- Location
- Internet, The
…How devious. I thought it was serious and kept thinking about the consequences of a new villainous ruler.
Life Ore Death - DC Feruchemy [Young Justice]
- Thread starter Obloquy
- Start date
- Crossover
- Location
- Leeds
Robin probably has a word for that.
elenchus
leftism is quantifiable
- Location
- Texas ;_;
- Pronouns
- She/Her
They all have a bit too much derstanding, I think.
Snowstorm of the Century - part 8
Obloquy
CrossMyHeart And HopeToDie, StickANeedleInMyEye
- Location
- the Physical Realm
Life Ore Death
* November 13 [Overview]"You what?" squawked one twanging voice.
"Bullshit," another called immediately.
"Scout's honor," Wally swore easily, and then, when it was clear his audience remained unconvinced, he added, "Oh come on, is that really the part of my story you have trouble believing?"
"Ah can't believe you're still breathing, if you really tried that."
"I can believe you fought off a dozen thugs, sure. I can believe you out-smarted an inbred idiot. I can believe you rushed through four time zones to deliver a heart and sweep a pre-teen princess off her feet-,"
"Wait," Wally interjected, "you really believe me about the thugs? 'Cause that was the thing everyone else had a hard time with-,"
"Aw, what's a dozen or two against a guy like you? Ah bet it's a piece a' cake."
"…Yeah, what she said. I mean, I could probably take you, and I've beat those numbers before, so sure. Why, was it a lie?"
"Actually, it was closer to twenty," Wally amended. "But seriously, Flash himself didn't believe me when I called it almost two dozen until he counted the guys in the cops' cars! I just had to start shortening it cause only three people let me be when I said the real number."
"What, did he never give you lessons on an after-action report?" was the scoffed reply.
Wally shrugged semi-helplessly, because it was a point. "Ehhh… that was more Batman, really. Flash isn't much for formal, y'know."
"Ah couldn't really tell, naw. Ah just can't believe you did that one part 'cause you're breathing; that ain't happening f'it was true."
"Exactly. This is Vandal Savage. Evidence or it didn't happen. Witnesses? Any of the cops still alive to tell the tale?"
"All of them," Wally confirmed. "I'm pretty sure he was just messing with them to distract me. Seems pretty clear in hindsight, really. I mean-," He combed a hand through his hair, suavely. "-I knew at the time, too, but I still needed to buy time for them to get away."
"Huh. So they lived, but they were all too far away to see your supposed final 'fuck you' coup de grâce," was the amused summary.
"Well as a matter of fact," Wally answered, and smugly produced a picture. Throats choked, and jaws dropped.
"Ah… Ah gotta be dreaming. Izzat for real? No way…."
"White with red hearts," was the flat, stupefied reply. "It's real. Vandal Savage, wearing white with red hearts. It's for fucking real."
"None of the cops were there to see, you see," Wally bragged, sitting back to bask in their subdued shock, "but cop cars all have cameras nowadays, and a friend who heard the story snagged me some footage. Rob totally laughed himself sick when he saw."
"Ah can't…" The speaker cut off, face gone drawn and white.
"Vandal Savage. Vandal Savage." The words were beginning to sound just a touch stressed to Wally's ears.
"None other," he gloated. "I brought the police reports about how many mooks were in the basement as well, if you want to see?"
"White boxers, red hearts. Vandal. Fucking. Savage."
"Yyeessss," he drew out warily, wondering if there was a problem. "I, um, I take it this is a big thing?" Both nodded seriously.
"You pants'd. Vandal. Mother. Fucking. Savage."
"Oooooohh, boooyyyy…" the other drawled in a nervous twang. "Ah just- it's really…"
"I mean-," Wally began, but he was cut off.
"He. He… He… Hee… Heehihihihihahahahahah-!" A gasp for breath, and then, "AhahahahaahahahahaahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-!" Scandal howled, until she promptly fell out of her chair from laughter and kept going. "AHEEEHAHAHAHA- HEEHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH…"
"Eh-?" Wally glanced uncertainly back and forth between the overcome young woman and her gaping partner. "Is she… alright?"
"Ah dunno," Knockout admitted uncertainly, her accent becoming more and more prominent with anxiety. "Ah sure wasn't gonna guess she'd do- Eh, you know, Ah've never seen her like this before." She twirled a stand of her red hair awkwardly, as her lover laughed.
"Hiii- Heh-hahahahaha! AAAHAHahahahahahaHAHAHAHA!" Scandal continued to howl, writhing in hilarious spasms, with literal tears streaming from her eyes. One of her feet was still caught on the chair's seat; she almost knocked it over as she shook. "AHahAhahAHa-!"
A man who'd never met Joker might have said something 'smart' about Smilex. Wally knew better, so he let her laugh it out.
"You sure she doesn't need any help?" he asked Knockout, half-standing uncertainly. They had monopolized their fellow diners' attention, and a hotel waiter was hurrying over. "I mean-?"
"You know, Ah think Ah ain't sure about nothing, all of a sudden," Knockout muttered, twitching to reach out toward her partner.
"HaaaaaaahhhWAHAHAHAHAH—AHAHAhahahahaha—! HEEHAHAHAHAhahAhahaHahahAHAhAHahahaha—haAHahaHa!"
"Is… is everything alright?" the nervous waiter asked, trying not to stare as Scandal's throes twisted her clothes into disarray.
"I have no clue," Wally admitted, sharing an uncertain stare with Knockout. The redhead could only shrug back at him.
"HAHAhahah! AHAAAaahahahhahahAhahAhaHAAaaa…! Aha-! Hah, aha, a-aha…!" Scandal heaved, her breath running out. "Haah. Haah. Haaaahh…" She shook slightly, her breath heaving, looking quite dishabille for a wet work agent as she lay gasping. "I… Haahh…."
"Um, need a hand?" Wally offered. Flushed and not quite breathless, Scandal giggled some more as he pulled her up.
"Ah thought Ah was the only one allowed to make you make those noises," Knockout whined weakly.
Scandal giggled again and pressed a kiss to her partner's cheek. "I think this is what they called 'going horribly right,' dearest," she simpered. "Can we have a look at the desert menu please?" she added to the mystified waiter, still smirking. The man jumped at his chance to get away.
"I'd ask if it was an inside joke, except Knockout doesn't seem to think it's funny," Wally observed nervously. Scandal laughed again.
"The details are top secret, but… well, we have history with Vandal Savage, old fights, and she's more than a little scared of him." Wally consid-ered, in light of the many questions he'd asked earlier about Apokolips on Renka's behalf, what it said that the former Fury was scared.
"Of course Ah'm scared of him, he-," Knockout hissed, then cut off suddenly, looking uncertainly at Wally.
He raised his hands agreeably. "Right, right, state secrets, I get it," he assured her. It was just a part of the hero life to get used to.
"Yeah. So she's scared about him coming down hard on anyone who finds out about this secret shame," Scandal chuckled. "Me? I'm thrilled. Ecstatic. Might not want to murder him anymore, but I'll admit I sure as hell tried once upon a time in a darker part of my life, and this?" She held up the incriminating image of Vandal Savage, revealed to wear white boxers with a pattern of red hearts. "This is years of therapy. This is sweet vindication against a decade-old grudge. This is a revelation about a lot of things that has totally flipped my opinion of you, Hot Stuff."
"Ah, thanks?" Wally hazarded. She didn't know his name, and she didn't want to call him Kid Flash, so she'd been using various descriptor and euphemisms all night. 'Hot Stuff' was the first complimentary one, as opposed to Freckles or Yellow. Scandal rolled her eyes and took a drink.
"I mean I'm in, thickhead. I approve. I'm interested, not ambivalent anymore. Our meeting'll end over breakfast, if you want it to."
She took another long sip as Wally choked; Scandal had refused quite firmly, before. A smug, playful smile graced Scandal's lips at his reaction.
"Iiiiuhbuhbwah? I mean… I thought I said-," Scandal fluttered her fingers at him to shut up; Knockout stayed oddly withdrawn.
"Yes, you started off dinner saying you were here to talk about New God stuff and Apokolips-," She nodded to the notebook where he'd written down their answers to his and Renka's questions, balanced on the side of the table. "-saying you were flattered but it was just going to be dinner – I wasn't into the idea with you, either, so good – and all this sappy, touchy-feely stuff about trust, intimacy and emotion versus fun."
Knockout muttered something about sappy-mumble-mumbled, and Scandal combed her fingers through Kay's hair comfortingly.
"What I'm saying now is: I'm interested. If you want it-," she broke of as the uncertain waiter showed back up, plucking the small dessert menu out of his hands as her free hand produced a few folded bills. "Check please," she chirped, which Wally just thought was weird, "aaaand a whole Boston crème pie in a to go box. This is for the bill, and here's your tip for the tricky order." She passed some money over.
The waiter blinked in confusion at the bills before his eyebrows shot up at the amount. Wally had planned to go Dutch on dinner, especially since he ordered multiple entrees – albeit still being more restrained than if he really wanted to pig out – but Scandal waved him off firmly.
"It… might take a few minutes for me to arrange that, ma'am," the waiter informed her.
"That's fine. We're in a room on the second floor, so just put it on a platter we can take up or whatever," Scandal dismissed. He hustled off and she turned her full attention back to Wally, save for the fingers she had twining through Knockout's hair. "You look shocked."
"Um, yeah, this is a pretty sudden about-face by you. I wasn't even sure you liked guys, were humoring Kay, or what?" he admitted, not quite on-balance enough to address the rest of what they would be talking about." Scandal scratched behind Knockout's ear, who purred.
"Right, well, since I made a scene, here's the short story," Scandal summarized, chuckling cheerfully. "I wasn't assaulted, but I've had a few bad experiences with guys who need stabbing, and Vandal Savage is… responsible for a lot of that shit in my life. We've got grudges out the wazoo between us, and one end result is how I really despise his cocky, arrogant, suave asshole kind of guy. I'd written you off as that type.
"This-," She flourished the picture for him again, then re-examined it with a faint smile. "-points to the contrary. I cannot explain how big a deal this is to me, and I'd love to keep it. And any other copies." Wally expected more, and waited a second before he didn't get it.
"Oh, I, uh- yeah, and I have some other copies," he babbled at her curious eyes, fumbling for the other photos in the folder.
"Excellent," Scandal purred, not yet moving to take them. "My point is this: I'm not in love with you, this is not a reward for a job well done where the hero gets the girl, and I'm not looking for anything in exchange. The full truth is, I want bragging rights. Despite flopping when you try to play it cool, Green Eyes, you're a genuinely good guy with some wild accomplishments under your belt, and I appreciate that.
"As such, in light of what I've learned, I think you should go for the tri-fucking-fecta of accomplishments," she concluded. "Kay's offer remains open. Kay, I want you to stay here and wait for them to bring out the cake, then take it up to our room," Scandal instructed, eliciting a light whine as she pulled her hand away.
"Scan-," Knockout almost complained, only to cut off with a shrug at Scandal's nod.
"Meanwhile, I am going to run out to the store for ice cream and some caramel sauce. You," she informed Wally, "might want to run that back to your base-," She waved at Renka's borrowed notebook. "-and it's up to you about returning to us or not. We're staying in two-thirteen. First one back gets first shot at the shower," she invited. With that, Scandal rose up blew a kiss, and swept off, out of the hotel restaurant.
Wally's mouth moved silently for a moment he stared after her. Finally, he turned to look curiously at Knockout, who was pouting.
"Wh-what just happened?" he asked. The New Goddess rolled her eyes at him.
"If ya don't even know that, Ah don't know what you came here for in the firs' place," she said to him. Wally just stared blankly, until she blew a bang out of her eyes. "Well? Are ya going or not?" Shaking his confusion off, Wally stood up and whooshed out of the restaurant.
Well at least Wally will be a little less horn dogish after this.
- Location
- Leeds
Will this be migrating to questionable questing for the next update?
Snowstorm of the Century - part 9
Obloquy
CrossMyHeart And HopeToDie, StickANeedleInMyEye
- Location
- the Physical Realm
Life Ore Death
* November 14 [Renka PoV]It was nearing the noontime end of Kaldur's shift as my guard when Wally returned to visit me. I had spent the past few hours performing makeshift physical therapy for my fingers, as I varied between typing and writing notes on the Greek myths Kaldur read to me, which he supplemented with on what Atlantean lore agreed or argued otherwise.
It was a tedious ache to my fingers, and I rotated between typing with both hands and forcing myself to write with each, but at the same time I found it quite relaxing. My ears and my ideas and nothing I needed to act on; injury was an acceptable excuse for indulgence.
'In moderation, at least.'
"Hey Renka, hey Kaldur," Wally greeted.
"Good morning, my friend."
"Good morning," I seconded, finishing my sentence on Hephaestus and Aphrodite. "Thank you for your notes," I added.
Kaldur did not take the bait and ask, although Wally did squirm slightly.
"My pl- uh… you're welcome. No problem," he said instead. "Hey, Kal, could I talk to Renka alone for a sec?"
I nodded when he looked to me for approval.
"Very well, I will depart."
"Oh, don't go anywhere, I wanna talk with you next," Wally blurted. "Uh, I mean, I'm not trying to kick you out Kal, or-,"
"I understand," Kaldur insisted with a slight smile. The door hissed shut behind him.
"Mm. Apokolips sounds unhappy like Scadrial, in the Final Empire," I commented, picking up the notebook he'd borrowed to ask my questions. "The Superman also gave to me information from the Forever People about New Genesis, and it is good there is an opposite."
"I… yeah," he said uncertainly, which was why I'd brought up this topic and was idly flipping through my pages instead of looking at him and asking the questions he was expecting to talk about. He took a deep breath, but choked. "So…."
"A needle pulling thread," I chimed in cheerfully, remembering the movie song where those were lyrics. Upon her realization in mid-October of exactly how many cultural common denominators M'gann, Conner, Kaldur, and I were inexperienced with, Zee had cheerfully set up a list of 'everyone knows them' movie experiences which we had started working through on the nights when Robin, Wally, Artemis, and recently Jericho would not be in the Mountain, to avoid boring them with reruns. My comment at least made Wally laugh.
"Yeah, but I just think it's sad that the songwriter couldn't come up with anything better than, 'La, a note to follow So,'" he observed. I raised an eyebrow. "Like, maybe, 'La, the land that lives in dreams.' …Since, you know, when I looked up 'La' I got La-la land as my first hit."
"Maybe it is the… bad caused by," I managed, not remembering the English term for 'fault,' "the person who named music notes."
"Yeah, that's a legit point," he acknowledged. He coughed into his fist. "Um. Are we going to talk about this?"
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Your parents called this morning about you, maybe one hour in past. I told to them, 'Wally is in Happy Harbor town but will return I think soon.' You may need to decide on a story, if you are to afraid to talk to them about 'this,' the open truth."
"I…" He winced at the bit of disdain I dribbled into my words, no doubt remembering the ways he was violating my opinions on this matter. "Well, when you put it like that, I'm thinking about telling them about everything, yeah. I mean, they're my parents, they love me, and I do want to talk about it with someone – not just bragging, like, that's not what I wanna talk to Kal about at all, either – but I'm still…" He trailed off with a goofy grin. "I'm still riding high. And, y'know, I can take a hint and say you don't want to talk about it."
I snorted. "That changes with what is 'it'," I observed sharply. "I have told to you the thoughts I think about speaking and maturity."
"Yeah, yeah, I totally got those, and… Okay, even saying that I'm still dancing around them. Actually," he said, an odd expression flickering over his face, "I want to talk to you more about something else only related, and it helps if you disapprove enough to tell me the total, brutal truth." I raised my face to look him in the eyes, and motioned my hand in Earth's keep-talking gesture. He hesitated.
I sighed. "Wally, I will happily give you any advice about anything, even if you do not take my advice, because many times I do not take my advice either if it wants to Ruin something good." He twitched. "However, if you are afraid to ask my advice, I feel small insulted."
"Right! Okay, sorry," he apologized. "So, um… Does it make me a total creep if I kinda want to ask out Artemis?" I thought the matter over. My initial instinct was no, but I paused to run everything through my head again through the lens of Earth's cultural norms, insofar as I understood them, and Wally took it as a bad sign. "I mean, I'm not thinking I just want to score with her, I swear, we work together, we've had some nice talks, she's pretty cute and with a wicked sense of humor plus you gotta respect all the shit she's had to live through. Um…."
"If Artemis does yes like you, there is no reason she likes you less today then… than… mm, less today as compared to a week in the past," I acknowledged carefully. "No reason for not like you she knows right now. However," I warned, "Zatanna was right when she told to Artemis the warning, 'secrets do not stay buried,' and words are correct to you to. I will not break your trust, but Robin and the Batman are good-skilled detectives, and I think Artemis has detective training as well. Be a… what is the word? Think of the very bad happens?"
"Pessimistic? Prepare for the worst," Wally suggested.
"Thank you." I coughed slightly, and an ache stabbed through my neck from an incision the medical staff used to excise rotting flesh.
"Okay, you're saying… well, the worst isn't just that Artemis would find out, but also that she would hate me for it, and I should expect that… I don't think you're telling me to not even bother though; that's not your style. 'It is often good worthy to try,' right?"
I coughed a little more and twisted my neck to re-settle the twinge. "Yes," I rasped, and Wally quickly brought a glass of water to my mouth. Three sips later, I felt much better. "Thank you. Yes, you said is two worst things. Think that Artemis will find out. When she learns, how she learns, why she learns, and the person from she learns will change how she is or is not upset about it. The worst of Artemis learning at a bad time, in a bad way, will lead to the next also worst of Artemis…" I trailed off with a gesture intended to encompass his imaginings.
"Right. So you think I should tell her."
"Mm. You should decide if you want to tell to her, and what to do if someone else tells to her. Tell and told, same word?" I checked.
"Yup: tell, tells, telling, told, same verb," he confirmed.
"Tell to her and told her, or no 'to' in between?"
"Usually it's just tell a person, told someone, that stuff. You can say words to a person, or you just tell people what you say."
"Thank you."
"No problem. Uh, you still didn't answer my question. Am I, like, a total stereotypical scumbag guy for thinking about this?"
I sighed again. "Often I think 'stereo-typical' is stupid," I told him. "If you worry about it, worry is good. Think what the bad stereo-typical do action is, and do not do the bad thing. If you would not ask Artemis to date after she says she wants… 'to wait for marriage,' is the words, I think, then that is bad. I think you are not think about this much. If you like and respect Artemis, it is good, I think." I nodded.
"Okay," he said slowly, "but what abou-,"
The door hissed open, and the Batman entered.
"Kid Flash," the Batman acknowledged. He did not say anything about why Wally was here instead of Kaldur. He did not speak to contribute on our talk. He did not inquire about why Wally had cut off. The Dark Knight simply stepped to the far corner and stood watch.
"ouuuut- nevermind," he muttered quickly. "Um, Renka, I'll see you later?"
"I am likely to not go to anywhere," I cheerfully retaliated.
"Uh, yeah, um, getwellsoon," he repeated for the fifth time so far, and raced out of the room. I hummed, and I turned to the Batman.
"Thank you for being my guard," I said to him.
"There are also matters I wished to discuss with you," he stated, stepping over to the side of the bed.
"Mm." I had asked the Superman when he first guarded me after Wally's birthday to tell the Batman that I wished to privately speak with him about some recent questions I had. "Yes, but you did not have to volunteer to guard for three hours. I know you often are busy."
"I have matters to discuss with you," he repeated flatly.
"Mm. Very well then, you first," I offered.
"Your questions will be finished with faster," he replied. I nodded to accept this assertion.
"Thank you." I was in no mood for what Kaldur'ahm had called the Good Manners Game, so I began. "I want to discuss the reasons for Wally to deliver the donor heart. You addressed many of them, but I think I still do not understand. If I ever need to make the decision like that, I want to know more. So, because the last ice fortress did not be stopped before Kid Flash, would you make the same decision? Was the weather so horrible the bio-ship could not work? Knowing the scenario," I pronounced carefully, "would you make the same decision?"
"Yes," the Batman said flatly. "Questioning decisions that were flawed is common sense to improve upon them. Question decisions that were proven entirely correct is an unproductive waste of time," he reprimanded.
"Nothing is perfect," I snapped, my words echoing out with some power.
{You Can Always Fail}
"Do not attempt to intimidate me with your abilities. Especially powers you do not fully understand." He offered no other reaction.
'Which is in itself a reaction,' I noted with a conciliatory nod. "I apologize. I am questioning because I wish to understand why. It is not the decision I would have made, and because it works I now wondering if my own decision would have also worked, or failed. If I ever make this similar to this decision, I want it to succeed, so I wish to understand how you decided to send Kid Flash."
"…An understandable ambition," he acknowledged, "if frustrating for those who must educate you." I twisted a half-smile at him. "Variables you were not considering – ones which I did not elaborate upon at the time – include the possibility that the ice fortresses or other aircraft concealed in the storm might be capable of tracking and attacking courier aircraft. We only were able to locate the fortresses through the weather conditions because of their size, the energy signatures required to produce effects of that magnitude, and our use of satellite imagery to track unnatural patterns in the unusual weather system. I imagine you are not yet familiar with the technology involved."
"No, but now I am more and can become more. Thank you. I also wish to enquire about back-up plans." The Batman said nothing to my prompt, so I accepted it as his signal to continue. "Vandal Savage did attack to distract Kid Flash, and it very nearly worked if I had not yelled at him. I have no knowledge why Vandal Savage attacked, and I have no knowledge why or whether another person would or not."
"To prevent the route from being trapped in advance, while there was time to inform the various local forces of the operation a few hours in advance, the exact route was not sent to any of them until weather conditions had already made it too difficult for large numbers of opposing forces to find and travel to the location in time. Additionally, the presence of the national and state guards along the route provided fighting power to repel any undermanned attack force. Even with Vandal Savage's considerable strength and experience, he would likely have been injured or killed were it not for his regeneration. Enhanced toughness is common among the empowered, but not very common. In other circumstances, sending out multiple teams to clear false routes would be available, but the severity prohibited unnecessary work."
"Mm." I decided not to dance around other subjects. "I am, I think, impressed that you know my mind enough to predict I would want to use the computer you provided recently and taught me to use as support for Kid Flash with my friends; I was your back-up for if he was distracted, yes? I thought I had decided to do it on my own, but the timing is too close. In the future, you can ask me. I almost did nap."
The Batman… did not deny it. "You are too accustomed to action and too invested in the well-being of the Team to not assist, even while otherwise incapacitated. There was never a doubt that in an emergency, you would use every resource at your disposal on their behalf. The only matter was to arrange things so that you had appropriate access to the resources with which to do so."
"This is true," I acknowledged. "I also know Wally had the first false doctor and the attack in the basement. I suppose… that criminals are too caring about getting away with a crime to lose personal preservation is, I think, lucky for us. From the things Wally said, there were options that he could have destroyed the heart in elevator, or in taking it, I think."
"The container was reinforced to be bulletproof, and well-insulated against shocks. It was sealed with a digital code, which the medical team had access to, but saboteurs would not. The security was heavy enough that materials to break into the container would not have been smuggled in unnoticed," the Batman listed. "Lastly, there were fighting forces and security guards present in case of violence. If Kid Flash had not quickly ended the confrontation on his own merits, he would have had support in short order."
"Mm." I nodded as I thought over that, since it fit with their ability to arrest his attackers in the first place rather than be overrun. "Also, it was Kid Flash's birthday, and you wanted him to be a sole and single hero," I finished. The Batman did not respond. I grinned. "He said to me, 'the best birthday gift I could have been given, was seeing that young girl's smile.' I think he do not know it is done as a present from you, but if I assume it was a part of your wanted to happen, it makes, I think, very much more sense. I am more pessimistic and would have worried he lives with if it would fail, but it did not fail, so I bow to your authority knowing. I am very impressed," I complimented.
The Batman remained silent for a little while longer, his lips tight, but he issued no denial. I sat back to wait for his topic of choice.
"…First, I want to discuss something you said while acting as Doctor Fate, during the division," the Batman began, pulling camera recordings on the hologram function of my laptop. He found the appropriate segment – I suspected he had prearranged this – and hit play.
<"The Wizard chose you for more reasons than you can know, though such will not always be so. Remember that your heart is your own, as are your decisions and will. No matter how you were born, no matter what powers you have or gain, all sentient beings are at heart their own, and belong to none other. Know that it has been a great honor to fight beside you, and a greater pleasure for you to deem Ferris a friend. May you live to turn ninety-nine, and hold your great-granddaughter's eldest son in your arms." >
I considered the suggested implications, and decided not to respond until the Batman confirmed his curiosity on the subject.
"Fate offered a very specific and unusual set of words for this farewell. Were they your choice or Nabu's?"
"Both. We worked together, and the Doctor Fate conveyed both of our respects to the Captain Marvel. If you wish a better answer than that, you will need to ask to me a more specific question, because you know how many secrets are not safe to openly explain."
The Batman touched a section of his belt. I heard the softest beep and I felt – or perhaps I imagined – a flicker of activity in my aura.
'I am going to guess he just disabled all the security cameras in the room,' I assessed, pleased by the precautions.
"My questions proved unproductive earlier, due to Doctor Fate's other preoccupations, but he did confirm that you would be aware of the general details regarding these Century Children. Billy Batson's birth certificate has him listed as being born, if not exactly at midnight, then close enough when accounting for clerical timekeeping errors, on the first of January, in the year two thousand. Upon confirmation that a force or forces unknown appear to be targeting these 'Century Children' I arranged to replace the timestamp with a much later one, as replacing the date entirely without also altering the day he celebrates his birth would be unfeasible unless I informed him."
"You did not ask him to pretend because people would look for him?"
"As you did not see fit to inform him at the time, and as my other source of information on Century Children believes it unwise, I have decided to defer discussing the situation with him until a later date," the Batman stated.
"I not told Billy about this was, I think, more because of the world-wide disaster we needed to be stopped quickly," I observed. "I do not see a reason for to not tell him, yes? Mm… You have another source of information about the Century Children?"
"I knew one of the previous century's… protectors during the final years of his life." I needed a moment to process that revelation.
"That must have been… amazing," I murmured, imagining that experience. "Can I- May I hear to learn about him?" I requested.
"…Another time; that particular information is not pertinent to the subject now." I nodded to accept his words, having learned from our prior interactions and the gossip between Wally and Robin that the Batman tended to fall back on intimidation as a way of controlling conversations, but was rarely genuinely angry when he projected that emotion. "What information do you have?"
I took a moment to compose my thoughts.
Hecatonchires
Just an H-class cyborg with an octopus brain stem
- Location
- The Gong, NSW, Australia
Untwisting Renka's torturous grammar is giving me headaches >_<
PhantasyPen
Big Friendly Doggo
- Location
- Some call it hell, I call it Detroit
I've never heard of the Century Children before, can someone elaborate?
- Location
- latvia
I found a wiki page about them click here to read it.
- Location
- Leeds
So if they haven't been brought up in story before, does Renka know this from knowledge she absorbed from Fate?
Obloquy
CrossMyHeart And HopeToDie, StickANeedleInMyEye
- Location
- the Physical Realm
Yes, which is why her knowledge is also imperfect and iffy.
Nabu recognized Billy as one, and the knowledge washed over to Renka, but he doesn't know too much about them, and she knows less, though she has enough to extrapolate and guess with.
Nabu recognized Billy as one, and the knowledge washed over to Renka, but he doesn't know too much about them, and she knows less, though she has enough to extrapolate and guess with.
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- Location
- Leeds
And Dr Fate said that because Billy would die when the next set of Century Babies will be born.
What about the great grandaughters eldest son. Fate using a strange phrase or was he looking at the future.
That's not correct. There's several who were born in 1900 that survived past 1999.
For some Century Babies, it is a BAD THING if they die before the century is over, so if Fate wasn't certain whether Billy qualified for that or not, he might have meant it that way.
- Location
- texas
I wouldn't worry overmuch about Billy anyway.
He's the Wizard's successor in the comics, the guy who's been around for 9 thousand years.
And he's still running around in the 853rd century in one future.
Hey Oblo, since the Wizard is technically dead, any chance Jebediah of Canaan was a Century Baby?
Obloquy
CrossMyHeart And HopeToDie, StickANeedleInMyEye
- Location
- the Physical Realm
You know, maybe I should have my next side story snippets be about LOD's iteration of the Century Children. Opinions?
He's only 'dead' here in the sense of not having a material anchor to this world at the moment. And his original name wasn't Jebediah of Canaan, though I won't finalize whether or not he ever used that name in this world.
It is a bad thing if any of them die before the end of the century - which is possible, though that rarely happens - but it isn't an "end of the world" event like it could be in the Wildstorm universe.
Fate's comment was basically a "live long and prosper, my friend" moment, though there may have been a bit of foresight mixed in it.
The Wizard Shazam is a Lord of Order like Dr. Fate in this iteration. In point of fact, he's technically higher up the tier/totem pole than Nabu, and significantly older than Nabu's 20,000 years, though neither really has authority over the other.
He's only 'dead' here in the sense of not having a material anchor to this world at the moment. And his original name wasn't Jebediah of Canaan, though I won't finalize whether or not he ever used that name in this world.
His real name - or at least, his original name - is Mamaragan, and he predates the existence of Century Children by a loooong ways. Heck, he predates the existence of human life on Earth, and possibly dinosaur life as well.
Prior to becoming a Lord of Order, he was originally born a New God on the planet New Genesis, and he developed a very orderly mantle as he got more involved in magic until he ended up a Lord of Order.
Prior to becoming a Lord of Order, he was originally born a New God on the planet New Genesis, and he developed a very orderly mantle as he got more involved in magic until he ended up a Lord of Order.
Not in this universe they didn't - any century baby that survived the 1900s died in 1999, much like Elijah Snow was mentioned to.
It is a bad thing if any of them die before the end of the century - which is possible, though that rarely happens - but it isn't an "end of the world" event like it could be in the Wildstorm universe.
Fate's comment was basically a "live long and prosper, my friend" moment, though there may have been a bit of foresight mixed in it.
- Location
- Leeds
When you're so good at your job you ascend to a higher tier of reality.
In other topics, what did Lords of Order and Chaos do when there were just dinos running around. Was it easier/harder without humans who can conceptualise this stuff. Am I vastly underestimating Dinosaurs. Did Meta-Dinosaurs ever create a Justice League of Pangea. Did anyone ever Pterodactyl-Saurus that his name sense sucks?
As Earth-centric as DC (and others) are, they have quite a bit more planets to play with than Earth, many where sentient life predates dinosaurs.
- Location
- Internet, The
If they become relevant, I'd like that very much. Should help those who only read the story and won't see the comments below linking wiki articles.
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Snowstorm of the Century - part 10
Obloquy
CrossMyHeart And HopeToDie, StickANeedleInMyEye
- Location
- the Physical Realm
Life Ore Death
* November 14 [Renka PoV]"The Century Children are… pardon me," I apologized, and took command of the laptop; having both English and Scadrese allowed me to use it as a cross-linguistic dictionary if I handled it a specific way. "The Century Children become a… body's defense for sickness… an immune system for the planet," I conveyed slowly. 'I should remember to bring up "mune" as another word for Robin's list,' I resolved silently.
"By what process? The current calendar of centuries is a relatively new occurrence, and is still not in world-wide use."
"Mm, but it is in most of the world's use, yes?" I observed. "Process… The Century Children are not… are neither only grown, or- nor selected… it… it is complicated. It has future seeing, I think, in part." My knowledge of whom or what selected them was incomplete. "It is not every child born on midnight, so planning for the next century is not success. I think, it is…" Struggling, I looked up the closest word. "Retroactive."
The Batman's eyes narrowed, which I interpreted as a sign of his thought process rather than a sign of his displeasure.
"Retroactive. The force responsible for creating the Century Children is able to foresee, in the future, which children will be influential in the coming century, and then empowers them to do so on its behalf, then."
'That sounds accurate,' I assessed with a slight nod, to avoid aggravating a kink in my neck.
"Billy's pure heart and his decisions are his own. The Wizard Shazam {Strength For The Weak} chose Billy to be the Captain Marvel because he had a pure heart, and maybe because he was also a Century Child. But. He would have a pure heart and maybe be the Captain Marvel, I think, even if he was not a Century Child. He was, I think, chosen as a Century Child because he would be the Captain Marvel with a pure heart, and not… not the reverse. I think. In time future seeing, it is very complicated," I commiserated at the Batman's look.
"Do you know what force or being is responsible for choosing the Century Children? Or is it a natural process?"
"Is there a difference?" I pointed out. "Spiritual Realm, Physical Realm, and Cognitive Realm. We think thoughts about things until they begin to think thoughts about the self. With… philosophy and… psychology, we think thoughts about thoughts until the thoughts begin to think. We think about the world. We think about the time and the century from the seasons and the year. Bee swarm's mind," I tried.
"A hive mind effect, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts."
"A power plus a power equals two powers and an effect," I agreed. "Two plus two is not equal five… but it is more than four."
"You have mentioned that as a phenomenon – a rule, an effect, or an occurrence – in your home dimension. It applies here as well?"
"In usual, or very often," I agreed, not wanting to commit fully to the idea. "Mm. In family, one plus one will equal three, yes?"
The Batman appeared to find this unamusing, as per usual. 'The words amusing and musing, are those more for the list?'
"The Century Children may have like resembling what you refer to as Intent," he assessed, "in connection with the century."
"Mm… I think there is… overlap. Child." I sketched out one circle. "Century." I sketched out another that overlapped it.
"They live for the length of the century, and then they die. Is it possible to kill one prematurely?"
"Yes," I answered immediately. "It is difficult and…" I reached for the best descriptor of how the world itself would react, "unwise, dangerous, but it is possible. However… there are… not guards, not precautions," I murmured distractedly, hunt-and-peck typing to find the right word.
"Consequences," the Batman suggested. "If there is a supernatural force representative of the world itself, I imagine it will not be happy when one of its protectors is harmed. A symbiotic relationship, where both are strengthened."
"Yes, but no," I informed him. "There are also consequences, but before the… attempt, before the attempt to kill there are reactions. It is difficult to do, and mistakes will be made and things will break and not work, and… fortune will work against the attempt to start."
"A series of seemingly coincidental occurrences – several events that seem to be accidents, save that they all happen together – aimed at preventing the murder of a Century Child from being attempted," the Batman summarized, and I nodded. "Is there some form of supernatural espionage system, spying to gain information that there will be an attempt, or can the force responsible read minds, or would it be the same form of future sight as in the selection, alerting the force that an attempt will be made?"
"I do not know. I guess it is most of the future sight, and some spying or mind reading, but it is a guess."
"Why does a force representative of the planet require guards? If it is powerful enough to protect the Century Children, why, to the best of your knowledge, are they necessary to protect it?"
"Mmmm… Please excuse me. Words," I explained briefly, and set to looking up the best terminology I could find. The Batman waited very patiently as tried, largely succeeded, and partly failed to formulate the best explanation. "Please, word for middle travel?"
"Transition."
I shook my head. "Time transition, not space or shape? Life transition?"
"A liminal period," the Batman suggested. I typed it in and perked up.
"Yes, thank you! I do not know, but I will say to think and to guess," I prefaced.
"Extrapolate."
I considered the new word. "I will say things I ex-trap-whole-ate. I will say what I extrapolate, yes. Thank you. The first thing is that the planet force cannot see, or know, or do everything. There are no Century Children on Mars, or on Thanagar, I think, or maybe they are different.
"I do not know. Since this, I extrapolate the planet force maybe cannot see or cannot attack or defend when hurt by another planet. Maybe cannot see the future at all, or maybe see some not well, if it does not see through the Century Children because it has heavily invested the century Children. They are not fighting body guards, maybe, not only fighting Thugs but… Tin-eyes, watch guards."
"Sentries. It can see the future through the Century Children," he suggested, "and needs them to find trouble for it to defend against."
"Yes, I think. Next, I extrapolate the Century Children can go to other planets, and other planes, like the Wonder Woman's Mount Olympus, or the Underworld, or the home of the Fae under the hills, where the planet force cannot go or see without Century Children. Think if, maybe the planet force can only interact with the Physical Realm, but the Century Children can move in the Cognitive Realm also."
"Another viable hypothesis, both on its own or in conjunction with the first one," the Batman assessed.
"Then, I think the planet force does not protect the Century Children all the century time, but only in the liminal period when the Century Children are age children childhood," I finished. It was the hypothesis I was most certain held some truth, because of what I remembered about the lives of the Century Children. "The Century Children now ten years old, yes? They are young children and if they are not all like the Captain Marvel then they cannot self-defend. There are periods, time years while they grow when they are weak and strong."
"It protects them for a few years while they grow into their powers, then they protect it for the remainder of that time. Two more questions: Billy Batson became Captain Marvel at age seven, but what do you believe is the normal time-frame one of them to be active?"
"The time they are chosen until they are born, I think and I extrapolate, but the other time I think I know," I informed him, because that piece of information was very clear. "It is in years, except for liminal periods to transition from one to the next. Powers do not all wake up at once on ninth birthday or sixteenth birthday, but it that- those times are times when powers become safe or possible to begin work."
The Batman's reflectively blank, white eyes appeared to narrow, though the lower half of his face changed very little.
'I would be very interested to learn how difficult it was to design that effect; his face is not expressive enough for it to be an accident.'
"You mentioned the ninth and sixteenth birthdays. Are the other ages four, twenty-five-,"
"And one, yes, it is… Mm, is the square numbers: one times one; two times two; until ten times ten is end the century," I confirmed.
'I only really caught that when I tried to figure out where Billy would be in the stages while preparing my explanation, and the Batman realized it immediately after I hinted at it. Assuming he didn't already know, his mind is very impressive. World's Greatest Detective indeed….'
"The first year of life, the first stage," he calculated, "is measured from birth until the first birthday, if the Century Children die at the end of the tenth stage, after one-hundred years. How exact are the stages? The person I was familiar with died in April, rather than at the new year."
"It is, I think, close to be accurate? Close enough? I extrapolate the you known Century Child died when his… next…."
"When his successor was chosen," the Batman finished darkly.
"Yes. Successor, thank you," I agreed cheerfully, only to sink back at a twinge in my smiling jaw. I worked my mouth for a moment to work it out, and made sure with that reminder to flex and stretch my legs before they began to ache or grow numb. "April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December. This is the time for a baby to grow, yes?"
"If it was born slightly premature; the healthiest births usually occur ten months after the conception date," the Batman said.
"If xe was born slate-lee premature," I corrected, because babies with unknown genders were not inanimate objects.
The Batman grunted. Then, "If you are fastidious enough to correct me about the politically correct pronoun for a hypothetical unborn baby, then are you bothered by the idea that this planetary force would callously kill a loyal guard because he outlived his use?"
"Outlived…?" I thought the question over. "First, I am fast-tidy-us enough to correct you for the sake of all unborn babies," I clarified precisely, because a slur against one member of a group could easily extend into a slur against many or all of them. "Second, you say the planet force killed him like it was murder, but would the Century Children live for the whole century if the force did not keep them alive?
"Humans have lifetimes," I continued, "yes? Many die of old age before the age one hundred, or ninety-nine. We do not know all the methods or rules. If you will tell me if the Century Child you knew, if he knew he was going to die, and if he was upset or afraid or accept?"
"…Barring the decisions of a living will, the law still considers removing someone from or sabotaging their life-support systems to be murder," the Batman informed me. I heard a faint creak like leather as he clenched one fist. I smiled, now wondering again just what was in his past.
"Mm, but you are assume the planet force is able to let the Century Children live more than a century and does not. We do not know the methods, or the reasons, or the rules. My guess with the successor is a guess. Maybe the force will keep the Century Children to live the most time possible, but one century is the most possible time and it cannot Preserve their lives any more with its methods. We do not know."
"Do you, personally, believe that?" the Batman asked directly.
"No, but I believe it is an idea people should and can be able to believe in this idea" I nodded once. "Before you ask, no, I am not made upset about the idea when the Captain Marvel will die at the end of the century. I do not believe he will to becoming upset about it also."
I rolled my shoulders and did my best to twist out a kink in my back, but I couldn't quite get it.
The Batman remained silent, and no words were spoken between us. I let it be.
Remaining silent and waiting for another person to speak into the void was a favorite discussion tactic of mine, and I felt no need to cave when it was used against me. 'Still, it would be foolish to spend the rest of this shift in total silence if I do not nap. I will wait ten minutes.'
I waited. The Batman occasionally, barely shifted his weight or posture to avoid cramping up, but he also did not leave or speak.
I waited. He waited. Time slowly passed us by.
'...Do I want to tell him that I'm only speaking because it is the ten minute mark, or do I want him to think the tactic worked? … Well. Either he is smart enough to figure out the time limit on his own and I do not need to explain, or he is not and he will think to do this again another day.'
"Is there anything more to say about the Century Children, or do we talk about a different subject, or still be silent?" I asked.
"…In what stage of life are the powers of the Century Children likely to manifest: before age nine, age sixteen, or age twenty-five?"
I nodded briskly and reviewed what I thought that I knew. "For the first year of life, the Century Children, I think, are the most protected, next before age four they are still protected, then until age nine they may have the early, weak, and inherent or passive begin from powers. Also from powers together with world. Billy was found by Shazam {Strength For The Weak} when he was seven to become the Captain Marvel, but he joined the Justice League when he was nine years old, less than two years ago, yes?"
"The League voted to invite him in November, Two-Thousand Eight. He was sworn into the League a week before the New Year."
"The Century Child died in April before the New Year," I riposted agreeably. "There are liminal periods in the middle of the stages."
"In between the stages," the Batman corrected me, and paused long enough for me to repeat that and thank him before he continued. "Do you believe either Captain Marvel's inherent powers, or the planetary force that chose him, unduly influenced his entry into the Justice League?"
I considered the matter, and whether my answer might influence the Captain Marvel's removal. I decided to answer honestly.
"I do not know, and I think with future sight and fortune it is possible the planet force to do this idea. I do not believe it is on purpose by the Captain Marvel, and I do not believe it is hurt mental influence. The method, I think, is for future sight to see what actions and events will make the Captain Marvel see good to the Justice League, and prompt him to behave that way."
"Still, in light of the theory that this force cannot influence extra-terrestrials, do you believe it could influence the League?"
"Mm. My question: do you believe it is an accident in fortune," I asked, "that so many heroes begun to become heroes in the year before the new century and the year after the new century? Do you believe it is an accident or an Intent that the Justice League – the most wide-spread, stable, powerful, and successful co-operation of heroes in history – began in the years when the current Century Children were born, weak?"
"You believe the planetary force influenced the formation of the League, and multiple heroes' careers," the Batman… accused?
I was not sure what the Batman thought of the idea, so I elaborated.
"Do you believe it is a co-incidence for the first Century Child with powers to quickly join the Justice League, when the Justice League protects the world? I extrapolate the Captain Marvel will not be the last of the Century Children to join the Justice League."
"Do imagine all of them will approach to join the League?" the Batman asked. I shook my head immediately, and held back a cringe.
I took another moment, which the Batman allowed me, to let my vision stop swimming and the twinges of pain fade away.
"No. The Justice League is good, and useful, and wide, and diverse, and the Justice League has important… resources, but the Justice League also has limits because all things have limits. To have using many options, I extrapolate many of the Century Children will not join."
"How many? Neither Doctor Fate nor the Century Child I knew gave me an exact number for how many of them existed or exist."
"I do not know also," I admitted. "Maybe ten, because ten times ten is one-hundred, and if there are ten decades in a century it is a good place to divide? Maybe twenty-four, because one is born at midnight in each time zone on the New Year's night? I do not know."
"What possible damage could result if one or more of the Century Children began to undertake evil actions?"
'Ooh, that's a tricky question, and very suggestive,' I assessed. 'I suppose the Batman is supposed to be paranoid - I said he should be less optimistic, and it is no surprise he would worry about this - but either he simplified the idea to ask me, or I need to correct a misunderstanding.'
"Big question. What evil actions?" I requested. "Which type out of criminals?"
"Super-villainy. Ra's al Ghul, for instance, preaches the necessity of eliminating human population excess to preserve the natural ecosystem: eco-terrorism. Industrial pollution of the environment is an increasingly large problem in the world, and one far less easily addressed than super-villain activity. A protector of the world may easily potentially agree with this rhetoric."
"I… Maybe this is a small meaning of planet, I think. The Century Children are humans. If it is the planet whole, then all our actions on the surface, the land, the water, the air, all do not alter the inside melting rock inside organs of the planet's body. Why only protect the thin skin?
"I extrapolate the Century Children are protectors of the planet's life," I continued, "and the life on the planet. A protector of the environment would not be a human, I think. I extrapolate an environment protector would be… act of nature. Storms, seas, earthquakes, and volcanoes."
"You believe the planetary force responsible for the Century Children to be a form of collective human unconsciousness," he summarized.
I nodded. "It is the Cognitive Realm ideas. The planet first has living beings, next living beings can think, then the living beings and humans think about the planet and after think thoughts about thinking about the planet. Do you think humans are together and one collective species? Not good or bad, better or worse, but together and equal and important. You have the word: humanity." I nodded again, happily.
"Criminals and evil humans are just as much a part of humanity as all others," he observed. "Is it likely a Century Child will imitate them?"
"Good question. I will not extrapolate the Century children are all good not evil… I admit there are many insane people, but there are many types of insanity, yes? Not all are evil or hateful or violent? Criminals are one of many minorities? All people, almost, believe 'I am a good person,' even if other people do not, yes? I extrapolate the Century Children worries are not good or evil, but opposite kinds of good.
"I have two examples," I continued quickly before the Batman could interrupt. He decided to let me speak. "First are the Knights Radiant, who use magic of another Shard and planet in my home dimension. They are not born with powers, but become to have powers through first the Shard Intent Honor, and a little of the Shard Cultivation. No one is born a Knight Radiant, and anyone can maybe become one, if they say oaths.
"In the Physical Realm live humans, and humans have a presence in the Cognitive Realm. In the Cognitive Realm live the Spren, and spren have a presence in the Physical Realm. There is spren of ideas and are spren of environment, like the wind, the flames, the rot, the anger, the fear, the art making. Many spren are animals in the Cognitive Realm, as many living beings are animals in the Physical Realm.
"Humans are animals and humans think," I continued. "Some spren are true spren can think. Humans and spren make an agreement, and the human swears oaths to the spren to get magic. Break the promise, break the power." I paused my explanation to let this sink in.
"It seems one-sided, when the spren don't gain anything according to your explanation," the Batman informed me. "Your second?"
"The Batman is scary to many people, wearing villain black, fight to break bones and make criminals afraid, but is a hero, yes?" I smiled.
"… I suppose I should have expected that," the Batman admitted; I suspected that he had. "Returning to the first example, I can think of many ways those promises could be… abused. Are the promises decided by each spren, or are they pre-determined?" he asked neutrally.
"Smart. All spren and all Knights Radiant are of Honor, and they are all good, in a way. There are ten… races, or species, or-," I wrinkled my nose at the word but in a way it did apply. "-breeds of true spren. The first promise is always the same, in all ten types of spren and Knights Radiant. Then in each type, the promises are almost all the same, but the ten types have different promises. Different types of good, but all are good. The Windrunner Knights Radiant swear to protect. The Skybreaker Knights swear to follow codes of law and orders. It is possible a Windrunner may have to protect a once criminal from a Skybreaker. It is rare, and it is possible. Both are good, but other good."
Batman nodded briefly, and with my digression explanation complete, he returned us to the original topic of discussion.
"You extrapolate, from what little we know of the Century Children and the theoretical planetary force, that they are unlikely to turn against the world, but in protecting different parts or aspects of it from other forces they may come into conflict. Would you assume a political office is likely to exacerbate this tendency?" I frowned uncertainly at the question. "If one of them were elected to a high political office, would that make conflict of some form more likely? If they need to protect their specific part of the world from outsiders, if they are attacked?"
"I do not think it is Physical Realm and country parts of the world in the century," I said uncertainly. 'The Batman has spoken much more verbosely and in-depth about this subject than I would expect. Even accounting for uncertainty about Billy, it is… I am missing important information. Maybe the Century Child he knew was aware of and informed him of the successor's identity before he died? Or...? Wait. Rusts.'
"I have told people, the Team, and the security cameras about magic and Intent, yes? You know this," I continued slowly as my mind raced ahead in a diverging direction. "The Century Children do not protect different area places, I think. They protect Intent and aspects of it."
'The Batman has been spoken of as paranoid and as the detective investigating secrets of everyone else in the Justice League. If he knows the Captain Marvel's secret identity, I would expect him to also know Billy's age and birthdate. That seems important on Earth, both because they celebrate birthdate anniversaries and because it is listed at the apex of information about people online.'
"One of the Century Children, I think, is tied like a New God aura and mantle to an aspect of the world as an Intent," I said carefully. "I do not know how specific tying is, or how broad, or what they all are. Billy I think has a pure heart even outside of the Century Children choice, but also as a Century Child is… innocence? Pure heart? I do not know Intent. It is possible I misunderstand it all, and there is not Intent."
'The Batman opened this conversation with the video of our words to Billy. If he has known about the Century Children since before the start of this century, form the one whom he knew, then he would have discovered Billy's identity or at least suspected it as soon as he knew the Captain Marvel was Billy, and Billy's birthday I expect is listed on information. The Batman researches important things in-depth as rapidly as he is able, according to rumor; that behavior is supported by commentary from Robin as well.'
'Either the Batman walked into this conversation to ask me a lot of information I would expect him to already have – if he learned about it legitimately, from the previous Century Children – and used the video as a social opening to gage the amount I knew, in which case he has asked me to explain a lot of opinions about which he should already have reliable information….'
'Or, he only recently became aware of the Century Children existing. In the best Rusting case, he knew the term but not what it meant until he may have been alerted by our use of "age ninety-nine" and the memories of the man he knew living until that age.'
'In the worst case - and this is after he already admitted Nabu avoided answering him if he even asked instead of claiming to have done so and coming to me first - I have just revealed a large amount of admittedly unreliable information on a very sensitive subject to someone who now knows enough to fake legitimacy, and has one member of the vulnerable Century Children easily available to influence, observe, or act against.'
"Excuse me, please," I asked of the Batman, trying to control my panicking mind.
'Stop. Rusts! I need to stop. Breathe and calm down. So. If the Batman is secretly evil and acting against the Century Children for an unknown reason we may be in deep trouble, but I am still alive.' I tried to think of some way to leave myself a note in case the Batman wiped my mind afterward, except the Batman had provided the computer and could erase it.
'Any physical mark I left I wouldn't remember why it was important unless I did something drastic like biting off a finger, which would be pointless especially if 1) I really am just overreacting again or 2) the Batman proved able to alter my memories about why it was bit off.'
'The room is sealed, we have no witnesses, and the cameras are off. And I thought him doing that was a good thing! Rusts! I have reached the point where I have revealed a lot, and cannot influence it to prevent a negative outcome at the moment. Best to tear it out immediately.'
"How long have you known the Century Children are on Earth?" I inquired directly. "If it was the Century Child you said to me you knew, he should have told you more and more over what I know. If not, how did you learn, and why do I think- should I think it was a trust able source of information. You speak about expecting to act against the Century Children. If you are against them in future, it is trouble."
The Batman looked slightly taken aback at this, but seemed to earnestly consider it. I wondered how much of it was genuine.
"If you genuinely believed my motivations were intentionally malicious, you wouldn't confront me with them while we were alone."
I narrowed my eyes at the non-answer, sight blurring. 'A dodge and redirection. Batman, really, I use that deflection strategy all the time.'
"I would and I do because it is almost too late. We are alone, I have revealed much, the room is sealed, the cameras are off, and I do not know if you have technology to alter my memories about this talk. I must at least know I do not do bad talking any after more," I stated.
Quiet contemplation hung between us, as he no doubt followed my path of panicking thoughts.
"An understandable conclusion, if pessimistic or paranoid," the Batman assessed. I ignored and assumed I had imagined any hint of a smile that I observed in his reaction. "Given how sensitive this information is," he acknowledged, "having a witness trustworthy enough that I could not manipulate them and that they should know this information seems difficult.
"I will re-activate the cameras and bring back any trusted person you name to continue this conversation, should you so desire," the Batman decided to offer. "Until you have decided, I will inform you of the basics about my source of information." I nodded hesitantly, and he continued. "I knew one of the Century Children in the last years of his life, but he did not inform me about this subject.
"He did, however, inform his adoptive daughter. Whether it was on his request or her own initiative, I do not know, but after the turn of the century she chose to find and protect the new Century Children as best as she was able. Almost immediately after Klarion the Witch Boy separated children and adults, two teenagers attempted to assassinate one of the new generation of Century Children she had identified."
I inhaled sharply. "In a way he would still die when the spell ended?" I checked, flicking through the ideas in my head. The possibility that the Light would want world protectors removed was easily understandable, and I would not be surprised if they knew, but it seemed… unlikely.
"Tied up in ropes and dumped in a lake to drown, where he would return and drown again after the separation ended," the Batman confirmed. "As it happened, the victim escaped them in time – I was not informed whether it was with natural abilities, powers, or assistance from other children in the divide. The timing was too perfect to dismiss as a coincidence when no one should have known about the Century Children.
"She also suspected another attempt had been made, or soon would be made, on another one of the new Century Children, and contacted the Justice League to provide us with this information." I hissed slightly as something slotted into place in my mind.
"Political office," I muttered, reaching for the computer despite my twinges, but slowly. "Mm. Co-incidence she knew you, and you knew her?"
"Unrelated to the subject, but given your speculation about the temporal effects around Century Children, it is uncertain. She was, however, much better informed about what could potentially kill vulnerable Century Children. According to her knowledge, doing so indirectly and inaccurately was the most reliable way to avoid the 'repercussions and interference'. It is simpler to kill one as a result of something else, as an accident, as collateral damage in a wide-spread attack," he listed, "or when as few people involved as possible are aware of the victim's status."
"Hire people who do not know the Century Children exist to kill them," I listed shortly, typing as quickly as my thick, shaky fingers allowed. "Arrange for other people to blindly attack the general area and hope to get lucky on accident. Arrange for a widespread attack where a Century Child is only one of the many victims." I finished putting in my query and ran the online search, returning quick results.
"Arrange to kill for reasons unrelated to the Century Children. Arrange not to kill," I continued to muse/list out loud, "but to delay help, to sabotage, to interfere with assistance and avoid the planetary force's reaction." I loaded the page with my desired information, found confirmation of my assumed conclusion, and snapped my head up to exchange grim gazes with the Batman.
Acknowledgement of my realization was in his brief nod. It still would not be impossible for him to fake, but I was becoming rapidly convinced.
"Bring in Sphere and the Captain Marvel as witnesses," I instructed, because Billy was a Century Child, and because the Batman could not realistically be able to manipulate Sphere without time and experimentation. Or so I had to hope. They were my safest witnesses.
"Interesting choices." The Batman nodded once in agreement, rose, and swept out of the room. I bit my lip and turned over what, if anything, we would need or prepare to do, in light of this new information. I was certain it must be important, but knew not exactly how much.
Brooding, I stared evenly at the line of revelatory text topping the bio on my computer screen: Perdita Vlatava III (1 January 2000 – present)
