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

[Mr Zoat]

8th April 2013
18:58 GMT -5

"So if it weren't a magic giant, how come she's throwin' knives atcha?"

I lean back in my construct recliner, overlooking the stadium below us. The surviving sports venues got repurposed after-. Well, during and after the Anti-Life blanketed the Earth, though thankfully this one wasn't used for anything too gristly. Sporting events are just starting up, though between the economic collapse and the collapse of the leagues they're just opening them up to local amateur teams just to get some use out of them.

"Beatrice is a fairly passionate woman, so-."

"Hey." Guy waves his artisan beer bottle at me. "You passed."

"I meant as in 'intense', not 'amorous'."

"That's Latinas for yeh."

"She's Roman-?"

No, he means 'from below Texas'. I mean, yes, I know 'Latin America' is how United Statesians refer to South America, but whenever I hear someone say 'Latina' I think they're talking about a pokemon. It doesn't even make sense; the Romans never went to South America, and neither did the Italians. It's all Portugal and Spain.

Guy stares at me in disbelief. "Yer jokin', right?"

"No."

He snorts, taking a mouthful of popcorn and going back to watching the game below.

"I'm not sure. The genetic alterations could be affecting her mood, but it's just as likely to be a product of prolonged intense stress. You and I can go home and rebuild a good deal more easily than she can."

"Mm." He nods absent-mindedly. "An' if it is genetic?"

"Then there's not much we can do about it. Anger management classes, maybe?"

Another nod. "So what next?"

The landlord didn't know anything, the account the rent was paid from has been closed down, the woman who manned the counter didn't know anything beyond the fact that the shop manager wasn't particularly talkative and we couldn't trace the manager. Which would worry me if it weren't for the fact that medium grade wards were commercially available for months before the Anti-Life broadcast so that doesn't necessarily indicate a high level of opposition.

"Put out an alert and wait, I'm afraid. We could try a sting operation… Assuming that this is someone targetting metahumans, but every metahuman we actually know is probably better actually… Doing stuff."

"Think they'll try clonin' her?"

"Best of luck to them if they do."

Guy smirks.

"But seriously, no. Cloning is hard. Cloning adults is harder, and… If you can clone a kryptonian, why would you clone anything else? For their innate abilities, I mean."

"No offense to yer boys, but that didn' go quite right. An Bea was hittin herder today than she use t'. Howsabowt checkin' up on laboratories, things like that?"

"It's a big planet. The chance of us stumbling over something is next to nothing. And the opportunity cost is pretty high."

Guy nods, his expression slightly sombre. "Yeah. Good thing we don't have lives, right?"

"On the subject of our lives outside of our work… I have been asked to relay-."

"She wants me to pick up aftah myself more."

"Yes."

He sighs, sitting back in his own construct chair. "It ain't that I don't-. I live on my own, an' not havin' weaponised O.C.D. like you got, I jus' don't think about it."

"Well, obvious solution."

"Get my ring to page me?"

"Marry Tora."

"U-uuuh. That's…" He glances at me. "Kinda weird, you puttin' it like that."

I shrug. "Sorry if that's a bit intrusive, but if Jade was based on Earth I'd have married her by now. If her sense of self-worth would have allowed it, I wouldn't have mentioned the Darkstars. I can literally see how much the two of you love each other-"

He looks away. "Fergot abowd that."

"-and since you're both superheroes there isn't any sort of increased risk to her safety by being associated with you. I'm really not seeing any reason not to."

"You wanna make Bea homeless that badly?"

"I could put her up, if it came to it. Wouldn't be hard to add a teleport system to my place in Bir Tawil. Is there..? Some sort of..? Problem?"

"Yeah." He chuckles grimly. "Self-sabotage. Me worryin' abowd how this is gunna go wrong."

"Guy. If I don't worry about that, you've got nothing to worry about."

"I don't know that tracks, but… Thanks."

"Alright, I think that's as far as I can go before we both need emergency testosterone injections. Talk to me if you want to, or your sister, or… Carol?"

"Which one?"

"Dame Carol… Do you know the other one?"

"Yeah." He nods. "We're not close or anythin', but Hal an' me werked together fer three years before I got put on a bus. I knew his girlfriend an' boss 'cause I had t' cover fer him."

"If you were trying to get on the bus, you missed."

"Any landing you can eventually walk away from…"

"You even sound like Jordan."

He snorts again, but this time his amusement is more genuine. "Bea have any other complaints?"

"She wasn't complaining about you not marrying Tora, if that's what you're implying."

Guy thinks for a moment. Then he stands, dismissing the chair construct.

"Oh, we done? Too much-?"

Guy tilts his head back, raises his fists… And… Beats his chest in a staccato rhythm.

"Aaaah-ahhhh-aaaghaaahaaaaaghaahhhh!"

I frown, a.. little concerned. "Guy, the.. baseball players are staring at us."

"What can I say, Orange? When you're right, you're right. What kinda ring you think I should get?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th April 2013
11:02 GMT +1

I walk into the… Ruined church with a frown. This doesn't look recent. Some people exposed to the Anti-Life attacked the sacred, but there wasn't really an organised campaign as far as I've been able to tell. There were a few occasions where Mannheim threw aside an altar and had a congregation worship him, but that was a dominance thing rather than a serious attempt to realign Earth religious practice.

He's been attending church a little more regularly recently.

Chantinelle is doing the metal album thing of praying at a ruined statue in the middle of the ruin. I… I don't really know why. I've checked up on her a few times since we…

What's a polite way of saying 'mutilated'..?

Realigned her soul. And she was making herself useful in a variety of minor ways, acting as a counsellor at large to people who her new magical senses tell her need it. I have no idea what she did while the Earth was under the influence of the Anti-Life or why she's here… But if I want to track John down she's probably at least a part of the solution.

I don't muffle my steps, but I do hang back a little and wait for her to finish her prayers.

After thirty three seconds she stands, her wings morphing into a long coat and her more inhuman features concealing themselves. She looks me over for a moment.

"I didn't think you could find me."

"I can't scan for you directly, but your magic has a unique signature. Indirect detection and crude sensors work fine."

She nods. "What do you want?"

"What were you..? Doing?"

"Praying."

"What for?"

"I want to help more. I want to earn my way into heaven. I want to-. Be more right."

"Remind me. You didn't fall, right? You were born in Hell?" She nods. "Ah, well, I don't think prayer does anything in and of itself, but if it helps you, go for it. Is there anything that I can do to help out?"

"Perhaps… If you could find people in need for me. Nothing else. I need to earn this myself."

"I'm not a theologian, but I don't think that's how it works. You're judged based on who you are, not what you've done. Striving to help others is good, destroying yourself isn't. But I do have a friend who might benefit from talking to you, so there's that. Oh, and the producer of Queen Hera's old television series needs a new star. You might find it a little commercial, but she made a lot of people happy."

"I've been helping reunify families that lost each other during the… Dark time. Or comforted the bereaved. Mid-day television isn't quite the same."

"A public platform can be used to further virtuous causes, but if you want something hands-on then it isn't for you."

"Why have you come looking for me now?"

"Why do you want to get into Heaven, specifically? I'd have thought that you'd find Zamaron more satisfying. As you are now."

"Tali would have gone to Heaven. And so would our child."

"We.. could just ask Zauriel for some clarity on that. The Angel Kings have been rethinking a lot of things recently."

"Death is part of existence. I don't want to pull Tali's soul away from God. I just want to.. see for myself that he is alright."

I snort, shaking my head. "Sorry. I think I'm too far into the orange part of the spectrum to comprehend that answer. As long as you're happy, I guess."

Not as if I actually need her there to ask Zauriel myself.

My face falls as for a horrible moment I consider the idea that Noriel is their offspring. No. No, she's far too old. And there's no demonic magic in here. We checked.

I'm going to double check.

"I'm not. But I will be, someday. What do you want, Paul?"

"The island John Constantine was on hasn't reappeared. Given your long history with the man, I was hoping that you'd have some insight."

She frowns. "Didn't you help him become a Lord of Chaos?"

"Yes. And a Lord of Order."

"Then I think he'll turn up when he wants to."

"Right, and if he wants an indefinite holiday in the Lands In-Between then he can just go back there once we've checked up on him. But he wasn't the only person on that island, and the others aren't super-powerful wizards."

Though, being Amazons, they might appreciate the change of pace. But maybe John Constantine is a bit of a steep 'change of pace' curve.

"I don't know what you think I can do. You know him better than I do."

"If I could find him using my own resources then I'd have done that by now. I have an approximate idea what he can do. You understand how he thinks better than I do."

"I'm not sure that's true anymore. But… The other people on the island. Are they Amazons?"

"Yes."

"Then I might be able to find them through their bonds." She frowns. "Why haven't you asked the Star Sapphires?"

"Neither of them know anything about magic. And they haven't met any of the people involved. But if it'll help then I can ask them to come."

And it.. might actually be worth asking them to have a look at her as well. Just in case I got something wrong.

"Do you think that it would be better if he wasn't found?"

"No."

She studies my face for a few moments.

"Having obtained ultimate power, John Constantine has no one watching him. Does that sound like a good idea to you?"

"No." That gets a small smile. "It doesn't."

"Are you available now, or do you want to schedule it for later?"

"I'm volunteering at a local primary school. But I can try finding John this evening."

I nod. "I'll come and pick you up. Thank you."

I-.

"Paul, before-. You go. The father of one of the children got one of his arms torn up by the sheeda. It's giving his daughter nightmares."

"I suspect it's more the association than the lack of an arm, but if you think it would help I'm happy to replace it. Why don't you introduce us?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th April 2013
13:37 GMT +3

"I'm… Surprised."

I look around the Themysciran streets. "I know. Three thousand years, and they hardly advanced at all."

"You healed Klaus's arm. He thanked you, his family thanked you, and you wanted to leave as quickly as possible."

I shrug. "What's not to understand?"

"He was crying with happiness. I nearly cried. If I could heal worth a.. damn, I'd spend all of my time doing that. I'd be overjoyed to get that sort of response."

"All the more reason to talk to Dame Carol." She's glaring at me. "What, do you want an explanation?"

"Yes."

"I can't just heal anyone I feel like healing. I'm an orange Lantern. Worse, I'm an Enlightened Orange Lantern. I can't fool myself into thinking 'maybe I want this' because I know I don't. I always know. I'll take your word for it that he was a good man, but he's not mine."

"Then how did you do it?"

"Human perfectionism. I find damaged bodies.. wrong. I healed him using my desire for my own psychological comfort. You'll note how there aren't any maimed Amazons anymore."

"So why did you offer to make him a mechanical hand?"

"No, I offered him a cybernetic. Something with added functionality. Something I could get excited about." I shake my head. "It's not practical for me to heal everyone on the planet, and it would impede the development of medical technology and encourage dependency. But a cybernetic could be built by other people in a workshop. Developing a human-compatible cybernetic could help a lot of people. Repairing his arm back to how it was just helps him and his daughter."

Mala was on Reformation Island when it vanished, and of all the people who love her…

I rise into the air and then fly over the city towards the docks. Chantinelle flies behind me, expression thoughtful.

"What?"

"I didn't expect you to think like that. It's not all that different to how demons think."

"I was going to say that demons wouldn't act from altruistic ends, but Buer acted selflessly to free the First. And Satanus did nearly manage to turn me into a demon using Mammon's power. I've never claimed to be the best guide to moral behaviour-. Ah."

I drop down, landing next to Antimonie as she checks the integrity of her nets. She stops, looking at me with a healthy dose of caution.

"Yes?"

"I had an idea about locating Reformation Island."

"And you need to borrow my boat because?"

"Oh, no. Chantinelle here-" Chantinelle lands, and… Gets a decidedly interested look from Antimonie. "-can track people via the bonds of love. You and your sister are on good terms?"

"We've always loved each other. But, yes. We haven't had a big fight in centuries." She looks Chantinelle over. "So what exactly does finding Mala via my love involve?"

"Love. Not sex." Chantinelle places her hands on Antimonie's shoulders and gently directs her to a clear part of the jetty. Then she extends her tail and walks around her, scratching a rough circle in the stone. "And I just need you to stand there."

"That doesn't sound like fun."

When Chantinelle is facing away from me I hold up my right hand, shaking my head and wincing at Antimonie.

"And stay still while I imprison you in a solid block of crystal.

"What?" / "What?"

Pink light flares from the interior of the circle as Antimonie looks down, eyes wide. Then the crystal shoots up, enveloping her.

Several other Amazons look on in concern. I try and give them a reassuring smile and a wave, but it doesn't appear to reassure anyone.

"She's alright, right?"

"Yes. I just needed to crystallise the emotion to get a proper resonance." She frowns to herself. "Does that happen a lot?"

"What, Amazons hitting on the first foreign woman they see?" Ah… "It's frequent enough. Though they usually show a bit more deference to someone who obviously isn't human. I…"

I watch her run her hands over the crystal menhir for a moment.

"Does that mean that you're not interested in a relationship with anyone other than Tali, or that-."

"I can't imagine something like that happening. But there was a time when I couldn't imagine someone like him-. I couldn't imagine ever feeling like that about anyone. If it happened-. I don't know. I'm not looking… But I don't know."

"Understood."

"But I have no interest at all in a hook up with a randy pagan. I'm not a succubus any more."

"Are you still feeding on..? What are you feeding on?"

She stops touching the crystal and takes a step back. "I 'feed' by bringing love into the universe. Whenever I help someone, whenever I repair a relationship, I get a little stronger."

I nod. That tracks. Succubae don't feed on sex exactly, they feed on the indulgence in vice. Lustful vice, prideful vice, it doesn't really matter: immoral action is the key. Chantinelle got exactly no power out of her relationship with Tali, which is one of the things that makes it so odd.

"Found anything?"

"I think so." She frowns uncertainly. "I'm not a magical expert like some. I know a lot because I'm old, not because I've ever been much of a student of magic."

I nod. "And this is new to you. What do you think you know?"

"The resonance is still there. Usually-. Before you changed me, I'd use it to find lustful mortals. Now, I think I can feel Mala through the light of love… But only through that."

"And the upshot is?"

"I can take us all there. I think. But I don't know where 'there' is and I don't know if I can bring us back."

"I can handle 'back'. I even know the rituals to let me bring you with me, if John can't handle it for some reason."

"He might be dead."

"The universe isn't that lucky."

She reaches for me with her right hand and lays her left on the crystal. And then

 

[Mr Zoat]

9th April 2013
13:41 GMT +3

we appear on a… Beach? Yes, a beach on.. Reformation Island. I take a moment to-

"What did you do to me!"

-orientate myself as Antimonie squares up to Chantinelle.

"I used your love connection to your sister-."

"Antimonie?"

Mala runs towards us from the direction of the orchard, passes me and enthusiastically embraces her sister. Antimonie hugs her back, giving Chantinelle a brief glare before giving Mala her full attention.

"Mala. Are you well?"

"Yes, we are fine. What happened to the world? John said that he felt some evil magic-" Antimonie nods. "-but he took the island out of the world before he could find out what it was."

"It was… Bad, for several days. Then the gods took Themyscira into their realm."

Mala frowns, pulls out of the hug so that she can see her sister's face. "And… You were safe there?"

"No, we had to fight all manner of strange creatures to prevent their magic touching the gods and destroying the world-."

"And John kept us here while you struggled."

Chantinelle and I glance at the grey sea and sky surrounding the island, a sea that gets increasingly blurry the further from the island it gets, merging with the sky at a distance I can't precisely identify. I'm… Starting to get a little worried about exactly what John did to make this happen.

"John wouldn't have known what was going to happen. In fact-."

"He couldn't undo his own spell!" Mala turns to me. "Gods save me from foolish demigods!"

I nod. "That's usually what it takes. Where is he?"

"In the barracks, attempting to see past his own breaking of the universe. But what of Themyscira?"

Antimonie puts her right hand on her sister's left shoulder. "As well as can be expected. As I understand it, it is the rest of the world where the situation is calamitous."

I nod. "Not inaccurate. Though global trade has a lot of advantages, it means that we're so interdependent, something like that just makes everything… Stop working. No one on Themyscira lives more than five miles from a farm, while we have cities whose entire populations have never seen one. I think we'll avoid mass deaths, but we're basically having to reorganise the entire planet. Chantinelle, can you get us back?"

"I think so."

…

The three of us look at her unhappily.

"I don't know exactly what John's done. I should be able to take everyone back using someone's love as a conduit, but I'm…" She gestures at the sea. "Worried about what that means."

Mala frowns. "You would abandon the island?"

"Islands don't love. And unless you've learned some form of magical concealment I'm going to have to take us to Maltus with-" She looks at me. "-his love."

"I don't actually know that Jade's on Maltus right now. She's on counter-insurgency duties, but that could put her in a lot of different places." … "Like, space."

The Amazons glance at each other, then Mala looks at me. "Is that bad?"

"In theory, it's survivable. I was exposed to vacuum for several seconds once, and my injuries were mortal but not immediately fatal. The problem is that if I'm surrounded by pink crystal then I'm probably going to be a little slow in grabbing everyone. It would-." Hm. "Okay, I can fabricate you space suits to mitigate that problem-. And one for me, because the pink crystal might interfere with me using my ring." I look at Chantinelle. "Do you need a suit as well? I'm not clear how well regular demons do in space."

"I have no idea. Demons don't go into space. But if we do that, I'll take a suit."

Mala frowns in puzzlement. "What is 'Space'?"

It's… A little odd that an Amazon isn't familiar with the term, but hardly astonishing. Maybe we could set up some sort of general education program? It's amazing what Amazons don't pick up despite having sporadic contact with the outside world for the last sixty years.

"Okay, you know how air gets thinner when you climb a mountain?" Mala and Antimonie nod. "If you keep going, you get to a height where there's no air. Have you ever tried boiling water at the top of a mountain?"

"It boiled without being hot."

"Imagine that was your blood, and you understand what being in space is like."

I turn away to jog along the path towards the barracks. Unless John's completely out of it, he should be aware of me by now. And Chantinelle. It's a little rude of him not to come out and greet us, but I suppose that if he's still working on a fix then that might be absorbing all of his attention.

And there are the barracks, and… Oh, looks like someone's actually done some gardening. I'd be surprised if it was John, but-. Food supply. Themyscira is self-sufficient to the point where it can export, but Reformation Island really only has farms to allow the prisoners to engage in productive labour. Yes, fruiting bushes, rather than decorative flowers. They were preparing for-.

I-.

I stare through the wall at the two sets of desire networks. The intertwined sets of desire networks.

I turn around and look at Mala as the three women follow me. And I raise my eyebrows.

She meets my gaze, looking slightly puzzled.

"Uh!"

She looks surprised for a moment, then looks away, shaking her head. "In their defence, this is a fairly disturbing situation, and there are only so many books to read."

I turn back to the door and knock heavily on it. "John! Finish up and get ready to leave!"

"Couldn't fucking give me-?"

"You can carry on later! And I hope you're using protection!"

I walk away from the barracks, sighing. Right. I shouldn't have expected him to be focusing all the time, but… Really?

"Protection?" Mala sounds confused. "There are no enemies here. And he is a wizard of great power."

"Given his record, do you think him siring a child is a good idea?"

"No, but there are herbs… On the mainland… Which we have not needed for over two thousand years. No."

Chantinelle looks disturbed. "Please tell me that you haven't all been doing that with him? The world does not need that many new Constantines."

"No-." She doesn't look certain. "I will check. The others will be in the orchards."