Yue

 

Mr Zoat

Dedicated ragequitter

28th January

11:17 GMT -5

Raquel frowns at me as the police move one of their suspects into an interview room. Sara Birchall, seventeen years old and dressed like an almost stereotypical 'bad girl'. From all the yellow I can see I think this whole 'getting arrested while your leader legs it' experience has been a real eye-opener. She has volunteered to speak to us without a lawyer being present, which is convenient but not really very sensible.

"So… You, Robin and Aqualad are leading teams."

"Yes."

"Why is it you three?"

"Robin has the most experience of any team member, while Kaldur and I are both military officers. When the team was founded we were also somewhat more mature than our colleagues."

"Why not Miss Martian or Artemis?"

"Despite her age, M'gann is only as emotionally mature as a human in their mid-teens. She also had no experience of combat before joining the team. Artemis… Wasn't in the right frame of mind to lead people. Though she could probably do a passable job now."

Hm. Have to ask if Paula would mind tutoring her.

Raquel nods slowly. "Aren't Tula and Garth in the Atlantean military? Tula said something about their magic being more advanced because they stayed in school or.. something."

"Yes, but they're on the battlemage track rather than the officer track. Their knowledge of magic is far greater, but their studies didn't -don't- focus on strategic or tactical planning. Kaldur's lessons with King Orin did."

"So what do I have to do to lead a team, join the army?"

I frown. "There isn't a formal process, though I… Suppose we could run exercises with different people in charge. Though I would remind you that we are technically all amateurs, and joining the army might actually be a better option."

"So I have to go to officer training school."

I shrug. "Green Two Eight One Four A joined the marines as an enlisted man. These days, there are grants for non-commissioned officers who want to undertake officer training." I smile unpleasantly. "Or if you'd prefer, there are several Lanterns under my command with extensive military experience. I have the authority to order them to train you."

"What's with the smile?"

"The sort of officer who becomes an Orange Lantern is usually from a martial culture, where commanders are expected to lead from the front. The training would be extremely intense, but it would make a man out of you."

She rolls her eyes. "I'm fine being a girl, thanks."

"We might be able to sort something out with the g-gnomes, but-"

A police lieutenant sticks her head out of the interview room and beckons us over.

"-we haven't…" I shrug. "Back to work."

We walk across the room and through the door into the interview room, Sara Birchall's eyes widening as I sit down in the chair opposite her.

"Ah… Hey."

I smile warmly at the would-be cultist. "Good morning, Miss Birchall. I'm Orange Lantern, and this is my colleague Rocket."

"Yeah, I…. I know who you are?"

"Well. I don't like to presume. Now, I need to make you aware that this conversation will be recorded, and that you can -at any point- end this interview and/or request the presence of a lawyer. Do you understand?" She nods. "Alright. Now, I've read your initial testimony, and… Well, I suspect that your general approach of keeping quiet was sensible if not helpful. May I ask why you've decided to become more open?"

"Yeah…" She shifts on her chair. "Buzz… I thought it was just… Fun? But.. if.. superheroes are getting involved… It's way more serious than just smoking pot or whatever."

"Theoretically speaking, making no reference to any one person in particular who may or may not have smoked marijuana, yes, it's a good deal more serious."

"What's he supposed to have.. done?"

"Presently, he is wanted for immigration offences and maleficium."

"What?"

"Since demons are treated as 'human' under the law, communicating with them isn't a crime, any more than speaking to someone on the telephone is. However, the United States places certain restrictions on the ability of people who are not citizens of the United States to enter the country, and most acts of summoning break those laws."

"No, I get-. What's malla.. fictum?"

"Virginia's Puritan founders imported quite a few anti-witchcraft laws from England, and with one thing and another they've never been fully repealed. A variety of types of magic are covered, and the punishments are quite severe. Now-" I take a rune stone out of subspace and lay it on the table between us. No reaction. "-I know perfectly well that you're not a magic user yourself, but I'm afraid that Mister Buzz is in quite a lot of trouble."

She nods sombrely.

"Alright, so let's start… Do you know his real name?"

She shrugs, shaking her head.

"What does he look like? Where's he from?"

"He sounds English? Blonde, short hair-" I wince, and take a picture of The Demon Constantine, Gordon Sumner, Ambrose Bierce and Welsh John out of subspace. "-kind of a thin face…"

I lay the pictures on the table in front of her and push them towards her. "Do any of these men look familiar?"

She looks them over, her eyes hesitating on Mr Sumner for a moment, before shaking her head. "No, he's younger than them. And his hair's longer and.. brighter?"

Lucky escape for Mr Sumner. I return the photographs and rune stone to subspace.

"Did you ever see him perform any acts of overt magic?" I shrug. "Levitation, conjuration or alchemy?"

"Ah… What counts as alchemy? Because -. Ah, I think some of the others might have been… On something?"

"When you say 'on something'-?"

"There was this white powder some of-."

Raquel snorts. "That's not alchemy."

"It might have been! I didn't try it!" I give her a somewhat sceptical look. "I didn't!" She slumps, sighing. "Look, it wasn't like I was super close to Buzz or anything. The.. whole.. group was just somewhere to relax, have some fun. You should really try and find that midget guy or Linda."

"Linda?"

"Linda… Danners?"

"Danvers?"

"Maybe? I didn't really know her either, but I think she was Buzz's girlfriend or something."

Linda Danvers. A young woman I checked up on a few weeks after first arriving on this Earth so that I could eliminate the possibility of her being a kryptonian.

"We'll try and find her. Specifically, did you ever see Buzz hand out any sort of vial or syringe to his followers?"

She shakes her head, and I nod.

"Then in addition to some people consuming narcotics, what exactly was the.. special draw of the group? I mean, was it just a social gathering, or-."

"It was…" She blushes faintly, her eyes dipping. "Somewhere to get away from our.. parents, you know? Try… Things out."

I frown, then take a look-.

I nod.

"I understand completely. Thank you for your help