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

No, no, the person who shouts 'order' is the Speaker, not the Prime Minister.
Was John Bercow in on the pointlessly evil conspiracy? Just curious given his reputation as a gadfly who pissed off the government for some mixture of principle and lolz.
 
The Other Half (part 8)
12th July 2012
16:38 GMT


I cut the connection to Grayven's mountain and sit back in my chair. Hard-etched instinct causes me to scan my office for threats, but there's no one here. Prime Ministers don't get a lot of time to themselves, but I generally chivvy people out for this sort of secure telephone call. Grayven's got an impressive network of contacts, but I rather imagine that he'd rather it didn't come to wider public attention.

MI5 is another matter. The secret squirrels we didn't get rid of are going out of their way to make themselves useful. Damn close thing between keeping them on and firing the whole lot of them and building a new intelligence service from scratch. But I don't like punishing people who didn't personally commit the crime, no matter what the back of my head's saying about guilt by association. That's not how Joint Enterprise works.

I don't feel bad about using the intelligence service to obtain information on him. I might have done, before Joanie. Now it's just clearly necessary. Anyone in power needs someone watching 'em, and I can't do that personally all of the time.

My desk phone rings and I pick it up. Back to the grind.

"Talbot."

"Prime Minister, you have a call from a Mister.. 'Doom'?" Ernest, my secretary. My actual secretary, as opposed to the civil service mandarins. "He's on the priority approved list, but-."

"Yes, yes, I know the man. He's a wizard. Put him through."

"Yes sir."

Good man, Ernest. Grandparents on both sides came over on the Windrush and put up with the terrible reception to make a life for themselves, he graduated with a First in Business Administration from LSE. And rather than go into industry with it he decided he'd rather work for the government. People like him are why I didn't just burn Downing Street down and piss on the ashes.

"Prime Minister."

"Mister Doom. Any trouble?"

"Perhaps. Several of my worldwide wards have been tripped."

"World wide?"

"That's not as significant as it sounds. The Earth's thaumosphere forms a natural boundary. Setting a spell to notify the caster when something crosses a boundary is a simple business. Setting them to notify the caster when something occurs within the boundary is only a little more taxing."

"Alright. What triggered it?"

"After a number of… Incidents in the recent past, I set a ward which would inform me if a locus of significant power suddenly became active. Loci.. in this instance referring to either an artefact or individual which had previously been inert. An artefact which could grant an individual tremendous power, an eldritch abomination breaking into the world or an ancient magician who had been hibernating."

"Is that common?"

"Common? No. Twice a decade, perhaps. We still don't know where Dracula is."

"Alright. Which is it?"

"I don't know. As I said, the ward simply alerts me to an event. I've been trying to scry the location of whatever it was for several hours, but I haven't been able to locate it. That implies either an object designed to conceal itself and its user, or a magician of considerable skill and finesse."

"The Justice League hasn't sent out an alert."

"Giovanni Zatara's skills are dissimilar to mine. He hasn't ever had to learn subtlety in the way that a jumped up street magician like myself has had to. And to be honest, 'something is happening, somewhere, probably' isn't much to go on. It might not even be a problem."

"Do you honestly believe that?"

"Not for a second. I'm going to keep looking, but you may wish to pass my alert on to them."

"Thank you. I will. Let me know if you make any progress."

"I will. Thank you, Prime Minister."

I put the phone down. Blast. Grayven didn't say anything, and he's usually fairly good about letting me know when something catastrophic is happening. Or when there's an advantage to be gained. Which means that he isn't aware of it.

I dial Jasmine's number. With a fairly limited number of experienced parliamentarians to draw on, the top government jobs more or less assigned themselves. She got the Home Office, which means that if things were running normally Doom would be phoning her. But they're not, and I haven't forgotten that she knew how bad things were and didn't try to raise the alarm until we forced her hand.

I don't think that life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is an appropriate punishment for moral weakness. But I'll be more content if she joins Boris once some of the new intake have a little experience under their belt.

"Prime Minister?"

"Cursitor Doom just contacted me." A light appears on my desk and I press the button that lets my entourage know that they can't come in just yet. "Apparently, something big and magical just activated and is now hiding itself. Please pass that along to the Justice League."

"Does he have any more details?"

"No, but he's going to keep looking."

"I'll have my department send out the alerts."

"Thank you. Goodbye."

I put the phone down, and then I dial Professor Larissa. It's nine in the morning over there so she should be awake but classes shouldn't have started just yet. Grayven gave me her number as an expert magic consultant, and I suspect that she has a little more oomph than Doom does. With that Sunset girl of his, he simply wouldn't trouble himself with her otherwise.

"Hello?"

"Professor Larissa? This-"

"Yes?"

"-is Prime Minister Geoffrey Talbot."

"Ah, of course. I'm afraid that I have a ring-back system for world leaders."

"Quite sensible. Speak to you in a moment, then."

I put the phone down, and a moment later it rings again.

"Mister Prime Minister. How can I be of service?"

"The British government's chief magician just gave us a vague premonition of doom. Supposedly, something magically powerful recently became active and is now hiding itself. Our capacity for magic investigation is somewhat limited, and Mister Grayven suggested that I contact you."

"Did he say how powerful?"

"A twice-a-decade event."

"Hm. I haven't noticed anything, but I'll look into it and get back to you."

"Thank you. I appreciate it. Goodbye."

"Goodbye Mister Prime Minister."

I put the phone down, then press the button to summon my staff. I've still got a legacy to obliterate.
 
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Hard-etched instinct causes

Maybe 'A hard-etched' or 'instincts cause'

The secret squirrels we didn't get rid of are going out of their way to make themselves useful.

I know that they're probably not real squirrels, but I can really see squirrel spies being a thing in DC.

Alright. What triggered it?"

Arion.

Loci.. in this instance referring to either an artefact or individual which had previously been inert

Arion.

We still don't know where Dracula is."

Try Gotham.

Because it's Gotham and it seems to have everything from evil wizards, to vampires, to extra-dimensional bat god things connected to it in the comics, shows and movies.

That implies that either an object designed to conceal itself and its user, or a magician of considerable skill and finesse

Arion.

I dial Jasmine's number. With a fairly limited number of experienced parliamentarians to draw on, the top government jobs more or less assigned themselves. She got the Home Office, which means that if things were running normally Doom would be phoning her. But they're not, and I haven't forgotten that she knew how bad things were and didn't try to raise the alarm until we forced her hand

This was the woman renegade intimidated.

I put the phone down, and then I dial Professor Larissa. It's nine in the morning over there so she should be awake but teaching a class just yet. Grayven gave me her number as an expert magic consultant, and I suspect that she has a little more ompf than Doom does. With that Sunset girl of his, he simply wouldn't trouble himself with her otherwise

Oh yeah, Circe is Thessalay in this universe.

magically powerful recent became active

'recently'

"Hm. I haven't noticed anything

Either she's still getting used to her new powers, or Arion made extra sure that he could slip past the radar of powerful magicians, but whatever he did left him open to less powerful ones, and he may have thought he had nothing to worry from them.
 
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12th July 2012
16:38 GMT


I cut the connection to Grayven's mountain and sit back in my chair. Hard-etched instinct causes me to scan my office for threats, but there's no one here. Prime Ministers don't get a lot of time to themselves, but I generally chivvy people out for this sort of secure telephone call. Grayven's got an impressive network of contacts, but I rather imagine that he'd rather it didn't come to wider public attention.
And we immediately move on to Geoffrey's viewpoint. Which presumably means it'll be linked into the Arion plotline. I don't see anything related to Black Manta coming up that the British Prime Minister needs to be involved in, after all...

MI5 is another matter. The secret squirrels we didn't get rid of are going out of their way to make themselves useful. Damn close thing between keeping them on and firing the whole lot of them and building a new intelligence service from scratch. But I don't like punishing people who didn't personally commit the crime, no matter what the back of my head's saying about guilt by association. That's not how Joint Enterprise works.

I don't feel bad about using the intelligence service to obtain information on him. I might have done, before Joanie. Now it's just clearly necessary. Anyone in power needs someone watching 'em, and I can't do that personally all of the time.
And we see the true benefit of his Enlightenment. Where the average Red Lantern would go after anyone involved in a crime they were avenging, no matter how tangentially related, he's able to hold his judgement until they're proven innocent or guilty.

My desk phone rings and I pick it up. Back to the grind.

"Talbot."

"Prime Minister, you have a call from a Mister.. 'Doom'?" Ernest, my secretary. My actual secretary, as opposed to the civil service mandarins. "He's on the priority approved list, but-."
That would be Cursitor Doom, of course. Befriended by Grayven after a misunderstanding involving a break-in at the wizard's magic castle, and a key part of breaking the magical side of the conspiracy... Let me guess, he's noticed something big moving about the magical world, so to speak?

"Yes, yes, I know the man. He's a wizard. Put him through."

"Yes sir."

Good man, Ernest. Grandparents on both sides came over on the Windrush and put up with the terrible reception to make a life for themselves, he graduated with a First in Business Administration from LSE. And rather than go into industry with it he decided he'd rather work for the government. People like him are why I didn't just burn Downing Street down and piss on the ashes.
A rare government person who honestly works for the greater good, and not their own petty little kingdom of bureaucracy. I'm not surprised you snagged him and held onto him. A person like that is worth their weight in anything.

"Prime Minister."

"Mister Doom. Any trouble?"

"Perhaps. Several of my world wide wards have been tripped."
What level of 'tripped' are we talking? Tickles on the line ringing bells, or every last stake just got ripped up by something huge?

"World wide?"

"That's not as significant as it sounds. The Earth's thaumosphere forms a natural boundary. Setting a spell to notify the caster when something crosses a boundary is a simple business. Setting them to notify the caster when something occurs within the boundary is only a little more taxing."
After all, scale means little to magic. It's only the limits of the caster that matter.

"Alright. What triggered it?"

"After a number of… Incidents in the recent past, I set a ward which would inform me if a loci of significant power suddenly became active. Loci.. in this instance referring to either an artefact or individual which had previously been inert. An artefact which could grant an individual tremendous power, an eldritch abomination breaking into the world or an ancient magician who had been hibernating."
Yes, definitely things a nation slowly recovering from a recent demon-worshipping cult's exposure would want to be aware of, eh? Give you all one guess as to who it was...

"Is that common?"

"Common? No. Twice a decade, perhaps. We still don't know where Dracula is."
Hmm... Where is Dracula at this time, in general DC continuity? Because while he's probably not the most powerful vampire around, or the highest-ranked, he is the most well-known...

"Alright. Which is it?"

"I don't know. As I said, the ward simply alerts me to an event. I've been trying to scry the location of whatever it was for several hours, but I haven't been able to locate it. That implies that either an object designed to conceal itself and its user, or a magician of considerable skill and finesse."
And either of those things is a concerning matter. The former because you won't know who, if anyone, has their hands on it, and the latter because of their intentions, good or ill.

"The Justice League hasn't sent out an alert."

"Giovanni Zatara's skills are dissimilar to mine. He hasn't ever had to learn subtlety in the way that a jumped up street magician like myself has had to. And to be honest, 'something is happening, somewhere, probably' isn't much to go on. It might not even be a problem."
Honestly, at this point, the League really needs to look into a dedicated sub-branch focused on magic-related emergencies. I mean, one good idea out of recent DC was Justice League Dark, even if their execution wasn't great (like so much else New 52...)

"Do you honestly believe that?"

"Not for a second. I'm going to keep looking, but you may wish to pass my alert on to them."
And yet, if Zatara's busy with something else, like a dead teenager with a mater-level anonymising spell and clear magical lineage, you'll be kind of stuck...

"Thank you. I will. Let me know if you make any progress."

"I will. Thank you, Prime Minister."
Likelihood of Doom getting a PoV segment: Low, unless Grayven has some reason to contact him directly...

I put the phone down. Blast. Grayven didn't say anything, and he's usually fairly good about letting me know when something catastrophic is happening. Or when there's an advantage to be gained. Which means that he isn't aware of it.

I dial Jasmine's number. With a fairly limited number of experienced parliamentarians to draw on, the top government jobs more or less assigned themselves. She got the Home Office, which means that if things were running normally Doom would be phoning her. But they're not, and I haven't forgotten that she knew how bad things were and didn't try to raise the alarm until we forced her hand.
In other words, a lot of the important things are in the hands of people who saw a need to take care of them? Hell, things might actually get done then.

I don't think that life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is an appropriate punishment for moral weakness. But I'll be more content if she joins Boris once some of the new intake have a little experience under their belt.

"Prime Minister?"
Providing a little more experience to the relatively inexperienced opposition, eh? Better than accusations of motions being bullied through the House by the resident super-hero (some would say super-villain, no doubt.)

"Cursitor Doom just contacted me." A light appears on my desk and I press the button that lets my entourage know that they can't come in just yet. "Apparently, something big and magical just activated and is now hiding itself. Please pass that along to the Justice League."

"Does he have any more details?"
Regrettably, no... Unfortunately, he's about the best wizard the UK has that can get on with government work without trouble...

"No, but he's going to keep looking."

"I'll have my department send out the alerts."
And it says a lot about the world as it is now that she accepts all that without one moment of incredulity...

"Thank you. Goodbye."

I put the phone down, and then I dial Professor Larissa. It's nine in the morning over there so she should be awake but teaching a class just yet. Grayven gave me her number as an expert magic consultant, and I suspect that she has a little more ompf than Doom does. With that Sunset girl of his, he simply wouldn't trouble himself with her otherwise.
:rolleyes: Ah, Geoffrey, you have no idea...

"Hello?"

"Professor Larissa? This-"
Let's hope she wasn't sleeping in. But the quickness of the response suggest otherwise...

"Yes?"

"-is Prime Minister Geoffrey Talbot."

"Ah, of course. I'm afraid that I have a ring-back system for world leaders."
Heh. To minimise the political fallout of them calling up an attractive young lady with a certain reputation? Sensible.

"Quiet sensible. Speak to you in a moment, then."

I put the phone down, and a moment later it rings again.
Straight through, because Magic.

"Mister Prime Minister. How can I be of service?"

"The British government's chief magician just gave us a vague premonition of doom. Supposedly, something magically powerful recent became active and is now hiding itself. Our capacity for magic investigation is somewhat limited, and Mister Grayven suggested that I contact you."

"Did he say how powerful?"
And Circe showing no hesitation to believe him. Then again, she's familiar with Talbot from the whole devil-worshipper thing, so she knows he wouldn't rouble her for a mere hedge-wizard playing up or the like.

"A twice-a-decade event."

"Hm. I haven't noticed anything, but I'll look into it and get back to you."
So, she'll be making it priority one, then. Let's hope that doesn't paint a target on her with Arion.

"Thank you. I appreciate it. Goodbye."

"Goodbye Mister Prime Minister."

I put the phone down, then press the button to summon my staff. I've still got a legacy to obliterate.
Impending doom? Imminent end-of-the-world? Bugger that, I've got a country to sort out. How very British of him.

And that was an entertaining little sequence of conversations. More of the Arion plot coming together, I see. It'll be interesting to see if everyone involved gets together to compare notes once they work out more of what's happening...
 
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An immortal, insane Atlantean archmage... with a bug-like final form. I have a feeling Gray (and Arty I suppose) will be elated! Is Grayven's trusty infinty+1 dagger still functional? The last time I remember him using it was in that 'Trapped at the End of Time' arc I'm still trying to repress.
 
And we immediately move on to Geoffrey's viewpoint. Which presumably means it'll be linked into the Arion plotline. I don't see anything related to Black Manta coming up that the British Prime Minister needs to be involved in, after all...

Unless Manta attacked British shipping, or at least an ally of Britain who Britain may have to arrest if he comes on their territory.

LEt me guess, he's noticed something big moving about the magical world, so to speak?

Yep.

Yes, definitely things a nation slowly recovering from a recent demon-worshipping cult's exposure would want to be aware of, eh? Give you all one guess as to who it was...

And the whole Roanoke incident, and the King of Tears, assuming renegade told them.

Hmm... Where is Dracula at this time, in general DC continuity? Because while he's probably not the most powerful vampire around, or the highest-ranked, he is the most well-known...

My bet is Gotham.

A lot of evil things seem to live there.

In the pre n52 there was Dr. Gotham, in the n52 there was Barbatos, and in that animated movie there was Dracula.

Honestly, at this point, the League really needs to look into a dedicated sub-branch focused on magic-related emergencies. I mean, one good idea out of recent DC was Justice League Dark,

Now I'm thinking renegade Constantine, who is helping with the whole magic thing, goes to Atlantis and dates a shark.

That may also explain where his paragon version is, getting to fuck a shark.

some would say super-villain, no doubt.)

Well he wears red and black, overthrew the previous government, wears a ring powered by rage, said ring was made by an utter monster, he's working with a conquest god who has a connection to a tyrant god and uses fear and greed as weapons.

True Geoffrey isn't a villain, but he sure as hell fits a lot of perceptions of what a villain is.

Let's hope that doesn't paint a target on her with Arion.

Chojin for gods sake, stop trying to summon Murphy!
 
It will be interesting to see if the Renegade will be teaming up with his old friends on the Team for this one. If they do, I hope to see some more interaction, and not just the Renegade messing with Robin and Robin triple checking everything the Renegade touches.

Mr Zoat, random question. Is Overgirl an official member of the Team? Better yet, can we get an updated list on both the Team and the Light? I ask for the latter because I'm uncertain if Black Manta got the seat that he wanted, or if he's still just a merc the Renegade hires.
 
Maybe 'A hard-etched' or 'instincts cause'
I think it's okay.
Try Gotham.

Because it's Gotham and it seems to have everything from evil wizards, to vampires, to extra-dimensional bat god things connected to it in the comics, shows and movies.
He probably hasn't heard of Gotham. I've only heard of Hoboken because of MegasXLR.
Thank you, corrected.
Either she's still getting used to her new powers, or Arion made extra sure that he could slip past the radar of powerful magicians, but whatever he did left him open to less powerful ones, and he may have thought he had nothing to worry from them.
It's a stylistic thing.
needs a "not" in between "but teaching".
Thank you, corrected.
Mr Zoat, random question. Is Overgirl an official member of the Team? Better yet, can we get an updated list on both the Team and the Light? I ask for the latter because I'm uncertain if Black Manta got the seat that he wanted, or if he's still just a merc the Renegade hires.
B01 – Robin (Richard Grayson)
B02 – Aqualad (Kaldur'ahm)
B03 – Kid Flash (Wallace West)
B04 – Superboy (Conner Kent/Kon-El)
B05 – Miss Martian (M'gann M'orzz)
B06 – Orange Lantern (Paul ######)
B07 – Red Arrow (William Harper)
B08 – Artemis (Artemis Crock)
B09 – Zatanna Zatara
B10 – Cornwall Boy (Robert Marrack)
B11 – Rocket (Raquel Ervin)
B12 - Troia (Donna Troy)
B13 – Tempest (Garth)
B14 – Aquagirl (Tula)
B15 - Squire (Beryl Hutchinson)
B16 - Speedy Arsenal (Roy William Harper)
B17 – Canis Minor
B18 - Starfire (it did not test well) / Red Star (Leonid Kovar)
B19 - Osiris (Amon Tomaz)
B20 - Supergirl (Linda Danvers/Noriel)
B21 - Star Sapphire (Ghia'ta)
B22 - Green Lantern (Arisia Rrab)
B23 - Overgirl (Angelika Kant)

B01 – Robin / Nightwing (red costume)
B02 – Aqualad
B03 – Kid Flash
B04 – Superboy
B05 – Miss Martian
B06 - Grayven
B07 – Red Arrow
B08 – Artemis
B09 – Zatanna Zatara
B10 - Beowulf
B11 - Celestial Archer
B12 - Match
B13 - Rocket
B14 - Ixy
B15 - Tempest
B16 - Aquagirl
B17 - Polara (Frances Kane)

The Renegade timeline Light hasn't changed. Mr. Hyde was provisionally convinced by Grayven that it isn't what he wants.
 

"Are you wearing a track suit now? What happened to the traffic cone outfit?"
https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F12dc554b-ac0d-4558-8af2-604935cd6c57

Grayven is still on the roster?! Didn't Batman kick him out after he went... renegade?
 
"Why can't I see his face?"

"Magic." Zatara glances at the image. "Very powerful magic. Someone has gone to considerable effort to erase this man's identity."
"Apparently, something big and magical just activated and is now hiding itself. Please pass that along to the Justice League."
Hmm, something magically powerful that is concealing things from observation.

If Zatara and Shade are on the case from one side, while Doom is looking into it from his end, while Circe investigates from her end, this could be an interesting convergence of plotlines.
 
If Zatara and Shade are on the case

Zatara has to practice his rabbit pulling trick for his next tour. He just doesn't have the time for this Atlantean nonsense. That's why he offloaded this quest to the Team (do they have an actual name yet or not?) and Grayven. What could possibly go wrong with a milk run misson like this?
 
I think it's okay.

He probably hasn't heard of Gotham. I've only heard of Hoboken because of MegasXLR.

Thank you, corrected.

It's a stylistic thing.

Thank you, corrected.

B01 – Robin (Richard Grayson)
B02 – Aqualad (Kaldur'ahm)
B03 – Kid Flash (Wallace West)
B04 – Superboy (Conner Kent/Kon-El)
B05 – Miss Martian (M'gann M'orzz)
B06 – Orange Lantern (Paul ######)
B07 – Red Arrow (William Harper)
B08 – Artemis (Artemis Crock)
B09 – Zatanna Zatara
B10 – Cornwall Boy (Robert Marrack)
B11 – Rocket (Raquel Ervin)
B12 - Troia (Donna Troy)
B13 – Tempest (Garth)
B14 – Aquagirl (Tula)
B15 - Squire (Beryl Hutchinson)
B16 - Speedy Arsenal (Roy William Harper)
B17 – Canis Minor
B18 - Starfire (it did not test well) / Red Star (Leonid Kovar)
B19 - Osiris (Amon Tomaz)
B20 - Supergirl (Linda Danvers/Noriel)
B21 - Star Sapphire (Ghia'ta)
B22 - Green Lantern (Arisia Rrab)
B23 - Overgirl (Angelika Kant)

B01 – Robin / Nightwing (red costume)
B02 – Aqualad
B03 – Kid Flash
B04 – Superboy
B05 – Miss Martian
B06 - Grayven
B07 – Red Arrow
B08 – Artemis
B09 – Zatanna Zatara
B10 - Beowulf
B11 - Celestial Archer
B12 - Match
B13 - Rocket
B14 - Ixy
B15 - Tempest
B16 - Aquagirl
B17 - Polara (Frances Kane)

The Renegade timeline Light hasn't changed. Mr. Hyde was provisionally convinced by Grayven that it isn't what he wants.

I thought Red Arrow was a member of the Justice League and not the Team? Was he demoted?
 
Red Arrow is a member of the Team?

I thought he was on the League.

And what happened to renegade Roy?

Is he on the Team?
My version of the list has some people greyed out. When I copied it to QQ, that didn't copy.

Renegade Roy was recovered after the Renegade came back to Earth. He's probably on the team, but he's even less relevant to the Renegade's story than he was to canon due to there being two god-archers on the team as well.
The image won't display, computer says it contains errors.
Post pictures of Frances Kane, I guess.
 
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It seems it's time the global magic people had a meating or two to standardise certain things and implement a global watch.

And what is this ring back system for world leaders?

She obviously calls them back, but why is that important?
 
It seems it's time the global magic people had a meating or two to standardise certain things and implement a global watch.

And what is this ring back system for world leaders?

She obviously calls them back, but why is that important?
Because if someone phones you and claims to be a world leader, you need to check that they're not an impressionist. So you phone the number you have for them.
 

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