"No. These are yours."
"The Justice League?"
Pfft, as if. The League are talented
amateurs. Most of them are used to working solo, or with a like-minded sidekick. I suspect Batman is the only reason they have
any rules about leadership and membership practices.
"The All-Star Squadron." I sit back slightly. "I'd have looked at the Justice Society's as well, but it turns out that you never wrote any."
"There weren't really enough of us to need them." He walks over and picks up a briefing paper from US Marine Corps, defining the proper procedures for contacting the Squadron and defining lines of command. "I… I gotta tell yah, I don't remember this at all."
True, the Society was more of a boy's club. Hell, their first real roster was
all male (Hawkgirl wasn't even
listed as a member at first...)
"I imagine that they just told you what you were supposed to do when you were supposed to do it." I frown. "I know you were working for Stars and Stripes as Alan Scott, but I still can't quite get my head around how you were able to maintain a secret identity for the whole thing."
He sits down opposite me. "Who's to say I did?"
Yeah, I doubt the men he served with were about to speak out about his
real identity. And back before TV, his face would have been basically
unknown anyway. If anything, people might have recognised his
voice, after he became a radio star.
"The House Committee on Un-American Activities?"
"Well, yeah, but let's say… Some people had some surprising memory lapses when they got called to testify." He puts it down, gazing into the middle distance. "Do you think they were all that different from us?"
It's amazing what saving a man's life in combat will do to earn their loyalty.
"No idea."
He makes an amused hissing noise. "It's okay to speculate a little."
Well, I'm sure OL could, but it's all be guesswork.
No, there's too many
variables in their history, never
mind the lack of a Wonder Woman, Batman or Superman.
"I can see how you from the forties might be motivated to expand the Justice Society. And I can see how it could have grown from there. Seventy years on, a you who'd been constantly fighting and directing other to fight would naturally have become more ruthless." I shrug. "And he still had a green ring, which makes him more likely to push on rather than hold back and think things through."
"Huh."
Yeah,
Green may have the
least mental side-effects of the Spectrum, but it still
has them. Increased steadfastness and determination, for a start.
"I can change my answer to 'yes' if you prefer?"
"No, no, it's…" A quiet huff. "So you think I should skip my turn as Justice League Chairman?"
...For fear of going the same way? Hardly. Different lives, different circumstances.
"I don't know. You've got a blue ring, and it's influencing you in a different direction. And you've got the opportunity to define yourself in contract to Commander Scott. I'd be happy for you to be Chairman."
He smirks. I…
And coming from OL, concerning the League, that says a
lot.
I consider rolling my eyes, but don't do it. Instead, I flop back in my chair.
"I didn't get enough data to decide whether the JSI was a clear positive for the world or not. They do act more like… This is just from my conversations with Linda, but like a combination of the most overbearing aspects of the CIA and FBI. But we've had supervillains running countries, and… You were in charge. They weren't doing that thing of…"
Admittedly, some of that might be based
solely on their reaction to an entirely accidental interdimensional arrival. They did
threaten to arrest you, after all.
Ah.
"Of..? What?" There's a glint in his eyes as he realises where I was going. "Supporting third world dictators?"
Hopefully, they
only interfered with politics
if said dictator was a super-human criminal elsewhere...
"You said the thing was Danner was why you left the Squadron."
"So he did more thing like… That?"
Much like the Marvel universe reluctantly putting up with Doom in Latveria, since anyone else might be
worse.
"The JSI has removed governments, and they have performed extraordinary renditions be-."
"I'm sorry, what?"
Extraordinary Rendition.
A not-
entirely-legal form of extradition,
without the permission of the arresting state...
Not a pleasant affair.
"Kidnapping suspects in foreign countries without following normal extradition procedures. Of course, they've got official permission to go just about anywhere they want now, and the places where they don't have permission to go aren't places that have any effective way of stopping them."
"Sounds like they've taken over the world."
...In a kind-of
benevolent way? I mean, if you weren't a powered jackass, you'd be fine?
"I've never really been clear what that would be like. Somewhere like America, if someone took over the Federal Government the rest of the country would just ignore it. If some idiot with a doomsday bomb managed to make the governments of the world bend their knees, so what? He wouldn't get a fat lot of compliance from their citizens."
"Is that a 'no'?"
...Let's not mention any
recent names, shall we?
Rule 8, and all that...
"It's a 'they've taken control of the parts they want, and the rest is giving them the funding they need to operate'. After that, taking control of anything else would just mean being greedy and probably create more trouble than it's worth."
"Most people who might try and take over the world wouldn't worry about being greedy. That's how we used to beat them."
The eyes proving bigger than the stomach. Consuming an energy field larger than your head. Uttering the immortal words 'There's no way I can lose now!'. That sort of thing? Yeah, pretty
typical Golden Age stuff...
"'Used to'?"
"These days…" He exhales. "The people who want to take over the world don't come right out and say it. And the rest either aren't that ambitious or they flat out want to destroy it. Even Hitler didn't do what the Sheeda did."
Or they're the type who wants to own the world
financially. Like Luthor.
"Like antibiotic-resistant bacteria, if you beat all the ones that aren't resistant, everyone left is."
"I guess that's what you found out with the scry wards." He sighs. "Ah, I need to ask. Rose. Rose… Canton. My Rose."
Curious as to whether Todd Rice and his sister existed here? Yeah, OL could find that out...
"I don't.. know if she was pregnant or not. I mean, there's just about enough time for her to have given birth, but I-" I shake my head. "-checked the records of every orphanage in America. None of the children handed in during the period match Miss Hayden and Mister Rice's description. I mean, Miss Hayden was green, that would be on record."
"Not to start with. That came as her powers got stronger. If her powers never activated, she'd look like a regular woman. She'd be.. in her sixties now. And.. I could have been a great grandfather by now."
Starting to realise what you might have missed out on all these years, Alan? At least now, you've got plenty of time to go out and gain that.
I reach across the table and pat his left arm with my right hand. He nods absent-mindedly.
"I don't have any leads on Jennifer, but Todd had a connection to the Shadowlands. There are other people who know that place, and I… I need to know for sure."
I suspect he'd have been noticed, yeah.
"The Shade?" He nods, and I nod back. "Do you want me to come?"
"No, I think Richard will respond better if it's just me. No offence."
Such a contrast to the Renegade and
his Shade's relationship...
I nod. "None taken."
"You got any plans? Other than.. all this reading?"
Checking in on his trainees? Dates with Jade? Attending to business dealings? No doubt all
those sorts of thing happen off-screen.
"I'm going to give being a traditional superhero a go for a bit. I.. never really tried it; we were trainees taking orders from Batman and then I went Full Militant Utilitarian. I never really gave it a try and I want to know what it's like."
"You want some pointers?"
You'll probably have to dial down the lethality
quite a bit. Unless you
want to earn that 'anti-hero' label. Might we see the return of shock-crowns?
"Did you get pointers?"
"I talked to Crimson Avenger a few times, but I guess not." He nods, smiling. "You have fun with that."
"Doesn't seem likely, but who knows?"
Murphy:
Oh, the phone's ringing off the hook! Wonder who it is?
