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

[Mr Zoat]

26th July 2013
23:33 GMT -5

…

Send alert right now.

Compliance.

It's not just his expression. He's changed his costume. Kara.. showed me what used to pass as kryptonian formal wear, and I think this is the male version. A jumpsuit with black sides and a red strip down the middle covering the back and chest and inside leg. A line of white decoration runs down the sides of the arms and there's a pale yellow… Pattern down the right side of his chest.

Doesn't look that bad. Certainly beats external underwear, as far as I'm concerned. Maybe if it had an 'S' on his left pectoral to break up the red..?

"Am I speaking to the Eradicator Program?"

"You're speaking with Kal-El."

I suspect that Lex Luthor has nightmares like this. The posture, the disdain, the intonation… A physical god who knows it and isn't bothered by it. Adom is a little like that, but this is… Worse. Because Superman isn't like that.

"Right, but you're not Kal-El as he was a little while ago."

"I'm better, now. Properly Kryptonian, as I always should have been."

"And how did this.. change, happen?"

"I was concerned about your abduction of Sod-Yat. I asked the New God Mister Miracle to open a boom tube directly to Daxam."

I sag slightly in the air. "Of course you did. And-."

A giant plume of dust and… Rock erupts from the ground a short distance away. Scans show… Yep, Eradicator androids smashing into the ground, digging for… Something.

"And you could just load yourself into his head?"

"Exposure to the Eradicator Program changed me, but I'm still fundamentally myself. You were right-"

Oh gods, it's worse than I thought.

"-by the way; being 'Clark Kent' was a waste of my time. I'll be able to do far more now that I'm abandoning that identity."

"I thought that you'd been practicing the theta wave state."

He actually smiles, and it's horrible. "I have. But the Eradicator Program was written with that in mind; it doesn't use telepathy to correct a confused brain."

"So, what now? And -not that I'm complaining- but why are you talking to me? I thought an Eradicator-inspired kryptonian would be more aggressive towards non-kryptonians."

"Now, I will recover the command section of the Doomsday and restore the ship. Once that is done, I will begin constructing the gene labs I need to recreate the kryptonian species."

"From scratch, or do you intend to alter existing people?"

"Whichever is expedient. While I understand why Kem-El did what he did, it was short-sighted. Concentrating our people on one planet put them at risk of exactly what happened."

"What exactly did Kem-El do? I never found out."

"He's the reason why daxamites are biologically divergent from kryptonians. The change wasn't voluntary, and not all of them survived the viral organism he used to do it." He glances at my face. "Every family has black sheep."

"Okay. Well, I regard recreating the kryptonian species as a good thing, and I don't have a problem with you taking the Doomsday."

"I didn't think you would. But in the interest of honesty I think I should probably mention the parts that you will have a problem with."

"Such as?"

"Amalak. He's a clear and present danger to the reborn kryptonian species. I will kill him, and take his ill-gotten trophies back to Daxam."

"Understandable, though it makes life a little difficult for me."

"I'll also be taking Har-Zod's station with me, to serve as our orbital command until the robots have had time to build something better."

"It was only here for our kryptonian contingent anyway."

"And naturally I'm going to kill Conner and Mitchell."

"And why is that?"

"Hybridisation is ungodly. And it puts our strength in the hands of our enemies."

"Not… Keen on that. Isn't Mitchell completely kryptonian now?"

"I couldn't change everything in his brain. There's still some genomorph in there. And the gods would know anyway."

"So the daxamites are alright because they don't contain alien genetic material?"

"And because they faithfully preserve kryptonian culture."

"But genomorphs are derived from Nam-Ek's genetic material, and he's-."

"A heretic and an abomination whom I will destroy once I work out how."

"Is there any chance that I can persuade you not to do some of those things in exchange for my assistance with some of the others?"

"Such as?"

"There are probably a few psion cloning plants in the Vega Systems that no one's touched. Even if you had to reconfigure them, it would save you a lot of time. Or I could give someone a power ring or two."

His eyes narrow. "And in return, I let your friends live."

"That's what I was going for."

"I can check Vega myself. And you're not my only source of power rings."

I blink. "Excuse me?"

"You're excused. I have work to do."

"No, wait, where are you getting rings from? There's no way that Zamaron would supply you and I doubt that it's the Guardians. So, Sinestro?"

He glances back at me, then his gaze-. What's he looking at?

Oh, no.

"Why is LexCorps sending a security force here?"

"He owns the site. Don't worry, I'll give him one chance to stand down. He's in violation of Earth law by not declaring this discovery anyway, and I have the legal authority to confiscate it."

"You don't, actually. You lost it the moment the Eradicator Program propagated itself into your mind. And I'm afraid that-."

Then things get blurry.

 

[Mr Zoat]

26th July 2013
23:37 GMT -5

The scenery jumps and jumps again and my ring automatically removes me from danger.

Oh sug-

I get a tenth of a second of seeing Superman fly at me fists first and-

-ar.

-then I'm in the middle of the dig site, Eradicator androids floating around the entrance to… A LexCorp facility. They appear to have just rammed their way through the entrance-.

Superman's attacking me.

Um.

Full armour, activate stealth and phasing and move.

Superman… Is-.

Warning! Energy drain detected!

Because of course the Eradicator program gave him a full working knowledge of Torquasm. Stop scanning, passive-.

Superman appears a short distance from me, looking intently at his surroundings.

Okay, so I remember from the comics that when Superman does this it's relatively easy to disorientate him with intense sound or light. But the person taking advantage of that was Diana, and she's faster, tougher and stronger than me. I'm not sure I can actually make a distraction fast enough to avoid getting pâtéd.

So, how do I deal with a hostile kryptonian?

Reasoning didn't work. He's wearing an environmental shield, so dropping off lumps of kryptonite isn't going to achieve anything. Powdered kryptonite, same problem. A kryptonite laser should work, but that would require me to phase back in and not get pasted-.

He's looking at me. I'm not interacting with the physical universe, how is-?

"There you-" Movemovemove! "-are."

And he's there, right in my face, hands… Sticking through me, but I'm phased, so while this is disturbing it's not actually dangerous.

I think.

Ah, okay, x-ionised knives? Might actually kill him if I can make an attack, which is in no way guaranteed. And I'd have to phase in. Build up kryptonite radiation inside my armour and then release it when I phase in? No good. If I overwhelmed his environmental shield he'd still be throwing a punch at me at full force. So either he'd hit at full power and then get depowered, in which case I'd explode, or he'd get depowered first in which case he'd be moving so fast that there's a reasonable chance that he would.

Desire manipulation. Okay, I'll

take a closer-.

Dddddhhhhhrrrrrrr.

"Did that hurt?" He doesn't look more than mildly curious. "Krypton didn't have a record of what happened to an alien who tried that."

I don't know what bit of his expanded skill set did that, but I don't want to try it again. Right, plot course to somewhere a mile away and transition.

The scenery skips, which-.

"Found you." Fuck. "Drawing on Orange Lantern energy like this is harder than I thought it would be."

Um.

I look up, trying to-.

"Ah, there it is."

Warning! Energy drain detected!

I can't see!

Transition upwards and west.

Okay... What? How did he?

"You know…" And he's caught up already and I have no idea how. "You're not going to get away."

I raise my right hand and make the reverse-victory sign.

"Hm. You just moved, but I can't quite tell how."

X-ionised blades inside my armour, pushing outwards. Make sure that there isn't room between them for him to strike me. Then… The environmental shield is designed to counter radiation. Generate… Super tear gas.

And… Take a moment.

The Eradicators are still working, and the relief convoy is… Doing final checks on the three suits of high quality power armour they brought with them. Kryptonite weapons, but also kryptonite-powered plasma weapons. Some sort of dimensional-shunt force field, which explains the maintenance teams. Those things are hard to keep in working order, and I'm… Kind of surprised that LexCorp has managed to develop a practical version.

Superman's looking-.

I phase in and drop the gas, manifesting sonic cannon constructs as he turns back in surprise, hit him with ultra-high and ultra-low frequency sounds at the same time. Tear the air into plasma, try and hit a wavelength that will disrupt his environmental shield while throwing out gold kryptonite dust because I'll only need to disrupt it a little-.

Superman spins, the air turning into a tornado as the gas and dust are funnelled away!

Plasma. Copy what Lex's people are-.

Green bolts punch through the tornado, striking Superm-. No, missing Superman as he blurs around them, heat vision flashing-. Their armour shimmers purple as their force field absorbs it and I'm doing nothing shoot him!

Ugh, that clearly isn't-. What Construct Lanterns would-?

Hydra heads, go!

A dozen reptilian heads shimmer into being around me and lunge for Superman, jaws snapping! That actually holds his attention for an instant, resulting in some of the plasma actually hitting him. All that causes is a small wince and then the hydras bite down! One on his right arm, one on his left shoulder, three on his torso and one goes for his head-.

Heat vision rips through that one, and the rest aren't really getting anywhere, but at least they appear to have his attention. I know it won't work, but-. Assimilate.

Identity theft in progress. One percent complete.

Superman tries to rip off the filament connecting us, only for three hydra heads to bite it and wrestle it back!

One percent complete.

I suppose that I could always get High Father Izaya to turn him back if I actually do complete it.

Two percent complete.

A beam of kryptonite plasma from the power armour units finds a gap between the hydra heads-

"Agh!"

-and actually hits him. I can see a burn-. I think my distraction efforts are achieving something-.

Then the hydra heads disintegrate as he charges me!

 

[Mr Zoat]

26th July 2013
23:39 GMT -5

Armourkineticbarrierbackupgravityma-guuhg-hr!

I'm… Definitely speeding up my perception, because there's no way that I'd be seeing my own armour construct come apart quite this… Glacially, otherwise. Fragments of orange explode outwards from the point of impact, air wavy where the kinetic barrier tried and failed before the might of a kryptonian. My armour's just caving in-.

Oh. It's not the acceleration. It's the kinetic shield misfiring. Come on LexCorp people, you're getting a free shot-.

And there, they're taking it, but from the determined look on Kal-El's face it's not going to do me any good-.

No, he's distracted, and the hydra heads are still worrying him.

Feel their desires and

I'm out move more! Throw kinetic barrier generators around him! And open communications with the LexCorp power armour people!

Compliance.

Despite having a body fully enveloped in a zone where kinetic energy itself is messed up, he's still slowly turning to face me. And based on recent performance, I imagine that he'll find a way to bypass it very shortly.

"Lantern?"

And my own armour pierced my intestines, liver, stomach and lungs. Remove it, restore it… And restore me…

"Indeed."

"Did you get him?"

I turn to the central suit of power armour, which is apparently being piloted by Mr. Beatty. "Oh heck no. I don't know how long we've got."

"What happened with him?"

"Got part of his brain overwritten by an ancient kryptonian A.I.. Is there actually a kryptonian ship down there?"

"That's proprietary-."

"Not the time!"

"Just a-. Yeah. The science team weren't completely sure it was kryptonian, but I guess now they are. How come the kryptonite isn't working?"

"You guys know he's been studying kryptonian martial arts?" The armour nods. "If he focuses really hard, he can alter how different wavelengths affect him."

"So he's immune to it?"

"So he can feed on it."

"You taught him that?"

"I helped him find a trainer-."

"So what can we do?"

"If I knew that, I'd be-." The effect of the overloaded kinetic barrier fades, and Superman turns to the remaining barriers around him. "I'd be doing it."

"Fuck."

Rather than do the stupid thing and try punching his way out, Kal-El just burns the generators out with flickers of heat vision. How-?

"I'll try eating his soul, you shoot him. Hopefully he can only handle one exotic-."

I put effort in this time, a vague blur of half-familiar drives swimming in my mind's eye. And other things, drives that I know full well aren't him and pull-

Warning! Energy drain detected!

-as hard as I can because-.

"Eh." Superman grunts as the plasma hits him, and-.

Ouwgh!

Agh! Ah-! Duh-!

Okay, ow.

I pick myself out of the trench I just gouged in the ground, armour… Scuffed but basically whole. I suppose he's not the only one whose concentration can be disrupted. The hydra heads are still attacking him, but they're doing basically nothing. In the distance I see Superman beating Mr. Beatty's suit around the helmet and chest plate. The personal shield is holding for the moment, but I need to get back there.

Right.

Pull.

And railgun… Crumbler rounds and f-.

Huh-?

I spin in the air, armour fracturing and upper left torso pulver-move!

Ah…

Ah..?

Superman rips off the front of my armour, left hand squeezing through my construct defences.

Warning! Energy drain detected!

Despite his burns, he doesn't seem… Angry. Just… Focused.

Ugh. Fine. Singularity-.

Warning! Low power!

Oh fuck.

"U-k-!"

And… That's my body. And-. Agh! Pff-! Ground-. Calltheringcallthering!

Right up the… Windpipe. Okay, I'm on low power so there's not much I can do regarding the fight, but if I-. Right. Deploy personal lantern-.

"Thank you."

Superman picks up my severed head in his left hand, his right wrapped around the handle of my personal lantern. My other ring is.. on the ground a little way away.

There's still… Not much going on with his facial expression.

"This will make restoring krypton much easier. Now I.. can…"

He winces, doubling over and dropping me to the floor. Ah, right… Second ring, move and.. touch it to the lantern.

Recharge!

A flash of glorious orange, and call it back to my.. mouth, fine, and float up…

Grab my body while he's doing… I'm guessing that a telepath is taking a crack at him, good for them. Reattach, gold kryptonite and punch!

He falls to the ground, weakly shielding his face. "Wha-? What's-?"

Check his desires…

Back to.. normal? No idea how that happened, but I'm not going to complain.

I watch as the battered power armour suits approach. I could probably transition away, but those are light speed weapons. One twitch and things could go very wrong.

I'm going to try and work out how to persuade Lex not to shoot Superman while he's down.

 

[Mr Zoat]

26th July 2013
23:41 GMT -5

"Orange Lantern to whoever just fixed Superman. Good work. What did you do? I need to know urgently."

Mr. Beatty points his primary weapon at Superman. My bubble shield is in the way, but I'm not exactly at 100% right now and we've still got the Eradicator robots to fight.

"He down?"

"Depowered. I dosed him with g-. Kryptonite."

"I guess you're not going to let us take the shot."

"I'd really rather that you didn't. With Superman depowered and hors de combat, there's no longer a legal justification for you to fight him, and the Eradicator androids are still attempting to recover the ship."

Warning! Incoming-

I don't wait for it to complete the warning. I just stick up the giant 'KARA STOP' construct and put a shield bubble around the power armour suits.

-Superwoman.

And apparently those power armour suits have either a direct satellite linkup or decent sensors, because they're looking east too. "What-?"

But to be completely fair to Kara, she does stop.

She's scowling down at us. It wouldn't be a particularly effective scowl, if not for the fact that I don't know how strong she is because I couldn't test that high. "What's going on?! Why are you fighting Superman?!"

"He got mind controlled by an evil A.I. and we only just knocked some sense into him!"

She brightens up immediately. "Oh! Okay! Should I take him to a doctor!?"

"No, I already patched him-" Mister Beatty and Colleagues are pointing their weapons at her back. I frantically make a 'lower them' motion with my right hand. "-up, and a platoon of Eradicator androids are trying to recover a kryptonian spaceship from over-."

"Neat! I'll go help them!"

"K-!"

She's gone.

"Arsenal to Orange Lantern!"

Looks like Mr. Beatty is waiting for new orders. And Kara's going to Kara… "Go ahead."

"We took out the master A.I.!"

"Oh, well done! I was getting my arse kicked!"

"Problem is, the rest of them really don't like that. We-"

I attach a tether to Superman and transition us both to Bir Tawil, drop him off next to the confused-looking Bleez-

"Look after him!"

"Sure, okay?"

-and look for Roy-. There he is.

And then I head towards Daxam, which

doesn't have a planetwide jammer, just something blocking… A substantial portion of the minds of the inhabitants. Roy's flying towards the ship, guns blazing away at the Eradicators who are flying towards… I suppose this is one of the Daxamite tech-bunkers. J'aarkn-

"Cakaw!"

-flies past me at speed in bird form.

"-could use some-"

I form railguns and load crumbler rounds.

"-help!"

Firing.

I hit the closest in the chest, disintegrating a large chunk of it and causing it to crash into the mountainside below us. Unfortunately it looks like they're networked because the rest viff immediately and my second shot just scores a glancing hit on my target's shoulder. It loses the arm, but-

Shield!

-still manages to get off a shot, heat beams blasting from its eyes!

Roy hovers in the air, using the extra space I bought him to bring his micro missile launcher to bear. "Superman okay?!"

The launcher wiggles a little as it acquires targets and then launches, six crumbler-tipped missiles shooting away-.

Eradicators stop in the air and track them-. Which makes them completely open to my railguns.

"A bit roughed up, but he'll be fine."

Roy raises his right thumb. "Doc, get the boom tube open! We can fly through with you!"

Another wave coming in… Construct shield, multiple layers and make it-

BOOM!

-solid.

The ship lifts up-. And that's a lot of heat beams. My construct shields are melting but the ship's in motion towards its own boom tube and Roy and I are falling back towards it…

One of the Eradicators goes in for a punch, the shield plate directly in its path shattering! I immediately fire crumbler rounds but it's prepared and heat visions them before lunging through the gap! It-.

Roy shoots it with his positron ray, blinding it and shutting its heat vision down permanently. My follow-up railgun shot hits it in the neck, blasting its head clean off. Grab what's left of the head because the sensor logs should be stored there…

And then we're through, the boom tube shutting down behind us.

"Arsenal, are you sure they don't have another way to open boom tubes?"

"Ah, not a hundred percent, but there weren't any records and none of the people J'onn mind-read knew about one."

"Great. Good work. You may have saved Superman's life and you certainly saved mine."

"Oh. Ah. No problem."

"Illustres to Lantern Taranna. Situation with the Eradicators?"

"Ak-Var flew up and shut them down. Apparently they can't refuse orders from an adult kryptonian."

…

"I did not know that."

"He's… It was pretty… Um. Impressive, actually. Don't tell Mum."

I shrug apologetically at Roy, who slumps theatrically in space.

"Okay, I'll be in shortly to help with the cleanup. Illustres out."

 

[Mr Zoat]

27th July 2013
03:54 GMT

The buff-looking changeling with the red frond recoils as he sees me, then straightens up, his horn glowing as he-.

"That will not be necessary, Agent Pharynx." He jerks his head to the side, having only just spotted Luna. Her presence prompts him to come to attention and salute, a gesture she returns. "Be at ease."

Agent Pharynx can't quite keep himself from glancing at me, an action I completely understand. Luna notices as well, and follows his gaze to stare at me pointedly.

I make an expression of total innocence, which prompts her to nod slightly towards Pharynx and intensify her stare.

I sigh, and step closer to the changeling. "To clear the air, Pharynx, I killed your queen because she threatened my people. Learn from her mistake, and I shall never have cause to threaten you."

"I am not concerned for me."

Ah. Respectable. "Or any of the other changelings Princess Luna has given sanctuary. From the moment they accepted her offer they became a part of Equestria... For as long as they continue to comply with the terms under which they were granted citizenship."

"Then… There shall be no problems."

I smile. "Glad to hear it. Now, I was speaking to Princess Luna, and I came to realise that Equestria had a slight knowledge-gap where changelings are concerned."

"That's intentional. Our lives are far easier if ponies don't understand what we can do."

I nod. "True, for the 'outside pissing in' portion of things, but now that you're 'inside pissing out', the Equestrian government needs to know certain things about how you function. For example, if they didn't know how you fed, they-" I gesture to the crystal embedded in the chitin covering his chest with my right forehoof. "-wouldn't have thought to provide you with those, and you would still be feeding by abducting and draining."

"Yes, I understand, but I've told Princess Luna everything that I know."

"Was Queen Chrysalis your mother?"

"She probably laid the egg I hatched from."

"And your father?"

"I don't know if I have one."

"Have you tried breeding yourself?"

"Ah…" How is he.. blushing with chitin? "No?"

"You don't sound too certain, there."

"I haven't. I was a guard, not a love gatherer."

"Do you know whether or not love gatherers fornicated with their targets?"

"Ah… No? I don't know exactly.. what they did. But I don't think so."

"Would you mind finding a couple who could answer that question? I mean, given the lack of changeling/pony hybrids around the place I would guess that such pairings -if they occurred- were unfruitful, but it's probably worth checking."

"Why? Ah, sir?"

"Because we don't want you going extinct, Agent Pharynx. Your population needs the capacity to produce grubs, or you don't have a future."

He thinks on the subject for a moment, and then his eyes widen. "You're right. I hadn't thought about that."

"Have you ever met another changeling queen?"

"No."

"And do you know if there are any? Did Chrysalis ever mention them?"

"Not to me."

"Did she ever have sex with another member of the hive?"

Luna recoils. "Grayven!"

"What, you want me to ask Shining Armor if he remembers Chrysalis raping him while he was mind controlled? Because he's the obvious person to ask, but that seems a little insensitive to me."

She blinks, then her mouth falls open as the horror of the idea creeps into her mind. "She-?"

I turn back to Pharynx. "Did she lay any eggs after that? Because if so, then that would clear up the whole hybridisation issue."

"Yes, but they weren't pony eggs. And the grubs didn't look any different."

I nod. "I'll do a genetic scan while I'm here, just to check. Do any of your fellow changelings have experience with child rearing?"

"Yes. Several were on grub-duty."

I nod. "Excellent. Did any changelings other than Chrysalis lay eggs or otherwise bear young?"

"No."

"Do you have any unhatched eggs now?"

"Only a few. Can you do something about that?"

"My current plan is to create an infant copy of Chrysalis that you can raise in a more social environment, but that won't help if she needs to get impregnated by a changeling male. Did you burn her body?"

"No, it was entombed in the hive. Apart from… Her head. Which you have."

"I'll head over there and see if I can learn anything from her decaying oviducts. And… Last thing. When you shapeshift, do your reproductive organs shift, and are they functional?"

"I only shift shape to fight better. I've never tried using reproductive organs."

I nod. "Alright, you can show-."

The doors at the end of the room open and Celestia marches in, looking a little concerned. She spots me, then checks to make sure that Pharynx is undeencephacated.

"Ah, Celestia, I've got a present for you." The small stasis vial floats over to her, and she takes it in her thaumokinetic grip. "New gametes, to replace the ones you've run out of."

"Thank you, but I do not remember using a… Gamete?"

And this is what I get for showing her physics textbooks but nothing on biology. "Not too surprising, given how long it's been."

Luna, who has read a medical textbook, sniggers behind her right forehoof.

Celestia rolls her eyes. "Are you going to explain what that means?"

"In your case, egg cells. The thing a female releases from her ovum when she's fertile that becomes a foal if a male fertilises it. As an alicorn you're immune to menopause but you've been dry firing for centuries. I created that in case you and Sombra want foals. Though unless you're really good at teleportation, you should probably make it a medical procedure."

She blinks, her face sort of going still as she takes that in. "I see. How did you..? Discover this?"

"Your veterinarian appointment, plus scans of Luna. Given that she's over a hundred I wanted to check what our odds of conception were."

Luna nods. "Normal mares still retain many gametes when they pass beyond their fertile years. We shall retain the capacity to conceive naturally for a few years yet, but as you are our senior by a thousand years your situation is different."

Celestia eyes the tube again, and I'm not good enough at pony expressions to work out what she's feeling. "Thank you. I will need to discuss this with King Sombra before making any sort of decision."

I nod. "Of course. Pregnancy is a serious business. That tube will keep them fresh indefinitely. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a grave to rob."

 

[Mr Zoat]

27th July 2013
01:36 GMT -5

"I could push it!"

I sigh, and mentally curse my colleagues for leaving me on Kara-wrangling duty. To be fair, she did destroy the lion's share of the Eradicator androids excavating what Har-Zod tells us is called the Doomsday. For some reason they didn't register her as a kryptonian, which… Given that she appears to be this universe's Power Girl appears to be because kryptonians from her universe are different enough not to match their profile… Or given what ended up happening to Power Girl, it could be because she's slightly out of tune with reality.

Hm.

"I know you could, Kara, and-."

"Supergirl!"

I nod. "She could too, but it would take about five million years and that's not accounting for time dilation because she'd be flying through normal space."

"I could do it in half that!"

"Which is still.. two and a half million years, and that's assuming that you don't eat, sleep or relieve yourself, and assuming that you get sufficient sunlight on the way."

She frowns, looking down at the Earth as she considers the issue.

"Oh, phooey!"

"You can be the one who pushes it through the boom tube if you want."

"That's not the same!"

"No, it-." In the corner of my eye I catch sight of an approaching orange speck. "It wouldn't take millions of years. Lantern Taranna." I raise my right hand in greeting. "What brings you here?"

"Sir-. Hey Kara!"

"Supergirl!"

"Huh?" Taranna looks around in confusion. "Where?"

"Not you too!" Kara turns to me. "This is totally your fault!"

"You snoozed, you lost, Superwoman." She pouts at me. "Lantern Taranna?"

"Did something.. weird.. happen with you and my mum?"

Watching Kara's expression is an education on kryptonian facial muscle control. She goes from watching me with a mild frown, to a flattening of her brow when she understands the implication -that takes several seconds- to a gradual widening of her eyes and descending of her jaw in astonished horror. It's like something I'd expect on a melodramatic stage play where expressions had to be exaggerated so that the audience could see them.

"She mistakenly thought that I was… Ah, what's the word?"

"Ah…" Lantern Taranna looks me over cautiously. "'Domitoring'?"

"Yes. Taking her as a concubine. I'm not, I told her that, so… No."

She doesn't look entirely convinced. "And you didn't say..? Anything else?"

"Ah, we mostly talked about your brother? Are you going somewhere with this?"

"I… Suppose not?"

We watch each other for a moment.

"Okay? Ah, anyway, Kara, as one of four kryptonians from Krypton that we have around, what do you think should happen to the Doomsday?"

"We should put it back together!"

"And then do what with it?"

"None of us know how to fly it, so I guess we just park it somewhere! Ooh, and we should study it!"

"To what end?"

"I just think it's neat!"

I sigh. "I do too. It's just that it's rather extremely dangerous, and-." My ring shimmers. "Excuse me. Yes?"

Alan's head appears. "Paul, did you say something.. weird.. to Lantern Coutara?"

"W-?" I look from him to Taranna, but she doesn't appear to know what he's talking about either. "Could you please define 'weird', because Lantern Taranna asked me the same thing."

"Apparently, you betrothed us. Now, I-."

"I most certainly did not. I just gave you a favourable reference!"

Taranna silently mouths 'oh' and nods her head.

"Okay." He sighs. "Paul, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I need you to stop. Completely. Do you understand?"

I nod. "Yes. I'm.. sorry for the inconvenience, whatever it is."

He sighs again, nodding. "I can handle it. Just… Not again." I nod solemnly. "Arisia's just about finished talking to the daxamites, if there's anything you want to say to 'em, now's the time."

"I'll be right-"

I see you.

"-here."

I nod as Alan lowers his ring, and then walk towards the red-lit cell where Cara Yat is being held. I'm not sure if it's her remaining injuries or her mental state, but her grip on her emotions is much weaker than it was. She sees me, but it seems that I barely warrant a scowl.

"Hello there!"

"I have nothing to say to you."

"'No 'thank you for overthrowing our robot overlords'?"

"They were there only because of you."

"Oh, take some responsibility for yourself. You say that you don't like aliens or technology and your decision got you more of both. If you were a better person this would be time for self-reflection." Her jaw tightens, but she doesn't otherwise react. "I wanted to let you know that after discussion with Lantern Coutara we won't be pressing charges, because I can't imagine-."

"'Charges'? From the one who abducted my son?"

"Yes. I've never charged someone with Perfidy before, and it might have been interesting to tick it off-."

"What?"

"Perfidy. It usually comes up when someone surrenders during a war and then tries to kill the people accepting it. You entered into a negotiation and then tried to kill the people you were negotiating with. I checked and it counts, because if people like you got away with it then no one would negotiate again. But the thing is, your crime doesn't warrant anything-."

"We were prisoners! The Eradicators-."

"Weren't there, yes. You had plenty of opportunity to warn us, and…" I narrow my eyes. "You don't actually want Lantern Yat back."

She scowls. "You know nothing."

"No… I do." I turn away from the cell. "Enjoy Daxam. Hopefully we'll never see each other again."

 

[Mr Zoat]

28th July 2013
12:47 GMT

"Hm." Sunset Shimmer trots out onto the frozen lake shore, tracking spell shimmering just above her head in the form of a burning compass. "It should be right around…" She frowns at the needle as it spins, glaring at the frozen water as if it's concealing a changeling hive.

I pick her up and turn her around.

"Oh." She dismisses the spell. "Right."

And there's the hive, concealed partly by snow and by magic that wasn't quite good enough to block the Alicorn of Magic but was enough to block ring scans and Mother Box.

Ping.

No, it's just an observation. I don't expect you to be able to do literally everything.

Ping.

"Oh." Pharynx stares up at the foreign hive as its defenders begin to swarm in response to our intrusion. "I had no idea this place existed."

I smile. "Well, they probably didn't know that you existed, so in that sense you're even." I stride forwards, heading towards the outer wall. "Come along."

Sunset breathes in-. Then sort of cough-laughs and conjures up a glowing flame shield around us as she strides forward. "For a moment there I was a little worried. Then I remembered I'm an alicorn."

"Ah." Pharynx is hanging back a little. "Princess Sunset? This hive almost certainly has the same magic nullification stone as-"

Sunset's shield goes out.

"-my hive."

"Okay, that's interesting, because I can feel the magic crystals in the ground here like they have in the Crystal Cit-." She glares at me. "Empire."

"You know it's a stupid name too."

She rolls her eyes, then tries experimentally flapping her wings. She gets some lift, but nothing like enough to actually fly.

"It's got to be selective. Changelings aren't any more aerodynamic than ponies are."

Pharynx thinks for a moment, then his horn sort of pulses before fizzling out. Then he tries flapping his wings and all he gets is a buzz.

"Confirmed. It's strange being on this side of it." He looks up at the swarm which has reached critical mass and is now heading for us. "Um. Does your teleportation tube still work?"

"But it's a rock, which means…"

"Princess Sunset?"

Sunset presses her hooves into the rocky ground, causing the earth to rumble for a moment. The wall erupts from the bedrock, just in time for the changeling swarm to ram into it face first.

Pharynx looks at the concussed changelings littering the ground before us. "Nice to know it's not just us." He trots forwards towards one changeling who's struggling to rise. "Hey, we're just here to talk to your queen. Assuming that you have one."

Poof!

A large grey-chitined changeling teleported onto the top of Sunset's barricade, glaring down imperiously at us. Her mane and tail are blonde, as are her diaphanous wings. Her peytral is armoured, and studied with… Glowing crystals, interesting.

"Who dares intrude upon the lands of Hive Soryth?!"

I grin. "Twenty-seven."

She glares at me. "What are you babbling about?"

"I'm sorry." I shrug. "It's just that I've heard so many of these speeches that I've made a hobby of keeping count of how often certain common phrases come up."

"You will rue the day you mocked me!"

"Fifty three. And I won't."

"I've never had the chance to dissect an alicorn before-"

"Ooh, eleven."

"-and-. And-. I'll make a violin from your intestine!" She glares, leaning forwards. "Hah!"

I grin. "Four."

Sunset's thaumokinetic aura surrounds me and pulls me backwards as she steps forwards. "Hi! I'm Sunset Shimmer and I'm… Sorry about him."

"How-?" She stares at Sunset's horn. "How are you doing that?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm the Alicorn of Magic. I worked out how your anti-magic rocks work, bypassed them, and then started casting spells normally."

"Im-possible."

"Nineteen."

Sunset glances back at me. "Grayven!"

"Ninety eight."

The changeling queen blinks. "Alicorn of.. Magic? How is that possible?"

I go to open my mouth, and Sunset uses her thaumokinesis to hold it shut.

"I worked out how to transform a regular pony into an alicorn. And then I did it on myself. So, listen-."

The changeling queen suddenly looks more interested. "Your thaumic science is that advanced?"

"I didn't become Alicorn of Magic by being bad at magic." I raise my left eyebrow. "I mean, I had some help, but I did the work."

"And why are you here?"

"Well, Grayven-" She glances back at me for a moment. "-dealt with the changeling hive nearest to Equestria by cutting its queen's head off. Which means that we've got a load of changelings with no way to reproduce, and since Queen Chrysalis didn't tell anyone anything-."

"Queen Chrysalis is dead?"

I nod emphatically. Pharynx nods less enthusiastically besides me.

The changeling queen look perturbed, but not shocked. "And what do you want from me?"

"Dialogue, an exchange of ideas-. I can feel the magic in those crystals but I don't recognise what you're doing with it."

"I see that you're using a similar system to feed your pet changeling."

"Yes, but we have to use a giant magic siphon to fuel the system. Yours isn't fuelled by love magic."

"A siphon? No, we've learned to draw on the world's thaumic power indirectly. It can't sustain us, but we can shape it into spells."

"Huh." Sunset thinks for a moment. "Yeah, I can kind of see how you could-. Would you mind showing me your work? I might have a few ideas."

"I am… Not wholly hostile to an exchange of ideas and knowledge."

"Great! So, can we come in?"

The queen looks around as her people pull themselves upright, and nods cautiously. "You may. I am Queen Yaria. Welcome to my home."

 

[Mr Zoat]

28th July 2013
15:35 GMT

"So how does-?"

"But that means-!"

"If we combine that with…"

Well… I guess Sunset's got a new study buddy.

Queen Yaria's been grabbing records and lab equipment, Sunset's pulled apart her books on thaumaturgy and is using individual pages as reference material. There's a circle of what I think are changeling magic specialists around them, but they're in 'minimal safe distance' formation. A couple of the braver ones are taking notes as the pages float past them in Sunset's thaumokinetic grip, but most are watching the queen and alicorn closely in case they want something.

Or in case they need to start running.

Pharynx leans a little closer to one of the local guards. "What do you do for food around here?"

The guard… Physically can't frown due to having a face made of chitin, but ring-translation says that the tilt of his head means the same thing. "Did you get dropped on your head as a grub?"

Pharynx leans forwards slightly to bring his horn to bear in a mildly threatening way… Then thinks better of it.

"Ah. Maybe. Queen Chrysalis wasn't exactly attentive."

The guard blinks, then decides that he might as well answer. "We're changelings. We feed on love."

"So, you've got pods?"

"Of course we've got pods."

"It just that your hive seems fairly isolated. Where do you get people to fill them from?"

"Our nearest neighbours are polar bears. And yaks, but-" Pharynx winces sympathetically. "-they-. Ah, you've met them."

Pharynx nods. "Useful shape for smashing."

"Heh, yeah. Anyway, we've got a few bears in pods, but most of what we eat comes from long-term infiltrators."

"Long term..?"

"Did your queen get dropped on her head, too?"

"It wouldn't surprise me."

"You must be fairly sure of yourself to talk like that. Won't she punish you if she hears you?"

"She's dead, so probably not."

"Oh. How did that happen?"

"She tried taking over Equestria. It didn't work."

"So the ponies killed her?"

"Uh." He looks at me. "No, they threw us out of their capital and then as far as I can tell they forgot about us completely. He killed her."

I grin. "'sup? So, 'bout them pods…"

He looks at me, then at his queen, then back at me. "Um."

I smile. "Sure looks like they're getting along well, doesn't it? Keep talking about how you feed."

"Um. Um." He glances back to see that his colleagues are edging away from him. "Um. We-well, there isn't much point putting someone in a pod long-term. They run out of love. So the ones we bring here are just for improving our own techniques. Our infiltrators put the people they replace in pods for short term infiltration, but that's mostly to sustain themselves and keep the one they're replacing out of the way. Temporary abduction for food farming isn't practical."

"Oh?"

"People who won't be missed aren't loved. People who are loved get missed. We can get away with holding them for a few days and them dumping them somewhere and making it look like they got robbed, but if we do that too much then the local guard starts tearing up the place looking for bandits. It works better to create an identity, make friends, and feed a little on everyone around you."

"Oh?"

He nods towards Sunset and Yaria, and I see… A thin mist rising from Sunset and flowing into the queen's mouth. Sunset doesn't seem bothered by it or noticeably tired by it, so… It looks like low-level feeding is relatively safe.

I nod. "Good answer."

"Transportation is more difficult, but-. Ah. We've got a good system there."

"Do other changeling hives arrange their affairs in that way?"

"As far as I know? Except for Greneclyf, but they're a bunch of weirdoes."

"Oh? What do they do?"

"They trade for love energy with their pony neighbours. They hardly ever disguise themselves. They just… Wander around where everyone can see them." He shudders. "I don't know how they even still exist."

Pharynx stares, and then glances down at the emotion crystal embedded in his chitin. "Ponies just… Trade it? Without being tricked?"

"I haven't… Been there. But according to what I read, yeah. Their queen was even going to marry the pony king who made the deal, but he turned her down."

I nod. I think I know where we're going next.

"How much?!"

Queen Yaria buzzes her wings in excitement as Sunset does… Something with the crystal samples she's been given.

"Ah, yeah, I think that's about right. If you're just sending energy rather than the pod itself. Honestly, you could probably set up your own crystal heart with a focus strong enough, and it looks like your crystal carvers have the skill to create the physical components."

"And what do you want in return?"

"Well… If it works, then you won't need to drain love from other people, will you? I can't really.. criticise you for needing to eat, but our changelings manage fine with love crystals."

"Hmm." Queen Yaria looks thoughtful. "I'll consider it once we have a working prototype."

"And how long will that take?"

The queen looks around the room, her horn flashing as written work-orders appear in front of the other researchers. "I'm making it everybuggy's top priority."

They grab the documents and begin studying them intently.

"So it should only take a few days. You will… Stay here as my guest for that long, won't you? I'd be fascinated to hear about that… Friendship thing you ponies regard so highly."

"I'm.. not really the expert on that, but…" Sunset smiles slightly nervously as Yaria leans closer. "Princess Celestia always said that I need to make more friends, and I always found that easiest when I'm with someone who likes magic as much as I do."

"I'm more familiar with love magic, but…" Yaria smiles winsomely. "Maybe we can study this together?"

Sunset still looks a little nervous, but nods. "I'd like that."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Back Channels

29th July 2013
10:34 GMT

"Huh." I've seen New Genesis before, obviously, but this is Alan's first time. "So, they all live in that one city?"

"Just all the ones worth knowing."

He gives me a mildly reproachful look. "And all the ones who aren't worth knowing?"

"I only saw the one settlement, but it was roughly halfway across the continent Supertown is floating over."

"Is that a.. translation issue, or is it really called that?"

"No idea."

Lord Malvolio's face remains impassive- "A peculiar place where proud princelings preside o'er primitive peasants." -but he sounds about as impressed as I am.

"No... Not exactly. A lot of them choose to move away from Supertown and adopt a more primitive way of life. The insectiods were born to it, but given how they were created they wouldn't welcome New God intervention in their civilisation."

"They choose squalor and ignorance over strength and industriousness."

"Hey, no one's more down on people who reject civilisation than me, but the insectoids chose the hard work of building their own civilisation over slavery to their creators. As long as they keep improving, I can respect that."

He considers for a moment, then nods. "And I, likewise. But these 'primitives', what say you of them?"

"I can sort of see why they might desire to get closer to nature. But there are hundreds of worlds where they'd have to work for it, and where they could benefit the other inhabitants of the planet they chose. Here they're just… Larping. Pretending to struggle when they're pitching tents in their parents' garden."

Alan frowns, probably feeling that I'm being too harsh but realising that he doesn't know enough to argue the point. "Do they do it permanently, or is it just a year out kind of thing?"

"The ones I spoke to seemed to consider it permanent."

"Like churlish children, they hide from their higher calling."

"I suppose it's better than half-"

"Ah." Lantern Priest turns away from the planet. "They're here."

"Warning! Will detected!" / "Guardian arrival detected."

"-arsing it."

The four of us reorientate in space as the procession from Oa arrives.

Given that the Guardians Appa Ali Apsa and Ganthet are a lot more powerful than any Lanterns they could bring, it isn't really surprising that they're taking the lead. Guy coming isn't all that surprising either, though he limits his acknowledgement of me to a fleeting instant of eye contact. Illustres Chaselon's presence is a little surprising, though given the importance of the exercise perhaps not all that strange. Three rookies whose names I don't know, probably here to get a look at how the Corps carries out diplomacy with organisations and peoples it can't simply overawe. And four Fists of the Guardians. I'm.. not sure what they're here for. My first guess is that the other Guardians back on Oa are using them for telepresence, but they're still a bit of an odd addition.

And in the hands of the one in the middle of the formation, a power ring I haven't seen for a while. The last resting place of Guardian Ogandu Onna Oslan. I seem to remember that he had Manhunter androids with him, which combined with the Controller's ignorance of the location of the orange light fountain puts his assimilation after the Manhunter Revolt. I wonder if the Controllers knew him, and how different his perspective is from that of modern Guardians.

If at all.

"Ah." Lantern Priest actually opens his eyes for the first time since we arrived. "I see why the Guardians had difficulty."

"Can you contrive a cure for the curse?"

"No. But I am too attuned to the green light to understand it as well as I would need to. I am a little surprised that the Illustres could not."

"The orange light isn't about giving things away."

"On the face of it, the green light is not the colour of passivity. And yet, it is perfectly possible for a Green Lantern to float down a stream on his back, allowing the current to take him where it will."

"I remember the exercise, my former master." Lord Malvolio sounds unimpressed.

"I remember you sinking."

"As do I. Still, I learned to swim, so the time was well spent."

The Guardians lead their party in our direction, and I can… Feel them edging out the orange light, their own natures so opposed to it that my constructs are weakening. Jolly rude, actually, and I can see that Alan's experiencing something similar. I don't remember them doing that last time I spoke to them, which suggests that it's deliberate.

"I remember that one." Lord Malvolio is staring at Ganthet. "Is it he who condemned me, Priest?"

"They all did. Your condemnation was unanimous."

"Then I shall treat with them as with foes." He clenches his right hand into a fist, glowing plate armour appearing around his body and a sword appearing at his waist.

"Steady. They're not here to fight you."

"True."

"Or any of us."

"Hopefully." I raise my right hand in greeting. "Guardians! Illustres! Other people!"

Guy checks that no one's watching him too closely, then covertly gives me the finger.

"Illustres." Appa Ali Apsa actually smiles, while Ganthet is spreading his attention between all four of us. I imagine that we're all quite fascinating. "Thank you for making us aware of the opportunity. It will be pleasant to speak with our brother again."

"Not a problem. But why is he in ring form?"

Appa looks slightly sad for a moment. "Whenever we restored him to his original shape, he would attempt to seek you out. Since you have defeated Larfleeze, he appears to consider you to be his rightful sovereign."

I shake my head. "Satanus was bad enough. I am not ready to absorb a Guardian's memories."

"I am glad that you recognise that." He drifts by me. "And you are Lord Malvolio."

"And you are a part of the cursed coterie that sentenced my sector to calamity and chaos."

"You knew the restrictions which we place upon our Lanterns when you accepted that ring."

Malvolio's eyes narrow behind his visor. "You misremember; I accept nothing of your law, and you grant me nothing in return. The ring? You failed to reclaim it, and I feel your pull even now as you continue to test me by trying. My sector is stable and prosperous by my rule and not yours. Desist."

Appa glances at Lantern Priest, who makes a gesture which… Means something like 'this is your responsibility' with a little 'I've done my part'. "Very well. I see no purpose in continuing a course of action that clearly isn't working any better now than it did three hundred years ago."

"Better."

He dismisses his sword, but leaves his armour on.

Appa gives him a small nod. "Then unless there is anything else which anyone wishes to bring up, we have an appointment with Izaya."

 

[Mr Zoat]

29th July 2013
10:40 GMT

I watch as the Guardian procession heads towards Supertown while I float… A few miles away. I need to be here in case something goes wrong, and apparently so that our ring-shaped Guardian doesn't try to seek me out. I wonder why he never got as far as me? Could they cloud his senses so that he couldn't detect me, or does becoming a construct restrict his powers in some way? I suppose that if they're a result of symbiosis as I half-remember from the comics then lacking a body would result in him losing them.

I pull the Eradicator head out of subspace and look at it.

Hm.

Roy managed to drill a neat hole through both of the eyes, so the cameras and the focusing system for the heat beams is gone. It was probably less advanced than the one Kon and I fought on Xenon, but it might have been nice to see how the technology changed over time. The short term memory store survived Roy's shot due to the internal armour partition, but… It looks like they're designed to send sensory data back to the main unit rather than maintain records themselves. I say 'looks like'; they may have had the main data store in their chests rather than their heads.

But looking behind the eyes, it doesn't looks like the energy weapons built into the face were anything special, actually. Not unless Dubbilex feels like creating G-Pixies. They actually use the same sort of cell suspension that the G-Sprites use to generate electricity, just combining it with small sunstones to activate the things. The design doesn't appear to include capacitors, so I have to assume that the build up is so rapid that they weren't required. Either that, or they were built directly into the eye itself.

I sigh quietly.

But since I don't really care about kryptonian energy weapons and I don't think that Dubbilex is interested in creating siblings who would require inorganic crystals in order to function, the only interesting thing is the memory store. And it's frustratingly incomplete. This Eradicator was apparently mostly being used to perform repairs and maintenance on the Daxamite fleet, so that's what I've got footage of. Interesting enough, but not anything that I couldn't have learned from Har-Zod…

No. Given the age of the ships, it's quite possible that he wouldn't know.

Nothing that NEMO engineers couldn't have worked out, then. Actual useful footage is a bit.. rarer. No images of Doctor Knight's ship. Nothing of the Deep Six. Nothing of Vandal Savage. And nothing showing the 'other' source of power rings Super Eradicator was talking about. No Lanterns on-screen, and the only remotely Lantern-like thing is a brief green glow in one shot, and I suspect that's just the local Green Lantern. I will check of course, but given how out-of-character Daxam was behaving it would have been strange if they didn't check up on the place.

I consider the Eradicator head again. Maybe Wallace can use if for a cave decoration or something.

I send it back into subspace and sit back to-.

My ring shimmers.

"Illustres here."

Guy's head appears. "Orion ain't here, Paul. Get over here."

Ah, okay. "Be with you shortly."

I'm not going to try faster than light travel near Guardians and Supertown. Instead I fly through the air, keeping a careful eye out in case Guy thinks that me bumping into Orion would count as a prank.

"Where is he, then?"

"Highfather sent him t' tawk t' the hillbillies. Won't be back fer a couple a' days."

"He sent Orion for that?"

"Gawt him outta th' way, didn't it?"

A soldier standing guard outside one of the towers raises his right hand to beckon me down. While I can see where the Guardians are perfectly well I wasn't sure where the proper door was. I give him a nod of thanks, then fly through the entrance and… In their direction.

The interior decoration is a little more tasteful than the exterior plating. I wonder if it was green anyway, or if they decorated it like this in honour of the Guardians?

I find where they're having the meeting soon enough. Izaya's holding the ring, frowning faintly. A well-muscled New God in a yellow body stocking with gold decoration is standing at ease near to him, looking at the Fists with mild interest. Hovering around the ring is a… Bald head connected to some sort of anti-gravity unit. And it seems that the version of Metron who exists in this universe has blue skin for… Some reason. He's floating just above the rest in the Mobius Chair… Except for Guy who's making a point of being just a little higher.

And he's staring at me.

I raise my right hand and give him a friendly wave and a smile.

Ganthet raises his hands, some sort of analytical construct forming around the ring. "Very well. I am ready. You may begin."

Highfather lets the ring rest on his left palm, holding his staff with his right. A sphere of distorted space forms around the ring and it floats in front of him. "I imagine this will take a good deal longer than the Deep Six, given a Guardian's age and the length of time he has been a Construct-Lantern."

"You will find that we are extremely patient."

Appa nods. "Let us know if you encounter any difficulty, and we will be happy to assist."

The floating head doesn't nod due to the fact that he doesn't have a neck, but he does smile. "My probes are ready, Highfather. We shall see in detail how the power of the Source interacts with this anomalous construct."

Highfather looks up at Metron. "And you, Metron? Are you prepared?"

Metron continues staring at me. "I was ready the moment I arrived."

I take a small lead sheet out of subspace, and position it so that it's floating in the air between him and me. Guy glances down, looks from me to Metron, and isn't quite able to contain his smile. Now-.

Oh.

"Illustres to whoever's on asylum duty." A clicker's head appears over my ring. "We're about to try transforming one of Larfleeze's Construct-Lanterns back into a living person. Please be alert for any changes in his behaviour."

"Yes, Illustres."

I clench my left hand, ending the transmission. And everyone's looking at me.

"I couldn't bring him here, could I? He's in the asylum for a very good reason."

Highfather nods. "Please have Ogandu Onna Oslan return to his Guardian form."

I nod, and

crack the structure, turning him from a desire-based tool to a manifestation of his own desires.

Ganthet retains his equanimity, but Appa isn't able to prevent himself looking sombre. Or perhaps that's just his role as it is for Hinon. Highfather meets his eyes for a moment, then gestures towards him with his staff. "I grant you respite."

The orange glow intensifies, and at the same time Highfather seems more… There, standing out despite not overtly changing. And… The New Gods are all staring at his work, which lets me return the lead sheet to subspace. And the Guardians are studying it closest, things… Moving, in Appa Ali Apsa's construct.

I glance up at Guy, who glances down at me. We shrug at each other.

And then the orange cracks like a shell, and inside… A Guardian, slightly taller than the other two but otherwise unremarkable. He stares around, apparently not entirely clear where he is.

Appa Ali Apsa floats towards him, laying his right hand on his shoulder. "Welcome back, brother."

 

[Mr Zoat]

29th July 2013
10:46 GMT

The one guy you're trying to avoid at a party…

Metron leans slightly forwards in his chair. "You're not supposed to exist." "Tell me your secrets."

"And you're not supposed to be blue, but you don't see me hassling you about it. Don't feel bad though: multiple time travellers have had no idea who I am either. I've actually sponsored an archiving project on my homeworld-" One run by Dubbilex. "-to try to ensure that as much information as possible survives our next disaster because clearly future historians have no idea what they're talking about. Can I interest you in some Sheeda body parts?"

He glances aside, perhaps contemplating the offer. The he returns his full attention to me. "No, I have some from their last Harvest. Though I suppose that I should thank you for increasing their rarity value." "Show me your nature."

"Anti-Life transmission pillars? We have quite a few."

"P-lease. Who do you think designed them?"

… Ah… "I was hoping it was Virman Vundabar, but I can't say that I'm surprised."

He actually looks mildly offended. "That small-minded sycophant? His mind is as monocular as that ridiculous eyepiece he wears."

"And… Why did you devise a way to spread the Anti-Life faster?"

"So that Darkseid would allow me to study it. He's usually exceedingly jealous of it, but the opportunity to spread its effect without needing to be personally present was too great a lure."

"More likely he hoped you'd fall under its thrall."

"Then he hopes in vain. But returning to your own anomalous nature, I would appreciate an answer." "ANSWER ME!"

"You haven't exactly sold me on your moral probity. But…" Ring, strip me.

Compliance.

From the other side of the 'party', Alan turns away from Ganthet to give me a puzzled look as my armour and outerwear vanish, but I wave him off.

Metron seems somewhat taken aback by the sight, whether that's because he's unusually prudish or because even he can't change mental directions that quickly.

"See these marks?"

"I'm familiar with most forms of magic."

"See how they're designed to throw off detection and gradually build up power?"

"Yes. But that shouldn't erase you from the minds of time travellers."

"Yeah, but I've been exposed to a lot of weird energies over the last couple of years, and it's designed to absorb all of them. And the orange light does that even more strongly." I have the ring restore my clothing. "Temporal energy, the Anti-Life itself, the Dream… I don't think anyone's done anything quite like this, so… Who knows what it could do?"

"An interesting puzzle. Would you object to-?"

"Yes. You designed the Anti-Life broadcasters, and hence cannot be trusted. Excuse me."

I turn away, feeling a little warm at his disgruntled expression. Hardly just recompense for what he did to Earth, but I'll take it for now. Highfather is talking to Appa Ali Apsa, and they seem to be getting on. Malvolio is talking rather stiffly to Chaselon while Priest is giving pointers to the recruits. Ogandu Onna Oslan is staring off the side of Supertown while Guy keeps an eye on him. I can feel the immense capacity for mental focus within him, but it's… Blurry. I think that's an indication that he doesn't have anything to focus on, exactly. Flying head vanished once the transformation was over, and gold armour is… Watching me, though now that I've moved away from Metron he appears to be a little more relaxed.

"Guardian. Alan."

"That guy hassling you?"

"Turns out that he designed the Anti-Life broadcasters."

"You-." He turns to glare at Metron, who appears to be silently contemplating matters. "What?"

"He's completely amoral. I'm surprised in the specific, not in the general." I clap my hands together. "Guardian Ganthet! I think the three of us are overdue for a talk."

"I agree. Follow me."

He rises into the air at speed, Alan and I following swiftly at his heels. We reach just to the edge of the atmosphere before Ganthet stops, creating a shield around us.

"There. We may now speak privately."

Alan looks mildly puzzled. "Okay? Paul told me you might be working on blue rings yourself."

"I am. I had thought that pairing Blue Lanterns with Green Lanterns might grant them an alternate viewpoint to guard against institutional groupthink. Green Lanterns have a proud history of service but I have noticed over the long millennia that they can sometimes be excessively bullish. Furthermore, the green light does not in itself guarantee that they will be morally good people. I cannot help but think that if we had been less blinkered we would have noticed the direction Thaal Sinestro was heading in early enough to intervene."

Alan shakes his head. "I don't think any of Earth's Lanterns are in any danger, except maybe Carol."

"She was like that when we got her. Also, thank you for not saying me."

"Don't mention it."

Though maybe you could have mentioned Batman. But… Conversation for another day.

"How did you persuade a Weaponer to make it for you?"

"Weaponers feel hope. Just not over things anyone else would actually want to happen."

Ganthet nods dejectedly. "I did not think that would work. It has been some time since I have felt hope for myself."

Alan frowns in concern. "Why's that?"

"Becoming a Guardian reduced my emotional range. We are all profoundly rational beings."

Alan considers the idea for a moment. "I don't know that I'd want to live like that."

"I can change, but that would involve leaving my current responsibilities and brotherhood, and even with our lost brother returned to us, I do not think that would be wise. Still, if you are willing to share your personal lantern's data, it would assist me in my own project."

Alan looks to me for advice.

"I don't see any harm in it. Guardian Ganthet's a good person."

"It is kind of you to say so."

"Alright." Alan calls his lantern out of subspace. "Sure. Fill your boots."

"Oh, ah, Ganthet?" He turns to me as he raises his right hand towards Alan's lantern. "Have any Green Lanterns been near Daxam recently?"

His eyes flicker green. "Do you mean 'inside the system?" I nod. "Not for several years. They have made their desire for isolation very clear."

"Huh." I nod. A dead end, then. Disappointing, but… It happens. Still, I know who I can talk to to get more information. "Okay. Thank you."

 

[Mr Zoat]

30th July 2013
23:38 GMT

Ken Lee starts in a very understated manner when I appear in front of him, before regaining his composure. "Oh El."

I blink at hearing him call me that, and for one strange moment consider the idea that Wallace might have visited here before me.

He raises his eyebrows. "Did I say something untoward?"

"No, I was just puzzled by the appellation."

"An abbreviation of your title 'Orange Lantern'. We shouldn't be disturbed -my wife took our children to visit her parents- but just in case we receive a surprise visitor I don't want there to be anything to overhear or-" He glances at my ring. "-see, which shouts 'alien'."

I nod, moving my rings to my toes before switching my clothing to something local-looking and minimising my environmental shield. He checks me over, then nods.

I look around at his… Home? Wood and plaster rather than stone or brick, but well made. Some of the more backwards parts of Themyscira are built like this, and the Daxamites don't have the advantage of indefinite lifespans. I don't know if being a lawyer would be a full-time job here or if he'd be a smallholder as well… But I probably don't need to.

"So."

"So, you want information."

"And you appeared to be a rational man when we spoke on the Watchtower."

"And you didn't kill me, despite having cause."

"Outside of the Reach war zone, I'm primarily a police officer. My aim is to detain criminals, circumstances permitting."

"And yet you had that powdered lead ready to go."

"I knew that it would remove your powers and that it wouldn't kill you quickly. So it made a good low-lethality weapon."

"Hm." He nods. "I can tell you what I know, though that isn't everything. And-."

"You want something in return, yes. This isn't my first one of these. How much 'not everything' are we talking about?"

"I…" He sighs. "I'm not an Elder. I'm not involved in the decision-making when it comes to our reliquaries. Not… Usually. But I have done some work for the Yat family before, and Cara Yat consulted with me on the matter of precedence relating to their use. Then, when the Eradicator Program was activated, I was… I had a front row seat. As I said, I wasn't making decisions, but I was included in the councils where they were made."

"Alright, that sounds useful. What is it that you want?"

He looks away from me, towards a family portrait on one of the walls. Just below it there's a wooden chest, inside which-. Children's toys in wood and metal.

"Having children… Changes your perspective on some things. I'm not… Cara Yat's approach-. That's not how we usually do things, I don't want you to get that impression. I know it's difficult for her, her son being a heretic, but she was obviously being hysterical in how she was handling it. Or…" He shrugs. "Maybe I'd be like that if it was one of my daughters. I hope not, but I suppose I won't ever know."

"Ah."

He turns back to me. "Mm?"

"Oh, I just thought… Never mind."

"I'm not abandoning my people, Oh El. I watched some of your transmissions when we entered your system." He shakes his head, whatever he saw clearly having disturbed him. "I will choose my words with more care than Cara Yat and say that your way of life is not for me."

"O.. kay..? So what are you asking this alien to give you? You're not getting the Doomsday, if that's what-."

"No."

"I can give you an emergency beacon, in case someone comes here in more force than your defences can repel."

"That-. That would be nice, but that is not what I want." I make a circling gesture with my right hand. "When our forebears came here, Kem-El infected us with a retrovirus that altered our DNA. We are cultural puritans. This is… Ever since I was told of his evil in my earliest schooling, it is almost as if there's something… Crawling, inside my body."

"You want me to turn you back into a regular kryptonian?"

"Myself, and my children. Can you do it?"

"Not your wife?"

"I'd like her to, but she considers being touched by alien technology to be worse."

"Or anyone else?"

"There's no one I could tell, not unless I wished to risk accusations of heresy."

"True ones."

"A few seconds under the effects of your ring would free me from a lifetime of Kem-El's retrovirus. Neither choice is entirely pure, but to my mind one is better than the other."

"Alright. Ah, do you have samples of Kem-El's retrovirus?"

"No? Do you need it? There might be preserved blood samples in the reliquaries, but I don't know for certain."

"Ideally, yes. I've only seen the genetic codes of a small number of kryptonians. Kem-El's work was clearly something that he intended to affect both the then-current generation and their descendants, which means that it affected your gametes. Without more samples, working on you would involve a good deal more guesswork than I'm comfortable with. If you're desperate, I might be able to do what you ask without them, but I don't think that's a good idea."

"I.. don't really know anything about how viruses actually work…"

I frown. "So how do you know what a retrovirus is?"

"I suppose I.. don't, really. We're just told the name and a rough description of what it did."

"Do you know what DNA is?"

"Again, not…" He shakes his head. "Not really. Do I need to know that?"

"Technically, no. Alright, do..? Are there any devices on Daxam which can detect power ring scans?"

"Not to my knowledge, but… Given what has just happened, I don't think anyone would be surprised if you were in the system and checking up on us."

"Fair point. Ring? General scan. Get me genetic profiles."

"Compliance."

Oooooooh. Huh. Right, so… That bit related to… The length of that molecule, which… Okay, that makes… As much sense as this sort of thing tends to. So if I sub out that part-.

Ah, yes, I see why it killed people. The side effect of doing that with a retrovirus… It wouldn't be as clean as a power ring.

"Yeah, I'm not… Taking a risk on that with what I know now. How long is your wife away for?"

"Four days. I gave us a margin like that because I thought that you might want to enter a reliquary."

I nod. "I can get more samples within that window. If I can't work it out from that, I'll… Try consulting with a specialist. Good day."

 

[Mr Zoat]

31st July 2013
16:22 GMT

Superman flies closer as I manoeuvre the last part of the Doomsday into position.

"I want to apologise."

Eradicators may be powerful for combat androids, but they aren't at the level of an actual empowered kryptonian or a competent Lantern. For better or worse our guests have been sent home, and the people of Daxam are masters of their own fate again. We even let them take their ship back with them, because they've got centuries of evidence that they're not going to actively threaten anyone with it. After leaving Ken Lee I fabricated some warning beacons in case of anyone poking around the system and then… Came home.

I check that it's a good connection and that the ship's crystalline regenerative systems are mending the gap.

"What for?"

"I nearly killed you."

"Kal-El, you had your mind rewritten by the Eradicator Program. I don't blame you for that any more than I blame Kara for what she did under the influence of the black kryptonite. Don't worry about it." Wait. "No, that's not quite right. Don't worry about nearly killing me. Do worry about how easy it is for that type of kryptonian technology to control you."

"I have been practicing the theta-wave state. It helped a little with the Anti-Life. But it did nothing at all to stop the Eradicator Program."

"Yes, it boasted about that. Did Har-Zod have anything to say about it?"

"He didn't even know it existed. Kem-El didn't go out of his way to tell anyone what he'd done or leave records, and neither the kryptonians or the daxamites wanted anything to do with each other." He sighs, his breathing mask briefly fogging from the moisture. "And isolationism made contact impossible."

"Did he have any ideas about how to stop it happening again?"

"Destroy the emitter before it can finish."

"Sound advice. Would you recognise it if it was happening again?"

"I.. don't know. I think so. I hope so, but I can't be sure."

"Perhaps you could ask-?"

He shakes his head. "I already spoke to J'onn. The theta-wave state would stop any sort of telepathic programming working properly. And normally that would be all I'd need, except that the Eradicator Program is better at it than I am."

"I was thinking of using magic, actually. It should be possible to create a mind-protection spell, especially now that Metis is active again."

He nods. "I'll talk to Doctor Mist about that."

"I don't suppose that you kept… The Eradicator Program's knowledge of how to manipulate construct energy, did you?"

He looks at me slightly awkwardly. "Not.. as such. I couldn't do it now, but I… I can sort of see how it could be done. Sorry."

"What?" I frown. "No? I didn't realise that Torquasm could be used like that, but I'm glad that you're improving. Don't stop learning on my account."

"I thought you'd be more worried about it."

"Yes, and if you weren't you then I'd be a good deal more concerned. But you are, and as long as you stay you then there's no problem. But… Maybe don't share that with Kara Two?"

"She hasn't really.. been taking part in the lessons anyway, but if it helps..? Is she really that much-"

"Yes."

"-work..? Ah, okay, in that case, thank you for keeping an eye on her."

"I can manage. Any plans on what to do with the ship?"

"Not really. It's too big to dock with Xenon or my Fortress. It sure won't fit in my apartment in Metropolis. I don't think the Daxamites would use it-"

"Sir-."

"-and I'm not really comfortable with them having that much firepower. Do you have any ideas?"

"That depends on the A.I.. Lantern Yat could use it."

"He's a little.. young."

"Oh, I don't mean that I'd send him into combat right away. But he could learn to use it, and then when he reached adulthood we'd have a nifty ship to use against the Reach. Alternately, we could send it to Lantern Ranx and let NEMO's research and development teams look at it."

"Do you think this is the only kryptonian ship left?"

Ah… "The Science Council ordered the navy scuttled, and I didn't see any ship remnants when I was in the Rao system. So, probably."

"Then I think I'd rather keep it in this star system. It's an important part of kryptonian heritage."

"And Earth could do with a decent warship. Do you intend to learn how to pilot it yourself?"

"I probably should." For the first time in the conversation he smiles slightly. "If only for the expression on Luthor's face when he finds out."

"I imagine he's making some fairly interesting expressions now, knowing that you beat his best power armour without breaking a sweat."

31st July 2013
11:24 GMT -5

I carefully study the revealed internal mechanisms of the battered power armour. And I smile.

"Good work, Doctor Colchin. I assume that you're working on improving the next generation?"

Doctor Colchin nods as he continues studying the telemetry data. "Yes, Mister Luthor. There really is nothing like field test data for identifying areas of weakness."

31st July 2013
16:24 GMT

"Ah, the self-repair has finished. Do you want to go on board?"

"I think I'll wait until all of Earth's kryptonians can get together. I just wanted to be here in case something went wrong. Did you know that Luthor has been asking-. Well, demanding, that we let some of his people take a look at it?"

"After he broke the law by not declaring it in the first place? I didn't know, but I'm not surprised. Why?"

"Because his researchers know more about kryptonian technology than anyone else."

"That may actually be true. But I think letting Har-Zod interrogate its A.I. is a better idea."

"And so do I. Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?"

I nod. "I plan on spending some time with Jade. It's been… Pointed out to me that I haven't been doing that enough lately."

He nods. "Have fun. You could use the time off."

31st July 2013
23:31 GMT

"Batman." Since Jade's exo-mantle includes scry wards and she hasn't taken off her helmet I'm not completely sure what her expression is, but I can guess. "You're going after Batman."

"Sort of."

 

[Mr Zoat]

31st July 2013
20:34 GMT

Jade looks at me mildly reproachfully. "I had that."

I look down at the… Okay, that is a Scarab Warrior, but from what I can tell it's one of the lower end ones. Looks like they stuck it on a local man without doing any of the preparation work or indoctrination because that shouldn't have been as easy as it was.

I look up at her, smiling. "I'm certain that you did. However..." Got it. "I can prevent this Scarab self-destructing and- "

The armour peels itself off the host, retreating back into the Scarab. I deploy a construct and pluck it from the man's spine.

"-capture it intact."

She looks curious. "How?"

"I can bypass previous generation anti-construct defences and alter the Scarab's desires, and since the Scarab now earnestly wants to help it volunteers."

"Hm." She nods, half-turning to where the rest of her squad are detaining the rest of the paramilitary militia. One looks at the Scarab floating in my construct clamp and sags in defeat. "How about current generation defences?"

"No luck yet. They self-destruct if they move outside of prescribed tolerances." I watch as the paramilitaries are cuffed and manacled before being handed over to the local security forces. I could just look it up, but… "What did this lot do?"

"Their group bombed a recruitment centre and murdered off-duty soldiers."

"Are they..?" I tap the side of my head with my right forefinger and she shrugs.

Jade shakes her head. "We haven't found any signs of it. There's probably a training cadre somewhere in the mountains who are, but most of them are true believers."

Ah. My eyes dip for a moment. "That's a shame."

But it's not a surprise. The Reach love mind control in every form. Purging it from places where we know it is, worlds newly brought under their control? Simple, if not easy. Once they're firmly in control they only take things slowly when they really have to. But we've been expecting more subtle efforts to spring up everywhere ever since the war began, and they haven't disappointed.

And sometimes it's not them at all.

Sometimes it's casualties, or the economic drain, or old industries becoming obsolete or being forced to work with their old enemies. And it's not like there are many sources on the Reach outside of NEMO so how do they know they can trust us?

Sometimes it's purely internal, and rational. Just… Incorrect.

"How are they going to handle the trials?"

"Maximum openness. Everything will be broadcast, with summaries on every news program."

"Likely response?"

A small smile. "A tour of the front lines so they can see what we're up against. Then, it depends how they respond."

"Is that the local punishment, or how Darkstar counterinsurgency wants it handled?"

"Mm. We advise, but it's their decision."

I nod. Then everything's working as it's supposed to.

"Vandal Savage appears to be working with Apokolips. Still."

"Are you sure he's not just using left over technology?"

"He had a squad of Apokoliptian commandos under his command. Now, they could have been working as mercenaries, but given the late Queen Bee's contact before Mannheim started hogging their attention I think that's unlikely."

"Is Darkseid trying to attack Earth again?"

"I.. don't know. I'd say that I doubt it-. I was assuming that he'd give it a little while. I mean, he left us alone since the Renaissance…"

She flashes me a crooked smile. "Maybe you're too interesting to ignore?"

"Maybe. Ah." She looks closely at my face with a small frown. "I-."

"You haven't been ignoring me. Artemis and Mom live on Earth and I understand how important what you're doing there is."

"In… This instance, I was hoping to hit two birds with one stone."

She smiles faintly. "This should be good."

"I'm not much of an investigator. And.. I'm.. extremely concerned about some of the things Batman's doing while we're working on reconstruction. It would be… Helpful to me if you'd accept temporary reassignment to Earth. With a.. team, if you think it's appropriate."

She thinks for a moment. "Two birds."

"I miss you. I miss you not being around. I know we'd.. both be working a lot, but…"

She nods. "Still regret the five year thing, huh?"

"Yeah." I sigh. "I don't want you to ever think that.. I don't. If I could have thought of a better way for you to fulfil your professional ambitions I'd have suggested that-."

"Like what, Paul? Be honest."

"Infiltrating the Black Suns?"

"With who?"

"One of the… Sector's governments? I'm sure we could find.. someone doing something like that."

She looks at me fondly, but she's clearly not convinced. "There isn't always a perfect answer, Paul. I barely accepted the Darkstars. I only did it because I knew I wouldn't be getting any favors. If you'd persuaded someone to include me in an investigation just because you asked, it-. Wouldn't have worked."

I sigh. "Yeah."

"But…" She looks around as the rest of her squad hang around at maximum eavesdropping distance. "Since we're finished up here, I… Think I could accept getting reassigned. For a month or-"

I dart forwards, wrapping my arms around her.

"-so-."

She rolls her eyes, but fondly. And she's smiling properly.

"You'll need to arrange quarters for the rest of the squad."

"My place in Bir Tawil has plenty of room. Lanterns Coutara, Taranna and Yat are staying there."

"And is Kara still living next door?"

I nod. "With Bleez."

"Does she still do the thing with her towel?"

"Not.. really. It's on the equator. A towel's kind of… Superfluous."

Her eyes narrow slightly. "Maybe I should have come back sooner."

I nod. "Yes. You should."

 

[Mr Zoat]

31st July 2013
21:02 GMT

I smile as Director Jeddigar walks into the room. He's.. not wearing his usual suit-. "Director, I hope that I didn't wake you."

"I wouldn't worry about it." He sits down opposite me. "I've been sleeping much better since we started pushing the Reach back. I think I owe you a few hours."

"Well, thank you, but this isn't urgent. It could have waited."

He shrugs. "I'm awake now. What is it that you want?"

"I want to borrow a Darkstar investigation team for action on Earth. I'm not an investigator, and the people I would usually go to may be compromised. I intend to use them for… Perhaps two months? And since the only human in the Darkstars is-"

"Your lover."

"-Jade-. Yes. Ah. Look. I realise-."

"You realise that I assumed that you were asking for a favour when I gave her a position, but your culture frowns upon that sort of 'horse trading' and she does actually have the skills required for the job. And that you are actually asking for a favour now -Earth not being part of NEMO- but that while it is convenient for you she really is the best person to send?"

"That... Mostly. Earth has a great deal of Apokoliptian technology and while I've been assuming that the people still using it are sourcing it either directly or indirectly from Apokolips, it's entirely possible that it's actually coming from Grayven."

He raises his eyebrows. "Is it coming from Grayven?"

"Probably not. But humans are far more compatible with New God technology than most species, so it would actually make sense for him to try something like that."

"May our enemies ever live down to our hopes for them."

"It would be nice. So, is that a problem?"

"No, I'm happy to sign off on that-. I assume that she'd rather take her current squad?"

"Unless there's someone you think is particularly suited to it, yes."

"No, I try to avoid employing insane people as Darkstars." He smiles ruefully, and I mirror his expression. I suppose it is hard to see what sort of person would flourish on Earth. "But I imagine that they'll need time to adjust. You'll make the practical arrangements?"

"There are so many investigations going on that no one will be surprised by me turning up with a squad. I've already expanded the trade post Manga Khan built… Expanding it a little more won't take more than a few minutes."

He smiles, giving his head a small shake. "I'm not quite used to how much you outperform other Lanterns. That should be adequate. I'll draft the order at once. Unless there's anything else?"

I shrug. "Nothing from my end. Is there anything you think I need to know about?"

"Some of the Effigies have begun sparring with the more aggressive Lanterns. Lantern Ragnar has things under control, but it seems that there might be competition between your organisations as they expand."

I shrug. "We're both drawing from a limited recruit pool. Not everyone can both use an orange ring and not be driven mad by it, and not everyone is going to want to be turned into an effigy of themselves. We already assign Lanterns to roles based on how they think rather than the fact that they're Lanterns. Incorporating another form of heavy combatant into our order of battle isn't going to be that hard."

"And the NEMO Council?"

"Presumably, Jevek Jos Jar gets the third Controller seat, but that's up to them. We can think about there being a dedicated Effigy seat once there are a few more of them."

"That would give us an even number."

"If the vote is ever four to four we should probably rethink the proposal anyway. If you're asking what I think we should do if it was a problem, then I suppose giving a seat to an independent Controller would be the thing to do."

"You could give up yours. The Darkstars have one while the Orange Lantern Corps effectively has three. Vril Dox himself usually casts three votes."

"And virtually all decisions are unanimous anyway. Is this a matter of pride, or is it actually a problem?"

He takes a moment to think hard about that one.

"Both, if I'm honest. I know that the Darkstars weren't capable of holding the line. I know that my hope that our actions would promote some sort of unity amongst the Reach's neighbours was entirely unrealistic. But a lot of Darkstars have died attempting to achieve that thankless task."

"And a lot of our initial intake were Darkstars. In.. fact, I think a majority of our squad leaders are former Darkstars. Ring?"

"Former Darkstars account for forty five percent of non-commissioned officer positions in the Orange Lantern Corps."

"Ah. Guess we've had some promotions."

"Substantial increase in recruitment from member world militaries. Lower peak output balanced by superior discipline and combat theatre awareness."

"That's news to you?"

"General recruitment is Clarissi Dox's responsibility. But… Yeah, okay. I don't object in principle to losing my seat if that actually makes things easier." He nods. "Have you..? Given any thought to what you want to do after the war?"

"After-?" His eye widen, and then he blinks. "Retire probably, if I'm still alive."

"And the Darkstar organisation?"

"Why? What are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure. Pick the next most vile thing in the galaxy and switch to fighting that? Switch to the Sector system? We'll have to see who's left when it happens, because a lot of Orange Lanterns are only with the Corps to fight the Reach and I don't want to assume commitment beyond that. Or they'll switch to reconstruction, which will probably take the rest of their natural lives. And unlike the Green Lantern Corps we don't replace one for one."

"The next most vile? Apokolips?"

"Apokolips requires special skills most Lanterns probably won't be able to learn. I was thinking Spider Guild."

"Mm." He nods. "That's certainly worthwhile. I suppose that the Darkstars might work as a NEMO-wide policing and intelligence agency. We're effectively doing that now."

"That's certainly worthwhile as well. I do want this power bloc to outlast the war." He nods, more in acknowledgement than agreement. "Well." I stand, offering him my hand. "Thank you for your assistance."

"Think nothing of it." He shakes my hand, then something appears to occur to him. "Will I be getting reports from the team?"

"Ah… Yes? Perhaps not immediately, as it's hard to guarantee transmissions against Earth technology, but certainly once they get back. It shouldn't affect anything here, but I suppose it's worth reading for their performance reviews if nothing else."

"Ah." He nods, apparently satisfied. "Then I hope that your investigation is successful. Goodbye, Illustres."

 

[Mr Zoat]

31st July 2013
23:26 GMT

I nod respectfully at the hologram of Venus Sivana. "Thank you, Professor. Ah. You don't think that Thaddeus Senior would have… Set any defences to active, do you?"

"Oh, don't worry. If he has, they'll only activate if you try and enter the habitation section or leave."

The man himself isn't on Earth at the moment, and apparently the only one who spends any time there outside of Family Day is Thaddeus Senior himself. So the others left the security in his hands. And if I want to have an actual private conversation… Somewhere that emphasises what I'm saying, there isn't anywhere better than his home away from home.

"Did he update the program to recognise me?"

She nods. "I'm sure he has. He's usually very good about that sort of thing."

Behind me, one of the Darkstars starts to look concerned.

Not Jade though. She started looking concerned when I mentioned the name 'Sivana'.

"Well, it'll be a teaching moment if he hasn't. Thank you for your help."

"We both owe you a great deal for bringing us back together. He's changed so much, it's-. Really, ask us anything."

Behind me, Jade's expression doesn't change but she isn't quite able to prevent herself shifting her weight slightly to her right foot.

"Goodbye, Professor."

I end the call and generate a zeta tube construct before turning to the Darkstar team. "Now-."

Jade raises her eyebrows. "'Sivana'."

"I've been to Thaddeus Sivana's places of work before. The automated defences are really just there to keep out casual thieves."

There's a moment of hesitation, and then the Darkstars raise their masers and form up for a breach.

"Paul, Doctor Sivana might have put you on the guest list, but the rest of us aren't on it. The League of Shadows used to have a rule that if we saw any sign that he was around we were to abandon the mission."

"He's mellowed out a lot."

"Illustres?" A Darkstar with skin of blue crystal glances at me. "How dangerous is this human? I thought that your species were only just entering the space age."

"I'm not totally sure that he couldn't -if he put his mind to it- build a weapon capable of unmaking all of reality. His younger son lives on Maltus and is outperforming the q'ardajin at scientific comprehension and weapon crafting. I've taken my eyes off his younger daughter and that may have been a mistake. He kidnapped a version of himself from a parallel universe to act as his guidance counsellor."

"You didn't read the human file?" A red-scaled Darkstar with an unusually flat head looks at his colleague in surprise. "My last Senior Agent had us all read it. Just in case, he said."

"I thought it was a joke."

"It's not a joke." / "It wasn't a joke."

I smile at Jade, who avoids meeting my eyes as she dons her helmet and engages her cloak. "On three."

The others signal affirmative, and don their own helmets. After a three count I feel the zeta radiation discharge as it conveys them across the universe. I count off the seconds until they arrive at the destination-

And consider why zeta gates aren't a common form of interstellar travel.

-before closing the construct down and

stepping out, homing in on the thin residue of Sivana-themed desires around Venus from their earlier trips there by spacecraft, the actual facility having long since been warded by things that I don't want to test. And then

it's back into the material universe and down through the clouds and towards the facility's main hangar. It's… Pretty, dropping through the raging death storm that's Venus's upper atmosphere and then it fades away as you get underneath it and you get a clear view of the layout of the whole place.

Pretty good way to hide the place, actually. Not a lot of sensors are going to detect much of anything through the storm. Even a shielded probe would probably be destroyed by it. You'd need a special hostile environment probe, and there's nothing on show from space that would make you think there's anything here to see.

I fly into the outer part of the hangar and signal the base computer. And… Two mechanical arms unfold from the walls, some sort of glowing scanning field appearing between them. It passes over me and the arms retract back into their vestibules. Then a-.

A small exterior panel slides down to reveal a hand scanner.

Alright. I doff my right gauntlet and press it to the scanner. Line up, line down, someone was in a retro mood when they made this. Green flash-. And an environmental shield deploys around the hangar exterior, a wave of force pushing the accumulated dust outwards. Only then does the exterior door open, retreating into the floor and roof.

Can't hear any shooting, so I'll take that as a good sign.

I fly.. slowly enough that the computer systems shouldn't mistake me for a missile or William, but faster than usual because it's been a couple of minutes and Dr. Sivana isn't a predictable man. A few Sivanadroids are still active, but everything else seems to be in standby mode as I'd expected. The zeta tube aperture should be-.

And that was a maser shot!

I pick up speed, grabbing a passing Sivanadroid with a construct as I shoot around the corners.

"Sivanadroid."

"Ready for-."

"Update guest list. Include Darkstar squad."

"Command prompt rec-."

"Sivanadroid, dismissed."

I set it down just before the final corner, hoping that's enough to-.

BOOM!

What?

Anarky dives across the kitchen, throwing some sort of-.

Thing I destroy with a point defence construct just as he reaches the boom tube aperture, vanishing from sight as the tube collapses.

Jade materialises a second later, jabbing a stun baton through the space the aperture was occupying a moment before. "Damn it." Her eyes lock onto me. "That was Anarky."

"Lonnie Machin, yes. I had.. no idea he was here. Did you see-?"

"A man in a blue trench coat and the Sane Hatter?" The other members of her squad walk out of a nearby corridor, and the flat-headed lizard shakes his head. "Yes, and they escaped too."

I can't help but smile. "Welcome to Earth."

 

[Mr Zoat]

31st July 2013
23:30 GMT

"It's a shame they couldn't stick around, actually. We're going after the same person." I gesture to the kitchen seating. "Take a seat, this isn't going to be-."

"Batman." Since Jade's exomantle includes scry wards and she hasn't taken off her helmet I'm not completely sure what her expression is, but I can guess. "You're going after Batman."

"Sort of."

Flat-headed lizard removes his helmet, and after a brief hesitation walks over to the table and pulls out a chair. After a brief comparison between his leg structure and the ergonomics of the chair, he perches on it before addressing me.

"Batman. Your people's de facto ruler and the Justice League's greatest strategist."

"It sounds like you read the file correctly."

"Our objective?"

Jade heads to the table, takes a seat and removes her helmet, and that seems to prompt the others to do the same. "Not assassination."

"Goodness me, I hope not. I mean, plan for it, in the sense that it makes sense to have contingencies for as many possible outcomes as you can, but that's definitely not what I'm aiming for. No, you're here to try and work out what he's doing and why, and provide me with that information. I'll decide what to do about it after that."

I take a hologram projector out of subspace and lay it on the table, setting it to generate an image of my solar system.

"Batman has a space station constructed at least partially of New God technology here-" I have the map display a ping. "-and he's using it to command and empower a legion of enhanced mind-scrubbed reconstruction engineers."

Flat head-. Darkstar Larksh, recoils. "Mind-scrubbed? I didn't think your species had that technology."

"We could have done it with a sufficiently powerful telepath and a good deal of time, but from the description that I've got that isn't what's happening here."

"I didn't think humans were telepathic, either."

"Less than one in a million humans are telepathic. Which means that every single human you meet might be telepathic, but that most of the time your anti-telepathic techniques won't do anything."

The squad's single clicker undulated in disbelief. "Is there not a register?"

"Not a reliable one. In some countries having unusual abilities is considered a private affair unless the individual chooses to go public with it. In others, they'd like to have a register, but since the technology to reliably test for it don't exist they're pretty much stuck using other telepaths to probe for it and that's impractical unless there's existing evidence of telepathy within a small geographic area. And of course the next planet out from the sun has a couple of billion telepathic shapeshifters on it."

Two members of the squad look to Jade for confirmation. She nods.

I fabricate data sticks for each of them and float them over.

"These contain… Everything. There's going to be a lot of background reading, but I'll give you a summary and then open the floor to questions. Seven months ago Earth was occupied by an Apokoliptian patsy and the population was exposed to a broadcast mind control meme. We fixed that, but the damage to every aspect of our civilisation was severe and our systems of governance underwent a partial collapse."

Calpri -the blue crystal Darkstar- nods. "Which is worse than a total collapse, because the parts that are left can't do their job but won't cooperate with you."

"You've done policing on reclaimed worlds?" An affirmative shimmer from them, and affirmative gestures from of the others. "More or less, but here it's more that we're trying to work with the parts that are left because they're part of our cultural traditions. Coming in as an external party is quite different."

Jade's controlling her expression quite well, but there's a small frown on her brow. "Is Batman bypassing the remaining governments?"

"Yes, but that's not my concern. That could just be a short term thing for a year or two. My concern is that it's radically out of character for him. I can see how a great strategist might find himself thrust into a position of autocratic authority after a crisis, and how that crisis might change him, and if that's all that's happened then so be it. But there are a lot of unnatural influences around here and I need to eliminate those as the source."

"Now, while you're doing that, I have other investigations that you can use as cover for activity on the surface. They're not your primary objective, but anything you learn would be useful. The immortal caveman Vandal Savage lent a group of Apokoliptian commandos his personal starship to take them to New Genesis recently to retrieve a very dangerous biological sample. Some friends and I stopped that… Mostly, but Savage himself is still at large and I want to know how that ship fell into his possession. Who knew he had it, and what else they might have gotten from the same place. While Earth has a somewhat functioning judicial system, the crimes he's committed are severe enough that there's a great deal of leeway in investigating him. The other ongoing investigation I've got going on is the aftermath of a custody dispute, but that's fairly low urgency."

I have the hologram ping the location of the Daxamite ship.

"After over a year, Lantern Yat's mother came looking for him. Almost the moment he arrived on Earth, which is a long way from Daxam. I'm investigating the Daxam end of things, but-."

The clicker rasps for attention. "We can go there and interrogate them."

"Read the file on Daxamites first."

She clicks twice to call up the file on her exomantle's computer.

"Oh."

"They're fanatically xenophobic, and we're still not sure what all of their reserves of pre-isolation kryptonian technology can do. You may decide to visit their planet, but do so with extreme care."

Larksh twitches. "What other NEMO assets are in the system?"

"Five Lanterns including me. One trade post that I'm living in, high security. My construct lanterns. And that's about it. I have various allies I can call upon, but the reason why I want a Darkstar squad on this is that I don't know where they stand and/or how compromised they are."

Jade arches her eyebrows. "Does that include my sister?"

"If Batman's using mind scrubbing? I'm afraid so. Artemis has a ward, but that doesn't grant invulnerability to exotic manipulation effects. You've been through subversion training, you know what people like the Reach can do with that technology."

"Has he?"

"Supposedly, all of the OMACs are volunteers. But-."

"If he can control their minds, that's extremely suspicious."

"And out of character for Batman. Using mind control doesn't make you immune to mind control." Okay, so… "My armour has a fracture pulse receiver, so if you need to communicate with me in the field you can do so. I've got an event to get to, then… All being well, I'll be back here. Any questions before I go?"

Calpri make an affirmative gesture. "Was there a particular event that altered Batman's mental state?"

"Me altering his thoughts to make him a better Yellow Lantern."

"Oh."

"Which is part of why it's my responsibility to get this fixed. Good luck."

 

[Mr Zoat]

31st July 2013
23:54 GMT

Superman, Kara and Ak-Var watch the screen as the image of a male kryptonian appears. He's wearing grey robes with the emblem of House Zod just under his rank insignia. Fleet Admiral, which means that this is-.

"Hey, that's Admiral Dru-Zod!" Ak-Var clearly recognises him. I… Suppose that he was still alive when Ak-Var was arrested. "He visited my school one time!"

"Hello, son or daughter of Krypton." The hologram's eyes aren't focusing, just staring in the direction he was looking in when he.. recorded this. That's a shame. I was mildly hopeful that we'd be getting another neural clone out of this. "If you're seeing this message, then at least one of us had the sense to overcome the Science Council's edict of isolation." He smiles ruefully, looking down for a moment before returning his eyes to the camera. "Or perhaps we were all very lucky, everyone came to their senses and I'm cringing as the Military Council watches this after I recovered the Doomsday myself." He sags slightly. "No. No. I won't even dare hope that has occurred. The demographics are too.. against us."

Kara's eyes are wide. "I didn't think this was real."

"But, you're here. I am or more likely was Admiral Dru-Zod of the Kryptonian Stellar Navy. This was my flagship, the Doomsday. I instructed it to entomb itself on a world far enough from Krypton that the Eradicators would struggle to find it in the hope that it would one day be returned to service. It is yours. If practical, I would urge you to use it as a reminder of the power and majesty of the Kryptonian military. Return it to Krypton and inspire our people to seize the stars once again. But given what I have done, I could hardly blame you if you wanted nothing to do with them."

"In either case, please take the time to examine my records. I loaded everything I could on strategy and tactics onto the Doomsday's computers, as well as records of every battle the navy ever fought. Do not waste this vessel's potential. May Rao shine upon you."

The hologram bows, and then fades away.

Ak-Var takes a step towards the controls, then hesitates and looks to Superman for approval. Superman shrugs. "I've never flown a kryptonian warship before. Have you?"

"Not a warship, but I've flown an air car a few times. It's basically the same." He glances at a console slightly to the side. "As long as I don't touch the weapons." He leans slightly closer to them, then his eyes widen. "Great Krypton that's a lot of weapons."

Superman pulls back slightly. "Maybe we should let Har-Zod check it over, first." He studies the console for a moment. "Now let's.. see. Fleet communications are…"

He presses two buttons and moves his right forefinger in a squiggle across a touchpad. "Har-Zod, are you reading me?"

"Yes, Kal-El. I am in communication with the Doomsday's computer now. Some areas are.. partitioned, and I'm afraid that if Dru-Zod locked them under his own codes it would be prohibitively difficult for me to access them."

"I don't really need Krypton's state secrets."

"Sorry to.. bother you, but do you have access to medical records?"

"Yes..? Why do you ask?"

"A Daxamite has asked me to undo what Kem-El did to them, and I'd like access to more kryptonian genetic samples so that I can make sure that I'm doing it correctly."

Superman looks at me sternly. Kara looks curious, then glances at Superman, then frowns at me. Ak-Var looks at them both, then looks confused. "What?"

Superman takes a moment to work out how to phrase it. "Orange Lantern… Sometimes…"

Kara sighs. "Sometimes he does things that make sense to him, but are a bit… Crazy."

Ak-Var raises his eyebrows. "Like letting people out of the Phantom Zone?"

Superman shakes his head. "No, like trying to resurrect everyone his girlfriend murdered while she was an assassin and getting pulled into Hell as a result."

Ak-Var looks at me for confirmation, and I shrug apologetically.

"My hit ratio isn't all that great. And even the things that work out can create a lot of work. But in this case I'm undoing Kem-El's work on three people. Kryptonians and daxamites are near enough genetically identical anyway. It's a handful of chemicals and I think I've already worked out how to do it. But with more examples I can be sure that I'm not just altering what would be part of the natural variation in the kryptonian species."

Kara frowns. "Why are you having anything to do with them?"

"Because I want to know what Vandal Savage was doing there, and there's a fairly small number of people who can tell me."

Superman frowns faintly. "If Arsenal's already got his ship, why does it matter?"

"Because of their reliquaries. Boom tubes bypass most interdiction systems. He could have flown in and picked up just about anything. Including a copy of the main Eradicator Program or Eradicator androids. Or it might not even have been Savage; for the Orange Lantern Corps I need to confirm that it wasn't Grayven. I mean…" I look him in the eye. "What do you think I'm going to do with kryptonian genetic data? Give it to Lex?"

Kara's face-.

"Oh, come on!"

Superman shrugs awkwardly. "I wasn't until you said it. But I guess he's already got my DNA anyway."

"I'm not giving it to Lex Luthor."

Kara squints. "Are you going to use it on yourself? Because-."

"Juhgh-. Kara, you know perfectly well that you can't just.. plug alien genes into an organism. I'd have to-."

She giggles, putting her right fist over her mouth. Superman's smiling too.

"Oh yes, very funny. Can I?"

Superman nods. "Go ahead."

Orange strands connect me to the computer system as I go looking for the data.

"I mean, I can research kryptonian-human genetic compatibility. I just stopped once Kon was happy with his body."

Superman shakes his head. "I… Think that's one kind of mad science you can leave to Luthor."

"Are you sure? I suspected that you'd want me to do that research eventually. Assuming that you and Miss Lane intend to have children."

"Don't take this personally, Paul. But if I can find anyone else who can help us with that, I'll ask them first."

"Files acquired."

"Very well. I believe that Doctor Sivana has a hole in his schedule."

Superman freezes for a moment. "Okay. Nearly anyone."

And show me the genes… Uh, this is mostly minor genetic tailoring the kryptonian navy gave its personnel. Useful, particularly as the retroviruses used are probably similar to what Kem-El used. But I think I need more. I might have offered him a beacon but I'd much rather get this right the first time.

Where else can I get-? Ugh, right, but what could I give him that he'd actually want?

I turn to the kryptonians. "Do you want me to delete the files when I'm finished?"

Superman shakes his head. "No, that's… Okay. We should probably have a backup somewhere anyway."

"Alright. Hopefully I'll be back to report to the League in half an hour or so." I look at Ak-Var. "Enjoy your driving lessons."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st August 2013
14:02 GMT

It hasn't even been a year yet, and Chughraghahh is… Looking busy. The LEGION engineering battalion who constructed the gateway have long since done their work and left, the giant portal with faint wisps of blue not-lightning flickering around it being the focus of local traffic lanes.

Amalak regards me with curiosity. "Why is it that your people don't build more of those? I assumed they would link all the worlds of the NEMO alliance together, but Vran tells me that you hardly use them at all."

"They're a single object that's relatively easy to destroy, and they're easy to jam. They're fine in peaceful regions like this-"

He raises his left eyebrow and wiggles his Incident Report datapad.

"-but they'd be a bad idea anywhere near Reach space."

"So? Build them as far away from the conflict zone as you can, and you could link the opposite sides of NEMO together. The utility of being able to reinforce one part of your empire from another surely outweighs the irritation of occasional disruption."

"We find it's sometimes best not to encourage our various member-species to meet one another. Aside from the fact that some look monstrous to the others, the cultural differences can make cooperation difficult. With species who are near-neighbours -even ones who don't like each other- they're usually aware enough of one another's culture that it moderates the difficulty. That doesn't apply to species from five hundred light years apart. And… Frankly, we don't really want species from different regions to grow accustomed to supporting each other."

"No? One of the things my organisation does with new recruits is acculturate them to our way of doing things. I'm rather proud of the fact that they all meet the standards of my species's old military, both physical and social."

"Yes, but you're dealing with individuals. We're dealing with governments who are understandably concerned about signing up with a supranational agency and want to know that they'll retain as much power as possible. If they know that they'll mostly be cooperating with their neighbours under a mutually agreed upon framework which we monitor, that's a lot less of a problem than finding out that their fleet could be sent to the other side of the Orion Arm at a moment's notice."

"And if there's a major attack that local forces can't cope with?"

"Then we stick wizards on the ships of the Maltus reserve fleet and have either me or Illustres Xor tow it there. Or we carry out a spoiling attack a little further around the Periphery."

He nods, understanding but not necessarily convinced.

"In the interests of openness and transparency-" We share a small smile. "-I believe that I should report the presence of Reach merchants visiting here and using the gate."

"Merchants?"

"According to them."

"Are you worried about them, or what I'll do about them?"

"Realistically, both are concerns for me."

"I can get a Darkstar counter-intrusion squad sent here to educate your customs inspectors if you like. But… To be fair to the Reach, if these are the first Reach merchants in the area they probably are just here to trade and report back on what they see. They like to plan their annexations in detail before trying anything active. And…"

I shake my head.

"The Periphery is extremely porous. There's no realistic way for us to totally blockade them. I think we're trying to build up to the point where they can't move along certain segments, but that's about it. Trying to tell other stellar nations who they can and can't trade with is only going to irritate them. Still, it might be a good idea to keep an eye on the Guilders. The Reach certainly aren't above taking advantage of local disputes to cause disruption."

He smiles. "I doubt that their present ruler would have much interest in having dealings with them."

"Oh?"

"She is your daughter, after all."

Ah-.

"Princess?"

"Obviously I wasn't going to set up a puppet ruler from the local population; that would be begging for trouble. So I offered it to the Queen, and she accepted."

"You realise that she's a synthetic mutant and the Spider Guild don't actually rely on queens to breed, right?"

"Of course, but the ability to manufacture reliable and loyal administrators was too much to pass up. I was sceptical when she appointed Princess as her Governor, but she's an intelligent young… Person. Excellent at negotiating with ambassadors; they find her quite disarming."

"You do understand that she's not actually my daughter, don't you?"

"Illustres…" He smiles. "You should just accept that you're never going to live it down."

"I-." I nod. "I do. And I don't mind people having a laugh about my alleged peccadilloes but I don't want people thinking that I'm a negligent father."

"Oh." He thinks for a moment. "I wouldn't worry about that. I'm sure that everyone realises that it's a joke."

"Right. Ah. Anyway, the main reason that I'm here is that I may know where I can get my hands on a Phantom Zone projector."

His face shifts into neutral. "What?"

"And I understand why you would be interested in such a device."

He inclines his head slightly forwards, glowering at me. "Is Zod there?"

"As far as I've been able to determine, yes. Ursa too."

He pulls himself upright, restoring his facial expression to normal levels of animation. "Clearly, I want their heads very much. Might I ask how you came by such a device?"

"Not at this stage."

"Alright." He nods. "And what will it cost me to finally avenge my people?"

"That you accept that you have avenged them."

He frowns for a moment-. Then he nods. "Because the people most likely to know how to create a Phantom Zone projector would be surviving kryptonians."

"You may conclude that. I couldn't possibly comment."

"There isn't much I wouldn't do to get Zod. Just keep the rest away from me and I'll cancel my bounties."

"There are other things."

"Get on with it, then."

"They want a trial. A public trial. Overseen by someone neutral."

"What? It's-. Ah." He manages a cruel smile. "Because you know that there's no way that Zod would escape conviction, but the kryptonians are sticklers for proper process. And presenting a case would cause me to associate the crime with him rather than the entire species, and because they wouldn't like the idea of handing someone over to an alien to be killed. They want a degree of separation."

"Something like that."

"My people's law?" I nod. "And I can choose the location?"

"And they can refuse it."

He nods slowly. "I should.. consult with the other survivors first. But I'm sure that we can come to terms."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st August 2013
07:33 GMT -5

Kara frowns at me. "Shouldn't you be talking to Kal about this?"

I nod, shrugging. "Probably. But I thought I'd come to you first, because you grew up in an environment where it was still relevant and he didn't. His instinct would be-."

"That dragging-" She nods. "-someone out of the Phantom Zone just to kill them is wrong."

"And I'm aware that I don't have the best relationship with him personally… I don't want him to tear my head off metaphorically as well as literally-."

She blinks. "He what?"

"Oh, when we were… Fighting around where LexCorp were digging up the Doomsday's bridge? I mean, it was more…" I flatten my right hand and make a chopping motion. "Sliced off, but then the joke doesn't work."

The corners of her mouth turn down slightly. "Do you think maybe you're way too casual about being maimed?"

"Would panicking make the situation better?" She-. "Look, getting maimed doesn't have the same significance for me that it does for most people. And I've internalised that."

"I.. don't know if getting your head ripped-"

"Sliced."

"-off is… Something you should be able to internalise."

I look around, and then fly down onto the roof of the nearest flat-roofed building and beckon her to follow me. She lands next to me, frowning.

"What-?"

I lunge and shove her off the roof!

She falls backwards for a moment, eyes widening-. And then catches herself on the air. "What was-?!" … "Oh."

"Yes."

She thinks for a moment, then swivels in the air to look down at the ground twenty floors below us.

"Well, I was a bit worried. For a moment."

I shrug. "So was I. There was a very confused half-second where I couldn't work out why I couldn't feel anything in my entire body because I was spinning around and hadn't seen my own spurting neck stump yet."

She reorientates herself feet down and flies back to the rooftop, not quite landing. "And then you just.. called your ring over, and you were fine?"

"More 'no longer dying this instant' than fine, but…" I nod. "Yes."

"Huh. I guess it is kinda weird how quickly I adapted to…" She looks down at her uniform. "To everything."

Huh. "I never thought to ask, but did you ever meet your paternal grandfather?"

"Grandfather Seyg-El? Yes? Well, you know what Krypton was like, we didn't meet face-to-face that often." Her eyes narrow slightly. "He was still alive when Krypton exploded." Huh. "You..? Didn't know that?"

"No, I didn't."

"Oh. Well, Uncle Jor probably didn't mention him in any of the messages he left for Kal. Grandfather got on better with Dad than he did with Uncle Jor. Probably because Dad had enough sense not to talk about the planet exploding in public. Now I think about it, the only time I actually saw Grandfather Seyg-El and Uncle Jor together was when.. he was getting that award for stopping General Zod."

"I suppose it's nice to know that they patched things-" She winces. "-up?"

"Dad tried. It.. didn't work. And that was before he worked out the planet was going to blow up. He still wanted kryptonians to start travelling in space again. Grandfather said that General Zod was proof that we shouldn't…"

"They had a shouting match at the award ceremony?"

"Oh no." She shakes her head. "Grandfather would never have shouted in public. He just left.. early. I-. Hm." She looks down, frowning.

"What?"

"I was just wondering if… You know… While Krypton was exploding. They'd probably have had… Some time. I wonder if they tried calling each other. I hope so. But I guess I'll never know."

Ah… "No, I can't see how any record could have survived. Between the explosion and the radiation I doubt that there'd be any way to find out without time travel."

She raises her hands defensively. "I don't need to know that badly."

"I'm trying to go easy on the crazy."

She frowns in disbelief. "Really?"

"I'm taking it a day at a time. I'm currently at less than a day."

"What did you do?"

"I found out that my spider pseudo-daughter now rules a planet."

She stares at me for a moment, then nods.

"So about General Zod..?"

"Krypton hasn't really had the death penalty since we discovered the Phantom Zone. It's.. no different to them being dead from the point of view of everyone in the normal universe, and if it turned out they were wrongly convicted we could actually reverse it."

"And I suppose interactions with alien court systems was never an issue, because…" She nods. "You were isolationist and didn't have any."

"No, that was because we were xenophobic and held aliens in contempt. I don't think there's a kryptonian extradition law." She thinks for a moment. "Do you really think that's all Amalak-?" … "Right."

"Wants? I think I could talk him into accepting getting Zod and his leading collaborators."

"And then he'd share… What he knows about kryptonians?"

I nod. "I think I could talk him into it."

"Wasn't..? Non..? Brain damaged?"

"I've never spoken to him. If that's your concern, we could ask Amalak to find someone who could rule on the matter under his people's law who wasn't personally involved. Or we could just not tell him, because he didn't ask."

"And you really think he'd let us recreate my species?"

"I don't think he'd be happy about it, but if I agree to spend time recovering genetic material for his species -he did tell me that there aren't a lot of them- then he might accept it."

She sighs, nodding. "Then… Yes. I think we should. I'll… Talk to Ak-Var and Kal about it."

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st August 2013
14:02 GMT

I watch as the dust plume erupts from the rubble as Ak-Var smashes the ruined buildings to rubble.

I remember when I first met Donna, trying to work out what the most efficient career for us was, one which would maximise the amount of time she could spend superheroing while still covering her living expenses. Now, for an actual kryptonian, it's easy: satellite launches. Donna's senses aren't quite enhanced enough to get the positioning right and she needs to breathe more than they do. A similar problem occurs in this post-Anti-Life era: kryptonians are great at certain classes of crisis, but (apologies to Richard Donner) can't actually rebuild things at super speed. Heck, even collecting things at super speed isn't all that easy because things that get hit by high speed unstoppable forces tend to break into lots of little pieces.

"Oh!" Ak-Var appears in front of me, looking a little dusty. "Hey, sir. Do you need something?"

"'Sir'? Is that a reference to my age? Because I'm pretty sure I'm younger than you."

"No, it's just…" He reaches up with his right hand to brush the worst of the dust out of his hair. "That's what Taranna calls you, so I guess I just… Copied her."

"I am Lantern Taranna's superior officer. You can just use my name. Unless you've picked a superhero name for yourself..?"

"I don't think 'Nightwing' really works in English, and Flamebird's a bit too destructive."

I blink, make sure that he's watching my eyes, and then look at the field of rubble he just created. He moves his head around to see where I'm looking-.

"Oh, that's not a-. The city council asked me to! There's a load of asbestos and lead in there, and they wanted to clear it so they can rebuild it into somewhere people actually want to live."

"Okay, and-."

A noise like a very loud industrial vacuum clearer pierces the air, sucking dust from the sky. A construct excavator bites down on a mound of rubble and transfers it to an industrial skip.

"And she can filter industrial pollutants from the ground?"

"Yeah." He nods. "She just has trouble destroying things that are just.. sitting there. And I can do that real easy."

"Alright, Flamebird."

"I'm not calling myself Flamebird. What did you want?"

"General Zod. While you were in the Phantom Zone, did you talk to him at all?"

He exhales sharply through his nose. "Oh, yeah. I got to talk to a bunch of Krypton's worst ever people. And Nam-Ek. He was okay for a guy who's basically our Judas."

"What sort of things did you talk about?"

He takes a deep breath in, then releases it. "How pathetic I was, what a disgusting waste of space I was, how I was a disgrace to Krypton, how insulted he was that I was sharing a prison with him…" He shrugs. "Things like that."

"Oh. Was that common?"

He thinks for a moment, then nods. "Yes. Jax-Ur tried giving me a physics lecture once, then gave up when he realised that he was way too advanced for me. That was about the closest I came to a civil conversation until Nam-Ek joined us." He sighs. "The only up side was that they were like that to each other as well. And that they couldn't physically hurt anyone, though Faora Hu-Ul really tried."

"How about Non?"

"Who?"

"Big chap, can't talk, used to work for General Dru-Zod?"

"I didn't see him. But we mostly communicated by talking, so if he couldn't do that…" He blinks, and shudders. "Great Rao, that's just about the only thing that could have made that place worse."

"Would you have a particular objection to handing General Zod and Ursa over to the survivors of the planet they ravaged for trial?"

"Ah, they destroyed a planet?"

"Timaron?" He looks blank. "It would have been a little while before his coup attempt? They carried out a rather thorough orbital bombardment, claiming that their government was holding samples of kryptonian technology from before the edict of isolation went into effect."

"Ah… I don't remember hearing anything about that-." He looks away, frowning thoughtfully. "Wait, he-." His eyes widen. "That's what he was boasting about! I didn't know-. Why wasn't that in the news?"

"As far as I can tell? Because Krypton didn't care what happened to aliens."

"How many people died?"

"About five billion."

"That's-. That's not a little thing. Even if it was just a.. small mention.. that should have…"

"I am quite familiar with the failings of Kryptonian society."

"Do you have a full record of that? I'd… Like to know more about what happened."

"I do, but if it goes to trial it might be better if you only knew what you know now."

"Oh. Yes, I suppose I might… Reinterpret what I knew in terms of…" He nods. "Yes, he should definitely be put on trial for that. Even if it's some sort of… Horrible misunderstanding, that's something that should be public knowledge."

"Please understand that any trial would be operating under Timaron law, and might order an execution."

"He ordered five billion."

"Okay. I tried arguing this with Kal-El just before we let you out and he wasn't convinced. But I think having you and Kara on my side will make the argument more convincing."

"Ah, which Kara?"

I raise my eyebrows slightly. "Ring, contact Superwoman."

"Compliance."

"Hey Paul! What's up?!"

"Ak-Var and I were-" She appears next to him in a roar of displaced air. "-just talking about the possibility of putting General Dru-Zod on trial for his crimes against Timaron."

She blinks, eyes wide. "The guy who built the Doomsday was a criminal?!"

"Ah, Admiral Dru-Zod of the Kryptonian Stellar navy wasn't supposed to send his ship off into space, but that would have been a disciplinary matter. No, I'm talking about his nephew, General Dru-Zod."

"We can't have Kryptonian military officers just doing whatever they like!" She affects a stern expression. "And just what did he do on Timaron!?"

"He's accused of killing about five billion p-."

"He's a bad guy! Kill him!"

I look at Ak-Var, and gesture to Kara 2 with my right hand.

He nods slowly. "Right."