[Archive] With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Story Only)

[Mr Zoat]

3rd July
21:02 GMT -5

"…the topic of discussion tonight, please welcome our first guest, Orange Lantern."

Ms Manning turns towards the side of the stage as I walk on. Unlike my first television piece, this one is going out live. And I'm… Actually more nervous about this than I was about confronting Klarion. There, I was pretty certain that I'd covered all the angles. Here, once the initial discussion is underway the audience can throw out pretty much whatever they want.

There's a polite round of applause, and I smile and nod in the direction of the audience -and the cameras- as I take the first seat opposite the presenter. Ms Manning is a favourite of Diana's due to being an oddity amongst American anchors: a woman working in television who remained employable after she stopped being hot. She's a presenter and an interviewer rather than an investigator, which is… Actually the way these things normally work. Huh. There are a statistically improbable number of investigative reporters associated with superhero work, aren't there?

"Orange Lantern, thank you for joining us tonight."

"A pleasure to be here, Ms Manning. Thank you for inviting me."

That particular greeting went through several revisions during rehearsals. In the end, she ruled that it should stay in. Everyone else is told to call her Marla from the start, but 'formal and polite if a little stiff' is perfectly fine for a superhero and because she can't really use my name. There's no way to explain why I can't introduce myself by name in a way that makes any sense on television, so by skipping the whole issue there's no implied power inequality or disdain.

"Perhaps I should start by asking you exactly what your religious beliefs are."

"Well… That's a little complex. I worship Eris, the Ancient Greek Goddess of Chaos. However, as I'm sure-" I glance towards the cameras. "-everyone here knows, Eris is part of the Ancient Greek pantheon. This means that I -theoretically at least- acknowledge their authority even if I don't worship them on a regular basis."

"That sounds fairly straight forward."

"The problem arises due to the use of the word 'belief'. I've met Eris; I've spoken to her in person on several occasions. I don't have 'faith', there isn't anything I need to believe that I can't prove… Or at least could prove if she felt like cooperating. I may believe things about her which aren't true, but I would be perfectly happy to revise those beliefs once I… Proved that."

"When did you start worshipping Eris?"

"I'm a citizen of Themyscira, and it is.. customary, for a citizen to choose one god to… Follow, to study. When I first visited Themyscira back in January, I was asked if I intended to do the same. I thought about it, thought about… What I wanted to do with my life, and realised that she was the best fit."

"What religion were you before that?"

"I was… Sort of an atheist. A year ago today I was firmly an atheist, but since coming to this world… I've been confronted with overwhelming evidence that certain… Classes of being demonstrably do exist, and that denying that would be… Daft."

"But you still considered yourself an atheist?"

"Just because they exist is no reason to go around believing in them. It only encourages them." There's a very faint laugh from some parts of the audience. "I used to refer to things.. other people might have called gods, as 'jumped up elementals'. Sentient magic-based life forms that had ideas above their station. I.. grew up in.. Britain, a monotheistic society… And once I'd convinced myself that the God of Abraham didn't exist, there just didn't seem like much point worshipping anything else."

She presses a button on the control panel and the screen behind us shows one of the pictures the Justice League released of Oceanus. "What exactly was that?"

"What you're looking at there is the body of an entity called Oceanus."

"Is he a god?"

"That really depends on what you mean by 'god'. If you mean, 'are there people who worship him', then yes, the Saremite renegades we fought on Santo Porto do. If you mean, 'is he a sentient magic-based life form'-."

"A 'jumped up elemental'?"

I nod. "Quite. He is, as far as we can tell. If you mean, 'is he very powerful', clearly he is. If you mean, 'is he inherently deserving of worship', I'd say not. I suppose that might be the biggest leap for a monotheist; when I say that a god exists, I don't mean either that I worship it, or that I think people should. Most Christians believe in Satan, but they don't worship him."

"But Satanists do."

I shrug. "Nothing about being powerful necessitates that you're a good person. My job would be a lot easier if it did."

"Back in February, Fawcett City was literally besieged by Demons. In the aftermath, there was a major increase in attendance in churches across the city, and across the country." Another button press and a graph comes up on the screen. That.. is quite an increase. "What do you think that says about religious faith in America today?"

"We've all seen the recordings made in Fawcett City during Sabbac Two's attack. I don't think that anyone doubts the existence of Demons any more. The existence of Demons was documented well before that of course, but the attack on Fawcett made it apparent that Demons were a thing that could affect everyone. This means that people now have.. what they believe to be evidence for the truth of some part of their faith. Demons exist, therefore so does the Abrahamic God and that has immediate relevance."

"You don't think they're just going there looking for protection?"

"I hope not. While the Catholic Church has got its act together with regards to magic since the Second Vatican Council and the Anglican Communion has.. a degree of institutional knowledge, a lot of Protestant and Orthodox denominations treasure their ignorance of magic. There's nothing about wearing a crucifix or.. being a priest that makes you proof against magic in general or Demons in particular. The priest I worked with in Fawcett City -Father Mattias- was able to hold Sabbac Two off, but he did it by.. using magic to manifest his faith in the world around him, not by channelling part of his god. That's why he's Father Mattias and not Saint Mattias."

"Now for the million dollar question: does God exist?"

"That's a tricky one. If you mean in the sense of the Sistine Chapel roof, elderly man stretching forth his hand to Adam, almost certainly not. A being that is at one with the entire universe.. would not be anything like that Human. On the other hand… May I..? Borrow the screen?" She nods, and I bring up an image of a part of the Source Wall from John's old database. "This is called the Source Wall. It sort of.. bends space around it, but there are several places in this galaxy from which it can be accessed. Once you can see it, you can't fly around it; it just stretches up to infinity. A lot of alien monotheistic religions believe that God exists behind it in some sense. Certainly, Angels and saints get their power from somewhere."

"I don't recall there being any mention of Angels in Fawcett City."

"I didn't see any. But they do exist."

"Do you have any idea why they didn't get involved when Fawcett City was under attack?"

"I'm afraid that I don't. The one person I know who has met them didn't have much good to say about them, but he isn't exactly on their Christmas card list either. Possibly they believed that we could handle the situation. Perhaps it was part of some larger plan the rest of us aren't privy to. Angels don't really feature in the Hellenistic religion."

"In that case, we should speak to someone who knows a little more about them. Please welcome our second guest, Father Mattias."

 

[Mr Zoat]

3rd July
21:28 GMT -5

"…and I imagine that the Coca-Cola Company is prepared to acknowledge the existence of other cola brands, while still maintaining that theirs is the only cola you ever need to drink."

Mattias bows his head with a chuckle. "I am not.. entirely sure that is an appropriate metaphor. The Lord God created the universe and everything in it. Mister Pemberton may have combined ingredients in an original fashion, but he did not create them ex nihilo."

"The Guardian Krona's time travel experiments allowed him to witness the creation of this universe. From what little I know about what he saw, it would be .. difficult to link the event to Genesis in any literal way. The Earth made in six days, with the rest of the universe coming into being on..? What, the fourth day? As an offhand act?"

"Without having seen Krona's records, I could not comment on what he saw. In such matters, the line which was reinforced at the Second Council was that doctrine cannot contradict reality. What is real is real, and any fault lies with those who recorded the relevant biblical text or with those of us who misinterpreted it."

The audience member who asked the question looks none the wiser. "So how literally should we take the stuff about heaven?"

"The.. existence of the Silver City has been confirmed by various mystics… Including those who have no reason to have heard the Christian accounts. So again: something exists, but I don't know how closely it resembles what you believe."

"We can be a little more certain than that. The Church has records of communication between Angels, saints and various visionaries. While.. not all accounts can be assumed to be completely accurate, there are enough trends that we can conclude that practicing conventional Christianity honestly will get you there, and that it is a place of glory and wonder. Though.. that goes back to what we were saying earlier about the difference between professed faith and actual faith. You must accept Jesus Christ into your heart and soul and genuinely repent your sins. Simply going to church once a week is not the same thing as being a committed Christian."

That appears to be a little more helpful. "Okay, but, ah… Orange Lantern, you said that you're not Christian, right?" I nod. "Doesn't that mean that you're kinda… Stuck? I mean… What happens to you?"

"No one knows for certain. I've simply had too many influences at work on my soul to predict it. The most likely thing to happen is the conventional Hellenist afterlife; I'll.. become conscious of myself entering Erebos through the Gate of Shades, cross the river Styx and be judged by Lord Hades. Alternatively, I could earn the favour of enough Olympians to pass straight to the Elysian Fields. From there, I understand that reincarnation is possible, though I don't know the precise mechanics." Should probably find that out, actually.

"The Elysian Fields… Is that like… Greek Heaven?"

"No, Heaven is a reward for faith and good behaviour. You live a good life and you go there automatically. Getting into the Elysian Fields requires personal sponsorship. You can live a good life and still not get there."

"Sounds like a raw deal to me. Ah, thank you." He starts to sit, passing the microphone back to a member of the crew.

"No, it's not so bad. Asphodelopolis has a far higher population than the Elysian Fields. If I've got to spend eternity somewhere, I'd want to make sure that I've got interesting people to talk to."

Ms Manning gestures to the left of the audience. "The lady over there?"

Another member of the crew heads toward her, passing a microphone over.

"Thank you. I guess.. the question goes to both of you. How do you excuse the bad things that your gods have done?"

"Specific acts, or the nature of the world in general?"

She hesitates. "Both, I guess?"

"Well, I'm confident in my own mind that the Olympians didn't make the world, and that was either creative advertising on their parts or a mistaken belief on the parts of the Ancient Greeks. So I don't blame them for the built-in stuff. As for particular acts… Ah…" I glance upwards. "How well earthed is this building?"

Mattias turns to me with an expression of utter solicitousness. "Are you concerned that the being you worship will express their displeasure at your answer?"

"It's a valid concern. To answer the question: I recognise them as bad. The Olympians aren't anybody's ideas of paragons of morality. They're more… Mortals writ large. There are.. some moral rules they regard as absolute, but for everything else… There's a reason why Zeus and Hera aren't married anymore."

"Wasn't Eris the one responsible for the Trojan War?"

"She kicked off events, yes, but pride and ego played a far greater part. If Paris had said 'you're all equally lovely', or if Aphrodite hadn't tried to bribe him, or if the other two had shrugged it off… If Helen had decided to stay with her husband and not start a war, if Menelaus had given her a divorce on the grounds that no mortal could prevent Aphrodite making them fall in love… Time and time again, everyone had the opportunity to choose differently. And if they didn't, then that's their fault."

"Okay, I guess… And Father Mattias? What's God's excuse?"

"Once Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge… Whether that was a literal tree or more of a metaphor, all Humans gained the capacity for good and evil. God gives us independence to act on that capacity, and respects that independence even if he sometimes weeps for how we exercise it."

"Yeah, I respect the free will thing, but what about the stuff he did directly? Killing the firstborn son of every Kahndaqi household, even if they were babies who'd never hurt anyone, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and everyone who lived there… I mean, if he's omnipotent, why didn't he just teleport all the Israelites somewhere, or just kill the bad people?"

"In the case of the Israelites, they had a compact with God that guaranteed them both protections and a particular area of land to call home. When the Kahndaqis enslaved them, they trespassed against that protection. If you ask 'why the firstborn?', I cannot say for sure. The Bible gives no specific reason why they were targeted, but I would point out that that was the last stage in a series of escalating punishments, and at each stage there was a clear warning that they would continue to grow worse if the Israelites were not freed. Kahndaq at the time did not have modern mass communications, each plague had to be something that could not be explained as a natural phenomenon. It had to be clear that the usually remote God of Israel was so enraged that he was prepared to interfere in the natural course of the world in order to protect his followers."

"Or Moses was a wizard."

"Hm?" Father Mattias jerks his head my way, blinking in surprise.

"Like you said, we don't have good records of the event. If… Moses was a wizard who either claimed that God was acting through him, or… Was in modern terms a saint empowered by God's magic, he'd be the one deciding what level of punishment was correct himself."

Father Mattias considers that. "I do not myself believe that, but I suppose it is possible."

"Wait, so you're saying that when Greek gods do bad stuff, that's their fault but other people can make things worse, but if the Christian God does bad stuff, that's always someone else's fault?"

"No. I am saying that God does not make mistakes. So, if something happens that looks like a mistake, then it was either the best thing that could have happened, there were events occurring that we are not aware of which He was, or the fault lies with some Human agency. It is easy to blame some supernatural event when things do not go as we would like them, but more often the cause is something far more mundane."

She doesn't look all that impressed, but sits and hands the microphone back to the crew member.

Ms Manning looks around the audience again. "Gentleman over there?"

"Ah, thanks. So, I get that some… Or, I dunno, all? Pagan… Things pagan religions worship are real, and God is definitely real-."

"In some sense, yes."

"Right, so… Are Angels real?"

I nod. "Unfortunately, yes."

"Unfortunately?"

"The last well documented incident of Angels interacting with Humans was about twenty years ago where they made contact with a Millennialist Evangelical Christian sect called 'The Resurrection Crusade'. They were active in the southern states and in a couple of places in Britain. They rather fell apart after their leaders died during a magic ritual in Glastonbury; the crater's still there if you want to look. Actually…" I glance at Ms Manning and she nods. I wave my right hand at the screen and put an aerial view on display. "Like a lot of supervillain organisations, they were quite stupid. They thought it was a good idea to create a new messiah and end the Human capacity for free will. Then they made such a mess of the ritual that the Angel they called up killed them all."

"Or…" Father Mattias glances at the image. "The Angel was so disgusted at what they were attempting that it rendered judgement upon them."

John was pretty confident… But I suppose that an Angel angry over one thing is much like an Angel angry over another. "I suppose that could be the case. If I ever meet it, I'll be sure to ask."

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th July
14:54 GMT -5

Artemis looks at me over the kitchen counter. "You sure you're not gunna feel left out?"

"Of course I'm going to feel-" I scrape the last of the cake batter into the cake tin. "-left out, but that's my own silly fault for not having a secret identity, isn't it?"

Since Kon does actually have friends at school who aren't part of the superhero community, he wanted to celebrate his birthday in a way which involved them. Which is fine for most of our team, even if explaining how he knows people from Gotham and Central City is a little tricky. But for those of us who don't have secret identities -or who couldn't convincingly pretend to be Human for five minutes, Canis- that means that we can't go. I'm a bit surprised that none of the people who spotted me around the school last year ever made the connection. I'm even more surprised that no one appears to have spotted Kon. He does.. have a secret identity, but his face is uncovered and he doesn't really change the way he talks.

On the other hand… Superman, glasses…

Wallace nods. "And going on TV a whole lot. Think The Resurrection Crusade are gunna make sure no one forgets what you look like."

Yeah… While most of the central leadership did die in Glastonbury, a lot of lower level leaders who weren't in the know survived. I'd actually missed that the Crusade was still a going concern… After a fashion, at least.

I shake my head. "I don't think that lawsuit is actually going to go anywhere."

Artemis frowns. "They can't sue you for having an opinion. And that stuff actually happened!"

"No, they can. They probably can't do it successfully, and... Since I'm leaving the Earth for an extended period in three days, I wish them all the best actually serving me."

A construct oven glove pulls open the oven and I start putting the cake tins inside. With how big the team's got, plus Diana and Dubbilex, this had to be a wedding cake sized affair. Perfectly within my abilities, but I'm going to need to get this done before I start on dinner proper.

The left side of Wallace's face twitches. "How long you gunna be away for?"

I close the oven and straighten up. "No idea."

"Know where you're going?"

"Roughly. I mean… There's places I need to go for professional reasons, then there's places I just want to see. I'm going to Thanagar because Ms Thal wanted me to take a message to her mother and Mister Hol gave me their reports to drop off… Tamaran, because-."

Artemis smiles. "Orange bikini babes."

Wallace nods. "It's a good reason."

The skin around my right eye tenses sceptically. "Orange.. third world planet.. horribly oppressed by the local imperial power. They probably have bikinis as well, but that's not why I'm going." Two slightly awkward grimaces. "J Five Eight Six, where Lantern Medphyll comes from. They have city trees. And they're fully sentient!"

Wallace nods. "So you're gunna be Earth's first space tourist. Take lots of photos!"

"Second, actually. Adam Blake beat me by about fifty years. Heh, maybe I'll bump into him."

Wallace gives me a flat look. "Oh El, you know that thing you do where you mention someone no one else has heard of and expect us to know who they are?"

"Oh. Sorry. Ah, Captain Comet, superhero active in the fifties and sixties. Red uniform with a-" I point to my upper chest with my right hand. "-comet on it? Had telepathic and telekinetic abilities? Bit of a shame Mister J'onzz wasn't out-and-proud at the time, actually. He could probably have dropped him off back home."

Artemis nods, starting to move away. "Say 'hi' to him for us."

"Will do. You two have fun."

"Oh El, it's a beach party." He and Artemis link hands as they head for the exit. "I don't think we could not have fun."

I watch as they leave the room, then find myself sagging slightly. I'm.. not going to be seeing them for a while. After the seventh, I mean. Even assuming the thing with Nabu goes better -much better- than expected, it could actually be years before I'm back on Earth. I'm not going to know.. anyone, the food is going to be weird… I exhale. Before I came here, the idea of spending long periods of time on my own and only really interacting with people for professional reasons would probably have been something I'd have found satisfying. Now, I've… Rather gotten used to there always being people around. And for the most part I've gotten over the feeling of creepiness I used to feel about being nearly twice their age.

And on the subject of creepiness…

I take my Will out of subspace. In case things go really badly… I've been intentionally running down my cash reserves, because.. it wouldn't be any use to me where I'm going. Heh, win or lose. One useful thing about Blume eating so much of it was that I actually don't have a giant mountain of gold waiting for me any longer. I don't know, I'm probably just going to endow the Sivana Super Scientist Scholarship fund. There isn't really any other cause I feel strongly about that needs it.

Thing about being an Orange Lantern is, when you feel strongly about something… It doesn't tend to need further attention afterwards.

Equipment? That's easy. Roy and Ted can split that, superhero stuff going to the former and other stuff going to the latter. Don't want Ted getting distracted, and I don't want Roy unable to keep his equipment in working order.

The ring… S…

I hold up my left hand. "Ring, in the event of my death, make best possible speed to Maltus and report to whoever the senior Controller is."

"Compliance."

I lower my left hand and raise my right, studying John's old ring. Sending the original ring to Maltus discharges my responsibility to the Controllers. I could set this one to go anywhere I want. Unfortunately, the comics didn't show anyone who could use orange rings without going mental. There's a slight but statistically significant chance the Controllers are going to take one look at these things and flip the heck out.

Under happier circumstances I might be setting it to go to Lex-.

"Paul?" I look up and Rob walks in. "You got a minute?"

"Yes, but… No offence intended? I don't think you're well known enough to prevent you heading to the beach if you want."

"No, I just… It's about… You know, Thursday?"

Ring, internal monitoring gets nothing.

"Compliance."

I reach into my upper right pocket and toss Rob an anti-eavesdropping stone. He catches it with a nod. Then I put up a sound nullification field with the ring. "Shoot."

"It's just… Is this whole thing necessary?"

"Not sure what you mean by 'whole thing', but I believe so. I don't want to hurt-" Bearing in mind that this is a facility that has had Batman in it. "-the target. I told you what I intend to offer him as my preferred option."

"You really think he'll take it?"

"No, but I've underestimated people before. Rob, going into a fight with no way to win is a stupid thing to do. I'd rather-. "

"But you already beat Klarion! I just thought… Didn't that box guy say that if you did that, he'd tell Nabu to get lost?"

"No. No he didn't. He offered far less, and if there's one thing I'm not prepared to do it's rely on the goodwill of a being who probably doesn't have any. As with a lot of things… People I could tell, I don't do so in case the target gets tipped off. And I don't feel inclined to trust someone who used that as a negotiating tactic. Robert, I've done everything I can to make sure that we don't end up needing to kill the target. If you've had an idea since our last talk about it, I'm all ears. Do you?"

He shakes his head, and I raise my hands in a shrug.

"Then the plan is still going ahead. If you want to back out, that's fine, I'll under-."

"No, I'm not-. Backing out, I just-. I really… I really don't like this."

I picture for a moment all of the other League members voting Nabu on board. "No. I don't either."

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th July
20:27 GMT -5

I smile as M'gann kisses Kon on the right cheek, a conical party hat with the numeral '1' on the front perched jauntily on his head. I don't.. think about it much, but when you consider how he behaved when we first got together it's remarkable how far he's come. He certainly -Wolf rears up and licks his left cheek, M'gann covering her mouth with her right hand in a half-hearted attempt to smother her giggle- wouldn't have done anything like this this time last year.

The Sphere warbles behind him, having not moved since Beryl put a party hat on top of it. Canis studies Raquel with unsettling intensity as she blows a bubble with her bubblegum. Roy and Kaldur are having a light-hearted conversation about surfing, something they today discovered that they're both equally bad at. Off to the side Brut is engaged in a staring contest with Dubbilex's guest, the G-Pooka twitching its ears in the direction of the conversations at the table. It looks a little like Dubbilex, shorter than him and with a larger number of smaller horns which glow constantly as it uses its empathic abilities to get a better sense of the people around it.

Richard's recounting the story of how he first met Wallace to Artemis. She's finding it hilarious, while Wallace alternates between embarrassed denial and his version of events. Zatanna is talking about magic theory with Tula after she gave up trying to talk to Canis about the subject. Usually he's pretty cagey about Apokoliptian magic practices, but it looks like something about watching Raquel blow bubbles is distracting him to the point that he's forgotten that he's not meant to be sharing.

We don't quite have the full team assembled. Because schools in Britain don't break up until the end of the month Rob had to head home early, and Donna is spending most of the day with her family. Maybe… Maybe next year we could make this a team-members-and-their-family thing. I mean, they're all in the know-.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

I look around from my wool-gathering as Diana enters the kitchen area. "Oh, just… Getting a clear memory of everyone in my head." I shrug. "Going to be a while before I see everyone again."

"I'm certain that you will be back."

"I've nearly died several times on Earth. I'm going to have a whole galaxy of trouble spots to choose between."

"In the interview you gave yesterday, you made it clear that you have little time for faith."

"That's.. an accurate statement of my thoughts on the subject."

"I have faith. You will return from your adventures in space whole and healthy, and if your time on Earth is anything to go by you will have new technologies and allies to show for your time."

"It isn't new technology Earth need-." She raises her eyebrows slightly. "I'll try." And I'll try and keep an eye out for the crazy space Amazons, because as a citizen of Themyscira they're kind of my problem now.

Diana smiles, looking out of the kitchen towards her son. "I also wanted to tell you that you are to be offered a place on the Justice League."

"What, now? Three days isn't really-."

"You may take it up now, or upon your return."

Not.. surprising, exactly. "I.. heard that the voting procedure had to be modified for my benefit. While I do think something like that needed to happen, I wouldn't want anyone to think that I argued for that just so I could benefit from it."

"I doubt that. The change.. which we agreed upon falls well short of what you argued for."

"Anyone except Nabu vote against?"

"No." Hah! "Paul, I also wish to talk to you about your relationship with Lord Fate. Having two members of the League at loggerheads as the two of you are-" I have the ring take control of my facial expression. "-can only serve to disrupt our cohesion. When you join the League you will be working alongside him. I think that it may be worth your time learning to-."

"Diana, I cooperated with him perfectly well when we fought Oceanus. I doubt that I'll ever like-" The bastard Lich. "-him, but.. it…" I shake my head. "Won't be a problem on professional occasions." After the 7th.

Diana smiles, nodding. "I am glad."

Reminds me that I need to double check the arrangements for sending an accurate account of what he is to every journalist on the planet. One way or another he'll be off the Justice League.

"Look, I'm… I know the Greenies are League members despite the fact that they spend most of their time away from Earth, but I could be away virtually full time. Or actual full time. I'd feel bad about taking a position I was never going to occupy."

"I'm a little surprised. Most of your team mates would jump at the chance to join the League. It's surprising how much additional maturity a few years can bring."

"Yes, I… Suppose it is."

"We don't have any meetings scheduled before Thursday, so… If you want time to think about it, you should have plenty while you're away from Earth. Let me know once you've made a firm decision."

I nod. "Of course. Now, do you think… One candle, or a number one candle?"

I hold up the two options.

"I doubt that Kon will care, but personally, I think-." She cuts herself off, looking down as Wolf brushes against her leg.

"Wrf." Wolf sits and stares up at her expectantly, then glances at the cake.

"Wolf, icing is not good for you."

"W-wrf." She glances at me, gives her tail a wag and licks her lips.

I look away. "Number one candle it is." I use the ring to impale it with cocktail sticks and attach it to the middle of the cake before lighting it and picking up the cake tray. "Diana, could you please pick up a cake knife?"

"Of course."

I step over-. I step around the still expectant Wolf, nudging her aside a little with my legs as I walk out of the kitchen area.

"Happy birthday to you!"

Conversation drops off as everyone turns to face me, Kon wincing slightly.

"Happy birthday to you!"

Dubbilex blinks, then turns to look at his G-Pooka aid, whose small horns are glowing as it tries to make sense of what everyone's feeling.

"Happy birthday dear Kon-El!"

Richard and M'gann choke down their giggles as I deposit the cake in front of the birthday boy.

"Happy birthday to you!"

The moment it touches the table he leans forward out of his seat and blows out the candle. With a chuckle I take my seat opposite him as Diana leans across the table to hand him the knife.

"Thanks, Mom." He takes a moment to look at the icing representations of our team mates for a moment before plunging the knife through the cake and cutting me in half. I pass him a small plate as he takes out the first slice. "Oh, hey, I've been meaning to ask." He plates the slice and passes it down the table. "Have you seen Teekl lately?"

A pang. Fortunately, I'm prepared to cover it. "No, can't say I have."

"'cause…" Another slice. "I haven't seen her, and I think Wolf's been looking for her? Do you think she might have wandered off?"

And Diana's right next to me. "I don't know exactly what's happened to her. I haven't been getting.. any mental pictures or anything. I'll keep an eye out."

"Thanks."

And that's the other reason to commit this to memory. Given what I'm planning to do… I can't be sure that I'll ever get invited back.

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th July
21:21 GMT -5

"…gonna make it anywhere.
It's up to you, New York, New Yoooooooork!"

Donna hams it up as she holds the final note on well beyond what the karaoke machine is prepared to support. Of all the people here who were going to bring that up, it would have to be the native New Yorker. She's chuckling as she steps down off the stage, microphone left out in my direction.

"No, no way."

The rest of my team mates are sniggering right along with her. Richard waves his right hand at me. "Come on, Oh El. This is pretty much your signature song."

"No, I've got something else planned. And it's not my turn, anyway." I look past Beryl, who is… Sitting next to Roy with her legs coquettishly curled up beside her. Huh. "Garth, you're up."

Artemis rolls her eyes. "Alphabetical. Really."

Wallace shrugs. "I'm cool with it."

Garth doesn't seem particularly self-conscious as he takes the microphone from Donna and heads up to the stage. I suppose that -given his upbringing- singing isn't that big a deal. Most of his public performances to date would have involved competitive gladiatorial combat… Refereed, of course. Compared to that, singing isn't that big a deal.

Donna plonks herself down next to me. "So? How'd I do?"

Richard smirks again. "I don't think Oh El's too worried."

"I think you were over-actin-." Richard has put the video of my performance on his arm computer so Donna can compare the two.

She snorts, then raises her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Different size venue, it's not the same thing."

Then the music starts.

"Her name is Noelle,
I have a dream about her…"

We do wince, but we're polite enough to cover it up. Mostly, Wallace visibly failing his bluff check.

"Least no one else is gunna feel bad about their song now."

And audibly failing it as well. Fortunately, Garth is too into his song to notice. No, this bit's meant to be quiet-. Never mind.

"…no, sheeee doesn't know she's missssseeeeeehhhhhheeeehhhowowow…"

Never mind. Mercifully, Garth comes to a stop, looking at the audience for some idea of how well he's done. I just start clapping in the least sarcastic way I can manage, Donna and Richard joining in a moment later. He smiles, looking relieved as he steps off the stage. Kaldur is already walking up, and Garth hands off the microphone as he passes.

"So, ah…" Richard nods at me. "How come you're not leaving tomorrow?"

Zatanna frowns at him. "Hey."

"I don't mean I'm trying to throw him off the planet. I was just curious. If I could go anywhere in the universe I wanted to, I'm not sure how long I'd stick around."

"I've got some work to finish for Boris… The Mayor of London?"

Richard nods. "Putting in more portals?"

"No, that's… Taken care of. Just some police drills, nothing very interesting."

"Think I can stand missing it."

"And then… I've got to do something with the Ice Fortress." Kaldur appears to have made a selection. "And I suppose I should really let Mister Cobblepot out at some point."

"Whu-?"

"Sittin' in the mornin' sun,
I'll be sittin' as the evenin' come…"

Kaldur's rendition of 'Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay' isn't a masterpiece by any means, but it's far from bad. Curiously, when singing it his accent changes… Actually, he sounds a little more like his father. Family favourite, I guess. Raquel seems to approve of his choice, while Garth seems to be seeking reassurance from Tula about his own performance.

"Sittin' here resting my bones,
And this loneliness won't leave me alone, listen,
Two thousand miles I roam,
Just to make this dock my home, now…"

Kon and M'gann are whispering about.. something as well. Presumably talking about doing a duet, since their turns are one after the other. Kon shakes his head and M'gann huffs theatrically. Maybe he'd already made his choice?

Kaldur lets the music finish, not looking at his audience. Far.. better than average, actually. He starts slightly when the machine stops, then looks up with a small smile and walks back toward the seating. Kon gets to his feet, threading his way through the chairs towards Kaldur, who hands him the microphone as he passes. Kon marches up to the machine, rapidly pressing buttons to call up his song of choice.

Actually, I really should talk to Kaldur… I leave my seat at a crouch and scuttle in his direction. He looks around as I approach. "If you wish to give me pointers..?"

"No, I just realised that I haven't formally resigned from the team yet." He nods in understanding. "Obviously, I'm not leaving right now, but I've only got a few days left and I'm not going to be… Available. Unless you really need me."

"I understand, my friend." He holds out his right hand and I reciprocate, clasping his forearm. "We all wish you well wherever your future duties take you."

"I've paid my dues,"

No musical build up, Kon just launches right into it.

"Time after time,
I've done my sentence,
But committed no crime…"

…

Has he been practising? He's.. really quite… Good. This wasn't part of his original programming, he's learned this himself.

"I've taken my bows,
And my curtain calls.
You brought me fame and fortune, and everything that goes with it.
I thank you all."

He's clearly not Freddie Mercury, but his version is… Slight bias on my part here, but I'd say just as good. I realise that I'm standing straight up as he finishes and the people around me start to clap. I join in, Kon looking slightly out of breath but thoroughly pleased with himself. He starts to walk back to his seat, but M'gann leaps to her feet and swoops over to him.

"You stay right there."

"Ah, okay?" Kon stands there awkwardly as M'gann lands next to the karaoke machine and starts pressing buttons. While she's going that, her dress shifts into something a little more… Mature. Yes. That's the word. Kon's quite a bit closer than me, and I see his eyebrows go up and his mouth fall slightly open. M'gann seems to pick up on his reaction, looking around at him and then down at her own costume. Her white cheeks pink up slightly, and the upper part of her clothing shifts again to include a fur shawl. Finding the selection she wants, she activates the machine and steps back, her hair changing to-. Marilyn Monroe. She's doing Marilyn Monroe.

Taking the microphone in both hands, and with the most… I suddenly feel rather self-conscious about watching, and try to get back to my seat attracting as little attention as possible.

"Happy… Birthday… To you…"

Her eyes are locked onto his as she steps up to him.

"Happy birthday… To you…"

She takes her right hand off the microphone and lays it possessively on his left pectoral muscle.

"Happy birthday… Conner Kent…"

She leans into him.

"Happy birthday to you."

As she quietens he instinctively leans down, putting his face in the perfect position for her to dart in and kiss him on the lips. After a moment's surprise, he leans into it.

I don't think I'll mind if he prefers her version to mine.

…

Okay, guys. Some of us are waiting for our turn.

…

Oh, come o-. They separate, M'gann's clothing shifting back to normal. I hear Kon give a quiet chuckle as they walk back toward the seating hand in hand.

I get to my feet, eyebrows raised in M'gann's direction. After a moment she notices and levitates the microphone over to me.

"Do New York New York!"

"I'm not doing New York New York!" I stride onto the stage area, having the ring bring up my song of choice. Once I reach the middle I turn back to my team mates and friends. "Since this is my… Last team activity… I thought I'd sing my primary school's leavers song. The year I've… Spent here has been a… A unique experience… And a highly rewarding one. You're all…" Oh, I hate getting maudlin. "My friends, I… I wouldn't have missed any of it."

There are a few smiles as the music starts. Unlike my colleagues, I am a perfect singer.

"Tonight the rain is falling,
Full of memories,
Of people and pla-ces.
And while the past is calling,
In my fantasy,
I remember their fa-ces.

The hopes we had,
Were much too high,
Way out of reach but we have to try.
The game will never be o-o-o-ver,
Because we're keeping the dream alive.

I hear myself recalling,
Things you said to me,
The night it all start-ed,
And still the rain is falling,
Makes me feel the way,
I felt when we part-ed.

The hopes we had,
Were much too high,
Way out of reach but we have to try.
No need to hide,
No need to run,
'Cause all the answers come one by one.
The game will never be o-o-o-ver,
Because we're keeping the dream alive.

I need you.
I love yooooooooouuu.

The game will never be o-o-o-ver,
Because we're keeping the dream alive.

The hopes we had,
Were much too high,
Way out of reach but we have to try.
No need to hide,
No need to run,
'Cause all the answers come one by one.

The hopes we had,
Were much too high,
Way out of reach but we have to try.
No need to hide,
No need to run,
'Cause all the answers come one by one.

The game will never be o-o-o-ver,
Because we're keeping the dream alive.

The game will never be o-o-o-ver,
Because we're keeping the dream alive.

The game will ne-ver be o-o-o-ver."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Falling Action

7th July
22:14 GMT

The hopes we had,
were much too high…

"This is my cause, this is my fight."

Way out of reach but we had to try…

"Shine through the void with orange light."

No need to hide, no need to run…

"I've claimed all within my sight."

'Cause all the answers come one by one.

"To keep what is mine, that is my right."

I drop the last of the ten metre tall rampart sections in place, Zatanna strolling over to activate the shielding spells that should serve to protect the rest of London from what we're about to do. Down Mayfair I can see the police barricades and the curious people watching from behind them. On the side streets just inside the police cordon wait ambulances, ready to ferry any of us who fall to St Mary's Hospital to the north. The set up of this has to be reasonably quick. This is going to get televised, and if a member of the League should happen to watch BBC News 24 at the right moment…

That's why I'm mostly using flight auras and null-grav clamps. It makes it that much harder to identify me as 'Orange Lantern', rather than 'some bloke in power armour'. Adom's keeping out of sight as well, for much the same reason. His actions have been enough to prevent him becoming an international pariah, but it would still be 'cause for concern' if he started flying around Britain without prior notice.

I'm.. making fists. I hold my hands out slightly, uncurling my gauntlets before returning them to my sides.

"And you're not conflicted about this at all?"

I look over to where Jade sits atop the already-completed section of rampart. Her new armour is made of mithril, but where Zatanna's version has runes designed to assist her spellcasting, Jade's includes scry wards and the same sort of invisibility generator that mine has. Thanks to Ted and his volunteers, we now know roughly what the safe level of exposure for a person to adapt to it is. Which is good, because this plan revolved around us coordinating precise levels of vengefulness and having her go psychotic on us would be very bad.

"Not at this stage, no."

"I never got this close to killing a Justice League member when I was a villain. You're the most strait-laced guy I know."

"Maybe you should expand your circle of friends a little."

"Are you sure that-?"

"I don't like the fact that I'm-. That we're having to do this. And I'm not looking forward to the arguments I'll be having with.. people I generally admire and regard as friends." Alan in particular, he's going to be disappointed, and I… And Diana's certainly up there. "But I don't doubt that this is the right thing for us to do."

The violet glow around Zatanna dies down as she takes a last look at the runic network covering the rampart. "All done here."

I nod, a gesture probably obscured by my helmet. Jade isn't entirely mistaken, of course. I.. had really wanted to leave Earth on a high note.

"Orange Lantern to team. Final preparations."

I watch Jade work the mechanism on the Ace of Chaos, check her ammunition and then vanish from view. We don't want her actually shooting Nabu unless something goes badly wrong, but each Chaos-laden shot should disrupt his magics fairly nicely. Zatanna's preparation simply involves her touching the Star Sapphire to her forehead and closing her eyes. Above me, my ring augmented vision shows me Rob just shrug while Adom adopts a more alert posture. John won't show himself unless… Until things get violent. He's too much of a trigger for both Nabu and Zatara, especially given his recent elevation. And as for the other participant…

I float down to the grass next to Zatanna and use a construct to pry open the packing case containing our last best hope for peace. Nabu may have point blank rejected my offer of a golem body, but maybe with a complete one here ready for him to examine he'll feel differently. Unlike the one we made for Mister Siskin, this one is made of the same super-inert metal as Zatanna's staff, threaded through with orichalcum wire. John's not… Capable of using Order-related magic any longer, but Sephtian was perfectly happy to help Zatanna with my 'proof of concept'.

I suppress a twinge of guilt about involving him without telling him what's really going on. The League, I can justify to myself. They brought it on themselves when they voted Nabu onboard. But if this does turn violent, that golem is enough to strongly implicate him.

I breathe in, then out. Just something I'll live with. Like.. whatever it was that happened to Teekl. Like lying to my friends.

Still, there are still some things I can do properly. Diana's at a diplomatic event this evening… This afternoon, to discuss the regulation of magic and arcane technology. Which means that she isn't going to be at the embassy.

Ring, dial the embassy.

Compliance.

"Hello they'uh Pawl. Diana ain't here raht now, if that's who you'uh aftuh."

"No, no, thank you. Could you please pass on a message for me? It's not urgent."

"Sure, sugar."

"Could you please tell her that I'm declining. She'll know what it's about."

"Alraaht. Ah made a note raaht heyuh."

"Thank you very much, Miss Candy."

Ring, hang up.

Compliance.

I turn in the direction of a nearby patch of woodland. "Are you ready, Mister Ondaatie?"

The shadows flow into the shape of his face. Our wards don't do a thing to a man who's already here.

"Not all that easy to miss a Lord of Order. As long as one of you is alive, I'll stop him running."

"Thank you for your assistance."

The face nods, and then… All that's there is leaves and shadows.

"Mission starts, repeat, mission starts. John, bait."

There's a slight delay, then it's as if what little colour there is in our environment is gone, replaced by tones of grey which serve to give emphasis to the vivid red lines running across the ground. We don't know exactly what the normal Chaos ascension ritual looks like, but this should look exactly like the sort of big chaoticy thing that Nabu claims justifies his existence. He shouldn't be able to pass up the opportunity. If he does, I could try calling him in… But I'd rather not.

Heh. I'm fine with potentially killing a Justice League member, but misusing a radio is where I draw the line.

Hehehe.

"Okay, we're not waiting. John, apply the skull."

At this point the arrangement in the shed is irrelevant anyway. I don't know if Nabu just wasn't paying attention, but that should-.

A giant golden ankh appears in the air before us, Nabu materialising in the centre. Before his teleportation ankh has fully disappeared he raises his arms, firing a barrage of golden bolts at the glowing ground. The bait-magic fades immediately, colour returning to the surrounding area. Nabu lowers his arms, the golden protective aura in place around his body. He peers around, eyes alighting momentarily on Zatanna and myself before moving on. Having completed his review, he turns back to us, lowering himself to just above the ground. "Explain."

"This is a combination of intervention and ambush. I'm not prepared to tolerate you continuing to use Mister Giovanni Zatara's body. So we're going to have a talk about it, and if I'm not satisfied at the end we're going to take it back by force. Do you have any questions at this stage?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th July
22:19 GMT

"Enough of this nonsense!" Nabu spread his arms as a giant ankh forms behind him. It shimmers, then vanishes, taking him with it.

Um. Mister On-?

It shimmers back into being, Nabu being visibly shoved forward as it shatters and fades.

"Nabu, you like me about as much as I like you, but could you not credit me with the intelligence to remember that you can teleport?"

He glowers for a moment, then spreads his arms out again. This ankh is bigger and brighter. Together, they vanish… And a moment later, return. This time, it's a genuine scowl. "Impudent wretch."

"Could be."

He looks upwards, then surges into the sky, far faster than I've ever seen him fly before. He makes it about six metres upwards before his rate of ascent suddenly diminishes. He stops accelerating for a moment, then immediately starts to fall back. The golden glow surrounding him shines brilliantly for a moment as he tries to escape again, to the exact same result.

Looks like Mister Ondaate really came through.

"Done?"

This time, his eyes shine gold as he glare down at me. "You dare."

"Yes. I do. I have no idea why the Justice League has given you such an easy time for what you've done, but we don't intend to go along with it. So you've got a few choices. You can-."

"Zatara is most alarmed by the presence of his daughter."

There's a flare of violet light from beside me. "Oh, like you care about that."

"Zatara also recognizes that jewel. It is the Star Sapphire. What is it doing in your possession?"

"Isn't it obvious? I needed to be more powerful in case I had to fight you."

His eyes dim briefly, then return to full blaze as he turns them on me. "The Star Sapphire was in the custody of the Green Lanterns until you stole it. You informed them that you did not know of its location."

"Completely true at the time. We recovered it afterwards."

"It has strongly adverse properties on the minds of those who possess it. Relinquish it at once!"

Another flare of violet. "No."

"Your father wishes you to abandon this endeavor."

"Why don't you take the helmet off and let him say that?"

The air to Nabu's right shimmers, and a translucent image of Mister Zatara appears. He looks haggard and slightly panicked. "Zatanna, this is madness! Please!"

"As if we'd believe an illusion you create-."

"Are you saying you could have let me speak to my dad at any time?!"

Mister Zatara's face goes still and-. I want to say 'pale' and 'ghostly', but he's a translucent illusion already… Then the image of him fades to nothing.

Nabu seems a bit less.. glowy now. "You believe that you can harm me."

"I know we can hurt you. I'd…" My mouth twists. "I'd like to hurt you, for what you've done. But I struggled to come up with a way that would reliably harm you and not your host."

"For how long have you planned this act of infamy?"

"Eight months. Since the night you took Giovanni Zatara." His eyes narrow. "We actually had a word with Kilderkin the day after, to see if there was any negotiating room. We nearly got rid of you at New Year, but Captain Nazi grabbed Klarion before the spell could complete. With that off the table, I had to start an arcane technology revolution just to work out how to get rid of you!"

I shake my head. Again, it won't be visible from outside, but I want to keep myself under control. "So, you've got a few choices for a peaceful resolution. Firstly, stop using Mister Zatara. Despite the way you've behaved, it's not impossible that someone might pick you up again. And you could see about building a relationship based on mutual trust and respect."

"No."

"Didn't think you would. You do understand that you're confirming my low opinion of you here?" No response. "Alright. Option two." I pick the new golem up with construct clamps and float it towards him. "I know that you weren't keen when I first raised the issue, but the offer is genuine. A thaumically active golem. You could actually transfer your consciousness out of the helmet into its containment systems. The helmet could then serve as a power source, since it wouldn't be critical to your continued existence. I've got-" I take the book out of subspace. "-the full development log here, since I know full well that you never bothered to read it. If you want to check-?"

"No."

"No? Just n-? Why not!?"

"I would not trust anything delivered to me from your hands. And if I attempted the transfer, what possible guarantee could you give me that you would not simply destroy my helmet?"

I note that he isn't even scanning the golem. "I found out at New Year that my oath to Gaea was rendered unenforceable once I got my warding tattoos up to power. Diana implied that if I wanted to, she'd let me leave. Go to Maltus. I didn't, because that wasn't what I'd sworn. If you take this offer, I won't cheat you on it."

"This from the youth who but moments ago openly stated his desire to harm me."

"It's true, I loathe you. But I don't want to harm Mister Zatara. And I'm going to have to explain what happened here to the Justice League tomorrow. If there's an option for a peaceful resolution, I'll take it."

"There is. Abandon this foolish endeavor and I shall be merciful."

"Should I understand that you're refusing the golem?"

His right hand flicks out, a golden ankh forming in the air before him for a second before the tip buries itself into the golem's chest. The golem shudders as golden light surges through it along the mana pathways, then crumbles and collapses to the ground in pieces.

"You may."

"Have you any idea how long that took to-!?" I bite down my rage. "Fine. Last option. Much as I'd like to be shot of you, I'm willing to-."

"You would offer yourself as a host?"

"Of course not. If I did that I doubt that I'd bother waiting for more than ten seconds before calling the Ophidian and devouring you from within. But I am prepared to delay my leaving the Earth in order to find several replacements. People -magic users- prepared to wear you in sequence, so that you'll have a near constant host."

"Kent Nelson searched for years for someone willing to become Fate. Why should you believe that you can succeed where he failed?"

"Because I won't ask just one person. I know full well that if even he couldn't put up with you long term that it would be foolish to ask any one other person to do so. But a large enough group… Say, thirty? They could probably put up with you for one day a month each, in exchange for you teaching them how to improve their own magic use. It shouldn't be that hard to get thirty volunteers from all of Atlantis."

"You do not already have them assembled?"

"No. I couldn't do it in advance because I couldn't risk you hearing about it. But I'm perfectly happy to swear an oath to that effect-."

"You expect me to believe you?" He says nothing for a moment. "Go. Assemble whatever number you think correct. I will assess their compatibility. If I am satisfied that they are suitable, I will begin the rotation."

"No."

"Explain."

"As I said, I'm not prepared to tolerate you being on Mister Zatara's head for a day longer. I'll swear whatever oath you want, then you come off and I'll gather a group for you."

"Unacceptable."

"I can't trust that you'd stick with a rotation agreement, Nabu. You've had three hosts since Klarion attacked your tower and you've betrayed each of them. As far as I'm concerned, if you can't bend this much, you can't be trusted at all."

"Your opinion is not my concern."

"That's where you're wrong." Can't say I'm surprised. "Nabu of Cilia, I am placing you under arrest for blackmail, kidnapping, false imprisonment, enslavement and maleficium. You do not have to say anything, but-."

"By what authority? You are not a member of the Justice League!"

"No, but I joined the Metropolitan Police a few days ago." I take my identification card out of subspace. "I really am empowered to make arrests while in the Greater London area. As I was saying, you do not-."

Nabu's pose changes, golden ankhs appearing on each hand.

"By force it is then." Construct armour manifests around me. "Queensberry rules until you say otherwise."

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th July
22:25 GMT

The universe around me slows. I'm not sure if Nabu is waiting for us to make the first move or if he just can't cast all that fast. Not that it matters. When we rehearsed this, we did so on the assumption that he was capable of much more than he'd shown to date.

The first attack comes from Jade, the muffled crack of her round's propellant detonation reaching me just as the bullet reaches his right hand. It misses the flesh but neatly hits the ankh in the crosspiece. I see the slight wobble that preludes its collapse in the same instant as I hear the second detonation. The second bullet strikes the left ankh exactly as the first hit the right, which is starting to visibly fragment.

The third bullet hits Nabu in the amulet at the centre of his chest. As expected, it doesn't strike home but it does fracture his protective aura. He's vulnerable.

And that's when Michael Siskin leaps out of the soil beneath him, easily covering the distance between them. His stone arms seize his target, the left looping around Nabu's stomach and the right wrapping around Nabu's neck. The sudden additional weight combined with the shock of having his spells fractured causes Nabu to start to fall from the air, and then comes the yellow. I don't know exactly what Siskin is showing him… Whether it's his fears or other people's… But from the way Nabu is trembling it seems to be working. I stop accelerating -might need that in a moment- and watch as-

"…another Human from a monster's digestive tract."

-they hit the ground, Mister Siskin taking the opportunity to wrap his legs around Nabu as well. The plan involves him trying to see if causing Nabu to have a total mental breakdown allows us to lift the helmet off without doing anything more exotic. I kneel, picking up the restraint chains from next to me and striding forwards. Still, getting him chained up would be-.

"YAAAAAAAAAGHH!"

Golden light outshines the yellow for a moment, then stone fragments rain down from.. the… sky. Siskin… Most of his.. torso is still on Nabu, but… It's cracked and burned out, the yellow runes that once covered it entirely gone. Nabu's still yellow, but there's not-.

He just killed-.

Nabu shoves the torso off and rises to a crouch, Siskin's body fragmenting where it hits the ground.

You shit.

"Orange Lantern to team, lethal force is authorised. Kill the fucker."

Nabu's head jerks to the side as a bullet hits the helmet. My own hands come together as an orange branding beam links the two of us-

"Teg ffo ym rehtaf!"

-and violet light envelopes his head, shining from his eyeholes and the base of his helmet.

"You're mine, Nabu." I start walking closer, intensifying the beam by focusing on my desire to just-! Fucking-! Have this done!

How is he warding this off?

How is he-?!

And I'm…
…flying…
…backwards.

Owfha! Something's gone in the armour, I felt that! I float up from my prone position, desperate to see what Nabu's managed! He's risen to one foot, the air around him filled with hollow golden squares which spin and dance through the air with perfect geometric precision. As I watch, three wink out, shot by the Ace of Chaos.

"Agents of annihilation!" Nabu points both fists to his left, tiny ankhs moving in circles around each wrist. His hands open and the ankhs shoot out, slicing through shrubs, trees and detonating!

"Augh-!"

I hear Jade's yelp over the comms. Right then, ablative shields is it? Six railguns form in the air next to me, mage slayers loading into each one from subspace. Couldn't risk this when he just had the one shield, but now he's got dozens…

I open fire.

"You've sworn yourself to Chaos!" Shields begin to blink out. It looks like they take two hits a piece, and they're moving… Switch targets to individual shields. Create an opening. "Betrayed every bond of friendship that you-!"

"What do you know about friendship, Lich!?"

One fifth shields gone, they're reappearing but not fast enough to keep him safe. John, now would be a very good time to-.

"Pag ni eht sdleihs rof Moda!"

The shields shift, still surrounding him but no longer covering the space above him. Nabu starts to crouch, raising his hands as symbols I don't recognise dance around them.

Symbols which part easily around Adom's fingers as he descends from the sky at speed. When we discussed this, he said that his instinct was to fly down as hard and as fast as possible. Zatanna responded that the whole point was to free her father, not turn him into paste. So, rather than focus of Aker's speed or Heryshaf's strength he's reinforcing his spiritual integrity with Atum's power. I send a ping to Jade's armour as Adom bears Nabu to the ground and grasps his foe's helmet with every bit of his strength. I maintain fire-

"Sdleihs nekaew!"

-and the shields evaporate.

"You aren't the Lord of Order I want."

I fly an arc around Nabu, firing at the ones on the far side.

"But you'll do for-"

Nabu gets his hands against Adom's chest, gold light flaring! Where did the suppression-? I see the pool of molten metal where I landed. Okay, the backup set is with-.

"-now."

The golden light dims, and Adom is still there.

"Your magic is-."

Golden light flows from Nabu's helmet and up Adom's arms!

"You have lived too long, fallen champion."

As I watch, Adom's flesh begins to wither and age, his body visibly shrinking! With Nabu's outer shields mostly fallen I throw my arms forward for another brand attempt.

"Think he's doing-" Rob calmly steps up to Nabu from behind him and puts his hands on his helmet. "-alright."

Adom falls back, struggling to rise. He looks like he's aged… At least sixty years. His skin is loose, his hair white and thinning and his uniform hangs off him. But with him out of the way and Rob draining Nabu…

"Brand."

"Noisufnoc!"

Golden light surges again as my beam strikes home, but this time it looks like an uncontrolled mess. I also take a moment to connect a line to the staggering Adom and pull him out of the way. Okay, that's-.

"Nearly there."

"John, we don't have an unlimited amount of time on this." I drop a box of Sivana-brand nutrient bars on the ground next to Adom. Assuming that was a touch attack rather than a lingering curse he should be perfectly capable of regenerating the effect, given sufficient fuel. "Adom and Jade are no longer combat-effective, and-."

"Got it."

John appears in the clearing to my far left, all four of the colossal mana batteries Zatanna and I built just behind him and Nabu's skull in his left hand.

"Alas, poor Nabu."

Then the lights on the batteries light up as they begin draining Nabu in earnest.

 

[Mr Zoat]

7th July
22:27 GMT

"I knew him, Zatara. A fellow who thought-"

Nabu grabs Rob's hands and lifts them from his helmet as I put construct armour around Adom.

"-that he could get away-"

"Sleep, child."

"-with stealing the body of a mate of mine."

Rob slams his forehead into Nabu's faceplate then shoves his hands forward, sending Nabu staggering back. "Yeah mate. More magic. Did you not read my file or something?"

"Yes." A new ankh appears on Nabu's chest, a hurricane of golden wind blasting out of Rob and being sucked into it. "Fate sees all."

"Oh." He looks up at me. "Aah?"

I cover him in construct armour and put a spell eater around his neck. Much as he's learned recently, if Nabu has a way around his mana draining there probably isn't much his magic can add.

"And you, Constantine. I should have seen your hand in this from the first. Bartering power first from Demons and now from Klarion himself." John looks mildly pleased with himself. "This day marks the first upon which my desires and those of my host are in alignment."

"Yeah, yeah. Except you're missin' a few bits o' the puzzle, aren't you?"

"A magician of low repute with a history of misdeeds and deception has corrupted others in his treachery. Zatara believed that you would not dare approach his daughter-."

"Back up a bit." John leans back against the closest battery. "What was that about Klarion?"

Shoot or not shoot? Once the batteries are active, they don't stop. Hopefully with the battering Nabu's taken he isn't noticing… No. I should let John keep talking.

"You are using his power. This place reeks of it. Clearly you have made some foul pact to gain-."

"Hahaha!" He looks away from Nabu while he fishes out his cigarette packet with his right hand. "Really? That what you think?"

"What other alternative could there be?"

John looks up towards me. "You wanna tell 'im?"

"We confronted and permanently depowered Klarion three days ago, Nabu. Right now his comatose body is lying in a Chinese prison cell wreathed in suppression chains. They'll probably execute what's left of him in a couple of days, if they haven't already. Do you know how.. China executes supervillains?"

No response.

"They've got a superfunctionary called 'Ghost Fox Killer'. She can rip the souls out of people's bodies and either turn them into ghost-slaves or into batteries. She has absolutely no loyalty to the Chinese state, and has no real need for money, so they buy her loyalty… Or at least her service, by handing the vilest criminals they can over to her. See, the more evil they were, the more power she can draw from them."

"That-. Is-. That isn't possible."

"Sure it is. John? I think this is more your area."

"Klarion's problem… Other than the fact that he's a murderous little shit, is that when Paul nobbled his familiar he decided to stick around rather than fuck off back where he came from. Normally, if you kill a familiar or-" His eyes narrow very slightly. "-destroy a helmet, the bundle of magic energy that makes up you gets sucked straight back t' the Plane of Whatever. It's like… Spreading a bit of elastic between two points. Let go of one? It snaps over t' the other one. Klarion cut himself off t' stop that happening, leaving a whole lump of elastic chaos power behind him." John waves his cigarette in the air, eldritch runes appearing in its wake and burning in the air. "Which just about anyone who knew what they're doing could help themselves to."

"Informative. I will be certain to use that knowledge to more efficiently banish Chaos Lords in the future. I will begin with you. Your coat is hardly well-concealed."

"Funny, when y'think about it. Only worked with Giovanni a couple a' times, but you'd think he'd remember how I work."

"He mostly remembers you killing his wife."

John looks down, shaking his head. "That coulda been any of us. Coulda been me. Maybe it shoulda been." He looks up. "Know I thought so at the time. Point bein', I'd have thought he'd realise what I was up to." He nods his head to the side. "Or maybe he's just keeping shtum. Ah well."

"What nonsense is this? The technique you claim that you utilized against Klarion will not work on me. If by some remote possibility you were able to defeat me, I would accept banishment. I dwell entirely within my helmet. I cannot be severed from my link to the Realm of Pure Order."

"Yeah." The end of John's cigarette flares into life. "Think about that for a mo'. Most people, they do their thinking with what's between their ears, don't they? A Human brain's basically a soggy sack of electrical pathways, but…" He jabs his cigarette forwards. "You don't have one. Your host does, but you were aware of what was goin' on even when you didn't have a host, so you're not runnin' on their brain. Plus, you've got that whole order-fixation thing goin' on. So what are you thinkin' with?"

He waits for a moment, but Nabu doesn't respond. He shrugs. "Pure magic. You're thinkin' with the structures of your soul. Bloody clever, actually. Usually when people try that, try directed reincarnation, it doesn't work quite right." He waves his right hand at the side of his head. "Doesn't all come through. Some memories get lost in the transfer, some get scrambled 'cause they can't hold it together right while the new brain grows… But you've got it solved."

"I am Order manifest."

"Yeah. You are." John stubs out his cigarette on the forehead of Nabu's skull, then tosses the butt aside. "Shoulda thought about that a bit more, really." John's face stills, becomes completely serious. And I see… Just a little… Klarion, there. "You're an arcane construct. You think thoughts of pure magic energy, and the power you use gets constantly replenished from the Plane of Order. But you're not the Plane of Order. You can't take more than a certain amount. And you can't drop below a certain amount. Or you start losing things."

"Wanna know what these batteries are doing right now?"

Nabu charges, an inverted ankh forming in his hands like a sword. I accelerate, railguns opening up with mage slayer rounds. Nabu takes a second to glance my way and the rounds stop in midair as he passes. A muffled bang, and his sword shatters under two bullets from the Ace of Chaos. Jade's okay. Okay enough to fire, which means that she's unlikely to be dying. Why do I think the mage slayers aren't moving? Most likely, an indirect block of some kind. What wouldn't be affected? Any construct would be, they're basically physical attacks. I send filaments downwards just in case. Accelerated like this they move slowly, but if there's a way to reach him then they should find it before he reaches John. What else? I can still see what's happening, so a laser should be able to reach him. No, I don't want to harm Mister Zatara.

He's not shielding his nerves. Electron inductor construct.

Mental pathway damage limit reached. Acceleration discontinued.

A new ankh-sword begins appearing, just as my electron inductor tags his spine. His legs freeze up and he starts to fall forwards. Just before he hits the ground he appears to get his levitation spell working again, accelerating through the air near the ground towards John and the mana batteries that are steadily ripping his mind apart.

"Oh yeah?" John carelessly tosses aside the skull and then sticks out his left hand, golden light jumping from the closest battery and shining through his skin as he absorbs it. "Two can play at that-" A red crackling ankh appears in his right hand. "-game."

"Life is matter given order."

John takes a step forwards. "Come on then!"

"Reason is the spark of life."

John pulls his sword back as Nabu reaches him. "Come on you fuck-!"

"Sentience is matter that embraces-" Nabu flies past John, John's hastily swung sword merely clipping his cape. "-reason."

The air around Nabu shines gold as he lands atop a mana battery, sword raised.

Oh shit, opening fire with everything!

"Did you dare think I was not prepared to die for my cause as well?!"

He brings the sword down on the bat-.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Beep.

Ugh?

Beep.

Feeling..? Soft..? Warm..? Sheet, sheet, duvet.

Urh-h-h-h-h-h…

My eyes flicker open and brightbrightblur close again.

I'm… Alive..? Ah, confusion… No, Erebos isn't that bright. What was..? Fight with… Nabu. Right. I was… What was I..?

Ring. Ring! Wholeness Rightly… No. Rings 're, rings are gone. That's not good. I rub my ring fingers with my thumbs just to make sure there isn't some sort of interference or blocking mechanism. No, they're gone. Agh.

Okay, my head's too full of cotton wool to try calling them, and I'm probably in some kind of building. Don't want to.. call them through a wall and hurt someone.

I try moving my arms. Yes… They move, but it feels… Sluggish. And not just because of the duvet. I'm.. injured..? Nothing hurts, but I might be drugged. Don't.. feel any drips. Or handcuffs, which were a possibility depending on what happened.

…

What did happen?

Oh, this better not be one of those stupid illusion things, and the fight's still going on in the real-. No, I don't see Nabu going in for that.

Alright, so I'm probably in St Mary's. Good… What do I-? Oh! Oh. Mister Siskin, Nabu killed him. Burned him.. out. I'll… Have to get John-. Someone anyway, to check whether he's dead-dead or just discorporated. I don't think… Nabu would have made a mistake… He did kill the Terror Thing, and the magics involved are probably the same.

I didn't… I didn't think he'd do that. Just another way he fails to live up to the heroic ideal. Another demonstration of why he doesn't deserve to be on the Justice League.

Or… Failed, I suppose. He could well be dead, or rendered such a simpleton that John could have dealt with him.

Mister Siskin is dead because I persuaded him to join us. He wasn't… Strictly necessary. The… Draining thing would have worked perfectly well without him. I just thought-. I wanted to bring Nabu down without that, if we could. He clearly has fears…

If I'd been a bit quicker with the chain…

I'll have to tell his.. parents, his family. And I don't know if anyone else died, or…

I open my eyes again, wincing as the light once again burns my eyes. Couldn't they have..? Curtains, or something..?

"'oight." I close my eyes again for a moment. Come on mouth, work. "'ight. Bright."

There's a.. rustling, and the sound of steps on a hard floor. The light dims a little. "'ank you."

"Are you awake? Should I get the nurse?"

M'gann? That's a… Pleasant surprise.

"No, just…" Openopenopenopen. "Uhhhhhhhrrrrr."

The light dims further as I finally manage to focus and find M'gann standing over me. She's in full Martian mode-. No, in full Miss Martian mode, skin chalk white and hair sheer black. "Hiiiiii there."

"How do you feel?"

"Woozy.. and, slightly numb. A-heh, which is… Wrong, because you don't feel numb, because… Numb isn't feeling." No, that's not right either. "Numb is not being able to feel. That's it."

"Well, you're… Fairly coherent." I feel something -her hand- on my forehead. "Your thoughts were all so mixed up I didn't know if you were-." Footsteps and a door opening, M'gann's head jerking up to face… "Superboy, he's awake."

I hear a sort of cough-sniff as Wolf trots in just ahead of her father. "Hey." He gives me a worried smile. "Had us kinda worried there."

"What-." Agh, my mouth feels like… I'm not quite in control. "What… Day..?"

Nabu strides through the still-open door behind him as the levels of light in the room drop still further, M'gann, Kon and Wolf all ceasing all movement. His cape billows slightly as he comes to the foot of my-. Doesn't matter, focus, rings! Rings, get here-!

He looks down at me for a moment. Can't.. can't focus…

Then he reaches up and pulls the helmet off his head.

…

"John?"

John slowly nods his head. "Just about."

He looks like he's been through the wringer. Actually… So does the helmet. He's got it slightly tucked under his right arm, but I can see what I think are Adom's finger marks where he squeezed it. Nabu's gold cloak… It was his coat. With the helmet off it's back to its usual fawn colour, but it was glowing. Kon and M'gann are just.. stopped, not moving, breathing... M'gann's hair is suspended in the air where she was turning her head. Some sort of suspended animation?

"What..? I-i-it work?"

"Pretty much. What'd you see up to?"

"He… He s-stabbed the… Battery."

John nods. "Not too clever, that. Just sped it all up. Had to grab the skull a bit quick, but apart from that…"

I relax, my head tilting back slightly. "Anyone..? Else.. die..?"

"Giovanni's banged up like you were. Maybe worse. Adom walked it off. Jade needed one of those potions. Disappeared yesterday. Rob headed off back to Cornwall before your-" He glances at Kon, then returns his attention to me. "-mates showed up. Zatanna's with her dad."

I manage a weak nod. "Siskin?"

"Gone mate. Sorry."

"Parents. I need to tell his-."

John shakes his head. "Adom did it."

I suppose he's got experience. "Nabu?"

"Same. If it helps."

A weak shake. "No. Not really." Why.. couldn't he just… I've hated him for eight months solid. Might be nice to be able to enjoy the idea… "You?"

John raises his left hand, an ankh of crackling red lightning appearing over his palm. "Strange. The chaos thing I could… Felt a bit like everything was exploding at a hundred miles an hour, but… I could get it. This is… I dunno what this is."

"Balance. You should be able to… To harmonise-."

He looks me straight in the eyes, glaring slightly. His eyes are bloodshot and red and gold lights dance in his irises. "Yeah, well it's a bit harder than that when you actually do it, alright. Feels like getting torn into a million pieces whenever…" He closes his eyes for a moment, his whole body sort of shimmering. "Dunno if I'll be able t' do it."

"Anything I can do?"

"Not unless you know where you can find a Lord of Chaos and a Lord of Order working together."

"Shazam and Oggar. It… It didn't last, but…"

He nods. "Something to look at." He takes a deep breath, then exhales. "Look… I agreed with this. I was right with you every step. I'm feeling rough as anything... Not your fault." He steps back. "But don't come looking for me for a bit, yeah?"

I nod as he puts the helmet back on, turns and walks away.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Don't know
But we're home free anyway

I hear his steps echo as they hit the hard floor, then… Nothing. The room is still drained of colour, my.. movements… I can move a bit, and my mind feels like it's actually ticking over rather than stalling. I don't know if that was him, or just my natural recovery rate. Actually… All that order magic that got released… I probably absorbed at least some of it with my tattoos.

…

I look at the unmoving faces of two of my closest friends. Now comes the… Easy bit. Let's face it, telling them isn't going to be anything like as hard as preparing for fighting Nabu. And.. they'll be hurt. Maybe because of my duplicity, maybe because I didn't include them. And then…

Off into space. I'm a little… Not conflicted. I don't do that any more. But it's a close run thing. After eight months I very nearly want to stay and argue my case. Publically, if at all possible. If the League continue with the lies I've set up for them, Nabu will be remembered as a hero who died fighting a vile Lich. If they come clean… Is that likely? Diana might-. No. If they talked her into keeping shtum about Mister Zatara getting possessed, she'll almost certainly go along with this.

And I'd like to be a big enough man to not feel the need to needle her about it… Another borderline case.

But the clear winner is sticking to the original plan. I need to recover the postal packets and electronic transfers I had set to go out… Assuming that they haven't already. No, M'gann would have said something. I need to pay Jade the balance of her fee. Need to stow the Fortress somewhere. And I need to have it out with the Justice League.

Has John just forgotten to turn time back on-?

Colour… Bleeds back into the room. The door frame regains colour first, then a rough path across the ceiling between the door and the lighting fixture regains its whiteness. Next, the ceiling mounted light reactivates, throwing fluorescent illumination across the otherwise still room. Then the floor, John's footprints briefly visible as the grey patches slowly recolour. Then the walls and the sheets on my bed. Then a flash of orange as the rings appear on their designated fingers. Oh, that's a relief. I focus on M'gann as her skin starts to turn from grey to white. Her hands start to change first, then her face. She's nearly regained her normal colouration before her hair begins to darken from faded grey to its normal raven-dark shade. Empathic vision goes from showing nothing to suddenly reigniting in a blaze of personality and colour as the world snaps to life again.

There's a slight frown on her face as she looks at the door. "I thought there..?"

Kon glances behind him for a moment before returning his attention to me. "We couldn't find-." He frowns, looking down at my hands. "Oh, you had 'em the whole time."

"Not exactly." I push back the duvet and with slight caution turn so that my legs overhang the edge of the bed. "Listen, what exactly do you know about what happened?"

M'gann smiles. "Zatara's back! We stopped in to see him on our way here."

Kon gives me a disgruntled look. "You got in a fight with some kind of undead wizard and didn't invite us. Just 'cause you quit the team, that doesn't mean we won't help you."

M'gann nods in support. "We're your friends, and-."

I hold up my right hand. "Before you… Go any further. The Lich story was -while technically true- mostly a cover story for what we were actually doing."

Kon looks thoughtful, then nods. "Must be serious. You usually hate working with Fate."

I nearly say 'we could hardly ambush him if he wasn't there'… No. Far too flippant. This is a serious matter. "M'gann, you know those barriers I've been keeping up the whole time?"

"Ah, yeah? It doesn't.. matter-."

I close my eyes and exhale, dropping them completely. And I can.. feel her again. Oh, I'd missed that. She's not the same; a little muted. Her own defences are better now. But she's there again. "There. Now. What actually happened is that after eight months' planning and preparation we lured Nabu into an ambush, attacked and killed him."

Kon's face screws up in confusion. "What? That's… What?"

There's a slight intake of breath from M'gann, her hands moving to cover her mouth and her eyes widening.

"It sometimes seems like everyone's forgotten since Roanoke, but he was possessing Zatanna's father." I turn to M'gann, picturing the image clearly in my mind. **[I look Zatanna over for a moment and then step forwards and hug her. As I do so I flare my aura outwards. With all that's happened today I doubt anyone will think much of that. It serves to camouflage the sonic stabiliser effect which cancels the noise of what I'm about to say. As she relaxes into the hug I put my chin on her shoulder and whisper into her ear.

"On the flight back I had a few ideas about getting Nabu out of your father. If you're up to it, come and find me in half an hour. "]**

**["I have the honour to be the personal slave of Lord Kilderkin, a Manifestation of Order, here incarnated in the form of a sheet of paper."]**

"We started work on it the day after the Roanoke Incident. Started by summoning Nabu's boss. He was less than helpf-."

"You can't have-!" Kon's face hardens slightly. "You're saying you-. You killed a member of the Justice League?!"

"I killed a criminal who violently resisted arrest by killing one of my colleagues. Being a member of the Justice League does not put you above the law."

He shakes his head in a series of short rapid movements. "Who? Everything-?"

"Michael Siskin. His remains-."

"The.. fear guy?"

"Yes. Interestingly, British law does recognise him as a person, though it's a bit patchy on what actual protections he gets."

"But… Klarion..?"

"We already dealt with him." I gingerly get to my feet. Steady enough. My NHS issue pyjamas are replaced by a suit before reappearing on the bed, cleaned and neatly folded. "Unless I very much miss my guess he'll be dead within a week, and he'll be powerless and comatose until then. So you don't have to worry about… A 'playground of chaos' or anything like that." Hm. "M'gann, I want to share my memory of this with both of you. Would you mind including Kon in the link as well?"

"I…" **Okay?**

**["Who do you think they're going to get?" I turn back to her, looking blank. "The League, I mean. They don't have a magic user now…"

"I don't know. Um, Jason Blood, maybe? David Sergeant? I doubt it'll be John and it could well end up being some Atlantean battle mage neither of us have ever heard of. Why'd you ask?"

"We'd be working with them, wouldn't we? To free Dad."

"I assume so. I mean, we'll need to talk to them in private at some point and see how they want to handle things…"

"It's just…" Her eyes dip. "It's probably stupid…"

"What is it?"

She looks up. "You don't think they'll offer Nabu a place, do you?"

I blink, stunned. "No, of course not! They're M-. Your father's friends! They're not going to let some Lich stroll in, steal his body and then pick up the keys to the place as a bonus! There's no way they'd do that."

She nods. "I know, it's just… I can't stop thinking about it. I mean, Wonder Woman and Red Tornado worked with him-."

"And that's exactly why they won't. They know what he's like. Zatanna, you're being ridiculous. You know that, right?"

She nods. "I guess."]**

Kon shudders slightly. **Did they say no, or..?**

**["Next out is-."

Her voice fades, replaced by a sort of buzzing. My mouth opens slightly and my eyes widen but other than that I'm paralysed by the horror of what I'm seeing as Nabu, dressed in blue and gold and Giovanni Zatara's body steps out of the Hall of Justice. Dimly I think I hear Zatanna gasp but my mind is empty. I just stare at his helmet as he takes his place in the line up.

"How..? How could they do this..?"

I think some other people are coming out after him. Miss Grant's mouth is moving. That's probably important? There's probably… There might be someone..? The camera angle changes to give a wider image and I find my eyes shifting over to Diana.

How could you? How.. how could you? Why..?

The world snaps back into focus as I hear Zatanna whimper. She shakily gets to her feet and I can see the tracts of the tears that are already running down her cheeks and I'm on my feet and putting my arms around her and resting my head on hers as she cries into my shoulder. Without the Justice League's help -and I think I have to assume that we're not getting any now- freeing Mister Zatara... I'd hoped someone else would have had new ideas, someone who knew something… No. I don't know less than I did before. I was keeping the League out of the loop anyway.]**

**That was…** M'gann looks stunned. **That was when you started blocking me out the whole time.**

**Couldn't risk anything getting back to the League.** I kneel down in front of the puzzled looking Wolf. Ring, animal translation.

Compliance.

"Wolf. Sad. Teekl is dead."

Wolf sits, giving out a quiet whimper. "Cat Mother!"

"Fight kill bad man. She good kitty."

Wolf lies down, her whimper continuing, rising in pitch to a sort of keening noise. "Wrong-bad! Want back!"

I stand, wincing. Stop translation.

Compliance.

"And now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go and have a chat with our superiors."

I walk slowly towards the door as Wolf throws her head back and howls.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Still don't know-

Oh, enough of that. Rings, time and date.

10th July
14:36 GMT

And map.

Compliance.

Neither Kon nor M'gann follows me as I stride down the corridor in the direction of Mister Zatara's room, the ring and my own empathic vision showing me Zatanna waiting within. They're only a few rooms down from my own, and… I peer down the corridor. There are a couple of armed response police officers at the exit, politely but firmly keeping journalists at bay. As well as anyone else who might cause us a mischief.

Oh, the ramparts are still going to be in position, aren't they? No part of them is innovative enough for me to want their construction kept secret, but I imagine that they're a bit in the way. Unless Adom moved them… No. He's easily strong enough to lift them but I doubt they'd survive being manhandled by him.

"Orange Lantern?"

I look past the police. The journalists have spotted that I'm up and about. Deal with them first, or… Mister Zatara hasn't awakened, Zatanna's not likely to leave until he has… I transition to a short distance behind the police.

"Gentlemen? Would you mind?"

The officers turn to-. Oh, that's a woman in there. They turn to look at me, then step aside far enough for me to pass through. Cameras start going immediately.

"Alright, I've only just regained consciousness myself, so this is going to be brief. A few months ago I discovered the existence of a powerful and extremely dangerous Lich. My colleagues and I laid a trap for it, and the trap was largely successful. The Lich has been destroyed and its magics pose no further threat. Sadly, my colleague Michael Siskin was killed trying to bring it down. I'm.. not aware of further developments since the end of the fight, but I can take a few questions."

I've got a sneaking suspicion that these journalists are second tier at best. Maybe third tier; waiting outside a hospital ward is barely one step up from paparazzi behaviour. A few of them look at each other in a brief attempt to work out who should go first. Then one just waves his recorder at me. "Reports say that Justice League member Giovanni Zatara was among the injured."

"I haven't heard any reports. I'm afraid that I've been unconscious."

"Is he in there? Is this why he took that leave of absence from the League?"

"I suggest that you refer questions about the disposition of Justice League members to the Justice League."

"So who was this Lich, then? How come I've never heard of it?"

"It only regained its freedom relatively recently, and had yet to stage any major attacks. I prefer to deal with supervillains before they do that."

One of the others sort of shoulder barges him aside. "Was Black Adam part of your team?"

"Black Adam had his soul eaten by Ammut in Louisiana last year, and so it's unlikely that he'll be participating in-."

She rolls her eyes. "Adom then. Dictator of Kahndaq and your close friend."

"That does sound likely."

"And-." She checks her notes. "Cornwall Boy?"

"I don't intend to comment on the precise composition of the team in case I need to use them again against a similar opponent. This was a serious police operation, not a game of Happy Families or a Hello! magazine article."

A third journalist decides to take advantage of my apparent contempt for the other two. "Why did you carry this trap out in the middle of London?"

"There's a magic user who lives here who was a vital part of my trap. Unfortunately, they lose most of their power if they leave the city, so… We had to do it here."

"Do you have anything to say to all the people who were evacuated from their homes so you could do this?"

"Thank you for your cooperation and I'm sorry for the disruption. Since the actual fight lasted about… Fifteen minutes? Hopefully the evacuation wasn't too inconvenient. I'll see about getting the ramparts removed later today. I'd have done it sooner, but I was unconscious."

A fourth person, and I think I'm going to call this off shortly. "Why weren't the Justice League involved?"

"Because the Justice League consists of twenty one active members and can't be everywhere at once. I could bring the skills-."

"Twenty two."

I blink. "I'm sorry?"

"Plastic Man was the twenty third member of the League, Zatara's on leave." She shrugs. "That leaves twenty two."

"Oh." Whoops. "Ah, yes, my mistake." I shake my head. "Um, I was able to get all of the skills I needed together to complete the task without calling upon any Justice League members for aid. They can't be everywhere and they shouldn't have to be. Um, I'd like to thank the Metropolitan Police and.. the staff of St Mary's Hospital for their help." I take a step back. "I'm sure that a full report will be forthcoming presently. Thank you."

I turn away, the police stepping back into-

"Orange Lantern! Why didn't you ask Fate for help!?"

-the breach. And here comes temptation. No, still not what I want. I transition down the corridor out of sight, appearing just outside Mister Zatara's room.

"…as soon as there's any change. No, Uncle Charlie, I'll be fine. I had some-. Yes, he's here."

That sounds like my cue. I knock on the door twice with the knuckle of my right index finger and push open the door. Zatanna looks up from her seat, smiling. She's switched to civilian clothing, but the Staff of Love is lying across her lap. Mister Zatara looks… Rough. I don't know what Nabu did with most of his time, but it clearly didn't involve sunlight, sleeping or eating. There's a drip in his arm and more grey than I remember seeing before his possession in his hair.

"Can I-? Yes, I… Can I call you back? I know, I'll tell him." She pulls the phone away from her ear, turns it off and puts it down. "You're-" She grabs the Staff in her left hand as she throws herself out of the chair at me, wrapping her arms around me. "-awake!"

I hug her back, resting my chin on the side of her head. "Indeed I am. I think… John had something to do with that."

She pulls back slightly, looking surprised. "You saw him?"

"You haven't?"

She shakes her head. "Not since the fight. Do you think he'll-?"

"Mmmmmuhhh…"

We both look around as Mister Zatara stirs, his eyes flickering.

"Dad!"

"Uh. Zatanna?" His eyes open unsteadily, apparently having the same trouble focusing that I did. "Where..?" Zatanna abandons me like a shot, pressing herself against her father's side. "What..?"

"We got him, Dad. We got rid of Nabu."

"I'm…" He manages to look around, coming a little more to his senses. "I'm…" He looks around. "You…"

"Welcome back, sir. You're in St Mary's Hospital in London."

"Orange.. Lantern." He tries to sit up slightly, Zatanna pulling back slightly and offering him her hands in case he needs help. "Orange Lantern, what have you done?"

"Nothing I wouldn't do again in a heartbeat, sir."

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th July
14:40 GMT

"Nabu…" He makes a panting exhalation. "I… I feel…"

"You're free, Dad. He's never coming back."

"No, that's…" He slumps, falling back onto his pillow. "That's wrong. I… I should…"

His eyes flicker, then close again. Zatanna's eyes widen in alarm as she holds her right hand over his forehead. "Wohs em s'dad etats fo htlaeh!"

Her eyes flare violet for a moment. That's.. something I'll need to keep an eye on. For as long as I'm on Earth, anyway. "How is he?"

A few seconds pass, then she removes her hand and pulls back. "Fatigue, malnutrition, prolonged stress and mana overload." She notes my concerned gaze and gives me a small smile and a little shake of her head. "It's nothing Dad won't get better from, and…" She looks at his sleeping face. "I'm not… I just don't know enough about long term mana overload to want to try anything."

"We could get Rob to drain-."

"No." She shakes her head emphatically. "That's fine for short term stuff, but Nabu was controlling Dad constantly for eight months. Rob.. doesn't have the.. control… I don't want to risk.. damaging Dad's own magic… Or his soul, or-."

"Okay." I put my right hand on her left shoulder and give it a small squeeze.

She reaches around and lays her right hand on mine, still facing her father. "We actually did it."

"We did."

"I mean, I know he's here and.. that.. thing's gone… But it just.. seems…"

"We've been working at this for a long time."

She nods, remaining quiet for a few moments. "What..?" She turns her head to look at me. "What.. do we tell the Justice League?"

"I was going to have a chat with them once I checked in on you and Mister Zatara." I glance back towards the door. No Kon or M'gann… Can't hear Wolf howling anymore… Have they fled, I wonder? Or did I just give the impression that I wanted to be left alone? I could look-. No. "Have they..? Not sent anyone to-?"

"Wonder Woman was here this morning." Zatanna's head dips. "She.. asked me about what happened."

I nod. "What did you tell her?"

Her eyes widen slightly, and her head jerks in a shake. "I didn't tell her anythin-!"

"Zatanna, Zatanna." I hold out my left hand with my palm towards her. "It's fine. Now that it's done, it doesn't really matter to me what the League know." She nods, looking slightly relieved. "Though, um… I only remember up to Nabu stabbing the.. battery. Could you..? What happened next? John, Kon and M'gann gave me a summary…"

She lifts my hand off her shoulder and leans over her father again, kissing him on the forehead. Then she turns away from him and gestures to the room's chairs. I nod, stepping backwards and sitting in the one behind me as she turns the one next to the bed around to face me.

"Um, well… Nabu… Sort of… Exploded. I'm…" She looks aside, trying to work out how to put it into words. "I don't really know why. I guess… He was basically an intelligent spell, right? Do you think..? The bit that kept him coherent got drained and he just… Collapsed suddenly instead of slowly?"

I nod slowly. "Could be. There isn't really much data to draw on. I'd.. guess that it's more likely that what you saw was the result of his connection to the Plane of Order no longer having anything to feed into… But I don't.. really know, either." She nods. "Then what happened?"

"John… I only saw him for about a second? But I think he was trying to do something with the batteries as it was happening? And, um… I put up a shield and Rob got in front of me and tried draining the.. energy wave. Adom was struggling to get up and I didn't see Jade." She blinks, realising something. "Not then. I saw her afterwards, she's okay."

I nod. "John said."

"Then… It was a lot of power. I didn't think I could hold it… But, it only lasted about… Ten seconds? Then all the light sort of dimmed, and I could see John holding Nabu's helmet. Nabu's.. not.. controlling him, is he?"

"John took the Helmet off in my presence, so I'm assuming not."

Zatanna nods. "John was glowing, and Dad was.. sort of floating in front of him. Then the lights cut out completely. The batteries looked drained, so I guess John used them to power his transformation… Um, then Adom got up and John walked towards us with Dad floating along with him. I…" She looks down at the floor. "I should have checked on you, but I needed to know that Dad-."

"That's fine. But, ah… How was I?"

"You'd.. fallen on your back, and your-. You weren't glowing much? I mean, of course you weren't glowing much, you weren't.. conscious. Adom called the ambulances on his radio, and.. Rob started checking Dad over. John just waved at you and.. all your armor disappeared. Then John opened up a hole in space, like the one Klarion used to run away after Roanoke, but.. it just led outside of the big walls you put around the park. Rob carried you and.. John floated Dad over to Adom, and Adom carried him out to the ambulance."

I frown. "John didn't levitate him out himself?"

"No." She shrugs. "Maybe he didn't want people to see him. Ah, Fate. We were trying to pretend he wasn't there." I nod. "Are we.. still doing that?"

I nod again. "Publically, yes. I'm going to give the League the choice on how they want to play it. If you really get pressed, you can go with the version we told Mister Tong, but.. I.. doubt that will happen."

She looks at me a little awkwardly. "And.. our.. friends..?"

"I intend to put a full report on the League's database. I was thinking of calling it 'The Hyde Park Ambush'. I'll try and keep my.. personal bias out of it, keep it factual. Um, what happened to Jade after we got loaded into the ambulances?"

"She… I was already in the ambulance, but Rob told me that she limped out of the woods just after we left."

"How badly was she injured?"

"He said 'pretty banged up'? She used his healing potion, then.. left. I guess she's still got the Ace of Chaos. Um, I think Adom-."

"Went to see Michael Siskin's parents."

She nods. "I didn't-. I didn't think Nabu would do that. I mean… Kilderkin said he took my Dad because he wanted to do good. Mister Siskin wasn't going to kill anybody, he wasn't even trying to kill Nabu."

"No… But, he did do his best to make Nabu afraid. It worked, and Nabu lashed out without.. the normal restrictions we work under. I can't even really hate Nabu for it. I'd.. probably do the same if-."

"No you wouldn't. You went inside the standing stones and connected to all his fears. You didn't go crazy or start killing people."

"It's not quite the same thing as what Mister Siskin did to Nabu." I look over to the door for a moment. "Okay… Thanks for bringing me up to date. Do you have any plans?"

"Since Dad's awake I need to organize getting us home. But… No, not apart from that."

"I don't mind giving you a lift. Though we should probably leave it until after I've spoken to the League."

"Are you well enough? Usually with magic overloads-."

I nod. "I'm not on top form, but I'll manage."

"What if they…" She fidgets. "What if they try and arrest you?"

I shrug. "Then I stand trial and things get very messy. It would be a bit inconvenient but I'm not really worried about it." I stand. "I'll let you know how it goes."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Life
=
…

"Auuuuhh?"

"Alright, he's coming round. Everyone out."
I lie broken on the floor of the Thanagarian bridge as the heavy weapon team fire again.
"But-?"
Father picks her up from his knee and inserts her into the Anti-Life broadcaster.
"Lynne, we don't know how much of him is left. If we were… Too late, you shouldn't be here."
Outside the bar, Barda pulls back the mega rod for another strike while I'm still stunned from the first hit.
"You didn't need to put it quite like that."

"She encountered Darkseid. There is no point trying to shelter her from the realities of Apokoliptian life."

"Huah-uhhau-hah?"

"Grayven? Can you understand me?" "Be liberated, my brother."

I open my eyes. I'm… The room is… White, with New God circuitry picked out in gold on.. several places on the walls, as well as the bier I'm lying upon.

"Ah? A-aaaaah?"

"Grayven?" Scott leans over me, his face covering most of my field of vision. "Can you speak?"

"I… I…"

He leans away, raising his eyes to the heavens. "Praise the Source."

"Whu-? Wha' ha'?"

Barda gives me a hard look. "You encountered Darkseid."

I.. try.. nodding. "Else? Wh' else?"

"Okay, Grayven?" Scott waves his right hand back and forth. "Focus on me."

I try… I try to move, to look… I know it's-.

"Ping!"

"Oh, not again. Hold on." "I'll free you yet."

"Mruh ba'?"

Barda nods. "The Mother Box I captured believes that protecting people from the Anti-Life is more important than continuing to defy me."

"How about now?" Scott looks back at me. "Try moving again." "Step by step."

I-. I put my right hand down on the surface I'm laid out on and use that leverage to work myself into a sitting position. "Wha'-. Wha'-TTT. Hap-happened?"

Barda folds her arms across her chest. "Darkseid came for you. He exposed your servitors and warband to the Anti-Life."

"Mmm-mmm-mmm-mme?"

"Okay, you have to understand what Anti-Life exposure is." Scott pulls up a floating chair and sits in it, facing me. "Normally, Darkseid keeps all that he knows in himself and projects it outwards in the same way you or I do when we use New God technology. Indirect exposure. He comprehends, and you get knocked aside by his spiritual bow wave." "It's there, and the sheer horror of it spreads its influence."

"Felt-. Felt more."

Barda shakes her head. "You just aren't used to it." "You know, but you haven't learned."

Scott clasps his hands on his lap as he leans forward. "He said something to you, didn't he?"

I shudder as I nod.

"That was him… Imparting his understanding of part of the equation to you." He glances away. "You remember when you gave Lynne a part of your soul? Something like that." "You understood the universe a little like he does."

"You… Got it out?"

Scott closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and shakes his head slowly. "No. I don't… Know how it happened. Normally, just being a New God would prevent this, but… It's integrated. It's… Stuck, for want of a better term. You've got a part of the Anti-Life Equation lodged in your soul, and I don't know how to get it out." "I'm sorry."

"I still-. Function."

He shakes his head. "I.. had to cannibalise your soul to… I created a pearl, a spiritual tool to isolate it. You'll be… Weaker, physically and metaphysically. Zatanna and Sunset-" He points to a device bound to my left forearm. "-made that to try and help."

"A personal mana infuser."

"She said that since you weren't really a member of the Light, she didn't have any reason not to help you."

"I still feel… Not just weak, but…"

"I…" I failed. "Grayven, I had to isolate the Anti-Life Equation fragment as quickly as I could. You didn't have enough power, it was turning you so fast… I took the extra power I needed from your rings. From what I.. can tell, you'll keep experiencing surges of fear and avarice until you're fully recovered." He shifts slightly closer. "I'm.. sorry to have to ask, but do you remember how Darkseid was able to affect you this strongly? If he's found some way to bypass our normal-."

My eyes dip. "Worst… Worst day. Proposed to Jade. Turned down. Rejected."

He frowns. "Why?"

"She thought I was really with the Light. Scott, need… Need it out. Can't can't-. Function. Like this."

"Grayven…" He looks away. "If I could get the Anti-Life Equation out of someone, don't you think I'd have done that to Darkseid by now? I wouldn't have left you like this if I had a choice."

"Your.. father. Izaya."

He considers for a moment. "He might be able to help, but I've got no way to contact him."

Wait. "Not just… Fear. Missing. Missing, Scott, missing!"

His head drops. "Binding you that closely to fear and avarice… It's muting your ability to feel other things. You should recover eventually. The Anti-Life isn't converting you any longer. With the mana infuser, you'll build your strength back up-."

I crumple, head in my hands. "Noo."

He raises his hand to try to placate me. "It's just temporary-."

"Can… I can go without… Will, or… Hope. Or rage. Or compassion. I can't go without love, Scott. I think-. I think 'Lynne' and I don't feel! Nothing, there's nothing! She needs me to love her and I can't!"

Scott sags. "I can… Now that you're awake, there are a few things we can try-."

"No." Keep that feeling keep that feeling. "I need to fix this now." I stand, staggering as I do so but keeping my balance. The rings are still on my fingers. Ring.

Awaiting command.

Link to the Mountain. Hush tube to the Mojave Desert.

By your command.

"Okay, if we get Lynne in here-" Scott steps towards the door while Barda watches me cautiously. "-I might be able to use your bond to-."

The tube opens and I lumber through, out onto the dull yellow sand.

"Grayven, wait!"

"Daddy!"

Don't look back.

Shut it down.

 

[Mr Zoat]

I've got
things to do

Mojave Desert. Sand, rock, lichen. No people. Empty. I scout-. Scouted the place-. This region out months ago, not long after I first came to Earth Sixteen. Didn't take me long to realise what it was. There was a r-. Grrragh! Work… Brain! Reason I never asked Jordan to train me. Checked it out again after I moved to Challenger Mountain. Didn't have a reason to go for it, but confirmed my belief.

Only a fool like Jordan would leave the Star Sapphire out in the open.

Is this..? I think this is… Mind's all… Blurred. Confused. Ring, check location.

Location confirmed. Marking target.

Orange crosshairs appear in my vision, mere metres away. Memory roughly working, then.

I never… Checked this bit. Even someone as obtuse as Jordan must have put some sort of… Thing… With the… Security, some sort of security in place. Couldn't risk it without firm need. And a plan. But I need it now, and there's only so much 'plan' that's applicable to my situation. Take it, and beg the Zamarons to fix me.

It's a shitty plan, but I'm no use to Lynne like this. Perhaps they'll restore my capacity for love with the aim of interrogating me afterwards.

"Ring." I hold out my right hand. "Breach subspace vacuole."

"By your command."

Orange lights dance around my right forearm, forming a combination of gauntlet and mechanical lock as I thrust my right hand forward. The air before me seems to buckle and bend, the space around my hand flickering green as tiny wisps of green energy radiate away.

Then it snaps back, a glowing violet stone appearing in thin air. I grab it before it can try seeking out a new bearer.

Anything? I stare at it through my vacuole breaker construct. It sits there, glowing violet. Do I feel..? Lynne. Lynne. No, no, no change! No, there is. I think the Star Sapphire is getting slightly dimmer. No love in me. It's got nothing to work off. Nothing, nothing..!

Fine-. Fine. That was a bit too much to.. expect. Zamarons are still my best bet. Or maybe Scott could do something with it? He managed with the rings..? Or maybe just eating it would-.

"Stand down, Grayven. Trust me, you don't want anything to do with that."

I look upwards towards Jordan as he floats in the air above me. Keeping his distance somewhat, ring glowing brightly. No idea how much power I have. Mind… Not clear enough to fight.

"Look." Jordan descends to the ground, landing lightly. "I know you got hurt bad. Scott told us he was trying to help you. But whatever's wrong-."

"Scott-." Work mouth, work work! "S.. cott did well, but… Not enough. Anti-Life in my soul."

He nods, not taking his eyes off me. "Okay. And how exactly is the Star Sapphire supposed to help with that? It drives everyone who uses it crazy."

"Scott… What he did kept me me, but… Less. Mind not working.. well, soul tattered. Can't… Things I can't feel."

"Like what?"

"Love. Know there's something missing but can't remember what it felt like."

"The Zamaron version of 'love' isn't something you want anything to do with, Grayven. Why don't you.. come back to the Watchtower, and we can get your brother to take a second look at you. Maybe he can… Work something out."

"He knows.. less than the Zamarons… Do."

"So? They're not going anywhere. They haven't gone anywhere for thousands of years. What's the rush?"

"Lynne. She needs me, needs me to love her and I-. I can't."

"And you won't wait for your brother to fix you up because..?"

"She needs her father now."

"So your plan is to go to Zamaron and trade the Star Sapphire to Queen Aga'po?" I nod. "That's a terrible plan."

"Don't care. Doing it anyway."

"Aw, crap." His eyes dip for a moment. "Do you know who Vincent Hardy is?"

Do I..? I don't think so, but… I shake my head.

"He's the son of a bitch who got me thrown out of the air force. And he was one of the people who got picked up during your takedown of the Light. Turns out he was working for Vandal Savage. Now he's in prison, and once they've dealt with the backlog he'll be tried and executed, which is exactly what that traitorous bastard deserves." He looks around, his posture shifting slightly. "I got an official letter of apology from my old CO yesterday. Thanks to you, no one thinks it was me selling US military secrets any more. I owe you. And I've got a few things I've wanted to say to Queen Aga'po myself. You sure you want to do this?"

I nod emphatically, unable to trust my mouth to articulate my feelings.

"Alright then." He clenches his right fist. "Facing down the Guardians' beautiful but crazy cousins with nothing but a power ring and a brain damaged alien with delusions of godhood. Why not?"

"Lot of them… Hybrids. Second cousins."

"Heh. See you've still got your sense of humor." He rises off the ground, the glare of his environmental shield intensifying. "Alright, let's do this."

Ring?

Ready to serve.

Sinestro?

Access restricted. Who are you and what have you done with my Corpsman?

I'm trying to fix.. me.

You-? He pauses. So, that's Anti-Life. Curious.

Don't get… Too fond of it. Ring, hush tube to Zamaron. Outside the palace.

By your command.

The portal opens in the air before me, revealing a plaza of dull peach stone with the starburst of the Star Sapphires picked out in purple at the centre. On the far side, two hybrids level spears of pink crystal at the portal opening.

Fine. Arms behind my back and mustering my desire I march forwards, Jordan just behind me.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Zamaron.. time?

"Hello there. My name's Grayven, and-." The one on my right raises her spear slightly, firing a bolt of energy at me. I interpose the Star Sapphire, which flares momentarily as it greedily sucks the energy down, momentarily brightening before dimming once more.

I think I felt something.

The two hybrids recoil, the tips of their spears dipping slightly.

"As I was-." I lower my right hand. "As I was saying, my name is Grayven. I come in… I come in peace, and I seek an audience with Queen Aga'po."

"And I'm Hal Jordan. I'd like an audience too." Construct armour appears around him, as does a baseball.. bat..? "Peace is kinda optional."

The hybrid on the left narrows her eyes. "An Apokoliptian and a Green Lantern. What could the Queen possibly have to say to you?"

"You recognise the… Ah… The Star Sapphire, I take it?" They subtly glance at one another. "Do you want it back? Because that can…" I feel dizzy for a moment. I try not to let it show. "That can happen."

The one on the right turns her attention to where Jordan floats at my side. "And you?"

"I want a word about what that stone did to Carol."

"And why should we indulge you?"

The bat floats out in front of him and he takes it in a two handed grip. "Because from what I can tell, those spears are much less effective than power rings."

I wince, my eyes creasing up and my head tilting back. "Jordan, not… Not the way." How do I..? "If she won't.. s-see us, we'll just go. But… Your creed. 'Life.. without love… Is heresy'."

The one on the left… Their faces are relatively inexpressive. Perhaps a little curiosity? "There is far more to our creed than that."

"But it is in-. It is in there, yes?" I maintain eye contact for a few moments. "I was f-. I was f-f-f-f-f…" Come on, Grayven. "Forcibly exposed to the Anti-Life. I no longer feel anger. Or hope. Or compassion. Worst… Worst of all, I feel no love. I am here… To beg for help." I drop to my knees. Yes, I'm still taller than them, but it's the thought that counts. "Please."

They stare at me for a few seconds, then the one on the right stamps the butt of her spear on the ground, causing violet light to spiral around her. Her eyes flash violet as well. Not as.. efficient as how power rings do it. I frown. Do they..? Just..? Not know how to make them?

Corpsman, I must inform you that I have never seen nor heard of either a Zamaron or one of their agents use a power ring. As such, it is certainly possible.

How..? Sure..?

Kalmin's research into power ring technology was exhaustive. He uncovered no record.

Jordan lands lightly on the ground next to me. "Now why couldn't you be that polite to us?"

"I didn't want…" No. Come on. "I was establishing… Establishing the image of myself as someone who dis-disliked the League. Better… Do that by being rude than… Than actually fighting you."

"You weren't exactly friendly before that. I mean, Wonder Woman-."

"Stood there like a lemon when Mister Zatara went to put the Helmet of Fate on his head. Can you..? Imagine.. it? Being trapped in a featureless void for months. Perhaps years or decades?"

He nods. "Sounds like Hell."

"That was what… What finally stopped me idealising you people. Why… Even now. I don't plan on… Having much to do with you."

"You say that like we'd want anything to do with you."

"Weren't… Weren't slow to help… With the Light. Or.. to come here."

"I just wanted to pay off my debt as fast-" The violet lights disappear, right hybrid turning to look at her companion. "-as I could."

"The Queen will see you. Follow us."

They turn, rising slowly into the air as they do so. I clamber to my feet-

"Those dresses really don't leave much to the imagination, do they?"

-and… Try to…

That weak?

I activate the aero-discs on my boots and float after them, Jordan already having taken the lead. In fact, he's… Going to try making conversation with them, having dismissed his bat and armour. Never bothered to find out whether he and Carol Ferris are a couple-. For a moment I flashback to Jade waving her knife at me… But it's just a memory, slightly faded in importance by the constant repetition. And the fact that I can't even remember what loving her felt like. Can't miss what you can't remember.

Not helping. Distract yourself. I look out across the Zamaron city. Nothing in Father Box's database gave it a name. They may have built it here, or taken it with them from Maltus. I'm seeing plazas, part stone and part violet crystal, connected by stairs of the same material. A little further away are buildings… Housing? Workshops? Father Box didn't think that the Zamarons got out all that much, though given the hybrid population they must get out at some time. I don't… See a Central Power Battery… Oh, that's interesting. The city is built onto rock, but the rock itself is floating well above the planet's surface. I wonder why? I see other hybrids sparring with those crystal spears under the direction of an old school Zamaron. One hybrid looks.. younger than the others, though given her Maltusian heritage that doesn't necessarily mean anything. She looks up as we pass, staring at us in fascination until some remark from her overseer draws her attention back to her training.

Hmm. I seem to remember from the comics that Zamarons preferred Korugarian men as mates. Given how they look… Unnaturally tall blue skinned Grey type aliens… Not sure what the men see in them. Or maybe 'stretched women fetishists' are the Korugarian equivalent of furries..? No, that doesn't make sense, Korugarians never had those body proportions while the ancestors of Humans were fur-covered. Odd. And most of the hybrids appear to fit a particular physiotype, so either they're all half-Korugarian or that's just what part-Zamarons look like regardless of sperm donor.

Hm. Sinestro, do you find-?

I am not going to dignify that with a response.

Fine. I hold out the Star Sapphire, trying to get some sort of response. No. Nothing.

"Hey, I was just-!" There's a flare of violet energy and Jordan comes flying backwards, one of the hybrids glowering at him with her spear part-raised. He stabilises next to me. "Huh. Tough crowd."

"Is this..? Negotiating strat-. Strategy?"

"Kind of. Can't deny they're pretty hot, though."

"Their armour is… Weak. Their weapon, unwieldy."

"Not everyone can have two power rings, Grayven."

"Can I..? Take it that… You and Ms Ferris are no longer… Involved?"

For a fraction of a second he gives me a sidelong look. "Didn't work out. Secret identity… All that time away…"

I nod, as our escort fly towards a large structure I presume to be either a palace or a meeting hall. "I understand. But perhaps… Let me take the lead here?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Zamaron…

Jordan and I float into what appears to be the throne room. I can already see the imposing, violet-robe clad figure I presume to be Queen Aga'po, and a small number of other Zamarons whom I suspect to be either advisors or bodyguards.

"Jordan, what day is it?"

He starts slightly. "You don't-?" A small shake of his head. "July tenth. Sunday."

10th July
Morning in California

"Thank you."

Our escort lands just in front of us, and he and I do the same.

"You know, they're a lot more intimidating than the Guardians."

"You didn't meet them before?"

"A couple 'a hybrids covered her retreat one time, and they gave her the Star Sapphire back when I got it away from her. I never actually-."

"Grayven of Apokolips." Queen Aga'po rises from her throne and walks down from the dais towards myself and Jordan. We stop walking. "I understand that you are here to plead with me. You may do so."

Carefully, I lower myself to my knees once more. Then I go forward onto all fours, my face pointing at the stone floor of the throne room. "Your majesty. I am here to beg you to restore my capacity for love. As you have said, life-."

"You know some tiny part of our credo, Apokoliptian plague Rat. Did you think to infect us with the Anti-Life you carry within you?"

"That was not… My intent. Hah." My laugh comes out as a gasp. "I'm barely coherent enough to… To walk in a straight line. If I'd retained love and… Ah, lost all else, I would have stayed in my sick bed and waited to recover naturally. Love… I cannot go without it."

"What does an Apokoliptian know of love? Your master has done all that he can to exclude it from your world, and taint it with his foulness where he cannot."

"Not-. Not my master." I feel it's important to make that point… Strongly. As strongly as I can at the moment, at least. "Even… Uxas knew love… Before he became Darkseid. Even.. even after, until Grandmother had Suli killed. He would always have been a tyrant, but he only became an abomination because-."

"You are his son?"

Ohfuck.

Indubitably, Corpsman.

"Hardly… My choice, majesty. I did not even… Want to get back in contact. And I do not… Want to want to turn into him. A small part of the… The Anti-Life did this to me. Father has… Much more."

I can… See her feet. She's within a metre of me now.

"And does that… Not prove… Your argument? Even Darkseid was… Better, when he had love. And… Willingly."

"Whom did you love? How did you retain such an ability, being of Apokolips?"

"Last time I… I removed the Anti-Life by travelling to a parallel universe whose… Whose laws do not support souls. It was destroyed, with the rest of my divine aspect. I cannot… Afford to do that again, even if I retained the memory of how I did it… Did it the first time. When I… Came back, I had… I had a lifetime of happier memories and examples to draw upon. And… Friends… And… A paramour, and now I cannot even remember why her not being with me is wrong! Please-!"

Wisps of violet light swarm around me as I'm lifted off my hands and knees and pulled upright into the air. Aga'po is looking me over and… Her face has no expression. "You will prove to me that you are genuine. The Star Sapphire. Give it to me."

I can.. still move my right arm. I raise it slightly, my hand stretching out to her. She reaches forward, plucking it from my unresisting palm and regarding it. Then she reaches forward again and presses it against my forehead!

Grughergher.

"Show me your love."

And then it hits me again. Jade… Oh, that hurts, but it's my pain. All things end, and I will not judge the entirety of our time together by the manner of our parting.

More violet wisps emerge from the Star Sapphire to form a construct image of Jade. I feel the Sapphire probe my mind, my memories, my carefully developed resistance clearly not having survived my incapacity. The Jade construct takes poses: wary caution, guarded fondness, open affection…

And then she slashes at me with a knife, tears running down her cheeks and an expression of desolation on her face. And this time I'm not so blinded by my own horror that I can't see what my actions have done to her.

"That is the proof that you can love?"

"A mistake. A grievous one."

"It is hardly convincing. A single incident-".

"That one has been on my mind a bit." Low level frustration rather than proper anger, but my thoughts are certainly somewhat clearer now. And it only took yet another mind altering artefact to do it. Invoke the Three Stooges Effect. "I also have a daughter."

The image of Jade evaporates, the vapour reforming into an image of Lynne. Oh, it's a relief to feel like this when I think of her. The look of happiness and.. relief she has when we play simple board games. Her peaceful sleep after I've read to her. Last time we went kite flying. And her undiminished concern for me.

I shouldn't have left like that.

Queen Aga'po moves her attention from the image to me. "Adequate. Barely. Remove your power rings, and I will ensure that you are never short of love again."

…

Really?

"As appealing as the idea of being locked inside a lotus-eater crystal is, that is not what I came here for."

"You would be released once you were appropriately realigned. You told me that you valued love above all other emotions."

"I said that it was the only one I could not be patient for. And that does not mean that I don't value the others. It is my fundamental belief that no one part of the spectrum is complete by itself. Existence requires all, in harmony. I want to feel all, and I want all about me to feel all as well." I look her in the eyes. "How far have you gone into the violet? Can you not remember-?"

"When we first separated from the Guardians, I said much the same. Still, I cannot bring myself to fully trust an Apokoliptian."

The wisps holding me up evaporate and I fall to the ground. Star Sapphire… Still on my forehead. So, that works. If needs be I could nip over to Earth 50 and borrow theirs…

"Your soul is laced with the yellow of terror and the orange of greed. What depth could there be to your understanding of love?"

Feet.. stable. Star Sapphire still on my forehead. What could I do to..? Hm. It worked with Ayame.

I focus, and music wafts from the stone on my forehead.

"Perhaps love is like a resting place,
A shelter from the storm.
It exists to give you comfort,
It is there to keep you warm.
And in those times of trouble,
When you are most alone,
The memory of love will bring you home."

A phantasmal image of Jade appears, and I regard it sadly.

"Perhaps love is like a window,
Perhaps an open door.
It invites you to come closer,
It wants to show you more,
and even when you lose yourself,
And don't know what to do,
The memory of love will see you through."

Less than an hour free from assault by the Anti-Life and I'm singing. That's the power of love, I suppose.

"Oh, love to some is like a cloud,
To some as strong as steel,
For some a way of living,
For some a way of feel.
And some say love is holding on,
And some say letting go
And some say love is ev'rything,
And some say they don't know."

"Perhaps love is like the ocean,
Full of conflict full of pain,
Like a fire when it's cold outside,
Or thunder when it rains.
If I should live forever,
And all my dreams come true,
My memories of love will be of you."

The Jade-construct stares at me with an affection I know that the real Jade will never again feel.

"And some say love is holding on,
And some say letting go,
And some say love is eve'rything,
And some say they don't know."

My life would be so much poorer for not knowing her.

"Perhaps love is like the ocean,
Full of conflict full of pain,
Like a fire when it's cold outside,
Or thunder when it rains.
If I should live forever,
And all my dreams come true,"

The Jade construct fades to nothing.

"My memories of love will be of you."

I let the music fade away, my head slightly bowed. "Happier now?"

"Yes. Still, I am concerned-."

"Oh, come on!" Jordan looks more put out than I am. "What more do you want?"

I hold out my left palm to him, trying to encourage him to back off a little. "I would be happy to entertain a parole officer. Should I live down to your expectations, they could simply reclaim your property and take away your support."

"And keep me informed of your misdeeds." Violet light wafts around her. "Ghia'ta, come. I have need of you."

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th July
09:58 -5 GMT

It worked.

It worked.

Huh.

I take a moment to look down on the streets of New York. From this height, in these weather conditions and with my glow to minimum, there's little chance that anyone down there can see me.

Nabu is dead. Mister Zatara is free.

I listen to the sounds rising up from the streets below. I'm still a little surprised. I mean, I thought that I had everything covered, but I couldn't… Know. Mister Zatara was still pretty out of it when I left. He didn't seem particularly happy… But that could have been confusion, or damage done by constant exposure to high levels of magic energy. Zatanna was confident that he'll recover, and I doubt that John would have left him in that sort of state if he couldn't.

Right then. Ring, zeta tube.

Compliance.

10th July
14:59 GMT

"Recognised, Orange Lantern, B zero six."

Faces look around as I walk across the Watchtower's meeting room floor towards the main table. Superman, Batman and.. Diana are already in attendance… That's the most important part. Guy and Jordan, William, Major Adams, Mister Yao, Mister Allen, King Orin, Mister Freeman and Ms Lance are also here.

"Hello, everyone." I take hold of the ring on my right ring finger and pull it off, tossing it away to my left. "I assume that Kon and M'gann have been in touch?"

Diana has her expression under control, but between a year of studying her face and empathic vision I've got a fairly good read on her. I'd say… Apprehensive? She isn't afraid of me, but… For me? Well, thank you, but that's hardly necessary.

Batman tilts his head slightly. "They have. I've called for a full meeting."

"Good oh." I take hold of the ring on my left ring finger and toss it aside as well, my orange aura fading to nothing as I head towards the open end of the 'U' of the table.

"Recognised, Green Arrow, zero eight."

"Hey, everyone. Didn't start without m-?" Mister Queen stops in his tracks. "Oh."

"May as well take your seat, sir."

"Ah… Yeah."

"Recognised, Red Arrow, one nine."

I reach my destination and stand at parade rest. One of the many changes the rings have wrought upon me -and not just as a constant effect thing when I'm wearing them, but on my body- is that I don't get nervous in situations like this. All the secrecy, all the hiding… Getting it out in the open, getting the opportunity to tell these people what I-

"Recognised, Hawkman, zero nine, Hawkwoman, one zero."

-honestly think of the situation.

I hold out my right arm. "Wonder Woman, would you mind lassoing me?"

That surprised her. "I.. don't think-."

"I'm not doing this twice."

"Recognised, Red Tornado, one six, Atom, two two."

"And I'm not having anyone doubt what I'm saying. You want to know what happened?" I give my arm a wiggle. "Lasso."

"Recognised, Martian Manhunter, zero seven."

"M'gann has informed me that-." He cuts himself off as he sees me. "Ah."

Mister Queen glances back at him as he takes his seat. "Lotta that going around."

"Recognised, Plastic Man, two three."

Mister O'Brian's expression doesn't change, though I suppose the fact that he doesn't comment is indicative of something. He keeps his form within normal Human proportions as he walks over to join the rest of the League at the table before me.

Jordan holds out his right hand to the empty place next to him. "John." A pulse of green light, and an image of Lantern Stewart appears to occupy it.

"Whole team's here then." I stare into Diana's eyes and proffer my right forearm once more. She looks to Batman. He.. doesn't really seem to be focusing on anything in particular, but he nods anyway. She stands, then tosses the noose of her lasso towards me. I catch it with my left hand and drop it over my right forearm before pulling the knot tight.
Truth.
"So that everyone's up to speed? Nabu, aka Doctor Fate, is no more. At twenty two eighteen on the seventh of July I and several associates lured him into an ambush." From their shocked reactions it looks like Team Arrow weren't up to speed. "After our attempt to negotiate his surrender met with no success, we attacked and destroyed him."

"Ah…" Mister Queen starts to raise his right hand. "What?"

"Nabu. Golden helmet, used to sit-" I motion to the empty place to my right with my left hand. "-there."

"I know who Nabu is-. You killed him?"
Truth.
I try to speak, but my mouth fails to work. Why would-? Oh. "While US law has recently expanded the range of things it recognises as being 'people', under British law Nabu would not be considered alive. Since he was not alive, he could not be 'killed'."

Mister Queen glances around the table, then realises that he has the floor. "I didn't think he could die. Ah, be destroyed."

"You were mistaken. If you would like more detail-?"

Batman inclines his head slightly. "That can wait."

I smile. "Certainly, Batman. Where would you like to start?"

"You informed the British government that you were laying a trap for a Lich."
Truth.
"A Lich is an undead magic user who has bound their soul to an artefact, and so gained a prolonged existence. Nabu fits that description, though it is sufficiently misleading to encourage people to draw the wrong conclusion. And -if necessary- sidestep-" I look at Diana. "-some truth detection techniques. Furthermore, it allows the League to maintain its lie about what happened to Giovanni Zatara."

Diana's face twitches.

"It also matches the lie I told to Mister Charles Tong on the first of January. Mister Tong was Mister Zatara's business manager and closest friend. It seems that no one had thought to inform him of the reason for Mister Zatara's disappearance. Or at least give him a plausible lie. At the time, I only knew that the League were lying about it and not what the details of the lie were supposed to be when the story released to the media was obviously false to anyone who actually knew him."

I make eye contact with Batman. And I roll my eyes.

"Why?" Superman looks dismayed. "Why did you.. do all this?"

I.. try to hold it in.
Truth.
But my mouth won't let me.

"Because it became painfully apparent to me that none of you were prepared to lift a finger to free Mister Zatara. So I did instead."

Some expressions are shocked. Ms Thal starts to rise from her seat, Mister Hol putting a restraining hand on her arm.
Truth.
I sneer.

Batman brings his hands together in front of him. "Why don't you start from the beginning?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th July
15:03 GMT

"Fifth of November, at around about twenty two hundred hours local time." I don't look at Mister J'onzz. [**Oh gods. This is actually going to happen, isn't it?**]

Mister J'onzz winces, his right hand going to his forehead.

"If the ring had been functional, I'd have grabbed the Helmet out of Mister Zatara's hands and dumped it on an asteroid somewhere. If my sidearm had any rounds left, I'd have shot it. I don't know what the rest of you who were there were thinking. I-."
Truth.
"But I've thought about it. And I haven't been able to come up with anything which suggests competence or moral probity. Not without being very charitable. A few seconds after he put it on, while my team mates were comforting Zatanna-."

Batman's head rises slightly. "You spoke to John Constantine."

"You remembered." I nod. "Yes. I arranged to meet up with him later. I needed to get the ring working again before trying anything else."

Superman frowns. "It was that simple? You decided to kill him right there and then?"

"No."
Truth.
"I decided that I needed to work out how to kill him right there and then. Without harming the host if at all possible. There's no such thing as a non-lethal weapon or a non-lethal attack. Anything we did that could harm him would have the potential to kill him."
Truth.
"Had I been in the position to use a lethal attack on him right then and there, I most likely would have done. I didn't, and I had not yet formed a considered opinion."

"Robin told me that you and Zatanna disappeared from the Mountain."

"We went to London. Our first attempt to resolve the problem of Nabu was to appeal to his superior. A life form that identified itself as Lord Kilderkin. It was of the opinion that since Nabu could do more good with Mister Zatara's body than Mister Zatara himself could there wasn't really a problem. He also -and I didn't realise this until much later- indicated that he knew that your response would not -as I had assumed- be to hound Nabu to the ends of the Earth, but rather to make him a member of the Justice League."

"We had made no such decision at that time."

"No, but he had a vote during the last recruitment cycle, didn't he? Usually, a new recruit wouldn't be able to vote themselves on board. Or argue their own case in person. In any case, Kilderkin clearly understood your behaviour far better than I do."

"Ah, but, Zatara still had a vote." William looks mildly pleased to have spotted a flaw in my argument. "And he said-."

"Did he, William? Did he take the Helmet off and tell you that?"

"Well… No-."

"So what you're saying is, Nabu said that his slave was cool with being a slave. And you took that at face value. Well done." William's face falls. "Oh, don't feel too bad, the 'world's greatest detective' did too."

If that bothered Batman, he doesn't show it. "Kilderkin was not prepared to come to terms?"

"He said that he would be far more amenable to negotiation if Klarion were dead. He made no indication that there was anything else we could do to gain his aid."

Batman nods. "And then?"

"A group of us got together and discussed the situation. We realised that we didn't know enough about what Lords of Order or Chaos were to make any firm plans for freeing Mister Zatara. So, that was our first order of business."

Diana's jaw sets. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't have any concrete information and because I didn't know if you were proof against things that Nabu could do to compel you to reveal information. The fewer people who know, the smaller the risk of a leak."
Truth.
"Though my trust was a little shaken by your decision to lie about what happened, I still believed that you were planning some sort of offensive action."

Batman waits for a moment, but she doesn't say anything else. He returns his attention to me. "How long did it take you to discover anything of note?"

"On the thirteenth of November we reviewed Kent Nelson's diaries. While the one covering the period in which he and his father first encountered Nabu was absent, we-."

Diana's eyes widen slightly. "Alan has those diaries."

"Yes. He was shocked that you were lying as well."

She glares. "Was he involved in this?"

"Other than showing us the books? No."

Batman's eyes move to Diana for a moment, then return to me. "What did you discover?"

"A fascinating insight into the life of a superhero in the forties and fifties. Mister Nelson's description of Nabu's abilities -and character- was marginally useful, but the most useful part was notes on the planning of the expedition which led him to find Nabu's helmet in the first place. That gave us the approximate location of Nabu's tomb."

"What did you do next?"

"On the twenty fifth of November we had another talk with the other people researching the subject. John managed to make contact with a Lord of Chaos who was more insane than malevolent and got a much better idea of how they work from him. Essentially, they start as mortal magic users and connect themselves to another Plane of existence. That link replaces the one most people have to the universe around them, granting them far more raw power but also granting them signature weaknesses. Klarion's link was moderated through Teekl. When I stole her, he was forced to cut himself off from the Plane of Chaos in order to stay here. And find another source of magic power. That told us that Klarion was vulnerable to relatively conventional attack. It also told us how to replicate the process."

"On the sixth of November I began actively pursuing the Ace of Winchesters, with the aim of furthering my understanding of arcane weapons. On the tenth, I purchased it. I imagine that you've all read my report on the incident, so I won't go into it. On the eleventh, I recovered the Star Sapphire from the Moon."

"You what?" Jordan looks astonished.

"I recovered the Star Sapphire from the Moon. It seems that while merged with the Ophidian we decided to hide it in the toilet."

He turns to Guy. "And you didn't look there?"

"Yeah, I looked there. Probably had it in one of those ultra-secure subspace things."

"We used magic to gain access to it, so a simple power ring scan probably wouldn't have worked. Guy wasn't in the know."

"Yeah, no kiddin'."

"We were eventually able to come up with a system that would allow Zatanna to power her magic from the Sapphire rather than her own resources, thus removing her main arcane limitation. Though that only happened after Nabu was formally inducted into the Justice League. An eventuality of which you gave Zatanna no advanced notice at all. I had assured her that you would never dream of doing that a mere five days previous, that you'd never betray either her or her father or the ideals you claim to stand for by letting that Lich up here. And I was mistaken. Very mistaken."

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th July
15:07 GMT

Batman leans forwards. "You would have preferred it if we had no idea where he was or what he was doing?"
Truth.
"Yes. The only reason for keeping him close was if you were planning on taking action against him in the short term. On the basis of what I've seen, you weren't. It was unlikely that he intended to leave the Earth and you could have lured him into position for an ambush in the same way I did. Quite aside from that, recruiting him required you to lie extensively and act in a despicable manner. I had doubts about your recruitment practices before that but I never doubted that League members were good people. If you can't trust the Justice League to hold the moral high ground, who can you trust?"

William.. actually raises his left eyebrow, looking towards the head of the table. I'm not prepared to give him points for not being entirely onboard with Nabu joining up, but it was mildly gratifying to know that at least one of them said something. Superman notices, then awkwardly looks away for a moment.

I wonder how the original debate about the lie went? Doesn't really matter now, but I'd be interested. See how much of my respect the participants could salvage.

King Orin straightens suddenly, then stares at me. "Mera said that she couldn't make sense of the spell Constantine used at New Year. You tried to get rid of him then, didn't you?"
Truth.
"Yes. That particular spell required both Klarion and Nabu to be in the same place at the same time. It was designed to use their opposing energies to push them both from this plane. Unfortunately, Captain Nazi grabbed Klarion before it could complete. It would have been far better if he hadn't. Nabu would have survived banishment."

King Orin looks like he doesn't quite believe it. "You had a way to permanently remove a Lord of Order after two months' study?"

"I was hardly working on it on my own. But yes."

Diana's face hardens. "Did you intentionally leave Nabu chained up when it failed?"
Truth.
"Yes. I wanted to see if the chains could hold him when he put significant effort into escaping them. At some point, I planned to chain him up for real and I wanted to ensure that I could do so safely. Though.. once the Belle Reve fight started it genuinely slipped my mind."

"You left a man chained up because you wanted to see whether or not he could escape?"

"Yes. I didn't have another Lord of Order I could test it on, and I wasn't going to create a plan which was premised on our ability to restrain him if we did not in fact have that ability."
Truth.
"Zatanna also tried removing the Helmet conventionally while Nabu was sleeping off the effects of the cure-tech. Sadly, that didn't work."

Superman nods. "I knew about that. I just didn't realize that it was more than a momentary thing. I still don't understand why-?"

"If I dropped a Star Conqueror off in Kansas the next time I was there, would that help you understand?"

He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes for a moment, trying to control himself. "Clearly, you're… Very upset. How about you try calming down a little?"
Truth.
"Superman, I've been angry for eight months and I no longer have any reason to conceal it. I don't think-."

"Why didn't you tell us? Not.. everyone, but Wonder Woman or Batman?"
Truth.
"Because making Nabu a Justice League member required a unanimous vote. Which means that everyone approve it. Batman, who was the reason why Mister Zatara was on the League in the first place, voted to appoint his new owner to his post. Diana, who values truth so very highly that she signed off on lying to the world to cover for… So I couldn't trust any of you on this matter. I actually hoped that he was influencing your minds somehow." I shake my head. "It was better than… Believing…"

"What was the next step in your plan?"

Batman's voice is.. hollow, dead sounding. Either he's actually hearing the point I'm… Not so much making as bludgeoning him with, and it's matching up with doubts that he already had, or… Or he's trying to keep whatever he's feeling out of his voice.

"In the evening of the first of January I encountered Mister Charles Tong at Zatanna's home. That was when I told him that Mister Zatara had been possessed by a Lich and was being held in an Atlantean prison until it could be expunged. A little later that evening a group of us took a trip to the Harmony Grove Cemetery and summoned the spirit of Kent Nelson-."

"You did what?" Diana actually looks shocked.

"He was the best source of information on Nabu I had access to. He didn't object, if that's what you're worried about. The first thing he said was how relieved he was that Zatanna was free, as he didn't think that Nabu would have released her. When she explained what actually happened he told us the precise location of Nabu's tomb-."

"Nabu has a tomb?" Mister Allen's eyes have narrowed. I think he's frowning, but his mask makes it a little difficult to tell. "He didn't seem dead to me."

"According to the hieroglyphics, it was the resting place of his former hosts. I'm not sure how long the place had been undisturbed. Based on the style, I'd guess at least two thousand years. The last host was in some sort of suspended animation sarcophagus when they opened it. Something about the magic used killed Sven Nelson, and the last host died shortly afterwards. One of the sets of remains was alien. Cilian, to be precise. Given what the images decorating the walls showed they were either the host who brought Nabu to Earth, or Nabu's original pre-ascension body. We took the skull to use as a focus for our offensive magics."

King Orin scowls. "If you tried that in Atlantis this would be a very different sort of hearing."

"We built a sympathetic putrefaction system on the second and left it running behind some very strong scry wards. The aim was to see if we could weaken him to the point where lesser attacks could remove the helmet-."

Batman's jaw hardens. "And what if Fate's reduced capacities resulted in Zatara being injured or killed?"

"I saw no sign of him being impaired while on duty. I still don't know if we were having any effect at all. If I had, I would either have attacked him or stopped it, depending on how essential I felt that Nabu was. As for Mister Zatara being hurt… Yes, that was a possibility, but Nabu getting him injured was a possibility anyway. If it came to it, I could probably have carried out a medical resurrection on Mister Zatara once Nabu was off him. But… We never saw definitive evidence it was doing anything. If I had, it could have been deactivated with little notice. Something I had done when Oceanus appeared."

"And if Zatanna had been adversely affected by the Star Sapphire?"

"We designed a staff which contained the effect, channelling as much of its power as we could into her spells rather than into her. I or someone else was always around to monitor her use of it, and ensure that she took regular breaks. In addition, my empathic vision meant that I would have got an early warning if anything was going wrong."

"Oh yeah?" Jordan looks somewhat sceptical. "And just when did she start using this staff?"

"The fifth of February. It took her about half an hour to learn how to focus well enough to use it."

"The fifth?" Diana's eyes grow distant for a moment. "The week Fate was scheduled to spend in the Mountain."

"And Zatanna and I moved out."

"I could understand not wanting to be around him, but there was no way for us to know how strongly you felt about it if you didn't tell us."

"I didn't-?" My jaw tenses. "Twenty fifth of November, just before Thanksgiving dinner. We were talking about Justice League membership-" Her eyes widen slightly and her mouth tightens. I see that she's remembered the conversation. "-and you said: 'What about Nabu?' And I said: 'Well, if we can pick supervillains I'd probably have gone with Circe ahead of Nabu.' What exactly did you think I meant by that?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th July
15:19 GMT

"…had no idea that he'd react like that, but I could clearly see the advantage in pressing him on the issue. I really hoped that it might remind you what he was, but apparently I didn't have any luck." I stare at everyone around the horseshoe once more. "I mean, really? I offered him an alternative to a Human host, he rejects it out of hand… Did any of you even mention it to him?"

Mister Queen hesitantly raises his right hand slightly. "Ah, yeah, actually?"

"Well done. Anyone else?" No one says anything. "And somehow not surprised."

Batman glares at the back of Mister Queen's head until he feels it and lowers his hand. "I think we're getting off track. You say that Fate-."
Truth.
"Nabu."

"Don't interrupt. You're already-."

"Truth lasso. I'm being compelled to be open and honest. I think of him as Nabu and I see no reason not to use his name."

His head turns slightly towards Diana, who nods with apparent reluctance. It's a little interesting, the effect that my revelations and diatribe have had on the League members. Some have visibly slumped with shame as I put Nabu's actions into their proper context. Others -Ms Thal very much included- are becoming visibly angry, though I'm not studying their emotions deeply enough to tell whether it's from my actions or the insulting manner in which I'm delivering my defence. I did take a momentary look into Diana, and I know that though she's outwardly mastering her emotions she's distraught by my actions. I see old mistakes in flashes of yellow, some I recognise from her reports and others I don't. Superman's more impassive, a smattering of green and red visible but not in overwhelming intensity.

And then there's-.

"You said that Fate.. destroyed the golem. Did he give you any further indication as to why?"

Batman. He isn't thinking or feeling any one thing well enough for me to get a reading. I think he's been planning, working out how to bypass my ability. And -being Batman- hasn't shared his conclusions with anyone.

"No. My personal belief is that he found the very idea of accepting something from me repugnant."

Superman gives his head a small shake. "You had just told him that you were ambushing him. Are you really surprised he didn't accept your offer?"
Truth.
"No, though the source of my lack of surprise comes more from his prior rejection than the situation in Hyde Park. Though that certainly didn't help. Nabu had had months to investigate the possibilities of a golem body himself, and the opportunity to consult with Atlantean experts I'd never met or to study their notes himself. I believe that he didn't want one, that he simply preferred Mister Zatara regardless of other considerations."

"When he told you that he would accept alternate hosts, why did you not follow through on your offer?"

"I offered that as an attempt to peacefully resolve a hostage crisis. I did not consider it something I was obliged to do if he wouldn't relinquish his hostage until his demand was met. I also have only an approximate idea how long it would take to gather a group of magic users and no idea how acceptable he would find my volunteers."

Diana straightens slightly. "If you had, the situation would not have escalated-."

"No. I was not prepared to tolerate his continued presence. I would have kept my end of any agreement, but I was not prepared to continue to let him get away with that obscenity like you all were."

Diana's face tightens. "And Michael Siskin's death?"

"If I'd known in advance that would happen, I wouldn't have asked him to take part. However, he was killed by Nabu. Nabu's instinctive response to being subject to a fear magic based attack was to kill his attacker rather than push his attacker away or retreat. Batman has been exposed to Doctor Crane's fear gas on several occasions and hasn't killed anyone as a result. That particular lethal response was all Nabu."

Batman nods. "Was there a reason why you did not attempt to use fear gas yourself?"

"Nabu was essentially a sentient spell. He doesn't breathe or eat. As such, it was my judgement that gas, infrasonics and telepathic attacks would be a waste of time. Though, admittedly, I couldn't test that in advance."

William looks worried. "If he didn't eat.. for eight months..?"

"I believe that Nabu kept Mister Zatara's body alive with magic. He's in a weakened state, but his doctors believe that he will make a full recovery. No thanks to any of you."

Mister Freeman's face is still. But I can see John's jaw tense and his eyes narrow, Major Adams' right fist clench and Mister O'Brian's chest sag slightly. I know that I'm burning bridges here

but frankly I don't care. This wakeup call is long overdue.

Batman appears unfazed by my contempt. "If your primary mode of attack was to drain him of energy, why didn't you attempt to weaken him with your Praexis Demons?"

"I didn't expect things to escalate like that. The original plan involved us draining him until he was no longer able to resist. My control over the Praexis Demons is good, but they aren't precise enough to allow that sort of.. instant cut off. While I would not have been overly troubled by killing Nabu like that, it would also have risked Mister Zatara. And taking Nabu alive would have been better." My eyes dip for an instant. "And that's assuming that he couldn't have simply waved them away. My attempts at branding him met with no visible success."

"Other restraints-."

"I tried to get close enough to apply a suppression chain just after he killed Mister Siskin. I was knocked flying, the chain turned to molten slag. It doesn't suppress if it isn't on him. Sustained mage slayer rounds might have worked, and they might have killed Mister Zatara if I couldn't calculate the precise failure point of his defences. Which I couldn't. I used the mana battery system because it had the best chance of success."

"Of killing him."
Truth.
"I'm not completely sure in my own mind that I would have ordered him drained to death if he was clearly powerless. But I was not inclined to take a chance with it after he killed a member of my team. If Nabu had not done that, then I would have endeavoured to keep him alive if that could be achieved while freeing Mister Zatara."

"Did your original plan include killing Fate?"

"Of course it did. I planned as best I could for every set of circumstances. Though I didn't know enough about his range of abilities to plan for everything he might be able to do."

"I'm not questioning your ability to plan. I'm asking whether or not you committed premeditated murder."

"Under English law, Nabu was not a person. Under the 'Foul Witchcraft and Maleficent Practices Act' of fifteen ninety eight he would be defined as a 'baleful and malevolent spirit or spectre', and guilty of 'using unnatural magics to influence the minds of good Christian men to act contrary to their nature'. Not only can I not be prosecuted for killing him, the Church of England owes me either twenty crowns, or an acre of good grazing land and seven Sheep. And even if he were a person, he used lethal force to resist a legitimate arrest. I doubt that you would get a conviction, and that's if you were stupid enough to take it to trial."

Jordan's had enough. "Taking criminals to trial is kind of what we do around here, Orange Lantern. From where I'm sitting-"

"Did you sleep through my last-"

"-it looks like-"

"-lecture, Jordan? That is not the purpose-"

"-you've crossed the line to becoming one!"

"-of the Justice League! But okay! Let's say it did come to court. I would testify as to exactly what happened at Roanoke. There is no way that a British court will agree to keep that quiet. The world will know that the Justice League lied to the world for eight months about what happened to Mister Zatara. That you abandoned him to be a Lich's meat puppet. My team mates mean everything to me… Apparently that's not how it works up here. And they will know that you left a fourteen year old girl without a legal guardian. And they will know that you recruited the being responsible."

I shake my head. "Let's not kid ourselves here. If you weren't going to arrest Nabu then you're not going to arrest me. No, you're going to keep lying. Maintaining face. And while it took me a while to think it through… I'm going to let you. Although, of course…" I look around the horseshoe. "Coming clean is always an option. No?" I lift the unresisting noose from my right forearm. "Oh well."

I turn and walk towards the zeta tube, calling the rings to me as I go.

"I'll be on-planet for the rest of the day if you want me for anything."

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th July
17:47 GMT

I lift the last of the ramparts off the ground, a smattering of cheers rising from the crowd. Orange lights circle around it for a moment before my point to point zeta tube construct activates, transporting it to its twin on the Moon. Check that it's arrived… Good. I've still got to hand my report over to Sir Bernard and Boris, but I'm going to give the League a little longer before doing so. It maintains their preferred lie and there's still a chance -a small one- that they're going to want to admit their deceit and be honest. If they do that, then I hand over the other report, and… Whether the League want to press murder charges or not, the City of London have a number of things they could charge me with of which I am completely guilty. As a Justice League affiliate I didn't have to worry about lying to local authorities but as a Special Constable it's a much bigger concern.

I shake my head and take a look at Hyde Park. Nabu's ankhplosions aside, there wasn't actually all that much damage to our immediate environment during the fight. The plant life doesn't seem to have been harmed by the order magic… Then again, I don't imagine that it's all that easy to knock a plant out. Some surveyors from the Royal Parks have been around to look at it and rope off anything dangerous looking, but they've held off doing any work on the perfectly sensible grounds that it will be easier and cheaper to just have me do it.

Hm.

I drift over the area of the fight. The trees that lost bark or branches are easy enough to fix; just a matter of accessing the rings' records of the state they were in before the fight, then recreating and reattaching the missing material. Same with the pressure waves; just use the rings to gather up the loose soil and sod and return it to where it should…

That's a part of Mister Siskin's body.

I float it up towards me and look at it. I'm not exactly sure what Nabu did to the rock, but it's.. flaky and brittle now. His family… They'd already gotten over the shock of it when I visited them. They… Accepted my condolences… Sombrely. My lies, my… His-. Rescuing him from the Terror Thing was one of the things I was most proud of. Perhaps even more than my work rehabilitating the Beresfords, it was a life snatched back from the maw of ruination. He was alive, and if not happy then at least with the potential for future happiness. I'd found a life locked in constant torment and rescued it not just from that but from Nabu's callousness.

And Nabu killed him. Because I brought him here.

I mean, I told his parents that he was a vital part of the team, because of course I did, but that's bullshit. Nabu flared with yellow as they grappled and went pretty much back to normal after killing him. I could have achieved the same result by just keeping Nabu talking a little longer. I didn't know that at the time, and… Disabling him with fear and then chaining him involved far less risk of killing him than doing a full drain in a rush…

Is that what I should take away from this? That I should be more ruthless? Take their first refusal to surrender as definitive? I don't… I would prefer not to operate like that, but I… Whatever position I end up with in my Lantern Corps, I will have people die. People I'll have trained, people under my command. It's unavoidable. Did I..? Give Nabu extra chances because I hate him? Did I want to prove I was being fair? Give him enough rope to hang himself with? I don't think so…

Uh. Obvious downside of alienating the League: I can't talk to them about things like this. That leaves Adom and Alan, and I am planning on speaking to both of them before I leave.

Alan. That's a conversation that I'm looking forwards to almost as much as the one with the Siskins.

I return my attention to the park. Like it never happened. Okay, what next? Zatanna doesn't want to move her father until he's a little more recovered. I think that'll end up being the last thing I do on Earth.

Whaw, that sounded ominous. I take the report out of subspace for a moment and look at it. Should that be the next thing-?

**Paul?**

I look up from the report, and then around. With my accustomed barrier down, feeling out M'gann's location… Ah, there she is. She's in Megan Morse mode with Kon at her side.

**Yes?**

**'Yes'?** Kon frowns. **That's all you've got to say about it?**

**I'm not sure what there is to add. You know what I did and why. I can.. spare the time if you want to talk about it. Where do you want to do it?**

He and M'gann look at each other, and… I can't tell if they're whispering or excluding me mentally. Not that I'm going to probe the matter. A moment later Kon nods and turns back in my direction. **The roof over there.** He points in the direction of the Access Self Storage building. **Two minutes.**

**Of course. Though I should warn you that British buildings aren't built with rooftop superhero confrontations in mind. Try to go easy on it.**

He and M'gann turn away, moving through the crowd to look for a place to… Change, I suppose. In Kon's case that just means taking off his shirt and brushing his hair slightly differently. M'gann just needs somewhere out of line of sight so that she can shapeshift. I give the crowd below a half-hearted wave and then ascend at speed, swiftly getting too high for them to easily see. Not many clouds, and we've got hours of sunlight left. Not great for a private chat, but then I don't think that the building has roof access and London doesn't have any resident fliers.

Okay, that should do it. I transition downwards to the centre of the roof, as close to the surface of it as I can without touching it. Ring, check structural integrity.

Structure will bear both your weight and that of your companions.

Alright then. I land, dropping my aura down to next to nothing as I do so. I don't want to look like any aggression I feel is directed at them. O-kay, what do I do after this meeting? I think I'll go and speak to Adom. He kept things on track after the Ambush, and I need to thank him for that as well as for his participation. Might be worth pointing out that what Nabu did to him rather proves that picking a fight with Shazam would be a bad idea…

"Hey."

I turn to see Kon floating over the lip of the building's roof, M'gann just behind him.

"Good after-."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He comes in to land just in front of me, staring me in the eyes. "I get why you didn't tell the League, but why the hell didn't you tell m-us?"

"Several reasons. In order to maintain secrecy, I didn't want to include anyone I didn't absolutely need. Too much chance of a telepath overhearing something, or Wonder Woman talking to you and hearing a lie. Or Nabu doing.. something. You're strong, tough and a capable fighter, but you don't have any specific anti-Order Lord abilities. Any harm you did to him would have been felt by Mister Zatara more than Nabu, and that was exactly what I was trying to avoid if the confrontation turned violent." A little of the irritation fades from his face. "And then there's Wonder Woman."

He looks away for a moment. "Yeah. I don't know why she didn't… I mean, all the League-."

"No, I don't mean 'why did she accept Nabu'. I mean, the damage it would have done to your relationship with her when she found out that you'd been helping me with this behind her back. She's.. usually big on honesty and openness. And could you? Lie to her convincingly, with that lie detection ability she's got, for months?"

"No." He looks down, shaking his head. "No, I don't think I could. I don't even get how you did it. Do your.. tattoos block it or something?"

"Not as far as I know. But when I was studying her abilities, I noticed that it only triggers for direct lies. You can talk around a subject or say something misleading and as long as you're not too obvious about it nothing triggers."

"What about Teekl? Wolf hasn't come out of her basket since we got back to the Mountain."

I bow my head slightly. "I'm… That wasn't supposed to happen. I still don't.. really know why it did. Something about… Transferring the link, between Klarion and the Plane of Chaos." I shake my head. "But again, telling you wouldn't have-."

M'gann folds her arms across her chest. "And what about me?"

"M'gann, you're a terrible liar, and you're from a planet where sharing thoughts all the time is the norm. Can you imagine if you'd had to keep people out of your memories during our trip to Mars?"

"I-." She thinks about it for a moment. "Okay, but I'm not a terrible liar. None of you knew I was a White Martian-."

"I knew since the campfire."

"… You did?"

"You backtracked too hard, and the expression on your face made it pretty obvious. I don't know if anyone else noticed, but-" I point my right forefinger at my right eye. "-I've got pretty good night vision."

"Oh."

"Look… I'm not going to apologise, because it was the correct decision. I'm not even going to say that I regret it. Nabu killed Siskin, and he could well have ended up killing either of you. But I really don't want to-."

"Kon, M'gann." Diana flies out of the sky, hovering just above us. "Would you please give my student and I a moment?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th July
17:52 GMT

"Ah…" Kon glances at M'gann, then back at his mother. "Sure. Ah…"

I keep my attention on Diana. "I'll come and see you again before I leave Earth."

"O.. kay." Kon glances at me before walking over to M'gann. "Catch you later." He and M'gann take to the sky, heading in the general direction of the London Eye.

Diana watches them go, waiting until they're out of earshot before turning her full attention on me.

"Am I under arrest?"

She takes a breath. "No."

I nod. "Can I assume-." No, I've done that enough times. No ambiguity. "The League are standing by the official version of events, then?"

"Yes. We are."

I nod. "Thought as much. I recommend that the League attempt to recruit a replacement magic user as soon as possible. I'm sure that, between them, Batman and King Orin can-."

"Why did you do this? Why..? Why did you go about this in the most confrontational way that you could?"

"Because I've had eight months to.. build up my anger about it."

"And.. every interaction you had with your team, or with me… That was a lie, which you feel was justified by us allowing Doctor Fate-."

"No. It was more… Compartmentalisation, really. In every other regard you lived up to my expectations. You all.. just made this one… Weirdly out of character decision. I mostly just tried not to think about it, except when I was actually doing something about it." I regard her with curiosity. "How did you square that lie with yourself?"

"When I joined the Justice League, I agreed with the principle of collective decision making. The League unanimously agreed that including Doctor Fate was the best way to deal with-"

"Hm."

"-the situation. Once we had agreed upon that, the question was then how to explain that decision to the wider public."

"Knowing full well that they'd throw a fit if you told them what actually happened."

She looks away. "Yes."

"On the bright side, you get to preserve secrecy. Did Nabu die a valiant hero, or is he just taking a 'leave of absence' as well?"

"We have no plans to make an announcement. If Klarion were to discover-"

"Hahaha!"

"-Doctor Fate's-." Her eyes narrow slightly. "It is no laughing matter. If Klarion were to decide to attack again while the League is without-."

"Okay, stop. Firstly, Nabu wasn't much of a Klarion-counter anyway. Secondly, there are a great many other wizards. Thirdly, with everything that's going on today-" I take a datapad out of subspace. "-you clearly haven't had time to watch the news."

I set it to BBC News 24, then float it up to her.

"…story this evening. The Chinese state media are reporting the capture, trial and execution of the supervillain terrorist and mass murderer Klarion, by the Great Ten, China's government-sponsored superhero team. If confirmed, it will mark the death of someone hated by the entire world for the 'Roanoke Island Incident', in which hundreds of thousands of children all over the world were killed..."

Diana blinks, then returns her attention to me. "Your doing?"

I shrug. "I told them they could credit whoever they liked except Gu Lao, so I'm hardly going to claim credit. The point is, you don't have to worry about him. They were actually holding off releasing that information until I got out of hospital."

"You told us that Kilderkin was prepared to negotiate Zatara's freedom if Klarion was dead. Did you.. kill him in some fit of pique?"

"Negotiate with Nabu's boss? Why? Why should I make a deal with a body snatcher, or his employer? We have law and morals guiding our actions, we-" I shake my head. "-don't need to kowtow to energy based life forms just because they're powerful. Kilderkin didn't say that he'd free Mister Zatara, he said that he 'might be more amenable'. I'm not killing someone for an offer that mealy-mouthed."

"But you did kill Klarion. If you were going to kill him anyway, why did you not even try to negotiate?"

"I didn't want him to tip off Nabu if negotiations failed. And I didn't want to perform a summary execution and undermine Human law. China tried Klarion before executing him."

"And who tried Doctor Fate?"

"He did, when he resisted arrest and killed Mister Siskin."

"Are those the only reasons?"

I tilt my head slightly to the side. "Why does it matter?"

She exhales sharply, her eyes momentarily dropping to the rooftop. "I'm trying to give you the opportunity to demonstrate that you can still be trusted."

"And not demonstrate that you can still be trusted? Nabu, eight months, lying to the world. Was there some plan to get rid of him I wasn't privy to? That was an actual question, by the way. Was there? I mean… If there was, you were pretty quick to take the suppression chains off him after New Year. Heck, that would have been a perfect opportunity to take him down."

She looks at me, taking me in for several moments. "Did Eris advise you in this course of action?"

Bit of a non-sequitur there, but.. okay… "It wasn't her idea. I consulted with her and she helped a little, but she isn't my patron because I thought that I needed help learning how to bring chaos. Does that mean that there wasn't a plan? Did it not occur to you that keeping him chained up-."

"I do not keep allies bound against their will."

"Ally?" I raise my eyebrows. "Ally, is it? You think that thing was-?"

"Once he became a member of the Justice League, yes. Even if he was not all that I would have liked him to be, he had devoted-."

My aura flares. "Just stop, Wonder Woman. Stop trying to defend the indefensible. A simple 'yes, keeping him chained up would have been better, but he was urgently needed in Belle Reve' would have worked."

"I thought you didn't want me to lie? No, the idea of keeping him chained up did not even cross my mind, because I do not treat people like that-."

"But it's okay if other people do it? Like Nabu did to Mister Zatara? Once they're on the League, nothing else they do counts?" I huff, then rise off the ground. "I think it's best if we end this conversation here. I'm going to Kahndaq now, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't follow me."

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th July
Still on Zamaron
But definitely feeling better

"So you're telling me, you had what was basically a Central Power Battery… And you lost it?"

Queen Aga'po is being surprisingly patient with Jordan, really. I'm sure that if he tried this with the Guardians they'd have his ring off his finger before he reached the end of the first sentence of his diatribe. Or maybe I'm being unfair. Maybe Maltusians just don't care about mortal creatures mouthing off at them, regardless of their professional relationship?

"Our brothers and sisters would not share their research. The Star Sapphire was our attempt to recreate the technology from first principles."

"Okay, but… Then what? You just tossed it out at random?"

"We were curious to see whether, divergent as we are now, cooperation between our agents and those of the Guardians was possible. Your beloved appeared to be a good choice. Sad, that you neglected her so."

"Neglected-!"

"In your service to the Green Lantern Corps, and your frequent, unexplained absences. I have little time for the Guardians but they do have the virtue of honesty. If only because they cannot conceive that they are acting wrongly." Queen Aga'po holds up the Star Sapphire. "Love should bring people together, not send them at one another's throats. Now that it is once more in our possession, we will review the data it collected. We will discover what made this pairing fail, and improve our future efforts."

I turn my attention away from the ongoing confrontation and towards my current benefactor. "How do I look, Princess?"

Ghia'ta looks at me as if I were a fascinating but possibly rabid specimen. Not a completely unfair description, I suppose. "Your… Soul… It is like nothing I have ever seen before."

"Made it myself."

Her eyes narrow in sceptical puzzlement for a moment. "It is abominable."

"My brother Scott did some of the work. Most of it, in fact."

"Are you… Lying to me?"

She looks almost offended. Sweet. "Sort of. I designed the initial structure with substantial aid from my Father Box, and designed the original version of the device-" I point to the personal mana infuser with my right hand. "-for empowering it. The current structure is a result of Scott's effort to stop the Anti-Life Equation fragment erasing.. me, converting my soul from something that grew from the universal life force to something intrinsically opposed to it." My gaze grows slightly distant. "And speaking as the one who went through the process, I believe I can speak with authority on the subject: it is most certainly abominable. Love, used as a weapon to break my spirit."

She shudders. Oh, you'll learn.

"Queen Aga'po requires that I welcome you into my home until you can be sure that I am genuine. But that is hardly adequate repayment to the service you are doing to me… I take it that you have been successful?"

She nods. "Yes. The violet light of love is now bound to you in the same way as the lights of avarice and fear. I don't understand why you did not ask us to replace them."

"Because you don't know enough to be certain that your replacement could contain the Anti-Life safely. You really don't want Life-."

I slam my hands over my mouth at the same moment as I wrap shields around myself. It can… Get out if I speak it?

Ghia'ta has her hands jammed over her ears as well, and Queen Aga'po and her retinue have their hands raised with crackling shards of violet light dancing around their fingers. Jordan has his ring prepared to blast as well.

I endeavour to look harmless as I tentatively move my hands from my mouth.

…

That appears to be safe. Okay.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realise that could happen. I'll be careful not to refer to it directly in future."

"Yeah." Jordan lowers his ring. "You do that."

"What did you..? Experience?"

"It was like it was the worst moment of the worst day of my life. You had that for two weeks?" I nod. "Huh." He nods, then his eyes narrow slightly. "Nice armor."

What does he..? Ah. Orange construct chains are wrapped around my yellow straitjacket. I dismiss both with a shudder. "Ghia'ta, what you just heard is a small fraction of what Father can do to people at will. Just by speaking. What you felt is what the people subjected to him live. While I will hold up my end of our bargain, you must understand that I cannot protect you from him. I cannot even protect myself from him. If you are unwilling to take that risk, we can… Renegotiate-."

"No." She shakes herself. "If such a horrifying thing exists, then I must learn how to fight it." She holds out her right arm, her crystal staff flying to her hand. "And I cannot do that from here."

"Very well." I look over at Jordan and the Queen. She's lowered her hand, though I note that her retinue have not done so. "Jordan, are you ready?"

He floats in my direction, turning in the air to face Queen Aga'po as he does so. "I don't want that thing ever coming anywhere near Earth."

"We have a universe to choose from. I doubt that we will cross paths again."

He nods, then lands next to me. "Okay. Boom tube us back."

"Father-. Oh."

"What?"

"I… Usually have the ring connect to the Mountain's systems… Or use Father Box." Sinestro, how long would it take to fly back to Earth?

You would experience half an hour.

Oh. That's not too-.

The rest of the universe would experience between two days and a week, depending on your level of ring mastery. And you may be assured, Corpsman, that your recent travails have done nothing good for that.

Oh. Poop.

"Are we stuck?"

"No, just…" I raise my yellow ring to my mouth. "Contact green two eight one four B."

"'Calling for a ride' in progress, Corpsman."

Guy's face appears above the ring's sigil. "Yeah, what-? Grayven?"

"Guy, could you get someone to open a tube to my location? I need to get home."

"Hey, Jordan? You there?"

"Yeah, Gardner, he's okay. And I don't want to spend a week flying back to Earth."

"Alright. Gimme a sec."

The image disappears.

"Okay." I bow to Queen Aga'po. "Your majesty, thank you for your aid."

"Be sure not to renege on your part of our agreement."

"I wouldn't, even if I didn't have to. Ghia'ta, you'll be staying with us in Challenger Mountain. We're a fairly eclectic bunch, but I'm sure you'll-."

BOOM!

For goodness' sake, Guy.

The boom tube aperture surges open and Lynne dashes out of it. I fall to my knees and she attaches herself limpet-like to my chest.

This is… Better.

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th July
20:14 GMT +2

Great.

I probably shouldn't have blown Diana off like that, but I-. I just can't deal with the League at the moment. I hadn't even really realised that I hadn't told them that Klarion was dead. Worth forwarding a list of magic users to Batman? No, he's still got my last list, and with the exception of John it wouldn't have changed significantly. I wonder if Diana ever spoke to Ms Tolon? She probably would have…

I drop down through the Kahndaqi night sky in the direction of Adom's residency. Lights are off all over the government buildings, but his actual living quarters are still well lit. I know that I have an open invite, but given the security situation I think it would be best to avoid any potential for misunderstanding. I may be effectively immune to conventional weapons fire, but those bullets have to land somewhere.

I allow my aura to flare as I reach street level, the guards on duty bringing their weapons to bear with commendable swiftness. And lowering them again with the same alacrity.

"Good evening, gentlemen. Am I cleared for entry?"

The man closest to me -a corporal- nods. "Yes, of course sir. I will inform the garrison commander that you are here."

"Thank you."

He stands aside and I stride past the checkpoint. Not as good as the security the Chinese use, but then they're a superpower and Kahndaq is still putting itself back together after a civil war. Having said that, Kahndaq is actually pretty stable. I suppose that's the advantage of an internal revolution; you actually have support on the ground on help with things like civil enforcement. Compare the Kurdish areas of Iraq post-invasion to all of the rest of the country.

Oh and… The country being governed by a demigod who tore apart the former government with his bare hands. That probably helps. There's an awe that people like us… Superheroes, attract. Particularly those who aren't the personable sort. I don't want to say.. divine majesty, but it's probably the same thing, the same psychological mechanism. It says: this is a thing that is beyond normal people.

Of course, once you get to know them… No, they're still not quite like normal people, because that same.. thing has changed them as well. I'm certainly not the same person as I was when I first arrived on Earth 16. I'd like to think I'm better. I'm certainly less hesitant. And of course I'm much more in tune with my desires.

Hm.

I transition to just outside the start of the residential part of the building. There is always someone here… Guards, civil servants and politicians of various stripes working late, or working the hours they have to in order to deal with parts of the world that are in different time zones. When you work for a third world government, you often end up working to the convenience of others. The oil companies actually took the tax increase with no more than token complaints, relieved as they were that they weren't having their assets acquired by the state and understanding that it actually would be used for the good of the country and not another round of government mansions.

"Even here! Woman, will you give me no rest?"

And hey, with accepting a bribe while in public office now being a death penalty offence, maybe they'll still come out ahead. The banks were less impressed about being given those mansions as full payment for the loans used to build them, but I can't say that I'm sympathetic. Loan money to a dictator and my heart doesn't exactly bleed when it bites you in the arse.

"This just shows that you need to deal with this now!"

Ah, sounds like the pair of them are in fine form this evening. I nod to the guards as I walk up to what is effectively Adom's front door and then knock twice. I hear steps on the far side, and then Falil opens it. His eyes widen slightly, then a look of relief settles over his face. "Orange Lantern. Please, come in. I am sure that his Excellency will want to see you immediately."

"Thank you. Shouldn't you have… Gone home by now?"

He nods tiredly, then leads the way inside. "Please do not misunderstand. Serving his Excellency is a privilege, one which really belonged to someone with more experience than I have. But I think… Perhaps he has made it a job that cannot be done by just one man?"

"The entire point of an individual sovereign is to hold emergency powers, so that they may deal with situations which the laws do not account for!"

"I'll have a word. Have they been carrying on for long?"

"Even if you could do that, you are not immortal, Adom! What would Kahndaq do if you died, without any formal guide to the succession? Or even on how to handle a crisis without you telling them what to do?"

"Some time. I have stopped noticing." Falil stops before the door to the living area and clears his throat loudly.

"Come!"

Falil pushes the door open and walks inside. "Orange Lantern here to see you, your Excellency."

Adom nods to me as I enter… Gosh. He looks… Weathered. Certainly better than last time I saw him, thankfully. His skin has regained its usual lustre and his muscle mass has returned, but there are still lines on his face that weren't there before and his hair is shot through with grey. "Adom, how are you feeling?"

"Better, thank you. Between your alchemy and the gods' blessing, the foul sorcerer's magic has.. limited staying power."

"Thank you again for your aid-."

Ms Tomaz turns on me. "This is your fault?!"

"Ahh. Adom.. responded to my request for help-."

"He has a country to rebuild! Until he is finished, you cannot allow him to be so badly injured!"

"Ah.. I'm leaving the planet later today, so it's unlikely I'll be calling upon him again anytime soon." That appears to be.. adequate. "May.. I.. ask what you were.. discu-."

"Adom is not willing to approve the provisional constitution!"

"I am perfectly happy-" I notice that Falil has made good his escape. "-to approve the constitution. What I am not willing to do is precisely define the limits of my own authority."

"You… I'm sorry, but you didn't appear to have a problem exercising limited authority before..?"

"During normal times, there is no need. A sovereign can do more damage by…" He frowns for a split second. "Micromanaging, than by allowing flawed decisions to be carried out by lesser officials. More importantly, if I create a formal statement of the powers the sovereign possesses… Then in the event of my death, whoever succeeded me would most likely assume those same powers. And even amongst those loyal to me, there are none I would trust with such authority."

"Then even if you are too prideful to accept limits on yourself, you need to make some arrangement."

He looks at her for a moment, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Yes. I have put that off too long."

"Oh." Ms Tomaz blinks as her need to lambaste is undermined by his admission. She watches him carefully as he turns away and walks towards his desk. Then past it and to the bay windows leading to the balcony. "What exactly-?"

Adom opens the windows and then turns and walks back to her. "I should have done this a month ago."

"Done what? What are you-?" He moves, putting her over his right shoulder before standing. "What are you doing! Get off me!" She flails at his back for a moment, before grabbing his hair and pulling with all her might instead.

"Paul, please accompany me." He strides back towards the balcony before rising off the ground. "I will need you as a witness."

"Of course."

"Brute! Barbarian!"

"Whatever you.. want..?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th July
20:22 GMT +2

We're somewhere over the mountainous west bank of the Red Sea. I say 'somewhere', obviously I have longitude and latitude. There just isn't anything here that I can point to as a unique indicator of the location. We're not near any settlements or roads, the land below us is rock cut through with sandy gullies. Adom's reason for putting Ms Tomaz over his shoulder became obvious fairly quickly. Nothing like his top speed, but we've still flown far faster than would be comfortable for people without our resistances and it allowed him to shield her head from the winds with his body.

Understandably, she still isn't best impressed.

"Take me back right now you beast!"

I'm.. really not sure where he's going with this. Picking someone up and taking them out into the desert is more than a little out of character. I don't think that he's finally lost his temper; I wasn't seeing enough red. If I had to guess, I'd say that he was frustrated and irritated rather than experiencing the deep wrath or loathing that shows up as red. And he certainly doesn't kill casually. He kills readily when he thinks that he has just cause, but he's never made any effort to conceal it.

Save for Nabu, I suppose. But that was a favour to me, not part of running Kahndaq. And… It's not like he couldn't just kick her out if he really wanted.

Apparently still able to see what he's looking for despite the darkness and Ms Tomaz' best efforts to claw out his eyes, Adom begins his descent. Are there any..? No, no points of interest that the rings can detect around here. Just in case, I hang back a little as he lands and gently tries to remove Ms Tomaz from his person.

Curious how little red I'm seeing from her. Are her protestations a rhetorical technique, perhaps? Overstating a case in order to apply greater psychological pressure?

Back on her own feet, she takes a few slightly shaky steps away from his before looking around us. The night sky is quite lovely out here, but the only real source of illumination is me. "Where is this!?"

Adom looks around, perhaps trying to get his bearings. "This land was green, once. In my time, I could look down on what is now desert and see a land of plant life. It was hot, and it was dry for much of the year, but the rains could support forest where now there is only… Dust, and sand."

"And?"

He doesn't answer, turning to me instead. "Orange Lantern. There should be a chamber some distance below us. Please, carefully excavate a passageway downwards, through the rock. I had hoped that there would be a passageway still, but… No, after five thousand years that was unwarranted optimism."

"Very well." I extend filaments from the ring on my right hand. "I didn't detect anything when I scanned earlier."

"You have mentioned that sites protected by magic can resist your ring's detection?"

I nod as the filaments breaking through the rock report back, the patterns of vibrations returning through the rock suggesting that there is indeed a hollow space below us.

I sigh.

I suppose I should be proud that bronze age Humans could spoof power rings…

"Found it. Excavating now."

I take a grip on the plug of rock and begin pulsing a series of beams to cut it free without damaging the chamber beneath. I wonder how far down this would have been before five thousand years' worth of erosion went to work on the surrounding rock… Quick check on the stability of the surrounding material, and a quick flare of orange to fuse the loose material…

I don't raise my right hand in a lifting motion as the plug comes free, but it would probably be appropriate. The column comes out with barely a sound, and I lay it carefully on a level patch of ground a little way from us. I can stick it back in when we've done whatever it is we're here to do.

"All yours, Mighty One."

He nods. "Cleanly done. Miss Tomaz, would you accept me lifting you-?"

"No, I will not! I am not going anywhere until you explain why we are here!"

Adom bows his head slightly. "I wish to show you a part of my history, that you may better understand what motivates me. I do not.. share of myself readily, but I am.. increasingly reaching the conclusion that this may not be the correct way for me to behave. At least, with regard to you. Would you accept passage from Orange Lantern?" She gives a cautious nod, and he rises off the ground and descends through the hole.

"You." Me? "What is he playing at?"

"I'm not sure. I will say… That he does actually respect you… More than your arguing suggests. I don't think that he'd waste your time -or mine- with something trivial."

She nods, grudgingly. "Take me down. And make lights, I cannot see in this darkness."

"Your wish is my command." I attach a flight aura to her, then lift both of us off the ground and float us over the hole. "Going down."

We descend, the orange light I give off reflecting off the nearby walls. It's a ten metre drop into a chamber barely two tall. The stone was clearly dug out, and the thin layer of dust suggests that it's been sealed for some time. Keeping us both off the floor, I send light emitting constructs out into the room.

At the far end, it looks like there was a rock fall at some point, stone carved steps being covered in loose dirt and stones. The passage isn't visible from the surface any longer. If this room is enchanted in some way, then either the enchantment extends to the passage even in its state of decay, or further up it's so filled in that the ring didn't register it as significantly different from its surrounding environment. Curious. The room… There's pigment on the walls, faded from its application but so protected from the elements that it remains in far better condition than the hieroglyphs I'm used to seeing. The designs are simple, literal depictions rather than abstract representations of things. On the left, trees, a forest, a garden..? Not sure. On the right, a power figure… probably a goddess, raises a hand in benediction over a kneeling noblewoman.

And I know where we are.

Adom is knelt as if in prayer before a stone sarcophagus. There are two other, slightly smaller ones behind it. I recognise some of the symbols carved into the surface from Atlantean spell books. That.. shouldn't be enough to throw me off by itself. I did once ask Adom what he thought about archaeologists digging up long dead bodies. He said it didn't bother him, as none of them were people he knew. I think I'll be doing a very good job of covering this place u-.

"So? What are we here to-."

"Not-. Not the time."

"I will say-."

"As I am certain that Orange Lantern has deduced, this is the tomb of my wife and of my sons." He stands, walking around to the narrow end of the largest sarcophagus. "As High Priestess of Isis, she was a living link to her patron as I am to mine. When.. she was murdered… I had her mortal remains entombed here." He closes his eyes for a moment, then gently lifts the lid from the sarcophagus. There's no smell; the organic material that once covered the skeleton has long since rotted to nothing. The only thing of real note is an elaborate gold, jade and ruby amulet which I actually don't remember in detail from the comic but can clearly see now.

The Amulet of Isis.

Careful not to disturb the bones, Adom reaches into the sarcophagus and picks it up before walking back around to Ms Tomaz. I remove the aura around her, leaving her to stand on her own two feet.

Adom looks thoughtful. "Of late, I have found myself surrounded by men and women who revere me, who serve me through honest loyalty or simple sycophancy. But in all of that, you are the only one who speaks her mind to me. And no matter how vehemently I have disagreed with you, I find that in your absence I miss your sharp mind and.. even your tongue, a little."

He bows his head, holding out the Amulet to her.

"Will you accept this power, this authority, and stand beside me as my equal and as my wife?"

Ms Tomaz, eyes wide, looks at him, the amulet and then at him again.

Then she reaches a conclusion.

"No!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th July
20:47 GMT +2

Adom and I stare out across the Red Sea, the Amulet of Isis clasped in his left hand.

"Where.. do you think I went wrong?"

I turn my head towards him, my left eyebrow slightly raised. He keeps staring into the middle distance. "Ah…"

"I had thought… Becoming my equal, having political power through which she could exert change independent of me… That idea would appeal to her. Was it…" He holds up the Amulet slightly, looking it over. "Because it was I who was giving it to her?"

"That.. might be it. Also… You do realise that in the modern era, people usually spend time courting before marrying one another?"

He glances at me, then back out to sea. "We had spent a great deal of time together."

"Arguing about politics, yes. It's not-."

"Her parents were Terek and Amal Tomaz. She was eight when a local criminal gang stole her, her parents and her brother from their home and interned them in a labour camp. At first, the children were used as hostages. As they grew, those who were prepared to join with their captors were permitted to do so. Those who refused joined their parents in the labour pool. Her parents were murdered when she was twelve." His head bows slightly. "I promised her that I would find her brother. I have not forgotten that, but I cannot afford to take the time away from my duties as head of state."

"Okay… That's better. Why didn't you.. lead with that?"

He shakes his head weakly. "I have shown no one the tomb. I had thought… It would convey my respect most clearly to make the offer in the presence of the only people I had ever loved without reservation. That it would.. convey the value I place on her companionship."

"And not… I'm sorry to put it like this, but that you were literally drafting her in to replace your late wife."

He blinks, then turns his head to face me. "No, of course not. Do.. you.. think that she could have seen it that way?"

"It's a.. possibility. Tombs.. aren't generally considered romantic."

Adom shakes his head. "Adrianna and Shiruta are very different people. I did not mean to imply that she was in any way a stand-in. I would not treat someone whom I valued in that manner."

"Didn't you say that Shiruta gave you.. fairly direct counsel?"

"She would persuade me to change my position, yes. But she did so though persuasion and reason. It would be very unusual for her to raise her voice, even when she disagreed with me most vehemently. The spirited debates I have with Adrianna have a very different character."

"Adom, I…" How to put it? "You are aware that I can see emotions, right?"

"Of course."

"I'm not seeing.. significant violet. You don't love her."

Another small shake. "I did not love Shiruta when we first married. I respected her, I valued her, but… I did not come to love her until we had been married for some time. In Adrianna I see the traits of character that I admire, as I admired those I saw in Shiruta. But they are not the same.. virtues. Or.. perhaps they do not display them in the same way."

"Okay, now, that stuff you just said to me?"

"Yes?"

"That was what you should have said to her, instead of carrying her off to your family's tomb."

He exhales lightly. "Ah."

"Based on what I've seen within her-."

He holds up his left hand in my direction. "No. Do not tell me. If I am to court her, I must learn to understand her myself."

"That's probably best."

I can see a pattern of lights moving down the Red Sea towards the Gulf of Aden. A container ship. Even with a country which was recently on the verge of collapse and which still has no direct flights to the US… The spice must flow…

"I want to thank you for keeping things organised after the Hyde Park Ambush. And for speaking to Michael Siskin's parents."

He nods. "Your plan for the attack was good. Your plan for the aftermath was.. a little lacking."

"I didn't think it mattered so much. But, you're right, I should have put something together."

"Have you spoken to them yourself?"

"Yes, earlier today."

"I was not sure that it would occur to you."

"I was a little surprised that you did it. Did you do that sort of visit during your first life?"

"Not as Prince Adom. After a battle, there would be a ceremony of commemoration for any soldiers who died, but I would not have visited their next of kin in person. But, sometimes… When I fought as Teth Adom… If a hero I fought beside fell, or if a mortal performed a great feat of valour that drew my eye… Yes." We watch the waters for a few moments. "He was the first to die under your command?"

"Yes. But, he won't be the last. Even if I can't talk the Controllers around to founding a Corps in the way I hope to, I will be leading Lanterns in the future. And powerful as we are, we can still die. Scarab Warriors can kill Lanterns in single combat, Reach warships can kill them with weight of fire… And there are many other exotic weapons and warlike species. I feel bad about it now. I feel… That I brought him unnecessarily, to give Nabu an extra chance to survive that he didn't deserve."

"I do not believe that your decision was wrong. That is to say, it is not the one that I would have made. I am not a man much inclined to mercy. In your place, I doubt that I would have attempted to negotiate with Nabu at all. But, for all that, your decision was not wrong. Even the gods cannot predict all of the outcomes of the actions of every man and woman. You could not know what would happen, and…" He smiles. "I do not believe that either Shiruta or Adrianna would disagree with you on the subject of attempting to defeat your foes without killing them."

"And the people who will follow me in future?"

"It is the nature of the universe that some matters must be decided with violence. Death does not only take the deserving, and often good intentions are poorly repaid. To those who follow you, if you do not lie to them, if you stay true to the cause that you have proclaimed and lead them as best you can, then you do them no wrong."

I nod. "What do you plan to do about Ms Tomaz?"

"I think.. that I will attempt a more.. modern sort of courtship. Perhaps if we avoided political matters in conversation, that would allow us to remain civil."

"If I might make a further suggestion?"

"Of course."

"You know about her, where she comes from, why she is the way she is. Have you talked to her much about your history? Not just.. general things, but why you do things, what the world you grew up in was like…"

He nods. "A balance of knowledge. There may be wisdom in that." He stands. "When will you leave?"

"I've still got a few people to visit." I rise to my feet as well. "It will.. probably be early morning tomorrow, Kahndaq time."

"Then, since it is unlikely that I will see you again until your return." He holds out his right hand. I smile, and clasp it. "I will wish you good fortune in all your future adventures."

"Thank you, Adom. And I wish you good fortune in your romantic ones."

His eyes narrow slightly, and his smile takes on a more amused aspect. "Have you spoken to Ms Nguyen yet?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th July
14:02 GMT -6

Father Box sits on the table just in front of me. I tap it lightly on its uppermost surface with my right forefinger.

"Alright… Everyone…" I look around our meeting room. "First order of business."

Neither Chester nor Vera were in the Mountain during Darkseid's visit. It was Chester who found us first, and Vera who thought to contact Scott almost immediately. It's a bit of a shame that I can't promote them. Still, they've both had the divine awakening and now own a personal mana infuser, so they can hardly complain that I'm short changing them. They both cover it up pretty well, but I'm a Yellow Lantern. Finding me raving in agony has left a mark on both of them.

Ghia'ta appears to be slightly subdued, but that might just be from being surrounded by unfamiliar people in an unfamiliar place. Darkseid didn't bother going to the vault containing the Hybrids, so they're fine. And the Sphere is chirpy as ever.

The others are worse off. Lynne hasn't let go of me since grabbing hold on Zamaron. Miss Shimmer starts at every little sound and she's taking to hunching her shoulders, holding her arms folded across her chest. Mister Tawny's tail twitches constantly, and he struggles to stay still for any length of time. Jean appears to have been saddled with a similar communication problem to the one I had and stammers if she attempts more than one word in a row. The effect on the other Genomorphs is less noticeable, but they're clustering together more than they used to. Miss Amane has taken to trailing around after me, clearly afraid for my wellbeing. I'm not sure what she thinks that she could do against Darkseid… And I don't want her to die uselessly trying to protect me. And I haven't seen Doctor Robbins without a glass of whiskey in hand since I got back.

A pall of misery and fear has settled over Challenger Mountain. And they're not wrong to be afraid or miserable.

"Those of you.. who had the distinct displeasure of meeting my father… What you felt was the Anti-Life Equation. I realise that as a concept it's a little hard to grasp. That was the reality. Father has a number of fragments of the Equation bound to his soul. You are aware of how I can reinforce New God technology with my own soul? That is what happens when Father uses that ability on the Anti-Life within him. What I got is what happens when he transfers a fragment to someone."

"So..?" Chester is uncharacteristically lost for words. "How bad a guy is 'e?"

"In all of this universe, there are a handful as bad and none worse. His ultimate objective-" Doctor Robbins finishes her glass and then reaches for the decanter for a refill. "-is to do what he did to me to everyone, only more thoroughly. At present, he appears to be happy ruling only Apokolips, but there is nothing and no one who can stop him going wherever he chooses. Most people just aren't worth his time."

"But you are." Doctor Robbins gestures to me with the stem of the decanter before setting it down on the table. "How long do we have until the next family visit?"

"I have no way to tell."

"Do you think we're safe here? Do you think Lynne-?"

"No. I don't." I take a moment to gather my thoughts as she takes another sip, her right eyebrow raised. "As I see it, we have essentially two options. The first is run and hide." Chester looks away for a moment. "Much as I wish it otherwise, Father knows our names, faces and locations. I have the schematics which the Justice Lords used for their portal, and we can-."

Chester looks back at me, his eyes narrowed. "So, what? We just leg it?"

"Yes. Lynne is my highest priority, but the people in this room are my closest friends and allies. Getting as far as we can from Darkseid is an option available to us. I told you each of Darkseid's existence, but confronting the reality is a different kettle of fish. Many of you have been ill-served by me, and I apologise for that. I cannot make you safe, but I might be able to make finding you sufficiently difficult that Father doesn't go looking for you. Again, I can't guarantee that-."

"Well fook it then." Chester shrugs. "What's the point?"

"It's a probability judgement you have to make for yourself. My judgement is that staying here is far riskier, but I also didn't think that he'd bother coming here. If-."

"No, Master." Miss Amane shakes her head. "I will not run from him. He must be stopped." She looks at me with utter devotion. "You know how to do that, don't you, Master?"

"If I knew how to stop him, then I wouldn't have let him Anti-Life me. Father is stronger and tougher than me, but he's also more intelligent, better equipped and mystically far more potent. But before we carry on this discussion: Father Box."

"Ploong."

"You were passing information about my activity to Father, weren't you?"

"Ploong."

"Why?"

"Ploong."

I nod. "I suppose that makes sense." My right hand comes down hard on the table surface, Father Box's broken remains lying in fragments beneath it. That shocks everyone awake, Miss Shimmer nearly jumping out of her seat.

I move my hand back to my side. "That is not to say that he's unbeatable. No one is unkillable. But he is a very long way from where we are now." I look around the room at the uncharacteristically timorous faces. "That represents the other extreme. We can build up our resources… Increase our power… With a view to fighting him."

Vera raises her eyebrows. "And what happens if he spots us doin' that?"

"It depends. He might ignore it, or he might take action. I think it unlikely that he'd kill all of us, if only because he'd want to convince the survivors of their powerlessness. But if he decided to move against us, we would lose. And that fact will not change for a significant period of time."

She looks away. "Bloody marvellous."

Chester leans back, shrugging nonchalantly. "Fook it, I'm in. Always thought 'e sounded like a right bastard, and now 'e's picked a fight."

"I am with you, Master!"

"I'm touched, Iname. But I haven't decided that I'm staying myself."

Chester blinks. "Y'wot?"

I ignore him, looking down at my daughter. "Lynne?" She pulls her head off my chest and looks up at me. "The Anti-Life is a horror to all sane life, but I can only imagine the additional suffering that you have been subjected to due to my carelessness. I told you when I first took you in that my life was violent, that my home was no safe harbour. Now, you see that I meant exactly what I said. You are my daughter. I love you, but I cannot protect you from him."

She tenses.

"My instinct is that Father will come for me whatever happens, and my feeling is that he is my problem to deal with. But I should have prioritised your protection… Your wellbeing, more highly. If you want, we can step away from this universe. Spend six years -until your adulthood- doing nothing likely to draw his eye. Then I will return, and you can do what you will. Your childhood has already been blighted by-."

"No, Daddy." She pulls away, sitting up straighter. "You shouldn't do that. D-Darkseid is trying to do to everyone something worse than what SHADE did to me."

"Yes, but he's been working on it for a very long time. Six years is the very least I owe-."

"Everyone needs you to stop him. And the only thing I can think of that's worse than him doing that to us again is him doing it to everyone. We have to stop him."

"Alright. If you change your mind, let me know at once." She nods, then gets up off my lap and walks around to an empty seat next to Miss Shimmer. "Mister Tawny?"

"Michael."

"I beg your pardon?"

"American Humans have a personal name and a family name, do they not? After your brother freed me, I had time to reflect upon my life. And everything that the Anti-Life made me think. I am not a beast. I am a person." His muzzle twitches. "And I will eat the man who tries to tell me otherwise."

"Alright. Again, if you wish to step back-."

"I do not. Though… I think I will need to spend a little more time amongst people. Wash the Anti-Life from my fur."

I nod. "Of course. Miss Shimmer?"

"I-. I can't really go to the one place I'd want to. I… Celestia threw me out for trying to learn dark magic. That was it, wasn't it? That's what it feels like."

"I don't know enough about Wilson's dark magic to answer that. Though the Anti-Life is opposed to everything worthwhile about existence, so… It's certainly dark."

She nods, forcing her arms down by her sides. "I'll help."

"Doctor Robbins? Vera?"

Doctor Robbins waves her glass vaguely. "Sure. Why not? I've already had my brain turned off twice, what's one more time?"

Vera appears to be taking things a little more seriously. "What about the British government?"

"You can carry on your work there. The build up on this one is going to be very long, but making sure that the Earth is governed by good people will be one of the steps."

"Alright. I'm not one fer abandoning things part way through. But we're trusting you with a lot here, Grayven."

"I know. I will endeavour to be worthy of you all. But I'm afraid that I'm going to be too weak to do much about this for now. Carry on with your projects. If you need me, I'll-" I rise to my feet. "-be in the mana infusion chamber."

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th July
15:49 GMT -5

I step out of the alley and look around the Gotham street. You'd barely know that this place was overrun with giant plants two months ago. Oh, now that I look again I can see that some of the work on the fascias is recent, and there are patches where the gripping roots of some of the vines have managed to stay lodged in places where it's inconvenient to get at them, but… Really got to hand it to the people of Gotham. They're a resilient bunch.

Either that or so totally stoical that they barely notice things like that.

No one really pays me much attention as I head towards Holly and Karon's home. With the rings not on open display, I'm not… No, come on, I should be a bit more recognisable by now, surely? Maybe it's a city thing, not paying all that much attention to the people around you… As long as they don't look threatening, anyway.

Maybe it just goes to show that no matter how Earth-shattering an event in your life is, the world will keep turning regardless. And most people around you probably don't give a Monkey's. How many would actually care that the League lied about Roanoke? I mean, they'd care if they were covering for Klarion and I imagine that most people would be anti-Nabu on balance… But how many would care enough to do something meaningful about it? How many would keep caring months later? How many people -even here in Gotham- have had direct exposure to a superhero before?

I give my head a small shake before I press the doorbell. The confrontation with the League has left me more than a little out of sorts. That, and the talk with Rob and Alan… And the proper talk I'm going to have with Kon and M'gann before I leave. And -hah!- I still haven't firmly decided whether I want to go to Maltus before or after I scout out the Vega Systems in person. Turning up with the Orange Central Power Battery would give me an obvious negotiating advantage, and I want to do something about the military domination of the Citadel Complex. That's a bit more urgent than the Reach, though not as important.

On the other hand -I press the doorbell again- I could be in a bit of a sticky situation if Larfleeze notices that I'm-

"It's open!"

-there. Huh. Not a good idea to leave a door unlocked in Gotham, but I imagine that Jade is perfectly capable of taking most would-be home invaders. I take hold of the door handle and turn it, pushing the door open.

"Ahoy the house?"

"I'll be down in a minute!"

No.. sign.. of Holly or Karon. I close and lock the door behind me, then walk over to the bottom of the stairs. "If this is a bad time, I can come back!"

"I said, a minute!"

Sounds like Jade's not feeling too much the worse for wear, then. I sit down on one of the armchairs, leaning back into the cushions. I pat the chair's right arm with my right hand, the suitcase containing the balance of Jade's fee appearing from subspace on the floor next to me. "Where are Holly and Karon!?"

"The park, I think?" I look up as Jade comes down the stairs in.. what looks like her old short skirted kimono costume. Her hair looks damp… Oh heck, did I turn up while she was in the shower? "So?"

"So, Nabu is confirmed… Either actually dead or brain dead." She nods as she walks towards the settee to my left. "Mister Zatara was briefly awake, and the prognosis is good for his recovery." She sits, legs curled up underneath her. "Adom's nearly back to normal, John's… Weird. I don't think… Having two opposing sources of magic energy, he's not having an easy time making them work together." I look her over. "Do you still have the Ace?"

"I didn't think that keeping it here was such a great idea. If anyone came looking for it…"

I nod. "Where did you put it?"

"Shadowcrest. Zatanna seemed pretty confident that the spells on the place would keep out uninvited guests."

"Good plan. I'll pick it up when I drop Zatanna and Mister Zatara off."

She looks at me carefully. "And the Justice League? Do I need to worry about having violated my parole?"

"No. At least, I don't think so. From what Diana told me, they're planning on maintaining the pretence that Mister Zatara was on an extended leave of absence." I exhale, looking away from her. "I wonder if he'll actually go back? I mean… I wouldn't, if it was me, but he just…"

She frowns. "Just what?"

"He almost seemed annoyed that we'd done it. I don't know, I don't know what he's thinking-. Oh! Sorry." I lean forwards, picking up the suitcase.

Then I stand and lean forwards, holding it out to her. Her eyebrows rise slightly, then she comes up onto her knees to take it from me. "Should I count it?"

"Um." I sit back down. "You can if you like, but I assure-" She's already got it open and pulled out one bundle of notes, flicking through them to check the denomination. "-you.. that it's all there."

"Old habits." She puts the bundle back in and takes out a second. "Guess this means I can afford to take a holiday from bodyguarding the mafia."

"If you want, though you might find it better to keep busy. Technically, you didn't do anything illegal, but…"

She puts the second bundle down and smiles at me. "You need me to keep out of trouble for next time you need to kill a member of the Justice League."

"No, I-." I look down for a moment. "No."

"It was a joke, Paul."

"I know, I just… I spent about forty minutes calling them a bunch of cowardly idiotic liars to their faces-"

She blinks. "You-?"

"-and all it did was make me more annoyed as well as alienating people I'd.. considered friends and colleagues."

She looks at me… I think she's surprised, and a little impressed. "I used to know people who'd give their right arm -and probably their left one as well- for the chance to do that."

I shrug. "They're welcome to try. That's not what the Justice League is supposed to be, you know?"

"Hm." Jade gives the remaining bundles a really quick once over and then stows the suitcase next to the settee. "So what happens next?"

"Next? I still need to talk to a few people, then…" I raise my right hand, then drop it forwards. "Off I go into deep space. For.. I don't know how long. Let all the -heh- ill-feeling really fester for when I come back."

Jade looks thoughtful for a moment. "You know… Since you've paid the balance of my contract, we're not in a professional relationship any more."

"Um. True?" I nod. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm hoping that I never have to hire you for something like this again."

Why is she wincing?

"Not that I'm in any way complaining about your professionalism, but-."

She holds up her right hand. "Stop."

"Okay?"

"I thought Artemis was joking." She leans back, reaching down to the sash holding her kimono closed and tugging on the-.

Oh.

"Do you get it now?"

"Ah."

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th July
15:55 GMT -5

The expression of innocent inquiry on her face is rather at odds with the way her kimono is hanging open, revealing quite a.. lot of bare olive skin. The curves of her breasts as the seam just about prevents it sliding far enough to display her nipples. Beneath that, my eyes linger on her clearly defined abdominal muscles before reaching the point where the kimono has bunched slightly in her lap. Her physique is that of a athlete, not a bodybuilder. There's a layer of fat, because that's how the Human body stores energy, but not a gram more than there should be. Everything's clearly been brought to the point where it does exactly what it's supposed to. It's a combination of efficiency and beauty that I only achieved and maintain by using a power ring.

She's… Perfect.

I mean, I knew that already. I maintain up to date scans for medical purposes. Some of that flesh I rebuilt myself. But.. having it on display like this is quite different from an anatomical chart. More… Immediate.

"Do you? Artemis said that you can be a bit slow, so…" She reaches up to where the kimono rests on her breasts-.

"Yes, I… Understand."

"I was hoping for a little more enthusiasm than that… But I'll take it. Why don't you come over here and-." She bows her head slightly and sighs. "You're not going to, are you?"

"I… It's.. kind of-."

The innocence is replaced with mild frustration. "Do you not.. find me attractive or something?"

"No, I… I do. It's-."

"Is there someone you find more attractive?"

"No… Um, athletic Asian women are.. very much my thing."

She takes a moment to look herself over. "Look at that. I am an athletic Asian woman."

"Yes, I've… I've very much noticed that. That was why I.. asked you to-."

"Paul, we've known each other for months. You don't need to buy dinner first. Though-" She glances at the clock on the wall. "-I can probably wait three hours."

"Point of f.. fact, I've bought you dinner on fourteen occasions, five of which were just the two of us."

"So what's the problem?"

"I'm leaving the planet today. I-."

"I'm not asking you to marry me, Paul. This is sex between two friends, and it doesn't have to-."

"But I want it to." I smile ruefully. "And that's the problem."

She shakes her head, her patience fading slightly. "Still not seeing a problem."

"By covering up what happened with Nabu, the League have.. disgraced themselves. Being enlightened doesn't mean that I control how I feel, just that I'm.. aware of it. I'm happy to let them keep covering it up, but I still feel a drive to do the stupid thing. To stay, to bring everything into the public domain, to make them… I don't know, apologise to Zatanna? It's stupid, but it's there. It would mean putting off-."

"What's that got to do with me?"

"Because I am extremely fond of you. I admire not just how you look, and you're.. perfect, really. I admire your attitude, your drive. Even your ruthlessness. And I admire how you've taken.. the opportunity to live.. differently. And I.. meet every week with people in Belle Reve who.. just.. can't make that switch. You did. You have. And I feel privileged to have played a part in enabling that transformation. And we've spent a good deal of time together, and… I'm extremely fond of you."

The irritation vanishes. "Oh."

I sigh, my eyes dipping momentarily to the carpet. "And if you'd said 'yes' when I first asked you out, we'd be in a different place. And if you'd trained with the ring, I'd just ask you to come with me. But… For me, if I had sex with you-"

"If you're nervous about-."

I shake my head. "No, not really. The power ring gives me perfect control of my own body and a constant awareness of exactly what's happening in yours. I know exactly where your erogenous zones are and I'd get real time moan-free feedback on how much you'd be enjoying what I was doing to them. Plus… Additional, ring generated appendages, so-."

"That.. sounds pretty good."

"That's the problem: it's great. Great enough that I wouldn't want to leave the planet afterwards. And without.. time for both me and them to cool off… I'd probably end up picking a fight with the League. And even if I didn't, I.. should contact the Controllers. The Citadel have enslaved the Vega systems, and the Reach add a new world to their empire at the rate of one every other month… And they're the 'mind wipe and enslave' type of empire builders, not the 'suppress internal conflict and encourage trade' type. I have work to do. There are billions of sentients out there that I can help, and that no one else.. can. Or will. But the idea of you is… So… I want you. But…" I shake my head. "No. Not… Now."

She looks away. "Huh."

"Yeah." I take a breath. "Also, I'm not.. totally comfortable with the imagery associated with having sex with you just after handing you a suitcase of money."

She folds her arms under her breasts, pushing them upwards slightly. "And if I said that it wouldn't bother me if you left..?"

"I'm an empath. I know that you'd manage, but be honest. Would you prefer it if I stayed? Particularly after?"

A shallow nod and she reluctantly tugs her kimono closed, tying it loosely in front of her. "When do you think you'll get back?"

"No idea. If everything goes more or less as I want it to, two months. But.. it's more likely that it will be longer."

"And then?"

"Then, if I'm fortunate, I'll be able to split my time between here and Maltus. I hope-."

"You want me to wait?"

"Yes, but I… Don't expect you to. Particularly if it takes longer. That would be unreasonable."

"Oh? And what about you? Planning on spending time with any grateful green girls?"

"Orange, and… Not in the short term. But I won't make long term promises on the subject any more than I'd ask you to."

"Huh." She relaxes her arms slightly. "This isn't exactly what I hoped I'd be doing this afternoon."

"You're probably getting off easier than I- " Her left eyebrow goes up. "-am and that wasn't what I meant."

"What are you planning?"

"I've got to go and explain to Green Lantern, the one from the forties and the man who sponsored my membership of the team, and.. gave me his personal lantern so I could function as a superhero… Exactly what I thought I was doing."

She frowns thoughtfully. "That is worse than what I'm going to be doing."

"Oh, it gets better. He was part of the Justice Society.. at the same time as Nabu. They knew each other and worked together."

"And all I'm going to be doing is laundering this money." She slumps slightly to her right. "So.. I.. guess this is goodbye. Good luck with the.. space.. stuff..?"

I get to my feet. "Thank you, but it's the Earth stuff that bothers me more."