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

27th August 2012
21:51 GMT -5

"Nice."

Mr Hall grins as Donna Troy walks towards us, a local police officer at her side. I haven't had much to do with Diana's other student, but I don't think I've given her any reason to dislike me.

…

Other than the… Obvious.

"Professional, Mister Hall. You're here in an official capacity."

He clears his throat, straightening up slightly. "Okay, but can I ask her out in an unofficial capacity?"

"In your own time, certainly, assuming that she had nothing to do with the incident we're investigating."

Miss Troy approaches to within convenient speaking distance, and I nod to the police officer and dismiss her with a wave. She's obviously curious about what's going on, but the arrangement between the federal and local authorities doesn't give her any grounds to listen in. She nods back and heads back towards her police car.

"Grayven? Ah, Agent Grayven? What is it?"

Because she has a secret identity and there's no reason for her to know me personally in her role as 'Donna Troy, college student', and we're in a public location. Which is why I didn't just boom tube to her location when I left Artemis and Kanto to see if I could find anything.

"Nothing to worry about too much, Miss Troy." I look over to where a group I assume to be her friends are clustered around the library's entrance. "Would you prefer if we moved somewhere private?"

"Do I need a lawyer?"

"You are entitled to one if you want one, but at the moment I'm not arresting you. Or investigating you for a crime. This is really more of a 'due diligence, eliminating you for my enquiries' sort of thing."

"Okay then, yeah. That's probably a good idea."

I nod and smile.

Mother Box, hush tube to that planet.

Ping.

Mr. Hall heads through first, due to a combination of machismo and a genuine concern for what might happen to his brother if he left him alone for any length of time. Genuine, but insulting concern. I head through next, because we're not escorting Miss Troy and I don't seriously think that she had anything to do with this. But 'feels like Wonder Woman' doesn't result in all that many matches.

I step aside as Donna comes through, frowning as she looks around. I'm not seeing anything on her face or in her actions which suggests any familiarity with the-.

She looks up at the sky with a frown. Ah, she's spotted that we're not on Earth.

"Where are we?"

I shut the tube down.

"You haven't been here before?"

"I've been to two alien worlds, and this isn't one of them. What's going on? Where are-? Where are the local people?"

"We don't know. There are signs of a struggle, but no organic remains. Can you account for your movements over the last three days?"

"Yeah, but, why?"

"It's not her." Artemis walks over. "She feels kind of similar, but not the same."

Donna glances at her, then returns her attention to me. "She's waiting for that explanation."

"I'm not used to using my magic senses on people who aren't Sheeda. Someone was here, and their magic feels like yours and Wonder Woman's."

Donna frowns. "There isn't anyone like me and Wonder Woman."

"Far as I can tell?" Artemis shakes her head. "Not true."

"Except-?"

I shake my head. "Not Orana. I awoke her after she ritually accepted my authority. I could probably navigate back to Earth using her. She certainly hasn't been here."

"There are other demigoddesses on Themyscira, but-. Well…"

I nod. "They're a bunch of shut-ins who wouldn't come to an alien world even if they had the opportunity."

"I wouldn't-." … "Yeah." … "I mean… Some of them might."

I nod. "But if they were inclined to covertly murder three billion people they'd have shown some sign during the last three thousand years. Amazons don’t do innovation."

"They certainly don't do three billion murders. What.. happened here?"

I make an exaggerated shrugging gesture.

"We don't know! We don’t know. There're signs of a struggle but no bodies. No damage relating to weapons that weren't native. No residues of any kind. Other than the fact that someone incongruous stood here we've got no idea."

Artemis nods. "I was trying to track the other Grayven, when-."

"Other Grayven?"

I nod. "I have a duplicate. I don't know where they came from, but he has a fleet and he's heading for Vega to remonstrate with me. We're… Not exactly on a direct line from his last known location to Vega, but it's not far off."

About half the distance, which… The barrels of some of the muskets were still warm. This was recent. So assuming that they're moving at a constant speed, I know roughly when we should expect them. Unless they're just going to set up a base in our area before actually attacking.

"You don't know of any others?" Donna looks at me quizzically and I shrug. "I don't know, no Amazon went on a mysterious nine month long spiritual retreat after visiting the mainland or something? Because there aren't a lot of options here."

"Plenty of Amazons from the old city of Themyscira didn't ever manage to get to the island. But they would have died thousands of years ago. The.. same with any of them who went back; their immortality is tied to staying there."

I nod. "And the demigoddesses?"

"There was.. about two thousand years where Themyscira had no contact with the mainland at all. And the thing about Themyscira is.. there aren't any men on it."

"Right, but there's magic and there's gods."

"And there's an island full of militant lesbians and it still took three thousand years for Queen Hippolyta to create Diana. If someone had children I haven't heard about it."

"Drat. Well, thank you for your time. I'll take you back-."

"No."

"I'm sorry?"

"You can't just announce something like this and expect me to carry on like nothing happened. And Diana's going to want to be involved too."

That's… I mean, I have-. No, I haven't wanted to get the League involved. This is my dog, and…

This Is Mine.

They aren't likely to appreciate how I'm building the place up, and I can't exactly shove them back out of the way once the fight's over. And while I'm reasonably confident that they won't side with someone who'd do this over me…

I'm not completely sure that they wouldn't try doing something ill-advised.

But if I'm looking at exposure anyway, it's best to make it controlled exposure.

"Then let's go and talk to her."

 

27th August 2012
00:13 GMT

"I like the colour-."

"Yes, we've heard that joke."

If you don't want people to make fun of the colour of your Green Lantern temple then don't make it green. And not just green; anything that's actually coloured is the closest they could get to the actual colour of green light constructs. Variations on the green sigil feature extensively in the wooden coving, and artwork featuring the Guardians portrayed as deific figures covers the walls.

"Do devout Lanterns get interred here, or in the crypts on Oa?"

"Why would we consider it a lesser honour than Lanterns who don't share our beliefs?"

Behind us, Dul and Xor float slowly after us, taking the opportunity to study their surroundings. Onik just looks awkward. I suppose that this isn't his religion, after all.

"Lantern Gardner mentioned that he'd opted for it. Jordan wants to be buried on Earth." I smile. "Savenlovich is donating her body to medical science."

"And you?"

"I'm taking it with me. Saves me from having to build a new one. Lantern Onik, did your monastery have the same overwhelming green theme?"

"No, Great Master." Lantern Toren glances back with a raised eyebrow tattoo, but doesn't otherwise comment on the appellation. "Our symbol is a sphere-and-arc, and we use the entire rainbow of colours."

Hm. Probably more interesting to the eye. Ring, add recordings of my interactions with Doctor Ub'x, Dame Carol and Al Scott, a copy of my book and a summary of my knowledge of the seven standard colours to our social media site.

Compliance. Error, compliance impossible due to server overload.

On a planet this advanced? Ah, okay, rehost it and make those additions.

Compliance.

Somewhere with a better reputation for reliability.

Unable to comply. Karax data servers use a cloud system where the location of data components is uncertain.

Fine.

We pass a training area where monks with shock rods are fighting one another. I see one monk score a solid hit to their opponent who proceeds to power through the shock and return the favour, which causes both rods to go dead. Of course, they're training their willpower as much as their bodies. Backing off isn't to be encouraged.

"Lantern Toren, have you completed your M'eelam Na'aquall?"

"No. I do not believe that I am ready. Does your Corps have an equivalent?"

"Not in the formal sense. I've done something similar, but that involved joining with the Ophidian and then separating. What sort of preparations are usually considered necessary?"

"Intense self-reflection and moral development, combined with the trials of duty in the field."

"Was the way in which Jordan and Gardner passed unusual, then?"

"Lantern Gardner had already touched Ion. I don't know Lantern Jordan well enough to comment on his preparedness."

"Do you know how Lantern Gardner managed that?"

"A tremendous feat of will, putting aside all distractions to focus on a single act."

I nod. "Is that what you're working towards?"

"No." I frown. "Or rather, I would like to achieve what he has, but… Lanterns who gain his level of spiritual elevation usually struggle to maintain balance. I seek to master the green light as a part of my life."

"Very sensible. Lantern Xor. How's your work-life balance going?"

"Yesterday Onigar took me-"

I hear the 'thud' as his environmental shield fails and deposits him on the ground.

"-to a theatre production of The Dream of the Comet. I cried when the lead character realised that he was trapped, for I saw myself in his struggle."

"Good man. Lantern Onik?"

"I… Ah…"

I half-turn and give him a reassuring smile. "It's always awkward when the boss puts you on the spot, isn't it?"

He hesitates, then nods. "Yes, Great Master. A.. little. A short time ago I studied the histories of some of the peoples the Reach has destroyed. When I studied their culture, the wrongness of their loss became all-"

His landing is far more quiet than Xor's.

"-the more clear to me."

"See, that wasn't so bad. Though you might want to consider something that isn't related to the war. Lantern Dul?"

"After the rest of my team died I forced myself to carry on my mission without-"

She doesn't land, though holding her wings open is a little awkward in these corridors.

"-allowing myself to doubt that I would succeed."

"And you succeeded beyond your superiors' wildest dreams-."

"No."

"Alright, you succeeded beyond what they could have reasonably expected. Though again, I would encourage you to develop a life outside of work. We're all members of social species, and I'm firmly of the belief that a greater range of interests is necessary for coping well with the stress of using our rings."

"What do you do, Great Master?"

"I do work both in industrial development and prisoner rehabilitation on my homeworld, and I'm optimistic that we might actually be starting to use our advantages properly. And I've been romantically involved with a Darkstar named Jade Nguyen for about a year now, and enjoy working out how to spend time together wherever she's stationed. Lantern Toren, are you going to want to participate?"

"It is more that I have been advised not to leave you alone." He nods. "But I think that it would benefit me."

"Glad to have you. Do you feel like experimenting with an orange ring?"

For a fraction of a second, he looks decidedly nervous. "I will see. For now, I would like to introduce you to the abbot, who can grant you access to our archives and our records of our historical training methods."

We halt outside a large wooden door and he knocks twice, the doors swinging open as the second knock is complete.

"Enter friends."