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

[Mr Zoat]

23rd July 2013
12:36 GMT

Donna looks the ship over, frowning at it. "Where did Vandal Savage even get a spaceship?"

"Opal City. A mad inventor-"

"There's a surprise."

"-built it in the nineteenth century, then various people upgraded it. Its main drive comes from Starman One, but it's also got a Mother Box so it can use boom tubes."

"So we can get home in a few minutes?"

"Yep." Hm. "I'd like to just give it to Arsenal, but we should.. probably check that no one owns it first."

"If Vandal Savage had it, and no one tried to claim it, do you really think that's likely?"

"If they were renting it to him, we might get a lead on him. And… There's a rather close similarity to the model of cosmic converter this ship uses as its main generator, and the model Stagg Enterprises is using for commercial power generation."

"Aren't they one of… Three..?" I nod. "Next generation power companies?"

"They are indeed. So at best they bought the rights to Starman One's work and finally commercially exploited it, and Savage got someone to build a generator to the same design… And at worst they're in cahoots."

"Are you surprised? Stagg wasn't exactly clean."

"Yes, but there's 'a bit shady' and then there's 'cooperates with the man behind mass child murder'."

"I guess you've got something to investigate, then."

"And we still don't know who's helping Batman. Did you see anything while you were up there?"

"Plenty, and Arisia recorded it. But… We couldn't see people who weren't there, and I don't have a Supertown census."

"Right." I sigh. "Well. Maybe Highfather will find them."

I glance over to where Roy is poking the corpse of the burrowing laser creature.

"Can you give us a minute?"

"Uh, sure? I can go talk to Doctor Knight." She smiles. "See if he's got any good stories about Diana."

I nod as she flies to the entrance, and then walk over to Roy.

"Is it dead?"

He gives it one last kick. "Yeah. It's dead."

"None of them had mind control powers. It was probably unique."

He nods. "Do we need to tell the Primitives that it's here?"

"No, I'm sure something will scavenge it before too long. And Sserpa saw it, so if they really need to know then he can tell them. It was when I met Mantis."

He looks at me, frowning slightly. "What was?"

"When I got infected. I took off my helmet so he could see my face and turned off my environmental shield so he could smell me. And if I hadn't done that and just worked around him he wouldn't be on Apokolips right now."

"And Sserpa and me would be dead because he's the one who picked up the ground shaking before that thing attacked."

"Did you see him go through the boom tube?"

He shakes his head. "No. I thought he was running after the guy in the forest. So that's something else I messed up."

"It was a reasonable decision."

"Not keeping track of Mantis?"

"Shooting the machine."

"It was keeping S'ivaa out of reality. If I hadn't shot it, we'd just have had to fight them and we'd have been done."

"Maybe."

"It-."

"Alright, probably. But there was no way to know that in advance, and it might have let them control what S'ivaa was doing. No one on Earth except Scott Free, Big Barda and.. Batman, understand New God technology well enough to spot what they do in advance, and usually blowing up a supervillain's equipment is a good idea."

"I-I guess… It's just-. I messed up the mission, then I had to just stand there while you and Highfather fixed it."

"I got turned into an octopus."

"And you still did more than me."

"Okay. So… Is that the issue? Because it's not like I knew what the machine did."

"It-. I guess-. They're both this issue."

"If you want more power and a priori knowledge of what things around you do, I suggest… Magic? You'd be starting a little late, but Hepheastaean could use a warrior. Or you can try using a power ring-."

"I don't-. I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Thanks."

"Huh-? No, I didn't mean it like that. I just don't know if I've got the right.. way of thinking to use it right."

"And Hepheastaean?"

"Maybe? It's-. I'll think about it."

"There may be other options. Because… It's always possible to get stronger, get more… Options, learn more… And still run into something you don't understand and can't beat. I'd have been just as stuck as you if Highfather hadn't turned up."

He snorts quietly. "I doubt it. But… Thanks for the pep talk."

"And even if I did do more, the mission's still a failure, so-."

He holds up his right hand. "Okay, you can stop."

I nod, smiling. "Alright, let's get out of here. And hope nothing's gone crazier on Earth while we were gone."

He nods, and we head towards the ship.

 

[Mr Zoat]

24th July 2013
09:44 GMT -5

Mr. Queen swivels on his heel with an arrow on his string pointing straight at me.

"Green Arrow. I apologise if I-." He lowers the arrow. "-caught you at a bad time."

"No, you're fine." He goes back to his vigil, overlooking Star City. "Thought you were Hal."

"Did you hear me?"

"No. Spotted your shadow. Lanterns glow, so it looks different to the other fliers." Finding nothing amiss in his city, he looks up at me. "So on a scale of zero to doomed..?"

"Oh, no. As far as I know, nothing special is going wrong in Star City. It's about Arsenal."

He snorts, smiling. "Hal never got me a spaceship."

"Um. If you want a spaceship, NEMO is capturing a lot of ships from deniable Reach assets that we don't need ourselves. I can probably get you one if you want it."

"Ah… Thanks, but I think I'll put off my midlife crisis for a few years." He frowns. "I thought Roy seemed kinda down for a guy who just got a new starship."

"It's not actually new. It had a recent refit, but the original hull is over a hundred years old."

"Ooh, one-" He nods. "-of those."

"Ah. The designer built it and then spent the rest of his life in an insane asylum. So I'm not sure if he was a classical modern mad scientist, or just an early rocketry pioneer."

"Alright. So what's Roy's problem?"

"I'll send you the full report and mission videos, but the short answer is that I got into a fight with an Old God and he couldn't contribute."

"Ah, no?" He frowns for a moment. "Wait, that's why he's bummed out?"

"He made what turned out to be a poor decision in combat, but it was perfectly justifiable. It just.. turned out to be incorrect."

He nods. "And then you had to deal with it while he just stood there. Yeah, that's a kick in the gut."

"So is it the sort of thing he'll just get over, or should I do something?"

"You told him it wasn't his fault, right?"

I nod. "Yes, of course. And I suggested several things he could do which might let him-" He winces. "-be less.. likely-. What?"

"Okay, look. If you said there were things he could do to get better, then he's probably beating himself up for not doing them already. And if the ideas come from you… Well…"

"I realise that a power ring's not for everyone."

"So let me guess… Super magical power armour?"

I nod. "That was one of my suggestions."

He holds up his right hand and beckons me down. I land just in front of him as he leans back against the railing around the edge of the roof.

"You remember the assessment you gave everyone on the League?"

"Yes, I don't think anyone will let me forget."

"I-." Something occurs to him. "Hey, have you done Mister Atom yet?"

"I.. tried, but it turns out that he's being maximally effective. And aside from one or two things which he struggles to understand due to being an A.I., there isn't much I can help him with because he's a lot more intelligent than me."

"Ah, shoot. Ah. Point is, I got kind hurt when I got a 'D'."

"That's not exactly what I was trying to communicate."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But then I got thinking about it, and I ended up saying to myself: Ollie, you're a guy with a bow. What did you think you were going to get?"

"Well, everyone can improve."

He smiles ruefully. "You're not exactly the best advert for self-improvement, Paul."

"I have become far more effective than I was when I started. I have fewer vulnerabilities."

"Do you have a..? Life, outside the job?"

"How do you mean?"

"When was the last time you went on holiday?"

"I went on a tour with Jade… Last year? I-. We kept tripping over work to do."

"Any friends who aren't part of the community?"

"… One? Karon's dating Catwoman's… Ward?"

"No one completely outside of it?"

"Does Bleez count?"

"No."

"Then… No. Ah… So… What you're saying is..?"

"I've got my city. Obviously I don't know everyone in it, but I know a lot of people. And everyone knows me. If something happens I know who to talk to, what to do… I guess I'm a fish in a pond that fits my size, you know?" I nod tentatively. "And I read what you put in that 'big League' outline. I think I could handle wrangling a team."

"You're literally the first League member to talk to me about that."

"But I don't think I could stand spending all my spare time chasing more power, and then… Dealing with the consequences, and then going from place to place without… Settling down or seeing a familiar face. I don't think I wanna do the things I'd have to do to become you. Or even Hal."

"Lantern Jordan isn't-."

"Him flying all over the Sector is why him and Carol broke up. You see a lot of Jade?"

"Not as much as I was. But I don't want to.. be too far away from Earth for that.. long."

"Right."

"I could probably… I mean, the Watchtower has a fracture pulse transmitter, so it should be alright… It's not like we don't speak…"

"I'm getting déjà vu here. Look, maybe… Send me your mission report and I'll have a talk to Roy about his professional goals. Maybe drag William into it. But-. I know your heart's in the right place, but I don't think you're the guy to help with this. Okay?"

"Okay. Ah, thank you. I'm… Going to go and visit Jade now."

He smiles. "You do that. See you around, Paul."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Cappare

25th July 2013
02:12 GMT

I take a moment to watch the workers employed by the reclamation part of… Well, it's technically part of the Darkstars, but is in effect a civilian agency under the control of the Controllers for building new worlds for refugees and rebuilding worlds recaptured from the Reach. That latter part has only really become one of its actual responsibilities recently with us actually reclaiming worlds, and it's required a massive increase in staffing. Fortunately, it's a good deal easier to convince people to join a civilian relief agency than an aggressive military.

And it's a good place to put Lanterns who are either verging on becoming stress casualties or are otherwise not good people to put in a combat zone. In theory, Lantern Coutara could take her place in the war zone. She's certainly demonstrated that she can kill when motivated. But when we tried having her spar with other Lanterns, she just… She can't muster the drive when there isn't an immediate and personal offence. But, she liked working to rebuild her home county after the purge, and when I made it clear that we had plenty of room for someone with desires like that, she was happy to join up.

And of course that puts Lantern Taranna and Lantern Yat under her supervision. Lantern Yat is far too young to be in combat without taking psychological damage. Lantern Taranna on the other hand has expressed an interest in moving to a combat role, which…

I understand where she's coming from, but her mother has been very clear that she's not happy about it, and… Taranna isn't a particularly violent person either. So Lantern Ratchet acknowledged her change in status and assigned her to picket duty on worlds that her mother and foster brother were working on.

"Illustres to Lantern Coutara."

The response is immediate, her face appearing over my ring. "Yes, Illustres?"

"No need to drop what you're doing, but when you have a moment I'm a few miles over the headquarters building."

She nods. "Of course. What is this about?"

"A possible new assignment. As I said, no hurry."

I end the communication. I-.

"Whow!" Lantern Yat flies closer, staring at me. "Illustres! How come you're here? Are we getting invaded?"

"Not as far as I know. And it would be a very sorry invader who tried taking us on, right?"

He nods. "And Taranna! She's really good at fighting too!"

I nod. "And Lantern Taranna. Speaking of who, shouldn't she be keeping an eye on you?"

"She is." He looks a little awkward. "But she can't spend all the time with me, and I've got stuff to do too!"

"I know, I get the reports."

He blinks in astonishment. "You read my reports?!"

"I read all the reports written by Lanterns I recruited."

Even if they're lacking in sentence structure, depth, and are in general about what I'd expect a child your age to write as a piece of 'what I did on my holiday' homework rather than a military after action report. The Corps is well past the point where I could read everyone's reports, but the handful of Lanterns I actually recruited don't eat up too much of my time.

"I wanted-. Ah."

I glance up as Lantern Taranna appears, eyes slightly wide.

"M-Illustres! What brings you here?"

"Ah, well, I'm here to offer the three of you a transfer."

"A.. transfer?"

I nod. "My homeworld suffered a rather unpleasant attack a little while ago, and I could use your help putting it back together. It's basically the same sort of work that you've been doing here, but my homeworld has an entirely accurate reputation for having all sorts of strange things happen on it and I know that you've wanted to get some combat experience. Most fighting that happens on Earth is well below the level that a Scarab Warrior can reach, but it will be practice against people actually trying to kill you."

"Your homeworld? Why didn't the whole Corps head over there? Or at least a few dozen Lanterns? I didn't even know you were under attack!"

"Memetic hazard. I couldn't risk the Corps getting infected with Anti-Life. And I didn't think it was worth pulling Lanterns away from the work we're doing here when my homeworld was pulling itself together without them. But we got rid of the memetic hazard -for now- and I checked the resettlement figures and… Well, you can be spared, if you're interested. I think I'd like to have a few more Orange Lanterns around."

"Will.. you.. be.. training us?"

"I can, and there are also other Lanterns or high-powered warriors who can help you upskill. Oh." I turn to Lantern-. I turn to Sodam. "As well as several kryptonians who can help you learn to use your natural abilities."

"Really!?"

"Really. Ak-Var has only started using them recently, so you'll have someone you can measure yourself against."

"Are there any kids my age?"

"On my entire planet? Yes. I-." Huh. Cassandra is almost… "Yes, one who has abilities like yours and is roughly your age. One I know, I mean, there are probably plenty of others."

He's practically vibrating with excitement. "That's great!"

Taranna looks at him sharply, and gives him a poke.

"What?"

"You were using too much. You know what happens."

He dips his head. "Sorry, Taranna. I'll be more careful."

"Good."

"Oh, and one other thing. Ah…" She looks at me curiously. "A friend of mine, a hero in good standing… Has expressed an interest in dating."

"Dating?"

"Courtship. I know that in your culture your betrothal would have been arranged by your father, and I don't know… What you were thinking about doing in regards to that."

"Are..?" She regards me cautiously. "You arranging one..? For me?"

"No! No. I'm arranging a meeting between two people who might get on and might not. Unless you're already seeing someone, in which case forget about it."

"Oh. No? I… Suppose I can meet him?"

"Glad to hear it. So, assuming that your mother-."

"No."

"No?"

"I'm not waiting on her approval. She won't give it anyway. Just tell her we're training and I'll meet him then."

"I-. Okay, I can do that. Assuming that no one invades, why don't you both-" I send them both the cultural and current affairs package. "-read up on that while I square things with her."