6.9

Location: Med bay, Mothership.

Time: Just early enough. 1989

Abin Sur was still lucid and relatively lively when we beamed him directly into sick bay.

Several of the league were present. With Martian Manhunter commanding the computer with the codes he took from the Blue Alien leader, myself out of curiosity, Batman out of paranoia and Superman out of compassion we looked at him.

He was very weak however and could do little more than raise his hand and look around. The hand that held his power ring, perhaps the greatest weapon in the universe… certainly a very good multipurpose tool.

He was obviously half expecting us to attempt to take the ring by force.

The lanky, black medical robot that was the emergency medical officer didn't help that impression.

"Prisoner detected: Species Ungaran. Please specify treatment. Interrogation, torture, minimal medical aid or full medical aid." The drone stated using a universal translator. I suppose to let the victim know what their fate was.

That did not go over well with Abin Sur, especially with Batman's glare included in the mix. He did relax when J'onn stated full medical aid.

"Sorry about that… this ship came with some things we haven't been able to refurbish or modify yet. Otherwise this robot would be a lot more diplomatic and have only a single option." Kal El apologised.

As a blue beam of light from a device on the robot's head played over an abdominal wound Abin Sur finally spoke. "I do not recall Earth having ownership of a vessel that possesses it's own gravity when I was here last."

I smirked. "How long has it been?"

"I am unsure. Ring, in Earth conventions." He ordered.

36.3 years. Calendar date, September 19th, 1953.

We were barely using rockets at that point. Unless you include some inventors and aliens.

"Which does beg the question, how did a planet as… rustic as Earth gain such an anachronistic technology?" He asked.

"We stole it." I replied. "The previous owners were using it to exterminate us as a species, so we are well within our rights to take it as salvage."

"Hmm. I suppose so. The Guardians may say something different, but this is hardly the first time a ship has been captured in war. Just because your world is less advanced doesn't mean the same rules don't apply." He looked around. "Is this part of that skirmish I heard about between the Thanagarians and the Myrmitons? That was my next stop."

J'onn nodded.

"Yes, this does seem like a Myrmiton system. Ring, scan." He added.

Origin, Myrmiton confirmed.

"Well that checks out. I guess she's yours now. Who should I register the ship to?" He asked.

"The Justice League, Solar System. Can you change the name too? Watchtower, perhaps?" I asked.

"Not bad. I like it. Better than Worldbreaker anyway." Kal El added, nodding.

"I agree." J'onn said, stoically.

"Very well, done." Abin Sur said, completing the registration with a thought. "So what does a Martian, an alien… a Kryptonian no less, a human with an unknown mutation and a regular human have in common?"

Batman glanced at me then Superman. Who raised his hand.

"Uh… I'm the Kryptonian." He admitted.

"Mutant." I added in solidarity.

"I do not believe I need to identify which of us is the human and which the Martian." J'onn pointed out to the resulting Batglare.

Abin Sur looked slightly confused.

"Sorry, we are relatively new acquaintances. War makes for strange friends and allies. In the case of Kal El here, he is a refugee after the destruction of his homeworld." I pointed out.

"Ah. Of course. I am sorry for my lack of tact, this is quite a strange situation." Abin Sur replied.

"Much like your corps, we are a peace keeping force of exceptional people from across the world, who joined together in response to the invasion." I replied. "We can thank the eccentricities of our world for our competency."

"You mean the magic and the high number of varied alien residents and visitors?" Abin Sur asked.

"Yes, actually. You know about the magic?" I asked genuinely curious.

"I have been here before, several times and encountered demons as part of my duties. Magic was disturbing, but somewhat logical. Like a perverse form of physics with internal consistency." He explained. "But I fail to see how much something so limited could..."

"A magical powerhouse, a Lord of Order caught the ship before it collided with Earth and towed it away to where we are now." I answered.

"I did not expect that. The Guardians will not like hearing of this." He said, softly.

"No, they tried to stamp out magic at one point, I believe." I replied.

"You are remarkably well informed. I only know about magic and the Corps' relationship because it is an issue on just this planet in the sector and a rarity everywhere else." He replied.

"Do you know about sector 666? Or Larfleeze the only Orange Lantern?" I asked.

"I have heard rumours of 666." He finally said. "But this Larfleeze is new to me."

"The Beast of Okaara? They are one and the same. Green rings run on Will, Orange on Avarice and Greed. He was too good at using the Orange Light and it overwhelmed him, permanently. He wanted all the power, all the rings and the central battery all to himself as well as everything he considered valuable and kills anyone who tries to take it or worse. The Orange Rings can take ownership of another mind, body and soul and make them a slave to the owner of the ring."

"Now, that name I have heard from other Lanterns." Abin Sur said quietly. "Is that why the sector is not patrolled?"

"Yes, the Guardians didn't want to engage him in direct conflict so they ceded the sector to his control and he simply ignores it, so long as it doesn't bother him. Too bad for those who live there, like the Tamaraneans."

"You are exceptionally well informed, I see. I don't know how you got this information, I suspect magic, but it is quite alarming. I had suspicions about the Guardians, but nothing this… concrete." He finally said.

"Is this about the deactivation switch in the rings? They put that in after Larfleeze went rogue. They do learn from their mistakes, it just seems they are very obvious mistakes to make in hindsight. I would suggest it is the mental influence of Green Light. It makes you stubborn and hard headed, too narrow minded to see your mistakes if you go too deep. The Guardians are practically manifestations of the stuff at this point. They also have related species that are connected to other forms of the spectrum of Emotional Light. Love, Hatred, Compassion, Hope, Fear… thankfully none are using Black and I don't think they understand White."

"You know about the other colours? I didn't even know until recently." Abin Sur admitted.

The black drone made a whirring noise. "Treatment complete. Recommended rest for two (data not found in current language) and frequent (data not found in current language)."

"I see. Well that is good." Abin Sur agreed, having understood the answer apparently. It seemed English wasn't fully supported by alien translation programs, who knew? I wonder how they get the system to do multiple languages simultaneously without the human side noticing?

"You don't trust your ring anymore do you, flying around like that in a ship? I'm sure you can think of a substitute, why not take this as a sign to retire from the Corps and give your ring to a worthy successor?" I asked.

Abin Sur nodded. I wonder if this is how his species shows agreement or simply the ring providing human social behaviour to him.

"You make sense, I do have a fall back and this is a clear sign it is time I give up being a Green Lantern. Ring, locate nearest potential recruit. Include location data." He ordered.

Individual located. Distance: one standard metre. Identity: Clark Kent.

I glanced at Clark who seemed to blush.

"This is kind of embarrassing." He admitted.

"Any other secrets you want to give away ring, like who Batman is or what I had for lunch?" I asked. "To be fair, aside from Batman I suppose everyone in the room knew who you were." I pointed out.

"I did not wish to be rude." J'onn supplied.

"I suspected, based on initial investigations." Batman said. "The alien part was new to me, but even that was within expectations."

"See, not that big of a deal." I pointed out. "Besides, Batman has the same problem."

"I do apologise, it is a fact of life for me to learn these things among humans. When they are on the tip of your tongue you may as well be yelling at me." J'onn offered.

"I certainly have not tried to find out who or where you are in Gotham." Superman huffed, arms crossed.

There was utter silence you could cut with a knife before the glower faded.

"My name is Bruce Wayne." Batman finally said, lifting his cowl. "It is under less than ideal circumstances, but it is good to meet you properly at last."

"Likewise, Clark Kent also known as Kal El, pleasure to meet you." The Kryptonian replied holding out a hand to shake. It was gripped and shaken heartily by a human hand.

Author's note: Yes, Clark was actually the first person on the list, but was dismissed by Abin Sur originally because he wasn't a local of the sector according to scans. Which lead to this awkward encounter.