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

[Mr Zoat]

17th July 2013
16:37 GMT -5

There's nothing quite as permanent as a temporary solution.

I hope that's not true, but the Hub City revitalisation can only go so fast and we're not that far away from harvest season. America needs both new farm machinery and maintenance work done on what it already has. So I've sunk a new Dolmen Gate into a road that's due for replacement, I've set up a farm machine garage in an intact warehouse and I've found some people qualified to work there.

Maybe I should do a grand opening or something, but it seems like such a measly achievement that I decided against it.

Still: honest work has returned to Hub City.

Or… Rather, will tomorrow. A few of tomorrow's workers are looking around to familiarise themselves with the place, and I've still got to actually move the Dolmen Gate at the other end to somewhere with farm machinery in need of repair, and get the word out that the Gate is going to be there. Justice League News and the G.P.A. website and narrowcasts can do that, and I've sent the notifications off to get them to do that...

Well, it's my own money I'm-.

"Oh."

I descend to ground level as Mayor Connelly-Fermin stops just inside the door, staring around at the spotless garage.

"Madam Mayor." She blinks, jerking her head in my direction. "What can I do for you?"

"I…" She gestures to the room. "Didn't realise that you'd gotten this far."

"I haven't. This is.. just something to tide everyone over. Get the word out. I'm… Not exactly being consistent on this, and I apologise-."

"No! No, that's…" She pauses for thought. "I don't really.. understand your.. problem here, but I'm extremely grateful for everything that you're doing."

"It-. Forward guidance. I said I was going to do things in a particular way, then I changed my mind without telling-. Without letting you know because I wanted something done now. And… Part of what I'm trying to do here is develop a system for fixing up other cities once Mister Schreiber is finished here, and… Skipping ahead interferes with that."

"I'm…" She shakes her head. "Not worried about that. Ah…" She looks around. "I assume all this is temporary, then?"

"Yes. But 'temporary' could easily be a year or two, even with Mister Schreiber's best efforts."

"I don't suppose there's anything the G.P.A. could do, is there?"

"Ah… Well, they've put a detailed description of the work going on and the skills in demand on their website, and anyone who's registered with them and has those skills will get a notification, but a lot of the people with the required skills are working on bringing America's oil production back into action-."

"Ah-?" She frowns. "Why? I thought you made a big thing about moving away from oil for power generation."

"I did, but it's not practical for me to put a bleed torsion generator in every car, whereas the infrastructure is there for oil. Exotic power plants are being built for mains supply, but for… Heavy goods vehicles and cars, it's easier to spend a year or two using oil rather than try to electrify them all. Several of the… Dolmen Gates owned by Cadbury's Shipping are already linking oil wells, refineries and distribution hubs, which… Everyone is in favour of because places that produce oil are about as dependent on selling it as other places are on using it, and it's easier than shipping it or piping it."

"I… See. Will that.. be a problem for us here?"

"It shouldn't be. Hub City hasn't ever been a site of oil extraction, and with your Dolmen Gate access getting fuel here will be relatively easy." I should-. "Oh, ah, while you're here, any news on The Question? The G.P.A. are trying to do a wellness check."

She shrugs. "I left the message like you asked, but he hasn't made any kind of reply."

"Did he seem..? Okay to you?"

"Well, he's always been a bit… Odd."

"Yes, but there's 'odd' in the sense of being a bit of an oddball, and then there's odd in the sense of saying 'the bits of plastic on the ends of shoelaces are called aglets and their true purpose is sinister'. I know he's a shaman, and that.. might mean that he's been getting exposed to the parapsychic residue of the planet being Anti-Lifed for a month. He might have gotten reinfected, or been driven potty by the damage to civilisation, or… I don't know, undiagnosed brain cancer or something. If you could at all prevail upon him to meet with me, I'd really appreciate it."

She nods slowly. "I don't know why he's being so evasive. Didn't the two of you already work together once?"

"Yes, and I don't think I've done anything since then that would put me on his bad side, but if I'm the problem then I can just get someone else to check him out."

She frowns. "He knows what you're doing for Hub. I can't imagine that he'd take it against you."

"I will admit to having done dubious things, and I can understand why one of them might put someone off. I don't take it personally, but I am concerned. If-."

Priority message.

"Ah…." I raise my ring to my ear. "Sorry, I need to take this. Please feel free to have a look around."

She nods, and wanders over to talk to some or her constituents.

"Orange Lantern."

"Lex Luthor."

"Good… Afternoon. What can I do for you?"

"I believe that I have discovered something relating to an emergent problem. Can you make time to visit Metropolis today?"

"Yes, I've… Pretty much finished here for today. Is now alright?"

"If that's not too much trouble."

I could just appear next to him, but he might have just gotten out of the shower or something. Instead, I transition to Metropolis and fly at speed to LexCorp Tower.

"Where shall we meet?"

"My office, I think. Doctor Cochin is already up here."

I head to the balcony, and Miss Graves is already opening the door. I land, nod politely, and walk through-.

"Ah, Orange Lantern." Mister Luthor presses the 'end call' button on his desk phone. "Good. You remember Doctor Cochin?"

The doctor nods to me, and I nod back. "Of course."

"And-."

"Vienna Barstow, yes. It's been a couple of years." And she's looking considerably more human than she was when I last saw her. I'd be interested to see how they got all of the O.M.A.C. components out of her, and concerned about what LexCorp might be doing with them. "How are you doing?"

She nods, smiling. "Much better, thanks to Mister Luthor and Doctor Cochin. They managed to put the nanotech into standby mode, so I look.. normal, and I don't have to look out through a heads up display any more."

"I'm glad to hear it. But… Why are you here?"

The three of them look around for a moment, then Mister Luthor takes on a serious expression.

"Because the nanotechnology in her body looks exceedingly similar to the samples you took from Mister Blank."

 

[Mr Zoat]

17th July 2013
16:42 GMT -5

I look at the holographic display of the two types of nanotech in the samples, scan it, and then send a copy to Dox in the hope that he'll have some idea what I'm looking at.

"While I'm grateful for the high opinion you clearly have of my intelligence… What am I looking at?"

Dr. Cochin points to the image on the right. "That, is the sample you took from Mister Buddy Blank. The nanites are inert, but I managed to come up with a solution which prevents them decaying too quickly."

I frown. I do know something about applied nanotechnology due to having to deal with the nanofabricator, and… "Some sort of ultra-efficient heat conductor?"

"In the human body?" Dr. Cochin scoffs. "How would that work?"

"Magic?"

He narrows his eyes slightly in the manner of a teacher who isn't sure if the child is asking a genuine question or just disrupting the lesson. Sorry Mr. Maidment. Then he gives it a little thought.

"A simple binding wouldn't work -how would you even inscribe the runes?- but I suppose that a bound fey might be able to alter the conditions in which heat accumulates, or reduce the nanobots' vulnerability. And an arrangement with some manner of cold spirit might allow the human body to function at a reduced temperature or apply the spell specifically to the nanobots. I don't think that it would prove efficient as opposed to more corporeal methods, but I suspect that it could be made to work."

"It's probably best if you just explain it…"

"Yes." He nods. "To put it crudely, the energy is extracted by-." He considers. "To put it more crudely, any built up heat is sucked out into a parallel universe."

"Ah..?"

"Technically, it's a parallel proto-universe with a radically different energy gradient; there's no actual sucking, that part of the process is moderated by the difference in physical laws between the two universes. There's a small implant in the subject's body which maintains the link on this side. In Miss Barstow's case the primary and backup generators are located between her ribs and at the front of her coccyx."

"What happens if they're destroyed?"

He contemplates the ceiling for a moment. "Given the injuries that would have to have been taken for that to occur? Death, probably. The nanotech would also be reduced in effectiveness and gradually decay until it broke down completely."

I nod. "Because the attack would have to have gotten through the force fields, armour and super-tough flesh, so there's no point in adding in too much redundancy for a weapon system that would have to have already failed."

He nods. "Just so."

Hm. "The augmentations wouldn't cut out immediately?"

"No. The connection to that universe is… 'Sticky', for want of a better term that you would understand. It would decay, but it wouldn't decay to nothing instantly."

"Can that connection be tracked?"

"Yes. I've already built a device to do just that. Your ring should be able to manage it easily."

Scan… Oh yeah! Now, the O.M.A.C.s from Earth -14 used the Amazo system, but since their version was nanotech based I.. probably can't detect our Amazo, though it would be worth giving it a try. So, limited utility, but if the system can be used-.

Ah. It might make cold guns obsolete. If this works on the sort of scale a nanoforge would need…

"Could you make a nanoforge with that technique? I mean, handling the thermal regulation aspect?"

"Not at an industrial scale. It wouldn't work well for large area saturation." He makes a small smile. "So Doctor Snart's livelihood is quite safe. If I may continue?"

I nod, making a circling notion with my right hand.

"The sample from Mister Blank uses the same system for thermal regulation. I haven't examined the man in person, but I imagine that it would require similar implants."

"What about the base station I destroyed?"

He shakes his head. "The O.M.A.C.s are a mature technology, and their version requires close physical proximity. I would be surprised if the revised version were more effective. I suspect that the base station was simply a relay for the empowerment system."

"The production model uses Ap-. New God technology instead."

Mr. Luthor raises his eyebrows. "Apokoliptian technology? I had assumed that the League was simply disposing of it in a controlled manner. Are they hoarding it?"

"I don't know. I haven't been involved in that side of things. It's-. The League does have contact with New Genesis through Scott Free, and the technology shares the same base."

"But you don't believe that's where it comes from."

"I'd be surprised if he hadn't had someone from New Genesis give it the once-over, but…" I shrug. "Why negotiate for access to something when you've got a big pile of it already? There was plenty of Apokoliptian technology left over that had nothing to do with broadcasting the Anti-Life, and the broadcasters could be broken down into their component parts. With the Anti-Life fragment destroyed they're not dangerous on their own."

"But they could become so again."

I shake my head. "If Darkseid turned his attention our way as we are now, there isn't much we could do about it anyway. Batman was at ground zero for the white light blast. He isn't Anti-Lifed or possessed or whatever. The… Broadcasters could be used to broadcast other ethereal… Ah. Things, if they were modified to do so, which is.. how the energy output and communications reaches the Peace Operatives."

"What sort of generator is he using to supercharge them?"

I shake my head. "I've got no idea. It could be New God, but equally it might just be a big warehouse full of bleed torsion generators. New God technology is good at bypassing compatibility issues."

"Did you ever find out where Owlman got the O.M.A.C. technology? Did he develop it himself, or did he acquire it from elsewhere?"

"I didn't find out. I could probably get a message to my alter-ego if you need to know."

"I was just wondering whether Batman could have developed it using his own resources, or if he had taken it upon himself to acquire some of Owlman's equipment? There was a gap between your acquisition of the inter-planar jamming device and its utilisation, and he would have been able to temporarily deactivate it anyway."

Huh. "I suppose he.. could have done. Or developed it on our Earth. It's advanced, but Earth technology is infamously irregular in its progression." I shake my head. "I don't know, I'm afraid. He never gave any sign of visiting there, and no one there mentioned it when I went there."

I look at the images again.

"Is there any sign… That they've got the full Amazo abilities?"

Dr. Cochin shakes his head. "I'd have to examine one directly to discover that."

"Alright, well… Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll let you know if I discover anything else on my end."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July 2013
06:11 GMT -8

I watch as the Global Peace Operatives begin throwing abandoned cars into the Dolmen Gate carried by two of their number. Given their strength they're having to carefully grip the frame through the outer panelling, but accuracy doesn't appear to be a problem.

A face masked Peace Agent with a clipboard stands next to the gate, making notes as the cars go.

I spent time clearing the corpses and the roads after we first expunged the Anti-Life, but there are still a lot of wrecks along the sides of roads throughout… Everywhere, basically. But pick them up and throw them through the Gate, where the Gate at the other end leads to a nanoforge, and you get fast recycling and road clearance. And all the components get turned into useful materials. It's not something I'd thought much about, but it turns out that if all you're making is undifferentiated blocks of a single element the nanoforge is a lot faster than making something complicated. I hadn't realised it was literally 'throw a car in and blocks come out the bottom' fast, but, good for Leonard and Serling.

And yes, they're venting the heat from their nanotech in exactly the way that Dr. Cochin described, so I can detect them. Which could be convenient.

All these people willing to have their memories erased…

Wait-.

"Tuppence?"

Oh, sugar. If she's-. No, she looks around as she hears her name.

"Whut?"

I initially missed her because she's wearing the same colours as the Operatives, but she doesn't have the signature Mohican. At the moment she's holding up one side of the Dolmen Gate.

"You still remember your name, or did you-?"

"Ah ain't joinin', Pawl. But hey, this ain't so different from smashin' urp ships."

The Peace Agent makes another note as a… Car, comes flying in and falls through the Gate. "We do organize assets other than members. That is one of the Global Peace Agency's purposes."

"Ah… Is your process compatible with metahumans?"

"Oh, yes."

She scowl at him. "Still ain't joinin'. Mah memories maight be shitty, but they're maihn."

"Good, I was worried. And I'm happy that you're finding a productive outlet for your abilities."

The Peace Agent nods. "That is your choice, of course. Five degrees right."

The team holding the Gate shift it slightly, just in time to catch the new… Car.

"Hey, Pawl? Every one a' these guys really had their brains dun?"

"So they tell me. And-" Empathic vision-. Ugh. "-as far as I can see, they're telling the truth."

There's barely anything there. Any formative memories are gone, stripped of emotional significance and suppressed to the point where they may as well not be there. I'm… Reasonably confident that they're still there somewhere, encoded into the structures of their brains. But they're not really doing anything. And…

Oh. I get it. They need an A.I. telling them what to do because… They've been stripped of everything that could motivate them. They must be… Rather suggestible. Which…

Someone or something would have been giving Mr. Blank instructions. Otherwise he'd just have gone along with what we said because he.. wouldn't have an attachment to anything that would make him behave one way or another. So… Did the A.I. not know about us, or..?

Speculative.

"C'n ya'll..?" I blink, and refocus my attention on Tuppence, who appears to be tensing her muscles so as to prevent herself from squirming awkwardly.

"Tuppence? Whatever it is, I'm happy to help."

"Jus… Make sure ah still remember who ah am tomorrow."

The Peace Agent next to me shakes his head. "We aren't desperate enough to forcibly recruit people who are voluntarily working for us. That makes no sense."

"But if it puts your mind at ease then I will check up on you at the end of the day."

"… Thanks."

Alright, Hub City doesn't need me right at this moment. Mr. Sage hasn't resurfaced, and Mr. Tetch is proving surprisingly capable of keeping his head down. And if the League's used their new super dictator powers for evil then I haven't heard about it.

How many assets are there, exactly?

Global scan for those parallel universe heat sink connections.

Compliance.

And there they are, all across the world. In just about every country. How did he..? Find them all? I… Suppose that finding them by power ring would be.. possible, if the user knew exactly what they were looking for.

So… Next step. Do I open a portal to Earth -14? After what happened last time President Luthor might just have someone blocking it… No, we've still got Dame Carol. They'd probably be on the lookout, but I doubt that they'd have a planetary barrier in place. And if they do, it's not like I can't fly to Mars and open the portal there. I should see if the two surviving O.M.A.C.s want any messages sent through… Or if they just want to go back themselves.

I'm not exactly excited to be-.

Incoming telephone call.

Oh. Ah, answer.

"Orange Lantern here. Go ahead."

"Ah, hey."

"Kai. What can I do for you?"

"Ah. Huh, didn't think you'd-. Ah, I was talking to some of the other guys who were in the Justifiers. Some people we know have gone missing. I don't know for sure if they just left or if something happened to them, but as far as I can tell they didn't tell anyone where they were going, so it looks suspicious."

"Alright. Is there a reason why those people might not want to come to the attention of the police? Because it seems to me that they'd be the best people to talk to about that."

"Being a Justifier ain't something you boast about."

"I wasn't aware of there being any sort of reprisal attack against-."

"Nah nah nah. Which is weird, because of all the stuff we did."

"Yes, but you joined the Alliance of the Just because you wanted to do some good. None of you knew about the alien god possessing the one organising it. You can't blame people for getting mind controlled. Even the Justice League has been mind controlled before."

"Thanks, man. Ah, the ones who went missing were in the Gotham chapter with me. I don't know if it's anything-. I mean, yeah, maybe it's just a regular missing person, but I figured that you'd want to know… And you could probably investigate faster than Gordon's G-… People."

"Alright, I can spare the time. Are you at home?"

"Yeah."

"Then I will be with you shortly."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July 2013
09:16 GMT -5

Kai and another youth are waiting in front of the address he supplied as I land, Kai smiling and nodding to me and the other fellow backing away a step. Kai notices, frowning in puzzlement.

"Nah, man. I told you, it's cool."

I smile politely. "Is there a problem?"

"Ah…" The youth looks awkward. "I shot you a few times."

"Am I dead?"

"Huh?"

"Do I look dead to you?"

"Ah..? No?" He looks toward Kai for some sort of guidance.

"Then there's no problem. As I told Kai, I'm not going to hold what they did while Anti-Lifed against people."

He shifts awkwardly.

"Or, what they did before that, so long as they buck their ideas up."

"Yeah, man. No problem. I just-"

"Doesn't matter."

"-figured working for Bane was better than nothing-."

Scan.

He freezes as the orange lights strobe over him. "Ah..?"

"You're fortunate. I can't see any signs of venom-related damage to your brain."

"Nah, man. I said 'no'. Also said no to going to China, so they weren't really putting the pressure on me for long."

"In case China didn't broadcast it, most of the people who went with him were either killed or given life sentences." I nod. "So that was a good decision on your part."

Kai looks confused, and a little worried. "You guys got some beef you wanna talk about?"

"It seems that… Ben Jameson here was one of the people who assisted Bane when he came very close to killing me. Seems like a long time ago, and to be honest I'm completely over it. Now, about your Justifier friends-." I frown. "No, wait, how did you go from working for Bane to joining the Alliance of the Just?"

Ben shrugs awkwardly. "Guess I'm a joiner, y'know? I didn't have like a… Like a code name or anything, but I did the first aid and law training stuff…"

"Orpheus. He recruited you?"

"Yeah. Saw me hanging out with the wrong crowd… Don't think he knew what I'd done. I'd been thinking the Justice League was gunna jump me, so I figured… Y'know…"

"Get a positive character reference so that a lawyer could argue that you'd reformed." He nods. "Well, it's a step in the right direction. Good habits can be habit-forming."

He watches me cautiously, as if not quite believing what I'm saying.

"Ah. Do you need me to pretend to be Batman and break a few of your bones? I can do that if your need for punishment-."

"Nah, I'm-. I'm good."

"Or I know a couple of women who punish professionally?"

Kai snorts with laughter. "Women usually hit him without him paying for it!"

"One fucking time, man!"

"I don't think that Warden Amanda Waller of the Belle Reve Penitentiary would expect to be paid, but I don't think there's a rule against voluntary contributions. Now, about your missing colleagues..?"

Kai nods. "Well, the first guy we found out was missing was Stan. He was.. part of our.. group? Don't think he was in a gang or anything. Orpheus knew him from… Somewhere." He looks at Ben. "He ever tell you?"

Ben shrugs, shaking his head. "Nah. Just said he knew him."

Review Alliance of the Just membership records, people who used their real names, based in Gotham… "That would be Stanley Adams?" They both nod. "Last seen..?"

"'bout six weeks ago." Ben looks awkward. "Guess we shoulda kept in touch more, but we all been kinda caught up in our own sh-stuff, and…" He glances at Kai.

Kai nods. "We all remember what we did. And being around each other… Makes us think about it more. I mean, what are we going to talk about? 'Hey, remember that time we joined an evil army to take over the world'?"

"Was this reported to the police?"

Kai looks awkward. "His family didn't make it. And it's not exactly-. I mean, no offence or nothing, but it's a struggle getting food and stuff sometimes. No one's hiring…"

I nod. "Social networks have broken down. No work colleagues, no family… The people who'd usually make a report aren't in a position to do so."

"Yeah."

"Okay. I think you should-."

"Yeah, I'm gunna make a point of calling everyone… I dunno, once a week or something? We went though all that, survived it, and then they just disappear like none of it mattered?"

I nod. "Who else?"

"It was Orpheus. Ah… do you know his name? I don't know how we're supposed to do this bit."

"Do you?"

"Yes?"

"Gavin."

He nods, looking a little relieved. "Last time anyone saw him was a couple of days before I got grabbed. He wasn't at the place where that little fuckhead had me, but if it was him, then he had to have had us both at the same time. Maybe he was… Maybe Hatter wasn't with me the whole time because he was with Orpheus?"

"The sample size isn't big enough to draw a firm conclusion, but it is possible. Are your other former colleagues well? None of them fought off attempted kidnappers or anything like that?"

They shake their heads.

"Okay. I'll check the Alliance of the Just membership rolls against reported disappearances and start looking in earnest."

Kai nods. "I know… You're a superhero… Is there anything we can do?"

"Ask around. I don't really know anyone in this part of Gotham, but if anyone's seen anything… Where they've been since January, if anyone saw any Alice in Wonderland themed anything around during the period they vanished, anything like that..." They nod again. "Thank you. You've got my number if you find anything, and I'll let you know if I locate them." I nod politely as I rise into the air. "Good day."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July 2013
09:32 GMT -5

Normally I'd telephone Robin with something like this, but it's Thursday and most of my team mates are in school. Beryl has a more flexible educational schedule, but she isn't in the loop about things like this, and in any case 'making Britain functional again' is more important than two kidnappings. So who does that leave?

Lonnie, who I should probably keep more of an eye on. There's no record of him being involved in the Alliance of the Just, but 'putting on a mask and using a false name' doesn't appear to count as a lie by his standards. There are plenty of people on their rolls that I don't have real names for, and a couple who could conceivably be him. I'm not sure what sort of contacts he has in Gotham, but it should be easy to find out.

Mr. Luthor… He might be interested, but I doubt that he'd know anything off the top of his head and he'd expect to get something out of it. And I don't really want to irritate Superman unnecessarily.

Alan… Older people in Gotham respect him, but I'd be astonished if he'd actually turned that into an information network. Karon and Holly… I could ask, but I think that if they'd seen blatantly criminal activity then they'd have passed that on. Selina…

That's a possible.

Ring, contact Selina Kyle.

Compliance.

…

Huh. This takes me back. Back to a time where mobile phones were a rare luxury for the rich, not something you could reasonably expect people to have with them at all times. Or times where if you telephoned someone's house and they weren't there, it would just ring until you gave up.

I find myself exhaling wistfully for that long-dead world.

…

Um. I haven't checked on her lately, but Karon or Holly would have said something… Yes, of course they would. I could scan for her, but that seems like-.

"What?"

"Selina? Orange Lantern-."

"Paul, what-? Uh."

"Are you alright? I can be at your location in-."

"I was up late last night and thought I could sleep in."

"Ah… I mean, it's half past-. Sorry. I can.. leave you..?"

"Uh…" I hear the ruffling of sheets. "Too late. I'm awake. What-."

I hear a feline chirp.

"Don't worry Isis, Mommy hasn't forgotten you. Who's a good girl?"

"Hello Isis."

"Not you, no you're not, because I know who clawed Mommy's very expensive scarf to death, yes I do."

"You know, I could build you one of those cat wall run things if you want? It would be really easy. Cats aren't really city creatures, but-."

"And now Mommy's got to deal with another guy who won't take a hint, yes she does."

"I can phone back if this is a bad time. If you directly and unambiguously tell me what it is you want, it's a lot easier for me to give it to you."

"How are you still with Jade?"

"We live at opposite ends of the galaxy. How are you still single?"

…

"What do you want, Paul?"

"Mad Hatter's current location, ideally. He appears to be kidnapping former Justifiers, and I'm a little concerned that he might be going to escalate in a worrisome direction."

"Jervis? I hadn't even realise that he was out of Arkham."

"Well, the world being what it is I can't conclude with complete certainty that it's him until we have him in custody, but I've found biological samples and had people visually identify him."

"What makes you think I know where he is?"

"Your contacts. I'm hopeful that you either know where he is or can be a big help in tracking him down." Huh. "Funny, really. Jade based her persona on the Cheshire Cat. I'm not sure that he'd actually recognise that unless it was pointed out to him… Does he go for the original book or the Disney film?"

"Well, he's crazy, so it could be either, but it's more likely to be neither."

"And I only ever read 'Through The Looking Glass'. And 'After Alice', but I doubt that counts."

"What exactly is he trying to do? Or is he just expanding his tea party guest list again?"

"I'm not sure. I think he's trying to see how the Justification process works on people's brains, but that's just an educated guess."

I hear an angry huff. "He can't seriously be trying to bring that technology back."

"Hello Selina, and welcome to Gotham. Are you new?"

"He's always been one of the harmless ones. Relatively speaking."

And it's true. As far as Batman knows he's never actually killed anyone. And despite what some newspapers say, he's probably not a paedophile. I mean, there's no evidence that he's committed paedophilia. He just doesn't seem to be able to deal with the world without a barrier of fictional rules…

I take a moment to look around Gotham City.

Without a barrier of fictional rules and roles. No one's ever really been able to find out when he started doing it, and the why is mostly guesswork.

"So, are you willing to help once Isis is satisfied?"

"What's in it for me?"

"What do you want? I can pay cash, and can introduce you to eligible bachelors, I can perform exotic services..?"

"Oh? How exotic?"

"I've never pole danced before but I'm willing to give it a try."

"I doubt you'd impress me. I used to do that professionally."

"I thought you were a dominatrix."

"I had to get started somewhere. Pole dancing has a lower barrier to entry."

"Really? I'd have thought the skills-."

"Pay per event versus working for tips."

"Ah. That makes sense. So..? What do you want?"

"I'll take options one and two. But the money better be cold and hard and the guys better be hot and… Well."

"I'll see what I can do."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July 2013
10:22 GMT -5

Selina looks at me as if she's fairly confident that she misheard me, but is familiar enough with me to know that she can't be completely certain.

"Ninety?"

"Immortal."

"Right, but…" Her eyes narrow slightly. "Ninety immortal."

Gotham streets are fairly empty at this time of day, particularly the part of Gotham that we're heading to. Naturally, Wayne Enterprises has taken a leading role in reconstruction, and… Talia Wayne has taken advantage of the death of international shipping to on-shore industry. It's a little like the city has gone back in time fifty years, not unlike what I'm doing with Hub. Only less radically, and from a more… Habitable position. But that means that while things get busy during the shift change, we're currently in a quiet patch. No cars, because petrol is expensive when it's available. But there are regular busses, and they're clean and have a security guard. Safe and reliable.

I return my attention to Selina. "He looks fifty and he'll look fifty when you're ninety. And he's a really great guy."

"I'm…" Her eyes narrow further. "Keep going."

"He's in good physical condition, extremely faithful-."

"Why exactly are you shilling for this guy?"

"Because I'm trying to persuade him to-. Okay, so you know how I can see emotions?" She gives me a very small nod. "I can see the desire for emotional connections that aren't there. He's just about ready to start dating again, and you're not actually interested in a long term relationship."

"Tch. Excuse you."

"Selina, I'm an em-path. You're curious who I'd suggest and you're mildly interested in a novel experience. Which means that you're perfect for each other."

"Because he'd definitely be a novel experience and even though he's ninety he's not ready to commit yet."

"He's lived on his own for virtually his entire life. Actually sharing his life with someone is probably something that he needs to work up to. Which is fine, because so do you."

"You're really bad at this."

"You're just saying that because you know it's true and that unsettles you. You know you had an open goal with Mister Wayne, and you didn't take the shot. And…"

A Wayne Enterprises bus drives past us.

"There's the result. I hate to admit it, but maybe Talia-."

"Don't even finish that sentence. And I'm done 'dating' old men. Who else have you got?"

"I've got a billionaire industrialist with a vital role in the world's economy."

"Talia can't be that good for him if he's got the itch already."

"I doubt that Talia's given him an itch. But I'm talking about Ted Kord."

She frowns. "I thought he was.. dating someone. There was someone in Variety about it."

"Shockingly, the woman from the island of warrior lesbians wasn't interested in men." And I can't really say that Io led him on. It's not as if she knew anything about extra-Themysciran courtship. "He took it fairly well, but she was pretty embarrassed about it."

She thinks for a moment. "Billionaire industrialist didn't go so well last time. And Ted Kord never chased me over the rooftops."

"Is that a plus or a minus?"

"Minus. Definitely minus."

"Why?"

She side-eye rolls her eyes at me. "Didn't you ever chase Jade over the rooftops?"

"… Once. And she drugged me and nearly got away and then I grabbed her with construct tentacles and sent her to prison."

"You don't need to rub it in." She sighs. "Does Ted have any interests outside of work?"

"Probably? He does really like his work-. Or rather, he likes the work that happens several levels below where his job is supposed to be. He had to hire someone to manage his company because he was spending too much time in the workshop."

"P-ass."

"Widowered professional acrobat currently working as a gym instructor?"

"I doubt he chased me over the rooftops either."

"He did three weeks ago."

She stops for a moment, frowning. "That was Batman."

"You didn't get a close look, did you?" She gives me an unsettled look. "Slightly slimmer, didn't grab a gadget quite as fast as he would?"

"Huh. I.. guess he did. Batman's using body doubles?"

"A body double. He's a very busy man."

She thinks that over, then starts walking again, shaking her head as she does so.

"Dating someone I thought of as budget Batman wouldn't be fair to either of us."

"So you want someone like Batman but not like Batman?"

"How about I just take the cash?"

"I'll pay you the cash anyway, but now you've given me a problem to solve."

"That attitude is why Batman and me didn't work. I'm not a problem to solve."

"That attitude is why you and Batman didn't work. You started looking for an excuse."

That earns me a scowl. "Because you were there."

"I'm still an empath. I know it because you know it, and I can say it because my ego isn't on the line and I do actually want to help."

She pointedly widens her eyes as she looks right at me. "Stop. Helping."

"Alright. Just cash it is."

Some people don't want to be helped. And some people don't want to be helped by me. But maybe if I talk to-.

"And don't talk Holly and Karon into 'helping' either." She huffs, eyeing the entrance to the Iceberg Lounge. "Did you ever do anything to Cobblepot?"

"I kidnapped and threatened him for information once."

"Oh, everyone does that. But… Let me do the talking?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July 2013
10:29 GMT -5

One of the servers leads us through the main floor towards Mr. Cobblepot's office. The Iceberg Lounge is a… Nice place. A high-class club which I'm sure sees even more custom now than it did before with its rivals mostly defunct and with the sort of supplies that Mr. Cobblepot can acquire harder to purchase. And of course it's a place where you can pretend all of what happened was some sort of bizarre nightmare. I've got no idea what happened to it while the Earth was Anti-Lifed, but I can see where repairs have been made since I first scanned it. Some furniture is newer than the rest… Not that any of it is in bad condition. This… Would have been part of the area that Mistress controlled, and Cobblepot is very much the sort of person to bear a grudge-.

"Has Karon suffered any sort of blowback from..?"

Selina's eyes flick very briefly to the server, then return to me. She shakes her head, but that's probably something I should ask about in more detail.

Most City Bosses… Didn't survive. Mannheim killed some, local rivals killed some, some killed themselves after the Anti-Life was expunged and… Some were already detested locally and were mobbed to death. I hadn't really thought about that part beforehand, but I suppose even the vitalising high of pure life force has limits when it comes to universal fraternal affection. Not all of them had bad things happen: there was a guy in Austin who took holy orders; he said that he couldn't stand what he's seen in himself and desperately wanted to change. Most of the rest... Haven't really come to my attention. Earth has a lot of cities. I asked Mr. Atom and he said that they hadn't all died…

I think that's what he meant anyway. Technically, 'approaching eighty percent' can mean a great many things.

I wonder why Mr. Cobblepot had us brought through the main club, rather than through the staff entrance? To delay us a little, possibly? He's had some wards done but I've stopped taking that sort of thing personally. The cleaning staff aren't currently working… Anywhere I can see. Perhaps they are on shift but he's had them relocate just in case we kick off? That seems out of character, but then comic Mr. Luthor didn't see a contradiction between encouraging the man who cleans his office to call him 'Lex' and having an uppity union representative pushed off a building, so…

The server holds up her right hand to stop us as she knocks once on Mr. Cobblepot's office door, hears a muffled reply and then steps inside. There's a camera in the antechamber so he knew that we were here anyway, but… Theatre. Him making himself feel better about someone who could tear this place out of the bedrock and throw it into the sun being in his space.

I take a seat and relax. Selina on the other hand remains standing, glaring suspiciously at a painting on the wall. "I recognize this."

"If you tell me, will I have to take a professional interest?"

"No."

I turn away, looking towards the door. "When Mister Atom does that, it's because he genuinely doesn't understand that he's being evasive."

"Technically, there's nothing illegal about running a bereavement house clearance company."

"As long as you're not killing-."

"That's hardly necessary. Just… The next of kin might not necessarily know what their dead relative had, or how much it's worth, or that they're the next of kin, or that the person calling them is from a private company and not from the city government."

Ah, yes. "A bit scummy, not actually illegal. About what I expected. Honestly, I think I'd be a little disappointed if he didn't have some sort of scheme to take advantage of the situation." My eyes flick to the camera for a moment. "Though obviously, if anything of sentimental value to an actual living person went walkabouts, I might have concerns."

Selina sighs.

"Are you taking it more personally than I am?"

"It's a question of professional pride. Batman stopped me grabbing this painting a few years ago, and he just takes it out in a moving van."

"What works, works. If you're feeling the pinch you could ask him for a job."

"Oh hah hah."

"On the appraisals team I mean. I didn't even realise that it wasn't a print, but you spotted it right away." Hm. "Though I suppose that being on the moving team would be good exercise."

She turns back to me. "Are you implying something?"

"I don't know what you do day to day, but it would… You know, get you out of the house. And I know that interest on saving is basically zero if your bank is still functioning, and with a lot of currencies getting devalued relative to food and manufactured goods, you might… You know, want paying work, and… I don't think Cadbury's really needs your skill set."

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm doing fine."

"And that's why I'm avoiding scanning your house."

"I'll have you know, everything in my apartment is legally owned by me."

"And that's legally owned by Mister Cobblepot. And I note that you only refer to what you have in your home." Oh. "Unless the failure of your romantic relationship has led you to want to genuinely and completely reform, and this is you trying to reach out to a superhero for guidance? Because in that case-"

"As if."

"-I-."

The door opens, the server stepping out and gesturing for us to enter. Mr. Cobblepot-

"The two of you are like a street soap opera, but I've got work to do."

-glowers at us from behind his desk. I can't see any real hatred for me, so perhaps this will be easier than I thought?

Selina walks past me with an assertive and confident gait, while I just walk normally. Obviously I could float in, but I'm here to ask for assistance, so I don't want to put his back up more than it is already.

He glowers at us both for a moment. "Well? What do you want?"

I find myself falling into parade rest, while Selina struts forwards and deposits herself languidly in one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Oswald, that's hardly the way to talk to an old friend."

"Did the Bat send you?"

"Not specifically. I require information that I hope you either have or can get more easily than other sources. Naturally, I am happy to pay for that service."

"Heh." It's more a cough than a laugh, but I suppose it's a positive sign. "If only the Bat could be that polite. If only you'd been that polite last time."

"Mister Cobblepot, Jervis Tetch appears to have gone on an abduction spree. I can't imagine that he has any financial dealings with you, but a couple of your employees appear to be prime Alice material."

Blond, and probably too young to be working in a club which serves alcohol.

"Leaving aside what it might occur to him to make you into. I would very much like your assistance in tracking him down, or at least narrowing down his likely location."

"And what's in it for me?"

"I can pay medallions, or… I'd never mock someone for their physical disfigurements, but you don't have anything that it would be hard for me to fix if you so desired." I raise my right hand, subspace my glove, and then alter my own hand to mirror his. "Mm. Uncomfortable, and awkward to use I imagine."

I shift it back, wiggling the fingers at him.

"Well?"

"Payment up front."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July 2013
10:52 GMT -5

Selina takes a sip of coffee, and appears to grudgingly decide that it's of acceptable quality. Not cat-poo coffee, not The Black Blood of the Earth, just good quality beans roasted by a professional and then put in suspended animation until I needed to caffeinate someone.

I've been popping back to Jade's apartment at least once a week, and between that and the atmospheric filtration system I built in it's in perfect condition, but…

It's… Empty. She hasn't lived here in over a year, I haven't lived here for nearly as long. I was appearing wherever she was stationed to sleep when she was on a low-intensity mission, but I stopped doing that when the broadcast happened so that I could be on call immediately when some new disaster happened. I suppose I could start again now… But with Batman doing whatever he's doing with the Global Peace Agency, I don't…

I consider Selina.

Hm.

I take a plate of shortbread out of subspace and offer them to her with a smile.

Her suspicion visibly increases.

"I didn't spike the shortbread. I realised that I pushed you in a way that was unproductive, so I want to patch things up."

"But not apologise."

I shrug. "I see what I see. I believe that I'm correct, but I should have approached it better, particularly when you reacted negatively."

I put the plate of shortbread down on the sideboard next to her.

"How is Karon actually doing?"

"Haven't you asked her?"

"Of course I've asked her. And when I do, she comes up with immediate practical issues and I've helped her deal with them. What she's never voluntarily mentioned is how she feels about her 'Mistress' phase."

"Have you tried telling her that you're an empath?"

"Would you like me to bend over and hand you a paddle?"

She looks away for a moment, smiling wistfully. "I used to charge three hundred dollars an hour for that."

"Really? Gosh."

Her eyes are back on me. "And what does that mean?"

I shrug. "I've never used a prostitute or been involved in vice policing. I don't really know what it costs to hire someone, but that sounds like a lot. Which means that if I've got my timelines right, you must have reached the top of your field fairly quickly."

"Or I convinced people that I had."

"Isn't that what being a dominatrix is all about anyway?"

"True, but you have to judge what the client can afford. I didn't have the luxury of going without work to satiate my ego."

"Um. Going..? Is this a good point to go back to our prior discussion about what you want in a romantic partner? Because if what you're after is 'bad boy on the streets, naughty boy in the sheets', then it-"

She chuckles, dipping her head slightly.

"-clarifies things for me, but it cuts down the range of possible candidates a good deal. Like… A lot."

"You're not letting go of this, are you?"

"I want you to be happy."

"I am happy." I open my mouth slightly and raise my eyebrows. "Yes, I haven't forgotten that you're an empath. I think what's tripping you up is our very different standards for 'being happy'."

"Alright then. I want you to be happier. Because you have been happier, and we both know a route to that level of happiness."

"A route that has you and your girlfriend living at opposite ends of the galaxy."

"That was my fault."

"I suspected as much." She nods. "You seem to have a knack for insulting people."

"No, a-. The first time we met, I grabbed her with a tentacle construct and said 'stop moving, I've seen this film and it doesn't end well for the Asian woman'. At-"

Her eyes boggle, and she snorts with laughter.

"-the time she was too distracted to hear it, but when I visited later to apologise for saying something that inappropriate she actually found it funny. Not the.. comment itself so much as the juxtaposition between the crudeness of the comment being delivered by someone as clean cut as myself speaking with a received pronunciation English accent." I find myself smiling. "I think it was that which convinced her to tolerate me visiting her; I'd be an entertaining distraction if nothing else."

"So why is she on the other side of the galaxy?"

"She wanted to establish her independence. When one party in a relationship is rich… Approaching the dreams of avarice… And has superpowers…" Selina nods. "I could probably have talked her into staying, but I could see that would be setting myself-. Setting us up for trouble in the long run. Unless I could make us more… Equal. I offered to train her to use an orange power ring, but her first try… Didn't go well. Or rather, it went well for the people of Vietnam, but she found it unsettling. She didn't like the loss of control. So, I knew that the Darkstars were on the lookout for people with her skill set, I knew it would satisfy her desires… So I suggested it. We're spending a lot more time apart than I'd like, but she's satisfied in a professional way that she wouldn't have been on Earth."

"Did you tell her that?"

"Yes, of course. And after everyone started making 'if she's moved to the other end of the galaxy then she's probably dumped you' jibes then I made it clear to her that I didn't like being apart as much as we were, but that I wasn't going to try and insist on changing things."

"Because that would violate her trust."

"Yes."

"Huh. I hate to say it… I mean, I really hate to say it, but I think that's the best thing you could do."

"I was visiting regularly, then someone Anti-Lifed the Earth. So… About Batman-."

"So close. No, you need to let me process what you just said about your relationship before we go back to talking about mine."

"No, I mean, you know him better than me. What do you think about the Global Peace Agency?"

"That he finally hired more help than Alfred? That if he'd done that years ago we might have had more time together?"

"You don't have any concerns?"

"No. Do you?"

"I'd have concerns about anyone getting as much power as he's got. But just about everyone I've asked doesn't really see the problem so I'm wondering if-."

"It's-" She nods. "-just you."

I sigh. "That's the conclusion I'm coming to, yes. So, what's been happening in Gotham lately?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Late-Autumn, IC 690, A Few Minutes Later

Warrior Bunnies don't really understand military discipline.

The legions of the Saderan Empire are trained to fight in tight formation, walls of tower shields protecting the soldiers behind them, short swords stabbing out against anyone trying to batter them down. Moving or fighting in that sort of formation requires a high degree of training, as well as officers who issue clear commands so that everyone knows how they're supposed to be moving. A charging Warrior Bunny is perfectly capable of bowling over a single legionary. A hundred Warrior Bunnies can't knock over a formation of a hundred legionaries because there isn't room for them to fall as the first rank are supported by all of those behind them.

According to one of the veterans of Prince Zorzal's campaign, some Warrior Bunnies took to grabbing the edges of their shields and wrenching them away with brute force. That would create a point of vulnerability in the formation… But would also give the legionary an opening to cut off their fingers. And given that he has a pouch of finger bones…

My point is that while legionaries would form up in a circle around someone they were protecting or someone they were keeping watch on, the Warrior Bunnies just sort of cluster up. They stand around in whatever they as individuals think is an appropriate distance… And their decani usually don't bother sorting them out or telling them to get back to work.

Which means that one slightly built nervous looking elf woman is currently being loomed over by about thirty Warrior Bunnies, and I can feel it as Diabo realises what I already know: one of them is going to pick a fight unless someone smacks them upside-

"Oi!"

-the head.

Chief Eithne raises her staff, glaring at her unruly followers.

"How many of you are supposed to be on guard duty?"

Watching a group of six foot tall gym bunnies who are armed to the teeth shuffle awkwardly is always an entertaining sight, though I suspect that Diabo is too nervous about them to appreciate it. A few of the more intelligent ones back away from the rear of the crowd to return to what they're supposed to be doing.

"We are guarding her!"

If I could breathe, I'd have breathed in sharply at that comment. Somebunny doesn't know when to shut up.

Somebunny who just got bashed over the head with a staff.

"Ow!"

"And who's guarding the camp now, idiot?!"

"Tioanna i-." She looks around and spots an even more nervous looking Warrior Bunny who was trying to return to her duties but was too hemmed in by the huddle. "Hey, why are you here?! Ow!"

"Don't blame other people when you bunk off! Tioanna!"

Tioanna edges forwards, bracing herself for staff impact. "Yes Chief!"

"Take your squad and get back on guard duty!"

Tioanna hesitates, perhaps expecting a staff strike on general principles. When one doesn't come she starts pushing her way through the crowd, grabbing those who I assume are part of her squad and pulling them with her.

The rest look a little relieved.

"As for the rest of you! The Prince's dragon hasn't-" The elf twitches. "-been mucked out for a few days!"

The entire crowd cringes. Dragons can produce a lot of excrement, particularly when their keeper doesn't know exactly what they're supposed to be fed on.

Chief Eithne raises her staff again. "Get to it!"

Ears down, the crowd begins to trudge away towards the dragon enclosure.

"And you!" The elf cringes slightly, covering her head with her forearms. But Eithne lowers her staff. "What do you want?"

Prince Diabo approaches, and tries to gently push Chief Eithne out of the way. Since she's about half again his size, she doesn't move. Sighing, he generates a large gauntlet construct, picks her up with it and deposits her to the side.

The elf stares wide-eyed as he steps forwards.

"I am Prince Diabo El Caesar. Who are you, and why are you here?"

That's an improvement on how he used to speak to people in situations like this. And goodness knows it's superior to throwing them in the dungeons like his brother would. But he wanted to use Warrior Bunnies as sentries because they're loyal to him personally and thoroughly despise his brother, which means he has to deal with their lack of professionalism.

The elf straightens up slightly.

"I am Tuka Luna Marceau, of Koan Forest. Are you the one who defeated the ancient dragon three years ago?"

He nods. "Yes, that was me. It is my duty to protect the lands of the Empire."

She looks him over a little dubiously. Okay, a glowing orange gauntlet is a little impressive, but it's not beat-ancient-dragon impressive.

"Um. How?"

"I am favoured by the God of Ambition." He raises his left hand slightly, and I make a point of glowing more brightly. "The dragon now serves me."

"Oh! Are you an Apostle?"

"Ah, no."

She looks more dubious, and then looks around… She's trying to spot the wizard who actually made the gauntlet appear. Hah!

"Um…"

"He is, in fact, my most favoured servant. Prince Diabo, why don't you call the dragon over?"

He looks over towards the dragon pen, and his eyes glow. In the distance I can see movement, and I hear the brief exclamation of surprise from the Warrior Bunnies assigned to stable hand duties. He then turns back to Miss Marceau. "It should be-."

Miss Marceau is now kneeling, head bowed.

"Here in a moment. Why are you kneeling?"

"The dragon was attacking my village when you stopped it." She raises her head to look up at him. "We would have all been killed if it wasn't for you!"

"Ah. You're welcome, but as I said, it is my duty-."

"I must repay you! My people's honour demands it!"

I can feel his fear of letting an unknown person anywhere near him, but he does manage to quash it reasonably quickly.

"I suppose that a trade-."

"Your guards are too undisciplined! Let me be your bodyguard in their place!"

And to my pleasure, he uses the orange light to probe her desires before saying anything. Yes, yes, looks like she's being entirely genuine. And she certainly doesn't work for Prince Zorzal.

"Alright… Why don't you-" The dragon lands next to us with a crash. "-come inside, and we can talk-."

"HEY!" A strange-looking woman armed with a scythe is marching across the field, Tioanna's squad trying and.. failing to hit her as she effortlessly sidesteps or parries every attack. "What are you doing with my dragon!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Late-Autumn, IC 690, A Few Minutes Later

Ah, an Apostle. I was wondering-

She bends forwards to duck a sword swing, then spins, her scythe-. The staff part of her scythe sort of scooping up the Warrior Bunnies assailing her before sending them flying across the field. Ah… Looks like broken ribs and arms, plus the bruises from slamming into the hard ground and then rolling. Warrior Bunnies tend to be fairly stoical, but if Prince Diabo doesn't use me to heal them then they might not be fully fit by the time that we set out, even assuming that she didn't cause serious damage to their lungs or something.

Diabo clasps me with his right hand. "You know you said that I could become an Apostle?"

"Yes?"

"Is now a good time?"

"It's not a decision you should rush."

"The thing about rushing is that it lets you outrun the woman with the scythe coming to kill you."

"You can take her."

"Yes, but 'can' and 'will' aren't the same thing!"

"Even if I made you an Apostle right now, you'd still need time to spend time absorbing raw magic before you could start doing things like she can."

"Oh."

"YOU!" The Apostle marches closer, scythe swaying in her left hand and her right fist balled as she glares at Prince Diabo. "What are you doing with my dragon?!"

He takes a moment to better fake equanimity, drawing himself up as he does so. "I-."

Miss Marceau interposes herself, arrow on string and… Some sort of magic spell glowing around the arrowhead. Chief Eithne has dropped her staff and has drawn her sword, and a couple of the Warrior Bunnies the Apostle knocked aside are rising to their feet.

Prince Diabo, whatever you're going to say, make it good.

"Whatever I want. It's my dragon now."

Oh. Um. Not what I was expecting, but a good start. Keep it up.

The Apostle slows in her onwards march, scowling at him. "Who are you?"

"I am Prince Diabo El Caesar."

The Apostle gestures to the vacant-looking dragon. "That dragon is sacred to Hardy!"

"I make offerings to Hardy regularly as part of my-."

The Apostle blurs but Diabo is already responding, accelerating his own mental processes, forming construct gauntlets to shoves Miss Marceau and Chief Eithne aside-

Miss Marceau has already loosed her arrow, which the oncoming Apostle casually bats aside. It spins off, stabilises in mid air and then flies at her once again.

-before creating a construct tower shield directly in her path. She spots it, front flips so that the arrow shoots under her and hits the shield first and cracks it before doing a complete 360o​ spin in the air and bringing the blade of her scythe down-.

On where the now-absent shield was before she committed to the attack.

Diabo brings his two gauntlet constructs together hard, squishing the Apostle between them. He then generates construct armour around himself and rises off the ground. A construct sword would be fairly pointless and I agree with his decision not to make one, but-.

Oh. That's nasty.

As part of making primitive black powder we've had to work with a variety of unpleasant substances, and that has involved Prince Diabo becoming more familiar with ammonium nitrate than he'd like. As such, he's gotten familiar with some truly smelly substances and right now he's got a pressurised construct tank of the stuff connected to a construct hose which is pointed at her.

The Apostle punches her arms out to the sides, destroying the constructs…

"You-!"

More or less just in time to give Diabo a clear short with his concentrated ammonia stream. And unfortunately for her, she had her mouth open.

"Gwaaaghg-g-g-h-h-hhhh-ouwghgh-huuu!"

She's dropped her scythe and she's retching on the floor, tears streaming down her face and fingers impotently trying to wipe the liquid off her face but mostly just spreading it further.

"Oh, well done."

Miss Marceau stares for a moment, blinks, then her face crinkles up and she drops her bow so that both her hands can cover her nose. Chief Eithne looks dismayed, but limits herself to taking a few steps back. She joined in a tour of the powder works so she should have at least some idea what it is.

Prince Diabo cut off the stream. "Had enough?"

"This is disgusting!"

"I can remove it if you want. All you have to do is surrender."

"Neve-agkagkagkccuuuuuuh..!"

"Alright. Let's start with your name."

"How can you notuhhuhhuhh..!?"

"We only have a list of Apostles who have been in the Empire. I'm afraid that I don't know every Apostle in the world. Your wings are distinctive enough that I'm sure I would remember you if I'd heard of you before."

"I am Giselle, Apostle of Hardy!" She staggers upright, struggling not to gag. "Did you piss on me? Are you the Apostle of the God of Piss? Do we even have one of those?"

"I suppose you could say that it's concentrated piss. And as to which god favours me…" He raises his left hand again.

"Hello, Giselle."

"You-?! You can't take my dragon!"

"My bearer can take anything I want him to. I may be forced to play by your rules here, but I'm authorised by them too. And I have to tell you, I've been looking forwards to the time when I can finally do something about the moribund gods of this world."

Prince Diabo looks at me uncertainly. "Um. My god, I don't think that's a good idea."

"No? You handle her, then."

"Apostle Giselle, we're going to go to war soon. I'm sure it would do the Empire's forces good to have an Apostle with us. In return, I can instruct the dragon to do what you tell it to."

"It's my dragon!"

"And I can return the dragon to you at the end of the campaign, so long as you agree to keep it away from Sadera. And I can clean you up."

…

Giselle glowers. "Fine! But you have to clean me right now, and the food better be good!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July 2013
11:23 GMT -5

"You..?" I glance at Selina as we walk down the interior of the storm drain. "Don't want to do this in costume?"

She looks at me like I'm a bit slow. "Do I want to wear skin-tight leather in the middle of the day in July?"

Mr. Cobblepot wasn't able to give us a location, but some of his import/export people reported that someone had been using the storm drains in this part of the city. And while I've gone over a lot of them for Robin, that was to map the parts he didn't have maps for. Not to re-examine the parts he does have relatively recent maps for.

"I could make you a more breathable version using space leather? You'd be amazed how much progress they've made with wicking technology for spacesuit inner suits."

"That sounds like something I used to get paid three hundred dollars an hour for as well."

"It means getting rid of sweat. Because while a lot of people seem to think space is cold, in the short term overheating is a much bigger problem."

She blinks, frowning. "Space isn't cold?"

"Vacuum prevents conduction and convection. The only way to lose heat in space is radiation, and that's pretty slow. It's constant, and just about anything in space that isn't being actively warmed by nuclear decay or a.. sun, will eventually reach a temperature just above absolute zero. Which is why you shouldn't touch asteroids without really good thermal insulation."

"Are you under the impression that I spend..? Any time at all in space?"

"Do you want to?"

"No."

"Good, because that costs way more than three hundred dollars an hour."

And all I get is a snort.

"But going back to my original point, I can make you a costume which is more comfortable and provides better protection than your current version."

"Are you asking me to play dress-up?"

"Getting Jade to put on a Catwoman costume would just be too weird."

"Three hundred dollars includes me not telling wives, girlfriends, mistresses or newspapers."

"Are you saying you want me to pay you three hundred dollars to give you a better costume?"

"The question is, do you want to give me a new costume enough to be willing to pay for it?"

"Sure, but I charge three hundred dollars for parts and labour. Ooh." I stop walking.

"What?" She looks at the door set in the side of the drain. "I'm not sure what you're seeing, but I'm not seeing it."

I crouch down and pick up a metal bar. "Batman once locked KGBeast in here and then walked away. Do you want to see if he's still in there?"

She folds her arms, looking unimpressed. "Bruce already did that one. He walked out and then called the police. Gordon let Anatoli lick water off the walls for a week before opening it up."

I shrug. "Well, I've got to open it anyway, so if you're going to take the costume, now is the time."

"What, you want me to change out-" She looks around. "-here? Was this really all just about seeing me in my underwear?"

"I already know what you look like in your underwear. In fact, I already know what you look like naked."

Her eyes narrow. "If Batman's been showing 'surveillance photos' around the Hall of Justice-."

"I take scans of just about everyone I meet, just in case I have to put them back together. I'm also perfectly capable of building a gynoid sex robot for myself with any physical characteristics I desire, and not telling anyone that I've done so. I don't, because I love Jade and have no interest in anyone else… And because I think it would be a bit pathetic. And I was planning on just putting the costume on you in a sort of magical girl transformation sequence, rather than making you put it on normally. You've seen me switch to my armour before."

She shrugs languidly. "Okay, fine. Let's see what you've come up with."

"Selina, I've seen what you've come up with. The green cape? The red mask? The orange costume with the-?"

"That one wasn't my idea. And does that mean that you like all the others?"

"It's hard to go wrong with a catsuit on a figure like yours."

She strikes a pose. "Well? Are you doing this, or w-?"

A construct gravity chamber appears around her, making her glow orange and float off the ground as music plays. She glares at me as she starts spinning, and I chuckle as I shift her street clothes into subspace as I replace them with her new costume, except for her actual underwear which I make a point of floating past her face a couple of times and then vanish it.

"Let her serve the future of Gotham, nya!"

And… Platform under her then dismiss the gravity chamber, slow the rotations and lower the plat-.

She just steps off with a flounce.

"All that for something that looks exactly like my current costume."

"Selina, I wear orange pinstripes. I don't know anything about fashion. But the goggles have improved visual modes and a much longer battery life, the claws are a lot sharper and… Do you feel cooler?"

She takes a moment to check the range of movement. "Actually… Yes."

"Right then, fun diversion over." I clamp a construct onto the door and turn the wheel. "Opening in two." Construct armour and construct riot shield, but leave the armour I'm wearing where it is in case some homeless people are using it as a shelter and I need to avoid looking like a war robot. "One. Opening."

I push the door open with the shield construct, and nothing much happens.

Alright. Walk forwards slowly…

Something on the floor. Solid, small, broken edges… Several pieces. Ring's not sure if it's really there or not. I split the shield, pushing the detritus left and right to allow myself to advance without stepping on it. My orange glow isn't piercing the dark particularly well, but there appear to be markings on the wall that aren't on the plans or older photographs in the Batcave's records.

I take a torch out of subspace and try… That.

It works.

"Someone sat on a wall,
Someone had a great fall,
All the King's horses and all the King's men,
Can't put someone together again."

Selina tilts her head to the left.

"That can't be Mad Hatter. He hates it when someone misquotes Lewis Carroll."

I frown. "The word 'someone' is written in a different style. Was it written by someone else?"

Selina looks over the floor and then leaps, grabbing onto a pipe and swinging onto a ledge to get a closer look.

"It's not painted over. What's that on the ground?"

I reach down, bring the torch to bear on a fragment… "Not sure. But it looks like it fits together."

Selina sags slightly. "Last time a guy said he wanted to put a jigsaw together with me, I gave him a discount. But you can pay full price."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July 2013
11:31 GMT -5

Selina moves another piece into the 'blue with medium purple lines' table, before giving me a frustrated glare. "Doesn't your ring have a puzzle-completing mode?"

"A mode?" I shake my head as I try and persuade the pieces to attach themselves together. "It's a basic function. Unfortunately, this looks like it's a piece of New God technology. I didn't know it was here until I opened the door which means that it either has stealth and disguise as one of its fundamental properties, or it's messing with my ring specifically. In either case, exposing New God technology to exotic energy isn't a good idea when you don't know what it does."

"And the reason you haven't called someone who does is..?"

"Scott Free and Big Barda are very busy. Canis… Didn't take finding out that Darkseid didn't keep sending assassins after him as a test and genuinely wanted him dead particularly well. I haven't seen him for a while. And I'm persona non grata on New Genesis after I made their crown prince mentally ill-"

"At least you're in the right city."

"-and I don't want to try Apokolips, and I don't know where else I could find a New God."

Selina looks at a couple of the pieces. "Do you have some kind of space glue?"

"Yes, but that would coat the circuits."

"Then how are we sticking it back together?"

"Either I work out how to recombine the fragments, or I make a big transparent sphere to hold them as we slot them together." I frown. "Unless Gotham has a puzzle-themed criminal that I don't know about."

"Eddie doesn't do literal puzzles. Neither does Cluemaster. I think you've actually found an original theme."

"Yay. Can you-? If you find pieces that look like they go together, just lay them next to each other?"

"Yes, I do know how puzzles work, Paul."

"Would you like me to put some music on?"

"Just focus on making the alien thingy work." Something appears to occur to her. "This isn't dangerous to me, is it?"

"If I knew what it did, I could answer that. But I can't see a power source and there isn't a New God nearby, so I suspect that it's just 'regular' dangerous, rather than 'super' dangerous."

"I'm sure that the Joker did something like this once, but for the life of me I can't remember when."

"Nothing in my files."

Okay, these two pieces… Yes, they're supposed to go together like that, and that one goes there… And… Dreamer did say that I felt like a New God…

"I've got an idea. You-." She's already on the far side of the room. "Should do that."

"This isn't my first rodeo. Or the first time I've been down into the sewers with a superhero who's a few bats short of a belfry."

"It hadn't even occurred to me to ask you if you knew The Question."

Okay, unfocus, and… Perceive the world in terms of patterns of desires, needs, wants, fixations and obsessions. Oooh yes, that's lighting up nicely.

"He's the guy with no face, right?"

Feeling out environment, seeking useful knowledge, reaching for safety without giving information away.

"He has a face-."

"Ah… Tell me when you've finished."

Keep the crazy man where you can see him and stay out of the blast radius.

Not sure what that's about. Returning my focus to the objects I can… See something of Tetch himself. His need for physical reality to be unreal, and for the people in his head to be made manifest. And as I.. turn a fragment over-.

It's… Stronger. Like… He was calm, if not entirely happy, and then almost frenzied in the frantic need to get back what he… Lost. The delusion. The dream.

I've felt that way once or twice myself. The realisation that something you'd desperately like to be true just isn't, the loss of possibility and your ability to believe in it. And that…

Yes, I see it. Fragments of the desire, linking to one another, this one to this to this to this to this… All little parts of a whole which-

"Robin? Yeah, it's Catwoman. What do I do when Orange Lanterns starts… Glowing more than usual." … "About ten feet. Why?"

-make something more and bigger. Fragments to fragment, the delightful delusion on one side and the bitter desperation of denial on the other and the shapes-.

"Ah, hey, Alan? It's Orange Lantern. He's gone a bit… Yeah. Yeah. I'll pass you over."

"Paul, knock it off. You're scaring people. Again."

And back in the room, standing in front of… I'm not sure what.

"But I'm being ever so productive." I turn, looking past the phone into Selina's slightly worried face. "I think I'd have been alright, but well thought out."

"You back to firing on all cylinders, son?"

"Yes, Alan, don't worry-. Actually, do you want to keep talking to Selina while I try and work out what this thing is?"

"Ah… Maybe I should. Just in case."

Selina looks.. mildly puzzled, but pulls her phone back as I return to stare at the… Thing.

Okay, so at the base it's a.. large globe. I think. There are a load of other lines on it, and I'm not really sure what they represent… Some of the.. intersections are places where there were Anti-Life broadcasters…

But I've got no idea how that ties into the desires I was seeing.

Ring, compare this to-.

Object not found.

Still?

Object still not found.

Okay. Overlay… Ley lines?

Overlay not available.

Because you can't see this globe. Okay, just… Show globes with… Ley lines, shipping routes and air travel routes.

Compliance.

Some overlap, but I don't know why these ones are significant and others aren't. Alright, how about I-?

"…like the way he's looking at it." I awkwardly turn towards Selina. "Does he come with a spray bottle?"

"Heh. I'm afraid not."

"Okay, I can take a hint." Selina raises her eyebrows, and on the phone's screen I see Alan raise one of his. "I'll move it to a specialist and avoid touching it myself. Happy?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

19th July 2013
00:53 GMT +8

I float down through the tunnels hewn into the rock, the orange light from my rings the only illumination. Tibet wasn't quite the last place I expected to find Canis, but it was pretty close. The monks were happy enough to direct me down here, though…

I'm cringing internally at the thought, but they all looked the same to me. And normally I'd wonder if the Chinese were cloning people, but I doubt that they could organise something like that at the moment… Or maybe they escaped in the chaos? But this place is a lot older than six months old. And… It's built on the top of a weirdly-shaped rock spire… Which must have been really difficult with the sort of tools they'd have had if the age estimate my rings are giving me is correct.

But they're not hurting anyone up here, so that can be a problem for another day. Canis is in one of the meditation chambers, and they didn't seem to think that me disturbing him would be a problem. Honestly, with the spire being the shape it is, I'd have thought that digging in from the sides would be the easiest way to use it, but it looks like the only entrance to the caves below is from the top.

Crazy monks are going to crazy monk, I guess.

I can just about hear… Muttered chanting coming from a short distance below. I recognise Canis's voice, but there's… Some sort of resonance to it that I don't remember from before. No translation available, apparently, which might mean that it's a New God thing. Down the path I can see a weak light, probably coming from lanterns of the sort the monks carry.

"Canis?"

As I reach the chamber leading to the meditation cells Brut pads over to greet me. I note that he's not wearing armour as I raise my right hand for him to sniff. Reassured that I am who I smell like, he snorts at me before turning around and walking back to one of the cell entrances. He then turns around a couple of times to find a comfortable spot on the stone floor, then lays down.

"Good dog."

Four lanterns on poles provide a level of illumination for people without power rings. There are some… Wall hangings whose design I don't really recognise. They put me in mind of other designs from the region while still being… Different, but I suppose that naturally a place this remote would develop its own style. There's a fire pit in the middle, but it's currently cold. Are they using..? Coal? Probably easier to get than wood somewhere like this.

I walk towards the cell… The door is made of wooden planks, and the frame looks like it's made of… Copper? Brut is keeping his eyes on me, but he doesn't object as I reach out to knock.

"Canis? I'm sorry to intrude, but I could use your help. Do you have a moment?"

"Yes, certainly! Come!"

I push the door, and it.. resists for a moment before swinging open.

Ah. Of course.

Canis has decorated.

There's a raised cuboid of stone in the middle of the chamber, with slots for lantern poles at each of the corners. Around the sides of the room are.. pots containing various types of… Bonsai ivy? Okay. Alternating with those are pots containing decorative stones. And the walls…

Canis is working on an incredibly intricate painting… The borders of the various scenes look a little like the decoration on pieces of Chinese pottery, but in several colours and.. a little bit spikier. The scenes… I'd guess they're things from Apokoliptian myths? I can see what I think are fire pits in some of them, and one of the towers reminds me of one of the pictures the League took during their brief sojourn there. The rest? No idea, and he's only about a third done.

"Impressive."

He doesn't look around, focusing on his brushwork. "No. But it will be. The rocks of this place speak to me."

"Metaphorically or literally?"

"For me there is little difference." "For me there is no difference."

"I need your help with something. There's a New God device, and I've got no idea what it's for."

"Why not ask my aunt, or her husband?"

"Because they're very busy. There's a lot of Apokoliptian technology to go through, and this wasn't involved in the broadcast. It's not a high priority."

"But high enough for me?"

I make a point of looking around. "Yes, I think so. Canis, I realise that your standard of 'alright' is as divergent from human norms as mine is, but are you alright?"

"Did they tell you what happened when we encountered the False Darkseid?"

I nod. "He told you that you weren't being tested. That your exile was genuine. And… I suppose that you weren't important enough to put significant effort into killing."

"Does Kanto toy with me, do you think?"

"He did spare Scott Free once out of admiration for his abilities. Perhaps he's a fan?"

"A curious thing. I once wrote a poem inspired by him passing through a crowd. He left knife wounds that his targets didn't even feel until he had left. It was… Beautiful."

"Well, there you are, then-."

"Except it wasn't." His expression is bitter as he lowers his brush and turns towards me. "What was that.. white light that you unleashed upon this world?" "With its burning revelation."

"The essence of life."

"There is a Life Equation? I thought that was some foolish-." He closes his eyes for a moment. "And how did you discover it?"

I shrug. "I have a good relationship with the Controllers. Controller Hinon was involved in the creation of the first power rings."

"Ah." He nods. "Yes. And do you know what it did to me?"

"I don't, but… You'd-. You grew up surrounded by Anti-Life. And it removed it. That… Must have been disturbing for you."

"No. No. It was the most natural thing in existence. It was breathing without a choke collar for the first time in my life." He leans towards me, his eye widening manically. "I.. hate it."

"Ah."

"My thoughts dwell on the uplifting and unified. When I think on my own memories of Great Darkseid's hymnals, and of the wonder of the dark city, of the joyful screams of the labour slaves… I am filled with disquiet. With… Horror. And not the good kind! Is this how you see it?"

"I can't say for certain, but it sounds like it."

"Can you turn it off?"

"Um. I don't think so. And I don't think I'd want to. Have you considered that this is giving you an interesting new perspective to work from?"

"'I' am not working. It is this… False consciousness that moves me now."

"But what if the false state was the previous one?"

"It was still mine!"

"You.. could just go back to Apok-."

"I could not bear Darkseid's gaze as I am now!"

"I think that if you give not being evil a try, you'll find that it isn't all that bad."

"This is the problem!"

"Okay, but… Has being here helped?"

He looks away, shaking his head. "Little."

"Then maybe you need to try something else. Come and help me, and… I'll try and do something horrible to your psyche afterwards. If that's what you w-."

He strides past me. "Brut! We ride!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July 2013
12:22 GMT -5

Canis stares at the globe in wonder while Brut glares at it as if it might attack at any moment.

"I have no idea what this is or what it was used for." He tentatively reaches out towards it, gingerly touching the surface. "What artful hand has caused this to be?"

On the other side of the orb Selina rolls her eyes while Ted taps buttons on a data pad.

"Do you know what sort of thing it might be?"

"Normally I would take it for a device of subjugation, but that makes no sense here. The Anti-Life broadcasters covered the globe, and hence had greater power."

"Mannheim was pushing into the arcane realms as well. Could this have been part of what he used to do it?"

"It is not impossible. Our technology is a conduit for the fragment of divinity which Dark-."

He cuts himself off, then his head tilts listlessly to the right as his renewed purpose abandons him.

"Lantern, tell me the truth of it. Do our powers as gods come from Darkseid?"

"Um. Maybe. Their ultimate source is The Source, but given the depth of Darkseid's control of Apokolips it's entirely possible that he has some way to restrict or control the process. When did you fully become a New God?"

"On New Genesis, where I would be free of such things."

"Well, ah… I can't say for certain. You'd need to check with someone who understands the process better. But based on the available evidence-."

"It was not his intent that I gain this state."

"Yes."

"And the process… It is the same for the New Gods of New Genesis?"

"I didn't ask them about that when I visited. You… Could visit them yourself, or you could ask your uncle to relay a message."

"Perhaps... No. I should decide what I want to do with the information before I take any action."

I smile. "Perhaps it makes sense to regard yourself as a work in progress?"

His eyes lock onto me, wide and staring. Then they start to drift away, his right hand coming up to jab at me with his right forefinger. Truth

"Ah. Canis?"

Selina snorts. "You went all that way to get him and you broke him before he could tell us anything."

"He was broken a long time ago. I-."

"HAH!" Ted clenches his right fist and punches the air. "I got it!"

Selina and I stare at him, but he's focused on his screen.

"Ted?"

He's nodding to himself, but jerks his head up when he realises that I've spoken. "Huh?"

"What have you found?"

"Okay, so you know what Pangaea was?" I-. "It was a continent comprised of all current landmasses before continental drift broke them apart over millions of years. You can tell that different parts of the world used to be next to each other because of the general shape and the mineral composition of the ground matching."

Selina nods, but without the sarcasm which would suggest that she's humouring someone telling her something which she already knows. And to be fair, if it wasn't for Tom Strong and Neil Adams I might not have heard of it either.

"Now there was a fringe theory -which I got a kick out of- that Pangaea didn't exist, and that mineral matches could be explained by the Earth being smaller and the edges of continental plates being points of expansion." Thank you, Neil Adams. "So you just take out all the seas and it all goes together."

Selina blinks. "Does it work?"

"I mean… Kind of. It doesn't explain where the extra mass comes from, but-." He shakes his head. "That's not the point. The point is that the oceanic parts of this globe are thinner than the rest."

"Yes?"

There's a small frown as he tries to understand that I don't understand. Then his eyes flick to Selina as he realises that she isn't following his reasoning either. "Think about it. Why? When we make globes we don't make the oceanic parts thinner than the rest. I mean, even if we were making a relief globe it would be almost completely smooth. The Earth's about ten thousand Mount Everests thick. If you made a globe twelve inches across that's about a thousandth of an inch. But-" He waves his pad at the globe. "-this thing has a much bigger difference."

"Okay, that's a little odd. I'd have thought that making a sphere would be easier. Canis?"

He looks mildly perplexed. "Are there joint-lines?"

Ted shakes his head. "Not that I can see from Orange Lantern's visual records."

"Then I would guess that the continental parts were built, and then grown to cover the seas."

Ted nods. "Why would..? Whoever made this, do it like that?"

Canis runs his right hand down a… Line indicating a series of Anti-Life broadcasters. "Because that was where his influence was strongest. I do not remember there being any Anti-Life broadcasters under water."

I shake my head. "No, there weren't."

"Then it would be simplest for Mannheim to create something reflecting where his powers were strongest, and then simply direct the material to fill in the rest."

Ted starts looking excited. "It's psychomorphic?"

"No." I shake my head. "Thaumomorphic. These lines aren't decoration or a planning aide. It grew these in response to where they are."

Ted doesn't look less excited. "Paul, when you're done with this, can I use it? Because we've made a whole lot of progress in including flows of magic energy-."

Canis shakes his head. "That will not work. It is fixed in its purpose. You cannot simply reuse it."

"Aw…" Then he perks up. "Can you get more?"

"No."

"Can you make more?"

Canis looks dubious. "If I had a great deal of Apokoliptian equipment which I do not have, yes."

"Darn. In that case-."

"Did you..?" Selina points at the globe. "Learn anything useful about this thing at all?"

"Oh! Right, sorry. I think it's an egg."

I blink. "I beg your pardon?"

He waves his pad at me, playing an image of the globe bursting apart. "That's my best recreation, based on the images you gave me. It wasn't destroyed from the outside, from an impact or… Anything like that. My best guess is that something inside was applying pressure all around, and not just on points of weakness. I think there was something inside there."

"Or..? Someone?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July 2013
12:28 GMT -5
Show Me Beauty
Canis stands with both hands pressed against the globe, eyes unfocused. I stand close by, waiting for him to get a better feeling for it.

"So why do you think Mannheim would make this?" Selina's standing close to Ted, and from the way that she's pulled her zipper down a little I think she's trying to keep his attention. Which is a fool's errand, because as much as Ted likes women he likes intellectual puzzles more.

Fortunately, that question relates to the puzzle. "I'm trying to work that out myself. He had effective control of the whole world. It could be something to do with that, but the marks chart the control mechanisms he already had without giving him any more. It could be for making some sort of monster, but he already had Finality Man and all of the Justified superheroes he captured. And he could bring in more from Apokolips itself, like all those robots he used against Kahndaq. Paul?"

"Darkseid's trying to brute force more Anti-Life fragments. My guess was that he was experimenting with some new type of corruption on someone or something inside."

He nods. "That sounds logical. S-. Ah. Catwoman?"

"To people like that, there's no such thing as too many giant monsters. Which is now living under Gotham somewhere."

"Do you have Mister Jones' phone number?"

Selina looks at me like I'm an idiot. "Paul, how would he even hold a phone?"

"Lantern." Canis blinks hard, shaking his head. "What did you do to this device?"

"I interfaced with the desires associated with it."

"You have-. It is as if you have sprayed bright orange paint over a classical portrait."

"Oh. Ah. Sorry. I could probably remove that-."

"No, that would remove everything."

Ted makes a gesture of appeal. "Did you get anything? What did-?"

"It is made to cause a metamorphosis of some sort. Someone is placed inside and their nature is changed. After their failure with Dreamer and the other Forever People, perhaps Darkseid felt that a more sophisticated approach was necessary."

"So who went inside? And… When?"

Since it was located in a small room underground using alien metamaterials there's basically no way to calculate its age. The obvious time for it to have broken is five months ago when the life burst happened, but the desires I felt fairly clearly hadn't been influenced by that. Does that imply it was broken before that?

"A mad seer. Someone disconnected from reality, who sees things that others do not."

Selina and I glance at each other for a moment.

"Would you recognise that person if you saw them again?"

"I have not seen this person before. But the association would be strong. Brut!" His dog perks up. "Scent!" "Find the form, boy."

Brut starts sniffing in earnest, prompting Selina to take a step back. "Would getting some of his old clothes help? I'm sure Arkham has them in their lockers."

Canis shakes his head. "No. Unless they were a magician, the smell of their souls would be too weak for Brut to track. We will be looking for the touch of Mannheim upon them."

Ted blinks. "You know who it was?"

"We've been looking for Jarvis Tetch." He looks blank. "The Mad Hatter. He's an Alice in Wonderland-obsessed madman. His usual modus operandi involved mind controlling and kidnapping young girls and having tea parties with them."

Ted looks uncomfortable. "When… You say… 'Tea parties'-?"

"I mean they drink tea and eat cakes. There have been deaths, but it's not because he was deliberately trying to kill them and more… Because he doesn't recognise that his fantasy isn't actually happening. But… That might be because Batman punches him out before he gets psychotically angry about them refusing to play along or wanting to go home."

Canis frowns. "Why does he wish for tea parties with children?"

"Because he's mad. His brain is broken, and he can't cope with actual reality and so projects a total fantasy onto the world around him. And when things don't conform to that fantasy, he… Can't cope. He can't understand it."

"But why does being mad make him drink tea with children?"

"Specifically? I don't know. Sometimes the human brain just fixates on things when it can't cope with the stress it's under. If I had to guess, it's because the book had happy associations from his childhood."

I look at Selina for further information, but she just shrugs. "Too old and not blonde enough. I'd have thought that your girlfriend would have been at more risk with her Cheshire Cat theme."

"The Mad Hatter didn't take tea with the Cheshire Cat."

I… Think. I only ever read Alice Through The Looking Glass, and that was a long time ago.

"He had henchmen named after the other characters."

"How did that work?"

"Badly, usually. Canis, do you have any idea what Mannheim would want with a delusional neurologist?"

Canis thinks for a moment. "You say that he is delusional?"

I generate a construct image of him, costume hat and all. Canis looks at it blankly-.

Right. Apokolips.

"Yes, he's delusional."

"Then it may be that Mannheim hoped to use his madness in some way. I have heard of devices which project disordered mental states. They are usually smaller."

"What if the range was supposed to be worldwide?"

Canis considers the device carefully.

"Perhaps, but I do not see the point. They were already under the influence of the Anti-Life. Making them mad as well…" He shakes his head.

Selina makes a beckoning motion with her right hand. "Any other ideas?"

"Mannheim was manipulating the arcane systems of this world, correct?" I nod. "Then it may be that he was attempting to use Mad Hatter to speed up that process with his altered perception."

Ted's jaw hangs open a little. "Huh?"

"With enough magic, and enough madness, a world already at one with the spirit of Darkseid and an avatar of Darkseid already present… Changing the nature of the physical world is possible." He shakes his head. "I have never been involved in such things, but I am aware that they can be done."

"And… Breaking out? Assuming that it was him?"

"Clearly, whatever it was Mannheim was trying to do did not work. Perhaps you prevented it when you expunged the Anti-Life, or perhaps it was already a failure by then. It hardly matters."

He turns away, a-

BOOM!

-tube opening.

"Come, Brut! We hunt!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Early Winter, IC 690

For all of their talents, the Romans were not good ship builders. I don't really know 'why'. Yes, Britain needed good ships to go anywhere, but Italy had an extensive coastline. My best guess is that it was because the people who were most likely to attack them were the German tribes who were landlocked and not technologically able. Even when they conquered England, I don't remember my own forebears meeting them at sea. Whereas the British Empire had to fight Spain and France at sea.

Prince Diabo hasn't been as involved in the shipbuilding project as he has in the gunpowder project, but even here Japan's knowledge is making itself felt.

I feel a moment of smugness for the actions of William Adams.

Or perhaps I should say 'knowledge we acquired via Japan'. Certainly, most of it is stuff that already existed in this ring's database, but no one would ever learn anything for themselves if they could just ask me for everything.

The hulls we built would be familiar to anyone familiar with Age of Sail ships, with the exception of the fact that they've got palisades to block enemy arrows and aren't designed with enemy cannonades in mind. Because no one else has cannons. Or muskets. The fact that we can close to much shorter distances without getting shot full of holes more than counterbalances the fact that the sailors don't have any experience in using cannons in combat. As with critics of the aerial and land portions of our work, a quick demonstration of the effectiveness of chain shot against masts and grapeshot against exposed decks was enough to convert them to our cause. The Empire's enemies are used to guarding against highly effective boarding actions, but they do so by mustering men-at-arms in tight formation to prevent marines from gaining a foothold. If they try that with these new ships, it would be a slaughter.

"But they're tiny!"

Giselle is walking around the wyverns attached to Prince Diabo's army, looking at them with obvious distain. It took them a little while to get used to Prince Diabo's dragon, but as far as I can tell the complete lack of hostility has meant that they just sort of think of it as being a bigger wyvern.

She stomps back towards the royal party, everyone gathered to see the first wave of ships off either backing out of the way of the irate demigoddess or pretending that she's not there disrupting procedures.

"Why are you bothering with these midget things when you've got a full-sized dragon, huh?"

The wyvern riders might be getting offended, but they've got enough sense to keep it off their faces.

"Because I have only one dragon, and only so many ships to carry food."

Wyverns look impressive close-up, but a moment's consideration makes their limitations readily apparent. Their wings are part of their forelimbs, much like those of bats, and as such they struggle to bring their claws to bear against an enemy. They have to bite at them instead, and worse still, their muzzles are relatively short. As a result, having them directly attack inevitably puts their eyes within easy reach of their targets. They also lack the breath attack of their larger kin, and their wings are proportionally more fragile as well. Standard practice for wyverns caught on the ground is, firstly, to get airborne as fast as possible, or if it isn't to spin and use their tail to knock away infantry to create space.

"I could get more. So long as you promise to give Hardy lots of sacrifices."

Their riders are armed with lances, but that's more so they can stab at things while their wyvern is on the ground than because they ever do lance charges. When they fight, they're more likely to do so using bows or by dropping flasks of burning oil. We also have barrels of gunpowder they could drop, but the wyverns aren't trained for that and the demonstration we did involved tying the barrel to the wyvern's barrel. Between the difficulty in judging the fusing and the effect of the extra weight on the wyvern's endurance and agility, it's not an efficient use for them.

"Even if I had more dragons, that doesn't change the supply situation. I-."

"Sure looks like a lot of ships to me."

So we don't. We get rid of their armour and replace it with leather and wool for operating at higher altitude and in rain. We get rid of their weapons and give them charts and pencils and messenger satchels. Perhaps we could reconsider if we'd been able to attract a few more magicians; giving them more strategic and tactical mobility would result in a massive improvement in battlefield effectiveness. They could advance, throw out a few explosive bolts and then retreat on wyvernback with their own exhaustion being no issue. But… No. That would detract from the gunpowder weapons and we need that to be the focus in order to assure Diabo's ascension.

"It is a lot of ships. And I'm afraid that we need all of them."

In addition to our new model warships, there are cargo ships to bring supplies and to transport the rest of our soldiers once we've established a bridgehead. And that's important, because as Winston Churchill would tell you, getting significant amounts of men and materiel off ships without a decent port is an exercise in sloth. The plan is that we'll use smaller ships to transport Warrior Bunnies and the first wave of blunderbussers and legionaries to the enemy coast, then use the ships and their guns to attack the port from the sea while they attack from the land. The city is fortified, but it isn't designed to resist cannonade and we don't need the walls intact.

Bit of a shame that we haven't been able to train sappers or engineers in the use of gunpowder.

"What for?!"

Prince Diabo looks around at the crowds watching the embarkation.

"For things I don't intend to tell you about where people could hear."

We're pretty sure that the people we're attacking know that something is coming. The remote location of our workshops have kept us free of spies-. Free of foreign spies, at least. And building new ships wasn't something that was going to alarm the Empire's neighbours too greatly. But training gun crews to work on ships could only be concealed so much, to say nothing of preventing the crews from talking about their work in taverns. So we haven't bothered putting too much effort into it. The specifics of what we're going to do with the force we're building and how we're going to do it are highly secret, but our main form of surprise comes from the time it would take for a spy to get a message back to their masters and the difficult in describing what a cannon actually is.

And the implication that Prince Diabo's dragon is our main weapon for breaching their walls.

"Who cares who hears, you've got a dragon!"

"Dragons are impressive, but they're hardly unbeatable."

Giselle stares at him like he's a stupid heretic for a moment, then turns and stomps-

"Ow."

-off towards the catering area, her tail striking Diabo in the side as she goes.

"There's no way that actually hurt."

"It did a little."

"The only way that could have hurt is if you wanted it to." Hm. "Though if your tastes run that way, I suppose that she wouldn't be a terrible choice for princess consort."

He raises his left hand a little so that he can better stare at me in horror.

"And you wouldn't have to worry about her getting assassinated or trying to usurp you, and if things are a little rocky you can just wait until she undergoes apotheosis and then you're free."

"Oh God of Ambition, please do not suggest anything like that ever again."

"No promises. Or how about this one?"

A trio of knights in the colours of the Order of the Rose are approaching the royal pavilion, and I feel Diabo checking to make sure that his half-sister isn't amongst them. Their leader has truly ridiculous hair and generally gives the impression of someone who shouldn't be anywhere near a actual war zone, while the two behind her look like they shouldn't have bet their pensions on the chariot racing.

"Prince Diabo El Caesar!"

"Where?"

"I-!" The wind leaves her hair sails. "What?"

Prince Diabo covers me with his right hand. "Dame Bozes Co Palesti. Have you come for the ceremony?"

"I have not. By order of the senate, we will be accompanying your fleet to ensure that the senate have an accurate picture of events!"

"I would have appreciated more notice, but that's fine. I will be leaving-."

"I will accompany you! I am well accustomed to sea travel!"

"I will be travelling on dragon back, but don't worry. There's plenty of room." She gulps. "I'll have to see what the leatherworkers can do about a second saddle."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July 2013
13:45 GMT -5

I look down on Gotham. Peaceful Gotham, which is an interesting change of pace compared to how I mostly remember it. I mean, truthfully, it's probably been like this for most of the last five months and I just haven't been around enough to see it, but now that I'm actually spending time here it's rather nice to not hear sirens constantly.

Alert! Call made to fire services.

…

Show me.

An abandoned area of the city, housing tenements abandoned and boarded off, scheduled for either demolition or full renovation. The western side of the building is on fire, and it's at risk of spreading. It is condemned, and I know that the Wayne family of charities have arranged for the housing of the few homeless people who survived the Anti-Life, so there's unlikely to be much immediate risk to human life, but I'm not doing anything right now so I may as well get on it.

I transition to a position above the blaze, check for patches of desire which would indicate someone inside. Nothing. There's one wounded man just outside of the boarded off area stumbling around in a daze, but those are all minor wounds.

Cold gun constructs.

Compliance.

And fire, and… Scan the structure… Plenty of combustibles in there but there shouldn't be any points of ignition.

Compliance.

The fire dies, black and grey smoke particulates precipitating out of the air and coating the ground, ice coating blackening brick and…

Ah. Right.

I transition down, shoving a construct probe through tarmac and concrete until it touches the gas pipe. This building has been disconnected, but the pipe is in such poor condition that gas has been steadily escaping. The smell might have been noticed if anyone was living here, but no one is. Gotham infrastructure at it's finest.

"Ring, message to… Ah, Gotham fire station. Let them know what happened and why."

Compliance.

And then I walk over to the man who appears to have regained his wits to a degree and is dabbing at the cuts on his face with a tissue.

"Sir? Can you understand me?"

"Uh-. Uh-huh? Orange Lantern? What happened?"

"A gas leak was ignited, and the fire spread through the property. I don't suppose you-."

"Oh… Shit."

"Sir?"

"Ah…" He pulls out a packet of cigarettes and a small packet of matches. "I just…"

I nod. "Lit a match, lit your cigarette and tossed it away?"

"Yeah. Yeah."

"While that's not a crime, sir, I would request that you make sure that your match is fully extinguished before tossing it in future."

"You better believe I will." He stares at the building. "Goddam."

"If you'll stay still, sir, I'll fix your face for you."

"Ah. Uh?" He turns back to me. "Ah, yeah… Ah, thanks."

Sounds like he's a little concussed, but that's nothing a quick burst of the purple healing ray can't deal with. Orange light to remove the small bits of grit first… And I'll fix his clothes as well, because why not.

"There you are, sir. Mind how you go."

He takes a moment to look up at the somewhat burned but… Quick check? Yes, not structurally compromised building. Then he drops his eyes to me.

"Thanks. Seriously."

"Quite alright, sir. Have a nice day."

And I transition back to general overwatch.

Selina is reaching out to various contacts who wouldn't react well to me being around. Canis and Brut are trying to get the scent, but Gotham is a city which had both plant and necrotic infestations only a… I suppose it's a few years now. Plus Arkham. But Canis has been here before, he probably-

Incoming telephone call.

-knows what he's doing. Answer.

"Domino's Pizza. Can I take your-?"

"Huh? Gawd dam-."

"No! Don't hang up! It's me, Tuppence."

"Y'all werkin' at Domino's now? That, lahk, yer secret identity?"

"No, it was a misjudged attempt at humour. I apologise."

"How that s'posed t' be funny?"

"Because you can't misdial a power ring. There's the contrast between the super advanced alien technology and the banal fat finger syndrome."

"…"

"Not… Your sort of humour. Ah, how's work going?"

"Fahn, ah guess. Don't gat too much t' compare it to." She sighs. "Couple people bein' weird."

"Well, yes, they're mind wiped. Of course they're strange. And frankly disturbing."

"Ain't that. They jus' downed tools and walked off th' lot."

"Did anyone say anything?"

"Nope."

"Did you.. actively ask them, or just look around for someone to say something?"

"Ah ain't an idiot. Ah asked. They jus' said they gaht orders."

"Okay? Then…"

"They waz actin' weird… Er. More weirder." She pauses, her voice becoming slightly harsher. "Y'all think ah'm makin' this urp?"

"No, no. I'm sure that their behaviour changed. Ah. Okay, I can spare a few minutes." I

step out, moving towards Tuppence's… Slightly more pro-social-than-they-used-to-be desires and… The disturbing shallow patches marking out Mr. Blank's colleagues. And then

I return to reality as Tuppence holds out her mobile phone.

"These two."

She took a picture, good. Scan their images, compare with my database, get their files and scan for…

"Huh." I frown. "Can't find them either."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July 2013
13:52 GMT -5

I find my eyebrows raising as I stare at the image of the Peace Agent's masked face as it floats over my ring.

"Come again?"

"While I have no record of those two operatives being given another task, they are allowed to act on their own initiative. Despite what some people on the internet think, we aren't a hive mind or anything like that."

"But they would have reported the change in activity, wouldn't they?"

"Usually, yes, but there isn't a hard and fast rule. Their A.I. support unit should remind them if they forgot, but there are reasons to delay in making such a report."

"They're in costume. I doubt that they could infiltrate somewhere."

"Orange Lantern, I'm here to organise, not to second guess the behaviour of loyal Operatives in the field. It's perfectly possible that they just went to relieve themselves."

I.. look past him toward Tuppence. She shrugs.

"Not unless they've got scan proof toilets. And according to Tuppence they reported receiving orders."

"Those didn't come from us, but it's possible that either Batman or Mister Atom gave them orders directly. Or they just didn't want to tell Miss Beresford what they were doing. We discourage particular attachment but personality is permitted."

"Okay, but Peace… Operatives? Haven't been deployed very long. There's only so much that testing can do compared to the real world. Could you put out a message asking them to report in as soon as they can? Just… Just sending you a message to let them know that they're alright."

"If it puts your mind at ease Orange Lantern, of course."

"Thank you. Orange-."

"How is your search going, if I may ask?"

"Oh, we found some weird Apokoliptian globe device. Canis had a look but we're not really sure what it does. There's a possibility that something came out of it so he's got Brut trying to sniff whatever it was out."

"And you found that during your search for The Question?"

"No, that's a follow up on the situation with Jarvis Tetch. I said I'd give The Question a week and it's been two days. Do you have information that there's an active threat to him?"

The Peace Agent hesitates. "We have a.. degree of concern, that the spiritual energies of Hub City might be disrupted by your reconstruction efforts, and that may in turn have an adverse effect on his mental state. I wasn't sure that we should tell you in case it caused you to delay your efforts; getting Hub City working really is the most important task in front of you at the moment."

I nod slowly. "I see what you mean, but… As far as I understand it, that shouldn't be a problem. If anything, the restoration of the population would make the city spirits happier and more purposeful."

"But the phenomenon is not well understood. And in any case, rapidly changing spiritual energy flows combined with his fragile mental state after being so intimately exposed to the Anti-Life could increase the chance of an adverse reaction."

"No. That's true, and you could be right. I'll track down a magician and ask them to check."

"It.. seems to me that directly locating The Question would be easier, but you're the man on the spot. I am simply here to assist you."

"Alright, well, thank you for the notice. Orange Lantern out."

I lower my-.

"He's ly'n."

"No shit." Tuppence blinks in surprise. "I don't know what's going on with them, but I've been concerned since I found out that they exist." I sigh quietly. "But in the interest of being thorough, did you check the toilets?"

She gestures towards the north. "Ah checked thuh portapotties. They wuz headed the wrong way anyhow."

"Right. Did they tell you their names?"

"Ah'm here to work an' get paid, not t' make freynds."

"Okay. Let's hope they had driving licenses, then."

Ring, go through every database you can get and try and get facial matches. Who were they before they got their brains zapped?

Working. Best matches found.

Ah… That's… A problem. Both of them were Justifiers. Not members of the Alliance of the Just, just violent criminals they used extra helmets on.

"Tuppence, did they give any sign that the brainwashing was anything less than completely effective?"

"Huh?"

"Did they say anything about their lives before joining the Global Peace Agency?"

"Not when ah were list'n'n."

Ring, phone Kai.

Compliance.

"Hey. Lantern, that you?"

"Yes. I'm sending you a couple of pictures. Do you recognise these people?"

"Just a sec… Yeah. Yeah. I… Worked with them a couple of times. Haven't heard anything about them recently."

"They joined the G.P.A.."

"Huh. Good they're turning their lives around, I guess."

"Except they've wandered off and I can't find them. Can you get me a list of their contacts?"

"Not… Really. I know the guys I worked with a lot, but when we were all… You know… We weren't exactly sharing personal stuff."

"That's fair. Do you know anyone who would?"

"Heh. Mannheim, maybe? Whatever happened to him, anyway?"

"Since it turned out that he was effectively super-Justified, he was released and is doing socially useful work."

"Him too? Damn. Huh."

"Problem?"

"Just… Kinda figured he was to blame for everything… But… I mean, I did things while I had that helmet on… I don't…"

"A lot of people did."

"But if Mannheim just had it worse, and it wasn't really him…" He exhales slowly. "I don't know how I feel about that."

"Alright, thank you for your time. End."

Tuppence has her hands on her hips. "Whut naw?"

"I start looking in earnest, and you get back to work. Good day."

 

[Mr Zoat]

Early Winter, IC 690

"Dame Bozes, are you well?"

And the sad thing is that he's not even asking in a schadenfreudian way. Diabo is genuinely concerned about her wellbeing, because… Because a slanted report to the Senate could ruin everything? Because he doesn't want to make an enemy if she decides to blame him for her hardship? Because he doesn't want her to throw up on him and get his uniform dirty? All of those are in the mix, but they're all bound up in the bundle of instincts and fears that make up Diabo that it's a little hard to tell which has precedence at any one time. The only thing I'm really sure about it that it's not compassion because I'd feel that due to it disrupting our connection.

"Yes-. Thank you-. Prince-. Diabo-."

A disadvantage of this setup that I hadn't considered: by the rules of this reality I am a god, which means that prayers directed to me personally or to the concept of Ambition do actually come to me. There's no sort of obligation to do anything about them… Not a 'built-in' obligation at least, but since Diabo became my chosen I've had a dramatic increase in prayers and visitors. And yes, it's mostly from people hedging their bets, and being on Diabo's finger means that I can't have the sort of one-to-one discussions I used to have with the few people who visited my temple. But while I can bend dreams enough to grant visions and I.. think I've been of some assistance, a brief prayer with no real focus behind it isn't going to attract my attention.

On the other hand, when someone's greatest ambition right now is to land safely, it's easy enough to hear when it's crowding out every other thought.

"While I would never disclose a prayer by one person to another without their express permission, I will observe that you don't look very well."

Dame Bozes makes an effort to control her bilious stomach. "I have never… Had the privilege… Of riding with wyvern knights."

"My brother Zorzal insisted that we tried riding one once. He was.. twelve, I think? He loved every minute."

"And… You..?"

"My vomit knocked an equites off his feet and I couldn't eat for two days. This dragon is actually a good deal more stable."

Her expression suggests that she doesn't believe him. "More stable?"

"Oh, yes. It's the difference between riding a horse and riding a wagon, except that the horse has two legs."

"Would that not..? Fall over?"

"As I remember it, it felt like it was falling over the entire time. And that was just flying at one elevation; climbing and diving were far worse." He glances back at her, smiling reassuringly. "Don't worry; if your stomach betrays you then you won't have done anything that I didn't do."

"But all of the-. The reports from Alnus Hill say that you made this dragon dive down in front of the Japanese army."

"I did. But when I did that I was mostly thinking about my position in the Empire, not about how much I wished that I'd never left the ground."

I could interject there, but there's no advantage to doing so and it really was his decision. I was actually a little impressed that he was able to maintain a shield through the Japanese bombardment. And it looks like Bozes is a little impressed-.

Ah.

She thinks he means 'his duty to the realm as a prince', not 'securing my position'.

I take a moment to extend my awareness down, to where the ships of the bombardment fleet are beginning their slow crossing. The ships of the first wave are smaller, lighter and faster, and we'd rather have their departure unobserved… By naval units that might be able to arrange to have them met on the far shore. The bombardment fleet should be able to blast apart anything they meet… Unless the gun crews completely mess things up, which could happen. I expect that a ship or two will be sunk before 'friendly fire isn't' gets embedded in the minds of their captains.

And speaking of the captains, they were actually fairly upbeat and enthusiastic about the whole thing. In the Saderan Empire, the most prestigious positions are infantry commands. Naval commands usually go to members of the junior nobility or bastards, and as a result they've got something to prove and an enthusiasm for anything that could increase their prominence. Before Diabo, the navy would have been limited to landing the troops who would attack the city from the land. But he's given them the ability to attack a fortified city directly and they know it.

"Prince Diabo?"

"Hm? Oh. I apologise. I've been watching for some sign of enemy fleet movements."

She snorts. "What could they do?"

"Based on what we know of their fleet?" He looks around. "Given how high up we are, the only thing that they could hit us with be a scorpion, and they would need a very lucky scorpion shot indeed to hit us. But my concern is something that we don't know about."

"Like what?"

"That's the point: we don't know about it. Everything our spies tell us says that their force is well within our ability to best, and it is only the difficulty in maintaining our supply lines that has prevented an attack like this being made in years past. But they know that also. We know that our black powder weapons have radically changed the calculus but so far as they know, this is simply an overbold prince trying to do what his forebears could not."

"Then they will be overconfident."

"I hope so. Because there is nothing about the gates which stops them opening in other nations, and there is no wisdom special to me which prevents others doing what I have done. I do not want to be the overconfident one. Kati was overconfident."

She smiles. "Piña was right about you."

"In what way?"

"She once told me that Prince Zorzal could confront a barbarian horde alone and be completely sure that he'd win, while you could confront an unprepared enemy on the back of a dragon and be sure that you'd lose."

He frowns. "When did she say that?"

"About seven years ago. We were talking about-." Her eyes widen and her cheeks colour slightly. "Ah, that doesn't matter."

Hm. I suppose that anyone wanting their daughter to court a prince might well suggest talking to his half-sister. And said half-sister might well encourage her friend if said friend were actually interested.

Diabo hesitates for a moment. "Do you want to practice a dive while we're too far away from anyone to see it? I doubt that anyone would even hear your screams from so far away."

Her momentary relief about not having to talk to Prince Diabo about what his sister's been saying about him rapidly gives way as her mind processes what he just said. Her eyes drop down to the harness holding her in place, and the broader straps and chains holding the saddles in place around the dragon.

"Have-? These been tested?"

"I've used them since just after I returned from Japan. They will hold, and if they don't then I will catch you myself."

I hear her renewed prayer as her pride refuses to allow her to fail to live up to the standards of the most hesitant prince. But she manages to nod.

Diabo looks a little surprised, but then takes a firmer grasp of the reigns.

"Very well. Dive!"

…

Well, at least she didn't hit an equites-

"EYUK!"

-but perhaps it would have been best to check that Giselle wasn't following us first.

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July 2013
13:57 GMT -5

Alright, I don't think anyone's watching me…

I don my power armour, switch the outer surface to stealth mode, retract my environmental shield to 'internal' and then fly at speed several miles southwards.

Okay, that should stop just about every form of observation that it's worth being worried about. Because I do not want to have to explain to Batman how I know how to do this, or explain to Mister Luthor why I used it.

Ring, detect heat gradient exchange portals.

Compliance.

And I'm.. dimly aware of them all, all over the planet and… In the direction of Batman's new space station. Makes sense that he'd have a few there. Or maybe he's using a reserve gradient connection for power generation? If that's-.

Ah…

Okay, now I'm wondering if he could have actually put a space station together in six months. Batman's a very intelligent man, and with a power ring he could have handled the construction himself. Could have, because he was overseeing global reconstruction almost full time…

Was he?

Because with a power ring, maintaining a real time connection to the Watchtower from just about anywhere would be simplicity itself. It's a decommissioned Sector House after all, designed to interact with power ring technology. And he could have gotten a sample of the O.M.A.C technology when the Young Offenders attacked… But Dr. Cochin said that he needed special measure to preserve the samples outside of their host body. So did he get more recently? Or was he working on it a couple of years ago?

No. Let's be honest. I'm wondering if this was actually me.

He's the preparation guy, after all. The League had fought Amazo, and then several cyborgs with the same technology showed up as elite mass producible soldiers. Studying how they worked…

I don't know enough.

Okay. G.P.A.T.V. broadcasts the activity of all of their operatives as a way to boost public morale… And probably their own recruitment. Ring, compare the publically broadcast locations of Peace Operatives with the locations of the portals on Earth.

Compliance.

That's not two. That's twenty seven. Alright, eliminate the ones that can be detected by ring scans… They've got to sleep sometime.

Compliance.

Seven. Right. Scan.

Unable to detect targets.

Good-. Well, not 'good', but-. Alright, plot course and transition to Hub City.

The world flickers, and then I'm looking at a building site.

Switch the stealth armour for normal plate.

Compliance.

Access cameras in the vicinity of those seven markers.

No cameras found.

Prepare stealth drones linked to this armour's systems. One each.

Compliance.

Rapid high altitude transitions, drop them as we go.

Compliance.

I see a half-second of various landscapes, the robot drones vanishing from subspace as I go before finally returning to Hub City.

Alright, let's see. Cameras moving into position… Roads. Cars. They're all driving… Ring, maps? And compare current locations to last known locations.

Compliance.

Are they-? They're driving in the general direction of Gotham. Or possibly Blüdhaven. Three are already close.

Ring, contact Robin.

Compliance.

"Hey, Oh El. Found Hatter yet?"

"No, not yet. Have you requested help from the Peace Agents?"

"Ah… Not specifically. I've been updating them on things, but there's not a lot going on right now. Is there a problem?"

"I'm not sure. Some appear to be behaving anomalously, but I don't know exactly what their orders are."

"Anomalously how?"

"Downing tools in the middle of a project and then driving long distances instead of using their teleportation array. Makes no sense."

"Huh. I don't think anyone in Gotham has called for them. And you're right, they would just teleport here if there was some kind of emergency. Can you send me their locations?"

"Sending."

"No, nothing from the police or the mayor's office. What do you think's happening?"

"Someone's found a way to suborn New God technology really quickly. And guess what these guys have in common?"

"They're all ex-Justifiers."

"… Yes. Did you just know that?"

"No, the computer automatically searches for points of commonality. Did you notify Batman?"

"No. I tried telling a Peace Agent, but they didn't seem all that worried. There's no real rule saying that the Peace Operatives can't bunk off, it's just strange that they'd want to."

"I… Guess… Are you keeping an eye on this?"

"Yes, and I'll notify Batman more directly if there's direct evidence of malfeasance."

"And let me guess: you haven't tried asking them."

"Tuppence did, and they blew her off."

"She… Isn't you."

"I prefer to observe potential malfeasants before confronting them."

"And I prefer to keep the crazies out of Gotham. They might not be as strong as me, but Peace Operative enhancements are no joke."

"Okay, I'll defer to you on this subject. I-." My ring blinks. "Hang on, I've got Canis. I'll include him. Orange Lantern?"

"I have his scent! He is leaving Gotham via the railway system! He heads south!"

"How fresh is it?"

"Perhaps a few hours!"

"Right, you keep after him, I'll go and talk to the Peace Operatives. Both of you stay on the line."

Plot course to the closest car and transition, appearing in the air next to their vehicle and matching speeds.

"Excuse me, gentle-."

BLAM!

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July 2013
14:01 GMT -5

Armour.

Ow.

I pick myself out of the burned roadside scrub as the car accelerates away from me. That was… Novel. Rather than fire a blast out of their hands, the Operatives gestured and the air around me sort of exploded. Teleporting… Energy, converting the air into plasma-.

Ow.

And no build-up. So… So the only reason that I'm still alive is that my environmental shield can't conduct electricity so it earthed itself into the ground. I still got hit by the kinetic power-.

"Okay, the first two just blasted me." Heavy armour, construct armour. "I'm moving to detain."

"Oh El, that's two powerful metahumans who aren't immediately threatening anyone. You should wait for backup. Canis?"

"If I delay then the Hatter may escape."

"No, keep on Hatter."

I accelerate after their car, grateful that the roads are so empty. He's not wrong about the guidelines of engagement, but notifying someone, bringing them up to speed, getting them here and then making sure that they don't die-. Area effect attacks work well against speedsters, and if they're just targetting a remote attack rather than making the attack themselves then there might not be any sort of recharging period. Batman didn't tell me exactly what they can do, so I can't be completely sure of my ability to contain them-.

"Robin, have you notified Batman?"

"I've sent an initial report. I can-."

"Orange Lantern to Yellow Lantern. Urgent."

That should go directly to his power ring, rather than going through whatever filtering he's got set up. Of course, he can just dismiss-

Call refused.

-it, but hopefully he won't do that.

"Huh. Uh, maybe we can get-."

"Hey there!" I look up and see Kara II floating above me as we gain on the speeding car. "I'm here to help!"

Um.

"Robin, did you call Supergirl Two?"

"No? Is she there?"

"Yes." Kara tilts her head slightly to the left. "Thank you for being here. It's really.. convenient."

"I know!" She nods excitedly. "I haven't been following you at all!"

"Uh."

She look forwards. "I'll go grab them right away!"

"Supergirl, w-."

She zooms forwards in a red and blue blur, and-

BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM!

-the explosions start at once, which implies that they can still use satellite monitoring because hitting a kryptonian like that by eyeballing it is extremely difficult.

Kara herself hits the road face-. Head first, digging a channel as her momentum carries her along and then flopping onto her back.

I stop just above her, scanning-. I can't see any injuries-.

"Are you alright?"

She blinks, floats upwards into the air with her eyes glowing red and then rotates to face the fleeing car. "That wasn't very nice!"

"Narrow beam, Kara! Narrow beam!"

Red rays lance out, rupturing the rubber of the rear tyres before a force field flares into being, soaking the heat.

"Okay, and stop, because-."

The force field undulates, then two red rays lance out and hit Kara right in the eyes!

"Ow!"

She staggers in the air, shaking her head and blinking heavily. The car…Appears to be carrying on unimpeded.

Maybe… I should-.

"Kara, are you alright?"

"I don't think my super vision is working!"

"I know, and I'm sorry about that. I just need you to catch me if they hit me. Can you manage that?"

"Sure! I can navigate by sound! And smell, actually! Don't ask me how I know that! I don't need super vision!"

"I wouldn't be so sure. Perhaps hang back just in case?" She nods happily with her eyes closed. Ring, sound projector. "Would either of you gentlemen care to explain what you're doing?"

Neither of them respond, and… Their rear wheels appear to be fully functional once more.

"Gentlemen…" Ring, just in case their shield is preventing them from hearing me, flash Morse code as well.

Compliance.

"Gentlemen, please stop your car and surrender yourselves. You are not technically under arrest-"

"But you should be!"

"-but I have reason to believe that your minds are being externally altered. If that is not the case, then we need merely have a simple conversation and you can be on your way. If you do not, then I will be forced to restrain you pending a mental health assessment."

Which someone who voluntarily blanked their mind wouldn't pass, but I'm doing this for show rather than because I'm obliged to.

Alright. Electromagnetic pulse.

The car judders for a moment, then resumes driving.

The car looks modern enough to require electronics. They're repairing damaged components. Alright. Teleport jammer. Electromagnetic shield. Fly faster and scoop-

Blam!

-and lift the car off the road so that its wheels are spinning in thin air, generate every type of interference around the box I can think of…

No more blams. Okay. That last 'blam' was weaker and more diffuse than the first, so I'm disrupting something. And they haven't tried repeating it. Their car's free floating wheels spin impotently inside my construct as I float closer.

"Gentlemen. Are you prepared to talk now?"

They turn to each other for a moment, and then leap through the windscreen towards me!