Yue

 22nd August

16:41 GMT

Guy and I stand on the broken battlements of Kalmin's keep, idly watching Ragnar and Duran slam increasingly large constructs into one another.

"Can't believe you're serious about this."

"You mean, how I recruited an expert weapon smith and ring forger who knows Sinestro better than anyone alive?"

He glances sideways at me, clearly unimpressed. "Recruiting a monster."

I shrug. "I need to fight the Reach. You know as well as I do that outside the periphery region there aren't any other civilisations in their territory. An expert in destructive technology is far more useful to me than a morally praiseworthy individual."

"Even if that-."

"The Green Lantern strike force who lost-"

"Drew."

"-with the Reach all those centuries ago was composed of heroes." I smile faintly. "Do you know what happens to a Beetle hit by a qwa-bolt?"

"Or you, when he stabs you in the back."

I reach up with my right hand and tap my faceplate. "I'm a pretty good judge of character. Unless the Anti-Monitor shows up in person, I invade Qward or I try coming to terms with Sinestro, I think he'll be happy designing and making weapons." I turn my attention back to the fight as Duran generates a colossal Anti-Monitor construct which punches Ragnar into the ground. Ragnar shines brilliant orange as he gets his feet under him and pushes upwards, slowly forcing the dark god's hand off him. "Which Dox might have been thinking about doing, by the way."

Guy twitches, his head turning to face me fully. "Fer real?"

"Dox and I both hate being dependent. At the moment, he's dependent on me for training. The Controllers don't have an existing conflict with Sinestro, Sinestro's an expert power ring user… And it's not as if the Greenies on the boundary of Reach space would dare make an issue of it either."

"You know that bastard wears a necklace of rings he's taken off Lanterns he's killed, yeah?"

"No, but it doesn't surprise me. Now congratulate me for ensuring that I'll never have to work with him."

"Yeah." He turns back to the spectacle before us. "Great work."

The Anti-Monitor staggers back as Ragnar shoves it off and fires a volley of energy pulses at its creator. Duran responds by giving the Anti-Monitor a shield in its right hand to block for him and causes it to fire a beam of energy out of its left.

"Tora and you still getting along alright?"

"Yeah. Well. She's not thrilled about me workin' away more, but…" He shrugs.

"We could probably sort out some sort of portal from Earth to Oa. Cut down on travel times."

"How you plannin' on gettin' the Guardians t' agree t' that?"

Ah. "Doesn't have to be on Oa. Just… Closer than Earth."

"I don't wanna make it look like they're playin' favorites."

"No reason why other Lanterns couldn't have a similar arrangement. I mean, they can… Actually pay for theirs…" Guy chuckles, bowing his head slightly. "Nothing… Major happen on Earth?"

"What, like the Justice League bein' at each other's throats cause'a the tawkin' to you gave us?"

"Not… Specifically… Just… You know… How people are…"

"Things got a bit shouty right after you left. In the end, Batman told everyone t'… Go home, cool off a little. That was a real bad time t' be a supervillain."

"And after they calmed down?"

"I was kinda impressed. You pullin' something like that, none of us havin' the slightest clue until it was already done." He looks downwards, missing Ragnar split the Anti-Monitor's beam with a sword construct as he flies against the stream to slice through its arm. Huh. That was a raw power thing, but it would still have been quite difficult. "Think you might be off a few Christmas card lists…"

"I'm a Hellenist."

That gets me an unimpressed glance as Duran abandons the Anti-Monitor construct and switches to a simple shield and lightning bolt combo while Ragnar opts to keep his sword. Having learned something from the ongoing fight, Ragnar repeatedly moves around his environment rather than simply charging headlong, an action which wrong foots Duran and results in his defensive blasts missing completely.

"I wasn't trying to make friends. I was trying to make a point."

"Well… Point made." He looks at the ongoing fight. "Ragnar ain't doin' too bad."

"Short range combat against single opponents is his thing. If he can't win this then there probably isn't any point in me recruiting him."

"And if Tui finds out..?"

"I can use bad people."

"I am glad to hear it." We both turn as Kalmin walks out of the door behind us, hammer and shield strapped to his back. "I would be disappointed if you were trying to destroy the Reach with harsh words."

"I dunno. Paul here nearly destroyed the Justice League with harsh words."

Kalmin nods. "Perhaps he has a natural gift." He walks over to the wall on the far side of Guy, watching the fight with interest. "He isn't doing too badly for a beginner."

A blur, and a dozen construct Ragnars dive at Duran. Duran blocks, shooting the first few as he retreats-.

The real Ragnar surges out of the ground beneath him, construct sword slicing through Duran's wrist and severing his ring from his body. Duran's body goes limp as the disconnect from his ring shreds his brain but Ragnar goes for a killing stroke anyway. Grinning, he grabs the still-bleeding head and holds it up for our approval.

"Nicely done. Reasonable use of misdirection."

The anti-green ring rises off Duran's severed hand and flies over to Kalmin, who pockets it.

"We're finished here, Ragnar. Time to head back."