He gives Mister Gotham and Stegra a slightly closer look.
"What became of that woman's leg?"
"It was used in the commission of a crime, so I confiscated it."
Better than saying 'collateral damage during her arrest'.
"I… See. Will it be returned to her?"
"Well, it's evidence now. That's up to the Gotham police."
I snort with laughter, though Dr Balewa does not appear to see the humour.
I suppose he's seen worse, given where he usually hangs out.
"Orange Lantern, are you well?"
I shake my head. "It's been a bit of a weird night. Can you take over here? I've got John Quinn dealing with any dangerous enchantments in the basement and I don't think I've really got anything to add."
"Yes." He nods. "I think that it may be for the best if you call it an evening."
I guess you can call that...
Doctor's orders?
"Probably." I raise my right hand to my forehead and
step out
and reappear on the top of a nearby building next to Selina, who's crouching at the edge of the roof and watching the activity below.
I see she decided to stick close.
"Everyone away safely?"
I'm mildly impressed that she doesn't jump. On the other hand; Batman. "As safe as Gotham gets. Was one of those people the lunatic who organised this?"
"Yes, the one missing a leg."
Is everyone going to harp on that?
She looks at me dubiously. "I know Batman's policy is no killing, but I don't think he's going to be happy about that either."
"Then he can deal with the next evil wizard on his own. Besides, she's going to be executed anyway, it's not like she's going to be disabled for long."
Given the comics plotline, he didn't have to at least. The ragtag band of magical adventurers known as Shadowpact did.
"So is that a policy..?"
"Yes, but not for all opponents. Against a powerful magic user whose precise capacities are unknown but probably quite advanced I'm not going to use rubber-tipped anti-magic rounds. Particularly not in the middle of an inhabited city. Taking them down fast takes priority over taking them down politely."
"Just so long as I don't have to worry."
Ah, so that's what she's concerned about.
I frown. "Is that what you..? Thought?"
"You don't have the best reputation for mental stability, and around here…"
I mean, she's not
wrong...
"Crimson Avenger shot dozens of people dead."
She looks at me askance. "Am I supposed to know who that is?"
"America's first costumed adventurer. Wore a red suit?"
"Proper suit, not tights, that is...
"
She shakes her head.
"He worked in Gotham a few times, back before Green Lantern settled here."
"What powers did he have?"
"I'm not sure he had any innate powers. I remember reading that his guns were possessed by demons who helped him hunt down evildoers, but I haven't confirmed that for myself."
One more thing for the gigantic to-do list.
"So the mystery man got shoved aside when the Lantern turned up?"
"No, I said that Crimson Avenger worked in Gotham sometimes. Green Lantern certainly wouldn't have kicked him out."
Safe bet Alan wouldn't have tolerated the whole 'excessive lethal force' thing...
"I was just commenting on the obvious parallel-."
"He's in the Ukraine and yes, I spotted that."
She saunters over to ventilation unit and hops up on it, then turns around and lounges on the metal in a mildly provocative pose. "It will be interesting to see how Batman reacts. I've never seen him disappointed in someone else before."
I'm sure Batman's disappointment is really important to OL these days... [/sarcasm]
"And this attitude has got nothing to do with the fact that when the two of you were 'togetherish', you'd have been looking for some 'bat-personal time' after a heroic action like that?"
"I'm not confirming anything, but are you and that assassin girl-?"
None of your business, kitty-cat.
"Yes, though thank you for including me on you bat-substitute list. It really validates my existence as a man."
Correction: 'on
your bat-substitute'.
She smiles and looks away, the claws of her right hand drumming on the metal.
"What were you doing here, anyway? I mean, good work-"
"Thank you, it's nice that you noticed."
"-but it doesn't seem like your area of expertise."
Well, she's got to do
something to keep busy, since she's more or less gone straight.
"People were disappearing. The albino, the one-eyed redhead and the white-haired girl stood out. I got a copy of the building's plans and rode the elevator down."
"Really? That seems a bit…"
"I make it sound easier than it actually was. And your charm helped me bypass their magic security." She thinks for a moment. "The Albino had a sword-."
Would you even know how to use it? Or is this a 'how much can I sell it for' thing?
I take it out of subspace. "I've been looking for a new magic melee weapon. I'll have Hephaestus have a look at it, see if we can find out what it can do."
"How much is it worth?"
"I can't appraise it until I know what it does. Also, I'm authorised to complete the documents required to confiscate supervillain equipment legally and you're not." She pouts. "How much do you want?"
Ah, OL, straddling the line of good guy and 'bad' guy.
"What, you're not going to haggle?"
"I have infinite money, Selina. There's no market price for magic swords so I can't name that-plus-a-percentage. What do you wan-?"
There's an explosion to the south. We both turn to look at it, and even as I see the extinguishing of emotional lights that indicate people are dying I just feel… Frustration.
Yeah, I can just imagine the mental shudder, grimace and 'Oh Eris, what now?'
Disappointment.
I sigh.
"You know, I've worked something out this evening."
Do tell?
"Oh? And what's that?"
"It used to be that I got annoyed at other superheroes for using their abilities purely for crime-fighting and not using them to revolutionise human society. But I think I'm getting it now. It wasn't that they were.. too stupid to realise the opportunity, no. The problem was that a never-ending cavalcade of psychotic total morons were perfectly happy to throw themselves at them, and they never had the-. Gosh-darn time to do anything but fight them off."
Hey, at least they keep busy... And save lives.
I take a.. deep breath.
"I'm going to go and deal with whatever that is and then go and get this sword appraised. Think about what you want for it."
I'm sure it won't take too long on the former task. The latter is up to Hephaestus...
