"I had another vision, and-."
"And it was Mannheim. I'm sorry."
Yeah, seeing
that ugly mug in your mind would suck hard enough to haul a golf-ball through a garden hose. And he's only a pale imitation of the real thing.
"He is… Doing something to the world, isn't he? After you took the hel-helmet off, I felt… The crushing despair. All my devotion-. I just wanted to help people-. I-I…"
"To be clear, Mannheim isn't God. False visions happen, as do lying false prophets. You were trying to do good for good reasons. God knows that."
I have the feeling a lot of people are going to be feeling like this even after they clear the Anti-Life away. Would not be surprised to find a rise in conversions and
atheism overall.
"Perhaps… Perhaps it is just the… Shock… But at the moment, I do not know what to think. What I think. To think there is such… Evil in the universe."
"I realise that Kahndaq-."
Hmm... Can't remember for sure, but the name suggest he's an immigrant from Kahndaq? Been a long time since we saw this guy, after all... <Checks the link in the post two days back.> Ah, yes,
That makes things clearer.
His face turns back towards me, and for the first time I see a little of the real him. "No. That was the evil of men. The sort of evil that happened for all of history. What I feel in my soul, that is something… Something beyond."
"I know what you mean."
Yes, OL's seen true evil, evil beyond the capability of mortal men. And he has
rejoiced, because there's less of it after he finished...
"I suppose… I suppose that you do." He shakes his head. "I was in the community centre. Then… Then it started. It was like…"
"Yeah."
Like being smothered in a deep depression, so deep that it felt like a physical blow? Yeah, Anti-Life's like that.
"Like everything I had worked for was… It was a waste of time, like I had made the situation worse and that there was nothing that anyone could have done to make things better. To begin with, it was just… Something external, someone telling me that. People were screaming, panicking, and I tried… Tried calming them down. It… It didn't… Didn't work. I couldn't do it. Then… Then it wasn't outside any more. It was me, I believed it."
Oooh, that's a
complex mixture of
Anti-life Factors. And probably the ones that resonated most with him, since I doubt it's just something
simple like
Effort=Futility.
"Was that because they put the helmet on you?"
He bows his head slightly, then shakes it.
Ah, the insidious whispers. Making you start to believe what they say, to the point that it feels more like you're the one thinking it and they're just agreeing with you.
"No. No, it was not. When they-. When they came, with the helmets, I… I stepped forward. I wanted it, wanted… Wanted to complete the.. change, to… Accept what was happening, to know why it was happening. With the helmet on, I… Felt that I was a.. tiny, completely replaceable parts of some… Great machine."
I nod. "And that was the right place for you, and it was right that the machine was there. And standing-"
And that's what the whole
universe would feel if Darkseid ever completed the
equation the way He wants it to be. All life, kneeling and bowing their head to Him, moving at His will...
Terrifying.
He stares directly at me, his eyes widening slightly as he nods.
"-over it all is a malevolent divine power."
Which would hit all the harder, because he's already disposed to bow to a Higher Power.
"Yes. Yes."
"If you're worried about anything… Anything blasphemous prayers you might have shouted while under the influence, don't. Heaven knows that mind control exists. God knows your heart."
Now, if he
wanted to keep feeling that way, to knowingly and willingly do
evil... That's a ticket Downstairs.
"But what if my heart has been corrupted with my mouth?"
"Then you need to get to work on uncorrupting it. The people who put the helmet on you, were they wearing helmets themselves?"
And depending on how hard this hit him, he may spend the rest of his life trying to atone...
"No. I recognized some of them from the Alliance. Superheroes, or just people who wanted to do some good in the world but didn't have faith in God."
"They weren't wearing helmets?"
Oh, that's worrying. I'm guessing because they had blobs of
Anti-Life inserted directly into them via the teleportation system, it worked faster and stronger to control them.
He shakes his head.
"Were they wearing anything similar? Any… Sort of device that had the same design on it?"
Maybe some kind of Alliance badge that acted as an additional focus?
"No, not… Not that I saw."
"Were there any other members of the Congregation there with you?"
Not that they'd be in any shape to use their gifts...
"One man. He was affected in the same way that I was."
"Can you hear the rest of them?"
Ooh, good idea. He was being marinated in Anti-Life by the helmet, so of course he's have been
directed by it.
"I'm-." He shakes his head, then goes back to looking away. "I'm.. blocking it. We can still have privacy. I'm-. I am afraid of what I would feel."
I nod. "Understandable. Can you tell me what happened between them putting the helmet on you and you appearing here?"
Thank you, Guy, for that buff to
willpower...
"It-. It's not… With… That in my head, being all I could.. think of, where I was, what I was doing… It didn't matter. Just being part of the machine, doing what G-. What he wanted. Shooting you, shooting myself…" He trembles as he shakes his head. "It didn't matter. It was all the same."
"I don't suppose you got any sort of… Feel, for what other plans he might have?"
Nasty stuff.
Anti-Life: not even once...
"No. Only that they were great and terrible and inevitable. I..?"
"Yes."
Well, that goes without saying. How
much of that 'great, terrible, inevitable' plan is Mannheim's and how much is his
masters' remains to be seen...
"How is..? Gotham? And Kahndaq?"
"Kahndaq's okay, actually. Teth Adom is able to use his magic to keep the Anti-Life out-."
Impressively so. Amazing what being on pleasant terms with your patrons will do for you.
"That's what it's called? I suppose it's appropriate."
"Yes, so Adrianna's leading the defence. It's one of two places in the world that look like they're holding out."
Norway being the other, of course. Good Guy keeping his girl's homeland
safe.
I look around, trying to get a feel of the mind state of the people of Norway. The Anti-Life is all around, but with a little help from Guy it's… Mostly at bay. I… Maybe Dr. Balewa can use Scandinavia to see what other tweaks he can make to keep things normal? If we can prevent them from physically invading, they can't have an infinite number of helmets. Even if they're getting them from Apokolips, it's just a matter of travelling there and destroying the factory.
...You say that so
casually. Given that the League's previous operation on Apokalips was more of a 'sneak in, smash, grab and run', I don't foresee it being that simple.
"Look, I need to get back to it. Gotham is even less safe than normal, so I can leave you here or take you to Kahndaq."
He nods. "Is it a sign of weakness that I want to go to Kahndaq?"
No, old fellow. Not at all. It's your homeland, after all, and probably the safest place for you right now.
"I don't think it's that unreasonable, given what happened to you."
"I would rather shelter under a pagan god…"
...Than one that seems to be sitting back and waiting for people to save themselves?
"I'm pretty sure that Kahndaq is going to play a major role when we retake the Earth, so feel free to volunteer when you've recovered a bit. To be honest, from the looks of things you wouldn't be much use at the moment."
He nods again. "No, I suppose not. Thank you."
Clever, giving him an out to avoid the fight if he feels the need. And to be fair, I suspect he
needs it.
"Orange Lantern to Blue Lantern."
"Go ahead."
Time to call for a Tube, then.
"Robot defeated, Justifiers… I'll send you the file. One survivor, technique for fighting the robot acquired. I'm heading to Kahndaq now, but if you need me somewhere else..?"
"It looks like the Justifiers sent some people to your place in Bir Tawil. I think maybe you should take a look at it."
Oh, indulging a in a bit of Home Invasion, eh? Wonder if it's a general rummage, or if they're looking for anything specific?
