Contingency

14th October
13:56 GMT -5

{yellow}I dash down the corridors of the Allen Hospital in what I fully appreciate is a panic{/}. {yellow}Come on, come on, they said it was around here somewhere{/}!

"-complete overreaction, Diana. I just tripped. Coulda happened to anyone."

There! I darn near bounce off the wall at the end of a T junction, feet scrabbling for grip on the squealing floor.

"Alan, you're not a young man anymore. Doctor Jacobs is just concerned-."

I shove through the door to Alan's room, and they both turn their heads to look at me. Diana's wearing.. tweeds and a shawl? Guess she finds it hard not to get noticed around New York. Alan's still in jeans and a slightly rumpled shirt, sitting on the edge of the bed nearest the door and slightly turned away from the walking frame positioned at the end of it.

"Oh, not you too. It's noth-"

I cross the gap between us, bend down and hug him.

"-thing. Okay." He hugs me back. "Clearly I.. scared you more than I thought I did."

As I loosen my grip I get my first good look at his face. The skin around his right eye is purpling in a way which suggests a black eye in the not too distant future. That skin which had been smooth and blemish free when we first met three months ago has taken on the looser and more wrinkled look I remember from my grandparents. His formerly wheat blonde hair is now noticeably greying. Maybe I'm imagining things, but his eyes seem a little dimmer too.

"Paul, I'm okay. I just caught my foot on the edge of the step when I was carrying some.. ah, some things upstairs. Hit the side of my face. But I'm fine, really."

{yellow}No you're not{/}. {yellow}You're ninety three and you had a fall{/}. {yellow}My Nan was younger than you and she never fully recovered from her first fall{/}. {yellow}I knew he'd age but I thought we'd have more time than this{/}!

{orange}Ring, heal{/}.

{orange}Unable to comply.{/}

I hold up my left palm to stare at the {red}stupid{/} thing.

"{orange}Well why not{/}!?"

{orange}"A high proportion of the substance of the target individual is etheric in nature. Its alignment resists modification by orange light. Though it is possible to proceed, the most probable result is further damage."{/}

"Paul, it's fine. I've been bruised worse than this plenty of times. I remember in my first fight with Grundy-."

"Okay, it's not a problem, you can just use your ring. Where did you leave it?"

His eyes dip to the floor for a second, and then he makes eye contact with Diana. "Well, I... Until you showed me, I didn't even know power rings could be used for healing."

"Now you know, and if Guy can get the hang of it then you should... What?"

"Paul, I... I thought I told you."

"Told me what?"

"My ring's been out of juice for three weeks now. Can't get a durn thing out of it."

{yellow}Nooooo{/}.

"Oh, come on, I'm not going to drop down dead tomorrow. I'm not touching that walker, though."

"Do you want a hand up?"

He shuffles his weight right to the edge of the bed, arms supporting himself on both sides. A little gingerly he shifts the load to his legs, standing up fully once he's sure they can take it. Once he's up I realise that I was standing by to catch him if something went {yellow}wrong{/}.

"There, see? I'll take things a little slower for a few days, next time this week I'll be good as new." He frowns and looks me over. "You're not skipping out of class to be here, are you?"

"No. Mister.. Jones is teaching mental techniques I already know. Apparently, power ring users tend to shrug off weak mental illusions anyway."

In Carpe Jugulum, Nanny Ogg said that Discworld vampire hunters get drunk before they go hunting, as vampires find it hard to get through the 'fog' surrounding their thoughts. Turns out? Probably not true for here. Mister J'onzz can send me to sleep when my ring generated telepathic shields are down, but when I focus to create a construct simple telepathic illusions and attempts at mental misdirection tend to fade away. Wish that had been true when I first moved into the mountain, could have wrapped that whole thing with the G-Gnome up very quickly.

"How is Kon coping with it?"

Can't be very often a man honestly forgets that Diana is in the room with him. From her smirk I think she may have spotted it.

"He seems to be doing okay. He certainly sees the value of it, and he did some practice with M'gann when she removed his Cadmus programming."

She pushes open the door and holds it open. I wait while Alan walks out ahead of me.

"He said that you were having dinner with Artemis tomorrow."

Alan's head jerks around and he gives me a grin.

"Oooh?"

"I'm having dinner with Artemis and her mother. Her mother had a spinal injury and I repaired it with the ring, they invited me over to say thank you."

A quick check online suggested that Artemis was wrong about the etiquette. A bottle of wine might be appropriate, but I don't drink and Artemis can't drink legally. Oh, wait, America. Neither Artemis nor I can drink legally. I think they'll like my alternative, but I am a little worried that I might have overdone things again.

"Getting on her mother's good side already?" He turns to Diana while pointing at me. "This is what happens when you teach them strategic planning."

No. No.

"Alan, Artemis -I like her- but she's a bit young for me."

Diana nods. "You have been spending a good deal of time with her sister. And I think Ollie said something about her recently divorced mother looking noticeably younger?"

My face freezes as I look at Diana. She's an Amazon! She shouldn't be allowed to make this sort of joke! Change the subject change the subject.

"Diana, do you have a bow?"

She raises her eyebrows slightly and Alan chuckles.

"I've trained with most types of weapon. Why do you ask?"

"No, I mean, do you have a bow like your training swords? One where you can use it at full strength without breaking it?"

"I do, but it's a little impractical; I can shoot an arrow further than I can see. Why do you ask?"

"Can I..? Is it possible for me to commission weapons like that? Or armour?"

"I.. suppose. I'd have to ask Io. But why would you want one?"

"I was thinking of getting Artemis one as a pres-."

They both nod as if understanding has dawned.

"NOT LIKE THAT!"

16th October
11:56 GMT -5

Doctor Lockhart shakes his head emphatically.

"You're not listening, little brother. I didn't even like being Red Torpedo all that much when I thought I was Human."

Robin and I are in Red Tornado's quarters. Not what I'd call comfortable. The rock and the metal of the floor are bare but for a workshop area with a small fabrication plant where Robin is working. No, that isn't quite right. There's a small shelf on the main workbench upon which rests a small number of items which seem out of place. Keepsakes? Is that really all he's kept from sixty years of life? Given how personal they must be I haven't wanted to look too closely.

"If that is truly your choice then I will respect it."

Red Tornado is making do with a temporary body, mostly made from salvaged parts of Mister Twister. The oversized arms make him look a bit like a gorilla. Creaks less than his normal one though. He wanted us to focus on repairing his siblings, but once we removed Morrow's control programming his brother was quite definite that he did not want to be restored to combat effectiveness. His highest priority was looking like Doctor James Lockhart again. He had been wearing highly sophisticated synthetic flesh when the Morrow android took him from the Windward Assisted Living Home in Bar Harbour, Maine. When Morrow cut it off him he put it in storage in his base but both skin and base were destroyed during the eruption. Now I've finally finished reattaching the replacement version he looks exactly like the old man on the missing posters.

"My choice would be for this whole mess never to have happened."

He's got back into crotchety old man character almost as soon as he reactivated. Not sure if it's a behaviour subroutine activated by the presence of skin in order to preserve his cover or a coping mechanism. I could relate to that. He even wanted us to remove his water control system, but that just isn't possible. It serves as his main power source and we're nowhere near advanced enough to replace it with something of comparable output or size. His other systems are now back in working order, though not restored to factory settings as we just don't have those. He also refused to upgrade to the 'next generation' processor that his youngest brother had.

Red Inferno turns her head from where she's lying on a sort of steel bed thing. Unlike her eldest brother she has opted to be brought up to full combat effectiveness. We still haven't finished finalising her design. Since I am very far from understanding how Morrow's systems are supposed to work my best suggestion has been a smaller and more feminine version of Volcano's body but at the moment I've limited myself to restoring her head and giving her the processor upgrade Torpedo refused, the rest of her body being skeletal robotic components that grant her mobility but little else. That's what Robin is working on now.

"If Father had not come for you then you might have remained in the Home indefinitely. In spite of appearances you do not age. Finding out simply means that you are less ignorant."

"Then ignorance is bliss." He looks down for a moment, trying to work out how best to articulate his bitterness. "The only people this works out for are my medical insurance providers. What a waste of money that was. Ah, to hell with it. Who do I have to see about getting a ride home?"

He could just walk out to sea and then travel there himself. Not sure exactly what his top speed is. Guess he just doesn't want to. I shuffle nervously. I feel like I'm intruding on a family row, but I can't leave without drawing attention to myself.

Red Tornado takes a step forwards.

"There is no need for you to return there. You know now that your apparent infirmity was part of your infiltration programming. If you wanted, you could live elsewhere."

"I appreciate what you're trying to do, Tornado, I really do. But right now I just need to be somewhere familiar."

Red Tornado lowers his head slightly. "There is a Zeta tube in Augusta. I will escort you.. home. Would it be acceptable if I were to visit you, once you have had a chance to settle back in?"

Doctor Lockhart hunches slightly. I know that there's nothing wrong with his motors or joints, though they're much weaker than the ones which his original chassis had. Habit, I suppose. He looks over Tornado's mismatched body parts for a moment.

"Sure. Sure. Everyone else gets visits from family, and it's not like any of us have anyone else."

Red Tornado walks over to the floor opening to his quarters and opens the iris. Doctor Lockhart follows him, but Tornado hesitates for a moment.

"What of our father?"

"That {red}rat bastard can die in his bed{/} for all I care."

"I had thought that the.. Human thing to do would be to look after him. Since you are a medical doctor and have no other responsibilities-."

"First time I met our {red}father{/} he ordered me out of my home, had me dig up Da-. Our sister's body, ordered me to kidnap you and nearly kill a group of children, and then try to destroy the human race by setting off a supervolcano. Hate's a very human characteristic too, Tornado. Maybe you should try that instead."

He takes hold of his brother's proffered right arm and they rise up in the air a little with a blast of wind before dropping through the hole to the training area. I relax slightly.

"Orange Lantern." Red Inferno is looking at me. If our first meeting had left any residual fear of her, seeing her partially dismantled body would have removed them. "I wish to.. apologize, for my actions while under Father's command."

I walk over to the bed/slab thing. I'm trying to make the angle more comfortable for her.. but that actually doesn't make sense. Her neck actuators can handle any angle they can make with no pain feedback. Not that she's getting any pain feedback at present. She looks a bit like.. I don't know, actually. Not a Cylon, not a Terminator, not a Necron. Her arms and legs are basic to say the least. There are motors in the joints, but with none of the super strength muscle fibres her combat avatar had she looks skeletal to say the least. Her spine -which is clearly visible as we haven't even started on the outer plating yet- supports her head and connects to legs salvaged from the robot version of Mister Stikk. Wires from her power plant/fire control system visibly run to every part that requires power from a box hanging from her shoulders under her head.

I wave her apology off. "Oh don't worry. I was fine once I got the ring back."

Robin looks up from the computer interface he's working at. "You were kind of a mess before that, Oh El."

"I couldn't really see myself. But I'm not going to hold a grudge over an injury I could easily heal, particularly when inflicting it wasn't really your choice."

"That is not entirely true."

Eh?

"While I was compelled to obey Father's instructions, it was my decision how those orders were to be implemented. Though I bore you no personal malice I took the decision to rouse you by burning your face, and to strike you when I found I could not deny the logic of your arguments."

That's a bit...

"May I ask why you made that decision?"

She turns her head to stare up at the ceiling. A minute passes and I start to get concerned for her well-being.

"Danette Reilly was not merely working as a superhero, she... I devoted myself completely to becoming the most heroic person I could be. She had no other interests. No friends beyond her team mates. When she saw Dragon King pointing a weapon at The Flash... At Jay, she did not hesitate. She died knowing that she had done the right thing. That was her identity. Then, I woke up, and I was no longer Danette Reilly. I found myself compelled to obey a man I knew to be villainous in contravention of her every moral belief. I wanted to lash out and you were convenient. That choice was mine."

No, I still don't see any point in holding a grudge about it. "If you wanted, you could be Danette Reilly -Firebrand- again. We can restore your chassis and it's not as if having two names is uncommon around here."

"Danette would not hesitate to say yes. I am no longer certain."

"If you aren't certain, why did you ask to be fully repaired?"

"I cannot rely on my own judgements. But, whatever new goal I decide to pursue being fully functional would make achieving it easier. In addition, it allows me to delay making that final decision."

"Would it help you to talk about it with Jay Garrick or Alan Scott?"

Her head reorientates on me. Diana and her were in the All-Star Squadron together, but she told me that she was going to hold off on reintroducing herself until Inferno was ready for it. She hasn't told their other surviving contemporaries yet. She told me that she hadn't known that Danette was a robot, but that she couldn't swear that the others hadn't.

"They are still alive?"

"Yes. You didn't know? Alan mentioned you when we were going through his photo albums a few weeks ago."

"Do they know what I truly am?"

"Not sure. I've been meaning to ask. But I think you're doing Alan a grave disservice if you think he'd care."

16th October
15:53 GMT -5

Teekl sniffs at the corner of the stone block I'm sitting on before jumping up onto it. Captain Marvel only just got Teekl's approval for taking care of Wolf for the duration of the exercise, but Wolf herself has apparently decided that she's had enough excitement for now and has gone to sleep in his arms. Her adopted kitten in safe hands Teekl has condescended to resume her original stature. Odd, I'd started getting used to her being a big cat. Kon, Aqualad, Artemis and M'gann are already lying down on their blocks, while Robin and Wallace seem a good deal less happy about the situation. Mister J'onzz is standing off to the side talking to Batman while we prepare ourselves.

**Does this seem like a really bad idea to anyone else?**

I wonder if Wallace realises that Mister J'onzz can almost certainly hear that? I will admit to not being entirely sanguine about the situation myself. I mean, he had a point when he pointed out that there isn't really any other way to practise for an alien invasion. But when he said 'fully immersive telepathic illusion' my Star Trek redshirt death sense started tingling.

**Wally. This sort of training is a core part of the Manhunter training program. Uncle J'onn has been through hundreds of this sort of sessions like this, and I've done dozens. It's perfectly safe.**

I should probably ask. **Has he ever done this with humans before?**

**Of course he has! The Justice League do training like this all the time.**

**Uncle Barry said he did it twice.**

**Well... Okay, but they still did it.**

**And my telepathic shield construct won't disrupt it?**

**Your awareness will be limited to the illusory world. You won't be able to form real constructs, just alter the illusion based on what you'd normally be able to do.**

**Has that been tested? I don't want to risk smashing up the place by creating a construct in the real world.**

**The Green Lanterns did the training. They glowed a bit, but they didn't create any constructs.**

**And what happens if I try to use the ring in an original way? Something I haven't tried before?**

**Like what?**

**Errrr... Telepathy broadcast disruptor?**

**Well, your shields wouldn't-.**

**No, I mean something that would disrupt it over an area. If I scanned the brain of an illusory telepath inside the scenario, would it let me learn how to block that, or would the fact that I've never done that before make it impossible?**

**Umm...**

**The system is adaptable, within limits.** Mister J'onzz leaves Batman and walks over to us. **In the example you gave, as long as you had the necessary data to support your belief that the telepath could be blocked using the technique you developed, it would work as expected. That said, a completely original use might fail when it would work in reality. I have noticed that you are.. somewhat more creative than either of the Green Lanterns I have worked alongside.**

**Thank you sir.**

**If that occurs, simply assume that you did not in fact have the necessary data to support your conclusions, and practise the technique once the scenario is concluded. Remember, the purpose of this exercise is to aid in your training. You can learn just as much -if not more- from failure as you can from success.**

Well, this is happening then. I lay down, careful not to kick Teekl as I swing my legs around. She looks at my legs, then walks up between them onto my stomach.

"Teekl, that's not-."

She turns in a circle, pads, then curls up on top of me. Bloody cat.

**Is Teekl coming too?**

Kon seems amused by the situation. Teekl never usually sleeps on me. I'm not sure that she actually does sleep. A normal cat will sleep if it doesn't feel the need to eat, excrete or patrol, but Teekl seems a lot more mentally complex. Teekl's head comes up, and she looks at Mister J'onzz.

"I am able to make contact with her mind. M'gann told me of her actions in Bialya and Louisiana. If you wish for me to include her in the scenario as an active participant it should be possible for me to enable that."

He looks at me for confirmation. I look at Kaldur and raise my eyebrows.

He thinks for a moment. "I have no objection. Teekl, do you wish to participate?"

{orange}"Teekl sleep hunt."{/}

Kaldur regards her curiously. "Does she mean 'yes'?"

"Probably, but don't assume that she won't just wander off when the scenario starts."

Robin's head jerks up. "Hey, why isn't Zatanna doing this?"

"Grounded for life, remember." Artemis shifts awkwardly on her bier. That's the word. Bier. What coffins are put on. Not ominous at all. "Why don't these things have cushions?"

"If you are all ready?"

I raise my right hand, wave it, then lay my head back on the hard surface of the bier. The biers are arranged in a circle, our heads are pointing towards Mister J'onzz in the centre. I hope we're using these things for a reason, it wouldn't have taken me more than a couple of minutes to move our beds out here. I tilt my head and flick my eyes back to see Mister J'onzz raise his hands slightly.

Wooow. We're standing in a misty purple void. Or dull lilac, possibly? Robin, Artemis, Wallace and M'gann are now in uniform, and Kaldur has changed from his old uniform into his Ocean Master gear. Kind of assumed that I'd feel something first. Hm. Interesting.

**Is anyone experiencing any sort of discomfort?**

There's a general shaking of heads. Mister J'onzz isn't in here with us, but will be monitoring events externally. You know, maybe the League needs to get another telepath. If this drags on he's going to be stuck here for a while.

**Then I will begin the scenario.**

Gradually, the mists part and the training room emerges. The floor appears first, then the main screen with Tornado -how he looks when fully repaired, not how he looks at the moment- standing next to it. Batman's image fills the screen. Looks like he's in some kind of aircraft.

"Deploying camera sensor units."

The image shifts from Batman's face to some kind of alien spacecraft. Our opponent for the afternoon, I suppose. I turn my head to the side as the far walls of the room appear, then the end of the corridor and the ceiling until the illusion is complete. Just to make sure I {orange}create{/} an orange sigil over the ring. Yep, that works.

On the screen one half remains locked on the target craft, while the other follows Batman's spaceship. We watch as Lanterns Jordan and Stewart fly up to the alien ship.

"Attention, you have entered the boundaries of Earth space. Disengage all weapons and engines."

I frown. "Pretty sure that's not in accordance with standard Lantern Corps protocol. Why are they both standing right-."

The alien ship fires some sort of huge beam weapon. The Greenies create bubble shields with their rings, but they are swiftly overpowered and incinerated.

"Saw that coming. Are we assuming that the weapon destroyed their rings as well? Because if they didn't we should get a couple of new Greenies out of that. And the Guardians would certainly be-."

Wallace gives me a sour look. "Are you going to keep this up for the whole thing?"

Gotham City
15th October
18:37 GMT -5

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-day.

The zeta tube light fades behind me as I walk out of the Gotham alley onto a side street. I had thought that zeta tube placement represented appallingly bad security, but when I asked I was informed that it doesn't matter all that much if their location is discovered. It's happened a few times, and all that happens is that it gets deactivated and a new one placed in what is hopefully a more secure location. The worst thing that can happen is that the area around it gets booby trapped, but Batman put various types of sensors around each terminal when they were constructed and these days Mister Zatara wards them to be unnoticeable.

So, back in Gotham. I took the time to read up on the currently active 'theme criminals' before coming here. No Hagen, obviously. He's reliquefied, and the last report I read from STAR Labs was that he was managing to speak simple sentences coherently. Napier and Isley are back in Arkham, Isley more or less catatonic and Napier his usual self. Dent's in Arkham too, from a case last year when he tried using a gang of blackmailed identical twins to commit robberies using their twin to secure an alibi. Cobblepot is a more or less legitimate businessman these days and Catwoman doesn't do muggings, so unless I walk into Mister Jones or Mister Lynns there shouldn't be any trouble on that front. Of course, I'm quite a bit more confident in my abilities now than I was when I first came to this world. I'm sure that any engagement with anyone known to be operating in Gotham at present would go worse for them, but I'd rather not get involved in anything liable to make me late for dinner.

I could just fly there. I mean, the fact that Orange Lantern knows Paula Nguyen isn't a secret. Neither is the fact that Paula has a second daughter. But it occurred to me that it's probably best not to draw attention to the fact. I may not have been around long enough to pick up an actual nemesis, but in Gotham all it would take is one nut taking an interest. So, no flying into a residential area. Twelve minutes walking time, more or less. Funny, despite being in the murder capital of the east coast I'm feeling really good. Confident. Did Kal-El grow up feeling like this? No one here can hurt me. I'm humming happily, and I'll probably be singing under my breath by the time I reach my destination.

My oh my what a wonderful day.

Shame Torpedo's taking the whole being a robot so badly. Maybe he just needs time to adjust? Combined with my scan of Red Volcano the data Robin was able to extract from Morrow's base should start getting improved robotic designs into production some time next year. Batman was surprisingly reasonable when I raised the possibility of not just handing the whole thing over to STAR Labs and forgetting about it. The proto responsometer thing tech that powers the androids and gives them elemental powers will go to STAR, but the more mundane stuff will be making Ted Kord a very happy man.

I didn't even bother raising the possibility of sharing with Luthor. Letting everyone have access to the data might work to prevent accusations of favouritism, but the League's preference is to restrict access -big surprise- and their charter allows them to do this.

Hah! There's three tough looking youths sitting on those steps over there, and I don't even slightly feel like crossing the road to avoid them! With this ring I can afford to think the best of people, and if I'm wrong it doesn't matter.

"Fuck you lookin' at, fuckin' fagget?"

And with a grunt, the alpha male howler monkey marks his territory.

I stop walking. I was sort of hoping something like this wouldn't happen. For a moment, I'm reminded of the scene in Wanted, where the now supervillain trained Wesley confronts the people who shout and throw things at him every day when he walks home from work. Oh, why not. I smile at them.

"Three upstanding citizens, I'm sure."

And they immediately jump to their feet. One black man and two Hispanic men, though I suppose that might just mean that their families come from Brazil. The black chap has a red jacket and a black woolly hat, while his friends favour hoodies, grey and green respectively. Grey hoodie takes the lead.

"The fuck is your problem, limey!?"

Back in my home parallel I had people shout at me -usually from cars- while I've been walking or cycling along quite peacefully once too often. I remember a television series that I used to watch on the Science Fiction channel. It was based on an American supermarket tabloid, but the weird things they claimed were happening actually were. {orange}What was it called{/}? Ah, yes, that was it: The Chronicle. Anyway, there was an episode with what appeared to be a superhero, so the three reporters did some research on the subject. The nerdy reporter offers his colleagues a range of quality comics from his own collection to read up on, the jock dismissively rejects Dark Knight Returns because 'he watched the series' and the woman complains that comics are basically power trip fantasies for emotionally retarded adolescent males.

Or something. It was a while ago, and I like to think that I've been mostly level headed about the whole thing. But I'd never attempt this without the ring.

"Well, you see, I was just peacefully walking down the street, when-."

He reaches me and tries shoving me. I decided that an orange shirt would be appropriate for this evening rather than my usual grey vest. It's one of those that Artemis picked, and among its virtues is that it conceals my well developed ring forged musculature. The small calibre bullet proof environmental shield doesn't exactly hurt. I don't move so he tries shoving again, harder. Again, I remain in place. He takes a closer look at my face and starts.

"The fuck is wrong with your eyes?"

Perhaps his colleagues are more observant, because they stopped walking towards me before he spotted that. For a start, my body language is wrong. Batman's lesson on body language was really quite interesting. I should be defensive or aggressive, but instead I'm at ease. Strange. I'd have thought that the old instincts would still be in operation but I haven't been consciously forcing myself into a particular behaviour pattern and I don't feel even slightly tense.

"Oh, they've been like this for months."

{orange}Transition{/}. I appear behind them.

"Now, I'm going to suggest that-"

They {yellow}jump{/}, backing away in earnest. Even in Gotham, most murders aren't caused by' theme criminals'. Those are just the ones the newspapers focus on. Murders related to normal crime -usually robbery- is the largest figure. The robbery rate isn't all that much higher than in other places, the thieves just seem much more willing to use lethal force.

"-perhaps you're being unnecessarily confrontational about this? Really, I'm just going for a walk here."

Red jacket has ended up closest to me, his right hand going into his pocket. Oh! That's what those guys at Bluebeards Bikes were doing, reaching for their guns. Suddenly I feel less bad about their arrest. I nod at it, still smiling.

"That really something you want to do?"

Green hoodie slaps him on the back and he slowly withdraws his hand, empty.

"Uh, look man, it's cool-."

"Don't worry about it. In fact, just to show there's no ill feeling, {orange}here{/}."

One of my 'what happens when you put food in subspace' pizzas appears on a plate in my right hand, still warm from the oven. As far as I know, the answer is 'nothing', though storing living rats there ate silly amounts of ring power. Dead rats take much less. Weirdly, subspace seems to differentiate between living and dead matter. Something to do with mystical presence, perhaps? I hold the plate out to red jacket and he {yellow}looks{/} at it like I'm offering him a landmine. With what I assume is a Gotham-evolved survival sense, green hoodie steps around him, takes the plate while showing submissive body language and then steps back.

"Thanks, man. We'll get out of your way, you can just carry on with your walk."

"So kind. You all have a good evening now."

I nod, then carry on down the pavement, listening carefully to what's going on behind me.

"The fuck you doin'? Don't fuckin' eat it! You see how he was smilin', probably put Smilex or some shit in it!"

Ah Gotham, don't you ever change.

16th October
17:08 GMT -5

"All I'm saying is, if it hasn't, then there's three perfectly good personal lanterns just sitting there."

We're in the bioship, heading to the alien fighter which has 'conveniently' isolated itself next to the Fortress of Solitude. We skipped most of the distance with the aid of the ring, but Kaldur didn't want to take us in too close in case the orange trail was spotted. I know that this whole scenario is premised on us being all that's left after the League die, but would it really have killed Mister J'onzz to make it a little more believable? Diana fighting with her lasso; something which I know and he should know she doesn't bring with her on missions where capturing the foe is not a realistic option. And dying to a shot she blocked, which if I understand the spells bound to her bracers right is basically impossible. Guy fighting from a static position when in fact he is always moving during a fight. Weapons used by the Earth's military forces being ineffectual but somehow Green Arrow's arrows do something. That was one of the things which annoyed me about the Justice League Unlimited episode Dark Heart: bullets do nothing but Huntress' staff can destroy the nanotech-enriched killer robots just fine.

Wallace sags as he looks at me. "Are you still going on about that?"

"It's a plot hole. Guy even gave me the access frequency for his lantern's subspace pocket. If the Greenies aren't going to send someone to investigate the death of three of their members -and they would, by the way- I might as well pick them up."

Anyway, Superman, Captain Atom, Captain Marvel and Mister J'onzz die charging the alien mothership. Batman died in his spaceship after getting shot by the alien fighter craft which are even now swarming Earth based defence centres and strafing cities. The rest of the League -and Guy Gardner, nice touch there- die in the atmosphere. The panicked news reports provide a nice in-universe way of explaining the plot to us. We don't know the aliens' motivations in the scenario but to be honest it doesn't look like Mister J'onzz has bothered giving them one. Interstellar warfare only makes sense in a very limited range of situations, and given that the mothership landed in Smallville of all places and that the fighter craft are not just killing anything that fights back but also attacking concentrations of civilians... He seems to have gone for some sort of 'because we're evil' motive.

Kaldur holds up his right hand in an attempt to prevent further bickering. "The alien weapons are far too dangerous to risk you recovering Lantern Gardner's lantern."

Stupid arbitrarily powerful weapons. Power ring shields are designed to take the worst the universe can throw at their bearers. If anything could down sector Lanterns like Jordan and Stewart that easily then everyone would be using them and power rings would be obsolete. But no. Strength D. No saves for you.

"How about looting the Fortress then? Bound to be some decent weapons in there."

"Perhaps. Time permitting. But please, try to take this scenario seriously."

"Right. Sorry." I lean back in my chair and strum the fingers of my right hand on the top of the box containing the illusory representation of my personal lantern. Ah heck. "{orange}Ring, display New York, Inwood and the Themysciran Embassy{/}."

An image appears in front of me. Inwood has been badly shot up. Just check... Yes, Alan's house is one of those that has been hit. The Embassy has similarly ceased to be. Their armoury should still be intact, but if the aliens' bullshit weapons could shoot through the spells on Diana's bracers then it might not be.

"{orange}Status of Green Lantern A{/}-."

Wait, does everyone here know Alan's name? Wallace does, but Artemis didn't seem to last night, and I haven't got around to asking his permission to tell people yet.

"{orange}A zero three{/}."

{orange}"Unable to locate."{/}

Hm. Well, that's realistic, at least. Would have been nice if I could have handed Guy's lantern to illusionary Alan but I suppose just assembling a new Justice League and making this their problem would rather defeat the object of the exercise.

There's a chime from the ring, indicating the presence nearby of an alien fighter patrol. I {orange}dismiss{/} New York and {orange}set{/} the ring to monitor them. If their guns are cheaty bullshit then so far their sensors have proven not to be. Which is odd, because a gravity sensor would detect the bioship if I didn't actively disrupt it, and Earth can build those. Or at least salvage them. No, alien ships are pulling away. I can't think of any advantage they might gain by letting us carry on if they knew that we are here.

"Orange Lantern." I look around at Kaldur. "Try to work out which part of the alien ship serves as their communications array. We will need to destroy that first when we make our ambush."

"{orange}Scanning{/}." The feedback makes little sense to me in terms of Earth aircraft, but... "I think that red glowing thing on the end of the right wing is their communications node. There's complex energy patterns being emitted from it on all of those fighters I've scanned so far. Ring can't decode it though -which is bullshit, by the way-."

"Orange Lantern-."

"But it is! Decryption is hardly an original use. Fine. I can't decode it. It could be reports, it could be a remote control system, it could be part of a hive mind. Could be anything, but I can't detect any other likely candidates."

"What if they're telepathic?"

I look at M'gann and shake my head. "I can't detect anything like an organic brain. If they're telepathic then it's nothing like any form of telepathy I've seen before. Of course, that doesn't mean that isn't what's happening."

Kaldur nods. "We will simply have to hope that you are correct. And work quickly in case you are not. Miss Martian, since they do not seem able to detect us through the bioship's stealth, it is logical to assume that they will be unable to detect you whilst you are invisible. Destroying the target vessel's communication device will fall to you. Orange Lantern, what can you tell of their propulsion system?"

{orange}Ring{/}? Uuuuuh.

"There's no exhaust gas, no ionic discharge and no significant heat that I can detect. Based on those ship designs Lantern Gardner showed me I'd say it's probably some sort of gravity control system. And either their inertial dampeners are ridiculously good or there aren't any actual crew inside those things. I'd guess that it's located at the base of the main module, but none of the designs that I've seen are similar enough to this that I'd want to bet on it."

Kon shrugs. "We just want the gun, right? Why not just smash everything else, just to be sure?"

Wallace smiles. "Sounds like a plan to me."

I roll my eyes. "That's not a plan, that's an aim."

Kaldur gets up and walks to M'gann's pilot station. Teekl watches him go, then jumps into his chair and curls up.

"Artemis, we will drop you off before the attack begins. Get to a place of concealment and await my order. Miss Martian, once Artemis is in place move us in to fifty meters behind the target. Once we are in position exit the bioship and get into position as close as you can to the target. I will leave with Artemis and get underneath the alien craft. Superboy, once the ship is immobile board it and remove the main gun. You and Miss Martian will then attach it to the bioship. Orange Lantern, take control of the bioship once Miss Martian leaves. Be ready to take evasive action at the slightest sign it has detected us. We cannot afford to lose this ship. Robin, Kid Flash, I want you prepared to help with stripping the alien ship as soon as it is defeated. In addition to the main gun it would be most helpful to have access to its memory banks. Teekl-." He looks at his chair, where my cat now has taken up residence. "-stay exactly where you are. Are there any questions?"

"Yeah." Robin looks at M'gann. "How long will it take the bioship to.. connect to the alien gun?"

"I can't be completely sure. I'd guess a few minutes, and we won't be able to use camouflage mode while it's happening."

{orange}Ring{/}?

"Two other alien fighters within easy intercept distance. Even if we get the communications array, they could probably see us."

Kaldur nods. "We will simply have to be ready for them."

Gotham City
15th October
18:53 GMT -5

I tend to walk quickly when not restrained by the presence of others. In fact, my legs were the only part of my body that could be said to be in reasonable shape before I came here. But this evening I've decided to slow things down a bit. Left hand in pocket, smiling, right hand waving at people and wishing them a good evening. I've gotten more than a few stares but some people have nervously returned my greeting. A street light flickers and I {orange}fix{/} it with a nod. Then it hits me: I'm trying to be Benton Fraser.

Whow.

I check both ways before crossing the road to Artemis' apartment building in something of a daze. Due South. Haven't thought about that for years. How old was I when that series was on? Fourteen? Younger? I step aside as two men walk out of the door of the building, then push my way inside. {orange}Ring{/}? Ninety five? I was eleven? Whow. Have to see if I can get hold of it here.

I nod at the concierge, a young white man with long and slightly straggly looking hair. His eyes flick up from the textbook he's looking at as I walk over to the intercom panel. Just as shiny as I left it on my last visit. Still says 'Crock' next to the box for flat 302. Did she decide to keep the name? I assumed that she'd change it back and she hasn't corrected me when I've called her that, but I never actually asked. Should I ask? Eh, no point worrying about it, she'll tell me if she finds it annoying.

I press the intercom button, hear a buzz and wait.

"Yeah?"

"Good evening, Artemis." I go to say my name and realise that I can't. "Me.. here."

I hear an amused snort. "Hey Paul. Come on up."

"With you in a moment."

I step away and head towards the door to the stairs. Wait, wasn't there something..? I take a quick look around. Last time I was here I did a few repairs with the ring, but-. The windows! A quick look shows that the concierge chap isn't looking now that I've shown that I'm supposed to be here. {orange}Clean{/}. What looks like twenty years of accumulated dirt and bird muck evaporates from the small windows over the door. Ah, why not? I extend the effect upwards, cleaning the front windows of every apartment. The wave of orange might be noticeable to anyone looking directly at it, but it only lasts a moment and isn't all that bright. Eh, and what if someone does notice?

Plenty of sunshine heading my way.

Through the door that should probably be a fire door {orange}just a moment{/}, there we go- and up the stairs. Getting too into it, I have to come to a sudden halt halfway up the second flight and move to the side to avoid running into an elderly black woman. She gives me a surprised and mildly affronted look for a moment. Yes, probably a bit juvenile.

"Good evening."

"Oh, I know you. You're that young English man been seein' Paula's daaghtah."

"Um... W-which one do you think..?"

"The older one. The one in prisaan."

"I've been visiting Jade, certainly."

Her look is now amused and appraising. "Good! That woman, she had a lotta hard times. It's good that someone's looking out for her, not like that husband of hers."

"Ex-husband..?"

She nods, and starts down the stairs again. Alright, on to- And she pinched my bum. She pinched my bum, and now she's chortling down to the entrance. She's sixty if she's a day and... Alright then. A short walk down the corridor takes me to number 302 and I {orange}take{/} a bunch of purple carnations out of subspace before knocking on the door. I've got the actual thank you for having me gift set up for later, but I thought it might be nice-.

Artemis pulls open the door, looks at my face, looks at the flowers and then looks away.

I blink.

…

No, I'm actually seeing it.

"Are you wearing a dress?"

Okay, that was a bit stupid, but I've never seen-. Is she blushing? Then she snatches the flowers and walks back into the flat.

"I'm sorry, it's just I've never seen you wearing-."

"I have other clothes!"

"Well, yes, of course..."

Err, okay. I follow her as she leads me into the kitchen. Oh! No, bad. {orange}Slippers, and clean the floor{/}.

"Mom, do we have a vase I can put these in?"

Ms Nguyen is standing at the cooker, stirring a pot. Doesn't smell too offensive. Actually, smells kind of nice. She turns around as we walk in. "Oh! Those are.. carnations? I didn't know there were purple carnations."

"Um. It's a fairly recent thing. There's an Australian biotech company that modified them using genes taken from petunias."

She takes the bouquet from Artemis and sniffs them. I bought them from one of the main greenhouse complexes in Australia just before coming here, so they're as fresh as they get.

"There should be one in the cupboard in the living room."

Artemis nods and walks back out while her mother props the bouquet up in the sink.

"Dinner should be ready in about ten minutes. It's been a while since I've cooked anything Vietnamese. Artemis and.. Jade.. both grew up in the US."

I admit, I spent some time since getting the invite preparing myself for worst case scenarios concerning Vietnamese cooking. Snakes and snails are both very real risks here. But, I've never eaten either. For all I know they're delicious, and that's sort of the point of this.

"How's your physical therapy going? I don't see any crutches..?"

"Very well, thank you." She walks back to the stove. "I'm not back to full fitness yet, but-"

Artemis comes back in with a glass vase decorated with flowers. Her mother takes it from her and puts it under the tap to pour water in.

"-I can walk around and use the stairs on my own. I'll leave the acrobatics to Artemis." She smiles. "For now, anyway."

I nod. Shouldn't be too much of a surprise that she'd ideally like to get back to full fighting fitness. And if Batman can drag his sons around when he fights crime...

With the vase half filled with water Paula removes the flowers from their paper binding and inserts them into it. She moves them around a bit until she's happy with the arrangement, then puts the vase in the middle of the kitchen table. Then she walks back to the cooker, stirs the pot once more before turning her head to look at me.

"Did you have any trouble getting here?"

"No, not really. There were these three guys who seemed to think they owned the street, but they don't think that anymore."

Artemis looks interested. "Why, what did you do?"

"Scared them a little, then gave them a pizza." I shrug. "Didn't really see any point in starting a fight. It's too nice a day for it."

"You.. gave them a pizza."

"Yes. You remember I said that I wanted to test what happens to things I put in subspace?"

"You gave them a subspace pizza. Did you check it was alright before you gave it to them?"

Um. Whoops.

"It.. looked fine. And I don't think they were going to eat it. Seemed to think I might have laced it with Smilex for some reason. Oh, and I bumped into an old woman when I was coming up the stairs and she pinched me."

Paula looks a little puzzled. "Misses Owens? Where did she pinch you?"

"Well..." I shift a little uncomfortably, and clench. Paula notices and tries to suppress her smile. Failing, she turns back to the stove. Artemis just snorts.

16th October
17:22 GMT -5

I close my eyes and see the world through the bioship's senses. Took a while to work out exactly the mental attitude and ring constructs necessary to replicate M'gann's connection to it, but it was time well spent. And Mister J'onzz hasn't decided to arbitrarily remove the ability either, which is nice. M'gann's in position behind the alien fighter which is holding position just outside the entrance to the Fortress of Solitude, a metre or so off the ground. Artemis is behind a snow bank to its right. I'm not completely sure that the snow will give her cover but it should conceal her precise location. Unless Mister J'onzz has decided to give them bullshit sensors after all. Kaldur's just coming up to position underneath the alien fighter. According to him the ice is thin enough for him to attack through.

Everyone except me has switched to thermally insulated Arctic camouflage. Robin raised the point that it might be worth upgrading my armour with the smart fabric they use but I countered that I'd still glow orange so there'd be little point. The rest of the team are ready for rapid deployment if the initial attack is a success. If it isn't, then we either leg it or I use the ring to force open the Fortress. I haven't actually scanned the real Fortress. It seemed that might be pushing my boundaries a bit, especially given my total non-relationship with Superman. Since I haven't seen any Kryptonian technology anywhere I can't even judge whether or not the risk would be worth it.

Kaldur's now in position. With the bioship's sensors and the ring I'm best placed to coordinate, especially since I pointed out that we don't know that the aliens can't detect telepathic broadcasts.

**Orange Lantern to Aqualad. Everyone is in position and ready to attack on your order. Two alien craft still within intercept range.**

**Acknowledged. Miss Martian, Artemis, target communications and the gravity drive. Now!**

I watch as the tip of the fighter's right wing buckles before being ripped clean off. I didn't detect any irregular outbound signals and it didn't seem to be in communion with its fellows, but the clock has definitely started ticking.

**Communications disabled.**

An arrow strikes the fighter low on its right side and a chunk of it ceases to be. It lurches in the air and then falls to the ice.

**Gravity drive disabled.**

The top mounted bullshit gun swivels in Artemis' direction and opens fire. Doesn't look like it got a precise fix on her, and the weapon doesn't seem to be penetrating the densely packed snow very well. It penetrates a little and then an oval of snow just disappears. Curious. Might be possible to defend against by using a larger bubble shield, rather than my usual construct armour.

I begin manoeuvring the bioship closer now that the target is downed. Kaldur's put on his light gear for this, his attack twisting the frozen waters of the ice sheet and causing it to buckle beneath the fighter. I'm not completely convinced that was necessary, but it does put him in melee range if any alien crew disembark and now that it's frozen to the ice the fighter will find it harder to take off if it has some sort of backup system. At least I persuaded him to stay underwater. I mean, for goodness sake, what would be the point of exposing himself when he can attack from below its arc of fire?

The bioship shakes as Kon launches himself at the fighter's turret. At this range it has no chance to traverse before he gets below its minimum elevation. He sticks his right arm through its outer hull armour to brace himself, then jabs his left forwards through the centre of the gun's 'stalk'. Red energy -some sort of plasma discharge?- crackles around him as he rips through, causing the turret to flop to the side. Once he sees that its lights have gone out he manoeuvres into a better position on the fighter's top surface, kneels, grips, and wrenches it free.

You know? Looks kind of like an Eldar Falcon now. No sign of any crew. No sign of secondary weapon systems either.

**Orange Lantern to Aqualad. Weapon disabled.**

**Understood. Miss Martian, Superboy, begin installing the weapon.**

I {orange}call up{/} an image of the other two fighters as I deactivate the camouflage. The bioship lists slightly as Kon jumps onto the roof. He holds the gun in place while M'gann begins the joining process. One useful thing that's come out of this: first thing I'm doing once this session is over is getting a plasma gun for the real bioship. I've been so concerned with something permanent, some perfect solution, that I've been ignoring the possibility of abusing the shapeshifting capabilities of the ship to use something good enough. Just plug something into the hull and take it off once the mission's over. As long as it only needs electricity to function there's no problem.

**Rerouting systems to integrate weapon into ship's biomatrix.**

**Understood.** Kaldur forces the ice aside and jumps out onto the surface next to the fighter. **Artemis, return to the ship. Wallace, Robin, study the alien ship but be ready to leave at a moment's notice. Orange Lantern, status of the other fighters?**

**Still coming in this direction, no change in speed. I'll keep you appraised.**

Since the ring's translation and analysis functions have 'mysteriously' failed Robin and Wallace really are the best people on the team to try and identify memory storage units within the fighter. Robin's attaching what look like ultrasound probes to try and get a picture of the interior.

**Don't think that's gunna work, Rob. How about we go with Superboy's suggestion?**

Honestly, I'm with Wallace on this one. I try {orange}taking{/} another look at the fighter's interior myself but none of what I see makes any sense to me. Maybe it would to Robin? Shame we can't do some sort of telepathic skill sharing network thing.

**I think I've got something. Aqualad, try cutting here and here.**

Kaldur brings his water bearers to bear on the spot indicated. Neither the ship's sense nor the ring can tell exactly what he's doing, but from the looks of it he's cutting through part of the red dome at the front. {orange}Incoming fighters{/}? Uh oh.

**Aqualad, the enemy fighters appear to have spotted us and are accelerating. Yikes, they're moving fast. Estimate one minute to intercept, and I'll remind you that construct shields do not reliably stop their primary weapon.**

**Understood. We will have to hurry. Miss Martian, will the weapon be integrated with the bioship by the time they arrive?**

**No. Sorry Aqualad, it's too soon.**

I see Artemis reach the alien ship and put one of my arrows to her bow. **What direction are they coming from?**

**South west south. They're coming in low, twenty metres.**

She takes cover behind the bulk of the fighter's hull and takes aim. If I can't stop the beam with a barrier, what can I..? Ah, that might work.

**The biggest target here is the bioship and it's a sitting duck. Robin, do you need either of the alien ship's wings?**

**No. I think its primary data storage is behind here.**

Kaldur's finished cutting a hole and stands aside as Robin points a light inside.

**Miss Martian, can the bioship support the gun's weight yet?**

**It should be able to, yes.**

**Superboy, would you mind snapping off the alien fighter's wings? I can probably use them to block one shot each, at least.**

**On it.**

He jumps down, wraps his arms around the one on the left and squeezes until the armour breaks. I {orange}extend{/} a tendril construct out of the rear door to take hold of it. If the aliens hit the bioship... I don't know what would happen. How much mass can those guns cope with? I move the ship to a hull down position behind the fighter, rear door towards my team mates so they can embark quickly. Kon crosses to this side and snaps off the other wing. Right. I {orange}move{/} each of them into the line of fire between us and the enemy.

And here they come.

Gotham City
15th October
19:16 GMT -5

"Which part of England are you from?"

Apparently, the stuff we're eating is called Far. As far as I can tell, it consists of a chicken broth with chicken pieces, onion, bean sprouts, peppers and some sort of leaves. The broth is spiced, but not so strongly or unpleasantly that I have to give the ring instructions to change it. There were sauces available. Artemis sprinkled an amber coloured one over her dish quite liberally, but I've been a good deal more conservative. After getting a stern look from her mother she was just able to stop herself laughing when I nervously tried my first bite.

I had no idea how to go about eating it. Paula provided me with a soup spoon and a fork in addition to chopsticks. They just have the chopsticks, so I thought I'd have a go without the aid of western implements. Before this evening I've never successfully used chopsticks before and I'm only managing it now with {orange}ring assistance{/}.

"The south coast, just east of Brighton." Not actually all that close to Brighton, but it's the only place in that general area she might have heard of. "The village where I grew up is called Westham, but it doesn't exist in this parallel."

Paula frowns. "This parallel? I'm not sure what you mean."

"Oh. I haven't told..? Sorry, I'm just used to everyone knowing. I come from a parallel universe. Quite a lot like this one, a few differences."

Okay, no idea how to eat broth with sticks. I'm just going to have to use the spoon. And since the sticks are in my right hand and I don't want to dirty the table by putting them down, have to use the left hand. Haven't worked out how to use the ring to make myself ambidextrous yet.

"A.. parallel.. universe?"

I nod. Artemis makes an 'umm' noise as she swallows, and clicks her sticks together to get her mother's attention.

"They don't have magic or super powers or aliens."

"Well, we might have aliens somewhere. We just haven't met any, as far as I know."

"How did you get here?"

"Um. Not sure. There's a sort of mostly sealed Bleed tear thing in near Earth space where I came through, but no one in the League has been able to work out how it happened." I take a sip from my spoon and shrug. "I went to sleep in my bed at home and woke up in space here, this ring on my finger. And promptly freaked out, because where I'm from that sort of thing doesn't happen. Sat on the moon a bit until I calmed down enough to think clearly, then tried looking for home. Didn't find it."

Paula looks concerned. "Do your parents know where you are?"

"Prrrobably not. As I said, I don't know how I was transferred. There might be some sort of huge glowing hole in reality on my home parallel's end. Or, I might be a copy of me and the original me is carrying on with our life unaware that anything has happened. There's really no way for me to tell." I lower the spoon and look out of the window into the darkening city. "Mum's probably frantic, but I can't get back at the moment. Can't even send a message."

I don't like thinking about it. I can take my new environment, even enjoy it, but I hate being helpless. Bleed portals... I asked Guy about it. There are a few civilisations which make limited use of Bleed technology, but tracking an uncontrolled transition after the fact is supposed to be basically impossible. I can't fix it, and I probably never will be able to.

There's a pressure on my stick hand, and I jerk my head around to see Paula patting it. I give her a slight smile. No, shouldn't worry about it if I can't fix it. Keep me eyes and ears open, but, yeah. Hah, I suppose there might be a character remarkably like a recently disappeared Englishman appearing in DC comics even now. Have they done another bloody crisis lately? I remember something about a New 52 but the whole thing sounded so stupid it may well not have lasted. And this place is a lot calmer than I'd expect a post crisis DC-verse to look like.

"Anyway, erm, Pevensey and Westham Church of England primary school, Willingdon Secondary, followed by-" Here come the lies. "-a year and a half of gainful employment before my unscheduled planeshift."

Artemis frowns. "I thought you said you were an atheist."

"I am. Oh, no, that was just the name of the local primary, it wasn't a religious school in the sort of way you're thinking. I mean, okay, I'm still word perfect on a whole load of hymns and Saint Mary's was right next door, but it wasn't... Huh. I guess it was, actually."

I just thought of the place as normal, but I suppose that compared with the theoretically secular American state run schools it would seem a bit indoctrinatory. Wasn't like we did Bible readings in lessons or got taught that the world was only seven thousand years old or anything. And I still ended up an atheist.

"Saint Mary's is still there. Here. Worth a look if you're in the area. It's over nine hundred years old and-."

Artemis picks up her bowl, raises it to her lips and starts slurping. I blink, then look at my soup spoon and then back to her.

"Was I meant to be doing that?"

Paula suppresses a giggle. "That is the usual way to drink it. Though, I think your way is more... Stately."

Thank you, I think? Just doesn't feel right to do that with a soup bowl. I'll stick with the spoon, but maybe a bit faster?

"Most of the old buildings are still there. Here. You know. The building that's the reception classroom was built here, but it's a museum now and the rest of the school was never built. The castle's still there-."

Artemis hurriedly puts down the bowl. "Your village has a castle?"

"Yes. Well, it's called Pevensey Castle in the tourist brochures, but it's actually between Pevensey and Westham. The keep's in Pevensey, so maybe that's why it's called that? The outer wall was built by the Romans when it was a Roman fort and the Normans built the inner keep. It's pretty ruined, though. Hasn't been used for centuries." She looks sceptical. "I can take you there after dinner if you don't believe me."

Paula gives her a reproachful tap on the upper arm and she resumes her drinking.

"Compared to my home parallel the area that should be Westham was never really developed. Pevensey's bigger, and the village on the other side is a bit bigger but my house isn't there."

Think I've just about got all of the broth now. I start picking out the last few bits of bean sprout.

Paula looks a little puzzled by something. "You said that you are eighteen?"

I nod. "Yes?"

"And you had a job for over a year?"

"Yes? Oh! British compulsory education stops at sixteen. I could have gone on to college but I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do, there was a job going at a place that sounded interesting..."

Not sure whether or not the company I worked for would have employed a sixteen year old. Probably should try taking the conversation in another direction. Wait, {orange}what time is it in Vietnam{/}? No, still a bit early for that. She said any time after six in the morning but I'd like to give her a bit longer.

Paula smiles. "I have some news in that regard."

Artemis jerks her head around. "You got a job! Mom, that's great!"

"I will just be working a checkout at the local supermarket, it isn't anything very exciting."

I beam at her. "Congratulations anyway."

That is good news. Quite aside from the extra income, employment is a major part of a person's sense of self worth. Even if it isn't a particularly exalted position -and far less than she can do- this is a big step towards reintegrating with society in general. For just about the first time since I got here I've effected a {blue}positive change{/} in the world.

16th October
17:26 GMT -5

The two enemy fighters skim us at high speed, throwing up clouds of loose snow. As they pass the pressure wave hits and for a moment I have to focus on stabilising the bioship. Artemis' position behind the hull shields her but Robin and Wallace are knocked flat for a moment before quickly getting back to work. Now that they've had a look at us the two fighters do a banked turn at the other side of the ice field, bleeding off speed and bringing their weapons to bear. Why were they banking? At their level of technological sophistication -to say nothing of their total lack of aerodynamics- they shouldn't need to bother.

I move the bioship around the downed fighter so that it's between us and its comrades again. Artemis runs around as well before kneeling, switching arrows and taking aim. The airborne aliens are finally making use of their inertia control, spinning and yanking themselves to the side in order to make themselves a more difficult target even as they charge their main guns. I doubt that she'd be able to hit with an Unmaker, so going with high explosive makes sense.

{orange}Ring, track enemy turrets and show targeting predictions{/}.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

I shift the wings I'm holding to the best intercept positions. Should I attempt to shoot them down myself? Energy pulses would be too slow and given that we're facing a worldwide invasion I don't think a power hog like the particle beam would be a good idea. {orange}Railgun{/} it is then. Artemis looses at the enemy squadron a second before my railgun fires but my slug still hits home first. It impacts on the front dome of the fighter to the right and penetrates, but it doesn't seem to have done further damage. The explosive arrow reaches them and is detonated by its proximity fuse at the same moment they fire their main guns. Not sure if it was the force of the blast alone or a combination of that and their gravity control system but both of them are shoved sideways in the air, throwing off their shots. The beam from the one I hit strikes the ice sheet about ten metres to the left of the downed fighter. A chunk of ice disappears, but the beam cuts off almost immediately as the fighter readjusts. The beam from the other flickers over our heads for a fraction of a second but gets cancelled too.

The still-active fighters are keeping their distance, splitting up and moving around us in clockwise and anticlockwise directions respectively as Kaldur takes a second to assess the situation as I fire again.

**Robin, how much longer?**

Robin pulls a small and vaguely organic looking thing from inside the downed fighter. **I think these are part of its data storage system. Superboy, break the armor here.**

Artemis puts three Unmakers on her string as two of my slugs hit the anticlockwise fighter, causing its hull to wobble. Its return shot is pointed directly at the bioship and I {orange}shield{/} the wing before blocking at what I hope to be a safe distance. The beam strikes the shield and in a flicker of light the wing segment is gone, shield along with it. It didn't feel like it was broken exactly, not as the Unmakers do. Weird. Artemis looses, but it's at her extreme range and none of the arrows hit. She reaches for a rocket propelled arrow as I swing the bioship aside to dodge the missed fighter's return fire.

**Aqualad, I either need to use heavier attacks or we need to leave.**

**Superboy, Kid Flash, into the bioship.**

I drop the ship down and Wallace and Kon board and hurry to their seats.

**Robin-.**

**I'm almost done.**

I stand, keeping my hands over the controls. "Superboy, take over, I'm needed outside."

He comes over to the pilot position. The clockwise fighter tries to slow for a more stable firing position but has to move again as the rocket arrows home in on it. A glancing hit buckles its left wing -damn, they're going to have reported in now, aren't they?- but it fires anyway and I'm forced to intercept the shot with my last wing. That one was targeted at their fallen comrade.

**Robin, they're targeting you.**

**Just a little longer.**

I nod to Kon and we swiftly switch positions. Right, now that I don't have to concentrate on that I {orange}transition{/} to directly behind the fighter that's been ignoring my railgun. It jerks as I appear and tries to evade but this close it can't evade my {orange}particle beam projector{/}. A purple beam bisects the fighter across its centre, causing the two parts to fall away from each other and detonate in the air. I glance at its partner and see it plummet to the ground as the damage to its wing cripples its manoeuvrability. Good show. {orange}Any others{/}?

**Aqualad, reinforcements coming in from orbit. We really need to-.**

I watch as Artemis looses another Unmaker at the downed fighter. I see it reorientate its turret in her direction and begin to charge. I see Robin pull another processor thingy free from inside the first ship and start moving towards the bioship.

**Okay, I got-.**

The arrow hits and a chunk of the front of the fighter crumbles to nothing. Artemis throws herself aside as the dying fighter returns fire and I try to {orange}stick{/} a shield in the way. Fortunately it overshoots, and Artemis comes up to her knees and launches a rocket arrow straight at the gun. The arrow accelerates away and strikes before the gun can recharge, wrecking it. Okay, done, now we can...

Wait. Where's R-?

**Robiiiiiiiiiinnnn!**

I feel M'gann's scream in my mind even as I {orange}transition{/} to directly above the crippled fighter and {orange}destroy{/} it utterly. For a moment I just watch it explode, numb. It just... Robin just died. I hear a whoosh as Wallace dashes out of the bioship to his friend's last location and I begin flying back.

Oh goodness.

"Rob!"

Wallace runs at the first fallen fighter and punches it in the front dome. The force of the attack overwhelms the already damaged ship and it jumps slightly before crumpling in on itself. His face is a picture of rage contained grief.

"They're dead! Every single alien is dead! If it's the last thing I do!"

O-orbital... They're still coming.

**Kaldur, Wallace, I'm sorry, but we need to get out of here.**

Kaldur walks over to Wallace and puts a hand on his shoulder. Wallace jerks away, leaning on the remains of the alien fighter and trying to collect himself. I know.. how close they are. Were. Come on, this is a comic book, there must be something we can do about that! Robin was.. was.. analysing the processor units from that fighter. {orange}Scan{/}. No, they were destroyed as well. Um. The ship I just destroyed is too destroyed to have anything left, but the {orange}other{/}? Yes, {orange}transition{/} and {orange}cut{/}. Three of them. I don't know what good they'll do...

I {orange}transition{/} to the interior of the bioship and collapse into my chair as it hits me. It's not just Robin. Alan, Diana, Guy... And the world, so many dead. Right. Organise and prioritise. We need to leave before the reinforcements get into firing range. I have no idea where to. Kon looks at me in shock.

"Is Robin really..?"

I nod, still not quite comprehending myself. Our friend just died. I mean, after the Reds attacked the mountain I knew something like this was a possibility, particularly today with the opposition we're facing. But...

Artemis walks in and sits in her chair, head down. She unslings her bow and starts fiddling with it. Wallace and Kaldur are next in. Wallace's fists are clenched, muscles taut. He throws himself into his chair. Kaldur slowly approaches Kon and lays a hand on his shoulder.

**Miss Martian, is the gun fully interfaced?**

**Y-yes. Yes. Stealth should work now.**

He bows his head. "Superboy, take us away from here."

Gotham City
15th October
19:23 GMT -5

Before today I had never heard of the Docynia Fruit. Having eaten a bowl flavoured with ginger and sugar I find myself wondering if it would be rude to ask for seconds. Artemis notices me staring at my spoon.

"Finding it.. interesting?"

"Noo. Wait. Yes. Um..."

Artemis snorts while Paula looks confused. Artemis waves her spoon. "Paul told me about one time at his high school, when a Chinese kid offered him a duck's foot and he ate it to be polite even though he hated it. When they asked if he liked it he said he found it 'interesting'."

"But this I actually quite like."

Paula nods slowly and gives me an arch look. Glass! I pick up my glass of milk and take a drink.

Artemis wrinkles her nose. "I don't know how you drink so much of that stuff. We have soda, you know."

Escape! Thank you Radio 4.

"Genetics. You see, all infant mammals produce a chemical called lactase, which lets them digest milk better. Obviously that's so they can feed from their mothers. In Humans it usually stops being produced when they're somewhere between two and five years old, but, Europeans-" I bring my hands to my chest. "-have been drinking so much milk for so long that we've actually mutated to produce lactase our entire lives."

Artemis stares at me in disbelief. "Really. Did you just make that up?"

I shake my head. "No, honest. Paula, you've got the 'milk, yuk' version of the gene and both of your daughters inherited it." I raise the ring. "It's actually an easy fix if you want me to-."

Artemis raises her right hand in a warding gesture. "No. I'm fine with not drinking milk. Where did you even hear about that?"

"BBC Radio 4. There was a guy on who was doing some research on historically recent human evolutionary change. That was one of the ones they talked about."

"What other ones were there?"

"Um. It was a while ago, I'm not sure... I think black people tend to recover from very loud noises slightly faster."

"Aaand Asians?"

"I remember them saying that Japanese people starve slightly slower. I don't think they said anything about other countries."

{orange}Ring, status of{/}… Oh, good. Best not keep her waiting.

"Oh, there was something else I.. thought I'd bring, as well as the flowers."

Paula smiles. "Paul, you didn't need to bring anything at all."

"With a power ring I don't really have an excuse for not doing everything I can, and, turns out, 'everything' is quite a lot." I push back my chair and get up, {orange}taking{/} a 2D screen out of subspace and {orange}attaching{/} it to a spare area of wall. It isn't quite 2D, but it's pretty darn close. Even rolls up.

"We don't need a new TV, Paul."

"Artemis, this isn't a television. Ring, {orange}access satellite{/} aaand {orange}phone{/}."

The ring rings. Aaaand nothing happens. Ah. We went through this but I'm not sure she-.

The screen comes to life, the image... A woman's chest. Come on, we talked about tha-. The woman sits back, revealing herself to be an elderly Asian woman. Nguyen Thi Nhung, eighty one, Paula's mother and Artemis and Jade's grandmother. She gives them a smile and a royal wave.

"Hello Paula! Hello little Artemis! Oh, you're not so little anymore."

Paula's eyes are wide. "{blue}M-mom{/}?"

I'm still not sure that I've judged this right. "Yes, I.. spent some time in Vietnam this week. Um. You know, tidied her garden up a bit. Redid the village's electrical systems, phone lines.. and sewers and.. storm drains. And put in some streetlights, and there's a properly tarmaced road to the nearest national road now. Hah, that took a while. Oh, she also doesn't have osteoporosis anymore."

Silence from my hosts. Mrs Nguyen Senior leans around to try and get a better angle on me, before pointing at me with her right hand. "He is a good boy. Very patient, teaching me how to use this."

I nod at her and go into clearly enunciating for an old person mode. "I thought you did very well, Misses Nguyen."

She had a bit of age related memory loss. I fixed that, but she didn't want improved milk drinking either. The screen I left with her is a bit bigger than this one so she can get a better view of the whole room. Paula gets to her feet a little unsteadily and walks towards the screen. I step aside as she approaches.

"Hello Mom. How have you been?"

I feel Artemis' hand on my shoulder and turn my head to face her. She nods towards the open door. "Come on."

I follow her out, Paula and Mrs Nguyen's conversation disappearing into the background. She leads the way into the living room and shuts the door behind me as I shuffle nervously in the middle of the floor. I remember a comic where Power Girl? Or was it Supergirl? One of them said something about feeling a little awkward that they could join in a fight and effortlessly do what a whole team couldn't. My DPS isn't at Earth 1 Kryptonian level but now I sort of see where she's coming from.

"Did I..? Was that alright? I mean I wasn't really..."

"The last time we saw Grandma was at Grandpa's funeral. That was about eleven years ago. We flew over there, but I don't really remember it."

Eleven years ago would have been while Paula was still active as Huntress. Artemis sits in front of an armchair, her back against its front with legs curled up next to her. I sit opposite her, cross legged. She doesn't look straight at me.

"Mom gets letters from her and from one of my cousins. I've spoken to her on the phone a few times but I only recognized her from photographs."

"Originally I was just going to teach her how to use Skype but things sort of snowballed 'cause.. their phone lines weren't really good enough and they use generators rather than... Well."

I shrug. I sort of accidentally your grandmother's whole village. Is that bad?

"So you just... Everything."

"Yyyes."

"This can't be because you still feel guilty about.. our argument."

"No. Two reasons really. The first one's pretty simple. We're superheroes. What's our job?"

She frowns. "Stop bad people? No, you told Luthor-."

I nod. "I wanted to make the world better, not just stop it getting worse. The ring-" I wave it. "-only lets me act on selfish motives but you, your mother and your sister are my friends. Your good is my good. There's thousands of isolated villages who could benefit from stuff like that and I can only help the one where I've got some personal connection. But if I can't even do that-" I shrug. "-then what's the point of me?"

She gives a shallow nod. "So, what's the other reason?"

"That one's a bit more complicated."

16th October
17:36 GMT -5

Without a specific destination in mind I just {orange}transitioned{/} us to a section of the US/Canada border which the aliens are ignoring. Thanks to the ring I'm {orange}not{/} shaking, but I don't know... I've never had a friend die suddenly before. I'm hesitating to say anything because I don't want to risk causing offence. Wallace is clearly taking it the hardest, tremors of rage running through his body. M'gann has been weeping quietly since it happened. Artemis has removed and replaced every arrow left in her quiver at least twice now.

{orange}I need to get it together{/}. I am an Orange Lantern. What do I want?

{orange}!Team mine!{/}

Easy. I want everyone back. I want the aliens gone, killed, whatever. And I want those of my team mates who are still alive to remain that way. That's first, then. I turn my chair and lean over to Artemis.

"Artemis?"

She doesn't look up.

"Artemis?" I lean forwards and tap her lightly on the upper right arm with my right hand. She jumps slightly then looks at me. "I didn't want to push before, but given what just happened-."

"You want to upgrade me."

"As a matter of priority, yes."

"Do you think it would have helped-."

She cuts off and looks at the floor. I admit, I hadn't been pushing Robin quite as I'd been pushing her, but he's.. he'd been active longer. He must have known what was available? I did tell him I'd be happy to-. No. Not productive.

"It might, and it will certainly help you."

She keeps looking down. "Do it."

"Which..?"

"Strength. I wanna break them apart with my bare hands."

Not the most efficient... Uh. {orange}Ring, Danner Formula upgrade{/}. An orange strobe passes over her as the ring makes the indicated changes. It only takes a second or two. She holds up her right hand, clenching and unclenching it.

"I don't feel any different."

"You won't. Not until you try doing something. {orange}Here{/}."

I take a small steel rod out of subspace and pass it to her. She takes it in her right fist and bends it easily with her thumb. I {orange}return{/} it to subspace. She picks up her bow and pulls lightly on the string.

"Thought it'd be harder to compensate."

"Only when you're under st-."

"Naah! Ghaah!" I twist around and see Wallace beating the instrument panel in front of him. "Aah! Guh! Aaaauhh!"

"There will be time to mourn later." Kaldur gets to his feet. "For now, we have a job to do: defend the Earth, and ensure that Robin's sacrifice is not in vain."

"No." I wave my right index finger at him. "The death of my team mates is not acceptable to me."

Wallace half rises, his eyes fixed on me. "You can't fix dead, Oh El!"

"Certainly I can. You appear to have forgotten that a little over a month ago I stole a Lazarus Pit from Ra's al Ghul." I raise my left hand and {orange}create{/} an image of it. "The League's been keeping it in a warehouse in Cleveland {orange}which{/}... The aliens are ignoring."

Wallace's eyes widen. "{blue}We can get him back{/}?"

Kaldur shakes his head. "Using untested mystic artefacts-."

Wallace turns on him. "It's not untested, Ra's has been using it for centuries!"

I hold up my right hand. "Wallace. He's the only one who knows how it works, and it requires at least a small tissue sample. Which we don't have. I wanted to make you aware of the possibility, but it's going to be a while before we can use it safely."

He nods. He's still shaking slightly but his relief is palpable.

Kaldur seems less impressed. "And if it cannot be made to work?"

"Then when this madness is over I will find a way to circumvent my obligation to remain in this star system and go and get the parts needed for a white power ring. Or use some other technique. When I say something is {orange}not acceptable{/}, I mean it."

M'gann seems to recover slightly. "W-where do we go next?"

Hmm.

"The Hall of Justice." Kaldur turns back to M'gann. "The Human race must know that there are still heroes defending them."

Um?

"Begging your pardon, Aqualad, but is announcing our continued existence on a channel the aliens may be monitoring really a good idea?"

He turns to me. "You have a suggestion?"

"Well, if there's one man on Earth who's prepared for an alien invasion, it's going to be Lex Luthor. Why don't I get in touch?"

Kon squints. "Luthor?"

"It's his planet too." I {orange}generate{/} an image of the LexCorp tower in Metropolis. The buildings around it look somewhat the worse for wear but Mister Luthor's tower stands proud behind an ovoid energy shield. A small swarm of alien fighters are pouring weapon fire into it for no apparent effect, though there is no return fire at all. I hold the image up so everyone can see it. "Worth looking into?"

Kaldur nods. "Attempt communication. We need all the help we can get."

{orange}Ring, contact Mister Luthor{/}.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

I hear a ringing.

"This better be important." Mister Luthor picking up his own phone?

"Mister Luthor, Orange Lantern two eight one four. How are you holding up?"

"Orange..." He exhales. "Better than the rest of Metropolis. How many of you are left?"

"Not many. How secure is your building?"

"Oh, it should be safe. For another minute or so, at least."

"Your.. shield..?"

"A special project. An incomplete one, it won't hold. I've told the rest of the staff to evacuate, though I don't know how far they'll get."

"What about you?"

"The activation of LexCorp special projects is tied to me, personally. If I leave my office it will shut down, and any chance my employees have..."

Damn. "Is there.. anything..?"

"Your ring. I presume it has near infinite data storage?"

"Yes I.. I think so."

"Can you open a connection to my desk computer?"

{orange}Ring, do it{/}.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

"Should be on now."

{orange}Datastream detected.{/}

"I'm sending you LexCorp's entire technical database. Beat them for us, Orange Lantern."

On the image the barrier starts to contract around the building.

"I'll.. I'll try."

"Is my son..?"

I look over at Kon. The ring stimulates my auditory nerves directly, there's no sound for him to overhear.

"Yes, he's here."

"Then that's something, I suppose."

"You know, it's... I was going to send this ring to you. If I knew I was going to die."

"Hm. I'm sorry to deny you the opportunity. It seems that you'll simply have to-."

The building disappears, and I hear only static.

{red}16th October
17:36 GMT -5{/}

Artemis is dead.

I'm a little surprised by how much that is affecting me. It's certainly true that I liked her but I had assumed that at this point I was a bit more ruthless than this. Shouldn't believe my own hype, I suppose. M'gann's sobbing at the pilot's station while Wallace shakes with impotent rage.

Assuming we win, I'll make time to assimilate Ra's al Ghul and resurrect her. I wonder if I can network the knowledge of construct Lanterns without having to wait for them to speak to one another? If I remember the comics correctly -and if the same rules apply here- Lazarus Pits can only be created in certain places and will only work a certain number of times. Shouldn't be a problem. There are only so many people I care about enough to bring back.

Wait a moment. Why is this making Wallace angry? His uncle died under two hours ago and they were very close. His parents live in the suburbs of Central City so they might still be alive, but virtually everyone else he knows is dead and this is what gets him? That.. could happen, but something feels off. Were they romantically involved? I didn't notice anything, but I'm not always the most observant. Hmm.

Mister Black says that one way to detect telepathic interference is to compare one's own memories of one's own actions and of the actions of others and see if they still make sense to you. Mister Scott may have been looking for me to be something I'm not, but I was fond of him. Princess Diana too. When I confirmed Mister Scott's death earlier today, I.. shrugged. I feel remorse, even guilt now for my earlier lack of empathy, but at the time I thought of it as an inconvenience.

Why?

And the others. Richard loves Mister Wayne, but when we saw him die... I remember him smiling. Why would he..? Are my memories being altered? Hard to check. Nothing sticks out as inappropriate, but if the practitioner were skilled...

"Naah! Ghaah!" I turn my head and see Wallace beating the instrument panel in front of him. "Aah! Guh! Aaaauhh!"

"There will be time to mourn later." Kaldur gets to his feet. "For now, we have a job to do: defend the Earth, and ensure that Artemis' sacrifice is not in vain."

Is she even..? No, it doesn't matter. {orange}Someone is fucking with us and no one gets to do that{/}.

M'gann turns to him, grateful for his sense of direction. "Back to the cave?"

I raise my right hand. "A moment, Aqualad."

"If you wish to say a few words..."

"No. I may activate a contingency, later, but at the moment I have a different concern. Does our recent behaviour not seem... Strange, to anyone else?"

Kaldur's eyes narrow. "If you believed you had a better plan-."

"No, I did not mean to criticise in that sense. I meant, Robin, your father just died. M'gann, Wallace, your uncles. Kaldur, you always spoke with the utmost respect and affection for King Orin and yet when we heard of his death you were unmoved. All of you were. We are all displaying greater grief over the death of a young woman we have barely known for two months."

Kaldur's eyes open fully as he thinks about it, but he shakes his head. "If it were... Shock..."

"No, you are reinterpreting. Remember what you felt at the time."

They're all facing me now. Eyes drop to the floor as they try to reinstate.

Robin frowns. "I didn't.. feel anything. I was.. I think I was expecting it. But that doesn't make sense. I..."

I watch as Kaldur forces his face to relax. "What do you believe to be happening?"

"Someone is affecting our minds."

Wallace squints. "Who? I mean, we're being invaded by aliens-."

"Are we? How do we know that?"

"Well..." He blinks.

"Insidious, isn't it? This is why -with the greatest respect, M'gann- I will never be completely comfortable with telepathy."

She shakes her head. "I haven't felt anything, but if you're right I wouldn't remember it if I had."

Kaldur nods. "If our minds have been altered, what do you intend to do about it?"

"I have sought out additional tuition on the subject of counter-telepathy techniques." I raise my left hand to the side of my head, ring pressed to my skin. "A sufficiently strong ring-generated feedback pulse should cause such agonising pain to an attacker that they will either back off or lose consciousness. M'gann, if you have any presence in my mind, withdraw it and shield yourself."

Kaldur frowns. "If the alterations to our memories have already been made, would they not simply be unable to amend them further?"

"No. I have experienced it before; implanted false memories should have broken as soon as we became aware of them. Someone is continually doing this."

"I am not completely convinced. Still, if you are right..." Kaldur nods. "Do it."

"{orange}Mindfray{/}."

Oooouughghgh. I clamp my teeth shut with a grimace. The main drawback with this technique is the pain and disorientation it inflicts on the use-.

"Aaaaagh!" M'gann seizes hold of the sides of her head and screams! I told the silly woman to shield herself! I can take this, but the whole point is that telepaths-.

Wallace dashes to her side. "Hey, you're hurting M'gann!"

"Spill over. I.. -mreh!- warned her."

Or perhaps not. I narrow my eyes. Why would she do this? Or not her. After all, that isn't her natural form. Could I distinguish between her and another Martian? I never bothered scanning Mister J'onzz, I've never been to Mars...

M'gann bends over, screaming silently. I find myself curious as to what-.

"Stop it. Stop it now." Kaldur looks serious.

He's being stupid.

"No. I will not tolerate this mental interference. {orange}Ring, increase inten{/}-."

He grabs my arm and tries to pull it away from my head. He's strong -far stronger than a man of his musculature should be- but I'm stronger still. The others are on their feet now, undecided as to how to act. Ugh. If they think I'm killing M'gann they should attack me. If they believe me then they should restrain Kaldur. Ditherers.

"{orange}Ring, increase intensity{/}!"

Orange energy spirals around my head and-

-purple mists-

-and I snap open my eyes. I'm looking at the ceiling of the training area in the mountain. I push up to a sitting position as my team mates similarly begin to show signs of life. I rise to my feet and look to the middle of the circle to where Mister J'onzz is kneeling on the floor clutching his head. Three strides bring me over to him and I {red}grab him by the front of his uniform and haul him up to my eye level{/}.

"{red}Completely{/}. {red}Safe{/}. {red}Is it{/}. {red}Sir{/}!?"



"{red}BAAAAGH!{/}" I slam him into the ground.

"Orange Lantern, that's enough! Stand down!" I meet Batman's stare with my own, orange energy crackling around my body.

"It is not enough. It is not nearly enough." I release Mister J'onzz and stride past him in the direction of the lifts. "Once he has recovered ask him about his stunning display of incompetence this day, and do not even suggest such training sessions again."

16th October
17:41 GMT -5

We materialise over the outskirts of Washington D.C. and I immediately begin {orange}scanning{/} for both aliens and human resistance.

"Three alien fighters making attack runs against a US army position outside the Capitol building."

The ring shows me a small group of people running down a street just as another alien squadron turns the corner. The turret glows and the people are incinerated. Another fires a red energy beam from what we thought was its communications device at a car someone is using in an attempt to escape. The driver tries to swerve but the first shot melts the left rear of the vehicle, bringing it to a halt. The second pierces the engine and the car explodes, killing those inside.

"S.. six other fighters making attack runs at everything they can see. Next nearest alien fleet concentration is Metropolis."

Kaldur nods. "Miss Martian, plot an intercept course for the closest alien ship. It's time to test our new gun."

"Wouldn't it be better if I handled the alien fighters? Does... I mean, can we fire while camouflaged?"

Kaldur looks at M'gann. She thinks for a moment. "We should be able to. It... I don't know exactly how much power the gun takes and anyone who's watching can see where the shot comes from, but the stealth system will keep working."

A squadron of three alien fighters flies across our front, swooping down on the Washington waterfront. Kaldur points. "Take us in, as close as possible."

The scenery tilts and we accelerate after the rear fighter. I don't know whether they're just idling or going full pace, but the bioship is a lot faster than them. I suppose it would be too much to hope that the Martians would come to help us? No, M'gann said that it would take months for them to get here anyway. Could I transport them here? I could...

We're at point blank range when -with a quiet crackling sound- our stolen gun turret fires. The fighter disappears in a wave of golden light which spreads out from the point of impact. It's gone in a second and we accelerate after the second, then the third. They have no chance to respond before they're eliminated. Whow. A few ships like this... Fuck it, I'll {orange}just steal them{/}, it'll take the Martians months to send someone to arrest me.

Kaldur nods. "Is the power use acceptable?"

M'gann closes her eyes for a moment. "Yes. The gun doesn't really use much power at all."

"Then our next target is the squadron attacking the Capitol Building."

"Ah?" Kon half raises his right hand for a moment. "Should we try and get more of the aliens' guns? I mean, shooting them doesn't seem to leave anything behind."

M'gann thinks about it. "I could drop you down on top of one of them and shoot the other two?"

I look at Artemis, who nods. "Drop me too."

Kaldur frowns. "Using your specialist arrows at that range-."

I shake my head. "Artemis volunteered for augmentation. She's not much weaker than Kon now."

He looks her over. "Very well then. Do not endanger yourselves unnecessarily, but anything we could salvage would be very useful."

She and Kon get up from their seats and walk over to next to where the floor opening normally appears. I prepare to transition us, but the bioship easily crosses the distance from the waterfront to the Capitol Building in seconds. The US military position consists of four Abrams tanks and thirty or so infantry. No dedicated anti-air, not even infantry borne homing missiles.

The floor iris opens. Artemis clenches her right fist. "So, how exactly..?"

Kon's already watching for his target. "Just grip onto the armour then hit it. Really hard."

"Oh-kay. I can do that."

The alien fighters start shooting their secondary weapons at the tanks as we come up to them. Kon leaps down as we pass the first, then we bank right and Artemis throws herself at the second. Down a little and our main gun takes care of the third. The infantry has scattered away from the tanks, two of which are destroyed as their armour is utterly overpowered by the alien beam weaponry. Wonder if we should salvage those as well?

I watch their attack through the front window. Kon falls onto his ship just ahead of its turret. He crouches, grips its armour with his left hand to brace himself and then brings his right fist down over his head in a powerful thump. A section of its upper surface just crumples and he has to shift position and get a better grip as it wobbles in the air. Another blow and the armour at the bottom of the fighter explodes and he hangs on as it tumbles from the air.

Artemis lands directly on the turret and grabs on for dear life. Should I have pointed out that a fall from this height won't hurt her anymore? Of course, grabbing on at her new strength results in the turret 'arm' crunching and going dead. The area around the 'gun' bit is so crushed that it falls off due to its own weight, nearly taking her with it as it goes. The fighter bucks and she's thrown forward, sliding over its armour and nearly falling off the front before forcing her fingers through the armour over the top of the forward dome. Once she's sure that she's not going to fall she pulls back her right fist and punches it right in the centre of the dome. It breaks easily and she sinks in up to her elbow. Recovering, she shoves it in the rest of the way before pulling its innards out. When the fighter doesn't immediately fall out of the sky she grips the interior of the dome and wrenches it to the side. It cracks, and she rips it clear from its housing before assaulting the inside. A moment later it stops in the air, tips nose down and falls from the sky.

The fighter Kon is on comes in at a low angle and he hangs on as it slides along the ground, coming to a halt just in front of the assembled soldiers. An officer I don't immediately recognise steps forwards and says something to him as M'gann brings the bioship in and turns it around for us to exit. The position also allows her to keep the gun pointed at the most likely route of attack for the remaining fighter craft. Kaldur walks towards the rear hatch and the rest of us get up to follow him. Ooh, should probably check on Artemis.

**Orange Lantern to Artemis. You still in one piece?**

**Think my boots have had it, but yeah. Gimme a sec to get a grip on this thing.**

We walk down the ramp to the cheers of the assembled soldiers and Kaldur leads the way over to Kon and the officer, a general, judging by the rank insignia.

"See, it is Superman." One of the soldiers elbows the guy standing next to him. "Told'ja he wouldn't leave us out here alone."

"I don't know. Looks kinda young. Where's the cape?"

"I'm not Superman."

Yeah, whispering near a man with super hearing. That'll work. Wonder if those two actually knew Kal-El?

"I know that." The General takes a step towards him "But right now I don't care. You wear the 'S' and you got the job done."

The soldiers to my left step back and raise their weapons. Turning, I see the fighter Artemis took down rise into the air and flip onto its roof as she gets a good enough grip on the inside of the hull to move it.

**Yuuughk.**

She's covered in some sort of black goop and her boots are indeed ruined. She kicks them off before leaping over to us and landing in a crouch.

{orange}Clean{/}.

Kaldur walks up to the General, who salutes him. "General Samuel Lane, US army."

Lane. Lane? Oh, this could go very wrong. Or possibly not. The whole US government anti-superhero thing doesn't seem to have started in this timeline, so hopefully he's still rational about things like us.

"Aqualad, Justice League. We'll help you salvage as many of the aliens' cannons as possible. Then we start taking back what is {orange}ours{/}."

Gotham City
15th October
19:28 GMT -5

I hold out my left hand, palm upward.

"I was.. thinking about what you said, about not having done anything to earn this ring."

"Paul, you've-."

"Nuh nuh nuh." I wave and she stops to let me finish. "See, I haven't. But, most Lanterns don't. None of the local ones did. In fact, the only Lanterns I can think of who did something big enough to qualify for a ring in advance are Katma Tui and Bro'Dee Walker. For everyone else, it's... The seeker program doesn't check for achievements, it checks your personality. It assesses... Whether or not you're the sort of person who should be given a ring. And this ring doesn't have a seeker program. Someone -and I've no idea who- decided that I was a fit and proper person to have a power ring. That's.. a huge show of faith from them even before you consider that orange rings tend to induce insanity. I mean, with this.. I'm a one man post-scarcity civilisation."

I lean back a little.

"'Here you go, you're now one of the ten most powerful people in your Space Sector, and I reckon you're such a good guy I'm not even going to bother checking up on you.' I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to do enough to justify that faith. Even if I do everything I can I'm not sure there's an amount I could do that would justify it."

"You seem to be doing an okay job to me."

I look at the floor for a moment and smile a little. "Thank you. But you're.. kind of.. biased. And it's not as big a deal as you think."

"Not a big deal!"

"Taking on a group of men armed with guns when you're a baseline human with a pointy stick launcher takes immense skill and courage. Taking them on when you're bullet proof is just, like, whatever."

I shrug.

"Doing that work in your Nan's village manually would take a hundred construction workers months and cost millions. But, for me? Thirty hours. If we assume I count as a semi-skilled manual labourer, twelve dollars an hour... It's three hundred and sixty dollars' worth of work."

"Not to the people who benefit, it's not."

"Mmmm. They're not the ones trying to pay off a power ring. Anyway, after next July I'll know one way or the other."

"Why's that?"

Wait... Is my origin story in my personnel file? I never bothered reading it in detail...

"Did I.. do you know how I ended up joining the team?"

"Wonder Woman sponsored you."

"Right, but I came to this world on the 5th of July and the team first met on the 8th. When I first got here I didn't know anyone."

"Sooo, how'd you do it?"

"Green Lantern. You know, the Green Lantern who was a member of the Justice Society. Think he used to live around here, actually."

She thinks for a moment. "The blonde guy from Mister Nelson's funeral?"

"That's him."

She frowns. "But he'd have to be ninety."

"Ninety six."

"Whaw. He doesn't look it."

"He does now." She gives me an inquisitive look. "When I got here, I had a ring but no lantern. No lantern, no way to recharge. Once I got a rough idea of the sort of place I was in, I went looking for one. And I found him. We had a chat, I tried to buy it... Well, he was retired. He was alright about giving it to me, but he wanted some assurance that I'd use it appropriately. So, he made a phone call to his old colleague Princess Diana. She.. was less keen. I mean, my story's ridiculous and this ring's powered by avarice, you can see where she's coming from."

Artemis nods.

"The only way I could think to persuade her was to make a magically binding oath. I have to obey orders from her and Batman almost without question and I can't leave this star system. It lasts a year, and after that point I consider myself obliged to.. 'report in'." I shrug. "Assuming the Controllers don't make contact with me first."

"Who are the Controllers?"

"Like the Guardians, only taller. My bosses in the Corps, inasmuch as I've got one."

"So.. why does Green Lantern look like his real age now?"

"Because his Lantern was keeping him young. Now he's given it to me, it doesn't." I rub my temples with my right hand. "I don't even know if he's realised that's why it's happening."

"Could you.. give it back?"

"I don't think so. I had to change it from green to orange so I could use it. I can't change it back and he's not avaricious enough to use it as it is now. Best chance would be to get him a replacement but I'm stuck here for a year."

I exhale slowly. Whaw, that's depressing to think about. New topic.

"So, how'd you get involved in this costumed tomfoolery?"

She twitches and looks out the window for a moment. "Does Jade ever.. talk about our dad?"

"Sometimes. Not much. He's not exactly her favourite subject. I mean, I know about most of his professional history..."

She has talked a bit about his training regimen. Turned my stomach. I think she feels a bit bad about leaving Artemis there, but it wasn't as if she had concrete plans herself at the time. She was thirteen, for goodness sake.

{orange}!Jade mine!{/}

"After Mom got out of prison, she didn't want anything to do with that sort of life anymore. He left. I went out for the first time that evening. Stopped a robbery at a grocery store."

"Well done you. My first night on the job I walked in on a major drugs and firearms sale and completely missed that it was happening. I bought some clothes and walked out."

She snorts in amusement.

"How'd you meet up with Green Arrow?"

"Him and Batman were waiting here when I got back from patrol one evening. He offered to be my tutor."

"I haven't spent much time with him. What's he like?"

"He's really easy going. Supportive. Just.. nice. I was kinda expecting it to be like with Dad, only, y'know, less evil, but I actually get on well with him. Black Canary's great too."

"Have you.. given any more thought to visiting Jade?"

She rolls her eyes for a moment. "Every time Mom goes to visit she tells me that I can come with her if I want, but I don't have to and that she understands if I don't want to. Guilt trip much."

I shrug. "Might be easier to go on your own. Or I can hang around, if you want."

"When's she getting out?"

"The lawyers are still wrangling. Probably some time around mid-March next year."

She fidgets. "Yeah, okay. Not sure what we're gonna talk about... Do you think the others know? About Dad, and Jade?"

"Robin, almost certainly. The others, probably not."

She stares into my eyes, and jabs her right index finger at me. "You can't tell them."

I raise my hands in a surrender gesture. "I won't. I won't. But, I don't think they'll react as badly as you seem to think. Batman and Green Arrow certainly know and they're fine with you. Mmm. On a lighter note, given any more thought to getting super powers?"

"Uh. Nooot really."

"Oh come on..."

"Wouldn't being super strong mean I'd just.. just be breaking stuff the whole time? And I'd have to spend time retraining..."

"No. I already have the collar configuration to block the effect. You could train to use it, then turn the collar on and go right back to how you were. {orange}Here{/}." I take the slim collar out of subspace. Okay, not that slim, but much less bulky than the electroshock variant Belle Reve uses. She takes it from me. "I can make it look like pretty much whatever you want, long as it's about this weight. Try it on."

She raises her right eyebrow. I roll my eyes and shrug. She pushes her hair out of the way and puts it around her neck.

"Can you.. help me do it up?"

"Sure, hang on."

"You can't tell anyone about this either."

"No problem, but if you decide-."

The door is pushed open and Paula walks through. "Artemis, your grandmother wants.. to..."

She trails off as she.. sees.. me collaring her daughter. The artificial leather collar with the metal pull ring.

Darn.

16th October
17:58 GMT -5

I stand in the driveway of what used to be Alan's house, his lantern held limply in my left hand. The whole area's been shot up but they seem to have targeted this place in particular. It's been reduced to rubble and wreckage. Could they detect his ring? Or were they simply working a priority target list that was slightly out of date?

{orange}"Green old man gone?"{/}

I reach up with my right hand to where Teekl sits on my left shoulder and rub her head.

"Yes. He has."

But I can't worry about that. The soldiers are moving to the Hall of Justice with the bioship providing air cover, but I'll need to be back when they arrive. I hold up my left arm and look into the core of my personal lantern. I hope Gaea's paying attention. Hope I'm close enough. I kneel, lower my lantern to the brick surface and let go.

"I return this lantern to its owner, Alan Scott."

It took me a while to realise it, but the oath doesn't really cover what happens if I give the lantern back and then steal it. It also doesn't cover the fact that Alan's willed the lantern to me in the event of his death. So, it briefly becomes his and then goes back to being mine. I pick it up again. Now -in theory at least- I can leave the system without incurring Gaea's wrath. I'm not planning on doing a runner, but the sad fact is... I'm {yellow}not{/} convinced we can win this. And if it really comes down to it, I can now evacuate thousands -possibly millions- of people to the nearest habitable world.

{orange}Transition{/}.

A twelve story apartment building has been reduced to a burned out shell. I'm floating over where the floor to Guy's flat used to be before damage to the structure caused it to cave in. Could they detect the subspace pocket containing his lantern? I'd have thought that they'd have been more thorough if they could.

{orange}Ring, transmit access frequency{/}.

An orange strobe, and Guy's lantern appears in mid air, rotating slowly. I really hope that the Guardians haven't added anti-me security. I gingerly reach out with my right hand.

{green}"Authorized user detected"{/}

Guy... Thanks, Guy, I... No, {green}focus{/}.

{orange}Transition{/}.

Another broken pile of stones. There's no cover here, but the alien fighters appear to have moved off. No matter, I know where the embassy's armoury used to be. {orange}Dig{/}. Bricks and stone shower upwards. Artemis needs a better bow, and some of the stuff here might be useful for Kon or Wallace. {orange}Or Donna{/}? Oh noo, I'd hoped that she'd be alright...

The normal entry corridor doesn't exist anymore so I rip through what used to be the armoury's wall. With Diana's death her last 'don't touch' orders would bind me, but now I've dealt with the oath I could just loot this whole place. Except that neither I nor my colleagues have trained in the use of enchanted primitive weapons, and I'm not even sure what some of the enchantments do. Can't risk trying to use them then. Maybe when this is over I can return this stuff to Themyscira?

I don't know why Diana didn't take some of this stuff with her. Maybe she just didn't get enough notice to pick it up? It would explain the lasso. Under the rubble the walls of the armoury were more or less intact before I dug through them. The aliens don't seem to have focused on this place. I haven't seen them using anything I'd recognise as magic yet, so I'm not sure why they attacked the embassy at all.

Teekl stands and stretches, digging her claws into my shoulder armour as she does so. Then she jumps down onto the floor and stretches again before walking over to where Diana's training bow rests on its stand. I follow her and pick up the bow and quiver before {orange}subspacing{/} both. Next, the training swords she lent to the Cornwalls. Right. One last thing I need to check.

{orange}Transition{/}.

Teekl and I look out across the surface of Mars. The sky on the horizon is a sandy yellow, contrasting with the rust red dust and the small dull brown rocks scattered about. {yellow}And the alien motherships{/}. None of them are particularly close to where we are, but in the distance across the Martian surface I can see two... no, three of them, sitting on the ground surrounded by swarms of fighters. {orange}Map{/}. Yes, each one directly over a subterranean Martian city. There's no help to be had here. I can't even risk grabbing Martian technology. Or rescuing civilians. Damn it. Damn it.

{orange}Transition{/}.

We appear at the top of the steps outside the Hall of Justice. On the plaza below the soldiers are setting up barricades. Looks like they've made contact with other surviving units and rallied them here. They've brought a couple of extra tanks -probably worthless as anything other than a distraction- and several four by fours mounting some kind of SAM system. That could be useful. A {orange}flicker{/} of OrangeVision shows me the bioship in camouflage mode standing watch over the gathering.

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

I turn and see Kaldur, turned back to look at me as the others walk through the doors into the ruined Hall. I hold up the glowing green lantern. "Some of it. Artemis in there?" He nods, then turns to join the others. "Wait." He stops. "They hit Mars first. I saw three motherships. There were probably more."

He bows his head slightly. "It cannot be helped. I think it would be best if we kept this from M'gann for now."

I nod. "Right."

Teekl and I follow him into the building. Somehow, despite the damage to the walls and interior the glass front is largely intact. I see Artemis, Wallace and M'gann looking up at the partially destroyed statues of our mentors. I suppose Kon's still in the bioship. I find my own eyes searching for Diana's statue. Just to Superman's right, wasn't it? Looks like something hit that side hard. Her legs are all that survive. I feel a momentary {orange}impulse{/} to restore her. It. No, waste of time and energy. Think about something else.

"You know... I've.. never actually been in here before." Kaldur takes his eyes off King Orin's statue on the far left to see if I'm being serious. I shrug. "Well, why would I? All the stuff I need's either at the mountain or the Embassy."

M'gann floats over to the fallen head of the J'onn J'onzz statue. She reaches out with her left hand and lays it on his face for a moment before collapsing to her knees and sobbing. There.. isn't really anything I can say. He's dead. Probably, the rest of her family is dead. But perhaps there's some way to make her hurt less? I start walking towards her when she suddenly starts. I don't see..? She leaps into the air away from the stone remains, thrusts her hands forwards and starts lifting what's left of the statue from the ground. Once it gets a bit of clearance there's... Shit. Is that..?

"Uncle J'onn!"

How the hell did he survive? He sits up, looking a little bewildered as M'gann tosses the statue remains aside and swoops down on him. Kaldur looks at me. {orange}Ring, is that actually{/}..? Apparently it is. I nod at Kaldur in confirmation. First good news I've had all day. M'gann wraps her arms around her uncle's chest. He still seems to be a little behind events. Kaldur takes a step forwards.

"Martian Munhunter. I do not wish to sound ungrateful, but how is it that you are still alive? We saw you, all the League, vaporized."

M'gann helps Mister J'onzz up. He's holding his right hand to his head.

"Yes, I remember. But I cannot remember how I survived. Or how I arrived here."

M'gann hasn't stopped hugging him. "Maybe you were density shifting and the beam passed right through you?"

Wallace rubs his chin. "Depending on the type of radiation they use, that might explain the amnesia. And if you survived like that..."

The Flash might have survived. I tried checking for him earlier, on the basis that they're not dead until you see a body. Couldn't find him, but then I couldn't find Mister J'onzz either and he's right here. Some types of technology and magic do interfere with ring scans. I just don't know.

"My mind is clouded. I feel certain I had something important to tell you."

Wallace hits his forehead with the heel of his left palm. **Hello Wally. C'mon!**

Gotham City
15th October
20:02 GMT -5

"Nine, so, one wood for you-" I pass the card over to Paula. "-and two wheat for me." I help myself.

Artemis scowls at her two cards. Two wheat, if I remember rightly. "You sure you're not using your ring?"

I make a face of cherubic innocence. "Are the dice glowing orange?"

What makes it even better is that I'm actually not. She looks at her three roads, three settlements and poor resource access. Yes, she's next to two lots each of wood and brick, but they got 2, 3, 10 and 12 and they're just not coming up that often. Paula and I both spotted that trap and went for high probability low usefulness resources plus ports instead. Rock port plus rocks on 6 and 9 for me, sheep, wheat and a three to one port for Paula. I've even got a spare knight card on standby in case someone gets an inconvenient 7.

"Fine. Anyone want wheat?"

I shake my head. "No."

Paula rechecks her hand. "Ah, not really. Sorry, Artemis."

She picks up the dice and hands them to me. I {orange}make{/} an orange shaker and rattle them for a moment.

"So.. you gunna.. talk to your mother about..?"

Paula looks at me then at Artemis.

"Talk to me about what?"

Artemis pauses for a moment. "Paul wants to give me super powers."

Paula blinks in surprise as I roll the dice. 5. I pass a sheep card to Artemis and two to Paula.

"You can just do that?"

I pick up the dice, nodding. "Some powers are granted by chemical formulae. If I know the formula, I can replicate it. At the moment it's a choice between super speed and strength, endurance and rapid healing." I hold out the dice to her. She takes them and holds onto them.

"How fast, and how strong?"

"Fast as the Flash -or possibly slightly faster- aaand about Wonder Woman strong. I mean, Artemis doesn't quite have her muscle mass, but that's the sort of level we're talking about."

"I thought Wonder Woman's powers came from her gods."

"Oh, they do. I just needed something to compare it to and since I doubt you've heard of Hugo Danner she was the obvious choice."

Paula nods, looking at the board. Neither of them had heard of Settlers of Catan when I suggested it. I explained the rules to Paula while Artemis reacquainted herself with her Nan.

Without the collar.

"Are there any side effects?"

"Neither of the Flashes experienced any, though Kid Flash has a ravenous appetite. We think that was due to him using an impure version, which wouldn't be a problem for Artemis. Danner Formula enhanciles had problems, but that was due to them not getting immunisation injections which Artemis has already had. Worst consequence I know of is that she'll be banned from professional sport."

"Why is that?"

"When metahumans first started appearing at the beginning of the twentieth century there was a guy... He had super strength. He was playing in an American Football match in college and he accidentally killed a member of the opposing team. He was running with the ball, three guys tackled him and one of them got knocked back and landed on his head, snapped his neck. No malice to it, bad luck more than anything, but metahumans have been banned from professional sport ever since."

Paula puts the dice down and turns to Artemis. "Do you.. want this?"

"I.. I don't know. I mean, it sounds good, but..."

Something occurs to Paula. "Have you offered this to Jade?"

"Hohoo, heck no. I mean, maybe once she's been out of prison a while, but... Look, I like Jade, but I'm not sure it would be sensible to trust her with super powers just yet."

"And can you undo it?"

"Nnno. Mmmmm.... Maybe if I did a full body clone or something, but basically no. That's what the collar's for. As long as it's active it can suppress the power. Artemis would be exactly as she is now."

"Could these powers be passed on to her children?"

"Moooom!"

"It's something you need to think about!"

Artemis goes for redirection. "Are you gunna throw the dice?"

Um. I try to think of a good answer while Paula rolls for the turn. Mister Garrick never had any children. Mister Allen doesn't have any at present. I remember at least one Flash having children in the comics but I think that was Wallace. Could it cause infertility? He hasn't said anything...

"Twelve! Finally." Artemis reaches over to the piles of cards next to me and takes a wood, then holds out her right hand for the dice.

"Nnnot sure. The research I've seen suggests that the Danner strength formula can't be, but I've also met a man who credibly says that he got it from his father. I can't promise any of this is completely safe, buuut it's probably safer than superheroing without it."

Paula passes Artemis the dice and she rolls them immediately. 7. Artemis looks at me hungrily and I fan out my hand.

"Just seven I'm afraid."

"There's eight!"

"Development cards don't count. I did say."

She scowls, then moves the robber to rock 9. I hold my hand out to her and she takes one of my five rock cards. She checks her hand once more and sags slightly before passing me the dice. I wait for a moment while Paula thinks the empowerment thing over.

"I think it is something that Artemis and I will need to talk about."

"Understood." I roll. 6. Three rock for me and a sheep for Paula. "Two rock for wood, two rock for brick..."

Artemis huffs. "Here we go."

"Wood and a brick for a road, three rock and two sheep for a city. Knight, moving the robber to sheep five. Paula, if you would?"

She fans her hand and I pick a wheat. Hm. I push the dice over. "Pass turn."

I'm only on 6 victory points. Me clustering around the rock hexes gave Paula an easy run at longest road, putting her on 7. Artemis is stuck on 3. She looks at me. "What would I have to do to get a power ring?"

"Be the strongest willed person in the Sector when one of the Greenies dies?"

"No, an orange one like you've got."

"Uuuuuuhhh. Steal one from Larfleeze? I could try and put in a good word with the Controllers when I meet them but there aren't really any orange rings floating around. Um, as far as I know. If.. you're thinking about it I'd be perfectly happy to teach you the mental techniques I use."

"You learned it pretty quick and you didn't even have a teacher."

"Yeeeah, but... You remember when you came into the cave after I healed your mother, and Robin and I ran off?"

"Yeah?"

What can I say without giving anything away?

"There was.. a member of his family. They had crippling, agonising injuries. He wanted me to try healing them. I couldn't work up the need, so I gave him access to the ring. He managed to stay focused for about three seconds before he started trying to claw my hand off to take it."

She blinks in surprise.

"Orange power rings.. mess you up. They can give you everything you want and they force you to go for it. How do you fight against what you already want? In your case: you hate your father? Think he deserves to suffer?"

She dodges my gaze.

"Then the first thing that will happen when you get an orange ring is that you'll force your way into his prison cell and start breaking bits off him. And you won't stop. You won't want to. And that intensity of desire never goes away. You either learn to harness it, or you turn into a narcissistic monster and that's what happened to the only other Orange Lantern in the universe that I know about. So: if you want to learn, I'll try and teach you. But you'd probably be better off going for one of the other options."

She thinks about it. "But you healed him, right? Robin's relative?"

I nod. "Robin did. But it freaked him out, and you'll notice that he doesn't risk standing on my left side anymore. I don't think... I don't think orange rings should go to the most avaricious people, in the way green rings go to the most wilful. It's about being just avaricious enough to use the thing, and wanting the right sorts of thing so you use it well. If you don't have the right character traits, it doesn't mean you're a bad person, it just means you're not right for that colour of ring."

I look at the dice.

"You gunna roll those?"

16th October
18:06 GMT -5

Wallace calls the ship down and then dashes inside. Artemis, Teekl and M'gann walk outside with Mister J'onzz, whose appearance gets a brief cheer from the soldiers and causes General Lane to walk over to have a word. Kaldur and I lurk at the back for a moment. He nods at me. Time to find out.

"{orange}Ring, contact Green two eight one four A{/}."

Nothing.

"{orange}Ring, contact Green two eight one four B{/}. {orange}Green two eight one four C{/}. {orange}Green five eight six A{/}. {orange}Green Clarissi{/}. {orange}Green Illustres{/}. {orange}Green... one four one seven A{/}.

Nothing on any of them.

"{orange}Ring, explain inability to communicate{/}."

{orange}"Error: subject not found."{/}

Kaldur and I look at each other. "Can the entire Green Lantern Corps truly have been destroyed?"

I shake my head in a daze. "I'd.. say no. It's more likely they've just blocked me. Um. {orange}Ring, contact Blue one{/}." Nothing again, but then I don't know if Saint Walker has been recruited yet. "My last option is to try communicating with Larfleeze. Normally I wouldn't even consider it, but I'm-" I look out of the Hall's front windows at the ruined and burning cityscape. "-I'm not sure how much worse even he can make things now. I'll leave it up to you."

Kaldur looks down at the floor for a moment before nodding slightly. Right then.

"{orange}Ring, contact Agent Orange{/}."

As I say his title I feel.. something. It was a bit like when I tried speaking the oath; need, but not my need. The ring crackles for a moment before releasing a pulse of orange light which swiftly takes {yellow}Larfleeze's form{/}. He's hunched over, legs drawn up, hugging what I suppose must be a representation of the Orange Central Power Battery. Bigger than I expected. His multi-tusked head jerks around as he takes in his environment before finally coming to rest on me.

{yellow}Um{/}.

"Sir, Orange Lantern two-."

{orange}"YOU CAN'T GO ANYWHERE YOU'RE MINE YOU'RE MINE YOU'RE MINE!"{/}

Um?

"Certainly, sir, but would.. you..?"

His head jerks away again, looking at... Something on his end? Is he.. cowering? What the hell is Larfleeze scared of? Now I'm seeing he doesn't look like much of a threat. Almost stick thin, and he's behaving like a scared animal.

{orange}"YOU HAVE TO STAY! MY PLACE! MY SHINY! ALL MINE! RAAAWR!"{/}

The image glows a little brighter and then bursts. I blink the afterimage away. "I don't think he'll be any help, even as a distraction."

"You said that he was deranged, but I did not fully appreciate what he would be like. What caused him to become like that?"

I shake my head. "A couple of million years in a cave all on his own."

**Guys! Look at this.** Wallace waves at us from where he's perched on top of the now visible bioship and Kaldur leads the way outside. It looks like Wallace is wearing one of R-. One of Robin's computers. I blink and he's right in front of us waving the screen under our faces. **It's giving off zeta beams. The same stuff that powers our zeta tubes. T-this thing doesn't disintegrate, i-it teleports. {blue}Rob is alive{/}!**

Kaldur leans forwards to get a better look at the screen, which appears to show a diagram of the gun attached to the bioship with zeta radiation concentrations highlighted. **Perhaps. I am not familiar enough with-.**

**No, no perhaps. {blue}They're all alive{/}.**

Ooooooh.

"Gauss flayer."

I say it before thinking. Wallace and Kaldur both look at me for an explanation.

**I... I don't recognise the gun, but I have heard of something with a similar effect. Zeta radiation...** I bow my head and close my eyes for a moment. **Nothing says it has to teleport all of an object at once.** I open my eyes to the looks of shock on their faces. **Given how we observed it functioning.. the outer parts of the target disappearing first... And then comparing our general technology level to theirs... I'm sorry, I don't think it's very likely.**

The hope he'd briefly felt drains from Wallace's face. Wait, what's tha-.

A red beam of energy spears one of the tanks of the perimeter and I {orange}barely{/} get a shield in the way fast enough to stop it taking the infantry huddled down nearby with it. In the distance I see a swarm of alien fighters swooping down. They must have come in from orbit!

{orange}!Protect!{/}

{orange}No{/}! {orange}I won't lose anyone else{/}!

The orange shield dome extends across the military position as the anti-air missile systems on the trucks try to establish a lock and Kon begins moving the bioship to meet them. Kaldur takes in the scene as more red beams hammer down, targeting the vehicles.

**Superboy, activate stealth sys-.**

The turret beam from our right hits the bioship. It glows for a second and then disintegrates into nothingness.

Kon.

Dimly, I hear M'gann and Mister J'onzz cry out in shock.

Kon.

More beams start striking our position as my dome fails.

Kon. Kon's dead.

Someone's.. shouting.? Soldiers stream past me, covering one another as rockets from the SAMs start shooting up at the enemy ships. One takes a glancing hit and spins off to the side.

{violet}Kon{/}...

Whu'? Artemis has picked me up bodily and is hauling me back into the Hall.

"Okay. I'm.. I'm okay."

She puts me down to the side, just out of sight from the outside, and swiftly puts an arrow on string.

"This doesn't.. change anything. Just because it's my my... My best friend rather than Wallace's. Right. Right."

Numb's no good to anyone. What do I want? I should be angry but the shock's too much. Kon... And there's no face for me to hate, just a bunch of drones... What can I do? What.. amount of force...

Oh. That.. could work. I see Kaldur open the door to the library, the route to the Hall's closest zeta tube. Evacuate? Not a bad plan. If he takes this green lantern to the Watchtower he might be able to reactivate some of the systems the Guardians gutted before handing it over. He'll need me to override the computer, or fix it if it's been damaged. And it's not like I want the others around if I go through with this...

The vehicles outside have been either destroyed or abandoned as anyone who can retreats inside. Right. The aliens are getting cocky and there're things I {orange}need{/} to do. I hold up my left hand, lantern and ring glowing in concert.

"{orange}I need you to not be here{/}."

Faster than usual, pulses of orange light fly out and hit the alien ships as they slow down to manoeuvre. A single strike is enough to smash each one apart. I'm still not angry, I'm not even feeling particularly destructive, I simply.. {orange}need{/} a little breathing space at the moment. Five die and then the rest have the sense to get out of my line of fire. I nod at Artemis and then we both sprint to the zeta tube.

Gotham City
15th October
20:32 GMT -5

Paula gives me a bemused look. "You really don't think that you've earned your ring?"

Twelve - nine - five. Welp, I'm impressed by how quickly Paula picked that game up. Also by how vicious she decided to be at the end there, waiting until I got my ninth victory point before getting three in one turn to end the game on a plus ten score. Artemis never really got a look in. I flick my left hand {orange}up{/} and the pieces of Catan rise into the air and shuffle themselves.

"No. Not yet anyway. I'm, y'know, paying it down, but it's such a huge thing..."

Artemis seems irritated by my apparent modesty. "What did those people you said did earn it do?"

"I said they were the only ones I knew of who earned it in advance. There's probably plenty of Lanterns who spent decades fighting the good fight and earned it that way."

"So?"

"Alright. Story time." I {orange}let{/} the pieces stack themselves on the table. "The story of Lantern Katma Tui. Not quite the Book of Oa version, but I'll try and do it justice. Once upon a time, there was a mighty Green Lantern by the name of Thaal Sinestro. He knew neither doubt nor hesitation. His intellect was incisive and his willpower incredible, and, perhaps most importantly, he believed passionately in the mission the Guardians give their Lanterns: to establish order throughout the galaxy. So respected was he by both the Green Lantern Corps as a whole and by the Guardians of the Galaxy themselves that he was promoted to the position of First Lantern, overall commander of the Corps."

Artemis frowns. "Isn't Sinestro that guy who-?"

"Yes, yes he is. I'm getting to that. You see, there's some things his fellow Lanterns didn't know about their leader. Firstly, that he was responsible for the death of his predecessor. You can't use a green ring to kill someone, but if they give it to you because they're too wounded to fight on, it won't compel you to get them medical attention. He got the ring, won the fight and couldn't stand the idea of giving it up. So he just stood there and watched Lantern Prohl Gosgotha bleed to death. Secondly, that his belief in the supremacy of will was so intense, he didn't believe that weaker willed people deserved autonomy. He turned his homeworld of Korugar into a police state, with himself as the dictator. But -and this is genuinely true about him- he didn't do it for his own aggrandisement. He didn't favour one ethnic group, one caste, one religion. One rule for everyone. If you stepped out of line you were stepped on, and if you were in his government and abused your power? You were stepped on harder, for letting him down."

I lean back a little. Guy was a bit iffy about sharing a Greenie's personal history with me, but he was happy to talk about Sinestro. Turns out they still didn't know what he'd done to Prohl Gosgotha. Once I questioned him Guy compared the timelines from Sinestro's logs. He was disgusted to say the least when he confirmed what I said.

Paula looks puzzled. "How could the Guardians not know that he'd taken over a planet?"

"The universe is a very big place. And Lanterns are allowed to hold political office, they just aren't supposed to use their rings to get it. Anyway, after Lantern Abin Sur died and his ring went to Lantern-"

Um.

"-two eight one four A." Paula looks confused. "The first Greenie in the Justice League." She nods. "Sinestro took him on as his personal student, because Abin Sur had been about the only friend he had at that point and if the Human was going to wear his ring then he was going to learn to use it properly. They worked together for about a year before Sinestro decided that his new apprentice was ready to see the wonders he'd achieved on Korugar. 'Course, he hadn't spent a lot of time on Earth. Didn't appreciate how individualistic Americans tend to be. And he certainly didn't expect Katma Tui to kick off a planetwide rebellion during his visit. Two eight one four attempted to take her into custody as a crazy anarchist and got a very pointed demonstration of his mentor's dark side. After he confirmed it for himself he put a call in to the Guardians and Sinestro's ring got deactivated. Sinestro was then tried before the Corps, convicted and banished to the antimatter universe, his ring going to Katma Tui."

I shake my head. Would it have killed them to execute him instead?

"Of course, by that stage the Green Lantern Corps was so hated on Korugar that she can't ever go home. But the point is that she brought down the most powerful Green Lantern alive through cunning and determination. She didn't even know that two eight one four was going to be there, she honestly believed that they'd have to fight Sinestro themselves, and she was prepared to do that. If she hadn't, any number of impressionable new Greenies could have been taught to do things the tyrannical way by the man responsible for leading them. And that would have been a disaster for everyone."

Artemis is incensed. "They can't blame her for what he did!"

"Yes, they can. And they can certainly blame the Greenies for not keeping tabs on Sinestro, and her for agreeing to work with them."

"Well, why'd she take it then, if everyone was going to hate her for it?"

"Who else could she trust? They gave the ring to Sinestro in the first place. Who would they have given it to if she hadn't taken it? She took the hit because she thought she needed to, for the good of all."

Don't think that Artemis liked that story. "What about the other guy?"

"You sure? Bro'Dee Walker's story s'not much more upbeat."

"How can it be less upbeat than getting exiled from the planet he saved?"

"Alright. Bro'Dee Walker's homeworld was technologically equivalent to our mid nineteenth century when its sun started dying. They knew enough to realise what was happening, but weren't advanced enough to escape or call for help. Walker was a priest, and while all around him went mad with fear he put his faith in scripture, the inspiring tales of his people's great heroes. When it became apparent that not enough of his fellows shared his attitude he remembered a prophecy concerning the arrival of a divinely appointed champion who would be revealed to the faithful at the hour of their greatest need. And since it's hard to get greater than complete societal collapse due to oncoming nova, he decided to undertake a pilgrimage to the mountain where the saviour was supposed to appear. He set out with his father, his wife, his son and his daughter, each of whom his faith had inspired."

I {orange}generate{/} a simple illustrative construct. I don't remember exactly what they looked like, but it should be close enough.

"On the way to the mountain they had to cross a rickety rope bridge. Their children made it safely to the other side, but the rope snapped while the adults were still on it. Walker and his wife were able to hold on but his father wasn't, and he fell to his death. A little further along they came to a mountain stream and stopped to get a drink and to bathe. Unfortunately, the sun's increased heat had melted the ice from the top of the mountains and the river surged while they were in it. Walker was able to rescue his son, but his wife and daughter were swept away and drowned. With nothing better to do, the two of them continued their journey. It took them days to get to the upper slopes of the mountain and by the time they did their supplies were exhausted. Walker and his son stopped to rest for a while, and while he wasn't watching his son ate a fruit from one of the local vines. The stomach cramps started almost immediately, and the poison killed him before the day was over. Alone and despairing, unable to think of anything else to do but keep going through sheer bloody mindedness, Walker made the final ascent. By the time he reached the summit it was raining hard, and he pulled himself over the final ridge hoping against hope to see someone, something, that would give his family's deaths meaning."

I shake my head as my construct Walker rails against the uncaring heavens.

"But the summit was empty. He fell to his knees, beat the ground with his fists, cursed everything. His family had believed in him as he had believed in the prophecy, and there was no one there. When he finally had the strength to move again, he raised his head up a little, and saw, reflected in the water running down one of the larger rocks that lay on the peak, his own face. Understanding dawned. He walked back down the mountain, back into his temple, picked up his holy book, walked out into the town's main square, and started preaching. To start with, people just ignored him, but he kept going, and as time passed his calm cut through the fear and people stopped to listen. Eventually the whole town stood there, listening to him remind them of the best aspects of their nature. Once that happened he travelled on to the next town, then the next, and where he walked peace and sanity were restored. Finally, when his whole people were prepared to accept the end with dignity, the first blue power ring descended from the sky, drawn there by the hope he inspired. The very first thing he did with it? He channelled that hope and rejuvenated their sun by millions of years."

I relax a little, {orange}dismissing{/} the construct.

"The nova reversed. Planet's still there now, if you're ever in Sector one, and the first Blue Lantern is hailed as a saint by his people. He earned his ring, and I can only hope to one day be a fraction as good a man as he is."

I think they're stunned. I {orange}wave{/} the Catan hexes.

"Anyone for another game?"

16th October
18:10 GMT -5

Artemis and I run past the soldiers covering the library door. Not.. sure what they think those M16s are going to do but the skies are currently clear so I doubt that it matters. About twenty at various states of readiness. We come to a halt next to Wallace. Mister J'onzz is doing something with the zeta tube's computer.

"Kid Flash, would you mind holding onto this?" I hold out Guy's lantern.

"W..?" He takes it in both hands, staring at it. "I can't use it without a ring."

"No, but you might be able to restart some of the Watchtower's systems with it. That's where we're going, right?"

"Ah, no, back to the cave."

"Why are we going there? The Watchtower's labs are far better. Has it been destroyed?"

"Ah..."

"Never mind. Artemis, {orange}these{/} are for you." I bring the bow and quiver out of subspace and pass them to her. "They.. used to belong to Wonder Woman, so you should be able to use them at full power."

"R-right." She folds her bow and gives Diana's a pull to test the resistance.

{orange}Ring, monitor alien fighter behaviour{/}.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

I turn away and walk over to where Mister J'onzz, Kaldur and General Lane are standing. A small.. turret of some kind? Extends from the ceiling and runs a green scanning beam over Mister J'onzz. He still looks a bit dazed.

"Override, Martian Manhunter, zero seven."

"Recognised. Access granted." The outer doors open, revealing the zeta tube itself.

"Aqualad? Have we been able to contact the Watchtower?"

M'gann steps into the tube. "Recognised, Miss Martian, B, zero five."

He looks at me sadly. "Even if it survives, it is unlikely that any members of the League would have fallen back there."

"No, but Robin dug {orange}these{/}-" I take the lumps of alien spacecraft out of subspace. "-out of one of the fighters from earlier. The cave doesn't have a xenotech lab, the Watchtower does. If there's data on here..."

"It would likely take more time than we have. Artemis."

She comes forwards.

"Recognised, Artemis, B, zero eight."

"Would Kid Flash be able to restart any of the systems the Guardians deactivated using Guy's lantern?"

Kaldur waves Wallace forwards. "Perhaps, but if the zeta system were damaged he would be stuck on the Watchtower with no way to evacuate."

"How about I try it, then?"

He shakes is head. "It is too risky. You are next."

"Isn't there a risk that the aliens will be able to use this place to trace where we've gone? Particularly if they are familiar with zeta radiation?"

He hesitates. "What do you propose?"

"Leave me till last. I can fly at faster than light speed. Catch you up manually. I can wipe the computers and smash everything after you've gone."

And I really don't want you to see what I'm about to do.

He nods. "Very well."

I {orange}pluck{/} the lantern from Wallace's unresisting hands.

"Kid Flash, B, zero three."

"Manhunter-."

{orange}Warning, incoming-

Shield{/}!

Teekl shoots in through the door as a wall of overlapping kite shields appear along the walls and over the door. Several soldiers try and aim at her but she's moving too fast.

{orange}-attack craft.{/}

A beam of ruby energy takes out part of the far wall next to the door, but the shields behind it hold. Teekl takes cover behind my legs, fur on end.

"Recognised, Martian Manhunter, zero seven."

Seeing no return fire, the aliens intensify their attack. Individual shields weaken as more beams are fired. Kaldur catches General Lane's eye. "General, begin evacuating!"

Why aren't they using their zeta cannon things? Did the ones we fought near the Fortress not realise the signif-.

The roof comes down! {orange}Shield{/}! I get the dome up fast enough to block most of the debris, but I hear a yelp of pain as a chunk of rubble lands on someone. I {yellow}can't{/} keep up this many defensive constructs!

{yellow}What do I do{/}?

{orange}!Wrongness! !Teammates must thrive!{/}

"Kaldur. {orange}Get out of here{/}!"

A giant hand construct forms from my ring hand and shoves him back towards the zeta tube.

"Recognised, Aqualad, B, zero two."

But there are still people in here and I can't keep the shield up. I need more power. No choice.

{orange}I close my eyes, trying to bring all of my desires to the forefront of my mind{/}.

"{orange}This is my power{/}."

{orange}The treasures of civilisations, fallen ages past. Bones stripped of flesh and marrow.{/}

"{orange}This is my light.{/}"

{orange}Vast serpentine eyes blink.

The ring pulses.{/}

"{orange}Be it bright of day or black of night{/}."

{orange}Forked tongue flicks, tasting my presence. Approval.

"I claim all that lies within my sight."

A squalling gnat is knocked aside as scales flow through the portal to their new home.{/}

The ring shines, the links between myself and my shields expand and thrum. My lantern shakes and glows so brightly that it's painful to look at. Distantly I'm aware of the soldiers moving past me into the zeta tube.

{orange}"TO TAKE WHAT I WANT, THAT IS MY RIGHT!"

Orange...



...light...



...everywhere...{/}

{orange}16th October
18:14 GMT -5

And everything is suddenly so very clear. This is my building. These are my soldiers. And I'm not going to have anyone harming what is mine. I raise my right hand a little

Nasty will. Drop it, drop it.

dropping Guy's lantern to the ground with a clatter. Why did I want to use that to power the Watchtower? When I make it mine I'll use my own lant.. no, that would expend it. It's all I have left of Alan, I'm keeping it forever. I still have scans of Alan's when I first converted it, I'll just reconfigure Guy's to orange. Then I'll have a Watchtower. Yes.

The shield around the room is now effortlessly preventing the normal beams from penetrating, but those zeta flayers could still be

We/I recognise those.

easy to deal with, now that I understand the operating principles of zeta transportation technology. Jam.{/}

"Hey, ahhh..."

{orange}I look down at the soldier. The name stencilled on his armour says 'Reid', but he

Are we/I being blocked?

seems somehow insubstantial, almost hollow.

"Yes?"{/}

"Can you operate the zeta tube?"

{orange}Oh, of course, the evacuation. One person at a time, who designed those things? I reach out to each soldier in the room, shifting rubble off them and repairing

We/I will keep our possessions in good repair.

their injuries. "General Lane, if you would please lead your men to the zeta tube entrance, I believe that I am now sufficiently powerful to guard your retreat."

They seem ill at ease for some reason. Should I alter their hormonal balance? No, that might reduce their combat effectiveness. Enhance them?{/}

"Is that.. supposed.. to be there..?"

{orange}I frown, then look up into the {orange}Ophidian's{/} face where it floats just above me. Its body is bent up above its head, one coil looping around the ceiling and then down the back wall, terminating with the tip of its tail plugged into my lantern.

"Yes. If it bothers you, just don't look at it."{/}

"Iss.. it here to help?"

{orange}"That.. would probably be overstating it. But it is sharing

I/we do not share. I/we serve our interests.

its understanding of zeta radiation. I should be able to send all of you in one go. Or you could stay, if you wanted. I've got some fascinating techniques I could use to alter your bodies to be more combat effective."

I smile at him. I like having good teeth.{/}

"No, no, ah.. General Lane, sir?"

{orange}The General lowers his rifle and stares at the Entity.{/}

"Greaaaat snakes. You sure you know what you're doin', son?"

{orange}"Oh no, General, I'm making it up as I go. But I don't think I can kill all of the aliens and protect you and your men, so you might want to get out of here now."

He nods, and waves his right arm at the zeta tube entrance. The transmission process is simple enough, but I need to allow for the fact that there is significantly less space at the cave end. But we do have two tubes next to the main training area, plus two in the hangar. I'll just have to split them up.

Reminds me a little of when I used to play Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun. When a unit got damaged and I didn't have any way to repair it I used to send it back to my main base to be out of harm's way. Or in Morrowind, where I would get the Skeleton Key and never use it to keep it pristine.

The soldiers walk into the zeta tube. Most of them steal a look at the Ophidian overhead. A couple cross themselves. Right. Ring

I/we have no need for interlocutors.

don't worry, I can handle this. I blink slowly as I get used to interfacing directly with the tube's systems and pour orange light into it. Hahaa!

"Whom does the zeta tube work for?"{/}

"You, master."

{orange}Yes, you do. I feel space begin to twist as I alter the zeta array itself, increasing its accuracy and precision tenfold. Then I activate it with a nod, and in a flash the soldiers are gone.

Next item on the agenda, resurrecting my friends. Should I be

The Life Entity is not here. We/I do not understand.

able to sense it now? Because I can't. Oh well, my plan had been to get normal lanterns of each colour then persuade a Controller to forge a ring, rather than petition the Life Entity directly. But I can't leave my other friends here while they're under attack. And... this building. If we're the new Justice League I'm not having our public face looking like a pile of rubble. I release my hold on my lantern and let it float into the air, then with a negligent wave of my left hand I expand the shield wall to encompass the entire building. Now, let's see, there should be plans and images in the League's computer.. there we are! I look up again.

"Better than a cave on

We/I appreciate liberation.

Okaara, isn't it?"

I drift through the library as walls and ceilings are made whole once more. Can't repair incinerated books without knowing exactly what

We/I sense a record.

they.. were... Oh, guess there was a record after all. In an orange shimmer the place is as good as new as I walk out into the lobby. I watch as an orange surge restores the front windows, through which I see twelve stationary alien fighters firing continuously from both weapons. I wave at them. Hmm, looks like jamming their zeta transmission doesn't shut off their carrier beam. Oh well, doesn't matter.

I turn back to the room, and wherever my eyes pass things are made right. The walls and floor knit back together either from material from the rubble or simply transmuted. Or maybe created ex nihilo. Not sure. Next the lights flick back on as I restore damaged power lines. Air conditioning is next, then water, then the tourist information computers. I think I can feel the whole of the building. Clean up the toilets, restart the reactor. Good job it isn't plugged into local systems, otherwise I'd have to restore the entire city to get this place working right.

Now, the statues. The bombardment the Hall received when we took shelter here has smashed apart the ones that were left. I could just restore them, but... we're the League now. Aren't we? So my team should have statues. Rock flows into orange moulds as the orange light gives my desires form. In the centre, standing over the lift entrance, I create Kon-El's likeness, arms folded across his chest. To his left, Artemis, and to his right, Robin. Next to Robin goes Wallace and then Kaldur, and next to Artemis goes me and then M'gann. Not strictly reflecting our hierarchy but pleasantly mirroring the positions of our predecessors, I think. I can always make extra statues for them somewhere else. Yes, those look good.

“We will rebuild this world as a testament to our greatness! All will love us and rejoice!"

I look up. The Ophidian is following me into the room. Well, its front part and its head are, the bulk of its body is still back in the library where I left my lantern. And Guy's. Well, those aren't urgent requirements. Ring, state

I/we have no need for interlocutors.

power level. I can feel much more than I used to be able to how much charge I have, but I'd like to be able to put a number on it.

"Fifty thousand percent remaining."

I grin.{/}

{orange}16th October
18:18 GMT -5

"And -just to confirm- is it going down at all?"

"Charge level is not being depleted."

"Excellent."

Hey, where's Teekl

Our/my taste in toys is different now.

got to? I don't think she left with the soldiers. "Teekl! Here Teekl! Where y'gone? Where y'gone? Here, Teekie Teekie Teekie!"

I look around and.. oh, there she is! She's crouching at the top of one of the bookcases, growling and hissing at the Ophidian. Bit rude. Oh, I'm sure she'll

The toy will be quiescent.

come.. around... Teekl stands up, jumps down and strolls over towards me. Hmm. Not sure what happened there. Right. Power, cat, team mates safe. Next step: the air armada that's still firing at my building. I spread my arms out to the side and float upwards until I'm level with the top part of my Hall's glass frontage and the Ophidian's head. After a moment Teekl floats

Mere glass is inadequate to display our glory.

up to join us. Hm. Should I replace it with something else? It gleams for a moment as I transmute it to diamond. Is that really..? Aluminium oxynitride? One of Mister Luthor's fascinating ceramic nano-composites? I cycle through them a couple of times, trying to assess the visual differences. I honestly can't tell. Oh, let's just go with the LexCorp one. It feels more

Reasons are irrelevant.

Human. He made it to resist an alien, and it's resisting aliens. Or rather, it isn't, because orange shield. Well. The Ophidian turns its head towards the ceiling and moves forwards, passing through the steel and concrete with no resistance. Show-off. I still

We are joined. Our knowledge is one.

don't know how to do that, but maybe I can work it out? It's not a matter of destroying and reconstructing it. It can't be a matter of molecular density. I'm sure that's a mistranslation from the Ca'andran original because that whole idea makes no sense to me. Hmm. Some sort of partial planeshift, using the orange light as a conceptual tether? I float right up to the glass. Well, at least the only one who'll see if I do something stupid is Teekl. Through we go oh that's weird but I made it.

Above me the Ophidian's busy looping itself around the roof. The alien fighters split their attention between it and me, and I chuckle as they fail to harm either. The Ophidian flicks out

They have no scent.

its tongue. I wonder why it hasn't attacked them yet. Is it waiting for me? Sweet. I hold out my left hand and make a grabbing motion, warping gravity around the closest fighter. I feel its drive system try to resist. Futile. Get over here. I pull it to me, dome level with my face.

"Not quite as much fun when someone does it to you, is it?"

Its armour strains as it continues trying to manoeuvre.

"Your communications are still intact. I know you can understand me. And I want you to understand me when I tell you this. And I want you to relay it to every other unit your people have on Earth and Mars and anywhere else."

I lean closer, and rest my left hand on the dome surface.

"Are you listening? Yes? What I'm going to do is, I'm going to tell you where you went wrong. This planet? It's called Earth. It's not really all that important to the wider universe, pretty primitive, a bit out of the way, but, it's mine."

I pat myself in the centre of my chest with my right hand.

"Mine. That building-" I point at my Hall. "-is mine. You damaged it and I had to repair it. I could live with that. But what I can't live with is what you've done to the people. My friends. Because, you see…"

What do I/we want most of all?

"Ahem, THESE PEOPLE ARE MINE! AND NO ONE TAKES WHAT IS MINE FROM ME!"

The orange beam from the ring burrows through the centre of the ship, pierces the rear armour and then spreads out inside. The dome glows brightly as the outer hull cracks, and then explodes outwards.

No, you don't. You're mine and you'll do what I tell you.

A network of orange beams links every piece of ship together before they can strike the ground, and pulls them back together in the sky. I can feel it as broken hull pieces fuse back together, wires and tubes realigning and techno-organic computer systems recompiling. The exterior twists as an orange sigil appears on its now orange front dome.

Mine.

I go higher into the air, orange filaments whipping around from the ends of my fingers.

Mine.

Each filament strikes a fighter and in a pulse of orange light they become mine.

Mine.

The last few fighters try to break off and try to flee. Chuckling, I point forwards with both hands and the filaments seek them out as well. I can feel their thoughts on the edge of my mind. It's similar to piloting the bioship except that I'm not even trying to make this a relationship between equals.

"Spacecraft of the Orange Lantern Corps. Seek out your brethren, and destroy them utterly. Off you trot."

I feel them access their tactical network, then they form into squadrons of three and peel off after their targets. I turn to the Ophidian.

"Look at them go!"

Now, what was next? There are still people in this city, and while I may not care for any of them individually every bit of damage I can undo or prevent is something I won't have to come back and fix later. I hold up my right arm and create a paintbrush construct.

"First, I'll fix this city."

I wave the brush and in an orange glow buildings are restored.

"Fix the people."

I reach out to the trapped and terrified. I liberate and calm.

They are too easily damaged.

And augment. After this we can't just go back to the situation pro bellum. Nothing crazy, I'm not going to Danner the whole world or anything. But strength and intelligence are based on physical structures. Behavioural tendencies are the results of hormones and brain structures just as much as learning. A few modest tweaks... Yes.

One of my fighters surges out from the ring. It's no longer metal at all, just pure orange light. It looks at me for instructions.

"Get back to it you slacker. And no dawdling, you're a Lantern, act like it."

A streak of orange lightning and it's back to the fight. Right, Washington D.C.'s fixed. What's next?{/}

{orange}16th October
18:53 GMT -5...
Probably

"AND YOU'RE MINE

Assimilation complete. These will be useful.

AS WELL!"

Gosh, this is fun. When I thought about it, I realised that everyone I cared about personally was either safe or dead. So, second tier: where are the people they care about? Didn't take long to pick up Mister and Missus West and drop them and Paula and Jade off in the Batcave. And to seal them and Alfred in. Then I remembered M'gann's family. I never asked where on Mars they lived. Probably should have done. But, when I thought about it I realised that it didn't really matter; any mothership I left unmolested would go on to attack their city if I just attacked the immediate threat. Plus, even one mothership would provide me with

Toys.

enough chaff for distraction attacks on the rest. Heck, even assimilating a whole mothership didn't take more than about twenty

Fifteen point four.

seconds. Once it became clear exactly how one sided this was going to be I just sent those I'd already taken into orbit to watch for further attacks. Only three of the Martian cities were properly breached, though anything that was left on the surface was properly wrecked. They used these weird four legged things for infantry, thin insect like legs equidistant around a central cylinder with an eye gun about halfway up. Cleaning them up didn't take much longer. Unfortunately I've got no idea how to identify M'gann's family. From what she said about Martian families there're probably loads of M'orzzes around, I can't hack the biological data storage systems they use and for some

Inconceivable!

reason I can't perceive the locals' desires to just find people who are worried about her.

Has been interesting to see Martian warships. They started joining in after I dealt with the fifth mothership. Hmm. I suppose those few might be all that's left. Bit pointless really. They can't hit hard enough or move fast enough to matter. I ended up just sticking shields around them to stop a lucky hit from an alien fighter taking them down. They also don't seem

Jealous of my/our majesty.

too keen on the Ophidian though. I left it with my lantern in orbit, but one of the motherships tried to do a runner and its head entered the atmosphere to bite it. They kind of freaked out a bit.

This whole thing reminds me of the second time I tried to play Dungeons and Dragons. After the DM banned me from playing as a pony I looked at the possibility of playing as a necromancer. Foolishly, I assumed that the necromancer would be a minion controller class. I mean, it's all about summoning and binding the undead, right? Wrong. Not even a skeleton until something stupid like level 5. I wasn't expecting Wights or anything at level 1, but a zombie rat? A weak skeleton? A ghost? Something? Anything relating to the title? No. Fuck you negative energy blasts.

Right, when I get back to Earth I'm fixing D&D. And Warhammer 40,000. Oh goodness, yes. And I'm going to see about introducing Babylon 5 CCG, the greatest CCG of all time. I don't even care that no one here's watched the series, I want a game. A game against decks that someone else has designed. The ring's been improving my memory for as long as I've been wearing it and I'm sure it can extract near complete sets from my mind. Kon was saying that he.. was.. enjoying...

Kon's dead. That's.. important. I should probably get on with doing something about that. An instant later I'm outside the orbital mothership cordon. I'm not getting any feedback about further threats so hopefully this is about it. I'll take two with me and leave the other seventy here. Feel a bit silly forgetting that Construct Lanterns could perform their own assimilations. Having motherships fire assimilation cannons rather than zeta-cannons sped things up a great deal. Okay, got my lantern, got my Entity, got my cat -I scratch her head and she rolls on her back for a belly rub- got my Construct Lantern motherships... You know, now I really look at them, their design is really ugly. Not very efficient either. If I just rearranged the main beam projectors-. No. No. Resurrect Kryptonian beefcake first, alien weapon systems later.

Would it be too obvious if I went straight to Happy Harbour? Note to self, change every sign in the place to spell it properly. Eh, I'll just go into orbit somewhere around the moon and have a think. Transitioning. Right, you, mothership A, deploy fighters. Mothership B, stick with me. Now, where is everyone?{/}

"...survives because the battle is not over."

{orange}Kaldur? No, just a recording.{/}

"Not as long as even one of us-"

{orange}Me, I suppose.{/}

"-is willing to fight."

{orange}This is supposed to be.. stirring, isn't it? It doesn't really make me feel anything other than slightly aggravated that my property might be at risk.{/}

"It doesn't matter how many fall."

{orange}Does that sound as stupid to everyone else as it does to me? Is that the fault of Wallace's delivery? Am I just jaded? Or -heh- did the aliens focus on the good speech writers specifically to prevent this sort of thing?{/}

"For new heroes will always rise to carry on."

{orange}Not if everyone dies. Right, stop listening. The cave... They're not at the cave. Where are they then? Smallville? What the hell are they doing in Smallville?

Oh

Undesirable.

heck. Move!

I'm at the edge of a patch of woodland as the grounded mothership detonates, blast wave burning the earth bare. Wallace and Artemis were in there and I can't find them. Kaldur. I can't feel Kaldur. Do not want! Do not want! Okay, deal with the alien attack, assimilate Ra's, still manageable. Mothership, get down here and mop up. Where's M'gann and Mister J'onzz?{/}

**Don't... Don't tell me the mission was a success. The price was too high.**

{orange}There she is! I appear just before the two Martians.

"Hello!"{/}

"Paul, you're alive! I thought you died in the Hall!"

{orange}"Pch, nah." I look up as a bright orange light illuminates the landscape. "Oh, and check out my new mothership."

Its secondary batteries open up on the surviving alien fighters, and moments later they are either destroyed or assimilated, joining the flock. I can just about see Teekl sitting on top of it, lantern in her mouth. Has the Ophidian finished coming through?

"Picked it up on Mars."{/}

"They.. they attacked Mars?”

{orange}"They hit Mars harder than they hit here. Didn't do all that much damage before the Ophidian and I cleared them out. In fact, the only place that suffered significant damage was that place near Albor Tholus."{/}

**{yellow}No no no no no no no no no...{/}**

{orange}"I mean, they were stomped completely flat. I'd hate to have lived there. Look, if we're about done here I think we should make a start on the Lazarus Pit thing..?"

The Ophidian shimmers back

We/I will make this place ours.

into corporeality just behind me. Mister J'onzz's eyes widen in shock.{/} "No. This has gone on too long already."

{orange}Hm? Oh I suppose a giant translucent orange snake takes a bit of getting used-.

He steps forwards and rams his fist through M'gann's chest.{/}

{orange}16th October
18:57 GMT -5...
I think

M'gann shudders, eyes wide and water filled. Her cape bulges as his fist emerges from the other side of her torso.

"KILL YOU!"

The Ophidian surges forward as my orange pulse hits her uncle in the head, killing him and knocking his smouldering corpse to the ground. I rush to take

She is mine/ours.

hold of M'gann. Martian healing Martian healing Martian healing. Not allowed to die! Not allowed. Don't know if Lazarus Pit works on aliens! The Ophidian pierces Manhunter's body with its fangs as I try to remember which organs are important to shifted Martians and…

Purple Mists..?

Where's she gone? SHE's MINE.

Our eyes snap open showing us the ceiling of the training area, illuminated by the bright orange light shining off me in all directions.

“Give her back, she's MINE!”

We're in the air over a circle of stone slabs, one of our team mates on each Kon! Keep safe keep safe! We fling each of them into the air and create the strongest construct armour around them we can. Immediately we realise that Artemis is squishy again. Fixfixfix! And Robin! Mustn't get hurt!

Where are our enemies! Manhunter

Analgesia.

lies in the centre of the circle and is starting to rise. No!

"{orange}Hhssssssssssss!{/}"

A pulse of orange light sends him tumbling across the room, bouncing him into the floor and finally pinning him to the far wall. Teekl flees the room while Marvel

Going for a walk in the park with his father on a sunny day.

stares in confusion while Batman

Fulfil his responsibility to protect the children.

... What? They're dead. We saw them die! Is Diana..? She's alive! Alan's alive! Guy's... Not here. Where find him find him find him! GreenLightGreenLightTooMuchGreen! No! We need him! We see him! He's standing in front of a half circle of... Green Men. We remember them and we don't like them. They helped the gnat.{/}

"Orange Lantern, that's enough! Stand down!"

{orange}Batman is staring up at us. We wrench our attention away from the.. Guardians! That's what they call themselves. He's.. important.? We think?{/}

"Batman." {orange}Nasty Manhunter speaking!{/} "It's not him. Something else came throu-!"

{orange}We muzzle him. Not important. Team mates! Aside from elevated stress levels they seem in good condition. Aliens? No, no hostile forces nearby. Kon! We remove the armour constructs around them, leaving the flight aura. Then we zoom over to Kon

To stop being confused.

and hug him around the waist, rubbing our face against his chest.

Want. Koooooooooon.

We perceive Batman move to a position directly behind us.{/} "Identify yourself."

{orange}Kon pats me on the shoulder.{/} "Paul, what's going on?"

**That isn't Orange Lantern.** {orange}Manhunter voice in head bad! We manifest our snake-face directly in front of him. "HHHHEeeeeeeehhhhh!"{/}

"Orange Lantern, this is a direct order. Drop your constructs and take off your ring."

{orange}We don't want to, but... Our prop- No, our ingroup is safe. He.. has.. authority... We lower everyone to the ground, regretfully peeling ourself from Kon. Making eye contact with the Manhunter we remove his bonds, muzzle and guard.{/}

**Manhunter, what happened in there?** {orange}Batman's eyes are still focused on us. His hand... Is he preparing a weapon of some kind? Nothing he's carrying could hurt us.{/}

**M'gann's belief in the reality of the exercise overwhelmed me. I became as trapped as they were. By the time I remembered what had happened only M'gann and Orange Lantern remained active. But.. he had turned hundreds of alien ships into constructs, something that should far exceed his power level. He was also accompanied by a giant orange snake, and no such creature existed within the scenario.**

"Orange Lantern, I ordered you to take off your ring."

{orange}We narrow our eyes. "No, we won't, too dangerous."

Wallace

When he was seven years old, he saw a racing red bicycle being ridden by another child.

looks at me in confusion.{/} "We?"

{orange}Kaldur's hands glow.{/} "There is another presence within his body."

{orange}"Kon died! Diana and Alan were dead! We... I... He needed more power!"

Artemis rubs her head.{/} "About that. Not that I'm complaining, but..."

{orange}Batman looks at her.{/} "Try to remember. What you experienced was a training exercise. Manhunter psychically linked the six of you in an artificial reality. You all knew this going in. What you didn't know was that it was a train for failure exercise."

{orange}We scrunch ourselves up, hands held near our ears, wobbling back and forth. "Exercise exercise exercise exercise." We think that's.. bad. Why is that bad why is that bad?

Batman glances at us before continuing.{/} "No matter what the team accomplished the scenario was designed to grow worse."

{orange}"hEhEhEhE HeHeHeHe."{/}

"Still, you were aware that nothing was real, including the deaths of the entire Justice League."

{orange}Manhunter gingerly walks towards us.{/} "That was why you hardly grieved, even when your mentors were disintegrated before your eyes."

{orange}"Not real not real not real not real not real."{/}

"But all that changed when Robin died. Though consciously Miss Martian knew it was not real her subconscious mind could not make that distinction. She forgot it was only an exercise... And her subconscious took control, making all of you forget too."

{orange}Batman walks slowly in my direction, then crouches down.{/}

"Orange Lantern. What did you do?"

{orange}"Kon was dead and Robin was dead and everyone we cared about was dead or stuck in an unwinnable fight. We needed more power. We.. he.. connected his personal lantern to the Orange Central Power Battery and called us.. it.. the.. the Ophidian, through."{/}

"The Avarice Elemental."

{orange}"Embodiment. Far more than an elemental."{/}

"Contact with something like that must have been a shock."

{orange}"Contact? Contact? It's still here-" We tap our chest. "-in us. We are the Ophidian, and the Orange Lantern."{/}

{orange}16th October
19:01 GMT -5

We remember.

The bipeds wrestle in the dirt while we watch. One is stronger, firmer, more experienced. He believes himself to be favoured by their tribe's god, and this has granted him a confidence and resolution.

The other is smaller. Weaker. He has no great skill and no weapons and were the others of their tribe to see them fighting they would swiftly kill him for daring to harm the god's chosen.

The chosen one does not call for help. After all, why should he need it?

The other? We have favoured him. We have whispered in his ear of want and acquisition. He believes that his god has chosen wrongly, and that if he wins here that the rest of his tribe will see that. He wants what the other has. He wants it in a way one smugly accustomed to power and authority cannot imagine.

His avarice empowers him. He twists, he bites, he gouges and when the fight is over it is he who is victorious, standing over the still body of his rival. He roars his triumph.

We are already well familiar with this pattern. We saw it in our original home, when our need for pre-eminence led to us experiencing a growth in comprehension unknown amongst our kin. The sight of worlds beyond number, civilisations of all shapes and styles, uncountable galactic years, a grand testament to the power of avarice to motivate and empower.

And blind.

We do not like to reflect upon our failures, but perhaps we might have learned something from the brevity of that creature's triumph, before it was driven from its tribe for its actions. The suffering it subsequently experienced. With the understanding that our new joining has brought us, we can see an equivalence to our own capture and imprisonment by the gnat. Our avarice is strong, but without direction we charge heedlessly. We understand that now, and we will change it.

The smaller green one

M'gann. Her name is M'gann.{/}

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

{orange}has water leaking from her eyes. Not a Martian gesture. Her need to be part of her new community is so strong that she

Tymbrimi

changes a fundamental part of her physiology and adopts the mindset instinctively. Community-need. We feel it too. We have not felt that in

M'gann needs me. I calm, stand, turn and walk up to her, embracing her.

a vast amount of time.

**[Wellbeing] This is not your fault.**{/}

"You said this couldn't happen!" {orange}Kon takes a defensive stance with M'gann and myself behind him and our mentors in front.{/} "You said he wouldn't be able to use his ring!"

{orange}Manhunter shakes his head in confusion.{/} "It should not have been possible. I truly do not understand."

**{yellow}[Fear]{/}**

{orange}**[Reassurance/Fellowship]**

M'gann pulls away a little and looks up at my face. She's.. looking at something. What is she looking at?{/}

"Why didn't you stop the exercise?!"

"We tried, but M'gann had.. a death grip on the scenario. Even Robin -who should have awakened upon his death- was so convinced he had passed that he slipped into a coma. I realized I would have to wrest control from Miss Martian's subconscious from within. But upon entering the reality, I was overwhelmed by your collective emotion. There was.. too much.. noise, to think clearly. To remember why I was there. The death of Superboy helped, but the brief moment of clarity I experienced was swiftly drowned out by a single overwhelming sensation. It was only when the mothership exploded and Aqualad, Artemis and Kid Flash were silenced that I could begin to focus clearly. When the.. Entity within Orange Lantern revealed itself I was able to identify and block its influence, clearing my mind for long enough for me to remember my true purpose; to shock M'gann out of the exercise, before your comas became permanent. My apologies. I had no idea a training exercise could be so dangerous."

{orange}He is touching our mind.

He reels and Red Tornado catches him.{/} "So.. so damaging."

{orange}I hear a crunching, and Artemis raises her right hand up to shoulder height, a lump of the concrete bier she was lying on held therein. She stares at it and squeezes. It explodes into powder. Wallace goggles.{/}

"Wait. That was.. that was inside the illusion. Why can you-?"

{orange}Artemis wheels on the spot-{/}

"Aaaaaghh!"

{orange}-and punches the end of the bier full force. It cracks, rubble exploding outward from the far end and spraying across the room. She breathes heavily, clenching and unclenching her right fist.{/}

"{yellow}H-how{/}..?"

{orange}"You were too fragile. We couldn't risk you being hurt."{/}

"When the planet was being invaded by aliens!"

{orange}"As far as we can see the same logic applies now. You weren't any more resilient, and the planet might be invaded tomorrow."{/}

"What? You mean you did it after..?"

{orange}"Yes. Robin too."

His head whips around.{/} "What?"

{orange}"Your death in the training scenario highlighted concerns about your physical limits which we had had for some time. When we awoke and felt under threat and you weren't dead anymore it seemed perfectly rational-."

He jumps directly up, reaching the roof of the training room nine metres up without straining himself. He turns in the air and pushes off it with his legs, landing lightly in a crouch.{/}

"Whow."

{orange}**See M'gann, no harm was done. Robin and Artemis are stronger, and at our current power level there is nothing that can stop us protecting everyone.**

M'gann takes a clumsy step backwards away from us as Batman clasps a hand on our shoulder and shoves us around.{/}

"What exactly did you do to them?"

{orange}"We introduced the Danner Formula into every cell in their bodies. It's completely safe, we tested it."{/}

"Give me the inhibitor collar right now!"

{orange}Artemis is not as receptive as we had thought that she would be. She takes a step back as we turn our head to her. Something has definitely happened to our appearance. "No. That would just make you vulnerable again. We never want to see our team mates die again, you are all too important to us."

Kon turns to Manhunter.{/} "We can get that thing out of him, right?"

{orange}Manhunter puts his right hand in the centre of his chest.{/} "I am uncertain, but-" {orange}His uniform flows away from where he's touching, revealing green skin and the glowing orange lantern sigil embedded in it. We reach up with our right hand and feel the familiar shape on our forehead.{/} "-I believe that we must try as a matter of urgency."

{red}16th October
19:03 GMT -5{/}

"But Uncle J'onn said there was no way he could have stopped me."

"I know and accept that."

"Then I don't understand why you're still mad at him."

After doing a certain amount of damage to the gymnasium and composing my report on the training 'incident', I walked to the hangar and attempted to calm myself by sitting on the launch platform with my legs crossed, watching the waters. Hm, going to my 'happy place'. That was where M'gann found me. I'm shielding my mind and I altered internal monitoring so that it would not report my position. She must simply have been searching manually.

"M'gann, when I first started training with Wonder Woman she was very careful in precisely assessing the strength and durability of my constructs. She did this so that she could train me in a way that was safe for both of us. She did the same again after my.. physical change. And though we have both received minor injuries during our sessions together, the risk of anything serious happening is minimised to the greatest degree possible."

"But he didn't kno-."

"{red}Exactly{/}." She blinks at me. "That might be a reasonable excuse if he genuinely had no idea that you were telepathic but that is very much not the case. He knew that you are telepathic, he accepted responsibility for training you, and he never bothered assessing how strong you are."

She blinks. "Oh."

"{red}Worse{/}, he decided to telepathically link you to the rest of us, just to make it a bit more dangerous." I spread my arms wide in a gesture of appeal. "Is that how the Manhunters usually run things?"

"I don't, um, I'm not.. sure?"

"Though it could have been worse. Can you imagine if something like this had happened on an actual mission? Uuh." I shake my head. "M'gann, I'm.. I'm sorry. The technique I used to break the link... At the time-."

"You don't need to apologize. I was the one who was mind controlling-."

"No." My right hand envelopes her right shoulder and I stare into her eyes. "Of all the people who are at fault here you are not one of them. I will certainly not criticise you for being too empathetic. Perhaps the rest of us would have done the same, had we your power set. There is no way to know." She looks at the ground, but nods anyway. I release her shoulder and push myself to my feet before extending my left hand to her. After a moment she looks up and takes it and I pull her up. "Come on. Wallace of all people volunteered to cook this evening and there's nothing like spending an hour in a furious temper to give me an appetite."

She nods, and together we walk down the concrete steps. "What's he making?"

"I shudder to think." What with one thing and another it didn't occur to me to ask.

"He wouldn't have volunteered if he couldn't cook something." I give her a sceptical look, and she's suddenly less sure. "He wouldn't, right?"

As we walk across the main floor and up the steps to the kitchen and recreation area, I'm left wondering what horrors are about to be unleashed on our palates. My sense of taste was dulled by my transformation in the same manner as my sense of touch, but again the ring can make up the difference. In an emergency I know a few quality take away restaurants, but my colleagues don't always share my preferences. I let M'gann go first as we enter the kitchen. I'd have held open the door for her but space-wise it isn't really practical.

Wallace looks up from his.. is that a wok? Oh dear. "Hey guys! We were about to send out a search party!"

"Wally, we were just in the hangar."

Artemis, Kon and Richard are hard at work on their reports. Kaldur's helping by chopping celery. He looks at me. "I am glad that you have been able to resolve your differences."

I wave him off. "My problem was never with M'gann."

Richard looks up. "What are you talking about? You hate telepathy."

"I regard it as a useful tool. The fact that the idea of someone touching my mind makes me uncomfortable does not mean that I dislike telepaths personally. That said, M'gann, given what happened could I perhaps recommend an alternate telepathy tutor? I think we'd both prefer it if this didn't happen again."

She looks uncomfortable. "Uncle J'onn..."

"Can just suck it up. Uuh, he has other responsibilities in addition to your training. I was thinking-."

"About the guy who taught you how to block Psimon?" Richard slides his completed report away from him.

"Oh, good heavens no. Henry King Junior." I {orange}generate{/} a life-sized construct. "Fifty eight, formerly Brainwave of Infinity Incorporated. He works as a motivational speaker now. His primary skill is telepathic illusion, but he is perhaps the most capable Human telepath available."

Richard crosses his arms. "What's wrong with your teacher?"

"He values his privacy quite highly. I was taking my life into my own hands approaching him as I did, but he found me amusing enough to tolerate the intrusion. Telling other superheroes about him would risk harming the working relationship we have established, and I can hardly teach M'gann what he's been showing me myself."

"Maybe that should be for Miss Martian to decide."

Something's going on. "What's this about, Robin?"

"It's about the way you keep secrets from the rest of us. And not just the telepathy thing, you never said how you knew to attack Klarion's familiar. Or how you knew that Teth Adam existed at all."

"Ah. Then you feel that I should be completely open and honest with my team mates?"

"Yes! I think we've earned it."

{orange}!Put the whelp in his place!{/}

"Very well, then I have but one question." I fix him with my gaze and he meets it unflinchingly. "What is your name?"

Then he flinches.

"Oh, come on Oh El. That's not fair." Wallace defends his friend. "Batman ordered him not to tell us."

"Batman isn't here."

"The monitoring-."

"Internal monitoring shows what I {orange}want{/} it to. There will be no recording. So, Boy Wonder, are we.. worthy? Of hearing your name? Have we.. earned it?"

He's still meeting my eyes, but he seems to have shrunk. The bravado's gone. We regard each other for a minute before he looks down, picks up his report and rises to leave.

I let him get halfway to the far door before I speak, slowly and deliberately. "Richard. John. Grayson." He freezes. Artemis quietly gasps, and looks at him anew. The others are staring at me. "His name is Chester Black, also known as Manchester Black and 'Manny' to his few friends. He works as a spy, saboteur, agent provocateur and occasional assassin for the British government, and the first time he tried to teach me anything I was reduced to a quivering, incoherent, incontinent mess. He is not a nice man but he is very good at what he does. M'gann, if you truly want him to teach you I will make contact on your behalf but I urge you to choose Mister King. He's more.. your sort of person."

Wallace looks dismayed. "Dude..."

"You knew." Richard's hands are clenched tightly. He remains facing the exit. "You knew, and you asked me anyway."

I nod. "Yes, I did. I've known since I first got here."

"Then why?"

"Because you demanded my secrets while giving none of your own. Because Batman's order was an insult to my intelligence and to our team mates' integrity. And because you pushed me."

Gotham City
15th October
22:12 GMT -5

"Sooo... How long do you normally stay out?"

Artemis and I are standing on the roof of a run down apartment building opposite a warehouse. Gotham: living the stereotype. I say standing; she's crouched, watching over the rim of the building through some techy looking binoculars as rough looking types load up a van. I'm sitting down with my eyes closed, {orange}having{/} the ring play the scene by my optic nerve.

"Wh..?" She lowers her binoculars and turns her head to look at me for a moment before going back to spotting duty.

"How long-?"

"You really think this is the time!?"

"I'm {orange}seeing{/} seven men, two shotguns and a revolver. Given that we're in Gotham..."

"What's in the boxes?"

"Looks like junk. Some shelving, various types of light bulb, some pipes... Could be a theft, but there's nothing high value there. Honestly, I doubt they'd make minimum wage plus van rental."

"It used to be an electrical supply warehouse."

"There you go then. Someone new's bought it and they're having a clear out. {orange}Just check{/}... Yep, new owner. Holding company, holding company, company owned by.. a.. huh."

"What?"

"I'm not an expert, but I think that's a fake ID. Could just be from somewhere without good computer records, of course. No employee records matching the chaps down there, but they might just be day labour."

She relaxes a little. "I'll keep an eye on it." She stows the binoculars on her new equipment belt. Mister Gambi finished her new armour yesterday and I have to say that I rather like it. Much lighter than my own, it moves, it breathes, it covers her abdomen, it has her preferred decoration and colour scheme and it has an equipment belt. We'll need to add League issue camouflage material to the outside this weekend. "I usually stop patrolling at ten. Depends on whether I'm in Star City or Gotham. And what homework I've got."

"Ah, the eternal bane of the teenaged superhero."

She crawls a short way from the edge before standing. There aren't a lot of streetlights in this area and they wouldn't really illuminate the rooftops anyway, but we're hardly invisible. Especially me. My environmental shield is on minimal but these days it still gives off a visible amount of light. I follow her as she leads the way over to the next building.

"Do you have a.. set route?"

"There's only so many ways you can go around here. What's with the questions?"

"I've never patrolled before. Well, I fly around Happy Harbor sometimes, but the worst I've encountered there is a small group of rowdy drunks. Not exactly a challenge."

"Huh."

We reach the edge, and I {orange}put{/} orange platforms under our feet to float us across.

"Do you... I mean, I got the impression that Batman was a bit particular about who was active in his city."

"He hasn't said anything about not patrolling. Not like Gotham's short of crime."

"Can you give me any indication of how you're feeling about the augmentation thing?"

"Mom wants to talk about it. Why, what's the rush?"

"There's, like, one woman on Themyscira who makes weapons of that grade. I don't know how long it'll take her, so if you said 'yeah, probably' I'd get her started as soon as possible. See if she can get it ready for Christmas."

We touch down and she takes cover behind an unlit billboard.

"I don't know. I'll talk to Mom about it this weekend and let you know Monday. Who's the Amazon who makes..?"

"Her name's Io, and she's been doing it for about three thousand years."

"Whaw. So, does she just do bows, or..?"

"Anything that needs smithing. I mean, at this point most Amazons can forge things. But no one's taken it as far as she has. She does weapon enchantments as well. Could see about replacing your arrows."

"Maybe. Does she do.. samples, so I could try one out?"

"I'll ask."

"She's really three thousand years old?"

"Thereabouts. They left mainland Greece about three thousand years ago, so she's probably a bit older."

She takes a quick look at the streets. I can't {orange}see{/} anything interesting happening.

"They really don't have any men?"

"They did, right at the beginning. Young male children too young to have left their mothers, and some of them were pregnant. But the eternal youth spell on the island only applies to women and they were pretty homonormative, culturally. Not many pregnancies after they arrived on Themyscira, and eventually the last of the men just died off. Diana was the first 'new' Amazon for about two thousand eight hundred years."

"Wonder Woman didn't see a man until after she left?"

"Err. She'd seen pictures. Statues. But, no."

"Is she... y'know..?"

"I haven't asked."

"Right." Seeing nothing of interest, she walks to the other side of the building. "What time does Mister.. Jones, want us there?"

"He said four in the afternoon."

"He say what the scenario is yet?"

"Not exactly, but he did say that it will be a widespread disaster, and that the only reason he wasn't telling us was to stop us planning everything in advance. We'll be told as soon as it starts. So Kaldur's had us lifers planning for everything."

"Does this whole telepathic training thing seem weird to you?"

"Everything on this planet seems weird to me. Including me."

"Y'know what I mean."

I shrug. "It's not like we can practise a major natural disaster in the real world. We'll know it's not real but it will seem completely real. And, hey, if it works we could get M'gann to do it again for fun."

"What if something goes wrong?"

"Mister Jones has been on Earth for sixty years, and his people do this sort of thing all the time. I don't think we've got much to worry about."