Yue

 4th February

19:45 GMT -5

The room we appear in reminds me of Hephaestus's forge beneath Mount Etna. Mechanical technology covered in runes and shimmering with magic surrounds us in all directions as a brass circle on the ground around us crackles with electricity.

"We're through! Shut it down!"

"J-just a moment, Power Ring! If I don't-" I hear a clank as a lever is pushed into a new position. "-get this just right, Medea could track us."

Olympia rolls her eyes while Mister Scott smirks. "Really?"

"I don't like leaving-" There's another clank from somewhere behind something that looks like it escaped from the set of Thirteen Ghosts. "-things to chance. You know that. Gets people hurt."

Huh. Add in some affected nonchalance…

"I'm assuming that's your John Constantine."

"Yeah." Mister Scott nods. "Not much use in the field, but he's a great researcher and theorist."

"There." There's another clank, and then… Yes, that's John Constantine, but… Thick rimmed glasses with jeweller's magnifying lenses stuck on the bottom, a burn scar slash across his right cheek and a buttoned up laboratory coat combined with a tool belt. "Give it a moment to fully de-"

Olympia strides across the circle, ignoring the shock as the residual electricity discharges itself into her legs.

"-gauss. Right, yeah, nice work." He puts his hands on his hips as she strides past him. "Hope you weren't planning on going anywhere for another week."

"Don't let her bother you." Mister Scott crosses the circle without incident and approaches John -14, laying his right hand on the man's left shoulder. "You did good work here. Mission successful. Take a break."

John shakes his head, refusing to meet Mister Scott's eyes. "I.. can't, I can't afford the time. You know that."

Mister Scott shrugs magnanimously. "If you're sure." He turns back to Zatanna and me. "Come on, let's get outta Constantine's hair."

Zatanna and I glance at one another, then walk through the workshop after him. Olympia is already waiting for us before what looks like a heavily reinforced goods entrance. Ah, I see. The inner door is open while the outer door is shut. Once we're inside, she throws a lever and the inner door begins to close.

"Where's Zorina?"

Mister Scott glances at Zatanna. "Ah, kids today. No patience."

She folds her arms across her chest. "Where. Is."

"She's not on Earth right now." The inner door clunks closed and the outer door starts to open. "Otherwise we wouldn't need to be having this conversation."

"Did you manage to kill Doctor Chaos?"

"Yeah, he's dead and gone." He glances back at the now closed inner door. "And what's left of him is powering Constantine's workshop. The Don's back in charge, which is why the United States isn't a blazing war zone right now."

We step out into a stone-floored foyer, and Mister Scott leads the way along an adjacent corridor.

Olympia curls her lips. "I am unconvinced this is better."

Mister Scott's eyes twitch for a fraction of a second. Ah, yes, demonstrating disunity before outsiders mildly weakens their position, but that only gets worse if he remonstrates with her. "Honey, you never did learn to play the long game. Now's the time for keeping out of Wilson's way while he and Luthor finish each other off for us."

He stops, opening a door in the wall which leads into a small living room. Olympia marches through and takes up station behind the high-backed chair that appears to be the focus of the room. Mister Scott motions for us to enter and then comes inside, closing the door behind us and walking over to take the fancy chair. That leaves the settee opposite him for the two of us. I return my armour to subspace and take my seat while Zatanna remains standing.

"If she's not on Earth, where is she?"

"Oh, touring the galaxy. I don't know exactly where she is right now. Getting in touch would be tricky."

"And my… Blue alter ego?"

"He went with her." He looks at Zatanna. "Look, ah… Zatanna? You can sit or stand, it doesn't really matter to me. But this could take a while."

Eying him for a moment, she walks around the settee and sits down beside me. Mister Scott smiles.

"Now then. I'm sure you've got a lot of questions, but let me just give you a real quick overview. President Wilson is still in office, but he's coming up to the end of his second term. As far as we know, he isn't going to try and overturn the twenty second amendment, so that's it. The next fellah is almost certainly going to be the current Vice President, Alexander Luthor."

Zatanna nods. "Superhero becomes supervillain, evil corporate executive becomes honest politician."

"He was a superhero too. Beat Ultraman in a fight in central Metropolis right before the Decapitation." He smiles. "Darndest thing. Afterwards, he was more interested in winning the peace than finishing us off."

"Okay, so..." I mean, yes, I can see a heroic Luthor taking high political office… And depending on how police statey things are getting, it might even be good that he won't be pressuring the Syndicate as much. But that still leaves the question… "Why do I care?"

Mister Scott smiles. "Wilson might not want a third term, but it looks like he thinks we're… 'Unfinished business'."

"You are."

"Hah!" He leans back. "I'm not asking you to like us, Power Ring Orange. But the basic math hasn't changed. Moderate members of the Syndicate can only do so much to restrain some of the psychotic serial killers we've got working for us. At the moment, we're on the verge of getting everyone signed up to accept the new, softer touch Management. Once that happens, we can… What's the word?" He hesitates. "Downshift. Retool the Syndicate into an organisation that exists under the radar, to live in a society run under the rule of law."

"I'm still not-."

"Blue told you about Fawcett City, didn’t he?"

"Yes. But I doubt that Wilson would do something like that a second time."

"True, but that still leaves him punishment beatings, arrest and indefinite detention without trial, torture… Honestly, he's copying all our best tricks. Imitation might be the most sincere form of flattery, but I'm not getting any royalties out of it. And before you say anything, he's not just magically getting the people who deserve it, otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"And what's Luthor's take on that?"

"Son, if I knew what Lex Luthor was thinking, we wouldn't be having this conversation either. My guess is that he's gunna put up with it for another year." He makes a gesture of appeal. "But I don't know we can keep a lid on things for that long. The New Management is safe, but a lot of the Made Men aren't. And their families sure aren't."

Zatanna shakes her head. "Why us?"

"Normally, we'd put Blue on the case. But he's not here right now, and your face fits. Same with Zorina. The Zatara Crime Family all have their signature backward-talking magic. Can't fake it. That means people know you're speaking for the Family."

"Wait." She raises her eyebrows incredulously. "'Zatara Crime Family'?"

"Sure. Europe and North America's premier magic mafia. Is that not how it works on Earth Sixteen?"

"No, it's just me and Dad. The rest of the family don't do.. anything like that."

"Huh. Well, I suppose it wasn't all that likely everything would be mirrored. Here, it's your… Her, whole extended family. To varying degrees. Being able to say anything backwards is unusual. Usually comes with a restriction or two. But there are about two hundred or so people called 'Zatara' who can do it to some degree or other. The Don would be the fellah to talk to if you really want to ask about Family business."

"So why are Blue Lantern and Zorina Zatara off-planet at such a critical moment? Because it sounds like this was the worst possible time for them to take time off."

Mister Alan frowns. "Just unlucky, really. Figured we'd have a month or two before Wilson pushed this hard. Otherwise we'd just have asked them to delay their honeymoon."

"What?" / "Huh?"