[Archive] With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Story Only)

[Mr Zoat]

4th September
17:27 GMT +3

The conversation with Bart rather trailed off.

**Are you there?**

M'gann? Oh, thank goodness.

**Did you get him? Is he alright?**

**Yes, he's here. He's dazed, but he should be okay. Are you in a safe place? Can I share what he remembers?**

**You've probably got better lines of sight than we have. Can you see anything?**

**There's vehicles at the other end of the valley. Nothing at your end. If they've called in reinforcements I guess they haven't got here yet.**

**Bart?**

No response.

**Kid Flash?**

Nothing from him.

**Kid Flash isn't called Bart.**

**He isn't?**

**No, he's called Wally. I think I must be out of range.**

**If you're out of range, how am I hearing you?**

**You seem to be very sensitive to telepathic communication. That's sort of why I, um…**

**[His forehead pressed against mine, his hands stroking my eye ridges. Reassurance.]**

Her perspective? Was I meant to see that?

**Let's… Let's leave worrying about that sort of thing until we've got our full memories back. I'll let the others know that you're coming.**

Wally..? Wallace West. Not Bart Allen. If that's the case, then I know less about where I am than I thought I did. Wait. I remember him telling me that only his gran and his geography teacher call him Wallace. Getting my memories of the team back might not be that difficult after all. Getting back the rest..? Well, is anything particularly interesting likely to have happened back home? Probably not, and if it did then it's unlikely to be relevant to me anymore.

"M'gann's got Superboy, and she's on her way back."

Artemis arches an eyebrow. Which are black, I notice. The bits of the notebook which weren't in code weren't very helpful. "And you know this, how?"

"Telepathy. Apparently I'm really sensitive to it."

Wallace looks around. "Did she say anything about seeing Robin?"

"No. Should she have?"

"You saw the memories. He's gotta still be out here."

"Yeah, but he's Robin. I'm sure he can take care of himself for a few hours. Did either of you recognise the other voice?"

Wallace shakes his head. Artemis' head bows slightly.

"Alright. Who might it have been?"

Wallace perks up. "Speedy?"

I think about it. I think I've had something to do with him, but I'm not getting the flow of memories I do from my other team mates.

"I don't.. think so. Anyone else?"

Artemis looks up. "Doesn't Wonder Woman have a sidekick?"

I remember being over the Mediterranean Sea, trying to grapple her with chain constructs. We're training. She dodges, and punches them aside faster than I can react.

"Yes. Me, apparently. If you're talking about Wonder Girl, I don't remember her being with us."

"Yeah, I'm with Oh El on this one. Pretty sure I'd remember someone as hot as her." Artemis regards him levelly. "Not.. that.. she's anything compared to you."

I feel.. something, at the back of my mind. Looking up, I see M'gann fly over the ridge with a slumped Kon in tow.

What possibles haven't we eliminated?

"Do we..? Is there an Aqua.. lad..?"

Even as I say it, the memories come flooding back. Myself, Kon, M'gann and him sitting in front of a large television watching an action film about a man dressed as a giraffe. An underwater training session where I had to learn to block invisible attacks that could come from any angle. Him punching me in the face when I tell him to in order to demonstrate the strength of my armour.

**Did everyone..?**

"Yeah." Wallace nods.

Artemis shakes her head to clear it. "If Kaldur's out in this heat… That's not good for a guy with gills."

M'gann lands. Kon slumps into a sitting position next to her, head cradled in his hands. I walk over and crouch down next to him. "You alright?"

He slowly raises his head, and then smiles when he sees me. "A giant spring?"

"Sorry."

I stand and offer him my hand. He takes it, and I help him to his feet. As he comes upright, he staggers slightly and stumbles into me. I reach out to steady him and misjudge, my hands going around his waist.

Um.

His shirt's still not there.

"Um, sorry." / "Er, sorry."

We both step backwards at the same time.

Ring, do I have a shirt for him?

A short pulse of orange light, and a new black t-shirt with a red 'S' covers his torso. He looks at it, then at me. I look at him.

Apparently, I have his clothes stored in the ring. What exactly..?

Artemis coughs.

Right. Right.

We turn to Wallace.

"We need to find Kaldur. Orange Lantern, can you scan for him?"

"Ring, where's Kaldur?"

Ooooh dear…

A Bialyan military encampment, apparently.

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th September
18:22 GMT +3

"Warning; low power. Eight percent remaining."

Even with an invisible telepathic flier on your side, negotiating a desert filled with enemy soldiers is not easy. Approaching the camp where Kaldur was being held simply wasn't an option until after nightfall. Making a virtue of necessity we used the time to return to the bioship, restock on arrows and food. Each of us also spent some time being ministered to by M'gann, trying to get our memories back. I think that I'm all here now, though of course the thing about memory loss is that you don't remember what you're missing. I still plan to get the ring to double check, later.

Anyway, that's how I remembered that the bastards have my cat.

I sent Teekl in with M'gann. She can fly, though she doesn't like doing it after that time she got distracted by a bird and fell off a cliff. That's also how I know they haven't killed her; she'd have respawned at the ring if they had. She'd threatened to go into Happy Harbour to find things to hunt unless I took her with us. I think that's what she was threatening; it was either that, or she was threatening to literally ingest the entire town, which I find unlikely. It's hard, but if I close my eyes and want to know hard enough, I can just about feel her location. She's in the same tent as Kaldur, but I get the impression that her movement is restricted by something.

None of us remember what happened after M'gann went scouting, but it seems likely that whatever wiped our memories did so from in there. Maybe the memories further back from that point are more accessible? Whatever happened, that's where they're holding Kaldur. No sign of Robin. There was a chance that he would have fallen back this way, but I doubt that he remembers enough to do so. Other places he could be include the scanner unit, and somewhere overlooking the camp.

And captured, of course. I suggested that I scan for him, but Wallace pointed out that we couldn't really rescue him faster than we were going to anyway. Something else I wasn't expecting: with Kaldur absent… I'm sort of in charge. A strange experience for me, considering that I can't effectively direct or support the others with no ring power. And I haven't actually practised team direction.

I had a go at transferring myself back to base for a recharge, but apparently the minimum charge for that is fourteen percent. I hadn't even realised that it had a minimum. I also tried and failed to contact the League's Green Lanterns. Wallace was most irate when he realised what I was doing, but I wasn't able to make a connection with any ring but Alan's anyway, and he wasn't wearing it. I'm going to need to go over that with Guy during our next session. Maybe there's a form of words I need to use? Or maybe the Greenies are just on a different circuit, I don't know.

Now under cover of darkness, we're returning. I'm reluctant to completely blow the stealth aspect of the mission again, but with tanks destroyed, team mate captured and… And that thing I did south east of here, I think that it's a bit late to really worry about it. M'gann's scouting ahead. Kon's super eyes can see into the infra red, so I've put him on rearguard duty. I'm a little ahead, on the grounds that with my environmental shield and body armour I'm probably the second toughest, and the fact that I can get night vision if I really need it. Peter Gambi told me this armour could take assault rifle fire. I'm hoping I don't have to find out, but if it's a choice between that and seeing if Artemis had bullet proof abdominals…

At least with so little power I'm not glowing.

**Computer in sight. I can see Robin!**

**Glad to hear it. Any Bialyan military units?**

**I can't see any, but-. Yes! They're hidden under the sand!**

**Kid Flash, Superboy, go.**

A dark blur passes by my left side, and I hear Kon launch himself off behind me. Artemis and I accelerate to a jog, and I turn my pistol to low power.

**M'gann. How many?**

**Four immediately next to the computer. Another ten nearby. They're attacking!**

**Don't add Robin to the network, it'll just confuse him. Assist in whatever way you can. Artemis and I will join you as we get there.**

Trying to run faster will just get me bogged down in the sand. My ring granted athleticism means I can do this without getting totally knackered, and it doesn't look like Artemis is having any trouble keeping up. Really, we just need a good line of sight from the top of one of these dunes for her to loose her bolas arrows from. I could fire to disable with my pistol, but I never tested it against Human type targets and I'm not sure of the cut off point between agonising burns and cauterised limb stump.

We make it to the top, but we still can't see them from here and so we keep going. I blink a moment of night vision, and can't see any obstacles. For a moment I consider trying to reach out to M'gann to see what's going on, but I don't want to risk distracting either of us. I can hear automatic rifle fire, along with harsh grunts and shouting in a language I assume to be Arabic. Artemis puts an arrow to string as we get to the bottom of that dune and start up the next. I'm glad deserts get so cold at night, otherwise I'd be sweating like a pig.

Move!

I stumble as the sand gives more than I expect it to under my left foot, and she's past me and heading to the top. As I right myself and resume my ascent she crests the rise, aims, and looses. As I reach a level at which I can see beyond the dune, she lowers her bow.

Looking down, I see that all of the Bialyan soldiers are down. Robin and Wallace are walking towards each other at the bottom of the flat area in which we put the computer. Kon is picking up the downed soldiers -a flicker of night vision doesn't show any serious injuries- and binding their wrists and ankles. M'gann's floating over…

**M'gann, in future, please remain invisible until the perimeter is confirmed as secure.**

Her right hand goes to her mouth. **Sorry. Um, I can't sense any more minds.**

**And they'd probably have activated robots if they had any. Okay, I think we're good.**

I follow Artemis down the slope.

"KF! Man it's good to see a familiar face."

Robin and Wallace clasp hands. With my memories back I realise that this is Richard Grayson. I wonder how that will affect the timeline relating to other events I'm familiar with? We've got an Aqualad, and Garth didn't want the job. Donna can't spare the time and Speedy thought the suggestion that he should join anything other than the League itself was insulting. I don't remember anyone else being on the Titans starting line up, but M'gann and Superboy should only be joining much later. No Cyborg, Raven, Starfire or Changeling at all.

"Hey Rob. Memory loss?"

"Six months! Let's finish hogtying these creeps and compare notes."

I halt at the bottom of the dune. "Good evening Robin. Everyone, if we could avoid clustering up? That would be great."

He turns his head to look at me. "And you are?"

"Orange Lantern two eight one four." I can feel him preparing to make a smart comment. "Whatever you're thinking, you've probably already said it and forgotten about it. Miss Martian has been able to restore our memories to the rest of us. Do you have any objection to her repeating the process on you?"

"Ah. Miss..?" I point upwards to M'gann. "Oh, tch, right." He smiles at her as she descends. "Go ahead."

I watch them long enough to make sure that there aren't any problems, then walk over to the computer. I don't remember mirroring its scanning with the ring, and we might not be able to take it with us when we go.

Our data.

"Ring, copy of all data, then fry all sensitive components."

The ring chimes, then an orange strobe flashes out and I hear a series of popping noises. Thin plumes of acrid black smoke drift out of the exposed components.

Artemis and Kon have finished with the prisoners. Queen Bee supposedly uses some sort of mind control on those who associate with her. Wasabi Islam is much less prevalent here than back home, but the area's still fairly patriarchal. And not just in a no-heads-of-state kind of way, thank you Wonder Woman. If she's used her ability on these soldiers, I might be able to read the physiological changes with the ring. I don't know how much power that would take, and it's quite possible none of them have met her personally. Or were important enough to be worth controlling.

"Artemis, which of these guys is in charge?"

She glances at me, then pulls out a torch and examines their uniforms. "They're Desert Lions. Elite unit. This guy-" She points at one. "-is a sergeant. The officer's probably at the base."

"Any chance he's met Queen Bee?"

She turns off the torch and shrugs. "Maybe. Depends how important this place is to her. Wouldn't count on it, though. Why?"

"Wondering if I can find out how she influences people. But, with this little power, it just isn't worth chancing it."

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th September
18:32 GMT +3

Robin's back to full functionality and we've moved up to a rock formation near the encampment. I've got an orange diagram of the place, and the others are clustered around. One main tent. No soldiers inside, though several are on guard outside. Through Teekl's eyes -once the bloody Moggie could be persuaded to open them- I see five scientists, some sort of machine with a spherical unit on top, and Kaldur strapped to a platform.

Every so often, they turn a dial, the sphere spins, and Kaldur gets electrocuted.

He's tough, and I think that his tattoos give him electrical resistance, but we need to get in there. When we realised what they were doing to him I had to physically restrain Kon from just leaping in there.

Another tent appears to be serving as the barracks. A third smaller one as a command tent. There doesn't appear to be a mess tent… Maybe they haven't got around to unpacking it yet. There are five large military transportation trucks on the side furthest away from us, three heavy Jeep type vehicles and two platform mounted anti-aircraft missile batteries with attendant flatbeds. I checked, and neither contain anything I recognise as a gravity scanner. Maybe we could have brought the bioship in? No. Couldn't take the risk they could be switched to hit ground targets.

Twenty two soldiers in total. Artemis tells me that taking those we've already encountered into account, that's normal platoon strength for Desert Lions, and Robin agrees. The officer -a First Lieutenant according to Artemis- is in the command post, along with two other soldiers and some equipment. There doesn't seem to be any reaction to our fight with the group we fought earlier, but I haven't seen any armoured vehicles since those tanks. I don't know if they are all out on the search, or if there just aren't any more in the area. Troop movements near this border are considered to be of international concern, so maybe they didn't think they could risk it?

Also ensconced with the Lieutenant is Doctor Simon Jones, better known to my colleagues by his nom de félonie, Psimon. Guess that explains what happened to our memories. I still don't remember confronting him, so I've no idea how he got us or why we weren't all captured or killed. Information on exactly what he can do is somewhat sketchy, for obvious reasons. And the only thing I remember about him from the comics is that he died when the Joker shot him in the head during Salvation Run.

"Warning; low power. Seven percent remaining."

**Artemis, you and I will take the far side. I'll concentrate on destroying those vehicles to provide a distraction. I need you to watch my back, and watch out for Doctor Jones. He's wanted for violent offences everywhere he's ever been, so don't bother pulling your punches.**

**How are you planning on taking out the trucks with seven percent power?**

I look at her, hold up my pistol and turn the dial to 'high power'.

She nods.

**M'gann, once the guards move away, go invisible and head for Kaldur. Kon, you'll deal with the missile batteries. I don't want them firing. Try not to set them off.**

Two more nods.

**Wallace, you're our reserve. If you see something start to go wrong, intervene. Otherwise, just watch our backs. If anyone runs into Doctor Jones, do not mess about. He is very dangerous, and I don't think any of us want to lose another six months. Robin…**

Oh, for goodness sake.

Wallace winces. **Yeah, he does that.**

**Where's he gone this time? Robin!**

**Just providing a little extra distraction.** The ring shows his position, moving around the base in a clockwise direction.

**Fuck's sake… Artemis, with me.** I lead us anticlockwise at a jog. I'm not sure how important it is for me to avoid attracting attention at this point, so I err on the quiet side.

**M'gann, get up in the sky and relay any unexpected movements.**

**On it.**

I hit a level clear patch, and borrow her vision for a second. Everyone's still where we expected. Good. Ideally, a distraction should have the capacity to turn into a genuine attack, and in a situation like this destroying their trucks and communications would leave them stranded for a while. I was going to have Robin go after their comms and if possible their hard drives so we could find out what actually happened here, but he has to go and do his own fucking thing.

**Robin, if you can spare the time, could you possibly see your way clear to-.**

**Looks like I've broken radio silence!**

**Fifteen seconds. Explain.**

**I set up some smoke bombs to broadcast. They'll send a squad, then boom! Sleepytime.**

**You split the party. Again. Please do the rest of us the courtesy of discussing things like that in future. If you aren't too busy, your target is any and all intelligence sources.**

Artemis and I reach the end of our flank. There are two visible guards at the flattened end where the trucks presumably entered.

**Artemis, the far one, on three.**

I burrow an orange filament under the sand toward the closer.

**One, two,-** She notches a gas arrow. **-three.**

The construct surges up in front of my target and stuns him. Artemis' target takes the arrow in his chest, coughs twice, then falls. We're already in motion.

**Cross and go high. I'll stay on this side.**

As soon as I get far enough forward to get a clear shot, I activate OrangeVision to check for passengers, drop to a crouch, and put a beam of red energy into the engine of the closest lorry.

The cab crumbles. The place the beam hits vaporises in a perfect circle, and for a moment I can see the interior of the vehicle as it ploughs through the chassis before the fuel tanks explode, obliterating what's left of the front half.

I blink twice, and resist the impulse to stare at the gun. Not bad. Good job I left the OrangeVision up, or the flash might have blinded me.

**M'gann, go when ready.**

**Right.**

I hear shouts as I line up the next shot. I don't have such a good angle on the cab, but I can see the external fuel tanks attached to the underside. The pistol has almost no recoil, and I find aiming it simplicity itself.

The beam and the fuel explosion cleave the truck in twain, sending the cab bouncing forward before toppling over and spinning the trailer section around. It tips then rolls, spilling boxes onto the desert sands.

**Do I have their attention?**

I hear engines starting. I sight a Jeep, and turn the pistol to medium range. Should narrow the beam. Don't want to kill the guys inside, after all.

**Two Hummers heading this way, and about eight soldiers.**

I fire, slicing a line through the underside of the Jeep as it turns, cutting through at least two wheels and causing it to flip, slamming into the rear of another lorry. Not sure what happened to the guys inside.

**One Hummer, and three more soldiers.**

**Superboy, go. Can anyone see Psimon?**

There's a moment's silence, and I hear a crash as Kon lands. I line up another shot at a supply lorry as the other Jeep tries to go hull down behind it.

**No one? Shit.**

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th September
18:36 GMT +3

I calculate the second Jeep's probable position, dial the pistol down to medium power and up to long range, and fire. The beam cuts through the lorry and the Jeep behind jerks to a halt. One of the soldiers jumps onto the back and swivels the roof mounted machine gun in my general direction. Two shots whiz past me.

**Artemis, roof gu-.** A bolas arrow takes out his legs, and he falls hard. **Thank you.**

**They're getting too close!**

**Understood. Flash arrow, then pull back.**

Ring, location of Doctor Jones.

Teekl see Bad Head Man.

**M'gann, Psimon's in-**

A sense of malevolent amusement. **Naughty naughty.**

Shit.

Artemis' flash arrow hits the camp entrance. Most of the guards are wearing night vision goggles. That must have hurt. I hear Artemis falling back, and rise to follow her. Bracing myself for the dash, I borrow Teekl's vision for a second.

Smug Bad Head Man stand in middle of room, staring into space. Strange Smell -M'gann- is visible only to the orange light. Coat Men panic as wind blows through the tent. Fish Man tied up. Metal box breaking.

I metaphorically cross my fingers, and follow Artemis at a dead run.

Teekl, assist M'gann.

I activate the radio on my belt. "Telepathic communication compromised. Complete objectives as assigned, then return to evacuation point. No chatter."

I need to try and find a low lethality back up weapon.

My OrangeVision is unaffected by Artemis' flash. The soldiers who were hit went prone, and their colleagues are being more cautious. Artemis and I should be able to get away. I can't hear Kon, so I'm going to assume that he's taken out the missiles and fallen back. He should be heading toward the border and the bioship. Artemis and I will continue on our current heading until we're sure that we've evaded pursuit, then head for a pick up point over the border in the other direction. From there, we can signal for pick up.

Through our link, I feel Teekl press her fore claws against the barrier containing her. There's resistance, but now that she's actually motivated she's pushing through. Teekl hasn't really jelled with any of my team mates yet, though she does seem to find it amusing to stare at Kon while he's trying to concentrate on anything. He told me that he's considering adding cats to his list alongside monkeys.

I hear gunfire behind me, faster and light automatic rifles along with the heavier machine guns. I can't risk making contact at this point, but I should be able to get away with a ring scan. I wait while until I find myself running on a level patch of sand.

Ring, one second view.

A flash in my mind, and I see everything. I found through experimentation that while my brain couldn't cope with processing everything continuously, with ring assistance I could cope with seeing everything for a brief time.

Kon's falling back at speed, his targets destroyed. Since he's our second best bioship pilot -just ahead of me- he can get it running if we need to change tack. Robin got too adventurous in the command post, but Wallace bailed him out and they're heading away as well. M'gann is floating in the centre of a miniature tornado along with Doctor Jones in the main tent. Teekl's draped herself over M'gann's shoulder, and appears to be nuzzling her. Kaldur's free, but seems to be stunned. The spherical unit on top of the machine appears to be broken, and the spherical object it contained is on the floor.

I hear the roar of an engine behind me. Are they guessing, or are they tracking us somehow? They can't be tracking radio. Can't be the ring. They wouldn't mess about if they had their own, and there's no way Earth technology can trace it. Heat is possible, but we're skirting the dunes. They shouldn't be getting a direct sight line to us. Is the pistol that hot? Subspace it, draw a new one, low power, long range. Noise? We're louder than the background, but not that loud and the echoes should make that method unreliable.

Another engine roar, as what should be the last Jeep continues pursuit. The Jeep I can take. So could Artemis, if what she said earlier about her explosive arrow was true. But the calculation becomes too complicated when I try to factor in the infantry. If they loaded it up, and jumped off when I fired at their transport, I can't be sure that I could take them all down without lethal force and protect myself and Artemis. Even worse if they got a few shots off from the machine gun before the Jeep went down. Or if the second Jeep wasn't as badly damaged as I thought.

Could it be a drone? We're a bit stuck if it is. An orange or red beam would be an even better guide to our position, and I'd have to catch up with Artemis to get her to shoot it. Assuming it wasn't too high up, she's a good thirty metres ahead of me, and is mostly out of line of sight. A construct attack might work better, but that would light me up.

Ring, scan local area for aircraft.

Yep, drone with thermal imager. Perfect top down view. I don't suppose an EMP burst..? Hardened? Where'd they get the technology to do that to a drone? I could brute force it, but I don't want to spend the power. There must be a better way.

Warning; low power. Six percent remaining.

Alright. Giving away my position only matters if I have to stay there. I can't outrun the Jeep. I can probably outrun the soldiers as the ring is fuelling my body in place of my insufficiently effective lungs, but I doubt that Artemis can and neither of us can outrun bullets. If the drone's gone, does the Jeep matter? Yes, but only until we clear the immediate area, then it's blind and finding us is guesswork.

I'm coming up to some sort of rise, sand giving way to stone. It isn't that high, and Artemis is already reaching the top.

Think.

I can destroy the drone with the pistol. It's moving, but not fast enough to avoid a light speed attack. Then what? The soldiers will most likely continue on our most likely trajectory, which is more or less the one we're taking.

Would they stop to check their surroundings? Perhaps, perhaps not. But if they're going for speed at the moment, and I was under the sand…

How to let Artemis know? No. Don't. I can't carry it out until I reach her, and she needs to look like she was still moving until they lost the drone.

An image of Kon leaping comes to mind. That could work.

Drone perception, continuous.

I feel its location.

ArcJump to Artemis.

I leave the ground. Rather than controlled flight, I'm hurtling into the air in the direction most likely to bring me into contact with Artemis. With the ring granting me extrasensory perception I can just about ignore the force of the wind and the sense of doom that comes from the certain knowledge that I will soon be falling. I close my water filled eyes, aim the pistol, and fire. It takes a second shot for me to hit the target, but then it's falling from the air. I open my eyes as I begin my descent. Artemis is off the rock already.

Adjust path.

A rough shove, and I'm aiming right for her.

The only useful thing to come out of my messing about earlier was learning exactly how easy burrowing through sand is with a power ring. You don't have to displace it, as transmuting it into a denser form is surprisingly easy.

I dial the pistol up to high power, and fire at the ground in the distance. Hopefully that will make them think we're over there.

Subspace it.

Artemis fast approaching, and things start happening a bit quickly. A slow command drops my speed from 'death-hurtle' to merely fast. I crash into her, grab on as she tenses to fight me off, extend my environmental shield around us as we fall and burrow before we hit the ground. A cocoon of dense crystal forms and is quickly covered by the surrounding sand.

"It's me. Stop stru-." She tries elbowing me, and strikes my armour. "They were using a drone to track us. I destroyed it. We're underground. They can't see us, and will probably drive right over us."

"And squash us!"

"I turned the sand to a dense crystal. It should be strong enough to take the weight."

"What about air!"

"We're both covered by my environmental shield. Oxygen provision costs very little power. My plan is, we wait here until they're well past us, then emerge and head to the border by a slightly different route."

She shifts slightly, becoming a little less tense. The small size of the space presses us together, and I'm somewhat relieved to note that my arm is across her abdomen and not elsewhere.

"Sorry I couldn't warn you, but radio and telepathy were compromised."

"Hfp. It's fine. How long do you want to wait?"

"I'll take a scan in fifteen minutes."

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th September
21:40 GMT +3

Artemis and I are sitting on a hill on the Saudi Arabian side of the Saudi/Bialya border. A few miles behind us the lights of the town of Ha'il are visible, and when the wind blows in the right direction I can hear the noise of cars and muffled voices. I reopened the crystal pod a few minutes after the Jeep had passed, and we proceeded cautiously towards our extraction point on a slightly different vector. I checked for pursuit at frequent intervals, but nothing appeared to supplement the Jeep and we were easily able to evade that.

I had thought Artemis' costume.. ill-considered, if not outright ridiculous. Once the ring's charge ran out with a sad 'Charge depleted' I began to envy it. I had Mister Gambi design my own armour on the principle that I'd be fighting with the ring active. I can walk in it fine and run short distances in it well enough, but it really isn't suitable for desert night hikes. Artemis' athletic physique and lighter gear meant that she had to make an effort not to outpace me.

Assuming the others made it out alright, we should be getting picked up before too long. To be honest, I'd sort of assumed that they'd be here by now. Another half hour and I'm going to suggest that we walk into town and try phoning for League assistance. What to do while we wait..?

"I've been wondering… What's with the bow?"

Her head turns to me. I'd just been staring into space. I think she was watching the border for lights which might indicate pursuit. I don't think that Bialya would risk attacking something across the Saudi border; they're not stupid, and Qurac just hasn't cosied up to America in the way their neighbours have.

"What'd'you mean?"

"Well, I know that you're not related to Green Arrow. He might have been teaching you, but, given the way Red Arrow's reacted to seeing you? Probably not for long. So, y'know, given all the weapons out there… Why a bent stick that fires pointy sticks?"

Her eyes narrow, but she decides to treat it as an actual enquiry and not an insult.

"It's a lot quieter than a gun or something, easier to own legally, easier to transport. Carbon fibre doesn't set off metal detectors, and if I got stopped by police while carrying point arrows I could claim that it was sporting equipment."

"And those.. special arrowheads you were using?"

Her eyes drop to the ground for a moment. "Those.. are a recent thing. Green Arrow's been sharing his stuff. He's… I think he's been missing Red Arrow? I don't know exactly how close they were-."

"Green Arrow adopted him three years ago, when he was fifteen, after the death of his natural parents." That earns me a look. I shrug. "Like I said, I looked up information on everyone before joining the team."

"Riiight. Well, normal arrows aren't always enough against armoured cars or people with super powers."

"How do you even get those to fly straight? They can't be aerodynamic."

"Looots a'practice."

"But the weight distribution-."

She squints at me. "Is entirely correct. The weight goes at the front. Basic aerodynamics."

Aerodynamics. That.. thing.. I don't have to bother with. "No, I mean, like-."

"You mean the drag."

"Um. Probably?"

"It's more difficult, but you just have to use more force."

I exhale through my lips. "Your arms must be made of-."

There's a blast of air and I see a slight distortion in the sky as the rear hatch of the bioship opens just in front of us.

Wallace waves at us from just inside. "We've been looking all over for you two!"

"Is everyone alright?"

"Kaldur's still pretty shaken up, but aside from that, fine."

Artemis is already walking towards the opening as I rise to my feet. Wallace points at my hand. "What's up with your ring?"

"Completely out of power. I'm glad the bioship's got air conditioning."

Wallace stands aside as Artemis walks in, then follows her into the cockpit. I stop at the threshold. I hear the door close and feel the slight pressure of acceleration.

"Why is there a giant metal ball in here?"

The ball rotates without assistance, rolls over to me, then swivels so that the small non-metallic area is… looking? At me. It's a slightly recessed circular patch of dark red, and has a lighted red line on it that resembles a slightly stretched omega. There are other, smaller lines and patches of purple. As I stare, I wonder if it's really dark red, or just that the lines get so thin that at this magnification it appears to be red.

After a moment, it beeps and warbles like a Simon game. What does that remind me of?

"Oh… New God technology. I'm assuming you're from New Genesis."

A duller beep. Kon looks at me. "You know what it is?"

"I've seen similar technology before. Nothing quite like this, though. Mother Boxes are usually-" I make a square with my hands "-about this big. Never seen a spherical one."

A warble, and it rolls over to where Kaldur is slumped in one of the rear seats. I walk past M'gann's pilot station and go to take the empty seat at the front right before I notice an orange glow. Turning, I see Teekl curled up on M'gann's lap. Her eyes open a little, notice me, then close again.

"Making friends are we, Teekl?"

M'gann looks down at the dozing cat, and takes her right hand off a steering column to rub her head.

"She was really helpful. When I fought Psimon inside my mind she bit him to distract him, and then she was able to enter our mindscape and attack him with me. I hadn't realized how complex her mind is."

"Ooo's a good diddle kitty den?"

That gets two open eyes and a sniff.

"Strange Smell Nice Smell."

She stretches and resettles. I plant myself in the front right chair.

"So, Robin, get anything useful?" Robin has his arm computer plugged into a hard drive.

"Not sure. I've broken most of the encryption, but some of this? I've never seen anything like it. You said the sphere was from 'New Genesis'? Could they be dealing with Bialya?"

An angry beep from the sphere.

"Doubt it. Apokolips might, but this.. seems kind of small potatoes for them."

He smiles, and glances away from his work. "Thought you were an atheist."

"New Gods is the best translation of their name for themselves. Apokolips and New Genesis are planets, inhabited by beings who are part organic humanoid, and part Platonic ideal form. The ruler of Apokolips, for example, is both a physically powerful man and the manifestation of the concept of tyranny. His courtiers include embodiments of the concepts of torture and of child abuse."

Uneasy and slightly disgusted looks from the team.

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th September
21:46 GMT +3

"Yes, it's exactly as bad as it sounds. If Bialya is dealing with them somehow, the League need to get on this."

Silence. I turn to the view screen. The augmented ambient lighting it provides means that I can see the desert, which will eventually give way to the Mediterranean Sea. We'll actually be passing over central Europe en route back to New England. Thinking about it…

"If anyone wants to get a zeta tube home, we can just stop off in Berlin or something. No need for everyone to stay on board. I can pilot the ship back..?"

No one seems eager. Oh well. I offered.

Wallace seems to have something on his mind.

"I've been meaning to ask: why'd you think you were dreaming?"

I shrug. "Like I've said, my parallel doesn't have superheroes, or super powers. When I first got here I spent a.. spent a couple of hours just.. sitting on the moon." I hold up my right hand, and flick it forwards. "Staring into space, before I accepted it was really happening. And this was even more bizarre."

"You charged your ring before we left, right?" Robin has some sort of technical diagram up on his arm computer, and he's watching me through it.

"Yes?"

"What exactly did you do that used up all that power?"

!Lie!

"Well,-."

M'gann giggles. Eyes move from me to her, and back again.

Darn it.

Artemis raises an eyebrow. "What.. happened, exactly?"

Rip the plaster off fast. "I.. made a statue, in the desert."

Artemis isn't buying it. "And that took all of your ring power?"

"Well-."

"He made a giant naked statue. Of himself."

I cringe. Jaws drop around the cabin.

Oh, just tell them. "First, I made a life size statue out of glass I transmuted from the sand, but I didn't think it would last long enough. So I broke it up, and made a bigger one out of transmuted diamond."

They're all staring except M'gann, who's progressed from giggling to chuckling. "I tried to get him to add trunks, but he wouldn't listen. I hadn't met anyone else apart from Superboy, so I couldn't just leave him. I didn't know where to look."

Wallace recovers fastest. "You mean there's a giant diamond statue of-."

M'gann waves her right hand. "No." She's gasping for breath now. "He wasn't happy with it, so he broke it down and made another one, even bigger."

I wince. "The third statue is made out of a super dense silicon based compound. It's about half a mile tall and the base goes about a mile underground, so there's no way anyone can remove it. Shaping and transmuting the material took most of the ring's power."

No one wants to be first to speak.

After about a minute passes, Kaldur raises the question. "This statue. It is still there?"

I close my eyes, and rub my brow with my right hand. I remember scanning every database in the world for the molecular structure I wanted; hard, tough and transparent. It seemed so sensible at the time.

"Almost certainly. I mean, it's not indestructible, but it's not far off."

That finally breaks Artemis' self control. "You made a giant naked statue of yourself in the middle of Bialya!?"

"Not.. not the middle, no."

M'gann snorts.

Artemis gesticulates. "You're unbelievable!"

"I thought I was dreaming!"

She crosses her arms, and stops looking at me.

Robin chuckles too. "Can't wait 'till Batman hears about that."

"I had an excuse. Why exactly did you think it was a good idea to run off before our attack on the Bialyan encampment?"

"That went okay."

"It would have gone better if you'd coordinated with us."

"You mean coordinated with you."

"In that situation? Yes."

He leans back in his chair and folds his arms. I look out the front window again. We're over the ocean now, and I think I can see the lights of the Turkish coastline.

If we're going to have to deal with the New Gods, I'm going to need to try and track down Scott Free and Big Barda. If they exist here. I wonder how well Diana will get on with her? She was making noises about wanting more female League members, I've just had trouble remembering any who would be worth while. I seem to remember Barda and Scott not being keen on the whole superhero thing. Something about wanting a normal life? Good luck with that. I'm also going to need to sit down with M'gann and create a telepathic defence construct. I've been thinking about it for a while, but other stuff's just come up…

Anyway. Everyone's alright, and we got the intelligence Batman wanted. Con, we failed the stealth part again, and I left a giant statue…

Maybe he'll see the funny side?

Wallace jerks in his seat. "Auw! I just realized; I didn't get anything for the trophy room!"

Teekl uncoils from M'gann's lap, jumps to the floor and walks over to Wallace. She sits, makes eye contact, and then drops something at his feet from her mouth. He looks at it.

"Is.. that a finger?"

I grin at him. "She likes you!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

3rd September
23:12:08 GMT +3

Nine seconds.

Ten seconds.

I scan the area again. The Bialyan encampment is still exactly as it was. The drones I detected being launched from the airbase outside Rutba are still en route, on the exact same vector as last time I checked.

I can't help but feel I'm being underutilised here. Batman explained that power ring scans aren't admissible as evidence, but why would this ever come to court?

"Oh El was right! The site's lousy with zeta beam radiation."

And that's a surprise why, Wallace? He and Richard are fiddling with the sensor array. Kaldur's managing to find a way to stand around dynamically, and Kon's watching Richard and Wallace. I'm trying to look alert, but in the dark my grey skin means that I look like a pair of glowing orange eyes floating in the air. Artemis is standing at a slouch close to me, arms crossed.

"Definitely detecting non-terrestrial trace elements from the tent."

I'd already identified the alien sphere, and the probable entry site for whatever form of teleportation was utilised. I could easily tell that it wasn't a zeta beam; for a start, there's no receiver station. Not sure what it was, though. I don't have any records of similar radiation patterns. Most vexing.

M'gann steps forward. "I'll check it out in camouflage mode."

"Good idea. Go."

Kon looks around. "Careful."

Kaldur nods. "And maintain telepathic contact."

"I will, Aqualad."

I roll my eyes. "Might I humbly suggest that telepathic communication in close proximity to an individual like Doctor Jones is perhaps not the best course of action?"

Kaldur looks at M'gann, who thinks about it. "It.. should be alright. Intercepting focused telepathic transmissions is pretty difficult."

Kaldur makes eye contact with her. "If you are sure."

M'gann nods, and camouflages as she rises into the sky. My OrangeVision means that I can see her just fine as she flies directly into the Bialyan encampment. That isn't clever, but it shouldn't matter. Nothing in there is sophisticated enough to detect her.

What exactly are we going to learn from this? I check the watch on my bracer again.

Artemis notices. "What's the matter? You got a hot date lined up?"

"Yes, actually."

She curls her lip. "I guess the people of Aichi will just have to do without."

Once she got over the initial shock, she'd assumed that I was joking about that. She's learned better since. "No. The plan this evening is to have dinner with a single woman. Conversation, personal and professional. Little more than that."

She looks at me, frowning, puzzled. I shrug.

"I am a man of many divergent drives. I don't always want the same thing."

"Who is she?"

"Your sister, actually."

She splutters. Hm. I'm pretty sure that qualifies me for 'token evil team mate' status. I've certainly got the look down pat.

"What!"

Kaldur looks over. "Artemis, lower your voice."

I can see her fuming. Delicious. And none of the others even knew that she has a sister.

"We met quite by chance, hit it off. Exchanged contact information. I find Jade to be a most interesting young woman."

The Sensei actually believed her. Certainly, what I advised her to say was completely true, but I was expecting more suspicion considering the circumstances. Better yet, Ra's has ordered her to gain my trust and gather information about me. I haven't told her that I'm bugging Infinity Island -that name, seriously-, and she hasn't yet told me that this is anything other than a social engagement. It's all getting delightfully convoluted. And it certainly doesn't hurt that I do find her quite attractive.

**I'm in.** M'gann's arrived, then.

**Good, but tread carefully. Camouflage is not invisible.**

Apparently Kaldur can exchange images with M'gann like this, but I haven't learned how to do that yet. Maybe I shouldn't. I'm not keen on the others seeing some of the things I've been doing, and I don't want to risk seepage. That was why -despite the obvious accessibility advantages- I couldn't risk getting M'gann to tutor me in telepathic defences. Fortunately, Mister Black lacks her squeamishness, and was more than happy to educate me in her stead. He's still working for the British government at this point in his life, and appears to find it mostly fulfilling. When we met, he made a half-hearted attempt to recruit me, but it was clear that he didn't believe his own Queen-and-Country spiel and he admitted as much afterwards. I was surprised by how amiable he was. Maybe the beer was helping.

**They're doing something to the sphere. It's alive! In pain! Hello? Can you hear me?**

Did she just open broadcast..?

**I can. And an open mind is a dangerous thing.**

MindShield.

The other members of the team are looking increasingly agitated. Unfortunately for them, I haven't worked out a way to use this form of construct on others yet. I'm not completely sure what will happen now, but I predict nosebleeds in M'gann's future.

She might need me to recover her. Batman won't like us failing the stealth aspect again, but I suspect that he'd like her getting dissected even less.

Ring, plot route to M'gann and mark targets.

By your command.

Then I feel it, a pressure against my shield. Mister Black told me that unfocused attacks like this were fairly easy to turn aside, but this is the first time I've tried my shield in combat and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a little concerned.

But no. The pressure is constant, but even as my team mates cry out in pain and double over clutching their heads I am unaffected. And here I thought Mister Black might just have been winding me up. Kon is the first to collapse, as the others groan and stagger aimlessly around. I walk over and put a hand on his shoulder, only for him to swipe me away. I pull back as he crouches and leaps into the sky. I'm a little stronger than Kaldur now, but Kon still overpowers me to a noticeable degree. Looking up into the sky I see M'gann shooting away from the science tent in a similar state of distress.

Hm.

What to do next? From the looks of things my team mates just got hit with a compulsion or a pain stimulation effect. Unlike how I thought things like that would work, Mister Black assured me that once the telepath puts them 'on', they don't require maintenance at all. Doctor Jones probably isn't continuing to do anything to them, so just killing him wouldn't really help. I'm not sure if he'd keep his abilities after assimilation, so that's not a certainty either.

I raise my right fist to my lips.

So what, then? Ah, yes.

"Ring. Heart Stilling Diminution Presence."

 

[Mr Zoat]

3rd September
23:16 GMT +3

I walk slowly towards the Bialyan encampment, making no effort to conceal myself. Quite the contrary, with my shield turned up and my MindShield active I'm lit up like a bonfire.

I was met by a group of guards outside the rim of the pit in which the base is being set up. I smiled pleasantly as they raised their weapons, and watched with interest as they collapsed. Their aggression triggered the ring to work its electromagnetic sufficiently-advanced-magic and slow their heart rates to below the level needed for them to remain conscious. A couple of them kept it together well enough to get shots off, but they're just using automatic rifles. Nothing that's actually a threat to me, and the shots will be heard from within the base, which will most likely work to my favour.

I broke their guns into pieces with my hands and neutralised the explosives in their grenades. Even if they aren't a threat to me I don't want them getting up and stumbling across my disorientated team mates with their weapons in working order. My understanding is that an attack my friends can see coming will probably snap them out of it -for a while at least- but a few bullets from outside their line of sight could see me returning to a very empty cave tomorrow.

Now I'm walking at an easy pace over the rim of the pit in which the Bialyans have set up shop. Guards shout, point, muster, and then collapse. This isn't the most efficient use of power I've ever made: it doesn't cause immediate unconsciousness and will probably end up using about ten percent of my total charge. It's certainly funny, though. These are the elite of the Bialyan military, but to me? They're insects.

Machine guns rounds spend themselves against my conjured armour as one of the military Jeeps opens fire from outside the effect of the Presence. I look in his direction and the effect takes hold, causing the gunner to fall from his perch.

And the best thing about this? None of them will be seriously hurt. And since none of them are getting a good look at me, the best description they'll be able to provide is 'big orange thing'. Now, where's Doctor Jones got to? Still in the main tent, with five scientists and four guards. No one I particularly care about. I think that they're assuming that the lack of fire means that the attack has been beaten off.

Ring, take copies of all electronic and paper records.

By your command.

I slow to strolling pace. If my clothing had pockets, I'd put my hands in them. None of these soldiers will know what method was employed to neutralise them when they wake up. They saw me, then nothing. I find that immensely satisfying.

Reaching the main tent, I take a moment to turn off the Presence. M'gann said something about the sphere being alive, so I should probably investigate in person. Besides, I haven't beaten anything into pulp since Klarion's cat, and it didn't put up much of a fight. I mean, if you're going to have one thing anchoring you to the material world you should at least make sure that it can survive being stamped on.

I calmly push the tent flap aside and walk inside.

"Have you found-?" Doctor Jones turns as he speaks, then cuts himself off as he sees me. He's wearing some sort of cloak and with the hood down I can clearly see through the transparent top of his head and into his metahuman brain. I scan it, and can clearly identify the novel elements which grant his abilities. Mister Black's useful abnormalities were far better integrated, this looks like a cut and shut job by comparison. "Oh."

As the soldiers get over their shock and raise their weapons, I raise my right hand and lazily project ShockCrowns into existence around their heads. Doctor Jones backs up as I give the panicking scientists the same treatment. He isn't scared, just cautious.

"I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that at least one of you had the sense to disconnect. No matter." He raises his right hand toward me, fingers splayed. "Be. Still."

Shield to full.

I feel the pressure again, but he can't breach me. Mister Black took an indecent degree of pleasure in teaching me exactly how much force my MindShield can take at this juncture, and it looks like Doctor Jones' peak output is significantly lower than his. But there's no sense taking unnecessary chances.

I FTL to just in front of him. He barely comes up to my chest, and my sudden breach of his personal space causes him to jump back and trip. I catch his shirt in my left hand, pull him towards me and then take hold of his cranium with my right and raise him to my eye level.

"Was that supposed to be a telepathic attack? I've felt better. Pithing Needle."

He jerks as the construct locks his body in place.

If the sphere is alive, I suppose the next order of business is freeing it. I slice through the containment unit and pull away the remains. The unveiled sphere within somehow swivels on his axis until a small non-metallic area is.. looking..? At me. It's a slightly recessed circular patch of dark red, and has a lighted red line on it that resembles a slightly stretched omega. There are other, smaller lines and patches of purple. It looks a bit like a Mother Box, a conclusion it confirms a moment later when it starts pinging and beeping at me. I don't get a translation, but… I think I can understand it. Ah.

"I agree. I do look a little like Him, don't I? But I assure you, sphere of New Genesis, I am no servant of the Anti-Life, nor of the Tyrant God."

Three beeps, and it rolls backwards a little before rolling forward off the remains of the podium on which it was being held. It comes toward me, and stops about two metres away, growling like a revving engine.

"I doubt that they had anything to do with that, and I'm afraid that I'm not in a position to arrest them. Would you accept an offer of sanctuary, at least until we can make contact with your homeworld?"

A slightly more positive warbling chirp. I don't want to try sending it the location of the bioship without a better understanding of its nature, but leading it there should be no chore.

"That… That thing is the property of the Bialyan government. You have no business interfering!"

I turn back to Doctor Jones, still dangling by his head. "I'm a little impressed you can still talk. But you're wrong; interstellar kidnapping is a crime which a Lantern is fully empowered to investigate. And New Gods are rather forward thinking on the subject of AI rights."

Now… What to do with Doctor Jones?

An idea begins to form. Sure, I can't get away with killing him, but, well, I remember how Superman dealt with Mister Black, don't I?

"But leaving legal niceties aside. Doctor Jones, I will show you that there is nothing you can possess which I cannot take away."

The hand holding his head glows orange as I focus ultrasound scalpels on the graft points inside his head.

"No! What are you doing?!"

I smile, and increase the glow of my eyes.

Agh fuck! I forgot he's a telekine! I can feel it as the meat is twisted and torn and fractures form along the bones in the arm holding him up. I nearly drop him before reinforcing the arm's structures with the orange light.

"That's it? That's your last ditch defence?"

His records show that he can do more than this. I can only assume that not being able to move is impeding him. It isn't for show; with only the mechanisms of the Human brain to work with most telekines I've been able to study need to map certain activities onto their peripheral nervous system.

"Ghrgh!"

And then the ripping force is gone. I restore my arm and check. The surgery is complete. I remove the Pithing Needle, and open my right hand. He falls onto his arse, and I turn away.

"Come Sphere, we have team mates to round up."

"I ca… You…"

I smile, as behind me his eyes widen and he grasps his head with both hands.

"Auauauauauuauauauauauauauauauauaaua…"

Delicious.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Tracers

5th September
09:54 GMT -5

Wallace looks uneasy at the furry objects in the basket. "This doesn't feel very scientific."

I sigh, and lower the bat. "It's not. I already know that the Danner Formula worked on them just fine. But yesterday I had to explain to Batman why I decided to build a giant naked statue of myself in the middle of an enemy country. I need this."

We're standing in the training area. The female rats which I treated with the Danner Formula had their litters while we were on the Bialya mission, and their offspring showed superrodent strength and fortitude from birth. Taking a bit of a risk, I commanded the ring to replicate the physiological alterations upon their mothers. They were already suffering from suckling their Dawn-Rat offspring, and leaving them in that situation seemed unnecessarily cruel.

It worked.

Wanting to check a wider variety, I took a random selection of other rats and upgraded them as well.

Now, we're going to play rat baseball.

"Remember, don't put your hand anywhere near their mouths."

Wallace looks at me, then back to the basket. I raise the bat, and take a stance.

His hand moves.

"Recognised, Troia, Ay zero five."

What?

"Hey guys, what are you do-?"

I turn to the zeta tube as the rat flies past me and hits the wall. Edgar McScurry drops to the floor and we all watch as he rights himself, sniffs the air and then scurries along the floor. My grip on the bat relaxes.

"And.. why were you going to hit that rat with a baseball bat?"

I make the appeal gesture. "Because the shop didn't have a cricket bat. Bloody Americans."

She's wearing her black star-studded armour and mithril bracers. Finding out that mithril exists here was a bit of a surprise. Finding out that Diana's gold armour is actually made of orichalcum was even more so. I'd thought that White Wolf made that stuff up for Exalted. But no: take a normal -if highly refined- metal, add a little magic and boom, super tough armour. I've got to add that to Sephtian's slate.

Before Edgar can reach the exit and give Teekl even more cause to shun my company, I grab his tail with an orange tentacle, lift him into the air and ShockCrown him before he can break free. I was a little alarmed to discover that these rats are now strong enough to break my weaker constructs, but I suppose that was sort of the point of the process. I float him over to the basket. Strong though they are, it doesn't seem to occur to them that they can get through a solid looking obstruction.

"Paul…"

Whaw. That's exactly the tone Diana uses.

"Short version: Alan gave me a copy of the formula that gave Hugo Danner super strength. I tested it on some rats, it worked. The bat wouldn't have hurt him."

"You made.. super rats?" She looks more disturbed than impressed.

"Yes!"

I raise my right fist in exaltation.

"NOW THE WORLD WILL TREMBLE IN FEAR BEFORE MY RODENT MINIONS!"

Donna and Wallace blink at me. Wallace waves a finger. "Ah, I'm not gunna help you with that."

"Was a joke, guys. Anyway, works on rats. Had a super strong Blue Jay flying around for a while. Not.. sure.. where that went. Monkey trials struck me as a really bad idea."

I pause, waiting for a response. Donna appears to decide that it's her turn. "So you can make super strong animals? Is that.. good?"

"The Danner Formula normally only works on foetuses. I now know how to make it work on adult organisms. I can make any baseline Human as strong as Hugo Danner was."

"Alright, but what do you need me for? I'm skipping Chemistry revision to be here."

"Eh, Wallace can help you with that."

Wallace grins at her. "I'm, like, the king of chemistry. I can totally help you with that."

"Your name's really Wallace?"

He slumps slightly. Whoops. "Yeah."

"Well, thank you, Wallace. That's very kind of you."

And he's fine again. I hold up my left forefinger. "Ah. Just a moment…"

Kon, Kaldur and M'gann walk in from the habitation area, with the sphere rolling along just behind them.

Tingle tingle.

M'gann's carrying Teekl, who turns her head to peer around the room. After her telepathic confrontation with Doctor Jones and my creation of offensively strong food animals, Teekl's been spending most of her time with M'gann.

"Okay, Kon, do you want the good news first, or the bad news?"

"Ah." He looks at M'gann and Kaldur, then back to me. "Bad.. news?"

"Right, oh-kay."

I float up into the air. Sooo good to have a full charge again.

"After our encounter with Mister Twister, you made it clear to me that you.. were unhappy, not having the full range of Kryptonian powers. I've been working on the issue." I raise my hands, and form two images. "Eye on the left is yours. Eye on the right, Kal-El's."

I trigger a zoom to various points of interest.

"As you can see, near enough identical. Your ability to perceive different wavelengths is almost exactly as good as his, as is your magnification. But."

The image pulls out and extends into the brain.

"Your visual cortex, his visual cortex. As you can see, noticeable differences in structure." I point with my right hand. "This bit here, as far as I can tell, is the capacitor for his heat vision. You don't have one. Your visual cortex is almost entirely Human. So, bad news, I'm sorry, but unless I changed the structure of your brain -which I won't, by the way- there's no way to give you heat vision."

He looks down, slumped, and nods.

"I'm still working on flight. Now, good news. I've found a way to upgrade your strength."

His head comes straight up. "Really?"

I move my arms out to the side. "No, I'm winding you up."

His face falls.

"No no no, that was a joke! That was a joke. I've done it, with a little help from Wallace, Alan and a guy named Abednego Danner."

The eye images are replaced by a cut away diagram of Kon's body, with Kryptonian, Human and Chimeric -presumably Genomorph- components in different tones.

"See, originally, I was trying to see if I could get your Human components to have the same strong nuclear force control as your Kryptonian parts. Couldn't do it. But, it occurred to me, I'd be better off studying existing metahumans, and seeing if I could replicate their abilities."

I float over to him, touching down a metre away.

"And with the Danner Formula, I have a way to upgrade your Human components. Can't promise that you'll be exactly as strong as Superman, but you'll probably be close."

He's smiling.

"And that's why Donna's wearing her armour. You spar today, she'll need it." I extend my hands forward, towards his chest. "So, you want me to do this?"

He looks a little stunned, in a happy sort of way. He nods.

"Yes."

Good day, good day.

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
06:46 GMT -2

…

Balls.

When Kaldur invited Kon, M'gann and I to visit Atlantis with him I was so looking forward to getting a tour of the place from someone who actually knows it. Being told what the structures of the buildings of Shayeris actually are means that I can appreciate it better than just tagging it all as 'alien weirdness to be ignored'. Really, the whole place is a wonder of expert biomancy, natural structures grown many times their natural speed in accordance with the magics of their crafters. Met Kaldur's parents, met his school friends -including the guy I was expecting to be Aqualad- and generally ended up with a much better understanding of Atlantean society than I had before.

Sure, I accidentally said a few things that I maybe shouldn't have done. Once they said that there was a 'Purist' movement which hates all Atlanteans who deviate from the Human physical template, maybe I should have thought a bit more about asking why they didn't just fix the spells which created the alterations. After backtracking a bit -and healing the scars they carved into Topo's chest - it was explained to me that the version of the spell that was used on the 'purebloods' was lost when the great sorcerer Ahri'ahn died just after the Sinking. Why there wasn't some sort of record made I'm not sure, but I got the impression that while they got some warning that the Sinking was going to happen, it wasn't all that much and things were a bit chaotic. Anyway, at this point turning one of the 'altered' Atlanteans back into a baseline Human would be next to impossible, even if it were politically acceptable to try. The bloodline magics are just too embedded.

Like I'd accept that for an answer. I ended up giving this whole speech about how nothing is impossible if you want it strongly enough. Any spell that was cast once can be rediscovered and cast again. I used to hate public speaking like that, but I think it actually went quite well. Particularly when I brought up the fact that I don't have a soul, which around here marks me out as the ultimate outsider, unable to perform magic in a civilisation where everything is magic based.

Apparently, the Atlantean term for someone like me is 'Hollow Man', which I suppose makes a kind of sense. I asked, and apparently people without souls can exist, a sorry state of affairs for those concerned that can be the result of major spell miscasts. The longest any of them are recorded as having survived afterwards is five days, and it's usually less. Until they died they behaved a bit like the zombies from African folklore before Hollywood got to them, listless and bewildered but still biologically alive. They also feature rather heavily in Atlantean horror stories, sort of a halfway house between a zombie and a vampire. That version can sustain itself by feeding on the souls of others, gradually diminishing in power and becoming increasingly corpselike when prevented from doing so. I was actually a bit worried that I might be some sort of Atlantean equivalent of Edward Cullen. Seems a bit trivial, given what happened afterwards.

For some reason, DNA scans on the altered Atlanteans tell me that they should be baseline Humans. Even the scans of the DNA on the bits which clearly aren't Human. The ring detects that the altered bits are altered; it can scan their structures just fine, it just can't explain why. I'd find someone to ask, but I don't think that Atlanteans know much more about DNA than geneticists know about biomancy. Not sure we'd be able to get the Purists on side with a re-enchanting plan. It's not like the Nazis let Jews off if they renounced their faith. But the Inquisition did, so, maybe.

Anyway, everything was going fine until we turned in. M'gann and Kon joined Kaldur in the palace's guest facilities while I returned to the bioship. I'm not ready to trust the ring to breathe for me underwater while I'm asleep. As a result, I managed to sleep through Queen Mera getting kidnapped by Ocean Master, and my friends getting blasted by lightning. M'gann's pain woke me up, but with Kaldur down and Prince Orm 'busy' no one would tell me what was going on.

I don't really remember Orm from anywhere but the episode of Justice League where he tried to use a confrontation with some American submarines to start a war and take over Atlantis. Kind of a big deal, but I didn't want to assume things would go the same here. He wanted to send us after a Purist stronghold in something called 'Old Roman Trench' which he'd heard about from 'sources'. I waited until we were away from the palace before suggesting that it would make more sense for me to scan for her DNA instead. Kaldur wanted to tell Prince Orm, but I suggested that we couldn't tell who among his staff could be trusted.

Funnily enough, she wasn't at either location Prince Orm marked as possible Purist strongholds. Took us half an hour to reach the S'Atiroman Cave where she was actually being held. We blitzed the handful of Purist guards, and confronted Ocean Master himself. My ward paid for itself when he tried to blast me, and I disarmed him.

Literally.

Okay, not exactly literally, but he doesn't have hands anymore. Why he left them unarmoured I don't know. His armour was heavily enchanted, and my first attack against him completely failed because of that. Kon tried to close the range, Kaldur went to free Queen Mera, and M'gann tried a 'Get Over Here' with her telekenesis. Then I saw his trident, and disarmed him by…

Yeah.

Then Kon grabbed him, broke his arms and caved in his chest. Orm's still alive, just about, but the medical mages are actually arguing about whether it would be kinder just to let him die. They still stick people on Traitor's Reef for High Treason here.

What a mess.

I'm sitting in some sort of drawing room in the palace with my head on my hands, trying not to draw attention to myself. King Orin's back, and somewhere in the palace he's just now finding out that his beloved half brother is also his greatest enemy. Kaldur's been pretty stoical about the whole thing, but I saw how shocked he was when we took Orm's helmet off. I checked Queen Mera over on-site, and neither she nor her unborn child -a boy, though Atlanteans don't practise agnatic primogeniture- seem to have suffered any harm. She said that we'd probably arrived before Orm could carry out whatever ritual he'd had planned. They've got a team of mage wrights going over the whole thing, trying to work out what his spell rig was supposed to do.

What I can't work out is, why didn't he just kill her? I mean, he must have known she was pregnant, why not make sure that she wasn't going to be a problem as soon as she was out of sight of the palace? If he really needed a death to fuel the spell, why didn't he just get his followers to abduct a couple of 'impure' Atlanteans? Can't believe it would be that hard in a place where they can just grab a guy off the street and cut letters into his chest without an utterly devastating police response.

The door opens, and Kaldur swims in. I straighten up and make a dejected wave. "How's King Orin doing?"

He approaches, his eyes downcast. "As well as could be expected, given the circumstances."

"Bet the Purists are going to love this, their greatest champion taken down by two aliens, a Hollow Man and a, well…" I point at my neck, wiggling my index finger up and down.

Kaldur lightly shakes his head. "Though Purist sympathies are hardly uncommon, Ocean Master himself is reviled throughout Atlantis. Any Purist group with him as its leader will swiftly find itself with very few friends. "

"That's.. something, I suppose."

"I… I had not wanted you to see my home like this." He takes a seat one along from me. "I had thought that when Ocean Master was finally defeated it would be at the hands of my king, and that it would be a day of great celebration. Now…"

"Yeah."

We sit in silence for a moment.

"What did.. Prince Orm, actually do in Atlantean government?"

"He served as King Orin's regent during his frequent absences on the surface. I think… I think that the League will have to manage without Aquaman for a time."

"Are the guards going through Orm's quarters?"

He shakes his head. "No."

"Why not?"

"Who could be trusted to undertake such a search? Prin-. Orm handled many appointments to the royal household, and as Ocean Master must have had help from inside the palace to capture Queen Mera. They are all under suspicion."

"Damn."

"My king said that he intends to ask the city of Nanauve to provide a replacement detail until the investigation is complete. Since virtually their entire population would be considered 'impure' by the Purists, such groups have never had any support among them."

Shark people. Wonderful. Makes sense though. I was a bit puzzled as to why their king was attending the Conservatory, but apparently they use a system like that of ancient Sparta, and have two kings at a time. King Nanaue Sha'ark is the younger of their current rulers, and they judged it worthwhile to send him to an institution as prestigious as the Conservatory of Sorcery in order to strengthen their city-state's bonds to the next generation of the Poseidonian elite.

And if he wasn't such a huge arse, it might have worked.

"Where've Kon and M'gann got to?"

"They left on the bioship half an hour ago. We did not know where you were."

"Oh. I, um… I thought I should stick around in case anyone wanted me for anything. Didn't want to get in the way, so I thought.. this.. was…"

That wasn't very clever of me. I didn't know what to do, so I removed myself from the situation. But I should have stayed visible. And leaving Kon and M'gann…

"You should join them. There is a zeta beam station in the city. I will lead you there."

"Yeah. Thanks."

We get up.

"After all, you have school today as well."

…

"Wait, what?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
06:01 GMT -5

"No no no no no no no no no no no."

Diana stands there, waiting for me to stop. "Paul."

"No! This is not happening."

We're in the living area. Behind us, M'gann is making lunch for Kon and herself. Not for me, I put a stop to that right away. I have no idea what's going on, but I know what's not going on: me, going to an American high school. Kon needs the socialisation practice, fine. He doesn't need the knowledge, as since I upgraded his physique he finally agreed to let M'gann try meshing his programming with his conscious mind. It's working, slowly. It's even safe to let him into the kitchen now, though he hasn't got much beyond toast yet. M'gann wants to go to school, fine. She could probably use the Earth culture practice. I'm twenty nine, for heaven's sake!

Teekl's washing her front right paw while sitting on the work surface. Kaldur's staying behind in Atlantis for the time being, Red Tornado's gone to see what Kon's up to, and an uncomfortable looking Mister J'onzz has retreated to the far side of the kitchen. M'gann's looking a little nervous as well. Used to be that I'd hate making a scene like this. But, damn it, some things must not stand.

"Paul, I already told you that this was-."

"I thought you were talking to Kon and M'gann!"

She's right, though. School had come up in conversation. I just didn't credit the idea she meant me. My knowledge gap isn't that bad. Wait, I dimly remember that holding people back is more common in the American education system than it is in Britain. I haven't done anything really stupid lately, have I?

"I'm not even a US citizen!"

"Actually, you are. The League has arranged public identities for each of you. You just need to select a name which you-"

"Oh gods it's happened, hasn't it? I've caught it from you people. I'm going to start saying 'mailbox' and 'aloominum' and thinking that footballs are supposed to be ovoid and drinking tea with ice in it. I don't even like tea!"

"Paul, calm down."

"No. No. This is not the time for-."

"Paul, direct order. Calm down."

I freeze, trying to breathe more slowly. "I should have asked for something in the oath about impossible requests. Look, I find it strange enough that you're okay with M'gann going to school at forty eight, but what exactly do you think-?"

"Actually…" We both look at Mister J'onzz. He hesitates for a moment before continuing. "M'gann may be forty eight Earth years old, but Martians mature much more slowly than Humans. In your terms, she would be equivalent to a sophomore student."

I look blank. "And in British?"

"Sixteen. That would be.. year eleven, I think, in the British system."

Aaaagh!

This actually is the Junior Justice League! Everyone's… It's not just training. Not just training. That means.. everyone…

What?

"Exactly how old do you think I am?"

What do I do what do I do?

"Mid teens. I thought it best to put you in the same class as Kon and M'gann. I've no doubt that you can cope with the work load." She looks at me in an interrogative manner. "Actually, I hadn't realised until just now that I don't know exactly how old you are."

What do I do what do I do?

!Lie!

"Seventeen. I finished my GCSEs last year, and I have absolutely no desire to go back to secondary school."

Should I feel bad about that? I don't. I can't leave here, this is my home, but there's no way I'm going to school if I can possibly avoid it.

"Obviously, I don't have the certificates with me, but if you want something to put in the files I can just tell you my final grades."

Diana frowns slightly, and her eyes drop for a second. Progress!

"Students normally don't leave high school until they're eighteen."

"My birthday's on the seventeenth of September. If you really want me to go for ten days…"

She's thinking about it. Keep pushing.

"You're not making Kaldur go, and he's younger than me."

That's true.

"Kaldur is Atlantean-."

"And I'm British! Completely different education system, which I've finished."

"Don't you think it might be useful for you to have a genuine qualification?"

"Aaaaaah. No. I can already draw information from all databases on Earth. Once I get in touch with the Controllers, I'll have access to knowledge a billion years more advanced than anything Earth has to offer. I already told you that I don't want a secret identity, so there's no point in developing one. I am a Sector Lantern, and that's a full time job. High school is not worth my time."

Her left hand goes to her chin. "It would have been helpful to know this in advance."

Eh? "I told you in July. At the barbecue, with Alan and Donna."

Her eyes move to the side, the skin around them tightening as she tries to remember.

"You said that you 'weren't interested'. You didn't say that you'd finished school."

"Didn't I? Could of sworn…" Or was that the bit I said to Donna? Now she mentions it, I'm not sure. I shake my head. "It's splitting hairs anyway."

"The identity already exists…"

"Ring, detect all electronic records the League has created for my shell identity, copy them, then delete the originals."

"Compliance."

"There. Dealt with."

"Paul."

"If you can't list my real origin, at least list me as a local British national. Or even Maltusian. Something I'd want to be, something sort of accurate. Don't ask me to lie to everyone like that."

She nods, resigned. "Very well."

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
06:36 GMT -5

"Unable to comply."

"Alright, but why?"

I'm back in casuals, and I'm standing in my room in front of my personal lantern. I thought it would be best if I put a little space between Diana and myself for the moment. I need to calm down properly, for a start. Not quite sure how I got away with concealing my true age. Isn't she some sort of truth demigoddess? I had a good look at myself in the mirror when I got in here, and I honestly don't understand how they could think that I'm in my mid teens. Maybe that's because I know what I looked like at that age? Or maybe they're underestimating my age due to the situation's demand characteristics?

Since I need something to do for a little while, I thought I'd have a go at doing what Wallace suggested during the Bialya mission. Gives me an excuse not to think about the chaos in Atlantis as well.

"No superior connection available."

"Expand."

"Connection to Central Power Battery permits increased matrix stability. Do you desire to form a connection to the Orange Central Power Battery?"

"No!"

"Compliance."

"What is increased matrix stability, and why do I need it to put my lantern into subspace?"

"Each personal lantern contains a small planar fracture, systems for stabilising and maintaining the planar fracture, and capacitors for storing power taken from the planar fracture. Simply put, linking the personal lantern to the Central Power Battery fortifies and magnifies all systems. Practical consequences include increasing power draw from the fracture and increased fracture stability."

"So, if I don't connect to the Central Power Battery, and put the lantern into subspace…"

"High probability of fracture evaporation."

"The personal lantern would permanently shut down."

"Affirmative."

Not doing that, then. "Does not having a connection create any other problems?"

"Affirmative. Eventual fracture collapse is inevitable. A connection with the Central Power Battery extends personal lantern life expectancy indefinitely."

"Collapse? How soon?"

"Estimated remaining lifespan one hundred ten thousand four hundred ninety five local years."

Fuuw. I can live with that. "Does this personal lantern have some sort of.. camouflage mode?"

"No. However, this lantern is capable of generating a subspace vacuole to conceal itself."

"I thought you just told me it couldn't do that without shutting down?"

"Ring based storage utilises power ring signature as the connection point. This permits storage mobility, but causes fracture instability in unconnected personal lanterns. The lantern's own system retains a small connection to the external world, resulting in lantern immobility while in use."

"How small a connection?"

"Two point one cubic nanometres."

"No risk of collapse?"

"No significant loss of active lifespan predicted. However, this system is much less secure, and can be breached by less advanced subspace manipulation systems."

Abra Kadabra aside… Should be safe, for the most part. Just have to put it somewhere that isn't obvious. Hmm. Haven't yet recharged since that excitement in Atlantis. I hold out the ring.

"Recharge."

Nothing makes the world feel more right than recharging the ring. I feel better about having had the argument with Diana as soon as the orange beam hits. Confidence, that's what it means to me. I'll go and smooth things over with her, then talk to her about Robert? I've been trying to find a good time, but Batman's a pretty busy guy. But first…

I pick up my personal lantern, and hold it over the foot of my bed.

"Lantern, occlude."

The lantern vanishes by degrees. It's almost as if it's turning out of sight, into dimensions I can't perceive. I run a scan, and the ring can still detect it. Hmm.

Kon and M'gann will probably be leaving for school before too long. Does Kon expect me to be joining them? Agh, I need to try and smooth things over there as well.

"Ring, take me to Kon."

My bedroom is replaced by the cavernous pool area. Kon's working on his bike. After the thing with the robot monkeys I spent time learning how to ride my scooter properly, but I took out all of the weird super hero adaptations when I rebuilt it. Kon's taken to working on his manually. I think he finds the focusing therapeutic, plus it helps integrate the mechanical engineering knowledge with which he was programmed.

The sphere is circling him, like a puppy with a ball in its mouth. I need to try and find out roughly how intelligent it is. Are we talking animal? Small child? Adult? Something completely unrelated to Human development? I think I've located Scott Free, but approaching him could be a bit tricky.

"Jealous much?"

Kon's looked around to the sphere, in the opposite direction from where I'm standing. The sphere twitters musically. Is it bored? Maybe I could build it some sort of giant marble run?

"No, I'm sure that your heart's big enough for me and the bike."

His head jerks back around. "Hey Paul! When'd you get back?"

"About half an hour ago. Look, I'm really sorry about leaving you like that after the fight with Ocean Master. I didn't.. really.. know what to do."

"Uuh, it's okay, but, why didn't you come and find me when you got back?"

I walk over and sit down next to him. "Had a bit of an argument with Diana. Upshot is, I completed the compulsory part of the British education system over a year ago and won't be joining you at school."

"Oh."

Yep, downcast as predicted.

"Ready for school?"

M'gann flies down the steps which lead from the kitchen area. Diana, Red Tornado and Mister J'onzz are just behind her. Teekl is flying with her. Flying for M'gann? I feel a little betrayed by that.

"I made our lunches!"

Kon and I stand, Kon wiping his hands on a rag. I always had a plastic lunchbox, but it seems that paper bags are de rigueur here. Wouldn't the stuff inside get squashed all the time?

"The first day of the scholastic season carries great cultural resonance."

Not sure what it's like on Mars, Mister J'onzz, but I always felt more of a 'ugh, here we are again' myself.

M'gann lands next to Kon, while Teekl lands on the sphere, which responds by growling its engine. Teekl stares down at it for a moment, then dawks it.

"We want to wish you.. both, well."

I make brief eye contact with Diana. She doesn't look particularly annoyed. I jerk my eyes and head in the direction of Kon. She dips her head slightly in acknowledgement, then focuses on Kon.

"Yes. I will be reading your report card at the end of the year, and I expect you to learn as much in the classroom as you do in the training ring."

Kon straightens. "I will. I won't disappoint you."

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
06:42 GMT -5

There's a slight creak as Red Tornado focuses his attention on M'gann. "Miss Martian. Do you intend to attend school in your current form?"

M'gann claps her hands, then spreads out her arms and legs. "Ah! I spent hours choosing this outfit."

The change in her shapeshifting clothing spreads from her feet upward. She ends up with tall white socks, black shoes, a white t-shirt, and dark pink headband, skirt and.. jacket.. thing? The skirt has a narrow black belt with a gold buckle. Or rather, I suppose it probably doesn't, being a shapeshifted replica rather than an actual belt. Maybe? After how embarrassed she got when I asked about it the first time I've not broached the subject again.

"Can M'gann M'orzz pass as an Earth girl now?"

Red Tornado regards her for a moment. "Unlikely."

"Just kidding!"

In an instant her skin turns from green to pale pink. It's actually quite close to what my colour is these days as I've been getting a good deal more sun than I used to. Kon's still fairly pale. I suppose that his fortitude also protects his skin from ultraviolet damage.

M'gann turns on the spot to show off her new form. "Meet Megan Morse!" She curtsies, then turns to Kon. "What's your new name?"

Kon thinks about it for a moment. "Ah, you said you liked Conner, right? Why can't I just be Conner El?"

I smile, and lean forward. "The whole point of having a secret identity is that it's different from your super identity. Kon-El to Conner El is a bit obvious."

Mister J'onzz's form ripples as a navy blue suit replaces his black Manhunter uniform. "I chose the name 'John Jones' for myself, and suggested 'John Smith' for Red Tornado."

Mister J'onzz's Human-seeming form is that of a bald black man here. I distinctly remember him primarily using a white alter ego in the comics. Is that the product of him arriving on Earth decades later, in different social conditions? Or maybe he made a connection between Caucasian Humans and White Martians?

"Perhaps you could use 'Johnson' as your family name?"

I seem to remember the name 'John' meaning something about light in Ca'andran. 'Son of the Light'? That just sounds silly.

Kon looks at Diana. Oh, I see where this is going.

"What's yours?"

She hesitates for a moment. "Amazons don't tend to use them. Those few Amazons born since the Exile were once called 'the Younger', but that had fallen out of use by the time of my birth. When I joined the All-Star Squadron and their paperwork required that I have one I simply gave my mother's name."

Kon crosses his arms. "Then I'll pass."

Mister J'onzz is not so easily dissuaded. "Perhaps, Kent?"

He didn't.

He did. I seem to remember using the 'K' word myself in the desert when I first encountered Kon, but I don't think that Kon remembers it. He certainly hasn't asked about it.

M'gann seems to likes it. "Oh. In memory of Doctor Fate! The late Kent Nelson."

"Uh-of course."

Good save. Mister J'onzz shifts back to his Martian form. Or rather, his sort of Martian form. Now, let's see…

**[My arm over his shoulder. I'm grinning.] Smooth sir, very smooth. Why not suggest that he wear glasses, and study journalism?**

His eyes dart to me for a moment. I think. It's a little hard to tell. None of the others appear to have heard that.

"Okay. Sure. Guess it'd be an honor, or something."

Looks like Kon likes it, -well, is prepared to tolerate it- and so he becomes Conner Kent anyway. Is that narrative causality or historical imperative or just plain weird? I'm trying to keep my amusement from my face.

"Well, Conner Kent, timetochangeyourshirt."

She's actually batting her eyelids. Kon looks down at his 'S', and puts his right hand over it protectively. M'gann pokes him.

"You don't wanna reveal your identity."

Kon reaches up and pulls his t-shirt over his head. M'gann bites her lip as she ogles his broad muscular chest. Honestly. As it comes off Kon turns the t-shirt inside out and holds it out to M'gann, the 'S' now hidden from view.

"Will this work?"

She's blushing. "Works for me."

Come on M'gann, you've seen his bare torso before.

"Thaaat's not really a disguise. I think people are probably intelligent enough to add an 'S' on their own. Can I lend you a shirt? I'm sure the ring can alter something to your size."

He shrugs. "Sure."

I move the t-shirt into subspace. This gives M'gann an unobstructed view, and she takes full advantage.

!All together!
!All mine!

"Kon, do you have a colour preference? I've got white, blue and orange."

"Not white, and orange is kinda your thing."

"Quite true. Right then, ring, alter one blue shirt to Kon's dimensions."

"Compliance."

Purely coincidentally, the orange scanning beam projects from my eyes. It runs over him once from head to toe before moving back the other way and transposing the shirt onto him. Perfect fit. Probably not a combination of clothes I would have picked out, but I don't think he's ever shown any interest in other clothes. Have to take him shopping some time.

Whaw. Did I just mentally volunteer to go clothes shopping with someone?

Kon holds out his arms to get a good look at it. He doesn't seem to be that bothered one way or another, and lowers them. M'gann takes telekinetic hold of the lunch bags, then takes Kon's arm to lead him to the exit. As he passes me he frowns for a moment.

"Wait. Shouldn't I be Conner Nelson?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
06:47 GMT -5

Mister J'onzz sighs. "They grow up so fast."

Diana looks at me. "Yes, they do."

"Look, um, I'm sorry about that. I should have realised that you wouldn't magically know how old I was."

She dismisses the matter with a wave of her left hand. "Since you're not going to school, what plans do you have for today?"

I fold my arms against my chest. "I was pretty much just going to laze around, watching TV and smoking marijuana."

No reaction from Red Tornado or Mister J'onzz. Diana raises an eyebrow. Oh well, I tried.

"I'm going to follow up on the Bialya mission. I think there are a couple of people on Earth who come from the same place as the sphere, and I want to talk to them about it. Maybe see if they can take it back."

Diana nods. "How have they escaped being noticed?"

"They look Human, and one of them is the New God of Freedom. Trapping him, even metaphorically, is pretty much impossible."

Mister J'onzz narrows his eyes slightly. "Your description of these.. 'New Gods'… It seems a little…"

"I know. That's why I wasn't going to add anything to the Justice League database until I'd been able to confirm it, but-."

I point to the sphere. It warbles. Oh.

"The son of Highfather and his wife, since you ask."

A series of beeps.

"No, his natural son. I said Freedom, not the Glory of War."

Mister J'onzz looks from me to the sphere. "You were able to understand what the sphere said?"

"Sort of. The ring doesn't turn it into words, but I can generally understand what it means."

Diana looks at Mister J'onzz, then Red Tornado. "I can understand it as well. Red?"

"No. I have been attempting to decode its sounds since it arrived here with no success. I find it odd that the two of you understand it so easily."

"It's not that strange. Metaphysically, Diana's probably a lot like a New God." I hold out my left hand, palm outward, and do the glowing flame thing Alan does when he flies. "And the ring is letting me fake it. I know I can't understand it when I'm not wearing it. Have the Greenies come up with anything useful?"

Diana and Mister J'onzz exchange looks. Oh, come on, by this stage you should be able to do telepathic consultations without looking at each other. Mister J'onzz responds for them.

"They are.. discussing with the Guardians what information can be released."

"That sounds about as helpful as I was expecting. I'll write up what I think I know later, but don't treat it as guaranteed."

Diana focuses on me for a moment. "I thought you said that your ring doesn't have a database?"

Whoops.

"I.. exaggerated a bit. Doesn't have much of one, and most of what's there isn't very useful, especially as I can't confirm it until my year's up."

Her eyes dart away for a moment when I say 'year'. She doesn't feel bad about that, does she? I still think it's a fair trade. "Hm. Very well. I will accompany you to meet this 'god of freedom'."

"Ooh. Um. Sir, you understand that they're here to hide from the New God of Tyranny? They're probably not going to be happy about having their cover blown. I was.. kind of planning to keep it to a minimum…"

"Orange Lantern, I have the greatest respect for what you have managed to achieve since receiving your ring, but you are still my student. Diplomatic contacts like this need to be conducted by League members."

"Yes sir."

"If their anonymity is such a concern, we can keep their identities between the two of us."

I nod. I hadn't expected that she'd want to get involved, but it wouldn't hurt to have her support. Now that I think about it, the only combat mission I've actually gone with her on where I was fully participating was dealing with that kraken that was attacking shipping in the Skandage. Not sure why she got called in on that one. Kraken aren't part of Greek mythology, but I suppose when a giant monster is attacking people you can't be too fussy.

Diana takes a step towards the zeta tubes, and I turn to follow her.

"Paul. A moment, if you will."

I wonder what Mister J'onzz wants? I turn back. Diana stops as well, probably as curious as me.

"A moment ago you sent an extremely clear telepathic message to me, and I do not believe anyone else was able to hear it. Diana?"

She shakes her head. "I didn't hear anything."

"Yeah, M'gann said that I'd taken to telepathy surprisingly easily."

He looks at me for a moment. "I do not think that you appreciate exactly how unusual what you are doing is. When M'gann told me that you were able to induce tactile sensation I was.. sceptical."

Aaaaaaagh.

"Oh, look, it was after our memories got wiped. I already apologised to her about it, she seemed okay and I backed off as soon as…"

His eyes widen slightly.

"And you didn't know about that." I look down, and wrinkle my nose. "You didn't know about that. Right."

There's a pause. Uuuuooooh.

He looks away from me. "You, and M'gann, are both mature young people. I am certain that she would have mentioned it if she found the experience… Uncomfortable."

This, actually, doesn't feel as awkward as I thought it would. I wonder if that's the ring's doing? I'd still rather not be having this discussion.

"Sir, love to talk about this some more, but,-" I point both index fingers at Diana, who now has both eyebrows raised. "-duty calls. Is there anything you need to say to me urgently?"

"I.. do not believe so."

"Right! Nice talking to you." I nod. "Red Tornado."

I turn around in what I hope is a definitive way and walk towards Diana.

"Come on Teekl, Sphere. Walkies."

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
06:52 GMT -5

"Recognised, Wonder Woman, zero three, Orange Lantern, B zero six, Teekl, C zero one, Sphere, C zero two."

The zeta terminus nearest the home of Scott and 'Barbara' Free is in a Wayne Enterprises owned dockside warehouse on the shore of Hartford, Connecticut. Its neighbours are actually used for secure storage, so it doesn't look odd that this one has sophisticated security devices on the exterior, as well as armoured sides and anti-scanning insulation. Its other form of security comes from the fact that Bruce Wayne basically owns this town, being its largest employer and having donated generously to several civic projects. I'm not exactly sure what it is they do here; all of the area's other major companies appeared to be insurance providers.

Teekl zips in front of my face as I follow Diana to the exit.

"Teekl number one? Teekl queen?"

"Teekl, that's not how it w-." And there's a paw on my nose. I can just feel the claws against my skin. Bet Larfleeze never has to put up with this. "Tell you what, you can be the Sphere's queen."

Her head tilts slightly to the side as she withdraws her paw, and then she flies over to land at Diana's feet. Diana bends down and rubs her head.

"I hadn't appreciated how alive she is."

"I was expecting her to be a bit more obedient as well."

"Was she always able to talk?"

"I didn't hear her speak when she was with Klarion. Teekl? Were you always able to talk?"

Her tail waves back and forth. "Only Klarion hear." She stalks off to sniff the corner of the room.

"What does she mean?"

"Not sure. Power rings can translate for animals. Maybe Klarion didn't share his ability to understand her?"

"Power rings can translate animal sounds? I hadn't realised that."

"I think it's mostly interpreting gestures. They aren't really saying what you hear."

She walks over to a computer console, and checks that internal security hasn't been compromised.

Ring, check for listening devices, then secure room.

Compliance.

Diana turns back to me as the walls, floor and ceiling begin to glow orange. She looks around for a moment.

"Very thorough. Now, tell me about the people we're here to meet."

"Sir." I raise my hands, and create constructs in the shape of our targets. "Scott and Barda Free, aka Mister Miracle,-"

His costume was easy to locate, as he wears it on publicly available advertising material. I create an additional image next to his normal guise for comparison.

"-and Big Barda."

She's running self defence classes at one of the local gyms. I didn't want to risk scanning their home in case they picked up on it, and as a result I've had to rely on memory for her armour. Tight fitting mail, skirt thing, mega rod and weird helmet. That was about it, wasn't it? Should probably mention it to Diana.

"I don't guarantee that I've got her armour completely correct. I'll give their house a scan when we get there and inform you of any major errors on my part."

Diana walks over to the armoured image. Barda is actually at least a foot taller than her, and noticeably more muscular.

"Impressive."

"Don't get your hopes up. My files suggest that, having done a lot of fighting for Darkseid, she's more interested in a quiet life here rather than getting involved in our line of work."

"What's she the New God of?"

"No idea. Honestly, that dual existence thing might just be for their aristocrats."

The sphere had been heading for the exit, but it's rolled back to the image of Mister Free and is bleeping excitedly.

"She isn't one of their aristocrats?"

"No. Elite warrior, but not properly part of the ruling group. She was part of Darkseid's bodyguard… But I say again, I haven't been able to check a lot of this data yet."

"And her husband is an aristocrat?"

"Yes, as the son of Highfather, ruler of New Genesis. The 'good guys', if you like. Highfather was a friend of Darkseid's brother, before said brother was assassinated on Darkseid's order."

"He had his own brother killed?"

"His mother, too. Though, to be fair, Queen Heggra was completely horrible."

"It seems to run in the family."

"She trained him in it. Intentionally, I mean. She believed that Apokolips needed the greatest tyrant as its ruler, someone completely ruthless and cruel. I don't know if she was proud of her success or not."

"How did Scott Free and Barda meet?"

"As part of the treaty which ended the last major war between Apokolips and New Genesis, the rulers of both worlds sent their sons as hostages to the other. Darkseid's son Orion was raised by Highfather, while Scott Free was sent to a facility run by the New God of Child Abuse in an attempt to break his will. Didn't work, and eventually he escaped to Earth."

"The New God of… They have a god for that!?" Diana is clearly horrified.

"Goddess, actually. Her name is Granny Goodness, and she is part of the inner circle. Very good at breaking young minds, and then rebuilding them into whatever Darkseid wants. I don't have a picture, but think short fat old woman with a perm. Basically, shoot on sight."

"And Highfather willingly delivered his son into her care?"

I shrug. "It stopped the war. Maybe he was sure that Scott Free could survive and escape? If he'd stayed on Apokolips, Orion would just have turned into a copy of his father. If he was trying to do the greatest good for the greatest number…"

"Perhaps. But, still. His own son. What is Highfather the New God of?"

"Don't know. If I had to guess, I'd say loving paternal authority. He's basically Zeus without the philandering."

I can feel her desire to defend her god. Of all peoples, why the heck do the Amazons still revere him? The fact that she doesn't have an immediate comeback suggests to me that that part of the mythology is more or less true. Must remember to look up Cassandra Sandsmark later.

"Let's leave the comparative theology aside for now. How did you plan to approach them?"

"Walk up to their house in my civvies, ring on the doorbell." I shrug at her raised eyebrows. "Worked with Alan. I doubt they make a point of answering the door armed. If they'd wanted me to go away, I'd have done so. But, if you're coming, low key isn't really possible. I don't suppose you've got any casual clothing stored around here, have you?"

She walks over to a crate at the side of the room, and touches a panel. It opens, revealing female clothing. "It may surprise you to learn this, but I do think ahead occasionally."

"Of course sir." I walk to the far side of the room, look away and put my hands over my eyes.

"I'm just taking my boots off, Paul. The clothing goes over my armor."

"Er. Right."

"After all, I wouldn't want to make M'gann jealous, would I?"

Oh no, not this time sir.

"You know sir, I haven't actually told anyone that I know you keep at least one change of clothes at Alan's house."

A brief pause. I hear clothing being tugged on.

"When I returned to Themyscira after the Second World War, Alan offered to store some of my belongings until I decided whether I wanted to stay in the United States or not."

"And they're still there sixty years later?"

"Well,-."

"Oh, I believe you sir. I believe you. Thousands wouldn't..."

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
06:56 GMT -5

"…on life support, so King Orin is going to be busy for the next few weeks."

Turns out that King Orin didn't tell anyone specifically why he had to return home when he left the Watchtower, and it was far easier to explain what happened than listen to Diana continue to question me about my relationship with M'gann.

"You cut off his hands?"

We're walking down the suburban street that leads to the Frees' home. There aren't many people up and about at this time of the morning, but there are a few and I didn't want to transfer us directly to their door in case someone saw. We're still aiming to keep this as quiet as possible.

"Only his hands and feet were unarmoured, and he was pointing an arcane weapon of a type I was unfamiliar with at a bound pregnant woman. I could have reattached them later, but the healers wanted me out of the way. I checked with Kaldur beforehand, and Atlantean rules of engagement allow-."

"I wasn't criticising the level of force you used. I'm more impressed that you picked up his vulnerabilities that quickly rather than repeatedly trying to blast armour you couldn't breach."

"Oh. Thank you."

We walk a little further. Teekl and the sphere are back at the warehouse. Diana is wearing blue jeans, white blouse and a denim jacket. I've got my environmental shield set to minimum. I don't think we stand out significantly.

"Mera's pregnant?"

"Yep. A boy, though I didn't tell her in case she didn't want to know."

"I'll have to send them my congratulations."

And I stop walking, my hands going to my face.

Diana stops as well. "What's wrong?"

"I kept his hands with me when we went back to the palace. I didn't have a bag or anything, so I put them into the ring's subspace pocket. The healers told me to get lost. I've still got them."

"You weren't planning to add them to the trophy room, I hope?"

"No! No, gods no."

"Then later today you can go back to Poseidonis and hand them over to the palace doctor."

I peel my hands away from my eyes. "Sir, was that pun intentional?"

A second of puzzlement. "I'm speaking Greek. If you heard a pun, it wasn't from me." She appears to think for a moment. "You heard me telling you to 'hand them over', didn't you?"

I nod. She smiles as she turns away, and continues down the pavement. I shake my head, and follow her.

We stop again at the path leading up to the Frees' front door. She nods at me. "Ring, full scan."

And I know the house's contents. Most of it is the same as its neighbours, escapology equipment aside, but there's a hidden compartment I can't scan. Scott and Barda also give confusing results. On one level, it's reading Human organs and tissues. On another, it's like it's glitching, occasionally getting partial images of something more. They're sitting at the dining room table.

And they've both looked up. Yep, they felt that.

"They're both inside, and they know that someone scanned them. I think they're keeping their specialist equipment in a sealed compartment, but I can't scan it."

"They can block power ring scans?"

"It doesn't surprise me that it's within their technological ability. I might be able to brute force it, but that would be a bit aggressive."

She nods. "Wait here."

I nod, and she walks up the path and rings the doorbell. We wait for a moment, but nothing happens. She notices the spy hole, and moves to stand directly in front of it.

Ring, what are they-?

The door explodes outwards, hitting Diana full on and knocking her back onto the path before she uses her flight to steady herself and throws it aside.

"Raaagh!" "Just two of them. This won't take long."

Barda charges out, Mega-Rod held in a two handed grip. She's wearing a short purple dressing gown which blows open, revealing red pyjama shorts, a red cut off pyjama top and pink fluffy bunny slippers. The Mega-Rod swings down in an overhead blow and is met by Diana's bracers, raised in a cross. Barda moves back a tiny amount before reversing the butt of the Rod into Diana's face, sending her hurtling backwards past me into the road.

Yeah, they think we've blown their cover. Poop.

And now she's looking at me and armour armour armour!

My grey armour and orange construct armour appear as she sprints forward. I raise my hands.

"Barda, could we just talk-!"

"Errgh!" "Why are you even here?"

She swings the Mega-Rod right to left with the intent of smashing me in half. I transfer to just behind her.

"Barda, please try to calm-."

She bends her legs slightly, and hurls herself backwards at me. I instinctively start to duck, before realising that's stupid and transferring myself left. She steadies herself and goes into a crouch, ready to attack me again.

She really isn't wearing a bra.

Diana torpedoes into her side, grabbing her around the waist. They both go down, grappling. Barda drops the Rod as soon as Diana gets inside her reach. Diana's got that, fine, what now? I look at the doorway and see Mister Free paused there, holding a silver disc in each hand. I don't remember exactly what those do, but I don't think it would be good for us.

I transfer to just in front of him, and raise my hands in surrender. "Mister Free, we're not here to fight. Please ask your wife to stop hitting Wonder Woman."

He blinks, and lowers the discs slightly. "That's Wonder Woman?" "I told her, don't go charging out, but does she listen?"

"Yes, and-."

Barda flies through the air and hits the side of their house hard enough to break several of the slanted slats of wood which make up the frontage. She rights herself again in a second, spots me, and lunges. I take a step back and feel something press into the rear of my armour construct. What?

Barda's fist slams into the right side of my face, but rather than decapitating me or bouncing off my construct faceplate I spin with my abdomen as the axis. I make a full dizzying rotation head over heels as she fails to arrest her momentum and my head comes back around again just in time to get a face full of New Goddess boob. That sends me spinning sideways and into the air before I flick the damn enerjam off and steady myself. Enerjam, is that what they're called? Not sure.

Diana flies at Barda at head height, pulling Barda's face straight into her knee. As Barda staggers back I eliminate the friction from under her feet and she goes down.

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
07:00 GMT -5

!Pointless stop stop stop!

She's not going to listen, she needs to see something. Sphere! I transfer back to the warehouse. No point worrying about secrecy at this point. A quick scan, and then another transfer to the place the sphere and Teekl wandered off to. Fortunately, they only went as far as the seafront, and I don't think anyone's seen them. I materialise, stick a hand on each one, extend my environmental shield and then transfer back to the Frees' front lawn.

The sphere starts warbling happily as soon as it sees them. Mister Free and Barda look around in surprise, and Diana takes advantage of the opening to lunge up and toward her, bringing her fist down on the top of her head and driving her to the ground hard.

!No wrong no!

A mechanical claw construct grabs Diana and pulls her back and the sphere rolls up to Mister Free and beeps loudly.

"Sorry about that sir, but we need to deescalate."

Mister Free kneels and places his right hand on the sphere. "I can understand it." "It's the same technology as Mother Box, but I don't recognize the configuration."

How else to help?

I wave my right hand and the front panels of the house fuse back together. I gesture with my right palm and the door floats over to the doorway and reattaches, unbroken and unbent. I turn and the lawn levels out. Then I take a deep breath and float over to land next to Barda.

"Can I offer you a hand up?"

She glares at me, scowling. I give up on smiling and just lift her to her feet instead. Once she's upright she tries swatting the construct away, but I let it dissipate first.

"Sir? Mister and Missus Free? Might I suggest that we move this off the street?"

Mister Scott looks each way down the road and tightens the muscles in the corners of his eyes, as if tasting something unpleasant. "I think it's a bit late for that." "Oh, not again."

We all turn and take in the rest of the street. There aren't as many rubberneckers as there would be inside a city but I'd say that with all the neighbours looking on in horror -through windows for the closer ones, out on the street if they're further away- we've lost plausible deniability.

Or maybe we just need to lie bigger.

I take a video camera out of subspace and raise it to my eye, panning it around without turning it on.

"And that's a wrap! We can go again if you want Missus Free, but I don't think we'll get it any better with another take!" I lower the camera. "It's a good job Mister Free knows so much about explosives! That would never have worked so well without the special effects!"

Stares of utter disbelief from Diana and Barda. I think that Mister Free is trying not to laugh.

"We can work out how you want it cut now if you like! I can plug this right into your computer, inside!"

The grin is back, and I'm nodding my head vigorously in the direction of the now restored door.

Diana takes a few paces towards me. "Orange Lantern, no one's going to believe that."

"They will if there's no official follow up, so when we get inside you'll need to phone the police. Also, you might need to turn up at one of Missus Free's self defence classes."

Barda is now squinting at me with her left eye. "I didn't know that Earth had a God of Bullshit." "Scott, could that work? I don't want to move again either."

Mister Free steps away from the door as if to invite us in. "That might work, if we get off the street now." "New York was totally your fault. You know that, right?"

Camera held out in such a way that it would be obvious to onlookers, I walk into their home. Barda's following closely behind me, having paused to pick up her Mega-Rod. "I'll put the coffee on." "It said five items or less!"

Their table is still set for breakfast. There's some carbonised bacon on the plate in front of the seat Mister Free walks past me to occupy, next to a bowl that holds the residue of some sort of cereal. The sphere takes up station next to him as I come to a halt in front of the table. Barda strides past into the kitchen area, Teekl rubs against my left leg and Diana closes the door as she brings up the rear. The other plate on the table holds some half eaten toast. The toast is plain.

I meet Mister Free's eyes as he passes Diana the phone. "We might have got away with it."

I hope we have, anyway. Diana takes the phone, then walks into the living room to attempt to dissuade the police from bombing the place.

Mister Free pats the sphere, which responds by doing a theremin impression.

"After we detected a boom tube from Apokolips last week, we were expecting company. Just not from the Justice League." "And I could not be more relieved."

"The sphere there was all that came through, as far as my team were able to tell."

I shift back to civilian clothing, drop my construct armour and turn down my environmental shield.

"You know of Apokolips?" "There goes the neighbourhood."

"A bit. That's why we're here. We picked up the sphere in Bialya. If Bialya's trading with Apokolips, knowing a bit isn't good enough."

He nods. There's a gurgling noise from the kitchen, and he starts to look around before stopping himself. "I suppose something like this was inevitable." "Goodbye, splendid isolation."

Barda stalks out of the kitchen having retied her dressing gown, and thrusts a cup of coffee into my chest. "Coffee." "See, I can be polite to guests."

"Ah, thank you, but I don't-."

"Coffee. You will drink it." "What's wrong with my coffee?"

"Yes sir." I put my hands on the mug and she lets go, staring at me expectantly. I don't like coffee, but if it makes things easier…

Ring, I want to taste blackcurrant.

Compliance.

I bring the mug to my lips and take a gulp. Yep, blackcurrant. Good work, ring.

"Lovely. Thank you."

She actually smiles a bit, then turns to walk around behind Mister Free, putting her hands on his shoulders. Diana comes back in and hands the phone to Mister Free. That was quick.

"That was quick?"

"There's a protocol for this sort of thing. I just had to give an address."

Mister Free looks up at Barda for a moment, then turns his attention to Diana. "So, what does the Justice League need from us?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
07:18 GMT -5

I'm sitting at the main computer in the training area, trying to remember everything I ever learned about the New Gods. Scott Free and Barda agreed that it was in their interest to provide information, though neither of them want to be active participants in League activities. Maybe that will change later. They both had things to do today, and since we don't have intelligence of an imminent attack Diana agreed to leave them to it. Hopefully we'll have a better idea of what's going on once they've had time to put pen to paper.

Barda got over that whole tearing-up-the-front-garden incident really quickly. She and Diana left together to visit her gym, and I strongly suspect that my mentor now has a new sparring partner. The sphere opted to come back with me to the mountain, and Teekl found the whole thing rather dull. They're around -somewhere- but both lost interest in me when it became apparent that I was just going to sit here and work.

The reason the Frees linked a polite knock at the door to the boom tube in Bialya was that -as I had earlier guessed- Diana 'feels' like a New God. And apparently the orange light 'feels' Apokoliptian. They aren't familiar with other forms of super-advanced technology. I'm going to have to be more careful about scanning New Genesisians in future.

Out of all the toys Mister Free showed me while Barda and Diana were bonding over unarmed combat techniques, I recognised only the discs. They're his Aero-Discs; Enerjams are much smaller and do something completely different. He stuck it on my back because he wasn't sure that I could take Barda hitting me. The Disc converted the kinetic energy of her strike into spinning motion. It was only due to the ring that I wasn't disabled by dizziness. They have one Mother Box -Barda's- between them, and while they could use it to generate a boom tube the forces of Apokolips would detect that almost immediately. I was surprised to learn that Mister Free never had one. I guess they don't give valuable equipment like that to mere Aero-Troopers. He's been slowly trying to rebuild his old tools here on Earth. Slow and difficult, but he actually laughed when Diana offered him a scrambler for his phone line.

In practical terms, I now know how to detect boom tubes with the ring. I can't honestly claim to have understood the description of how it functions, but Mister Free did have a container holding a group of what he called 'super inflated gravitons' in storage, and apparently those appear in a very particular pattern around a boom tube terminus. I'll know for sure next time one is used, I suppose. One other point of interest is that Mister Free has never been to New Genesis. He knows that Highfather Izaya the Inheritor is his father, but since he doesn't remember him at all he doesn't feel any particular need to prioritise visiting.

Only odd thing was them both insisting that I'd shouted 'Pointless stop stop stop' just before I went to pick up the sphere, and I certainly don't remember doing that. They were so sure that I checked with the ring, and it agreed with me. Strange, but then again they are aliens. Maybe the Apokoliptian language uses a lot of gestures? I don't think the ring would translate those the other way. Maybe I should test that?

Sitting down and writing about the military of Apokolips has reminded me of one of the Tales of the New Gods characters whose story I rather liked. Need to remember to ask Barda whether or not Canis Minor exists. I remember his story ending with Darkseid ordering Kanto to kill him, but I've no idea if or when that might happen. If he even exists here. I know that Parademons are a serious threat, but I'm having trouble imagining what the Dog Soldiers would actually look like. People couldn't take that seriously when Games Workshop did it in Warhammer 40,000, for goodness sake.

The console beeps at me. Incoming message from Red Arrow? I tap the button to answer it.

"Domino's Pizza. Can I take your order?"

There's a pause.

"Who is this?"

"Orange Lantern two eight one four. And you're Red Arrow. Good morning. How have you been?"

"Put Kaldur on."

"Kaldur's in Poseidonis, and everyone else is at school. Can I take a message?"

I hear a sigh. "I need access to the Justice League's database, and the exact height of the League of Shadows assassin known as Onyx."

"One moment, just confirming your identity…"

A small orange model of his immediate environment forms next to me. He's standing outside a conference centre of some sort, behind one of the decorative pillars at the entrance. He's in Taipei, and the gathered press seems quite excited about something. I swirl my right index finger around as I call up the information he wants. I only remember Onyx in the comics from when she worked for Batman as some gang leader's bodyguard. I haven't bothered reading up on her here because, well, the evidence so far has suggested that ninjas aren't a threat to me.

"Nice suit. Alright, she's one metre seventy one."

"Um. In feet?"

"Err... Five foot six. You want me to back you up? I can be with you in about twenty seconds."

"Please. The last thing I need is the Junior Justice League."

"A'ight. Suit yourself."

Ring, is whatever's happening in that building important?

News reports indicate that a meeting between the representatives of North Rhelasia and South Rhelasia is taking place. Scans detect heightened levels of military activity on their shared border.

Right. Korea might not be called Korea here, but its history is pretty similar. Only difference is that it's not ruled by a Kim, but by a military aristocracy. Like Burma, I suppose. If the conference goes badly I suppose there might be a limited military exchange, but I think I'm too jaded about stuff like that to really care.

The little orange model of Red Arrow has its bow out, and is ducking behind a bush. Security there must be really bad if he can get that close.

Person of interest detected.

Onyx isn't a person of interest. That's a very short list.

Who?

The image zooms in on a limousine which is just pulling up to the gates leading to the conference centre, and then enters the vehicle.

Alexander Luthor? Good call, ring. Who's that in the car with him? Mercy Graves if I remember Superman: the Animated Series correctly… A gynoid? No, the ring's feeding me her schematics. Cyborg. The same structural reinforcing that idiot with the hook had, but at least her right forearm contains a concealed gun rather than a fishing line. Some sort of plasma pulse weapon, and there's a smattering of other augmetics throughout her body. Looks like fairly conventional technology -if a little better than anything on the market at present- so I doubt she gets many shots before she needs to recharge.

I transfer the scan data to the Justice League's systems.

Ring, why is Mister Luthor at a peace conference?

LexCorp subsidiaries do business with both countries. Diplomatic communications from both sides indicate that they have accepted his offer to serve as a mediator.

I have spent a significant amount of time looking into Mister Luthor. I haven't been able to find any systematic financial irregularities. There are occasions where it looks like bribery -or at least generous campaign contributions. Why the heck do Americans elect judges anyway?- might have been made, but there's nothing concrete in the electronic records. Supervillains? LexCorp is licensed to research kryptonite, which is fairly uncommon here. I think I recognised a few names on the employee roll, but again, no smoking gun. Whenever anything seriously dodgy has happened there's always been several gaps between it and Mister Luthor, to the point where if I didn't have 'special' knowledge I don't think I'd be able to convince myself of his involvement.

Duuuusuh. If Red Arrow thinks that the League of Shadows are targeting this conference, it might be worth me putting in an appearance in person. There are aspects of the personal philosophy of some versions of Lex Luthor that could be useful to me, and our species as a whole. I need to know which version I'm dealing with. Plus, I would sort of like to ask him about Kon. I did tell Kon that I knew the source of his Human tissue, but he's never asked for a name.

I get up, armour up, and transition to the mountain's back door. Apparently, when I use the ring's FTL I leave a wavy orange line behind me which persists for a fraction of a second. People would probably dismiss one or two, but if I keep leaving the mountain like that it will be noticed. I program a route to Taipei which takes me a long way out to sea before curving to my eventual destination. Not the conference centre itself, I don't intend to get close without seeing the area with my own eyes. There's an orange neon sign a few streets away that should conceal me.

Engage.

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
20:23 GMT +8

Glowing orange sign in front of me. Looks like I've arrived. Ring, remote view.

Roy is pinned beneath a woman I immediately recognise as Onyx, who in turn is surrounded by armed guards with automatic rifles levelled at her head. Someone needs to teach them about overpenetration; they're going to shoot each other if she decides to risk making a break away. How the heck did she even get that close? Don't they check people? Don't they have perimeter guards?

She puts her hands behind her head instead, and one of the guards stows his weapon and puts plastic cuffs on her. That must have been just about the worst assassination attempt ever. Is Ra's really that stupid? I know that most of his trained people weren't on Infinity Island when the League smashed it, but he still isn't in a position to waste them like this. A distraction of some kind?

Ring, scan Onyx.

Scan complete.

She's physically fit and healthy, isn't carrying anything the ring recognises as an arcane device, and doesn't have any seriously concealed weapons. How the heck was she planning to get away, even if her attack was successful? And how was I able to scan her? After Infinity Island Ra's found a way to avoid my more sophisticated scans, and that immunity spread among the remaining known Shadow operatives faster than I could grab them. But I can scan her. The black in these lentils is so big there's barely any lentil left.

Oh dear. I'm going to have to do the thing with the ring. I hate the thing.

"Ring, omnicognisance, half a second."

Dughergherghugherghughergherghughahghugh.

I hate the thing. It doesn't literally make me omnicognisant, but it does feed everything that could affect anything around me through my brain all at once, while providing me with just enough support to avoid haemorrhaging. The power consumption's ridiculous, and it makes me feel like curling up in a ball every time I use it. I'm leaning on the sign for support as I try to get my brain down to a mere fourth gear.

Quick, come on, what did I just know? No, I don't need the number of electrons in the bush Roy was hiding behind. I don't need his deodorant brand. Come on, weapons, threats… No, not the visual range of the damn combat maid, I doubt Mister Luthor would risk being accompanied by something with a computer system that wasn't isolated. She's carrying a computer, for goodness sake. Wait, why are they pointing their weapons at Roy? No, no, he can manage that.

Tied. Rope. Enclosed. Yes, yes, what else?

Venom Buster.

Scan scan scan!

I can't detect the poor bastard tied to the vial, but I can detect the drug itself. He's in one of the kiosks around the edge of the park area in front of the convention centre. Everyone's watching Roy and the press and other rubberneckers are gathering and he's going to plough straight through them transition now!

I'm now in mid air in front of the convention centre. The kiosk is in front of me, and I get a barrier around it just as the automated plunger sinks into the bloke inside and he erupts through the wooden structure in a geyser of grey muscle. Shit. Armour construct. The wooden fragments are contained by the barrier and now people have started screaming and running. Good good, get out of the way. I didn't think that Venom Buster worked that fast? No, not the point. Whoever that was is still roaring in confusion, but he'll start testing my barrier soon enough.

I've kept up to date on the investigation into the Venom Buster samples we recovered from Santa Prisca. Venom is a fairly comprehensible super steroid. Its effect is entirely chemical, though I suspect that the chemicals wouldn't have that sort of effect back home. Blockbuster is another kettle of fish. It does interact chemically with Venom, but there's nowhere for the extra mass it produces to come from. It certainly doesn't cause the Human body to produce its own Venom, so how does it make the boost permanent? The only thing I could think of was alchemy, but-.

"Raaaaaagh!"

Two enhanced fists rise up and swing down onto my barrier, which cracks. Doesn't matter.

Ring, scan. Tell me how we can fix him.

Unable to comply. Scan protection still in effect.

He's alternating fists now, focusing on the weak spot and hammering into it with all his fury. The rents in his outer carapace are even worse than Mister Flinders' were, and I can clearly see muscle and fat beneath. The barrier feels increasingly precarious. The soldiers and bodyguards around Roy have reorientated to face the new threat, and Red Arrow himself has risen to his feet and grabbed his bow. It's a little gratifying that no one's aimed anything at me yet.

This might actually be an opportunity. We still don't know what it is that is preventing me from scanning League of Shadow operatives.

Ring, visual scan. Any of that look magical?

No listed sigils detected.

"Red Arrow, shield dropping in nine seconds, quick hardening foam arrow if you please."

"I don't take orders from you."

"That wasn't an order, that was a re-"

The shield breaks and the monster stumbles forwards, taking Roy's foam arrow full in the chest.

"Auraaagh!

"-quest. Thank you."

Odd. I got the impression that Mister Flinders retained his full intelligence. What's going on here? And why is Mister Luthor getting out of his car?

Ring, ShockCrown Onyx to prevent shenanigans.

Compliance.

She wasn't doing much other than sitting in the police car, but I don't feel like taking the risk. Okay, the new monster was basically just wearing a kilt thing. Might even have just been a sheet someone threw over him. It was plain, anyway. Something he ingested? Could be.

The foam has hardened, covering all but the head of his hunched, elephantine form. The foam actually still has a little give in it to prevent shattering, but the man inside is giving it his best and it seems to be weakening. Roy fires another arrow, and a cloud of gas envelopes the target's head. A normal person would have been knocked out, but this guy's fine.

Why is that reporter still standing there?

Can't risk a ShockCrown without a better look at his brain structure. Wait, Flinders' peripheral nervous structure was basically the same after his transformation. A Pithing Needle should still work, and with all those holes I shouldn't have to dig my way in. Yep, there's a very painful looking opening at his neck.

Pithing Needle.

An orange line from my right shoulder terminates at his neck rupture. He shudders and stills as it blocks nonessential nervous activity. Fuuw. Alright, now to fix him. I float closer, then open my arms wide and generate sonic imaging equipment.

Ring, detailed sonic scan. What shouldn't be there?

There's a tiny ripple in the air as the emitters do their thing. The thickness of his epidermis makes it hard to make sense of the internal picture, but the ring sorts it out easily enough. He's swallowed something, a tiny piece of metal far denser than the surrounding tissue. Disrupting its physical structure should end its effect. A shame that I wouldn't be able to-.

"Stop! Land on the ground and raise your hands!"

I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Ring, sonic scalpel, then full scan when able.

A moment, and the sonic image shows the target object bend and twist as intersecting beams of sonic energy converge with only minimal damage to the surrounding tissue.

Scan complete.

Venom Buster, and some sort of stimulant I don't immediately recognise. Manageable. Take a moment. Then focus focus focus focus.

!Flawless victory!

"Purge and repair."

The man before me shrivels inside the foam as the ring negates the effects of the drug cocktail. I hope that he makes a full recovery. My scan from immediately before his transformation and of his blood chemistry should remove any suspicion that he was a willing participant. I remove the Pithing Needle as his shrinking drops him down into the hole in the foam made by his former, larger body, and the ring knits his skin back together. I cut away the foam just as he reaches his original size and collapses to the tarmac.

I turn. That camera's pointing at me.

"Could someone please get this man some medical attention?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
20:27 GMT +8

I look down the barrel of the automatic rifle levelled at my face, and switch my armour construct over from 'reflect' to 'absorb'. Don't want this idiot shooting himself in the face or anything.

"You don't look like a doctor, so I'm just going to ignore you, alright?"

I turn back to the man on the floor. The whole team has been trained in performing basic first aid on Humans, but given the chemical and psychological wringer this guy's been through… Huang Jianhong, apparently. Works as a travel agent. I float him upright and lend him some clothes, the kilt not having survived his shrinkage. I scan him again. Yes, just as I feared, brain and liver damage from the Venom, plus the general shock… Um. Right. Gurney. The brain is a pretty resilient organ really, and the patterns of damage are standard between-.

"What are you doing?"

Female voice. I don't recognise it.

"Are you a doctor?"

"Ah. No?"

"Then would you mind terribly making yourself useful and getting one? Mister Huang here is showing symptoms it normally takes Venom users years to-"

I turn as I speak, and come face to face with a blonde woman being closely followed by a cameraman.

"-develop. Ah..? Miss Grant, isn't it?"

She smiles and nods. "Cat Grant, GBS News."

Our public relations training is sometime next month. That may have been an oversight.

"Orange Lantern two eight one four, and I'm still not seeing a doctor?"

Right, do the liver first. Standard damage pattern. Is he going to mind if I make him lactose tolerant? No, just do what you need to. Regenerate. Good. Yes, good...

"Why are you tying him down? I don't think he's going anywhere."

"Miss Grant, I am attempting to undo the damage caused by the cocktail of combat drugs he just had stuffed into him. I'd like professional medical advice, but since the universe seems to be conspiring against me on that score, I'm just going to…"

A little forced cell duplication, and a tiny change in chemical balances. As when I restored Kon's inner ear I don't precisely understand what these things do, but I know what they're supposed to look like. The amygdala's the worst hit, but assuming that he didn't have any head injuries beforehand he should now process memory and emotion as well as any well socialised individual.

!Higher!

In fact, why not go a little further? It's so obvious when you really look at it. A slight rearranging of blood vessels, a tweak of the neurons...

"Going to what?"

"Hm? Oh, sorry. Fix as much of it as I can."

"He just tried to attack the peace conference."

"Yes, I had spotted that."

The cerebral cortex is second worst hit. In some places I can tell where cell death has occurred. Those, I fix. Ugh, I shouldn't take the risk on a general touch up until a professional has gone over it.

"Then-."

"Miss Grant, his name is Mister Huang Jianhong. He is gainfully employed, has no criminal record or history of disorderly conduct, and until about a minute ago he was tied up in that stall over there, with a plunger full of a particularly nasty form of Venom strapped to his arm. I very much doubt that his participation in this attack was voluntary, and even if it were, the attack is over." I turn angrily. "And where's the gods damned-."

A couple of people in white uniforms with red crosses on their sleeves run down the conference centre steps.

"Uh, thank goodness. Over here!"

I make a beckoning motion with my right arm. The medic furthest forwards starts to move in my direction on instinct, then gets a better look and slows down. Oh, don't make me come over there. I shift the gurney around toward him, and his sense of duty gets the better of his trepidation. He fishes a small torch out, and checks Mister Huang's pupil dilation.

"What happened?"

"Huang Jianhong, twenty seven year old Taiwan national. He was injected with a mixture of the steroid 'Venom' and a mutagen called the Blockbuster Formula. I've removed both, but he's unconscious and there's residual damage roughly equivalent to seven years' regular Venom use."

He sucks in air through his teeth.

"I've repaired most of the damage, but-."

A look of scepticism.

"You repaired his amygdala?"

A flash of my left palm. "Power rings are awesome."

He's transfixed for a moment. "Aaaaah. Right. Hey, you two!"

He gets the attention of two stretcher bearing orderlies, who hurry over. I dismiss the gurney and lift Mister Huang onto it.

"We'll take him to the convention centre's medical station until the ambulance arrives. Was anyone else hurt?"

"Don't think there's anything serious. Might be some cuts and bruises."

He nods, and heads off to check on the bodyguard-encrusted negotiators.

Alright, what now? Red Arrow's surrounded by security, but they aren't pointing weapons at him anymore, and one of them is on the radio asking for instructions. The police car containing the now paralysed Onyx is pulling away, and if they can't get her into a secure cell within the two or three hours the ShockCrown effect will last they deserve to have her escape. In the distance I can hear the siren of the ambulance.

"Do you have time to talk now?"

Oh, right. Miss Grant's still there.

"Probably, but please don't be offended if I have to rush off suddenly."

Ring, any weapons in the immediate vicinity not in the control of the security forces?

No such weapons detected. However, weapons held by League of Shadow operatives may not register.

"Ah-hem. Orange Lantern, what do you think triggered the attack?"

Supplement with sonic and electromagnetic scans, run continuous.

Compliance.

"The bald black woman was Onyx, a League of Shadow operative. Either they've got an interest in the Rhelasian conflict, or someone paid them. We'll know more once the police have had a chance to investigate."

I wait for the follow up. Nothing comes. Why is-?

"Nicely done… Orange Lantern, wasn't it?"

I know the voice from background research. I did want to talk to him, I suppose. I turn, and offer him a polite nod of acknowledgement.

"Mister Luthor. Good evening."

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
20:31 GMT +8

"You really should have stayed in the car until security had a chance to check the area."

The other news crews might be a little slower -or a little more inclined to self preservation- than Miss Grant, but they're recovering now and I'm in front of the rapidly forming security perimeter on the convention centre forecourt. Cameras, Lex Luthor, and a superhero who's just helped him. I know what he's going to do even as he steps up and holds out his right hand to me.

But I'm not Superman. I extend mine, dissipating the armour construct around it. He turns his body slightly to present a better view to the cameras. Since he's on my left, my right arm is pulled slightly across my body. He releases my hand, and puts his arm around my shoulders.

"Oh, you seem to have things under control. It was thoughtful of you to ensure that your attacker got medical treatment. And took the time to publically dismiss him as a suspect."

"He was forcibly drugged. His actions weren't his choice."

"Still, you'd be surprised how many of your colleagues wouldn't have worried about it. Do you know the man?"

"No. Fortunately, Taiwan has a computerised national identity register and I have a power ring. Power rings are awesome."

"So I see."

He turns, applying gentle pressure to my back to encourage me to go with him. Hm. I suppose my objective now is to protect the peace conference, since I'm here. But my mentors are already going to be annoyed about the pictures.

"Excuse me." I transition to a space just off the ground next to Red Arrow, and hold my arms out as the ring generates multiple monitor screens.

Ring, points of interest at random.

Compliance.

The guards start at my appearance.

"Making friends with Luthor?" Seems that Mister Harper isn't happy. Again.

"We appear to have a convergence of interests. And I don't like alienating people without good reason."

"Hmn."

Nothing much on the screens, though one of them is showing a recording of me that will shortly be playing on GBS news. If it isn't already. Looks like I film pretty well.

"Do you have any information on other Shadow operatives who might also have been contracted?"

I'm not looking directly at him myself, but I switch one of the smaller screens over to his face and see his eyes narrow at me.

"… No. I picked up Onyx's fake ID coming in at the airport."

"Using public transportation?"

"The Justice League taking out Infinity Island's made it hard for the Shadows to use front companies to hire private jets, and a boat from the mainland wouldn't have made the journey in time for the conference."

I allow myself a moment of smug. Wait a second. Not only is there now a line of security guards and police between the conference centre and the crowd, there's also a loose cluster around us.

Pfffffff.

I push the screens out of the way, and drift over to one of the security personnel.

"Um, excuse me?"

He's wearing dark glasses, but I think he's looking at me. His hands tighten slightly on his pistol, but it stays down.

"Should I? Present, y'know, credentials?"

I take my identification card out of subspace.

He looks at it, then presses a hand to his earpiece. "Red Arrow, you've got one of these, right?" I point to the card.

His mouth tightens. "No."

Really?

"Really?"

He gives me a look… Okay, not pressing that point. One of the other security guards walks over and takes the card from my unresisting hand. He looks at the card, then at me.

How many people does he know who glow orange?

"You're a member of the Justice League?"

"No no, that just means that I've been deputised by one of them. If you phone the Themysciran embas-."

"Incoming communication from a priority source."

"Um, excuse me a moment." I raise my left hand to my cheek. "Orange Lantern two eight one four?"

"Orange Lantern, why can I see you on the news?"

It's Diana.

"A League of Shadows operative tried to attack the Rhelasian peace conference. Their assassin decided to use Venom Buster.. or something like it.. on a civilian as a distraction."

"Why are you shaking hands with Lex Luthor?"

"Because he's acting as an intermediary at the conference, and was right in the line of fire when the attack happened. Guess he likes not being pulverised."

"P-. Orange Lantern, listen to me. Do not trust him. Don't accept any offers from him. Don't-."

There's a sort of beeping noise.

"Oh Hera. Don't go anywhere, I've got another call."

Oh… Kay…

I lower my hand. The security guard who took my card is standing next to Mister Luthor, who's talking on his mobile phone and nodding. Did Mister Luthor arrange the security for this? I wouldn't have thought so, but I don't really know how this sort of event gets organised. I drift back to my monitors, and sit in the air. One of the many often overlooked functions of a power ring is that it keeps your circulation fine. No pins and needles or dizziness from getting up too quickly ever.

The police car carrying the recumbent Onyx passes through the outer gates with its escort. I watch them go. Since there hasn't been another follow up attack we're probably safe for now, and with the security around I don't have to worry about interview questions.

Mister Luthor lowers his phone with a smirk.

"We have confirmation. The 'Orange Lantern' does indeed work for Wonder Woman, and-" He makes momentary eye contact with Roy. "-the other.. -Red Arrow, wasn't it?- is Green Arrow's pal."

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
20:37 GMT +8

The shortest and fattest police officer does not look happy about this. "Whoever they are, they should be questioned."

Mister Luthor smiles at him. "The Justice League vouches for them, Captain, and so does Lex Luthor. I think that-"

He nods at the pile of rock foam which still holds the shape of Mister Huang's augmented body. News photographers are taking pictures of it. I wonder if it needs some sort of special solvent..?

"-given what they've already done, it would be doing them a grave disservice to treat them as if they were under suspicion."

Captain Fatty thinks about it, then nods. Security personnel gradually move away from us. Perhaps I should consider them brave for putting themselves in a position where they might have to try and contain me, but actually I just think of them as stupid for not recognising a completely untenable position.

"I don't need any favors from you." Mister Harper shoots Mister Luthor a look of pure adolescent resentment. As he walks past me I stick out an arm and smile at him.

"Red Arrow. Gift horse, mouth. Picking a fight with Mister Luthor will simply make our job harder."

"No one asked you."

The git actually sneers at me, and pushes past. Mister Luthor doesn't react.

"Apologies. I didn't realize you wished to join that young woman behind bars."

"You may have everyone here fooled, Luthor, but I know what you are."

"Oh, I don't pretend to be an angel. It just so happens that this time I'm on the side of the angels." He takes a few steps towards the conference centre doors, then looks back at me over his shoulders. "Will you be joining us?"

"Need a quick chat with my colleague first. Be riiight with you."

He acknowledges with a slight inclination of his head, then continues on slowly towards the doors.

I drop the screens and zip over to where Mister Harper is staring moodily at Mister Luthor's back.

"Red Arrow. You're angry. And I respect that, but-."

"LexCorp shell companies sell weapons to North and South Rhelasia. He's probably just here to negotiate a better price."

"Of course he sells to both sides. One of them might win if he didn't. Look, Alexander Luthor is very good at making potential opponents angry and stupid, and you are angry and he will play you. You know that, right?"

He averts his eyes, and inclines his head slightly.

"You're also a considerably more experienced investigator than I am, so, given that we've defeated the first attack, what happens next?"

"The League of Shadows won't stop until the contract is fulfilled. But if they're not following up right away, we probably have a few hours before they try again."

"The thing I did to paralyse Onyx should have worn off by then. How's about I stick around here and.. put a shield in the way of anyone dodgy looking, while you work out who the next wave are and where they're coming from?"

He narrows his eyes at me, and I respond with a friendly grin. "Fine. I don't think I could stand to be in the same room as Luthor anyway."

"Best of luck. Let me know if I can help you in any way at all."

He takes a step away, then frowns. "Why's Kaldur in Poseidonis anyway?"

"Weeee kind of beat Ocean Master into a coma this morning, and it turns out he was Prince Orm all along. Things are a bit hectic."

"Oh."

I think he's blinking behind those dark glasses, but he gets over it after a moment and continues on his way back to wherever he's been basing himself.

Right. So. Dealing with Kon's other Dad. Mister Luthor's standing at the door. Why is he waiting for me? Oh well; transition.

"Glad you could join me."

He hands back my card, and I subspace it. He then steps forwards, and the glass automatic doors slide open with a slight hiss. I follow, and Mercy brings up the rear.

The lobby is large and richly upholstered. In the left and right wings medics are tending to the injured of the North and South. I don't see Mister Huang… Oh, he's being loaded onto an ambulance already. They made pretty good time. Or maybe they were here already? Not sure. A quick scan confirms that none of the injuries are serious. Actually…

Ring, remaining power?

Seventy seven percent remaining.

Should be fine. I don't usually like escort missions, but nothing I've seen the League of Shadows do suggests they have anything that's an actual threat to me.

"Hiring assassins, Li? Had you no one among your own troops to do the North's dirty work?"

Who? Oh. Prime Minister Tseng is shouting across from the south's medical station to the North's, the pink plasters on his face giving his complaint a slightly farcical air.

"I need no assassin, Tseng. Such is the method of a Southern coward."

"Good luck, Mister Luthor."

"Oh, it's mostly posturing. Even agreeing to meet like this means they risk looking weak to the hardliners back home. When the cameras aren't on them they can be surprisingly reasonable."

"Why give the cameras access to anything at all then?"

"Because they need to look strong. I.. take it that you'll be joining us for the deliberations?"

"If you'll have me. Power rings are very good at shielding things. If Red Arrow can't track the League of Shadows down before they launch another attack, I should be able to stop it."

"Feeling confident?"

"I've encountered members of the League of Shadows on two previous occasions. On neither occasion did they manage to present a significant threat to me."

"Then it sounds like we're in good hands. Now, if you'll excuse me?" He walks past the cluster of photographers, and addresses the belligerent factions. "Gentlemen, gentlemen. Shall we attempt some smiles, for the cameras?"

"Incoming communication from a priority source."

I raise my left hand to my cheek again.

"Orange Lantern two eight one four?"

"How's the conference going?"

Diana again. "No one's died yet sir. And before you say anything, I do recognise the threat Mister Luthor poses. I know he's about as trustworthy as a used lawnmower salesman. I'm not going to do anything stupid."

"I'm glad to hear it. The Rhelasian representatives seem fairly hostile."

"Mister Luthor thinks… Mister Luthor told me that he thinks they're just posing. I have to say, assassins aside, I'm not worried. The equivalent country in my home parallel is much more harshly divided, and they've managed to avoid all out war since the fifties."

"You'll have to tell me all about it some time."

"It's not that complicated. I suppose these things never are when you're not personally involved."

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
21:26 GMT +8

I now know more about Rhelasian history and politics than any rational person could possibly want to. The meeting has temporarily broken up, and the two parties have retreated to their separate dining areas for coffee and cool down. They certainly got less shouty once the cameras were off them, but that just gave them the opportunity to list their grievances in precise detail. I think that Mister Luthor's making some headway. They've agreed in principle to reduce their mutual military build-ups, and set up a committee to negotiate fishing rights. Honestly, I'd have said that he was giving them too much rein, but perhaps letting them vent their spleens helped?

I connected the ring to the conference centre's slightly-less-closed-than-it-used-to-be circuit cameras, supplemented by sonic, electromagnetic and radiation scans from the ring. The results are then compared to the results of a standard scan, and if the first set show someone the second doesn't, then we've got a Shadow. I've also had the ring feed me information on everyone whose face it registers. There was an episode of Justice League Animated where J'onn J'onzz tried to scan an entire city to find Lex Luthor, and ended up having an episode himself. I'm sort of starting to understand how he felt. I know names, addresses, personal histories, confirmed from multiple sources, and the whole thing is staying in my mind. Since I'm taking a break, the ring's set to notify me of any problems but isn't currently feeding me data for review.

I've taken refuge in the large room set aside for public announcements. With any luck, at some point tonight they'll be signing some sort of agreement here, but at the moment it's deserted. I'm sitting at one of the seats at the end of the long table, arms crossed and draped on the tabletop, body slumped. Today has been an unusually violent day for me, and I'm not… I'm not entirely comfortable with how well I'm handling it. Shouldn't I have trouble with cutting off a man's hands? It's not like I want to, so is the ring keeping me going?

I straighten slightly, and hold my left palm open facing me. I stare at the ring, right index finger tracing the circle on the sigil. I've been telling myself that wearing it all the time is the logical thing to do, but… Am I still me, if it overwrites my natural response with that of an idealised version of me? The body thing I don't mind, but my brain is-.

"Ah, there you are."

I straighten the rest of the way, feeling a momentary burst of guilt at occupying a seat not intended for me. No, that's stupid. "Are they starting back already? I thought we had a few more…"

Lex Luthor walks in from the 'off stage' position, arms held loosely behind his back. He shakes his head. "Oh no, we don't reconvene for anotheeer…" He checks his watch. "Twelve minutes."

I nod. He walks past the table, and then turns along the edge of the stage. No Mercy? Ah, she's by the door.

"I wanted to have a quick chat with you before we started back."

And now I remember that in one version of his origin he got his start by killing his parents for the insurance money. I know that he didn't inherit the whole thing Smallville style here, and I doubt that any evidence of such a crime would have survived the thirty or so years since it would have to have happened.

"I'm afraid that I'm unlikely to know anything about Rhelasia that you don't, but if you think it'll help?"

He stops, centre stage, and turns his head halfway around to me. "I am finding it a little refreshing, speaking to a man in your profession who doesn't treat me with suspicion, or with outright hostility."

"There's no margin in it." I shrug. "Perhaps you're a problem and perhaps you're not. I'm not going to get excited about it until you're my problem."

A wry smile. "A commendably rational attitude." He turns fully around to me, framed by the empty room and the large rear window. "I had rather been under the impression that those rings only came in green."

"Really? I happen to know that Lanterns of at least two other colours have been active on Earth in the recent past."

His eyes stop focusing on me directly. The change is slight, and if the ring hadn't enhanced my own vision I would probably not have noticed. "Are you.. referring to Star Sapphire?"

"Never try and consume an energy field larger than your head, Mister Luthor. It tends to make a person erratic."

"Sage advice, I'm sure." His arms come forward, left across his chest, right elbow resting on his left hand, right fist to his chin. "You'll forgive me if I say that I'm a little concerned about this. You appear to be a man of good character, but… Representatives of alien organizations, given authority to act as they see fit on worlds that have no say in the matter?"

"I don't know how the Guardians handle things, but I'm sure that if Earth ever gets a unified government then my own.. overseers, the Controllers, would be perfectly happy to negotiate a treaty defining my rights and responsibilities. Since no such organisation or treaty exists, I work for the Justice League, who operate under the nearest thing to a sensible legal framework for my work that exists here. Ultimately, you can't ask a criminal if they mind being arrested. There are worlds out there that are home to truly vile civilisations, and Lanterns may be called upon to act against them for the good of the rest of the galaxy. Asking them if they're happy with that is a non-starter."

"They would only negotiate with a unified planetary government?"

"Those advanced alien civilisations I know about, virtually all of them have some sort of central authority. I'm not sure they'd mind talking to someone else, exactly, but I doubt they'd think it was worth their time, talking to a relatively small nation state."

"Mmm. And how would one get in contact with these.. Controllers? I assume.. through you..?"

"Not until my probation's up. Ten months, if you're wondering. The Greenies could do it now, but…"

I wave at him, and he nods. "Yes, I see."

"The only other alternative is travelling to Maltus, and I don't think that Earth technology is quite up to the task." Hm. Now's as good a time as any, I suppose. Ring, brain scan. "Actually Mister Luthor, while you're here, there was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh? What would that be."

"Well, a lot of people seem to have the impression that a superhero's job is to use their powers to make the world a better place. But, in my experience, it mostly just involves preventing it from getting worse. I mean, this conference. We both want it to work, but, if you fail, a war happens. If you succeed, a war that isn't happening at the moment continues to not be happening. Worth doing, certainly, but it's a bit… Lacking? The best case is that things carry on as they are."

"Ideally, these negotiations will form the starting point of a gradual reduction of tensions throughout the Rhelasian peninsula. If we're fortunate, we will be able to prevent future altercations of this kind, and both countries will be able to divert resources away from military spending and on to projects which help their people. Making their lives better, rather than guarding against them getting worse, as you put it. Improving the lives of seventy four million people is hardly an insignificant success."

"But my participation is limited to preventing the League of Shadows from murdering you. Maybe I'm just being.. arrogant, but I'd like to see an improvement that I did. I mean, even the Shadows managed to get hold of the Blockbuster Formula from Cadmus, combine it with Venom, then utilise it to pursue their objective. There's all this super advanced technology around, and no one uses it to the benefit of people as a whole. Miss Graves' arm-"

I turn and point in her direction.

"-is less sophisticated than something Thomas Morrow built seventy years ago. That, shouldn't happen. And the superheroes are nearly as bad."

He raises an eyebrow.

"Do you see any supercomputers based on Kryptonian crystal technology around the place?"

He nods. "What would you like to do about it?"

"I don't know. Give STAR Labs a truly obscene amount of money? Work on commercialising what they produce? Did you know that when James Dyson came up with the cyclone vacuum cleaner idea, he went to Hoover with it first. After they refused to buy it and he built his own company, he spoke to one of their executives and they told him that if they'd known what was going to happen, they'd have bought the patent off him and sat on it. Because they had the market working just as they liked it. And stuff like that's probably happening everywhere, in every field of innovation. You go out into the universe, you see how far behind we are compared to some of the hostile species who are capable of visiting us… We can't afford to do stupid stuff like that. We can't… be firing on anything less than all cylinders. Actually, that's one of the reasons why I respect you so much."

"It's nice to be thought of so highly, but I'm.. not.. quite.. sure..?"

"You funded Cadmus Labs, Mister Luthor."

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
21:31 GMT +8

He's silent for a moment, presumably considering his options. "While it's not impossible that LexCorp had some sort of financial interest in Cadmus-."

"Oh, don't be so modest. The Greenies might be happy to use their xenotech hypercomputers as blunt instruments, but I like to think I'm a little cleverer than they are." I turn my left hand palm up, and generate an orange sigil. "Forensic accountancy. LexCorp put a lot of money into that place, and I can't believe you wouldn't have had to approve something like that yourself. Look, I get it's PR poison now, but the biotech work they were doing is exactly the sort of thing the Earth needs. There's spacefaring races that don't have telepathic communication networks."

Still no response. Hmm.

"I'd feel slightly more comfortable if they'd managed to create a technique which granted the ability to Humans, rather than building an artificial life form. I mean, Henry King was active in the forties, Simon Jones and Edgar Cizko in the modern era. It can't be that hard to do."

"Human… Augmentation… Can be legally problematic."

"Well, that needs to change for a start. The technology for reliable Human augmentation has existed for over a century; legislators can't just pretend it doesn't happen. Do they prefer it just happens to people at random?"

"I sometimes rather think that they do. It gives them an excuse not to have to deal with something difficult."

"Only thing I don't understand is why Cadmus was trying to clone Superman. A sufficiently detailed study of his cellular structure should have told them everything they needed to know about how his abilities work."

"My… understanding, is that Doctor Desmond was authorized to perform precisely that type of study. Why he took it upon himself to create an entire specimen I really couldn't say."

"You are aware that Superboy is a Kryptonian/Human hybrid?"

"Really? I wasn't aware that Human and Kryptonian tissues were… Compatible."

"They're not. That's part of why it's so impressive."

"Orange Lantern, I'm not sure what you want me to say? I am the Chairman and Chief Executive of an extremely large multinational company. Even if I had approved funds for Cadmus, I wouldn't be involved in day to day operational decisions. Dare I ask who the donor of his Human DNA was?"

"Mister Luthor, I'm not the police, I'm not a reporter. I have a great deal of respect for you, so, please stop treating me like I'm an idiot. I don't believe for a second that you didn't authorise it. It worked fine. Superboy's a good friend of mine, and if there was actually a halfway sensible reason for creating him I'd approve. If it was something stupid, well, given all of your achievements, I can't tell you how disappointed I would be to find out you were running with the short bus crowd. And yes, you can tell Ra's al Ghul I called him that."

"Though I am.. aware.. of the leader of the League of Shadows, we're hardly on familiar terms. Ra's is something of a… Competitor, of mine."

Not working. New approach.

"Sooo…" I squint at him. "What's with the Superman obsession?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"The clone thing. Why clone Superman?"

"While I cannot claim to know for certain why anyone would want to clone Superman, I can see the logic in using material from the most prominent of the world's superhumans. Well, not 'Human', of course."

"Yeah, but if you can create an adult clone in six months, why not just create a Human and use the Danner formula? You get the strength and toughness, only drawback is that it has to be administered in vitro, and if your clones only take half a year… Why not?"

A small frown. "Danner formula?"

"Hugo Danner. America's first superhero? Fought in World War One? It'd make far more sense than that creepy yandere thing you've got going on with Superman."

Genuine puzzlement. "Yan Dare? I'm afraid I don't follow..?"

"You created a son who has DNA from both of you. At this stage you might as well just stage a giant robot attack at a pride parade. Oh, why won't the alien love me!"

He actually chuckles.

"Orange Lantern, amusing as I'm sure the notion is to some people, you really should try to avoid believing everything you read in supermarket tabloids. I'll admit, my relationship with.. Superman, hasn't always been as productive as it might have been, but to suggest that I'm obsessed with him -especially in that way- is simply to engage in the lowest form of sensationalism. If, as you say, Doctor Desmond took it upon himself to use my DNA in his research, then I honestly have no idea why. I'd suggest a somewhat unsettling attempt at favor currying but, given how erratic his behavior became prior to his dramatic exit from Cadmus… That would be pure speculation on my part."

He shifts slightly where he stands. "How… is the youth?"

"He's fine. The League's got a telepath working on properly integrating the data Cadmus programmed him with into his mind."

"I suppose that Superman's taken responsibility for his upbringing. He always did seem so keen on keeping hold of any fragments of Krypton that he could find."

Um..?

I hesitate, and he picks up on it. "Ah? A little uncharacteristic. Dare I hope that the League hasn't simply dumped him somewhere? A growing boy needs proper guidance."

Calm. Stay calm.

"He's getting it."

He spends a moment examining me. "Princess Diana?"

Shit.

"That's.. unexpected. Still, I suppose neither Superman nor myself are really equipped to act as mother figures. I suppose.. visitation rights are out of the question?"

!Kon help protect!

"As I said, he's being looked after. I even managed to augment him up to full Kryptonian strength. He's..!"

He's mine, is what I want to say. And then I want to say 'you can't have him', and then I want to hit him. A lot. Control.

"He's doing just fine. Thank you for your concern."

"If you say so. I'm sure the League knows its business."

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
21:35 GMT +8

"Incoming transmission from Red Arrow."

Phew.

"Excuse me a moment."

Orange Lantern two eight one four?

Onyx has escaped.

Wha'? How?

Bane attacked the police station holding her with a rocket launcher. They escaped by helicopter.

In the middle of Taipei? How were they expecting to hide that? The police'll be on them in, what, twenty minutes tops?

Not sure. I'm at their landing zone now.

You want me to back you up?

No. Stay with the conference. I'll tell you when I find out what's happening.

I nod.

Alright. Good luck. Thank you for keeping me in the loop.

Just keep your guard up. Red Arrow out.

I lower my hand. Weird. I undid the damage that Venom use did to Bane back when we attacked Santa Prisca. It doesn't make a person stupid, just aggressive, combative and somewhat mentally inflexible. And that shouldn't be affecting him yet even if he started using it again immediately. What is he doing here? And why rescue Onyx? I know that he had a connection to the League of Shadows in the Nolan films, but I don't remember that from the comics and there's no record of it in the Justice League's database. I don't think that I have any information that would help Mister Harper.

"Trouble?"

"Hm? Oh, probably. A minor supervillain from Santa Prisca named Bane just broke Onyx out of the police station that was holding her. Red Arrow's in pursuit."

Mister Luthor nods, and checks his watch. "We should probably be getting back. I find that it helps establish a position of authority if one is already at ease in the room when everyone else arrives."

I nod, rise, and follow him as he leads the way to the corridor. Miss Graves stays by the door as I walk through, then follows me. I was honestly expecting a little more hostility from her, or at least that she'd recognise me as a potential threat. Not that I intend to harm Mister Luthor without a very careful cost/benefit analysis, but still.

Actually, that reminds me. I demand that the universe give me a data stick, and lo! The ring transmutes one for me. It's grey, with an orange sigil on each of the larger sides.

Ring, transfer audiobook How to Succeed in Evil onto the data stick.

Compliance.

"Mister Luthor?" He keeps walking, but looks around. I hold the stick out to him. "I think you might find this amusing, though I'm not sure it'll actually teach you anything."

Amused puzzlement, but he takes it and slips it into his breast pocket. I wonder how he'll feel about the ending? I suppose it isn't all that different to how the version of him from Superman: Red Son dealt with Superman. Or the way Justice League Unlimited Luthor dealt with Bizarro.

We continue walking towards the conference room. Oh well, back to work.

Ring, resume dataflow.

Nothing.

Agh. Ring, resume dataflow.

A cleaner on floor twenty seven is smoking a cigarette out of a window. That's the extent of lawlessness in the entire building. No new faces since my last check. Nothing that registers as an out of place weapon. Outside? A few reporters have tagged in their replacements or gone to their trailers until something of note happens, but for the moment everything is peaceful.

Are Bane and Onyx just trying to scarper?

Ring, detect Bane.

Unable to comply.

Okay, working with the League of Shadows?

Ring, detect Onyx.

Unable to comply.

Huh? Did she get one of the scan blocking things from Bane?

Ring, detect Red Arrow.

Got him. He's about fifteen miles away, running after a truck? No, I should keep my mind focused on my part of the job. Besides, there's more I want to say to Mister Luthor.

"Y'know, I'm curious. Why Lex Luthor?"

Bemused. "It's.. my name…"

"Your name's Alexander Luthor. The normal abbreviation of Alexander is, 'Alex'. In fact, you're the only Alexander I know of who shortens it to Lex. I was just wondering if there was a reason."

He turns his face back to the direction of travel, and smiles slightly. "I suppose the snappy answer would be that I'm not merely A Lex, but the definitive article. Honestly though, I hadn't thought about it. I suppose I just prefer the sound."

"Hmm. Alright, last question before I go back to boring myself trying to spot nonexistent assassins. You said that Human augmentation could be legally difficult. How about magic?"

"Witchcraft is hardly a replacement for scientific achievement."

"Any sufficiently well understood magic is science. I was in Atlantis this morning, and there? Everything runs on the stuff. It's taught in schools. It's a resource available to Humanity, and yet, outside Themyscira, it's hardly used anywhere on the surface. Do you know how many fire mages it takes to do the work of a gas fire power plant? Because I don't, and I know that no power company is ever going to investigate it."

He actually stops walking. His gaze is distant.

"LexCorps spends massive amounts on research and development, right? How much would it cost to hire a couple of Atlantean thaumaturgists? Stick a Rune of Cold on an overheating supercomputer. Stick a Sigil of True Sight on a space telescope. Stop treating magic as something separate, something for primitives. Break a paradigm. I checked, and no one's doing this stuff. If it works, you could enter entirely new markets with products no existing player could match. If it doesn't, well, that's R&D."

"It's.. an intriguing concept. But, as you say, no one outside Atlantis is doing work on.. thaumaturgy, was it? The scientific study of magic energies? The Atlantean population has traditionally been rather opposed to trade with the surface."

"Yeah, but King Orin's all for it. Not being able to get high purity m-."

"Incoming transmission from Red Arrow."

"I'm sorry Mister Luthor, but I need to take this. You should probably get to the meeting room."

He looks at me full on for a moment, his expression thoughtful. "Yes… I will."

A slight frown as he turns away, and walks onward with Miss Graves following just behind. I bring my left hand up to the side of my head.

Orange Lantern two eight one four?

Get… Get outside!

Why, what's going on?

Bane's going to try and complete the assassination.

Yeah, that's scary.

So?

He brought trucks carrying anti-ship missiles. Big ones. They could take down the whole building. I'm in pursuit. Get everyone out!

Shit.

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
21:40 GMT +8

HOW THE HELL DID BANE GET MISSILE TRUCKS INTO TAIPEI?!

Aaaaaahhhhh..!

Right. Right. Even if I FTL transfer everyone to ground level -and I've never tried that with groups larger than seven- the missiles and debris from the building could still kill them all, to say nothing of everyone else in the area. Rushing into the room and shouting would probably be a bad idea. Fire alarm?

I look down the corridor. Fire alarm.

The alarms start ringing as I ring Miss Graves' phone. There's a click as she answers, and then she doesn't speak. I'm momentarily befuddled.

"Miss Graves, hi, Orange Lantern two eight one four here. We may have a slight missile problem. Could you please evacuate the building as quickly as possible? Thanks ever so."

She rings off. Good. Right. Outside. Outside. Now!

I transfer back to the presentation room, next to the large window. Apparently I don't have any sufficiently unobstructed paths to the outside. Fine. Suction, cut, extract, duck and move, put it back and reattach. And now I have a unobstructed view of Taipei at night.

With this ring I've seen so many amazing things and it's shocking how seldom I'm in the proper mood to appreciate them.

"Ring, find the missiles."

A brief and mindchurningly horrifying moment as the ring tries to show me every rocket based weapon in Asia.

"Taipei. In Taipei."

A more manageable though still migraine inducing number. I swiftly eliminate fireworks and other non-military rockets as I fly up above the convention centre. Cull it further. If the Shadows couldn't get a single assassin to Taiwan without using commercial airlines I seriously doubt that they could have smuggled a significant number of missiles in. Picked up locally? I doubt they could have got them like that legally, but, Bane. Hang on. He shrivelled up when I removed the Venom from his body. Would that mean that facial recognition checks no longer pick him up? He could have just flown in.

Did I..? I wrote about him shrivelling up in my mission report, but I don't think I included a picture of his shrunken face. Damn.

Ring, passenger manifests. Search for Bane's current face.

A blur of faces, then a match. Little Bane in a suit. He's been here for four days.

Who's helping him?

Too many possibles. No Santa Priscan passports. Don't worry about it.

Ring, what missiles does Taiwan have that are small enough to be fired from a truck and large enough to threaten a building?

Balls. Yep, that would do it. Supersonic means I've got next to no chance of seeing it and reacting fast enough to do anything clever. Plus, I can't let it fall on anyone.

Any thefts from military facilities? Or factories?

No records of ongoing investigations. But… Oh. I get an image of a naval missile boat in harbour, its crew stabbed to death. I spend a moment scanning the naval base. There's activity from Taiwanese military personnel, but I can see where missile batteries have been wrenched from their moorings. Would they have needed Venom Buster enhancements to do that, or would regular Venom have been enough? If they used the regular stuff they could sneak away afterwards. Non-permanent versions have their advantages too, I suppose. How many? Looks like ten missiles.

Ring, access military records. Get the serial numbers of those missiles, then find out where they've gone.

"Serial numbers available. Unable to comply with second request."

No no no no no! Not the missiles as well!

Next step. I've practised shielding large areas with Lantern Gardner, but I'm rubbish at it. Can't get emotionally invested enough. But missiles are fairly flimsy, aren't they? Try anyway.

This is my mission, my cause. Shield.

An orange hemiovoid shield forms over the building, extending down around all sides from where I'm floating. Sure, the building's lit up now, but anyone competent enough to steal missiles from the Taiwanese navy and get them into truck-launchable condition could probably hit the far side of a building perfectly well without my help.

Ring, infrared scan. Detect launches. Grab me a spy satellite and give me optical scans. Find the missiles!

I feel as the ring acquires eyes in the sky. I become aware of patterns of heat and air currents across the city. Is this normal? I haven't tried something quite like this before.

Probable launch detected.

Transfer launch site location to… The Peace Enforcing Special Service Forces? Really? Fine. Give me positional data.

Warning! Only approximate data available.

It's on the outskirts, but accelerating. I see waste heat, but whatever satellite the ring just grabbed isn't giving a good view.

Warning! Approximately twenty seconds to impact.

Long range constructs I can do. Mostly. I create a hemisphere construct under the rocket's approximate location, making sure it keeps pace with where I believe it to be. Crossing the index and middle fingers of my right hand-.

Probable launch detected.

Damn it. I form a network of razorblades above the hemisphere, slicing the missile into pieces. Rocket fuel ignites and the warhead detonates as I extend the-

Probable launch detected.

-the hemisphere to contain the force and the shrapnel. The construct holds, just, but I can't keep doing it like that.

Suppress fire, compress remains and place on the ground.

Compliance.

I can't grab the others precisely enough to just point them skywards. Can't just fly to them and transfer them somewhere for the same reason.

Ring, technical schematics. Extend constructs, then sonic scan the missile's probable location to get a precise location.

Compliance.

Two beams of orange light rush away from me in opposite directions.

Locations confirmed. Probable launch detected.

Sonic scalpel to deactivate the detonators. Fix the control surfaces in place, then point the missiles upward.

Compliance. Probable launch detected.

Understood. Repeat-.

Probable launch detected. Probable launch detected. Probable launch detected. Probable launch detected.

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
21:43 GMT +8

Ring, contact Green two eight one four B. Message: HELP!

Compliance.

Turns out that messages to Green Corps members have a routing system that requires their sector number and seniority. Alan's off the network, but if I want to talk to Guy I need to give his full identification. He says that the Greenies have a 'favourites' list within their Corps, but mine doesn't seem to have that shortcut. Maybe once I start on my own Corps? Or maybe it requires a Central Power Battery?

HUD.

I see the convention centre, the estimated position and time to impact of the missiles. Missile four is further away than some of the others, but has been accelerating for longer and will hit first. Extend, sonic scan, scalpel, fix control surfaces, redirect.

The 'time to impact' number associated with the missile jumps up, then changes to 'non-threat' as the ring calculates that it can't hit us.

Accelerated perception.

I'm going to feel this one in the morning. Time appears to slow. The ring detects impulses forming in my mind and triggers the receipt signal without waiting for it to travel anywhere. My mind is more orange light than organic matter at this point, and the change in the missile impact numbers goes from a blur to a slow flipping, like old train station clocks. I tried this twice before and leaving it on is a very bad idea. Quite aside from making it hard to focus on any one thing, it also causes vomiting, unconsciousness and ultimately? Neural architecture collapse.

Next missile. Extend is fast. Sonic scan feels ridiculously slow. I can see the sound waves and their echoes even as I wait for the ring to form a coherent picture from them. The scalpel forms, and I see the parts of the detonator stress and fail as it damages just enough to make the fused detonation impossible. I have to force myself to remain on target as the ring performs the delicate task of fixing control surfaces without causing fuel detonation, then applying just enough pressure to redirect the oncoming missile without tearing it apart.

Safe. But I've also made estimates as to how long it's going to take to do all of them. At least two will impact my shield.

Ring, automate disabling by impact time. Normal perception.

Aaaaahghgh…

I throw up in my mouth as my thoughts crash together in complete confusion for a moment. I fall about four metres before I can coherently want anything again. Mouth clear. Close your eyes tight. Curl up in the air. Everything feels wrong, but that doesn't matter. Focus.

I never liked Missile Command. With my eyes screwed shut to ward off painful sensory input all I can see is the HUD. Maybe it's easier in the abstract? Guy's very big on practical experience, but not very interested in novel approaches.

I feel shitty and it's the fault of the missiles!

One missile goes to non-threat status.

My city! My building!

Another missile off target. Two left. Too slow!

Missile eight ploughs into my shield construct. I can feel the impact, the detonation of the warhead and the ignition of the remaining rocket fuel.

No! You can't have it!

The construct holds, just about. Bits of missile rain down onto the blessedly empty forecourt.

I don't think the shield will stop another.

Probable launch detected.

Oh, come on!

Three seconds on missile nine.

!No can't won't wrong mine wrong wrong!

Transition.

I open my eyes.

Did I just-?

It feels like perceptual acceleration flicks back on as the missile strikes my armour construct right in the chest, slamming me back against the shield around the building. I see the warhead detonate in slow motion as my resistance becomes hard enough to set it off. Distantly, I register the sharp increase in pressure, then the shield behind me buckles and breaks. Time goes back to normal as the force of the detonation sends me flying backwards in an uncontrolled hurtle. I see sky, black explosion cloud, wreckage flying away in all directions, building shield faltering and fading away from my impact site as my focus fails. A pain as I pierce the glass frontage in a shower of crystal shards, slamming onto a board room table before bouncing and flipping end over end back onto the table, then the floor at the far end before crashing through the rear wall and coming to rest on the floor of the hallway.

Uuuuhuuuhuhuhhuhgh.

I try to rise. My hand pushes on glass and it slides away. I catch myself.

Uh.

On my hands and knees, I try to push myself up. I slip, and go down on my face. My armour construct shimmers and fails. This situation, this situation. I should be doing-.

Wholeness rightly assumed.

Hoooooagh. That's better. The disorientation hasn't quite faded as I push back on my haunches and then stand, steadying myself against the wall. Wooh!

Why are there still people..?

I blink, recognising the South Rhelasian party as they stream into the hallway. The ones at the front of their party stop and stare at me and the wreckage.

This is why peace conferences shouldn't be held at the top of tall buildings.

"Keep going!"

Fucking stupid rubberneckers…

They pick up speed down the corridor towards the exit sign.

Warning! Approximately eight seconds to impact.

The HUD shows the tenth perfectly following the flight path of the ninth. I can actually see it with my unaided eyes as I stagger back towards the breach. No time to take it apart neatly. Uh. I don't think I can focus well enough to block it reliably.

What's left? Redirect? It'll still hit the building. Don't know how many people..?

Wait, could that work?

Ring, can you target the missile visually?

Affirmative.

"Heh.. heh heh."

I run, stumbling then righting myself, towards the hole in the glass.

"Ring, extend environmental shield to the missile. Subspace it."

Slow again. I can watch the missile as it physically enters the building at one and a half times the speed of sound. I see the pale orange glow of my environmental shield extend from my hand and coat the metal surface. I can see the Taiwanese flag and the serial number on the nose. I can see the effect of the air being blasted away by the rocket motor, sending the glass that fell inside the room towards the opening. I think I'm falling forward, hand out towards the approaching missile as it disappears.

I fall against the table, then pull myself upright.

Is that it?

Please be it.

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
21:46 GMT +8

Seat. Seat. I pull out a chair, brush off most of the glass with my right forearm, then collapse into it.

Altering your own brain with a power ring is a bad idea.

I hear a whistle. "Some party. Hope you ain't been drinking."

I look up. "I don't think Taiwan celebrates Saint Patrick's Day, but well done for coming prepared."

Lantern Gardner grins as he floats in through the hole in the wall. Used to be, I'd have been scared to be this close to a drop like that. Now it's just, whatever, y'know?

He takes a moment to look at me. "You okay, kid?"

"Used the perception acceleration thing. I'm a bit out of it. Chucked a, ogh…" A wave of nausea. "Redirected a bunch of missiles up into the sky. Could you please catch them before they run out of fuel?"

He waves it off. "No problem. Sit tight and watch while I show you how a real Lantern takes care a' business."

He floats backwards, waves a mock salute at the Rhelasians in the hallway, then turns and accelerates away. Guess he still hasn't got his head around short ranged FTL transitions. Whatever. This is well within his abilities.

"Ring, remaining charge?"

"Fifty nine percent remaining."

Fine, that's fine. I've found that sorting my head out from things like this is best achieved with music and food. I'm not risking unfamiliar foreign food in my current state, but the ring's music is still there.

"Ring, play 'There she is!', no translation, and let me know if anything dangerous happens."

"Compliance."

I push myself up with the aid of the table as the unintelligible K-Pop -um, R-Pop, I suppose- pours forth. I'm sure that if I actually understood the language I wouldn't like it nearly as much. Then I slide the chair back through the glass shards and turn to go in search of the kitchens. Wasn't there a fad in China for fish and chips a while back? Shouldn't be too hard to…

…

The entire peace conference is behind me. They're gawping. I can just about see Mister Luthor and Miss Graves at the back.

"Ah, I'm going to clean that up." I point my thumb at the hole. "Just need a few minutes, and… Hang on. Ring, off!"

The musical accompaniment to a touching Rabbit/Cat love story is silenced. Damn, they all speak the language, don't they? I must look like a prize idiot.

"You… You made the missile disappear?"

"No, General, I just shifted it into the ring's subspace pocket. I'll return it to the Taiwanese coastal defence people once-" Another wave of nausea, accompanied by dizziness. "-erum. Excuse me. Once I know things are settled here."

"An impressive technology, is it not?" Mister Luthor's managed to make his way through the crowd by using Miss Graves as an icebreaker. "Orange Lantern, I believe I counted two missile impacts? In addition to the one you caught in mid air?"

I nod, falling into parade rest. "Yes, plus the seven I stopped before they reached the building."

Silence.

"Ten missiles?"

He doesn't actually sound surprised. He's just asking for confirmation. I see Miss Grant and her cameraman following behind him.

"Yes, Mister Luthor. Ten Taiwanese Brave Wind mark three anti-ship missiles. Stolen from a naval shipyard earlier today, most likely on the orders of a Santa Prisca national by the name of Bane. No idea how he made them truck launchable though. Erm, he's also notorious for his Venom habit and for his ownership of Venom production facilities, so that may explain how Onyx had a dose to use on Mister Huang earlier."

Wait a second. I couldn't scan the missile I now have in subspace. The Taiwanese will have to wait a little while on getting it returned, I need someone to take a look at it.

I really hope the rocket motors haven't incinerated all my stuff.

Prime Minister Tseng and General Li share a look, then step forward towards me. The Prime Minister speaks first.

"You saved all our lives. Thank you."

"Red Arrow was investigating the original attack. If he hadn't warned me this was going to happen, I'm not sure that I'd have been able to stop them. Plus, Lantern.. Green Lantern two eight one four B is collecting the missiles I redirected before they run out of fuel and fall on someone."

I checked, and while Guy's name isn't exactly a secret, knowledge of it isn't that widespread. He said that he didn't really care, but I don't think I should blab.

General Li steps up to me, hand outstretched. Puzzled, I shake it. "Modest too."

There's a flash. A camera. General Li steps aside, and I shake hands with Prime Minister Tseng. Mister Luthor is third in line, then walks around behind me and puts an arm around my shoulder as we pose for the photographer.

Yep. Definitely an oversight. Next month is definitely too long.

"If there's any way we can repay you..?" The General again.

"Well, General, this is supposed to be a peace conference. And, if the League of Shadows wants to prevent peace, it seems to me that that's a good reason to go for it."

The two leaders look at each other.

"If it helps inspire confidence, I'd be happy to monitor the military stand down of both sides. It'd be easier for me than for a team of UN inspectors, anyway."

The Prime Minister looks away first. "Orange Lantern, you must understand, our nations have been at loggerheads since their creation. At this point, reunification is-."

"I never mentioned reunification, sir. And compared to the hostility between Britain and France over the last thousand years, a mere sixty year stand off doesn't mean that much. And look at how well Britain and France get along now."

They avoid eye contact for a moment.

"Hey!" Guy's back and, oh. He decided to bring the six misdirected missiles with him, rocket motors off and bound in glowing green tethers. Gosh they're big. "Someone drop these!?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th September
23:46 GMT +8

I stand with Guy and Roy at the side of the stage while in the centre Prime Minister Tseng and General Li sign the agreement Mister Luthor and I were finally able to talk them into. Guy thought it was funny to prop the missiles themselves against the wall on the other side of the room, and I'm sure they'll make an interesting talking point for the guests once the signing is over. Guy's grinning at the attention and Roy's still glowering at Mister Luthor, who looks mildly pleased from his seat between the General and the Prime Minister. Not really sure how I feel. I mean, he was right; improving the lives of seventy four million people isn't insignificant, but I'm just not really feeling it.

We're keeping an eye out for follow up attacks, but nothing's happening. After handing the missiles off to me Guy went to see what was taking Roy so long. Answer: six heavily armed guys hopped up on Venom. The two of them seem to have bonded over the fight and the really-wanting-to-be-on-the-Justice-League-but-being-unfairly-excluded thing. I hope this publicity helps Guy's cause. Not sure about Roy. Haven't spent enough time with him to say that I know him well enough to assess it, but he really came through here. Though they and the Taiwanese police picked up some of Bane's helpers the man himself got away with most of them. As did Onyx.

I see Miss Grant over toward the middle of the room. Wonder what she's reporting..?

"…signing a treaty which promises to bring hostilities between these two nations to a permanent end. While both sides have publicly ruled out reunifica…"

"I can't believe we're doing a solid for Lex Luthor."

I shrug. "Seventy four million people will be happy with the result. I can live with it being seventy four million and one."

"Yeah, and it's not like it's worth the League of Shadows killin' 'em now, is it? Which means you and I can go home, while Orange here-" He slaps me on the back. My body armour prevents me from having to stagger forward. "-gets to spend the rest of the week playing Risk with real soldiers. Heh, League of Shadows, who even came up with that name?"

It's a little disturbing how often Guy and I are on the same wavelength.

"Ra's is hundreds of years old. It was probably original when he first thought of it."

"But what about-." Roy stops himself, and lowers his voice. "What about the other problem?"

Apparently Onyx told him that the League of Shadows had a source inside my team. I think that's pretty unlikely, but I'll talk to Kaldur about it once he gets back.

"Head games, Red. She's just messin' with ya'. Don't worry about it."

"Just in case, I'll talk to Diana about lassoing everyone and asking them. I've been reading up on the Lasso of Truth, and apparently it can compel truth even if you don't know you're lying."

I've sort of been meaning to ask about the possibility of using it to get my name back. Since I know for sure that I don't have any arcane compulsions on me (thanks to Mister Constantine) or telepathic ones (thanks, M'gann) there shouldn't be a significant risk in the attempt. Okay, so when she was checking me out M'gann got it into her head to have a look for my surname herself, and we both got knocked out for four hours and I had to explain to Mister J'onzz what we'd been doing and why exactly we thought that was a good idea -I didn't-, but the theory is sound.

Robin tried guessing it, but apparently 'candles' is too cryptic a clue even for him. I can't think of anything closer that doesn't set it off. It's not like anyone's going to use it; the whole thing's just so annoying.

The General, the Prime Minister and Mister Luthor rise, and step to the side to pose for photos.

"Either of you know how long we're supposed to stay?"

Roy snorts. "Treaty's signed. Job's done. I'm out of here."

"Ah, come on Red, don't be like that. I'm still on US time! And in the US it's time for lunch. Either a' you been to Taipei before?"

Um, not close to the ground.

"No?"

Roy still doesn't look happy, but he isn't leaving. "Yes, but I wasn't here for the food."

"I was here in oh five, fighting Evil Star. After I finished kicking his ass, some guys from the local police took me to this stall in the Shihlin Night Market. Does the best Chinese food you ever tasted."

Chinese..?

"Well I… I was planning to get something to eat. R-" Not Roy. "-ed Arrow?"

"Do they take credit card?"

Guy frowns. "'Course they don't. Wait, you seriously don't have any local currency? How long you been here?"

"A few days. I've just been using room service."

I don't have any… What's Taiwan's currency? The New Taiwanese Dollar, or Yuán for short. Wasn't that the currency in Legend of Korra? "Do you think they'd take gold?"

Guy chuckles. "Doesn't matter what kind of card it is, they don't have a terminal."

"No, I mean, gold the metal."

I take a shiny yellow disk out of subspace and hold it up. Not a US mint approved one, this. Double sided orange lantern sigil, and noticeably larger.

"That real?"

"No, Guy, I plan to preserve the karmic balance of the universe by matching the good we've done here with the evil of ripping off a bunch of street traders."

"Probably take it. Where'd you get that?"

"My Corps doesn't have a rule against its members using their rings for their own ends. Let me go check with Mister Luthor, then lunch, dinner, whatever time of day we're on, is on me."

"You mean you can just…" Guy seems more than a little peeved.

"Guy, avarice. If I couldn't use it for what I wanted to use it for, I wouldn't be able to use it at all."

"That is such BS."

"Excuse me?" We turn as one. "Cat Grant, GBS News." The cameraman has his camera in the at rest position. "Do the three of you have time for an interview? If we're not going to be attacked again, I mean."

The three of us look at each other. Sadly, none of us are telepathic or even know each other that well and so we don't learn anything. I decide to reply.

"We were going to get something to eat. Once this winds down, I mean. Um, do the two of you want to come along? We could talk while we eat?"

She grins. "That... That would be great!"

Guy nudges me with his elbow. Known her for two minutes and you're already asking her to dinner? Real smooth, kid.

What? No, no, that wasn't what I… Uh, never mind.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Exaltations

8th September
13:08 GMT -5

The only good thing about monitoring a phased military stand down in a country on the other side of the planet is that when night falls you can go home and still have some day left. I think I'm going to be abusing the ring's 'don't need to eat or sleep' function. I had thought that I'd be working in an office with representatives of North and South. Instead, I spent most of it in front of a room full of press people, announcing a confirmation of each stage as it happened, as well as fielding their questions. The recording of me listening to 'There she is!' was released on VidULike and has now gone thoroughly viral. There's remixes, mash ups, extended cuts and the last mutation I saw had the music edited out and replaced with a porn sound track which I turn off once I see the Rhelasians. After I watched that, I stopped looking.

There were a few people dressed up as Doki and Nabi outside, and they were eventually joined by people dressed as me.

I have cosplayers now.

That's a thing.

Guy turned up for a bit around local midday. Not sure what he was planning, but it gave me a break so I didn't really care. When I came back, he was trying to dodge answering questions on the relationship between our Corps. I feel a bit bad about that. He's clearly been ordered not to say anything. News programs have been making the whole thing more interesting by splicing in parts of our dinner with Miss Grant. I guess that either she made the recording off the clock or GBS sold it on. I think we come across fairly well, and the people running the stall seemed happy enough about it.

Diana's finding the whole thing a little amusing. Her only punishment for me 'coming out' was to make me spend an hour screening her fan mail so that I'll 'have a better idea of what I've let myself in for'. If I ever see a picture of a fat hairy naked guy again, it'll be too soon.

Haven't heard anything back from the Taiwanese police yet. Bane's employees are in their care. I checked, and they are being treated properly. Well, aside from being made to go through Venom withdrawal cold turkey, but I can live with that. Mister Huang hasn't woken up yet, and I've set the ring to alert me when he does.

I'm in the base's kitchen. No one else is here, and I want to eat something. Something not Asian. I don't mind it exactly, but the flavours just clash in my mouth and I haven't worked out the exact mechanics of eating some of it yet. I check, but the last of the chilli is gone from the freezer. What do we have? Nothing that looks appetising. Right, head into Happy Harbour, buy some fresh fish and vegetables, come back. If I stick some potatoes in to roast now, they should be ready when everything else is. The ring makes peeling easy, and lets me skip the usual pre-boiling and feathering with a burst of microwave radiation and a slight application of force. Olive oil, heat resistant dish, oven on to gas mark 6, oh. Right. Electric oven. Chart on the wall says gas mark 6 equals 200o​C, which translates into Imperial as 392o​F. In it goes.

Ring, transition to the training area.

Compliance.

The scene shifts and oh. Kaldur's back. "Hi Kaldur, how's..?" I look at the object he's holding in his right hand. He notices what I'm looking at, and raises it slightly. "Is that.. actually.. Ocean Master's trident?"

"Yes. My king did not want to keep it in Atlantis, and since we were the ones to defeat its former owner…"

That's a little weird.

"You know.. the only one of us who can use it is you, right? Are you.. actually.. planning to?"

"I have not yet decided. It is a powerful weapon. I will need to train with it before I make a decision."

"It's not booby trapped or anything, is it?"

"No, it was checked thoroughly, and by mages of proven loyalty. I do not believe that Ocean Master would have considered planning for his own defeat worthwhile."

"How.. is..?"

Should I be asking that? I look away for a moment, and Kaldur does likewise.

"He is… There is no immediate danger of Ocean Master dying. King Orin has expressed a desire for a full trial once he is well enough to go through it."

I've still got his hands in subspace. With all the excitement in Asia I completely forgot about it.

"Before I forget, there's a few things I need to talk to you about. Got a moment?" He nods. "Alright, first, I've still got Ocean Master's hands."

His eyes widen slightly.

I wave my hands in a warding gesture. "I picked them up after I cut them off, and with one thing and another I haven't got around to returning them. They're perfectly preserved… Ah, would they be able to reattach them?"

He blinks, trying to come to terms with the idea of me carting around a man's hands. "Possibly. Now that he is out of danger…"

"Who.. would I talk to about that?"

We look at each other for a moment. I'm starting to feel like laughing.

He shakes his head slightly. "I honestly am not sure. I suppose it would be the physician responsible for his care. If you go to the palace and ask for Tuvul'Orr, they should be able to direct you."

"Thank you. I'll do that after lunch. Second thing, ran into Red Arrow yesterday. There's a-" I wave at the computer console. "-mission report, you should probably read. In summary, League of Shadows tried to violently break up the Rhelasian peace summit and we stopped them, but… When Red Arrow fought Onyx, she said something about them having a source inside our team. Now, I haven't put anything about that in the report. I've checked our electronic systems, nothing there."

He nods in understanding. "That would just leave the people."

I shake my head. "I don't think there's anything to it. I think she was just trying to wind him up, but, your call."

His eyes flick down for a moment. "I suppose we cannot rule out the possibility."

"I suppose not. Heh, I don't think I'd have believed my backstory if I hadn't lived through it. Alright, you want me to ask Diana to come here and truth lasso us all? I'll go first."

"With all due respect to your sponsor, I think it would be more prudent to investigate quietly. If there is a mole, I have no wish to tip him -or her- off."

"Okay, if that's how you want to do it. But if we're investigating, we need to get lassoed. I don't doubt your honesty and I don't think that you doubt mine, but if we're being thorough…" He nods. Glad he's not arguing about that. "I should be able to get hold of her this evening. Alright, last thing. Has Batman said anything to you about the process for us getting new members?"

"No, he has not. Do you have someone in mind?"

"Yes."

I call the grey with orange sigil notebook out of subspace. Turns out that the rocket motor shut down as soon as I put the missile there. I desire, and the ring generates a copy of my research before returning the original to subspace. I hand the copy to Kaldur.

"This, is Robert Marrack."