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

[Mr Zoat]

15th August 2000
18:36 GMT

I frown slightly as the excited-looking Bláthnaid stabs her wooden fork through her cod's batter and splits it open, a thin whiff of water vapour rising out.

"Are you sure.. this is alright?"

She looks around, taking in the sea, the wooden bench we're sitting at, the wood and wrought iron pier the fish and chip shop we order from is build into and, past it, the rest of the seafront.

"We're far enough away. And we don't get a lot a' fish in th' cavern."

I nod as I make vents in the batter around my huss. "Can you eat human food?"

"Just about everything we've tried. But we haven't had much variety recently." She spears and lump of fish and batter and brings it into her mouth. Then her eyes widen.

"Good? Ver g-?"

"Hot!" She grabs her coke can and tries to twist the top off. "Too hot!"

Hands moving in a blur, I grab it from her and pull the ring pull. Carbonated sugar water bubbles out for a moment before she brings it to her mouth and takes a gulp. For a moment, she experiences relief.

"Pjcuh-cgh!"

Then the bubbles hit, and she cough-choke-sneezes!

"What the bluddy hell-" I pass her a tissue and she wipes her mouth and nose. "-was that?"

"Carbon dioxide dissolved in the drink. A lot of people enjoy the sensation."

She stares at me in incomprehension. "'re they daft?"

"You're not supposed to drink it quite that fast." I smile. "Or breathe it in."

"Oi'm not a plant. What do oi want wit' carbon dioxide?"

I reach over to my right, pick up my one pint milk bottle and hold it up. "I don't drink it. You're the one who wanted it."

She looks over to the other five drink cans I bought her. "'re they all loik this?"

"They're all carbonated, yes. Try drinking some when you're not burning your mouth."

She takes a moment to steady herself, then nods. "Alright, fine."

She takes a deep breathe, passes the damp tissue back to me, then cautiously raises the coke to her mouth before taking a extremely cautious sip. She looks a little awkward when the bubbles hit, but she doesn't seem to hate the experience.

"What's in it?"

I point to the can. "It's written on the back."

She turns it around and peers at it, frowning in concentration. "What's 'tartaric acid'?"

I shake my head. "I have no idea. I know it's safe for human consumption, if that's any help."

She takes another sip, and appears to decide that she doesn't hate it. "How'd it go wi' th' machine man?"

"I had to dress up in a suit made of shadoen flesh to attract its attention, then it turned out that the thing it was looking for was actually there. I could have done nothing and achieved more or less the same result. And then the military destroyed it, which is going to create a huge problem."

She frowns. "But you're no' keeping th' Alliance a secret."

"Yes, but whereas before the Alliance did whatever it wanted, now we've got to discuss how far our authority goes with every country on Earth. The British government decided to use military aircraft, and they didn't notify us before the strike happened. So now Director Logan has to sort out why they did it and who's pushing what agenda."

She shrugs. "Why's it mattur?"

"For you, it matters because at the moment the Alliance is responsible for liaising between human governments and nonhuman settlements. But there isn't really anything stopping a government from refusing to allow us to work in their territory, or the world's most powerful governments setting up their own agency and… Technically they can't force us to shut down, but they can refuse to acknowledge our credentials which would effectively do the same thing."

She stares at me in incomprehension. "What 're you talking about?"

"Ah…" What would be the equivalent..? "Imagine if the queens on the banshee homeworld found out that the vampires on Earth weren't really doing anything and ordered all the banshee on Earth to move to another planet."

Her eyes widen. "They can't do that!"

"You know them better than I do, but that's basically what's happening to the Alliance."

"Does that mattur t' th' banshee?"

"Not so long as you have a decent relationship with the Irish government. It's more a potential problem for species with conventional technology like the vampires."

"Oi don't much care what happens t' th' loiks o' them."

"If the major nations of the world start seizing examples of advanced technology and then fighting each other for more, it will start to become an issue. Vampires selling to everyone with the world unified against a potential shadoen return works out best because there's no competition." I sigh as I spear a sufficiently cooled chip. "I'm just glad that we could move the wrecks before the British government could seize them. If they even wanted to."

"Maybe they jus' wanted t' kill th' robots."

I shake my head. "They didn't check the situation on the ground. It's very bad practice to bomb a place without doing that."

She frowns. "Would that a' hurt you?"

"Unless it caught me completely by surprise, no. But they didn't know that."

She forks another piece of cod, and this time manages to eat it without burning herself. I eat a chip, taking a moment to consider… Her. Alright, I knew that banshees could function in society because that's what Senior Agent Blaze does every day. But it's a little odd to see one out here…

"I got the impression that you only agreed to this because I didn't back down."

"You're not bad comp'ny. And I would'nae have any idea where t'go."

"So is this going to become a regular thing, or were you just curious?"

She snorts. "Got competition, have oi?"

"I think one of the vampire agents was hitting on me." Her eyes widen. "Either that, or she was just hungry." Her face hardens. "I think she wants to increase her status by using me as a threat in being to other vampires."

"Don't you be spendin' time with the loiks a' her."

"I said 'no' to being fed on, thank you for your concern."

"Roit. I'm keepin' y', then."

I blink. "Um."

"Oi'm not lettin' m'-. You outta moi soit if'n some poisonous snake it jus' going t' snatch y' oop."

"I appreciate the thought, but she and I both work for the Alliance-."

"Foin!"

15th August 2000
14:06 GMT -7

"Here!"

Senior Agent Blaze looks up from her desk, frowning, as Bláthnaid slams her application paperwork down in front of her. She takes it from her, realises what it is and then turns to stare incredulously at me.

I smile politely. "Date went well, sir."

 

[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."