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

[Mr Zoat]

5th May
03:11 GMT -5

Aurakos approaches me slowly, sword partially extended. She's got better reach than me, because my blade is a backup weapon at most and certainly wasn't designed for duelling.

"Canis, is there any way we can swap?"

"Why?"

"Because you're tr-"

A small lunge which turns into a feint as I go to parry, then a stab aimed at my gauntlet which I counter with a power stomp which sends me into the air and lets me parry while sideways.

"-trained for this. I'm artlessly-"

Aurakos punches with her left hand, hitting me in the cuirass and sending me tumbling backwards.

"-flailing."

Things slow again as I correct my fall. My armour's movement calculation systems are clearly working; I'd never be this mobile without it. The question is: what do I do? Duelling the undead won't result in them tiring first. The only thing I can think of is taking a hit to give myself a clear strike at her forehead, but given that that's a New God sword and the fact that she knows what she's doing with it I can't guarantee that she won't simply use the opportunity to kill me. And while enough of her face is on display that I can hit the witch-sign if I get the right angle, there's a pretty good chance that I won't get that angle. And then it will simply be a matter of slashing into me and I'll die of blood loss.

"Ah… That.. is true. But I don't think that I can alter her use of her God Name. She is a lot older than me."

"What happens if I toss my swords away?"

"I imagine that she would-"

Aurakos stabs, letting me parry so that I can't stop her punching me in the faceplate. No real damage, but the sensors built into my armour aren't designed to take sustained punishment.

"-probably stab you."

"With a sword that-"

Okay, my kinetic barrier isn't working. How about plasma shield?

"-isn't equal?"

I hear the signature faint hum of my plasma barrier as it actually responds to my activation instruction. I.. suppose that's working because it's a pure toughness boost, not a negation of a particular type of attack that she can't mirror.

"Throwing weapons away isn't the same-"

Another weapon lunge, another parry, but this time when she tries to punch me I reinforce the plasma barrier and counter, forcefully knocking her empty left hand away and giving me an openi-. No, damn it! Missed the damn witch-sign and just poked her in the cheek!

"-as never having had them. That-"

Grab her sword forearm, undeploy right blade, deploy left and it works, slash-

"-doesn't make sense."

She turns her head and I scour a line along the side of her helmet, while she twists her arm and stabs weakly at my right shoulder just about going through the plasma shield and poking a hole in the armour without hitting anything significant.

Undeploy both blades.

"Okay, what counts-"

Push off and slam us both against the far wall, because while super strength fights are usually resolved by grapples neither of us are dropping our blades, she's undead and I'm in full armour. Choke holds are right out, she doesn't feel pain and if Canis is anything to go by she'll regenerate chip damage faster than I can inflict it.

"-as armed?"

I strain my legs to keep her pinned against the wall, letting my armour and plasma shield soak the punches and knee strikes she uses to try and force me back into sword range. I reciprocate with my right fist and she grabs it and pushes it aside so that I punch the wall behind her.

"If she has it in her possession-"

Good news is that she's not strong enough to simply squeeze through my armour. And she can't do what Printwhistle did and set us both on fire. And she can't fly, so she can't simply-.

She tries lifting me off my feet, using the wall behind her as an anchor. Except that doesn't work because I can just adjust my posture, threatening to twist her into a pose that would allow me to grapple her before she abandons the effort.

"-then she is armed-"

I stamp on her left foot with my right, to no apparent effect. Grundies apparently can't exactly feel pain in the same way that living creatures do, but the idea that being injured is bad is so ground into human psychology that it remains there even after death.

"-with it."

"If I tell you-"

Aurakos opens her mouth and tries biting my armour, and I hear a hideous noise as super strong teeth scrape across my outer plating.

"-where in my body my-"

I take a firm grip on her and the wall, then headbutt her in the forehead. I don't do any damage but I do cause her head to jerk back slightly.

"-ring is, how-"

I try to repeat the action, but she angles her helmet and pushes against my grip, threatening to throw me back if I persist.

"-quickly could you cut it out of me?"

I punch her with my right gauntlet fist, trusting my left to keep her sword out of the way and my armour to hold against-. Against her own fist.

"Not so quickly that-"

Her neck is somewhat exposed, but she doesn't need to breathe!

"-she could not slay you."

Hellwraith, go and find a Spine Rider, then come back and try using it to control her.

As you wish, Master.

The wraith emerges from the ring in my skull and flies up through the stone into the chamber above. At least that confirms that the rings are functioning.

"She's using the Source, right? What's-"

She-. Aaaaargh! She drops her sword point-down on my left boot, and all my plasma shield can do is turn it aside slightly before it slides into my foot. In armour I'm not really putting much weight on my organic foot, but the pain and blood loss are noticeable and I wouldn't be able to use the armour's purple healing ray until the sword is out.

"-the 'balance' for the Source?"

Aurakos then uses her now-empty hand to get a better grip on me in order to hurl me away. But disarming yourself counts as armed.

"Darkseid? The Anti-Life? The.. Great Darkness?"

I deploy my right gauntlet's blade and try to thrust it into her forehead, and she's forced to use all of her concentration to keep it off.

"How about the Ophidian?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th May
03:13 GMT -5

Left fist left fist left fist!

Focusing on keeping my blade from her face, Aurakos can't react as I stop trying for a pin and settle for just punching her in the chest plate. As I somewhat-expected the blows don't do a great deal and my crumbler gauntlet fails to activate, but-.

"I don't know?"

She tries to stamp on my bleeding foot but I crouch slightly so that my left knee prevents her hitting her sword. She stamps on the side of the boot instead, which-.

"Try it!"

She doesn't break the armour, but a super strength stamp's opposite reaction results in her body jerking upward and my reflexive grab with my left hand results in me going with her. We hit the ceiling together and she brings her feet up to try and push off me. I latch my left hand onto her shoulder to prevent her changing angle, keep my right hand's blade pointing at her face and bend my left leg back-

DRHHHHHHHHHHHH!

-which causes her sword to drop out. OOOw!

"Canis! Catch it!"

Canis darts forward even as we both fall back towards the cave floor. The sword goes out to the side as Aurakos and I awkwardly wrestle for position, and Canis grabs it and pulls back just before we slam-

HUGGGGGGGGGHHH!

-back onto the ground! I land on my right side and Aurakos tries to break my hold to clamber on top of me.

Ophidian.

But the weight of this armour against the floor is nothing like enough to stop my arm moving and while she's wrenching at my left hand I stab with the blade on my right! She tries to evade but I still manage to slash under her helmet and cut through the flesh of her neck. I retract-

A Sheeda maggot stumbles down the stairs, eyes glowing orange as it's puppeted by my wraith. Not what I asked for, but-.

The maggot collapses, and its bloated stomach undulates and writhes.

-the blade and swing my right arm into the floor. Not a big swing -that just isn't possible from this position- but it's still enough to get me more or less upright while she's awkwardly hanging off me.

Ophidian.

The maggot bursts, and a wraith-possessed Spine Rider flies my way while Canis waves his Mother Box at his newly acquired sword.

Ophidian.

It's not that I can't feel her. There's definitely something there, but I can't feel anything like the level of responsiveness I usually get from her. Nice that she finds the Corps so enthralling…

Without her aid, I try to feel Aurakos's connection to the orange light myself. Depending on her level of remote control, there might not be anything other than the direction which Melmoth is providing her. And it's… Working. I see a cage forcing the orange light to move-.

"Wait." Melmoth's voice sounds uncertain. "What are you?"

Aurakos copies me, bending her knees and swinging her feet against the wall with enough force to knock us into the middle of the room. Not wanting her to land on top of me I kick out with my right leg, hitting the floor and sending us careening-.

She grabs my left gauntlet and yanks, finally separating us. I hit the wall near the stairs, drop, then roll onto my f-feet. She lands.. on her hands and handsprings onto her feet nearer the centre of the room.

Break the Cage.

The light from her forehead shimmers between sigil-yellow and avarice-orange, causing her to stagger and her eyes to unfocus. I could try charging her down and stabbing her, but that risks her desires aligning with Melmoth's desires, which would undermine my work. Interesting that she's still got significant desires in grundy form. Also interesting that this challenge system thing considers my armour's healing potion dispenser to be equivalent to her regeneration; the wound in her neck is gone with only a small amount of grey blood clinging to her where it once was, while my foot is considerably less painful.

"Why do you obey your murderer!? Why do you obey the backstabber who murdered your father!?"

Who do you Want to Kill?

"Heroic resolve never ceases to be tiresome."

Aurakos jerks as her sigil glows brilliant-white, the light-

Wraith, now.

Yes, Master.

-shining from her eyes, presumably a sign of Melmoth asserting full control. But as the wraith-possessed Spine Rider lunges for Aurakos's neck, my environmental shield re-engages because apparently she can't use her New God powers while like this.

Something's happening with her body, her armour shuddering in response to forces I can't see. But that doesn't matter, because my power rings are working again. I form a small construct crumble gauntlet, duke it under her helmet and push it in the direction of Melmoth's sigil.

The lights from her head go out, and-.

The armour covering her right arm explodes as the limb within expands to grotesque proportions! The skin has torn in several places, grey blood dripping through the tears and muscles visible beneath! The limb is about eight times its former thickness and-.

The rest of her body is doing the same, armour failing under the internal pressure as whatever Melmoth just did causes her to grow. If I'm going to.. preserve her, I need to stop this. With the armour gone there isn't anything to stop my ring-based abilities, so-.

A construct-claw grabs her helmet, severs the straps holding it on her head and pulls it off. The enslaved Spine Rider takes that as its cue to dart in, dodging her expanding shoulders to stab her in the swelling neck.

"Wraith, cut her brain's connection to the rest of her body."

Two dozen strands of orange light connect me to her grotesque and mostly naked body as I try feeling the magics being applied to her and feed on them.

"Master, I do not know that I can."

"Do your best. Canis, if you can help, do so."

"Cutting off her arms-."

"Canis."

"We heal back mundane injuries. Though I suppose her current.. state may impact that."

I remove my spell eater and attach it to Aurakos with a construct necklace.

"Let's not do anything we can't repair. I meant New God abilities."

"Are you.. giving her to me? I did not think-."

"Canis, less… Less Apokolips. Alright? We're trying to help her."

"Then we should destroy her. Being twisted into something other than what we are is a most supreme torture for a New God." He comes a little closer, looking at the twitching abomination before us with… Actual distaste rather than the fascination he usually shows in situations like this. "I think that is what New Genesis would do."

"If she wants to destroy herself once she's back in her right mind, she can. First, we try and help her."

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th May
03:15 GMT -5

Canis takes a moment to look over the stupefied undead mutant before us.

"How?"

"I'm curious to know that myself."

I don't know if Melmoth can see us or is limited to hearing us, but in either case I want him not to be.

I still the air and absorb the light around the periphery of the room, causing the walls to turn jet black. I don't know if that actually works, but it's the best I can do for now.

"Was your Mother Box able to work out how Melmoth is interacting with this place?"

"No. She deciphered an impression of his work that may help Doctor Mist comprehend it, but all I can say is that it he is not using New God technology." He continues to stare at Aurakos. "I did not even know she was here."

"Ping."

"Where?"

I.. step closer. I've never tried using a purple ray on an undead before, and I.. don't think this is a good time to experiment. Without armour an x-ionised blade should be able to cut through the.. mutated parts. Cut them off-.

"Ping."

"Canis, if a New God has a limb cut off, how quickly do they regrow it?"

"Unaided? If they focus their efforts, perhaps a month."

"And aided?"

"That would depend upon the nature of the aid. With a Mother Box, a skilled New God healer and a ready source of magic, less than a day."

I closely examine the hole I made in her forehead. It's scabbed over and the skin of her face was affected by the uncontrolled growth a little, but… Okay, I can scan the bone and flesh… Somewhat. My magic sense is telling me that there's.. more that I'm not seeing, but… Whatever I do will literally be better than a hole in the head.

A quick flash of orange light and the hole is patched.

"How about… Internal organs?"

"A little faster. Depending on the damage."

"I ask because her head is least affected. If I cut it off and rebuilt a facsimile of her body, would she survive?"

"That is… Somewhat outside my field. You could ask my uncle, or his natural father." He smiles broadly, still unable to tear his eyes away. "This is a fascinating experience. I had foolishly thought that I was beyond horror. When I commemorate this day, I will paint feelings that I thought I had forgotten."

"Wraith, let her speak."

"I am not preventing that, Master."

"Okay. So, Canis, any idea on whether waiting and handing her over to someone else would be better than trying to restore her myself?"

"I have never heard of anything like this."

"Ping."

"And neither has Mother Box."

Hm. Well, I've seen enough people that I know what the fundamental drives look like. Implanting them in someone without them is well within my abilities. They won't be balanced; I can't give other emotions. But combined with New God physiology, it… Should jumpstart her. Without turning her into Larfleeze Mark 2.

'Should.'

"Orange Lantern to anyone."

I wait, but there's no response. Then-.

I look at the stairs, then at the giant grundywoman.

She won't fit. Leaving her down here -even temporarily- seems like a bad idea. So I can either cut bits off her or try and fix her. Or I could blast my way out and potentially destroy Sheeda equipment which we need to analyze. Or.. I could send Canis outside of the area and request guidance.

I fabricate a length of fibre optic cable, communication relay at both ends.

"Canis, head back to the surface. Lay this along the way."

I hand it to him and he takes it, nodding, finally looking away from Aurakos.

"I'd like to help Aurakos, but the people of Columbia take priority. Tell Diana what happened and ask for orders."

"Very well." He nods, turns to leave, then… Hesitates. "May I ask you to inform me before you work on her? I wish to see everything which occurs with my own eyes, hear it with my own ears. Smell it with-."

"Mission permitting, yes."

He runs for the stairs at what I recognise is his maximum 'not-trashing-the-environment-with-super-strength' running speed.

And… Then it's me and Aurakos. Who's… Drooling slightly. Ugh. Okay, not doing anything major is only sensible, but I can… Tidy things up a little. And… Maybe a small shrine to Hades? She is undead, and I don't know anything about religious practices in her era. If she has another death god then she'll go to them anyway, but some death gods really don't like the idea of undeath and I don't want to create a restless shade if she gets rejected.

As far as I can tell, her mutated flesh has grown in fairly predictable way. Veins, arteries and nerves… Yes, they're distorted, but they're still there, even if they're not doing their usual job any longer. And whatever New God exotic defence she would usually have appears to have been destroyed by Melmoth's work. Or at least massively weakened. So while a full genetic analysis is probably…

Oh. No, that makes perfect sense to me. A bit more Neanderthal than most modern humans, but perfectly comprehensible. So I can clone the tissue I need for a patch-job, rather than cloning DNA-free tissue and hoping that her body adapts it. Grundies only decay from damage rather than microbial infection, so the lack of biological activity shouldn't be a problem.

Right. Done. It's a patch job and it's probably magically wrong, but she could function as an organic life form now. I mean, she'd probably have trouble moving in a controlled way, but-. Actually what was Melmoth going for here? Boosted strength wouldn't help her against me. My main defence is agility, with selective immunity as a secondary. Being more muscular wouldn't help.. much, particularly not when it would cost her agility like this. An accident? Was she fighting his control and disrupted the spell? I didn't… See a flare of orange, but that's not a completely reliable guide.

I send filaments to pick up the broken pieces of her armour and fabricate a clay bowl, along with a flask of scented oil and a piece of string to serve as a wick. Kneeling is.. awkward in this armour, but I pour oil into the bowl and lie the wick in it as I put in on the ground.

"Lord Hades, please aid this fallen hero. I ask that you either receive her swiftly and painlessly and judge her fairly, or grant her forbearance and allow her to return to the living world."

I watch it burn for a moment, focusing my mind on the image of Hades sitting in judgement. Going by the lines I saw last time I was there, he probably won't get to her quickly even if he hears me.

Not much else I can do until I hear from Canis.

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th May
03:19 GMT -5

No… I suppose that's not true. Quite aside from the fact that I need to fight off any Sheeda creatures who head this way… It… Should be possible for me to track Melmoth by his own desires. I mean, he must at least suspect that I can do something like that. Certainly, any group with significant knowledge of magic is going to invest in wards to try to prevent back-hacking.

The exterior of the room is still a jet black film, and I can't hear anything from outside. Do I want to try and lure Melmoth back into conversation and try that way? I mean, he'd almost certainly spot what I'm trying to do. Is he arrogant enough to let something go? Can I meaningfully distract him from whatever else he's doing? The animals appear to be attacking on their own recognisance rather than being instructed to go after a particular target, so that suggests that he's got the time to spare.

Least risky options first.

I try to feel the desires attached to this place, to any of the objects around me. I.. see memories… Floating? Around the fragments of armour I've collected, the wraith's blob of belligerence is completely apparent and a reflection of my plea to Hades in the slow-burning bowl.

But the room? Nothing. Nothing fresh, at least. Simple… Impulses from the maggot that died, or… Metamorphosed? Into a Spine Rider. Just a desire to feed, as far as I can tell. I assume that they have a control system as well, but my limited ability to see this sort of thing doesn't show it.

The only actual-.

Construct stingers stab out, impaling the… Spider-things through the thorax. These have slightly more complex desires, and as their venom-squirt is intercepted by my construct barrier I try taking a closer…

Oh. That's not theirs. It looks like Melmoth got a little curious. Not a lot curious, it's more a momentary 'I want to know what he's doing, go and take a look my spidery minions' than anything focused-

I stab the one that was lurking back to watch the other two.

-but it gives me a feel for his mind-state.

"Wonder Woman to Orange Lantern."

"Orange Lantern, here, go ahead."

"Columbia is under attack from all directions. Can Aurakos be moved?"

"Yes."

"Transport her to a place of safety, then assist the Columbians in defending New Southampton. Damage to the cavern is acceptable, but try to leave the central console in one piece."

"Understood. Orange Lantern out."

I drop the sound-dampening and light-obscuring effects and generate a large crumbler construct-

"Oh, hello again."

-and shove it into the ceiling.

"I wondered where my spiders had gone."

It punches a perfectly circular hole through the soil and lichen into the chamber above. I grip Aurakos with a heavy duty spinal board construct.

"Do you wish to negotiate at all before I leave?"

"Do you wish to surrender to me and witness the end of your era in relative comfort, from which you may laugh at-?"

"No."

"You could-."

I fly rapidly out into the upper cavern, then target the largest cluster of Sheeda-feeling desires that I can see and swing my crumbler construct into the cavern roof. Once again the lichen fails against Mr. Tuttle's masterpiece, and a moment later so too does the… Maggot burrow? As the crumbler continues on its unstoppable path to freedom.

Hm.

I fabricate a small squadron of drone weapons and leave them in the cavern. Given that even Sheeda beasts appear to consider visibility passé I doubt that they'll achieve much but it can't hurt. Then I and my passenger fly into the open air.

"Orange Lantern to League, heading to New Southampton now. Would appreciate a situation update."

New Southampton is south of here, on a lake fed by a tidal river. I know where it is because Abednego comes from near there. As I head in that direction I take a moment to scan the region.

On the positive side, I'm not seeing any worms. On the negative side, I can see dead Sheeda creatures and defenders around just about every major settlement that I can scan.

"Captain Atom here. We were being pulled in all direction trying to hold these.. bugs off. Then we all got jumped by supergrundies. You take yours down?"

"Yes, and I'm hopeful that we'll be able to restore her."

My surroundings blur for a moment and then snap back into focus. Fast flight isn't as fast as transitioning or stepping out, but I didn't have to travel all that far. Scanning the town-. Maybe I'm not seeing any worms because the gigantic spiders ate them.

"The rest?"

"When it comes to super zombies, I have a 'shoot first' policy."

He doesn't have my crowd-control options. If they did that New God challenge thing he wouldn't have had any choice. And the others probably wouldn't have had better intelligence than Aurakos, so it isn't much of a loss on that level.

"Rational."

I form a railgun and take aim at one which is ignoring the grundymob trying to keep their attention while the living defenders reload their cannons. I can see a couple of actual witch-hunters but for the most part it looks like they're a militia rather than professional soldiers.

"Has she given you any intelligence?"

I open fire, my first crumbler round cutting off the right foreleg of a spider that was encroaching on one of the defenders' cannons. A moment later it fires, runes around the outside of the barrel lighting up as it blasts forth a blob of white fire that sticks to the spider which screeches as its thorax is consumed.

"No, but Melmoth said that her people are the ones they got their time machine from."

I put it out of its misery with a round to the face. Doesn't look like these ones have magic reinforcement; I can see their carapaces being chipped and broken by conventional musketry as well as the larger weapons.

"Time machine singular. That confirms Sivana's claim that they only have one; they can't build more of them."

Two railgun rounds stagger a spider that was trying to shoot toxic fur at the defenders, and-

"So we deal with this one and it's all over. Any of them who are still alive get stranded in our time and they can't send reinforcements."

-I quickly form and fire a laser construct at a smaller spider that was trying to sneak up on the witch-hunter directing the defence. It falls from the building it was using as cover, spasming and screeching until the witch-hunter steps up with a pistol and finishes it off. He then spots me and gives me a quick nod before turning back to the fight.

"And if I understood what my alter ego did to time correctly, that will be it. They get one swing and then even though they use time travel they can't bother us with it any more."

"Then we better make sure they swing and miss."

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th May
03:28 GMT -5

Suffer-Not-Obstinacy Chandler shoves his sabre through the head of a wounded spider, takes a moment to check that the strike was mortal and then takes a moment to survey the town. He exhales sharply through his teeth then heads back towards my aid tent. I haven't simply been able to flit around healing everyone because while the majority of the attackers were nice and visible, a few weren't and exposing myself wasn't a good idea. But with the attackers slain the local civilians have been bringing their fallen friends here in a way which suggests a degree of familiarity with the process.

"We are done for now." He looks at two I haven't touched. "They are cursed in some way?"

I nod. "My healing techniques appear to make the wounds worse. Can you do anything about it?"

"I am trained to wound, not mend. And the local Reverend was targeted by the assassin spiders before the attack commenced. We will have to arrange for them to be escorted to New Plymouth."

"Do you need me to remain?"

"We are far from secure, but it would be churlish for me to ask that when our fellow Columbians are still under attack." He looks at the area where the local grundies are being stacked for salvage. Most of them are severely damaged, but I suppose that they won't dispose of them as long as they can soak a few hits. "T'will be a hard planting season with our labour gone. What is that strange grundywoman you have brought with you?"

"Another victim of Melmoth's. I want to see if we can restore her mental faculties to the point where we can question her in detail."

"I can break her to your will, if that is your desire."

"No, thank you. I'm not even sure that she's completely dead. If she can be truly resurrected, I wouldn't-."

He scowls for a moment before schooling himself.

"Many are those who have looked to a grundy for the mind and soul of the departed. 'Tis absent, and 'tis sinful to pervert their purpose."

"I.. assure you that I wasn't planning anything 'sinful'. She wasn't born of Melmoth's line, and I'm hopeful that she doesn't have the same restrictions as your people's grundies do."

He shakes his head. "When I speak of 'sin', I do not merely refer to lust for the pleasures of the flesh outside of wedlock. But if she can be restored to true life, then what you say may be true. Where will you go now?"

"I'll find out. Orange Lantern to Justice League. The attack on New Southampton is over. Orders?"

"Blue Lantern here. Have you got room for refugees?"

Evacuating the smaller settlements is a sound plan, though I can hear that Alan's not happy about doing it. I raise my eyebrows at Mr. Chandler, who nods cautiously.

"Aye, we can, though food will become scarce if this situation continues."

"Yes."

"I'll fly them your way, then. The Columbians are getting hit all over, and I'm sure the outcasts are getting it worse. You got any way to track Melmoth down?"

…

"Wonder Woman, how long can you spare me for?"

"What do you have planned?"

"I felt the pattern of Melmoth's desires on the creatures he sent after me. I might be able to feel him through the Honden. It will be far quicker than a waveform scan if it works."

"And then?"

"Confront and control. Sheeda normally self-destruct when I try that, but he's immortal. Then I can either have him end the attack or at least remove the higher level coordination."

"Do it. We will hold here."

"Understood. Orange Lantern out." I look at Aurakos. She might be able to cope with the journey, but I'd rather not chance it. "Mister Chandler, would you please look after Aurakos while I'm away?"

He nods. "Certainly. May God bless you with good fortune."

And deep breath and out we go.

Hm. Again, I look around for the Ophidian but I can't really see her. Honestly, it just feels unnatural at this point, but… On with the job. I focus on the desire-patterns of the Columbians I've come to know, most importantly on their commonalities, and I find myself drawn in their direction. There's a sense of movement and having travelled but the journey feels like it takes no time at all.

And I'm in an edifice to their shared drive and a room and a corridor and yet I know that it's not a real 'place' in any normal sense. Trying to describe it in material terms is an exercise in futility. Instead, I look for those desires which don't quite fit. Deviants within-.

I press my lips against his and pray that none disturb-.

No, not like that, though it's hardly surprising that the Columbians forbid homosexuality. How about-

…would be so much more efficient if the grundymen could be repaired rather than interred. A small change in the blood magic animating them-.

Yes, a warlock.

…joy as I cut off another of its legs and watch as it tries to crawl away.

Hello Klarion.

It can't understand what I am, can't see that I'm so much more than it is-. But then I realise that I could be in the same position; that something greater than me could be ruining my fun. I look away, my mood ruined, and resolve to make sure that can't ever happen.

Yes, more like that.

Desires move around. Or I move around them, until the ones which feel like that are a table/map/diagram in front of me.

I hold out my hand and the outline of the desire I felt from the spiders appears.

More like this.

Some desires flake off, returning to their usual webs. But a few remain, their feel and structure and relatedness being all the more apparent.

I don't recall Lanterns operating in quite this way before. Perhaps it would be best to monitor this one a little more closely.

Good. Now show me desires related to this. Desires from the same person.

The network grows.

Look at them all run! Look at them all bleed! Look at them die! Not so clever now, are you, dear children?

And more and more. I try not to look at them all too closely, limiting myself to checking that they have the same feel and flavour. And more and more they grow, millennia of desires laid bare before me-

A full belly. Just for once, to be freed of the pain-.

-earliest to latest. I pull the latest towards me, surrounding myself in the feel of his avarice.

And then I step in.

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th May
At Some Point

Melmoth's eyes widen fractionally as I appear in what looks like-

Entropic rays orientate on me and fire, the modifications I made to my armour to enable it to better resist them performing well enough to keep me in one piece long enough for my railguns to retaliate.

-the control room of some sort of.. facility..? Multiple control panels show that it was designed to be operated by a larger number of people than the one who currently occupies it. Illusion projectors show a variety of scenes from Columbia and other places, and a large window to the exterior shows… A red coloured rocky desert. No, yellow-brown, it's the dim light from above that's red.

"Now-."

As the last ray projector slumps in its ball mount I reach out for Melmoth with orange strands and brand.

He grits his teeth, and I can feel him resisting. The images I saw suggested that he had a similar upbringing to Larfleeze: starving and scrabbling for every crumb. But while Larfleeze learned absolutely nothing from the experience, Melmoth learned discipline. Mental strength and focus. Even as he tries to suppress his own desires to zen-like calm the witch-signs he'll use to fight me are forming around his fingers.

But I didn't use every trick when I taught the Green Lanterns to resist me.

Enkindle Need.

Because while assimilation works best on people with little self-control, there's a difference between control and mastery. Melmoth could probably go centuries without hurting anyone if he had to without any adverse psychological consequences. But he could never let go of that desire and as his eyes glow orange and he tilts his head back with a gasp he abandons his effort at control in favour of lunging at me, rationality overwhelmed by his burning need to hurt something.

The brand finishes forming a moment before his face slams into my chest plate.

I reset his desires to their baselines as he stands and takes a closer look. Yes, he's… Flaking a little, but he's healing faster than it can take hold.

Normally I'd speak instructions at this point, because this brand is a temporary thing and whoever I've done it to is going to have to be rehabilitated at some point. But in this case… I think he's.. if not a lost cause then at least one I'm not inclined to look for.

Instead I reach into his soul, search out the atrophied drives for cooperation and camaraderie and empower them while I turn down his selfishness and cruelty.

"Melmoth, stop the attack."

"Ah-? Yes. Well, I… Can't." He hurries over to a control panel. "I set up the trigger before I left. I can release the counteragent-" He pulls a lever. "-but that won't stop any attackers who are already 'triggered' from carrying out their instinctive behaviour. And I should shut down the mass mutation device I left on the great southern island."

"Is there anything else you can do to help them?"

"Certainly!" He presses a few more buttons, and the… Some sort of ornament in the middle of the floor spurts a green fluid from… Oh, it's a fountain, from the top and the liquid flows beneath the keys as Melmoth presses them. "We'll be there in a moment."

"Where are we now?"

"We're over what used to be the Atlantic Ocean. Before it dried up." He smiles as the scenery outside the window shimmers and vanishes. "The one place no Sheeda would look: the miserable period before the first Harrowing."

"We're in the future?"

"No, the past! I won't be born for centuries!"

He hurries between the consoles, pulling levers, pressing buttons and briefly creating small witch-signs to manipulate the machinery.

"My future?"

"The future of humanity; the death of the world and the succession of the Sheeda. But put it from your mind! We have a people to aid!"

"What were you planning to do with them?"

"I imagine that you've deduced most of it. I wanted to create a reserve of people with whom I could colonise the Earth after the Harrowing."

"But they all hate you."

"Yes, but the moment they decreed that certain things were forbidden they created an opening for my return. Hating me is part of their official creed, which naturally means that anyone they define as being outside of that creed suddenly doesn't feel the same need for animosity. With sufficient time I would easily have talked the warlocks and warlock-breed around. Once I offered them my aid in improving their skills… Once I repaired their pupae forms into true Sheeda, and once I led them to victory against the Columbians, then they would accept me as their leader."

He blinks, giving his head a small shake.

"Not that that matters now. What a horrid waste of time."

The churning kaleidoscope of textures on the other side of the window fades away, being replaced by the stars I recognise from the skies over Witchworld.

Immediately, Melmoth moves over to another control station.

"I can use the integrated weapons to cull the horde a little. You should be able to speak to your allies now."

"Orange Lantern to Justice League. Mission success. I have Melmoth and-"

I scan the structure we're standing in. It's a huge cylindrical vehicle which floats unsupported in the air.

"-his base of operations."

"Is Melmoth under control?"

"Effectively. He's being very helpful. He's shutting down the attackers as much as he can and taking shots at the rest. You should be able to see-."

"The ship, yes. I see it now. Remain with him to ensure that your controls remain in place."

"Yes sir. Have.. you any plans on what we're doing with him once the immediate crisis is over?"

"Not yet. That will be… Difficult."

Telling me…

"I'll meet you on the ship once the fighting is over. Wonder Woman out."

I nod as Melmoth continues to treat Central Columbia as a shooting arcade.

I just went to the far future. I… Don't think that's something I… Can do at-will. Time travel. I certainly… I'm not usually one to turn down power but that would sort of make me responsible for everything and I'd… Rather not be.

"Melmoth, do you have any idea how I reached you in the future?"

"The water, probably." He points to the… Place where the water was flowing through the central console. "A small amount I temporarily stabilised from the fountain at the core of the Castle Revolving's time displacement system. It flows through time, which means that it escapes constantly. It wouldn't surprise me if it made the usual separation of eras somewhat less of an issue."

"And the Queen has the Castle?"

"Unless she lost it somehow. I think that's fairly unlikely, but that was how I was overthrown." He glances at the central console. "I'm afraid that if you want to do it again then you'll need more of the water."

I nod, torn between disappointment and relief.

"Keep up the good work. I'll stay out of your way."

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th May
18:36 GMT -5

Lord-Protector Judah's right hand tightens around the grip of his sword, and his escort barely restrain themselves from raising their jezails.

"This is the fiend?"

Melmoth smiles. "Hello, descendant."

The Lord-Protector's botoxed face doesn't give anything away, and his wards mean that his empathic network doesn't either.

"Your seal upon his forehead. Does it mean have broken him to your will, as we do the grundymen?"

"No. That's a sign that I've changed his desires. He's still free to make decisions within his new framework."

Melmoth nods as best he can with the collar and chains.

"I see it clearly now; I was so painfully short sighted. I can never make amends to your forebears, but please let me help you. I know things about your magic and physiology that you have yet to discover; you have access to only a small part of your full magic potent-."

"Cease your prattling, Sheeda-man." Judah turns to Diana. "What is your intent?"

"The Earth will soon face the fury of the full Harrowing fleet. Every piece of information we can learn and every artefact of theirs that we can study improves our ability to fight against them. We would like to bring people here to study this harvest ship's-."

"'Harvester Dreadnought'. Though obviously this one has been substantially reconfigured."

"And Melmoth's magic. This is a unique opportunity for us."

"You would have us tolerate his presence."

"You may, or you may place him in our custody and you need never see him again."

"And the vessel?"

"We have no need for the vessel itself. We merely need to learn how to fight others of its class."

"I mean: will you take this blight from our skies?"

"We…" Diana glances at me. "Can do that, if you wish."

"Lord-Protector, I would urge you not to throw this opportunity away. Do you not use the grundymen and grundywomen created from criminals?"

"Those of mundane criminals who may seek forgiveness from God Almighty, aye. From such as him, I would see them burned, not raised. We have no desire for this… Chalice of poison."

Well… Okay. We offered and he didn't want it. No idea how we're going to ship it, but I suppose that we can just cut it up and shove it through the witch-path in pieces. Or throw it into the local primary.

Or I could take it as a replacement for my old Ice Fortress. I'm sure that I can learn how it works-.

Not the time.

Diana nods. "And Melmoth?"

"Is the binding permanent?"

"Technically, no, merely indefinite. Another Orange Lantern or a magic user who knew what they were doing could remove it, and he would revert back to his actual personality."

"Can you make it permanent?"

"Yes… But that would effectively make him a new person. If you want to try him for what he did to your forebears, it wouldn't be reasonable to do that to a new person who happened to share the old him's body."

"Do not presume to tell me what is 'reasonable'."

"I'm using it in the legal sense."

"By the laws of Columbia he is an outlaw, a pestilence from our grandsire's time who should have long since been keeping company with Satan in eternal hellfire."

"And by the laws of the Orange Lantern Corps-" I lay my left hand on the glowing sigil on my body armour's chest. "-I can't hand him over under these conditions. I can't hand over someone I know for a fact not to be guilty in a jurisdiction where I do not believe that they will receive a fair hearing."

Which is a legitimate interpretation of the actual rule, but I don't think calling Lord-Protector Judah 'technically incompetent' is going to win any friends here.

Judah stares at me for a moment, then turns his face towards Diana.

"And your view on the matter?"

"I'm not comfortable with permanently altering a person's nature in that way, and I will not authorise it."

I shrug. "I'm fine with that. I just want to make sure that you're fully informed."

"While he is like this, could you order him to list his sins in full?"

"Um. He probably doesn't precisely share your definition of 'sin' and so might struggle. And I'm not sure whether or not his memory is perfect. He's very old and has committed a great many crimes. But I could make him want to recount as many as he can remember to the best of his ability."

"You must take this vessel, and may take a share of the fallen beasts. I will consult with parliament on the matter of Melmoth himself." Diana and I nod. "Now. What of the warlock-breed, and the accursed warlocks?"

Diana shakes her head. "This doesn't change anything. We're still willing to offer them sanctuary if they want it. Though with the attacks by the Sheeda beasts coming to an end it is possible that they would prefer to remain here."

"Or we could offer them Melmoth's knowledge to turn them into normal humans. Or.. Columbian humans. I mean, I understand why you hate warlocks, but if the worst they've done is have a warlock parent or grandparent, well… That ancestor won't be as bad as Melmoth and you're all descended from him."

"They are not citizens of Columbia. We have agreed a truce, and I have no cause to forbid them from seeking his aid. But they will not be citizens for as long as I draw breath."

"Lord-Protector-."

"No, no, I get it. It's a catch twenty-two. If they're showing Sheeda modifications then they're tainted, and if they use Sheeda technology to remove those modifications then they're tainted."

"Verily."

"Would you let them become citizens if they removed their alterations by some other means?"

"Which part of 'draw breath' escapes your comprehension?"

Diana gives me a short glare as she somehow hears me thinking 'how long do witch-men live, asking for a friend?'.

"As you will. Let me know when I can be of further service."

I walk away, heading for one of the launch bays. Melmoth told me that he didn't know if anything could be done for Aurakos, but he's more than happy to try. And I want him to try soon just in case Judah decides to give him the thumbs down.

 

[Mr Zoat]

6th May
10:43 GMT -5

I smile at Beulah as she performs a final check of her equipment.

"Short straw or long straw?"

Her eyes move my way for a moment. "Your meaning?"

I nod to the standing stones where a couple of local mages -theonomists, they call them- are working on reopening the witch-path. Not the same one we came in by, but Melmoth had a more complete map than the Columbians do. It takes more effort to ensure that it's properly aligned, but can be reactivated far more swiftly. The underlying reason is probably quite fascinating, and I'm hoping to get the theonomist accompanying us -a Doctor Bertram- in contact with Sephtian.

Probably… Best I don't mention the 'flying through Hell' outline we came up with.

"Drawing straws is another term for drawing lots. 'Drawing the short straw' is a metaphor for being selected for an unpleasant job."

"I do what duty requires."

"Right, and so does Abednego." He's over talking to the drovers handling the few Sheeda animals we captured alive. The drovers aren't coming with us and Abednego wants to make sure that he knows how to look after them. "But Shadrach isn't here, despite being one of three witch-hunters who've been on our side before."

"Lord-Protector Judah is like to order a purgation. Brother Shadrach would be loath to be elsewhere when it occurs."

"So how-?"

"He is a judge of where to apply his own skills, and God Almighty is the judge of his soul. Abednego is perhaps a little too charitable. Our embassy must have someone who can judge you clearly."

I smile. "Oh, that's right: you missed me going to Heaven, didn't you?"

Her eyes return to me.

"Is this some manner of jest?"

"Oh, I wish." I shrug. "I wouldn't mention it, but there's no way someone isn't going to mention the whole thing while you're on Earth, so I'd rather get it out of the way now."

"You expect me to credit a claim that you died and went to Heaven and yet stand here now, risen anew?"

"No, I expect you to disbelieve me, and gradually gain more information supporting the claim, then become increasingly irrational in your demands that I deny that it happened before finally realising that it's true and… I don't know, going on a huge bender as you try to use alcohol to erase your memory of the revelation."

"Your imagination is heartily overactive."

"Then you would deny the bender, and just avoid me while throwing yourself into your work to try to regain some semblance of normalcy. But gradually the thoughts would return, and-."

"You are a pagan, are you not?"

"Yes. Oh, believe me, Heaven wasn't my preferred-."

"I am pledged not to use my pyromantic magic against another Christian. But I will not be made a warlock for using it against you."

"Understood. But I can't feel pain unless I want to and I can regenerate non-fatal injury."

"I would test that."

I hold out my right arm. "Go right ahead."

She reaches out and firmly grasps my forearm with her right hand, flames blue and fierce and.. entirely ineffectual against my environmental shield. She meets my eyes and I shrug, and-. Then for a moment she makes flames inside my environmental shield, burning my skin under my armour. She's still watching my eyes and I shrug again, subspacing my vambrace to reveal the burned flesh. Which then glows orange and is restored to pristine skin.

She lets go of my arm and I replace the armour.

"And I'm completely serious about the Heaven thing, too. The Angel King Asmodel decided that he could run the universe better than God, Karrien Excalibris just wanted to kill things and they both decided I was an acceptable target. My soul was taken to Heaven as a hard test of their new rehabilitation system."

"Rehabilitating one as prideful as you might test even the angels' capacities."

"That's what they said! But they won't get another chance. Straight to Erebos next time."

"Your false idols will not shield you from the Lord."

"Perhaps, but they will shield me from everyone else." The glow of the witch-path stabilises and the theonomists step away, nodding to the Columbian MP who is coming with us to open diplomatic negotiations. "So anyway, how do you feel about any of this?"

"The thought of spending time in your presence engenders a great desire in me to swear an oath of chastity."

"Oh, there are plenty of dour Christian men on Earth. I'm sure you could find someone who's a match for you. But I really meant the stuff with the Sheeda… Melmoth."

"All should burn. But you may put them to the question first, that you may learn to better burn the rest."

…

"Not.. big on turning the other-?"

"Brothers and Sisters, and honoured guests!" The MP gestures for our attention. "The way is stable, and we are ready to depart! For the first time since our forefathers were snatched away from their homes we will have official contact with England once more!"

That should be 'foremothers', given that they're descended from Melmoth and the colonist women. And… Someone has told him that America is an independent country, haven't they? I sort of assumed that they'd feel closest to the United States, but I suppose that it makes sense that they feel closer to English Nonconformists than anything else.

Major Adams and Abednego head through the portal first, then a theonomist and the mission's priest. John and I are going back because we need the carrying capacity of two Lanterns to wrangle all of the materials we're bringing with us. Some of the porters finish loading up John's lorry constructs and he follows a cluster of political aides through into the witch-path.

"You and me next, then."

Beulah moves towards the portal without further comment, pack and weapons stowed. I pick up the cages and crates containing living and dead specimens for dissection and float after her.

Back on Earth
Somewhere Near Ipswich

I look around the.. park? It's daylight at least. Ring, check time and-

25th June 2012
11:23 GMT

-date..? Oh. Time passes… Slower there. Something to bear in mind, but the difference…

"…Justice League mission…"

Soldiers in British Army uniforms are pointing guns at our guests as Major Adams tries talking their sergeant down. And I see tents… Refugee tents? Pitched all across what looks like it used to be a playing field-.

"They're here!"

I look up as a solid black wave of insect riders cover the sky.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Earth 12
11th February 2005
12:24 GMT -5

God… Damn… Super-injunction.

A decidedly unfun part of British law which allows the muzzling of all UK-based media outlets for the duration of a trial. If this was from anyone other than Batman I'd assume that it was a stupid move made in a panic; it would basically be an admission that I'm right in identifying him as 'Batman'. I was expecting some sort of public holographic appearance, or having Mr. Kent wear his costume while he was publically elsewhere. Something to undermine my claim.

I mean, I could serve Batman as Batman. He's testified in court with his mask on before so that's not an issue. But that threat was supposed to be my leverage. I don't want to blow his secret identity. I want the ring back. All that injunction does is make it harder for me to bring non-nuclear pressure to bear.

"Hey, Peter. Rough day?"

I look up at Maxwell Lord as he reaches our table, and manage a weak smile.

"Having a bit of an operational disagreement with the Justice League. It's a little trying."

"'Operational'?" He sits and waves his right hand at a waitress for a menu. "Are they trying to extradite one of your employees or something?"

"No, that would be… I could handle that. They stole an object from me and don't appear… Either able or willing to return it."

He raises his left eyebrow as he glances up from the menu.

"Was it dangerous?"

"Yes, but a gun's dangerous. This was drained of all power and sitting in safe."

"Can you tell me what this object is, or do I have to guess?"

"Sorry, Max. They took out an injunction, and… Judges get a bit shirty if you bypass their authority, even outside of the country."

He shrugs sympathetically. "Can't argue with lawyers. Unless you've got a bigger lawyer."

"I've got some pretty big lawyers. But I still have to go through the motions."

He nods. "Is this..? Thing..?"

"I-."

"I know, I know. You can't talk about it. But I always figured that if the Justice League went after you, it would be because of your employees."

"No, no, they've been nothing but supportive about that aspect of things. Apparently they had a run-in with a parallel universe version of me and it's got them all paranoid."

"You can't judge someone based on what some parallel universe version of them does. There's probably some parallel universe somewhere where we're both Nazis-. Oh, aah, scrambled eggs on rye toast, Caesar salad and mineral water."

The waitress nods and takes his menu.

"Nazis. Or they are."

"It's kind of annoying, actually. There was some huge meet-up of parallel universe versions of me a few years ago, but Matthew Hagen… Clayface?" He nods. "Took my appearance and so he got dragged in instead. It would have been nice to hear what this was all about from the 'me' who actually did it." I shake my head. "How are things in the for-profit superhero business?"

"Good. Not great. I talked to our computer guys about doing what you said, going online?" He shakes his head. "Unless people want to spend all day downloading video clips, the bandwidth people get just isn't high enough for it to be practical. Maybe in ten years or so."

"Given all of the wires we'd have to replace, it might be better to skip that and upgrade mobile phone masts instead." Hm. "It's not really my thing, but I could do a feasibility study?"

He chuckles quietly. "Good luck with those antitrust lawsuits."

I exhale sharply through my nose. Yeah. More of those. "Thanks."

"The drone cameras were a big success. Once we trained the technicians not to fly them into the stars' faces."

"I've never been completely sure what the revenue streams are for the whole 'Ultimen'.. thing are. Is it just the television series and merchandising?"

"No, no. There's also… It's not exactly 'insurance', but I've made sure our hotline number is out there for companies who are under attack by supervillains."

I nod. "Their insurance would cover it either way, but if they're trying to protect a unique prototype or individual then it makes sense to pay for people with super powers to try and stop them."

He nods. "Which works for us, because none of our stars are trained investigators." He waves his right hand dismissively. "Which is fine, because criminal investigations -real criminal investigations- don't make good television. Being called to a crime scene as the crime is actually happening cuts the filler right down and shows the kids in the best possible light."

"Kids'?"

He frowns introspectively for a moment, then appears to shrug it off.

"Sure. I mean, I'm their manager, but they're teenagers living away from their parents for the first time. Guess I feel a little possessive."

I smile. "I guess that answers the question I had about how you actually found enough supervillains to fill the schedule."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Max, I actually look for supervillains with giant wads of money as a lure and I struggle to find them. Even in large American cities there aren't that many supervillain attacks each month, and even with a rocket plane you can only travel so far so fast. I did briefly worry that they might be staged, but I've seen the trial transcripts so I know it's not that. How many companies are in this… Referral scheme? And should I be offended that you haven't given me the number?"

"Well… It's… Ah…" He looks away. "Not as many as I'd like. And without point-to-point teleporters… You're right; we can only respond to calls from a certain distance away fast enough to stop a crime in progress. But I've also got… Ah… 'friends'."

"'Friends' like my girlfriend, or-."

"No, no. No, it's not like that. Friends in law enforcement. No police officer armed with a six-shooter wants to pick a fight with a guy in power armor, right?" I nod. "So sometimes we get called in. And sometimes it's a false alarm, but we get more than enough footage out of it to fill the show."

I snort. "I honestly don't know why there isn't a Federal superhero team. I mean, I'm not one to criticise private entrepreneurship, but it seems that enforcing the law is something that the government should be interested in."

"Some people aren't comfortable with that sort of-." He leans back slightly as the waitress puts his meal down in front of him, then he picks up his knife and fork. "That sort of power in government hands."

"Has the American government mislaid its nuclear warheads?" … "Again?"

"No, they're back up to pre-Carter levels. But the Federal Government can't deploy nukes in American cities."

"Sure, but a S.W.A.T. sniper can shoot someone just as dead as someone with… Laser fingers."

"'Laser fingers?"

"For example. It just seems like a weird gap."

He chews on a bit of salad before nodding. "We have been getting some unofficially-official interest in something like that." He leans forward. "Say, have you ever heard of something called Project Cadmus?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Earth 12
12th February 2005
14:16 GMT -5

"General!"

A bald man in dress uniform turns away from the buffet table as Max leads me closer, smiling broadly. The.. General manages a small smile back after a moment to warm up.

"Lord. And…" I get a quick threat assessment. "Mister..?"

"General Eiling, Peter Wynne. Peter, this is General Eiling. He's in charge-"

For a fraction of a second General Eiling's face hardens and his eyes narrow.

"-of America's exotic weapons development program, under Project Cadmus."

I offer him my right hand. "Pleased to meet you."

He grasps it firmly and gives me one quick shake. "You're the power guy, right?"

"That is my biggest and most profitable project, yes. Though I'm not sure it's my most significant."

"Tell that to every oil producer in South America. Hell, every oil producer in the Middle East. Your work's made a massive improvement to our fuel security. It's even shored up our position in Europe since demand for Russian gas fell off a cliff."

I nod. "I was aware that it had an impact."

"It's made the strategic situation a hell of a lot simpler." He thinks for a moment. "I still can't work out why you won't sell to us directly."

"I'm.. pretty sure that I'm supplying the US military with power."

"No, not that. A cosmic converter powered plane or tank would outperform anything on the market. It'd make you billions-. Even more billions, and ensure US dominance for the rest of the century."

"Well, the US-."

"Fine, NATO then. I don't mind selling to our allies."

"I'm not doing it because I promised Doctor Knight that I wouldn't. The patent's publically available, so other than collecting a fee we can't stop other people developing that sort of thing for you."

"Sure, and Luthor's already put a proposal together. But his people are starting from nothing. You're the one with all of Knight's records and I know he didn't just use the cosmic converter for making power."

"Doctor Knight spent time in a asylum after working on the Manhattan Project, because the guilt of getting so many people killed was too much for him. I.. get the impression that you'd be fine with it-"

"Only mistake we made there was not nuking Russia when we had the chance."

"-but he wasn't and I feel obliged to respect his wishes."

He visibly swallows his distaste. "Alright, but what about all of the other weapons your employees built?"

"I'm… I really don't think that encouraging them to be violent is a good idea for anyone. It's a bit of a 'lunatics running the asylum' situation."

"And everything else?"

"Supervillains are my focus, but I don't personally have a problem making or selling weapons to.. parties I can trust not to do something stupid with them. And… Well, anyone I've got under contract has a buy-out clause and the contracts are fixed term anyway. If you like something they're making and want to hire them directly, you can. Just… Be aware of their natural inclinations. If they were inclined to work well with authority, they-."

"They wouldn't have become criminals in the first place." He frowns. "Alright, Lord, I don't get it. What's your angle? Why are we having this conversation?"

"Peter told me that he was having trouble with the Justice League."

"Oh? Is that so? What kind of trouble are we talking about?"

"They stole something from me. And I'd get it if it was something my employees built, but it was a personal possession I can't replicate. If they don't fold I'm going to end up suing them in open court, which isn't going to be much fun."

"You..? Can prove that they stole it?"

"I walked in on Batman mid-steal. But it was the middle of the night and I didn't realise that he'd actually taken it until the next morning. I also have a recording of the League founders admitting to it and telling me their motive. The only thing making my lawyers nervous is that unless the League fold I'm going to use their real names on the court papers."

"You..?" His eyes narrow for a moment. "Know their names? What, did you used to be buddies with them or something? I didn't think Wayne Technologies could be funding the whole thing."

"No. But I've got access to exotic scanners, analytic equipment and… Frankly, it isn't that hard to work out once you abandon certain preconceptions."

He's trying not to smile. He's doing pretty well. It's like his own face can't remember how to make the muscles move that way.

"You're gunna sue the Justice League?"

"What.. can I say? I believe in the rule of law. I'm.. not massively fond of vigilantes and I'm certainly not going to let them get away with robbing me."

"That's, ah… An interesting idea. I guessed you'd be more of a fan."

"Saving fifty people doesn't give you the right to murder forty nine. I don't.. think that I… I don't understand why governments aren't.. more involved in… I don't know, formalising? A relationship with what is essentially a paramilitary NGO. I mean, particularly given how many of them are American. I don't think… Law enforcement is one of those things that should be outsourced."

"Hell, I don't either. That's what Project Cadmus is all about."

I nod. "I assumed that the American military was recruiting metahumans, but I didn't think you were allowed to undertake law enforcement duties?"

"Actual soldiers can't. But we can train metahumans who are members of a civilian agency, just so long as they don't join up themselves."

"That's… Not where the Royal Flush Gang came from, is it? Because-."

"No, that shit-show was the God-damned CIA. I had to explain that had nothing to do with us to three separate congressional hearings. I treat my people properly."

"I'm glad to hear it. I-."

There's a loud knocking on the window, and we turn to see… A young man knocking on the pane with a glowing green hand. That's not John Stewart.

"Package for a 'Peter Wynne'?"

"Great." General Eiling smiles. "I've been wondering what javelin missiles do to Green Lanterns. Keep him talking while I get a squad together."

He pats me on the back and turns to leave.

"I'll… Do that." I smile apologetically to Max. "Excuse me."

I jog out of the manor's patio doors and wave down the… I'm guessing that's Kyle Rayner.

"I'm Peter Wynne." He floats closer. "What do you have for me?"

"Do you have some ID?"

I take hold of the name badge I was issued upon arrival and hold it up. He nods.

"Right, just a sec."

He reaches out with his right arm, his forearm disappearing into… A subspace pocket, and pulling out a.. ring case, which he tosses to me.

"The Guardians say they didn't realise it was stolen. Ah, sorry…"

I open the case and touch the ring… Yes, it's either the ring or a functional duplicate. I'm happy either way.

"You didn't steal it. I trust that the other local Green Lantern has had his knuckles rapped?"

"Ah… Sssomething like that."

"Thank you." I close the case and slide it into my jacket pocket. "Please express my gratitude to the Guardians and inform them that I'm happy to negotiate access to the ring, if they're still interested."

"I'll do that." He floats there for a moment. "So, ah… About suing the Justice League?"

"I think I can put that on the back-burner. For now."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Summer's End

Late Summer, IC 687

Someone's done something stupid.

While I may be acknowledged as a deity in the Saderan Empire, my shrine isn't exactly a bustling place of worship. Ever since the local gods carried out their marginally clever plan to trap me here, they've also made an effort to keep me marginalised. Not a huge effort; I think they got a little bored when I decided not to struggle against it. But the more popular cults hereabouts make a point of making sure that visits here are discouraged, and I'm perfectly happy for them to do that. Even with my physical form limited to my old power ring… Larfleeze's old power ring I should say, I'm perfectly capable of reaching out with its sensors so as to avoid being driven peculiar by boredom. And the followers I do have appear to appreciate my more accessible approach when compared to the locals.

What I don't get is high-ranking government officials visiting me. Oh, sometimes they send aides, sometimes their younger children come looking for a path to power when they know that their older siblings will inherit everything… But my cult is far too 'fringe' for the politically conscious to be directly associated with it.

So why the heck are the Praetorian Guard in my antechamber?

"…few rules that the God of Ambition enforces, oh Emperor. Everyone speaks to him alone."

"And who are you to tell me who I may take with me?"

"No one!"

Oh, you and I are going to have words about pointing spears at my priests, Emperor Molt. I'm rather fond of young Daniel.

"No one! But last time someone did that he broke their legs!"

Which is still less than the local gods generally do: burning out a devotee to share a few words with the locals. The fact that I don't do that might be why he's coming to speak to me, almost certainly about that big blob of fear I can feel from Alnus Hill.

Molt stares Daniel down for a few moments before turning away and striding into my shrine, walking halfway across the small and plainly decorated room before stopping to stare up at… Me. The statue representing both my human form and the Ophidian, the two parts together holding the ring that is my connection to the material world.

So many years and I can still laugh about it. I'd known that gods generally couldn't manifest their full power in the material universe without a vast array of preparations but I didn't realise before I came through their oversized dolmen gate that by local standards I had reached that standard. And I couldn't do what Zeus did and create an avatar for myself because it doesn't work like that here. I'm still not sure whether it was intentional or a pure fluke on their part.

"Oh Great God of Ambition, I, Molt Sol Augustus, ruler of our great Empire, seek your blessing as we wage the holy war decreed by the gods!"

This sort of thing is really meant to be like a confession. A private session where people confess their heart's desires and I give them a little advice and guidance. He's left the door open and is trying to turn it into a small piece of state theatre. Probably planning to seize my ring as proof of his authority… And probably murder a few priests on the way out.

If I had lungs, I'd sigh.

Instead, I pull the doors closed behind him. His guards look a little concerned, but when Daniel doesn't react they appear to assume that it's just one of the mysteries of my cult. Molt himself tenses very slightly, but he doesn't look around even when the doors clonk shut.

"I don't remember decreeing a war. Are you sure that you've come to the right temple?"

Hearing my voice affects him more than the doors, but he's still respectably self-possessed.

"The Great Gate opened upon the Holy Hill. Such a thing is a sign from the gods."

"Not necessarily. Depending on the relationship between the worlds on either end, it could be the action of one powerful god. I certainly didn't have anything to do with it."

"Mf."

Ah, that's news, I see. Did he think that the gods of this land had any sort of internal unity? Oh, goodness me.

"And when this gate opened, what did you do?"

"The Empire did our sacred duty; we dispatched an army to conquer the barbarian lands on the far side."

I give him a few moments to continue.

…

Okay then.

"And why have you come here, to the temple of a god that you don't worship?"

"I am here to ask for your aid in our war with the barbarians, who even now threaten the holiest site in the Empire. The war is the pride of the Empire, a manifestation of our combined ambition to conquer all who stand before us!"

"That isn't how this works, Emperor Molt."

"If you wish to receive a sacrifice before you will offer your blessing-."

"How much effort did you put into finding out how my cult works?"

Another tiny flicker of emotion. He rushed this.

"Let me explain it to you, then. I do not give things to people who ask for them. The Empire's ambition belongs to the Empire. Your ambitions are your own. The struggles, the costs and rewards are yours. By taking away from that I would undermine myself, and that I will not do. At most, I offer guidance on how they can most effectively be realised."

"Then what should I do? What guidance can you give me that will allow me to crush the barbarians?"

Frankly, not a lot. Through the veil's dimness, I can see the fear, flames and conflagration, but the image isn't clear enough for me to see what the exact cause is.

"Tell me, did your army scout the barbarian lands before marching through? Did you send men disguised as merchants to learn their languages and customs, to study their warcraft and weapons? Did you send light cavalry, to reconnoitre their defensive positions and raid their supply lines?"

His face hardens.

"We did not."

"And you lost, didn't you? Whoever these barbarians are, they were strong enough to throw you back. I can see them, their position on this side of the gate. And if they could throw the legions back when caught unawares, they will do better when they are prepared."

He reluctantly nods.

"What is your ambition, Emperor Molt?"

"To see the Empire expand; to make its armies strong, its people wealthier-."

"Try again. Honestly, this time."

"I do want those things. But I want to become powerful enough to rule without those fools in the senate, to concentrate power and authority in the person of the Emperor. I believed this war would give me the opportunity to do that."

It still could, of course. A partial loss can be used by a sufficiently cunning politician to do all manner of things victory couldn't justify. And Emperor Molt is a reasonably cunning leader. With me advising him…

But he did threaten Daniel.

"If you want me to salvage the situation, I will need something from you."

"Name it, oh God of Ambition."

"Your son."

"Prince Zorzal El Caesar is-."

"No, not him."

He didn't even hesitate. Sad.

"The one who isn't a nitwit. If I'm going to take to the field I want a bearer who can keep up his end of an intelligent conversation. Grant Prince Diabo command of the Imperial forces in the area and then send him here. I will negotiate with the barbarians on your behalf. And then you and I will talk about the future of the Empire."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Late Summer, IC 687

"Are these your people, divinity?"

I feel a pang of regret that I don't have a head to shake at Daniel's question. Of course, I'm just as capable of taking a host as any of the local divines. There aren't many situations in which I'd kill a devotee to do it, but it wouldn't be hard to arrange to have someone snatched from the gallows. I could even make a payment to their family. But… No. The road of pure utility wasn't for me when I attained enlightenment, and it isn't now.

"It is unlikely, though not impossible. If it were my people I rather imagine that a Lantern would be here already."

Daniel originally came to Sadera as a refugee, and came to my temple in search of alms. I personally spoke to him because I wanted to get a worm's eye view of the state of the Empire, and he took that as a Sign. I'm not sure that he completely understands all of what I tell him, but he's reasonably bright and he pays attention. To me, and to what's going on around him and in the country.

"Also, unless their stealth technology has improved a great deal I should be able to detect at least some electromagnetic radiation. I take it that there's no word in the city?"

"The army has not yet returned, divinity. Official couriers have been seen, but no letters are being delivered to the families of the legionaries. And certainly no one in the army has come back."

And while a priest of a major god might be able to buttonhole a senator in the know, a priest of a minor god would be looking to get a beating for his impudence.

Ah.

"Daniel, would you be so good as to escort the Second Prince to me? Perhaps imply to the praetorians that their services are not required."

He bows in the direction of my altar.

"At once, divinity."

He walks purposively towards the door, then slows.

"Divinity-?"

"I'm not in the habit of abandoning my obligations, Daniel. You genuinely wish to serve me until you die. Whether here or elsewhere, I will find a place for you, for as long as you desire it."

"Yes. Thank you. I am.. sorry to have doubted you."

"Think nothing of it."

I watch him go, Corps-related memories I haven't bothered with in some time stirring themselves. The Corps was well settled into its groove when I left, but we're not exactly the most stable organisation. Is Azula still Clarissi? She struck me as someone who would always find ways to push herself, but would that drive be strong enough to keep her alive this far beyond the normal human span?

Ah, and here's my nervous-looking guest now. And he neatly combines my actual preference in a bearer with the one I rejected; he's a prince who's acting like a man on his way to the gallows. The praetorians clearly have a similar opinion of the situation. Either that, or his father didn't give them any specific orders and they decided to knock off early.

Of course, once he puts me on then he certainly won't need their protection.

"Hello?"

He does start when the door closes behind him.

"Hello-"

And again when he hears me speak.

"-Prince Diabo El Caesar. Thank you for coming."

"What..? Would you have me do? Why did you tell my father to give me-"

He waves the scroll appointing him General.

"-this, when you're just-."

"To be completely clear, I have no need to possess you or kill you. Using this ring, I can lend you a portion of my power, as well as provide you with guidance."

He blinks in surprise.

"You're-? Going to make me your apostle?"

"No. That may happen at some point in the future, if that is your ambition. But at the moment I imagine that you will be content with raising your profile."

He nods cautiously, his manner still tense but a bit less 'cat in a bag waiting to drown'.

"I imagine that we have limited time. Please, approach my altar and take my ring."

He slowly comes closer.

"My father thinks that you will kill me."

"I hate to break this to you, but your father is a giant shit."

He cringes, looking around for potential observers.

"Don't worry, this room is inviolate. No, your father has committed the twin sins of arrogance and stupidity. I am hopeful that the next generation will learn from his errors, but I am not confident. Thus: you will be advised by me."

He finally reaches the altar and reaches out slowly to remove the ring before snatching it and jerking his hand back in case the snake bites him or the man strikes him.

"Very dramatic. Any finger you like, as long as it's yours."

He slides it on his middle-left and we have a connection. His desires for self-preservation and power trigger the environmental shield at once, and he watches with a degree of concern as it extends over his body.

"That will shield you and allow you to breathe anywhere. I would recommend taking this ring off before pissing or shitting."

"Why, what happens?"

"It's uncomfortable. Though extremely hygienic. Now, we're needed on Alnus Hill before things deteriorate further. With that in mind I'm granting you the ability to fly."

"Fl-? How?"

"It's simple enough. You just have to want to fly and want to reach a particular destination. Have you ever flown before?"

"Yes… But… On a wyvern, not by magic."

He holds up his left hand slightly, staring at the ring.

"I didn't think that was possible."

"There's a long and complicated explanation that we'll have to have later about how this actually works, but for now just accept that it does. Now, focus your mind on everything you want to achieve in life, and accept that this is the first step in achieving those things."

"By defeating these barbarians."

"Possibly. It depends on how you want to play it."

"What do you mean?"

"Your father did something very stupid. He picked a fight with a vastly superior force with no way to break contact. If you wanted, you could use this to completely undermine his position. But if you achieve absolute victory, it will appear that he was right all along. The war was winnable, and therefore should have been fought."

"And if I… Did… Want to undermine him?"

"Let members of the Imperial Army see the force the barbarians possess. Have them tell others what they saw. Allow that knowledge, that fear, to spread throughout the Empire. Let everyone know that your father would have doomed them and that you saved them. But for now, we must depart."

 

[Mr Zoat]

I tumble through thin air-

Oh
Fuck

-as Artemis slips from my grip, rings guttering as I try to generate a flight aura. To no avail. Above us the Castle Revolving is.. gone -if it was ever there- and I see only a murky mist through which a dull red light shines. Below, grey, grey and more grey.

Mother Box?

Ppppppppiiiiiiinggg.

Oh dear. Right, aero-discs.

I'm jerked around for a moment as they misfire, Artemis.. drifting further away as she flattens herself in the air to stabilise her tumbling and maximise her air resistance. I'm a little behind in her health checks, but I… Don't think she's tough enough to survive a terminal velocity fall onto rock. In my case-

She carefully takes an arrow from her quiver, puts it on her bow and fires it at the ground. A second arrow follows it.

-I'm more worried about the health of what I land on. Unless this is a future where Apokolips opened up some fire pits…

In any case, landing on people would create a bad impression. I Am The Eggman. I Am The Walrus.

My aero-discs finally activate, and-
Cut Through Space.
-rainbow bubbles percolate through the air below us-
Path to the Ground.
-and then the ground is there and we're slamming into crash-foam.

Artemis lands flat, sinks a short distance as the space age quick-hardening rubber depresses to absorb her kinetic energy, and then rebounds, leaping a short distance into the air. Then I hit it and it explodes, flecks of white foam flying in all directions as Artemis lands lightly a short distance away.

And my aero-discs fail again. But I'm down, and a small amount of residual rubber aside I'm none the worse for wear.

"Artemis, are you alright?"

"Uh-huh." She's looking around. "What just happened?"

"Sivana sprung a surprise on me. Us. The plan was for me to board the Castle Revolving-"

I look myself over and begin plucking strips of rubber off myself.

"-alone, but…"

"He wanted revenge for them killing his family."

I nod. "I knew that he was distressed, but after we prevented Magnificus committing suicide I assumed that he'd.. worked through it."

"So you don't think he managed to… Undo time and bring them back?"

"I doubt it. Not in a rush job like that." I give her my full attention. "Was that Tao's rainbow bridge technique?"

"Yeah, I've been able to do it for a few months now." She stops scanning our environment and gives me her full attention. "Which you'd know if you ever came around the Mountain any more."

"I don't.. think I'm authorised." Quick equipment check… Daiklave's still there. Yay. Sword of the Fallen… Yes. Ranged weapons are a big fat no, and drones..? No, no drones.

"You know where we all live."

"You know where I live. And unlike you, I set my own admissions policy. How is Miss Kane getting along?"

"She's-." She looks around again. "Can we focus? Where are we?"

I look around. The ground is covered in… Some sort of grey… Building material? Coral? Without a ring I can't do a proper analysis, but I don't recognise it. Not Apokoliptian though, so there's that at least.

"Not sure. That green liquid is supposed to send things that go through it to random points in time, and assuming that it ignored galactic drift somehow this should be Earth."

"Past or future?"

I nod. "One of those." Hm. "If that red light is reflected volcanism then this could be the past. And the sky could be obscured by high altitude dust. Finding food could be awkward if we're that far back. Alternately-."

"We're in the far future and the sun's turning into a red giant."

"In which case that's evaporated water up there. Except…" I hold my hands out to the sides. "If the sun's expanded enough to heat up the Earth to the point of evaporating enough water to enshroud the entire planet… The surface should be hotter than this. There should be a run-away greenhouse effect, like on Venus. I mean… Is it just me? Does this feel hot to you?"

"It feels… Maybe sixty?"

Or fifteen in new money. Which matches my estimation. I nod.

"So the temperature's wrong for a natural system-death."

"Unless they're using Captain Cold's freeze technology to keep the planet cool."

"I… Kind of hope that human civilisation either has better things to do than preserve the old homeworld or they've got a better way to do it. Because frankly, if anyone wants to live here then letting the sun go giant is a sub-optimal outcome."

"I…"

Artemis trails off, frowning. Then she crouches down and uses a target arrow to pick up a fragment of rubber. It's heavily decayed, falling apart as we watch, and I idly note that the rest is doing the same thing.

I nod approvingly. "Very environmentally friendly."

"Yeah, it would be, but this stuff isn't. We couldn't make something that did what we wanted and melted fast and safe afterwards. This stuff should stick around for days unless someone uses a solvent."

I nod. "My rings are dead, otherwise I'd run an analysis. And Mother Box is…"

"Peeeeiiing."

"Struggling."

"There could be chemicals in the air." She prods her arm computer and gets no response. "Nothing. Any idea what kills power rings?"

I raise my left hand and take a closer look.

"I don't think they're damaged. It just looks like… Their power's drained. I was near full power when I went through the portal, and… I don't think that protecting us in transit would have wiped the batteries by itself."

She stows her bow and pries open the computer's casing. "Doesn't look like there's anything wrong with-." She blinks, and I step forward to take a closer look.

The metal is corroding as I watch. There's already a patina across nearly-. Across the entire surface. Plastic is becoming brittle and flaking.

"What's happening?"

"I don't know. Some sort of.. curse, perhaps?"

I take another look at my rings, but other than the lack of power they're both fine. I draw my daiklave and look it over carefully, but it doesn't appear to be affected. I stab the point into the ground and it cuts through perfectly well. My armour… Yes, that's fine.

Artemis has taken her arrows out and is checking them, muttering curses as the material of the shaft crumbles in her grip.

"Your.. bow?"

She drops the decaying remains of the arrow and examines her bow. It looks fine to me, and it appears that she agrees. "Scott and Barda got me this from an Apokoliptian chick they beat up. But most of these arrows were made on Earth."

I nod. "Whatever's doing this, New God technology is… At least resistant." I look around into the fog. "We need to investigate."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Trudge
Trudge

"…covered up forever." Artemis shrugs as we continue marching through the dingy grey landscape.

I nod. "Is she alright? She knows there's no way she could-."

"Yeah, she… Knows. But it was still her powers that got them killed. She feels guilty."

I suppose it was inevitable that Miss Kane would discover that the car crash which killed her family was the result of a flare in her magnetic abilities. Natural that after being around superheroes and being trained to investigate crimes that she'd want to look into it. But as the song goes, 'Knowledge can also destroy'.

"You and Master Xu getting on alright?"

"Uh-huh." She glances around. "Uh."

"What?"

"I've got three arrows left."

"If you'd added an Apokoliptian blaster when you were upgrading-."

"Can you make more?"

"Yyyes, because fletching is something I'm super interested in, as bows are the cutting edge of space age weaponry."

She rolls her eyes.

"I mean with your Mother Box or whatever."

"Puuuuuuugggggh-."

I pat Mother Box's case lightly. "Don't strain yourself. And the answer is maybe. Usually I do most of my fabrication work by power ring with Mother Box's guidance, but my rings are out of power and Mother Box is struggling. And I don't have any other equipment or raw materials."

"How about this.. coral..? Stuff?"

"Yes, I guess I could build a simple lathe and shape a shaft." I stop for a moment and tap an outcrop with my right forefinger. "Don't know how it would shoot without fletching, but the stuff does seem to be surviving here."

"I'd cope. It's that or keep reusing these arrows. Apokoliptian arrows are kinda deadly."

"Well… Yes."

"Look, I… Get it. Killing… But I don't wanna kill someone unless I have to."

"She probably had torture arrows." I shrug. I don't remember there being an Apokoliptian archer, but it wouldn't exactly astonish me. "Besides, target arrows aren't exactly low-lethality at your level of strength."

"I can shoot to wound. With my… 'God powers'. So long as the arrows don't explode."

"Fair point. Okay, once we get somewhere I'll see about sorting you out. When did you last eat?"

"This morning. How long can… We, go without eating?"

"I don't know. It's never really come up before. Hunger weakens us, but I've never heard of a New God dying of hunger." … "But that's probably more because we lack the patience to wait for each other to die than any indication of immunity."

"Great." She huffs. "How're we getting back to the present, anyway?"

"Depends when we are. If it turns out that we're in the past I can just build a stasis chamber of some sort and we can wait it out." I remember a comic where the Justice Society did exactly that. Bit of a plot hole about why Black Adam didn't kill them off while he was in evil mode, but the idea was sound. "Depending on when we are. I'm hoping that the skies will clear and we can work it out roughly from the stars."

"And if we're in the future?"

"Then.. we.. have to hope that the Castle Revolving comes back at some point, or some other time traveller comes to pick us up. Failing that, we can settle in for the long haul and build a portal to a parallel universe."

"And just abandon everyone? What about your kids?!"

"By this point… I mean, if we are in the future, then I imagine that they're long dead, along with everyone else we know."

"And that's… Fine?"

"They're alive in the past. Either we get back, in which case I continue to raise them to the best of my ability, or we don't and… It stopped being a problem a long time ago." I shrug. "I can work out how annoyed I should get once we have a better idea of when we are."

She nods, and we continue to walk in silence for a few… I'm not sure, actually. With no power rings and with Mother Box not doing all that well I don't have any reliable way to tell the time. Never occurred to me to make a New God watch.

Those actually do exist.

"So you're… Dating a pony."

"Princess Luna of Equestria. We have a magic portal which links an area of Sunset's laboratory to a mirror in her palace. Going through turns humans into ponies and ponies into humans."

"That's how Sunset got here in the first place, right?"

I nod. "Do you want to go through and frolic in a meadow as a quadruped? I'm sure you're due some downtime after this."

"I don't think that's really me…"

"I frolic. I sang musical numbers with magic ponies."

"M-musical numbers?" She doesn't look like she believes me. "Really?"

"Yeah, they just sort of happen there. It's like a Disney film. Bit PG in places…"

"I don't think I need to know-."

"No, I'm not… Boasting. They're just anatomically complete and don't wear any clothes. Their tails usually cover their genitals but they're definitely there."

"So I'd be 'frolicking' naked."

"No, no, you can wear clothes. They just don't usually bother with that themselves."

"What do you look like as a pony?"

"I'm huge and grey. Grey pelt, dark grey mane and tail, grey horn and membranous wings."

She stops, staring at me. "You turn into a flying unicorn pony?"

I wiggle my eyebrows. "And you would, too. And… Not exactly on the 'flying'. Turns out that flying with two additional limbs is actually quite difficult. Luna got a laugh out of it, but I don't want to give the impression that it comes-."

"Did you kill my Dad?"

That… Catches me a little off guard. Lying and covering up would be my usual approach, but we could be stuck here for a very long time, and I think she has a right to know.

"Yes."

She doesn't look surprised. I suppose that Paula would have had to explain the body somehow.

"When?"

"Santa Prisca, the first time."

She frowns, then her eyebrows shoot up. "That was-. Like, your first mission. You still looked human back then."

"Yep."

"You didn't have your Apokoliptian memories back. You thought you were just some.. regular office worker guy, and you killed him."

"Yep. I had a power ring and he had a crossbow. Wasn't exactly hard and he definitely had it coming." I raise my eyebrows. "You going to tell me I'm wrong?"

"No…"

"I was honestly surprised that no one called me on it at the time. Batman at least."

"And the-." Her eyes widen. "You injected yourself with venom buster on purpose! How did-?!"

"Obviously. How did I what?"

She stares at me in astonishment. "How did you get away with that?"

I shake my head, shrugging. "Pass. Ask Batman when you get back."

 

[Mr Zoat]

One Foot in Front
Of the Other

"What about Texas, then?"

I hold my seventh attempt at a coral arrow up and look it over with a critical eye. Straight, smooth, with a somewhat pointy tip. I think it'll do.

"Probably vote for Knight, unless I can talk Jon into going to a gun show. Which isn't very likely."

I pass her the arrow and she takes a moment to get a feel for it.

"I'm not talking about the election. We're pretty sure Luthor was up to something and you're supposed to be keeping tabs on him."

"Yes, he made a big hole in the ground. I went to see it."

Getting the giant space ship may have been the primary objective, but Lex wasn't going to waste his investment for a ship he was giving to someone else.

"The only thing special about it is that it's lined with a simple kryptonian crystal."

"And you didn't think that was worth mentioning?"

"What, that Lex has a bit of a Krypton-fixation? I rather thought you knew." I shrug and then slice a new section off my coral-block with my daiklave. "He wasn't just working on ways to kill Kal-El. He wanted to develop kryptonian technology as well. Dumb programmable crystals-"

Were a gift from Karsta, who's hiring every Tamaranean childminder she can.

"-are just one of the things he learned to make."

And I'm not telling her the truth about that, because I am planning on getting home. Not entirely sure what I'm going to use a few hundred kryptonian marines for yet but I'm sure that something will present itself.

Artemis puts the new arrow on her string and draws it experimentally.

"What does it do?"

I shrug, strands of coral falling to the ground as I slide the block I'm working along the edge of my blade.

"It's strong, absorbs radiation and grows where it's told. That's about it. Nothing clever."

"So it's not a weapon."

"It works as armour but it's not a very effective weapon against things in our weight class."

She smiles. "Oh, I'm in your weight class, am I?"

"If you can shoot holes in space, yes. I don't suppose you can do time, can you?"

"Ahh… No."

She sights and looses her arrow at a nearby coral wall, the arrow becoming thirty arrows in transit with all of them embedding themselves into their target. She nods, satisfied, and strolls over to recover them.

"This should do."

I hold up my complete arrow as she checks them for impact damage and stows them in her quiver.

"So I can just stop?"

She shrugs. "You can keep on going if you want."

I hold up the half-finished arrow before me, shrug and toss-.

No. Ugh. Thanks, brain.

I bring it to my mouth and bite the end off, chewing… Yeah. No. We can't live off-

"What are you doing?"

-this stuff.

"I wondered if we could eat it." I turn my face away from her and awkwardly spit what is basically rock out. "In case you're wondering: we can't."

"Ah, yeah?" She frowns. "How hungry are you?"

"Not rock-eating hungry." I pull my daiklave out of the ground and attach it to my armour. "Can your rainbow bridge arrow thing take us anywhere?"

"Anywhere on Earth… If this place even counts. But I can't go to a place I don't know, and I don't know anywhere-"

"In this time." / "-around here."

I nod. "Right. And… Yes, I can't think of anywhere that would be similar enough five billion years in the future to bypass that. So I guess we're back to plan 'pick a direction and keep walking'."

She nods, and we turn in to direction we were walking before our brief stop and keep walking.

"How come Luthor didn't use that kryptonian crystal stuff for his space ships?"

"Because those ships are designed for agility and stealth. Kryptonian warships were flying bricks."

"Didn't help with the Sheeda."

I smile. "What, you mean those empty hulls we left on the ground so they'd be a nice and obvious target?"

She stares at me. "What?"

"Yeah. The on-site bunkers were made of kryptonian crystal, but… We knew that the Harrowing was coming up and we didn't think we'd have time to finish a big enough fleet to protect the whole planet. So we… Kept a nice obvious target out in the open. Sure, the Sheeda would know that we were working on space ships, but if they thought they knew where all of them where and saw them all being destroyed, they'd stop worrying."

"You wanted them to commit."

"Yep."

"And… Then you get aboard the Castle and assassinate the Queen?"

"No. We get aboard the Castle and disable the time drive so they can't get away. Then the actual fleet flies in from the actual shipyard on the far side of the moon and destroys everything that's left."

"The actual-? No." She shakes her head. "Green Lantern would have spotted it."

I shrug. "Advanced sensor stealth and magic wards. One of the local Greenies might have found it if he looked really hard in exactly the right place, but that wasn't very likely."

"So Lex Luthor's.. got a space fleet."

"Unless we badly miscalculated and he's-. Uh. Well, if we're in the future then he's certainly dead, but since he was on board the Pax Lex it's possible that we miscalculated and he died that day."

"Pax L-? Of course he called it that."

"Actually, I picked it. He finds it embarrassing." I smile. "One of our Chinese employees asked if Lex's family name was 'Pax'."

But it didn't give him a bout of paranoia, which means that his therapy sessions are actually working! He gets to name the next battle cruiser, but I suspect that he intends to be boring and give it a sensible name rather than a pun based on my name. Either that, or do a pun that no one but him will understand.

…

How am I going to tell the difference?

"And that's it? The ships fly in and destroy all of the harvest ships-."

"And the fliers and monsters. Our ships can all operate in an atmosphere, so fire support isn't a problem. Any surviving Highborn might be a problem, but that's what the League's for."

"And they don't need you for that?"

"No, just for nobbling the Queen. I-."

"Hhhkkkkkkk."

My daiklave's out and Artemis's coral arrow is on her string as the horde of zombie children charge out of the murk!

 

[Mr Zoat]

The Shoe
Dropping

I charge, daiklave swinging out in a wide arc and slicing through the front ranks. I Stand!

I'd estimate these children died when they were between eight and twelve. Their hair is either grey or entirely absent, and they're wearing coloured smocks and… Nothing else. Their skin is a very pale grey-turquoise, their sclera black and their pupils a glowing red. None of them have adult height-

A wide and exaggerated swing scythes through the mob as they try to surround me.

-and there doesn't appear to be any particular directing mind; they're just charging a source of heat or movement. Or life. In theory numerous small and weak attackers could overwhelm a larger and stronger opponent, but as I keep-

Smaller swings as I press into the throng, always moving into the space I create.

-pressing forward, I don't think I have to worry about that. They're tougher than humans of their size and shape, but not by enough to slow the movement of my sword through their bodies.

I've passed some, and a good proportion of them turn to follow me. A chunk of the mob to my right suddenly find themselves with arrows in their heads as Artemis demonstrates that whatever limitations the coral arrows have they do well enough against these things.

The mob's thinning out but I can see more of these things heading our way through the gloom. But a more dispersed formation means that scything strikes aren't what I need. I circle around, charging back into the thickest part of the mob and running back over the bisected bodies with my daiklave stretched out to the side, the upper torsos of those I've sliced in twain grasp at my heels and I stamp them into the ground.

One jumps from a nearby outcrop -or falls from it- and I switch to a one-handed grip in order to catch them in my left hand to get a closer look without stopping. Their -its? Her?- hands claw at my gauntlet and when that doesn't work they try using their teeth as well. No effect, but with a energy nullification effect in effect I'm not going to chance it.

"What-?!

Ahead of me Artemis strikes a couple of the zombie children in-. Through the heads with the arms of her bow-

"Are they?!"

-and then fires another coral arrow. This one arrow volley doesn't target the mob but rather the stragglers, each one collapsing and creating a clear break between the mob and the stragglers.

"Working on that!"

I toss my captive lightly into the air, draw the Sword of the Fallen and stab her with it on the way down before resheathing and catching her again.

Interesting. There's no obvious change, which suggests that there's no ongoing spell keeping them animated. Headshots appear to be working, which isn't always the case with magically animated corpses. Certainly it's easiest to bind the control spell to a brain, and Vodun-style living zombies obviously die if you shoot them in the brain, but pure death magic generally creates things that need to be smashed to pieces to end the spell.

"Is there a spell you can shoot out of them?"

Artemis hesitates as I come to a halt just in front of her, bracing myself to charge back in. Then she shakes her head before drawing and loosing again, the seven closest zombie children slumping to the ground as shafts appear in their crania.

"Not that's coming from outside of them."

I take another look at my abductee. Like those I cut in half the wound isn't bleeding, but she's still animate. I suppose that I could try lightly poking her in a non-critical part of her brain but she's pinging on my God-sense as a tool rather than a citizen, so I don't think there's anything here to preserve.

"Mother Box?"

"Pung?"

"Sorry, Artemis, without my rings I'm-"

I step forward, swinging my daiklave at neck height and decapitating two of them.

"-a bit weak on analytics. Any ideas?"

"They're not hard to kill, but there's a whole lot of them. So… Can we get away?"

"I can pick you up and run. I'm pretty fast. But I don't know that we won't end up somewhere worse. I don't know how or why they're coming after us, so while we could just build a shelter I don't know that doing so would make them leave. I don't…"

They appear to have stopped attacking. They're still there, but they aren't heading our way. Experimentally, I toss the one I stabbed back towards the rest. She hits a couple of the others and they tumble to the ground, then rise and…

Huh.

I take a few steps closer to get a better look through the gloom.

"Srkh."

"Khrrp."

They're… Eating the fallen. That's… Interesting. Groups of the zombie children still standing-. Still functioning are kneeling around the severed lower parts of the ones I sliced in two and are biting them. Or to be more precise, grabbing on with both hands and nibbling, small pieces coming free in their mouths which they then.. swallow. They don't fight one another while they do it, don't try and force one another off or attack anything animate. Once the part they're gnawing on is eaten to the full extent of their ability to consume then their grip shifts and they go back to it.

"They're feeding on their fallen."

The heads I cut off are opening and closing their mouths, no vocal cords left for enunciation. The upper torsos are a little sluggish, but they're trying to get to the severed parts in order to feed as well. The ones which have managed it are… Eating, and… Slowly regrowing.

"That's… Disgusting."

Actually, I find it fascinating. Cannibal zombies. That eliminates a slew of possibilities; one way of creating zombies involves evoking death's malevolence and zombies created that way only attack the living. This suggests.. some sort of biological machine?

"It's efficient. There will always be some loss, but without blood pumping and spilling it will be minimised."

No extraneous movement. No looking around. That's not something animals do. Predator or scavenger, they'd be checking their environment and competing for the best-

There are a series of quiet crunches as some of them get a good angle on some bones and ingest them the same way as they did the flesh.

-parts. Even the damaged ones aren't distressed, they're just eating.

"We should get outta here while they're busy."

Artemis takes a step away, then hesitates when I don't immediately follow.

"You said yourself that you can't analyse them. They can't tell us anything."

I nod and follow after her, repeatedly turning my head back towards them as we leave. Until the murk fully obscures them and I can't see them any longer.

"That was interesting."

"That was creepy. Be nice if everything else here is that weak. But what's the chance of that."

"Low." I shrug as we pick up the pace. "But you never know."

 

[Mr Zoat]

The Other Shoe
Dropping

Artemis and I stare into the distance at the dimly visible lights shining in the air.

She huffs, slowly.

"Well obviously they're not gunna be friendly. But it's not like we've got anywhere else to go."

"I'm curious as to how unfriendly they'll be. And the form that unfriendliness will take."

"Guess it's not Captain Cold who's keeping the planet cool." Side by side we walk slowly towards the almost certainly artificial illumination. "Whatever it was you did to kill Vandal Savage. Think it stuck?"

Huh. It's an interesting question. When I last saw it the Vandal Savage construct was in a storage vault in Challenger Mountain working on the fifth volume of his autobiography. But constructs don't age. And if I wasn't around… He'd just have stayed there until… What? Whatever it was that drained my rings started up and he faded away? I don't think there's any way to turn a construct back into a person… Have to experiment with the Sword some time.

"It… Should."

"Who else is there that could have lived this long?"

"Aside from us?"

"Five billion years."

"In theory." I nod sombrely. "Yes. It's not likely and I don't know of any New Gods who've lived anything like that long, but in theory? Yes."

"Whaw. Ah. I know you said… Ah, we'd get to thirty and just kinda stop… Ageing… I guess I hadn't really thought about it in terms of… This long."

"Can't really help you, I'm afraid. I mean, some humans hit a hundred and there are a few… Vampires who are over a thousand, but older than that…"

"Other than Savage, who is there?"

"The Guardians and Controllers are a few billion years old." I glance up at the shrouded sky. "A few billion more by now, if they're still around. Richard Swift was only a few hundred but he's ageless, so he could still be around. Any New Gods, including our colleagues." I snort-splutter with amusement.

"What?"

"If that's the home of Green Arrow and he's keeping the planet cool with heat transfer arrows, I might have a bit of a breakdown."

And… Just like that the humour vanishes.

"Has… Dinah said anything about undergoing the process herself?"

"Ah, don't want to ruin your ego here, but we don't really talk about you all that much?"

"Sure you don't."

"We don't."

"I'm an internationally renowned superhero who spends large amounts of his free time with Lex Luthor and who made significant modifications to the bodies of you and several other League members and affiliates. My brother and sister-in-law are League members and I know roughly how often Security Council members have asked when I'm getting an invite to the Justice League."

"Hey, Lex Luthor's got a space fleet! Maybe the League should invite him!"

That… Would be a stunning way to outmanoeuvre us, actually. Lex's fleet.. would become associated with the Justice League… They'd gain the firepower and… He'd be tied to their rules of engagement… He'd.. have to turn it down, but that looks like epic sour grapes given how he's made an effort to bury the hatchet with Kal-El. He could claim that he didn't have the time, but between LexCorp and running the fleet that would obviously be nonsense.

"… What?"

"No, inviting Lex is a terrible idea."

"Well, yeah, obviously. But how would you be any better?"

"I didn't leave the team permanently because I had a burning desire to join the Justice League. I just said I know how many people responsible for the League's official status have asked about it."

"So? The only people who decide who joins the Justice League are the members of the Justice League."

"And not the people who pay for the Justice League. And provide it with the authority to operate legally in their territory and most of its intelligence reports." I give her a lopsided smile. "Be interesting to see how sustainable that proves when there are more world-class superheroes not part of the League."

She looks away. "We have to get back to the present first."

"Or find a really good historical archive."

"That's got data from five billion years ago."

"Really good." I look further ahead and upwards. The variation in intensities, the regular placement… I'd be astonished if that was a natural structure. And the straight edges say 'building' rather than, say, 'giant future cockroach warren.' "That is a tower, right?"

"Looks like it to me."

I try looking around, but it.. looks like the clouds are denser in the air around the… City? Town? Pretty vertiginous place, and I… Can't really tell how wide it is.

"Hey. How far in the future do the Sheeda come from?"

"Sivana wasn't sure. William Batson kind of blew up his suspendium before he could check how the damage affected the machine. He wasn't sure where he ended up, and he used one of their time machines to come back because they already had our temporal coordinates."

"So… That's a city full of Sheeda."

"That would make a certain amount of narrative sense, but not necessarily."

"So, what's the plan? Sneak in, try and get hold of one of their time machines and go back the same way Sivana did?"

"Time travel being what it is, Sivana might be here now. And… Okay, you know how I'm the God of Conquest..?"

"What, you want to conquer the Sheeda? Just… You and me?"

"If the Harrowing fleet isn't here, it could well be doable. They need to harvest the past for resources, because-." Artemis raises her right arm and the rusted powder that used to be part of her computer rains from her forearm. "That, yeah. But because it needs to work-."

"They put all their troops into doing it." She nods. "Because if it goes wrong, then their entire civilisation dies."

"That's what I'm guessing." Wish I'd gotten Sivana to show me a map, now. Coming here wasn't ever part of the plan. Wish I'd asked him how their civilisation actually worked. "Which means -piling assumption on assumption- that if the fleet is currently away and the last Harrowing was some time ago as the locals measure things, they're at their lowest ebb."

"There's still just two of us."

We each spend a few moments looking at each other.

"I'm a Goddess of Archery."

"And your rainbow arrows are a decent stand-in for boom tubes. And I won't have a ranged weapon until I take one from someone."

"Why don't we just go back as soon as possible?"

"Because we're ageless. Once we get a time machine we can go back to a few moments after we left. But… If we leave this in our future and don't try to learn from it… This is what becomes of Earth. One hundred percent guaranteed." I shrug. "Is this what you want the future to look like?"

"I… We need more information."

I nod. "Then let's go get some."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Shoe
Shopping

Hm.

The wall around the city outskirts isn't all that impressive, but I can just about make out the shape of humanoids patrolling the wall-walk behind the battlements. They could be Sheeda or zombies; at this distance I can't really tell. From the outlines it looks like their weapons are bows and spears, but that doesn't mean that there aren't more sophisticated ranged weapons up there as well.

We could blitz it, but smashing through it or jumping over it would attract attention. Unless we killed everyone, but that would draw even more attention just a little later. From behind a coral outcrop Artemis and I watch what looks like a minor gate into the city, just in case there are travellers we could bushwhack or a clue we could gather about the structure of this civilisation. Are there other cities? Do they trade with one another? Are there other peoples around such that we could claim to be from elsewhere on this world?

At the moment the universe is not obliging us.

"I could bridge up onto those walls."

"With a bright, rainbow-coloured bridge." I nod my head to the side. "They might appreciate the lightshow so much that they agree not to report us, but I don't want to count on it."

"Can your Mother Box make hush tubes?"

"No." Hm. "I could throw you over. If I got enough height the watchers on the walls wouldn't see you-."

"I could throw you."

I turn my head her way and raise my left eyebrow.

"Could you?"

"Maybe you wouldn't go all the way over…"

I shake my head. "Let's make our way around-."

The gate opens from within. A couple of the people on the top of the wall look down over the inner edge, then go back to their patrol. Artemis and I lean into our cover as… A figure shrouded in robes walks out. They have a… Pole arm? No, a staff, with a ghostly glowing symbol floating just above the uppermost end. Doesn't look like any glyph I recognise. The entryway opens a little wider and… More of the zombie children follow the figure, marching in neat ranks just behind them.

"What are they?"

"Don't… Know."

Four columns of six, neatly marching and staring ahead of them. Not glancing left or right. Tame? Or-. No, the symbol, almost certainly. Control authorisation for a larger spell, whatever's animating them.

The zombherd turns away to our right, but is definitely heading away from the walls. It won't be particularly difficult for us to arrange an ambush…

"I don't suppose that you brought a New God communicator."

"No. You?"

I shake my head. Could use God-speech, but I don't know how good Artemis is with it and there are ways to detect it that don't require the detector to be a New God.

"You sneak better than me."

She nods. "I'll take the lead. You follow."

I nod and she moves laterally relative to the wall, her movements mirroring those of the zombherd while maintaining distance. A True, True Friend-.

I put my right hand over my mouth as I nearly start singing. Confound These Ponies.

I follow Artemis slowly, using the vague 'ping' from my God-senses rather than sight. Can't see much in the murk, though I imagine that the zombherd's staff makes tracking them easier for Artemis. And makes a mess of her night vision, but she's been trained in this since early childhood. Instead of paying too much attention to her, I turn my eyes in the direction of the city, both the walls and higher up where I've seen the shadows of flying creatures pass between me and the lights. If they're Sheeda soldiers mounted on flies they are actually a threat worth paying attention to, lightly equipped as we are. Nothing heading our way just yet, as far as I can see…

I give her… I've never been good at estimating time. Or weight, actually. But she's gotten a decent distance away from me and I assume that the zombherd is further. Carefully making sure to keep myself as concealed from the city as I can I walk carefully down the opposite side of the slope and walk slowly through the murk in her direction. Interesting that between the coral and the… Stuff which appears to grow on its surface there's basically no loose material. Also… Not much wind. That implies… Some sort of windbreak? There would always be patches of ground that would be hotter than others, so differences in air pressure and so air movement. Could the..? Energy draining effect be taking energy from the air? But I'm breathing just fine, so…

I don't know.

Another 'ping' from Artemis as she moves further away, faster than I'm moving as I follow her. I suppose we could send messages like this. Have one party move closer or further in patterns like Morse code. Which she almost certainly knows but which I don't.

I'm a twentieth century man fighting with a huge sword. I shouldn't be surprised about out-of-date skills suddenly becoming relevant again.

A faint.. tremor shakes the ground and has me looking about me for a source. I don't see anything of note and Artemis doesn't appear to be running, so… I don't know. An earthquake wouldn't be a surprise. The Earth's interior should still be at least somewhat dynamic in the future, and while I haven't seen anything man-made that would have made such an impact it could have been an impact from a catapult or.. something along those lines.

Another tremor, this one carrying on for a little while. Okay, my nightmare scenario is a giant charging out of the mists but this shaking doesn't feel right for giant footsteps. I accelerate from a slow walk to a slow stride, still keeping up my awareness of my surroundings while also feeling as strongly as I can for Artemis.

The land begins to descend somewhat, and the surface is… Uneven. Like cracks formed and have partially… Scabbed over. The size of my feet means that I don't have to worry about turning my ankles, but it's the first interesting geological feature I've seen since getting here. Perhaps earthquakes… Are common in this area? Not like we've been here for long enough to know.

I come to the edge of a-.

Oh my.

I'm standing on the edge of a crater. Off to my right I can see Artemis sneaking down into the basin, presumably to get closer to the zombherd. In the centre of the basin, surrounded by piles of displaced rock and earth is a giant… Millipede? Worm? Spider? It's long, thin, and has legs in all directions, though the 'thin' is relative. Its multi-jawed mouth is as least as tall as I am, and I can get a sense of scale because the zombherd is standing just in front of it with… Her staff raised and a different sigil glowing from the head. The creature's eyes are transfixed, and it completely ignores the zombie children as they gnaw at its sides. Is this a… Hunting party? Lure the thing to the surface and then hypnotise it while the children feed? But how are they controlling the children? Are they just locked on to a food source now that they've started eating?

The zombherd steps back and the creature follows, more of its vast body pulling itself out of the ground. That must be the source of the tremors, though obviously if one such creature exists there may well be others. Other than the staff there's no source of light down there so with the zombherd, creature and children all focusing on things Artemis is making good time. In fact, she's-.

She slips in behind the zombherd, presses a coral arrow to their throat and says.. something. The zombherd twitches but the sigil doesn't move. There's no change I can see for a moment, then Artemis pulls the zombherd's hood back and…

Female Sheeda. At least now we know roughly when we are.

Artemis looks around and then makes a beckoning gesture towards me. I nod, draw my daiklave, and with a wary eye on the beast begin my approach.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Shoe
Stopping

Artemis looks around at the vats as the zombie children line up to vomit into them.

"What..? Is this?"

Buddug the Zombherd looks at her in clear puzzlement. Interrogating the Sheeda who were part of the Harrowing fleet was an exercise in futility, but I suppose that it makes sense that those were the most fanatical soldiers. Buddug is a civilian with a civilian's understanding of the commonly used magics of her civilisation, and she's… Not a completely open book: Sheeda facial structures aren't quite the same as humans and they express emotion a little differently. But she is far more open to telling us what she knows.

"These are the city's digestion vats, where the living tissue harvested from the Deep Crawlers enters circulation."

I touch the side of the closest vat, running my right forefinger along a seam-. That's a pulse.

"The.. vats are alive?"

That… Might have puzzled her.

"But of course. How else would it be?"

I make momentary eye contact with Artemis, who is watching our environment carefully for any guards who might make an unscheduled appearance. Buddug claimed that this entrance to the city isn't guarded but we're not taking that on faith.

"Machinery? Mechanical devices that are not alive?"

Though to be fair, this… Does look like a factory. With just a touch of H.R. Giger. The structure is more of the coral stuff while the interior decoration, pipes and cables are somewhere between plastic and skin. And I can see veins supplying them with blood and bones holding them in place. None of the deep-Giger walls made of baby faces or zombie Mickey Mice stuff, but there's a definite feeling that we're inside a living organism. Or that the dividing line between living and non-living isn't anything like where we're used to it being.

Buddug looks mildly concerned.

"I don't understand."

Artemis takes a look over the rim of the vat-creature and then pulls her head back almost immediately, a look of distaste plain on her face.

"How long have these been here for?"

"Far longer than I have been alive, my lady. I cannot imagine how we could handle our harvest without them."

"Ah, why did you just call me 'my lady'?"

"Your power, your appearance. You are Highborn, are you not?"

Artemis frowns. "What does that mean?"

"Sheeda ruling caste. Strong, tough, mystically powerful." The zombie children have more or less finished and have fallen back into ranks. "You probably saw a few without realising it. Perfectly killable at our level of power, but definitely mid-tier superpeople."

Buddug looks confused. "You are.. not Highborn?"

Artemis shakes her head. "We're the people your people are trying to harvest."

Buddug's hand tightens around her stave. "But how did you come here?"

Hm. On the one hand, operational security. On the other hand, if we're worried about that we'll have to kill her anyway, so there's no harm in telling her.

"Sivana destroyed the Castle Revolving and we had to jump into the time pool to escape. We fell out here, more or less. Oh, we ran into some wild zombie-children, are you responsible for them?"

"I'm-. That's-. No, the Castle, the Queen-."

I lean in, looming over her and gaining her silence immediately.

"Destroyed and dead, respectively. So what happens now, now that the bounty of a Harrowing will not be forthcoming?"

"The Age of Autumn will return." Her eyes are vacant and her hands are trembling. "There will be no new… Fuel. For us, for our civilisation."

Artemis frowns. "What's with all the clouds, anyway?"

The look on Buddug's face indicates that she doesn't really understand that question, either.

"The clouds. In the sky. Why are they always there?"

"Where else would they be?"

"On the ground as liquid? Do you not.. have liquid water?"

"A-are you thirsty?" Still shaking slightly, Buddug makes her way over to a recessed area and pulls out… A still-beating heart? No, no, a… sachet? A beating sachet with a small scab where it just disconnected from whatever filtration system it was connected to, but still a sachet.

"What..? Is that?"

"Water? You.. drink it?"

I roll my eyes at Artemis and reach out with my right hand. "Give it here."

Buddug gives it to me, and… Ah, I see. There's a small protruding bone which acts as a ring pull… And the top of the sachet opens, the vessel's arteries and cartilaginous rings causing it to 'collapse' into a cup shape. I sniff it, and there's something… Off about it. But only slightly off. The light in here is too bad to see it clearly, but I doubt that they keep a poison strong enough to affect a New God just lying around. I take a cautious sip, and there's a surprisingly… Bloody taste, but it's mostly water.

"I think it's safe." I hold the cup out to her. "Want some?"

Artemis shrugs her left shoulder and takes it, sniffing it and then pulling a face.

"What's in this? No, don't-. Water. Why is there stuff in it?"

"The Vampire Sun would consume it without that. I have only seen pure water twice in my entire life."

"The sun eats it." Artemis looks at me. "Did you know about that?"

"Sivana mentioned something about the sun sucking the life out of things. I didn't realise that applied to water. Other than.. evaporation. But to return to our original question, Miss Buddug, what happens to your civilisation if it can't replenish itself through theft? And who might be inclined to do something about that?"

"We will.. starve, slowly. Through harvesting the bounty in the ground-" She glances at the neat ranks of zombie children. "-we will survive for a time, but we will weaken. Decay. Any of us would do anything we can to prevent that."

"In the absence of Queen Gloriana Tenebrae and King Melmoth, who would organise that sort of effort?"

"The Highborn. Lord Caeryg is the ruler of this city."

"Grayven?"

"We want to defend our own civilisation, but… Do we need to destroy the Sheeda to do that? Without the Castle Revolving they can't resupply from our era."

She nods. "So we find out how this happened and try and fix it."

"Or build them a planar portal and let them move somewhere a little sunnier." I turn back to Buddug. "Can you get us to his keep? Or wherever it is he lives?"

"No, I'm just a gatherer. He is Highborn."

"But you know where it is." She nods. "Can you get us to somewhere with a line of sight to it?" She nods again, and I smile. "Then we have the outlines of a plan."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Flue
Stopping

"They're late, aren't they?"

The one-legged Sheeda Highborn Lord Caeryg turns as fast as he can, but between his injury and the surprise that's nothing like fast enough to stop me stabbing him. Fortunately for him, that isn't my intention. But he sees my sword and Artemis's bow. And probably Buddug the Zombherd's stave, though I imagine that he discounts it.

"And with time travel, that shouldn't be possible. Unless…"

He grimaces, and I can feel him drawing magic into himself. "The Queen will return when she returns, Child of Spring."

I smile, eyebrows raised. "Apokolips as spring. There's a simile I haven't heard before."

I-.

No. That's that… Needless confrontation thing again.

I sigh.

"Okay, so there are two ways this can go. One, we mock each other for a little while until you've gathered enough magic power to fight us or call your guards, then we fight and the winner takes all. I'm not sure that the two of us can fight your entire civilisation, but I do know that we can kill you. The other way is that we come to terms which let us cooperate at least until the Queen returns, and while that does risk you getting in trouble with her, it also gives you an out just in case she doesn't."

"What do you mean?"

"You harvest the past. But if you can't, your civilisation breaks down due to whatever… Weirdness is going on. My God-Name drives me to dominate, but it also drives me to shepherd civilisation. I don't much like you or your people, but this…" I gesture out over the balcony towards the fog-shrouded city. "Is my future as well. I have an investment in fixing it."

"You escaped the Harrowing."

"We were both there when Sivana killed the Queen." His face remains still. "Sivana? Short, bald human? Spent some time here? The Queen sent a Huntsman to kill him?"

There's… Something in his eyes that suggests that he knows who I'm talking about.

"I know of him."

"I don't know exactly what happened with the Harrowing fleet, but the Castle Revolving was toast. Which means that the rest can't return. So unless another time traveller pays you a visit, we're the only help you're going to get."

He regards us both for a moment, clearly not enthusiastic.

"I could..? Probably build you a new leg?"

"My leg was taken as punishment for being slow in bowing to the Queen. Any Highborn could do something as simple as replacing a missing limb. And if the Queen is not returning and I am consorting with her enemies, I would do so."

Artemis tightens the string on her bow slightly. "You gunna help or not?"

He narrows his eyes slightly. "What would you require?"

"Access to your archival records. Everything you're got on how Earth became-" I nod at the city. "-this. We'll also need to know how your civilisation works now. We know about the Harrowing, but aside from that it's all a blank."

Artemis nods. "Everything we had which wasn't New God tech fell apart. What's doing that?"

"Our bane. Our… God. The Vampire Sun. All that does not live, dies."

"What about your clothes?"

Lord Caeryg's eyes finally alight on Buddug, and she pulls at the neck of her robe… Showing the proboscis plugged into her neck artery. Huh.

Artemis keeps staring even after Buddug releases it and the needle slides back inside of her.

"Everything's alive? What about the walls?"

"The material is barely alive, but it lives. In a manner of speaking. The same stone that is the upper layers of our world." He contemplates the matter. "You wish to see our archives?"

I nod. "It seems the most expedient way to learn. Once we have a better idea of what is going on, we can talk more about the next step." I smile. "And if the Queen returns from another era or somehow survived, you can always claim that you were detaining us to be destroyed at her pleasure."

"And after you have seen our archives, what then?"

"Locate problem, study problem, fix problem." I shrug. "Or wait for the world to die around us, one or the other."

"In Melmoth's era this 'problem' was studied in exhausting detail."

I smile. "Then we'd better start there. Lead the way!"

"Perhaps I will. Perhaps you will be our salvation. Or perhaps you will be meat, or a gift for the Queen." He smiles. "Or perhaps the knowledge will break your minds and I will gain some amusement from it. I see little harm in indulging you like this."

Something occurs to him.

"Have you eaten, since you arrived here?"

Artemis raises her eyebrows at me for a moment. I look away, and she shakes her head.

"No. Didn't look like there was much to eat around."

"And you say that you are… New Gods?" I nod, cautiously. "We have entertained New Gods as guests before. I will have something sent down to you presently."

The magic he gathered… Fades somewhat, glyphs forming on his right index and middle fingers and then floating over to Artemis and me.

"These will allow you access to our archives without my personal presence. As.. I recall, our previous New God visitors had no facility for the form of magic which we use."

"Thank you." I lift Mother Box off my belt and tap it against the sigil, and it is swiftly absorbed into her structure. Artemis taps the one offered to her with her right hand and it fades into her skin.

"And… You." He looks directly at Buddug, who wilts slightly at the attention. He then crafts another sigil and sends it to her, where it burns itself into her forehead. "You will serve as their equerry."

Buddug winces, but tries to control her reaction. Guess it's more painful for Sheeda? "Y-yes, my lord."

"I will summon a servant to show you the way."

He.. waits-?

I smile and nod. "By all means."

He taps the butt of his spear against he floor, and I feel the pulse of magic move through the apparently living structure.

"Hey." Artemis frowns. "What did you mean 'previous' New Gods?"

He smiles warmly. Oh dear. "Their visit was the foundation of our society. We learned a great deal from them on many subjects."

"Does that include biotech?"

"No, our records say that was our own distant forebears. But… Our archivists can explain it better than I. Would you like to examine the artefacts of the other New Gods as well?"

Artemis looks at me, and I nod.

"Can't hurt."

"I suspect that you are mistaken… But... Very well."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Full
Stop

The skeletal-thin chief archivist of the city of Caernouid bows apologetically.

"I am sorry, my lord. Preserving the media in its original format proved quite impossible under the light of-."

"The vampire sun." / "-the Vampire Sun."

I nod. No computers from humanity's prime. Nothing written on paper or parchment or vellum. No… Artefacts of whoever came before the Sheeda.

"So how do you maintain records?"

"Task-adapted biological computers and ultra-dense chitin are the two main methods. We feed the chitin into specialised digestion receptacles for it to be read. It is not a quick process, and the summaries are often.. long out of date. If you tell me what you're looking for I can dispatch our retrieval specialists."

"I'd like to know about the first generation of Sheeda. Was… Your current form the result of gradual change, or engineered specifically for… Some reason."

The cadaver-lookalike nods. "Those are not our oldest records, but it is the earliest period that is well recorded. Do you wish to review the recreations of the source material, or are later analyses acceptable?"

Uuh. This is going to be a long haul. We're going to be looking for sources for our sources, all the while knowing that the Sheeda have had more than enough time to falsify anything they want.

Ping.

Sure you're up to it?

Ping.

"How about-?"

"What about the Justice League?"

I raise my eyebrows at Artemis's enquiry.

"What?" She shrugs. "You're the one who said that kryptonians live thousands of years if they get enough sunlight. There's gotta be some kind of record of Superman."

I shake my head. "I knew a time traveller. Superman dies in the next couple of decades from-"

Her eyes widen. "What?"

"-our point of view. Oh, yeah. Why do you think I've been pushing the Earth Defence Force through so hard? Earth gets conquered and the Justice League killed… Well, in the original timeline it did. I doubt that will happen now."

"So…" She frowns. "Are we dealing with original history or your fixed history?"

I make a show of slowly shrugging.

"Okay, but was that just it? Humans got wiped out?"

"No, humans were taken as… Janissaries? By the people who conquered Earth, and the population of Earth wasn't completely wiped out. Just… Reduced a lot. My contact didn't make any mention of the Justice League… A Justice League reforming at any point-."

"Forgive.. my interruption." The archivist looks genuinely interested, a strangely open expression which looks odd on a Sheeda's face. "But what was the Justice League?"

I get a half-second glare from Artemis, which causes me to close my mouth and give her the metaphorical floor.

"The Justice League is-. Was a group of heroes who-."

I mime biting my lip.

"Who fought for freedom-"

I mime biting my lip really hard.

"-and justice against criminals and evil people."

"They were guards?"

"No, they… Didn't work for a government. They just did what they thought was right."

No, no, he's got no framework for understanding the concept of 'superhero'. How to put this..?

"Imagine a group of Highborn who -rather than serving the Queen directly or ruling cities in her name- used their abilities to enforce a code of moral behaviour, primarily on other Highborn but occasionally on regular citizens."

"Warriors."

"They have a wide variety of skills, but primarily:-" I nod. "-yes."

"I don't remember any group called the 'Justice League', but I… Seem to recall mention of a Justice Legion. Are they related?"

I very dimly remember something about them from Earth Prime comics. Reading the summaries didn't make the concept sound very appealing; clones of heroes from an earlier era with a few cosmetic changes. Ridiculous, really: put a picture of the Justice Society next to one of the Justice League and even the people with the same name don't look the same. And that's just two generations.

"Ah..?"

Artemis looks at me like she expects me to know. Which I'd normally like, because if she decided to go Richard-the-Justice-League-Puritan on me this would rapidly become very tiresome.

"Perhaps you could call up a file and we could see if there are any familiar faces?"

"I'm afraid that we don't have good records from that period, but…" He walks over to an organic-looking console and presses several buttons. Symbols I don't recognise appear on a… Holographic? No, an illusion-based display. "Relating to your query regarding the origin of Sheeda-kind. Our best information suggests that we were deliberately created. The city with our largest flesh vats is still on that site where the first of Sheeda-kind were created. And the Justice Legion…"

A severely degraded illusion of a human torso appears. I… Think it's a dark-skinned baseline human man, but I've got no guarantee that my concepts of any of those things mean anything to future-humanity.

"…art, I… … …halos fall…"

The quality is not good, but a damaged record that has been translated through several formats for… A very long period of time isn't going to be high quality.

"…site… …extract… …rom the Justice Legion's last st… …it here, but everywh… …understand what's killing us."

The archivist presses another button, and the playback stops.

"If you have any insight, I would be fascinated to hear it."

"A 'halo' could be a sign of an angel's divinity, or it could refer to an orbital ring. My.. future contact said that those became rather common forms of habitation for humans."

Not unusual. There are a lot more systems with valuable materials in them than there are habitable planets. At a certain level of technology building habitats makes economic sense.

"That sounded like 'from the Justice Legion's last stand', indicating that they tried to fight something and were wiped out in the attempt, and that someone went there later to pick something up."

Artemis nods. "And they were going to study it here. Does it say what they were fighting?"

"There are references to a great destructive force. It isn't clear whether they're referring to a singular being or group or… Perhaps even a natural event."

I nod. "Yeah, we're going to need all of those. And anything that mentions the Legion and wherever Sheeda came from."

The archivist smiles. "How long do your people live?"

"Indefinitely."

The archivist nods. "'Indefinitely' might be enough. I will gather a party, and my successor's successor will relay the last of the materials you requested to you. I wish you the best of fortune, my lord, my lady."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Late Summer, IC 687

Not the fastest a new Lantern has grasped a power ring's basic functions, but far from the slowest. His actual speed in the air leaves a little to be desired, but he's understandably of two minds about this whole endeavour.

At least he's not filled with fear any longer.

"And.. that is how a man's desires affect his nature?"

"No."

"Then-. I don't understand. Why have you explained this 'Hierarchy' to me if it isn't true?"

"In the Imperial Library, how do they order the books and scrolls? Is it by the name of the author? The date? Or is it by the subject?

"For the most part, by their subject. So I should organise my desires in the same way? To… Make them more comprehensible?"

"Just so. 'Architecture' has no objective reality. Take the universe, grind it down to the finest powder and run it through the finest sieve, and you will find not a single atom of architecture. Architecture is a label we apply to a group of concepts as a shorthand. Likewise, how we classify sets of desires is irrelevant. That we do is relevant. If you have a better system, use that instead."

"No, I.. don't."

"Studying your own desires is the first step to mastering the orange light. This is how I will begin your instruction."

He glances in the direction of Alnus Hill.

"Do I have time to reflect on them adequately?"

"Throw some at me, so that I know what I'm working with."

"What's the second step?"

"Identifying and resolving contradictions. But please, Prince Diabo El Caesar, focus on the task I set you. If you die, I will have to find another, and that will be inconvenient."

"My brother?"

"I will never be that desperate. His pet rabbit on the other hand is desperate enough to obey me and heed my words. Rebuilding the Empire from ash after she has taken her revenge will be time consuming, but time is a resource I have in abundance."

We dip in the air as he loses his focus.

"Interesting. That made you genuinely afraid. You understand that for that to happen you would be dead, and thus entirely beyond her-"

There's a flicker of light from a forest I can see in the distance. Alnus itself seems relatively quiet at the moment. Infiltrators? Commandos?

"-wrath."

"I just-. Imagined what would happen if you'd chosen her instead of me."

"I doubt that she would specifically target you. Your brother and your father, yes, but if you ran fast enough then you would probably survive. But that isn't-"

There's another flicker. Hm.

"-relevant. Stop for a moment."

Stopping, he manages easily.

"That flash of light in the forest over there. Identify it."

"A forest fire?"

"That isn't what I meant. Use this ring. Want to see it, want to know, and you will. Want it because it could be a threat, or because it could be an opportunity to advance yourself. Want it because you care about the people in this region or because you want them to care about you. But unleash your want, in whatever way you see fit."

He raises his left hand, and I.. feel it, as he wants the knowledge so that he can better understand his position. That work-.

And he feels fear and we're heading for the ground again.

"Do you want to break your legs? Because while this ring can heal your injuries, I assumed that we'd have longer before you needed that lesson."

He recovers almost instantly, his desire to keep his own hide intact having the expected effect. It was either this or strengthening his environmental shield enough to take the landing. Now, what did he see?

"It's a dragon."

"Okay."

"A giant, ancient dragon. It's burning its way through a forest village."

"Good show. Let's go and kill it."

"It's a dragon!"

"When I'd been a Lantern for a year and a half, I fought and killed an ancient, sentient, magic-using dragon who also had a ring like this one. Can I assume that the creature you are looking at is simply a large and strong reptile?"

"Very large and very strong."

"The orange light is stronger. As long as you want to be unharmed, you will be proof against fire and claw."

"And how exactly am I proof against fire and claw?"

"Imagine armour. Full plate. Imagine that the dragon is attacking you, striking you, breathing fire over you and doing its level best to kill you. Imagine that the armour is the only thing keeping you alive in the face of its assault. Hold in your mind your desire for it to stay there."

"And.. it will?"

"It will. That is the power of the orange light. Likewise, it can generate any weapon you want, and the weapon will be as strong as your desire for it to be strong."

"And you want me to fight that dragon?"

"Can you imagine arriving at the gathering of armies with a dead dragon's head in your hands? The looks on their faces? The reverence in their hearts?"

"I…"

"I know that you don't trust me. That is fine at this stage in our relationship. But please at least accept that this is far more effort than I would need to put in if I simply wanted you dead."

"I-."

"And that I have no desire to see the inside of a dragon's digestive system firsthand."

"You guarantee that I will be proof against its attacks?"

"The strength of your defences is proportionate to the strength of your desires. Try it now."

"I've been wearing armour under my clothes for years. Armour is something I know that I want."

And appear armour does, construct full plate such as a medieval knight might wear. Not something that existed in Rome where they were limited to light horse, but the Saderan Empire isn't exactly Rome. The construct isn't super strong by any means. I wouldn't want him to try fighting an apostle like this. But it'll do for a dragon.

But what about offence? He's been hiding himself in the courts for years, not drawing attention to himself for fear that he'd be executed like his eldest brother. Weapons don't come naturally to him. So, perhaps something a little different?

"Have you ever ridden a dragon?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Full
Start

I raise my right hand in greeting as Artemis and Buddug return to the reading room.

"Good trip?"

Artemis nods, and I note that her quiver is fully restocked with quill arrows.

"All of the zombie children are back where they should be. And your gene analyser is being set up in the lab."

"Thanks. Did you get to see much of Caergwaed while you were there..?"

She drops into a nearby chair and starts loading up the next batch of research files.

"Not really. Things got a bit… Tense, when I told them the Queen wouldn't be coming back." Behind her, Buddug heads in the direction of the archive kitchens. "Thought I should probably keep my head down."

"Probably wise. The last thing we need is the Sheeda cities going to war with one another."

"Yeah. Anything new on your end?"

"I'm pretty sure that the Vampire Sun isn't Mageddon, which is a bit of a relief."

"Really?"

"Yes. Mageddon has about four thousand times the mass of Sol. Aside from how aggressive it is, there's no way the Earth could survive close to it for any length of time. And the images Mother Box and the archivists have been able to piece together of whatever it was that killed the Justice Legion don't show a star or star-like object."

Artemis watches me for a moment.

I watch back.

…

"Grayven, what's Mageddon?"

"Oh, an ancient.. sun.. weapon system.. thing. It's supposed to have been made by the people… The people before the New Gods who manifested Source attributes. We usually call them 'Old Gods', for… Obvious reasons, though that term also gets used for gods who emerge from the Dream."

"And that's… Around in our time?"

"Yes, but it's anchored outside of our galactic cluster and extremely well guarded. Last time Darkseid tried taking a fleet there to study it, he was one of sixteen survivors out of a total crew of two million. No recoverable ships. I'm led to believe that one of the defenders was mildly bruised." I shrug. "Anyway, that was the only thing I could think of that came under the category of 'evil sun'."

"So if it wasn't a sun, what was it?"

I shake my head.

"Humanoid. It appeared to either have dark skin or prefer dark clothing." I shrug. "Either it killed everything that got a good look at it, or it was so long ago that all the records have degraded to near-uselessness. Or more likely both."

"Just… One guy?"

"Or possibly girl, or other or none. I couldn't even tell you whether or not it was conventionally humanoid. I've still got a lot of reading to do, but the outline appears to be confirmed from enough sources that I'm prepared to accept it. A single immensely powerful being comes out of nowhere and gradually starts destroying everything in its path. Fleets are sent and fleets are destroyed. The 'Justice Legion' are called in. They fight, lose, rally… Until eventually they run out of time and decide to go all-in. There aren't any mentions of the organisation as a going concern after that final battle, so I assume that was about it for them."

"So what was that stuff about trying to understand it?"

"Ah, that is interesting. It's not entirely clear, but it looks like someone collected samples of biological material from the site. And sent those samples to various places, including to the forebears of our friends in Caergwaed."

"And they used it to make the Sheeda?" She shakes her head. "Why?"

"Maybe the same reason why Lex Luthor commissioned Kon: use the strength of the one you hate to beat them."

"And that's where they got the Highborn? Yeah, they're.. strong, but they're not 'kill the galaxy's greatest heroes' strong."

"No, I don't think it was that. Remember, Earth went through multiple alien occupations. It isn't the centre of human civilisation in the future-past. There's no obvious reason why a laboratory here would be given vital work when there would be better expertise in other places."

"Maybe they were specialised."

"Maybe. Magic-rich worlds are unusual, and unlike modern… You know what I mean, humans, they all use magic."

"So they needed magic to beat him."

"What makes you think they won?"

"The planet's still here. The.. Sheeda are still here."

"And we haven't seen a single baseline human since we got here." I shrug. "A lot of things are possible."

She nods slowly. "So what's the next step?"

"Full genetic work-ups of every Sheeda creature we can get. And while that's going on, the local Vat Masters and I have been trying to work out how to create an organic Bleed membrane instability generator. Because even if the rest of the universe stopped existing, the Bleed should still be there."

"The Bleed. That's the thing between parallel universes, right?"

"Indeed." I nod. "Because if we can generate electrical power, then even if we have to immediately funnel it into some sort of organic system, all of our problems become a lot more manageable. And even if the sun somehow eats it, then at least we'll learn more about what it can-"

"Grayven?"

"-do-. Yes?"

"How long have we been here?"

I smile. "Less than a day."

She huffs, closing her eyes and bowing her head. Then she lifts it back up and looks me right in the eyes.

"How long, Grayven? And don't tell me it doesn't matter because if we get a time machine we can go back to whenever. I've eaten meals, I've slept, and… Everything outside is the same. There aren't any days here and my computer's busted so I've got no idea how much time has passed. How long?"

"What makes you think I kn-"

"Don't dodge the qu-"

"-ow-? I'm sorry."

"-estion!"

"I'm sorry, I… Genuinely don't know either. Humans tend to default to a twenty five hour day cycle if they can't see the sun, but neither of us are human."

She considers that for a moment.

"What about your mother box?"

"She's struggling to operate, and I've got more important things for her to do than use her connection to the Source to measure time."

"Can you build a clock?"

"Um. Probably? But I've got nothing to peg it to."

"Yeah, I… Think I need something. Not being able to schedule things is… Really confusing."

I nod. "Alright. I'll add it to the slate."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Bullish
Start

Lord Caeryg has actually turned out for this one in person. Quite why he decided to turn it into a social event rather than keep it top secret eludes me, but there are Highborn representatives from several other Sheeda cities along with their escorts. Servants are moving around the demonstration area with platters of edible beetles, and a small cluster of flesh shapers are making final checks on the booster beetle.

They've even put out some glow flies, though it's still dingy as heck here. I suppose that explains the full face helms the Sheeda who were part of the Harrowing fleet wore: our bright light must be blinding to them. Caeryg hasn't been quite daring enough to grow back his severed limb, but this is effectively him 'coming out' as a Queen-doubter. I imagine that Sheeda politics are about to get very interesting.

I take a moment to check the etchings on the booster beetle. Since it's a reasonable assumption that the 'vampiric' effect will get stronger as we get closer, this beetle will effectively be integrated into my armour's soul circuitry. Not fully; the Sheeda don't have the ability to make the materials I need for that. But a close enough resemblance mixed with a little magic make something which sort of works.

All looks fine to me…

I pat the carapace, though I know full well that it's far too insensitive to feel it, and far too simple-minded to understand the concept of familiarity. And since it's almost certainly going to die in the next few hours that's just as well, really.
Flawless Posture.
On the launch pad, Artemis stretches, eye stalk arrows ready to be plucked from their unfortunate donor. Telepathy is unknown to the Sheeda, but psychometry clearly isn't.

I nod to the flesh crafters, and they ignite their sigils and lead the booster beetle towards the launch platform.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Highborn of the Sheeda, scholars and warriors, today I and my faithful steed take the first glimpse at the universe beyond the mist shrouding the Earth."

I make a circuit of the viewing area, making sure to make eye contact with at least the leaders of the delegations.

"I wish to take in the state of the rest of the universe! And I wish to share that knowledge with all of you, so that you will have less reason to doubt my intentions. Each of you has had the opportunity to check the equipment; each of you knows that what you see will be what I see. What is actually there. And perhaps it will go some way to solving the mystery of your situation."

Or if I'm really lucky, get me to somewhere from which I can boom tube away, recharge my rings and build up a decent production centre. If I'm less lucky, then whatever's keeping the red giant away only extends as far as the edge of the mist and I'm about to get horribly burned. Or the beetle could blow up and I'll get horribly burned from that.

My tested level of resilience is why Artemis is staying on the ground rather than taking her chances on the beetle.
Fortify.
I head towards the beetle, smiling to myself as a couple of magic-focused Highborn get their fingers burned by the sigils they were using to covertly monitor the magics in my body. Could be they think I'm a novel Highborn created in Caernouid at Caeryg's instruction. If he's bringing people in at this stage I assume that he's got his story and approach sorted out for bringing them around to his point of view.
Fortify.
I walk down the short series of steps that lead underneath the booster beetle and pull my armour's goggles and seldom-used face covering into place. Then I take a firm hold on the carapace's handholds.
Fortify.
"Artemis, ready?"
Fortify.
"Whenever you are."
Fortify.
The idea of using the beetle to get off the surface was a non-starter. A beetle acting as a rocket would have to be the size and composition of a rocket, and survive having me hanging off it as it powered up to escape velocity. And if something went wrong or if the Vampire Sun doesn't act in the way we tentatively think it does, we'd be rogered.
Fortify.
Ping.
Fortify.
I activate my aero-discs and rise, slowly lifting the beetle off the launch pad. Learning to keep the aero-discs functioning under ground-level disruption took… A while, as measured by Artemis's beetle clock. But I took it up to the upper levels of the miasma and with a map memorised I'm confident that I can avoid falling on anything too important.
Fortify.
Once I reach eye level with Artemis I nod. She draws, and looses the first shot.
Fortify.
She can only bridge to places she knows, but she can fire an arrow pretty much any distance. If she fires an arrow with an eye on the end? We're back in bridge-business.
Fortify.
The rainbow explosion goes off just above me and I rise. It's not fast, not compared to ring-based flight and even compared to what I managed with aero-discs back in the past. But as Artemis sends an arrow through the bridge ahead of us the booster beetle and I are accelerating at a slow but steady rate.
Fortify.
And then space gets peculiar for a moment and we're… Not all that high up, actually. With a quick glance I can still just about make out the lights of the city below. But we're about as far up as fly-mounts can take their riders.
Fortify.
Then the bridge behind me closes and a new one opens in front of me. Keep going.
Fortify.
This one opens further up. The ground is fully shrouded and the sky above me similarly obscured. I can see my hand where it's gripping the beetle, but not much further than that. I don't see the arrow that creates the next rainbow bridge, but fortunately the bridge itself is bright enough that I can still aim at it.
Fortify.
I feel a momentary kinship with the early hot air balloon aviators getting caught in a cloud. At least the beetle's carapace is surviving having its entire weight pressing on my hands.
Fortify.
Up again, and this time while I can't see anything at least the clouds above me are bright enough to let me know that I'm going in the right direction. They don't shine white, of course; it's red light all the way and really does put me in mind of the fire pits, when the fug from the forges gets really bad and the overseers have to move their lowlies into shelters or lose the whole lot of them.
Fortify.
Up again, and this time there's a shape to the redness. I can see the outline of the sun, the baleful glare strong enough to trigger my goggles.
Fortify.
And up again. The clouds are wisps, the sun disturbingly large in the sky, and… Ugh. I can't see stars, but I can see that there's enough dust in the system that they could well be blotted out. The sun itself… I'm no expert in solar dynamics, but it looks like an early stage red giant in the growing phase. What I'd expected from the illumination but not from the chronology. Red giants don't grow particularly fast, but they grow faster than this. Once things get hot enough to evaporate all surface water… But again, the surface of the Earth isn't all that hot.
Fortify.
And now I'm standing in what passes for its full glare I'm not that hot, either. Oh, at this distance a red giant wouldn't do me measurable harm, but I would feel the distance. Light without heat? I'm not feeling as if I'm being drained at an accelerated rate, and my armour feels just as functional as it did at ground level.
Fortify.
I can't see the moon…
Fortify.
Wait. Don't I remember that in the comics the Dominators blew it up? But Earth was the centre of human civilisation in that comic, whereas I've had it confirmed that it isn't here. Won't be, here. Then again, there is a lot of dust. Maybe they do?
Fortify.
Mother Box?
Fortify.
Ping.
Fortify.
Good show. I turn away from the sun and trigger the booster beetle. And after a brief delay, its internal gas bladders undulate and release the thrust plume that propels us forward.
Fortify.
Ahead is… The dull glow of light from the sun reflecting off a billion billion particles of dust. I can't see any object of any size, which makes sense. This beetle is an organic booster rocket. It doesn't have a faster than light drive, if only because there are very few organic non-arcane faster than light drives and they all require substances we don't have. But the thrust is constant, my armour is replenishing my air and I'm not being harmed. I could pretty much just go to sleep here and wake up when we've gone far-
Fortify.
Ping.
Fortify.
-enough… Really? Already? And you're sure that it's New God?
Fortify.
Ping.
Fortify.
That's lucky. I switch the setting of my goggles to pick up anything that touches the Source.
Fortify.
Let me know when we're close…
Fortify.
Enough…
Fortify.
Oh.
Fortify.
Dimly through the dusty miasma I look left and right, up and down, at the outlines of the titans whose imprisoned forms make up the Source Wall.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Bullshit
Start

Turns out? It's a small universe.

I haven't toured the whole star system-. 'Star system'! A quick bit of mental arithmetic shows it's not even as large as the orbit of Jupiter, so either we're in some sort of New God Dyson sphere-. No, no, even Darkseid wouldn't make a Dyson sphere decorated to look like the Source Wall. It would be too much like waving his own failure in his face. And Izaya certainly wouldn't.

That is actually the Source Wall. The universe has shrunk until Earth and the sun are all that's left. If Mercury or Mars survived whatever the hell did that, they didn't survive the expansion of the sun. It's just Earth, and the sun, and the Source Wall, and the dust.

I got close enough that it should have pulled me closer. That's what happened last time. Does the Source Wall here not work like the one in Universe 50? I'd sort of assumed it was, you know, the Source, but I suppose that physical laws could be different enough for it to interact with its environment differently from one parallel to the next.

The universe is smaller than a star system.

Okay. Okay. I know that it's possible to escape. The Sheeda did that repeatedly with the Castle Revolving. I don't know if the… Size of the universe-.

THIS IS RIDICULOUS! THIS SITUATION IS RIDICULOUS! AND I'M RIDICULOUS FOR BEING HERE!

Haaaa. Ugh. Haa.

I need to stop thinking about it. Just get back down to Earth, tell people, then grab a few Low Born and teach them how to play frisbee or something.

I need to stop thinking about it because my thoughts are looping around in a decidedly unhelpful manner.

And… At least I know why the Bleed membrane instability generator didn't work. The Bleed is still there, but the physical laws which allow us access to it have changed. We can probably adapt-.

A red.. beam… Flashes past me. Not close by, but light scatter in the dust cloud makes it clearly visible.

What? This is… This is not a good time for something stupid to be happening.

I pull my handholds slightly, and the booster beetle farts out a cloud of burning rocket fuel. We designed it to contain more than I'd need for the journey they thought I had planned, and I didn't even get that far. I'm heading back to Earth-.

There are more red beams WHY ARE THERE MORE RED BEAMS!

I mean, they're not aiming them at me, at least not with any accuracy, but they're punching through the clouds…

Mother Box, am I seeing things, or..?

Ping.

I can feel… An etheric… Motion. Something's… Rising from the planet, and… Drifting, towards the sun. Did I not notice before? Or… Was it not happening? It's-.

I gasp for breath as my armour dims!
Fortify!
The beetle's flying as fast as it can, but I add a little extra oomph with my aero-discs as we head into the uppermost clouds. I'm not sure exactly where we're landing OR WHY THERE'RE SO MANY RED BEAMS IN THE ATMOSPHERE but with the mood I'm in I'm not going to worry about it. The booster beetle isn't going to explode if I can make a controlled landing, and it's not going to have that much fuel left anyway.
Fortify.
My kingdom for a radio. One that actually works here. I try feeling for Artemis but get absolutely nothing.
Fortify.
It's hard to tell exactly what's going on. I'm not used to these precise weapons and the light-scatter that this environment generates. But it looks like THEY'RE SHOOTING EACH OTHER WHY ARE THEY SHOOTING EACHguuuh!
Fortify.
Right. When I panic, it gets worse. If I didn't just fail to see it, the planet started getting drained when the shooting started. Assuming that the mechanism is the same, that means that with people fighting for their lives down there the whole place is being drained faster.
Fortify.
I wish Luna was here. This sounds like a pony problem.
Fortify.
Only with more killing, obviously.
Fortify.
Ah. Okay. Whatever's feeding on the world's suffering doesn't like love. Definitely a pony problem.
Fortify.
Lights over there, lights over there. I can't really steer the booster beetle directly, but if I angle my aero-discs slightly I can aim away from both of them. Ambush is my best bet. Find someone, grab them and find out what just happened.
Fortify.
I know that time's gotten sort of fuzzy without clocks or days, but I can't have been away that long.
Fortify.
Can I?
Fortify.
I never bothered trying to understand the effect of gravity on time as experienced at the personal level. I don't think anyone… Perhaps outside some of the more fanatical Source-focus religions who build their monasteries and prayer halls around the Source Wall back in the twenty first century, knows how the Source Wall affects time, if at all.
Fortify.
Alright, we're low enough. I twist my hands and the booster beetle chokes off its fart exhaust. Apply upward thrust with the aero-discs, angle so that we get a little lift from this ungainly thing… It's definitely lighter coming back than it was taking off. Shame it won't live all that long; I'd love to show it off to my children. But it'll probably be recycled once the biomechanists have given it a once-over to see how well it fared. They're still that human, at least.
Fortify.
Beams and a sense of conflict from a direction I'll call west. Ideally I'd like to come down near the edge of that, but though Sheeda air cavalry only make up a minority of their forces they are perfectly competent in using them. Without the rocket plume the booster beetle isn't that visible, and without the glow of my rings neither am I… But Sheeda can scry through this murk reasonably well. If they're keeping an eye out and want to shoot me, then they'll shoot me.
Fortify.
And of course the beam goes right through the booster beetle's head.
Fortify.
For goodness' sake.
Fortify.
Pushing off my aero-discs I hurl the beetle in the approximate direction that shot came from and then drop. Even a terminal velocity fall won't do me any damage and given everything that's happened I think that a bit of the old ultra-violence is just what Desaad ordered.
Fortify.
I draw my daiklave and start switching between optical modes until I find one which-. There we are.
Strike Them Down.
I'm not as powerful when fighting on an ally's behalf as when I'm fighting on my own, even less so when the alliance is as uncertain as the one between Artemis and myself on one side and Lord Caeryg on the other.
Strike Them All Down.
And there are the fly-riders and I'm coming for you, you miserable bondage-elves!
Leave None Alive.
I don't use my sword on the first. Like an ironic bug on the windshield she and her mount splat across my armour, their remains falling to the ground where I can already see the zombherds directing their charges to recycle the fallen.
Well Maybe One.
"I need one of you alive."

I charge, because while those flies are pretty agile their speed is a bit rubbish.

"The first to surrender-"

The closest comes close to bringing their pivot-mounted gun to bear before I cleave through him and his gun and his mount.

"-gets to live."

I grab the part of the gun with the fuel cell analogue and throw it at the fly trying to manoeuvre behind me for a shot. It detonates in the rider's face and he fails to correct his course before slamming into the remains of the fly I just bisected. They don't explode but their fly does lose a wing and they begin to tumble towards the ground.

The zombie children don't have to wait until things are dead to eat them.

I grin as I look at the survivors.

"How about it?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Bull's
Start

"…and they're actually following through on their obligations?"

Heledd, the highest ranking of the surviving Highborn of the city of Caeremyr, nods politely.

"Yes, my lord. It seems that even slow learners understood your intent after you fed seventeen slower learners to zombies in front of them."

We're somewhere near where the Earth's south pole used to be. No idea whether or not the pole is still here or if the Earth's rotational axis has shifted. Though even if it hasn't, the fact that magnetic poles shift every so often means this could be the north pole now.

Since my brief chat with actual Grayven, I've been covertly reading up on him. His equipment, his techniques and ways of thinking, his allies… Everything I could get. And I find his decisions so completely natural that I can generally work out what he'll do, because… It's what I'd do. He conquered a down on its luck gordanian clan and built them up as the foundation of his empire, and I've conquered a Sheeda city that was mostly trying to sit this… Thousandth World War out, and built them up.

"Good. And no more arguments about incorporating New God designs into our armour?"

Heledd glances down at his own symbiotic insect armour with New God detailing.

"Not since the last skirmish. The superiority in the quality of protection it provides is inarguable."

Sheeda warfare is very economical. Very… Real Time Strategy. Everything is biological. Biomatter and time are the only resources and flesh vats the only construction centre. Powerful beasts cost relatively small amounts of time but large amounts of biomatter, once you have the genetic design for them. Highborn cost little more biomatter than regular Sheeda but require far longer to sculpt and train. And so cities focus around their core competencies, eking out percentage decimal points in efficiency while they try to be the ones dragging their enemies' corpses into their digesters. Or hunker down and focus on using Deep Crawlers to slowly harvest the residual bounty beneath the Earth.

"Good."

I stride towards the doors which lead to the inner keep's boardroom. Deputations of Highborn from allied, 'allied' and potential ally cities are on the other side. Not a huge gathering, but better unified and better at sharing ideas than most of this war's… I can barely dignify them with the word 'alliance'.

The Sheeda on either side of the doors pull them open and I stride inside, the Highborn within already lined up at each side of the table. Most Sheeda don't give me backchat when we're having face to face meetings, and I get the impression that's due to me fitting into a Queen-shaped hole in their psyches. They're certainly not this agreeable when I can't see them.

I take my place at the head of the table and sit, Heledd taking position behind me. And I wait exactly two seconds before gesturing with my right hand.

"Please, be seated."

And they sit, a simple courtesy permitted by me. Most of them haven't been in a room with this many Highborn from other cities since the Queen's muster prior to the Harrowing.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this war is the height of stupidity, a pointless waste of biomass we can't spare from the task of ensuring Sheedakind's long term survival. You are here-" Because you know that I'd kill you otherwise. "-because you share my belief, and you know that unlike any other would-be king or queen I'll vanish the moment it becomes possible for me to return to my own era. I'm a compromise candidate, but while I'm here I expect obedience."

"Now…" Heledd reaches past me and plugs a small chitin disk in a slot in the desk. "If you would..?"

With brief glances at each other which I commit to memory, other representatives mirror my action with their own disks, which are absorbed by the table. What happens next is a fast digestion-read, funnelling our intelligence reports through the table's brain, filtering the more egregious claims and displaying the most reliable data. The output is… Tiny. With no surface water on the planet the Earth's habitable surface area has increased massively.

With no reliable intercity communication in war time we have little to no idea what the other cities are doing. I'm on the wrong side of the gosh darn planet to help Artemis. I doubt that the other Sheeda would have flat-out destroyed Caernouid. Too much biological matter would be lost, and inefficiency is the Sheeda's one taboo. But with that many Highborn in one place, a lot of things could have happened, and me dashing across the planet at full speed isn't going to help. No one can spend time or biomatter on solving the core problem of our tiny universe, which means that I've got to beat them into order.

What a waste.

The table makes its decision, and an illusion of the Earth appears. Cities are marked by size, alliances in areas of colour whose intensity is determined by the reliability of the information and strength of the bond. Approximate numbers and dispositions of their forces.

Several things become clear at once.

We don't know much about the groups not immediately abutting us.

Anyone who has the resources to fight, is.

Alliances are primarily defensive and made by groups who've taken significant losses.

No one is in charge of anything and that offends me.

I don't have a rival. No one has control of a significant area, and the largest alliances are the most uncertain. There's no one I can crush and then expect everyone else to fall in line.

These people can't overcome their instincts enough to fight effectively. They need me.

"This…" I look around the room as they try to commit every inch of the illusion to memory in case I decide to give them an erroneous copy to take away. "Is how civilisation ends. How a people dies. I will not allow that."

I point, and an alliance cluster near to us expands to fill the illusion area.

"This will be our next target. The leading city of this group. I will lead the vanguard myself. There will be no quarter given. Every living creature will be slain and portioned out, the city stripped of all of value. Then the other members of the group will be offered the opportunity to join us."

I'm painfully aware that I'm channelling Caesar here. And not Julius Caesar. I'm channelling Edward Sallow. But… What else can I do? I need these people to build a solution, and no one has what I need. I can't just bunker up.

"Participation is mandatory. Rewards will be apportioned according to the degree of involvement each city has. Severe punishments will be meted out to any who try sitting a fight out, or not providing resources they have promised. I will notice."

Because I'm becoming dominant. Giving full rein to my conquer-and-rule instincts. I'm not working off half of my nature any more. The New God insignias on the equipment of those directly sworn to me help me buff them, but all here are connected to me sufficiently that I can feel it when they resist.

I don't think they all know that yet.

I wonder who will be the first example? I'm looking forward to it.

"But now: old news. I was in space when this whole mess started. Why are the Sheeda city-states fighting each other?"

No one speaks. I pick one at random and point.

"You. Why are you fighting?"

She looks very briefly around to see if anyone else wants to jump in. No one does.

"There are many reasons. Fighting in the Queen's absence is unwise, for she is harsh in her vengeance upon the profligate and disobedient. But we had all heard your claims of her death and the Harrowing fleet's defeat. If there was no new food to come… The gift of survival would go to the strongest. But it was not until you revealed what lay beyond the clouds that the boldest cities were shocked into action. To think that the universe is so small."

"It wasn't always like that. Once this war is over I will be finding out 'why' and either fixing it or evacuating you all via the Bleed to a new universe. Resisting this sort of fait accompli is fundamental to my nature." I look around. "Were they the reason for the rest of you?"

Some nervous looking around, then a brave soul speaks up.

"For my city it was… Defensive. We were struck at first, and needed to retaliate lest we fall behind. We would… Prefer, a return to order."

I nod. "Sensible. But as I see it, this mess will last until I'm in control of it."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Bull's
Stop

Shield-beetle on my left arm I leap from the latest generation rocket-beetle and dive towards our soon-to-be latest conquest.

At this point, I should probably be able to say that I've lost count of how many Sheeda cities I've conquered. But I haven't. I know exactly how many. I can recall each with perfect clarity. Every fight. Every wall taken. Every keep fallen. Every skirmish. Every battle. And every one has made me feel more complete. I've.. never wanted to give full rein to this part of my character back in the past, but here? Every Sheeda I kill brings me closer to my objective. Every nation I overrun. Every oath of submission I gain-.
Indefatigable!
The lightning towers shielding the city against fly fliers give vent to their electrical charges, brilliant white flashing across the sky as the rocket beetle mark 2 begins its uncontrolled descent into the city suburbs. But my escort are Highborn, their armour warded against attack by their magic and by the strength of my soul. And I've been getting stronger.
Unstoppable!
No one reports injuries as we pass through their effective range, and… Ah! They're using acid golems to counter our attack! Figures shaped like a poorly-coordinated child's first effort to sculpt a person in clay, vacant eyes glowing faintly with the magic their controllers are using to direct them and the green gel making up their bodies bubbling and churning as they prepare to assail us.
Incomparable!
No actual Huntsman, but those are ridiculously energy-intensive and even my growing alliance can't really spare it. The biliferous creatures are moving to defend their inner keep's walls because their masters have heard from those who fled before my advance how I usually deploy my forces. Decapitate the leader of the defence or capture their production facilities and the battle is over. They can't let that happen.
In Your Face!
My Highborn activate their wing bugs, living hang gliders clamped to their armour and turning their downward movement into lateral movement almost immediately. They rocket away from the keep towards the spinward walls, ready to seize the defences for my army. I on the other hand keep falling, tossing my shield beetle away and hitting the upper level of the keep-
Onslaught!
-and smashing right through the coral that makes up the roof and sending grey fragments exploding outwards in all directions! The second surface my feet hit fails as well, though this time the collapse is much less explosive.
Heeeeeeere's Conquest!
Dust rains down on me, and a chunk of coral finishes cracking off and falls to the ground just behind me.

I give myself an eight. Maybe an eight point five.

Their controllers will send the acid golems down after me once they've overcome their surprise. I need to get going. Daiklave in hand I charge further into the structure the feeling on the edge of my soul allowing me to feel it as my soldiers engage the enemy.

I hear the hiss behind me as the first of the acid golems splashes down and begins eating through the broken coral as it tries to reassemble itself into a shape that will allow it to follow me. The drawback of psychometric control: the controller can only direct it when it and they are roughly the same shape. But when they are they can fight with surprising agility and speed and, frankly, I'd rather not.

A wrath spider scurries around the corner on the ceiling, a shot of venom squirted at me a second before it leaps at my face. The venom I sidestep, blade raised to bisect it as I turn to avoid both halves of its body as they fly past me. Wrath spiders have become a pretty common form of first responder because they're awkward to fight and biomass-cheap. What they're not good at is stopping rampaging New Gods.

Another spider on the wall to the left, three more on the ground. I jump, slashing left as I do so. My daiklave slices through the spider and the wall it's standing on while the spiders beneath me miss their shots, too slow to traverse to keep up with me. Large doorway coming up, and the two Highborn on guard duty are releasing their defensive spells. Ghostly strands anchored in the strength of this edifice grasp at my armour, trying to bind my body and tear apart my soul.
Tear Through Their Lines!
I'm slowed slightly, and then I'm upon them, daiklave slicing through the space the Highborn on the right was occupying before she forward-flipped out of the way. I use my left gauntlet to parry the flat of her spear, sending the point scratching across the floor as she completes her dive and forward-rolls into a defensive crouch. Turning to keep her in sight I spot the acid golem coming up behind us, parrying a sword thrust from her partner and head butting the owner in the helmet as I do so. Small stagger, both our swords out of position as the spear-wielder darts left and stabs at me, hoping to use my larger size against me.
KNEEL
I catch the shaft in my left hand just below the head and pull, the Highborn shaking slightly as her anti-disarming wards cook off and she has a split-second to choose between losing her weapon and being pulled into grappling range of someone monstrously stronger than her. She chooses to let go, and I twist my wrist and narrowly fail to impale the sword fighter as he hurriedly shuffles back.
KNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!
I shift my grip, letting the spear slide through my hand and gripping the shaft near to the butt while lunging forward to slash with my daiklave. He blocks with his shield, my swing being slowed as the ridiculously oversized sword overpowers its defensive spells. He sidesteps and cuts at my extended forearm only to be smacked across the cuirass by his partner's spear.

And then cut from shoulder to sternum by a heavy downward swing from my daiklave. He staggers back… Into the first acid golem, his flesh steaming away inside his armour as the acid gets to work. I swing my new spear back to ward off its former owner, then thrust my daiklave's tip into the golem's forehead.
You Are Dismissed
Its eyes flicker as its controller's binding is disrupted, then I jump and trigger my aero-discs as it collapses in a wave of acid slime. Sword-fighter has dropped his weapon and collapsed on the floor, his wounds and exposed flesh smoking from the acid. A downward stab trepans his skull and then I swing back towards the surviving Highborn.

"Kneel."

Her hands are in a guard position and her left holds a long knife shimmering with runes. Some of her armour flickers, but between my goggles and the fact that I own most of this planet Highborn invisibility doesn't really work on me. She lunges, and I drop her spear to half-hand my daiklave and smash the broad side into her knife hand. She keeps the knife but her hand twitches, clearly injured.

"Kneel."

I swing the blade back, striking her in the chest and slamming her back into the doors, then charging forward, stabbing my daiklave into the ground and grabbing her head in both hands.

"Kneel." Accept Your Defeat

The wards on her armour burn out, then she drops from my hands and falls into a kneeling position. I glance back at the corridor and see two more acid golems stumbling after me.

"Pick up your spear and follow."

I grab my daiklave out of the floor and savagely kick the doors in. They explode across the room and-.

Arrows pincushion my cuirass, biting into my armour! No penetrations, but that's more power than I'm comfortable being hit with. I charge-.

"Artemis?"

The figure with the bow straightens slightly, not completely relaxing their hold on their bowstring. It took me a moment; the bow is familiar but the arrows and armour are different and her hair is white, but…

"Wait… Gray… Ven?"

I lower my sword. She lowers her bow.

"Hi."

"I… Thought you were-. Wait, it's you?"

"Ah…"

"The guy who's been rampaging around and conquering every-."

I take a few steps closer, shrugging as I do so.

"Well… Yeah, that's what I do." Hang on. "Are you the one who's been organising the resistance against my campaign? I thought they'd been more unified lately."

She walks slowly towards me, bow hanging from one hand as she pulls off her Sheeda-issue facemask. Aside from the hair she looks the same.

"I thought you died."

"No. Landed on the wrong side of the planet and had to fight my way back. Thought I'd end the war by force on my way."

"So… We can just tell them to stop?"

"Yes. Prob.. ably. Assuming your side are sufficiently unified." Um. "How have you-?"

She jumps up, hands bracing on my shoulders, and kisses me.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Bull
Stands

"Like the hair."

Artemis rolls her eyes at me as we walk down a corridor in Caergwaed. Finally, things are settling down. Finally, we can return to the task at hand. I miss the fight already.

"It was an accident."

"I didn't even know New Gods could bleach their hair."

"I've been bleaching it since forever. But you must have known that. Why did you think my hair stayed blonde after you 'awoke' me?"

"I thought that your divine nature might have included being blonde." I shrug. "The phenomenon isn't well studied in humans."

"No, still dyeing it. Which I couldn't do here, because Sheeda don't have hair. One of my-" She glances backwards at our escort. "-attendants looked at my two-tone hair and asked if there was a problem. Only they didn't know what bleaching agents humans use and gave me something that turned it white instead."

"Is it permanent?"

"Ask me in another two hundred years."

I nod. "Will do."

We emerge onto a balcony which grants a good view across the city, if mist-shrouded military base is your idea of a good view like it is mine.

"Nice place you got here."

Artemis steps forward, indicating a complex over to our right with her right hand.

"That stuff's new. We had to fortify our long-range communications, and since even when it got really bad no one wanted to risk destroying Caergwaed's vats this was the best place to put it."

I nod. Local experts are copying the really quite clever system to the cities on my side of our renewed alliance as we speak, and inscribing New God designs on them for superior effectiveness.

"So what happened?"

"After you left, two of the 'observers' turned out to be assassins. After they got killed we found out that a bunch of other cities were attacking the cities who sent representatives to the launch." She turns around to face me, leaning back on the railing. "Caeryg died right away-" Unfortunate. "-and so I had to try and get everyone to work together."

"Looks like you did a pretty good job. Yours was the second largest alliance on the planet."

The only other one worth talking about. Once the unaligned cities found out that our war had suddenly stopped they began making representations. More to Artemis' side than mine, but since what's mine is hers I'm not going to complain.

"This…" She shakes her head. "Isn't my thing. It's like herding cats! I spent like ninety percent of my time just trying to get them to even talk to each other!"

"I just killed anyone who disobeyed me. Saved a lot of time…"

"I wanna say that's bad… But I know how many people died every time one of the Highborn on my side decided to act up."

"That's politics at the national level. People die whatever you do. I like the way I do things but I can't tell you I'm objectively right. Your way might have been better."

"Or it might not have worked."

I nod. "And you won't ever know for sure because you can't do both." I smile. "And this is the difference between Earth, and Apokolips and New Genesis. You encouraged cooperation and I compelled obedience, and rather than fight to the death we're talking about it like rational people and combining our power bases to do something more important."

"Did you kill a lot of people?"

"The total Sheeda population is far less than the population of Earth in our era. Do you mean as a proportion, or in absolute numbers?"

"I-." She gives a tired snort. "I suppose it doesn't matter." She shrugs. "So what's next?"

"Bleed torsion generator."

That gets her attention.

"You know how to make it work?"

"Think so." I huff, shaking my head. "I've had to have Mother Box working on war-related things, but between what she already knows and what she learned in space, it should be possible. And…" How to approach this? "When did the picture cut off?"

"A little bit after you started your tour of the Source Wall. The universe is really small now, huh?"

"That's my conclusion, though I don't plan on touching it to check."

"Yeah."

"I… Saw something, when I was coming back. An etheric tide flowing from the Earth to the sun. I'm not sure.. exactly what was happening, but once things are stable here I want to go up again and get a closer look at the sun."

She nods. "That's the only other place to look."

"Technically, we could look underground." She smiles faintly. "And I know that we knew that the sun is continuing to.. feed, but it became noticeably more intense when the fighting started. And when I began to despair, it was able to drain me."

She shrugs. "I don't think the Sheeda are going to start another war."

"No, but once the generators are up and running, I think it might be worth putting resources into light entertainment."

She nods. "To keep people happy, and make it harder for the sun to feed on them."

"Or just to add circuses to the bread. Anything new on your end?"

She nods. "We found records of the tissue sample. The one-"

"The one they got from the Justice Legion." / "-they picked up from whoever it was-. Yeah."

"And… Were you able to learn anything about it?"

"I.. got the local Vat Masters to look at it, but the record's really old and… Weird. The Vat Lord said that he thought the problem was their ancestors making a copy of a copy of a copy without really understanding what they were looking at."

I nod. "To be expected, really. Unless they find the original I doubt it will help. But… I am pleased that you kept looking."

She nods with a smile, stepping away from the railing.

"We should go talk to the Highborn. Let them know what we want them doing now that the war's over."

I nod. "Maybe I could bring more people up with me next time. See if going above the mists affects Sheeda differently."

"That-."

"My lady? My lord?"

A Highborn I don't recognise walks around Artemis's attendants and hesitantly halts before us. Since this is Artemis's city I wait for her to reply.

"What is it, Edwyn?"

"You asked about a particular tissue sample collected by our ancestors?"

"What about it?"

"With the help of Lord Grayven's arcanists, we… We believe that we may have found it."

She frowns. "A better record?"

"No. The original sample. It has… It appears to have somehow survived. We.. initially misidentified it, but… With a more thorough review-."

"Take us to it right now."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Where We
Stand

The Vat Lord of Caergwaed puts a block of chitin into a reader device and then places his hands on the work station, sigils lighting up as he uses magic to read the contents.

"It's in the block?"

The Vat Lord nods at Artemis's inquiry.

"It's a standard sample container. It's designed to exclude external contaminants, but given the age of the sample it should have long since spoiled. But in fact…"

An illusion image appears… That's not human DNA. I… Don't even think that's DNA. I'm… Passingly familiar with genetic encoding which uses other chemicals, but nothing like to the level I'd need to be for what I'm seeing to actually make sense to me.

"As you can see, this sample is undamaged. Pure. Even after all this time."

Artemis looks at it, then looks at me. I shrug, and she peers at the image instead.

"Do you know what sort of… Thing this molecule would create?"

"No. I could begin work on a specialist vat to grow it, if that is your wish."

"This… Thing killed the most powerful superheroes in the galaxy when the galaxy was full-sized. Let's not create another one."

I take a closer look, but…

Ping.

Really?

"Vat Lord, my Mother Box recognises parts of this."

"Well, yes, my lord. These segments here and here-" Several parts are illuminated. "-exist in every creature on Earth. In myself, other Highborn, Lowborn, our beasts, even the material of the ground. All of us."

The work station glows and a series of example cell structures appear, each showing the segments in their own structures in the cell. Other parts of the cell vary greatly; this is a cross section of Sheeda-life.

"Our every cell contains structures specifically designed to grow and maintain it. This discovery implies that either this… Creature is a more developed form of Sheeda, or that we were created as derivatives of it."

Artemis regards him levelly. "Meaning?"

"It's not my personal specialty, but there are wards which can be created from the blood of one's foe which will function perfectly against the donor's spells. It is known amongst Vat Masters that creatures without this component will fail to develop correctly, but the component itself is generally regarded as being purely inert. And… Biologically, it is. But perhaps there is some magic unknown to us where having this… Shields us."

I nod. "Like the visovoric effect which drains everything which is unprotected."

"Perhaps. Certainly, I cannot think of anything else that could explain this state of affairs."

"Design a small creature without it. I will shield it with my New God abilities so that we can study the precise effect."

"Very well, that is simple to achieve."

Artemis points at the illusion. "Could those work in a human body?"

"Yes, certainly. Though not without… Problems. You have met our recycling units?"

The zombie children. But if they are as… Human as they can be… "And if you wanted to create…" Artemis and I share a glance. "Something… Intelligent, as similar to a human as possible, that could contain that genetic sample and still be alive?"

"I have never seen unaltered human flesh. The Harvest Dreadnoughts convert it into a more useable format before returning to the Land of Summer's End."

Artemis slightly raises her right hand. "Grayven, do I have human DNA?"

"Sort of. If you're planning on offering it for analysis it probably wouldn't work. Don't worry, you can still get pregnant and donate blood without it killing anyone." Huh. "Uh. Actually, don't donate blood."

"What?"

"It won't hurt anyone, but it might give them temporary New God powers or something, and that would be confusing. But, yeah, we can't provide material for human comparative testing."

She nods, then frowns. "'We'?"

"My mother's from Earth. We don't know where, or what her name was, but this is her planet of origin. Did you think I didn't have any human biological traits?"

"Oh. Yeah, okay. Vat Lord, is this material in the mists as well?"

"Most certainly. Microbes in the water droplets contain the exact same segments."

"So-."

"My lady, you are not Sheeda. I am not… Sure you understand what a significant finding this is?"

I raise my eyebrows.

"I'm not sure you do, either. I'll wager you a pint of my blood that Sheeda were created by the final generation of humans specifically to be able to survive the draining effect of the Vampire Sun."

He shakes his head. "I will not take that bet. It sounds all too likely."

"That doesn't… Bother you?"

"Not really. I think everyone who would have been bothered by it either left with the Queen or died in the war. For myself… I have reached the pinnacle of my career, and I have nothing to look forward to but a gradual reduction in my capacity to create novel forms of life. But if you are successful… I will be unbound, free to create as I will. Purely from a self-interested point of view, the choice is an easy one."

Hm…

"When we're finished here, I may have a role for you. I know some people involved in the 'novel life form' business." I shake my head. "Can you use this sample to create a better ward?"

"Certainly. I would first have to find a way to reproduce a pure sample. And then there would be… Limitations. The creature sustaining it would effectively only exist to sustain the sample, though that would be quite sufficient for sorcerous purposes. For a sojourn to the Vampire Sun… Additional design work would be needed. A great deal of design work."

I nod. "You have the resources of the Sheeda civilisation." I smile at Artemis. "Chances that the thing that killed the Justice Legion is having a kip in the sun because the only thing left that it can feed on is warded against it?"

"Would the ward work if it just flew here?" Artemis makes eye contact with both of us. "I mean, it's a sun. If the tissue was blocking its draining spell, why wouldn't it just come here in person?"

The Vat Lord gestures to the room. "For much the same reason that we Harrow the past. There is nothing here. If the Vampire Sun can sustain itself upon us, then it will do so for as long as it can. It has no alternative."

"So that's not the sun-sun?"

I shrug. "Could be. Might not be. Might be… I mean, it was originally humanoid. It might have flown into the sun for fuel, and be draining Earth as a bonus. Either way, we need a creature that can survive the sun and this thing's draining. And an organic bleed torsion generator. Probably easiest if I have my people work on the generator while yours work on the rest."

Artemis nods. "I agree. With the Vat Lord having oversight of everything?"

I nod. "He's the best on the planet. Meanwhile… You and I have about a thousand and one meetings to sit in on."

Artemis nods, and we both step away as the Vat Lord deactivates the station and peers longingly at the sample container.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Where We
Stood

If I close my eyes and listen, I can hear it.

Not the generators themselves. Those are near-silent, and even with my ability to feel exotic effects I only really notice them when they're close by. Not the greater illumination. Even those poor unfortunates with electrosensitivity wouldn't feel anything from the super-efficiently shielded living lights parasitising on the city's blood network. Not the giant aerial box jellyfish who lift the mists up from ground level so that the lines of sight are a little more sensible, nor the growing planetary nervous system we're building to improve data transmission.

No. What I hear is civilisation. Growing civilisation. Strong civilisation. Growing, vibrant, peaceful civilisation. One that doesn't need my constant input to remain so. In a universe burned down to nothing, Artemis and I have surpassed Red Son Superman.

And so my unrest grows as progress slows.

And from the way Artemis is looking at me, she knows where my thoughts are heading.

"We can go whenever you want."

I nod slowly. "What can I say? I'm a completionist."

With improved lines of sight, our ability to travel via rainbow bridge has expanded hugely. And with clear vision granted by the eyes of new generations of space-dwelling Sheeda creatures, getting into space is easy.

If only there were somewhere to go. If only it was this simple back in the past.

But she's right and she knows it and she's already heading for the balcony and notching an arrow. It could be because our souls are responding to one another, but equally we've been together for a… Long time in the ongoing 'now' of Sheeda civilisation. A burst of rainbow light, then she stows her bow and… Offers me her right hand with a mock-condescending smirk.

I roll my eyes, and take it.

Even reducing military expenditure to next to nothing, we don't have anything like enough biological material to support a space elevator. We could just about make one by devoting almost all Sheeda biomass into it -including the humanoid Sheeda population- but that would rather defeat the object.

It would also weaken me, and since I'm the point man in this exercise that rather takes precedence.

I take Artemis's proffered hand and we walk across the rainbow bridge into the sky, emerging in the space-based vat station which has been creating our solar probes and has nearly completed our sun diver. Vat Masters and functionaries turn and bow in our direction, and we give them a polite nod of dismissal to return them to their duties.

"I guess…"

I raise my eyebrows. "What?"

"We're nearly done, aren't we?"

"It was just a matter of time once the war finished."

She tilts her head back slightly, staring at nothing.

"Gotham Academy."

"I can lend you the g-gnomes if you need to swot up on things."

"No… It's not that. I'm not.. sure… How to go back to it." She shakes her head and then looks up to me, shrugging. "School. And.. not-."

I smile, nodding. "Not being queen."

"It's not that being queen's been.. super-great, but I've kinda gotten used to it."

"You don't have to go back. Depending on what sort of time machine we end up using, you might be able to commute. Or-."

"You told your followers you wouldn't stay."

"Sure, but you didn't tell yours that. You could oversee the change from autocracy to oligarchy, and become a mere constitutional monarch."

She looks away again.

"I used to really look forward to it. I wanted to get the mission over with, and see Mom and… Tao, again. And it's not like I don't want to… I'm just… Not who I was when I left."

"That's growing up for you. Some change is inevitable. And this probably isn't the most extreme thing that could happen to you, given our careers." Hm. "Speaking of careers -and certainly not speaking of the fact that you mentioned your mother and boyfriend and not your sister- can I-?"

"I hadn't seen Jade since she started working for you. And I saw her, like, twice? Since she left home." Something occurs to her. "Did you tell her about your new girlfriend yet?"

"No. I don't really think she's a pony person."

"Actually, Dad did take us riding a couple of times."

"In Gotham? Were you riding sewer crocodiles?"

"No, the mutant sewer guppies ate all of those." She takes a deep breath. "But that all depends on what sort of time machine we get a hold of."

"True." I look around at the staff. "Vat Lord, are we in position to launch solar probes?"

The woman stops pointedly ignoring our conversation and approaches, giving us a deferential nod as she does so.

"We can, now that you are here. My lord, you will need to reinforce the protective spells. My lady, if you assist us with the launch we will have the results far more swiftly."

Artemis nods. "Show us where we need to be."

The Vat Lord turns aside and beckons. Two Vat Masters approach, one bowing to me and the other to Artemis. I follow my guide over to a fairly standard looking Sheeda organic console with New God additions. Some parts of this station were salvaged from the Sheeda's last group of New God visitors, the ones who gave them the Castle Revolving in the first place. As a result it's far easier for both Artemis and I to connect to it than Sheeda organisms with ersatz rune work.

"Here, Lord."

The Vat Master steps aside and I feel all of the ways this device is a part of the civilisation Artemis and I have built. All of the people who have worked on this, and prepared the raw materials and who harvest the food that sustains them.

I lay my hands on the console as I extend my purpose through the mechanism.

"All ready here. What's the spread on what we're going to find?"

"I'm afraid that 'malevolent super powered human' is far in the lead, lord."

"You think that the progenitor of the Sheeda was human?"

"Super powers sometimes manifest with physiological oddities, lord. And humans have shown a tendency to develop unusual abilities of tremendous power."

"No super Sheeda?"

"None save those which were deliberately designed, lord."

"Anyone betting that it's me?"

"There…" She looks away. "May be some, lord."

"A Sheeda using a time loop?"

"I believe that the former king Melmoth's name was mentioned in that capacity. Of course, this is all purely speculative. It is more likely to be something none of us have considered."