With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

[Mr Zoat]

7th October 2012
06:43 GMT -7
Who's A Silly Pony?
I open my eyes. Something's… Off.

"Con-founded-!"

Y.. ess…

I pull off my duvet and carefully get out of bed. I'm far too heavy and too strong to throw my weight around, even on a bed built for someone my size plus guest. To say nothing of the risk to anyone who was here with me. Bethany is quite a bit tougher than a baseline human but if she had a nightmare and in the morning fug I rolled the wrong way…

"…monkey pastern..!"

Hm. No real need to armour up just yet. I can stay in my pyjamas until it's time to take the children to school. I amble over to my bedroom door and push it open, taking a moment to connect my metaphysique with the arcane systems of Challenger Mountain-.

A woman-. Luna, glares at me from the floor at the end of the corridor. Skin a shade lighter than my usual illusory false-face combined with vibrant blue hair… Not sure why Starswirl's Mirror didn't allow her to keep her usual starry mane, but who am I to argue with a dead stallion? The Mirror also seems to have interpreted her peytral as an evening dress and jewellery rather than.. armour-.

"Dost thou not intend to lift Us to Our feet?!"

She's lying on her front, trying to push herself up a little with her thumbs-. Ah, yes, I see what she's doing wrong. Her hair is far longer than her mane was, and since she hasn't tied it up at all it's splayed all over the floor. She doesn't look physically injured, though her pride is clearly a little bruised.

"But of course, my love."

I stride down the corridor, crouching next to her as she inexpertly flails at me with her hands in an attempt to get a grip.

"Monkey infants can perform.. basic.. grasping..!"

"Monkey infants weren't born a midget horse. Can you rest them by your sides?"

She grimaces, bending her elbows so that her arms fold up at her sides with her hands by her shoulders. Her head turns to face the floor and her hair completely enshrouds her head.

"Lifting you in two, one…"

My hands go under her arms and lift as I stand, her body trailing limply beneath them. Luna raises her head slightly and tries impotently to blow her hair out of her face.

"How dost the females of thine species function?"

"They have these things called 'scissors'..? I have no idea why the Mirror made your hair this long."

She takes a breath.

"Lower Us. We shall attempt to remain balanced 'pon Our hind hooves."

"Iiiii'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Thou'st managed when first thou visited Our realm."

"Ponies have four legs. They're more stable. If you get one wrong the other three will usually keep you upright."

Hm.

I set her down for a moment and shift my hands even as she instinctively tries to stand on the tips of her toes. Right hand in the middle of her back, left forearm against the backs of her thighs and lift as she starts to overbalance. Luna blinks as she suddenly finds herself in a bridal carry, and I take a moment to realise how much smaller she seems like this.

She looks up at me, and has another go at blowing her hair out of her face. Between her exhalation and whipping her head to the side she mostly managed it.

"Good morning, Luna. Doing something different with your mane?"

She tries to snort, but the human nose isn't really designed for that.

"We wert intending-!"

I lift her a little higher up and kiss her gently on the lips. The act seems to calm her slightly.

"Yes. Like that. We intended to infiltrate your sleeping quarters and present Ourself. But this is impossible!"

She looks adorably cross about the whole situation.

"You made it most of the way."

"We were supposed to be here-! We spend hours crawling upon your floor, flailing in a vain attempt at locomotion."

"I certainly appreciate the effort."

Ah… I think it would be best to deposit her on a seat at the breakfast table. She should be able to keep herself upright without.. help…

"You're not missing moonset, are you?"

"Our sister has volunteered to take the strain. We are.. frustrated that we have squandered her favour so."

"No, no, this can be a bonding activity." I start carrying her in the direction of the dining room. "But did you not bump into a genomorph at some point? They could easily have loaded Sunset's knowledge of bipedal locomotion into your brain."

"After what happened last time, We thought it best to avoid such techniques. We may have need to it for the good of Our realm, and so would hate to discombobulate Our mind mastering something frivolous. And…"

She glances away awkwardly.

"We remember that you were at least somewhat ambulatory during our first meeting."

"Yeah, I'm just amazing. How are you coping with not being able to levitate things?"

"Not being able to walk is of greater concern to Us." … "Though We will admit that being carried in this fashion is not a wholly unpleasant experience. There is no true equivalent amongst ponykind."

"Daddy, who is that?"

Sarah stares up at us from her seat at the breakfast table, vacuum pack of blood grasped in her hands. As haemovores, they do need to ingest blood. The problem is making sure that they aren't driven into a frenzy whenever they start to feel hungry.

"This is Luna."

She frowns, taking another suck.

"No it's not. Luna's a horsie."

I crane my neck in her direction and pointedly raise my eyebrows. "Luna's a what?"

She thinks for a moment. "Ponie?"

I smile. "That's right. But this time she came through the-" I slide a chair out with my right foot. "-Mirror, rather than a Boom Tube. You know how I transform when I do that?"

She smiles, nodding. "Daddy turns into a horsi-."

"Aah."

"Horse."

I nod. "And when a pony like Sunset comes through from the other side?"

"They turn human?"

"Which is why-" I gently deposit Luna in a chair before heading towards the kitchen. "-she's having a little trouble moving around. Luna? Feel like testing out those omnivore taste buds with some bacon?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th October 2012
15:15 GMT

"…that while there isn't any legislation to that effect, the Alignment effectively has-. Had, rather, a command economy."

Jaggar Ton leads the way down the temporary road laid between the fields in this part of the colony's newly planted farm cluster. Bleez has actually dressed in a somewhat modest fashion, which given that this is nearly a prison is probably for the best. It's not just humans where the male half of the species commit the majority of the crimes. The road is.. like the rollable plastic lattice that they sometimes lay over grass they don't want to destroy on Earth, only a good deal more advanced.

Jade narrows her eyes slightly as she looks over a group of men erecting a fence.

"Who got sent here?"

"Alignment society was completely corrupt. My advice was to harshly punish the worst offenders and let everyone else off with a suspended sentence. Xalitan wouldn't accept letting people guilty of any crimes go free, and my daughter and their organisation backed him." Mr. Ton shrugs. "I can hardly complain about him rejecting my judgement."

Bleez frowns. "Why?"

Mr. Ton frowns at me for a moment before giving her his full attention. "I assumed that the Illustres told you. Xalitan was wrongly sent to prison for murdering my wife after I was told by the actual killers that my daughter would be next if I didn't implicate him."

I nod. "Xalitan isn't happy that he wasn't given the choice to metaphorically throw himself on his sword. And then there's the false witness thing. If they're clearing house, then even if he understands why Mister Ton did it, it's still perjury. Still a perversion of the legal system."

"Is your daughter okay?"

Mr. Ton gives Bleez a small smile. "Yes, thank you for asking. I always hoped that her intelligence would take her a long way… And then when she began opposing the state I hoped that it would be enough to keep her alive. I never thought it would take her quite as far as Grand Convenor, especially at this age, but I suspect that she's the best person for the job."

"What's a 'Grand Convenor'?"

"In theory, it's someone who brings political representatives together to debate matters of governance. But if you look at our history it didn't take long for it to become synonymous with being the head of our government. In the normal run of things she wouldn't have the experience or power to hold the post… But we're very far from normal times."

Jade takes another look around. "You're sending corrupt politicians to learn to farm?"

"Anyone indicted on charges of… Essentially, of being involved in a corrupt system, but not personally being so evil that it's worth charging them individually, was given the option to plead guilty and take a transportation sentence instead of anything more brutal." He makes a small gesture with his right hand to indicate the fields. "This is a good deal more habitable than where Xalitan himself was sent, and we're not isolated to anything like the same extent."

"'We'? Did you take the deal, too?"

"I took a deal, but I'm a tier down from them. Someone blackmailed into committing crimes that were of sufficient magnitude that letting us stay where we are wasn't really an option, but where we don't really deserve harsh punishment. So I get to oversee this place for a decade or so." He shrugs. "I doubt that I'll miss the homeworld all that much. Not a lot of good memories, and too many bad ones."

"Is it permanent?"

"For them? Yes. For me? No, my appointment has a definite end date, and I can leave for a little while. But I can't simply resign and go somewhere else."

Jade nods. "How are you enforcing that?"

"Seizure of assets, lack of communication equipment and the fact that there isn't anyone left at liberty who might be inclined to help them. Xalitan is enacting a root and branch reform. If he missed anyone, I doubt that they'd be prepared to risk themselves to help someone who couldn't offer them anything in return. And they aren't soldiers or scientists or engineers; not people who could offer something to a party outside of Alignment society which might result in their evacuation."

"But I doubt that you're popular if your daughter's the one who put them here. What's to stop them coming after you?"

"I'd like the answer to be that they're too rational. With no one here to exploit, some of them are going to have to work the farms whatever happens, and the old hierarchy has been destroyed. There's no leadership. If I'm killed, what happens?"

"The representative of the government which put them here is dead." Jade regards him levelly. "Only one person has to make an impulsive decision."

"We haven't had our first crop yet. If I die, everyone here gets to fight each other for the food they'd need to live until harvest, and they get to do it without any replacement parts for their tools, or for anything else. I'm the only one armed and armoured. I have a small supply of strike drones and one is-" He glances up. "-always on station, and I can call in reinforcements if I need them. Doing that would result in the summary execution of everyone here with a transportation sentence, so I expect that they'll deal with rogue elements themselves."

"What about next year?"

"Next year the first wave of people actually sentenced to transportation by a court will arrive. These farms are training for the full-sized farms that we will be setting up. We will still need to bring food in for the next five years or so. After that, I assume that they will have acclimatised to this lifestyle."

Bleez frowns as she peers at the labourers.

"Where are the old ones?"

"It varies. Older politicians and civil servants were more likely to occupy senior positions, so a lot of them are awaiting trial and execution. Some were given jobs requiring less manual labour, though those have very strict attainment targets. This isn't supposed to be an easy option. If they're too decrepit to cope with any sort of labour, they could volunteer for a life sentence in a Class C prison."

Jade raises her eyebrows slightly. "'Class C'? Is that Alignment minimum security?"

"It should in theory be just as secure as the other classifications. The difference is that the regime is less harsh. The Alignment traditionally doesn't usually imprison people for extended periods of time; it's usually transportation or execution. Long term imprisonment is for government officials who might find themselves returned to power if things shift a little."

"Huh." Bleez smiles. "I mean, don't take this the wrong way? But it's kind of nice to hear about somewhere worse than Thanagar."

Mr. Ton nods. "I imagine that it is. Is Thanagar fixing itself?"

"No, but that's why I'm here. I want to help fix Thanagar!"

"The planet, the Empire or the species?"

"The-. The planet." Bleez frowns at him. "What do you think's wrong with our species?"

"You're dependent on Nth metal for your flight ability and strength. Nth metal doesn't exist outside of Thanagarian space. My species can live anywhere that most other humanoid species can. What happens when the people of Thanagar are born elsewhere?"

Bleez bows her head, her wings twitching up as if she were going to mantle herself.

"Congenital deformities. Horrible ones. And sometimes the mother dies too. But I'm a singer and songwriter and pretty decent economist. I'm not a doctor."

"We could do with some economists. Most of the ones we had are on farms like this."

"So you could use some more?"

Mr. Ton shrugs. "I'm a farm overseer. It's not my decision. But I think so. I don't know if anyone is keeping track of things. Last time I checked, our major industries were running on momentum and a lack of competition."

"Would your people accept Thanagarians working on that?"

"That depends where they were coming from."

"Havania."

"I don't know where that is."

"It's one of the old colonies?"

Mr. Ton frowns. "Don't the old Thanagarian colonies have slaves?"

"A-hhhhh..?"

"I see." His frown deepens. "Then I think you should probably get your own world set to rights before getting involved with ours."

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th October 2012
15:34 GMT

"Bur it!"

Bleez swoops down and punches a thick tree branch, splintering the living wood and causing the nearly-severed branch to flex and swing as it droops down from the trunk.

"I shouldn't have mentioned the slave thing." She turns around to look at us, flapping backwards so that she can sit on the remaining part of the branch still firmly attached to the trunk. "Right? I shouldn't have mentioned the slave thing?"

"He said it's not his decision."

"But wouldn't covering it up be worse?" She pulls her wings in around her. "I mean, it's not like I could get everyone to keep quiet about it."

"Then you put it in a briefing paper five hundred pages long, preferably in the appendix."

I stare at Jade in surprise.

"You told me you hadn't watched Yes Prime Minister!"

She gives me a small frown back. "I haven't. It's just an obvious technique to bury information that you have to provide but don't want to make prominent."

"What's 'Yes Prime Minister'?"

"It's a comedy television series where I'm from, about a government minister trying to enact policy in the face of opposition from the civil service. There's a joke in there that senior civil servants make sure that briefing papers are very long and then give them to ministers just before they need to make a decision in order to make sure that they don't read them and just go with what the civil service wants."

"Oh." Bleez frowns thoughtfully. "We don't really do that in the Thanagarian Empire."

"If you're trying to reform your society, it might be worth starting."

"I dunno. I think the Ravens might take issue with it. Open persuasion is one thing, but deliberately misleading the government starts to look a bit like treason. And I think some people in government are going to want to call it treason."

"Ravens?"

"The High Morr's personal spies and assassins."

"So Thanagarians do use cunning, it's just that your government prefers it if they're the only ones."

"They wouldn't be a government if just anyone could give out orders."

"I suggest being up front about it but separating yourself from the tradition. Something like… When you're describing how Havania's economy works, state that you realise that it's horrible and backwards but that you're not in a position to change it."

"What if they check?"

"Well, you wouldn't be lying. You're not in a position to change it. Do you actually want to keep slavery?"

"No? But I don't know if I'm ever going to be in a position to remove it."

"Do you know how my country got rid of slavery?"

"Violent revolution?"

"No. We got conquered by a culture which didn't have slavery and phased it out without any legislation at all."

Jade regards me sceptically.

"You told me you gave Rocket an hour-long lecture on the West Africa Squadron. That wasn't-."

"That was after we reintroduced it after about three hundred years by the back door due to the slaves coming from a long way away and most of the slaves being in overseas territories. We actually de facto abolished it before that, and neither exactly portray us in a positive light. The point-" I return my attention to Bleez. "-is, if you bring refugees in as unowned, people will get used to there being unowned aliens around, and you can just fold the aboriginals into that system a few decades down the line."

Bleez perks up slightly. "I could do that. I will do that."

"Well, let's… Get a system that works in place for the people of Downside before moving onto something else, because that's what everything's going to hinge on."

"I think most Havanian nobles would be fine with aliens working on farms like that. The aboriginals don't like working outside of swamps. Their skin can't really cope with direct sunlight for all that long."

"You don't have automated farming?"

"Thanagarians don't really use robots." Bleez shrugs, her wings in a slightly more normal position now. "And if we were going to go for high cost high efficiency automated farming, we'd probably go for some sort of huge hydroponics setup rather than something like-" She points her right arm at the farmland we just walked away from. "-that. I mean, I'm sure that it's a perfectly satisfying way to live, but the returns per unit land area aren't anything like as good and the quality is a lot more variable."

"But that sort of collective labour is good at building communities. I'm not sure how it works for thanagarians or lizarkons, but human brains struggle to cope with dense city living. There's actually a fairly low limit on the number of people we can get emotionally invested in, and it's fine for a relatively small village but really doesn't work for a city of a million people."

"Havania doesn't have a city of a million people. Even our largest industrial towns only go up to about a quarter of a million."

"Same principle. Ah, it would be for humans. I don't know enough about thanagarian psychology to know if it's the same. Do thanagarians prefer small settlements?"

"I grew up in a castle."

"A castle that's not located in a town or city. It's in the middle of the countryside."

"No, I mean, I don't really know what it's like to live like a regular thanagarian. I know, like, where they live because I've studied civic planning, but I've never spent any time there myself. And when I'm touring I'm living out of hotel rooms."

"In that case you need to research psychological literature on all of the species you're planning on introducing."

"Right. And you know how Overseer Ton said that they broke up coteries when they assigned them to new settlements? You think that's something I should do?"

"Yes, definitely. You're engineering settlements for maximum stability. Removing them from the context of their former lives will help make it a clean break."

Jade doesn't look convinced. "That's how it works for humans. It might not be the same for other species."

"Right, but if they're humanoid, it probably does."

"Right. I need more information on how the Alignment works. Are their government records publically available, or do I need to make a special request?"

"It's not that they're secret so much as the systems have broken down to the point that information isn't flowing. Hon.. estly, if it wasn't for Xalitan's power ring and moral clarity this would be a great opportunity for corruption."

"So I need to talk to him?"

"No, Onisia would be the ideal person, but I've got no idea who under her would actually be responsible. Let me find out for you."

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th October 2012
21:39 GMT

"Illustres."

I'm not an expert on her species' physiology, but Onisia looks more than a little ground down. She smiles honestly enough when she sees me, but it fades almost immediately when her eyes pass over my companions. Not that she's unhappy to see them, they just don't arouse a positive response.

"Madam Grand Convenor."

I make the fists-together-in-front-of-my-chest gesture that is their bow-equivalent. Jade copies it immediately while Bleez-. No, there she goes. I suppose that out of all four of us she's the one who was formally trained in this sort of thing.

"I think I understand why you gave control of the Orange Lantern Corps to someone else."

"Not planning on staying in office?"

"Not in the long term. But I don't know who else I could trust this with."

Bleez perks up. "I-." / "I could-."

Bleez frowns at me in puzzlement. "Sorry. I was…" I return my full attention to Onisia. "I know a species of telepaths. Two species of telepaths, actually. If you want to know who's committed and who isn't, you could hire a few."

I consider J'onn J'aarkn's likely response to being invited to a civilisation of spacefaring humanoids.

"Or just ask for volunteers. They don't get out much."

"I didn't abolish our internal intelligence agency so that I could make a more malevolent one."

"Th-?"

"Or to enact emergency laws which somehow never seem to lapse."

"You could just enact them and rescind them before leaving office. Given that you only intend to stay in power for the duration of the emergency."

She shakes her head. "It's a bad precedence to set."

"If you're-."

Bleez steps past me, smiling warmly.

"Hey. I'm Princess Bleez, Crown Princess of Havania, from the Thanagarian Empire."

"Yes. I thought that the Thanagarian Empire was a military oligarchy?"

"The Empire is, but old colonies like Havania have their own planetary governments, you know?"

"I didn't. The Alignment government didn't allow that sort of stratification. They felt it would inevitably lead to tribalistic factionalism. As opposed to all of the other kinds of factionalism that they had."

Jade nods. "If there was an alternate centre of power, people might rally around it. If the only power centre is the government, then as long as they don't splinter openly, that's where it stayed."

I smile smugly. "Unless acted on by overwhelming external power. But seriously, geographic representation by people who can be removed by their constituents is a reasonable way to guard against abuses of power. Keep the people making up the upper levels of government apart from each other prevents groupthink and…"

Bleez looks pointedly at me.

"Sorry."

"The point is, Havania has plenty of people who have studied interstellar economics and I want to help."

"So do all of our neighbours. It's surprising how much of their advice involves dismantling our industry or giving it to them."

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. But it's not necessarily a bad idea. If they're involved in your economy then they won't see you as so much of a threat. Telling them that you're not arming up for a war isn't the same as them seeing it in a shareholder report. And in a way, your success becomes their success. When your economy does well, they profit as you do. It's not money going out, it's them getting the money they need to buy more of your stuff." She wing-shrugs. "Economics isn't a zero sum game. Unless you're trying to destroy them and economics is just a weapon, which is how Thanagar usually sees it. Then it's more of a negative sum game because everyone loses."

"Do you have a plan?"

"I don't have the data to make a detailed plan. That's what I wanted to request; access to economic data."

"I assumed that the Illustres would have been able to give it to you?"

"I'm supposed to be on holiday. And that sort of economic information-mining is a pretty hostile gesture."

Jade looks away. "Supposed to be."

"And I'm not actually an economist. Which is another reason why Dox is in charge."

Onisia considers that for a moment.

"Is there a Vril Dox the Third?"

"Ah, not as yet, though I imagine that his foster father has suggested it."

"I meant other people with his intellect."

"Coluans are insular and pretty xenophobic. And while they're all significantly above humanoid norms for intelligence, none of them are on his level."

Onisia nods resignedly. "Then I will authorise Princess Bleez having access to our data. Lantern Xor is best placed to provide up to date information, though not much has changed since his last upload. Non-security-related information gathering is… One of the things we're working on."

Bleez gestures with her right wing. "If you want, my people could do that. If you're worried that your data is bad, we can get wings in the air and check every city and factory and feed back to you."

"And what would that cost us?"

Another wing shrug. "Nothing. I want to get my people used to working with aliens, and in the Empire, aliens… Aliens aren't treated well. It's a different context to the relationship, and I want them to learn something from it."

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to change things when I take over, but I can't do that on my own or without knowing who I can trust to actually do what I want." She smiles. "Sound familiar?"

"Very." She nods. "I'll allow it, on the condition that you give me equivalent data on Havania."

"Just Havania?" Orisia nods. "Sure, I can do that. I'm just wondering why?"

"Because I do actually talk to my father. I'm not in any position to complain about Thanagar having slaves when the Alignment did the same, but I do need to know that you're going to follow through on your promise to abolish slavery."

"That's fair." Bleez nods. "I know our history isn't all that reassuring, but I really do want to change things. I just… I can't force things. I've got to be careful, or a lot of people could get hurt, and I don't just mean other thanagarians."

Orisia nods. "I'll sign the data release order. You can access it from any secure government data repository. Let me know when you have assembled your audit team."

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th October 2012
16:57 GMT -7

Luna freezes, her terrified exhalation immediately drawing my attention! I crouch slightly, staring around to try and spot-

There's nothing there, Lantern Grayven.

-whatever it is that's… Yes, I don't either, but something's making her gasp in horror like that. Relaxing slightly, I walk cautiously towards her.

"Luna?"

She shakily raises her right arm, pointing into the… Sky. At the clearly visible moon in the day sky.

"Ah."

I walk around behind her, wrap my right arm around her chest and my left hand over her eyes like a living blinker.

"It's alright, it's alright. It's meant to do that."

"Daddy?" Sarah trots walks over with her ball. "What's wrong with Princess Luna?"

"She's had a bit of a shock, but she'll be fine in a moment. Why don't you go and play with Clare while she recovers?"

Sarah walks closer, then reaches up to pat Luna on the left thigh with her right hand before turning and running towards her sister. Through my right arm I feel Luna's breathing rate drop down to something more like her resting rate as she leans back into me.

"Feeling better?"

"The moon is raised!"

"Earth orbits its star, while its moon orbits the Earth. As a result there are times when both are visible from the ground at one point. Did you..? Not see it before?"

"Neigh, We did not!"

Sarah jogs past her sister and tugs on Sunset's sleeve. Sunset looks down, Sarah points to us and Sunset follows the gesture with her eyes. She blinks, clicks her right forefinger against her right thumb and appears next to us in a cloud of glitter.

"What's up with Luna? Or are you getting into public hobbling?"

"She saw the moon."

Sunset frowns, then shades her eyes as she looks up into the sky. "Huh."

"Sunset, did you ever have a problem with Earth's orbital mechanics?"

"No, not really? Ah, Luna? You know it's meant to do that, right?"

I feel it as Luna regains control of herself, breathing in deeply and holding it before slowly breathing out. And in, and out.

"You may remove your hand. We are not some dumb beast who forgets what it saw the moment its sight is obscured."

I tighten my right arm slightly. I'd tilt my head to press into her hair if she weren't far too short for that to work in this shape. "So hobbling is off the menu?"

"Public hobbling is most certainly 'off the menu' in whatever form We happen to occupy."

I open the fingers of my left hand, uncovering her eyes while still leaving my palm against the side of her head. Though her formerly pointing arm has flopped down to rest on mine, her head is definitely pointed upwards to stare at the moon.

"The moon is in the sky."

I nod. "It certainly is. Sunset, why didn't you have a problem with Earth's orbital mechanics?"

She shrugs. "I'd been on Earth for a while before I even noticed, and nothing particularly terrible had happened. I guess it just signified… Y'know…" She shrugs against, this time a little more awkwardly. "Celestia not watching over me."

"Has Twilight said anything about it?"

"I don't think she's noticed. She's more interested in our technology and magic than anything else."

Luna's breathing is almost completely back to normal now-.

"Luna, moon of my skies, perhaps-"

She tilts her head back so that she can look up at me. "That was terrible."

"-if you don't stare at it?"

"We will recover Ourself. It was simply a shock."

"Had you really not seen it before today? You've been out and about on Earth several times."

"But for the most part We were inside, or the sky was overcast, or your moon not on display, or Our attention directed elsewhere. And then your filly Sarah tossed the ball high and there was a strange moon in the sky."

I nod. "A moon that didn't respond to your magic. I could see how that would be disconcerting, though I must say that I'm glad this happened while you are in human form and not as a pony."

She hesitates for a moment.

"You worry that in Our discomfiture We may have reached for it. We… Do not think that would have worked."

"Hopefully not, but if you threw out enough magic there might be other effects, even if the moon didn't start dancing to your tune. But hey! Good work on not falling over. It took Sunset a lot longer to get the hang of that."

"Did not."

"You were making 'my hands are hooves' gestures when you kidnapped Twilight Sparkle."

"That's not the same as standing up!"

"That is sufficient." Luna raises her right hand. "You may consider us sufficiently distracted from the shoddy construction of the local universe."

"This system runs fine unless someone introduces a solar mass into the system. Yours falls apart if someone puts two ponies in a vine pod. If anything, you and Celestia should try and make your system work like this one."

"That, we are informed, is pony heresy."

Sunset shrugs. "Probably. But there's something about the idea of making Celestia unemployed that really appeals to me."

I give her a mild frown. "You are aware that she'd still be Princess Regnant, right? All it would mean is that she could have a lie in."

Sunset avoids my gaze.

"Sunset."

"Look, Earth's full of strange ideas! I just got a few books on political theory and gave them to the Equestrian library service! I'm sure nopony is going to do anything crazy."

"Thou art trying to depose us?"

"No. I'm trying to get other ponies to depose Celestia!" She shrugs. "You're fine. You can stay."

"And Sister was wondering if We would like Our own student. Between thyself and Twilight Sparkle, we are unsure that Equestia would survive."

"Just because we don't do what you want, that doesn't mean that we don't do amazing things. Just, y'know, don't spend years lying to us and make sure you actually teach us things. It's not complicated."

Ah…

"Though… Maybe… Don't pick Starlight Glimmer. That pony… I think she might have problems."

Luna tilts her head back to look at me again.

"Neigh. Really?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th October 2012
02:12 GMT

Drift left, slight descent, meet eyes, nod and switch hands…

I don't know about Thanagar itself, but it turns out that Havania has ballroom dancing.

Proceed and wheel, drift back and switch hands again…

Aerial ballroom dancing, which includes quite a lot of precise wing movements as well as motions of the arms and legs.

Hold your partner close and rise, rotating in synchronicity as you stare into their eyes…

And the third place couple drop out, prompting Jade and I to bow our heads and press our foreheads together as we drop out to avoid a clearly tainted victory. Because while there's no actual rule against airborne aliens taking part in what isn't strictly a competitive event, they're flying by precisely controlling their wings and Nth metal nodes while we're using a power ring and kinetic belt respectively. While it wasn't easier for us to match our motions than it was for the rest of the… Um, flock? It didn't get progressively more tiring as it did for them.

We touch down at the edge of the circle marking out the area for the 'dance-duel', linking arms as we head for one of the chaise lounges around the edge of the room. The third place couple are flaking out near by, friends or admirers commiserating them as they fan them with their wings. The man makes a play of it, spreading his arms and wings, loosening his jacket and panting to lose accumulated heat as quickly as possible to the laughter of the observers.

The woman wilts a little more quietly, right hand clenching in frustration. Though a quick flash of empathic vision shows that she's mildly frustrated at coming close to winning and not quite getting there, rather than as part of some long-running grudge. Long running serious grudge, perhaps I should say.

The winners descend into the centre of the room, leaning on each other though trying to make it look like they could carry on all evening if they had to. A collective cry goes up, and everyone around the edge of the room makes an arms raised hands together gesture of salute, the younger couples keeping their arms raised for several seconds while the older participants drop it almost immediately. Bleez herself heads into the centre of the room with a ceremonial chalice which she hands to the victors, the woman taking a small drink before passing it to the man, who takes another small drink before passing it back.

I don't really know what any of that's about, but it's fascinating to watch.

Bleez leans in to say something to the victors, glancing our way and nodding her head to the side. That's our signal, then.

I scan the room and the castle beyond, and the grounds beyond that. No infiltrators that I can detect, no obvious red flags amongst the staff -other than her mother, who put in a token appearance and retired early after introducing Bleez to an unusually tall fellow from the local defence force- and no sign of electronic monitoring beyond the internal security mechanisms. Jade and I went through the place before the party but it wasn't impossible that someone could have snuck something in.

With the event over and the participants mostly recovered, the guests begin to circulate once more. A few head outside to take advantage of the castle's gardens. The flowers there certainly look nice, and I'm sure that the arrangements are in exquisite taste, but the whole things smells decidedly… Off, to a human nose.

I nod back to Bleez, then arm in arm Jade and I walk out of the dance room and head deeper into the castle.

"That was a change of pace."

"Are you interested in formal dancing?"

"No, but I think I could live with doing it every now and then."

"Noted."

"And that doesn't mean 'once a month' or 'twice a year'."

"Also noted." … "So, three times a year?"

She's facing away from me so I miss what is probably an eye roll, but I do spot the slight hitch in her breathing.

"I'll tell you when."

"I feel this is a very stereotypical conversation."

"So you want an exact figure."

"I don't need an exact figure, but it might be helpful in getting you what you want if I know what it is."

"I thought you always know what I want."

"Only if I make a point of looking, and I know it makes you uncomfortable."

We slow to a stop just in front of a large portrait of… Yes, Bleez's family when she was younger. Her father stands tall and proud while her mother plays… Something, with her in the foreground. Her father's sidearm is the only piece of advanced technology on obvious display.

"Interesting that they still do paintings."

"They probably keep the holograms somewhere private."

"Lex Luthor has a hallway lined with photographs on the way to his apartment."

She glances at me. "Spying on the opposition?"

"He invited me to dinner once. Me and a few others."

"When was that?"

"The week after I joined with the Ophidian." I sigh quietly. "Back when I still thought that he could be talked around."

"Aiming high."

"Aimed high. Really thought I could get through to him." I shrug. "Not to be. So do you want to know about it if there's ballroom dancing somewhere we happen to be?"

"Yes, let's go with that."

"Excuse me!"

Jade and I uncouple and turn, the tall Thanagarian apparently having gotten away from his handler. Kran Kral is apparently 'a noble officer with good prospects'. And he's certainly tall. He's actually a little taller than me, and noticeably broader. According to local files he's from one of the newer colonies, first generation born there.

"Yes? How can we help?"

"You both dance well for people who haven't seen a Thanagarian dance until recently. Was it really just today?"

"Princess Bleez was kind enough to lend us her dance instructor."

"And it's not really the same when you're not using your own wings. Didn't feel like taking part yourself?"

He wing-shrugs. "The Princess Regnant intimated that Princess Bleez would be my date. That… That doesn't appear to be happening, and in any case as the hostess it would be impolite for her to take part."

"As I understand it, Bleez's ideas about what Bleez wants and her mother's ideas about what Bleez wants are distant acquaintances at best. If you actually want to pursue a relationship with her then I suggest not seeking her mother's favour."

"Oh." He frowns. "I hadn't realised. I…" He shrugs again, looking slightly awkward. "I actually intended to ask if you were involved with her. And when you intended to break it off. But if you're not, then I suppose that I only have my own poor reconnaissance to blame."

"This is Jade, my fiancée."

Jade nods. "Hello."

"Oh." He makes a submissive gesture with his wings. "I apologise. That is what I get for relying on rumours."

"Bleez is an interesting woman, but…" I shake my head. "I don't think it would work. Really, if you're serious, she's the one you need to talk to."

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th October 2012
02:17 GMT

The next painting in the gallery depicts one of Bleez's ancestors dressed in what I suspect is Thanagarian survey gear. There's a landing craft in the background and what I suspect is the future site of the castle in the background. The land is roughly the right shape, though I don't know how much they built it up before starting construction.

"What did he mean, 'when you intended to break it off'?"

"Havanian succession is hereditary. I imagine that he was assuming that humans and thanagarians can't reproduce together."

"Or that dalliances with aliens might be considered a sign of aristocratic eccentricity, but marrying one would be more serious."

"There's no danger of that. Though -ironically- the Thanagarian government would probably be fine with that, because it would tie me to the area. The opposition would come from local parties."

"How would a human man get Bleez pregnant?"

Jade's keeping her attention firmly on the painting. Ra's seems like the sort who'd include a course on art appreciation, but my own abilities to analyse paintings haven't improved since getting a good look at an original Adolf Hitler. Obviously they're laying claim to descent from the first people to explore Havania, implying that their rulership was destiny from that moment. But beyond that? There are objects and pieces of equipment which seem slightly out of place and probably have all sorts of significance, but…

"When a man and a woman-."

"Really?"

"It's practically required. And that's more or less how it happens: arcane inertia. The magic systems of Earth that all presently existing humans carry within them know as a result of millions of generations that male and female humanoids having sex produces babies. Mere biology stands no chance against that sort of magic."

She turns her head slightly, just far enough to look at me.

"Is that really how it works?"

"It's hard to test without…" I shrug. "Getting a lot of people interested in conceiving with alien partners together and… Getting them to give it a try in a mystically regulated environment."

"So the first time the tamaraneans visit."

I nod. "So the first time the tamaraneans visit. I mean, I'll warn them that it can happen, but they're not… Good at restraint." I shrug, smiling. "If you can't be good, be safe. And if you can't do that, would you mind wearing this arm band so that we can monitor the process?"

"How do you know that? Because if you're working up to telling me that Princess really is your daughter, this is a really roundabout way of doing it."

"While it's not impossible that the Queen got hold of a sample of my DNA and used that… Somehow, the Queen isn't humanoid, and isn't physiologically… Even if I'd gotten right up to the base-"

I make a grasping motion with both arms.

"-of her third leg, it wouldn't-."

There are footsteps a short distance behind us, and we turn to see that Ambassador Klus has joined us.

"Illustres. Darkstar."

I nod politely. "Ambassador. I'm sorry, I'd have greeted you sooner but I didn't see your name on the guest list..?"

"I'm here on government business. Once we were notified that you were in the Thanagarian Empire and appeared to be staying in one place, I was tapped to speak with you."

"I'm on holiday."

He doesn't look entirely convinced. "Really?"

Jade doesn't look convinced either. "He's trying." … "We're trying."

"And why did the Thanagarian government dispatch you?"

"Given your interactions with us to date, we felt it best that we ensure there aren't any more 'Hawkwoman' incidents."

"Hawkwoman incidents?"

His one remaining eye stares at me for several moments.

"You aren't aware, are you."

"Ah. I called her a coward, she challenged me to a duel, she lost, we're trying to avoid each other? Aside from the visit here, anyway."

"You're not. Obviously human duelling traditions are different, but I'm a little surprised that no one has said anything to you."

"About what?"

He walks a little closer and drapes his arms over the gallery railings.

"About the extent of your insult to her."

"Well, yes, martial culture, obviously she wouldn't take being called a coward well. I don't take my friends being enslaved well."

"No, not that. Your conduct in the duel, and afterwards."

I frown. "Was I supposed to kill her or something?"

"Or something." He straightens up. "You apparently don't understand why she was duelling you. It wasn't because she wanted to force you to take your accusation back; it was to disprove it, both to you and to her. You're an Illustres; she didn't think she could beat you in a fight. She wanted to prove that she was prepared to face an unbeatable foe without flinching. And what did you do?"

He gestures towards me with arms and wings.

"Rather than presenting an unbeatable foe, you used the minimum amount of force possible in an attempt to spare her injury. You treated her like an adolescent sparring with a tutor. You put her on the ground without injuring her, repeatedly, and only started injuring her when the referee told you it was required, all the time asking him to call off the fight. Implying that you found her attempts to prove herself irrelevant. And then you tried to surrender as if she was an irrational child acting out, not a warrior on the verge of reclaiming her pride."

"None of what you're saying makes me think I was wrong."

He looks away. "Of course it doesn't." He shakes his head before returning his attention to me. "And then the ultimate insult. Among thanagarians, in a fight like that the two parties would meet afterwards. She would acknowledge that you were right about her previous behaviour, and you would acknowledge that she had overcome that weakness."

"The moral cowardice I accused her of isn't the same as craven cowardice. Fighting an obvious enemy didn't prove-."

"Do you remember what you said to Katar Hol when he suggested visiting her?"

…

"Yes. I don't forget things. I said that I intended to avoid her because I didn't want her to decide to try and carry on fighting."

"And thus implying that you thought she fought you not over a point of principle, but because she was a berserker whose only thought was to mindlessly throw herself against you. There wasn't anything worse you could have said. So rather than resolving your conflict, you managed to continue it. And that's why the Thanagarian government sent me. My superiors are worried about what you might tear down next."

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th October 2012
06:21 GMT

Should I apologise, or not?

I don't know enough about-.

"Are you still-" Jade walks in, towelling her hair dry. "-wondering whether you should apologise or not?"

"Yes."

"Don't. She's spent more time living around humans than you have thanagarians. She has far more reason to know about human culture than you do to know thanagarian culture. And I'm sure that the League-"

She sits down on the bed, putting the towel down and picking up a brush.

"-spent more time talking about you than you did Thanagar."

"Probably true. But, Batman told me to fix my relationships with the League members. And I.. tend to feel that as a superhero I-. It's not about doing the least I could do, or what I'm expected to do."

"I know."

I look down at the duvet for a moment.

"I.. know. Everywhere we go, I try working. Um. I just-. It's a habit I've gotten into, and basically everywhere I've gone is a place where I've had work to do. I don't really… I don't really know other places."

"You like being a superhero."

"I like doing what I do. I like… Some kind of problem-of-the-week television series, you know? Go to somewhere strange and new, fix the underlying problems that they -for some reason- can't fix using my 'outsider powers'."

She gives me a small but curious frown.

"Is there really nothing else you do?"

I… Shrug, awkwardly. "I did… Design an entire edition of Warhammer Forty Thousand?"

"That's the.. wargame you and Zatanna cosplay, isn't it? With the-" She points her right forefinger at her dressing gown covered left breast. "-piercing."

"You'd have to point your hand in a lot more places than that. Yeah-yes, that's the one."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't like the rules as they were. It wasn't balanced, the costs didn't reflect the utility of different unit and weapon choices, they didn't even bother balancing things between Codices, which is the entire point of even having point values, Games Workshop uses effectiveness as a tool to get existing players to buy the new stuff, rather than properly balancing the game to encourage new players to take it up."

I slump a little.

"They've already started editing the perfectly balanced version I created. Did they simulate billions of games while temporarily a god? I don't think so."

Ah…

"How-? How about you? Your newfound love of ballroom dancing notwithstanding?"

"I… Usually spend the first part of any assignment learning about local culture. I go to their hangouts, shopping precincts, bars and clubs, museums and theatres, trying to get a feel for how they think."

"How their society works."

She nods. "When I was a Shadow, it was basic reconnaissance. Now, it's… More of a habit."

"Do you..? Like it?"

"I-"

"Strange, alien-."

"-don't-" She shakes her head. "-know. I wouldn't like not doing it, because it's part of the system-." She looks away for a moment, thinking about how to phrase it. "It's part of how I make sure that a place is safe. With aliens, I doubt I'm learning as much as my instincts tell me I am, but it… Works. I still can't pass as native, but I could pass as someone who's been in the area for a while. And sometimes I pick up information related to our job."

"But it's still work. Or work-adjacent."

"When I started with the Shadows, I used to pick up a small doll whenever I went somewhere. At one point I had a small collection. But then we had to get out of a safe house in a hurry and they all got left behind. I didn't bother getting any more after that. It wasn't really a lifestyle that lent itself to materialism. How about reading?"

"Reading? Oh. Ah, not really. I mean, I used to read science fiction and fantasy, and now…"

I shrug, and she nods.

"I read his-. No, I have my ring shove the contents of history books into my brain. That's not really the same."

"I read briefing documents. They've offered me cybernetic implants to do what your ring does, but that always sounds like a bad idea."

"If the Director's cleared them, then they're almost certainly safe for humanoids. But I can understand not wanting to alter your mind like that."

She nods. "Exactly."

"Again. I-."

"It's fine." She looks me directly in the eyes. "If anything, it makes it easier for me to see who's had their mind altered by the Reach and who hasn't. There's no amount of empathy that would stop me killing someone who's been twisted like that. They're not themselves any more."

…

"I am. I may be a little nicer, but I'm still me."

"Good show."

She thinks for a moment.

"So far this hasn't worked. We're doing different work, but that wasn't what we're trying to do."

"I'm open to ideas."

Jade puts down her brush.

"Teach me how to play Warhammer Forty Thousand."

I nod. "Which edit-?" I blink. "What?"

"It has different editions? How long as it been out for?"

My face involuntarily relaxes, my mouth falling slightly open.

"What? I don't have any better ideas. I'm interested in what a 'perfectly balanced' game looks like."

"Get thee behind me, foul temptress."

She crosses her arms, looking at me incredulously.

"Is this what gate keeping feels like? 'No girls allowed'?"

"Alright."

I stand up and take a display table that I haven't meticulously prepared to display the iconic elements of each faction along with a selection of properly scaled titans. I walk around behind it like a salesman displaying his wares as she gets up off the bed and walks over to look at the Black Templars.

"Space gothic knights?"

"Heh."

"What?"

"A bit of an old meme. If your girlfriend's standing on the other side of the table wearing a dressing gown but you noticed the miniatures first, you're in the right place."

"You're not wearing a shirt and I'm looking at the models."

I smile warmly.

"And I wouldn't have it any other way."

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th October 2012
14:02 GMT

A native… Under butler? Shows us into Bleez's… Suite? Wing? Her part of the castle. The change in decoration from classical fastness to… Well, she's not a teenager so it's not a matter of all the walls being pink and covered in boy band posters, but there's a clear distinction between this part of the castle and the rest. High resolution photographs replace oil paintings, heavy antique frames replaced by minimalist glass sheets. The fittings also appear more like those I remember from Thanagar rather than the mock-period versions the rest of the castle uses. Music plays very quietly in the background as the under butler hands us off to Toroz, Bleez's personal attendant, who leads us through a lounge area and out onto a… Battlement? Landing pad?

"Hey guys!"

Bleez smiles and raises her right hand in greeting as we approach. She's sitting on a lounger, eating some sort of… I'm not sure if I should call it stew or muesli? There's a definite meat component, but it doesn't look like it's a large part of the mix.

"Good morning, Princess."

"Can't quit, can't get fired."

She waves her left wing at the other seats and we head over to them, Toroz returning to his mistress's side.

"Ah… You.. understand-."

She rolls her eyes as we sit down opposite her.

"I'm not going to need to go into hiding. If this goes wrong the people who suffer most will be everyone else. I'll just…" She shakes her head, looking away. "They'd probably send me off to one of the new colonies or something. Internal exile. I'll survive manual labour. The people living Downside won't survive the next epidemic."

"Disease?" Jade picks up a pastry that we have together identified as safe for the human palate, but does so without really looking at it and so makes it look like she's just picking up the thing closest to hand. "Wouldn't a major disease outbreak be dangerous to Upside?"

"Diseases don't usually jump species like that. I mean, most of the people Downside are lizarkons, and we're pretty different. But Upsiders get immunisation injections and bioboosters and… You know, good diets and sunlight, so it's not much of a problem for them if there's a Grey Moult outbreak or something. Upsiders don't-."

Her eyes dip for a moment.

"No, that's-. It's not that they don't care, but-."

"Out of sight, out of mind."

"More that they only care a tiny little bit. Some companies do have health programs for their Downsider employees, and they don't need to. And military service is open to anyone."

"Really?"

"Life isn't great in the alien auxiliary, but it's a living. And the thanagarians just have to meet the minimum physical performance thresholds."

"Disease-ridden, malnourished thanagarians."

"Not usually. Not malnourished. There's a reason why I'm talking about getting aliens out when getting thanagarians out would be a whole lot easier."

"Some are more equal than others."

Jade glances at me while Bleez looks confused.

"It's from a book, called Animal Farm. After a group of animals depose their farmer and take over, they enact a series of rules. One of them is, 'all animals are equal'. At the end, when the whole thing collapses into despotism, it gets amended to, 'all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others'." I shrug. "Everyone in Downside has it bad, but the thanagarians have opportunities that the others don't."

"And the Wingmen actually answer calls for help from thanagarians. Since a lot of the thanagarians on patrol come from there." Bleez takes another spoonful of stewsli and sniffs it appreciatively before putting it into her mouth. "Wuxwileries do't get postred-" She swallows. "-there. They get sent out to do frontal assaults, and garrison stuff anywhere the locals will see them as Empire soldiers and not possible allies."

"And on other planets?"

"We've got, like, three lizarkons on Havania. Two of them are servants of some merchant from Thanagar and the other one's their son. There are laws about where they can move, but… The government's opening up the new colonies to honourably discharged auxiliaries."

"Is that a new thing?"

"New since they actually sorted out a policy. I think the announcement was three years ago..? With planets without Nth metal, it's easier to settle them with lizarkons than thanagarians."

"Won't that cause problems later on?"

"They get to lord it over the locals we took the world from and the military governors get to play both groups against each other."

"Like Mars all over again. Some Greens were arseholes to the White and some weren't, but no one questioned the Reds."

Bleez nods. "Least it's not just Thanagar."

"Good for you, less good for me."

"Why?"

"He wants to fix the galaxy, then the rest of the universe. Then…" Jade shrugs. "Move onto other universes, again?"

"No, of course not. By the time I'd reach the end of this universe the bit I'd started with would have started going wrong again. It's an endless struggle if you choose to see it that way. No matter how long I live I'll always have something to do."

Bleez frowns. "How long do humans live?"

"Eighty or ninety years. The oldest normal woman died at a hundred and twenty two."

"But-."

"But outliers like Vandal Savage-"

"Vandar Adg."

"-and-." She frowns curiously. "Really?"

I place my right hand over my heart.

"'Vandar Adg' and Nommo Balewa live for hundreds of thousands of years. It can happen. How long are you going to live?"

I raise my rings. "As with everything else…"

"Hm." She turns her attention to Bleez. "How did it go last night?"

"People were listening. Convincing people to change isn't easy, but they know that the expanded colonisation effort is going to change things. They're willing to give my ideas a shot. Not because they're believers in the fundamental worth of individuals or anything like that, but they were up for expanding the workforce."

"Is Ambassador Klus being here going to be a problem?"

"It isn't going to be a secret for long. I don't like him being here because he might do something to discourage people, but him knowing about it a little early doesn't matter if he has to keep tabs on you the whole time."

"Then… Perhaps we should do some sightseeing on Thanagar itself?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

13th October 2012
09:56 GMT

"Every instinct I have is telling me that we're doing this wrong."

I shrug, ignoring the wingmen following us even as Jade tries to stare holes into them. Thanagarians aren't good at hiding their intentions, and our shadows either have no idea how to even try or they've been told not to bother.

"What, you've never been a distraction before?"

"Not exactly a high-status part of the job. But the distraction had something they-. Were…"

"Working.. on?"

She pulls her attention away from the wingmen and looks out across the valley below us.

"At least the view's nice. Those aren't thanagarian settlements, are they?"

I scan the organised fields lining either side of the river cutting its way through the landscape. "No. The towns have a small garrison, but otherwise it's almost entirely lizarkon."

"Are the thanagarians a minority on their own homeworld?"

"It's the lizarkon homeworld as well. The thanagarians like highly elevated places for their settlements, and… A lot of the smaller ones don't really have the sharp Upside/Downside divide that Thanaldar does. On the planet itself they slightly outnumber the lizarkons; the lizarkon areas are larger but have a relatively low population density. And… Then you've got the fact that thanagarians settle other worlds in this region, and occupy far more positions in the fleet…"

"They're not armed."

"Of course they're not armed. They don't even have that much in the way of machine tools."

There's a pause.

"Not going to say that it's inefficient?"

"It's obviously an inefficient way to farm. But that's not what this is about. It's about having an underclass to make them feel superior. They don't own the land, you know? It's rented."

"Not from a feudal lord."

"No, from the government. Or a government body, anyway. Darn, there's a Hitler quote about this-."

"About what?"

"Something about using pervasive instruments of state to erase other sources of identity. There aren't any lizarkon temples down there, or unsanctioned schools or anything that would promote or enable a resistance movement. Have you ever read Nineteen Eighty Four?"

"No."

I look at her, frowning. "Really? I'd have thought that something like that would be right up Ra's's street."

"Ra's was in charge of the entire League of Shadows. I only saw him a few times while I was training, and a few more when he gave me missions. Supervillains don't generally read dystopian fiction for pleasure."

"Leonard said that Mark Mardon does." She frowns at the name. "Weather Wizard?"

"Generally. Either they're just trying to get rich, or they've already got an idea they want to achieve and don't need to read a book about it."

"Reading doesn't necessarily hurt with that. There was a man who actually tried a scam from Neil Gaiman's American Gods and got away with it."

"What was it?"

"He dressed up as a security guard, hung an 'out of order' sign on a cash deposit slot outside a bank and told anyone who came to deposit the week's takings that he'd been hired to take them because the slot was broken. They handed it over and he gave them a receipt, and he put it in a secure-looking portable safe. At the end of the night…"

She raises her eyebrows. "That worked?"

"In the book they got away with it because the person who did it lived off the grid and moved around a lot. When it was discovered there wasn't any way to track them. The real world version pulled off the first part. I don't know how long they evaded the law for."

"Wouldn't they just phone the bank?"

"In the book, the fake guard gave an official-looking business card to anyone who asked. They had someone posing as the manager of the security company on the other end to field enquiries." I shrug. "It wasn't foolproof, but if people wanted to check and they were given a number to check on, most of the time-."

"People just take the obvious option and wouldn't bother to double check. How much did he get?"

"I don't know. A week's cash takings for half the small businesses in a town, whatever that is."

"I half want to try it, to see if it would work. Do the thanagarians have deposit-?"

"Please don't."

She smiles as I shake my head. "What next?"

"Down the mountain, walk into town and make conversation with the locals. Make it look like I'm thinking about recruiting. With any luck, once they work it out they'll scramble to put their preferred recruits in places we're about to go to."

Jade picks up her pack and slips it on over her back.

"What would you do if you did find someone?"

"Not a lot. Unless they were so perfect that I absolutely had to recruit them, it's not worth disrupting Bleez's work."

There aren't great paths down into the valley. I think this one was made by the passage of lizarkons over the centuries; the main road goes out towards the sea and most actual transport is handled by aircraft that the lizarkons can't legally own. Still, compared to that time Dad and I went up Cadair Idris, where there's a path at the bottom and at the top and actual mountain climbing the middle and we didn't know that in advance, it's not exactly challenging.

"So. Ballroom dancing, war gaming and long countryside walks."

"We're managing to not work a little."

"Yeah. Here and there."

"Is this what it's going to be like?"

I slow my descent slightly. "What what's going to be like?"

"I haven't been in a relationship this long before. Now we've got nothing to do but spend time together, we keep having distractions anyway."

"Life's what happens while you're busy making other plans."

"True, but I was hoping for something-."

"You chose the Darkstars over an office job with the Power Company. You like working as much as I do. Once the Reach are pushed back, we… Heh. I don't know. I mean, I try to have a plan but I'm in the same boat as you are. We're never going to have nothing to do, but we don't have to be not not doing it twenty four seven."

"'Not not doing it'?"

"You phrase it better."

"We don't have to avoid work just because we could."

"Yes." … "Well done."

 

[Mr Zoat]

14th October 2012
08:15 GMT

"-you must keep it raised! The death toll if the city were-"

I glance upward at the base plate of the Thanagarian city of Enndupar as my construct struggles to keep the city aloft. I mean, it's not like I want these people to die but I'm literally supporting the caste system here.

"-to fall from this height would be-."

"Yes, yes, I know, thank you."

I duck as my shield construct fractures, an Nth metal railgun round narrowly passing over my right shoulder. Marvellous. Jade and I come to Thanagar's tourist hotspot and we weren't even here for a day when the local Seven Devils cult decided that now was a great time for an uprising.

What are they even trying to achieve here?

The head of the garrison -an overweight thanagarian woman whose name I haven't picked up- tightens the bandage around her corpulent left thigh. "I'm simply trying to provide you with something to focus on."

"I'm an Orange Lantern."

"I'm colour blind."

"But you can see the shape of the sigil, r-?"

A trio of thanagarians bearing the ritual scalp scars this particular cult seems to find appealing throw themselves over the parapet! One is immediately tackled out of the air by the last of the garrison chief's bodyguards, not even bothering to bring his mace to bear in favour of immediately increasing the distance between principal and assailant. Thanagarian aerial grappling is fascinating but I can't afford the distraction to watch an expert at work.

Sidearm up, levelled, lead the shot and avoid the thick Nth metal armour that the cult's elite appear to all have and fire fire fire until the cultist falls out of the air missing their right eye and the back of their head.

I do not appreciate having my subspace arsenal rendered unavailable by the thanagarians' 'precautionary measures'.

"HRRRRRRRK!"

The last cultist dives in, the garrison chief clumsily flapping in to jab at them with an Nth metal spear. The cultist rolls in the air and swings at the point with their mace, trying to knock it aside and open their target for a killing blow. The commander withdraws the point, but the spear is designed for positions where it's possible to keep an attacker at a distance, and flying attackers-

"Yeh!"

-with Nth metal in their bodies can manoeuvre around it. The commander is forced to wield the spear like a quarterstaff, pushing forward with her wings to block the next mace strike with the haft. That works, but she's knocked back, weight going on her injured leg for a second before it collapses and she falls to the ground!

I bring my gun around, firing but hitting Nth metal breastplate and the round shield carried in his off-hand. The commander takes advantage of the brief distraction to thrust from her prone position, the spear point skittering off her assailant's gorget.

"Darkstar to Orange Lantern."

The first cultist shoves the bodyguard into the wall and turns towards us, then staggers and drops to her knees, a knife embedded in her throat just under her chin.

The commander tries to rise, stumbling as she does so but managing to turn it into a second thrust that the cultist wasn't expecting. A cut to the cheek and he's forced to flap sideways, then-

"Agh!"

-reel as the bodyguard recovers enough to take a shot. It burned through the feathers of his right wing, and though that won't remove his ability to fly it will reduce his aerial agility.

"Go."

"We're in position. They've dug a shaft going deep under the mountain. It's heavily guarded and the priest is shouting praises to someone called-"

"Onimar Synn."

"-Onim-. If you knew, why am I down here?"

The surviving assassin throws his shield, which smashes edge-first into the bodyguard's right shoulder with a crack that tells of pulverised bones.

"Because I need to hold up the city. I think they were planning to use the Downside population as a sacrifice."

"So am I killing them or not?"

I don't know anything like enough about Onimar Synn to answer that reliably.

"Destroying their equipment should be top priority. Ideally, neutralise any magic users nonlethally, but if they were planning a big sacrifice then a couple of dead priests probably won't be enough."

A flap-hop and another thrust and the spear goes right through the side of the assassin's face, though-

"Gughakha!"

-it doesn't disable him. He grabs the part of the spear just below the head and pulls, jerking it out of the commander's hands and through. He now looks like a dog carrying a long stick in his jaws, aside from the blood. I start reloading my gun as he turns his head towards me-

"Understood. Out."

-just in time for him to get smacked in the side of the head by the bodyguard, using his own shield as a bludgeon! He staggers back, and the bodyguard grabs the end of the spear and yanks, the weapon coming free in a spray of blood and teeth! The cultist swings clumsily with his mace, forcing the bodyguard back but allowing me to step forward, insert the barrel of my pistol into his eye and pull the trigger.

BANG!

The assassin collapses to the ground in a heap, and the bodyguard cautiously walks over to check on the commander.

"Your wound?"

The bodyguard shakes his head. "I'll live."

"I'd fix it, but…"

I glance up. I really hope that the technicians are going to fix the antigravity generators soon.

He picks up the assassin's mace and tests the balance.

"I'll live."

The commander's head twitches. "Responding. Good. Coordinates are available-." She looks up at me. "Lantern, pull your operative out. Ships are in position to bombard-."

"No. Onimar Synn feeds on souls. This was an attempt at mass ritual murder, most likely to feed him. If you bombard the place, you do their work for them. Don't bombard the place."

"Hold the bombardment. What do you suggest?"

"Riot control gear. Gas, tasers, do you have shotguns?"

"We have low wattage electrified plasma guns."

"Them. Get the cultists, remove them from the city, interrogate them and then execute them once the ritual site has been made safe."

"How do we make it safe?"

"I'd have to check. If you're pushed for time, fire usually works."

"Captain, the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps suggests that we need to treat this as a city riot. We've both done the training, and we've both been briefed on what these lunatics can do. Yes. Good."

She looks up at me.

"It will be done."

 

[Mr Zoat]

14th October 2012
14:24 GMT

Jade and I watch as the prison transport lifts off, a hold full of non-mortally injured cultists for the Ravens to 'process'.

"We're really bad at this."

"That's about as well as it could have gone."

"I meant taking a holiday. Do thanagarians do parades?"

"Yes. Not for aliens, but yes. Why?"

"Some of us haven't given themselves a tickertape parade while singing 'New York New York' and flying down Central Avenue."

"I'm pretty sure that the government of Vietnam would have given you a parade, back when you undid every congenital deformity in the country."

"It's not really the same."

"Good work on that, by the way. Having reviewed the performance of a lot more Lanterns since then, motivating yourself that much -even during an overload- isn't something a lot of people can do. Especially not without experience."

"I didn't want to disappoint you."

"Aw."

"Not like that. You basically got me out of prison years early with a clear record."

"Not 'clear'."

"As close to clear as will ever matter. I can still fly on airplanes under my own name." She breathes in deeply, then snorts the air out of her nose. "You were giving me an opportunity to prove myself, in the same way Ra's did when he let me join the League of Shadows. I wasn't loyal to him because I knew anything about his ideology. I was loyal to him because he gave me that opportunity."

"If-."

"And I appreciate you not pushing the issue, because I didn't like how it made me act one little bit."

"Consider it dropped."

A squad of thanagarian soldiers equipped for riot control flap lazily up from one of the access points to Enndupar's Downside, landing the moment they emerge into sunlight. Their armour has burns, cuts and a little blood on it, but from the looks of it the blood isn't theirs.

"What do they do for aliens who do them a big favour?"

"Make them queen, then depose them and kill all their friends once their back is turned."

She smiles faintly. "You should try that joke with them."

"That's sure to make Hawkwoman like me."

We sit there quietly for a moment, watching the thanagarian military continue working to put the city to rights. I don't know how many of the cultists were hardcore devotees and how many just wanted to tear down the existing order that did so little for them, but… When you're trying to resurrect a being like Onimar Synn, it honestly doesn't matter.

"What did you see down there?"

"The ritual was focused around a statue. I didn't want to risk killing the priest, but using incendiaries on the altar worked."

"How big was this statue?"

"About fifteen feet high." I suck in air through my lips. "What?"

"That was probably one of Onimar Synn's avatar bodies. Inactive, since-" You're still alive. "-they were still trying to wake it up. I assume that it wasn't damaged?"

"It was Nth metal." Her face goes completely serious. "Do we need to get back down there and deal with it?"

"I honestly don't know how to deal with something like that. Chuck it in a black hole would be my best guess, but I don't know for certain that he can't feed on those."

We sit in silence for a few minutes, watching one of the cruisers which relieved the city drift past, military engineers flying to and from its open cargo hold.

"How many of them do you think were agents?"

"Informants, or actual infiltrators under orders from the government?"

"Either. Both."

"I doubt they did all this for our benefit. But the timing is very convenient."

"I'm pretty sure that the head of the garrison didn't know. Wrong patterns of emotion."

Jade nods without looking at me.

"The mining equipment was… Simple to sabotage. It wasn't set to break down at a particular time, but it would have been very easy for someone to walk up to it and do what I did."

"You didn't spot anyone doing that?"

"No. Does it matter?"

"Not for another week. But I'm very serious about making sure that the Seven Devils don't return. It's-." I tilt my head back, looking at the sky where I can just about make out the ships at the edge of the atmosphere as tiny specks. "When I was… In primary school? I read a science fiction book. In the opening chapter the main character was in a space flight simulator. His ship flew too close to a black hole and he had to get free. He performed the manoeuvre correctly and left the scenario, expecting his teacher to congratulate him on his skill. Instead he got a D, because he wasn't supposed to get that close to the black hole in the first place."

She nods. "We might be able to beat the Seven Devils, but we shouldn't ever have to."

"But I don't think that Thanagar will do anything this week. They've got plenty of prisoners to process for information."

"What do they want to know?"

"About their own history, perhaps? Or magic? The capacity to use magic strikes me as something that they'd be eager to get their hands on."

"Is that a problem?"

"It might be a problem for Hyathis, but I can't see them gaining sufficient mastery to cause a problem for Earth. Not more of a problem than their fleets could already cause."

I slump slightly.

"Sorry we ended up working again. I doubt that the amusement centres will reopen until they've run loyalty checks on everyone."

She smiles faintly. "Is there anywhere we could go where we wouldn't end up working?"

15th October 2012
17:02 GMT

I look up from my sunbathing spot as Jade walks into the clearing, dead… Future dinner animal, in her hands. She nods at me before recovering a knife from her pack and starting to remove the fur.

"So?"

"Odym really is a great place to get away from everything."

 

[Mr Zoat]

15th October 2012
17:02 GMT

Krandor Vat winced slightly, twitching his right wing as the muscles responsible for furling it didn't quite respond as they should. He took a moment to reflect that it was fortunate for him that Thanagar never quite adopted the sort of extreme warrior culture that some had called for. Dismissing a senior officer because they were no longer quite the brawler they'd been in their youth would have been the height of wastefulness, and politicians needed a strong arm even less.

If his mind ever weakened-. No. As things stood he'd be dead before that became a problem.

He could have come to Enndupar the moment the crisis was resolved, but… That would have served no purpose. Strong soldiers on patrol and ships in the air would calm and reassure better than a public appearance.

He glanced down at the part of his right wing still in his field of view.

Particularly these days. Besides, there wouldn't have been time for anyone to have learned anything. Far better to give the officers involved time to piece things together so that they could present him with a complete report. No matter how well disciplined, it was good for morale for officers to be allowed to succeed.

An attack by Seven Devil cultists, carried out against a major city. All hands would be raised against them now, Thanagar motivated to carry out a purge such as their forebears had never been able to carry out. No more fools or paupers drawn into their grasp. No matter how indolent or ill-disposed towards their own government, no one would want to align themselves with people who would carry out that sort of attack.

A chime, and he presses the button to allow his senior civil servants access to his office. Not as secure as the office in Thanaldar, but it wasn't as if he was staying for long. He would speak with the garrison commander and home guard captains later, to acknowledge their actions in preventing a catastrophe.

But first, the people who had created it.

Andar Pul comes in first, subtly applied makeup disguising how tired he was. For a moment the High Mor wonders if the man's conscience is keeping him up, but swiftly dismisses the idea. It's far more likely that the effort of ensuring that his agents get to where they are required to be requires constant attention and allows only irregular rest. Darl Klus is second, and seems far more ready for action. With the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps having departed and the Earth end of the operation mostly concluded, he didn't need to put in quite so many hours.

"High Mor." / "High Mor."

"Ambassador. Senior Analyst. Are things going according to plan?"

Pul looks awkward. "Not… Precisely. Most of the senior members of the Cult who aren't under our control are in our custody. Without Paran Dul or a reliable telepath our ability to interrogate them is limited, but our best predictions show that a near-complete cleanup of the cults is now within our grasp. But we underestimated the Darkstar. She may have deduced that things were other than as they appeared."

"What led to the underestimation?"

"Incomplete intelligence. Dul had no opportunity to study their current-generation exo-mantles in detail and only knew their approximate capacities. We prepared for improvements on the known suit types, but between the operative's skills and the exo-mantle's superlative performance that prediction was… Out. It also appears that she nonlethally disabled several of our insiders, who were unable to perform their roles quite as intended."

"Can she prove anything?"

"I don't believe so. But on both occasions the Illustres was quite clear that he is absolutely opposed to the reactivation of the Devils. It… Shouldn't be an issue now, but whether we are successful or not, we should never perform an operation of this type again."

Galling. But he wasn't wrong, and there was no sense in pretending otherwise.

"Ambassador."

"Operative Bleez is getting closer to him, but-."

Krandor Vat makes a dismissive gestures with his right hand. "It doesn't matter. At this point I would gladly let her take our untouchables merely to have them out of our way. Thanagarians should be driven to greatness by aspiration, not fear."

The Ambassador lowers his eyes for a moment in submission. It's not a completely unquestioned viewpoint, but the High Mor is resolute on that point.

"Then her work is going as desired, and it is highly probable that by monitoring her we will get notice of the Illustres's visits. As for our operatives on Earth…" A wing shrug. "They made an approach. The… Forge-God, Hephaestus, wasn't interested."

"Not unexpected. What did they learn?"

"We've known for some time that Earth is… Unusual with regard to magic. Hephaestus admitted that he wasn't sure how the arcane transmutation of Nth metal was possible at all. Some worlds are 'thaumically'-"

A human loan word. The closest equivalent in Quarish would be 'bloody' or 'cursed', and those aren't quite right.

"-active, and others aren't. Most, in fact. Despite being ruled by demons, Thanagar isn't."

"Can it be made so?"

"Not by any technique described in publically available literature. The god said that he didn't think it would be possible. When pressed, he opined that there might be fairly extreme measures that could cause a world to become active, but that he didn't think experimentation would be wise."

Pul looks unsettled. "Thanagar, High Mor?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Thanagar is the centre of our people and culture. It would be easier to impress our nature upon it." Pul ducks his head slightly. "But you are right to consider the potential undesirable consequences. Nothing radical should be done without some measure of confidence that the outcome would be as we want. What worlds in this region are thaumically active?"

Klus shakes his head. "None, High Mor. None inside the Empire or amongst our neighbours. Aside from Alstair and Earth, the closest would be Alavorn."

A touch on a hologram projector and its distance from the borders of the Empire is immediately apparent.

"It would be possible to negotiate the use of part of their world, but with it being effectively impossible for us to annex it-."

"We will not place ourselves at the mercy of aliens, Ambassador." Vat's expression shifted to become even colder than normal. "Alliances of convenience may be considered, but not-. This."

"Yes, High Mor."

There's an awkward… Quiet for a moment, and Vat realised that he'd been too emphatic. Klus was too young to remember living through the Equalisation Plague. It wouldn't have the same significance for him. He wouldn't understand why they couldn't-.

He waves his right hand.

"Continue."

"There was… One other thing. Another.. Forge-God. Vulcan. He works with Hephaestus, but hasn't achieved the same degree of renown. He was apparently extremely interested in the Nth metal samples that Hol and Thal gave him. I doubt that he would be any more eager to come here than his compatriot, but if we needed assistance in piecing together the ritual, their report strongly implies that he would be willing to assist."

"If necessary. I remember that both the Illustres and our operatives have noted that humans are inefficient at taking advantage of the opportunities their technology affords them. Even with the reborn ancient able to instruct them, they've made no efforts to use Nth metal so far. If we must take a risk, I would rather take a risk on Earth than elsewhere. Senior Analyst, what did we learn about countering the Illustres?"

"The subspace interference matrix worked. He himself confirmed that he was unable to access his arsenal. Unfortunately, we weren't able to access it either."

"Why?"

"The physics of the system are beyond me. Some sort of.. locking technique, crystallising the boundary of the subspace pocket. Dul hasn't mentioned it, so I suspect that it's something that someone on Earth taught him. Our efforts to interfere with his constructs came to nothing; he held up the entire city while still remaining combat effective. Other Lanterns seldom go into combat with their weapons stored, so this knowledge would only be applicable during an ambush. A full report will.. take a few days more."

The High Mor nods. "We are close. So close, now. Continue with your work, and let me know the moment that this 'Vulcan' makes any progress."

"Thanagar soars."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Vantavendi

20th October 2012
09:23 GMT -6

"Oh." Leonard looks at me over the chain attaching his door to its frame. "It's you."

"Good morning, Leonard!"

He looks… Ah, hung over. Also suspicious, though that could just be the lasting effects of the alcohol and lack of sleep.

I hadn't taken it entirely seriously when Waller said that the Governor was minded to pardon the Beresfords, but it seems that she was right on the money. Several of the supervillains I was working with are out on licence already. If they had a record of good behaviour inside and a job lined up…

I cautiously extend a vial of healing potion towards the gap in the door.

"This should fix the hangover?"

Good behaviour, a job lined up, and probably took part in operations against the Sheeda. There isn't a Taskforce X -I checked that hard- but things were dicey enough worldwide that I can't really fault them for asking for volunteers. At least amongst the rehabilitatable prisoners. If I'd found out that they'd made a deal with Satanus then we'd be having words.

He extends his right hand through the gap and takes the vial before pulling it back to him. He removes the stopper with his left hand and lifts it to his nose, taking a cautious sniff.

"What is it?"

"Healing potion. KordTech are taking it through FDA approval, but the League already uses it."

"… Healing potion." He looks away for a moment, then tips his head back and downs the contents of the vial. Then he puts the stopper back on and stows it in his dressing gown pocket. "How long does it ouwh."

He blinks, suddenly looking more alert.

"Fuck me."

"I appreciate that you're grateful, but that won't be necessary."

"Fuck you." He blinks again. "That's good stuff. What's the problem with the FDA?"

"They don't have the skills to properly regulate magic. It's not even entirely clear that they have the authority to regulate magic. But plenty of companies are fighting over the rights to bring Sheeda technology products to market so there's a huge furore in Washington over who gets to do what, and the presidential election's coming up…"

"Fucking politicians."

"A politician got you out of Belle Reve several years early. It's a little ungrateful slandering his entire occupation."

I hear a masculine mutter from inside the apartment. Leonard's eyes move a little before refocusing on me.

"It's Louisiana. He can't be that useful. What took you so long, anyway? I was expecting you to be right outside the gates."

I shrug. "I was on holiday. First proper sustained period of inactivity since I arrived on this planet. And I honestly had no idea it was even in the works. If Ted Kord hadn't been on the ball, Kadabra would be rather narked with me right now, and with good reason."

"I bet it didn't take you two weeks to visit that cat girl."

"No, but she's got nicer tits than you." … "So… Are you going to invite me in, or..?"

"I've got… Company over."

"And I can see emotions through walls." I cup my right hand against the side of my mouth. "Good morning Mister Harkness!"

"Uuuughfukoo."

"Ah." He reaches over and removes the chain. "You might as well come in, then."

Door open, he steps out for a moment and checks both directions before going back inside. I follow him in, the smell of smoke and alcohol-.

I sniff again.

"Is that bhang?"

Leonard freezes for a moment. "No."

"Good enough for me." I close the door behind me. "No problems accessing your accounts?"

"Not for long."

He leads the way into the living/dining room, where Mr. Harkness is lying on a settee with a pillow over his face.

"Hello again, Mister Harkness. How's life treating you?"

"I'll go to prison for an aspirin."

"I'm not sending you to prison. You're not important enough." I pull another vial out of one of my pouches and lay it between the beer cans on the probably-misnamed coffee table. "Hangover cure on the table."

Leonard looks from me to Mr. Harkness. "You met?"

"My first week here. I needed directions. My original costume was designed by Peter Gambi."

Mr. Harkness extends his right arm, knocking cans aside as his questing hand tries to find the vial without exposing his face to light.

"So, are you taking Ted's offer?"

"Don't know. Haven't decided."

"The terms of your parole do say-."

"I know."

"If you want to go into business for yourself I'm happy to invest or lend you the money, but now you're out… I am going to be paying you a certain amount of special attention. You're far too dangerous for me not to."

He looks mildly pleased by that comment, though he tries not to show it.

"How about the twins?"

"Already tearing their way through an old cargo ship and loving every minute of it."

He nods.

"I'll probably go with Kord. Can't see any reason not to. But right now I just want to enjoy being out."

"Fair enough. Oh." I smile. "Before I go, I thought I'd let you know that I've shown your work to a number of alien engineers and scientists from interstellar civilisations and they don't have anything like it either."

"That right."

"So if you ever get bored of Earth, you've got a galaxy of worlds to choose from."

"I like Earth fine."

"Alright. I'll see you when you make a dec-"

Mr. Harkness sits up suddenly, empty tube flying across the room and his eyes staring! "Fucking Jesus!"

"-ision."

Leonard shrugs.

"Why? You got somewhere you need to be?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th October 2012
09:41 GMT -6

Lenny plonks a plate of fried food down in front of Mr. Harkness and me, while Mr. Harkness continues to stare at me over the rim of his coffee mug. He then heads back to the cooker to plate up what's left for himself. Lenny's kitchen is pretty clean, something that's at odds with the homes of a lot of supervillains and something I put down to the fact that he probably does electronic engineering in here.

Watching 'Captain Cold' work a frying pan, grill and griddle was an interesting experience. I enjoy cooking, but I've never bothered putting the sort of effort into a fried breakfast that he is without really thinking about it. And then I looked a little closer, and I understand. It's not like his father was going to feed them.

"Ketchup?"

Lenny looks around and then shifts his eyes up-

"Cupboard behind you."

-before moving back to the fried egg he's transferring.

I pick up my knife and fork, pinning the fried slice and cutting through a segment. Mr. Harkness puts down his coffee mug and sidles out of his chair, reaching back for the cupboard handle-.

"Mister Harkness." And cut through the bacon, pleased that Lenny didn't microwave it as Wallace used to. "I.. don't know why you're acting like this. We've never fought each other. I don't have anything against you."

Mr. Harkess flicks his eyes towards Lenny as I put my fork in my mouth, and Lenny shrugs.

"And if you can pick fights with a man who runs at the speed of light while armed with a bent stick, I'm-"

"It's carbon fibre-reinforced plastic."

"-sure-. Oh. Sorry. Carbon fibre-reinforced plastic. I'm sure you can avert your eyes for five seconds to get some ketchup."

He considers for a moment as Lenny takes his place at the head of the table, then turns around, flicks open the cupboard, plucks out the ketchup and returns to the table in about a second.

"My compliments to the chef."

Lenny's mouth is already full, but he nods pleasantly. Mr. Harkness-

"Diggah."

-squirts a circle of ketchup onto his first fried bread slice, then puts the bottle down and begins piling fried food on top of it.

"Digger."

I take a card with my name on it out of subspace and hold it up, facing him. He frowns at it as he finishes assembling his fried sandwich, then picks it up and takes a squelchy bite.

"'uwl."

"We're not getting Kadabra back, are we?"

I smile at Lenny and shake my head. "I found a way to meet his desires lawfully. He can come back to Central City, but unless he's picking up some of his technology-"

And he shouldn't be, because I did look for anything like that.

"-he's got no real reason to come back." Lenny affects a look of mild hurt. "Other than the fine company."

Digger frowns. "It's been bugging me. First time we met. What was that crack you made about New Zealand?"

"I said that if you meet someone with an antipodean accent, you should ask if they're from New Zealand. If they are, then they'll be happy-."

He nods. "Like it, because you didn't say 'Australia', and if they're from Aus they'll just laugh. I've been bleedin' tryin' to remember that for a year."

I scoop up some more bacon. "Glad I could help."

"Yeah, and I was wondering when you was gonna reappear. Just walk up to me in a bar, then next time I hear about you it's because you've grabbed Kedebra."

"There was never any plan for me to come after you."

"What, I'm not worth your time?"

I wave my fork as I chew, then swallow. "I can take you in if you want?"

He freezes for a moment. "Hey. Come on now."

I shake my head as a I take another bite.

"Did something happen to the Flash?" I turn back to Lenny as he gazes at me. "When I was inside. He paid me a visit after I got back. Didn't sound like himself."

"He boarded one of the Sheeda harvest ships. I don't think he'd seen anything quite that horrific before."

"More than that."

"He also killed their queen, while we were talking to the person she fled to for protection-" Digger leans back slightly. "-under flag of truce."

Lenny nods. "Yeah. That'd do it. She had it coming, but that would mess him up."

"Not your problem any more, mate."

"Yeah." Lenny smiles at his former colleague. "Sucks for you, though."

Digger just takes another bite, while Lenny points at my plate with his knife.

"Any good? I spent a lot of time working in prison kitchens."

"Yes, thank-."

Digger looks dubious. "Prison kitchens? When did they let you anywhere near-?"

"Every bachelor should master at least one meal, even if he doesn't usually cook for himself. One of the proudest moment in my early career was Green Arrow calling my chilli 'okay', and I know that Batman does a mean steak."

"Anyone can fry." Lenny uses knife and fork to crack a slice of fried toast. "Takes practice to do it well."

Digger nods. "I can-."

"Not including barbecues. Inside, with an oven."

"Oh." He appears to sour on the concept. "Just queers then."

"Um." I make a show of tilting my head back as I mentally match the male members of the Justice League to their female paramours. "No, as far as I know all of the men of the Justice League are straight."

"You mean the women aren't? 'cause I've always wondered about Wonder Woman."

"Um. Honestly? Diana's an Amazon, so I just sort of assumed?" They both nod. "But, having worked with her, and talked to other Themyscirans about it, I'm starting to wonder if she's a closeted straight woman."

Digger frowns. "How's that work?"

"In our culture, homosexuality was traditionally taboo and is definitely a minority interest anyway. You don't come out as straight. On Themyscira-."

"There aren't any men on Themyscira. It's not the same thing."

"I got hit on once, and she waited until there wasn't anyone else around. Though speaking of queers, what is Pied Piper doing with himself these days?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th October 2012
16:23 GMT

Huh. That was interesting.

Apparently, Pied Piper got his life together without prompting, got back in contact with his parents and got a legitimate sound engineering job while moonlighting with the Alliance. I remember that he did something like that in the comics, but I thought he was one of the people the Top influenced?

Not sure.

Digger seemed a bit downhearted about the whole thing. People leaving the supervillain life means less chance of the Flash being distracted when he breaks the law, and he's a man reaching the end of his physical prime whose main skill is throwing bent pieces of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic. He's a reasonable engineer, but not one I feel obliged to bring on board.

I smile at my students. No, I stayed for a week and then left for a month. These Lanterns I'm mentoring. I found them in the library; Dul reading general history, Xalitan reading psychology and Onik reading about past Green Lanterns.

"So what have you learned while I've been away?"

"I have learned that these books are too small." A tendril turns the page for Xalitan. "And that I miss Onisia. And that my fixation with order and justice is not just a result of my personal experience but also a product of a common desire amongst humanoids in complex societies to be treated as participating members of that society, with all the rights and obligations that such treatment ensures. My desires are not merely mine, but the particular manifestation of a universal drive."

He moves his hands so that they're palms up with his wrists touching his stomach, ring floating motionless above them.

"I am more than me."

I nod, smiling. "Good. Lantern Dul?"

"I've learned that the things that are the bedrock of my life are transitory, not the same even a generation ago. That the things I want are things I've been raised to want by Thanagar's leaders rather than things that emerged freely from my mind, and that I want them anyway."

"No dissonance there?"

"Still… Some. I'm working on it."

"Good. Lantern Onik?"

"I have studied the records of former Green Lanterns. I have been studying their failures and the underlying reasons for those failures. I have-. There are cases where you were definitely right about their single-mindedness, and… Ah, your own example-."

"Oh, it doesn't apply to me. I'm perfect."

I smile and wait.

"Um." He glances at the other two, and Lantern Dul nods pointedly. "I.. do not… Believe that is correct, Illustres."

"Well done. Have you learned to differentiate between things that are definitely errors and things that are simply differences in approach or objective?"

"I don't think that's possible, Illustres. It is just something a Lantern must be mindful of."

"Ooor..?"

"Um. You… Associate with people who-. With other colours of Lantern?"

"Yes. Or?"

"Study many colours?"

I nod, smiling. "Or use many colours. My homeworld's Violet Lantern let me use her ring for a few minutes, and I've given her apprentice an orange ring."

Onik nods. "That is what you meant. No one part of the whole is complete by itself. By cooperating with other colours we gain perspective, and by studying the emotions which do not relate to our ring we avoid losing ourselves to it."

"Part of it. There's also-."

Lantern Dul's eyes narrow. "Can someone use more than one ring?"

"Yes."

"All seven colours? At once?"

"In theory, though I don't think it's ever been done. Is everyone wearing their wards?" Three nods, and I use my ring to check the area for listening devices before ensuring that no sound will leave the immediate area. "There's no fundamental reason why a ring couldn't be made to channel all seven."

Onik's face falls slightly.

"All seven? So you could switch between them?"

"No."

Dul frowns. "All at once? How could someone combine-?"

"No."

Xalitan nods. "Self. You would not use each of the colours. You would use what they share. Manifesting the self in the universe. The self of you. The self of all."

"That's what I think would happen."

He looks curious. "No one has tried? The Guardians?"

"Regard emotions as things for primitives like us. The issue the Controllers have is that even starting a Central Power Battery requires an intense focus of emotion and most maltusians are fairly jaded. The emotion would have to come from-."

"Primitives like us." Lantern Dul nods. "Apart from you and Larfleeze, and Malvolio, who could do it?"

"I think that my friend Alan could help create a Blue Central Power Battery, if it came to it. The Zamarons don't like me enough to explain how they did it."

Onik nods. "What about Kalmin?"

"He didn't create one. Sinestro's personal lantern is designed to maintain its own link, though it's weaker than it would be with a Central Power Battery. Neither Sinestro nor Kalmin had the sort of intensity of fear in them that would allow them to make a Central Power Battery, even if they knew how to."

"What colour would it be?" Xalitan frowns thoughtfully as he returns his ring to his left ring finger. "A ring where all colours were one."

"White." I hold up my right hand and generate a sigil, a triangle with seven lines radiating outward. There's no difficulty in creating it as there would be with one of the other colours. "Naturally. A combination of all of the light wavelengths."

Lantern Dul stares at it. "Is that what we're trying to create?"

"No. Ah, not specifically. It would be too provocative to the Guardians and Zamarons, as well as a lot of unaligned maltusians, to even try something like that. To say nothing of how hard it would be to actually use for anything. So!"

I clap my hands together.

"If you get an opportunity to borrow a ring of a different colour, take it. If a Green Lantern wants to try your ring, let them if it's safe to do so. And don't limit your studies to avarice if you don't want to. I persuaded Alan to give Orange Lantern Koriand'r a go with his blue ring and she was a natural. Now, who wants to spar with me to find out what your newfound understanding means in terms of effectiveness?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Versus the Rake Men

21st year of the reign of King Randor I
Season of Chill
307th day, 15th bell

Teela Na, better known to the small parts of Eternos that actually know she exists as The Sorceress, hesitates at the edge of the drawbridge out of Castle Grayskull.

…

"Do I have to fricking carry you out?"

"…" Clearly, yes. I step-. "No. It has simply been a long time since I have left the Castle grounds."

Since it matters so much to both her and the control spells acting on the Castle, I'm wearing the Basophil Amulet openly. Technically, I'm about to become The Sorcerer, for… All of an evening. Or possibly all evening, all night and all morning if Sir Duncan's luckier than I think he is. I'd be nervous if it wasn't for the fact that we've killed, captured or shoved into a tesseract prison just about everyone who might think about having a go at us.

So clearly Hordak's about to turn up.

"You're not going to leave by standing there. I'm not at anything like your level, but I'm pretty sure I can hold the fort for a few hours."

"That's not my concern."

I grin, stepping a little closer to pointedly intrude in her personal space. "Of course, if you've reconsidered choosing Sir Duncan over me, then you're welcome to stay. I'm sure that we can find something to occupy the time."

"I have not, and I don't think that my apprentice would appreciate it if I did."

"Oh, she'd understand. Beauty fades, raw arcane power lasts. She'd probably make the same decision herself." I take a moment to consider her relationship with the late and unlamented Keldor. "Did, really."

She's still not moving.

"I can go to Zalesia and fetch The Faceless One if you'll accept that instead."

"Evil-Lyn would never forgive you that slight, either."

"She'd be angry. But she's got a lot of anger in her. Honestly, having both of them talk out their differences in a mystically hardened fortress might be best for both of them. But you're still prevaricating."

"I am." She turns and holds out her staff to me horizontally. "I entrust you with the Power of Grayskull. May you wield it wisely."

There are flippant comments I could make. 'Don't do anything I wouldn't do' or 'I have the power' or something. But this is a big deal. Two years it took me to get her to this point, plus all the years of isolation before that.

So I raise my hands palms upwards, grip the staff and bow low to her.

"Thank you for trusting me with this. It's yours again the moment you return."

She lets go, her fingertips lingering on the shaft for a moment before finally pulling away. And I brace myself, because-.

Golden light flows from the staff into my Amulet, the intensity building as power flows back and forth and I.. feel.. a.. strange pressure.. building inside me, as if I'm being gradually squeezed into some new shape. It's not… Painful, exactly, but-.

A flare and the light dims. And I take a look at the damage it's done to my clothes. Oh, rats. Tasteful orange and gold has been replaced by turquoise and bronze. A small mercy that I haven't grown wings, but-.

I look up as I straighten up. Yes, I have a turban… Thing, though it's far smaller than the headdress that the Sorceress wears. Well, this is a temporary appointment, and I know far less about magic than she does.

"Grayskull has accepted you. And now…"

"Now you've completely run out of excuses. Good night, Ms Na."

A deep breath and she leaps into the air, transforming into a bird with a screech as she flies in the direction of Eternos.

Finally.

"Castle, would you please raise the-"

The mechanism is already clanking, pulleys turning as the drawbridge is pulled closed, the only crossing to the moat-trench now resting against the Castle's mouth.

"-drawbridge, thank you."

I turn away and start down the corridor. In theory, I should be able to teleport anywhere in the castle with only a slight drain on its power, but… Teleportation is one of those things that can go hilariously wrong and I don't really want to start experimenting without supervision.

So would books on Hordak be under 'H', or am I going to have to search through the histories and diaries for snippets that are actually useful? I mean…

I glance at the head of the staff.

In theory the Castle should be pretty helpful now. Hopefully, I can just ask for the relevant passages and… Summarise them. I can't ring-scan these books, but copying text I can see is easy enough. A nice quiet and extremely informative evening-.

"'She'd probably make the same decision herself'?"

Evelyn stands at the library doorway, arms folded across her chest and the glowing marks of her geas visible on her bare arms and legs. She's wearing a turquoise and bronze recoloured version of her old purple and black garb, a small duplicate of the bird on the head of my staff replacing the old skull on her headdress.

"Wouldn't you?"

"I might have done if I realised that she was considering giving the staff to a neophyte like you."

"That's the point. She doesn't need to trust me, because she knows that I couldn't fight her off."

"She left at your behest. Clearly she trusts you more than you think."

"There's a difference between 'on balance I think this person is trustworthy' and 'I trust this person with my life's work'. You're used to manipulating magic. She'd have to trust you more before putting you in the same position."

She nods. "Are you planning on doing something while her attention is elsewhere? On this, the eve of the Festival of Love?"

"Yes, I'm-" I point to the bookshelves on the other side of the door. "-planning to-"

"While you have control of my binding geas?"

"-do some reading." She arches her eyebrows. "Evelyn, the fact that I control your geas at the moment is the reason why I'm not going to do anything. I still remember that con you tried to run on Mister Blak."

"Which I still don't know how you foiled."

"We don't all think with our testicles, Evelyn."

She's not going to move, is she? A test of will? Dominance? An attempt to better discern the nature of my character? Best to just toss Gordon's knot back to him, I think.

I hold the staff out to the side and leave it floating there while I transition past her into the library proper. I then hold my right hand out while walking towards the closest reading desk, the staff smacking into my palm a moment later.

"Tell me: do you know anything about Keldor's old boss, Hordak?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th October 2012
14:53 GMT -5

I raise my left hand to my ear.

"Orange Lantern Two Eight One Four?"

"Er, hello."

I smile. "Mister Chandler! Are you finally cashing in that free trip?"

"Oh. Ah, no. Renee'd kill me if I tried taking the family anywhere. What with the Sheeda and that."

"We're pretty sure we got them all. And Greece has got literal demigoddesses providing security on the beaches and tourist sites."

"Yeah, heard about that. But it's gunna take a lot more than good sense to convince Renee."

"Alright. Can't productively argue with that. What can I do for you, then?"

"You haven't found John yet, have you?"

"No, but that-. That's just about worked its way to the top of my 'to do' list. I'll keep you informed. Though I…"

"What?"

"Bit awkward, but I found a young man who looks a lot like him in Africa last month. Adopted at birth."

There's a quiet intake of breath. "Is he-? John's? I mean, I wouldn't be all that surprised-."

"No, I-." Scan. "His sister's. She wouldn't have been very old. Do you know her at all? I'm not really sure how to bring it up."

"Nah. I've met her a few times. I mean, she knows who I am, but I don't really know her, know what I mean?"

"Yes. I'll have to do it myself then. It's just… Tact isn't my strongest skill. I'll.. just run it by Diana first. So, yes, if that was why you were phoning, I don't-."

"No. It wasn't." I hear him sigh. "It's stupid really, with all the people the Sheeda killed."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Have you suffered a bereavement?"

"Yeah, yeah. My uncle Tom. Dad's side of the family."

Meaning not related by blood to his maleficious mother. But with both his parents and his brother dead, I… That's that generation of the family gone.

"He was a good bloke, and I-. You know about what happens next, right? When someone dies?"

"I've died twice myself, but I think my experience was atypical. What do you want to know?"

I don't say 'how honest do you want me to be', because that's something I'm going to have to feel out for myself.

"I just… Like you said, you've done this. You know the truth, not that bollocks the vicars an' all tell us. Is my uncle Tom in a better place?"

Um.

"Are you asking me if his soul went to heaven?"

"It doesn't have to be heaven. I know the angels don't really like you."

"No, we got that-." Not the point. "Was your uncle particularly religious? Or.. not particularly religious, but did he believe in God?"

"I don't think so. Is… That it, then?"

"I don't think he would specifically go to the Christian heaven. That doesn't mean that he wouldn't go somewhere nice."

"Doesn't it? What happens to souls with nowhere to go?"

"They.. might be drawn into the dominant mythos, either… The Celtic otherworld, which is… I wouldn't say that it's 'better', but it's okay. Or gone to heaven anyway for living a good Christian life informally."

"Does that happen?"

"Yes. I mean, it's kind of what the Reformation was about. I ended up in Heaven and the angels actually killed me. And there were a few people every year who ended up in Ereb-. The Greek afterlife, because they liked the old stories and didn't practice any particular religion."

"So you don't know where he is."

"It might be possible to work it out for sure, but it would be kind of difficult."

"But he wouldn't have gone to hell."

"Honesty compels me to say that I can't completely rule it out, but it seems unlikely. And the outermost circle of Hell is run by an…" Er. "Ally of mine. He's trying to make it a less horrible place to exist. If he went there, then depending on his general state of health before he died, that could be an improvement."

"Yeah?"

"Mammon is a purely self-interested demon lord. Once I demonstrated that it was in his interests to have good relations with his damned, he was willing to give it a go. So, yeah, 'better' might be pushing it, but I doubt that he'll have gone anywhere particularly bad."

"Okay. Cheers. That's… That's a weight off."

"Happy to help. My regards to Renee and Geraldine."

I let him ring off before lowering my hand.

Huh.

Really, it's… Surprising that more people don't ask that sort of thing. Or that… No one has started some sort of necromancy company or something.

Ah well.

I

step out and

appear inside the Themysciran embassy, close to the portal. I couldn't feel Diana, so I'm assuming-.

"Oh, here's the little card shark now!"

I raise my hand to greet Ted Grant, Diana… Apparently showing him around. My eyes are… Sliding off her, something about her actively interfering with my exotic abilities.

"Mister Grant. Diana, I… Don't know what that is, but-" I smile. "-well done for getting it."

"There are only so many times you can comment on my lack of defences before I correct it. What brings you here?"

"I've got a job that requires tact and subtlety, so I thought that it would be a good idea to get some advice."

She nods.

"So it seems that I'm not the only one who can learn."

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th October 2012
15:06 GMT -5

"Really?" I frown. "Because Gotham's so safe that no one feels the need to learn self-defence any more?"

Ted Grant grumps.

"No. Just boxing. Kids are all about 'mixed martial arts' and 'krav manga' these days."

I don't laugh, because this is important to him, and he's very old without any rejuvenation effects.

"Last time I checked, the classes were oversubscribed. And not with henchmen; half of the new people are either from the Alliance or the Congregation. They're keeping all the exercise equipment, but the boxing ring's getting thrown out. It's just not my gym anymore."

"Ted, way back when you started boxing, were there people in your neighbourhood who were critical of you for putting on padded gloves before you punched people?"

"Aaaaaaah..?" He looks a little uncertain, but rallies quickly. "Not if they wanted to keep all their teeth."

"Look, fashions change. Just be happy that the gym's still going, and… Maybe when fashion changes again, it'll go back to incorporating more traditional boxing."

"Sure, but I'm not gunna see that, am I?"

"Should I just nod and smile, or do you actually want to talk about how to bind your soul to the gym?"

Diana theatrically mantles her eyes with her right hand.

"Paul."

"Everyone has a right to their preferred afterlife service provider. I don't see the appeal, but I'm not Mister Grant."

"My choice, huh?" He shrugs. "What are my other options?"

"I highly recommend Erebos. You're guaranteed to have your full mental faculties preserved, and that's not a service most entry level afterlives offer."

"'Entry level? Who do you think I am?!"

"Someone who hasn't paid particular homage to any pagan gods at any point during his life. At this point you're almost certainly bound for Heaven, which… I've been, I don't recommend it, but I'm not you."

"I don't know. I could do with some peace and tranquillity."

"Could you? Would you honestly say that you prefer your peaceful dotage-"

His eyes narrow. "Watch it."

"-to your physically active youth? In Heaven, you're literally put out to pasture until you rise above all of your base instincts and fully unify with the Source. In Erebos, you-."

Ah…

"At the moment, you'd join the back of a very long queue, before eventually-."

"Sounds like poor service provision to me. Why not just open more lanes?"

"Because the Greek divines have gotten used to no one needing them for anything, and need substantial retraining in order to bring them up to the skill level required."

I don't know why Lord Hades instituted a separate judge for blondes, but they can now join the unified queue system like everyone else. That reform also got rid of the fast track for mortal heroes, but I don't think that will be a selling point here.

"But full sophoncy would be restored prior to judgement, and you would be free to converse with others in the queue, or with duly licensed necromancers."

He smiles. "Are you getting commission on this?"

"I tried dating the owner's daughter once. Also, I'm a service-user myself."

"Oh, that's how it is."

"I wouldn't try and sell a product I wasn't prepared to use myself. Ultimately, I will receive exactly the same service provision as you, though I might benefit from the… Ah."

"Time gap?"

"Greater degree of service-provision experience the judges will have acquired by then."

"Hm. Go back to the judgement bit. What sort of sentences do they hand down?"

"The laws of the Greek Gods are mostly self-absorbed. The most serious punishments are doled out to people who've really gotten on their bad side."

Which is why I think that Hades will 'forget' about my case for as long as he can get away with.

"Which means that your comparative lack of interaction is actually to your advantage; none of them have any reason to dislike you. Furthermore, punishments are guaranteed to be finite in duration and clearly explained to the punishee."

"Pushing a rock up a hill is probably pretty good exercise."

"They don't do that one anymore. Too many loopholes. And whatever happens in the Punishment Fields-"

"That's what they call it?"

"-since you don't have a corporeal body any longer, there's no real lasting consequence. Plus, it's a bonding activity. Everyone who's in Erebos has been through it."

"Oh. Like boot camp. That's just-."

Red mist surges up from the ground about three metres away from us-

I frown at Diana as the three of us rise, medium armour appearing around my body. "You warded yourself and not the building?"

"The building is warded, but I'm a demigoddess. I take certain magic easier than bricks and mortar."

Dozen of magic users use various 'mists' as part of their transportation spells, and if this is a Lord of Chaos then I-. Diana's here. I'll talk to them, but it will be the Ophidian and me doing the talking together.

A woman -oh no- wearing a long leather coat strides out of the mist like some sort of Matrix extra, two handguns rising up and aiming despite the red blindfold across her eyes. Crimson Avenger 2, whose name I don't know-

Scan doesn't work so I can't find out.

-and who I remember from the comic tried to kill Ted for falsifying evidence which led to a man being executed for a crime he didn't commit. Or rather, did kill him several times, which he survived due to having eight extra lives.

Ours doesn't have that.

Diana steps forward, interposing herself between the armed woman she doesn't recognise and…

Oh. A little harsh, but mostly fair.

Me, because she doesn't want me killing whoever this is.

"I am Diana, Princess of-."

The guns come up and fire!

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th October 2012
15:10 GMT -5

GrabTedandconstructshield!

The bullets sent at Diana hit her bracers and stop dead, flattened metal discs falling to the ground with a 'tink' noise. The ones fired at me punch straight through my construct and through the wall behind me and I think it's only due to the fact that she wasn't ready for how fast I move that it didn't go through me.

Diana lunges forward, jinking out of her line of fire to strike with her extended right fist-. Which meets only mist, Crimson Avenger becoming intangible as it intersects with her face. I have my rings handle evasion, keeping Ted and myself out of her line of fire even as she adapts to my evasiveness.

Ring, scan her face and try to find matches-.

Jill Carlyle. Lawyer. Reported missing three months ago.

Diana imposes herself into Miss Carlyle's mist, blocking her eyes with her own head and striking at both guns with her hands. And it's working, she can't fire when the guns are intangible-.

The plume of mist wafts across-

Evade!

-the drawing room, Miss Carlyle calmly walking out with her guns raised. There's a very slight delay before she fires again, and I'm already moving-.

Ring, are those bullets punching through the walls?

Yes.

I get a sudden mental picture of their flight path. The Themysciran embassy isn't fortified enough to block high powered bullets, and I seem to remember that these ones are demonic or something? There are people working here, and being Amazons they're rushing to arm up.

I need to get Ted out of here.

I fire energy pulses at Miss Carlyle's face and hands and another at the window. She doesn't bother evading, her outline rippling faintly as the pulses pass through. It does prevent her shooting for a moment, and I use that to extend a filament outside and transition both of us into the sky.

"Who the hell was that?!"

"Her name's Jill Carlyle. She's a missing person. Did you recognise the guns?"

"Colt Nineteen elevens? Yeah, I recognise them."

"No, those specific ones. The decoration on the grip. They're Crimson Avenger's old guns."

"I don't know if his guns were custom jobs."

"Her bullets punched through my construct and-."

And there's a hole in my shoulder. We're a mile up, how is-? Doesn't matter. She can teleport and has unearthly aim. Transition again and keep moving.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, it's just a-. I don't really feel pain and I fight by ring, so getting shot in the shoulder doesn't really do all that much. I'll fix it now. Did you know Crimson Avenger One?"

Since my armour's not doing anything I send it back into subspace, along with my shirt. Whatever magic causes it to bypass armour doesn't seem to otherwise increase the amount of damage it causes. That's a pretty normal bullet wound, and the bullet is lodged in my scapula. If it was punching through brick walls and my constructs then it should have gone in the front and then out the back.

"Ah, no, not well. Met him a couple of times in the war, but he was from my dad's generation, and he never joined the JSA."

"Okay, so do you think she was aiming for you or for me?"

"You're the one with the bullet in his shoulder."

"Yes but -no offence intended- I was the priority target. If I died then the fall would probably kill you."

It's not healing. Okay, attach a construct to the bullet-. Naturally it falls apart. Okay, create a-. Create a tool for fishing around inside myself? What am I, a monkey?

I disintegrate my own shoulder, the bullet falling into a construct-supported metal tray. Then I reconstruct my shoulder, and test the motion. Yes, good.

"You mind.. warning me next time you plan something like that?"

"Oh. Ah, sorry."

I use my newly reconstructed shoulder to move my hand to a pouch and take out a rune stone. Bullet is… Weakly magical, and the intensity is decreasing. So the magic effect is generated by either the gun or the shooter. Might explain why it tapers off. Good for one surface only?

"Orange Lantern to Blue Lantern."

His face appears almost immediately. "You and Ted okay?"

"Yes, one little bullet wound. I've saved the bullet. Has she left the embassy?"

"Yeah, about five seconds after you did."

I turn my head to look directly at Ted. "Five dollars says I was the target."

"I'll take that bet. You know how many enemies I've made?"

"You know how many of them are still alive?" Ah. "Sorry. Alan. Was anyone else hurt?"

"Diana's got a grazed hand. Whoever it was teleported out just as the other gals charged the room."

"Jill Carlyle. And I think she was using Crimson Avenger's guns."

"You noticed that? You been staying after class with Batman?"

"No, of course not. It's an image stored in my ring from when I did research on old superheroes. I just compared the two."

He nods. "Yeah, that makes more sense. Not all of us are Batman. Okay, Zatara's going to come by and try and work out what sort of magic she was using, then we'll see if he can block it. I'll pass her name on to Batman."

"She's-."

"A missing person." Closer inspection of his projection shows that his eyes are glowing. "I can learn how to do interweb searches too, you know."

I don't know whether that was intentional or.. not.

Wait.

I float the flattened bullet up, and calculate what it looked like before it flattened… Add a little abrasion from the force field…

She's the one who shot at me and Dana. Or someone with those guns did. I suppose that the multiple layers of shielding dealt with the penetration spell-effect. But why only one shot? Why didn't she maintain the attack?

"We'll need to go over the police interviews. See if she was acting strangely before she vanished."

"And look for other gunshot victims. If she's been gone three months there's no reason to assume that we were her first targets."

"Good point." He smiles. "Welcome back to Earth, I-."

BANG!

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th October 2012
15:14 GMT -5

The image of Alan jerks and then fragments-.

"Alan?"

"Call you-. Back."

The image disappears, and I scan for-

"Drop me off somewhere."

-Alan's location.

"Can't do that. We don't know the range of her teleportation, and she can selectively phase. I don't have anywhere safe to put you. Alan's a perfectly capable Lantern and Diana's right there."

Alan's just outside the embassy. He was talking to the police, but now he's evading bullets while trying to lead her away from other people. In New York in the middle of the afternoon. And he's trying to talk to her.

Stop looking, stop looking.

"Ring, anyone else shot by these bullets recently?"

Oh. Ah.

The problem with her using handguns that have been in circulation for about a hundred years is that there aren't exactly a small number of them in wider circulation. And there are… Quite a lot of gun-related deaths in the US each year-.

Half were people killing themselves?

"What? What's happening?"

"Did you know that half of gun deaths in the US last year were people killing themselves?"

"Ah… No? What's that got to do with Al?"

"I'm trying to see who else Miss Carlyle might have killed, but it's a common firearm… I mean, I can try limiting it to people of more than human normal toughness or where the bullet passed through something solid…"

"Try looking to see if there was a change in the death rate after she disappeared."

"Okay. Arranging my demographic… Do you know anyone who did know Crimson Avenger?"

"The Seven Soldiers of Victory, but I think they're all dead. Ah… Victor Leong? I never met him, but he was-. Oh, I… Guess he'd be about my age. Last I heard he was a restaurant manager, but he's probably retired."

"Victor Leong, Victor Leong… Yes, still alive and yes, retired. What was their relationship?"

"Victor was Vigilante's old sidekick. Greg Saunders?"

"Yes, Alan mentioned him." And of course I met Desperado. Definitely didn't see a sidekick with him, and he was far too young... "I'll phone him."

I raise my left hand to my ear, a ringing tone sounding a moment later.

"Hey."

"Good afternoon, Mister L-."

"I've already got a subscription to the Tribune."

"Good for you. A well-informed population is a requirement for a functioning democracy."

"Oh. So you're not trying to get me to buy the Times?"

"Not particularly. I'm Orange Lantern."

"Orange..? Oh! The cake guy!"

Behind me, Ted snorts. At least he didn't mention the eyes or the spider-.

"Yes. Yes, I am. So anyway, I was hoping that you'd be able to help me with an investigation-."

"I'm a little old for that sort of thing these days. I haven't been able to do a split kick for about thirty years. But if you're desperate, I'll go get my walker-."

"Someone's using Crimson Avenger's guns."

"Oh."

"And you're just-."

"The only one of the old gang still going, I know. His guns… Ain't exactly normal."

"Yes, I worked that out from how they shot through my constructs and armour. Blue Lantern's fighting her now, so a succinct explanation would be appreciated."

"There's some kind of spirit in them. He said they talked to him, sometimes."

"They talked to him sometimes, or they talked to him all the time and he didn't want to scare you?"

"Coulda been either. He only really talked about it once, when the guns told him something about a case he couldn't have found out just by his detective skills. They showed him pictures of what the victims went through."

"Victims..?"

"Murder victims. He didn't say anything about any other kind. He wasn't big on shooting people-. Not fatally, anyway. But… That one case? It was like the guns wanted to kill the perp and he had to force them not to."

"Do you know where the guns went after he died?"

"I don't have the slightest idea. I was Greg's sidekick, not Avenger's. Wing was already dead… I don't really know who else would know anything."

"Thank you for your help, Mister Leong. I've got your number if there's anything else."

"If the spirits in those guns are controlling this guy, you can help them, right? Avenger would hate it if someone innocent got hurt."

"Where evil spirits are concerned, there's no such thing as innocence, only what they can get away with. I won't kill her if there's a reasonable alternative. Good day."

I lower my left hand.

"Ted… I hate to ask, and believe me I'm the last person to get on his moral high horse-."

"I didn't murder anyone. Not ever."

"Evil spirits, Ted. It's not the same as the definition of murder used by the American legal system. Did you ever cause someone to die without direct and immediate need or cause?"

"Did you?"

"Lots of times. So many I'll never know all of their names or faces and I probably won't know if it was actually justified or not. But you joined the Society after the war. And… Besides, if they were having horrific visions of the people I killed, they'd never have time for anything else."

"Ah. Damn." He looks at me with a good deal of disquiet. "Al told me-."

"If you want the full breakdown and justification, you can have it after we've saved Miss Carlyle."

"Well then, I… Pushing the definition a whole long way…" He nods slowly, once. "Yeah. I kinda did."

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th October 2012
15:18 GMT -5

"Huh. Perversely, I don't need any details, but I do need to know if you know of anyone else who might have made similar decisions to you."

"You ain't gunna ask me about it?"

"The sort of person who has evil spirits talking in her head, teleports into the Themysciran embassy and takes a shot at Diana and me isn't the sort who's going to be interesting in hearing a nuanced explanation on the practical realities of law enforcement. I mean, you could try telling her…"

I tilt my head back, sighing.

"Yeah, we should probably do that. If only to find out what the things pulling her strings are."

Ted nods. "Nineteen seventy seven. His name was Charlie Durham, and he killed his brother, his brother's wife and their kid. He got the chair for killing his own fiancée, and his brother was the one who killed her. The kid was only eight. D.A. didn't have squat on Charlie. He was gonna go free for killin' a whole family. So I moved some stuff around, made it look like he killed…"

He bows his head slightly, letting out a miserable chuckle.

"I can't even remember her name now."

Ring?

"Wendy Cunningham."

"Yeah." He nods. "Yeah, that was it. Only thing I could do to get Charlie off the streets. I wasn't even sure the jury would convict him, but… Yeah, technically, I sent him to the chair for a crime he didn't commit. I guess that's enough."

"If it's Mister Durham's spirit in those guns, certainly. If there's a demon or other spiteful spirit in there, yes again. I'm going to guess that whoever made them wasn't exactly an Archmage."

"Why?"

"Binding a spirit to a thing is relatively easy, but a lot of the decision making gets left in its hands. But from the sounds of it someone put a demon in there without changing its nature. Put a demon in charge of administering justice and how do you think it's going to act?"

"It'll send anyone it can to hell."

"And it'll prioritise killing people whose actions prevent people going to hell or who might redeem themselves, regardless of whether or not there are objectively more 'just' targets."

"But why's it going after Al?"

"You remember in nineteen seventy four? Rag Doll-."

"Oh."

"I wasn't sure if it was him, Mister Garrick or Doctor Knight. Guess… Unless there's someone else he escorted from this vale of tears, now we know."

"Or the Nazis."

"Hm?"

"We dunno what the guns think makes someone guilty, right? So what if some Nazi private put up his hands to surrender, but Al didn't see it in time? Or… Hell, if he wasn't somewhere where he could take someone prisoner?"

I nod.

"Could be. It's a problem, and it's why 'magical justice auras' or whatever are a terrible idea. Sometimes you need to break the rules and have actual people judge whether you were right or not."

"Blue Lantern to Orange Lantern."

I hold out my left hand as Alan's face appears, breathing a sigh of relief. "Orange Lantern here. Go ahead."

"Zatara chased her off. We're pulling bullets out of the walls now, trying to get a read off them."

"Is it safe for me to bring Mister Grant back?"

"To the embassy? Sure. Anywhere else, it's too early to say. We've got to find her before she goes after anyone else."

"Okay, we'll head back. I assume that Batman's running the investigation?"

"Yeah."

"He's probably already thought of it, but I suggest asking him if other superheroes have been targeted recently. If the bullets end up looking mundane it might not have been caught."

"Will do."

"See you shortly." I end the call and lower my left hand. "I'll be dropping you off. I suggest staying at the embassy until we get this sorted."

"A building full of Amazons. If I were forty years younger, that'd be quite a prospect."

Plot course.

"Two, one, and-"

The universe skips.

"-we're here."

Diana's outside, while Ms. Candy is liaising with the police. They can't enter an embassy uninvited, but this is an attack by a US citizen and the League is going to want police cooperation. Alan-

"You in one piece, Ted?"

-is floating just outside of the window I escaped through. Ted ambles over to him, taking in the damage as he goes.

"As much as I was. You?"

"Can't complain. Borrowed a trick from Paul's book and stuck paving stones in front of the bullets to go with my constructs."

I

step out and

return next to Mr. Zatara, pinging my recording of my conversation with Mr. Leong to Batman. Mr. Zatara is holding a bullet in his right hand, golden circles dancing around it.

I want to ask if he knows what it is, but I wait for him to finish. After a few moments the lights go out, and he slips the bullet into a small plastic bag.

"Is it a demon? I've wanted to take a swing at Arkannone ever since I heard it existed."

"I do not believe so. This feels more like a spirit, or spirits, bound to the gun and granting the projectiles and the user supernatural powers. But there's something… Else. Did you hear the woman speak at all?"

"No."

"That is unusual. Such spirits are driven to right the world in accordance with their nature. When they take hosts, they will make them shout their target's crimes to the world. But she did not speak."

"The gun's previous owner certainly remained able to talk."

He turns to me, Diana landing next to us.

"Perhaps you should tell me what you mean."

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st year of the reign of King Randor I
Season of Chill
307th day, 16th bell

I lightly shove the book away with a frustrated sigh.

"So that's three sources that contradict each other. I know record-keeping went to pot after Hordak invaded, but I don't understand how these people can't agree about simple factual matters!"

Evelyn -who is sitting on the edge of the table, bare right thigh facing me- pulls the book across to her and closes it, running her right forefinger over the front piece with a pale golden glow.

"It's not contemporary. 'Records of Desolation' is a glorified collection of folk tales woven into a narrative a century after the events it alleges to describe. You'd be better off trusting either of the other works." She looks away. "Not that either of them had any direct contact with him."

"Do you know anywhere better to-?"

She tilts her head back, making a show of looking at the ceiling.

"What do you think Nolar would do if I appeared at the festival in disguise?"

"Ah-. The terms of your parole aren't widely known, so I imagine that if he recognised you he'd try to let Sir Duncan know. And possibly try to follow you so he could foil whatever your evil plan was."

She looks down at me, left eyebrow arched. "I think that you're overestimating his rationality."

"Perhaps, but you did try and burn him to death. That sort of thing can overpower even the strongest ardour. But if we could return to the matter of Hordak?"

"Did you know that I was there when he turned Keldor into Skeletor?"

I sit back in my chair, giving her my full attention. "No, I didn't. I always assumed that Keldor managed that himself."

"Hardly."

"With a little help from yourself?"

"I just brought him to Hordak's temple. Ske-. Keldor, performed the summoning himself."

I raise my eyebrows. "Hordak physically manifested? I didn't think he could do that."

"There was a cloud of smoke in the shape of his face." She turns a couple of pages in The Codex of the End Times, stopping on an artist's impression of Hordak's face supposedly copied from a pre-invasion hologram. "Something like that. He's the reason why Keldor wasn't killed by his own acid."

"Why his head is a floating skull."

"He just asked Hordak to save him. He never said how. Perhaps Hordak didn't like his face."

I frown. "Is his.. head actually a skull, or is his flesh just transparent?"

"It's actually a skull. His skin is cold to the touch and his flesh is shrunken. I believe that he's some sort of undead creature now, though I've never seen any record of something similar."

"Are you having regrets?"

"What, about saving Keldor? Or not asking Hordak to do the same to me?"

"About Mister Blok."

She raises her eyebrows. "I regret not winning. Does that count?"

"You brought him up. Know anything else about Hordak that I'm not going to find here?"

"Did you know that Prince Adam had a tw-?"

"Twin sister, yes, I did."

She frowns. "They told you? I thought they were keeping that-." Her eyes narrow slightly. "No. You found out. How?"

"Not all these books are particularly reliable. But I've seen enough pictures to know roughly what henchmen Hordak was banished with. If people matching that description turn up after fighting the Eternos guard in the modern era, that's worth noting. I take it that you were involved in that?"

"I took part in the ritual used to bring them here. I was left holding the gateway open until they returned." Her nose wrinkles. "An unpleasant experience."

I frown. "If Hordak can send soldiers through from his side whenever he wants, why doesn't he do it more often?"

"How would he maintain control of them? Skeletor ensures-. Ensured, that we were forced to compete for his favour and for the resources we wanted. That required us to stay put. If any of us were away from Snake Mountain for any length of time, we would build up our own resource base and so become less dependent on him. Personal loyalty is a fragile thing."

"So what were you in it for? He used the Ram Stone himself after you stole it for him. There's no way he would have shared the power of Grayskull with you."

"What are you in it for? If Hordak accepted Keldor as his servant he would be perfectly happy to accept you."

A reasonable enough question. And at this point I'd guess that she's sufficiently invested that she's not just looking for an escape route.

"There's a book series where I'm from, set in the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork. The city's ruler is a man named Havelock Vetinari, and the book describes one of the way he holds onto power as… Convincing powerful groups within the city that it's better to accept the same segment of a larger pie than try to claim the whole of a smaller pie with a knife in it. If he makes the city more powerful, then even if their power relative to other power blocs inside the city doesn't change, their absolute power does."

She nods. "A tenth of ten is one, but a tenth of a million is a hundred thousand."

"Right. When I joined, the Masters were the military elite of the city-state of Eternos. Now, we're the military elite of a continent-spanning alliance that Eternos leads. And if things keep going, with Keldor and King Hiss out of the way… Why not the whole of Eternia? Heck, as far as I've been able to discover-" I gesture to a small pile of books on the far side of the table. "-Eternia had a unified government before Hordak invaded."

"Your renown will be worldwide. But what would you do with it?"

"Hordak wrecked Eternia's technology base so badly that advanced machines are ancient relics that we can't replace and only a handful of people like Tri-Klops, Sortech or Sir Duncan can even begin to understand it."

She frowns in irritation. "Every single time we've spoken, you've called me Evelyn, and yet you call Tri-Klops by his preferred name. Why?"

"Because I have no idea what his name is. We have records of your father, and Kronis dealt in high tech weapons in Eternos's territory for years, but Tri-Klops..? No record until he appeared with Keldor."

"I suppose you can't have scoured every inch of Eternia for one man's name. Though for your reference, it's Trydor, and I'm still waiting to hear what you'd do with your fame."

"Rebuild the civilisation that Hordak destroyed. Make it so that the technology of your ancestors was commonplace again. Because the stronger Eternia is, the more secure I am. What matters to me is how good my life is; I don't care if other people have a life that's just as good. Surviving examples of the technology of that era are rare, and people hoard rare things. But if I'm trusted…"

I make a point of looking around the library, gesturing to it with my right hand.

"They will give you access, as the Sorceress did." She considers this for a moment. "Hmm. Not so different from my own plans, to tell the truth. I planned to follow Keldor's rise to the top."

"Keldor would never trust you with the power Teela Na has entrusted to me. Not even if he ruled the entire planet and had every artefact of arcane significance stuck in his backpack. And as powerful as he was, I'm not convinced that he has anything like the knowledge required to become more than the king of the molehill. And even if he did, if Hordak's still pulling his strings? Hordak's going to have his own inner circle that you wouldn't be a part of."

"True." She looks down at the glowing lettering on her right thigh. Her toned and muscular right thigh. "Despite the indignity, in the long run this may be the best thing that could have happened to me. And if you're being so noble about the command geas, there's no reason why you could not return tom-."

DOOOOOOONG!

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th October 2012
17:34 GMT -5

I look up at the long list of superheroes who've died recently from bullets matching the ones Miss Carlyle was firing. The police had already linked the murders, but she doesn't appear inclined to leave witnesses alive to identify her personally.

Batman looks along the line of youth team members.

"Almost all of the dead were newly active superheroes unaffiliated with any larger group. A few had partners, but there were no groups larger than two. It's the three who were members of the Alliance of the Just that interest me."

He expands their records and dismisses the others.

"Adrian Chase. Vigilante. Noted for using firearms. He had killed alleged criminals on several occasions, but the police ruled those instances justified on the grounds of defense of another. He joined the Alliance shortly after the Manhattan chapter opened, and there was a noticeable drop in his lethality."

Unlike Marvel, Earth 16 doesn't actually have hundreds of superpeople in New York. I remember that in the Justice League/Avengers crossover they noted that DC's New York was actually considerably smaller, but as far as I could see it just sort of merges into the surrounding urban area so I don't know exactly what that would look like. Neither Diana nor Alan are grade-A criminal investigators, so there's a space for a street level superhero ecosystem to develop. I haven't spent enough time there to bother finding out much about them.

"He was found dead two weeks ago from close-range gunshot wounds. Evidence at the scene suggests that his body was moved before it was found, but the police haven't been able to find out where from. They also haven't been able to track his movements in the two hours prior to his most likely time of death."

He walks along to the next image.

"Daniel William Ducannon. White Dragon."

A short way down the line I see M'gann cringe slightly at the flames in his image. New Kara spots me looking and waves, smiling broadly.

"He joined the Chicago branch of the Alliance after several confrontations with local police over his use of his flame control powers during his arrests and his apparent racism. Before he died, he had significantly improved his self-discipline to the point that even officers who'd been critical of his actions spoke of him favorably in the press."

"Lastly, Susan Linden. Black Orchid. Unlike the other two she had no record of excess violence. I haven't yet had time to go through her entire repository of case files, but they appear to be extensive. She also joined the Alliance of the Just recently, and according to their reports did so primarily to gain access to their intelligence-sharing apparatus."

"The Justice League will be pursuing the new Crimson Avenger. I want the team to focus on these three cases. Find out what made them special that she chose to deviate from her usual victim profile. Aqualad, I leave the mission planning to you."

He turns and stalks towards the zeta tubes, leaving us looking at the three holograms.

Kaldur takes a step forward, then turns to face the… Class.

"Orange Lantern, can you brief us on Crimson Avenger's abilities?"

"Recognised, Batman, Zero Two."

I nod, walking out of line until I'm in the middle of the room and then turn, connecting my ring to the hologram projectors and creating an image of Miss Carlyle.

"Miss Carlyle appeared at all times to be surrounded by a cloud of red mist. I can't tell you if that's just because she emits it all the time or because she needs to put it somewhere first in order to teleport there. She can make herself selectively intangible, not sure whether it's at-will or automatic."

"Oh El?"

"Kid Flash?"

"You've got plenty of anti-magic weapons. How come you didn't take her down?"

"My priority was getting Mister Grant to safety, and my anti-magic attacks can be a bit lethal. I didn't know quite how big her kill count was at the time. I'd probably have been able to square an amputation with myself if I did."

Canis leaves the line to walk right up to the hologram, staring into its eyes. Birth of the Author.

"Based on what we've learned, removing her desires probably wouldn't do anything. The guns are talking to her inside her head and she's obeying. With no desires of her own she'd be less able to resist than she is now. Returning to Kaldur's original question, her aim is supernaturally good. She was able to hit me with a round from a Colt nineteen eleven at a range of approximately one and a half miles, her bullet punching through my environmental shield and armour when it hit. There's no way she could have known the wind speed in the intervening space when she fired."

Canis steps back from the hologram. "It is hollow artistry."

Kaldur takes a step closer to him. "What do you mean?"

"Her shots. Her nature. A simple machine can create an image, but art requires a direction of passion. She has none, alive but possessing nothing of life."

"Do you believe that she is completely under the control of the guns?"

"No. If the spirits bound to the guns provided purpose, I would see it." He shakes his head. "I have seen more spirit from Lowlies."

"And you can tell all that for sure from a hologram?"

"The ability lies in me, not in the subject. I can tell."

Richard approaches the hologram, apparently trying to see what Canis saw. "Oh El, can you play it through?"

"Sure."

We all move a little further away and I play the whole encounter through. Richard studies it closely while Canis is far less interested, having formed his opinion already.

Richard shakes his head as it reaches the point where I left the room and the image freezes. "I want to say that she's not moving right, but I don't know if that's true. She's not moving right for a gunfighter, but the guns could be moving around on their own. Or just working the muscles they need."

Artemis shakes her head. "She doesn't think anyone can hurt her. Wonder Woman couldn't. She doesn't need to minimise her profile if no one can attack her."

Wallace looks curiously at her guns. "I didn't think it was possible to dual wield pistols accurately like that."

Raquel shakes her head. "It's not. You can spray a load of lead if you're using automatics, but the recoil means that it won't stay on target."

A few people look curiously in her direction, prompting her to shift awkwardly.

"I hung out with some bad people."

"I tried that at a range, and she's right. Nothing about how she moved suggested to me that she had super strength, and even with super strength the gun would move a bit. She's moving and changing where she's aiming… Something else is going on."

"Hm." Zatanna looks at me. "Did you know his guns were possessed?"

"Not for certain. And I really didn't know where they were."

Richard looks at me. "Where were they?"

"Pass. Though if no one was using them, that suggests that the voices are fairly quiet."

Kaldur nods. "We have three people to investigate. Batman will investigate the other aspects of the case."

"Ah… Do you think that it's worth finding out about the Alliance of the Just more generally? What they're saying to superheroes who come to them with a body count? I know some people who are involved."

Kaldur considers, then nods. "I believe that may be useful."

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st year of the reign of King Randor I
Season of Chill
307th day, 16th bell

"Ah…"

I look down at the figure staring at the pillars of glowing blue crystal that make up the core of Castle Grayskull's interior. She's standing on one of the platforms that Zodak and King Hiss damaged during their fight, and seems to be just… Staring around at the place. Which makes it relatively easy for my probe construct to stay out of sight.

"I.. was under the impression that Hordak was a man?"

Evelyn stares at the image on the screen which Sir Duncan was able to acquire for me. A simple sheet of smart crystal, this was probably the equivalent of an e-reader before Hordak arrived, and now it's probably irreplaceable. I only have it because without the technology that supported its function no one else can use it.

"On both of the occasions I saw his face, he seemed to be. His voice was certainly masculine. But I suppose it's not that hard to change a voice with magic."

"Show yourselves!"

Evelyn frowns. "It did not sound like that."

"Do you think Hordak would be arrogant enough to make people wear helmets oh dear."

"What have you seen?"

"That sword she's holding. Look familiar?"

Evelyn looks carefully. "It's similar to the swords wielded by Prince Adam and by He-Man. Perhaps they use the same smith. A little concerning, if that smith is working for Hordak and his admirers as well."

Right, that does make it seem less special. "Evelyn Powers, I bind you against repeating what I am about to say to anyone other than myself, Sir Duncan, Teela Na or Prince Adam." Her eyes shimmer with blue-white light as the binding takes effect.

"Why did you-?"

"He-Man is Prince Adam. When he taps into the power of Grayskull using the Sword of Power-."

Her eyes widen. "The power expresses itself as physical might rather than arcane power, of course! I'd assumed that the prince was simply being coddled, when in fact he's been throwing himself into every engagement."

"Prince Adam's sword is the one King D'Vann Grayskull used in his final fight with Hordak, that was recovered afterwards and kept inside Grayskull. Assuming that the histories I've been reading were even vaguely accurate… That's his original sword. The one he lost during the battle that cost Hordak most of his surviving army. That's how she got in; as far as the castle's concerned she has every right to be here."

"Hordak captured it in the aftermath."

"Looks like. I haven't been able to find any records on exactly what happened to it, and that's as good an explanation as any."

"Then why didn't he use it in their final confrontation?"

"The power came from King D'Vann. The sword was a convenient conduit. It wouldn't have added anything to Hordak's abilities, since from the things I've read it seems like he was primarily a caster. All… This, he created as he died, and bound his sword-." Oh. "He bound his sword to it. But he'd done something similar to that to use his original sword. It wouldn't have done anything while he was alive-."

"But he could use it to draw on Grayskull's power now. Can you turn it off?"

"How?"

She rolls her eyes. "You're the Sorcerer."

"Yes. Technically. I even know how to turn the lights on and off. I don't know how to precisely sever a person from the power of Grayskull. Though…"

I hold out the staff. I can feel the expectant magic of this chamber, the various magics in the structure of the Castle itself, the wards… Even Evelyn's binding geas. But I can't feel anything from the figure down on the platform.

"I don't think that she's using it at the moment. So it's just a clumsy sword."

"I don't recognise her from my previous encounters."

"And I don't recognise her from my research. That's clearly not Shadow Weaver."

"Beatrix."

I look away from the screen to give Evelyn my full attention. "Really?"

"Yes. And no, it's not her. She has a fixation with red robes and hoods. I'm certain that Hordak's recruited other women, but I've had no contact with them."

"Huh."

"What?"

"I hadn't really thought about it in a holistic way before, but you were with Keldor for a long time, weren't you? You joined up before his revolt-."

"I met him when I was exploring the world outside of Zalesia for the first time. A few months of preparation, and then sixteen long years stuck behind the Mystic Wall. "

"Oh no, trapped on half the planet. But… You don't think it's Adora, do you?"

"Hordak wouldn't have ordered her abduction if he simply intended to kill her. Her frame is relatively slight, so it's possible that she isn't full grown. She's a little taller than Prince Adam."

"Girls start their growth spurt earlier than boys. He'll end up taller. So, okay, Adora's probably back, and ordinarily that would be cause for a celebration."

"But she's been in Hordak's hands for her entire life. And Beatrix is skilled at manipulating minds. I doubt that she will be willing to turn from him simply because you ask nicely."

"But she hasn't drawn on the power of Grayskull. Which means that she's a well trained fifteen year old."

"Unless she can transform as Prince Adam can. Fighting She-Woman would be difficult."

I shake my head. "There's an activation phrase, and I can't think of any way for her to know it. She'll just be a well trained teenager in good armour."

"You think we can take her? I'm forbidden access to my staff, and from touching the power of Grayskull without the Sorceress's personal supervision." She realises. "Or yours."

"Do you actually know how to-?"

"I've known that for longer than Keldor has. My.. father, fought beside King Grayskull, and told me of his power. I simply didn't realise that Castle Grayskull still existed."

Darn. Ah, so the choice is, take a chance of Evelyn actually being reformed so that giving her a little power isn't a risk, or ask her to fight against Adora without her preferred weapon. If she is trustworthy, then showing trust will improve our relationship. If she isn't, then I risk everything.

…

I can't do that. I just can't risk it.

And she can see my decision in my face.

"I see. I thought that you struggled with fighting Eternians directly."

"I do. I'll have to evade a lot. Hopefully, having the Castle backing me means that I-."

There's a crash from the ground just in front of us, and we look up-

My eyes passing over the screen and realising that probably-Adora is no longer where she was.

-and see the original Sword of Power pointing at me as the Hordak-mask glowers down at us.

"You. Caitiff. What is this place?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th October 2012
19:56 GMT -5

"Oh." Hartley Rathaway looks decidedly surprised on the small screen attached to his workplace's front door intercom. "Orange Lantern. Ah. What brings you here?"

New Kara floats up behind me, putting her hands on my shoulders. "And Supergirl!"

"Yeah. Ah, hi?"

"Three members of the Alliance of the Just have been murdered by a woman using possessed handguns, and we-. That is to say, the Justice League, have finally twigged that we don't know all that much about the way the organisation works. We-."

"Oh.. God, who? Who died?"

"Vigilante, White Dragon-"

That gets a frown.

"-and Black Orchid."

"I didn't really know any of them. White Dragon was the fire guy with the red and white power armour?"

"That's right."

"I met him once-. Do I.. need a lawyer?"

"Noo!" New Kara shakes her head. "We just wanna know background stuff about an organisation you're part of! You haven't done anything illegal!"

"Though… Given that that's probably what police would say before they tried to get you to incriminate yourself, I'd totally understand if you wanted one."

"But you're not investigating me?"

"I don't know, do we need to?" He looks decidedly-. "Sorry, sorry. I meant that as a joke, but it was-. Poor taste."

"Uh-huh." He glances at something off-camera. "I guess you might as well come in. Just the two of you?"

"Uh-huh!"

Kara's still beaming cheerfully at the monitor, and I'm just now remembering her response to a 'hippy' and I'm not sure if she has equivalent feelings about homosexuals. Kryptonians didn't have specific hang-ups about same sex relationships on Krypton 16, but as far as I remember only had fairly mild contempt for people like the Daxamites who opted out of technologically advanced society. I guess that her original parallel might be different?

There's a buzz, and the door before us unlocks. I push in with New Kara floating along behind me, looking around everywhere in apparent fascination. There's no reception area, just two ground level doors and a staircase up to the first floor.

Oh. I don't know if New Kara needs to do the slight squint thing that Kon and Kal-El need to in order to use alternate visual modes. She might well be staring through the building.

"Up here."

Mr. Rathaway's opened the upstairs door and is waving down to us. I walk up the staircase, while Kara skips the stairs and flies up to him.

"Hey there!"

"Hello." He looks at her for a moment, then a mild frown appears on his face. "Ah-. This is going to sound like a strange question, but… Is there more than one Supergirl?"

"Yes! Five of us so far!"

"That's… Confusing. Have you considered using a different name?"

"No! And we're aiming for six!"

"If it helps, there are hundreds of Orange Lanterns. And we call this one 'New Kara'."

She folds her arms across her chest. "Kara Six Six Six should be 'New Kara'! We found her after we found me!"

"She's been on Earth for longer than you."

Kara pouts. "Phooey! I'll just have to wait until Cir-El turns up! The she'll be New Supergirl and I'll be Old New Supergirl!"

"Do you-? Do you want to come in my workshop?"

"Thank you, yes."

We follow him into what appears to be half office and half high-tech workshop. I-.

"Is that a nanofabricator? I hadn't realised Doctor Roquette was ready for a commercial release yet."

"She's.. not. Lenny had to agree to keep the cold system in working order himself, it's.. really temperamental. But being able to fabricate nanoscale-accurate structures is invaluable in my work, and Doctor Roquette gets my maintenance log, so..."

I frown, taking another look around. "What are you working on? When Lenny told me you got a job as a sound engineer, I was.. sort of assuming he meant 'stage sound systems'."

"That's… That would be a complete waste of my time. Like.. asking him to work in freezer maintenance. Take a… Take a seat."

He gestures to a couple of low set seats near what I assume to be his main desk, and I sit down. Kara decides to sit in the air instead. Mr. Rathaway stares for a moment, then shakes his head and returns his attention to me.

"You wanted to know about the Alliance?"

"You gave me the impression that you knew White Dragon. I mean…" I hold up my hands in a 'stop' motion. "We already know who killed him, so I'm not-"

"No, I get it."

"-trying to interrogate you, but if I could get some idea…"

"He's… I don't know if he was actually a Nazi or not, but he was part of some sort of white nationalist group. He kept his mouth under control most of the time, but it was pretty clear that he thinks-. Thought, I mean, of immigrants and black people as criminals in waiting. He didn't like gays much either."

I raise my eyebrows.

"And the Alliance was alright with that?"

"The Alliance is about making vigilantes more effective." He shrugs. "They don't really care if he goes after ethnic minority criminals as long as they are criminals. And… It's not a command and control relationship. We don't work for the Alliance. It helps us get the tools we need to work, but that's about it. And vigilantism is usually a crime, it's just that the police don't bother enforcing the laws against it a lot of the time."

"What are you making!?"

"Huh?" Kara's floated over to a mostly-complete machine and is studying it in fascination. "Oh. It's an ultrasound emitter for cancer treatment. Purple healing rays and other magic healing work on disease and physical injuries better than surgery or conventional medicine, but neither of them do much to stop cancer. But it turns out that a lot of the time cancerous cells are just different enough to other cells that the right pitch of sound can destroy them while leaving the healthy cells untouched." He smiles happily. "I'll be able to help a lot of people once it gets approval."

"I'm glad to hear it. So how did you and White Dragon meet?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th October 2012
21:34 GMT -5

"That was so disappointing!"

I raise my left eyebrow at New Kara, and give her a moment to finish her thought. She's clearly frustrated about something, but it's really not obvious to me what it is.

"We've been here nearly two hours and we haven't been attacked by a single supervillain!"

"Yes. Lenny and Mister Rathaway are reformed. Mister McCulloch is considering grey hat work. Digger's probably still recovering from last night's drinking. Mister Giuseppe found out that military contracts pay far better than robberies. Central City is pretty stable these days."

She snorts, glaring down at the city as if it has personally offended her.

"If you want somewhere less stable, there's a whole list of cities that could benefit from having a superhero as powerful as you look after them."

"Aqualad wants us here, so here is where we stay! We're staying here until we crack this!"

She looks at me expectantly.

"What? The only other person I know who's part of the Alliance is Marcus Aelius. Honestly, I think our time would be better served by mapping-."

BOOM!

Kara and I both look in the direction of the explosion as glass flies across the street and a plume of fire erupts into-

And she's gone.

-the sky. I transition into a better observation spot, looking down at the street where six people with various injuries are either lying on the ground or seeking cover. I connect filaments to each of them, moving them away from the site-

Kara flies into the hole in the building and them rebounds back out with tremendous force! She flies across the street, through a parked car, through the wall behind it and into the building's interior.

-of the blast before extracting the glass and playing a purple healing ray over them.

"More haste less speed, Kara!"

She pulls herself out of the building, patting brick dust off her costume. "More speed, got it! Just like the Flash!"

"That's not what I-."

She dives in again, maybe a little bit faster, I can't really tell. And right out again, hitting the bonnet end half of the car she hit last time and taking it with her through the wall behind it.

At least it's only one insurance claim.

Alright, one for the car and one for the building, but if she'd been a little to the left-.

And she's back again, this time carrying the broken half-Renault.

"Same speed, more mass!"

I shake my head. No one appears to be in danger, apart from possibly Kara, and that's only from herself. But perhaps I should-

"Oooof!"

Crash mat construct!

-put up a kinetic barrier just to keep the property damage down.

The closest of the civilians gets up as he checks himself over, then watches Kara rebound for the third time. Kinetic barrier works, and there's an odd expression on her face as she gets stopped dead in the air, arms and legs spread-eagled across the barrier's surface.

"Did she hit her head or something?"

"We can only speculate. Sir, if you aren't still injured, please retreat to a safe distance while we deal with this."

"No, no, I'm good." He takes a step away. "Ah, thanks-. Oh, you're the cake guy!"

"For my sins." Abandoning her car chunks, Kara shoots up into the air. "Sir, I really think it would be a good idea if you got out of the potential blast zone."

"Ah, right. I'll do that." He backs up a couple of steps, then pulls out his mobile phone. "Should I call the police?"

"After you're out of the way, yes, thank you."

A red blur f-. Flashes down the street, heading into the building before being knocked back. It recovers, then dashes through a wall in one of the neighbouring buildings. I suppose that Mister Allen is-.

Another blur approaches, this one a little slower. As it reaches me Mister Garrick precipitates out, looking at me in mild irritation.

"I've got a bone to pick with you."

"If you're out and about in costume, I'm more worried about what Joan will say than what you will."

He shakes his head. "Oh no. She knows I'm out. I can't let-"

There's a bang and a yelp from inside the building.

"-that out of my sight."

"Did something happen to Flash-"

The red blur reappears and stops.

"-Two?"

"Vhere do you vant these two, vater?"

I hadn't realised how much her costume is an evolution of Jay's rather than it's own thing like Mr. Allen's is. Red shirt with logo, blue trousers and metal helmet with lightning bolts. Coal scuttle design rather than Brodie helmet, but the whole thing is one big visual link. And best of all, not one swastika.

"Blitzen-. Fath-er?"

Jay's face tightens as Blitzen smiles.

"Jah! The scientists did not have the speed formula, so they had to verk with Herr Jay Garrick's preserved tissue. Several decades later, unt here I am." She looks at the man in her left arm. "This one has skin made of playing cards. This is very strange to me. Unt this one-" She shakes the man with fragments of armour still strapped to him. "-appears to be the vort I am not meant to use on this Earth. He is lucky he is blowing up buildings here, jah?"

"Blitzen. How did you get here?"

"Overgirl vants to convince me to adopt a more li-ber-al outlook by showing me a vorld of degenerates. Honestly, I thought such a vorld vould be more fun than this. More parties, you know? So far it has just been a… Ah, Englisch… 'Busman's holiday'."

"I'll…" I attach constructs to both of her prisoners. "Take those for you."

"Ah, vot a gentleman. No injured inside, though there is a lot of damage and I do not know what they were doink."

"I'm sure that the police can look into it. If we-"

"Supergirl away!"

"-passohno."

I look up as a blue blur slams into the-

The ground shakes with the force of her impact.

-ground.

"Jay, could you please look after these gentlemen while I check on Kara?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th October 2012
21:42 GMT -5

Kara stares at me in what I'm increasingly coming to realise isn't mock offence but is in fact real offence.

"But they're dangerous supervillains!"

"Mister Morillo and Mister Tell are violent thieves, but the damage they usually do is nothing compared to the average week in some places. The fact that they put on a-"

I glance at the two where they glower up at us, in Mr. Tell's case through the hood of a nanotube-reinforced straitjacket in order to prevent him… Firing his… Skin cards.

Ew.

Technically, neither of them have 'costumes'. Mr. Morillo has fairly functional schizo tech body armour while Mr. Tell just has a pair of jeans so that he can reach the skin cards which cover his torso, though I suppose that the cards themselves could count.

"-n exotic appearance doesn't somehow 'prove' that they're worse."

She frowns. "Tell me where's worse, then!"

"Tijuana still has the highest murder rate-."

There's a roar of displaced air and she's gone, and I silently mouth 'thank you, Eris' to myself.

Then I turn to the unexpectedly expanded Garrick family.

"Sorry about that."

"That vas a accurate assessment. Did you have that one saved up for long?"

"She means well, but she's... Ah…"

Jay nods. "Easily distracted and a bit headstrong."

Blitzen nods. "If her head can survive an impact mit concrete like that, it must be strong. She is your Overgirl?"

"No, 'headstrong'. Impulsive and determined in following through on those impulses. And she's certainly someone's Overgirl."

"Ah." She nods. "I see. That is not a problem that Angelika has. She is always very deliberate."

"Where is she, anyway?"

"Taking my place in the Neu Reichsmen vhile I am here. She and Overman are planning somethink, but I just vant them to spent a little time together. He does not like to show it, but he vas very scared vhen she disappeared."

I look from her to Jay and back again.

"A… Nd..?"

"For a Nazi, she's not too bad."

Blitzen grins.

"Danke schön, vater. For a degenerate whose culture is based on that of the two vorts I am not meant to say, you are not too bad either."

"You can say 'Jew'. It's not considered pejorative."

"Okay, but that vas not the vort I vas going to use."

Jay takes a moment. "Was it like this for you, working with Angelika like this?"

I shake my head. "No, Angelika was far less self-confident. And she still doesn't accept the name 'Nazi'."

"I try to avoid self-deception. I know vhat ve are."

"But… I rather got the impression that Nazis were better at mental conditioning than this. You're being surprisingly flippant."

"Ah." She shrugs. "As the degenerates say, 'fick the man'. The Nazis have very strange mixed messages for actual superhumans."

"Angelika had a… Issue-."

"Jah, jah, she's sterile. How many children do you think any of us have?"

"I'd-. Assumed some? I mean, the whole traditional family role-."

"It doesn't mesh with superhumans. Ve're supposed to be… Ah… Elevated, jah? Above petty concerns and slave morality. Ve don't get normal lives. The vomen are supposed to conform to voman social ideas unt also not, because we are above that. And if you are a madman in command of a project that can produce superhumans, then you vere always right and everything you did to make them was right. They didn't even give me a name other than 'Blitzen'."

"Huh?"

"Jah, that vas very funny. 'Hallo everyone, here is Blitzen, our latest ubermensch, unbound by personal identification but rather a pure expression of an ideal'. 'Jah, but you can call me Johanna Garrick.'" She grins. "I thought they vere going to shit themselves!"

I frown and glance at Jay-.

"I've already had this talk. I'm not surprised that Nazis aren't even nice to other Nazis."

"It's the 'survival of the fittest' part of the philosophy. They let madmen do mad things, and if it doesn't vork out? Kill them. The idea was that superhumans naturally vould conform to the higher morality and so to Nazi ideals, because of course that makes sense."

Jay shakes his head. "I still don't understand how they rationalized that."

"I said mad scientist, jah? The people who kept going vith superhuman cloning research vhen Overman banned them from vorking on his body. They dream a mad dream and do not understand vhy no one else alzo dreams it."

"So how are you finding this degenerate world?"

She looks around, then shrugs. "It is okay? On a political level, I do not believe that refusing to ask a question is better than getting the answer wrong. There are many things that your civilisation has that are vorse than mine. Is deliberate murder vorse than a dereliction of duty vhich leads to even more deaths?"

Jay nods. "Yes. Much worse. You had worldwide death camps!"

"And ve did not have the communists. Our civilisation is stronk, vhereas yours could not come together even during an invasion of your whole vorld. The Other Flash feels zo terrible for killing their queen vhen he should be exalted as a hero."

I smile. "Jay, why don't you take the rest of the evening off? I can ride herd on Blitzen, and I think I've got a job for her that fits her skills perfectly."

Jay looks at me, clearly working out how to phrase his scepticism.

"Paul, I'm not sure that's exactly a safe option."

"It's a Justice League mission. I'm working under their rules of engagement, and I just need… Miss Garrick-"

"Hah!"

"-to go to a meeting or two and report back. She'll get to meet a colourful cross-section of the American population and learn about how a society's responses to crises don't have to come from a government entity."

"I…" He thinks for a moment. "Justice League rules?"

"Justice League rules."

"That should be alright. Jo?"

"As a proud daughter of the vaterland, I am eager to start!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st year of the reign of King Randor I
Season of Chill
307th day, 16th bell

Talk or fight?

Fighting in here isn't optimal. Eternians can't fly but the athletic ones can be bloody quick on their feet. And the fight would definitely damage the crystal chamber. I don't know how big a deal that is; Teela Na didn't seem especially concerned about the damage Zodak's fight caused, but it wasn't that much. I have no idea what weapons are integrated into that armour, and then there's the sword…

On the other hand, while I'm not as proficient as some of the other mes I met briefly after we got grabbed by Krona, I am still a Lantern. Or.. power ring user, anyway. Eternians are tough, but they're hardly invulnerable to levels of force I can generate. This fight should be winnable.

Alternately, I could try to convince her that I'm a minor functionary while I feel her out. Find out what -if anything- she remembers of Eternia. What Hordak's been doing with her. I can turn the staff into a broom-.

Evelyn's half way to Adora already.

"Hail, friend. I am Evil-Lyn, a warrior in the service of Skeletor." Adora levels her sword at Evelyn, who stops walking closer and affects an expression of mild offence. "Is that any way to greet an ally?"

Thaaat works, I suppose. I send the staff into subspace before hesitantly following Evelyn, holding my body in a submissive posture.

"Skeletor." Probably-Adora doesn't sound entirely convinced. I suppose that Keldor isn't exactly a constant presence in… Wherever Hordak spends his time. He might just not have mentioned him to her. "This is… Eternia."

"Ah, you do know of it. I hadn't realised that Hordak was trying to send his warriors here."

"Where are we?"

"An abandoned castle I was exploring. The crystals possess a strong magic."

Adora's helmeted face turns towards me, and I make a point of dropping my eyes submissively. She discounts me immediately, not even bothering to look at the Basophil Amulet on my chest. Now, Hordak shouldn't know that King D'Vann's power outlasted him. Keldor only found out about the power of Grayskull recently, and he wasn't in regular contact with his nominal superior. But if he were here, then he'd find out fairly swiftly.

Adora raises her sword slightly, looking at the blue stone in the ricasso. "They're the same."

Evelyn shrugs. "Perhaps. The same colour, certainly." She extends her right hand. "If you'll hand it over I can check for-?"

Adora glares at her. "I'm keeping my sword."

"As you wish." Evelyn withdraws her hand. "And.. who, exactly, are you? From your armour I assume that you work for Hordak..?"

"I am Despara, a Force Captain in the Horde."

"Despara?" From the sound of her voice I don't think that Evelyn is impressed by the try-hard name. Evil Lyn isn't impressed by the try-hard name. I carefully school my expression and don't comment on dubious wisdom of projectile geology in silicate-based domiciles. "I don't believe that I've heard of you."

"My elevation is recent; long after Hordak's last contact with Eternia."

"Where is Hordak these days? He was supposedly banished to Despondos, but if he has living followers that seems unlikely."

"Hordak's great horde is in the process of subjugating the world of Etheria. There is some… Magic to the place that makes it more accessible from Despondos. Hordak can walk among us for brief spans, and his presence and voice are always with us."

Etheria… I guess that's where She-Ra happens? And I don't remember anything about Hordak having trouble interacting with the world. He was just sort of there, commanding his army and occasionally getting involved in active combat with the… She-Ra's team, whatever they were called.

"Fascinating. But how did you come here? I remember the last time that Hordak sent soldiers here, and the preparations were extensive."

"Last time?"

"Mmmmm. Fifteen or so years ago."

'Despara' doesn't move for a moment. Her eyepieces mean that I can't tell whether she's staring at Evelyn or staring into space. And while I could do some sort of ring scan, she might be able to detect it and it would be much better if we could resolve this without fighting.

"What did they do here?"

It's hard to notice, but there was a slight hesitation between the first few words of her question.

"They kidnapped the infant daughter of one of the local rulers. They never said why, but they returned through the portal back to 'Etheria' and never returned."

"What-? Was her name? What did she look like?"

"She looked like a small, crying child." Evelyn shrugs. "Archivist?"

Who-? Oh, me. "Blonde hair, blue eyes, your eminence. Her name was Ador-."

"Adora."

I bow my head. "Yes, your eminence. Have you met the young lady? Actually knowing what Hordak intends would make it far easier for us to enact his will."

"Adora. She came from here."

"Well… A city a short distance from here."

"Have its people been enslaved and tasked to labour for the Horde?"

I shake my head. "No. Skeletor has been more focused on increasing his personal power rather than conquering and holding inhabited territory. He nominally 'rules' half the world, but in fact his writ runs shallow outside of Snake Mountain."

"You are impudent to speak so of the one Hordak has placed over you."

"I try to keep a realistic view of the abilities of those around me. For example, I don't see any sign that you are a magician."

"I am not. I am a warrior."

"Your armour appears…" Evelyn runs her eyes over Despara's armour. "Sophisticated, but I see nothing that could open a portal to this… 'Etheria'."

"Shadow Weaver wished to study my interaction with this sword. Usually I arm myself with two short swords. Shadow Weaver is Hordak's greatest sorceress, and she believed that this sword would react to me in some way. I held it aloft, then… Here I was."

"That's it? No flash of light? No glow?"

"Not that I noticed." She hesitates, her attention moving to the sword. "Though most of my attention was focused on Shadow Weaver. If it was a subtle sign, I may not have noticed."

"Then what are your intentions? Do you wish to return as swiftly as possible? Or do you have other orders you wish to complete first?"

"I should return. But the ability of this sword to open portals could be an asset to the Horde, and none of my usual responsibilities are anything that another Force Captain could not complete nearly as well."

"Then studying the sword is what we will do. Archivist." I perk up attentively. "Fetch my staff and some refreshments and then meet up in the castle library."

I bow my head to hide my smile. And of course I can't refuse now, or the mummery comes to an end and we're back to fighting. Evelyn could have just told Adora that she needs help, so I don't think that she intends to betray me. Of course, that doesn't mean that she isn't trying to find out whether or not Hordak would give her a better deal if she did. Fortunately, I can monitor her while I'm away to make sure that she doesn't do that the moment my back is turned, but I just got put on the back foot something fierce there.

"At once, Evil-Lyn. I will meet you there."

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st year of the reign of King Randor I
Season of Chill
307th day, 16th bell

The Basophil amulet glows as it sustains the simple levitation spell I've cast to carry my load.

One staff, temporarily bequeathed to me by Sorceress Teela Na.

Another staff, this one topped with a crystal ball which allows her to call upon 'blue crystal magic', a title which makes me long for some sort of guide to pre-invasion magic use. Is the colour coding significant? Is it a matter of authorisation to use part of a planet's magic system? Does the colour indicate that they're better at certain tasks but the energy field itself is undifferentiated? Are there racks of crystals sitting somewhere, ready for use?

One plate of pastries and another of fresh fruit. I have no idea where Teela Na gets them from. The forest outside of Castle Grayskull does contain some fruiting trees, but nothing like enough to sustain the larder I visited. She hasn't shown me any sort of hydroponics system, so maybe there's a matter re-sequencer of some sort? If she was just conjuring it she wouldn't bother building up a store…

And the device Teela Na attached to Evelyn's staff to neutralise it, which I'm going to drop off there, just outside of the library, because I might want to grab it again really quickly.

I knock, though I know perfectly well what they're doing and what they've been talking about. Evelyn's plan appears to involve me -as the total unknown- staying in the background as a subservient character while she takes point.

"Come!"

I gesture with my right hand and the door opens, allowing me to walk in, calling Evelyn's staff into my left hand. The two of them are sitting at the table I was occupying, Despara's helmet laying next to her right elbow and her face. Blonde, short-cropped hair and brilliant blue eyes are accentuated by dark eyebrows and a black curve painted along the bottom of her eye orbits. I think the Ancient Egyptians did that to reduce the effect of the sun's glare. Perhaps the part of Etheria where she was stationed was equatorial?

"Polished up nicely, Evil-Lyn."

And just in case, I did actually polish it.

She glances at me from the corner of her eye, then raises her right hand and summons it to her in a flicker of purple light. She catches it without looking, briefly makes the head glow and then lowers it to lean against the table, her left hand resting against the shaft.

I take the opportunity to sit down next to her, though I note that she put the staff on the opposite side from me. A wave of my right forefinger and the plates deposit themselves on the table between them.

Despara regards the pastry selection blankly. Alright, her armour probably has all kinds of protective enchantments on it, but now that her helmet is just sitting on the table the seal to the interior has been broken. The air of this room should now contain just enough dead skin cells and hairs for me to be able to read her genetic code…

Match found.

So unless she's a clone or Hordak's genetic engineering technology is a lot more advanced than anything I've seen -and given that Sir Duncan didn't know what a gene was until I told him I rather doubt that- then this is indeed Princess Adora of Eternos. And her armour didn't appear to detect my scan, which is nice to know.

Evelyn picks up the bread roll that had Adora's attention. "It's not poisoned, if that's what you're worried about."

"What is it?"

"Bread. Ground grains mixed with yeast and water and then baked in an oven."

"And you eat it?"

Evelyn raises her eyebrows slightly, then tears off part of the soft roll and puts it into her mouth.

I nod. "Yes, Force Captain. Bread is a very common foodstuff in this part of Eternia. Most farmers bake their own, and any settlement of any size will have at least one baker. Hordak's horde does not?"

"We eat ration bars, made in the Vittles Factory."

I shake my head. "Eternia lacks the technology to produce nutritious ration bars. It's usually easier for armies to carry flour, jam, sausage… Easily portable preserved food, and feed on that. Or to provision themselves through forage. Though with an army of any size, that can rapidly starve a region."

"The logistics must be complicated."

I nod. "Hordak's horde did a number on the place. Even paved roads are something of a rarity. Much of what was once farmland has returned to nature."

Her eyes narrow. "You speak treason!"

I shrug. "Hardly. I'm sure that Hordak had a plan for the place, and starving an enemy is usually more efficient than meeting them with equal force in the field. I merely observe that moving an army is easier in a place with good infrastructure. Or with a way to supply by air."

I gesture to the pile of books still on the table.

"I was attempting to study Hordak's invasion, to learn from his example. Sadly, few quality records survived. Does the horde have better records?"

Adora appears to have calmed slightly. "Not that I have seen."

"That's a shame. It's usually worth knowing what hasn't gone according to plan in the past in order to avoid repeating those mistakes. Well!" I reach over and pick up a fruit that looks like a cross between an apple and a passion fruit. "Perhaps -time permitting- I could ask Hordak himself for his recollections at some point in the future. I'm sure that future generations would benefit from his wisdom."

I bite down and… Yes, pleasant taste, kind of messy. Puts me a little in mind of a peach in that regard, except that rather than dribbling juice it dribbles seed-rich slime.

Evelyn finishes her roll and reaches out to push the plate a little closer to Adora.

"Are you sure that you're not hungry?"

I nod, lowering the dripping fruit from my mouth and swallowing. "If this is a trust issue, I'll gladly eat a bit of whatever you're worried I might have poisoned."

Adora stares at me for a moment, then grabs a roll apparently at random and tears it in half, hard crust cracking and depositing fragments onto the surface of the table. She looks at the soft interior for a moment and then awkwardly bites at it as if the crust was an inedible fruit skin and only the interior was for eating. Her chewing motion is a little awkward, which… Would make sense if she's really been subsisting on ration bars for her entire life.

Though from the way she's chomping it down as if she's afraid that someone will take it away from her, I would guess that the experience is a pleasant one.

I take another bite of fruit as Evelyn leans forward. "Have you been to Eternia before, Force Captain?"

Adora needs a moment to swallow, and I notice Evelyn looking my way out of the corner of her eye again. I nod, apparently to myself, and Evelyn returns her full attention to Adora.

"No. I was born in the Whelping Chambers in Hordak's domain on Etheria. I have spent my entire life until this day on Etheria."

"Are you certain?"

Adora's eyes narrow for a moment, before putting the crust down and grabbing a fruit a little like a small pineapple.

"Yes. Shadow Weaver told me, and so it is true."

"Could not she be mistaken? Forgive me if I'm wrong, but a place called a 'Whelping Chamber' hardly sounds like a position of high honour. Would they really bother keeping track of every whelp?"

"Yes. How else would they judge which bloodlines were worth cultivating, and for what purpose? Though… I suppose that the tracking only starts once they arrive." She looks mystified at the fruit, so I take a small knife out of subspace and offer it to her, grip first. She takes it and cuts into the flesh of the fruit. "What do you think that you know?"

"You have a certain physical similarity to a local notable. Tell me, Force Captain. Have you heard of He-Man?"