Chereads / With This Ring(dc fanfic) / Chapter 15 - 18th July 11:56 GMT -5

Chapter 15 - 18th July 11:56 GMT -5

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

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

Ring, charge?

Eighty seven percent remaining.

"What happened!"

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

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

"Compliance."

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

"It's working."

Oh, that's a relief.

"Good, good."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"What?!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Review.

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

"Months!"

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

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

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

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

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

"That was partially my fault as well."

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

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

"Do it."

"What?"

"The ears. Give me… Orange… Ears."

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

"Ring, do it."

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

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

He looks away. "Mmf."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I step away from the group. Ring, open a channel to Red Tornado.

Compliance.

A small orange image of Red Tornado appears before me.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aqualad smiles. "Then we have our distraction."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This morning? "What happened this morning?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Fine."

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

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

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

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

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

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

"It was supposed to attract the required attention."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

!MINE!

I won't let him get hurt again!

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

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

Did Aqualad just run up a flying boat?

**I'm coming in now.**

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

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

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

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

Maybe I shouldn't mention that to anyone ever.

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

"The subject is not up for debate."

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

**Orange Lantern in position.**

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

Ring, full scan of Mister Twister.

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

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

No power ring disrupting technology detected in target. Physical scan complete.

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

**Superboy ready.**

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

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

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

**Aqualad ready.**

"I'm here now."

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

**Robin here. All set.**

Alrighty then.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

M'gann grabs his cables.

**Attack is go.**

"Longer than you might think."

"No."

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

**Orange Lantern moving.**

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

**Aqualad moving up.**

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

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

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

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

Ring, confirm that target has no organic components?

Confirmed.

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

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

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

"What the hell?"

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

"But it's not alive!"

"I am alive!"

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

"Of course not! Oh."

"Yes, 'oh'."

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

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

"Ah, not a robot here?"

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

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

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

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

"Anyone know the protocol for imprisoning-"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"What's that?"

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

"And that other one?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Any progress?"

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

"Why can't you replace it?

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

"Human?"

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

"That's not… How is that possible?"

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

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

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

Genomorphs. Ring?

Partial match confirmed.

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

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

"Uncle J'onn has medical training."

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

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

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

"What do you need me to do?"

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

"Fifteen..!"

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

"Why?"

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

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

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

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

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

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