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

9th June 2000
08:23 GMT

The rune stone sits on a nearby table as Chauf stares at the screen, watching a report from Japan's leading news broadcaster.

"I don't know what they're saying, but they all look pretty happy."

There's a short clip of him dragging the semi-conscious Shuten over to a clearly bewildered police officer, the crowd behind him more interested in taking pictures than in the wider political considerations. Or personal safety considerations. I drop down a moment later and Peisinoe and the former slaves a few moments after that. That seems to get them moving, and we more or less back off and let the emergency services do their thing.

I nod. "They're basically playing the tropes to the hilt for amusement value. Probably because they have no idea how else to play it. The shadoen attack was only a few days ago. Director Logan might have informed world leaders, but that knowledge hasn't spread out to the general population yet. That's why this is so important."

Peisinoe doesn't look impressed. "But what about the oni?"

"Again, they're perfectly fine with the idea that some aliens are hostile. But superheroes fighting evil, winning and not causing too much property damage in the meantime is a far better angle than-."

An image of a government official from… The National Public Safety Commission, which is an ominous-sounding name. It's just a clip from a full interview that they're showing this evening, but…

"He's not offended by us showing up. He's saying that the government was briefed on-. Ah, 'the possibility' of aliens hiding in their country, and that they're satisfied that we're doing the right thing. I don't know whether that's what they're saying in private, but that's the official stated position of the Japanese government at the moment."

Chauf considers that for a moment.

"We should talk to them directly. Might help if we give them more information than the Alliance is." He presses a button, dismissing the news coverage as it goes onto economic matters and calling up our information files on vampire occupation. "Green Knight, do you know anything about vampires in Japan?"

"There aren't any, as far as I know. The oni were too entrenched. Might start being a problem now, but as far as I know even the vampires not aligned with Dorn are trying to avoid making any move that could be considered provocative." I shrug. "I've been occupied with vampires and the Alliance. Are there any major nexuses of non-human criminality? Because if this is a job we can get done in a month or so, I can focus on building up our intelligence on the state of things on other planets."

Chauf nods. "The lycanthropes, but that's just individual packs doing their own things. They're not organised like the vampires or oni."

"So we could just pop by the pack leader for a chat without coming in heavy?"

"That would be better. I've had dealings with a few packs, and a lot of them just want to avoid being noticed. Their short lifespan means that they can't hide in one place for long because it gets noticed. Can't cope with human school systems for the same reason."

I frown. "Yes, I was… Wondering about that? How the heck do lycanthropes maintain a technologically sophisticated society?"

"They're not just physical mimics. They copy skills as well. If a pup hangs around engineers or scientists for the first few months, they pick up everything a lot faster than anyone else. But they can't send them to school because human schools give general educations and specialise later."

I nod. "Okay. Anyone else?"

Chauf looks pointedly at Peisinoe.

…

She pointedly doesn't look at him.

"O… Kay. The other issue is human on alien crime. I expect there's going to be a spate of thefts because just about anything of alien origin is going to be highly valuable and there isn't a legitimate route to ownership yet."

"Yeah." Chauf nods, still looking at Peisinoe. "That sounds like it could be a problem."

She keeps it up for a few moments before finally turning fully towards us. "Fine. Some members of my species have used their mesmerising power to make stealing easier. There are only a few places on Earth where we live in any numbers. We should probably talk to some of the community leaders in India to make sure that things don't get out of hand."

"Okay, but… I.. feel like I'm missing something."

"In that part of the world, sirens used to be a bigger problem than lycanthropes."

"That was a long time ago. They gave it up when humans grew too numerous."

I nod. "But some of the cultural traditions might still hang on. It's a potential flashpoint if someone does something stupid. Do they have any advanced technology?"

She shakes her head. "No. The last time I visited, they were even more primitive than the Indian humans."

"You mean.. 'rural Indian humans', right? Because there's a fairly large split in India between-."

The stone shimmers and we switch our attention to it. I move it to a clear area on the floor and feed a little of the green light into it. A moment later space shimmers, then Queen Mab, her bodyguards Shateera and Sheenta and Princess Sh'rain appear from thin air. Banshees don't really do 'timekeeping', not having clocks or watches, so we've just been hanging around waiting for them.

Mab manages to only grimace slightly at being surrounded by metal, while the others… Sh'rain looks a little nervous, Shateera seems disinterested and… Sheenta is giving me the evils. Not too impressed about me concealing that I'm human, I imagine.

Chauf steps forwards. "Queen Mab. Welcome on board."

"Chauf." Fair enough. He doesn't have a title. The Conduit hasn't ever really been that formal. "Green Knight. Not hiding your face, I see."

"No, your majesty. At this point it would be counterproductive."

She returns her attention to Chauf. "I want to make a deal wid you. Sh'lainn tole me about what you've been up to in.. Japan. The Green Knight here tole me I should do the same last winter, but I didn't pay him much mind. And now his master is telling me the same t'ing."

That's honestly news to me. I didn't know that she and Percival were on direct conversation terms.

Chauf nods. "How can we help?"

"Sh'rain's been wanting to get out and about on her own for a while. And she needs more experience dealing peaceably with other peoples. I want her to join you."

"We could do that." Chauf looks down at Sh'rain. "Does she want to join us?"

"I do. Sh'lainn's learned a lot since she left home, and I want t'do the same. And what you're doing, I want t'make banshees look good as well."

Chauf nods again. "Alright. You won't know anything about ships or weapons, but can you fight?"

She raises her hands, glowing balls of plasma materialising as she floats off the ground and her hair goes in all directions. "Troy me."

Right hand behind my back, I generate a small energy pulse. Banshees tend to fight like flying artillery: no real armour and once they're in position they don't usually dodge. Sh'lainn's learned the value of mobility and cover, but a sharp introduction will help underline that this isn't a game and injury and death are real possibilities.

I bring my hand around and release, sending the energy pulse flying at her chest-.

Where it's blocked by a glowing green shield.

"Hey!" She glares at me, eyes still glowing. "What's the big idea!"

I look at Queen Mab. She looks away.

Well. I had wondered.

 

Wait Time

17th February 2013
06:46 GMT -5

I smile as the teleporter glow fades and… Richard, Kon, Mitchell and M'gann appear. I spot the clear relief that Richard feels at once, and while the other three are a little more subdued in their response I spot them relax a little as well.

"Paul!" Kon steps forwards, standing-.

Ah. I walk right up to him and hug him, and I feel him relax a little further as he hugs back. "Good to see you, Kon."

Mitchell gets a quick hug too, Richard gets a warm handshake and M'gann-.

I frown. "M'gann, is that a telepathy blocker?"

She nods. "I tried-. But I couldn't take feeling that all of the time."

I nod back twice in quick succession. "No, no, I understand."

"But I guess I can take it off up here." She looks around. "It is.. safe here, right?"

I nod again. "I've checked everyone. No one's feeling great and Luthor's people all have some sort of implant, but we're too far from Earth for the broadcasters to reach us."

Her blocker shapeshifts back into a collar, and she smiles with relief. **I don't think I really appreciated feeling other peoples' minds until I couldn't do it any more.**

**[An image from our day at the beach during our first few months on the team, juxtaposed with our current situation.]**

She blinks in surprise. **That was complex. Have you been practicing?**

"Lantern training. We have to be able to picture things clearly. Listen-."

"Batman said you had a way to fix this." Richard can't conceal his eagerness. "Please tell me it isn't anything too crazy."

I affect a sombre expression. "It isn't anything-."

"I don't believe you already."

"We're going to fire the concept of life itself into the Anti-Life broadcaster network, expunging the Anti-Life from the Earth."

He thinks that over for a moment. "Doctor Mist said he couldn't do that."

"I suspect that he could, if he didn't concern himself with the fact that doing so might end all life in the universe on a conceptual level. My technique has considerably less chance of doing that."

He smiles. "'Considerably less' huh, Oh El?"

I nod, smiling back. "Yes. It's far lower. And it would be very difficult to reverse engineer." I exhale. "It's hard enough to engineer, particularly now."

"I thought you got the Medusa Mask."

"I did. But I didn't know about Batman's change of heart regarding the utility of fear, and…" I take the yellow ring out of my pouch. "I don't have another user in mind for this."

Mitchell stares. "Did you kill Sinestro?"

"No. He's recruiting, and I stole a ring and extorted a spare personal lantern for it. I need someone to use it-."

Richard nods, staring at the ring. "But with Batman turning over a new leaf, he can't use it."

"Not well enough. Not without backsliding. Karshon the Shark could have used it, but it turns out that he's the only one who knows what the mutagen which turned him from a normal shark into himself looks like, and he can't communicate that while a normal shark."

M'gann frowns. "Who?"

**[An image of Karshon and the summary page of his Justice League file.]**

"Oh. I could try reading his mind."

Richard half-winces. "Yeah, but Oh El's planning on giving him a power ring. I'm not sure it's such a great idea to give it to a killer shark."

"Actually, he's a tiger shark."

"Still not a good idea."

I shrug. "Batman's turned over a new leaf. Karshon isn't reliable. The only-." I frown. "Michael Siskin.. is.. dead, but I never checked where his soul went."

Kon frowns for a moment, then his brow relaxes. "That's the guy who died helping you kill Nabu."

"Yeah. He'd actually be a good pick. I mean he's… Probably somewhere." I shake my head. "Anyway, I promised myself that I wouldn't even try Doctor Crane-"

Richard looks unimpressed. "Uh, yeah."

"-so I'm hoping you've got some ideas."

Kon thinks for a moment. "How about Luthor?"

He… I think Lex Luthor used a yellow ring in the comics once..? But I don't really see our version as being someone who focuses on manipulating people by fear. And anyway…

"I don't know where he is. According to Truggs, he-."

Eyes widen at his name, but it's Richard who asks.

"'Truggs' as in 'Nylor Truggs', the guy who's responsible for at least five murders and tried to kill us?"

"Yeah, but Jade tried to kill-." They don't look impressed. "Okay, yes, he's here, and he doesn't want the Earth Anti-Lifed. And neither does Luthor."

Mitchell nods. "How about Cheshire, then?"

"Ah… Doesn't really have a history of using fear as a tool. Not especially, anyway."

M'gann looks thoughtful. "Artemis's mom?"

"The mental technique she's using to cope with Anti-Life exposure precludes using a power ring. And again, she was more of a sneak thief and assassin, not someone who focused on fear. Batwoman would-"

Richard winces. "Please don't."

"-be a better option, but still not really good enough." I could ask him about his… Home situation, but I don't really think this is the time. "So, yeah, I need someone experienced in manipulating people with fear, and I don't have one. Getting someone compassionate would also be nice, but it's probably not essential."

Richard shakes his head. "When we're dealing with saving the whole Earth, I think we should try doing better than 'probably'."

"Okay, well, let's start researching. There's got to be someone on Earth who can do the job."