Blue Paladin IX
Rival Son's Great Western Valkyrie blares in the background, loud enough to deafen a small child, but Mal barely noticed it. He put it on to help him stay awake, though now it hardly registered with him. He couldn't even remember putting the album on, so intent was he on his work. This time it will work.
This time it has to work.
A bright emerald light blazes in the armory, making an almost alien landscape of the usually familiar room. The source of the light is a distinctive green stone sitting upon a tall plinth, several mechanical contraptions fixed upon it. Though none of the machines are making an outward show of doing anything productive the look of intense concentration upon Mal's face would key the casual observer into the fact that something quite beyond the norm is going on.
With his eyes still fixed on the stone the young Welshman flicked several switches next to his chair. An almost imperceptible beam of fine light fired from one of the machines directly into the center of the stone, which instantly began to vibrate, softly at first, but growing more energetic by the second. Mal paused to jot a quick scribble upon a data pad before tapping a series of numbers upon his keyboard. As he did that the stones vibrations became more and more severe, the object shaking violently upon it's plinth. Suddenly there was a thunderous crack, audible over even Mal's music, and the stone shattered into brightly colored dust.
With a wordless cry Mal picked up his pen and flung it at the plinth, before slamming his fists upon the workstation. Usually he held himself above such tantrum throwing, but seeing as he'd been awake for almost seventy two hours working on this project without break he felt he was allowed one small indiscretion. The quick surge of adrenaline helped wake him up a touch too, so that was nice. Not as nice as forty winks would have been, but it would have to do for now. He was too busy to sleep.
"Oh don't lose heart yet, you were very close that time. I'd almost be impressed, if I hadn't cracked the secrets to weaponising kryptonite a decade ago." Mal spun in his chair slowly, more than a little surprised to see the President of the United States of America standing behind him. Was he scheduled to be meeting Luthor today? He didn't think so, but who could keep track of things like that.
"I've done in three days what took you years Luthor. And I didn't have to break any laws to do it. One more attempt, and I'll have successfully integrated you're anti-kryptonian tech into my armour." Mal retorted, simultaneously turning his music down. Whatever Luthor had to say, he was willing to bet it was important.
"Debatable. After all, you did enter my country uninvited in what is, by your company's very own description, a war-machine. But that's not what I'm here about, or at least not directly. Tell me, why
are you attempting to weaponise kryptonite?"
"You know why.""Yes, but I'd like to hear you say it."
"The Titans." Mal responded with an almost inaudible sigh.
"They need to be stopped." San Fransisco proved that. Half a city worth of corpses, a great many due to the Titan's. And Mal was there! He could have stopped them, saved all those people, if only he had known! If only he'd been smarter, if he could have seen through their deceptions! Sentinel had possessed the gall to berate him for killing the diseased people, all while he planned to massacre them in their droves!
When he had first heard of the body count being attributed to the Team Mal had laughed. Surely it was some kind of joke. The Teen Titan's were heroes. They wouldn't kill anybody, least of all normal people suffering a mystical sickness. But then had come the vid's, the reports, the eye witnesses, and Mal had been forced to accept the truth. When those first images of the Titan's Tower had been released, with the bodies piled high, Mal had vomited in his helmet. Vomited so much that after a while there was nothing in his stomach left to give, but he still heaved all the same. He just couldn't stop. He felt dirty, stained, aware in his core that knowingly or not he'd helped them kill all those innocents. Those bodies piled high in the footage? They were on him.
He'd promised himself then and there that no matter what it took, no matter the toll on his body or his mind, he'd take the Titan's in, and make them answer for their crimes. For the last three days he'd been modifying the Paladin, making it ready for the confrontation that was sure to come. Those killers would never come quietly.
He came back to with a jolt, Luthor eyeing him speculatively, like a prospective car buyer eyeing up a second hand motor, and just now realizing how much work was needed to make it road worthy. Mal had forgotten he was here. Lord, he needed to sleep. Instead he sat up straighter, meeting Lex's stare with his own.
"I'm glad to hear you say that," The President finally said. "As you have no doubt heard I have recently revealed a new vigilante registration act, as well as declaring that I intend to make the Titan's answer for their crimes." Mal hadn't heard these things. He'd had no time for tv, or the news, or the outside world at all, really. Or sleep. Lord he needed sleep.
"And you're telling me. . . why?""Why, isn't it obvious? We share a common goal. We should pool our resources. At this very moment my army is approaching the Titan's tower, with instructions to take all inhabitants alive for questioning. However if the Titan's run, as I believe they will, then I have a contingency in place. A team, if you will, of responsible operatives, sanctioned and overseen by the American government. They are to eventually replace the Titan's as San Francisco's newest protectors, though if the children do run then my new Team will be giving the mission of chasing them down and taking them in. If it does come to that then I would very much like for you to be a part of this team."
Was he hearing this right? Was Lex Luthor, arguably the most powerful man on the planet, asking for his help? And, even more bizarrely, it was making sense? That can't be right, can it? Luthor was a villain, or at least he was supposed to be. He was said to be Superman's greatest nemesis, the whispered perpetrator of a million crimes, both large and small. There's no way this could all be as above board as he made it sound. Then again, he was the President. Surely they wouldn't let him into office if there was any truth to all those rumors. He sounded so convincing, and the Titan's
did need to be stopped.
Urgh, there was something Mal was missing here, some integral piece of this puzzle that he just couldn't get to grips with. If only he wasn't so tired, then he could figure it out.
"So," said Luthor, "What do you say, Paladin?"
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