more."

I pick up the flask and pass it to him. "Have the whole thing. I don't actually like it."

He frowns. "Then why did you drink it?"

"To demonstrate fellowship." He looks dubious, but carefully pours himself a new cup before setting the flask back down. "So, to summarize, you saved Jaggar Ton, worked as his bodyguard for years, became romantically involved with his daughter, were wrongly convicted of his wife's murder and were sentenced to lifetime penal servitude."

His face tightens, but he settles for taking another sip of tea. "Yes."

"Okay, well, ordinarily I'd be happy to just fly you back and help you do a proper investigation, but I have responsibilities here, too. And I'm afraid that after.. that, local authorities are-."

"I acted honourably. I have nothing to answer for."

"While that may be true morally, I'm afraid that it isn't true legally. Now, I know that you'd never deliberately target-."

There's a red blur, and Mister Allen-.

"Stop! Stop! Stop!"

Konvikt is already standing, but he doesn't do anything more violent than glower. Mister Allen is still vibrating in a way which suggests to me that he's massively accelerated, his perception of the universe around him far faster than a normal Human. Or me, even. Getting ready to evade an attack, or strike with much more force than a normal Human is capable of creating. Or -just maybe- thinking about the incongruity of the situation and deciding not to run in, fists blazing.

Hasn't taken my advice on the subspace arsenal, I note.

"Flash."

The vibrating slows very slightly. "Orrangee Lannternn."

He's still accelerated, speaking slowly so that it sounds nearly like normal speed for us. It's still noticeable, but at that speed hearing my speech is probably far stranger for him.

Hm.

I drop twelve screens out of subspace and start playing the recordings I recovered at ten times normal speed. At his speed he should be able to view them at a leisurely rate and still have time to pay attention to what I'm saying. "Having reviewed the recordings of Konvikt's arrival and the early part of his fight with local authorities, I have reached the conclusion that he hasn't committed a crime."

His face is blurring as he moves his focus between the various recordings. "Theere's a ruiinedd town back there that wwould argue that witth you."

"I would cite Idaho versus Weaver there, Flash. The police shot first. He was acting in self defence."

"Theyy weeren't a threatt to someone as ttough as he iss."

"How was he supposed to know that? He hasn't even been on Earth an hour."

"There are bbodies in the wreckage."

"If he killed his attackers, then it was self defence."

"Theere were civillianss."

"Do you know that he killed them, or are you just focusing on the obvious aggressor? It didn't exactly escape my notice that Hardcastle declared a US town a free-fire zone." That earns me a two-second hard look. "You work in forensics. Did their injuries resemble those inflicted by a person with super strength? Or an entirely predictable side effect of firing automatic cannons and rockets and artillery into an inhabited area?"

"Speeed these up."

I comply, switching from ten times acceleration to fifty. Given the overlaps I have to split some of the screens, and the footage after initial hostilities break out is far more fragmented.

"What is happening?"

"This is the Flash. He's a heroic warrior who just saved the lives of a lot of people while you fought his friends and allies in the town."

"What is he doing?"

"Justice. At the moment, he assumes that you are broadly to blame for what occurred. However, he is just, and believes in the proper application of the law. As such, he is reviewing the recordings I made. If they favour my explanation, my life and yours will become somewhat easier."

"I have bad experiences with such justice."

"The Flash just put himself in considerable danger to save the lives of the innocent, asking nothing in return. He does that on a daily basis. I think he's earned your forbearance."

"What happens if he still blames me?"

"That would depend on what he blames you for, and why. Our laws are not like yours. You are not a murderer, but you may have committed lesser crimes." He grimaces. "Did you have somewhere you urgently needed to be?"

He sits back down with a loud thump. "No."

Flash stops vibrating and walks towards us at a normal pace. "Okay. That seems… I wouldn't call your new friend innocent, but he's at least got reasonable doubt. I'm still gunna need to arrest him, but-."

"Just a moment, Flash." He stops, and I stab the cold field surrounding us with a filament, causing it to vanish in a flash of suddenly-frozen airborne moisture. Mister Allen looks decidedly unimpressed, but did he really think I'd trust the League to exercise good judgement? "Are you going to arrest General Hardcastle?"

"Not right now, but once we complete a full investigation-."

"Then no. You don't get to do justice only when it's convenient."

"The law doesn't treat invading aliens the same as it does US Army generals. Look, just give it some time-."

"I don't see how that's my problem. Are you a member of the Justice League or the League of Lawyers?"

His eyes narrow slightly. "That's a cheap shot. Hardcastle will be brought to justice-."

Ring? "Then you should hurry back to town. He's already covering his tracks."

"Oh God damn it." His hand goes to his right ear. "Flash to Icon, and hopefully Batman. We need to make sure that we get a full picture of exactly what happened in Thayer's Notch. Orange Lantern's doing a Geronimo and he might be on to something. Yeah."

He turns away and I look up at Konvikt.

"He's a good man, but perhaps we shouldn't take the risk?"

"I will not run."

"Good. But will you fix the damage that was caused? Will you prove that you are better than they suspect you to be? Will you take back your name?" I lean forwards, my right hand going into one of my equipment pouches and pulling out a ring. "What do you want, Konvikt?"

"I want justice."

The ring in my hand shines brilliantly as it darts over to him. Carefully, he holds out his left hand and the ring slides onto his middle finger.

"Xalitan Xor. You have a great need in your heart. Join the Orange Lantern Corps, and see it realised."

"I accept."

Orange light washes over his body, a glowing orange sigil forming in the middle of his chest.

"I am yours."

Lantern Xor's eyes flare orange and he leaps into the sky, Mister Allen watching in shock for a moment before turning his attention to me. "That isn't going to help!"

I shrug. "Helped him."

 

[Mr Zoat]

15th September
08:58 GMT -5

"Okay, maybe it did help."

Mister Allen and I watch as Lantern Xor finishes reassembling Thayer's Notch, getting a quiet cheer from some of the town's remaining residents. Not the ones whose relatives' corpses were dug out, obviously, but that total was far fewer than I'd suspected. I very much doubt that General Hardcastle is enjoying the conversation he's having with Kal-El right now.

"I appreciate you admitting that, Flash. It saves me from having to bear a grudge about it."

He glances at me. "So I'm not 'sir' any more?"

"As Ms Waller pointed out a few days ago, I don't have any formal working relationship with the Justice League any longer. As such, rather than being a member of my team's steering committee, you're… Some guy. And while I don't plan on bringing up the Nabu incident every single time we meet-"

"Now hold on-."

"-I haven't exactly forgotten that the entire League signed off on it. I don't trust any of you to hold command authority over me. I certainly won't be repeating last year's oath."

"I wasn't asking you to do that." He pointedly looks towards the medical station that's been set up for the wounded. "Not that I'm exactly impressed by your choice of recruit-."

Lantern Xor lands in the middle of the beds, a good few of both the patients and staff looking at him in alarm. His eyes briefly alight on a young police officer, but he limits himself to a glower before walking past and pointing his ring at a man with four broken ribs.

"Gosh, yes. What a menace."

"Why did he walk past that guy?"

"'That guy' probably shot him."

"He's not shooting him now."

"Flash, I'm not sure if you were listening when I said it, but the Geneva Conventions are very much an Earth thing. Lantern Xor has a strong sense of honour, but that doesn't mean that he's particularly nice. In his culture, if you pick a fight then you deserve everything you get. I can persuade him to help civilians, but he will not help anyone who attacked him."

Which is why I gave a quick heal to injured Justice League members. They may not be my favourite people in the universe at the moment, but I don't want them carrying injuries. There might be an actual invasion sometime soon.

"What exactly do you think is going to happen to him? More to the point, what does he think is going to happen?"

"I expect that he'll be questioned under caution, then the…" Jurisdiction in cases like this can be a bit interesting. It's not the FBI, because it doesn't concern inter-state crime. It's not the NSA because this isn't an invasion… "What, the state police?"

"Probably."

"Right, while they investigate. At this point, the only thing they can actually arrest him for is immigration offences… But he clearly crashed here and I've already submitted his asylum application. So as long as they have an address for him, they probably won't."

"Do you really think he didn't commit a crime here?"

"I think Mister Augustus Freeman will win the case for me."

His mouth opens slightly, then closes again. "What, you don't trust Luthor's lawyer any more?"

"I think Lantern Xor will respect Mister Freeman more. He doesn't have a lot of patience for legalism, but he can respect someone who can take a punch from him and keep fighting. Anyway, I can put him up in a hotel for a while with strict instructions to contact me before engaging in combat. That should give the lead investigator plenty of time to decide whether he wants to bring any charges. And give me a chance to educate him before he carries on with his mission."

"Which is?"

"His strongest desire is to see justice done. I haven't studied the place, but I understand that his homeworld doesn't have the best judicial system. Once he's ready, I'll be sending him back there to fix that."

"That what you do now? Take over planets?"

"Given sufficient provocation, yes. And if you want to follow that line of enquiry, I'll be happy to show you the planet where they cut their womenfolks' eyes out once they reach maturity. I don't intervene in nice places." I frown. "Don't you have a day job you need to be getting back to?"

"I was going to try to explain to you why I didn't vote against Nabu."

"If you think it will help. There's nothing I can think of that you could say which would make me respect your decision even slightly. With Diana, Batman and Kal-El I've been more concerned with building a relationship going forward."

"Okay-" He waves his right hand. "-then, I'm just going to say it. I didn't think Nabu would stick around indefinitely. Once we got Klarion under control-" M-mghf. "-I think he'd have been far more reasonable."

"Oh. Really?" I smile at him in the most sarcastic way I can manage. "And what brilliant plan did you have for 'controlling' Klarion? And how long exactly were you prepared to give Nabu?"

"I admit, I didn't have one. And I'm.. not sure."

"Ah, I see. So, what? You think I should have waited indefinitely?" His eyes narrow. "I'm not trying to take the piss here, I'm genuinely curious. How long was too long? At what point would you have… I don't know, said something to Batman?"

His scowl fades, and from the way he avoids meeting my eyes I think he's realised that he doesn't have a good answer. "I… Think I was waiting for Nabu to do something… Wrong."

"And… Possessing Mister-?"

"Something else. Otherwise, he was just… Reasonable."

"What..? Were you waiting for him to cackle manically?" I sigh. "No, just… Just promise me that you'll never do something like that again."

"I wasn't planning on doing that anyway." He folds his arms across his chest. "And I'm sure knowing that you'd kill them would motivate us to find another solution."

I nod. "I'm glad to hear it. But that's not… Why you should."

"No. We should have come up with something anyway. I get-."

"Yes, the morality is part of it. But the other is that if you didn't, if the League ever abandons its moral authority like that again, there will not be a Justice League afterwards." He blinks, taking a step back. "Nothing.. brutal, I wouldn't kill you. But you all agreed to cover up the Nabu situation rather than go to trial because you knew what the publicity would do to you. And when you value good PR over a man's life or doing the right thing… Then you're not heroes any more."

"I don't even need to release your secret identities. Just releasing that, then destroying the Watchtower and the zeta tube network would probably be enough." I sigh. "Though if you feel like heading that way, could you please give me at least a few years? Getting a replacement organisation in place would take me a while."

Lantern Xor rises up from the medical area and heads our way, a helicopter pilot blinded in one eye gesturing for him to come back.

"Excuse me."

 

[Mr Zoat]

15th September
15:08 GMT -2

Lantern Xor doesn't seem too impressed by my ice fortress, but that might just be because his face has little mobility.

"While I'm.. sure that the truth will eventually out, I think that.. it might be best if you didn't make any unsupervised trips to… Ah, anywhere, at the moment."

"I understand."

"The corridors might be a bit of a squeeze, but you can use your ring to transfer yourself between the outside and the rooms inside."

"Do you have news broadcasts?"

"Earth has hundreds of news channels. Your ring can filter them for you, or record and show you the bits you're interested in."

"How do I learn your life code? Your laws?"

"Huh. How do you feel about telepathy?"

"What is that?"

Ah. Yes, I suppose he might well not have encountered it before. "The ability of one being to connect their mind to that of another."

"Like technopathy?"

"I don't know anyone who can communicate with machines like that." Which -given the wide variety of power sets I'm familiar with- is a little odd, now I think about it. I wonder why that is? "And the machines don't necessarily have minds of their own, so it isn't quite the same."

"No. Not communicating from a brain to a machine. Communicating from a machine to a brain."

"Sort of? Do your people have systems like that?"

His eyes narrow slightly, but he isn't looking at me. "I learned like that. When I joined the army. It hurt."

"It might take them a little while to learn how your brain works, but none of the people who've been taught by the G-Gnomes have mentioned pain. A little.. temporary disorientation and confusion, yes, but not pain. Alternatively, your ring can access statute law and case law, or.. you can wait until our appointment with your attorney and ask him whatever questions you have." He turns his head towards me, but doesn't otherwise respond. "I've been meaning to ask: were you the only one in your pod?"

"No. Graak was also there. He was my barrister."

"Ah. I should.. probably track him down before he gets himself in trouble. Do you.. want anything now, or-."

"The man who first attacked me. Will he be punished?"

"Not sure. Given the number of broken bones he received and.. the particulars of the way police officers in the United States are allowed to attack with lethal force, I.. doubt it."

"And the warlord who attacked the town because I was in it?"

"Yes. General Hardcastle is already in custody. That will be a fairly long process, but eventually-."

He perks up. "Do your people allow trial by combat?"

"No." He shuffles sullenly. "We believe that justice is best served by discovering facts and dispassionately analysing them. Arcane truth compulsion hasn't quite caught on in most places, but I'm sure we'll get there in the end. You'll probably be called upon to give testimony at some point, but don't worry about that right now, we'll explain how everything works well ahead of time."

He nods, still clearly unhappy. "Why are you doing this?"

"Which bit?"

"Helping me. I haven't done anything for you."

"You didn't punch me."

"You didn't attack me. And I thought you were a civilian. Killing you would have been dishonourable."

"You wouldn't have been able to punch me."

He looks sceptical. "I have a great deal of experience in punching people. You were not moving."

I tap my forehead with my right forefinger, smiling. "Try it."

He looks at me curiously for a moment, then in a quick motion shoves at my forehead with the palm of his right hand. My kinetic barrier absorbs the force effortlessly.

"I like to give people a chance to demonstrate that they're willing to make the right choices… But I try to avoid being stupid about it. If you had hit me, your fist would have stopped. And I would have been sad that you tried, and I would have disabled you until such time as the situation could be fully investigated. I still think that you would have escaped a murder conviction, but you would have spent the intervening period in a secure facility rather than here."

He nods. "Wise."

"I do my best. But -more than not punching me - you have a desire to change the universe in a way I approve of. You want justice. At the moment, you just want it for yourself. But I'm hoping that you'll come to see that injustice inflicted on other people by the same system which so ill-served you is just as much of a problem."

"Why?"

"Because I want you to fix the system."

He stands completely rigid for a moment. "I am not a lawyer or a politician."

"Then maybe you fix the system by making a new, better system. I can teach you how to investigate crimes. Your ring can create all of the tools you need. And once you have all of the data you-."

There's a puff of violet-tinted smoke. Having learned his lesson from Thayer's Notch, Lantern Xor settles for reinforcing his environmental shield rather than just punching-

"There you are!"

-Zatanna in the face. Or the small chain-wreathed white-yellow reptilian floating beside her.

Zatanna's not wearing either the clothes I last saw her in or her uniform. Or the power armour I made for her. She's wearing solid-looking boots and has replaced her tights with black trousers decorated with runic… Those aren't decorations. She's actually got spells bound to her trousers. Looks like… Protection and fortune? She's replaced the dress shirt with a Kevlar vest coloured black and white, again with protective sigils picked out in… No, that's orichalcum, isn't it? There's a white cape, but the sigils there say flight and concealment so I'll give it a pass. And she's carrying the Staff of Love, but it appears to be inactive. That's a good sign.

"It's been hours! I was wondering where you'd vanished to." Zatanna notices me noticing her new look. "You like it? I know you made me the power armour, but it's just a bit too clunky for me." She smiles, then turns her attention to Lantern Xor. "Is this yours?"

The diminutive alien -Graak, probably- floats towards him. Xor thinks about it for a few moments, then nods.

"Sniahc raeppasid."

The chains vanish, and Graak scampers across the ground, climbs up Xor and settles on his right shoulder to glare at Zatanna.

"You replaced the conventional armour plates with bound spells. Clever." She beams. "I can't wait to look over your design documentation."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Resurrectionists

16th September
08:23 GMT +2

Adom smiles as I fly through the air towards the balcony of his private suite. "Paul. Good morning."

"Good morning, Adom." I land lightly and walk towards him, right hand extended. He mirrors the gesture, our hands clasping the other's forearm for a moment before letting go.

"How does Blaze fare?"

"The greatest magic users in Atlantis are working on the problem. She's not exactly enjoying the process, but she's keeping the moaning to within reasonable bounds." He nods, and gestures to the balcony table. I walk around to the far side and sit and he takes the near-side seat. "Do my eyes and ears deceive me, or is Miss Tomaz giving you a moment's peace?"

"My.. relationship with Adrianna-" My eyebrows rise. "-has… Improved, somewhat."

"Oh?"

"After.. discussing the matter in.. plain terms, she has come to accept that my respect for her is genuine. It… Amused her to test that respect in certain ways."

"What ways would that be?"

"Several Governorates had altered their laws to the disfavour of the women and girls who lived there. Though I do not believe that is a good policy, I had stated that I would not interfere with the abilities of the governors to set education policy. She demanded that I alter my decision."

"That is asking a lot of you. And them."

"I ruled Kahndaq for eighty years. I did learn something of subtlety."

"Then how did you square that circle?"

"I called a meeting for the educational advisors of every governor to discuss.. ways in which our methods could be improved. I gave Adrianna the opportunity to lecture them, and to field their complaints herself. I nodded, I thanked her for her input, but I did not state that her thoughts on the subject were to become national policy. Nor did I state that they were in accord with my own."

"You didn't break your word, but they're all sure what you want to happen, and.. given how popular you are, it's almost certain that it will happen." Adom nods. "And she was happy with that?"

"So long as it works, she will be."

"And what else?"

His eyes move away, and his face tightens slightly. "She said that.. if I were to become her husband, she would-. She wished to know that I could be informal. She did not wish for our children to 'have a statue for a father'."

"Adom, you are my friend and I am not sure that you can be informal."

He nods. "It was a challenge. I.. decided that… Perhaps the best way to convince her would be… If I composed a love poem for her. Without the assistance of the gods."

"I didn't know you were a poet." Though I suppose that it's not a total surprise. Nobles in ancient civilisations-.

"I am not. My tutors tried to instruct me in such matters, but I did not take to it."

"So..?"

"I attempted to woo her with a clumsy and amateurish poem. In front of witnesses. She was… Amused."

"How amused?"

"It was some time before she could steady herself. The other witnesses… I believe that they are behaving as the courtiers in 'The Emperor's New Clothes' and pretending that it did not happen." I'm trying to imagine it, and the image just won't form. "She demanded that I give her a written copy of the poem. Naturally, I acquiesced."

"Are you.. getting married, or were those just the prerequisites for being allowed to court her?"

"We are.. courting. She has accepted the Amulet of Isis as a token of our betrothal, though she has not sought to reach out to the goddess as yet." He leans back slightly. "And what of you and Miss Nguyen? You.. have spoken to her, yes?"

"Third place I went. I… Didn't have to compose a poem, but…" I'm smiling. "We're definitely courting."

Adom nods. "Have you spoken to her father?"

I nod happily. "Yes, and he didn't raise any concerns. Though to be honest, Jade is rather closer to her mother. And I already had a good relationship with her. I can't introduce her to my family, of course, but I'm taking her to meet Alan on Sunday." Hm. "I was.. wondering..? It's a bit of a personal question…"

"Please."

"You told me about your father, but I don't think you've ever mentioned your mother."

"Her name was Aneksi. She was my father's senior wife. She died of malaria when I was… Seven, I think." His eyes narrow slightly as he gazes into the distance. "I have only scattered recollections of interacting with her and I.. am unable to clearly recall her face." His face relaxes as he turns his head towards me. "Though I do remember that she was not so outspoken as Adrianna."

"Would you..? Do you want to see her again?" He raises his eyebrows. "Necromancy doesn't have the same connotations here that it does in Europe. I imagine that Lord Anubis would allow a brief conversation."

"Were I.. younger… Perhaps. But I do not fear that she would not approve. And with so much time passed, I would rather leave her to her rest." I nod. "Now, I have a question for you." I nod, eyebrows raised. "The last thing that Adrianna asks of me is that I find her brother. Since she has no other family, it is.. appropriate that he stand with her when we are joined. I do not believe that he is in Kahndaq, but there are a great many places in the world where I do not go for fear of their rulers coming to believe that I am threatening them. I have no great skill with magic, but those auguries I have been able to perform tell me nothing. If there is some technique you know that could aid me, it would be a great help to me if you would use it."

Ring, on the off chance something has changed…

Unable to detect.

"Standard ring scans still don't find him. I can put you in touch with better magicians if you like. But…"

I talked the process for quintessence waveform scans over with Hinon, and once she got over her need to express faux-surprise at my survival she was actually quite helpful. With the right constructs and existing slightly outside the physical universe it should be possible for me to do one without the Ophidian… Not exactly fun though.

"I'm happy to attempt a quintessence waveform scan for you, but I can't promise that I'll get anything useful. Last time I did one I had a clone of the person I was looking for standing right in front of me so I knew what I was trying to find. It's quite possible that I'll find his location and fail to recognise him."

Adom nods. "I understand. I would be grateful if you would attempt it anyway."

"Might take a while. If I'm still out of it in five hours, try to wake me." He nods.

Alright then. Rings, we've got a sample of Miss Tomaz's late parent's genetic material. There are only so many combinations Amon could have. That's what we're looking for. Understand?

Instruction internalised. / Get thing!

Close enough. Rings, quintessence waveform scan.

Colours and shapes, forms and ideas flash past, surround and confound me. Quarks dance and particles of brick are torn from their greater whole by the wind and the earth churns and the light from the stars impacts on-. Gah! This is.. harder without an inhuman mind used to this sort of thing! Come on, this shape, something in this shape-.

EVERYTHING=NOTHING

I tumble from my chair-. Ow! What? I raise my right hand-. My environmental shield is out. Not weak, not guttering, out.

"Paul, were you successful?"

I keep watching, and painfully slowly my shield creeps back around my body.

"No. No I wasn't. But whoever took Amon isn't a conventional gang."

 

[Mr Zoat]

17th September
21:03 GMT -5

Jade watches the Gotham street life below us. Relatively few sirens this evening, and Richard and Mister Wayne are over in Granton at the moment. Seeing nothing that requires her immediate attention, Jade adopts a slightly more relaxed pose. "Who exactly am I going to meet tomorrow?"

"His name is Alan Scott."

She might be frowning; the mask makes it hard to tell. "Should I know who that is?"

"Probably not. He used to live in Gotham. He.. ran the Apex Broadcasting Company?"

"Didn't they collapse in the nineties?"

"Something like that. He'd already retired, the mobs were becoming more powerful... Skulduggery suspected-. "

"But never proven. So far, so Gotham. But that doesn't explain how you know him."

"Come on, Jade. Why did the mobs-?"

"The Green Lantern." She stiffens slightly, then turns to give me her full attention. "He used to prevent the gangs from coming into the open. After he left, they started acting openly."

I nod. "Despite the Reaper's best efforts. Though… As he approached retirement age, he didn't actually get in all that many fights. It was more his reputation and visible presence that kept things stable."

She nods. "Do you know why Dad brought us here?"

"Be.. cause.. no one was looking for him here?"

She starts.. not pacing exactly, but… Stalking a circuit. "He thought that it would be a good training environment for Artemis and me. Lots of gangs, lots of people who'd pay us to kill people no one would miss…"

"And most of them well below your skill level."

She snorts quietly. "And if they weren't then we'd deserve what we got."

"Alan was in his seventies. And if he hadn't left-."

"Dad would just have brought us somewhere else, I know. I wasn't blaming him… Exactly." She checks her environment again, then returns her attention to me. "How did you meet him?"

"When I first arrived on this Earth, I had a ring but no lantern. My ring could locate other people's lanterns, and I found one in New York that no one appeared to be using."

She tilts her head slightly to the right. "So you just flew down and tried to take it?"

"So I knocked on the door and tried to buy it from him. He put in a call to Diana, and the rest is history." I shrug. "He's the man who introduced me to America's superhero community, and I've mostly forgiven him for that."

"Your first mentor."

I nod. "And a good friend and.. given recent events, there's a fair chance that we're going to end up as co-workers."

She tilts her head slightly towards me. "And you… What, want him to approve of me?"

"Um… Sort of. I mean, yes, obviously I want him to approve of you, but…" How to put this? "The only piece of romantic advice he ever gave me was 'don't marry a supervillainess', and.. yes, you're not in that line of work any more-."

"What made him say that? Aside from the obvious?"

"He married a supervillainess. A.. really unfortunate split personality case called Rose Canton. Also known as 'Thorn'."

"Rose and Thorn. Creative."

"Please don't make fun of it, it's a really sore point for him. She got caught, revealed, she went through therapy and the psychiatrists said that she was cured."

"Only she wasn't." She nods. "So he thinks I might not be quite as rehabilitated as you think I am."

"It's probably a concern. I want to put his mind at ease."

She stands still for a moment, breathing slowly. "Paul… You do know that I-?"

"Do you want to tell me anything I might have to lie to Diana about later?"

Her hands twitch, as if about to ball into fists. "Yes. If you're actually serious about our relationship, there are things about me you need to know."

"Okay." Now's as good a time as any. "Me too."

"Why, did you kill a Justice League member?"

"You can't kill that which does not live. But, no, not that. I've… I've been lying about my age."

"This should be good." She folds her arms across her chest. "Artemis bet on 'sixteen'."

"Anyone guess thirty one?" There's a noticeable twitch that she doesn't quite suppress fast enough to escape my notice. "Or did the whole team think I overstated-."

"Overstated your age so you could skip school." She stands there for a moment. "Thirty one, huh?"

"Thirty one now. I was twenty nine when I got here. Ah, sort of. The years don't.. quite line up so I lost a couple of months. Though since I've stopped ageing-."

"I don't-. It's a bit weird, but I don't.. mind. And it does go a little way to explain why you were creeping on my mom."

"Your mother is a very attractive woman."

"Starting to mind."

"Sorry."

She tilts her head slightly to the side. "Were you being honest about being a virgin?"

"Yeah, I… Wasn't the most social person before coming here." I shrug. "That was completely true."

"Anything else I should know about?"

"Hey." I frown. "Your turn."

A quiet huff. "I've killed people."

"I had.. rather.. been assuming that. I take it they weren't all criminals?"

"Not all of them. I've killed twenty nine people. Twenty three criminals, and six… Not."

"Jade, I've killed… Rather more than twenty nine people. As long as you don't plan on starting up again I don't really care, saving that it might create difficulties for you in the future."

She regards me curiously for a moment. "You really don't, do you?"

"No, I don't. You could blame the orange light-."

"Did you ever think that maybe I do?"

"Not for any length of time. Would you like to do something about it?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

17th September
21:08 GMT -5

"Do something?"

"Yes."

She hesitates. "About me feeling bad or about them being dead?"

Huh. "Either? Both? I had a bit of a -heh- miscommunication with Zatanna last year, where I offered to take her to Eden and she thought that I was talking about the.. natural history project in England, and I was actually talking-."

"You know where the Garden of Eden is?"

"Ah… Roughly? It's a pocket universe with an entrance a couple of metres wide in Iran. John gave me directions but I haven't ever tried to follow them."

"Why not?"

"I didn't have a pressing need for a burning sword. Or a second set of Angel wings. Or any desire to waste time in someone's else's idea of paradise when I could be building my own. Plus it's.. guarded by these Benei Gadol religious fanatics…"

"The Angel doesn't worry you but Humans with assault rifles do?"

"No, I just don't like picking on minorities. It can't be easy, being non-Islamic in Iran, and that gateway is basically the only thing keeping their culture together."

"Do they have anything that lets you bring people back from the dead?"

"I've sort of been assuming that true resurrection is something that Angels can do, but I don't know if they can do it. Or if they'd be willing to."

She regards me calmly for a moment. "You're serious, aren't you? You think the best way to deal with me having killed people is to bring them back to life again."

"You worked for Ra's for… How long? It can't come as a total surprise that people can come back to life."

"I only met-. Met Ra's twice."

"But League members-."

"We… Most League members never meet him. A lot of them probably thought his name was a title. I don't know how many people realised that he was really coming back from the dead."

"I had wondered about that. The sheer temptation of having a Lazarus Pit just… There."

"The brutal executions of anyone who tried using it when they weren't supposed to. And their families." She leans back slightly, watching me carefully. "You think we should resurrect my victims."

"I don't think that law has quite adapted to the possibility. I mean, it's still murder if they get…" Um.

"Get better?"

"Right. And it obviously wouldn't do anything about the anguish the families have suffered in the intervening period, but if they're not dead any longer you don't have to feel bad about it."

"I.. don't think it really works like that. But I suppose it's better than nothing. Do you know how to make Lazarus Pits?"

"No, I'll… Have to talk to Nyssa about it on Monday."

"What, you've found something a power ring can't do?"

"Not without imperilling all life in the universe. If there are other methods that will work, I'd rather start with them."

…

"That was supposed to be a quip."

"Oh. Um. Sorry?"

Jade comes closer, pushing her mask up so that I can look directly at her face. "After seeing what you did for Zatanna, I'd realised that you don't.. think quite like most people."

"Completely true."

"Hm. So, apart from being over a decade older than me, what other secrets do you have?"

"Only one big one. You remember me saying that Earth Prime doesn't have superheroes?" A small nod. "And the only reference I had was popular fiction?"

"You don't need to build up tension, Paul."

"Some of the fiction was really really accurate."

"How accurate?"

"Accurate descriptions of names, power sets and personalities. In most cases. My best guess is that there actually are metahumans back home, but all they have is a weak unconscious parallel universe viewing ability and use it for writing comics."

Her eyes dart to the side as she tries to get her head around the idea. "I.. see. Was there a.. Cheshire comic?"

"There was a character vaguely similar to you. Er, I wasn't a fan. She once blew up a country. And was pretty mental. And also didn't wear that rather fetching white mask."

"Glad to know that wasn't accurate. And I suppose that explains how you know so many things."

"At this point, some of that is actual hard work." Hm. "That's about it from me. I don't.. really have anything else I'm actively hiding. You?"

"Aside from the murders?" She smiles faintly. "I do have a small tattoo on-."

"I-I-." I nod. "I saw it."

Her smiles take on a decidedly saucy edge and she takes another step closer. "You were pretty thorough."

"I… Hadn't wanted to bring it up, but you didn't seem to appreciate that degree of… Thoroughness."

"It was a… Surprise. And it certainly wasn't unpleasant." She sidles into convenient kissing distance, her eyes staring deeply into mine. "Maybe we could leave it until your birthday."

"Already? I thought you'd want to give it longer."

"What do you mean, 'al-'? Your birthday's today?"

I nod. "Yes. The seventeenth of September, nineteen eighty three."

"You spent your birthday last year looking after Tommy and Tuppence Terror, and repairing Belle Reve."

"I also repaired you, so I'd call it a productive use of my time." I lean into her, our faces close enough that I can feel her breath on my cheek. "What else would I want to spend my birthday doing?"

17th September
21:23 GMT -5

I scowl down at Mister Napier's quivering form. Then I kick him again.

"Look, I gave you an arm back specifically so that you could sign this." I thrust Kyle Knight's autograph book at him again. "I'm sure you've got enough motor control left to manage an X. Get on with it."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th September
08:58 GMT -5

I idly look around the somewhat busy lobby of the Metropolis LexCorp building, then saunter in the direction of former-starface-guy. The press conference is due to start in a couple of minutes and now seems like an ideal time to find out what he's actually for. He's got a computer pad out and is working on… I think that's the Starseeker's engine design.

"Hello there, Doctor." He immediately locks his pad and closes the screen and only then looks around to me. "No one.. thought to introduce us when I brought the Knights to see the Starseeker."

"Nylor." He smiles. "Nylor Truggs. I don't actually have a doctorate."

"Ah." I frown. "Then-?"

"What I do have is some rather specialised expertise in this kinda technology."

"And you don't have a doctorate? Then, how did you come by your expertise?"

"Experience. I've had an interesting life. Stuck as a lab rat fer a couple a' years, then I get a Starfish stuck on my face. But at least my boss is taking me seriously. At long last." He looks me over, the left side of his mouth scrunching up as he does so. "Working with an Apokoliptian is an interesting swerve, but I like t'think I'm adaptable."

Lab rat? Sure, I can well imagine Lex having an alien dissected, but I'd have thought that he'd rather use financial incentives on a Human. "Sounds like you've got an interesting story there. Care to share it?"

"Not all that much t'tell. I grew up in a bad future and I came back in time t'make sure it doesn't happen. Oh, but don't go asking me fer lotto numbers or anything." He shakes his head and waves his right hand. "Records of alla that stuff got wiped out before I got born."

"I wasn't planning to. You wouldn't happen to still have your time machine, would you?"

"Nah, turns out that was a one-shot job." He shrugs. "Easy come, easy go. But I'm really liking Lex's new direction. I didn't even know Earth had that kinda spaceship. It's gunna be great, working on this."

"Why exactly did Lex-?"

"Ladies and Gentlemen?" We both look around to the usher. "If you'd like to make your way outside?"

"Sounds like our cue." Truggs raises his pad again and taps the unlock. "Lex is on schedule, so… Let's go." He strides in the direction of the main entrance and I amble after him, making sure that everyone on the LexCorp side with an invitation has plenty of time to exit the building ahead of me.

I did send notices to Sam and Jon in advance that Lex was going to be doing this, but I -intentionally- didn't mark it as being high priority. This isn't supervillainous. This is… I'm not sure what the word would be. If a superhero is someone acting violently outside of normal social systems in the interests of law and justice, what do you call someone acting industriously outside those systems in the interests of technical development? A market disruptor? Heh, Market Master? Of course, if this causes LexCorp to go on to become a true science fiction style megacorps…

Then he'd be a super functionary. An industrial functionary who performs his function to a superlative degree and on a super-sized scale.

Some of the assembled press stand as I stroll out, pictures being taken, video footage being recorded and questions being shouted. I will be making myself available to answer questions later, but this is Lex's show. I do make a point of waving to the Knight family, Kyle grinning back while his father looks less contented. I can't imagine what he's bothered about; I removed the arm right after Napier signed.

Finding my seat just behind the small podium, I look up into the sky. Sinestro?

Marking target, Corpsman.

A couple of the more on-the-ball journalists follow my line of sight just as the Starseeker becomes visible as more than a dot in the sky.

"That's not a bird. Is it a plane?"

Ms Lane narrows her eyes, shading them with her right hand. "It's definitely not Superman."

The Starseeker is making pretty good speed in our direction. Going full speed in an urban environment is a good way to be sued into penury, to say nothing of the bad publicity and political aggravation it would generate. The Starseeker's maximum safe speed is higher than that of any conventional aircraft thanks to the judicious application of force fields, but it still can't just appear.

There's a series of muffled gasps as awareness of the oncoming starship ripples through the crowd, everyone who had been sitting surging to their feet and cameras being hastily repositioned to better cover the Starseeker's approach. I asked, and apparently this is legal using the light aircraft provisions he uses to operate a plane from the roof of the LexCorp building. I imagine they'll be changing that loophole pretty quickly.

The Starseeker angles itself as it makes its final approach, its impellers shimmering slightly as the same mechanisms as were once used in the cosmic rod bend themselves to the task of manoeuvring the starship. A few moments later it more or less drifts silently over the crowd before coming to a halt just off to the side of the seating area, about four metres from the ground.

Then a hatch opens in the side and an immaculately dressed Lex Luthor appears. I happen to know that he's got a cosmic converter belt on under his jacket, but I grin as I hear the gasps caused by him simply jumping down from the hatch and landing on the tarmac below. A smile and a wave and he's heading towards the podium, the assiduous Ms Graves taking up position alongside him and whispering a few words. He nods, and she steps back as he climbs the steps and turns to address the extremely attentive crowd.

"It's been over forty years since man first went to the moon. Since then, we've sent robots and probes to almost every part of our solar system and Voyager One is just outside of it. Humans, however, have yet to set foot on another planet." He leans forward slightly, his smile broadening. "I think it's high time that we changed that."

"The vessel you can see to my left-" He gestures with his left hand. "-is not -as I'm sure many of you assumed- a sign of my oncoming mid-life crisis, but a fully functioning Human designed and Human built interstellar starship. And as much as I'd love for LexCorp to be able to take full credit, we weren't the ones who designed it. That distinction belongs to a man named Doctor Theodore Knight. Doctor Knight was a distinguished physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project during the Second World War, and served Opal City as Starman for several decades afterwards. And in his spare time, he designed and built that."

A hologram showing Doctor Knight in his prime appears on Lex's right hand side.

"While NASA was struggling to design a reusable spacecraft, a single man working out of a garage in Maryland created that. It was complete in nineteen seventy seven and the faster than light drive was added in eighty two. After I acquired the rights to it last week, all LexCorp's engineers had to do was perform a little maintenance and polish the hull. It's a marvel of science and technology, and I'm already buying land for the factories where I'm going to build more like it."

"But in the shorter term, the Starseeker's power generation systems revolutionise our understanding of stellar radiation in a way which has immediate application in the field of electricity generation. LexPower is already beginning the process of switching all of our hydrocarbon-burning generator plants to use non-flammable and non-polluting cosmic power sources instead. Not only is it cleaner and safer, but it is also far cheaper. Once the plants switch over, anyone using our services can expect to see their bills reduced to a tenth of what they are now."

And he'll still be making a larger profit per kilowatt hour than he does now. The conversion isn't cheap, but not having to ship thousands of tonnes of coal or millions of litres of natural gas around the place dramatically reduces costs. Not like those ships are going to pay for themselves.

"But beyond my personal pleasure in taking the Human race to the stars, this has brought to a head my concerns about technological development in our society more widely. Exactly why was a man of Doctor Knight's obvious brilliance operating out of a garage? Why did every company he tried to persuade to develop his technology turn him away? It offends me both as a Human being who wants to see people reach their full potential and as an industrialist who wants good ideas so that he can get rich exploiting them."

I think that was supposed to be a joke, but the crowd appears to be too shocked to really respond.

"That's why I'm going to be establishing the Theodore Knight scholarship fund. People this inspired, people with this level of brilliance, should be afforded every opportunity to bring the products of their work to as wide an audience as possible. The fund will pay for higher education, as well as providing grants and seed investment for high-technology start-ups. I don't want the next Theodore Knight to die without seeing his vision realised. The future of the Human race depends upon that not happening."

"Now!" He stands back slightly. "Would any of you like to join me on a brief trip to the moons of Saturn?"

Everyone jumps to their feet, shouting questions.

Lex glances back at the proud Knight family, and smiles.

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th September
17:18 GMT -5

"Really?"

I look around the park a little self consciously. "Yes. Why, is that.. contrary to your past experience?"

"No. Those weren't long term relationships. We never had this sort of conversation." She considers my comment. "Is there a reason..?"

"I… Yes. I can.. take…" I make a circling motion with my right hand. "Take instruction. If you want me to do something, or.. do it in a different way-" A small smile from Jade as she considers the circumspect nature of my phrasing. "-then I'm fine with that. Without power rings I don't expect to get everything right the first time, and I hope you don't either."

"You didn't do that badly."

"Thank you. But… If you're doing… That, it's like… Not only are you saying that I'm not doing it right, you're also saying that I'm too dumb to learn and that you've decided that the only way you're going to get anything out of it is if you take care of the matter yourself."

She's fighting to suppress her laughter.

"I mean, I don't care… When I'm not there. But when I am… It's just not my thing."

"I'll.. remember that." She looks around in an attempt to distract herself. "Nice part of town."

"Run-away executive pay is a more recent thing than Alan's tenure at the top of Apex Broadcasting, but he wasn't exactly badly paid. He never had children and his main hobby was vigilantism, which is pretty cheap as long as you stay out of hospital. Which is a bit of luck, because now that he's functionally immortal he might have to consider getting back into the labour market otherwise."

"You didn't say he was immortal."

"Didn't I?" Think… No, I didn't. "Huh. Ah, yeah. His power ring leaked so much into his soul that as long as he keeps it charged, he stays at his physical peak. It's not really something we can use on your… Former.. clients."

"I wasn't asking because of that. I was thinking of all the effort Ra's went to in keeping himself alive with Lazarus Pits. From the sound of it, Alan became immortal by accident."

"I wouldn't call it an accident. He had to work hard at becoming sufficiently in tune with his ring for it to bond with him like that. And I had to work at getting him a replacement personal lantern."

"But the immortality part was accidental." She stops walking for a second. "Does that mean you're immortal?"

"I only age if I want to, I can't get ill and injuries disappear when I want them to. Alan's ageing is a bit different, but.. I.. suppose."

"Huh."

"If you're interested in that yourself, I'm happy to assist you. Ah, after you've been out of prison a year. I told Paula that I'd leave it that long-."

"It's not that. You just make it sound… Easy."

"Life extensions aren't that hard to get hold of. Ooh, have you considered converting to Hellenism? If you do, you won't age during any time you spend on Themyscira."

She raises her left eyebrow slightly. "I'm not worrying about that quite yet."

"Ah. Serious face, there's another good reason for converting."

"What's that?"

"Hellenists can't go to Hell."

She looks at me for a moment. "You think I'm going to Hell."

"Twenty nine murders. I consider the chances unacceptably high. If you got hit by a car tomorrow I don't.. currently have the equipment I would need to fight all of Hell's Demons to get you out."

"This conversation got weird fast."

"To be fair, our lives have gotten pretty weird."

"Still, you're apparently willing to take on all of Hell for me, so I suppose I should take it as a compliment."

"I'd rather not have to. But yes. I would."

Jade nods. "Who is the Ancient Greek God of Assassins, anyway?"

"There isn't a god with that exact portfolio, but there are few who would probably support that occupation. Neikos, Lupe, Adika, Apate or.. maybe Nemesis…"

"Nemesis is a god?"

"A goddess. She's basically a hitwoman who kills people who are rude about the Olympians." Thank you, warding tattoos. "I suppose that your choice of patron would depend on the reason for the assassination."

"What about… Artemis?"

"Not generally associated with hunting people. And…" I glance at her. "Traditionally, Amazons emulating her are… Celibate."

She raises her eyebrows. "Are they?"

"… Yes."

Jade glances my way, smiling speculatively. "What does she think counts?"

"If you have to ask… "

Jade frowns thoughtfully. "I don't know. I'm not really religious or anything, but the only one of those I've even heard of is Artemis."

"The only other obvious patron for a practising League of Shadows assassin would be Ares, who's up for killing in all its forms. But Diana ha-." Ah. "Diana doesn't like him, and the only shrine to him on Themyscira is this half-collapsed thing out in the middle of nowhere. Amazons who are interested in combat generally follow Athena or Nike, and neither of them would be interested in assassination."

"I'm not planning on assassinating anyone. How about vigilantes?"

"There are several gods and goddesses who are patrons of justice and punishment. I suppose… How long are you planning on working for the Inzerillos?"

"I don't think it would look good on my CV if I quit this soon. I don't have much of an employment record."

I nod as we reach the end of the park and start across the road to Alan's house. "Probably true. I'm.. assuming that you're not planning on going with your grandfather's suggestion?"

She flashes me a decidedly distasteful look as we start up Alan's drive.

"Just asking. You could consider working for an agency rather than being employed directly by the end user."

"I did try that the first time. They don't take people with criminal records."

"What, absolutely? How do they-" I open the front door. "-expect people to go straight if they can't get a job? Alan! We're here!"

"I don't think they really care about that. I-." She frowns as I close the door behind us. "I think I…"

"Hey there." Alan emerges from the kitchen, smiling as he does so. "You must be Jade."

Jade tenses slightly, then relaxes. "And you must be Alan. Pleased to meet you."