Dr Munro looks increasingly concerned.
"No, they're just surprisingly realistic about the logistics."
Including the logistics of not getting their heads screwed off by an angry Kryptonian, eh?
We land in the courtyard at the front of the apartment building where Dawn Warrior lives, and Raquel presses the buzzer.
"I'm sorry, I think I missed something. Nazi?"
"Overgirl comes from a parallel universe where the fascists won the Second World War using alien technology. We're trying-"
Yes, quite the bomb to someone who hasn't been on the inside of the superhero world, isn't it?
"You're trying."
"-to talk her around and so's Superman, actually."
Winning quite a lot of points from me there, actually. Not that he's likely to ever use them without prompting. Can't be because I Dannered Lois…
Good grief! She went for it after all? I almost pity the next thug who tries pushing her around, or the next to try and kidnap her... They'll be begging to be taken in, no doubt.
There's a beep and the door unlocks, prompting the three of us to walk through the small and unmanned lobby into the lift.
Dawn Warrior is a superhero, but with no secret identity… He lives in the sort of apartment that he used to get paid to protect. His protection jobs these days are rather better paying, and his schedule is a lot more flexible. He volunteers with the police, and him being able to resolve situations without needing to open fire himself has kept the number of police-related fatalities noticeably lower than other Brazilian cities of comparable size. It's a… Different way of doing things.
And surprisingly reasonable. I bet he saves the local cops quite a bit of money compared to a SWAT team operation...
"You…" Dr Munro looks a little awkward. I suppose that he did get the 'Nazi' thing sprung on him. Hoping that Raquel wouldn't tell people about that was a little hopeful. "Got.. trained by Green-. Ah, the original Green Lantern, right?"
"If I got trained by the original Green Lantern I'd be millions of years old." I smile at Dr Munro as the lift comes to a halt. "But yes, the one who used to be in the Justice Society."
<Snrk> Yeah, I doubt Arnold would make that distinction. Still surprised he wasn't involved in the hero business himself. He was basically the replacement for Superman when DC rewrote their continuity concerning the early days. Unless he
was during the fifties?
"And the All-Star Squadron."
"Yes. He stayed for the whole cleanup here and wrote his resignation letter on the way home."
After seeing that, I'm not surprised...
Raquel frowns. "He didn't stop being a superhero, though."
"He cut down his hours a lot. He still won't look at the pictures."
Bit of PTSD there, I suspect. But he's had fifty years to cope with it...
Dr Munro nods as I knock on Dawn Warrior's door. "I know how he feels."
Beatriz opens the door and I lead the way inside. Dawn Warrior himself is sitting in his living area, wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt. He raises his right hand and lazily waves it.
"Orange Lantern and god!"
No, no, It's an easy mistake to make for some people, I know...
His eyes widen in shock as he gets a clear look at Dr Munro.
"Ah…" Dr Munro bows his head slightly. "No. No, though… Some of your parent's people thought that my father was one."
This might make settling down the tribes a bit easier then.
Dawn Warrior stands up, clearly shaken by the resemblance. "You look… So much like him."
Dr Munro nods. "Good job my mother's husband never met him. So, can you tell us what's going on?"
Heh, I'd pity him if he tried to hurt his wife's son...
Dawn Warrior's still staring at him, clearly not quite crediting that he's meeting his creator's son.
"No. But I can get in contact with the people who can. My tribe -and the others your father tried to help- are very cautious about contact with the outside." He smiles. "Did you know that my grandfather was the first of my people to meet him, Hugo Danner?"
Wow, deep personal connection to the man himself. This will be easy to settle, then.
"I… Didn't. How did it happen?"
"They were keeping watch over some archaeological expedition, when one of them -your father- decided to climb to the top of a mountain during a storm. He was hit by lightning, fell to the ground… And then got up again." Dawn Warrior grins. "And then he started laughing."
Not out of the ordinary for a Danner Enhancile...
Raquel tilts her head to the right.
"What's so funny about being struck my lightning?"
"Hugo Danner the Man-God came to Brazil to get away from everyone who had rejected him in his own country. He climbed the mountain to ask God for advice… And his answer was lightning! Boom!"
That would make quite the impression, both on Hugo and the people watching.
He chuckles, and… Yes, I can see why Hugo might have found very black humour in that.
Beryl frowns. "Why did he call himself 'Man-God'?"
You assume he named himself that?
"He didn't. Ah, he said he was just a man, but they had seen him do things only gods could do! Yes, yes, a woman who can set herself on green fire, and-" He gestures to us. "-a man with an alien ring… But all our tribe had was herbalists and a little weak magic. We had never seen a metahuman like him before. They said he was a god, he said he was a man… So they compromised on Man-God."
Heh. And Hugo probably groaned every time he overheard it. Or started to get a complex from it.
"I've got to ask: how many other enhanciles like you are there?"
"I'm not exactly sure. Making the 'potion of the gods' isn't easy in the jungle-."
Wait, what?!
"What?" / "I beg your pardon?"
"What?" Dawn Warrior shrugs. "Hugo Danner made that stuff in the jungle. We lost his equipment when the American soldiers stole it, but the modern world being what it is, it wasn't hard to get more. And he never hid the process from us."
...Well, damn. That makes matters quite a bit more complicated... Also a possible case study for OL concerning the effects of large groups of Enhanciles.
Dr Munro gapes, and I'm.. not far behind. That's a lot of years and a lot of Danner enhanciles.
"Roughly..? How many..?"
"Couple hundred? It's not just our tribe now. When it got real obvious that the government was going to sell the whole forest, people-. Eh, you know how it works. Pregnant women volunteered."
Wow. Just... Wow.
"And you.. kept it quiet?"
"After we started dying of diseases, the survivors went deep into the jungle to get away. It's hard to make vaccines which people like me can use. But it can be done."
Which presumably explains how he survived contact with the modern population.
"So… What was the plan, here? Why are you telling us?
"
"The plan was to protect our territory from loggers, ranchers and the Brazilian government with
the threat of violence. I don't know why someone attacked this logging camp early. It was supposed to be a couple of days of overwhelming force, then send me to Brasília to negotiate. Probably some kid being stupid."
...So... It was his idea? Or he was in the know with the tribesfolk...
He shrugs.
"So what do you want to do?"
"You're.. not at all concerned that we might stop you?"
Children of Dawn round 2? Let's hope they're reasonable...
"Not really, and if you try to?" He shrugs again. "How? The Justice League won't approve of you just killing everyone. You could try arresting everyone, but the government has nowhere to put us. Plus… There are a lot of us, now. No, I think that since you are here, it is best that we go and talk to my tribe and maybe start with the negotiations."
He smiles and gestures to his door.
"You gonna come?"
Oh, boy... This will be
interesting.. in so many meanings of the word.
