Welcome to Happy Hour

18th July
10:37 GMT -5

"What I'm saying is, they accidentally took a guy from the wrong planet. That doesn't sound very safe to me."

M'gann and I are in the kitchen area. Finding out that despite her appearance she is actually forty eight was quite a relief. Someone I can talk to! Aqualad is sixteen but I've got no idea whether that counts as adult or not in his country. Superboy came out of his pod on the day I got the ring. He looks physically adolescent, but his mental development is all over the place. I had an interesting conversation with him about 'Human, All Too Human' a couple of days ago. His analysis of some of the aphorisms was interesting, but when he spoke it sounded like he was reading out something someone else had written. When I questioned him about it he got in a mood and stomped off. If we're going to live together I'll have to watch myself to make sure I don't push his buttons like that.

"Uncle J'onn says that that can't happen again."

"Of course it can't; he's already here."

She giggles. "No, I mean the safety systems have been improved since Dr. Erdel's experiment. There has to be a tube at each end, and they check the signal integrity before sending whoever is inside."

I've got a construct whisk whisking the mango custard. I'm on dinner duty this evening and I've decided to try my mango meringue cake on a captive audience. People at work seemed to like it. The construct has four whisk bits and as it has no actual mechanical components is virtually silent. I've kept the basic shape though, since I'm used to it and the handle is convenient. The one I made for work had two layers. This one will have three. Partly because I want to push my baking skills, and partly because I want there to be some left for the rest of us when Kid Flash has finished. He says that he has a fast metabolism as a result of his speed, but I don't think that can be right. He can run at the speed of sound; there is no way a human body can ingest enough to fuel that in the conventional way. On the other hand, he isn't gaining weight, so, I don't know.

Cooking for and being cooked for by apprentice superheroes is an interesting experience. M'gann goes for traditional American food, though yesterday she branched out into Tex-Mex. I pretty much flip through a recipe book until I find something that looks interesting, though when it comes to pudding I currently have a bit of a custard fixation. When he's actually here Kaldur does baked fish with various kinds of seaweed. It isn't as bad as it sounds. Superboy does Beef Stroganoff and poached pears. He does them well, but it appears to be all he knows how to do. I watched him once, and he put everything he needed out on the work surface in a very particular arrangement before starting. Cooked the whole thing in a fugue state, unresponsive when I tried to ask him about it.

One morning M'gann tried to help him make pancakes. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I ended up having to remove burned pancake mix from the work surfaces, floor and his forearms with the ring.

Kid Flash actually looked distraught when he turned up last Friday evening and I told him I didn't know the number of the local pizzeria.

"But do they check the integrity of the thing checking the integrity?"

"There is at least one level of redundancy built in to each system, an automatic remote daily system check and a service each month." I stop and look at her. She simpers. "I read the manual."

"Good. I'm glad someone has."

The custard is mixed. I won't add the mango puree until it's started to get stodgy. I eliminate the whisk construct and watch as the custard mix coating it falls into the bowl. I put it in the microwave, one hundred percent power, four minutes.

"Are zeta tubes common on Mars?"

"No, we don't use them at all. Earth developed the technology first, and on Mars the radiation disrupts the signals too much for it to be much use."

I float off the ground, legs folded up beneath me. The cake itself is in the oven, the custard is in the microwave and I can't start the meringue until they are both done and cool. I also can't start doing something else while the custard is cooking because it needs attention every few minutes.

"Why are you doing that?"

"Huh?"

"You do that sitting in the air thing a lot. I was just wondering why?"

Huh, I suppose I have. Hadn't thought about it. Didn't realise that she'd noticed.

"I've had this ring for a fortnight. The novelty value of being able to do this hasn't worn off yet. Kinda hope it never does, actually."

"I can't imagine not being able to fly."

Huh?

"I don't think I've ever seen you fly outside of the base."

"Yes, because I'm trying to fit in. I can't just walk down the street and start floating things in public."

"Why not? There are humans who can do things like that."

"Yes, but not very many. I don't want to attract that amount of attention. While I'm here, I just want to be a normal Earth teenager."

Teenager? Odd. Maybe shape shifters think about societal groups in a different way to humans?

"You do know we're not a monoculture, right? A teenager in the United States is very different to one in Kenya, or Pakistan."

"Yes, but my first exposure to Earth culture was in some TV shows Uncle J'onn sent back after I asked what it was like here."

"They were all American?"

"I think so. I didn't bring the tapes with me, and when I watched them I didn't really know anything about the different countries on Earth."

"Might be interesting to watch them again, now you know more about what it's like here."

"Maybe. I think I mostly liked them because it was so different to what I was used to. Open skies rather than caves."

"You lived in a cave?"

"All Martians do. Oh, no, not little caves. Vast underground caverns. All of the settlements on Mars are underground, because of the radiation."

"Uh."

Mars must be very different here. And not just the being inhabited thing, there are reasons why some worlds don't develop life.

"You said that you came here from a parallel universe, right?"

"As far as I can tell, that's correct."

"Do you have… What's Mars like there?"

"In my parallel Mars is a frigid, barren, uninhabited desert wasteland. I think we found some bacteria in soil samples, but that's about it as far as life goes."

"Oh."

"Sorry, but it's like I said. Where I'm from Humans have only met other Humans."

The microwave keeps whirring. There was something I was meaning to ask. What was it? Oh, yes.

"I've been wondering… I saw you change your t-shirt from white to black when I first got here..?"

"Yes?"

"Do you actually wear clothes, or do you just shape shift part of your skin to look like you are?"

Silence. The microwave beeps, and I pull the steaming protocustard out onto the work surface and recreate the whisk construct.

"YesIwearclothesofcourseIwearclothes!"

I turn around. She looks flustered and is blushing purple.

"Oh. Shape shifting clothes. That's fairly impressive, actually. Though I suppose for a Martian on Earth something like that would be pretty essential."

A quick wizz with the whisk and then the custard goes back into the microwave. I set it for two minutes and go back to watching it.

"I'm not naked."

"Alright. What sort of range do these wonder garments of yours have? Just standard humanoid, or can they do extra arms as well?"

"Really. I'm wearing clothes. Totally wearing clothes."

"I fully accept that you are wearing clothes."

"I mean, you don't seem to care but some people would probably find it really strange if I wasn't wearing clothes."

"They probably would."

"It would be really humiliating."

"Okay."

"I just want to be clear."

"You are fully clad. The matter is resolved."

"Okay."

"Okay."

18th July
10:45 GMT -5

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

"What was it like?"

"What was what like?"

"Just… Turning up in space like that."

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

"Painful? Why?"

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

"You think your body is perfect?"

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

"What about me?"

"What made you pick that face?"

"What's wrong with my face?"

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

"It's my face."

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

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

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

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

I snort. "Yeah, and the rest."

"What-what do you mean?"

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

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

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

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

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

"Could you not tell the others?"

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

No, {orange}not enough{/}, I still feel like an arsehole.

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

"That's okay."

{orange}No, it isn't{/}.

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

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

"I can understand that."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Am I?

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

"What sort of television shows?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Why do you do that?"

"It's full of plastic."

"No, I mean, the meditation."

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

Larfleeze.

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Yeah. Alright, I understand."

{orange}What can I do to help{/}?

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

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

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

"Did Megan from the series go there?"

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

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

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

18th July
11:27 GMT -5

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

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

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

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

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

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

In terms of confidence-.

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

"Yes, Kid Flash?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"No."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I'd take a jaywalker right now."

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

He perks up. "Is it done?"

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

"How many layers does it have?"

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

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

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

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

Suck it, Superboy and Aqualad.

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

"{orange}Inertial controls on{/}. {orange}Ring, plot route before Wallace scoffs the lot{/}."

18th July
11:31 GMT -5

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

"You sure it's not done?"

"Yes, the meringue takes an hour."

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

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

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

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

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

"Any good?"

"I don't know. {orange}I don't buy stuff I could bake myself{/}."

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

"No, I haven't."

"How come?"

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

"Wonder Woman gets in fights all the time!"

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

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

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

"Not right away."

"Well, there you-."

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

Right in the ego. Right in the ego.

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

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

"Sure you can keep up?"

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

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

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

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

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

"You think you can take Robin."

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

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

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

"Aqualad."

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

"Miss Martian."

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

"Superboy."

I shrug. "Same as Aqualad."

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

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

"No. Way."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I do know what his name is."

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

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

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

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

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

Yeah.

"It was a tiny mask!"

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

"Are we going or what?"

18th July
11:37 GMT -5

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

"Strap in for launch."

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

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

"Red Tornado, please open the bay doors."

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

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

"Incredible."

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

Wallace sighs. "She sure is."

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

"Ah, I mean, the ship."

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

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

Stop digging, man.

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

Oowh, harsh, Robin. Harsh.

"Dude!"

{orange}I should probably try and help him out{/}.

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

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

"Do you have a pilot's license?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I smile. "Learn something new every day."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Mimicking boys is a lot harder."

"And your clothes…"

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

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

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

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

Wallace continues with his interest in everything M'gann.

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

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

"Dude!"

Robin is definitely off Wallace's wingman list.

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

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

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

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

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

"Received. Adjusting course."

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

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

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

M'gann sounds more positive.

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

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

Too late!

18th July
11:44 GMT -5

{orange}Ring, medium armour{/}.

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

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

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

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

My eyes glow orange as I activate my visual enhancements.

NO. FUCKING. TINY. MASK.

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

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

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

"Robin? Are tornados common to New England?"

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

"Robin?!"

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

"He was just here."

Shit, the telepath can't find him?

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

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

There is a woosh of air and a dull clang.

"Ugoh! Guh."

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

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

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

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

"Didn't catch his name."

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

"But he plays kinda rough!"

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

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

Whaw, that looks {orange}CRASH MAT CRASH MAT{/}!

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

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

Was there a team attack strategy session I missed?

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

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

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

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

What the heck is this room actually for?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reaching a decision, {orange}I grab Aqualad with a mailed gauntlet construct{/}.

"Wha'?"

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

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

"You should be aiding us against the enemy."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

18th July
11:50 GMT -5

That got a reaction.

"Another child in need of an education."

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

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

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

Oh, that'sgood.

"{orange}Things will get loud, now{/}."

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

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

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

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

"Ghuaaaagh!"

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

What? What happened?

He drops to the ground, clutching his head.

What?

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

{orange}I want him safe{/}.

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

"Surprisingly intelligent, for a youth."

Huh?

I hear a vacuum sound.

Arrhhh!

Can't see!

Twister!

Waaaaahh!

Can't concentrate to fly!

Blauhoabaubauabuao!

Doafh!

Slamming through something, I hit the ground.

Uuuuugh.

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

"{orange}Ring, fix it{/}."

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

{orange}!Superboy!{/}

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

"{orange}Ring, inner ear{/}."

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

{orange}Wholeness Rightly Assumed{/}.

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

{orange}!Superboy!

Superboy{/}!

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

"{orange}Ring, what's wrong with him{/}?"

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

"{orange}Can you fix it{/}?"

{orange}"Not without further physiological data for target species."{/}

"{orange}Can't you just{/}.. {orange}just{/}… {orange}Work it out{/}?"

{orange}"Suggested course of action is possible, but unwise."{/}

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

"{orange}Painkillers{/}. {orange}Can you stop it hurting him{/}?"

{orange}"Compliance."{/}

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

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

From shocked to scared.

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

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

"Yes!"

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

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

Ear drums ruptured. Sonic attack. Super hearing.

It was me.

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

Move.

Move.

Move. Move. Move.

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

It was me. I might have permanently deafened him.

My shield flickers and weakens.

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

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

"Read his mind. Find a weakness!"

Won't work, Aqualad.

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

"It's okay with the bad guys!"

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

"Nothing. I'm getting nothing!"

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

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

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

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

"Red Tornado sent us here!"

Nonono Aqualad, not the avalanche of stupid…

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

Robin?

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

{orange}Ring{/}. {orange}Locate Red Tornado{/}.

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

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

They stare at me, thought train derailed.

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

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

The skies darken.

No. Fucking. Way.

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

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

No. That won't work.

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

Lightning begins crackling around Mister Twister.

I see worried and fraught faces. My allies.

{orange}I fucked up with Superboy, but I'm not failing again{/}.

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

I. {orange}Will{/}. {orange}Not{/}. {orange}Fail{/}.

Krackompf!

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

Krackompf!

I don't know what to do.

I don't know what to do.

I don't know what to do.

"I can't tank this forever!"

M'gann looks thoughtful.

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

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

What?

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

What?

{orange}OrangeVision{/}

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

Heh. He flies standing up too.

HeH hEh HeH.

18th July
11:56 GMT -5

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

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

Ring, charge?

{orange}Eighty seven percent remaining.{/}

"What happened!"

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

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

{orange}"Compliance."{/}

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

"It's working."

{blue}Oh, that's a relief{/}.

"Good, good."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"What?!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

{orange}Review{/}.

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

"Months!"

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

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

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

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

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

"That was partially my fault as well."

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

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

"Do it."

"What?"

"The ears. Give me… Orange… Ears."

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

"{orange}Ring, do it{/}."

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

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

He looks away. "Mmf."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I step away from the group. {orange}Ring, open a channel to Red Tornado{/}.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

A small orange image of Red Tornado appears before me.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aqualad smiles. "Then we have our distraction."

18th July
12:08 GMT -5

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This morning? "What happened this morning?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Fine."

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

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

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

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

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

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

"It was supposed to attract the required attention."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

{orange}!MINE!

I won't let him get hurt again{/}!

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

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

Did Aqualad just run up a flying boat?

**I'm coming in now.**

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

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

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

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

Maybe I shouldn't mention that to anyone ever.

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

"The subject is not up for debate."

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

**Orange Lantern in position.**

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

{orange}Ring, full scan of Mister Twister{/}.

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

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

{orange}No power ring disrupting technology detected in target. Physical scan complete.{/}

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

**Superboy ready.**

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

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

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

**Aqualad ready.**

"I'm here now."

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

**Robin here. All set.**

Alrighty then.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

M'gann grabs his cables.

**Attack is go.**

"Longer than you might think."

"No."

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

**Orange Lantern moving.**

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

**Aqualad moving up.**

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

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

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

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

{orange}Ring, confirm that target has no organic components{/}?

{orange}Confirmed.{/}

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

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

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

"What the hell?"

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

"But it's not alive!"

"I am alive!"

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

"Of course not! Oh."

"Yes, 'oh'."

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

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

"Ah, not a robot here?"

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

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

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

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

"Anyone know the protocol for imprisoning-"

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

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

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

18th July
12:38 GMT -5

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

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

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

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

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

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

"What's that?"

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

"And that other one?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Any progress?"

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

"Why can't you replace it?

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

"Human?"

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

"That's not… How is that possible?"

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

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

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

Genomorphs. {orange}Ring{/}?

{orange}Partial match confirmed.{/}

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

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

"Uncle J'onn has medical training."

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

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

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

"What do you need me to do?"

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

"Fifteen..!"

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

"Why?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

18th July
12:41 GMT -5

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

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

He fidgets, slightly.

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

He looks up, his expression neutral.

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

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

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

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

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

"Ears."

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

"Mpf."

{orange}Ring, erase my mistake{/}.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Just, tell me!"

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

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

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

"What does that mean?"

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

"Why?"

"What?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

"If what had been Superman?"

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

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

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

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

"Can you make me fully Kryptonian?"

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

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

"No problem."

He nods, and leaves the room.

18th July
13:01 GMT -5

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

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

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

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

"Doctor Holland, might I have a word?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

18th July
13:17 GMT -5

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Yes."

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

"What were you expecting?"

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

"Feel free to tell the others."

"You really can't say it?"

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

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

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

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

"'Fraid… Ah, I'm afraid not."

"Does that hurt?"

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

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

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

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

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

"Mine took two minutes."

"Two minutes?!"

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

"Yeah, but, paperwork?"

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

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

"No."

"Come on. It was the same fight."

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

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

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

"You rebuilt his whole auditory canal."

"The ring handled the fiddly bits."

"Even so…"

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

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

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

"When'd you scan his?"

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

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

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

"Ah, fine."

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

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

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

"No, he's picking up."

"Can he carry that many pizza boxes?"

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

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

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