Life Ore Death - DC Feruchemy [Young Justice]

[Hestia&theCourt]

More importantly how did you shapeshift a Bat-a-rang?

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Maybe she started taking cues from Carnage?

 

[Obloquy]

Life Ore Death​

Elsewhere​

"That was from where I recognized the dream-game powers! I knew they were familiar; I must have brushed across Surge-binding in the perpendicularity, but I never had any frame of reference to retain it," Renka realized. "Honor is binding indeed," she murmured.

"Indeed, although Tanavast… well, Honor cares about proper behavior in the now, and is arguably worse than Ruin at seeing into the future. Tanavast was never the most insightful of men, despite his decency, and forethought was not his forte," Senna agreed delicately.

"Mm. Is there any significance to the way the Surges are paired off? I understand the ring pattern – or perhaps chain links are a better image example – but that symbolism seems to be the result of noticing the pattern, not the cause."

"It is a... complicated subject, especially because Honor was more involved in creating his system than most of us, albeit accidentally."

Senna did not offer any more explanation than that, so Renka turned what she had over in her head.

"Are… fabrials…? The things made with the gemstones and… you said 'true spren,' the sapient and self-aware spren, are the ones who form… Phhuuu," Renka breathed out in restrained frustration, her mind awhirl.

"It is complicated. There are many influential variables," Senna commented blithely. Then, "Especially its neighbors."

"The mysticism does not help," Renka groused, wishing she could access some proper books on these subjects. 'There are supposed to be civilizations in the Cognitive Realm somewhere…' "Glyphs as powerful, when shape is the medium used… on… Sel…?"

The black tendrils of Ruin's remnant investiture swirled around her as her mind rushed. Ideas poured out from her fingers onto the paper that was presented to her upon the table. Symbols and sigils and words and secrets and nonsense all- "There's a plan, isn't there?"

"There are many plans, made by many people. I occasionally wonder if it is all Adonasium's plan. Still, it is what it is."

Renka perked up at that, but she had gotten very little information about the original source of Investiture. She knew not to press.

Yet.

"There are plans to prevent Odium's reign," she said instead. "You spoke in passing of an agreement made by the Shards, between the Shards, in the beginning. Odium is plotting to be the only power, but others are plotting against him. It involves the Di-Shardic worlds."

"Hmmm…" Senna hummed simply, contemplating something in the fog around them.

'That was not a denial. I would even,' she assessed, 'call it a specific lack of denial.'

"Odium went after Uli Da first, you said. Ambition, the Shard that would most want to grow stronger, when Odium wanted to be the strongest. From what I've pieced together, I was confused about why and how Odium would risk splintering one Shard when another on the same world could counter-attack or assist so easily… Either he played them against each other, or he isolated them, or… but why risk it? He had to. He figured out a few of them were plotting together against him, and struck before the non-destructive Shards-!"

She went back to scribbling, ideas and images clearer than ever before flickering through her head. Senna's Shard excelled in seeing and understanding the past and present; it was a Gold Augur to others' Electrum Oracle, and could see correspondingly farther back. If nothing else, Senna did not fight Renka's piggybacking onto her observational abilities, and the information those fed her proved bountiful.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Renka's head snapped back up, finished for now with ransacking the mental library.

"The medium on Endowment's planet isn't a spoken Command, it's color, isn't it?" Senna did not respond, but Renka continued on in a rush. "It can't be contact or speech, because a higher Heightening will allow for ranged or silent Awakening Commands. On Roshar people also need to speak the oaths, usually, but the words spoken may vary by language and person. Roshar also has the glyphs used in each surge and order, and they have some influence… even Scadrial has the sigils for Allomancy and Feruchemy."

"Do they do anything, though?" Senna's mild inquiry prompted Renka to grimace.

"Not exactly as is, but I'm guessing shape manipulation – in glyphs, in symbols, but also in the molecular structure of crystals and metal alloys and many other things – was similar to a pre-Shattering, more pan-Realmatic form of medium for investitures, and the spoken word probably would have been as well, in connection to the manifestation of thought through action and sapience and language… gah!"

"An interesting assertion, but the powers as they were before the Shattering did not remain afterward."

"I know, but the extant investiture remained in the large part, and planets that were already invested remained that way in some form even if the nature and alignment of it changed to associate with one of the sixteen. Am I right? Is that accurate enough? Dominion settled on- on that world, it's named Sel- Dominion settled on Sel to snag up all the shape manipulation for itself, limiting it- Dominion concentrated the powers associated with and derived from shape media into its own domain to strengthen itself."

"Devotion?" Senna prodded gently.

"Were they lovers and she was devoted to Dominion? Placed herself under his authority or domain?"

Senna shook her head. "Aona was more… of a business partner with Skai."

"An agreement to form an alliance against Odium. How much of this are you feeding me?" Renka accused suddenly. She knew her own general limits, and had realized she was making deductive leaps with information she had not had. It felt like excess acuity, in a way.

"Enough. It's more like I'm allowing you to take it and… devour it without objection," Senna demurred, gesturing to the strands of black mist that were, on second glance, drinking greedily from the silver fog surrounding them.

"I'm not… overly weakening you, am I?" Renka inquired hesitantly.

"I am not hurt, no," Senna stated. "Water passes over the wheel, and eventually it returns to the river and the sea."

"Ah. I am glad of that," the mortal woman sighed. She flicked her mind through the sources now opened to her. "Is that-?"

Renka's eyes fell upon the multicolored jewels at Senna's throat and fingers, and the shimmering embroidery in her silver dress.

"I said I accept all things. Stealing is difficult, now," the Shard mused, "but in the beginning I snapped up and saved odds and ends, little bits and shreds and splinters of ignored investiture from the others." One of the round baubles was a particular shade of black.

"You have plans of your own," Renka breathed, slightly awed and then some.

"Oh my, yes." The shimmering embroidery shifted colors as Senna dipped again into a store of another Shard's investiture, bypassing her inability to begin acting of her own accord. "We are running low enough on time that I should take a firmer hand in this, now."

"As you wish," Renka immediately submitted. Her papers wafted away into fog as Senna stood and the area around them shifted.

An image of Sel – Renka inherently knew that it was, despite having nearly no idea about Sel's existence before then – came into being, overlaid with distributions of Devotion and Dominion's remnant investitures.

"Di-Shardic planets usually mix more than you've experienced on Scadrial, with its three clear-cut investitures," she began to explain. "Laras and Ati were both good enough at the prerequisite mortal skills to put things together… semi-intentionally? Regardless, Sel's manifestations of investiture are much more obtuse; even more so since Odium's arrival and departure," she added bitterly.

"He did something clever, I assume? Inside the walls of, 'I hate his clever ideas' clever?"

"You might say he lifted a few lines from Ruin's work, in encouraging an Intent to follow too extreme an interpretation, yes. Skai did gather the shape-manipulation tendencies into Sel's domain, making an already powerful and versatile methodology even more… able.

"Dividing up the manifestations into cognitively delineated space-based birth domains would then enable the powers to co-operate and stack in unpredictable ways, was I believe the idea. While powerful in his domain, he needed Devotion to protect himself from Odium's external influence, and provide the catalytic tangent to divide up the manifestations into different forms, instead of one set across the planet."

"Mm. That also fit into the way ancestral homes in area would divide them up, I think," Renka contributed. "People are naturally devoted to their in-groups and homelands more than elsewhere, so it would more sharply divide the differing areas, especially via the Cognitive."

"Precisely," Senna agreed. "I'm much better at those effects now, in my position of divinity, but it was Skai's specialty as a mortal."

"Do the mortal specialties make that much of a difference?"

"The ability to alter writings and metal-minds originally came from a favorite trick of Ati's to perform in mortal life. He imprinted that onto the Ruin Shard, rather than the reverse. He was also a kind, generous man, and strongly supportive of meritocracy; Hemalurgy, therefore, manifested as the Metallic Art that anyone is able to use, with no prerequisites except supplies, while Feruchemy has possibilities.

"Similarly, Laras, dear as I consider him, has always been something of an ethnicity snob. The investitures that both have his touch are genetic, and may grow more powerful if the lines are purely bred; it is not a coincidence." Renka wrinkled her nose.

"I remember, Father mentioned Kelsier complaining about a line: 'You can still admire the lion while feeling empathy for the lamb'."

"That is a saying he would use. Aona's touch is more… complex. I still do not understand exactly – not to my own satisfaction, at least – how Sel's investitures seek out Devotion; not beyond the obvious, clumsy idea of the Shaod taking people who are devoted to ideas."

"Maybe if I knew a little mor- thank you," Renka murmured abruptly, as new information poured in. Then, "I think I see it."

"Oh? So quickly?"

"It is somewhat similar in artistry to Hemalurgy, so that helped. The shapes need to be created very exactingly, I think, and often, skilled users require years of effort to master those abilities. Even with the power, they need to Devote themselves to an art to use it well."

Senna inhaled lightly. "Yes, that would make sense. I'm used to thinking of her Intent as 'love and devotion,' and especially as regards devotion to another person; that idea would strike me as more like Honor's commitment to ideals and actions, but it could be so."

"I am glad to have aided you."

"Indeed."

"…Then Odium did something clever?" Renka prompted again. Senna nodded vaguely.

"Explaining how Odium managed to splinter them both would be… you wouldn't exactly be able to handle it, and what you could your mind mostly wouldn't keep for very long. But once it was done… It was the first time Odium had splintered two Shards on the same world. He hadn't been certain of the potential consequences, and after what happened elsewhere, he was concerned about creating worse."

"Worried that the two would mix, as happened to make Harmony?"

"Exactly. So he dragged all the investiture left he could get and stuffed it full to bursting into the Cognitive Realm, manipulating Dominion's connection to its domain and Devotion's connection to the places she loved to make them stay there. I believe he also did something clever to ensure that they wouldn't fuse… possibly corrupting them a touch to make the powers fight, just as his servant Sja-Anat can corrupt spren on Roshar…? I am less than certain about this bit," Senna confessed, "since I cannot believe he would leave any of his power behind."

"He might not pick up another Shard, but might he have left a bit of power and taken a bit of power to make up any difference?"

"I doubt it, but I cannot see it well enough to… Ah well," Senna sighed. "Sel had been only a few centuries away from creating a force that could have challenged Odium's endeavors, and when his future sight saw that he knew he had to act fast. As a result, the pressure makes Sel's investitures explosively more powerful and still very versatile, but now there are no minds to guide its people's development, and that power is largely limited to acting only on Sel itself. And Odium has no need to return there, anymore."

"Ruin and Preservation have an axe and armor association, I think, when used together in Harmony," Renka observed. "Devotion and Dominion were making their own home more powerful, familiar territory, keeping out the invader… I wonder what they would be called, used as one by one holder. Honor and Cultivation as well, for that matter."

"Patriotism?" Senna shrugged. "I don't see it as very important. After Aona and Skai's deaths, though, Odium started going more forcefully after the Shards that could pose a threat; he was complacent before, but he had to adapt to survive, so adapt he did. Honor was his opposite as much as Devotion, and Cultivation would only grow her children stronger over time."

"Wait. Wait, I just noticed a pattern," Renka interrupted. "Roshar is bordered by Odium's base world, Sel, Scadrial, and… Nalthis?"

"Those worlds are all… close to it in the Cognitive Realm, yes."

"And on Roshar, there are those glyphs, but also the shapes made by fabrials and patterns of gemstones. Then, spren have to manifest as a metal object in the Physical Realm, I think, and Fabrials have to be crafted with the gemstones set in metal? And it is not the molecular shape of the gem that influences its effect, but the color, correct? That cannot be a coincidence."

"It is not," Senna agreed, and obligingly began to elaborate.

 

[adaer]

While I'm not that familiar with either character, everything I do know about them makes it sound like managing to aim Odium and Darkseid at each other would be richly deserved by both sides. Though having one of them actually win would probably cause a lot of issues.

 

[ccstat]

I'm loving this, and I'll comment on some of the specific characters/events later, but I want to make sure you aren't pushing yourself too hard, @Obloquy . By posting nine updates in the past 48 hours did we just blow through your buffer? We all want as much LoD as possible, but please don't burn yourself out!

 

[Obloquy]

I'm loving this, and I'll comment on some of the specific characters/events later, but I want to make sure you aren't pushing yourself too hard, @Obloquy . By posting nine updates in the past 48 hours did we just blow through your buffer? We all want as much LoD as possible, but please don't burn yourself out!

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Thanks, but don't worry: I usually write LOD well in advance of my posting, so it's just a matter of quick review and then the last minute, pre-upload formatting. Write now I've worked up quite a backlog, so I'm just posting all of Episode 26 in a single weekend as an "I'm baaack!" celebration before I go back to my usual posting rate.

I figured, since The Hereafter is all happening over the course of 3-4 days (November 6-9), it's a nice bit of pacing to post it in the same time frame. Enjoy!

Well, that depends on your definition of "dead" his soul is no longer on this plane of existence which is pretty dead. It's unknown how difficult summoning yourself back to the mortal plane is, or if it's even possible. Maybe he needed to set up the summoning before he left his body, which he did when he converted to becoming a Lord of Chaos (if you follow the theory that Lords are made and not born) or someone else needs to summon him. The Light's current magical expertise comes from prince Orm, and Atlantians seem to be more into artificing and evocation than complex summoning or chaos magic.

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I was under the impression that Klarion's soul was destroyed and he's truly dead.

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It's the same as if the Helmet of Fate was destroyed somehow.

Very painful and an enormous setback, but not lethal.

Now he has to somehow claw his way back to earth then find a way to remain long enough to make another anchor.

The really cool thing is based on their conversation during the big fight, this is the first time in hundreds to thousands of years that Nabu is here without Klarion to counteract him.

At least that's my understanding.

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Yup, Klarion is banished, which is functionally dead and as good as mortals could expect to get (especially since he suffered more than a little damage at the same time).

Making a new (especially long-term) anchor is a big enough pain that Nabu used the same Helmet for 20,000 years, and Klarion has had Teekl for around three centuries.

All things considered, no expects to see the Witch Boy {Wicked} back any time this side of the millennium.

Agh. I know it was likely unavoidable, but a conversation between someone named Ice and another named Iceberg is difficult to follow.

...either that or my brain is broken again. I really should see about purchasing a replacement...

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I know, but they're both also named "Tora," so using first names would be worse, and ID-ing them by last names just felt weird. (Shrugs)

It can't be that she's a clone, or at least not just because she's a clone. Red Arrow didn't end up on the kid's side. And he would be 7 or so at most. Maybe it's because he got the original's memories though.

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Where does it say where Red Arrow ended up? I thought the YJ show never specified it.

Woah this is big. Renka's on the road to becoming the most knowledgeable person on the Cosmere and affiliated subjects.

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Yeah. Of course, simply being a Sliver puts her in the Top 10 out of non-Shardholders already, and no one on Earth-16 knows much of anything, so that's isn't exactly a high bar she's jumping over, no matter how high the actual 'jump' is.

You know, I never pegged Jinx as demonic. Always seemed more fae to me. What with the luck and the hair.

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My inspiration for including Jinx stems from a head-canon turned snippet, which I encountered long before I ever knew what Young Justice as a show actually was. Add on the fact that her horn hair is a lot like Klarion's, and the only other person we saw with gray skin in TT was Raven, it seemed a reasonable jump to make.

(Jinx is not actually related to Klarion in LOD, by the way; the snippet was just my inspiration for putting them together.)

More importantly how did you shapeshift a Bat-a-rang?

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Um... plot hole? Assume either Artemis had something sufficiently similar in stock that she could loan to M'gann, or whatever. It's not like Jade has good reason to be familiar with the exact appearance of a bat-a-rang, even assuming Batman doesn't use multiple models, but she's in Gotham and guessing from something shaped right is a reasonable assumption to make.

I wonder who Canary's apprentice is, though? I've never heard of her taking on wards.

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I will say that it's not Sin, nor (I think) anyone she has worked with in other stories as far as I know, but it is someone who would reasonably be paired off to work with her, given their circumstances and abilities.

No one's guessed it yet (on either thread), but cookies for you if you do!

 

[Dark as Silver]

Um... plot hole?

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SOD broken, unwatched!

 

[Obloquy]

Life Ore Death​

* November 7

"Auntie Jakita, Auntie! I made you something in art class," the boy chirped, racing out his front door to the lawn next door when he saw his beloved neighbor was home again. "Do you like it?"

"It's a wonder, Meine Leibling. Are you doing well studying mathematics, too?"

"Yes. Math is okay, but I really want to grow up and fight bad guys like you do! I beat up those guys who wanted to toss me in the lake, didn't I?" he bragged. Jakita laughed lightly, hiding exactly how much that assassination attempt had frightened and infuriated her.

The realization that children had vanished from the world was a horrible one, and worse when she heard two teenagers went after-

"I have no doubt you'll do many fantastic things in your life, Jonah," she assured him. "Just remember, my job is the reason I do not get to see you so often. Will you do the same to your family?"

"I know." He wrapped his arms around her legs and buried his face in her stomach. "I'll discover a way," he said, muffled.

"I have no doubt, Meine Leibling. Has your mother begun making dinner?"

Jonah pouted, and thought it over.

"She came back with bread and vegetables from shopping, but only some ground meat..." He snapped his fingers. "Mother will be making noodles today, and Father will be home a little late, so she won't start until he can get here and it's still hot!" he concluded.

"Excellent deduction, my little detective," she congratulated. "Let's do something nice and give her the night off; I have to go away-,"

"Again? You only just got back! I was scared when all the grown-ups went away, Auntie Jakita," he complained, getting ready to cry.

"-for another three or four days, flying across the sea, but I will be back," Jakita consoled gently. "Why don't you and I cook both your parents dinner, and we all can eat at my house tonight?" Jonah perked up again, nodded fervently, and ran off in preparation.

Jakita watched him go silently, a smile on her lips, and deep darkness in her eyes.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
​

* November 8

Saying that school was hell for M'gann would be an overstatement, even if the attempt at normalcy after her weekend wanted to make her pull out her hair and scream. She often touched back and forth with Conner's mind telepathically, and stayed stable enough for it.

Many of her classmates were absent after the events, and she wished she could've done the same…

Except not exactly, because staying in the Mountain and being constantly aware of the gaping absence of Renka's comatose mind was awful.

M'gann had even stayed over at her uncle J'onn's apartment the night before, because she couldn't stand trying to sleep.

At least she had something to distract herself with in the classes where she already knew everything, since Conner had leaked the introduction of a new teammate into her mind at one point in their communion. It excited her as much as it made her feel sad, and she turned the precious pearl of knowledge over in her head, answering the few questions she was asked on autopilot.

The Bumblebees' cheerleading practice was the one time she could really unwind; her body (shape-shifted as it was) went through the increasingly familiar routines almost on auto-pilot, but it required just enough attention that she couldn't think of anything else… couldn't hear echoed memories in her head… couldn't freak out over whether her friend had died while she was at school….

Satisfyingly sore, M'gann followed the other cheerleaders back into the locker room to change; she'd pushed Conner to go back to the Mountain and come running if anything had changed about Renka, so no news was good news on that front.

It did, however, mean she was alone with the other Bumblebees, and no one was waiting for her.

She didn't think much of slowing down her show of manually changing clothes to chat with Karen about innocuous things.

Then they were the last two in the locker room, except that Wendy had just come back in looking nervous, and all of a sudden M'gann realized she could literally feel the anxiety buzzing around both of them. It worried her.

They shouldn't have any reason to be scared of her, Karen and Wendy were her friends, but what else could they be afraid of?

The possibility briefly crossed M'gann's mind that some super-villain had discovered the Team's home base (again, since the Red Robots already did so once), found out where her secret identity went to school, and was taking advantage of her friends.

She didn't entirely dismiss that possibility, and she kept hold of the simmering surge of protective anger it stirred up, but the majority of her attention was quickly subsumed by the possibility that she'd done something stupidly wrong, missed an important human social cue over the past hour, and now they were going to kick her off the team!

M'gann swallowed drily, eyeing the uncertain way Wendy stayed in front of the door out.

"Guys? Karen, Wendy, is something wrong?"

The two human girls shared a look. M'gann waited. Karen sighed heavily.

"Okay, look, I was waiting to see if you were going to say anything Megan, but you didn't-,"

"Did I do something wrong? You aren't going to kick me off the team," she wondered, nearing a panic, "are you?"

"The team?" Wendy gaped, and almost laughed. "Are you really-?" She looked to Karen for a lead and didn't find one. "No, not that."

"You do remember, right?" Karen checked tersely, still anxious but also angry. "Friday evening, all the old people disappeared, we were in the gym setting up a care shelter for the little kids-," M'gann's eyes widened sharply as she got it. "-and some freak woman in gold steps out of the air, steals away you and that Artemis girl for something, and leaves behind a couple other toddlers? What was that about?!"

"Don't call her a freak," M'gann snapped immediately, distracted by the memories of her friend on the operating table for so long.

Wendy started. "Right, right, sorry," she babbled trying to pacify M'gann and not show any open fear. "Just, you clearly knew who she was and what was going on with that, Megan. A lot of people got hurt, and a lot more… it was a scary time." M'gann bit back the sudden urge to scream at how much Wendy did not know about how scary it was, because she didn't have any friends almost dead after it ended.

"We don't want to- we're not threatening you; you're our friend, you're a good person, Megan," Karen said shortly. "If you know anything about what happened, you have to go tell the police and stuff. I don't know what people at the top know about everything – there's a million different stories running around and what – but if you want to be a good person then you have to help-,"

"My uncle is a member of the Justice League," M'gann cut in, because she just couldn't stay silent at this anymore. "I'm- okay, look guys, my Uncle John, you met him after a few games we've performed at, he's the secret identity for a member of the Justice League and that never leaves this room, right?" She was glaring forcefully at that part, hands on her hips – the other two gob-smacked girls nodded dumbly.

"Big tall guy, bald, black, bit of a sharp chin and weird cheekbones?" Karen checked as she recalled seeing the man.

"That's him. I… have super powers too, and with the entire Justice League stuck on the other Earth I was-," M'gann needed to reach a bit to manage a proper explanation without giving too much away, but after a moment she thought she got it. "-I was one of the only people anyone on our side could contact to try and fix things. So when F- when someone figured out enough to put a team together and go to stop the bad guys and fix everything, they knew I had powers and would be willing to help. The only thing I had to do with that was stopping it."

Emotionally winded after that onslaught of words, M'gann drooped, and let the information hang in the air for them to consider.

"Wait. So you know, like, Rocket and Robin and Ferris and all those guys?" Karen finally asked. "For real? And you never told us!"

"Secret identities," Wendy reminded her absently. "So… you said you have powers too? That… actually, that explains some things," she admitted, leaning against a wall of lockers. "Is Conner like that too?" she asked suddenly. "You two weren't dating when you started here but you are now… you aren't related but you moved here together, you seem to live pretty close to each other… Um, I mean, is he…?"

"I really shouldn't talk about this anymore," M'gann said flatly, taking a firm step toward the exit.

"Whoa, waitwaitwait," Karen said quickly. "You just drop on us that you know the Justice League and you want to leave it at that?"

The fact that Karen was being earnest and – as far as M'gann could non-invasively tell – honest about her enthusiasm helped a lot. M'gann still wasn't in the mood to deal with this, elated as she was that they both seemed relieved and interested instead of scorning her.

"Karen," she said tiredly, "about ten minutes after I left the gym, the… the asshole," she decided to spit as an appropriate derogative, "responsible for the entire thing was busy trying to kill me and… and the others, because we were trying to stop his ritual. We all nearly died, and one of my friends is still comatose after spending Saturday and Sunday on the operating table. This is not gossip, this is life or death."

Karen's jaw moved silently. "Sorry," she muttered finally, backing away from the door. "I guess you, ah… I didn't mean to…."

M'gann just walked out the door, stung at the way Wendy inched away from her, but brooding too much to linger on just that.

"Hey, wait!" M'gann paused when Karen and Wendy suddenly rushed out after her. "Thanks," Karen said solemnly.

"Huh?" M'gann blinked at her classmates.

"Thank you. You saved a lot of people; you're a hero, Megan," Wendy elaborated, picking up confidence as she went.

"Yeah. You… probably haven't heard that from anyone, if your face isn't all over the news. That sucks that you aren't getting credit." M'gann knew the unspoken thought in Karen's head – the faint suspicions that M'gann had lied to them about this – but she let it be. Hearing those words from them had warmed and softened something stretched taught inside of her.

"Thanks. I mean- Oh, Hello Megan," she fell back on saying, slapping her forehead, "if we just stand around saying thanks for being thanked we'll be here all day. So no more of that, but you guys are right, I haven't heard much from anyone. None of us have. I… actually… haven't really been paying attention to what any of the official stories are, but I doubt we'll be mentioned. I can pass it along to the others on- to the other people who were there," she offered. Her human classmates brightened and nodded.

"So, do you know Rocket and Robin and Aqualad and Speedy?" Karen clarified.

"He goes by Red Arrow now," M'gann corrected on autopilot. They gave her blank looks. "I-I mean, Speedy, he doesn't go by Speedy anymore, he changed his name to Red Arrow." She noticed that this idle tidbit, more than the rest she'd said, convinced them of her honesty.

"Cool. Think you can wrangle an introduction?" Karen asked, trying to hide her hope with forward toughness.

"Conner's always wearing that shirt, is he a fan of Superman? Have you met Superman, or Wonder Woman?" Wendy asked.

"Yeah, I… probably shouldn't say much more about it," she remembered guiltily. "Secret identities, security issues, you know."

The other two nodded slowly, and Karen spoke: "Yeah, but… growing up in Happy Harbor, when we found out the Justice League was a thing, they had their home base right here, only for them to move out since everyone knew about it, you can't help but idolize them."

"I met Flash once. It was the coolest thing that ever happened to me," Wendy reminisced. Then, "Wait. You know the Justice League, you haven't brought anyone over to your house, you- well, we were thinking you maybe live with Conner… are you living at Mount Justice?"

M'gann sagged and groaned. "This is great, Batman is going to kill me for letting this slip."

"Hey, hey, ease up," Karen reassured her as both girls moved closer. "We can totally keep a secret from some guy in a suit, right?"

"Yeah, your secret's safe with us," Wendy promised. "You want us to… well, I guess us taking you home isn't good for secrecy."

"No, probably not," M'gann laughed. "I… You know what, I want ice cream," she decided impulsively.

"Ice cream? Girl, it's November out," Karen complained. "We're expecting snow within the next week, and you want ice cream?"

"Do you have ice powers or something?" Wendy wondered. Then, "I know this place with milkshakes and cocoa on Fifth Street."

M'gann smiled. "Sounds like a plan: I'll head back long enough to tell people where I'm going, then we can talk about this more?" she suggested.

"Sounds pretty kickass to me," Karen agreed, pumping her fist.

 

[Riyshn]

While I'm not that familiar with either character, everything I do know about them makes it sound like managing to aim Odium and Darkseid at each other would be richly deserved by both sides. Though having one of them actually win would probably cause a lot of issues.

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Sounds about right.

Darkseid's entire thing is Tyrany, and that can generally get as conceptual as he feels at any given moment.

For Odium (and any Shard, really), the name should be taken literally. His primary motivation is an intense hatred for all who won't fall in line with his goals, and the main power associated with him is foresight; to the point that a culture that sees him as a devil-figure has all but outlawed gambling, because trying to guess at the future is too close to his domain for comfort. He is also an *incredably* smooth talker.

 

[Mr Zoat]

The Odium, as in Hell's manufacturing centre in Reign in Hell?

 

[RyubosJ]

The Odium, as in Hell's manufacturing centre in Reign in Hell?

Click to shrink...

Nope, as in the word Odium

noun

1. general or widespread hatred or disgust incurred by someone as a result of their actions.

Click to shrink...

 

[TheLastOne]

While I'm not that familiar with either character, everything I do know about them makes it sound like managing to aim Odium and Darkseid at each other would be richly deserved by both sides. Though having one of them actually win would probably cause a lot of issues.

Click to shrink...

It depends on the Darkseid? Well, not the deserve part, but the 'good idea' part. Many Darkseids are too weak, which would mean Odium could just play on his flaws, the spots of similarity until he broke or enslaved him. Some are too powerful, meaning the reverse would quickly happen. Only a few are in the right spot where it would be an interesting conflict.

Well, assuming a Odium free to act.

 

[Obloquy]

Life Ore Death​

* November 8

<Recognized: Miss Martian, B05. >

"Sorry I'm back late, everyone; I was talking with school friends. Kaldur, you said we had a Team meeting? Oh, hello Black Canary!"

"No worries, it's nice not to be the last person here for once," Wally joked. It didn't quite fall flat, but there was a lot of tension in the room that it failed to cut through. Zatanna had still been crying until a few minutes ago, and Wally couldn't blame her, nor feel good that Rob had apparently moved things forward between them and was now perched firmly at her side. Artemis had been oddly distant and quiet since she arrived, and Conner had seemed almost dangerously subdued. Then again, Wally was aware that he wasn't at his humorous best, either.

M'gann stepped into line next to Conner. The Team stared patiently at Black Canary and Kaldur, painfully aware of the missing presence in their lineup. Kaldur nodded once, and Black Canary began to speak.

"Thank you for coming. Okay," she said cautiously, "I have an announcement to make, and it's of a sensitive subject, so please don't take it too badly. The reason I've been less involved with the Team for a few weeks is because I've recently taken on a partner as well, and I'd like to introduce him to the Team. I am not replacing anyone – I was working with him before Klarion the Witch Boy worked his little catastrophe, and I was always planning to introduce him, but I wanted to get him up to speed and I needed his mother's permission. I was expecting to have this conversation later in the month, but recent events have sped things up."

"Whoa, you're working with someone new? I haven't seen any of this on the news – Batman does know him, right?" Robin asked.

"He has to, and you know him too, Robin," M'gann contributed.

"You know?" Black Canary looked from M'gann to Conner and back again. "Of course you know."

"I do not want us to have any of the previous… clashes, that the Team has suffered, as when Artemis joined us," Kaldur stated.

"Hey, we're all good, we're over that now, right?" Wally agreed, nudging Artemis. She nodded slowly.

"Yeah… so, do we get to meet this guy?"

"I'll bring him over," Black Canary agreed, walking over to type a code into the Zeta Tube.

<Recognized: Jericho, B10. >

With that announcement, the Zeta lit up: a blonde young man in a purple vest over skintight blue body armor, looking less than self-confident, stepped into the room.

Artemis and Robin hissed in realization, while M'gann just smiled welcomingly and immediately flew over.

"Hi again," she greeted cheerfully. "I'm glad you're okay, um, you know, health wise." She held out her hand nervously.

"Wait, who's this guy, and how does he know Green-cheeks?" Wally whispered to Artemis.

"Joseph Wilson," Artemis whispered back, eyeing him carefully as Joseph shook her hand and then moved his hands through a careful set of gestures. "Slade Wilson's younger son, the kidnapped one whose throat Jackal cut? M'gann shape-shifted her flesh onto him to save his life, except the graft failed unexpectedly a few days later and he had to rush back to the hospital. Still saved his life, though."

"Ah, got it. So he's probably about as confident as you were. Well," Wally decided, rolling his shoulders, "let's not make the same mistake twice." He rushed over in a blur to offer his hand, startling Joseph just enough to fall back into a defensive stance. "Kid Flash, also called Wally."

Cautiously, Joseph shook his hand as well, then carefully repeated the same string of gestures as before.

[I'm sorry,] M'gann sent out to the entire Team, [but I don't think any of us speak sign language.]

[I do,] Robin and Artemis interjected simultaneously.

[Okay, so only most of us don't speak sign language. But I'm a telepath, so we use that for a lot of communication, if you don't mind.]

[Like… this? Is this okay?] Joseph sent out hesitantly.

[That's fine,] Conner said gruffly. Wally guessed it was even odds that he was jealous about another guy getting M'gann's attention.

[Welcome to the Team,] Kaldur introduced, holding out his own hand as everyone wandered over. [You have already met Miss Martian, Robin, and Artemis, I believe. I am Kaldur'ahm, known to the surface world as Aqualad, and I currently act as the leader of our Team.]

[Nice to meet you. Thanks for taking me,] Joseph replied, smiling a bit more confidently. [Telepathy. This is a lot easier than signing.]

[Yeah, but don't forget to sign for when M'gann isn't around,] Robin suggested, moving his hands to match.

[You've got me and Robin to practice with,] Artemis agreed, walking over after him, her hands in motion as well.

[I get what your hands are saying, but I don't really know how to say anything,] Conner volunteered. Wally slung an arm over his shoulder.

[Great, so I'm a soulless ginger who can't say anything smart, Superboy is sign-language mute, you're speech mute,] he continued to Jericho, [Rob has a terminal condition called 'being a ninja midget troll,' Zee talks backwards… we're a regular bunch of weirdness, aren't we?]

[Og pmuj ffo a ffilc,] Zatanna complained, rolling her eyes and folding her arms. Wally got a wicked idea and saluted.

[I hear and I obey,] he droned mind-control style, and zoomed off around a corner, feeling Zatanna's spike of alarm in their heads.

[Crap, I didn't know I could do that! Pots, pots Wally! Pots Yllaw!] she mentally shouted after him.

He zoomed back a moment later, still grinning. [Relax, Zee. Xaler,] he tried sending to her. [I was kidding, you didn't do anything.]

"Ahem," Black Canary coughed, gathering everyone's attention again. "While Miss Martian's telepathy is convenient for talking while Jericho gets used to using sign language, he does still need to practice signing for when he doesn't have a telepath around."

"Don't worry," Artemis agreed, carefully moving her hands in what Wally assumed was the corresponding sign-speech for those words. "Robin and I both know some sign language, and Superboy can understand it even if he can't sign back. We'll keep him on task."

"Yeah, we'll work out some practice exercises that'll be totally asterous," Robin agreed, hopping up to perch on Conner's shoulder. "Hey, is that why you took on- you're using the name Jericho?" he checked, and Joseph signed an affirmative. "Is the sign language why you started working with Jericho," he asked Black Canary, "because you knew it from when you spent so long as a kid trying to not talk?"

Black Canary rolled her eyes. "Of course you know that story," she sighed. "Yes, my knowledge of sign language, and my experience as a meta human martial artist with a power that in no way improves my physical combat ability."

[And your work in psychological counseling,] Joseph added earnestly. [Um, I don't know the way to sign- thanks,] he sent, copying the motions Dinah had shown him. [But yeah, my dad is a professional hit man, I got kidnapped because of it, and Mom cut his eye out. So. Counseling.]

"Ick, that's something to make a guy overwhelmingly chalant," Robin agreed glumly. "Cut his eye out? Did that happen in Tangiers?"

"No, not when we were there," Artemis disagreed. "You mean he showed up later again? Evil dads have a habit of doing that."

[Yeah, and Mom was not happy. She wasn't happy before-,]

[Don't forget the signing. She-wasn't-happy-before,] Artemis reminded him, and signed appropriately. It startled him, but it also knocked him out of the funk they felt radiate out from him, if only because he needed to focus; Kaldur nodded to her approvingly.

[Right. She wasn't happy before, but she accepted Black Canary talking to me because sign language and counseling. Then he showed up at the safe house Mom had us hiding out at in Arizona, just a few hours after all the adults reappeared, and she went ballistic on him.]

[Ballistic is sort of complicated, because the shooting term is different from the really angry term,] Artemis corrected, hands moving.

[Reappeared is more like this,] Robin added, gesturing appropriately.

[Black Canary says you do martial arts, but you have some other power too?] Conner asked. Wally perked up at this bit, his mind running.

[Yeah! So it's not anything physical to fight with, and you got it from Miss M… It can't be shape-shifting since you can fight with that, it isn't telepathy or you wouldn't need sign language, so is it telekinesis, or nothing to do with Martians?] He wondered eagerly. Jericho cringed.

[It's… uh, Mr. Martian Manhunter says it's like some things Martians do, but really, really twisted around and nothing like it, too.]

[Uncle J'onn knows? He never mentioned anything to me,] M'gann complained hands on her hips. [I mean, okay, you deserve your privacy, but I would've liked to know something had happened; I was feeling so guilty.]

[Yeah, but it's not about you, and it ended okay anyway, right?] Zatanna pointed out sourly. Robin laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

[Perhaps, if we are going to be working together,] Kaldur suggested, [we might gain a preliminary view of your abilities through a few sparring matches, or other exercises?] Jericho shifted a bit uncomfortably.

[My powers are really… weird, and pretty invasive,] he hedged. [Black Canary doesn't mind me using them on her, but-,]

"How about you and I have a demonstration match first, Jericho, and then you can demonstrate your ability on me?" Black Canary suggested.

Wally didn't catch it, but Robin, Artemis, and Superboy all noted her signed instruction to Jericho not to give the secret away.

Needless to say, even with that warning, Jericho's later possession of her body left them all flabbergasted.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________​

* November 8

Alfred had set the dinner table for three – Bruce, Dick, and on-the-last-day-of-her-visit Donna – and they were just sitting down to tuck in when the doorbell unexpectedly rang. This was not a good sign.

With Batman as the owner and resident, Wayne Manor's observational security was among the best in the country, even if the defensive security measures were kept largely absent from the front door, main gate, and driveway in between. While it could never be impossible for a person to approach undetected, that anyone knew to do so and possessed the skill necessary was an ominous sign.

Bruce checked the function on his phone that was keyed into the Manor's cameras, while Dick grew tense and Donna knew enough to brace for another possible fight. On the screen, Alfred answered the door and spoke shortly, if politely, to the woman in the business suit who stood there. Before he could finish his attempted rebuff, Bruce sighed darkly, tapped a button, and sent the signal for Alfred to bring her in. Dick and Donna's questions were both ignored, as Bruce radiated an expectant aura of 'not happy' across the room.

It was Batman's dark glare on Bruce's face that greeted the woman when she was led into the room. She was unfazed.

Dick nearly choked.

"Ah, it is always so nice to see the children growing up," she commented throatily. "I don't believe we have been introduced?"

The only person in the room she did not know by sight, and vice-versa, glared back at her.

"My name is Donna. I don't like people who freak out my friends," she said flatly, balling her fists.

"Stand down, Wonder Girl," Batman instructed gruffly, earning obedience and a blink of shocked surprise from her. "Jakita Wagner. Shall I ask Alfred to set another place, or is this something that can be handled quickly?" It was not Bruce Wayne's polite offer, but Batman's growl.

"I did not expect I would be asked for so little explanation; you clearly learned your lessons well, Bruce Wayne. Although, you may need to teach your apprentice discretion in his tidbits about the past of the Batman," she mused. "I think... this will take some time to explain."

"Oh man," Dick moaned, looking wide-eyed between the two of them. "And the aster has disappeared…."

"Alfred, another place setting, please," the master of the house requested in a more neutral voice, as Batman faded back.

"Of course, Master Wayne," Alfred agreed flawlessly, leaving to retrieve the required utensils.

"Okay, what's going on? If you don't mind my asking, since you just blew my identity," Donna grit out, reaching a hand out to Dick.

"Dick?" Bruce prompted shortly, passing the buck on with the air of handing his student a test.

"I just blew- um," Dick mumbled, glancing nervously at Jakita because he was not actually certain he'd blown-

"Batman and Robin's secret identities," Jakita confirmed drily, sinking into an empty seat. Dick winced.

"Right. Those. So, you do know after all. Uhhh… Okay, so," he began to explain to Donna, "a while ago, while we had some downtime-," He reached for a good way to explain it without also blowing the existence of the Team to Jakita Wagner. "-I got worried about how a bunch of cryokinetics all attacked on Independence Day, because that just screams conspiracy. So I whipped up a list of other cryokinetics who might be involved, and some extras we were pretty sure were not, and got my detecting skills on by looking them up."

"I remember you were working with Superman's associate, the informant of recent occurrences, Ferris," Jakita added.

Dick grimaced again. "Yeah, I was. So just for the sake of practicing my detecting, when I was going through the League's list of people involved with using ice, I grabbed, like I said, some guys who really couldn't be involved. Like Mister Elijah Snow, because he's been dead for about a decade," Dick muttered semi-apologetically; fortunately, Jakita Wagner didn't seem to be insulted by the comment.

"Beyond his cryo-kinetic abilities, Elijah Snow was a man rightfully considered, 'the World's Greatest Detective,'" Bruce added.

"Until you took the title from him," Donna snipped, eyeing Jakita; this also did not disturb the older woman.

"Until he declared, a few months prior to his death, that I would no doubt earn the title myself within a few more years and he had nothing more to teach me that simple life experience would not," Bruce corrected. "Please, mind your temper, Donna. You don't need to be angry."

"…Sorry. And, sorry," she muttered to Bruce and Jakita in turn. Alfred finished setting Jakita's place and patted Donna's shoulder reassuringly as he stepped past. She brightened slightly at the gesture, and began a quiet breathing exercise she'd been using as of late.

"Right," Dick muttered as Bruce turned back to him expectantly. "Bruce studied with Mister Snow… was it right up to his death, or a little before, or-?" Bruce just made a vague gesture. "Miss Wagner was listed as a known associate who we could contact for information and stuff, except we didn't have her contact information. Then when we were getting some help from the German government tracking down a completely different ice-user, Ferris and me smacked right into her as part of the security detail.

"It… caught me a bit off-guard," he admitted, "and I dropped one of Mister Snow's aliases, the Fourth Man. She was really not whelmed at that… oh, and then I told her I knew it because Batman had studied with Mister Snow, except I'm betting Bruce wasn't going by Batman back then…."

"To be fair to Mister Wayne," Jakita added on to Robin's realization, "he was using the incredibly inventive pseudonym John Smith."

"Elijah Snow was deservedly known as the World's Greatest Detective," Bruce stated simply. "I was perfectly aware that he was almost certain to figure out my true identity, in no small part because of his desire to be sure any potential successor was on the right side of the law. I went out of my way to avoid referencing the idea of Batman during my time with him, and I did not return to Gotham until-,"

"Until after his death," Jakita agreed. "He had identified you as Bruce Wayne, and when I briefly researched Elijah's contacts I was confused at your… public persona, but I had no reason to investigate much into it. Not until Robin's comment pulled it all together for me."

"Yup, I'm dead, it's nice knowing you Donna," Dick moaned, head in hands. "I blew Bat's identity, I can't believe it."

"Hey, if Talia knows it, this can't be so bad," she grumped. Bruce smoothly swiveled his head to stare evenly at her. "I… was not supposed to let you know he told me that, was I? Shit. Sorry," she mumbled, also burying her face in her hands.

"Informative as this visit is, it is not the information I came here to obtain," Jakita Wagner interjected. "Bruce Wayne, Elijah trusted you to behave as a good and honorable man, else he would not have taught you. From what I know of the Justice League, and Batman's work as its current chair, that trust was not misplaced. I have not shared your identity with anyone, and I was not followed here."

They both took a few bites of the meal as a way of filling the thoughtful silence.

"If you have not come to blackmail me, why are you in my city?" Batman inquired. "I assume it involves the divided world."

"Yes, although it is more indirect than you may expect. My superiors want more information from the Justice League on what occurred, but I have a higher priority; during the… you referred to it as a division of the world? Either way, during the time children and adults were apart, there was an attempted assassination on someone I hold very dear. I do not believe it was a coincidence."

"You worked under The Fourth Man far longer than I. Is this a complex enough matter to require my investigation?"

"It is not the investigation I require aid with. Two young men, both known to be involved in gang activity, both young enough to be below the age of the division, were paid a large amount of money upfront to kill a certain child, with more promised if they succeeded. They are in captivity; the cop they claim paid them is dirty but has a secure alibi, suggesting a shape-shifter. Your participation is not needed."

"Their client knew of the division event in advance," Batman noted. "If they had that information, but only hired petty thugs…" He trailed off, considering that it was likely not the League of Shadows; Ra's would have sent a few junior operatives instead of petty thugs. Ergo, it must have been another branch of the Light conspiracy, acting covertly against the interests, in some way, of the majority members.

They would not have had connections to Klarion, either, or else they would have known about the temporary death possibility.

It was worth looking into, but Batman could not spare much time in the chaos after the divisive disaster.

Jakita, whom Batman believed would not know of the Light and whom he saw no need to inform, continued speaking: "I am confused about why anyone who knew enough to act in preparation for this event, given the resources it implies, would hire petty thugs, even if there was a limit on age. However, that is not the matter I need help with, nor what I have come to offer you."

"You are here to offer information? An exchange?" Batman pressed gruffly, wishing this were a situation for a faster interrogation.

"The one thing I am not confused about is why someone would want to kill this pre-adolescent boy. He is important in ways most could not conceive of, and," she stated ominously, "I am aware of someone else who may be a similar target. As she has not been declared dead, she will likely be targeted in the immediate future. I have reason to believe the Justice League is interested in protecting her."

"The Justice League cannot protect everyone," Batman stated darkly, although it was neither a refusal nor a denial.

Jakita smiled. "No, but with better information it should not be a stretch to continue offering more effective protection than you do already."

 

[kitsune9]

[Og pmuj ffo a ffilc,] Zatanna complained, rolling her eyes and folding her arms. Wally got a wicked idea and saluted.

Click to shrink...

Did I miss a threadmark when did Zatanna stop being Dr. Fate

 

[Queshire]

Did I miss a threadmark when did Zatanna stop being Dr. Fate

Click to shrink...

Yeah, that stood out to me too.

 

[Hestia&theCourt]

<Recognized: Jericho, B10. >

Click to shrink...

Oh, that's who Canary took on! Okay, yeah, that makes a lot of sense, actually.

[Og pmuj ffo a ffilc,] Zatanna complained, rolling her eyes and folding her arms. Wally got a wicked idea and saluted.

[I hear and I obey,] he droned mind-control style, and zoomed off around a corner, feeling Zatanna's spike of alarm in their heads.

[Crap, I didn't know I could do that! Pots, pots Wally! Pots Yllaw!] she mentally shouted after him.

He zoomed back a moment later, still grinning. [Relax, Zee. Xaler,] he tried sending to her. [I was kidding, you didn't do anything.]

Click to shrink...

Hahahahaha!

"Yup, I'm dead, it's nice knowing you Donna," Dick moaned, head in hands. "I blew Bat's identity, I can't believe it."

"Hey, if Talia knows it, this can't be so bad," she grumped. Bruce smoothly swiveled his head to stare evenly at her. "I… was not supposed to let you know he told me that, was I? Shit. Sorry," she mumbled, also burying her face in her hands.

Click to shrink...

*facepalm* Teenagers.

Did I miss a threadmark when did Zatanna stop being Dr. Fate

Click to shrink...

...I hadn't even noticed that, but yeah, when did that happen?

 

[King's Wit]

Did I miss a threadmark when did Zatanna stop being Dr. Fate

Click to shrink...

It's a day later than the discussion Superman had with Dr. Fate, so it's possible that another solution was found, or that Fate finished his initial task with the dead children and Zatanna negotiated something similar to the arrangement with Kent Nelson.

 

[kitsune9]

It's a day later than the discussion Superman had with Dr. Fate, so it's possible that another solution was found, or that Fate finished his initial task with the dead children and Zatanna negotiated something similar to the arrangement with Kent Nelson.

Click to shrink...

You would think something that important would be on screen.

 

[Dark as Silver]

Zatanna had still been crying until a few minutes ago,

Click to shrink...

Wait... When did Zatanna get un-Fated?

 

[stsword]

You know, Batman being a student of Snow reminds me of the Shadow/Batman crossovers.

In which Batman's mentor Henri Ducard was the Shadow, there to train his successor.

So in those crossovers the Shadow is the cranky grandpa of the Batfamily.

 

[Interregnum]

After all that, Fate lets Zatanna go off-screen? Lame.

 

[adaer]

You know, Batman being a student of Snow reminds me of the Shadow/Batman crossovers.

In which Batman's mentor Henri Ducard was the Shadow, there to train his successor.

So in those crossovers the Shadow is the cranky grandpa of the Batfamily.

Click to shrink...

...Didn't The Shadow kill lots of people? That must have led to fun arguments.

 

[stsword]

...Didn't The Shadow kill lots of people? That must have led to fun arguments.

Click to shrink...

Yes, lots and lots of people.

He agreed to Batman's demand to stop shooting people in the face, but to paraphrase Firefly, Batman was fuzzier on kneecaps.

It made for a somewhat funny dynamic- Shadow, Batman, Damian.

So killer 'grandpa," killer "grandson," and Batman playing babysitter to both.

 

[nmWarden]

Don't worry guys I can explain everything! This chapter we received a hint about shapeshifters participating in an assassination. Clearly Fate has gone off the radar and Zatanna hasn't returned, but instead a shapeshifter is parading around with her appearance! Infiltration while the heroes are off balance. Hmm. I wonder why Volcano hasn't revealed or detected what's going on here...

 

[stsword]

Don't worry guys I can explain everything! This chapter we received a hint about shapeshifters participating in an assassination. Clearly Fate has gone off the radar and Zatanna hasn't returned, but instead a shapeshifter is parading around with her appearance! Infiltration while the heroes are off balance. Hmm. I wonder why Volcano hasn't revealed or detected what's going on here...

Click to shrink...

Well obviously it's Annataz Arataz, Zatanna's dimensional doppelganger.

 

[Obloquy]

Life Ore Death​

* November 8

Diana, the crown princess of Themyscira and Wonder Woman of her people, sagged gratefully into her office chair. She had been incredibly busy the past few days, trying to save as many people as possible, and then calm as many fears as she could. The people were right and wise to be afraid, of course, but the way too many people tended to act upon their fears was counter-productive.

She had not slept since the Friday when everything had gone insane; she no longer needed as much sleep as she had in her youth, true, but it was still helpful and enjoyable to do so while recovering; more than three days of constant activity was exhausting even for her.

Things had mostly settled down by now… well, comparatively speaking, at least. This was going to have aftershocks for months or years into the future, no doubt, but the immediate chaos was less than what it was immediately after, and the total casualty count was incredibly low to what it could have been, largely due to the quick thinking of Ferris and Dr. Fate .

That thought made her wince guiltily again at the memory of the strong young woman lying half-dead in a medical bed. Diana had several reasons to be personally interested in building relationships with female heroes in general, and Ferris in particular.

She couldn't help but feel like she had failed in more ways than one.

'Coins of Hadros,' she reminisced, now that she was not too busy to put troublesome things out of her mind, 'I do believe she and Bruce have spent more time together than her and I; and by all accounts those two seem very nearly to hate each other!' Then, of course, a different form of guilt surged up. 'I have no right to be feeling this way; she's Clark's partner, and he has to be taking it worse than I am.'

She stood, resolved to go check on how he was doing in this situation.

An unexpected voice interrupted.

"Your highness?"

"Great Hera! My apologies, sister, you gave me quite a start," Diana told her, stepping out of her combat stance as she recognized the woman who stood in the corner of the room. "And, I must further apologize; I know I have seen you at home, in Mother's court, but I cannot recall your name, sister. I do hope you will forgive me this failure of etiquette."

"Forgiven and forgotten, Princess Diana; it is quite possible that you would never have heard my name, as I am only rarely at court, although I would wonder how you could still remember my face."

"It is a gift," Diana demurred, speaking literally. Her divine powers focused foremost on Truth, but also on aspects of Beauty; a side perk was a near perfect visual memory for people's appearances, and the ability to ignore most disguises. "How may I be of service?"

"I pardon the interruption, given the intrusion in such a time of havoc," she said delicately, "but your mother wishes to speak with you rather urgently." Diana raised her eyebrows, knowing that the woman spoke honestly but confused about the implications.

"Urgently enough to send a sister out into Man's World and fetch me? You must have- well, yes, the catastrophe did occur a few days ago, so that gives you travel time. Still, it seems…."

"Actually, your highness, I was only asked to fetch you this afternoon. As a sufficiently capable magic user, I can travel here and back easily enough if I have reason to. If we leave now, I expect you will return before midnight," she invited. Diana paused appreciatively.

"That would be most convenient, thank you. Now I am surprised to not know the name of a sister some knowledgeable and skilled." Magic was more common among the citizens of Themyscira than the rest of the world, and those practioners were generally more skilled after a few thousand years of practice… but at the same time, few people possessed powerful magical abilities.

"Ah, yes… I am Eudespa, a priestess of Gaia. I can bring us from this tree to home, and back again," she explained.

The potted tree in question was a gift from her mother, one of several things small items given to her by Queen and Court to take when she set up a more permanent residence in DC. The tree was of a type not found naturally outside of Themyscira, not due to extinction events, but because the species had been cultivated and bred by a handful of florists on the island over the course of their lifetimes.

Such longevity as the island allowed them required some rather unusual projects with which to occupy their time, after all.

"Perhaps I should bring a few more saplings with me when I leave again, and expand your range," Diana offered.

Eudespa smiled demurely, and parted the fir-like curtain of branches. The air wavered, and Diana saw an opening through which shown rays of evening sunlight, rather than the slender tree trunk and the corner where two walls met.

She stepped through, letting the shift washed across her skin like a silken curtain as memories flooded through her.

________________________________________________________________________________________​

Growing up, Diana was not exactly the only child on Themyscira, though it was close; she was the only child her own age, at least.

The Amazons on Themyscira still consider themselves protectors of their fellow women, even if they have retreated from the majority of the rest of the world. They made oaths, to themselves, to their fallen sisters, and to their gods.

The Amazon Nation will unquestioningly take in any woman brought to their shores requesting refuge, and her children.

Male children are included, albeit more temporarily than daughters. Men were included when the Amazon survivors first fled to the island by the grace of the gods – albeit as something of a minority, but they were included. They weren't endowed with blessings, however, and while they lived longer and aged slower than a man off the island, every man on the island died well before their second century.

Male children brought as refugees with mothers or sisters were allowed to remain on the island as adults, provided they behaved themselves. If a man committed crimes, he would be punished in accordance with the law and with his trespasses.

More than one married and had children, but their wives didn't age, and every child conceived on the island was born a daughter.

Most often, a young boy grown into a man would request permission to emigrate, and receive it. He would say his farewells, and he would be granted a boat and basic necessities, as well as more elaborate gifts of tools and treasure by those who knew and would miss him. After a celebration of his life to date, he would get into the boat, with its sails drawn, and sea nymphs would obligingly tow him to a foreign shore far from Themyscira, never to return now that he had begun his own life of independence.

The lone man on the island upon her birth had left in such a way when Diana was four years old, and too young to remember. Two more males arrived during the first decade-and-a-half of her lifetime, but they were 10 & 12 years younger than her, so they didn't count.​

________________________________________________________________________________________​

"Home..." Diana could feel the change immediately, parts of her seeming almost to sing, as though filling her lungs after an ocean dive.

"This way please, your highness," Eudespa corrected as Diana turned away.

"The palace is this way."

"I was asked to bring you to a certain clearing; if your mother is not already waiting there for you, she should arrive soon."

"…Well, it is no more unusual than any other part of this," Diana allowed, following Eudespa through Gaia's sacred woods.

Soon enough, they came to a clearing where-

"Princess Diana!" Were it not for her super-strength, Diana might have been knocked over by the enthusiastic tackle-hug.

Making the mental switch to return to her native tongue, she said, "It's good to see you again, Tithorea."

While the Amazon were permanent inhabitants of the island, many other creatures also dwelled there, be it for always or only on occasion.

More than a few nymphs populated the woods and waters of Themyscira, though they primarily kept apart, coming or going by whatever means they had at whatever times they wished. Individual Amazons might strike up friendships or relationships with individual nymphs, and an Amazon could find a nymph to interact with if they went out looking to meet one, but generally they kept a bit of distance.

Diana was the main exception. From her early girlhood, she'd encountered nymphs of all kinds whenever she went out into the wild, or even in the Royal Gardens (and on more than one occasion the baths). She knew a number of them by sight, as her girlhood friends.

Diana had grown up as one of the only children on the island, and while she could meet her elder sisters on more even terms now, as a warrior and an adult, she had been perceptive enough to pick out that they often humored her desire for games, rather than enjoying the antics and imaginary adventure. The nymphs were different, still childish and innocent despite their age, and often enjoyed her games.

The nymphs were also far more willing to answer her curious questions about Man's world and men, which by their various methods they had been to far more often and more recently than any woman on the island. She had made many dear friends from their number.

Friends such as Tithorea, and a few others who were gathered around the clearing. Finishing her hug with the enthusiastic Epimeliad, Diana scanned around the clearing. Fallen logs and clean boulders were arranged as tables & benches on which nymphs reclined.

Counting the faces, familiar and otherwise, around the clearing, Diana noted about eight nymphs from a variety of orders, three of whom she knew. It was uncommon to see so many kinds gathered here; then again this was a sacred grove, intended for the orders to meet.

"Monide, Trildana, it is good to see you both," she greeted. "Monide, I confess, I almost didn't recognize you." She embraced each in turn as the other nymphs stayed seated, opting to wave or smile at the princess unless they were otherwise occupied.

"I was still of ivy when last we met," Monide agreed, stepping back with a spin to show off, "but I wanted to try something new!"

"So I see," Diana appraised. "You've one of the limnades now? It looks good on you." Despite the way Man's World over-sexualized their idea of nubile young mystic women, there was nothing lewd intended in Monide's display of her body, raiment, and lack thereof.

Which wasn't to say that there weren't truths to the stereotypes as well, but as with anything, the true nature of nymphs was too complicated to be easily summarized. Usually, it was safest to not assume anything that was not specifically said.

"Uh-huh," she chirped cheerfully. "There's a flock of geese on the banks, but they all left for the winter, and I'm lonely."

"They will be back again come spring, little sister," a voice interrupted. "Lady Diana, may I offer you refreshment?"

Seeing whom it was that spoke, hand extended with a cup to offer her, Diana inclined her head politely.

"I am grateful for your generosity, honored sister," she acceded, drinking a mouthful of the watered wine.

"Please, there is no reason to bow your head," the nymph demurred, but Diana had to politely disagree.

"Natural born or not, numerous as your order may be, any Oceanid would be worthy of respect beyond what I owe to a sister, and a senior one as yourself even more so," she insisted, inclining her head again slightly to the ocean nymph who wore several marks of high station, and had two other nymphs positioned nearby, potentially as her own maids. "You as well, elder sister," she added with another bow.

"You flatter me, Lady Diana," the senior member of the Asteriae complained, and Diana wondered if she detected a hint of nervousness in the star nymph's voice; certainly, one of her attendants looked uncertain at the situation. "Daeira and I may swell our heads, should you bow yours to us again. Come, won't you join us and talk? We are guests in your rightful home, even if we are invited, and you need defer to neither she nor I in this place, no matter our strength or seniority. I am Sterope, and I greet you gladly, Wonder Woman."

"If you do not mind the intrusion, I will be happy to join you while I wait. What news have I to hear, or is it my turn first to share?"

Diana surveyed the clearing again, cataloguing who was present and how they were occupied:

Dodone and Sterope, as senior ocean nymphs and star nymphs, were each supposed to be attended by two lesser members of their order. There was something off in the arrangement, however; perhaps it was simply the informality of their meeting, Diana considered.

One of the Oreads, a senior mountain nymph, seemed unattended as she played a board game against another nymph with berries strung through her hair, (probably a Napaeae of the dells, Diana guessed) the latter frowning in thought at how to achieve a win.

A wide patch of grass had been cleared away nearby, and a dryad with a snake wound around her left bicep labored on her knees in the rich brown dirt, using her magic to speedily grow an herb of some kind, pluck the leaves, plant the seeds, and grow it anew.

Another dryad, associated with a date tree and possessing an Arabic tinge to her features (in so far as such phenotypes could apply to any nymph,) fussed over a sulking water nymph of an indeterminate rank and order. At some whispered words, the bare-chested water nymph lifted her head from where it was pillowed on her arms and grudgingly sucked down a cup of chilled water, blinking bleary eyes.

A cloud nymph who was wearing a colorful scarf with an Indonesian flag over her tunic nudged a neighbor, pointed, and laughed at the grumpy water nymph while snacking on nuts and slices of raw fish with a bald river nymph and a snub-nosed cavern nymph.

On the far side of the clearing, a vibrantly redheaded nymph of an indeterminate order appeared to be spread out, sunbathing on the smooth, sloped surface of a rock, save that she was twitching in odd ways. Diana peered and shifted her position, the better to see.

The slant was angled away from her, and she could mostly only see the nymph's cascade of coppery hair – Diana wondered if she was a lesser member of the Lampades, given its metallic color – spread out from her head over the edge of the boulder.

Curious, she lifted slightly into the air and to one side. Unexpectedly, Diana suffered a rare flash of her inherent insight, and she abruptly Saw The Truth Of The Matter despite lacking the evidence required to draw conclusions.

She blushed, turned her head away sharply to not invade the pair's privacy, and abruptly dropped back down to her seat. She grabbed an unusual fruit for the sake of a distraction, took a large bite, and silently scolded herself as she chewed and bit again.

'Here I thought I'd got all my embarrassment at such types of behavior out of my system; I'm hardly a hormonal teenager anymore. By Aphrodite's dawn-lit eyes, it's been two decades since I've blushed like this. I've run into far more embarrassing situations in the past-,' She bit down once more with a vicious crunch of vindictiveness. '-and not too long ago at that. Why is it this that bothers me, when they are over there instead of right in front of me? …And I've completely ignored the two who offered me hospitality. I should be ashamed of behaving like a child.'

"You still are a child, dear, and you're doing very well in controlling your impulses," commented the dryad in the dirt idly. At some point she had crawled closer on her knees, and begun pushing white berries into the dirt with a finger, intently watching each one disappear underground.

Diana murmured something in thanks, confused at how-

"This is something new from one of the younger Meliae," Dodone explained generously, holding up another example of the purple fruit. "It not only has a bit of natural alcohol content, but it tends to inspire… talkativeness, especially if one brews an extract from the pit. You started muttering aloud after you finished yours off." Diana was startled to realize that her hand was empty – she had eaten it, pit and all.

"You are far from the first person Alcyone has gotten that response from, even unintentionally," Sterope reassured her. "They can be very… distracting," she decided to say, speaking through grit teeth, "to say the least. At least Stilbo is quiet right now; she tends to be rather loud whilst their arrangement is the other way around." The senior star nymph looked slowly between Diana, still silent in mild humiliation at the occurrence, and the couple. "Unless someone objects," she said carefully, "I don't think anyone here would mind if you went over for a few minutes to… get it out of your system." Diana cringed like she was eleven again, and caught reading certain old stories.

"I feel it is not the time, nor should I do that in this place," she declined when her voice was coherent enough. "Also, I prefer such arrangements to be more… permanent than that kind of quick liaison." Both her seniors nodded in acceptance.

"I could have Plataia go throw water on them, and have the two move it elsewhere, if you are uncomfortable," Dodone offered.

"I would… rather not intrude on their activities in any way," Diana finally decided, mustering the discipline to behave as the warrior and woman she was, rather than a blushing child. "I apologize for my rudeness in ignoring you."

"I take no offense at it, Lady Diana. But I would love to hear what you know of recent activities across the world; we know generally what occurred, but the magic involved is proving potent enough to cloud ordinary investigations," Sterope stated.

Diana relaxed – reports and debriefings she could do. "A group of four powerful sorcerers, led by a fifth member, Klarion the-,"

"A Lord of Chaos cast a spell dividing the world by age, until the Lord of Order Nabu led a force against them. I know they were involved, but the identity of Nabu's allies are… unclear," the dryad in the dirt interrupted, frowning at a three-tongued leaf as it sprouted up.

"That… members of the Justice League have a number of junior partners… apprentices learning the trade," Diana phrased carefully, unnerved by the interruption. Dodone and Sterope seemed undisturbed, ("they stayed turbed," Robin's voice insisted in her head,) so it clearly wasn't a beach of etiquette, but it was a bit unusual for any nymph to be so interested in such events, or so well-informed.

"The Dark Knight has his squire, Rao's Last Son was cloned, the children who speak back the words of the book, that lovely little boy who reached the Speed force despite his age… I'm aware of them in general, yes, but who was wearing the Helmet? Not the current host, who wore it at the beginning? Everything is so distorted in that area, I haven't had time to untangle all the information, much less ask him."

"It was Renka. Ferris, Superman's recent… associate," Diana admitted after a pause. The snake that was wrapped around the tree-nymph's arm looked at her with dark, and it flicked out its tongue with a little hiss. The dryad tapped its head like a little slap.

"Behave, Yor, and help me out with this. I've got the roots, but the veins and xylem keep messing up my chemical mix, and I need it to progress through the right stages if I want this to work on its own," she chided absently. The snake flicked its tongue again, and turned its head, stretching farther than it should have been able to nearly touch the ground. "Excellent," she hissed, digging her scarlet fingernails into the dirt. There was another obscure shifting of power, but Diana only stared at the synthetic colored painted on the dryad's hands.

She had seen oddities of clothing and – especially on nymphs of the Asteriae and Lampades – jewelry before, not to mention diverse and unnatural shades of color in hair, skin, and eyes, but this was the first time she'd encountered that particular fashion choice on a nymph.

Looking closer, Diana suddenly became more certain that this was not a dryad, nor any nymph at all.

"I don't believe we've been introduced," she said carefully. "I am Diana, crown princess of Themyscira, and Wonder Woman of the Amazons. Who are you, and from where have you arrived?" She gripped her Lasso and focused, attempting to peer into and see her target's true nature through the past. She had only succeeded a few times in the past, but here on her home ground she was at her strongest.

In her mind's eye, an expanse of red soil spread out, dead, before her. People spoke in an ethereal space at once above, beyond, beneath, and behind it, examining caverns of worms and glowing moss. The other was disgruntled, while she offered patient approval…

"Mars? I was unaware they had dryads on Mars; I'll have to ask J'onn more about his myths… though, if he brought a Martian ship, he may have brought Martian plants, and you arrived with them," Diana realized, and bowed. "I apologize for the intrusion, honored guest."

"If I'd not wanted you to try, I would have stopped you, dear, so don't worry. It is," she murmured a little, with a pause of effort as leaves sprouted, "quite amusing to see you trying so hard and reaching beyond your limits. I wonder if you haven't tried too hard, of late."

The snake around her arm hissed, flicking out its tongue to faintly lick the leaves as they grew, and that seemed to perk them up.

"I've never seen that plant before, is it one from Mars?" Diana asked politely, letting the otherworldly guest work.

The Martian nymph tittered drily. "Call it Ma'al, won't you? That's a more proper name, and as much as Ares tries, he hasn't much of a hold there at all. I suppose letting them have those naming conventions when they discovered the other planets was a bit much… big heads and all are all around." She spoke absently, seemingly on automatic, as she grew and regrew the unknown herb. "No, this is a gift for Pyroeis.

"You're right, I have just come from Ma'al; I went to see him and confirm that he's moving his interests out of the system. He's welcome to take it with him, though I made clear that it's not to touch that red soil, on pain on sufferance, but I need to alter it so that it will work unaided…."

"A plant to be grown outside the Solar System?" Diana wondered. "You've been to see someone on Mars? On Ma'al," she corrected.

"Still," the dryad murmured, leaning back on her heels and surveying her work with some pride, "I've got time enough before he's ready to go, he was just confirming and clearing his intentions with me. I didn't really need to work on it immediately, but what I have found out suggested it would prove immediately important. But look at the time!" She gave a little, affected laugh.

"The time?" Diana murmured, confused, though the strange-yet-familiar female continued on.

"It's not usually like me to blather on like this, especially after you've come all this way. Talking to myself, or anyone else with ears, it's an old nervous habit, dear, and there's so much going on I need to keep track of in the more recent years. I'm keeping watch in more directions than Argus had eyes, and I've not enough hands to take notes."

"It's quite alright," Diana forgave easily, "I've nothing to do but wait until my mother arrives to talk." She turned her head, lips pursed idly. "Though I am wondering if I should have flown to the palace; were events on Themyscira much upset by the event?"

"Oh, dear." Diana turned back to the Martian nymph, just in time for the 'alien' to look back down at the herb. "Now I really am sorry to have kept you here; you're a wreck, little one, and you haven't even noticed. Pleased as I am to see you growing so quickly," she said, stroking the strange leaves, "you might have exceeded your limits a little too far.

"It's primarily my fault, I suppose; I meant to see you taught a bit more long before, but the turn of the century was such a chaotic time, with the expiration of the old guard, and the arrival of all the new, and then everyone who started moving did so all at once… I haven't been handling the new stress as best I'm able, it seems. I'm frightfully out of practice for some of this," she admitted.

"I… am not sure I understand what you mean," Diana said slowly, suddenly feeling very worried as she tried and failed to put all the pieces together. The woman was from Mars – or at least she had returned to Earth from there recently, Diana recalled – but the woman's unexpected judgment of her activities, positive though it may have been, made little sense to her. "I've exceeded my limits?" she asked first.

"Usually you've relied on the inherent attributes of your mantle, nothing complex, and made the most use of your physical abilities to fight." She carefully plucked some leaves from the growing bush. "You were more than ready to do more the last time we spoke, but you were otherwise occupied and didn't seem interested, so I decided either life would push the matter on, or you would achieve what you needed to as you were.

"Then I got preoccupied with it all, everyone started moving… your Justice League is convenient in some ways, but so odd to keep track of. It's rather embarrassing to ask this of you, Diana, but whatever occurred was important, and I'd rather not inquire with Nabu yet."

"I… think we are suffering an error in communication," Diana said slowly. "I don't recall us meeting, yet you say we've spoken before, and you had some plan-? 'Exceeding my limits,' are you referring to the practices I've had with Wes- with Sandman?"

"Is that who-?" Diana was stunned when the other woman pulled out, of all things, what appeared to be a cellphone and tapped the screen. "Ah yes, Wesley Dodds, I was rather excited that one of mine was so in tune with an Endless, even if the circumstances were… well…."

"You know-? I'm sorry, who are you? I came here because my mother asked to speak with me. Or was Eudespa wrong? Lying?"

The woman rubbed the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Nnnoo… not lying, just annoyingly vague I suppose. How awkward."

"Then-?"

Before Diana could finish asking a question, the woman with the snake about her arm stood and turned for the first time to look in her eyes.

"No dear, I wanted to speak with you."

The weight of GAEA's gaze drove Diana to the ground.

Gasping for breath as her head swam after that one moment of infinite, green eye contact, she clutched helplessly at the grass on her hands and knees, feeling her face break out in a cold sweat. The world wobbled and spun. A finger touched the underside of her chin.

{Be improved upon again}​

And suddenly, everything was all right again, or almost. The world was stationary, her limbs were strong, her mind was sharp-

"Oh," she said, looking up at the goddess who had given her life; who would technically qualify as her birth mother. "There were a lot of clues and cues that I missed, weren't there?" She felt much like a little girl brought in front of Hippolyta again: embarrassed, but entirely safe.

"I've at least a little bit of fault on my own," Gaia disagreed. "I'm not usually one to patch people up like this – you'll need to learn to do it on your own, it'll make you stronger – but I have been ever so neglectful. It's been such a busy time, and now that I look at you, you've exceeded my expectations, bearing up under all the stressors as you have. The Amazons have an excellent champion in you, Diana."

"Thank you, mother." It wasn't the first time they had spoken, or the first time Diana had referred to the primordial goddess as her mother, but the application of the title still struck her as appropriately special. Gaia smiled faintly, but didn't let Diana pull away yet.

"Stay a moment longer; I've let you get somewhat battered, and I want it fixed properly before you go. In the meanwhile, tell me about what has occurred in the past year." Obligingly, as Gaia did something she could not quite comprehend, Diana began to absently speak.

Exactly what she had, after the conversation ended, she couldn't quite recall. She remembered the slices of various fruits Gaia had slipped between her teeth in between each question, and the cool taste of clear water, but what remained of the words were only snippets:

"…Really human, I mean, genetically, not just in appearance? The model is certainly popular enough, but she passes a blood test?"
"…mixing the chemicals in with those plants was such an interesting idea of theirs. Not a stable one, no, but animating the trees…"
"…her language? And also emotional bonds, she…"
"…traveling down to the Underworld. There is a gate there to the realm of dreams I suppose…"
"…speaking isn't always terribly useful. Simple, but it is limited by the language and the…"
"Little Donna had a breakthrough too? It's good to know she's coming along…"
"…troubles with the heir in Atlantis? Well, he'll have to handle it or else someone else…"
"…here, take this and stick it under the girl's tongue. It should have the desired effect and bring her…"
"…they want to settle where? Well enough in theory, but the robots' nerve! Just thinking about… oh, the bitch is lucky I can't do some…"
"If you need me, I'll get to you in a day or two, dear, so don't be shy. Keep watch over what happens so I can hear the True Story when…"

By the time Diana finally woke up in her bed in DC, she was no longer certain the entire series of events had even happened. She felt far better than when she had went to sleep, though, and on the bedside dresser were the leaves of the odd herb she had seen grown, so she knew.