John looked around the Colosseum as he stood on the sands of the gladiator pit, his ring changing his clothes into a loin cloth and Greek sandals as he cracked his neck.
The illusion was perfect, it truly did look like the Greek Colosseum from the distant past with the sun beating down on him from overhead. He really wasn't sure if Dr Sivana was using hard light holograms or matter re-arrangers to create the effect, but didn't scan it to avoid ruining the mystery.
"Can we get a period appropriate crowd to cheer and jeer?" he requested.
Dr Sivana, who was sitting in the emperor's box with his children, tapped a holographic keyboard and the stands filled with drunken Greek citizens.
'I need a buckler shield and a lightsaber,' John told James, telepathically consulting him as they sorted through the alien technology database they'd downloaded from the Green Lanterns, transmuting what they needed out of the massive stores of gold he had in subspace, the dense material easily providing the mass needed.
'Use the data you have on human fighting arts and guide me through the moves as needed,' John told James telepathically, 'we want to look good, but not so good that he brings out the big guns.'
The gate across from him raised up, releasing a robot tiger composed of a golden metal as the crowd roared its approval.
John saluted Sivana, tapping his chest with his lightsaber hilt before crouching down and activating it, a bright green blade springing forth.
The robotic tiger kicked up sand behind it as it charged forward and leapt at its target.
John found himself rolling beneath the attack, the arm wielding the plasma blade flicking out to slice the robot in half from head to tail.
"How?!" Junior cried out. "Green Lantern rings don't work on anything in the yellow spectrum!"
John held up his right hand. "This is an actual plasma weapon, not a lantern construct. It's just green so it fits the theme."
Dr Sivana actually chuckled. "You are not nearly as dim as I expected."
"Thank you," John said with a smile, "from a scientist of your level that's a great compliment."
"Now on to something a little tougher," Sivana said with an evil grin as the gate slowly raised back up and a massive metal beast had to crouch down to enter the arena.
John stared at it in disbelief for a moment before he turned to the mad scientist once more. "Please tell me it breathes fire."
Sivana smirked as the beast roared, throwing back its head to release a massive blast of flame.
"Awesome," John said, mentally ordering James to hack the robotic dinosaur as he used his other ring to create a saddle on it. "I'm going to ride it!"
Junior turned to his father. "I'm not sure he's all there."
"If you want sane, don't look for it in people who dress up in spandex and run around at night attacking people with guns!" John called out as he ran forward, dodging to one side as the T-Rex tried to stamp on him while James worked his way through its encryptions.
"While obviously unhinged, he's more amusing than any of the heroes I've run into before," Sivana notes as John clambered up onto the back of the T-Rex as Sivana found his control over it broken. "He also seems to possess a functioning brain, unlike most of them."
Half a dozen dire wolf robots were released to attack at an unseen signal.
Several hours later
"I believe I've seen enough," Sivana announced and the robot griffins landed, walking back through the gate.
John dismounted his T-Rex, subspacing it before Sivana could ask for it back and flew up to the emperor's booth. "How did I do?"
"Much more imaginative than the usual foes," Sivana said, "and much less self righteous." He nodded. "I almost feel a twinge of guilt for having kidnapped you."
John waved it off. "I'm perfectly willing or I'd have tried to escape. This actually is something I've always wanted to do."
Junior shook his head. "Mad, completely unhinged. Of course I suspected that when you called my sister beautiful and announced you were going to seduce her."
Georgia smacked her brother in the back of the head, glaring at him.
"I hardly think you're the best judge of your sister's attractiveness, you are her brother," John pointed out.
"Compared to Beautia, I hardly rate," Georgia admitted with a frown.
"And does she have your intelligence and curiosity about the universe?" John asked pointedly.
"No," Georgia said, "which is the only reason I'm not completely eaten up by envy."
"Plus Beautia is always off striking out with the big red cheese," Junior said with a smirk.
John looked over at Sivana and raised an eyebrow. "You didn't tell Beautia..."
Sivana shook his head. "Children have to make their own mistakes to learn, unless it would endanger all of existence which is why I keep close to my two younger ones."
"One time," Junior said with a groan. "One time I almost unmake reality by interfering with the big bang and they never let me forget it."
"What about the time you almost caused out of control fusion reactions in all the nearby stars?" Georgia asked.
"That would just endanger the local star cluster, not all of reality," Junior defended himself.
"Let me examine your blue ring," Sivana demanded. "While the trick you are doing using two forms of green energy is clever, using blue energy of a type I have yet to discover is much more interesting."
"It's kryptonian tech, are you sure you can make a duplicate?" John challenged.
Sivana's eyes narrowed. "That is a clumsy attempt at manipulation, of course I can make a duplicate... if I find it useful enough to do so."
John pulled the charger for the blue ring out of subspace and reluctantly took off the blue ring. It was a risky venture, giving up the blue ring, both because his green rings were less effective without it as well as no longer having access to its healing abilities, however the blue light of hope had many beneficial effects on the psyche of those exposed to it and considering the power Sivana and his children wielded, he'd willingly give it up completely if it made them more stable.
"The charger isn't as efficient as one created by the Guardians of OA, but it works well enough for me," John said as he handed them over. "If you can make me an extra copy I'd be grateful."
"We'll see," Sivana said grudgingly, promising nothing. He chuckled as he examined it. "Of course it would have the House of El's sigil on it rather than just the kryptonian symbol for hope." He vanished in a flash of light.
John's Green rings pulsed and a hologram of Alan appeared. "John, just because I went on a date and needed you to make yourself scarce for the night didn't mean I was kicking you out."
John snickered. "I know, but I happen to be in the middle of a date right now myself, so..."
"Ah, message received," Alan said with a grin. "I'll talk to you later." The green image vanished.
"You are taking all this far too casually," Junior said with a frown.
"If Dr Sivana really wished me harm I'd already be dead," John replied. "He'll either arrange for me to 'escape' or outright kick me out when he gets tired of my presence."
"I don't think you're allowed to be both that cheerful and fatalistic at the same time," Junior said.
John shrugged. "We are in a universe where time travelers exist and the timeline can be altered, wiping us out in an instant. If I'm not going to worry about that, why would I worry about the many other things I have no hope of stopping?"
"Dad has temporal anchors up, we don't have to worry about that at all," Junior said smugly. "They are surprisingly easy to make."
"Oh," John said. "Well, my point still stands. I'm not going to waste time worrying about what I can't do when I can focus on what I can."
"Like seducing my sister?" Junior asked, trying not to laugh.
"A bit out of my league, but I have hope..." John shrugged. "Literally up to a minute ago."
"Are you trying to seduce me because I'm... the mad scientist's daughter or because you find me attractive?" Georgia asked cautiously.
"It started as a joke, since I didn't know he had actually had his daughter here, but I'd like to get to know you and seduce you," he answered honestly.
"Oh," she said, surprised, "I thought since you knew about Beautia you were planning on seducing her when you said it."
"And you don't seem happy about the thought of seducing my older sister, your face scrunched up," Junior noted with some surprise.
"I value brains more than looks, though looks are nice and from what I understand she was mostly spoiled and relied on her looks to get by growing up," John explained. "I'm pretty sure I wouldn't enjoy spending time with her, much less seducing her."
"That is not the answer I expected," Georgia admitted.
"Basically I want to seduce you because you're you," John assured her. "I don't have that big of a social circle so I figured at worst I'll become a booty call for you when you're in the mood."
"This is not something I'd mentally prepared for," Georgia said.
"You know we're supervillains, right?" Junior asked.
"You were," John replied. "With your intelligence I have no doubt you've grown past that stage. I mean, there are a lot of people who dedicate their life to foiling their arch enemy, but let's be honest they aren't the sharpest tools in the shed." Sure he was laying it on a bit thick, but the more intelligent members of the Sivana family had enormous potential for good or ill depending on their mood at the moment so it was best to try and steer them away from villainy.
"Lex Luthor?" Junior pointed out.
"Doesn't remotely compare to the brilliance your family has demonstrated and has some serious emotional problems," John replied.
"We do have better things to do than poke overgrown children with sticks," Junior admitted.
"Exactly, you've grown beyond it," John told him.
"I don't think I'm all that attractive," Georgia said reluctantly.
"You are not your type," John replied, "but rest assured you are well inside my strike range."
"Huh," she thoughtfully and chewed on her bottom lip.
"You're clearly insane but you make some good points," Junior admitted. "Well, I've got a project I'm in the middle of so... good luck."
Georgia watched her brother walk away and slowly turned back to John. "Now what? I'm afraid I'm completely untutored in social matters. Do we fill out psychological evaluation forms to see if we are compatible or go to my room and copulate? Each method has its pros and cons."
"I half expected that answer," John told her. "We eat dinner together, ask questions about each other, and if we find we enjoy each other's company we sit together on a couch and engage in a bit of kissing and groping while ignoring whatever movie we have playing on the TV."
"That sounds like a reasonable arrangement, and I must admit having a superhero interested in me does at least soothe the wounds in my ego that having Beautia as an older sister has caused," Georgia said thoughtfully, smiling slightly.
She reached out for his hand and the pair were suddenly in what appeared to be a small apartment with a decor designed around what 1950's science fiction movies thought the future would look like, rounded edges and chrome on asymmetrical furniture in day-glow colors.
"Come, have a seat," she said, pulling him towards the lime green couch.
John settled into the couch next to her, finding it surprisingly soft and comfortable despite looking like it was of vinyl.
"So, how do we begin?" she asked eagerly.
"Well, what would you like to know about me?" he asked.
"How about we start with your background," she suggested.
"Alright, I'm a paradox clone created when someone altered the timeline and my presumably imperfect protections failed to stop it from wiping out my past. I found myself naked in orbit over Earth with just my power ring and no lantern to recharge it with, both of us completely wiped of physical data that dealt with my past that no longer exists. I chose the name John pretty much at random so I'd have something to call myself."
Georgia blinked. "Isn't that going to make learning about you difficult, as you don't really know anything about yourself?"
"A bit," he admitted. "I was planning on the typical dating experience and forgot to factor that in."
Georgia nodded. "I'll create some psychological tests to check how compatible we are later. Any questions you have about me are probably already a matter of public record, which I assume you have already read."
"I do know your general history," he agreed, "you are rather famous, even if you are no longer active as a super villain."
"I'm not particularly hungry at this time," she said. "Do you require anything?"
"No, I'm good," John said, "dinner is just the expected activity to avoid awkward pauses in conversation while thinking up what to ask one another."
"As the standard dating formula does not work in this case I would like to suggest we depart from it and do things more efficiently," Georgia said hopefully.
"I'll follow your lead," he readily agreed.
"Good," she said with a bright smile. "I'll turn on a boring movie we can ignore, dim the lights a bit, and play some Barry White."
"That sounds like a very good plan," John agreed. He'd planned on taking things a bit slower but that was mostly because he didn't want to pressure her into anything she didn't feel ready for.
"I have read a little about dating," she admitted as she reached out and a holographic keyboard appeared under her fingers, "I just never thought it would apply to me as my prospects have been limited thanks to my lifestyle."
The wall across from them became a monitor playing an old black and white movie as the lights dimmed and smooth jazz began playing.
"Hopefully you won't feel I'm rushing you, but a twenty year old female scientist who has never been kissed is also a common character in popular fantasy stories, and one I'd like to discard," she said and tapped the keyboard one final time, both their clothes dissolving into sparks of light.
"I'm here to help," John said with a smile, leaning in.
Typing By: Abyssal Angel
Beta By: Abyssal Angel and Mist of Shadows