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

[Mr Zoat]

18th July
10:45 GMT -5

I've added the puree and am now trying to determine whether or not the custard needs to go back in the microwave. The puree adds a considerable amount of liquid and won't help with thickening, but the custard is hot and will thicken as it cools. Really, to act as icing between the cake layers it has to be quite thick. A little longer will probably be best. I set it for two minutes.

"What was it like?"

"What was what like?"

"Just… Turning up in space like that."

"I was asleep for the actual turning up part. Waking up was weird, then painful."

"Painful? Why?"

"The ring detects my desires and tries to fulfil them. It decided that my body wasn't perfect and corrected it. Human bodies really aren't designed to shift around like that."

"You think your body is perfect?"

I hear her raised eyebrow in her voice. I suppress an impulse to pose and flex. "No, it… This body is the most perfect form of me. I can't change it without it becoming either less perfect, or less me." I peer at the custard. Still counting down. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"What made you pick that face?"

"What's wrong with my face?"

"Nothing's wrong with it, I just wondered why you chose it."

"It's my face."

"Pre-tty sure that Martians don't have hair."

She looks around. No one else near the kitchen area. There's an odd sound, a bit like reeds moving over a paving slab, and her hair merges with the rest of her head.

"I just… Human girls aren't usually bald. And I actually like having hair. Brushing it felt kinda weird to start with, but it was nice once I got used to it."

I know she doesn't want anyone to know that she is a White Martian, but images of what Green Martians look like exist, surely? I suppose I don't know for sure that this M'gann actually is a White Martian. And I can't check without other examples to scan and compare. Is it important enough for me to make the time to fly to Mars? Probably not.

I snort. "Yeah, and the rest."

"What-what do you mean?"

It's been a while, but I still remember broadly what Martian Manhunter's wife looked like in Justice League Animated. I hold out my right hand and generate what I think is a Green Martian female shaped construct about M'gann's size.

"You're talking to someone who actually knows what Martians look like. Heck, it takes me less time to get from Earth to Mars than to get to some places on Earth. Not that I don't appreciate you making an effort to fit in."

I remove the construct and take the custard from the microwave. I use the spatula construct to scrape the custard stuck to the edge of the bowl back into the centre, and to gauge its consistency. Not quite done yet. Back in it goes.

"I was just wondering, why that face? Was it from a magazine or something?"

There's that noise again as M'gann restores her hair. She's looking at the floor, hands clasped in front of her. Ah, I've done it again! I didn't think this would be a big deal for her.

"Could you not tell the others?"

"If that's what you want. But if it's just Superboy and me here, don't worry about it. You can change back. It wouldn't bother me and given what the Genomorphs look like I very much doubt that it would bother him."

No, not enough, I still feel like an arsehole.

"Look, I'm… I'm sorry, I didn't realise that it would be a big deal for you."

"That's okay."

No, it isn't.

I step towards her, take hold of her right hand with mine and hold it up, covering it with my left. She looks up. "I should have just left it alone. I should have realised that you were uncomfortable with what I was saying and stopped. I'm sorry. That you've changed yourself like this for our benefit shows great generosity. I just want you to know, you don't have to. I was expecting aliens to look different from Humans. I won't be angry, or scared, or revolted if you use your natural appearance, alright?"

She look to the side. "It's just… I really want to fit in here."

"I can understand that."

"And it's okay for guys to look like big ogres but girls need to look like girls."

"Okay, Wonder Woman would literally castrate me if I let you get away with saying that."

Her eyes flick back to me. She looks stunned for a moment, then indignant. "No, she wouldn't!"

"No, but she'd be annoyed about the double standard. And with me, for not commenting on it."

I release her hand. I think I fixed it. M'gann turns and starts to walk away. Probably best. I've made enough of a mess for one day. Then she stops and turns back to me.

"I copied this face from the lead actress on one of the television shows Uncle J'onn sent me. It was called 'Hello, Megan'. The first thing I did when I got to Earth was see if there were any more episodes, but it got cancelled after one season. I don't… Did you ever watch it?"

"Name doesn't ring any bells, but not all American comedies made it across the Atlantic. Particularly the short lived ones. From a parallel universe."

"I suppose you're even further from home than I am. Are you… I mean, getting on alright? With the differences?"

Am I?

"There's two categories. There's major differences, like this ring and you. Those I'm fine with. Then there's the small things. Names of popular websites, some minor historical events, commonly available technology. The television programs I used to watch. Walk down the street and everything's slightly off. That, sometimes, gets to me a bit. Honestly, I try not to think about it. Making myself miserable won't help anyone."

"What sort of television shows?"

"Doctor Who. My Little Pony. The BBC did a reinterpretation of Sherlock Holmes recently, that was pretty good."

"Do you miss not being able to watch them?"

"No, it's… I don't miss them. Doctor Who had really patchy quality in the last few series. But it would have been a point of familiarity, if we'd both seen it, y'know?"

"Yeah. I think that's what I was looking for, on Earth. I mean I know life isn't a situation comedy but I wasn't really… Happy, on Mars. I wanted to meet people like the people Megan met in the show."

"I could probably get the ring to play a canned laughter track whenever anyone says anything. If it would help."

She smiles. "No, that would just be weird."

The microwave pings. I open it and give the custard a stir. Done. I cover the bowl in cling film, poke a few holes then leave it to cool.

"Okay, that's about done. Kitchen's all yours for the next couple of hours."

"What are you doing for the rest of the day?"

"Right now, I have an hour's worth of meditation on the Hierarchy of Needs planned. Then reviewing intelligence reports. This afternoon I'm going back to the centre of the Pacific for more clean up duty."

"Why do you do that?"

"It's full of plastic."

"No, I mean, the meditation."

"Power rings, all of them, cause psychological instability. Some, like the green or yellow ones, just make you a bit odd. Others, like mine, can have really nasty long term effects. If you know what you're doing, you can counteract it. If you don't, you end up like-"

Larfleeze.

"-Star Sapphire. Meditating on the Hierarchy reinforces the balance between different levels of desire, from simple and direct ones to complex and long term ones. Without that, I would risk becoming... Risk only caring about my short term wants."

She looks concerned. "If it makes you crazy, is it really a good idea to use it?"

"Good idea, bad idea. It's the ring I have." I shrug. I really don't have a choice in the matter. "What are your plans for the rest of the day?"

"I don't really have any firm plans. Kid Flash said something about giving me a guided tour, so I suppose Superboy and I will be taking another walk around Happy Harbor."

"Haven't you done that, like, every day you've been here?"

"I don't want to get into a situation where I don't know what to do. Uncle J'onn is arranging for me to start high school, but until then I'd rather learn Human social customs slowly. And, well, Superboy…"

"Yeah. Alright, I understand."

What can I do to help?

"Look, I'm never going to be able to concentrate on plastic particulates all day. How about if I come back at about five o'clock and we all go somewhere. Anywhere on Earth. We could even spend the evening on Mars if you really want?"

"No! No, um, thanks for the offer." She thinks about it for a moment. "Maybe we could go to Acapulco?"

No reason why not. I don't know where it is and I only know the name from the song, but I'm sure the ring will be able to find it. Wait a minute.

"Did Megan from the series go there?"

"No. But one of her friends did. When I got to Earth I found out that was because the actress playing her got hit by a car and they needed to explain why she wasn't in the series any more, but they made it sound really fun."

"Okay, Acapulco it is. I'll see you later."

I leave the kitchen and walk back to my room. I'm a bit surprised she was so worried by me knowing what Martians look like. Maybe it's because as a telepath she'll know if we find it weird if we try to pretend that we don't? I'm also surprised she wasn't a bit more psychologically resilient than that. I suppose she's used to being in a society where everyone is empathic enough to stop asking when it's making you that uncomfortable.

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July
11:27 GMT -5

I chose a room towards the centre of the base. It's not like the walk to the briefing room takes more than a minute, and I want to be as secure as possible. M'gann wanted one closer to the communal areas and Superboy… I think he got put in one near her. Remembering not to call him Conner or Kon-El might actually be difficult if he were more talkative. Kaldur has one as near as possible to the sea entrance. I'm not sure why as he generally arrives and leaves by zeta tube. Maybe that was Aquaman's old room? Maybe he just likes to go for a swim sometimes. I don't think that Robin or Kid Flash have bothered to pick out rooms, though that might change once their summer holiday starts and they have more spare time.

Running through the stages of the Hierarchy has become second nature to me. As has floating without touching the ring. I hold my hands cupped at my stomach, legs crossed, eyes staring at the blank wall in front of me. The ring floats about twenty centimetres above my hands, and the diffuse orange aura extends at least that far around my body. It's been over a week since I last fell out of this posture due to a surprise, M'gann opening the door unexpectedly. We had a conversation about how knocking was polite when dealing with people who aren't telepaths.

When I turn my mind to 'friendship' I find that M'gann's face has firmly joined those of Alan and Wonder Woman. That's new. Ah, no, she said that she was fine with me calling her Diana. Alan and Diana. I suppose our heart to heart in the kitchen has forced my brain to accept her as part of my ingroup. Progress with getting to know the others is slower. It wasn't until I demonstrated a pinpoint accurate ranged attack that I even found out they'd wanted Speedy -Roy Harper, not whatshername- on the team, and I only found out then because Kid Flash doesn't mutter as quietly as he thinks he does. I'm not sure that they hold his absence against me, exactly, but they certainly aren't happy about including someone they don't know. Someone they don't know who isn't an attractive woman, anyway.

I did -briefly- contemplate trying to use the ring to change my gender, but I don't think that would actually have helped.

Family hasn't changed. I miss them being around, and I worry about them missing me. It wouldn't be so bad if I could somehow send a message to them letting them know that I was fine but wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. I went up into orbit to scan my emergence point and it turned out that what I told Diana was true; a ring could track back my flight path to the start point. And then, well, it could tell me about the presence of certain forms of exotic energy and particles, and couldn't suggest anything helpful to do about it. I have noticed that this ring appears to have a very limited pre-programmed database. Maybe once I make contact with the Controllers they will be willing to update it.

Sexual intimacy? M'gann's nice, but she acts quite a lot younger than her actual age. I know Martians live longer than Humans but even so, her life experience should put her beyond high school level, surely? I don't feel that sort of attraction to her. No change to that analysis needed then.

In terms of confidence-.

"Hey, Orange!" Mr West appears to have decided that knocking is for other people. I put my feet down and float the ring onto my left hand, sigil facing inwards.

"Yes, Kid Flash?"

I'm still not completely comfortable referring to people by code names. Again, no serious mistakes yet, but I'm going to have trouble faking surprised if they open up enough to tell me their real names. And if they did, I still wouldn't be able to reciprocate. I didn't think that I said my own name often but not being able to introduce yourself gets frustrating quite quickly.

"Did you know that Megan has this awesome Bio-Ship?"

"Yes. It's been here nearly as long as she has."

The stealth was interesting, but without guns or shields I'd hesitate to take it into combat. When she showed me, I suggested that I could remedy this by standing on the outside of the hull. Though a functional solution, I am now slightly concerned that my idea will come back to haunt me.

"Oh. Well, we were all going to go flying around the harbor but she wanted to see if you wanted to come as well. I'll tell her you were busy with… Staring at the wall… Or whatever." He takes a step back to leave.

I hold up my right hand. "No, this sounds like something I should make time for."

"Pf. Fine." He leads the way towards the hangar, deliberately staying ahead of me so that he doesn't have to talk to me.

I need to make an effort. "Ahhh… No archer, then?"

"No."

I think he actually kicked the ground when he said that.

"Did he say why he didn't want to join?"

He slows, and lets me come alongside. "He thinks the League will treat us like kids."

I don't comment. I've seen these kids fight, in the database recordings. Put someone normal through that sort of thing, they'd die in seconds. How Robin manages I have no idea.

"Seriously, it's been over a week. Nothing!" He throws up his hands.

"I'm rather new at this. Is that sort of time gap between major missions normal?"

"In Central City, there's always something! One of the Rogues, or a mugging, or a fire, or something. Anything!"

Diana has had me accompany her on assignments a few times. It mostly involved me watching her work or using OrangeVision to provide her with tactical information. She also has me convey the apprehended criminals to police custody. It makes sense to me for her to treat me like that given that I am completely new at this, but the other guys have earned some involvement, surely? Or else, why put them here?

"Maybe Batman just hasn't found anything worth our time?"

"I'd take a jaywalker right now."

Not sure Mr Garrick would appreciate that. Oh, hang on, mustn't forget. "Oh, erm, I've got a cake in the oven. Would you mind if we went via the kitchens?"

He perks up. "Is it done?"

"The cake layer should be, but I won't do the meringue until this afternoon."

"How many layers does it have?"

"Three of cake, two of mango custard, and then everything gets covered in a layer of meringue. That takes a while to cook. Huh?"

He is now behind me. He stopped walking a second ago and is just staring at me. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

"None of it's particularly complicated. I've been baking regularly for years; frequently, since I started living here."

And then he's standing next to me, one arm stretched up companionably around my neck. He normally moves at regular speed. I've seen him run before, but celerity is a lot more shocking at close quarters. "I think you just became my-" He pauses, counting on his fingers. "-third favorite team mate."

Suck it, Superboy and Aqualad.

"Ah, thank you, I-." And he's gone. A flash -hah- of OrangeVision shows him in the kitchen staring at the oven. Our kitchen is awesome. I don't know who the would-be chef in the League is, but I owe them for not just assuming that teenagers would try living on take-away food.

"Inertial controls on. Ring, plot route before Wallace scoffs the lot."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July
11:31 GMT -5

My flight control has massively improved since my encounter with Turkey. In narrow confines like the base corridors I let the ring AI handle navigation. With my inertia regulated I can change directions with no loss of speed. First time Diana ever told me that I had impressed her was when I used that to fly at full speed through a dense Themysciran forest. I move through the base like a jet powered slalom skier, coming to a halt just outside the kitchen area.

"You sure it's not done?"

"Yes, the meringue takes an hour."

"Aww. M'gann made cookies earlier, but I could probably fit in a few slices of cake."

"I think that was the first time she used that recipe. How did they turn out?"

"Sooo good. Shame there weren't more. Everyone else just got one each."

I use a construct to open the oven and lift out the three cake tins. The cakes within look well done, though this mix does tend to brown on the outside while still being underdone in the middle. The ring also makes it very easy to lift the cakes out of the tins without lining them or risking breaking the cake.

"If you're really that hungry, there is a bakery in Happy Harbour. We could probably stop off."

"Any good?"

"I don't know. I don't buy stuff I could bake myself."

"Mrm. Think about it." We walk towards the hangar. "Have you used your ring in an actual fight yet?"

"No, I haven't."

"How come?"

"I've had it two weeks. In that time I've either been here, or shadowing Wonder Woman."

"Wonder Woman gets in fights all the time!"

"Errr… Put it this way: you've been active two years, right?"

"Huh. Yeah, I guess it would be."

"Did The Flash involve you in fighting the Rogues from the start?"

"Not right away."

"Well, there you-."

"We took down Mirror Master together in my second week. So if you fight someone today you'll only be just behind me."

Right in the ego. Right in the ego.

"So, yeah, you should probably just stay out of the way in a fight. We'll try and leave one or two for you. Regular guys, so you can actually cope."

"Ah. I appreciate the consideration, but I think I can aim a little higher than that. The Green Lanterns call power rings 'the most powerful weapon ever created' for a reason."

"Sure you can keep up?"

"I think I should probably take things at a steadier pace until I'm sure I know what I'm doing, but yes. I don't intend to be a burden."

"'Cause Rob and I were talking about it earlier and we think you're probably the weakest out of all of us."

"Really? As I see it, the only person here I couldn't take in a fight is you."

He looks at me with an expression of incredulity. "Really."

"I can't account for every possibility, but yes, I think so."

"You think you can take Robin."

"None of his standard ordnance is strong enough to penetrate my shield. My shield has no gaps. I can track him through his smoke bombs and attack at light speed."

"He always has plans for how to take his enemies down."

"Plans that in my case he has neither the information to set up nor the equipment to carry out."

"Aqualad."

"His strongest attacks might be a threat, but I can evade with flight and attack from a distance."

"Miss Martian."

"She shares my lack of combat experience, and is far less aggressive. I would attack before she can disrupt the ring with telepathy."

"Superboy."

I shrug. "Same as Aqualad."

"Seriously!? You did read the report where he took down me, Robin and Kaldur in like thirty seconds."

"With all due respect to everyone's favourite Human-Kryptonian hybrid, my regular sparring partner is Wonder Woman, and she hits at least as hard as he does."

"No. Way."

"Ah-ight." I shrug. Unless we start sparring against each other there's no way to tell for certain. Might be worth arranging to start that, actually.

"If you really think you could beat everyone else, -which you totally can't- why don't you think you could beat me?"

"It's not so much your speed as your faster reflexes. If I start with the ring inactive and we're about… what, five metres apart? I've got a fraction of a second to raise my shield before you hit me. Longer, if I want them strong enough to take you punching them as fast as you can. If we start further apart I can fly to evade but I'll still struggle to hit you. If you're intelligent enough to go after my lantern and play keep away, you'll probably win by exhausting me."

"Yeah, that sounds like something I'd do."

We reach the elevator and get in. Kid Flash pushes the button to take us down to the hangar in which M'gann keeps her ship. When she first introduced me to the ship we had a moment of cross cultural confusion when I asked her what its name is. Despite clearly regarding it as a living thing she didn't see any need to give it one.

"As much fun as this joy ride is going to be, might it be worth scheduling some team practice in for later today? Remedial sparring, if you think that I'm that far below your level?"

"Nah. We all pretty much know what we're doing. Even you, I guess. Wonder Woman and A-. Erm. Green Lantern wouldn't have put you here if you were completely useless."

"I do know what his name is."

"Yeah, he said, but you shouldn't get into the habit of using people's names. Still can't believe you just walked up to him like that."

"Seemed like the logical way to go about it."

"Secret identities aren't that easy to breach."

"Why does everyone think that? He wore a tiny mask!" I put my thumbs and index fingers around my eyes with my other fingers splayed outwards. "Tiny tiny mask which didn't cover his face at all. One facial recognition scan was all it took."

The elevator pings open while my hands are still in front of my face. I turn outwards to see the rest of the team staring at me. I lower my hands. They're still staring.

Yeah.

"It was a tiny mask!"

I stalk towards the open rear of the ship. M'gann is trying not to laugh by covering her mouth with her hands. I think the others are just bemused.

"Are we going or what?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July
11:37 GMT -5

I plonk myself in the seat to the left of the entrance and the chair extends a seatbelt around me. M'gann follows a moment later and takes the pilot position.

"Strap in for launch."

She did let me have a brief go at controlling the ship a few days ago. I can handle simple manoeuvres with the manual controls but I couldn't get my head around using the gravity drive for more complex stunts. Intellectually, I know that 'down' is towards the floor of the ship but whenever I tried to do anything fancy I kept becoming convinced that it was about to be the planet's surface again. It's weird; I don't have that problem with the ring at all. My attempt at using the telepathic control system with the ring was a complete failure.

Kid Flash comes in next and takes the left midship position, swinging the chair around to face M'gann. Robin takes right midship, Superboy at right forwards and Kaldur at left forwards. Guess I'm nobby no-mates then.

"Red Tornado, please open the bay doors."

The ship manifests the control columns and M'gann raises her hands above them. I still haven't quite got used to flight that doesn't involve either conventional gravity or inertia. When I use the ring to alter my inertia it's all pre-programmed. I just ride along with it. I tried altering gravity so that the pull towards the ceiling was two gees once. It wasn't painful or even uncomfortable, but it was weird as heck and I haven't done it again. M'gann's ship pulls out of the hangar so smoothly that if I couldn't see the view I would think that we hadn't moved at all.

We shoot out over the water. I have no idea why no one has seen us. In a sensible universe we'd be a tourist attraction by now. M'gann shows off the artificial gravity by putting us into a brief vertical climb, turns and spins the ship on its axis, and then turns us back towards Happy Harbour itself. The whole time everyone on board felt no more than one point one gravities towards the floor, and maybe point one against the direction of acceleration. It actually feels like being in a malfunctioning simulator. If all Martian technology is like this I have no idea why they aren't the dominant power in this system.

"Incredible."

Robin seems to appreciate it. He can probably compare it to the Batwing, so can better understand how much more advanced it is than the best Earth has to offer.

Wallace sighs. "She sure is."

Either he is literally besotted, or, whaw. M'gann turns to look at him. I can't see her face from here.

"Ah, I mean, the ship."

He's actually pointing. Good save. Good save.

"Which, like all ships, is a she."

Stop digging, man.

"Fast with his feet. Not so much with his mouth."

Oowh, harsh, Robin. Harsh.

"Dude!"

I should probably try and help him out.

"Would it be a problem if someone saw us up here?"

M'gann stretches her neck to look at me. I worry a little about the pilot taking her eyes off the window, but there isn't anything to hit up here and no way for a birdstrike to interfere with the engines. "Why would it be? We're not doing anything wrong."

"Do you have a pilot's license?"

"Yes! Oh. Do you mean an Earth pilot's license, or a Martian one?"

"Whichever one the American civil aviation authority is likely to ask for."

Wallace takes the opportunity to support M'gann. "C'mon, Oh El. No one's gonna care about that."

Maybe he's right. Maybe civil authorities have learned to leave alien craft well alone. I certainly wouldn't blame them.

"No no. You can't call me Oh El, it'll get confusing."

I now have Robin's attention too. "You see any other Orange Lanterns around here?"

"No, but Superboy's an El, isn't he."

Wallace looks puzzled. "How d'you get 'El' from Superboy."

"From his father? That's usually how it works, isn't it? Kryptonians aren't matrilineal."

Superboy is now paying close attention. "What do you mean?"

"Superman's name. Kal-El. Son of Jor-El. Which presumably makes you, whatever you end up picking as your first name, followed by El. The important thing is, I can't be Oh El, because it would make me sound Kryptonian. People would get confused."

Superboy looks stunned. "I didn't know Superman had a name."

"You didn't think his parents called him Superman, did you?"

"I didn't… I hadn't… Thought about it…"

I smile. "Learn something new every day."

Robin leans towards M'gann. "Hey. How about showing us a little Martian shape shifting?"

Guess he decided that I've pushed Super-El too much.

M'gann rises to her feet and steps forwards from the pilot's seat. The reeds on stone noise again as her legs turn.. dark.. grey..?

I get out of my seat to take a closer look, glowing orange-soled boots making sure I stick to the deck. "Heheh. Damn, I look good."

Orange Lantern M'gann strikes a pose. She even has her ring facing the right way.

Wallace doesn't seem to share my appreciation. "Oh, that is just wrong."

Wait, does that mean that she really wasn't wearing clothes earlier? Not mentioning that to Wallace.

M'gann twirls on the spot, and shifts to female Kid Flash. Does Jessie Quick exist here? Another one to look up.

Wallace seems confused. "That's… Sorta wrong, but also kinda right."

Robin claps. "Impressive." M'gann shifts back to her default form. "But you know you're not exactly gonna fool anyone with those."

"Mimicking boys is a lot harder."

"And your clothes…"

Bad Aqualad! Bad! I was hoping no one else had noticed!

"They're organic, like the ship. They respond to my mental commands."

Uh? Wait, why was she so… Is shifting your skin like hanging around in pyjamas for a Human? And you put on actual clothes for company? Not something I do now, as getting dressed takes a literal second with the ring.

"Can you do that ghosting through walls thing that Manhunter does?"

Wallace continues with his interest in everything M'gann.

"Density shifting? No… it's a very advanced technique."

"Flash can vibrate his molecules right through a wall. When he tries it? Bloody nose."

"Dude!"

Robin is definitely off Wallace's wingman list.

"I've heard that power rings are supposed to be able to do the same thing."

I surround my left hand in an orange aura and press it against the side of the ship. "Nothing yet. Guess we've all got something to work on."

M'gann extends her hands again and the control columns twist to reach her. "Well, here's something I can do." A dull thumm sounds through the ship. "Camouflage mode."

The stealth on this ship is really good. Even knowing exactly where to look it's practically impossible to spot. Just hope no one shoots us with a paintball gun. Not sure how it compares to Wonder Woman's jet. OrangeVision bypasses both anyway.

"Red Tornado to Miss Martian. An emergency alert has been triggered at the Happy Harbor power plant. I suggest you investigate. Covertly. I'm sending coordinates."

"Received. Adjusting course."

Robin snorts. "Tornado's keeping us busy again."

We're now over land. I haven't learned the geography of this part of the town yet, but I can see three slim white chimneys attached to an industrial building. Presumably, our target.

"Well, a simple fire led you to Superboy. We should find out what caused the alert."

M'gann sounds more positive.

Superboy looks around. "I think I know the cause."

Tornado? Why is there a t-. Supervillain. Of course. Couldn't be someone testing the fire alarm at the wrong time. M'gann takes evasive action. I doubt that they've seen us, but an area effect attack will still knock us silly.

Too late!

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July
11:44 GMT -5

Ring, medium armour.

An orange flare and Peter Gambi's finest work replaces my casual clothing. Ceramic and steel hexes held together by dark grey dyneema cover my joints and neck while larger plates protect my torso, arms and legs. I'm not sure what the padding material is made of but I barely felt it when he hit me in the chest with a baseball bat as a demonstration. The whole thing fits perfectly, protects against all of the forms of attack I specified and is wearable even without the ring maintaining my temperature. I'm not sure why, but he actually only wanted to charge me for materials. I was able to negotiate him up only once I said that I might be able to send colleagues his way.

A small holster on my left leg contains a ring-built pistol based on the Smith & Wesson Model 63 I was practising with. This one is largely titanium with a tungsten-lined barrel. I switched to practising with it after I created it and I find it slightly superior to the standard model. I haven't tried forging specialised ammunition for it as the process looks complicated and would be a dead give away to any investigator if I ever used it.

My hands are bare, as is my head. My ability to perceive and interact with my environment is too vital for ring use to compromise for a minor increase in protection. Once I leave Earth I'll see about getting hold of a force field generator of some kind.

Orange Lantern sigils cover my front, back and shoulder plates in traditional superhero fashion.

My eyes glow orange as I activate my visual enhancements.

NO. FUCKING. TINY. MASK.

The precision tornado hits the ship and the view through the window shifts wildly. An electrical crackling noise marks the camouflage being overwhelmed and shutting down. The cyclonic acceleration has much less effect on the interior than it should have and with the ring active I don't even feel that. Everyone else is thrown against their harnesses with a yelp. Fortunately, M'gann keeps her head together and, using the tornado's own movement to gain speed, manages to pull us away. After getting to a safe distance she spins the ship around and brings us down in the car park. We're about a metre up when the floor opens and the rest of the team drops to the tarmac. I'm left standing upside down on the exterior hull as my deck clamp construct remains in effect. I try to style it out by disconnecting and spinning to a crouch but I don't think anyone noticed.

In the distance I can hear panicked screams and just make out people fleeing the power plant building. The tornado is on the side of the building away from us. If the goal was the destruction of the plant, wouldn't it make more sense to drop it directly on the building? I blink and eighty or so avarice loci mark the locations of the plant workers. Most have either evacuated or are in the process of doing so, the few others having been in the parts of the plant furthest from the exits. Or maybe one of them is the villain? I was sort of expecting them to stand out more, but to be honest I couldn't even guess which of them was causing this.

The tornado moves towards the corner of the building. Definitely directed.

"Robin? Are tornados common to New England?"

Aqualad may not have seen a tornado before. Heck, I've only seen recordings. Wait, where's Robin?

"Robin?!"

I hear a peal of laughter, like that which would be produced by Chucky in an unusually positive mood. Is that the villain? Is the tornado a distraction while he invisibly picks us off?

"He was just here."

Shit, the telepath can't find him?

"Ring, scan for Robin." The windows blow out in the top floor of the building as the ring locates my errant team mate. "He's in the-."

They are already running -or in M'gann's case flying- across the car park towards the loading bay. Nice to know she overcomes her reticence when necessary. Oh, right, catching up.

There is a woosh of air and a dull clang.

"Ugoh! Guh."

Superboy makes it inside first, followed by the others. Robin is already on the ground, rubbing his head. Superboy leaps.

Yeah, that's a supervillain. Huge, red and black, with some sort of exposed blue cables running from his back to his arms. And a scarf. Why does he have a scarf? It looks like he's wearing power armour.

Why aren't I detecting avarice? Is the armour blocking my scans? It might be, but I'd be surprised if any Earth technology was capable of doing that.

Superboy lands in a crouch next to Robin. "Who's your new friend?"

"Didn't catch his name."

First step in a fight, armour. Orange plates -a bit like Mass Effect Tech Armour- congeal around my body. Last time Diana punched one she had to rub life back into her hand. I value my own life and physical integrity quite highly, and the strength of my defensive constructs reflects that.

"But he plays kinda rough!"

"My apologies. You may address me as Mister Twister."

Superboy is already charging forwards. Mister Twister points his arms at the ground and creates a visible cyclone around each one? Is that possible? The wind reduces Superboy's forward movement to virtually nothing. Then Twister moves his hands and the wind lifts Superboy into the air, spinning him around.

Whaw, that looks CRASH MAT CRASH MAT!

It forms before he hits the wall, reducing a dangerous slam to a light bump. Another forms beneath him as he falls, cushioning his landing. He rights himself and vaults over the railing.

Kid Flash pulls a pair of goggles out of his trousers. Robin rises to his feet with a groan. Aqualad nods at M'gann, who nods back. Aqualad's hands crackle with electricity.

Was there a team attack strategy session I missed?

A look around shows me that the evacuation is complete. I suppose now we're trying to preserve vital infrastructure? There is no mention of a Mister Twister in any file I remember reading, and those the ring absorbed are similarly blank. What does he want?

My team mates charge. And I? I have no idea what to do. I just float here. How to do this? This is too strange. I don't care enough about the fight to smash a guy who can brush off Superboy. I really don't want to try converting him into a construct. I'd like to negotiate, but that opportunity seems to have passed.

Kid Flash gets into range first, and handplants for a super speed flying kick. Mr Twister brings his hands together and causes the air currents to throw him past his target and out of the back of the building. Another crash mat from me catches him in mid air and safely deposits him on the ground outside.

Aqualad and M'gann get tossed around like dolls. Twister doesn't even have to move to knock them aside. I get a soft chair construct under each of them and pull them back to a safe distance. Superboy's attempt at a leaping attack just gives Twister more time to generate an air blast beneath him and send him up into the rafters.

What the heck is this room actually for?

I put a flight aura around Superboy as he starts to come back down, and bring him in for a controlled landing next to me. He shoots me an angry look.

"I was prepared to be challenged by a superhero. I was not, however, expecting children."

Has he not seen me? Or is he just assuming? I suppose the orange glow makes picking out facial characteristics harder. And M'gann does kind of have a 'youthful' body shape. Er, no offence if you're listening, M'gann.

Robin preps and throws two discs. "We're not children!"

Two cyclones again. The first disc detonates just ahead of him, causing no damage. The second hits him in the chest and embeds in his armour before he reaches up and flicks it away. It detonates on his left, out of range.

"Objectively you are. Have you no adult supervision? I find your presence here quite disturbing."

"Actually, not a.. child, back here?" I don't really want to draw his attention as I have no idea what I'd do with it, but I can't let a comment like that just... Go. I'm in a training team because I need training. Most of my team mates are younger because they started earlier. "I mean, I'm not even the oldest member..."

Hmm. I suppose the infrastructure is safe from further damage as long as we hold his attention. And aside from Robin's attempt at being a solo artist none of us are hurt.

"Well we hate to see you disturbed. We'll see if you're more turbed once we kick your can!"

Are they all just going to rush him again? Even Vas knows that's dumb. And what the hell is 'turbed'?

M'gann steps forwards, and uses telekinesis to rip open a metal.. tank.. that was stuck on the ceiling..? What nutter designed this place? Mister Twister is briefly wreathed in vapour, and Superboy uses the distraction to cover another leaping attack. A full air blast from our enemy sends him straight into a horizontal strut before I can grab him. He also manages to hit M'gann in the air before I get another crash mat under them both before they hit the ground.

This is getting really stupid. I'm no tactical genius or anything, but this is some seriously futile stuff.

Kid Flash and Robin charge just as my patience runs out. An omnidirectional airblast leads to the same mini tornado as Twister used on Superboy. To much the same effect, except that he takes the time to slam the two of them together before he stops it.

Reaching a decision, I grab Aqualad with a mailed gauntlet construct.

"Wha'?"

I bring him level with where I'm floating. "You wanna come up with a plan, maybe tell your least experienced team mate what it is?"

He's actually struggling against the construct. What is his problem? When he realises that he can't get leverage he stops and turns his head to face me.

"You should be aiding us against the enemy."

I roll my eyes. Really? "I should not have to explain the necessity of having a plan to the Atlantean Royal Champion!"

He starts, considers, then nods. I drop the gauntlet. "Can you hold him in place while we regroup? Perhaps a construct chain or manacles?"

No, 'cause those are solely dependent on construct strength and I don't care enough. Sonic attack, try to disable? Aided by -Teen Titan flashback- effective misdirection? I don't have a better idea.

"Miss M'orzz, would you please take over catching duty!?"

She has just disentangled herself from Superboy. "Uh, sure."

I raise my right arm, palm extended, and cause my hand to glow with bright orange light. Amplification please, ring.

"Would my team mates please stand clear of the target!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July
11:50 GMT -5

That got a reaction.

"Another child in need of an education."

He raises his arms to ward off a direct attack. But I have a power ring.

The only time Kyle Rayner ever impressed me as a Lantern was when, during a fight with Power Ring, he fired a beam behind him and then through the ground under his target. Still, typical Green Lantern, he never expanded the technique. Or maybe it was just bad writing?

Whatever. OrangeVision shows me that the narrow beam running from my right foot has undermined Mister Twister's position while he's staring at my hand. I still don't think I care enough to hit him hard enough directly…

Oh, that's good.

"Things will get loud, now."

Four beams of orange light erupt from the floor around him. Each one sprouts four sonic energy projectors and activates, with his centre of mass as the focal point. I remember reading during psychology A-Level that this is how ultrasound is used to destroy kidney stones; beams are focused from several different directions so that the stone where they meet is vibrated to nothingness while the other tissues are unharmed.

"Graawgh!" His winds dissipate. His hands clutch at his head. I can see his armour vibrating. Wait, why is he clutching his head? The armour doesn't have ears, and I can't see external microphones.

Aqualad takes the initiative. "Superboy, try pulling on his cables!"

Superboy looks up, nods, and then runs full speed at Mister Twister. He isn't Kid Flash, but his strength gives him quite a turn of speed. He pounds across the room, jumps past my constructs and-

"Ghuaaaagh!"

-barrels straight into Mister Twister's chest, screaming in pain. Mister Twister was knocked backwards by the impact.

What? What happened?

He drops to the ground, clutching his head.

What?

My sonic constructs dissipate as I switch my attention to recovering Superboy. When he feels the stretcher construct touch him he flails at it. Even from the other side of the room I can see blood on his hands.

I want him safe.

Tentacle constructs wrapping around him I dump Superboy onto the stretcher and swiftly move it behind the rear wall. He's in a foetal position, still clutching his ears. An ambulance won't work, I'll need to contact Red Tornado-.

"Surprisingly intelligent, for a youth."

Huh?

I hear a vacuum sound.

Arrhhh!

Can't see!

Twister!

Waaaaahh!

Can't concentrate to fly!

Blauhoabaubauabuao!

Doafh!

Slamming through something, I hit the ground.

Uuuuugh.

I threw up inside my shield! Oh, that's disgusting. The ring automatically takes care of all of the vomit that left my mouth, but the bile still fills my throat. I retch and splutter, trying to clear the rest of it.

"Ring, fix it."

Oh that's better. I can still taste a bit, ugh, but I'm now feeling less revolting.

!Superboy!

I struggle to my feet and then immediately collapse down. The world spins as I roll onto my back in the earth. Earth? Trees? I must have cleared the car park.

"Ring, inner ear."

Even in a state of confusion my desire for self preservation remained. Otherwise, my shield would have gone down and the wind blast would probably have killed me. I try to rise again. Yep, fine, good work ring. I quickly check myself for injuries, then realise that's stupid.

Wholeness Rightly Assumed.

I'm at a sharp angle from the entrance to the power plant. I can see Superboy on the ground, but I can't see the others. I can hear them, though. Explosions and shouts.

!Superboy!

Superboy!

I'm at his side in seconds. He's still moaning. I lay a hand on his forearm and he knocks me away with enough force to weaken my shield.

"Ring, what's wrong with him?"

"Numerous physical defects detected. Current primary physical injury is the result of ruptured ear drums."

"Can you fix it?"

"Not without further physiological data for target species."

"Can't you just.. just… Work it out?"

"Suggested course of action is possible, but unwise."

Don't mess with people's bodies if you don't know what you're doing.

"Painkillers. Can you stop it hurting him?"

"Compliance."

A thin orange tether connects the ring to Superboy. He gasps, and stops moaning. He looks up at me, and pushes himself to his feet.

"What happened?" He looks shocked for a moment. "What happened!"

From shocked to scared.

He claps his hands together, loudly, then again right against his left ear. "Why can't I hear anything!"

"You've got ruptured ear drums. You won't be able to hear anything until you've had medical attention. Wo… Can you hear me?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, okay, I think the ring is interfaced with your auditory nerves. Mister Twister is still up and I-."

He bounds away, leaping around towards the other side of the building where our team mates are fighting.

Ear drums ruptured. Sonic attack. Super hearing.

It was me.

He went past my constructs, got hit by the sonic energy and his ears exploded. Oh god. Oh god.

Move.

Move.

Move. Move. Move.

I begin jogging, not trusting my ability to fly yet.

It was me. I might have permanently deafened him.

My shield flickers and weakens.

As I round the corner of the building I hear a grunt as Superboy is sent flying into a car, the force of the impact sliding it backwards.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm waiting for a real hero."

"Read his mind. Find a weakness!"

Won't work, Aqualad.

"Er, I thought I wasn't supposed to do that?"

"It's okay with the bad guys!"

I reach the ruins of the car Superboy hit as he pulls himself free.

"Nothing. I'm getting nothing!"

Mister Twister is airborne, clearly dismissing us. I could hit him, but right now my concern for Superboy is crowding out my other desires.

M'gann strikes the side of her head with the base of her palm.

"Hello, Megan! Mister Twister is Red Tornado in disguise." Um, no? "He's inorganic. An android. But how many androids do you know that can generate tornados?"

Probably a lot? Haven't you read the intelligence files? If you can make one…

"Red Tornado sent us here!"

Nonono Aqualad, not the avalanche of stupid…

"After saying we'd 'be tested soon enough'?"

Robin?

"This is his test! Something to keep us busy!"

Ring. Locate Red Tornado.

I get a momentary vision of him back at the base, staring at the main computer terminal.

"Red Tornado's still at the base! It isn't him!"

They stare at me, thought train derailed.

"Thank you for the information. Perhaps this will tempt Achilles from his tent."

He raises his arms above his head. Two funnels of air form, but they aren't directed at us. What's he..?

The skies darken.

No. Fucking. Way.

A swirling storm forms around him while he stands at the eye. Away from the edge, bright sunny day. Here, it's working up to hurricane force.

Superboy tries walking in a crouch towards the source of the attack.

No. That won't work.

A glow and I've grabbed him and I'm flying towards the others. We land in the centre of the group.

Lightning begins crackling around Mister Twister.

I see worried and fraught faces. My allies.

I fucked up with Superboy, but I'm not failing again.

An orange bubble forms around the group. I hold my arms outwards, palms towards the centre of the storm.

I. Will. Not. Fail.

Krackompf!

I feel the shield stress as the lightning hits. As the afterimage burns my retina I can see the orange membrane ripple like water where it was struck.

Krackompf!

I don't know what to do.

I don't know what to do.

I don't know what to do.

"I can't tank this forever!"

M'gann looks thoughtful.

Mister Twister floats down towards us, crackling with power. And then he stops.

"Fine then. I won't deny that you children have power. But playing hide and seek with you will not help me achieve my objectives."

What?

"So stay concealed. If you confront me again I will. Show. No. Mercy."

What?

OrangeVision

The Bio-Ship is floating between us and Twister, camouflage active. He can't see us, so he's breaking off.

Heh. He flies standing up too.

HeH hEh HeH.

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July
11:56 GMT -5

Wallace recovers from his surprise first. "What happened?"

"I placed the Bio-Ship between us and the camouflage made it look like we weren't here."

Ring, charge?

Eighty seven percent remaining.

"What happened!"

"M'gann just said, the Bio-Ship-."

I hold up my left hand towards Wallace. "Superboy is temporarily deafened. Ring, share my hearing with him."

"Compliance."

"Superboy, you should be able to hear what I'm hearing."

"It's working."

Oh, that's a relief.

"Good, good."

His face hardens. "It's not good!"

He thrusts his face towards mine. I raise my hands in a surrender motion. "Okay, I'm sorry, poor choice of words. It's a useful temporary fix until we can get you to a medical facility."

He turns to the others. "And why were you all just standing there anyway!"

M'gann looks at the ground. "I thought… I couldn't read his mind…"

Aqualad steps up. "M'gann mistakenly assumed that as she could read neither Red Tornado's mind nor Mister Twister's that they were most likely the same person. Given the similarity in their abilities…"

"Why would Red Tornado attack us! I can't hear because of him!"

God… "No, no, I.. I'm sorry, that was me."

"What?!"

"When you jumped through the sonic constructs I was using to attack Mister Twister, you… I didn't turn them off. You took a glancing blow which appears to have-."

"AAAAAGH!" He slams his fist into the ground, sending up a plume of asphalt and dust.

Robin turns to me. "What were you doing at the start of the fight, anyway?"

"Waiting for someone to come up with a plan."

Wallace chimes in. "Yeah, bit slow off the mark there weren't you, Oh El?"

"Slow and steady may not win the race, but it does result in my team mates not being smashed into the walls. Or did you think those crash mats were appearing by magic?"

Aqualad places a hand on their shoulders. "This is not a productive avenue of discussion. Our first engagement with the enemy has not gone as we would have hoped. And Orange Lantern is correct. We should have had a plan before attacking."

They relax, the tension of the fight draining from their frames.

Superboy still looks ready to rip me in half. "Is this permanent?!"

Review.

"No. The ring says that sort of injury is usually healed in a couple of months."

"Months!"

"I can probably speed it up once I've had a better look at your auditory systems. I don't… I'm sorry, I don't remember Kryptonian regeneration rates."

M'gann looks up. "I'm sorry, I just thought it was him. It just made sense."

Aqualad waits until he catches her eye. "It was a rookie mistake. But you and Orange Lantern are rookies, and we should not have accepted your opinion as fact without checking."

"As long as you're within a few hundred metres I can probably replace your ears with a construct. As a temporary measure, as a temporary measure!"

I make a placating gesture. He's still visibly fuming.

"That was partially my fault as well."

No? "Aqualad, it really wasn't."

"I should have taken your inexperience into account before I limited my instruction to Superboy to a simple order to attack. And I should have recognized the form of weapon you were using."

"Do it."

"What?"

"The ears. Give me… Orange… Ears."

Don't laugh don't laugh don't laugh don't laugh.

"Ring, do it."

The strand of orange connecting us gets broader for a moment. The construct doesn't show, as it's inside his head.

"I can't promise that it's Kryptonian quality… Best test it out to get used to it. And, look, I am really sorry and I am going to fix this."

He looks away. "Mmf."

Aqualad steps back, causing the rest of us to form a near circle facing him.

"Before we engage Mister Twister again, we need a plan."

Hate to say this… "Should we notify Red Tornado?"

"No! If we do that then we're still just kids!"

Wallace is not enthused. Hey, I wonder what thused means?

"I'm not saying ask him to take over. Just tell him what's happening, and that we're in pursuit." Wallace goes to complain again so I pre-emptively interrupt him. "It's not about us looking good! If he heads to Happy Harbour and starts dropping buildings on people 'cause we were too proud to ask for help, that's on us!"

Aqualad thinks for a moment. "I agree with Orange Lantern. We should keep him informed."

No further objections? Good. "I don't really have anything else to contribute, planwise. I'll let him know."

I step away from the group. Ring, open a channel to Red Tornado.

Compliance.

A small orange image of Red Tornado appears before me.

"Sir. I confirm that the attack on the power plant was the work of a supervillain. They identify themselves as 'Mister Twister'. Red and Black power armour, able to generate intense winds. A bit like you do, actually. Since neither M'gann nor I could get a reading on his mind he's probably either a simple AI or.. what we fought was being remote controlled."

The ring does read Red Tornado. Not much, certainly not compared to the rest of us, but he definitely wants things for himself.

"He's broken away from us in the direction of the main harbour area. We'll be pursuing shortly."

"Message received." He bows his head slightly. "It is an odd coincidence that this 'Twister' shares my elemental abilities."

"I hadn't thought anything of it. Supervillains seem to like playing king-of-the-hill with someone who has abilities similar to their own. Though, if you don't mind me asking, sir? Might he have been built by the same person who built you? Or based on those plans?"

A pause. "It is possible. I will attempt to investigate. Continue pursuit. If you believe you are in danger of being overwhelmed, contact me again and I will take over."

"Understood sir. Orange Lantern out." The image disappears. Why are the others all looking at me? "What? Did I say something wrong?"

M'gann seems happier… "Supervillains like playing king-of-the-hill against people with abilities like theirs!"

Do they ever! Those files made depressing reading. The same wasteful idiocy again and again. "Yes?"

Aqualad smiles. "Then we have our distraction."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July
12:08 GMT -5

We're back in the Bio-Ship, heading for the harbour under camouflage. Aqualad has taken the seat at M'gann's left with Robin on her right. Wallace and Superboy are at the front. I'm leaning on the hull between Robin and Wallace. Seriously, either M'gann needs to move the command position back or we need another forward seat.

"Just one other thing. When the Justice League take someone like this on they use Mister J'onzz's telepathy to coordinate without being overheard. M'gann and I have… What?"

Robin, Wallace and Superboy all look at Aqualad, who flicks his eyes to the deck for a moment before looking back at me.

"Other members of the team, myself included, are not entirely comfortable with that form of mental contact."

Really? Odd. "You do realise that Aquaman, Batman, Superman and The Flash have all used it, right? I doubt Batman's keen on people knowing what he's thinking."

I try to catch Robin or Kid Flash's eye. Robin focuses on putting on his utility belt. Bright yellow?

Wallace does a deer in headlights impression. "It's not… I mean, I do trust M'gann-" His eyes flick to her. "-but isn't it… Don't you find it… Like… Weird..?"

M'gann decides to interject. "On Mars, telepathic communication is completely normal. Until this morning it didn't even occur to me that it might be a problem for some people. If you don't want to use my telepathy for the team, I'll understand. But, I would never use it to hurt you. It would be prevocal only. I wouldn't go any deeper, or do anything else."

This morning? "What happened this morning?"

Superboy is now facing directly away from me, arms folded across his chest. Robin looks at him, then Wallace.

"M'gann used telepathy on Superboy earlier. Kinda reminded him of Cadmus."

Superboy turns back to us. "I'm not having anyone go through my head again!"

"Yeah, well I don't want an opponent to thank me for information in the middle of a fight ever again!"

M'gann looks at him sadly. "Superboy…"

Aqualad interjects. "For myself, I must say that I found the experience quite disorienting."

"Really? When we tried it, it didn't feel much different to wearing an earpiece radio."

Robin starts. "You've tried it before?"

"In the base, yes. I wanted to know what it felt like. It was like hearing a voice that doesn't come from anywhere in particular." I pause as I remember some of the things I thought about to see if M'gann would hear them. Nothing beyond a twelve rating, mind. "Unless I deliberately thought a particular phrase at her, it didn't go anywhere. Not much different to speaking." Let's face it, if she'd been probing, she would definitely have said something about the whole comic book thing. And most likely completely freaked out.

They're trying to gauge each other's feelings.

"Some of the stuff we're planning requires perfect timing and coordination between us when we can't see each other. Unless someone brought tornado proof radios..?"

A shallow inclination of the head from Aqualad and Robin. Wallace averts his eyes, choosing not to argue the point. Superboy maintains his scowl for the longest.

"Fine."

We're coming up on the bay. I can see three large twisters doing their best to level the waterfront. Can't see Mister Twister himself from this distance. One of the tornados moves out along a wooden jetty, throwing several small motorboats into the air.

**Testing, testing, one two, one two.** I see the other guys wince. Babies. **M'gann, would you mind asking the ship to let me out? I'd like to shield the evacuation.**

M'gann nods, and a small opening grows in the floor next to me. I see the effect of the wind on the other guys' clothing and hair.

"Geronimo." I step into the hole, and fall towards the ground. Catching myself, I speed ahead of the ship into the danger zone. Ring, where's Twister? I am treated to a zoomed image of Mister Twister standing next to a fountain, arms outstretched. **Guys, he's by the fountain.**

I try thinking the picture at them. Not sure if it works. Now, time to make myself useful. The boats which the air currents picked up have reached the apex of their flight and have begun their swift return journey to earth. Can't be having that. A flight aura catches the first one and brings it safely to rest on the roadside verge. Twister looks up at me.

"See, whenever I played Command and Conquer, I'd always try to take the enemy base intact. Seemed like such a waste to just bring in artillery and level the place." I catch two more boats and hold them in the air for a moment before placing them on the ground a street away. "Pointless destruction. What is this supposed to be in aid of?"

"It was supposed to attract the required attention."

"Really? Most supervillains try to pretend it isn't just about attention seeking."

"Good news for ya: you've got ours, full and undivided."

Wallace runs at full speed down the main road and jump kicks Twister in the chest, pushes off and lands in a crouch. Twister staggers backwards. I'm a bit surprised that worked, to be honest. Hopefully this attack will force him to focus on us for a bit. I use the time to grab some of the larger bits of airborne debris and thrust them to the ground in a heap away from us. Whaw, this place is a mess. Looks like a tornado went straight through a large wooden house. I can see the ruined boards that used to be the outer wall, but also the insides of someone's life: sheets, curtains, a couple of picture frames. What looks like a soft chair. No one has died but a life has been destroyed. Pointless pointless pointless.

"Immaterial and insufficient." He raises his hands is Wallace's direction. "You are a distraction I can no longer tolerate."

"Aaaaaaaaaagghhhh!" Superboy narrowly misses landing directly on top of Mister Twister. Had his attack connected this would probably have been a very short fight. Twister thrusts himself backwards through the air, trying to gain the space and time he needs to counterattack. You know what? Fuck that guy.

I form a circular orange construct around his eyepiece. It doesn't damage him, but it does keep him off balance while I fire an orange cutting beam at his left leg. And… Oh, that's where that tornado went. It was coming in behind me but they aren't exactly quiet and they aren't all that high. I just climb above it, though my vision-obscuring construct and beam drop when I do. Our attempts to attract his attention are succeeding. Each of the pre-existing tornados is dying off without Twister making the effort to sustain it.

Down below I see Twister float up another boat and thrust it at Superboy. No, you don't. Another safe boat, and he has to back-pedal to avoid Superboy's lunge. Maybe we should see about getting Superboy some actual fight training? I know that Black Canary is a skilled martial artist, but some techniques just aren't efficient for someone that strong. Maybe Diana could..?

As Robin and Aqualad enter the combat zone, I activate OrangeVision to scan for remaining civilian presence. No, everyone is clear. Oh, for goodness… Crash mat.

**It doesn't have to look that good, Aqualad.**

**It is not always an easy matter to judge.**

I drop him onto the balcony of the house he nearly rammed into, and he jumps back down to ground level. Wallace is momentarily caught in a windblast, but recovers well and dashes out of range. Robin throws an explosive at a dying tornado close to his position and then pelts Mister Twister with the rest. Twister clears the space around him with another air blast but then takes a glancing blow from Superboy, who took advantage of his distraction. His retaliation blasts Superboy high into the air. I go to grab him but Twister leaves the cyclone in place and I can't get a clear acquisition!

!MINE!

I won't let him get hurt again!

The ring glows brightly and discharges a powerful beam straight at Superboy. Punching through the cyclone it strikes his right side. Glowing orange armour similar to my own manifests just before he slams into the concrete quay. Another boat swiftly follows and I lose sight of him.

I drop down to the impact site just as the largest piece of boat wreckage shakes and lifts. With a growl Superboy throws it at Mister Twister, who nonchalantly catches it with a wind blast and hurls it at Aqualad.

Did Aqualad just run up a flying boat?

**I'm coming in now.**

The idea of having M'gann assume the form of Red Tornado seemed so obvious once Aqualad explained it to me. Presumably a Justice League member counts as a 'real hero' for his purposes. I was surprised that she could get that much bigger, but apparently she can spread herself out.

M'gann lands in front of the regrouped team. I drop down behind them, still just off the ground.

"Hit the showers, boys. I was hoping you could handle this. Clearly, you cannot."

She sounds just like him. I wonder if Wallace 'Casanova' West is paying attention? Reminds me of that character from the Marvel series, Runaways. The Skrull shapeshifter who thought nothing of changing his gender on a semi permanent basis to pursue a relationship with a lesbian. Is that something Martians do? Maybe M'gann was a M'rikk before watching 'Hello, Megan'?

Maybe I shouldn't mention that to anyone ever.

Robin makes a token protest. "But we've got a plan now."

"The subject is not up for debate."

I put on a sullen expression, but I honestly doubt that Twister is actually looking at me. As per the plan, I need to get out of Mister Twister's line of sight. Once I'm out of his immediate field of vision I just tell the ring to get behind the roof of one of the still intact houses. I then turn down my environmental shield to minimum and activate OrangeVision.

**Orange Lantern in position.**

I wasn't lying about the Command and Conquer thing. But if I can't take something intact…

Ring, full scan of Mister Twister.

Compliance. At current avarice levels a full quintessence waveform scan will take approximately twelve hours.

That sounds like more information than I need. How about enough information to build the physical components?

No power ring disrupting technology detected in target. Physical scan complete.

Superboy's walking away more slowly, trying to stay in leaping distance. I try to turn the armour construct off, but no luck. My guilt over injuring him is overpowering my desire to follow the plan. It seems that the problem Alan pointed out is a real one, but it shouldn't matter too much here. I've just had to transfer the wiggly orange line connecting us underground so as not to give away my position. Wallace has just ducked behind the remains of a larger boat hull, ready for his part in assisting M'gann in pretending to be Red Tornado.

**Superboy ready.**

**Kid Flash ready. This still feels weird.**

Aqualad walks along the shore until he has some cover, then slips into the water.

"I was beginning to believe you'd never show up."

**Aqualad ready.**

"I'm here now."

They can start fighting with Kid Flash in place, but ideally M'gann can keep Twister talking until Robin-.

**Robin here. All set.**

Alrighty then.

M'gann-as-Red Tornado gestures, and Kid Flash is no longer in his hiding place. OrangeVision gives me his approximate location however: in the centre of 'Red Tornado's' tornado. M'gann gestures, and the tornado moves forwards. Mister Twister slides backwards, then matches it with a tornado of his own.

They sort of bounce off each other in a way which strikes me as unrealistic. Wouldn't two real cyclones merge? Maybe it's to do with the methods employed in generating them? I have no idea how Wallace can stand that without getting dizzy.

It also occurs to me that someone with an anti-materiel rifle could probably take down either Mister Twister or 'Red Tornado' from outside their range at this point. Note to self: practice offensive constructs before next fight. And buy the local police some decent guns.

Mister Twister thrusts a tornado in M'gann's direction, only for it to dissipate before it reaches her. Telekinesis, I presume. "We're evenly matched, Twister." A new tornado forms behind her and hurls rocks at Twister, who blocks by hammering his left fist into the ground and creating an incredibly intense updraft.

"No Tornado we are not." His hands crackle for a moment then a massive electrical discharge blasts from his hands at M'gann. She leaps aside, floats backwards and around before blocking his line of sight with a boat, which is struck and explodes.

He managed that with no preparation. That is actually scary. I'm not sure M'gann could take that hit. Looks like she agrees, as she's used the boat's explosion as cover for 'losing'. Falling onto her back away from the blast, she plays possum.

This is where we find out if we're going to win. Just in case I prepare a force beam. Robin's in support range close by in case something goes wrong with this stage, but no sense taking chances. Aqualad's voice comes in over the mind link.

**On your signal, M'gann.**

Twister closes the distance to M'gann as soon as he sees her go down. He waits for a moment, then raises his right arm. "Remain still android." Some sort of cable projects out of his fingers and attaches to M'gann's head. Huh. We didn't know that was precisely what he wanted. Really we were just hoping for a bit of distracted posing which would allow M'gann to grab him. "The reprogramming won't take long."

Worth knowing. Should probably advise Red Tornado to improve his skull armour.

M'gann grabs his cables.

**Attack is go.**

"Longer than you might think."

"No."

A telekinetic surge knocks him off his feet, and leaves half his cables in M'gann's hand.

**Orange Lantern moving.**

I'm already moving over the roof as tornado Wallace catches him in mid air and throws him over M'gann's head. He flips right over as he lands and runs right into a still orange armoured Superboy. A targeting construct appears in front of me. Superboy punches him once, then grapples his left arm. Perfect. Two circular saw constructs neatly sever the cables on Twister's back while he's stationary, and two small drill constructs hit the mechanisms in his forearms which generate his attacks. No more air blasts or flying for you. Superboy then yanks the arm downwards and twists sharply. I see metal crunch and crumble as he pulls the ruined limb down and swings a fist at Twisters head, which crumples and sparks.

**Aqualad moving up.**

We couldn't predict precisely how Twister would move, so Aqualad took the sea side on the grounds that it would be easiest for him to move in response to changes in circumstance. With Twister's main attack offline he uses his hilt thingys -must find out what they are called- to form a waterspout beneath him and propel him inland to join the attack. I aim my saws at Twister's right elbow as Aqualad runs one water-sword through his neck -severing the head- and the other into Twister's shoulder to anchor himself.

Aqualad wasn't too happy about decapitation, but eventually I was able to convince him that either the head was for show -in which case the head didn't matter- or it was an AI. In which case the decapitation probably didn't matter, as the mind would be inside the chest or have an emergency power supply.

Head gone and both arms out of commission, Superboy shoulder barges his legs out from under him and knocks him down. Aqualad and I begin cutting through the armour of his chest plate. He's already lost, but if there is someone in there we need to get them out of the catastrophically damaged power armour as soon as possible.

Looks like the guy inside has decided the same thing. The whole chest blows open and moves aside, revealing a humanoid in a green and white jumpsuit. I think it was supposed to look human but the metal skeleton is clearly showing at the chest and the left side of the head. I hear Robin, Wallace and M'gann move up to us.

Ring, confirm that target has no organic components?

Confirmed.

It falls forwards onto the grass. "Foul. Ah, I call foul."

How do we securely imprison a robot of unknown capabilities? I don't remember a character like this from the comics. On the other hand, most things you stick on the Moon tend to stay put. M'gann raises an arm to the side. Not sure where she's going with what the hell?

I get a barrier in place just before M'gann's rock crushes the inner robot.

"What the hell?"

"Y-y-y-you can't do that to me!"

"But it's not alive!"

"I am alive!"

Either he doesn't know he's a robot, or he hasn't realised the extent of the damage. "M'gann, would you drop a rock on Red Tornado?"

"Of course not! Oh."

"Yes, 'oh'."

"But you said that you couldn't feel his desires?"

"It's perfectly possible to build a sophisticated AI that doesn't desire things for itself."

"Ah, not a robot here?"

Wallace is nonplussed. "Dude, you're totally a robot."

"I… I am not." He surveys us, inadvertently showing off his bare metal skull to best advantage. Maybe it's the adrenaline talking, but I'm having trouble not laughing.

"You got a bit of a…" I gesture to the left side of my face. "Bit of a scrape there."

"Oh." He reaches up. "Well, dang."

"Anyone know the protocol for imprisoning-"

The robot's torso glows for a second, then it explodes. I stick a shield in the way as the parts rain down. For a moment we watch them in silence. Once they finish I drop the shield.

"Well, now I feel kind of silly for protesting."

Wallace steps forward and picks up one of the larger parts. It's an eyeball. "Cool. Souvenir."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July
12:38 GMT -5

I've dropped the remaining parts of Mister Twister off in Red Tornado's workshop, after Robin checked them for traps and communication devices. I should probably have helped with the clear up in the harbour, but the Federal Emergencies Management Authority is apparently quite good at this sort of thing now, and Superboy's injury takes priority. He's in medical until they can get one of the handful of people in the world who actually know anything about Kryptonian physiology in to have a look at him.

Doctor Mark Desmond would have been first choice, except that he's now an unstable mentally degraded monster and in prison. His staff are either in prison, or dodged prison by claiming that Desmond had the telepathic G-Gnomes control their behaviour and that they can't remember much about what happened. For some of them that may even be true. That pretty much just leaves STAR Labs, as the LexCorp personnel who have similar knowledge couldn't be trusted even if they were willing to help. And STAR Labs' go to guy -someone named Doctor Bernard Klein- is on holiday and can't be reached.

Without an enemy to focus on Superboy has remembered exactly why he's in the state he is. This is why I'm outside of medical cramming information on his physiology with a thin orange line feeding into the ward to maintain his auditory construct. I was finally able to drop the armour construct after Red Tornado pointed out that it would interfere with examination and treatment.

Ring glowing brightly from the strength of my need to fix my mistake, I float three constructs into the air in front of me. Superboy's body is… It isn't that half of the organs are Human, or half of the cells. Intellectually, I realised that there had to be more to it than that. Some cell types are purely Human with what the ring tells me is an artificial add on to make the body recognise it as being 'his'. Other parts -mostly skin and major muscles- are largely Kryptonian, with a similar add on for a similar purpose. Other parts are a weird mix of the two, including a number of actual hybrid body tissues. Again, with material not normally found in Humans or in my one Kryptonian sample holding it together.

And the ring tells me that not all of the parts work together properly. It's especially concerned about neurotransmitters and his immune system. No, I'm concerned. The ring just indicated that there might be a problem. I remember reading about Ligers; how despite their massive size and physical power they are actually often really unhealthy. The potential for seeing something like that in my team mate is quite worrying.

M'gann leaves the ward. Superboy wanted to speak to her. He didn't tell me what it was about, but she went in worried and now seems happier.

"What's that?"

"A model of the Human inner ear." Lex Luthor's, in point of fact. The genetics of the Human parts do indeed mostly match his.

"And that other one?"

"Kryptonian inner ear. Did you know that Superman is in Zimbabwe?"

"You… You scanned him in Zimbabwe from here?"

"No. When I scanned him he was in Mongolia."

She doesn't ask me what the third is; the damage is too obvious. It wasn't just his ear drum that was ruptured. Other parts that match those found in Superman and are presumably responsible for super hearing are damaged or destroyed. Worse, it appears to have been a hybrid system and with Superboy's bizarre tissue types I can't tell how much of what was there came from which parts of his make up.

I have made some progress in understanding the source of Kryptonian super powers, though really it just means proving the supposition of Doctor Klein. Something happens to Kryptonian skin organelles when they are exposed to certain light wavelengths. The range and concentration requirements appear to be quite specific, which matches what I observed in the comics. The organelles responsible are also found in other body tissues but in much lower concentrations, presumably why they were considered lower priority. The organelles respond with a form of exotic energy the ring doesn't recognise, which in turn does something to strong nuclear forces... Aaaagh! Why doesn't the ring have a full database!

None of that really explains why they didn't just program a full Superman clone. I don't remember much about Bizarro, but Luthor never seemed to have much trouble using him. That's from Justice League Unlimited and that thing where Alexander Luthor Junior sets up a supervillain society. There isn't a Bizarro here yet, so there is a gap for one…

"Any progress?"

I put the heel of my palms on my forehead, and move them in a circling motion. "Sort of? I don't think I can recreate what was there, but I think I know enough to create a working replacement."

"Why can't you replace it?

"Because I don't know what was there. Superboy's body has both Kryptonian and Human elements, and without a scan of what was destroyed…"

"Human?"

"Yeah, that's why he can't… Wait, you didn't know that?"

"That's not… How is that possible?"

"I don't know. I mean, the ring can pick up artificial alterations to his tissue which seem to make it all work together, but where they came from? No idea."

"But I thought he was a clone of Superman?"

"Yes, his Kryptonian parts are. And other parts are Human, and some bits don't match any species…"

Genomorphs. Ring?

Partial match confirmed.

Doesn't seem to help. I could grab Cadmus' full database, but I don't know enough about biology to do anything complicated.

"Actually, M'gann, I wanted to ask you about something. As far as I know there are no Martian doctors on Earth either. Would you mind if I did a full scan of you as well?"

"Uncle J'onn has medical training."

"Mister J'onzz has basic medical training. The League's current plan in case he gets seriously ill or injured involves getting a Martian doctor on Mars to consult via the Watchtower's FTL comms. We… This is high risk work we do. If you get hurt in the field I can't just rush you to the nearest hospital. I need to be able to treat you on-site."

She isn't smiling now. She looks at the ground, and breathes out heavily. "Okay."

I keep working on Superboy's new ears. "Thank you."

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to not hit me for doing it fifteen minutes ago."

"Fifteen..!"

"I scanned the others as well. Also, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern."

"Why?"

"I hate people I care about being hurt and not being able to do anything about it. My Nan-." Where did that come from? I stop for a moment. "Having this ring should mean that I can do anything I want. I wanted, I want to heal Superboy, but I can't because even though I had two weeks I never thought to scan him. Never again."

I flick my eyes to the side. She's staring at me. I tense as she puts her hand on my shoulder.

"It's…" She doesn't know what to say. "Should your ring be glowing like that?"

So say something else? "Yes. The glow reflects the strength of my avarice. I want to heal Superboy, but I can't, because I don't know how to enact my desire. So nothing happens and it keeps glowing."

"Oh." Her hand slips off. "Superboy said that he'd like to speak to you."

I nod, distractedly, and drop the constructs. "Right. I'm pretty much done with this. Time to face the music." I rise and enter the ward.

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July
12:41 GMT -5

Superboy is sitting on a bed with his back against the headboard. His legs are bent up and his arms are stretched around his knees. He appears to be staring at his feet, and doesn't look up when I walk in. The surly teenager image is somewhat thrown by the orange strands feeding from the ring into his head like some kind of set of science fiction headphones.

"Right. I think I've got a solution."

He fidgets, slightly.

"I don't, I'm sorry, but I don't know enough about your ears' original structure to recreate them, but the ring has picked up enough about Kryptonian genetics now that I should be able to create a copy of Superman's-"

He looks up, his expression neutral.

"-with your genetic markers. You might… You should probably avoid loud noises for a few days while you adjust."

"What'd you mean, genetic markers? I'm a clone of Superman. There shouldn't be any differences."

He doesn't know. What were the League thinking, not telling him? "Okay, look, while I was trying to work out how to fix this, I had to study the way your body works, the way his body works. I think I found out some things you apparently don't know. I don't think you're going to like them, so if you just want me to fix your ears then shut up, I'll do that."

He's gone back to looking away. "I wanna know."

"Alright." I pull up a chair and turn it to face the bed. I sit. "Do you want me to do that talk first, or should I repair your ears first?"

"Ears."

I nod. "I'm afraid that the first stage involves removing the constructs that I've currently got doing the job. I'll still be suppressing the nerves so you won't feel any pain, but you won't actually be able to hear anything until I've finished building the new parts. Once I've done that, I'll connect the nerves, with a construct to limit the volume so that the sound is bearable. Then, I'll slowly remove the construct. If it gets too loud, or starts to hurt, let me know and I'll stop, alright?"

"Mpf."

Ring, erase my mistake.

The ring is perfectly capable of transmuting the material it needs from the surrounding air. Probably wouldn't work for precious metals due to the density and high levels of avarice required, but for healing a team mate I injured? Easy. The inner ear components are literally just copies of Superman's. I don't understand how they work, but then I don't need to. Any idiot can copy and paste.

"Have you started yet?" The volume is a little loud, but at least he isn't shouting. He looks at me.

Time to test his hearing. "Everything is now in place. I have just stopped suppressing the auditory nerves."

His hands slam over his ears, an action which causes him more pain. "Ghuh!"

"They're super sensitive at the moment, but should basically adjust on their own in a few minutes. You coping?"

He nods slowly, clearly still in pain. This is reminding me of something. What is it?

"This reminds me of a story I heard about why Superman stopped going to chapel. Don't know if it's true or not…"

He's looking at me, and his hands are clamped a little less tightly.

"His super powers came in as he grew up. When he was in his mid-teens, his super hearing came in with a vengeance. He could cope with small groups of people, even loud noises once he'd had a moment to adjust. Lots of quiet conversations at once? It was too much."

"Then what..?" He winces again. "Then what happened?"

"No idea. As far as I can tell, he has much better control now."

I think it was from a comic? Something about a cult giving a guy superpowers, and a woman who decided that Superman was an angel. It was a while ago, and it wasn't that memorable.

"Anyway, your new ears. You'll have to be a bit careful navigating around, as sounds won't echo quite like you've gotten used to."

He nods. "Oh-" No wince, but a slight pause. "-okay."

"Now, the other stuff you wanted to know. How blunt do you want me to be?"

"Just, tell me!"

"Okay, ahm, you aren't a pure clone of Superman. About half of you is Kryptonian, maybe a bit more. The rest is Human, with a tiny bit of Genomorph added to make the whole thing work together."

He's slumped, and isn't making eye contact. "That's why I'm weak."

"Well… It's… It's why you don't have the full range of Kryptonian abilities, yes. I don't claim to understand exactly how they work, but it looks like some of the effects generated by your Kryptonian organelles don't propagate fully to the Human components of your body. I mean,-" I form constructs depicting parts his body to illustrate my point. "-those are clearly Kryptonian photoreceptive organelles. That's clearly a Human myelin sheath. Some of this other stuff… I don't know. I've no idea how they made it, and I haven't found anything similar to the Genomorphs. If I had to guess, I'd say they were entirely artificial. For you, they're bridging components to make the other parts work together."

"What does that mean?"

"I d-, I don-, I don't know? I'm not medically trained. Look, I can give this to the League, if you want. See what they can make of it."

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why didn't they make me…" He crosses his arms across his chest. "Properly?"

"If you mean as a complete clone… I… I don't know. Maybe they couldn't?"

I feel a bit like I should complain on behalf of the Human species here, but I don't have the heart.

"I thought… I thought I'd get the rest. If I waited."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think that's going to happen."

He draws his legs up towards his chest. "If it had been Superman…"

"If what had been Superman?"

"Against Mister Twister. If it had been Superman. He wouldn't have gone down like I did."

"You know he's tough, rather than literally invulnerable, right? Sonic attacks are one of his few vulnerabilities as well."

"It doesn't… I should have done better!"

"None of us exactly covered ourselves in glory on that one." This isn't a productive avenue of discussion, as Aqualad would say. "Look, I'm pretty sure we're going to be doing actual teamwork practice from now on. And that orange armour construct I gave you? I can do that in every fight. You want to be stronger, tougher? I can do that."

"Can you make me fully Kryptonian?"

Can I? Should I? It might be possible, but I'm not happy with the idea of reconfiguring his brain like that. "I don't… I don't think so."

"Then don't bother." He swings his legs over the edge of the bed, steps on the floor and walks to the exit. When he reaches it, he pauses. "Thanks for… Fixing my ears."

"No problem."

He nods, and leaves the room.

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July
13:01 GMT -5

I've taken to eating lunch on top of the mountain. With my environmental shield active the wind doesn't bother me or my food, and the view is really quite splendid. Superboy could probably do with some time away from me and with the others. And I need to do some thinking about how this is all going to work.

Once he got his head in the game, Aqualad was quite effective at organising the rest of us. I guess that means he'll probably end up in charge of our little coterie. I'll have to talk to him about team practice. I remember the obstacle course which the Teen Titans put Terra through in the cartoon. Don't think that anything like that actually exists here, and we wouldn't be ready for it even if it did. My current assessment would be that our effectiveness as a group is probably lower than our effectiveness as individuals, simply because we aren't used to the way each other performs under pressure. Maybe tactics training sessions? Or maybe just proper demonstrations of our abilities; I know I haven't shown all of the constructs I can create to anyone here. Likewise, I have no idea what Robin routinely keeps in his utility belt, or the range of Aqualad's Water-Bearers. I didn't even know that Wallace could create miniature tornados before today.

I need to get some notebooks. I'm getting used to using the ring for just about everything, but I find the act of writing things down helpful to my thought processes. I need to make time to check how much of my knowledge of Detective Comics applies here. The obvious low risk high reward choice would be trying to make contact with either Alec Holland or Swamp Thing, whichever version we'd be dealing with. We could fly down to Louisiana tomorrow, and narrow down the search by scanning for non-native plant life from the air. If he isn't there or -more likely- if he doesn't want to speak to us then there should still be evidence of his presence. Better yet, he might be alright about talking to us, if he actually exists here. One of my all time favourite comic book stories is of his attack on Gotham City after Abby gets arrested. The sheer raw power he can bring to bear if something antagonises him sufficiently is truly awesome.

Suppose it's worth checking if I can skip all that work, though. I lean over to a nearby tree and knock on the trunk.

"Doctor Holland, might I have a word?"

No response. I take a bite out of my baguette. Baked it myself yesterday, and added a cucumber filling. Back home I used a bread machine but was never quite able to get them right. Here, I have both the time to spend and the ring to do the boring bits. Leaving bread to rise for an hour, knead it a bit and then leave it for an hour again? Sure, why not, it breaks up the supervillain profile reading.

Happy Harbour doesn't exactly have chain stores. They're either genuinely local or franchisees instead. I've followed through on my idea of setting up a prepaid account at each one I use. Initially the owners found the whole thing quite confusing but now I think they just find me an amusing oddity. I usually drop round when I know the owner will be there but there won't be many other customers, either first thing in the morning or last thing at night.

So far as I can tell there hasn't been a noticeable decrease in the price of either gold or platinum as a result of my actions.

Alan has invited both myself and Diana for dinner next weekend. He'll probably want to hear about my first fight with a supervillain. Before getting cross examined I should really work out what else besides the obvious I should have done differently.

To start with, I should have begun by scanning Mister Twister. Not just a sweep with OrangeVision, but a full physical scan. That would have shown me his vulnerable points, as well as telling me that there wasn't anyone organic inside the armour. Complex AIs are people, but they can generally take having limbs ripped off better than organics can. Attacking his cables was also something I should have done. They were clearly vulnerable points; they were even a different colour from the rest of him to make it more obvious! I might have been able to do something to redirect his lightning bolts or disrupt his generating capacity, but that is probably a bit above my complexity level at present. I should also have dodged more. Stopping completely still during a fight was a bad idea, and I'm pretty sure I can get the ring to automate the process.

What did I do right? Hmm. I was mostly able to stop my team mates from being hurt. I didn't get myself hurt. I made the property damage Twister inflicted a little bit less. I managed to acquire enemy technical data which I've passed on to the League. I suggested to Red Tornado that he might like to use it to update his systems, but he didn't seem enthusiastic. Maybe there is a difference between an AI with a robotic avatar and an android, and he's more attached to his body? The armour I created around Superboy looked pretty sturdy. If it actually was as tough as mine then he might have briefly been tougher than his father. He didn't seem keen on the idea of me helping in that way. Hating needing someone else's help to get to where you think you should be anyway, I can relate to that.

I wonder if I can create similar armour constructs for the others as well? In theory it should be possible, and since the armour is basically weightless it shouldn't interfere with their combat abilities. I didn't specifically think 'armour' when Superboy was being threatened, the ring just acted when my desire to protect him reached a particular strength.

I wonder if the data could be used to create a weather control network, or at least some way to artificially break up major storms and natural tornados? I'll write something up and submit it to Batman. Does he ever monetise recovered supervillain gear? Can that be made to work, legally? Because if it can then the League might well be able to become self funding. Heck, FTL comms to Mars alone…

I've certainly learned that the theory and practice of this sort of combat are two radically different things, and that fighting a brawler like Diana in an open area is very different to fighting another ranged fighter somewhere where I'm supposed to be preventing collateral damage. Unless there is a natural hurricane or something collateral damage prevention isn't really something I can practise. I've learned that we need practice coordinating as a group, or to be assigned tasks that don't overlap so that we don't get in each other's way. If I'd confronted Mister Twister on my own I'd have been more aggressive, once I got it through my head that yes, this is a fight and I am supposed to hit the other guy. He wasn't a good match up for our brawler heavy line up. Perhaps I should ask M'gann about the extent of her telekinesis?

Another mouthful of baguette. The Pacific can wait, but I do need to finish my meditation. Where was I? No, no, after an event like that I should start from the beginning.

Physiological? No change. It took a while, but I've managed to mostly adapt to local time, and usually sleep better than I did. Had to replace my mattress with a harder one to match what I am used to.

Safety. Not sure how I feel about this now. I was able to prevent Mister Twister's attacks harming me, and if it happened again I could probably prevent myself throwing up by simply telling the ring to lock my inner ear. Now that I've had a chance to calm down, it's obvious that I am much more secure since coming here, even with the increased threat level. The fact that I can keep myself safe through my own power is particularly gratifying.

Belonging. Our first fight forced us to work together as an actual unit. I certainly feel more a part of the group than I did, and I think that Wallace at least is opening up to me a little. Maybe coming out here was the wrong thing to do? I thought it might be good for Superboy, but he usually just stomps off on his own when something annoys him. Communal eating is a big deal and I'm probably missing it. Alright, change that behaviour. I'll head down once I've finished this.

Superboy. Thinking about him being miserable makes me feel the same way it did when I inadvertently offended M'gann earlier. His wellbeing is more important to me now than it was this morning. Is that because I consider myself responsible for it in a broader sense than just undoing the harm I inflicted? He was pretty miserable, but he doesn't have M'gann's usual upbeat attitude. I don't really know what sort of things make him happy. I should try and find out, or at least come up with a novel activity which he can participate in. Maybe he'd feel better if he felt he was doing something useful?

Alright, bite the bullet. I feel closer to Superboy. Could I see myself being sexually intimate with him? Hmm. He's not unattractive, certainly. He definitely needs support, and I do like being needed. Cons, the age and experience difference is vast. Even greater than it would be if he was his actual physical age. With M'gann, if it came to it, as the younger party I feel I could say that I didn't care about the nineteen year gap. With Superboy… No, that would be wrong. He doesn't just need support while going through a rough patch, he needs serious help integrating the stuff that Cadmus stuck in his head, and learning how to function in society. Maybe.. that's something M'gann could help with? Can she telepathically build links between knowledge and information? Would he let her? Getting off the point. Bottom line, while I don't rule anything out completely, I generally prefer women. Superboy just isn't appealing enough a prospect to break my habits.

It's amazing how heteronormativity gets to you. I found even thinking about that rationally a little uncomfortable.

Esteem. Actually being able to fight is… New. I can ensure my own safety. Most people, even those in my home parallel, can't honestly say that. Some of the things I've seen power rings do in the comics suggests that I should be able to tank pretty much anything: nuclear strikes, eldritch weapons, medium sized gods… I had assumed that Diana just hadn't been giving it her all when she punched me during practice, but maybe I misunderstood. All told, having fixed Superboy's injury and acknowledging our obvious faults, I felt pretty good about our first supervillain fight. And about my role in it. I had been concerned that I lacked the necessary aggression to function in such a situation, but instead it seems that I have just about enough to fight without getting carried away. I think that the team's veteran members have more respect for me as well. Robin seemed rather impressed with my scan of Mister Twister's systems, though more in a 'that's cool' way than a 'let's revolutionise weather control' way. They seemed to regard deafening Superboy as unfortunate but not that stupid. I don't know what they think about him being up and about again.

Thinking about it, the Justice League don't have a medical professional amongst their ranks. Or on staff, since they don't have a staff. Does Mister Zatara use healing magic? I don't really remember much about his comic book alter ego, other than how he died. Zatanna exists here. Hm, wonder if she'll be joining us?

Self-actualisation. Even though it blew itself up I still think shielding the potentially self-aware robot from M'gann was the correct choice. I think what I said about telepathy not being a guide to personhood got through. I do need to start work on my big project, brainstorm who should exist here who might be able to handle an orange ring. Heck, we'll be a Lantern Corps. I can pick from anywhere in the galaxy.

Who can I remember that can channel their desires productively without being overwhelmed?

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July
13:17 GMT -5

I hear a dull thump as something imbeds in a tree nearby. I look around and see Robin's grapple. Yeah, I guess this place is a bit hard to get to if you can't fly. I wonder what he wants. We haven't really spoken much since the team came together. Aside from both being trainee superheroes we don't really have anything in common, and then there's the age difference. I wonder if I should tell him I know who he is, and if so, should I say that I used the ring or suggest that I played Guess Who with Gotham notables until I came to an answer. I did that, just for fun, and you can pretty much work out who Batman is if you know what you're doing. The ring made getting the information necessary to make the eliminations easier, of course.

I hear a grunt as he pulls himself over the edge. "Need a hand?"

"Nah, I'm fine." He's upright, and pulls his grapple out of the wood.

"Did you come up for the view?" I take another bite of baguette. I think I left the yeast for just long enough this time.

And then he's kneeling beside me, one arm around my shoulder and the other in front of my face. His holographic computer is active, and a single name is showing. Aaron. I blink, trying to work out what is going on.

"Can I surmise that your intent is to scroll through names until I react?"

"You said you didn't mind us knowing."

"Quite the contrary; I'd like to have people call me by my name. But do you have them arranged alphabetically, or in order of popularity? I ask because while I believe my name is reasonably popular it isn't near the beginning of the alphabet."

"Oh. Huh." The arm around my shoulder is retracted for a moment as he rearranges the list. "Thinking about it, it probably makes sense to try and get the first letter before going after the rest of the name."

I still myself. Don't think the name, think the letter. Think about it in some other context. Parking sign! "P."

"That should make it easier." The arm and the screen return, and my name is showing. I can look at it, as long as I don't concentrate on it. But Robin's friendly arm can feel my reaction. "So it's 'Paul', then?"

"Yes."

"Huh." He stands up and walks forward to look at the view.

"What were you expecting?"

His face creases. "I don't know."

"Feel free to tell the others."

"You really can't say it?"

I suppose I might be able to say it now that someone knows. "Hello, I'm Orange Lantern two eight one four, but you can call me ugr ugh-."

Looks like I can't. Robin turns back to me as I try to relax my throat. He's grinning. "Okay. 'Ugr Ugh' it is."

I stare at him for a moment. Yep, that's annoying.

"Y'know, when you said that happened, kinda thought you were joking."

"'Fraid… Ah, I'm afraid not."

"Does that hurt?"

"It feels like a small blockage in my windpipe. Nothing major."

He's wearing sunglasses. Now that I think about it I don't think I've seen him without them. It is fairly bright today, but I'm not sure why he had them on inside. I know that his eyes are in perfect condition. I wave my right hand and an orange lounger forms. "Take a seat."

He walks alongside it and studies it for a moment, before flopping down on to the cushion, hands behind his head. "You planning on spending the day up here?"

"I didn't finish meditating earlier, so I needed to do that. I had been planning to spend most of the day over the Pacific. Now, I'm kind of off schedule. You have any plans?"

"Ugh, probably spend it filling in a report on the fight with Mister Twister."

"Mine took two minutes."

"Two minutes?!"

"I have a power ring. Power rings are awesome."

"Yeah, but, paperwork?"

"It's just an information transfer. Plus, the ring records pretty much everything that happens around me. Made the timeline easy."

"Huh." He leans back again, then his expression brightens. "I know. Why don't I just copy yours?"

"No."

"Come on. It was the same fight."

"Quite aside from the fact that there were bits you saw that I didn't, report writing is a valuable skill to learn."

"Phss. Oh, hey, I saw that Superboy's up and about."

"That wasn't as complicated as I thought it might be."

"You rebuilt his whole auditory canal."

"The ring handled the fiddly bits."

"Even so…"

"Wasn't like I was designing the thing from scratch."

"Sure, you were repairing him, but it's still-."

"No, I didn't know what his original looked like. I ended up copying and pasting Superman's."

"When'd you scan his?"

"About half an hour ago. I don't have to be close to do it if I want it enough."

He frowns. "Wait. Do you mean that his ears weren't the same as Superman's?"

Whoops. "I realise that I'm not a medical doctor, but I don't think I should talk about that without his permission."

"Ah, fine."

"What are the rest of you doing for lunch?"

"Kid Flash ordered pizza. I was going to ask what you wanted, but…" He gestures to the remains of my baguette. Mistake on my part.

"He's not getting them delivered here, is he?"

"No, he's picking up."

"Can he carry that many pizza boxes?"

"Yeah. He's had lots'a practice."

I can believe it. I get up. "I should probably head back down. Any plans once the report writing is finished?"

He gets off the lounger as I create a platform to float us down. He walks on board. "M'gann said something about Acapulco?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Prod Zone

19th July
12:49 GMT -6

I peer into the desiccated face of what was once our target.

"Ye-ap. This one's not alive either."

After yesterday I thought it might be good for M'gann and Superboy to get out of the base on something that looked kind of like a mission. Which is why we're walking through the swamps of Louisiana in an attempt to track down either Doctor Alec Holland or, as I hope, Swamp Thing. Finding the weird mutant plant he nominally lives in was quite simple for the ring. Finding the Elemental himself is presently defeating us. This is the seventh abandoned Swamp Thing body we've come across.

Robin is helping Red Tornado investigate Mister Twister's remains. American summer holidays are really long, apparently. He wanted to come until I said that it was unlikely anything interesting was going to happen and Red Tornado made it clear that we were obliged to retreat in the event of a hostile reception. His orders may not be binding like Batman's or Diana's but I don't want to irritate him all the same.

Wallace is back in Central City doing… Something. Possibly washing his hair. Since Robin let everyone know my name Wallace decided it would be fair to share his. Apparently, not even his mother calls him Wallace and I'm on a list with his grandmother and his geography teacher.

Kaldur wanted to plan out team training activities. I also asked him about getting the base warded against arcane attack. He said that it was a bit beyond his abilities. Mentioned some Atlantean friends of his who might have been up to it. Someone named Tula -whose name sounded vaguely familiar from the comics- and Garth. Kaldur became Aquaman's aide after he and Garth aided him in combat against Ocean Master. Both were offered the position, but Garth chose to remain at the Conservatory of Sorcery instead in this timeline. Would he have chosen differently if Kaldur wasn't there? I don't remember his comic background well enough to know if that's how it happened there. Kaldur also said that my referring to him as Royal Champion was a bit premature. He doesn't actually have a formal court title as yet.

Superboy appears to be adjusting well to his new and improved ears. He's currently photographing and taking samples from different parts of the Swamp Thing modified plants that we've found so far. M'gann and I are doing a bit of exploring. Since none of us know which bits are safe to step on floating over the ground is really the best way to do it. Superboy looked a bit down at the whole 'can't join in because you can't fly' aspect of the thing, but as I told him, we need information. He perked up a little once M'gann offered to teach him to fly the Bio-Ship.

**Orange Lantern to Miss Martian.**

**It sounds weird when you think it.**

**I'm still not sold on the whole 'secret identity' thing. Makes even less sense for you.**

**My Earth name is similar to my Martian name.**

**Actual name.**

**Right. And my face is the same, just a different color. People might make the connection if they heard it.**

**Anyone on Earth capable of telepathic eavesdropping could already get your secret identity. I don't suppose you've heard anything from our target?**

**I don't know what a Plant Elemental's mind would sound like, but.. so far it's just swamp creatures.**

**Right. He's either not here or he's avoiding us. I'll do a ring scan and then I think we should break for lunch. Try a different approach in the afternoon. Superboy, you about done on your end?**

**Yeah.**

**Red Tornado say anything about the pictures?**

**He said he'd get someone to look at it.**

I smile. **Anyone know a super powered botanist other than Pamela Isley?**

**Who?** / **Who?**

Neither of them have heard of her? **Poison Ivy? Crazy Gotham plant woman? Feeds people to giant pitcher plants?**

Silence from Superboy.

**I.. think I remember Robin mentioning her.**

**Right, when we get back I'm sticking both of you in front of some case files. You need to know this stuff.** I get a sense of disgruntlement from Superboy. I'll snap him out of that. **You think Superman doesn't read up on potential threats? You think he hasn't invested a great deal of effort in finding out exactly how hard he has to hit someone to put them down quickly without causing permanent damage? Being strong isn't enough, you have to know how to use it.**

**Fine.**

Done it again. **Look, I was thinking about asking Diana to give you some hand to hand combat tuition. I'm not convinced that Black Canary's martial arts are going to be of much use to someone as strong as you. Is that something you'd be interested in?**

There's a brief pause. **I should be getting taught by Superman.**

Haven't seen him around, actually. **How are things between you and him anyway?** There's a flash of something from M'gann. Feels like… Panic? **What?**

**They're fine!**

**Okay, well, let me know if you're interested. I'll see you both back at the ship.** If the swamp were a bit dryer, I might find it pretty. As it is the mud and mosquitoes put me right off. "Ring, scan for any more piles of vines that used to be Swamp Thing."

Immediately I can feel their locations. Wanting something more precise I create a map construct with their locations. There's about forty, plus or minus seven for degrees of decay. No real pattern, other than there seem to be more around his home, and none of them are moving. Makes sense. I save the map and fly back towards the ship.

There's a shallow pool to one side of the.. tree..? Vine mound? I have no idea what to call the thing Swamp Thing lives in. Beautiful and quite alien. I doubt it would survive without his attention and upkeep. The Bio-Ship is hovering over the more solid ground on the other side, stealth disengaged. Superboy left a letter from us addressed to the owner, asking him to get in contact. I somehow doubt that he will.

I fly around to the rear entrance and enter the ship. Superboy's in the pilot's seat with M'gann standing over him, pointing out the basic controls. Superboy hunches slightly as I land. M'gann turns around and smiles nervously at me.

**This is just coming to you. Superman and Superboy… Well… Superman didn't take finding out that someone cloned him particularly well. I don't think they've spoken since the others got him out of Cadmus.**

**Fiddlesticks.** She frowns slightly. **Dah, okay, sorry. I'll try and fix it.**

She nods, and turns back to Superboy. "Okay Superboy, take us up."

His hands move over the controls and the ship rises above the canopy. I'm not worried about being seen. If the comics are anything to go by this whole area is inhabited only by crazy people who see far weirder stuff on a daily basis. If the comics aren't anything to go by then there's still nothing anywhere near here. I walk over to sit at the right forward seat. I know we brought packed lunches, but…

Idea!

I swivel the chair around to face them.

"How about we go and find a restaurant? There's got to be somewhere that does good food around here. My treat, if we can find somewhere that will take gold as payment."

 

[Mr Zoat]

19th July
13:04 GMT -6

It took M'gann a while to convince me that American roadside food can actually be quite good. That is very much not the case in England. It took me a while to convince her that going outside the ship with green skin would be perfectly fine. I certainly wasn't planning to drop my shield in a state full of gun owners, and hanging around with someone who glows orange while in her civies would do more to give the game away than going in Martian. Superboy didn't much care either way.

That was why on Monday the nineteenth of July in the year of our Lord two thousand and ten a Martian Bio-Ship dropped camouflage over Grammy Smith's Roadside Kitchen, between Houma and Morgan City, just off Highway 90.

"Ring, prevent mobile phone calls." An extremely nervous looking M'gann levitates herself down to the ground from the back hatch. I turn to Superboy. "D'you want me to-?"

He jumps down the seven or so meters to the ground, landing in a crouch. I float down after him to where M'gann is waving hesitantly at the few diners already present. "Er… Hi?"

They are too busy gawping to return her greeting. Superboy scans the area once, then snorts. Ah! The counter. I stride towards it. "Come on, this way. Either of you actually know anything about Louisianan food?"

Turns out? Superboy does. At least, to the extent of knowing what was in things. Better still, he didn't zombify much when he explained it to us. Maybe simple information integrates faster? Perhaps that means he'll get all of the rest without telepathic help. I order what I think is some sort of seafood stew with rice and Superboy and M'gann order a Risotto. Both food types are kept ready to serve behind the counter, but I can see the next batch being cooked so it's probably pretty fresh. They also order Coke, and I think about asking for a large glass of milk before I realise that they probably don't have enough and order orange juice instead. The cook seems to find our presence amusing, and laughs out loud when I hand him three gold coins to pay for it.

"No way, man! No way anyone is gunna believe this happened! These coins? These're gunna get me arrested!"

We take our food and walk to the most isolated free picnic table. It isn't a large area, so we aren't even out of earshot of the people who are just emerging from their stupor. I briefly consider sticking a shield up… But that would be rude.

Ring, one way sound baffle.

There's a brief orange surge, and a sound like collecting a water shield in Sonic 3. M'gann looks at me inquisitorially.

"Sound baffle. Makes it harder for people to hear what we're saying."

"Oh. Okay…"

She looks nervously at the other diners, some of whom are taking pictures of us and the ship. A group of children are either trying to jump up to the back hatch of the Bio-Ship or are re-enacting Superboy's jump down. Superboy's already started eating. Conversation has never been a great skill of mine, but if I can start with anything…

"You said that you were planning to attend high school. What year are you planning to start in?"

"Oh, I'm, ah, I'm starting as a sophomore."

I load my fork with what I think might be oyster. I wanted to leave my food comfort zone and -hooray!- I have. Well and bloody truly. "M'gann, I'm English. Our education system is structured differently. What does that mean in terms of how old your classmates are going to be?"

She's trying to split her attention between me, her food and the other diners. "They'll be sixteen. Mostly, anyway. How does it work in England?"

"At sixteen you're in the last year of secondary school. At the end of the year you take your GCSE exams, and then you're done with compulsory education."

"Really? That early?"

"I've never thought of it as early. A lot of people do go on to college for the next two years, or do a vocational qualification, but, yeah."

"That does seem a bit young."

"According to his personnel file, Kaldur started national service when he was twelve. Not sure how that works."

"Maybe it was a military school?"

"Maybe. Any thoughts on what you want to do after you finish school?" That question warrants a hurried mouthful. Yeah, remember that feeling. She shakes her head. "It's not an immediate concern, but you should probably start thinking about it if you intend to move to Earth on a permanent basis. I got the impression that you were planning on living here?"

"I'd like to."

"Thing about being a superhero? You usually don't get paid to do it."

"Usually?"

"Green Lanterns get paid by the Guardians. It's not great money, but you can live off it. Particularly when bounty payments are taken into account."

"They get paid bounties? That doesn't sound.. very…"

I wave a hand to stop her. "Not by the Corps, but a lot of the people they end up going after have bounties on them from other places."

"Do you get paid by your Corps?"

"Orange Lanterns assume that if you can't work out how to make money with a power ring then you're probably too stupid to be given one. Green Lanterns need to get paid because the Guardians have very strict rules against Lanterns using power rings for their own ends."

"And you can use your ring for whatever you want?"

"The Corps doesn't place restrictions. There's things I won't do with it. I mean, Sinestro got booted out of the Green Corps for using his ring to take over his homeworld. I wouldn't want to do that."

"So you used your ring to get gold?"

"And platinum. Asteroid mining. Most of the Mars - Jupiter asteroid belt was untouched, so I used the ring to smelt some metal. Maybe half an hour's work for what I've spent in this parallel so far, and I've been overpaying. Actually, that surprised me a bit: how come Martians haven't got involved in asteroid mining?"

"We've never really needed to. And, well, most Martians aren't very interested in leaving the caves."

"Ooh, maybe we need to introduce the rest of Martian society to the joys of Earth television?"

She smiles. "That might just turn them all into couch potatoes."

I'm finding the textures odd, but the food actually tastes quite good. It pretty much falls into my preferred gap in between 'we-call-it-a-kitchen-but-basically-we-just-microwave-stuff' and 'what-do-you-mean-you-don't-like-cheese-and-tomato-ice-cream'. Stuff that you actually enjoy eating.

Now for the tricky bit. "Superboy, how about you?"

He stops eating and looks at me, as if he's surprised that I'm there. "What about me?"

"School. Education. Do you have any plans, or has anyone talked to you about it?"

"No."

"Do you think it might be good to look into?"

"No." I give him what I hope is an encouraging smile. Please say something else..? "I'm a weapon. I know how to hit things. I don't need to learn anything else." He goes back to eating.

Ooooo keeeey….

"But there's so many other things you could learn to do as well!"

Think you're on to a loser there, M'gann.

"I don't-" He swallows. "-need anything else. I don't want anything else."

Well, that's… yeah. Okay. M'gann and I share a look. New topic. Erm…

 

[Mr Zoat]

19th July
13:12 GMT -6

I should probably eat this before it gets cold. M'gann and I both focus on eating. Superboy's finished, and is glaring moodily at some of the other diners. Or maybe it's a Jason Bourne thing and he's working out potential attack vectors and escape routes?

There is one thing I've been thinking about. "I must admit, I was surprised that Mr J'onzz was prepared to take you in. I didn't think that he and his brother got on."

She looks at me in surprise. "You know uncle Ma'al?"

"By reputation only."

"No, they… Whaw, they really don't get on. My mom is their sister."

"That makes more sense. Any other family?"

"There's my mom and my dad, my brothers and sisters."

"Brothers and sisters? You come from a large family?"

"Not really. Only seventeen boys and thirteen girls. I mean, I've got about three hundred cousins, but it's not really… What?"

I'm gaping. "How many!"

"Why is..? Oh! I suppose by Human standards that is quite big."

"Just a bit, yes."

"What about you? Um, if you don't mind?"

"Both parents still with us, and one sister. Four cousins, if you're wondering."

"I suppose that could be nice. You must be able to remember all their names and birthdays."

One out of two isn't bad. "About the after school thing. Unless you want a normal job for the sake of it, you'd probably be better off finding a unique service you can offer, and charging people for it."

She chews for a moment. "I know there aren't many Human telepaths or shape shifters."

"There you go. Now, what can you do with those things that people will pay you for?"

"Most Humans I've met haven't been very keen on mind reading."

"I used to watch a television series where telepaths were routinely used in business negotiations to ensure that neither party was trying to deceive the other. There isn't a market now, but it's worth thinking about."

"What series was that?"

"Babylon Five. Don't bother looking it up, it doesn't exist here."

She thinks for a moment. "I suppose… Counselling services? I'm not sure I like the idea of going inside damaged minds."

"Not much money in it anyway. But if you can create telepathic suggestions you could offer your services to people trying to stop smoking. Or to stop using harder drugs."

"Mind control?"

"Very limited mind control that they ask for and pay you to perform, and that you can undo whenever they ask."

"I suppose… I don't think I like the idea of doing that sort of thing either."

I shrug. "No problem. Just an idea. How about telepathic illusions?"

"I've been practising, but I'm not that good yet. How about shapeshifting instead?"

"There's modelling. Don't really have any suggestions about that. Acting, but that will require a lot of time. Could work. I think Animal Man works as a stunt double. Money won't be all that great for a while if you're just looking for something to fund your superheroing."

"Well, it isn't as if I have to decide right now."

"True." New topic time. "Why is it that you're choosing to live in the mountain rather than with your uncle?"

"Uncle J'onn isn't around all that much. It was kinda lonely. Plus, I think he prefers being on his own."

"You think us living in a known superhero base is a good idea?"

M'gann looks at Superboy, intentionally giving him a chance to respond, before giving up with a small sigh. "Kid Flash said that we're hiding in plain sight."

"How so?"

"Because… The bad guys know it's a secret superhero base, so they won't look for us there?"

Eh? "That… that really isn't how hiding in plain sight works. A disused base suddenly showing activity draws attention. It would only be hiding in plain sight if there was some other more obvious explanation for it going live again that meant they ignored us."

She smiles. "You think you'll be attacked in your sleep?"

"I'm not worried about that; I sleep wearing a personal force field generator. I'm more worried about what happens if the mountain becomes a tourist attraction like the Hall of Justice. Even if we can cope with an aggressor, random holiday makers would just be hostage fodder."

"Our missions aren't usually going to happen near the mountain. And the Hall of Justice is hardly ever attacked."

"Umm, suppose. Oh, know what I've noticed?"

"What?"

"There's three people here but only two of them are talking. So! Superboy. Had any thoughts on a first name yet?"

He actually seems to think about that one. "No." But the result is the same.

M'gann looks concerned. "You do want one, right?"

He fidgets a little. "Well… Yeah…"

"Given any thought to the sort of name you want? Something Human, something Kryptonian, something that works in both?"

He think about it for a moment. "What… Kryptonian names do you know?"

"Sorry, not many. The male Kryptonian names I remember were all short. Kal, Jor, Dru. I can't even remember what Jor-El's brother was called. I suppose… Er… One of the Greenies might have better records." Not suggesting he ask Superman. Now, do I try to convince him to go for Kon-El/Conner Kent, or just let him do his own thing? Could be awkward if I forget his choice.

"How about Conner?" And M'gann out of absolutely nowhere. She seems strangely enthusiastic.

Superboy looks at me. Why? Oh. Kryptonian authenticity checking. "It works for a Human name, but it's a bit long for Krypton. Maybe if you just used the first syllable?" Might as well… "Maybe if you spelt the Kryptonian version with a K rather than a C?"

He avoids eye contact as he thinks about it. "Kon. El." I'm not sure that he likes it, but he doesn't seem able to come up with a reason to dislike it. And it sounds a bit like Superman's name. "Kon-El. Okay." He actually sounded calm when he said that, without his usual angry or confused tinge. It sounds better. Looks like M'gann's still in to bat for 'Conner'.

"Maybe Conner could be your Earth name. Like I'm using Megan Morse."

"I don't need one."

He'd probably take one if I demonstrated that Superman had a secret identity, but I think that would be tipping my hand a bit much. Another reason, then. "You might want to pretend to be Human at some point. For a reconnaissance mission, or something. It would probably work better if you were used to responding to a Human style name."

He thinks about it, then shrugs. "I guess."

Continuity preserved, or something like it. Time to get back to work. Ring, display list of names. There are no Abigail Arcanes, but there are seven Abigail Cables and two Abigail Hollands. The ring creates a hologram-like screen for M'gann and Superb-. Kon-El. Time to relearn what I already know. The display also has their addresses. "We'll check out the list, then head home. Remember, mid twenties to mid thirties, and she should have white hair with a black streak. If we see her and she starts freaking out, just back away and record the address." I smile. "Kon-El, anything to add?"

He looks blank for a moment, then… Did he just nearly smile? "Maybe… Maybe we shouldn't crowd her. It'll be less intimidating if only one of us speaks to her at a time."

"Good point. And well volunteered."

"What?"

"Abigail Jane Cable is closest." I stand up and turn to the Bio-Ship. The crowd looks bigger than when we arrived, but fortunately they leave a clear space around us. I wave my right hand and an orange staircase appears from the ground to the Bio-Ship's rear hatch. M'gann and Kon follow me up.

 

[Mr Zoat]

22nd July
15:02 GMT -5

"I know you can lift more, but that isn't the aim here. You're supposed to lift a smaller weight repeatedly. Building strength rather than showing off what you already have."

It's a mark of how much our relationship has improved this week that Kon actually appears to listen to what I say, rather than snapping at me or storming off. He's lying on a bench press bench I fabricated out of tungsten after the normal steel one we tried this with collapsed under the weight. Near his head is an orange construct weight rest with a construct set of barbells. The barbells show fifty tonnes. It won't actually weigh anything until he picks it up, and it will stop weighing anything if he gets into difficulty.

Not too many people around who can spot for a Kryptonian.

This morning wasn't the first time that he mentioned his dissatisfaction with his sub-Superman abilities. Rather than let him either mope or try to persuade me to take a chance on modifying his body I suggested improving his strength in the traditional way. I doubt that any improvement will be significant. Really, I just want something to focus his attention on, but he seems to be pretty into it. We started on regular weights, but even loading the bar up to its maximum it still didn't strain him. So I had the ring exert thirty tonnes and the bench broke.

He reaches under the rest and puts his hands on to the bar, pushing up slightly. The ring creates the downwards force and he begins pushing. Up down up down up down up no no no. "Kon, it's about power under control. Slower. Here." I create a metronome construct with a three second swing. "One swing up, one swing down. It's harder to hold the bar with your arms bent than it is to hold it fully up."

He nods, then resumes. It's weird, really. He can lift fifty tonnes like it's no big deal, but is still perfectly capable of fine object manipulation without risking breaking whatever he's holding. No idea how it works. Maybe the level of strength he employs is somehow controlled by his intent? Wasn't he a touch telekinetic in the comics to begin with?

Watching his muscles move is impressive. My ring modified body probably has a little more definition -definitely not earned, I haven't spent any time in the gym for my own exercise- but even ignoring his super strength his muscles are clearly the larger. I haven't watched someone like him lift weights before and it's strangely enthralling. Kon changed into a vest for this and I can watch his muscles move as the tension shifts to different muscle groups.

There's a blast of displaced air and then Wallace-. "Guys! We're getting a mission!"

Kon holds the bar with his elbows bent at ninety degrees. Maybe I am setting the weight a bit low? "Finally."

He moves it to the rest, and sits up as I delete the construct. Should I be nervous? I'm not sure. I'm now fairly confident in my ability to protect both myself and my team mates. Shielding others was the main thing our recent team practices have allowed me to get good at. I can armour up Kon and M'gann in a second or so, and create versions of my environmental shielding for the others. Robin said that he preferred if I didn't use it on him as the orange glow draws the eye when he'd rather use evasion and misdirection. Kon, on the other hand, has been using it to the maximum. Barrier type construct shields are even easier, and I can use simple constructs on separate tasks without really concentrating.

"Do you have any other information for us?"

And the wind leaves his sails. "No. But Batman's coming down later to give the briefing."

Kon's a bit more interested. "When?"

"Batman's getting here about five."

If Wallace knows, then… "Can I assume you heard about this from Robin?"

"Yeah."

"He didn't tell you anything else?"

He gives me an irritated look. "Y'know, you could be more excited about this."

I lean back and cross my arms across my chest. "I don't have anything to be excited about yet."

It's a little frustrating. If we're doing this mission today I'd like a chance to do some preparatory reading. Maybe practise construct types appropriate to the local threats. And if Batman is coming here, he must already know more or less what we'll be going into. No reason he couldn't send an information packet over.

Whaw, listen to me. Actually sound like I know what I'm doing.

Kon doesn't understand my lack of interest. "This finally shows that they're taking us seriously."

"Kon, have you any idea how much it cost them to rebuild this place? This was always going to happen."

Timing's a bit awkward. If we're being deployed this evening then we're going to have to move dinner. Maybe we can rush the mission and find somewhere decent to eat out? Wallace doesn't get to pick this time. Not after the Mexican gut horror.

I could really use more information.

"I suppose using the ring to spy on Batman to find out more would be impolite."

They both look at me, shocked. Wallace speaks first. "You can do that?"

"I'm not going to."

"But you could?"

"Sure. Simply do a long range scan for Batman's DNA and then set the ring to report whatever he says."

Kon thinks about it. "Like you did when you scanned Superman."

"Exactly. Far easier to get the sound around a person than to perform a high grade medical scan."

"Dude. Seriously?"

"A power ring's scanning capacity is a function of the emotional power of the user and its energy reserves. I'd like more information, Batman's almost certainly in North America and I'm fully charged."

"The Bat Cave's got loads of anti-surveillance tech."

"Most of which is early twenty first century Human technology. I doubt any of it could stop a power ring."

"How… Long… Have you been able to do this?"

"From the moment I got the ring. Any Lantern could. Any competent Lantern. Really, the League's fortunate that Sinestro doesn't understand Human society at all, because he could pretty much wreck-."

Wallace's face is a picture of astonished surprise. "Are you seriously saying you think the other Lanterns are incompetent?"

"My mentor was hamstrung by his ring's lack of AI support, and by the fact he couldn't get training. I haven't seen any footage of Lantern Gardner. But the other two? From what I've seen in recordings, I haven't been impressed. They seem to have trained exclusively for power with no appreciation for the more subtle uses of the ring. Which is a shame, because I'm sure their teachers -Lanterns Sinestro and Tui- would have at least tried to expand their range a little."

"They're Justice League members! The League's first Green Lantern saved hundreds of people when Star Sapphire attacked the Las Vegas airshow! He beat the Golden Roc by freezing an entire waterfall solid!"

"Brute. Force. Star Sapphire was after him anyway, and the Golden Roc's transmutation ability only works on physical contact. Why was it even able to touch him?"

Kon frowns. "You really don't admire any other Lanterns?"

"There are four Green Lanterns whom I admire. Lantern Medphyl, for his comportment. If there was any justice he'd be running the Greenies' training program rather than that muscle brain Kilowog. Lantern Jack Chance, for his initiative. He actually carries backup weapons in case something goes wrong with his ring. Most Lanterns don't even wear actual armour, and I'm happy to learn from their mistake. Lantern Rot Lop Fan, for his adaptability. His species doesn't even have a concept of light, so he, hah, thinks that he's a member of something called the F-Sharp Bell Corps, and uses sonic constructs. And Lantern Kreon, for being the most highly skilled construct user in existence. A construct only needs to exist for a second to do its work but most Lanterns -myself included- can't quite get their heads around the idea. Most manage better than boxing gloves, though."

Kon bases his whole heroic identity on Superman. It's clear that he can't really relate to my position. "And no Orange Lanterns?"

Pff. "I surpass Larfleeze by leaving my bedroom each morning. There's nothing admirable there."

"And the others?"

How to put this? "The reason why I meditate each day is to prevent myself from turning out like the others; slaves to their base drives. I feel nothing for them but contempt."

 

[Mr Zoat]

22nd July
20:06 GMT -5

Reconnaissance on a Santa Priscan drug factory? Sounds straightforward enough. I should be able to get most of the information we need via ring scan. Unfortunately, I can't get my head around the idea of the combat drug Venom being a major problem in a world with guns, not sufficiently well to do so long distance anyway. I also don't understand why the US government hasn't done something about Santa Prisca before now. From what Batman was saying its leading exports appear to be drugs, guns and mercenaries. It has basically no friends internationally. Baffling. Batman said that the Justice League would intervene if necessary, so, here's hoping we find something.

We're on the Bio-Ship, heading out over the Caribbean Sea. Wallace and Robin have the front seats. Kon and I are at M'gann's right (hooray for shape shifting decks) and Aqualad is at her left. Everyone except Kon is in uniform. Thinking about it, I suppose he doesn't really have one. I can't think of a material which would stand up to the forces he puts it under.

Fact is, when it comes to stealth? I'm a huge liability. I mean, I glow orange. A lot orange, when I'm actually fighting. As a result, Batman's instructions to me were to remain airborne while my team mates go in on the ground. I'll provide mapping and -if necessary- fire support. If I get high enough I should be mistaken for either a plane or a star. I suggested waiting underwater off the coast instead, but he was concerned that would affect my response time.

"We're approaching Santa Prisca."

The Bio-Ship's mind -or whatever- relays its sensors directly to M'gann's head via her telepathy. I thought about creating a construct map for everyone else to follow, but that might be rude, and the orange glow would be 'off theme' for stealth. Everyone else seems focused, and pretty sombre. I'm relaxed. After leaving Wallace and Kon in the gym I took a quick look through the BBC's current affairs section to try and get some idea what we would be doing. Nothing jumped out at me, so I spent most of the rest of the time either practising rapid construct formation or meditating. Maybe I'm just less emotionally invested in this than a group who've idolised their mentors for as long as my team mates have.

Through the sky around us I can see clouds and -I think- a mountain top. The map Batman showed us had locations marked but I didn't pick up on relief features. And then I know it's Monte Amarcoré, named after the home village of the captain of the first Spanish vessel to land here. The aboriginal name for it translated as something like 'desolate lookout point', but since the aboriginal groups were completely broken up during the colonial occupation no one uses it.

Is the team ready? We can coordinate our efforts much better thanks to the training Aqualad organised. We haven't completely gelled yet, but we're getting there. During the briefing Robin asked Batman who was in charge. I honestly had assumed that he'd be directing us from the mountain himself. I even offered to set up an uninterruptible communication link, but apparently that goes against the purpose of the exercise. Makes sense, really. Batman wants us to pick a team leader, but it's obviously Aqualad. We haven't even needed to discuss it.

"Drop zone A in thirty."

I thought about getting off the ship early, but since neither part of the group should be moving on the objective until everyone is down it really makes more sense for me to stay on board until the ship reaches the mid point. Otherwise, people looking up might wonder why the star is moving.

Kaldur stands and presses his belt buckle, turning his red vest dull grey. That technology isn't widespread. Either it's very expensive -which wouldn't make sense, otherwise he'd just have two vests- or no one in the Justice League is thinking about the fashion possibilities. "Ready."

"Putting Bio-Ship in camouflage mode."

I wonder if camouflage drains power, or tires the ship out? If not we should have been in camouflage mode since we left the US coast. If the people below have radar… Does this ship show up on radar? Have to ask afterwards.

The ship drops down to just above sea level, and Aqualad dives out through the floor hatch. If I had any doubts about his more than baseline Human physique before, I don't now. We're moving darn fast, and he hit the water without any indication of discomfort. There are anti-submarine nets around this part of the shore -not sure why- so he's going to cut through and make landfall on an empty stretch of coastline to nobble the ground based sensor network. Advanced infrared sensors and AK forty sevens. Weird. Not to mention the fact that the sensors don't have anyone looking after them on site. Or minefields.

**Heat and motion sensors are patched. It is now on a continuous loop. Move in.**

Wallace made some noise about wanting to use radio, but part of our group training session was devoted to getting used to telepathic communication and we're fairly used to it. After our away sessions together even Kon didn't complain.

I'm out next. In order to minimise the chance of my light being seen my environmental shield will be on absolute minimum. I'll be very nearly hanging off the ring until I get to two kilometres up. My active power level is so low that the sigils on my chest and arms have returned to the grey of the rest of the material. I rise and walk to the back of the ship. Hands clasped at my chest I lean into the rear door, which opens around me as I fall through the gap. It's a bit like diving. The ring arrests my motion once I'm clear and the ship carries on to the deployment zone for the rest of the team. I rise, with the ring notifying me of our height at intervals.

I could use OrangeVision to watch the ship, but that might brighten my aura. I'm rising at around ten metres per second, so I'll be ready in about three minutes.

**Drop zone B.**

Telepathic communication also has the advantage of keeping team members separated from the main group notified on their progress. If M'gann had just spoken that, Kaldur and I wouldn't know they'd arrived.

Wallace just shifted the colour of his armour to black.

How do I know that?

Information did not come from this ring. Most plausible alternative is image sharing via telepathic link.

That can happen?

Affirmative.

Not getting that from Kaldur… So, I get it from M'gann because she's maintaining the link?

This ring lacks data on which to make further observations.

**Very impressive.**

M'gann just changed the colour of her own clothes, though I note with a mental eye roll that she left the big red cross over her centre of mass in place. I asked earlier and it's the closest Manhunters have to an actual uniform. Historically Martians haven't bothered with much in the way of clothing and straps across the chest were once used for carrying tools and other objects. Later, red straps became the military norm and M'gann and Mister J'onn have maintained it despite having access to this wonderful Human invention called 'pockets'.

Hm. If I'm getting more detail from her…

I try thinking the image of a sniper noticing and taking aim at the red cross in the dark. I feel her surprise as she receives it, and I smile as she darkens the cross to a less noticeable dull red. Progress!

**No capes, no tights. No offense.**

Just about the only thing about Superman which Kon doesn't admire. I'll have to see what happened to his original bodysuit, the one ruined during his escape from Cadmus. If the League can replicate the technology that it used then he might end up with a skin tight costume that actually makes sense. Superman could end up using the material as well. Might help them have a conversation.

I get why Superman finds being around him weird, but a single conversation wouldn't kill him, surely? I asked Diana about it, and apparently Kal-El is usually very interested in everything Kryptonian. I suppose it's the American thing of obsessing about your heritage, like how many New Yorkers will describe themselves as Irish despite never having been to Ireland. Maybe me describing him as Kon-El's father was a bit much. I said it because I thought that was how Kon thought of him, and it is biologically true…

**It totally works for you.** Seems M'gann likes the way he looks now just fine. And without thinking about it I send her the image of a sweaty Kon pumping iron. I feel her eyes widen. Shouldn't have done that. **I-i-i-i-in that, that you can totally do good-. Good work in those clothes.** Nearly as smooth as Wallace. I feel her hide her blush with invisibility and her cloak.

From up here I can see the lights around the touristy parts of the island on the west coast. Quite a nice place to visit, if you don't mind the armed guards and can ignore the occasional peasant getting beaten up in the alleyways. Most hotels are on the beach, so the interaction between foreigner cash cows and 'free-range' locals are kept to a minimum.

I feel a squawk of alarm from M'gann as she, Robin and W… Kid Flash -mission now- dive aside as Superboy jumps down from the Bio-Ship without a harness. He seems to like doing that. Maybe he's testing his might against the ground?

**Knew I didn't need a line.**

**And yet, creating a seismic event might not have helped us much with the covert.**

M'gann decides to do the job. **Aqualad, Orange Lantern. Drop B is go.**

**Orange Lantern at altitude. Beginning scans.**

An orange sphere appears around me. One of the things I really liked about the film 'Avatar' was the computer monitors where a hand gesture could transfer a document or program from one terminal to another. My WarSphereTM​ construct feeds information from my scans onto orange screens on the interior surface, and they respond to my touch. I originally tried having them respond to my thoughts but that got a bit chaotic. Having actual monitors would help as I'd get colour. Maybe some sort of liquid crystal thing that could roll flat? I could stick it in subspace, and it wouldn't actually need any processing capacity.

**Main team, head for the factory. I'll track your GPS and rendezvous ASAP.**

**Roger that.**

 

[Mr Zoat]

22nd July
20:21 GMT -5

I'm now tracking everything.

Sort of. I tried making myself aware of every potential enemy on the island, and I couldn't cope. So I've created windows monitoring each of the larger concentrations of armed personnel and arranged them by region. One group in the area around the factory looks like central casting South American rebels, but it's the other that appears to hold the place. They appear to have a wider range of racial backgrounds, and they're wearing the red hoods that the ring informs me are characteristic of members of the Kobra organisation.

Unfortunately, GI Joe doesn't exist in this parallel, so I can't make the obvious joke.

I passed that information on to the others. Robin said that this wasn't in accordance with Kobra's usual MO. Doesn't really change the mission; we still need to get eyes in the factory and to find out where the Venom is going.

I've also found the airfield, and truck depot. Ah, for a bit of a run up and a kinetic harpoon. They appear to be stacking some crates near what looks like the centre of the landing area.

Bane supposedly has links to the Santa Priscan government, mostly in a money-for-pretending-you're-not-there kind of way. No actual local military units in the area, though. Maybe he doesn't want them to know that he's been ejected from his -and their- revenue source. They'd get a lot of good will handing him over to North American or South American authorities. Actually located the man himself, as well. That felt weird. I can see you, Mister Major Supervillain, but you can't see me.

Kid Flash and Superboy were in favour of ambushing a small patrol of Bane's men for information, but Aqualad reminded them that this was a covert recon mission. One burst of gunfire and our location would be given away, and no local faction would make a point of knocking its enemies out and not killing them. Wanting to avoid the patrols resulted in a minor detour from the team's planned route, moving back around a rock formation to approach from another angle.

I can't hear the gunfire from up here with the WarSphere active, but M'gann passed along the noise as patrols from the two hostile local factions encountered one another, Bane leading the locals personally. It gives me the chance to observe the differing tactics the two sides use. The Kobras know how to use their weapons, and from what I can tell their guns are of a higher quality. But the locals know how to use the terrain. Two hold fire and flank the robe-wearers, killing most of them with a grenade and flushing the rest into the fire of the rest of their unit.

Bane closes the distance fast once they're off balance. He grabs the most alive looking Kobra cultist, says something, then…

Oh.

He picked him up by his legs and swung his head into a tree trunk.

That's the first time I've seen someone killed.

With the ones killed by bullets and shrapnel the robes conceal the fatal injuries. The one Bane killed, his head is very broken.

Bane's men scavenge guns and ammunition from the corpses and move into the jungle.

**The two patrols have encountered one another. Kobra… Lost.**

The reply comes from Aqualad. **Understood.**

There are a few minutes until they reach the bluff overlooking the airfield.

Maybe it's the fact that I'm seeing it in orange, on a screen. I'm not sure. I like to think I'm empathic enough to feel bad that someone else is dead. But not this time. It's just, oh, they're dead, I'll stop tracking them. The nearest I've previously experienced to something like this was an episode of Jimquisition where he showed a news clip of a man committing suicide at a press conference, and to be honest that didn't show very much. Maybe it'll hit home later.

Aqualad should meet up with the others just before they reach the viewpoint.

I wonder if Bane's group are going to do a completionist run? Use their superior knowledge of the terrain to attack and destroy isolated groups? I mean, unless the head of Kobra is here in person they're going to have to kill every cultist to push them out. Might as well do it while they're not together, right? That would give us time before we have to worry about them coming in behind us.

Ring, detailed scan on the landing field.

And then I know what's there. The crates definitely contain drugs. There's Venom, but it's been modified from what I saw in the League's files. The guys moving the stuff don't have more than trace amounts on them, probably residue in their robes. Cultists register slightly oddly to my avarice detector. These guys evaluate their worth purely in terms of the goals of the organisation and directions of their master. Fully indoctrinated, normal wants and needs redirected or repressed.

Hmm.

Ring, scan for Jeffrey Franklin Burr, aka 'Kobra'.

He's in the factory, standing on a catwalk near the centre. He's bald now, and his face is severe and humourless.

**Orange Lantern to team. Kobra himself is on site. Repeat, I have positive ID on Jeffrey Burr, aka Kobra.**

I feel Robin tense, but the others don't respond. He picks up on their lack of response too. **If Kobra's here in person, then this is big.**

Wallace misses the point. **We get it, Kobra wanted super-cultists, mystery solved. Radio Bats and we'll be home in time for-.**

I shake my head. **W-. Kid Flash, the cultists aren't using the Venom. And the stuff they're loading up reads as different from the normal product.**

**So they're shipping it somewhere else. So what?**

Aqualad's on the case. **So we need to know either the name of the buyer or the name of the destination. Orange Lantern, can you see a way inside?**

**The cargo entrance is only lightly guarded but is well lit, and has clear lines of sight all around. Oh, hang on, it looks like there's a passageway in the rocks near where you'll come out. Might be some rubble in the way. Could be an old mineshaft, or escape route in case of attack. I don't read any defences inside.** I send a mental image of the entrance to M'gann.

**We will take it.**

They reach the top of the bluff. Robin stops to take a look at the airfield for himself, while M'gann directs Superboy to the boulder covering the entrance.

**Look at all that product. They could keep every Venom addict in the US going for years with that!**

Superboy lifts the boulder out of the way without apparent effort.

**Aqualad, I am aware that Kobra is a very high priority target. If we conclude that the mission is complete I am prepared to make a swoop and grab on him before we leave.** I could also turn him into an orange construct and pass everything he knows about his organisation on to the police, but I don't mention that.

**I do not think it appropriate to send you in alone.**

**I defer to your judgement, but the risk would be minimal. I'd fly through the roof and leave the same way. The grab itself would take as long as I needed to get a clear shot at him. The guns they're using won't scratch my shields. The Kobra Cult do make use of metahumans but unless they have a very fast flier they won't catch me.**

**I will consider it, but apprehending Kobra is not our primary assignment.**

**Understood.**

The group enters the tunnel.

 

[Mr Zoat]

22nd July
20:34 GMT -5

At the end of the tunnel there's a service lift. Robin crouches in front of it and tries to access it with his computer. Turns out it's a simple electronic device with no processing power. Once I confirm that there isn't anyone close enough to hear it they enter and descend. At the bottom there's a small generator which powers the thing and another tunnel, this time leading towards the underground portion of the factory. At the end of that tunnel there's a heavy blast door, and Robin gets his hacking fix. That takes them into a locker room, which in turn leads to what I presume to be a mixing room. Large metal cylinders provide cover and concealment, though I don't think having them leak from bullet impacts would be very healthy.

**All clear.** I see Robin sprint forwards into the room, moving from cover to cover.

Aqualad is not happy. **Robin. We need to stay together.**

**I'll be back in a minute.**

**Stay put. I'll get our intel and be back before the Boy Wonder.**

**Oh, for goodness sake, Wallace.**

**Oh El, we're on a mission. Remember code names?**

**Remember staying together and supporting one another? Look, Robin's gone up onto the catwalk around the room you're in now. Looks like one cultist in the control room directly above your current position. There are no guards likely to reach you soon, so I suggest heading there.**

**Agreed.**

I send a map of the route to M'gann, but Aqualad has a better idea. **M'gann, fly up and support Robin.**

**On it.**

The cultist operating the machinery gets one bewildering moment of staring at her before Robin knocks him out from behind with a hand held spray. **Good distraction, Miss Em.**

I watch as the others hurry quietly around the room. The lack of guards in the production areas is a little puzzling. Maybe they're just here to produce the one batch? They clearly know that Bane wants this place back.

Another screen draws my attention. Kobra has descended to ground level and is talking to a scrawny woman and a truly huge bloke with hardened skin and… Ugh, are those cracks? The woman reads as Selinda Flinders, aka Shimmer. She isn't listed as being a Kobra cultist and she isn't wearing the robes. Mercenary work, maybe? Nothing on the big guy.

**Orange Lantern to team. Be advised, Kobra has at least one supervillain with him. He's not on the League's database yet, but he's huge.**

Aqualad responds as they make it to the control room. **Define 'huge'?**

**At least as big as Doctor Desmond. Maybe a bit broader.**

This perks Robin's interest. **Think they're producing the Blockbuster Formula here?**

Oh, whoops. **I'm sorry, I can't check. I didn't think to record its chemical structure.**

**Don't worry about it. I'll soon… Find… Out…**

Another screen blinks at me. **Guys, there's a transport helicopter coming in. Not certain it's coming here, but it is heading in this direction.**

**Is it likely that they will spot you?**

Aqualad, if an unarmed helicopter could take a Lantern… **Anyone can spot me, but they're flying fairly low. They shouldn't be able to identify me.**

**Very well. Maintain surveillance. Alert us if anything changes.**

Kid Flash reaches Robin first. **Rob, what have you got?**

**Chemical formulas. It looks like they are producing the Blockbuster Formula here. Or something like it. I think… I think they've combined the two.**

**According to this, Kobra's new juice is three times stronger than Venom, and the effects are permanent. But how did Kobra get access to Project Blockbuster?**

**Our mystery buyer must also be Kobra's supplier! Using the cult to create a Venom-Blockbuster super formula!**

I feel obliged to jump in. **Let's not jump to conclusions. The two may be unrelated. A cultist working under cover at Cadmus could have passed the formula on to them.**

Aqualad thinks for a moment. **Orange Lantern. How much of the new formula remains to be loaded?**

**Looks like two forklift loads. They'll be done soon. They're not bothering with the remaining regular Venom. Kobra and the big guy are going out to meet the helicopter now. Two guards entering the floor below you.**

**I believe we now have enough information to call in the League.**

Sounds like. There's a pause for a moment.

**Orange Lantern, they have jammed the radio. Are you able to send a message to Batman?**

!Our mission!
!Not his!

**I generally use radio waves as well. I might be able to message one of the other Lanterns, but I don't know where they are at the moment. If they're on Oa, or near the other side of the Sector…**

I can feel the smug emanating from Kid Flash. **You send messages with… What was it? Early twenty first century Earth technology?**

**The ring can send messages in more advanced formats, but our mountain doesn't have the receivers for them.**

**Maybe you shoulda thought of that before the start of the mission.**

**Do you know how to build a Bleed Fracture-Pulse receiver?**

Kon's feeling combative. **We can take them.**

Aqualad is having none of it. **No. This is a recon mission, not a combat operation. We will exfiltrate and head outside of the jamming area.**

Wallace isn't happy. **But they'll get away!**

**If it comes to it, I'm confident that I can disable the helicopter with minimal risk to myself. The only thing I can see that might threaten my shields is that big metahuman.**

**Robin, download as much data as you can. We'll need to transmit this to the League.**

**… Fine.**

And then a rocket hits the forklift and explodes.

 

[Mr Zoat]

22nd July
20:42 GMT -5

The hell!?

**Aqualad to Orange Lantern. What just happened?**

Another rocket shreds a group of cultists who had hunkered down to prepare for a rush. **Give me a moment.** A small group of fighters are firing rockets from the tree line. Either they have superb marksmanship, or those are being guided somehow.

**Bane's men fired rockets at the landing zone. Kobra's sending cultists back into the factory to secure it while the big meta goes after the guerrillas. You need to get out now.**

**Understood.**

They begin falling back, jumping down to the ground floor with M'gann's help rather than going all the way around the catwalk. They just about make it to cover by the time the first cultists enter the room and notice that the guy in the control room isn't responding. The team are already in the tunnels by the time the cultists start a search. I can't tell exactly how obvious the secret door is from here, but with a little luck they won't be able to go through it without extra equipment.

If Bane's people aren't rushing, that was a diversion. It clearly wasn't laid on for our benefit. There's still a minute or so until the helicopter touches down. What am I missing?

I feel M'gann's alarm.

!My team!
!Mine!

Bane. My team is surrounded by bombs. That will not do. I drop the WarSphere, switch my environmental shield back to minimum and aim myself at their location. With a little luck I'll be mistaken for misdirected ordnance.

Ring, what is he saying?

"Halt, children. I'm feeling… Explosive." Hammy supervillain monolog coming up.

**I'm inbound. I'm... I'm not completely sure that I can suppress those explosives.**

"I was a little worried when I found that my secret entrance had been uncovered. I wasn't expecting the Justice League Junior."

Aqualad starts to organise. **Kid, you'll need a running start.**

"I. Want. My factory back. If you're not here to take down my enemy, then perhaps the Justice League will come to avenge their sidekicks. Blowing the tunnel up with you inside should provide them the motivation needed."

Ring, prep armour constructs, and target his fighters' guns.

"And when the smoke clears, Santa Prisca will be mine once more."

Kid Flash moves. "With what? This trigger thingy?"

"Range achieved."

I grin. Coils of orange light reach down to seize rifles out of guerrilla hands.

"Don't you know, you never split the party
Cleric in the back, keep those fighters hale and hearty."

Orange armour constructs appear around my team mates. Superboy lunges at Bane, who takes a surprise fist to the diaphragm. M'gann telekinetically catches a thrown grenade and hurls it into the distance, where it explodes brightly.

"Wizard in the middle,
Where she can spread some light."

Wallace hits the outermost fighters while Aqualad and M'gann use precision blasts of water and telekinesis to slam those closest to them into the scenery. I hit the ground just in time to put manacle constructs around Bane's arm as he tries to punch Superboy. I then put another around his neck to pull his face down into Superboy's fist.

"And you never let that damn.. thief…"

I stop. "Where's Robin?"

I didn't look for him when I created the armour because he doesn't like using it. Oh, he can take care of himself. Bane shows some signs of life, so I pop a StunCrownTM​ construct over his head and activate it. He goes rigid for a moment, and then slumps.

It seems that my team mates have mastered the art of rendering people unconscious using kinetic force without causing lasting damage. Even M'gann, which I find a little surprising. I wonder what the secret is? I begin piling unconscious guerrillas into neat heaps. **Seriously, where's Robin?**

Aqualad deactivates his Water Bearers and shrugs. **He has a most unfortunate habit of doing that.**

Kid Flash walks back, eating a chocolate bar. "Haven't seen him. Hey, what did I do to finally qualify for actual armor?"

"You just looked so gosh darn fragile."

Actually, all the armour will do now is draw attention to us. The constructs dissipate.

M'gann looks at our captives. "I didn't bring any rope."

Superboy loots one of the fallen. "This guy did. Think he'll mind if we use it?"

Did he just make a joke?

It's been too long since Scouts for me to remember much about knots, let alone how to tie someone up reliably. Wallace and Aqualad on the other hand have the right skill set. Is that something I should learn? Not sure. My StunCrown is more reliable, but that would probably look like inappropriate brutality in this situation. It temporarily shorts out the motor cortex, but it actually causes less risk to long term health than the air tasers used by Batman and Robin. Two mornings of studying neurophysiology well spent.

I suppose if there's no one around who knows rope tying then I'd probably be on my own anyway. Not sure how all of the Venom in Bane's system will affect the paralysis effect. Don't want him getting away. Hmm.

"Would it be acceptable for me to remove all traces of Venom from Bane's body?"

Aqualad and Kid Flash share a look before Aqualad turns to me. "You are able to do that safely?"

"It's a single molecule whose structure I know. Shouldn't be a problem. Not sure about the withdrawal symptoms, but I can probably do something to reduce them."

Aqualad smiles slightly. Thinking about it, he's probably second only to Superboy when it comes to being sombre. Wonder why? "I think that would be acceptable."

I raise my left hand over the recumbent Bane. "Ring, locate and remove all Venom molecules. Identify and repair damage caused to all systems."

"Compliance."

Strobing beams of orange light project from the ring. There doesn't seem to be much of a pattern, until I wonder hard enough and I understand that it's targeting the Venom sites in order of concentration. Watching Bane visibly deflate is… Unnerving. Particularly when his neck and face shrivel so much that his mask comes loose.

Once the ring finishes Kid Flash steps forwards and picks the mask up. "Souvenir."

 

[Mr Zoat]

22nd July
20:48 GMT -5

That went well. Now, let's see what I've been missing in the excitement. Ring, where did Robin and that big meta end up?

Two screens appear in front of me. The one on my left shows Robin, crouched under… The helicopter. The helicopter has landed, and Robin has somehow managed to sneak right up to it. Not good. The one on my right shows… I need a better name than big meta… Baran Flinders? An orange construct showing his last known appearance now floats next to the right hand screen. Whaw.

"No way. That little guy became that thing?" Wallace is now leaning on my shoulder. He's still eating.

And not sharing. I'm bringing my own snacks next time.

"Baran Flinders, eighteen years old. His DNA hasn't changed, and his face is roughly the right shape, allowing for the growth he's done since this image was taken."

"When was that?"

"Three days ago."

"Whaw."

"Worse news, looks like he's coming here." I move my hand and the picture of him walking through the jungle switches to plane view showing the landing area, Mister Flinders and us. He has a little way to go, but he's between us and Robin unless we want to go through the tunnels again. He looks like he should be able to move faster than he is. I can only assume that he saw a few orange flashes and is being thorough. Doesn't seem to be wearing a radio. Oh, jamming, right.

Aqualad joins Kid Flash just behind me, while Superboy and M'gann watch from the front.

**Robin, are you in immediate danger?**

**No one ever looks under the helicopter.**

**Can you get away safely?**

**Sure, when you get down here and we've finished kicking Kobra's keister.**

**That was not the plan.**

**I don't remember anyone making you leader.** Didn't we? We didn't talk about it but… Argh! That was why Robin asked Batman who was in charge. He thinks it's a contest he can win. Damn it. **Whoo… I think they're loading the Venom Buster now. Not sure the League can get here in time.**

Ah, hell. We can't leave Robin here. We can't extract him covertly. Can we? I pull the left window outwards from Robin. Nope, too many guards. My best idea for remaining covert involves sending a giant orange drill construct up underneath him.

I wonder what vert means? Some sort of skateboarding jump, isn't it?

Aqualad is a bit more together. **We will need to bypass or ambush Mister Flinders, then launch a diversionary attack on the airfield to allow Robin to withdraw. Ambushing without giving away our position will be difficult, and bypassing him risks him attacking us from the rear later. His strength will be particularly dangerous in the close confines of the forest.**

Hang on… I rotate the right screen and switch it to relief map. Since he's having to move up the side of the ridge, and with all of the trees… I should be able to pick him up without the other Kobra types seeing. After that, I could either stun him or fly him to the sea while keeping out of line of sight of the airfield. I should be able to hold him under water, as long as he has nothing solid to push against. Superboy speaks first.

**I'll take the big guy. I can wear these guys' clothes as a disguise and hold his attention while you get Robin. I'll join you once I'm done.**

I shake my head. **Superboy, you beat rock with paper, not with more rock. Miss Martian or I could neutralise his strength advantage, but I should be able to knock him out faster. That would also put me in a better position to attack the helicopter should it make a break for it.**

Aqualad steps to my side to get a better look at the map. **Following the helicopter in the Bio-Ship while under camouflage might lead us to the ultimate buyer.**

Robin does not appreciate the delay. **OR we can just grab everyone while they're still here, and Miss Em can take the information from their minds.**

She shakes her head. **It isn't as easy as that. There are ways to keep me out. And they might not even know who hired them.**

Kid Flash takes a closer look at the arrangement of guards. **Superboy, you're pretty much bulletproof, right?**

**Yeah?**

**Think you could jump from here-** He points to an elevated area which from the airfield is obscured by trees. **-into the middle of them?**

**Probably.**

**I should be able to clear out most of the Kobra goons if they're all looking at him. If M'gann's invisible when the attack starts she can be right over the helicopter when Superboy goes in!**

Stealth, guys! Stealth!

**Clock is ticking, guys. Don't really want to try hanging onto the underside of a helicopter all the way back to the US!**

Ah, hell. It probably doesn't violate my orders if I'm not the one doing it.

**Big Flinders is getting close. If we're doing this, I need to move now.**

Aqualad looks about as happy with this turn of events as I am. He bows his head slightly. **I suppose wisdom involves adapting a plan to unpredicted circumstances.** He places a hand on my back, and looks me in the eyes. **You are confident you can take him alone?**

I nod. **It should be within my abilities.**

**Go. Meet us either on the airfield or back at drop point B.**

I look at the relief map once more, planning the best route. Ring, plot flight path.

Course plotted.

I drop the map constructs, reinforce my armour and crouch slightly. In my mind I can clearly see the route I'll be taking, but the journey itself will be too quick for me to really experience it. The next thing I'll be aware of is Big Flinders being right in front of me.

Execute.

 

[Mr Zoat]

22nd July
20:51 GMT -5

An unintelligent person might try to ram him. A moderately intelligent person like Jordan or Stewart would stop and create a striking construct. I like to think that I am a little more than moderately intelligent. That is why the now musclebound Mister Flinders finds himself hoisted into the air by the awesome power of the full nelson. Once he's off the ground I stick a flight aura around him as well. I do that second as it isn't impossible that he could flail around enough to break its hold, and I really don't want to make this a fair fight. Superboy and I tested it, and sufficient force can break the flight aura from inside.

Perhaps most importantly, I do this from behind. When I start my attack he can't see me, and he will struggle to turn his head enough to do so. His massive muscles mean that he can't bring his strength to bear to attempt to break my constructs, which I desire to flow around any strikes he makes and reform while still supporting him.

I'm also far enough behind him to be outside of immediate striking range if he does somehow get free, and I'm keeping a couple of trees between us in case I'm wrong about his neck. Doesn't look like I am.

His attempt to cry out is muted by the flight aura, and we're moving through the jungle away from the landing field even as I put a ShockCrown on his head. He twitches a bit, but keeps struggling. Guess his augmented physique is made of stronger stuff. I could turn the power up, but that would risk lasting damage and I don't currently need to.

I'm not going to try and move something as big as him through the jungle at full speed, but once we get down into the gully I can rise above the trees and increase my flight speed. Big Flinders is really going crazy now, hammering his chest in an attempt to hit the parts of the construct holding him. A couple of times he hits it but it just moves around the blows. Hmm.

Ring, power remaining?

Fifty eight percent.

A twitch of my right hand and he's upside down, hanging off his right ankle. He can't reach the construct at all and the flight aura prevents his weight straining it. It also gives me a clear view of the exposed muscle tissue showing through the cracks in his skin on his back and arm. I have no idea whether or not that will grow to cover it. I guess he thought the physical boost was worth it. They must have done animal tests first, surely? If only to find out if it actually worked or not.

Line of sight from airfield now obscured.

Big Flinders gets a mouth full of tree as we accelerate. I think he may have seen me then, as I've come over the canopy so as to avoid getting slowed down. Of course, he wouldn't be able to make out details, just a glowing orange humanoid. Yep, definitely seen me. He's stopped his flailing in favour of trying to twist around to get a better look at me. Far too slow.

If a person can drown in a bucket or a wheel rut, they can certainly drown in the shallows off the shore. Hm. Wonder if the environmental shield can prevent a person from breathing as well as making them always able to? Don't want to experiment here in case it inhibits all biological processes. Worth thinking about, though.

I drop the constructs around him and he drops towards the sea. Before he hits I loop another construct in an X shape around his chest. He's going at a fair old rate when he hits, hopefully with his mouth open, and then the construct locks him in place. He isn't far under, but he has nothing to push against and the Venom Buster appears to have removed any natural buoyancy he might have possessed.

Ring? Notify me when he becomes unconscious. I have no desire to kill him, but I don't want him fighting again any time soon.

Based on Human drown times and altered physical structure of subject, optimal time submerged is predicted at one minute thirty seconds.

He's trying to swim towards air now. I apply a little force and he moves in a circle. He can't reach the bottom with his feet, and the surface is just out of reach even if he twists face up. Which he can't. Without leverage his strength is useless.

I try listening to M'gann's telepathic communication, but I can't hear anything and I don't want to distract them by asking questions. I could look at what they're doing, but I don't want to risk losing focus on my current task.

Big Flinders is properly spasming now. Probably thinks I'm going to kill him. Or it could just be an automatic reaction to being out of breath underwater. He has a criminal record -I quickly review it- but there aren't any outstanding murder charges. I wonder what he's done that hasn't been discovered? I doubt that Kobra keeps written records.

Alright, I don't have anything better to do. The rents in his flesh are disturbing me.

Ring, is knitting his flesh back together practical?

Task is possible, but not advised under current conditions.

Wait until I take him out then.

Compliance.

His struggles are getting weaker. Son of Margaret and Joseph Flinders, Australian nationals of Markovian origin. His criminal record starts five years ago. Gang graffiti, petty vandalism. Stops two years ago. Maybe he joined Kobra then? Stands to reason that they'd want him to stop attracting attention.

Consciousness lost.

He isn't moving now. A scan of his brain confirms a lack of consciousness. Good, good. I haul him out. Remove the water from his lungs, and fix the splits. A small fountain vomits forth from his mouth, and the visible muscle glows orange. Ring, make sure he's breathing and notify me if he looks like he's about to wake up.

Compliance.

I float him up to my level -I'm about eight metres over the water- and begin flying us back towards the airfield. First solo supervillain take down went well, I think. Does he count as a supervillain if he doesn't have any outstanding super type offences? Not sure.

The ring has finished repairing his skin. Looks much better. The gaps which used to be there didn't seem to be irritating him; even when he was on his own he wasn't scratching the edges. I know I would have been, in his place. Maybe the Venom Buster stuff numbs the skin? Or maybe the whole thing hurts, and the tear isn't notably worse? Wouldn't it have got infected?

Ring, location of helicopter. It's left the airfield and is flying away from the factory. I suppose that part of the plan went-. The helicopter disappears from my awareness. Ring, show me what just happened.

An image of the twin rotor helicopter appears in my mind. It lurches in the air as an electromagnetic surge from near its rear hatch wrecks its electronics, forcing it to crash land. I see a single parachute leave from the front before it hits the ground.

I really hope that was intentional, and that the idea of us following them back to their home base was intentionally abandoned. Probably worth me trying to pick up that last guy, as I imagine tracking him and taking care of everything else would tax both myself and the ring somewhat. Also have to consider that the island's military must know that something's going on by now. Don't really want to have to fight our way out through them.

Ring, location of pilot. And now I can feel him. He's heading down hill, towards a stream which will take him to the coast. He is probably planning to take a boat back to the US. Intercepting him shouldn't be too difficult, but I'll do a weapon scan just in case. No, one low yield plasma weapon and a few explosives. Nothing I can't handle.

Might even get some useful intelligence out of this. I wonder if the League will be able to bring charges against Flinders, Bane and whoever this is. Bane is a 'person of interest' in a load of places, but all of Flinders' outstanding stuff is pretty minor. Even with being a member of Kobra.

 

[Mr Zoat]

22nd July
20:59 GMT -5

With OrangeVision I can see the guy through the trees. He's carrying a large briefcase and doesn't appear injured. He's still coming downhill towards me. I double check his equipment. Yep, nothing that poses a serious threat to me unless the ring charge gets to around five percent. I'm currently at forty nine percent.

He must know I'm here. I glow orange. What exactly is he planning on doing?

I scan his weapons again. Even if the plasma weapon -which is shaped a bit like a crossbow for some reason- could be overcharged, he's still not a threat.

This is creepy. If he were just a courier, he would have headed for civilisation. Or hidden. His other behaviour and his weapons suggest a competent mercenary. So why is he coming towards an obvious threat?

DC mercenaries… Not Slade Wilson, he only has one sword and it's a rapier. Not Deadshot, he doesn't have a sniper rifle. Can't think of any others I'd call competent. Merlyn? Man's a clown, and this guy doesn't have a bow. Prometheus? He's good, but without his helmet and some very specialised equipment I'd still win. Must check whether or not neural chaff is a real thing.

I triple check this guy isn't carrying any.

Everything I can see tells me that I shouldn't be concerned, and I'm more nervous now than when I attacked Big Flinders. It must be the build up. I did consider just dropping in on him but I wanted to drop my cargo out of the way. And give whoever this is a chance to surrender. I should be able to drop him without causing permanent harm but there's always a risk. I don't think I'd be able to heal an adversary in normal circumstances; Flinders' wounds were just that disturbing.

Alright, he's quite close now. I'll just ask him to come quietly, and drop a ShockCrown on him if he refuses. No need to draw this out.

Amplification please, ring. "Please drop your weapons and come out with your hands up."

I don't have arrest authority. Well, I might be able to make some sort of Corps-based claim if interstellar law might have been breached, but I certainly don't have that authority on Earth. Maybe the 'please' was a bad idea? He's slowing down. Good. He's now about fifteen metres away through medium foliage, and I get my first look at his face with my normal vision. He's pulling his right arm back…

Why is he wearing a hockey mask?

Ahh! Javelin! I'm being attacked by Casey Jones!

I didn't even realise that DC owned the Turtles!

The javelin bounces off the construct armour around my chest and explodes. The explosion does nothing to me in terms of injury, but I have to expend effort to avoid getting blown off my feet by the force.

Did Casey Jones ever work undercover? As I ignore another exploding javelin I try desperately to remember everything about this character. It's mostly from the first two animated series, and he wasn't that big in either of them. At least he hasn't tried a hockey stick, the sheer shock of that might have caused me to drop my armour.

No, no, focus. Knock out Casey Jones now, deal with angry mutant Turtles later.

I really hope they don't mix that mutagen from Turtles with Venom or anything. Too much weirdness.

I rise off the ground and fly towards him, jinking to avoid getting knocked around by any more explosives he has. He's gone for his plasma crossbow but it's a simple matter to yank it from his hands and 'ring, subspace' it. He keeps it together though, dropping into a fighting crouch and moving towards me again. For goodness sake, I just tanked exploding javelins, you're just going to bruise your fists. He throws a smoke canister, then sprints to close the distance faster than someone watching him before would have been expecting. Might work on someone without OrangeVision, but I can still see him perfectly well. I extend a loop of construct rope from my right hip and send it forwards, closing it around his left leg as he shifts weight to his right, and yank backwards. He tries to roll with it, possibly assuming that he's snagged on an exposed root, and ends up flat on his face. I extend a ShockCrown from the loop and drop it over his masked head.

I don't know why I was so worried. Double check, yes, definitely paralysed.

Now, what happened to the case he was carrying? Fan constructs disperse the smoke as I begin to look. He was standing there when I last saw him with it…

It's propped up against a tree. A scan reveals that it's rigged to explode if not opened properly. A burst of orange light renders the explosive inert, and I open it. Some sort of injection device, and a single vial of purple liquid. So, that's what this stuff looks like.

I walk back over to Mister Jones. Damn. Maybe if I talk to the Turtles first? His mask is more sophisticated than it looks so I shut down its electronics before removing it. I thought that Casey had darker skin than that? Or maybe that was just in the second cartoon.

Whatever.

Ring, where is everyone?

I feel a pull from different directions. The airfield, for most, but also… New York? Oh, I just thought 'ingroup' and it's telling me where Alan and Diana are as well.

No, just the team.

Just the airfield this time. Seems like they've beaten everyone into submission. Right. Taking the case in my hand I extend flight auras around Flinders and Jones and fly up above the canopy. There's some smoke where the helicopter went down, but it'll probably put itself out. Should probably collect any Venom Buster samples that survived. Still got plenty of ring power left…

I head towards the helicopter, felled opponents in tow. It smashed into the trees sideways, which arrested most of its lateral movement but caused it to flip over. I drop the two guys and the case and take a closer look. A moment of work with a cutting construct later and I step back to avoid being buried in boxes. I can see liquid Venom Buster on the ground where the containers have cracked, and I'm honestly not sure that I can fly all of this stuff. Hah, I'm overthinking it.

"Ring, destroy all Venom and Blockbuster formula in the helicopter."

An orange pulse shines outwards from me, and the ring rests. No point checking for electronic data, the EMP would have wiped it. I pick up my stunned foes and the case once again and continue on to the airfield. As I come over the rise where we fought Bane I notice that he and his men are no longer there. Stupid, stupid, of course he had more fighters in the area! Ah, no point worrying about it now. A quick look at the airfield shows me that other than that we've won. The only people upright are my team mates. I eagerly hasten my flight.

Wallace is the first to notice me, and he waves as I approach. **Hey, Oh El's back. How'd it go, 'cause we pretty much cleaned up here.**

I float Big Flinders over my head and drop him down in front of him. Kon and M'gann stay standing guard over the bound and blindfolded Kobra cultists while Aqualad and Robin walk over. Aqualad asks the important question.

**Were you able to stop the courier?**

**Yes.** He smiles faintly as I float the case over to him. **One sample of Venom Buster. I destroyed the other containers in the helicopter at the crash site.**

**And the courier himself?**

I float Casey forwards. **No threat, really. I think his name's Casey Jones. Can't really remember-.**

**His name is not Casey Jones.**

**It isn't?**

**That is Sportsmaster, a noted mercenary.**

Oh. Guess DC don't own Turtles, then. **Erm, what's his real name?**

Robin peers at his face. **Lawrence Crock. Why'd'you wanna know?**

**I tend to feel that using their 'supervillain' names just encourages them.**

Wallace come to a realisation. "Casey Jones. The guy from the Turtles films? You seriously thought that you were fighting the guy from the Turtles films?"

Aqualad hasn't watched much surface television. **Turtles… films..?**

I rub my brow with my right hand. Wallace is happy to heap on the embarrassment. **It's a film about four mutant ninja Turtles who live in New York and fight evil ninjas.**

Aqualad looks like we've put him off surface television for life. He turns to me. **Did you… Why would you think you were fighting a fictional Turtle?**

Wallace is quick to correct him. **No, dude, Casey Jones isn't a Turtle, he's a Human vigilante with a hockey mask…**

I hold up Sportsmaster's. Aqualad holds up a hand to stop Wallace talking. **The point still stands. Why did you believe that you were being attacked by a fictional character?**

I throw up my arms. "My home parallel doesn't have superheroes! I have to pinch myself when I look around the room, or in a mirror! So, yeah, being attacked by a fictional character did seem possible." I drop my arms and sigh. "These guys aren't all going to fit in the Bio-Ship. When do the League get here?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

22nd July
21:02 GMT -5

I rise off the ground and fly towards him, powering forwards to avoid drawing this nonsense out any longer. He's gone for his plasma crossbow but it's a simple matter to shoot it before he can fire. He hurls it aside before the fuel cell vents and ignites in a brilliant flare of red. He keeps it together though, dropping into a fighting crouch and moving towards me again. I just tanked exploding javelins, idiot, you're just going to bruise your fists. He throws a smoke canister, then sprints to close the distance faster than someone watching him before would have been expecting. Might work on someone without OrangeVision, but I can still see him perfectly well.

Ring, access League database. Who is this fool?

Lawrence Crock, aka Sportsmaster. Noted mercenary and assassin.

Not Casey Jones then. I feel a bit silly now.

I drop a lasso construct onto him from above and pull it tight under his arms, lifting him off the ground. He reaches for a weapon from his pack, but I cut the pack loose and spill his equipment on the floor. I also target the smaller weapons on his belt for the same treatment.

Now, what to do with him? Before I can reach a conclusion, he speaks to me.

"Not bad. But you're in way over your head, kid. If you know what's good for you, you'll let me go and forget this ever happened."

Hmm.

"Yes. I recovered the drug sample, but was unable to prevent the courier from escaping."

He regards me for a moment. "I'm a little surprised that you're taking the deal. Most people like you are a bit more self righteous."

"Oh, forgive me Mister Crock, I'm not taking the deal. That's just what I'm going to tell the others. Ring, assimilate."

 

[Mr Zoat]

22nd July
21:04 GMT -5

Now, what happened to the case he was carrying? Fan constructs disperse the smoke as I begin to look. He was standing there when I last saw him with it…

It's propped up against a tree. A scan reveals that it's rigged to explode if not opened properly. A burst of orange light renders the explosive inert, and I open it. Some sort of injection device, and a single vial of purple liquid. So, that's what this stuff looks like.

Ring, did you detect any damage to Mister Flinders' brain from the Venom Buster use?

Minor changes in neurotransmitter levels from Human norms. No significant deviations detected.

I insert the vial into the injector.

Just in case, take a snapshot of my current brain state, and resist major changes from those levels.

Compliance.

Wait, why am I thinking of using this injector?

Ring, inject Venom Buster formula into me at optimal locations. Monitor vital signs and prepare to reset to default in the event of danger. Seven orange needles appear around me, each with a link to the injector. I barely feel it as they pierce my arms, legs, neck, heart and groin. I see purple move beneath the orange as the formula flows. The orange light reknits the flesh as the needles dissipate.

Oh. Oh.

There's still no pain, I note, as my ribs break and swell outwards. The expansion of my thighs throws me to the ground. Again, I am dully aware of bones being pulverised and reforming, longer and stronger. Now I can't notice any one thing, everything is twisting and expanding, and unlike on the moon, now that I know what is happening? I embrace it.

My armour is an impediment, so it vanishes into subspace. My hands expand, and the ring grows to fit around my enlarged fingers. My skin darkens, toughens, and begins to split as it fails to keep up with the growth of the other parts of my body but oh no you don't… Better.

The wave of mutation slows, then stops. I push myself off the ground a little gingerly. A mirror construct forms in front of me. I'm naked, but the ring can probably turn some of my clothes into a pair of shorts until I can visit Mister Gambi again. I'm now about two and a half meters tall, though I've kept my body proportions better than Mister Flinders did. The ring tells me that my skin has turned out a little darker than his, but it's all dark at night. I hold out my right arm and flex the muscles for a moment.

Ring, do not assist.

I brace, then swing my fist directly through a tree trunk. It's like punching jelly, it just parts around my hand. The top part of the tree collapses onto my shoulder and I barely feel a thing, just brush it off like fallen leaves.

I smile. Intellectually, I realise that I haven't added much to my powers as a Lantern, but… There's something viscerally pleasing about this sort of physical power that I rather enjoy.

 

[Mr Zoat]

22nd July
23:11 GMT -5

I've never actually been naked in a communal shower before. Sure, at the swimming pool I'd rinse off before getting changed but I still had my trunks on. And this is a really terrible time to remember that mass circumcision is still a thing in the US. And now I'm trying to work out which of my team mates… Superboy was grown in a pod, right? They wouldn't have… Aaagh! Bad brain!

Fortunately, I have a power ring.

"Ring, I really want to be clean. Okay, see you guys later!"

I leave my slightly bemused male team mates in the changing room and walk back to the main living area. We formally resolved the leadership question on the flight back. Aqualad had secured everyone else's support and they wanted to make sure that I was in agreement. When I said that I hadn't mentioned it before because I thought it was completely obvious that he was the man for the job Wallace sniggered and Robin glared.

Apparently, Aqualad's plan for attacking the airfield involved everyone putting on the clothing of Bane's irregulars over their uniforms, and then Kobra robes on top of that. They more or less just walked up to the landing area and doffed the robes once the attack began. Not sure that counts as 'maintaining cover', but Kobra can't be sure that Bane didn't just employ metahumans amongst his thugs. In a way Bane's escape makes that more believable. I violated cover worse than they did, though it's not like Kobra knows that Orange Lanterns exist.

The Santa Priscan authorities have moved troops in to secure the factory, but I imagine that Bane will be back in there before long. Wallace put Bane's mask in the same room as the robot eye from Mister Twister, and I added Mister Crock's hockey mask. Tragedy and Comedy. He wants to make it some sort of trophy room, but given the violent nature of our work I'm not sure that's entirely in good taste. I thought about adding the plasma crossbow thing, but the room isn't secure enough at present to house a weapon.

Batman didn't look too happy when we got back, but I think his eyes widened just a little when Jeffrey Burr and Lawrence Crock were marched off the League's transport jet in manacles. He also unclenched slightly when I handed over the Venom Buster sample. He wants our mission reports submitted by six tomorrow for a debrief at nine, which means that everyone else gets to stay up all night writing them. I did mine on the Bio-Ship on the flight back.

My personal failings? Not keeping track of Bane, obviously. I'm not going to include 'thinking that a lightly armed baseline Human was a threat to me' on a list I'm submitting to Batman, for goodness sake. Not directly sorting out the leadership question before the mission was an oversight, but we all did that and I honestly assumed it had been dealt with. Should I have gone back to the airfield immediately after dealing with Flinders? Maybe. It is possible for me to monitor someone at a distance for a long period of time, but I wouldn't have known exactly what he was doing unless I really needed to, and I would have been focusing on the prisoner transportation and the possible arrival of the local military. That ended up being dealt with by a surprisingly diplomatic Hawkman, and the captain in charge was more than happy for us to remove 'foreign terrorist criminals' once he was sure that we weren't accusing his government of anything.

Anything else? Attracting attention to myself with glowing lights is on the list, but there isn't much I can do about it. I tried asking the ring about shifting the colour a bit and it started talking to me like I was an idiot. As far as it is concerned avarice construct equals orange construct. Constructs which project other kinds of energy are possible, and I'm planning to head out to somewhere isolated to practise them. I was thinking Titan.

Should we have intercepted the helicopter as soon as we first saw it? Maybe, but I don't think so. Should I have bypassed the jamming signal? After my 'completely obvious' comment Robin was more than happy to explain at great length how I should have used the ring to get around that, so yes, but I didn't know how at the time.

Maybe I could have used some sort of neural interface construct to knock Flinders out earlier? That… It could work, but I'm not comfortable with practising that sort of thing. I know I eat animals. Logically, I shouldn't have a problem testing things like that on them, but I'm not sure that I could look a cat in its bewildered face as it tried to work out why its legs were moving on their own. I could probably bring myself to test the assimilation beam like that, but I'm not sure I want my team mates knowing that it exists.

I reach the living room and M'gann's already here, sitting in a chair. Can't smell anything. Do Martians not sweat, or did she just take the fastest shower ever? She's set up a civilian version of Robin's personal hologram computer on the coffee table and is typing up her report. I walk over and sit on the next door sofa.

"How's it going?"

Her eyes twitch in my direction, then go back to her work. "Slowly. There's parts of the mission where I wasn't really doing anything much, and then the fighting started and so much was going on that it's hard to keep it all straight. Are you going to start yours?"

"Already done."

"Really? Did you do it on the flight back?"

"Yeah. Took about five minutes."

"Five minutes?!"

"I have a power ring. Power rings are awesome."

She slumps slightly. "I don't suppose I could borrow-?"

"No. Quite aside from the fact that there were bits you saw that I didn't, report writing is a valuable skill to learn. Bit surprised you're not using a telepathic computer of some kind."

"I've got one, but it isn't compatible with Earth technology. Only other telepaths would be able to read it."

I suppose Martian tech is very different from Earth tech. There was something else… "I noticed that once you established the telepathic link I got a lot more, erm, imagery than I was expecting. I mean, not just words, but pictures and feelings."

Her eyes widen in surprise. "That was you? I though it was Conner!"

Eh? "Why would you think it was Kon?"

"Well… Well… One of the pictures was of him…"

"Yeah, sorry about that. I was creating weights for him to lift earlier, and it just sort of slipped out. I mean, he wouldn't have been looking at himself, would he?"

"No, I suppose not. It's not that unusual, actually. It just requires the person who joins the link to have their mind more-" She circles her hands, trying to find the right word. "-open? To be more open with their thoughts than most people not used to telepathy are. The other reason I thought it would be Conner is because of all the time he spent with the G-Gnomes. His mind should be used to receiving information that way."

"I was wondering because it didn't happen when we practised earlier."

She frowns. "Yes it did."

What?

"And, um, I'm glad you like the way I look, but that bikini was probably a bit too risqué for me."

OoOoOoOoOo.

My face freezes into a nervous smile. "Didn't realise that you got those. I was, I was sort of trying to see how forward things had to be in my mind before you heard them, and I tried to think about something that might get an involuntary reaction."

"Oh. Well, this isn't-" She looks around the room to check no one has walked in, and lowers her voice. "-like you said, this isn't my Martian body. Seeing me wearing that sort of clothing doesn't have a strong enough effect to get that result."

"Makes… Makes sense. Um, sorry."

She smiles. "It's fine. It's perfectly normal for you to be interested in girls."

I'm wincing like hell on the inside. "Soo, Kaldur's in charge now."

She turns back to her report. "His plan was a little more sophisticated than Wallace's 'run in and hit everyone'."

"Plus, he organised all of the group training we've been doing. That was sort of why I'd assumed he already had the job."

"I was a little surprised that you didn't want to be leader."

"Why?"

"You were keeping us all organized during the mission."

"That was coordination, not leadership. It really isn't the same thing, and I wasn't even doing that once the fighting started. Our team leader needs to be able to direct people during combat, and I just go all 'Mine!' and lose perspective."

"Is your ring giving you trouble already?"

"No… I don't think so. I think that was just a normal desire to keep my friends safe, but I stopped thinking about the mission when it happened. I mean, you could probably have handled Bane and co without me. I left my post and stopped monitoring Kobra. If something big had happened, I'd have missed it."

"There were a lot of guns pointing at us. I know I felt a lot better when you removed them."

"Won't be my decision next time, I suppose."

 

[Mr Zoat]

22nd July
23:17 GMT -5

"Oh! I wanted to ask you something." M'gann shifts around in her seat so that her legs are pointing at me, knees together, hands clasped in her lap. "When the fight with Bane started, were you singing something?"

"Yes. I'm a bit surprised you heard that."

"We were linked, so it just sort of came through. Was it some sort of battle song?"

"No. No, it's called 'Never Split the Party'. It's about a group of adventurers with different skill sets who can't handle a situation they get into because they split up."

"How does it go?"

Hmm. Still got some ring charge left… Why not? I get to my feet and walk to the open area of the room. A wave of my right hand creates medieval Dungeons and Dragons style versions of our team. Kaldur is arrayed as a melee fighter in full plate, with his upside down V emblazoned on his surcoat. Kon is dressed more in the barbarian style, stylish but impractical leather and fur which leaves his chest exposed. Robin as a thief just gets a hood and cape extension. Wallace the monk gets a keikogi with a lightning bolt on the back. M'gann and I get robes, hers with a heavy book strapped to the belt and mine with an Orange Lantern Corps sigil hanging around my neck.

Ring, lyrics please. "Ring, music please." I step to the side and take a breath.

"We were skulking through this dungeon - A pretty sorry lot."

The group 'walk' forwards, with the 'dungeon' scenery making it look like they're actually moving.

"And Kaldur'ahm the fighter had been actin' like a sot"

The Kaldur construct shoves past 'Kon' and 'myself' to the front of the group.

"Our cleric had colitis;"

'I' walk uncomfortably.

"Our torches all were wet"

'Robin' tries to light one and fails.

"But we had to find some treasure soon to get us out of debt...

So Kaldur'ahm and Conner were itchin' for a fight
They both took the left fork, while we went to the right"

Their constructs walk off down a passageway, while the rest of us remain centre stage.

"And that is when we heard it: the sound of rollin' dice"

I create a large piece of paper with the words 'Random Encounters' listed at the top, and some spinning dice constructs.

"We wondered why we had ignored those words of sage advice...

Don't You Know? You never split the party
Clerics in the back to keep those fighters hale and hearty"

At the rear of the group my construct brushes his sleeves up his arms and wiggles his fingers.

"The wizard in the middle, where she can shed some light"

Hard to do light when everything's orange, but I create a sort of ripple effect around her raised right hand.

"And you never let that damn thief out of sight..."

'Robin' cringes slightly as the others stare at him.

"So then we heard this bellow from back around the bend
We turned around to see if there was aid that we could lend"

The party about faces, the dice stop spinning, and the random encounters construct zooms in on 'Orcs, D6+3' for a moment before dissipating.

"And suddenly the corridor was covered up with Orcs"

The Orcs are shrunken versions of Baran Flinders, carrying wooden shields and sword/cleaver things.

"We fell back in a panic, feeling like a bunch of dorks..."

The party rushes through the rear Orcs and forms a line.

"The thief had pissed his leathers; the monk was turning blue"

I paint obvious fear onto the faces of 'Robin' and 'Wallace', then 'Robin' jumps into 'Wallace's arms in a forced bridal carry.

"Our wizard got all flustered and she covered us with goo"

'M'gann' gestures, waves, and I generate liquid coming from the 'ceiling' and coating all members of the group.

"The cleric swung his holy club some Orcish skulls to break"

My figure holds out a hand and generates a war hammer with a head the shape of a slightly flattened Orange sigil.

"We tried to dodge his backswing as we pondered our mistake..."

He pulls back to swing at the first Orc, the warhammer's shaft becoming ludicrously long as he does so, forcing 'M'gann' to duck and 'Wallace' to limbo under it. It's high enough that it goes over the Robin construct's head.

"Don't You Know? You never split the party
Clerics in the back to keep those fighters hale and hearty"

I let the fight progress. I remember hearing that Clerics make darn good melee fighters these days anyway. 'Wallace' gets himself together and makes martial art attacks against the Orcs while 'I' visibly feed energy to the others while continuing to swing the club.

"The wizard in the middle, where she can shed some light"

'M'gann' fires off some lightning into where the Orcs were forming a shield wall, killing a couple and breaking their formation.

"And you never let that damn thief out of sight..."

'Robin' sneaks, backstabs, and finishes the last one off with a thrown knife.

"We finally found our fighters; they were hacking at a Troll"

New scene, the Troll looks like Blockbuster. The larger part of the party enters stage left.

"They chopped off knees and elbows but it kept on growing whole"

'Kaldur' swings an oversized sword and 'Kon' an axe, cutting through the limbs only to watch Trollbuster heal them back.

"The wizard flung a fireball, her dice they did not fail"

'M'gann' holds her arms over her head and builds a large fireball, before flinging it forwards.

"She torched the troll and left the fighters roasting in their mail"

Trollbuster disappears, but 'Kaldur' and 'Kon' are visibly scorched.

"The cleric had his hands full; apologies were said"

'I' lay hands on the fighters and their visible injuries disappear.

"We swore an oath we'd stick together just like we were wed"

They gather in a circle, hands meeting in the centre. Robin is absent.

"But then we found that sneaky thief had vanished in the gloom
We caught him stuffing pockets in the secret treasure room..."

The room in question is the enlarged rear of a helicopter. The hatch collapses open and 'Robin' is shown holding two bags with dollar signs on the sides. He grins, nervously.

"Don't You Know? You never split the party
Clerics in the back to keep those fighters hale and hearty"

Cleric and fighters advance on the thief, who backs up a little.

"The wizard in the middle, where she can shed some light"

Wizard also steps forwards, electricity crackling around her hands. Thief makes a pleading gesture while still holding the looted bags.

"And you never let that damn thief ... no you never let that damn thief ... no you
Ne - ver let - that - damn - thief - out - of - sight!"

The helicopter's hatch closes just as they reach him, obscuring their retribution from the audience.

Real M'gann is covering her grin with her hands, but she isn't looking at me. What is she...?

Oh, showers are finished then. An amused Wallace is poking Robin, who seems a little disgruntled. Kaldur and Kon are smiling. I stretch my arms out to the side and take a bow to both parts of my audience in an attempt to brazen through my embarrassment.

I remove the helicopter construct.

"Let me go get something to eat. Chinese sound good?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

23rd July
19:44 GMT -5

Batman's debrief was a good deal less harrowing than it might have been. He picked up on my failure to breach the radio jamming right away, and we'll all be getting lessons on communication technology from Captain Atom in the not too distant future. He was also not happy about us pretty much abandoning the whole 'recon' aspect of the thing, and we'll each be getting a written evaluation 'detailing our many mistakes'. His conclusion was much more upbeat, congratulating us on our inventiveness and for 'capturing some extremely dangerous people'. The League will be making sure that Jeffrey Burr, Lawrence Crock and the Flinders make it to Belle Reve Federal Penitentiary in Louisiana without incident.

I'm not worried about the written report. I've already gone over the things I think I did wrong, and it may suggest ways to remedy my failings. Wonder if Batman'll have Jordan or Stewart write the part concerning my use of the ring? I've had a look at their written records as well as the recordings and I can't see anything about them using their rings for team coordination.

Robin and Wallace have headed home. Just the lifers left; M'gann, Kon, Kaldur and I are trying to find something worth watching on television. A trial at the best of times. Kaldur likes documentaries. M'gann likes sit-coms. Kon has absorbed Wallace's habit of switching channel every few minutes. They aren't bickering, but they are debating with reasoned arguments and that sort of thing only ever leads to trouble.

"How about a film?"

It gets worse. We have WebFilm -a Netflix analogue- but that just gives us thousands of films that none of us know how to choose between. I'm watching the screen trying to spot something familiar -as our token surface dwelling/Human/more than three weeks old team member I have the best chance of recognising some of them- as my team mates take advantage of any hesitation to pluck the remote from one another's hands and search for something which suits their tastes.

Kaldur tries to find a pirate film where the pirates are the bad guys and not the good guys. He is a little disturbed that he can't. M'gann tries to locate a romance film, but can't find anything with aliens in it. She nearly tries Species III, but I suggest that probably isn't the sort of thing she wants. I suppose it could be different to the version from my parallel, but I'd rather not take the chance. Kon seems to just scroll through things with no real idea what he's looking for. During a brief lull in which Kaldur delivered an impromptu lecture on the damage done to world trade networks by pirate attacks I took the opportunity to compare films I know with ones which exist here.

Castlevania directed by Chris Nolan? Wasn't making Batman, I suppose. Star Wars exists here, but it seems that George Lucas was killed in a hit and run accident before he could make episodes I to III. Unfortunately, Disney then bought his company and had Michael Bay do it. So, pro, no Jar Jar Binks. Con, Queen Amidala in a boob tube and hot pants and a thirty foot tall General Grievous. Think I'll give it a miss.

No DC means no V for Vendetta. No Marvel comics either, but I'm not sure that superhero genre is the way to go with this. We are superheroes. Nothing we watch will match the experience. My suggestion of 9 is shot down from all sides, though I don't think I did a particularly good job of selling it. In desperation I suggest having the ring select one entirely at random. Faced with the very real possibility of spending the rest of the evening arguing or -worse- learning more about non-state actors as agents of social decay, Kon and M'gann vote for that idea.

And that's why we spent the evening watching Super Giraffeman Seven.

The plot was threadbare, the sets were made of plywood, the acting was nonexistent and one guy tripped on his own wires and I don't think I've laughed that hard since a crazy woman phoned me at work and said that she'd kept her youngest child's placenta in her fridge for seven months but needed to arrange for it to be stored somewhere else because her children had mistaken it for ice cream and tried to eat it. Took our lab manager twenty minutes to convince her that it would be pointless, after I'd tried for half an hour.

When I laugh really hard, I don't make any noise, I just do a sort of choking action. Watching this abomination I was convulsing so hard that I struggled to keep my eyes focused on the screen. Even better, I think I must have been feeding back into M'gann because she ending up laughing just as hard as I was. I'm not sure that Kaldur or Kon got the joke, but our reactions set them off as well.

And, seventy two minutes later, with one last cry of 'Evil shall fall upon my horns of Justice! They are small but they are mighty!' it was over, and I could try breathing normally again.

Oh god. There might be six more of those things.

"I can't believe someone actually made that!"

Kaldur's still bemused. "Do you think it was intentional?"

"I don't know. It might have been? I mean, they can't have not noticed that you could see the reflection of the entire camera crew in the sacred… giraffe…pool…" I barely manage to get it out before I start laughing again, which causes M'gann to start as well.

Kon's got the remote control and is trying to find more information on it. "It says that it was made in nineteen seventy five by Takeshi Meeki."

I get a breath. "Is that his real name?"

"There's a list of the other movies he's made."

Kaldur leans forwards. "Are they… All..?"

"I don't know."

I risk looking at the screen. The summary screen for Super Giraffeman in Space is there waiting for me. Made in two thousand and one. Oh god. Same title actor. He must be in his seventies.

I suppose he can't have gotten any worse.

"There isn't… There doesn't… Martian cinema doesn't have anything like that." M'gann takes a little longer to recover than I do.

"It wouldn't, would it? When you can shapeshift you don't have to worry about your mane wig sliding down your head halfway through your main scene."

Kaldur blinks in recognition. "It was the way he kept leaning over to try and prevent it from falling off completely that I found the most distracting."

Kon is still going through Mister Takeshi's list of film credits. "Maybe Martian cinema does have things like that, and you just haven't watched it? If I had to introduce someone to Earth cinema, I don't think I'd start with that."

"Don't rule it out so quickly. Rowan Atkinson's character, Mister Bean, is very popular in countries that don't speak English because slapstick is so universal. And I think that was more slapstick than wuxia."

Kaldur can't take his eyes off the screen either. "I cannot say with certainty what it was."

M'gann checks her watch. "We've probably got time for another one."

"I'm not sure it would have the same effect again, now we're expecting it."

"Paul, Uncle J'onn probably felt the laughter in your mind all the way up on the Watchtower."

Kon sits up a little. "If it's a choice between watching another movie like that, or arguing about pirates again, I vote Giraffe."

The cursor is now over 'Super Giraffeman Supreme Shogun-President'. Nothing more needs to be said.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Skived

25th July
14:37 GMT -5

I don't think I'll ever quite get used to the way technology works around here. Not the user interfaces, which are either completely straightforward or completely incomprehensible -unmarked keyboards ahoy-, but the fact that it all works at all. Back when I first met Alan his intercom had completely clear sound, and it's all like that. Computers just don't crash during regular use. This base is full of machines that are just waiting to go wrong, and they never do. I remember reading Hyperion, where at the end the Shrike Church get trapped in their mountain fortress when the wormhole network collapses, because that was the only entrance. Our exits are giant blast doors and zeta tubes and they always work. I have the ring scan them every time before I use them. Nothing goes wrong. Coming from a place where the trains don't run on time if it rains -or if it doesn't- it takes a bit of getting used to.

I've paired my dark grey jeans with an orange shirt today. I doubt Alan or Diana would mind if I showed up in my usual vest but I feel I should make an effort. This will be the first time I've spent much time in both of their company in a casual setting since the team was founded. Plus, the orange colouration means that the Lantern sigil doesn't really show; Vietnamese colour matching at its finest.

I'm on pudding duty, so I'm bringing a few hundred grams of chocolate with me in subspace. I ended up getting a chocolate pudding recipe online after M'gann found me in the kitchen swearing at one of the ones we have here which expresses all quantities in volume rather than mass. I don't mind ounces or grams, but whoever thought that a 'cup' was a sensible measure of anything solid needs to be slapped around the face. Also, not American 'chocolate'. I know some mainland European connoisseurs get snooty about British chocolate, but the US stuff is frankly hydrogenated vegetable oil filled swill. The chocolate I'll be using comes from Belgium.

Cadbury exists here, and it doesn't look like anyone is planning to take it over. If that situation changes I will seriously consider buying as much of it as I need to in order to prevent that from happening. Fucking Kraft.

"Hey, nice shirt."

Wallace is standing next to the main computer console in casuals. Robin is working a case with Batman and M'gann's taken Superboy out shopping so instead of hanging around with them he's looking at the initial reports on Venom Buster. I vaguely knew that his Justice League Unlimited incarnation was a police chemist but until last Tuesday I hadn't realised that this version shared that skill set. Apparently he copied Jay Garrick's speed formula in his own bedroom with some fairly basic materials.

Given that the formula is three for three with no serious adverse effects, I wonder why it isn't more widely used? I can understand about not making it public, but any baseline Human in 'the community' could benefit. Heck, Wallace's eating disorder is probably a product of amateur level equipment, rather than a problem with the formula itself.

I wonder if he could fix it by repeating the process with better materials? Or would doubling up make matters worse? Is there some common element between the Garrick Formula and the Danner Formula? Not sure what happens when you use a magic formula on someone who's already had a magic formula. Besides, the Danner Formula needs to be used in vitro. I… might want to look at getting a copy of each…

"Thanks. You ever need a suit, I'll introduce you to my tailor."

"Heading out early, aren't you?"

"I'm doing pudding. Besides, Diana's bringing a plus one and I want to find out who it is. On my parallel, someone like Wonder Woman dating would be bigger news."

He stops typing, and looks at me in confusion. "Did she actually say she was bringing a date?"

"Urp, no, Alan just said a plus one. That means date, right?"

He goes back to work. "Maybe. But she's probably just bringing Troia along."

The word forms even as I remember who she is. "Who?"

He looks incredulous. "Are you serious? You didn't know about Wonder Woman's other student?"

Donna Troy, the woman with the most messed-about-with back story in DC. I know that she's got the same abilities as Wonder Woman, but even though I've never had any interest in the character I can remember three distinct versions of where her powers come from. Right, right, Diana already said that she doesn't have any sisters, so that's out. So, that leaves being given the powers by the Greek gods on Themyscira or inheriting them from Titanic ancestors. Or something else. Can't remember anything about her personality.

"Diana never.. mentioned.. her?"

She didn't. And I looked up 'Wonder Girl' on the League's database and found no matches. Maybe I should have looked up Donna Troy as well, but that might have shown that I know real names when I shouldn't. I thought she started calling herself Troia as an adult. I mean, what does Troia even mean, anyway?

"You really didn't know?"

"Does this look like my 'I know what's going on' face?"

"N-no? Whaw. Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Huh. Kinda assumed that you'd met her by now."

"Nope."

Is she going to think I stole her mentor? I haven't been spending that much time with Diana. Have I? I certainly haven't been monopolising her. But maybe there's only so many trainee-appropriate missions?

"Wonder if she wants to join us?"

"I don't know! I never heard of her until just now."

And then he's standing next to me with an arm around my shoulder. "You should totally talk to her about it. She's pretty hot."

"I'll be sure to mention it."

"'Cause if she did join, we'd have a Bat, a Flash, a Super, a Martian, an Atlantean, an Amazon and a Lantern. That's the founding League right there."

"I'm sure the subject will come up."

"Make sure it does. I don't wanna start feeling bad about hogging all the female attention around here."

Yea-ah.

"I will endeavour to ensure that that doesn't happen. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a walk ahead of me."

"You know New York has cabs, right?"

Sigh.

"I can't carry conventional currency without destroying it. Some cab drivers would believe that a person would pay them in gold, but most would tell me to get lost, or call the police. I don't want to draw attention to Alan's house by flying there while glowing orange so I either have to get the zeta tube to Upper Manhattan and walk, take one to Metropolis and walk further, or take the one to Washington and travel underwater, which is incredibly boring."

"Yeah, I feel so sorry for you having to have dinner with Alan Scott and two of the hottest women on the planet."

He releases me and walks back to the computer at normal speed. I walk over to the entrance to Zeta Tube A, and look at it for a moment.

"Ring, just… just check it's working properly."

"Operations within defined parameters."

"Are you still worried about that?"

"I am justifiably cautious."

He sniggers. "Whatever."

Fine. I enter my destination, straighten my posture, and march in.

"Recognised, Orange Lantern, B zero six."

Ugh.

"It's Orange Lantern two eight-"

 

[Mr Zoat]

25th July
14:40 GMT -5

"-one four. Never mind."

I wonder how the Green Lanterns handle that? Must get confusing up in the Watchtower if they have the same handle as each other.

The zeta tube in Upper Manhattan is on the roof of the main office building in the Kord Industries complex. It looks like a second roof access, except it doesn't go anywhere and the fob reader on the outside won't open to staff fobs. Most League members have civilian identities which would explain why they were passing through the building, and can get away with taking the elevator down. I don't, so I take the external fire escape.

The building's five storys tall, and the views are only good if you like grey buildings. I think they tried to do a bit of landscaping -there's a few flower beds and a small group of trees- but it was a bit of a losing battle. You can just about see the river from the uppermost floor, but there are too many buildings in the way to get a look at anything interesting. There are also a couple of warehouses and a manufacturing plant on the site, though I'm not sure what it is they actually make here.

Ted Kord is active… Ish… As Blue Beetle, and his company is one of the League's suppliers. I guess Wayne Enterprises can't make everything without it looking really suspicious. He isn't a League member yet, but might well end up as one. No Booster Gold, which is a bit of a shame.

The way out -assuming that I want to avoid the front gate, which I do- is through a section of fence at the rear of the complex which drops into the ground when an authorised person touches it. That takes me to an alleyway, which leads out onto a path which takes me to Amsterdam Avenue. Completely straight roads are another thing I've found strange about America, along with the lack of roundabouts. Sure, British motorways are usually straight, but town roads go all over the place.

This grid thing might be convenient for drivers, but it really takes the fun out of being a pedestrian. If there's anything interesting, you can see it from miles away and be bored of it before you reach it. Especially in my case with my ring-improved vision. Remembering a route? Just walk forwards, and try not to bump into people. Not many people around, so really it's just a matter of stopping at intersections and waiting for the lights to change.

Ring, tell me about Donna Troy.

An image forms in my mind of a woman wearing a red unitard with silver star decoration, silver bracers and a silver belt with a lasso hanging off it. She looks… The obvious reference point is Diana, but that's not quite it. She's a bit shorter. The muscle is there, but her face and figure are a bit more rounded, maybe the result of growing up on an American diet rather than a Mediterranean one.

Donna Troy, also known as 'Troia'-.

Hold on a second. What does that word mean?

There are several possible meanings, depending on language and era. The most likely origin is the Latin name for the city-state of Troy.

She uses her surname as her codename?

That is the most likely explanation.

No mask and she uses her name in public. If Diana gives me any trouble about working this one out…

Resume.

Donna Troy, also known as 'Troia'. Born, fifteenth of April, nineteen ninety three. Name of natural parents unknown. Adopted parents Carl and Fay Stacey.

Stacey? So where does 'Troy' come from?

Earliest records indicate that her name was Donna Troy prior to her adoption.

Wouldn't her adopted parents have changed her surname to match theirs?

Unable to speculate.

No, wait, Richard Grayson. Maybe that's just not how things work here? Fine, resume.

New York resident. In her civilian identity attends the Eleanor Roosevelt High School. No data available on first manifestation of powers. First public appearance in heroic persona twelfth of July two thousand seven. Powers demonstrated in public include potence, fortitude and unassisted flight. Source of powers unrecorded. Standard equipment includes bracers and lasso. Usually seen operating in the company of Princess Diana of Themyscira.

Might have been nice to know that a week ago… Anything on her personality?

No interviews on public record.

Pffff. Any idea what she likes to eat?

Scanning Stacey residence. Genetic and food residue suggest that she likes cereal brand 'Lucky Charms'. Unable to specifically link other foodstuffs at the residence to the subject.

Did the ring just..? I just did a detailed scan on a private residence because I was curious about her eating habits. I… I need to avoid getting in the habit of doing that.

In an attempt to avoid boredom and random ring-snooping, I turn left towards Fort Washington Park. I see it in the distance.

Then, I see it a bit closer.

Then a bit closer.

Finally, I get to it and for a moment I feel the voices of my ancestors telling me to capture it for King George.

Heh, maybe later.

I've never actually walked this route before, though it's not like I can get lost with the ring's mapping feature and the fact that there isn't all that much space to get lost in. Last time I walked around Manhattan prior to my first meeting with Alan I stuck to the east side of the island, and I flew whenever I thought I could risk it. The park runs along the east bank of the Hudson River on the west side of the island, and is mostly open grassland with the occasional tree. It merges in the north with Fort Tryon Park and then Inwood Hill Park, which Alan's house borders. Not really sure why they're separate entities. In a place like Manhattan, wouldn't they be controlled by the same authority?

There are a few people picnicking and I think I can smell a barbecue somewhere. Not really one for barbecued food myself, though I've only ever really had it prepared by inexperienced amateurs. Children and dogs also in evidence, and I'm not really a fan of either. I actually learned to create the dog-away sonic device in construct form to use against guard dogs, but it occurs to me that it has other uses. Wonder if there's a frequency which repels children?

Alan didn't say what he was cooking for us. One of the many useful mundane functions of the ring is that it renders me immune to both heat and chemical burning caused by food. I remember once when I ordered pasta with chilli sauce in a restaurant at the Eastbourne Marina. A slight pleasant heat until I bit into a piece of chilli and ended up downing the table's water jug. Not fun.

I was planning to bring up the idea of training Superboy in super strength brawling with Diana, but now I'm not sure that it's practical. True, I actually can't learn that from her. We tried a couple of times but I haven't yet got the knack of increasing my physical strength while using my armour construct, not to the extent I'd need to in order to make a decent sparring partner for her at any rate. Plus, I really prefer making ranged attacks. Or maybe it's because I don't want to attack her? Not sure.

Superboy could spar on a more physically even basis, but unlike me he'd end up directly competing with Donna for the same type of tuition. Maybe I could suggest that she take part in our team's training as an additional teacher? I'm really more of a remedial case where fisticuffs are concerned.

I wonder exactly how enhanced Kaldur's strength is? I know that he's stronger than his mass suggests, and I know that Superboy is far stronger than him from the reports of their fight at Cadmus. Is there an actual super strength martial art? I remember wondering when watching the Justice League Unlimited cartoon why someone like Supergirl would bother hitting someone with a car when her flesh was far tougher than the metal of its body. Same with concrete or tarmac; slam a regular person into it and they get hurt. If Superman hit Solomon Grundy into either surface it would cushion his fall, compared to what would happen if he held onto the back of his head and kneed him in the face.

I turn from the parkland into the residential area. Alan actually gave me an electronic key for the gate and front door. Not sure how common those are here. I scanned it with the ring and I've used that every time since. Speaking of rings, I haven't seen him wear his since dropping me off at the mountain. I suppose he wants to conserve power, which is a sensible thing to do. After he finished talking to Lantern Jordan I asked him about the possibility of one of them letting him charge from their personal lanterns in an emergency and apparently the Guardians have made it clear to them that is not allowed. The local Corps members respect him, but he isn't part of the Corps and isn't permitted to use Corps equipment. At least they haven't tried to take his gear back. Wonder if they regret that decision now due to me?

None of the Green Lantern Corps members have said anything to me. I'm not complaining about them not hounding me, but the lack of any contact is making me a little nervous that they might just be biding their time. I think it's more likely that the Guardians are quietly panicking about the possibility that Larfleeze is on the move, and trying to pretend that nothing is wrong. If that is their concern, they might have ordered 'hands off' where I am concerned. I suppose, if I really want to know, there's nothing to stop me approaching one of them and just asking. If I decide to do that, Guy's the best bet. Something to think about.