I scan for injuries, but he seems to be-.
"That the best you can do?" Deva follows her target, stepping through the frame. "Come on, I'll give you a free swing!"
Well,
she clearly expects him to pop back up just fine...
The-. Ah. The Child of Dawn she just bounced scrambles back to his feet, staring in surprise.
Deva smiles, stretching her neck and cracking her knuckles. "Surprised?
I mean, he'd have plenty of experience with people as strong as himself, so her strength wouldn't be unexpected. I bet her race combined with it was, though.
He turns and leaps, clearing the row of shops opposite and heading for the former slum housing on the outskirts. I wait for Deva to pursue, but she just sags with a quiet grunt. "Great. Another coward!"
Donna takes a step forwards. "Hey… Deva. How's work?"
'Leaping tall buildings in a single bound' away!
I'm guessing he's gone in search of backup, or just has the sense not to unleash a brick-fight in a place like this.
Deva turns her head towards us, narrowing her eyes slightly. Then she appears to decide that we aren't worth her time. "It was looking up, until that punk ran off. Did you know there's no actual war in South America any more?"
I.. frown. "Surely there's enough violence in the drugs trade that you can find employment?"
Hopefully because she's fought you three before, and is well aware you won't give her the fight she wants.
"Those guys used to be my best employers." She looks almost wistfully in the direction the Son of Dawn leapt in. "But it turns out that Hugo Danner is a straight edge. His people's 'take back the jungles' thing includes all the drug plantations, and all the people who used to run them are hiding or dead." She turns back to glowering at me. "And they won't even give me a good fight. But my 'sister' here tells me that you can."
While anything in Euanthe's territory is out of reach. And likely reclaimed long ago.
"Certainly." I look thought the window hole at the diners within. They had moved away from the combat zone, but now that the fight is over they're cautiously returning to their seats. "Is this place still open?"
"Yeah?" She frowns. "Why wouldn't-? Oh, no, stuff like this happens every week. That's why they hired me."
Man, no fucks given, eh? Either the food is really good, or it's really
cheap.
Kon smiles. "Is the food any good?"
She shrugs. "Eh."
Inside the restaurant, the man behind the counter looks up in offence. "Hey!"
Cheap, then. And a clientele who aren't exactly inquisitive.
Deva looks at the window hole as another member of staff comes over with a dustpan and broom and starts sweeping up the glass. "Maybe this time they'll just replace it with shutters. Be cheaper." She then ignores the mess, walking over to the restaurant's door heading inside. "Come on."
Eh, shutters can break too. And they probably use the glass window to help with air conditioning.
I let Donna lead the way as I lead towards Kon. "Did I miss a report?"
"I dunno." He shrugs. "Did you? You knew they took over Brazil."
Well, either they've been expanding, or they've been poking their neighbours.
"Yeah, but I thought they stopped when they hit the remaining coastal cities."
"They mostly did, but you know they think Brazil-. Portuguese society should just get out?" I nod, understanding dawning. "Some of them think it means all of Portuguese society."
Ah. So they're
definitely eyeing up the neighbouring countries.
"And they're hassling restaurants?"
"Some are. I don't think Danner knows about it, but he's just one guy and they tore down the telephone lines."
Honestly, that's not unexpected. Especially if it's a younger generation pushing the boundaries.
Marvellous.
As I walk in Deva sits down, grunting at her… Flattened lunch, some sort of white sauce splattered across the counter. "Hey, Cláudio, more thighs over here."
I'm
hoping that's chicken. Anything bigger would have a different name for the dish.
The chef nods. "And your friends?"
Deva glances at us. "They wouldn't fit in your fryer."
Donna nods. "Thighs are good."
And speaking of pushing boundaries... I get the feeling Deva does that sort of black humour a lot.
Kon and I nod, taking seats with Donna between us and Deva. Given that no one's disturbed about her being here I doubt that she's going to act up, but it looks like Donna's the one who's had most contact with her. Deva leans forward slightly, looking at me.
Probably gauging whether you'd be interesting in bed or in a fight. Regardless of relative ages...
"Donna says you've got a war for me."
"I have a war, certainly."
Calling it
just a war feels like grossly understating it, really.
"Well, don't keep me waiting. How big is it?"
Hm. Well, comparatively…
It'd be hard to find anything bigger. I doubt she cares much about the
reasons.
I look out across the universe, seeking desires relating to mass violence and conquest. There and there and there… It's not surprising how common violent conflict is, not really. But between the ground-in feel of long-running low-intensity conflicts and the brief flares of short-lived wars-
An
interesting way of doing research.
"Hey! What are you looking at?!"
-I think I can say with confidence
that I'm staring at Deva's chest.
A fine chest it is, I'm sure, but Deva
is still in her teens, right? That could be taken
so wrong...
I redirect my eyes upwards. "Sorry, there was a war behind you."
"What?" She frowns, then turns her head around to look at the other side of the restaurant. The people there hunker down slightly. "What are you-" She turns back to me. "-talking about?"
I mean, his eyes were probably glowing like orange beacons. You'd think she'd realise he wasn't looking at
this world.
"I can perceive the desires of any being that has them and doesn't have some very specific protections. I was gazing out across the universe so make sure that I could be honest when I claimed that I have the biggest war currently happening in this galaxy, and I can. Thousands of industrialised worlds on each side, millions of ships and billions of soldiers, sailors and others in various combat roles.
SO I'm sure if she asks really nicely, she can go join in
somewhere.
We estimate that the opening stages, where we press our enemy back from the parts they've recently annexed and start directly threatening places they've fully absorbed and we cement our alliances and go into full war production, will take about four years from start to finish, and we're about a year into it. I have no idea what the total casualty count is but my own minor role has taken me to second place behind Vandal Savage as the biggest killer in human history."
And I imagine those involves quite impressive numbers for single individuals. Probably not in the millions, especially on Savage's part unless you count political factions he's set to war... A man can only swing a sword so fast and so many times before he needs a break.
She looks mildly impressed by the claim. "Really?"
"He's had a lot longer to work on his total. I might overtake him by the end of it, which could be anything from thirty years to a century from now. Interested?"
What Savage has in personal quality, OL can surpass easily in sheer
quantity. And in time taken...
She grins. "Yes."
"Alright. I have a few concerns."
First among them, the risks of friendly fire?
"What, my record? Why would-?"
"No." I shake my head. "Amon Sur was a pirate and Jade Nguyen was a member of the League of Shadows, and they fit in fine. My concern is your ability to work within a rigid structure for a sustained period of time."
"I can't exactly get you a reference. They're all dead. Besides, I thought Lanterns worked on their own."
Feh, I doubt she could
handle a Ring. Neither the amount of desire needed to light it, much less coping with the blowback.
"There, your record is a problem." She sets her jaw. "Orange power rings warp the minds of the people who use them. Plenty of good people with combat experience have episodes and have to be removed from the Corps, and some completely average people manage to cope just fine. Your life to date suggests that subjecting you to overwhelming avarice would be unwise."
ON a scale of OL to Larfleeze, what are we talking? Daffy Duck going 'Mine, mine, mine!' OR are we looking at a tangpocalypse?
"I don't heard Cronus's voice in my head any more. Not since Hephaestaean fixed the gates to Tartarus."
"Was he.. controlling you?"
Probably in the way a choke chain
controls a dog. Negative feedback loops...
"Not exactly, but he could reduce my power if I didn't obey him." She shrugs. "Anyway, his tasks were always great fun." She thinks for a moment, perhaps realising that that isn't the best approach to take. "But I can't hear him any more, and without him… I just want to fight things. If I'm not getting a power ring, what am I doing?"
Maybe a role similar to an Eversor Assassin? Drop her somewhere you want flattened or otherwise emptied of anything alive?
"I think LEGION marines to start with. Go through the training-." She starts to frown. "I know you can fight. How often have you fought with space aged weapons or on a starship? Or as part of a military?" She grudgingly accepts that with a nod. "Go through the training and stick with the job for two years without serious incident and with a good reference from your commanding officer, and if you still want a ring, I'll oversee your training myself."
I wonder if it'll be like forging an iron bar into a sharp sword?
"Alright. I can live with that. Tell me more about the war."
Well, looks like she's willing to
try, at least.
