Young Justice: The Gold Corps: Shattered, Chapter 23: After the Battle

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I don't own either Young Justice, the Justice League, or the Green Lantern Corps. I couldn't afford the taxes.

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Chapter 23: After the Battle

Mt. Justice: the Team conferred, via teleconference, with the JLI, after the battle. "Well, I think we can safely say this operation produced mixed results." J'onn's voice was, as always, the very definition of "dry." "We did not apprehend or eliminate Blood, but we did gain access to many of his files. And, by all appearances, we seemed to've forestalled, at least, the demonic invasion."

"If that's what Blood was really after in the first place," interjected Wonder Woman. "His opening of the gate would have threatened his own power, unless he'd made some sort of deal with Trigon. Which, I admit, is possible."

"How about the prisoners, sir? Many of them were in pretty bad shape."

"They're receiving the best medical care there is. They came very narrowly close to being 'sacrificed,' but for some reason, Blood seemed to hesitate. Almost like he changed his mind. At any rate, we demolished his organization here on the West Coast, and have information leading us to other cells. We're sending you a complete report on our findings; it could be important, since I doubt this is the last time we'll cross paths with him." And with that, J'onn broke communications.

Nightwing sat back in his chair, at the ops table, while the others looked on. It had been a sobering experience, they all agreed. Usually battling supervillains was a time to wind down a bit, but not only had Blood escaped, all they'd managed to do was shut down one isolated node. None of them, not even Wally, could see that as a total success. "Well, I suppose this meeting is adjourned."

I think I go train some on what I'll fondly think of as Blood's face.

On the way out, Cassie once again cornered him, in the kitchenette. "Dick? What was that about Blood hesitating? We've never known him to hesitate to do something awful before."

"I dunno, Cassie. J'onn said the prisoners stated it was almost like he changed his mind..."

"More like he had his mind changed for him," said an unfamiliar voice behind them. "Brother Smith is now Brother Blood." They whirled, to see the dark warrior approaching them from main rec area, as calmly and casually as if he did this every day. He went over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup, while they stared. "Hmp. Coffee's cold. And weak."

"How—How did you get in here? And, and who the devil are you, anyway?" demanded Nightwing, backing off and drawing his batons. Wonder Girl readied herself as well, even as some of the others filtered in, hearing the commotion from the outer office.

The warrior smirked. "'Who the devil' indeed. If only you knew. The devil's the one I'm chasing, and, once again, thanks to one of you, he got away."

"What are you talking about?"

He motioned over to the couch, where lay a slender female form in silver and black. He nodded towards the semi-conscious girl. "One of yours, I presume?"

"What?!" Aqualad immediately moved towards the Silver Lantern. "If you've hurt her…."

"Oh, get real. If I'd 'hurt' her, why would I bring her here? It seems she had a disagreement with a pulse bomb. I know you have ring wielders in your group; I thought she might belong to you."

"She's not one of ours…who are you, anyway?"

"None of the names I've ever had would mean anything to you. But you and I," and here he turned to Batgirl and Wonder Girl, "have a history. I doubt you remember me, however."

"We've met? How is that…" A suspicion was beginning to form in Barbara Gordon's mind. Wonder Girl just looked puzzled.

The Batgirl gasped. "You… No! It can't be! But that was…."

"Thousands of years ago. Tens of thousands. Yes. I was the chieftain's son, dying of gangrene in that village you and your friend came to. You injected nanobot repair units into me, in an effort to heal me. It didn't exactly work…at least not the way you'd intended."

"But…" She was at a loss for words.

The dark warrior turned back to the group. "I still died, in a manner of speaking. But the ancient burial grounds where my people buried me had a unique property, it seemed."

Nightwing nodded. It was all beginning to make sense now. "Kryptonite."

"Kryptonite. The radiation mutated the nanobots so that they essentially rewrote and replaced my entire genetic code. Into this." And he gestured to himself. "And so I rejoined the land of the living."

But here he turned to Batgirl, almost savagely, it seemed. "Only to find they, my whole tribe, had been killed. Slaughtered, by a rival tribe. And more than just killed; they'd actually been eaten. It took me over fifty winters to track down every member of that tribe. But I saw to it they'd not kill again."

The others were silent, taking it all in. Batgirl was trying to sum up all the years since their journey into the past….how long ago had it been? Ten thousand years ago? Thirty thousand years ago?

A hundred thousand?

Suddenly, they heard a low moan come from the couch, as the Silver Lantern began to regain full consciousness.

Instantly, Aqualad was at her side, checking her pulse. With her helmet obscuring the upper portion of her face, he couldn't check her pupils, but her pulse was good and strong. She moaned again, moving her arms, half-consciously feeling the couch she was lying on.

"If she's not one of yours," remarked the dark warrior, "you might want to exercise a certain amount of caution. She keeps mumbling about something called 'the Unity.' Doesn't sound like she's completely with the program, as the saying goes. She could wake up in full combat mode."

"It's alright, miss," said Aqualad, squatted beside her, her hand in his. He knew better than to try to remove the power ring; if this was anything like the ones wielded by the Green Lantern Corps, it wouldn't come off until she died. "Somebody get her some water."

Wally brought a cooled bottle of Dasani almost before he'd finished speaking. Even though her head was half-covered by the silver helmet, they could tell she was a young woman of surpassing beauty. Wally, in particular, always felt his heart beat a little faster in the presence of such loveliness.

Her eyes opened suddenly, and she started upon seeing all the costumed adventurers around her. Her gaze ranged around, then settled upon the dark warrior, and her eyes widened. She began to raise the hand that had her power ring on it.

"Easy!" The dark warrior backpedalled, palms of his hands open in a pacifying gesture. "Fight's over; you won."

If anything, she looked more confused. "The Unity…is the Unity preserved?" She held up the ring, seeming to consult with it. "I…sense no great disruption. What has happened?"

"That's a long story. First, introductions. Who are you?"

"St-* I mean, I'm Silver Lantern."

A newbie, thought Nightwing. She'd almost said her real name. But she'd caught herself just in time. "I'm Nightwing." He proceeded to make introductions all around. Then he came to the dark warrior. "Say. You never did tell us what to call you."

The hunter was already halfway to the exit. "Call me 'gone,'" he said, over his shoulder, even as he left, as silently as he came.

Hm. Loner much? Thought Nightwing. Then he turned his attention back to the girl, the Silver Lantern. "Are you alright? We heard you tried to contain the energy of a pulse bomb."

"Yes." She sat up, looking around her with interest. Where was this place? And who were these people? They'd told her their names, but names can have many meanings. "It would have greatly disturbed the Unity."

"The Unity, yes. Uh, exactly what is this 'Unity'? In case it comes up again." Which it probably will.

She stared at him a moment, long enough for him to remember that, in some cases, the various power rings had been known to affect the wearer's mind. Then, "The Unity is all. All those who love, or are loved, who belong together, to whom separation would be painful, hurtful…these are the Unity. Those to whom injustice would cause pain and heartache…these are the Unified."

"Uhm, right." Definitely something a little odd going on with the reasoning processes. "Okay, we can deal with that. You don't want to see people hurt; neither do we."

Her gaze sharpened and she straightened her posture. "Yet you were prepared to threaten the Unity."

"Only to save others from being…disunited. And it didn't come to that, not by us, anyway."

"That…is true." She put her hand to her head, as though with a headache. "But I must preserve the Unity. And…He comes."

"'He'? You mean Brother Blood?"

"No…worse. He is the destroyer of worlds, the Annihilator of all that is, the Maker of Ashes.

"He is Inferno."

…..

"…On behalf of the Martian High Council, I convey our deepest and most sincere gratitude to you, Bertran, for your willingness to aid us in this crisis, regarding one of our own."

"You are most welcome, councilor. Considering her relationship with my son's friends here on Earth, I would be seriously remiss if I did not do what I could."

"Er, yes, her relationship. Tell me, mistress, how is she doing physically? I know that your progress with the removal of the horror meme has been…problematic. But is she doing well from a purely physical standpoint?"

Bertran narrowed her eyes almost imperceptibly. That last question had had a rather peculiar inflection to it, something that caused her to wonder why it was asked, and in the way it was asked. "Yes, councilor, from a purely physical standpoint, there appears to be nothing wrong with her. Of course, her shape-shifting powers are much more limited now than before, due to much of trauma she has undergone, and her telepathy, as of right now, is line of sight only, but, aside from those aspects, she appears to be in excellent physical health. Is that what you were asking?"

"Yes, yes. As you know, there are very, very few of us left, throughout the universe. Whether white Martian or green matters little anymore. She is one of us, a member of a family that has been reduced to near extinction." Which was true. Not long ago, explorers had found a carefully buried and hidden system of caverns deep underneath the surface of Mars. Contained within were one hundred green Martians in suspended animation, hibernating during the vicious wars that had depopulated the planet above. They had been a last resort for the Martian people, a desperate play to avoid a holocaust that could have extinguished the entire species, both white and green. Upon awakening, the green Martians had immediately begun to rebuild their shattered civilization from the base physical, as well as the economical. Fortunately, for them, the entire resources of Mars itself had been theirs to control, and they had rapidly established profitable trade agreements with both Earth and Raan, and were making successful overtures to other such races as frequented the Sol system.

The end result, at least so far, was that they were all quite wealthy and influential. And, since there had been so few of them, almost all of them were of a single, extended, albeit highly attenuated family.

Starting with records carefully preserved from their previous civilization, they had re-established the Martian Mystics, and were in the process of exporting various ores and rare substances to Earth, for a healthy profit. Both Earth and Mars benefited from this arrangement, and many a major political career was being made on the continued good accords of Mars towards Earth. Quite naturally, many Earth organizations bent over backwards to assist them in recovering from their species-wide near-disaster, not always for political or financial gain. Echoes of the Earthly Holocaust still reverberated mightily in many people's brains, and many not-for-profit and grassroots organizations had been formed to save the Martian species from extinction, of which there was still a possibility. Their numbers were not yet to the point of assured genetic survival. So of course it made sense that they would be concerned about the health and well-being of one of their own.

Nonetheless there was something a little odd in the councilor's inflection when the question had been asked, something that put Bertran on her guard. "I am, of course, monitoring her condition closely, based on the possibility, slight as it is, that the horror meme may be integrated with a physical counterpart…a sabotage function, as it were. So far, I've seen no indication of such, but evidently my counterpart in this universe did not lack for cunning. It would be unwise to underestimate him, at any juncture."

"Of course. We completely agree with you. And, once again, I would like to offer our sincere thanks for all that you've done. I trust you will keep us informed as to your progress?" Megan had agreed, before her stint with the Martian Mystics, to keep the High Council informed of her progress. That agreement, as far as anyone knew, still held.

But Bertran…was beginning to wonder if that was wise. Something was wrong, some alarm bells were going off in the back of her mind that wouldn't quite coalesce into anything definite. "Of course, councilor. I will keep you apprised." And the connection was broken.

"Mom?" Doomsday was in the door way. He hadn't wanted to interrupt the conversation, but he knew his mother well enough to know when something was bothering her. "Is something the matter?"

Bertran was silent for a moment. Then, "Maybe not. Indeed, probably not." At least, I hope not.

Because, for some reason, the direction of that conversation was quite troubling to me.

….

After a short period of saying as little as possible, Stacey left Mt. Justice. Nightwing had cautioned her about the covert nature of their organization, and extended a tentative invitation, based as much on that fact that she now knew the Team's headquarters as any genuine need. She had told him she'd think it over. He was a good enough judge of character to know that she would be discreet about the group and their location. And he took the time to warn her about the possibility of being followed.

Her face quirked a smile at that. She did know a few things.

Back to her familiar room. She hurt! Evidently, trying to contain the energy of that pulse bomb had sent her flying through several layers of rock and earth. The ring had automatically protected her, but its ability had been tested. The dark warrior had brought her to the Team's headquarters in case she needed medical attention, as the best possible place. Hospitals were notoriously unable to help most costumed adventurers, anyway.

She took the ring off her finger for a moment, just to settle down, and put her pajamas back on. It wouldn't be long 'till sunrise, and today was a work day.

Wait. Something…something was different. The Unity…yes, she could understand about the Unity, those living beings united in love and companionship…but her perspective on it seemed to have changed. Yes, the Unity was important, and there was much, much more to it than just…than "just" families, but…now it was almost like she'd been a different person when she'd worn the ring. Not different, exactly, but….rather the same person with a different viewpoint, somehow. Not so different as to be somebody else totally, but….

She picked up the ring, held it in her hand. It gleamed in the low light of her room with a glow that seemed internal. You would fight for the Unity, something whispered in her mind. You would fight to keep others from experiencing the heartache and loss you nearly experienced yourself. This is Unity: that All have been One, once, and All will be One again, someday. Is this not your desire?

She looked carefully at the ring. When she wore it, she was a different person. Not wildly different, not a split personality, but a person who saw things from another standpoint. A cosmic standpoint.

She knew she didn't have to ever put the ring back on her finger. She could put it in a box, and shove the box underneath her bed, or even bury it somewhere, where archeologists might someday dig it up, and wonder what it was. There was nothing forcing her to wear the ring. There was nothing forcing her to fight for the Unity.

But she knew she had to. She couldn't live with herself if she put the ring down and someone, someone's mother or father or little brother, died from some means she could've prevented.

From something Silver Lantern could've prevented.

She put the ring back on her finger, and went to bed. In her sleep, she smiled in satisfaction.

The Unity was preserved.

To be continued...