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

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
15:15 GMT

Hm.

One obvious drawback about getting an Apokoliptian warship is that I am not a God of Engineering. And goodness knows that the Amazons are no help in that direction. So unless I can find someone who is, there's a limit to what I can do with the Absolute Dominion. Repair it, certainly, restoring things to specifications is what Grayven the First did using gordanian labour. But-

I feel a predictable burst of envy as one of the E.D.F.'s cruisers… The Monte Carlo, just flies right up to a Reach listening post and slaughters the entire crew with precise bursts from its purple death rays. Didn't even show up on their sensors. Unless they were faking, which is possible. It sounds like Reach people are pretty fanatical on those few occasions when it would matter.

I aim the Absolute Dominion's main gun at the Reach fleet I caught undergoing repairs on the opposite side of the system. Normally they'd be outside of engagement range, but… When your gun fires faster than light on its own… Strike Hard, Strike True

A battlecruiser disintegrates, and the docking frame it was resting in loses about a third of its mass. What's left starts spinning and shattering, collapsing in a few moments as the Absolute Dominion realigns and targets its nearest neighbour. Debris is mostly caught by the shields of the other frames and ships, but a few smaller vessels are hit by larger fuel-carrying fragments and are crippled or consumed.

"Grayven to Spider. What news?"

"The intelligence briefing was correct. The people here are fully acculturated, but they have no particular resistance to telepathy. Should I tell the genomorphs to give them new personalities?"

I shrug to myself as another docking cradle bursts, along with its cargo. No visual between ground and fleet, of course. Mr. Near nearly rolled his eyes at the very idea, though his practical argument that a transmission with more data would be more easily detected eventually won the day. Normally I'd hate the idea of mentally scrubbing people like that, but they won't be able to function without their Reach masters unless we do. And I know what trying to avoid executing her Citizens is doing to Diana. Sometimes you just can't help people in the way you'd like to help them.

"Not up to us. Offer that service to the Controllers. If they want it, they can negotiate with the genomorphs themselves."

"M."

"Any of those Scarabs around?"

"There was. I can report that when the Scarab is inactive the host is no more resilient than a normal member of their species. Also, Scarabs appear to be 'alive' for the purpose of purple death rays."

I nod. "Worth knowing. Good work."

I hear a very deliberate… Not a sigh, but a slow intake of breath before the channel disconnects. He reprogrammed the pickup just so I'd hear that. The sheer amount of work he's prepared to put in to delivering a mild near-insult…

Ah? Looks like that was a fuel hauler. Explosions in space aren't a big deal, not unless things are right next to each other and the explosion is very radioactive or exotic. Still a blow to them-.

Huh.

The ships near the one that just exploded are… Disintegrating.

Ah…

And so are the ones a little further away. That doesn't chime with anything I know about space warfare. The only thing that comes to mind is nanotech, but that wouldn't act so fast.

Log and report, I guess. I-.

Ping.

Of course they do. But I suppose that there's no sense passing up an opportunity to spread misinformation. Put them on.

Ping.

The holographic image of a Reach Negotiator appears before my command throne. Due to the fragile ego of Other Grayven, the Negotiator appears both smaller than she is in reality and below me, meaning that she has to look up while I remain sitting down. Something about the system replicates the effect on the communication system of anyone who sends messages to me. You Are Beneath Me

It's so petty that I smile every time I use it.

I steeple my fingers and wait patiently as the last battlecruiser dies.

"Lord Grayven. I was under the impression that you had left."

I smile broadly, something that immediately makes her uncertain. Old Grayven never did that, I bet. "I always have time for old friends."

"You appear to be attacking one of our research stations."

"Yeah. Using brains as computers? I honestly thought that your command of electronics was better than that."

"Ping."

"We find them suitably efficacious."

"Might need to find a new solution now."

"That was hardly our only production facility."

My smile broadens to manic levels. "I know! Your people are marvellously industrious." I shake my head. "I wouldn't expect to hear from their garrisons again. I haven't read the reports yet, so I can't give you feedback…"

"You do realise that will impede our ability to fight the Controllers' operatives far more than it will impede our ability to fight you."

"Yes? Oh! Sorry. I don't care about you."

"You did seem to care when you launched your invasion."

I shrug. "Had a bit of a rethink. Frankly, Vega had more to offer me, and I can probably just trade for the parts of the Reach that I actually want from the Controllers after they win. Which will be easier now that they aren't spitting their attention between you and me."

"You've come to terms."

"I got out of my own way. Thank you for assisting with that personal breakthrough."

"With the Controllers." She considers me for a moment. "You've changed."

"If we ever meet, I'll give you a wooden spoon."

She blinks. "What?"

I shake my head, waving my right hand dismissively. "Cultural reference. A prize of no great value, usually awarded for last place or to someone who got no points." I lean forwards slightly. "So, yeah. I'm not trying to take and hold your territory for myself, just degrade your war fighting capacity for someone else. And since I don't need to prove myself to anyone, I'm happy to just fly from target to target annihilating them as I go."

Mother Box, message Kara would you?

Ping.

"Or send someone else on my behalf."

The Negotiator's eyes widen as the alarms in the room she's in start to go off.

"You're fortunate; the flagship of the Kryptonian Stellar Navy hasn't seen action -barring a minor policing action- for over a century." She turns to flee… Too late, I suspect. "I'll send the spoon to your next of kin!"

The hologram shuts down and I sit back, pleased.

"Has Mister Near evacuated?"

"Ping."

"Good show. Then let's head back to Maltus and find out what else they want us doing."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
09:37 GMT -5

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

By which I mean of course the Dark Elves have warded their library. Which forces me to rely on Lushun to actually find anything. I'm just fortunate that the books aren't individually warded so I can scan the contents while interrogating the man directly. He seems to find my power ring's scanning ability fascinating.

"So this… Sandro person is the only one on this entire world who has managed to leave Ashan."

"According to himself and his followers, certainly. But with him dead at the hands of the Griffin Empire's knights, and his acolytes Markal confirmed dead in the Griffin Empire and Lucretia in the wind, there isn't any way to check."

"Two necromancers… Dead?"

"I understand your scepticism, but Archmage Zehir took measure to ensure that Markal couldn't come back." He looks contemplative for a moment. "With Sandro… Who can say?" He shrugs. "But I do know that he isn't here to answer questions, and any writings he had on his experiments would be under lock and key in Talonguard… Assuming that the barbarians didn't just burn them."

"You're an admirer?"

"It's a fascinating subject, and one so few researchers touch. Even the magicians of the Silver Cities who consider themselves above godly restrictions are so besotted with the idea of copying Sar-Elam's feat of apotheosis that they've never examined their underlying assumptions…" He regards me curiously. "But how is it for you?"

"Not even my first time."

"No?"

"My original homeworld didn't have… Magic, gods, elves… We'd gotten pretty good at material technology, but I suppose you could call it all mundane stuff."

"Material technology such as?"

"Rocketry that would let us leave the surface of the planet and send people into the airless void beyond. Tiny pieces of silicon etched with metal that could think… Or at least fake it convincingly. The ability to move still living organs from a dead person and put them into the body of someone whose own organs were failing… Or the truly cutting edge where new organs could be grown. And the ability to use focused explosive charges to force dense metals to undergo energetic decay and release enough heat and pressure to destroy a city."

I sigh.

"And I went to bed one night and woke up somewhere completely different. A new world, magic, interventionist deities, machines that people back home… Could imagine, but couldn't build… And it's possible that the operational laws of our universe wouldn't let them work anyway."

"But whose laws?"

"'In the beginning was nothing, which exploded.' My original home's study of universal background radiation can't tell us anything more. Certainly, there doesn't appear to be any single creature responsible, though any number of religions will tell you otherwise."

"But if there aren't any gods-."

"There's no good evidence of gods. Here, you can just head over to their roost and talk to a dragon if you want to communicate with a demigod. And you can go to Malassa's temple and make an offering if you want to speak to an actual god. That wasn't possible on my original homeworld. But that doesn't stop people imagining, trying to… Order the world in their mind in such a way that requires a directing intelligence. It's-. This world was created by Asha, right?"

"So every nation believes."

"But the orcs don't." I gesture to what is essentially a travelogue written by a wizard who spent some time following Gotai around after he left the Seven Cities at the end of the war. "'Earth Mother' and 'Sky Father', despite knowing who Asha is and who created them."

"They are orcs."

"Underestimating their intelligence has gotten a lot of people who should have known better in a lot of trouble." I send out a filament, pick up a book on the Orc Rebellion and pointedly wave it at him.

"Yes, but… They don't even use magic."

"Their war cries require mana, so… They do. Arguably, creating a form of magic that no one else uses is a greater achievement."

"In ignorance, perhaps. How did you get here? And… The other one."

"Several versions of me went to a great many places. I imagine that whatever it was that banished me from my original world and brought me to Universe Sixteen brought him here, but I have no more idea what that was now than I did when it happened."

"No idea?"

I shrug, shaking my head. "I've found a whole lot of ways that it didn't happen." I sigh. "Okay. I need to find out whether or not my colleagues came here-."

"Ah-. Pardon, but you didn't explain how you came from 'Universe Sixteen' to Ashan."

"Oh. Well, I'm not totally sure, but I think it was a misfiring fate manipulation spell cast and left to moulder by a magician called Zachary Zor. If I were to guess, it was supposed to alter my fate so that I immediately died, but between its age, the fact that Angelica was actively destroying it when it went off and my own defences, it just sent me to a version of me who had already died... But that's highly speculative."

Ah… First step. Find out if Ashan supports radio waves.

I… Fabricate a pair of radio transmitter handsets and hold one out to Lushun.

"Quick experiment. Hold this."

"Ah." He takes it awkwardly. "What is it?"

"It uses things called radio waves to send messages." I transition to the opposite end of the room and press 'talk'. "Testing, testing. Press the large orange button on the side and then speak into the cluster of holes at the bottom."

"Like this?"

"Yes, well done." I transition back, putting the other down on the desk. "Angelica should have a radio. Mazikeen might, but I want to eliminate the possibility before considering more extreme measures."

"And if you find them… Or if you find that they're not here… You plan to leave Ashan?"

"That's my aim, but I have no idea how to replicate the-."

"Ah, well…" He runs off towards a distant shelf. "I was able to find this… Where is it..? Ah! This record of the void walking ritual." He approaches with a… Fairly thin notebook. "If it works, it would take you -and passengers- outside of Ashan. Sandro lamented that he couldn't go further because he had no idea where to go. But if you have a destination…"

"It might be possible to use that ritual as a first step." I nod. "I assume you want to come? "

"What sort of wizard would I be if I didn't?"

"Happy and alive?" I snort. "Far be it from me to tell you how to live your life. How do we get to the surface from here?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
09:52 GMT -5

It's a bit of a relief to see daylight again. But I can't help but wonder…

"What made those underground tunnel networks?"

"Our slaves dig some passageways." Lushun squints at the light and raises his right arm to shield his eyes. "The dwarves dig their own tunnels… Rather better decorated than ours, to tell the truth. The demons have their own, and I've read reports that they have vast fiery serpents who make tunnels for them."

"Alright." I look around at the… Pleasant greenery and woodlands. Huh. Rather nice. "But there's a difference between 'slave-dug tunnel to keep our nation connected' and 'if you painted the roof blue I'd think I was outside'. Those spaces are huge."

"I'm not sure I understand. Is that unusual where you're from?"

"It's unheard of where I'm from." I look up and scan… Nothing dangerous nearby. "Are you afraid of heights?"

"I admit that I spend most of my time underground, but few elves suffer from agoraphobia. A little fresh air-"

I tether him with a filament and then fly us into the air.

"-is ohthat'swhatyoumeant!"

Green forests and grassland, blue and grey water, yellow sand, grey rock and white ice. Pretty standard for an inhabited world. I start mapping roads -few, stone paved- and major settlements.

"Um. How are we flying? I can't feel you manipulating mana."

"Do you see the orange glow around our bodies?"

"Yes?"

"Essentially, my desire for us to fly causes my rings to draw emotional energy and apply it to that purpose. I'm lucky that this pocket universe supports it."

"Is there a limit to it?"

"Less experienced Lanterns than me can end up going crazy if they experience emotions more intense than they can cope with. Rings can only carry finite charge, but we're all issued with a device which can restore their power. Unfortunately, I'm cut off from it here."

"Then, should you be using it like this? If you need an elevated location, there are mountains only a few weeks travel from here."

"No good. I don't speak your languages." I generate a radio broadcaster construct, a receiver construct and a giant orange sigil. "I'd be out of power before we arrived, and then I wouldn't be able to communicate with anyone."

"I see."

"What colour ring did the other fellow have?"

"Orange."

"Huh. Surprised that he couldn't work something out. Orange rings are usually fairly forgiving about adapting other fuel sources." Isolate Justice League frequency and transmit. "Orange Lantern to Angelica Blaze. Angelica, please respond."

"What do they look like?"

"Female humanoid with angel wings and tan skin. Long straight black hair and horns-" I trace their shape from my forehead. "-from the top of her head curling outwards."

"Is she a demon?"

"Technically, no. Her mother was, her father was a powerful wizard, and then I fed her fruit which realigned her morals and got a mad physician to attach angel wings to her back. The Host seems to have accepted her."

"I… Think that it might be a good idea to keep her away from the Holy Empire. And your other companion?"

"Also technically not a demon. But we probably shouldn't leave her in something called a 'Holy Empire' either."

"A curious choice of companions."

"I wanted to do the beckoning in a place no one would miss, just in case. That may have been unwise."

Alright. Ring, do a big scan. Find me…

Wait, was Angelica wearing anything technological? I assume that she had a communicator but I didn't actually check…

Circuitry. Plastic. Something the locals wouldn't have but Angelica might.

Compliance. Searching. Not found.

Darn it.

"Are there any seers around who would have picked up something arriving in Ashan from outside?"

"Perhaps… But most people assume that nothing can come from outside of Ashan. Ah, most people who think about it, I should say. It… Occurs to me that there is another way."

"Go on."

"As I said, Sandro was most curious about the subject. If we could get hold of some of his tools, I should be able to perform a ritual to track passage through the void and into Ashan. And if you intend to leave with my assistance then I would probably need them anyway."

I smile ruefully. "A fetch quest, then. What do we need?"

"Any of Sandro's more powerful artefacts would help, but I could probably make do with the Staff of the Netherworld. And perhaps the Ring of the Unrepentant, in case our actions draw Elrath's eye."

"Do you have any idea where they are?"

"Sandro's student Markal captured both artefacts in the Silver Cities during his alliance with Queen Isabelle. After his death and the chaos that followed, the artefacts appear to have been split up. Arantir supposedly gathered them before his attack on Flammschrein, but there are no reports of him having them during his attack on Stonehelm. It may be that he left them in his home in the city of Nar-Heresh, or they may be in Stonehelm, captured by one notable or other. Or they may have been stolen away by one of his subordinates after his death, or taken to a reliquary in the Holy Empire…"

"Nar-Heresh seems most likely. Someone there should at least have some idea where to look. Did he have an heir?"

"Ornella, but she died prior to his attack on Flammschrein. Beyond that, I do not know."

"Marvellous. Alright, which way to Nar-Heresh?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
10:07 GMT -5

I shake my head as we leave the Griffin Empire behind us, heading into Heresh proper.

"In my country, we'd make a rude comment about their central keeps."

Lushun tears his eyes away from scenery to look at me quizzically. "Are yours bigger?"

"Hahhahhaha!"

"Ah..?"

"Maybe not, but I don't need to pretend!"

He shakes his head. "I… Don't understand."

"Long running cultural joke about insecure people needing to build big monuments. Also, about insecure men being insecure because they have small penises."

"Oh, I… Heh." He smiles awkwardly. "I suppose that the tower is a good deal taller than the other buildings."

There were towns that were in ruin, and swaths of farmland that looking like they'd been put to torch. But there were plenty of places that appeared to be in good condition, and most of the places that weren't were in the process of getting put back together. Saw a… Few angels around the place, but they were all wearing the blue, white and gold of the 'standard' angels rather than the white and red of seraphs and fallen angels.

I don't imagine that those are particularly popular at the moment.

Anyway, the regular kind didn't pay us any attention, so I suppose that whatever brought me here isn't so heinously unnatural that Elrath notified his agents. I could try talking to one, but given how they acted in Heroes of Might and Magic VI… Maybe not.

Alright, land… Noticeably less cultivated, Jade Ocean west and east, mountains to the south west… I hadn't realised that Heresh was a salt marsh, but I suppose that it fits…

Scan…

Ah, there we go. An obvious sign that the one in charge has been killed: armies on the march. And being undead, there's not much of what you'd call good order. Zombies just barrel through the swamp foliage, skeletons trudge with whatever weapon was close at hand when they were raised… I'm not seeing many of the stronger types of undead… Which is probably because these are led by less powerful necromancers who aren't yet able to command them. More powerful keeps… Yes, I can detect them well enough from here, and it looks like they're keeping their troops at home for now…

Ugh, I've got no idea who's in contention. My 'main' was Deirdre, but from what I remember of her description she was a crazed banshee dedicated to killing everyone. Kaspar seemed like a decent guy in VI but I don't remember what happened to him in V. Anastasya? Ugh, no, this can't just be a 'who would it be interesting to meet' thing. Even if I could alter her body to make her look older, something that no one else can do, her being a main character doesn't suddenly mean that she'd be willing to help me.

"How long ago did Duke Anton Griffin marry the then-empress?"

"A little over four centuries, during the Second Eclipse."

Then she could be anywhere anyway.

Alright, further south… I wonder what sieges are like when you can't starve the enemy out because they don't need food? And I wonder if the vampires are like the ones in V where they drink blood, or in VI where they just use it to thin down the poison in their veins?

"There!"

I see… Yes, that's a necropolis, the area around it littered with mine works and lumber yards just like I remember from the game. Quite a lot more built up than a maximum level city… And I think that's what the Necropolis Tears of Asha building looks like. None of the others had that.

And there are a lot of troops in the surrounding… County. Different banners, and I can't tell who is hostile to who… Here there are more advanced undead-. That's a Death Knight! That's a Death Knight! Red armoured knights, the creatures that should have been the level six creature instead of those useless wraiths-.

"As far as you know, do they have any anti-air weapons?"

"Undead dragons can fly, as can ghosts and some vampires. I saw references to lamasu in the older texts, but I've not seen them myself."

"Any citywide shielding against aerial attack?"

"The liches in the towers are quite good shots, but… No. You intend to go down?"

"It's our only lead." I dimly recognise the Capitol structure. I'm going to assume that whoever is in charge is there… Or at least someone who can tell me what's going on should be.

"That seems a little bold…"

"The alternative is asking someone on the outside. I have no idea who is who and they'll have their army right next to them. An external foe might rally a fractured land but I don't particularly want to be the one they're rallying against."

"No, I… I suppose not."

Right. Fabricate new armour for me… And for my companion.

"Oh! Ah, thank you?"

"You're welcome. In the event of a fight, keep yourself out of the way. There's nothing here that worries me, but I can't resurrect people."

"That's a highly fortified city."

I smile condescendingly. "No it's not."

I transition us down, level with the Capitol roof.

The armour-clad vampire who is standing on the roof stares at us.

"Hello there. You seem to be having a spot of bother." He reaches for his green-glowing sword. "I wouldn't, but I respect your autonomy."

"Who are you?"

"I'm the fellow who can solve all your problems. For a fee."

"Hsch. I doubt that." He looks Lushun over for a moment and then appears to dismiss him. Ah, he doesn't have the green colouration of the Heroes VI version, which… Does rather raise the question as to how he keeps himself in blood in an isolated place like this. "How did you get here?"

I lift myself off the roof for a moment, let him take it in, and then land again.

"Is it gold that you want?"

"No. The Staff of the Netherworld and the Ring of the Unrepentant. In exchange, I-."

"Hah!" His laugh is bitter. "If we still had those we wouldn't be in this position. Some… Crazy knight snuck in through High Lord Arantir's portal and looted his chambers. He could be anywhere in Heresh by now!"

"Any distinguishing features?"

"Perhaps. But I want passage away from here before I say any more."

"Done. Start talking."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
10:14 GMT -5

Yeah, it turns out that the War of the Sixth Eclipse was every bit as distasteful in reality as I remember if from the game. What happened to Queen Isabel is just horrific. Her wedding interrupted by a demon invasion, her betrothed killed, the kingdom resisting her rule, the wizard who claimed that he was able to resurrect her husband raising him as a vampire who immediately tried to eat her, the man who killed her husband getting her general on side to overthrow her, her getting kidnapped and raped by the Demon Sovereign…

I mean, I assume raped. They had a child. But I suppose the child could have been created through a ritual?

And whatever happened resulted in her soul getting ripped out, so a demon took her place in the Empire while she happily went off with the man who killed her betrothed… And then Arantir eventually released her soul, wrecking the demons' spells and causing her to come to her senses… At which point she renounced the throne and… Went back to the man who killed her betrothed, because… I guess Stockholm Syndrome exists in Ashan?

"Is Raelag an expert in mind control magics?"

Lushun looks a little awkward. "Not according to any account I have heard. I admit, the former queen's conduct does seem a little… Strange. But men with no real grudge against one another may slay each other in times of war. If Clan Chief Raelag nursed her through her… During her time of hardship, it is not so unthinkable that genuine affection might develop."

Valdrieth the Vampire just nods. "I always assumed that her soul never went back to her body. If it went to Elrath and her empty body simply agrees with the last thing it heard, it makes far more sense."

"Then Arantir tracks down the son of Kha-Beleth and Isabelle, who's a teenager. The teenager then fights his army and then him, and kills them all. And if Arantir hasn't gotten up again by now then he's probably not going to."

Valdrieth shrugs. "Not in the short term. His return would put an end to…" He looks out across the armies arrayed across the swamps of Heresh. "This. As it is, soldiers and demon cultists from Stonehelm hold much of the interior of Nar-Heresh."

"Including this building?" He nods. "So why are you still here?"

"I can't teleport far enough to get down, and I'm not well-fed enough to survive the fall." He looks down over the edge. "I was considering climbing it, but they have imps, and arquebusiers at the windows."

"Right. Do you want to be dropped off anywhere in particular?"

He shrugs. "Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving Ashan. Lushun?"

"How could I not come with you? It's an opportunity for unparalleled learning!"

"Fine, as long as you understand that I can't bring you back. Valdrieth?"

"No, just leave me at the siege lines. None of the claimants will take issue with my former loyalties."

"As you wish. Three two one."

Our surroundings flicker and the next instant we're surrounded by mud and dying trees and armoured vampires.

"Good luck!"

Another flicker and Lushun and I are back in the air.

"Alright, so, Sareth: a pale skinned human with a short beard, wearing full plate, accompanied by a succubus, carrying a glowing staff whose head is cracking with purple lightning. Shouldn't be too hard to find."

"I wouldn't-."

"There he is." Our surroundings flicker a third time as we appear in front of the duo, and I raise my left hand in greeting. "Excuse me!"

"-be so.. sure."

Xana the succubus immediately conjures fire into her hands, while Sareth-.

I'm not sure what he's doing, but paying the main character more attention seems like a good idea. The staff is on his back, while his hands hold a bastard sword and a pistol bow. Their horses stop-.

Oh. So that's what -2 morale feels like. The Cloak of Death's Shadow is one of my favourite items with any hero, and now that I take its pushed back position into account… Yes, that's it.

"I come in peace!"

Xana's eyes narrow. "Oh really. Then why are you wearing a dead man's face?"

"Ah. You… Met my doppelgänger. That's… Complicated. As far as I understand it, he and I are both equal continuations of the same life… I'm not totally certain how I came to be on Ashan, while I… Assume that he arrived a few years ago? His ring-" I hold out my hands, rings glowing. "-wouldn't have had much power left by now, if-."

"A copy." Xana lowers her hands slightly, glancing at Sareth for direction. He… Appears to be considering me. "And what do you want?"

"Death's Embrace." She perks up slightly, the fires in her hands intensifying. "The set of magic items. I don't want you to try and kill me."

The fire dims again. "What for?"

"The Staff, to aid in my attempt to leave Ashan. The rest, because as I understand it they're designed to work with the Staff." I look around. "You don't appear to be leading an army. Might I ask your intentions?"

Xana sneers at me. "I want to take command of whatever demons are left on the surface of Ashan and establish a kingdom for us to rule. But my beloved Sareth wants to visit his mother's homeland. He is the heir to the Greyhound Duchy after all."

"Ah. Okay. And Arantir's equipment? If you're not trained as a necromancer, it won't do you much good. And I imagine that the priests of the Holy… Unicorn Empire will recognise them after all that time Markal spent using them."

"He could just destroy them. That should earn their favour. If he wanted it."

Lushun looks worried. "I wouldn't recommend that. Destroying the Staff might well tear open a passage to the void, and that wouldn't be good for anyone."

"As an alternative, I can offer a cart filled with gold and jewels, some really high quality swords and suits of armour, a device to conceal your… Demonic appearance, and a high quality pistol. I'll take the artefacts with me when I leave Ashan so they won't be a threat to anyone still here."

"A cart? On roads like these?"

"Alright, a cart with thick pneumatic tyres made of rubber and incorporating a spring suspension system. I can't promise that it won't get stuck, but it should handle the conditions better than a cart with solid wooden wheels. And I can carry you to the Greyhound Duchy and drop you off, and you can witness my departure for yourselves."

I look directly at Sareth and raise my hands, palms upwards.

"Or is there something else that you'd like? I'm open to negotiation."

He continues looking at me for a moment, and then nods. "I think that there is."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
10:19 GMT -5

The four of us appear on the border of the Greyhound Duchy, not… Actually all that far to the north west of our former position. An abbey, burned down during the war and as yet not part of the reconstruction process. A curious choice; I know from the intro sequence that demons here have no difficulty in entering holy sites, but by that token there's no obvious advantage in performing the ritual here. Sareth's horse starts, but I turned my rings' human-to-animal translator back on to warn him before we moved so he swiftly calms down when his rider shows no concern. Xana's demonic steed has presumably been through far worse.

Xana looks at me expectantly. "Well?"

I point to the broken stone pathway leading to nearest road. Neither appear to have been deliberately destroyed -demons need roads too- but there was a battle here, and the land is blotted with blast craters from offensive magic and trebuchet projectiles.

"There?"

"Yes."

Cart design is easy enough. I've seen this sort on Themyscira plenty of times. The tires I can base on the dozens of motorcycle tires I've scanned. Sacks, Themyscira again, gold… Is gold, jewels… I've got their molecular structures stored. Ah… Neither of their horses have harnesses, so include those…

"Shouldn't matter, but the gold and jewels will have an unusually regular structure. No impurities. But I doubt that anyone will notice."

Xana guides her horse over to the cart while Sareth dismounts and walks towards… It looks like an altar, partially concealed by a pile of rubble. He kneels before it, hands clasped at his chest.

"You worship Elrath?"

"No. But I suspect that my mother's people will expect it."

"I would recommend not lying to gods. They can be remarkably short-tempered."

"I'm not lying. I genuinely do hope that Elrath accepts the soul of your other self."

"You were friends?"

He thinks, then nods slowly. "He gave me counsel at a difficult point in my life."

Xana glances over from where she's rifling through the sacks, looking decidedly unimpressed. "Surely it wasn't that difficult, my love? Still, it was good advice."

I raise my eyebrows. "'Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law'?"

Xana nods. "That was the core of it. Decide what you want to happen, and then make it happen."

"Xana, you hate Leanna."

"She made an excellent distraction. And you were thinking about releasing your father."

"I wanted a place in the world." He stares off into the distance, to where I can just about make out one of the Duchy's towns. "But I think that I'll prefer finding it in a world that isn't on fire."

"You-?" Lushun stares at him, shadows moving around his fingertips. "You are the Dark Messiah Sar-Shazzar wrote of. I seem to remember that prophecy being fairly unambiguous."

Sareth doesn't appear to have noticed Lushun preparing a spell, but from the tension in her wings and lengthening of her talons I see that Xana has. Lushun's eyes move to me and I give my head a small shake to try and discourage him.

"If the prophecy was unambiguous, then why did Arantir waste his time in trying to kill me?" He shakes his head, then strolls through the ruined wall into the main courtyard. "If both of them truly come from outside of Ashan, perhaps he could not see them. In any case, the barrier around Sheogh is made whole, though not so perfect as it would have been had Arantir been able to murder an entire city to fuel his ritual."

"I see." Lushun dismisses his spell, but still regards Sareth cautiously as we follow him inside. "Excuse me if I take the time to confirm that for myself."

"Be my guest. And if you encounter Arantir's shade, banish it for me."

"You left Leanna in Nar-Heresh?"

"Xana's hatred is mutual, but… I like Leanna. She has an army and a fortress, and she has a portal to flee if she needs to."

"I just thought that you might be trying to pull a Kiril."

He raises his eyebrows. "Kiril? I'm not familiar with the name."

"Younger son of House Griffin during the War of the Second Eclipse. He was tricked into becoming a demon, and ended up in a long term relationship with a Fallen Angel named Sarah and… A succubus whose name I've forgotten."

Xana glares at me. "You don't need to pretend. There's more than one succubus with the name 'Xana'. I never even met him." She snorts. "Sharing with an angel. She's an embarrassment to succubae everywhere."

Sareth shakes his head. "That wouldn't be an option. I doubt that Leanna would ever fall. On the other hand, I'm not a demon."

"Your… Father..?"

"I had wondered if his intent was to leave me as weak as possible until after he was freed. Perhaps even then. Certainly, I never benefitted from having demon blood in me."

Xana coughs loudly.

"I apologise. His demon blood. Your demon magic was extremely important." She momentarily seems mollified, then he smiles impishly. "Though I must admit that I would like to hear more about this 'Kiril'."

Lushun steps closer to him. "I believe that we have met your requirements?"

"Yes." Sareth nods and takes the Staff of the Netherworld from his back. He regards the skull set into the head for a moment, and then holds it out towards Lushun.

Lushun takes it from him and holds it before himself, going into a slight trance. I assume that he's making sure that it will work as intended. "Yes. Yes." He blinks. "This will work excellently. And the rest?"

Sareth passes him the Ring of the Unrepentant, which he slips onto his left ring finger. The Amulet of Necromancy, which he hangs around his neck. And lastly the Cloak of Death's Shadow, which he pulls over his robes.

And wait for betrayal in three…

"Right." He takes the staff in both hands. "Shall we begin?"

Two…

"Opening a portal to the void… Takes a good deal of energy, but with this staff it is not complicated." Purple mists swirl around the head of the staff, and then flow out to form a vertical disc in the air. "Surviving passage to Ashan's exterior is difficult… You had best shield yourself."

I nod, strengthening my environmental shield as purple mist flows over his robes and is… Drawn into them.

"And lastly, we need some way to track your companions. Without one, all I could do is try retracing your entry and following your path back to your home-."

"Oh, that's easy. I imbued Mazikeen with a small amount of orange light before we left." I generate a mote of orange light and have it float over to him. "Can you trace that?"

"I don't know." His eyes narrow as the purple mist envelopes it. "I think… I… Yes. Yes, I can!" He turns to me, smiling broadly. "Are you ready?"

No betrayal? Or maybe he's leaving it to later. Either way…

"Yes, I am. Let's not leave them hanging in the wind any longer."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
10:25 GMT -5

"Then let us be away."

Lushun holds the Staff of the Netherworld and then strides forwards, towards the purple disc.

I follow shortly behind, reforming my heavy armour outside of my basic armour to the best of my non-magical ability. Hopefully my tattoos and light armour can make up for the lack of magical defence. "You're sure that your protections are adequate? I'd hate to get stranded by myself. If there's anything that you need, I'm happy to provide it."

"No. I believe that this will-"

We pass through the disc.

"-do."

And… Here we are. Like the Phantom Zone, there's nothing here. Rather than grey, the background is a sort of washed out purple and green. Sight lines are less obstructed-. Xen! That's what the place reminds me of!

"We appear to be intact."

I nod, though I imagine that my heavy helmet obscures the gesture. "We do indeed."

"Now… Based on Sandro's records…" He slams the butt of the staff onto… Nothing, and a platform of dull grey rock appears beneath us. "I can make a small part of the primordial void behave as though it were part of Ashan. Remaking a part of the prison outside of the prison seems a little perverse, but until we reach somewhere with laws and definitions, we will have to make do."

"I should probably warn you that I tend to absorb exotic energies used in my vicinity."

"If I'd known that then I would have offered to expose you to more. Is it a natural ability?"

"No, something I had a group of magicians bind to me. Since I lacked an arcane presence, I needed a way to gain one. I warn you because I don't want to throw off your readings."

"Do not trouble yourself." Holding the staff in his right hand, he raises his left, with the purple mists swirling around the orange mote. "This is more than sufficient."

He taps the butt to the ground twice more, and we're off.

"Will Asha be unhappy about this?"

"Perhaps, but it's unlikely that she'll take any action. Sandro was attacked by religious necromancers and by people who hated necromancy, but never directly by Asha herself."

"The religious necromancers weren't in direct contact with their deity? I didn't think Ashan's deities were that illusive."

"They were in contact with an embodied aspect of Asha called the Mother Namtaru; a giant three headed spider-like creature."

"Did they check?"

"Hm? Check what?"

"Well, if I was a giant three headed spider and wanted a bunch of necromancers to obey me and I knew they didn't have a direct communication channel to Asha, I-."

He grins. "You think that she lied? That she played them for fools?"

"It's a basic question in Philosophy of Science: how do you know what you think you know? I mean, I thought that Asha was a dragon and that her children were dragons."

"I would be astonished if that were true, but I can't claim to have confirmed it for myself."

"Well, there you are. It's just good advertising."

"But how would you explain the fate spinners?"

"Oh, that's easy. I wouldn't."

"No?"

"Get a dead giant spider and a dead woman, and a saw blade and a needle and some fine thread. Cut off the spider's face, sew the woman's torso on, then necromancy the whole thing back to animation."

"They were really more like crabs."

"Then use a giant crab. I'm not a necrotechnician."

"That is technically plausible, but… Given the tremendous size and power of Mother Namtaru, I doubt that the explanation is anything like that… Simple."

"Probably not. Funny though. And what's Urgas-." I see… Something, out of the corner of my eye, but when I turn to look again it's gone. "Does anything live out here?"

"I doubt it. We're in the void here. It's a realm antithetical to definition."

"Does that make it Urgash-type chaos, or something else?"

"Chaos can only exist without a framework that contains laws. As far as I'm aware, the void should just be nothing."

"Then how are we here?"

"We exist in this little part of Ashan I've brought with us. But… Observe."

There's a tearing noise as with a flicker of green a small part of his inner robe is sliced off the garment and floats towards the edge of the platform. As it goes over the edge, it…

Oh.

It… What happens is a combination of boiling, melting and merging, but after a few moments there certainly isn't any cloth left.

"And how long will we be here-" Another flicker in the distance. "-for?"

"I have no idea. We're definitely getting closer to something else which contains your energy, but beyond that I can't say. I haven't found any records of anyone getting this far into the void before."

"Getting in was easier."

"If Zachary Zor wants to share his methods with me I will happily use them henceforth."

"Fair enough." There it is again. "Did you see-?"

"Yes." His eyes remain resolutely fixed forwards. "I think it was a darkness elemental."

I look down and fail to see any sort of shadow, including where the light from my orange glow should cast one. "How?"

"There's a great deal about the void we don't know. And they might be some manner of void elemental, though that would defy everything I think I know about this place."

"Ah."

"I know! Fascinating, isn't it?"

"Technically, yes."

"I wonder if any part of it can survive within the laws of Ashan?"

"I suspect that we are about to-"

The thing appears before us!

"-find out."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
10:29 GMT -5

I see… Tentacles? Strands? Trailing from a central mass that appears to be… Just made up of more strands woven together. The near complete lack of colour on its surface makes it a little difficult to see where one part ends and another begins. I can't see anything I recognise as sensory organs, but there are… Strips? In a couple of places which glow faintly in slightly brighter versions of the colours which make up the background of this place. They're not… Pointing at us, so I don't know if they need to be facing us or if they detect fields or… Heck, they could be parts of its digestive system for all I know.

It doesn't appear to have a way to speak or hear and it exists in a place that doesn't have air or physical laws, so I don't know how much good speaking would do. It isn't attacking, but it is spreading its tendrils out around the small area of reality defined by our platform.

"Any ideas?"

"It somewhat resembles a darkness elemental-. Perhaps this is where they come to move between shadows? Or perhaps this variety has adapted to the weaker grasp of Ashan's laws-"

The extremity of the tendrils have reached about a quarter of the way around us, and the barrier is thickening.

"-to enable it to exist here."

"Is it draining energy from your spells?"

"Not noticeably."

"Remember, if you're replenishing your mana from Ashan's background magic, you're not going to be able to do that when we get somewhere else. Even a small drain here might result in you being mystically crippled."

"But some form of magic exists in other worlds, does it not?"

"Yes, but if it's not similar to what you're used to you might have to relearn everything from scratch. In fact, you might have to unlearn things if the way it functions is diametrically opposed to how things work on Ashan."

"Elves live a long time. I will relish the challenge. But as to this, you see how it's avoiding intruding on our space?"

"Currently, yes."

"We're an anomaly in its plane of reality. I doubt that it's seen anything like us before."

"I respect your scholarly curiosity, but-." Oh heck. "There." I point to where one strand is clearly probing the boundary of our bubble. "It's trying to get in."

"Have you ever seen an octopus try to pry a clam out of its shell? It's fascinating to watch its mind-."

"Yes. Have you ever been a clam?"

"Ah… Not… Precisely." He considers the growing tentacle wall with a little more concern. "Hm."

The tendril I'm watching… The very end melts the moment it hits the outer surface of the bubble, the part just behind the tip bending and pulling back. It isn't getting anything inside-.

"Ahh…"

"Problem?"

"It's barely noticeable, but when it does that, it drains the strength of the spell maintaining our bubble of reality. Just a little. If this is an animal then it will probably give up when it fails to make any progress."

"Most animals would either avoid or ignore a novel thing in their environment."

"Unless it doesn't register us as a threat."

"Unless that's an elemental behaviour, no. The only reason why an animal would act like this is if it thinks we might either be edible-."

…

"Ah, or?"

"Something it can have sex with. Now, I don't know much about elven culture-."

"I'm-. Not, not interested in that sort of thing. Not with that."

"Can you make this go faster?"

"Technically, we're not moving so much as realigning. I can increase the speed of the change, but I don't know whether that would help or not."

"How would it not help?"

"It would put extra stress on the shielding, and… I don't know what drew that creature's attention to us in the first place. It may well be that moving faster would draw more of them to us."

"And going slower might let more of them reach us."

He nods. "It's an imponderable. But my mana reserves are quite extensive. I think I will risk erring on the side of sloth. Did you bring drawing material with you?"

"Ashan doesn't have photography?"

"Light..? Drawing..?"

"It's using a sheet coated in light sensitive chemicals to record an image."

"Fascinating. I never really studied alchemy, but I'm sure I'd have heard of something like-"

My eyes widen as the tendril reaches inside the shield, probing around like an octopus.

"-that-. Oh my."

"Yeees. Do I attack it, or leave it?"

"Can you make a barrier?"

I create a construct hemisphere around the probing tendril and gently restrict its movement. After hesitating as it realises that there's a barrier in its way, the tendril begins feeling along the inside edge of the construct-.

It's bifurcated. Two tendrils are now-.

I look around the edge of the shield. Oh dear. Dozens of tendrils are attempting to gain entry, and two others I can see have managed it. I give up on construct hemispheres and simply generate a construct barrier around the interior of the shielded area, with small blisters for the ones which have already made it through.

"Could you try feeding it something?"

I give him an unimpressed look, but pull a ration bar out of my armour and break off a segment. I reach over to the original tendril and gently deposit in into range of the two-. Four grasping tendrils.

One latches on, its partner getting the idea a moment later and grabbing the other end. The other two don't appear to be guided, but instead find it by chance. And then…

They're not… Squeezing or ripping it.. But… It's coming apart, and the small parts are… Vanishing… Somewhere-.

They branch into a dozen more tendrils and the construct starts to crack!

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
10:33 GMT -5

"Are you short of mana?"

Ring, what's happening?

Unable to quantify.

Thank you. Though I suppose that Hinon might at least be a little impressed that I've managed to encounter a situation that even the Controllers haven't.

"No. These are… Summonings. They take power to make, but there's no further drain when they get damaged. They just get damaged."

I clench my left hand into a fist and add a tougher construct to the exterior of the one which is cracking.

"So, keep blocking, attack, or attempt to mind control it?"

"I know Puppet Master, but it would take more mana than I'm comfortable spending. And it might well fail; all Ashan's spells are intended to work on things native to Ashan."

"No, I could try to mind control it. Similar problem, but it doesn't drain the one of us who's keeping us real."

"How draining would a more mundane attack-" The inner construct blister fails, the tendrils rapidly reaching out to fill the full volume of their new prison. "-be?"

"Negligibly."

"Then that seems wisest." He looks around. "Since we seem to be fully enveloped, I will accelerate our passage. Even if we attract a second creature, it might serve to distract the first."

I fabricate a knife, then x-ionise it. "This reminds me of a story, actually."

"Oh?"

"A flying ship passing through a vast cloud found itself under attack. Small creatures latched onto its hull and drained it of power, and then a larger creature assaulted it physically."

"And their solution?"

"The small creatures were males. They thought that the ship was a female, and they were attempting to mate with it. The larger creature was the female, assaulting a rival. They repainted their ship in submissive colours and the males and the female all left it alone." I stab the knife through my construct and… Slice neatly through the tendrils. They lose contact with the main mass 'outside' and immediately fall to the bottom of the construct and lie still.

Oh.

"Okay, that-."

The tendrils I'm watching vanish.

Um.

Right, close the blister in case more tendrils try to get in, put a construct barrier around Lushun-

"Excuse me?"

-and wait because-.

Wuhy!

The tendrils ball appears just above Lushun's head and immediately tried to grab him! The construct barrier holds-.

I fire a pair of construct hands at it and grab it, yanking it away!

"Cutting is a bad idea!"

The tendrils lash out in a frenzy, rapidly abrading the interior of my construct. The tendrils around the edge of the platform are also increasing their aggression. On the off chance that it's that easy I fabricate a roast chicken and fire it out into the void in case this thing is food motivated… But the chicken ceases to be just after passing through the shield.

Alright… Heat? No effect? Laser? No effect. Plasma? No-. Argh!

One of the tendrils wasn't lashing around. It was reaching for me and I miss it-. Latched onto my arm! Construct yoyo, wind it up and bundle it up with the rest-. Ah. Fire? No. Don't have any kahuuite… Ah. Recover x-ionised knife, blender construct and blend!

Bzzzzz!

And… The black stuff is still in there, but isn't not moving…

No… It is. The small tendrils are trying to wrap themselves together.

"Is it dead?"

"No." I look around… We're fully enveloped, though it… Doesn't seem to be that thick. Almost every part of the shield is being probed, and my construct is blocking dozens of tendril incursions. "This mass became its own life form when I severed it from the main mass, but the tiny parts seem to be trying to reassemble themselves."

"Ah, so there's a minimum size. Can you throw it back out?"

"Yes, I should be able to. That won't stop the creature outside from trying to get in, but it will remove the distraction."

Okay, find an emptyish bit, connect the construct containment vessel with the construct barrier, breach the barrier -which causes tendrils from the outside to pick up the small bits immediately- and then shove it outwards…

"Okay, it looks like that-"

The creature vanishes.

"-worked-. SHIT!"

I lunge closer to the puzzled-looking Lushun and fortify the barrier immediately around us, fabricating x-ionised blades for the exterior as fast as I-

Wuhy!

-can-!

Everything is tendrils. I can't see out, I can only see Lushun from the light of my constructs and his staff-

"That's interesting. The fear aura from this cloak should intimidate it. Perhaps it's not a creature but a mechanical being instead?"

-and I can feel the creature wrapping itself around my construct and pressing!

"Anything helpful to say, or shall I just commend our souls to any god that can find them?"

Crumbler? No. Cold gun? Not enough room. Try pushing-? Gosh, that's strong. I think it's… Constricting. And not like a snake that waits for you to take a breath, it's just using crushing force, pulling against itself.

"Ah. Even assuming that this creature can't consume them, I doubt that our souls would survive for any length of time here."

"So, yes? No?"

And there are the cracks! Ah… Kinetic barrier? Oh, that's actually-.

It fails with a wiff of burning circuitry.

Okay, I can recreate-.

The orange mote I gave Lushun goes out.

He stares at the place it used to be, and then starts muttering at his staff.

"Do you need another one?"

Crunch!

My construct fractures, and I just about get another smaller one in place in time. Thicken it up…

"No, I think… I think that means that we've-"

The platform, the void and most especially the creature vanish, and are replaced by-.

"-arrived."

Oh dear.

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
10:37 GMT -5

Ruins and wreckage surround us, broken buildings and shattered streets. Some partially surviving shop awnings show writing in Japanese, so… Japan. Further away I can see… One massively out of place skyscraper more than five times the height of the surrounding buildings, and… At least some intact buildings further away. No people immediately around us. No bullet casings or the residues of the sort of explosives that would be present if this was caused by conventional war…

Ah… Update?

18th November 1995
17:59 GMT +9

At the bottom of a gouge in the road I can see pipes and cables. One of the pipes has a drizzle of water sluggishly flowing from it, while the others… The gas pipe, electrical cable and telephone cable are all dead. I could take a look around with empathic vision and see if there are any people here, but…

This isn't the result of a firefight or bombing raid. This is the aftermath a superpower fight. And I don't want to-

"Fascinating." Lushun bends down and picks up a chunk of debris, staring at it intently.

-risk drawing attention until I know what happened.

"Not stone, not a clay brick…" He looks at me. "Do you know what this is made of?"

I take a look. "It's concrete."

"Concrete." He nods. "What's that?"

"It's a mixture of cement, sand, gravel and water. Cement can be made in a variety of ways, but the simplest uses crushed limestone."

"Is this your world, then?"

"No. This world is similar, but it's not the same." And Mazikeen doesn't have a Justice League communicator anyway. "Orange Lantern to Angelica Blaze, respond please."

Nothing. Lushun gradually pulls his eyes up from the gash in the street, looking at the wrecked buildings around us and then up-.

"What happened to that moon?"

Oh no.

It looks like its been… Blasted? The moon hasn't been fractured, but the surface looks more cratered that it should be and there's a halo of what I suspect to be scattered rock around it. What's the… Point of shooting up the near side of the moon?

"I don't know. It shouldn't look like that, if this world works in the same way as mine does. Is your magic working?"

He holds out his left hand, and the shadow effect he got from the spell he nearly used on Sareth and Xana reappears. "It's… Different, but the ambient power is similar enough to what there was on Ashan for me to metabolise it. Of course, the Staff of the Netherworld may well be making that easier."

"Do you know any spells that increase your survivability?"

"A few. Hm." He raises his staff slightly as turquoise light flares around his body. After a moment it dims and coalesces into… What looks a good deal like construct armour. "Arcane Armour. It lasts until it's destroyed, unlike Endurance or Deflect Missile. And wouldn't attract the attention of those hostile to users of Light Magic."

I nod. "Sensible." I consider asking if he can disguise it with an illusion, but he's an elf wearing clothing appropriate to the Dark Elf kingdom. That wouldn't make him stand out less.

Check my own armour… It's in good condition.

"Can you still detect her?"

"I… Could, but it seems to me that your rings are somewhat specific."

"How do you mean?"

"The magic of Ashan -of Asha and Urgash- is similar enough to the magic here that my spells still work. There are vast numbers of magicians of varying degrees of skill on Ashan, and I…" He looks around. "See little reason to assume that things are different here. If power is available then people will use it."

"So you think that people are more likely to be able to detect your magic than my ring scans?"

"A guess, true, but an educated one."

He has a point, except… If there's an alternate path to power, people might pick one over the other. Modern settings tend not to have all that much in the way of magic, but there's nothing here that I specifically recognise to tell me if I'm in a parallel that I already know about. A damaged moon should stick in my memory, but the only works of fiction I remember something like that happening in are Megas XLR (and Coop fixed it at the end of the episode), The Time Traveller (though that resulted in the moon being shattered), D.C. in the Legion of Superheroes era (thanks to the dominators shattering it), and… That's about it. Oh, and Dragonball, but they had multiple moons… I think? And that's not set on Earth.

Anyway, I-. Ah. That would be a start.

"Orange Lantern to any Lanterns in range of my voice. Please acknowledge."

And I wait. I wait as Lushan looks around. "What species lives here, do you think?"

"I recognise the writing, so I assume that it's either mostly or exclusively human."

"Are humans common on other worlds?"

"Yes."

"And elves?"

"Less so, and I'll warn you that 'Dark Elf' doesn't usually mean 'disputed a king's right to turn an elective monarchy into a hereditary monarchy'."

I give my rings a moment longer.

"What about the undead?"

"Certainly. My people's God of the Dead allows anyone who wants to to just walk into the afterlife, and unless they do something stupid, walk out again. There are a group of transcendent ghost warriors liv-. Existing in a country in the northern part of my world. A few vampires around the place…"

No, no one's responding. I-.

My rings blink for a moment, and… Are those glowing eyes-? End. End.

The eyes vanish.

"That's a little worrying. Alright, the largest landmark is that tower, but I'd like to see if we can find some normal people and get some idea about what's going on. A civilisation this organised shouldn't leave damage like this without at least making a start on fixing it."

"Given what I can see that they've built, it does seem a little-"

"Crescent Beam!"

-strange-."

BWOOF!

A giant golden beam smacks into my armour, cracking it and sending me flying through the air and into a wrecked building! Construct armour! Stabilise! Construct shield!

I get my feet under me and brace just as the beam cuts out, and then… No immediate follow up. Unwise. Repair armour, construct armour and fly upwards-.

The instant I clear the ruin a giant… Golden glowing chain flies through the air towards me! I interpose my construct shield to block the initial strike, then drop down underneath it as it tries to wrap around me. Follow it back to the source-.

Why am I being attacked by a stripper?

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th November 1995
18:43 GMT +9

A white 'dress' that leaves her arms bare with a skirt component that doesn't cover the subject. Gloves that cover her forearms, some sort of weird… Orange… Collar… Thing? With a blue bow? Blue eyes and long blonde hair with Japanese features… Okay, not impossible, I know Artemis, but still pretty unusual. And a glowing gold chain that's contracting and moving back towards her in a way that defies conventional physics.

And she's glaring at me in a way that suggests personal animosity. Since there aren't any Orange Lanterns around here, that suggests that she knows the local me. Or… Given that he didn't respond to my message, knew him. I should probably make an effort to explain-

I transition down as the golden chain surges towards me once again. Not too close, but-.

She jumps back and up, landing on the top of a still standing wall. Hm. More than human strength, and either the same with agility or she's in the top fraction of the species.

"Hello! I fear that-"

She swings the chain down, and I transition sideways as it slams into the road-. And sends tarmac and stone chips flying in all directions.

"-you're acting under a misapprehension!"

She pulls out… A makeup kit? Um.

"Right, so-."

The energy beam from the flipping blusher box nails me in the chest, obliterating my construct armour and sending me flying again. Okay, that's where it comes from… Somehow. A jerk of her arm and the chain… Grows sword blades and slashes at me while I'm still in the air transition!

I appear next to Lushun, who is looking on in rapt fascination. "Is this how nobles duel in your world?"

"We don't usually do it in cities… But basically yes."

"Do you want my help?"

"No thank you. So far in my life I've killed no pole dancers, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"The young lady might not give you a choice."

"Not on her best day could she force me to kill her." Local scan, good. "Excuse me."

I appear besides her as she retracts her chain, swords sinking into the links.

"Would you mind-" She jerks her head around. "-knocking it off."

"Do you think using his body is funny?!"

I steeple my gauntlets at my chest and send my helmets into subspace. "This, young lady, is why checking out targets is important. Who do you think I am?"

"Zoisite."

"I have no idea who that is."

"Don't you?"

"No. Now-."

Her makeup box and chain vanish- "Then don't dodge." -and she crosses her arms across her chest. "Rolling Heart Vibration!"

"Are you-?"

I'm enveloped by… Rainbow? It feels… Prickly? Like it's shoving itself under my skin like an injection, but… Everywhere? The energy doesn't exactly feel hostile, but-. Oh yeah, I can sort of feel it rummaging around my metaphysique, looking for things it doesn't like. Of course, with how my tattoos work, while it's doing that I'm absorbing a little of it right b-.

"Ough!"

For one decidedly uncomfortable moment I see the image of a Mammite in my mind's eye, wreathed in rainbow light. Then the light consumes it, and… Huh. I actually feel slightly better. That hurt far less than when the Ace of Winchesters did the same thing.

And then… It's over, and I straighten up as the world's normal colours reappear.

"Alright? Are we okay-"

She stares at me wide-eyed for a moment, then leaps at me-

"-now?"

-and wraps her arms over my shoulders, pressed her face into the side of my head. She's trembling, and I hear her suppress a quiet sob.

"Um."

Okay, dismiss heavy armour, catch the strange Japanese girl and return to ground level. And-. She's hugging me, and my neck's getting damp.

Ring, do I want to know how old she is?

Data not available.

I awkwardly hug her back. I think this will be easier if she's had a chance to calm down a little-. Lushun wanders over, waving at me as he takes in the damage.

"Alright, look. I hate to break this to you-."

"You're not him." She pulls away slightly. "He told me about coming from another Earth. So I guess you're from a different one?"

"Yes. What's.. happening here?"

She takes a deep breath to steady herself, stretching and loosening her muscles and wiping her eyes with her right hand. "We lost. Queen Metalia restored herself to full power, and-. And the world's falling apart."

"Okay. Shouldn't be too hard to deal with. If-."

She glares at me. "She already killed you-! My you! My friends! She's flooding the planet with dark energy!" She calms down a little, still staring at me. "She is very hard to deal with."

"All problems are manageable, some just take time. I will aid you against this Queen Metalia person, and we will kill her. But I came here looking for someone. A woman by the name of Mazikeen, mask covering half her face?"

She shakes her head. "I haven't seen anyone like that. Why does she wear half a mask?"

"Only half of her face is missing."

"Oh. What happened to her?"

"Nothing? As far as I know, she was born like that. She wears the mask mostly because the missing-" I gesture to my own face. "-cheek makes it hard to understand what she's saying. But alright: world falling apart takes priority. What's the state of the world? Who are we up against? And what happened to your me?"

"Dark energy is flooding the world from the North Pole. Everywhere it touches, people turn into monsters. Japan… It hasn't reached Japan yet, but the Dark Empire already had their Generals gathering dark energy here." She glances over at the tall building. "They've been transforming people just for fun while Queen Metalia conquers the world."

"How powerful is she?"

"Very. Nothing-. Nothing we did to her did anything. And when the world realised what was happening and tried nuclear weapons, they didn't hurt her either."

"Nuclear weapons aren't an efficient way to deal with certain types of target. There are ways around that."

"And… She's using my you as her vanguard."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th August 2013
09:48 GMT

Through the Doomsday's sensors I watch very closely as the Green Lantern leaves the system. Orange Lantern's gone missing, which means that Nam-Ek is going to have to put up with his mutated body for a little longer. He'll live with it. Having him around to be able to subtly punish people by forcing them to work with him is useful, anyway.

And then I plot course for Lilaarn.

For a moment I'm surprised by just how easy it is. Not just because the joints in my fingers don't ache, but because the Doomsday's mind-machine interface means that I'm not having to manually input data like I do on my ship; a cut-and-shut job I haven't even bothered naming. And with the course plotted, all it takes to get us underway is another thought. No rerouting power, charging the capacitors and hoping that the oxygen recycler doesn't crap out again. No hoping the expensive parts of the drive aren't time-expired, or are just time-expired and not going to leave me smeared across three systems. Just Kryptonian…

A dead civilization's finest engineering.

Couldn't Orange Lantern have just turned Jax-Ur into a construct? Most kryptonians don't seriously believe in afterlives or souls anyway. No one would have objected, and his scientific abilities would have let us rebuild far faster.

Engage.

Or maybe that's the point. I'm thinking about this in the sense of keeping Krypton going. I wrote it off when I left… Sure, when we met up most of us admitted to listening for a recall signal, but… We knew it wasn't coming. And then when it finally exploded… I was surprised, but I'd… Stopped thinking of it as 'home' well before that.

And then Amalak…

What was it that guy said in that British film? He had a job to do. We just happened to be the enemy. But if I met him in the street and I thought I could get away with it…

And there it is. The planet where Amalak nearly caught u-. Caught me. They had a nasty problem with interstellar piracy before the Kryptonian Stellar Navy ended it for good. And we actually helped them rebuild; it wasn't like we were needed anywhere else, and it… It was nice to be appreciated.

A channel opens as they use their own transmission systems to access our frequencies.

"Kryptonian warship, this is Lilaarn Control. Please… Identify? Because you're reading as-."

"This is… Sub-Commander Karsta Wor-Ul, commanding the Doomsday."

"Then… Welcome back. I'm glad that you're.. still alive."

"That situation has been resolved. I'd like to meet with officials from your government to discuss things."

"Of course. Will you need a berth on the orbital dock, or landing space on the surface?"

"Surface."

"That-. I'm sorry, but that will take slightly longer to arrange."

"That's fine. I did just turn up out of nowhere. Give me an orbital path until the landing zone is ready."

"Transmitting now. Is it just you? I know that Kryptonian ships don't need a lot of crew."

"No. One other."

"Understood. I hope that you enjoy your stay. Lilaarn Control out."

That channel closes, and the Doomsday's computer registered thousands of low-level alerts. In some places those can be signs of hostile surface weapon stations trying to lock on, or at least point in our general direction. Here it's just curious or excited civilians. I deprioritise them, set the ship to follow the indicated approach and orbital path, and then disconnect.

And then I leave the command module, and head out into what used to be the medical suspension section.

Dru-Zod-. Admiral Dru-Zod could have smuggled most of us out in this. Except he didn't know we were leaving, and we didn't know he was sending the ship away until we found out it was gone.

I take a moment to look at Ursa's staring eyes. Didn't expect that, did you? The dominators teleported her onto their ship a fraction of a second before I could, but when they switched their priorities to trying to hem Orange Lantern in… It turns out that they weren't prepared to jam all of Krypton's teleportation techniques.

"Alright. Let her out."

The crystal melts and Ursa-.

Caught herself in the air. Okay, I'm almost impressed. Her eyes flick around at blur-speed as she takes everything in.

"Ursa Dou-Ka."

She takes a moment to steady herself… And deals with the cocktail of combat hormones still in her system. And only when she thinks she can think with a clear head does she meet my eyes.

"How long?"

"A few days. You're innocent, by the way."

She actually looks offended. "I'm not. Dru-Zod and I planned-."

"No. You didn't. Am I clear?"

This time she actually thinks. "Yes, Sub-Commander."

"Good. As far as anyone knows, you're on the way to the Dominion now. The Dominion know you aren't, but they're not going to tell anyone."

She nods slowly. "Then they're not looking for me."

"The Lanterns aren't. The Dominion might be. Which is why you can't live on the colony on Tartarath."

"You're right. Then where?"

"I'm going to sort something out with the Lilaarn government. I lived here for years, and with Amalak calling off the hunt, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to either."

"Lilaarn." She thinks for a moment. "For how long?"

"For however long it takes for everyone to stop caring. There are just about enough of us on Tartarath that I'll be able to bring you there, but only when things have been built up enough and there are a few more children."

She frowns. "My child will grow up surrounded by aliens."

"Yeah." I shake my head. She doesn't get it. "All our children will. Tartarath isn't Krypton. This isn't a temporary thing, until we get back on our feet. Our civilization was made of a billion parts all working together and we've got maybe a dozen left. We'll build back up like our ancestors did after the vrang and after the Clone War, but we're not going to be continuing that civilization. We can't. By the time our children reach adulthood they'll have a whole new culture, and it won't be anything like what either of us grew up with."

"But we will do it."

I nod slowly. "Long after we're both dead, but we will." I step back from her booth, and she follows me.

"I don't remember how advanced Lilaarn is."

"Space faring. Slow F.T.L., but they're mostly colonising their own system."

"The sun?"

"Orange. I'll give you your medical reports, but you shouldn't need it. And this should go without saying, but do not take over this planet. These people actually like us. We're the ones who enabled them to build up this much. Help them, and in five or six years you can leave."

"Yes, Sub-Commander."

"Didn't you hear? Our civilization ended. There's no military for me to be a Sub-Commander in. I'm the Governor of Tartarath, until-."

I was actually thinking about assembling a ruling council. Doing the Kryptonian thing. Ridiculous.

"Until I'm not. I'll give you the cultural briefing before we land."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th November 1995
09:55 GMT

The people below are… Altered. Some have bulging muscles. Some have additional limbs. Skin in colours not usually seen on human flesh is the norm. But they're not… Chaos spawn or anything. Every one looks like a functioning living creature that has the form that it does for a reason.

"If that's dark energy, I should be able to drain it from-."

C'est La Vie shakes her head. "I tried that. Rolling Heart Vibration drains the dark energy out of whoever it hits. They just-." She takes a moment, clearly remembering something extremely unpleasant. "They change back, but they're dead."

Ah. Y-es. If their souls were overwhelmed by-. Of course. D.C. is actually a relatively high magic setting. Not a lot of people use it, but plenty of people use it a little and a few are top tier superheroes. If this is a setting with weaker magic energy… Or just one where regular people absorb magic less well, then their spiritual strength would be much less. Even background 'dark energy'… Whatever that actually is, might end up doing something like this.

"Is that new?"

She nods. "It used to just turn them back into normal humans."

"Do you know where I could get some sulphur?"

C'est La Vie and I turn to Lushun, who's studying the scene below intensely.

"Um. Sure. Why do you ask?"

"Assuming that what you call dark energy here and what we call dark energy on Ashan are the same, I should be able to create a… A structure to bleed it off. Of course, I would have to bleed it off faster than this 'Queen Metalia' is emitting it in order to fix… This. I'm not sure what it would do to the physical changes."

"Is transmuted sulphur alright, or is there a magical element that requires it to be naturally occurring?"

"I have no idea. No wizard on Ashan has tried to use material transmuted by a… Lantern, before."

I transmute a small pouch of powdered sulphur for him as two winged… I'm not sure what to call them, strike the kinetic barrier around us with elongated claws. Mildly superhuman strength, but the attacks aren't innately magical.

"What do you call people when they're changed like this?"

"Youma."

"Right." I pass the pouch to Lushun. "Any good?"

"I'll need a little more than this. And the building will be relatively fragile." He opens the pouch and puts his fingers inside. "But I believe that this will work."

"Do you need anything else?"

"A Pillar of Bones would usually be built in a Necropolis. It will need to be sited somewhere with a great many corpses."

I shrug. "We're in Britain. Finding somewhere like that will be easy. Will you need protection?"

"It would be helpful."

I half-smile. "I guess I'm going home, then. Low population for transformation, a castle, and a thousand year old graveyard. Objections?"

Two head shakes, and the sky skips as we appear over Pevensey Castle. No 'youma' here. I… Drop Lushun off in the inner keep, transmute a large box of sulphur and deposit it next to him, and then-.

"More than that!" I look down. "Ten of those should do it!"

Nine more large boxes of sulphur, and I start fortifying the walls. I'm somewhat concerned about running out of power, so I limit myself to grabbing walls from the nearby abandoned houses and shoving them into the gaps between the surviving pieces of Roman curtain wall rather than building a top notch fortress of my own design. And while I'm doing that...

"So how did you meet?"

C'est La Vie is studying the horizon, probably watching for youma. "Hm?"

"Your me."

"I was here-. In England, when I first got my powers. He was the only other superhero I knew."

"Are superheroes uncommon here?"

"Apart from him and the other Guardians, I don't think there's any. But I didn't know about the other Guardians back then."

"I don't suppose he had a personal lantern, did he?"

"No." Her eyes dip for a moment. "He complained about that a couple of times."

"Could he recharge?"

"He used his ring for over a year. How long do they usually last?"

"It depends how much you use it. But less than a year, even if you ration your use." So what was he drawing power-

Lushun waves his staff, and the ground flexes and trembles, the boxes of sulphur exploding in a swirl of green light-. And then the bodies erupt from the ground, ancient bones merging together with local stone and rising up to form a spire thirty metres high.

-from?

"Where does your power come from?"

"Moonlight. But…" She looks up, but the moon isn't visible from here. "Since Metalia blasted the moon, my compact has been taking longer to recharge."

I nod. "Some sort of generator, possibly. Or a giant magic collector and transmitter."

"Artemis could explain it-." She sags lightly. "If he's still alive."

I nod. "Lushun! Is it working?"

The green mists continue to swirl around the spire, sinister faces momentarily visible in the… Dust? Vapour? Before vanishing a moment later.

He's studying it, smiling broadly. "Yes, it's working nicely! I've never studied one in a land so hypersaturated with dark energy before!"

"Can you get rid of it?"

"Technically, yes. Dark energy is used to raise the dead. The higher the mana capacity of the thing slain, the more dark energy required to raise it as an undead."

I turn to C'est La Vie. "Is dark energy used for necromancy here?"

She shakes her head. "I've never seen it used like that."

"It's possible that the energy isn't the same, just similar. Or perhaps their dedication to Asha prevented the necromancers of Ashan studying other uses for it. But-"

Warning!

"-if-."

Avarice-

A youma appears, grabbing onto the spire with claws large enough to crush a man with a flex and drinking deep of the power!

-detected!

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th November 1995
10:00 GMT

He's big.

The forearms are disproportionally large. Maybe ten times the size of my own while the rest of him is a mere three times my size. His… Armour, is navy blue and covers the majority of his torso and the thighs and I… Think it's an upsized version of what the British police wear. The lower parts of his legs are bare, showing pale green skin and feet with nail talons to match those on his fingers. They're gripping onto the Pillar of Bones too, and would probably let him tear things apart with his claws without losing his grip.

The head…

Weirdly, he's kept our old ponytail. The neck is longer and considerably more muscular than mine, not… Giraffe like, but enough to be disturbing. The eyes glow orange, with black pupils and no visible irises. In terms of facial structure… It's not too different to mine, actually. Perhaps if I owed my musculature to steroids rather than my power rings. Different, but clearly a 'me'.

Empathic vision just shows an undirected… Mess.

He's watching me, so I raise my right hand in a wave.

"Hello, me. How's it going?" He doesn't respond. "I don't remember seeing you at Vanishing Point. Are you still in there?"

Next to me C'est La Vie readies her chain and compact. "He's not."

"Ahh, we're philosophical zombies. We're not in the same position as most people."

"What does that mean?"

"No soul, so there's nothing for the dark energy to displace or destroy. In theory I should just be able to drain it." Ah. "Is that what you did, brother mine? Tried to fuel yourself using dark energy but got swamped by it?" I look closer at his fingers. Nothing there… "What happened to your-"

He vanishes and appears in front of me!

"-ring?"

Shield!

His right claw comes down, talons shimmering! The kinetic barrier catches his flesh but the talons themselves go right through-

Crumbler ram.

-the barrier, causing it to fail just as my ram construct hits him in the chest-.

Gone.

Teleportation, enhanced speed-.

"He-." Lushun looks at the spire, where the quantity of green mist is much reduced. "He fed on it."

"Is it still working?"

"Yes, but it won't do what you want it to if he keeps doing that."

I look to C'est La Vie. "Is that something they can all do?"

"I don't know. They used to use them for collecting dark energy for Queen Beryl, not to keep it themselves. I'm more worried about her learning to use the dark energy spire herself."

"To do what, exactly? I mean, what is Queen… Was it Beryl or Metalia, or are there two of them?"

"Queen Beryl was in charge of the Dark Empire. Queen Metalia is… Her god, a spirit of pure dark energy."

"Did the other me know what she was?"

"He said that it wasn't a precise enough description. Just… Before he… Went away."

Ah. "Because I was worried that he was gradually turned by absorbing dark energy to fuel his ring, but if he got possessed by trying to eat a dark spirit then that's a bit less-."

"He tried eating her?!"

"I don't know that, but it fits the observed phenomena. Okay, the next-."

"Warning!"

The world slows as I look around for-

"Avarice detected!"

-where he's going to appear-.

For a fraction of a second I see him standing next to Lushun.

And then they're both gone.

"Oh no! Your-!"

"He can handle himself." Because I saw him demonstrate high level Summoning Magic, he claimed to be able to do high level Dark Magic, in addition to being a trained necromancer. His theoretic knowledge suggests skill in Sorcery and Enlightenment, a standard caster build. But a Dark Elf would usually take Destructive Magic rather than Summoning... Something odd there. But it still means that it would be difficult for Beryl or whoever to actually harm him. High level heroes are no joke. "But I have more questions."

"W-? What is it?"

"What does Metalia actually want? Normally I'd just look at her and then know, but all I got when I looked at me was a blur and a mild headache."

"To flood the world with dark energy and turn everyone into youma! You've seen it!"

"And once she's ruined human civilisation and turned everyone into slaves, what next?"

"I don't know."

"Alright, what about Queen Beryl? She must be serving Metalia for a reason. Is she still intelligent?" C'est La Vie nods. "And her henchmen? You mentioned a Zoisite?"

"They're intelligent, too. And I don't know what they got out of it."

"That tower, in Japan. Is that where they live?"

"… Yes. It's also where Sailor Mercury died."

"We need assistance and more information."

"They won't-."

"I can mind control people. Either by altering their desires-"

"I know-."

"-or turning them into living constructs. It's not efficient against things with exotic defences, but I can make it work. But if they've had their minds altered by dark energy but left with just enough mental freedom to plot and scheme… We might be able to work something out."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th November 1995
19:07 GMT -9

I crumble a hole in the wall, and a dozen youma turn and growl or hiss at me and C'est La Vie and I float in and land.

"Yes yes, very intimidating. Now show us to-"

Acid spat by a youma with serpentine characteristics splatters off my construct shield, earning-

"Crescent Beam!"

-her a moon-blast which sends her across the office space and into the window at the far side.

"-the organ grinder, if you please?"

There's a sort of nervous blankness around the remaining youma, as if none of them want to be either the first to attack or the first to comply.

C'est La Vie inclines her head slightly towards me. "That metaphor doesn't exist in Japanese."

I frown at her. "Obviously not, but ring translation usually-." I turn back to the crowd. "I wish to talk to the person in charge, please. This means that you can leave and fetch them."

"Oh, don't worry." A tall man in a lilac uniform strolls in from the direction of the lifts. "I did notice you making a hole in my building. Surprisingly bold of you, given-."

He gets a good look at me face, and pauses.

"I didn't realise that you could still talk."

"The advantage of not having a soul is that it can't be damaged. I've got a question for you."

He rolls his eyes. "Everyone out."

The various youma obey at once, heading out of the room by the closest doorways, while their 'Heavenly King' employer waits with arms folded across his chest.

"Do you know how hard it is to find youma still capable of coherent thought after their transformation?"

"No. Have you considered not transforming them?"

"That wouldn't solve anything." He looks at C'est La Vie. "Why is Sailor Venus with you? And still alive?"

Sailor V-?

Oooh. Sailor Venus. Sailor Mercury like the planet! Sailor Moon-. I… Suddenly wish I actually knew something about the series.

Moving swiftly on, I turn up my empathic vision and a translucent grey bubble shield flickers into existence around him, prompting him to raise his left eyebrow.

"Because no useful purpose is served by killing her."

"Queen Beryl-. Or I suppose I should say Queen Metalia, would probably reward you."

"With what?"

"Power? Status?"

"Power over what? Status where?"

His eyes narrow. "State your business."

"What does Metalia actually want?"

A glowing knife nails my construct armour directly in front of my forehead. Then he completes the throwing motion with his right arm.

"Alright. I'm here to convince you that there's no point or profit in destroying human civilisation and that you'd be better served by working against the queens."

His eyes narrow. "Dark energy regulation is a solvable problem."

"Does something about covering the world in dark energy suggest that Metalia is interested in regulating anything?" I gesture to the building around us. "How long do you think this will survive when she turns the remaining population of Japan in feral youma? Do you know how much effort maintaining a civilisation this complex takes? How many people? How-?"

"Yes. I do." He considers us for a moment. "Is that it, then? The two of you intend to have one last doomed fight with Queen Metalia? How romantic."

I glance at Sailor V, who avoids meeting my eyes. Didn't need to know that.

He smiles condescendingly. "I won't stop you, but I have no interest in throwing my life away."

"Alright then. I'll ask you a question I suspect you haven't been asked before."

"Yes?"

"What do you want? If everything went the way you want it to, what does your life look like? Are you living somewhere like-"

I turns and gesture to the hole I made, through which Japan is visible.

"-that, or are you living in a decaying apocalypse populated by demon zombies ruled over by a queen who thinks this is all good and proper?" I smile and he actually decides to think about it. "What makes you happy?"

"I…" He shakes his head. "Queen Beryl is…"

"Tell me: are you immune to dark energy yourself?"

"Of course." He gestures to himself with his right hand. "Do I look like I've become a youma?"

"Affected differently is not the same as immune. Look, you're clearly someone who reached a level of pre-eminence. What motivated you to become the man that you are?"

He smiles, but there's a degree of uncertainty to it. "That was a very long time ago."

"Then you're clearly not pressed for time."

"What are you trying to do?"

"Well, I thought that I'd talk you around by pointing out that your nominal boss is clearly acting against your interests. And either you were too worried about your own safety to resist -which would be fair enough- or your judgement was compromised in some way. Or you're fine with it, and it sounds like that isn't the case."

His eyes drop slightly. "I-. I don't-."

"I'm pretty sure that I can remove dark energy from a person or object. I think that's what the version of me you've met before did that got him into trouble. If you think that someone -perhaps an ally of the Guardians- is interfering with your thought processes, it's hardly unreasonable for you to want to be at your best for the Queen, is it?"

His eyes come up. "Just the dark energy?"

I raise my hands. "Just the dark energy. Feel free to call a friend in to keep a knife at my throat-."

He smiles as another man dressed in a similar uniform appears in a shower of petals just behind Sailor V. His comrade smirks as the petals transform into needles and hang in the air, prepared to strike. "You called?"

Sailor V prepares her chain, but I put my right hand on her arm to stop her. "No, that's fine."

I deactivate my construct armour and send my heavy armour into subspace before walking towards the closest needle, taking hold to it and moving it to my neck. It remains in place as I let go and the new Heavenly King stares at me in confusion.

"This isn't a trick. If I fail, my life is forfeit. You can hit me from here, can't you?"

He looks surprised, and then pleased. "I can. Good luck!"