One
- - -
Prison transfers were always harrowing, even on Oa. Arisia was doing her level best not to look nervous. But despite her physical growth and her ring, she still felt very, very young and small. Especially when it came to this prisoner.
He was four times her height, built broad and strong. A humanoid, his skin was a deep red and jagged, as though made of oxidized iron. He had no nose, just two nostrils over a set of jagged teeth. His eyes were a deep black, implanted in a bald head. He stood there in his prisoner uniform, restraints tight on his wrists, silently studying her.
"... Prisoner Epsilon 20143, Atros, alias Atrocitus," she spoke in as calm and level a voice as she could manage, "you are being transferred to your new section."
Atrocitus was silent. Arisia resisted the urge to gulp. She stepped forward and held up her ring, forming a transport bubble around them.
They lifted off from the cell block entrance, flying to the designated block on the other side of the planet. The silence was suffocating, and Arisia tried her hardest not to fidget.
"You have nothing to fear from me, little Lantern," Atrocitus spoke at last, the low rumble of his deep voice nearly making her jump, "I have no reason to harm you."
"Funny, coming from someone who vowed to destroy us," Arisia shot back, proud of herself for keeping her voice steady. Atrocitus tilted his head minutely to the right. The Ring translator program suggested it was similar to a shrug, but there was so little on the Ryutians after the Manhunters...
No. No sympathizing with the prisoner.
"Destroy you personally? No," Atrocitus responded at last, slow and calm like a mountain river. "Only if you get in my way."
"I kind of have to," Arisia pointed out, as another Lantern flew overhead in a different direction. "Destroying the Guardians and Oa? What will it accomplish?"
Atrocitus rumbled softly, the Ring translating it into unpleasant laughter. "Order is made to be brought down by Chaos, until it realigns into a new Order. That is the nature of change. The nature of the universe. There is no guarantee the order the Guardians bring will last forever. Nor that it should."
"But without us, the galaxy would be a lot worse!" Arisia argued. "They have-We have done so much good...!
Atrocitus stared at her intensely, and despite herself she felt her willpower waver. Not enough to break the construct, but it flustered her deeply.
"I allow some good," Atrocitus stated, "at the cost of countless mistakes. Mistakes they hid from you. I believe most races call that 'lying'." He studied her even more intently, his keen eyes almost boring through her soul.
"What is preferable?" Atrocitus asked. "A beautiful lie where all mistakes are swept under the rug, or brutal reality where you have accurate information to change things?"
Arisia wasn't sure what was worse: That she was having a civil conversation with a notorious terrorist or that she couldn't help agreeing with him on some points.
"It wasn't lies," Arisia said defensively. "They just... Didn't tell us."
"Until it became a problem too big to ignore," Atrocitus countered. "How many Lanterns died containing the 'rogue' Manhunters? How many worlds, including my own, paid the price?"
Arisia closed her eyes tightly. Atrocitus was still speaking evenly. Hadn't raised his voice. But she could feel the pain regardless. The rage...
"...I'm sorry," she said. "It... It was before my time... I'm so sorry."
Atrocitus' eyes bore into hers, and he lifted his gauntlets. He slid a sharp object from inside of his gauntlet, and Arisia made to seize him with her will-!
He slashed the sharp object over his other palm, blood dripping from the wound. The ochre liquid dripped onto the bottom of the construct bubble, ominously loud in the tiny space.
"Dead," Atrocitus stated in a voice as hard as stone, "dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead."
Arisia winced, his every word punctuated by the drips of blood.
"Can you apologize to them?' Atrocitus asked, naked grief and fury barely contained under his hard tone. "Can you apologize to every man, woman and child? All of the dead? Billions of them? Can you?'
"... No," Arisia whispered, tears at the corners of her eyes. Atrocitus turned and stared out at the stars above Oa.
"Then I cannot forgive," Atrocitus stated. He offered the shiv to her, and she contained it in a separate construct bubble before ejecting it into space. She had a feeling he had plenty more though.
Neither of them said anything else the rest of the journey to the new cell block. Arisia wasn't sure what to make of it. She did know that she had never felt more relieved to leave Oa in her life afterwards...
- - -
This is part of my fanfiction universe DCAU Plus: An AU of the DCAU with elements of the Teen Titans cartoon and the comics canon being introduced. This series focuses on what's going on in the rest of the universe, and will focus on the Green Lanterns. More to come!
Prison transfers were always harrowing, even on Oa. Arisia was doing her level best not to look nervous. But despite her physical growth and her ring, she still felt very, very young and small. Especially when it came to this prisoner.
He was four times her height, built broad and strong. A humanoid, his skin was a deep red and jagged, as though made of oxidized iron. He had no nose, just two nostrils over a set of jagged teeth. His eyes were a deep black, implanted in a bald head. He stood there in his prisoner uniform, restraints tight on his wrists, silently studying her.
"... Prisoner Epsilon 20143, Atros, alias Atrocitus," she spoke in as calm and level a voice as she could manage, "you are being transferred to your new section."
Atrocitus was silent. Arisia resisted the urge to gulp. She stepped forward and held up her ring, forming a transport bubble around them.
They lifted off from the cell block entrance, flying to the designated block on the other side of the planet. The silence was suffocating, and Arisia tried her hardest not to fidget.
"You have nothing to fear from me, little Lantern," Atrocitus spoke at last, the low rumble of his deep voice nearly making her jump, "I have no reason to harm you."
"Funny, coming from someone who vowed to destroy us," Arisia shot back, proud of herself for keeping her voice steady. Atrocitus tilted his head minutely to the right. The Ring translator program suggested it was similar to a shrug, but there was so little on the Ryutians after the Manhunters...
No. No sympathizing with the prisoner.
"Destroy you personally? No," Atrocitus responded at last, slow and calm like a mountain river. "Only if you get in my way."
"I kind of have to," Arisia pointed out, as another Lantern flew overhead in a different direction. "Destroying the Guardians and Oa? What will it accomplish?"
Atrocitus rumbled softly, the Ring translating it into unpleasant laughter. "Order is made to be brought down by Chaos, until it realigns into a new Order. That is the nature of change. The nature of the universe. There is no guarantee the order the Guardians bring will last forever. Nor that it should."
"But without us, the galaxy would be a lot worse!" Arisia argued. "They have-We have done so much good...!
Atrocitus stared at her intensely, and despite herself she felt her willpower waver. Not enough to break the construct, but it flustered her deeply.
"I allow some good," Atrocitus stated, "at the cost of countless mistakes. Mistakes they hid from you. I believe most races call that 'lying'." He studied her even more intently, his keen eyes almost boring through her soul.
"What is preferable?" Atrocitus asked. "A beautiful lie where all mistakes are swept under the rug, or brutal reality where you have accurate information to change things?"
Arisia wasn't sure what was worse: That she was having a civil conversation with a notorious terrorist or that she couldn't help agreeing with him on some points.
"It wasn't lies," Arisia said defensively. "They just... Didn't tell us."
"Until it became a problem too big to ignore," Atrocitus countered. "How many Lanterns died containing the 'rogue' Manhunters? How many worlds, including my own, paid the price?"
Arisia closed her eyes tightly. Atrocitus was still speaking evenly. Hadn't raised his voice. But she could feel the pain regardless. The rage...
"...I'm sorry," she said. "It... It was before my time... I'm so sorry."
Atrocitus' eyes bore into hers, and he lifted his gauntlets. He slid a sharp object from inside of his gauntlet, and Arisia made to seize him with her will-!
He slashed the sharp object over his other palm, blood dripping from the wound. The ochre liquid dripped onto the bottom of the construct bubble, ominously loud in the tiny space.
"Dead," Atrocitus stated in a voice as hard as stone, "dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead."
Arisia winced, his every word punctuated by the drips of blood.
"Can you apologize to them?' Atrocitus asked, naked grief and fury barely contained under his hard tone. "Can you apologize to every man, woman and child? All of the dead? Billions of them? Can you?'
"... No," Arisia whispered, tears at the corners of her eyes. Atrocitus turned and stared out at the stars above Oa.
"Then I cannot forgive," Atrocitus stated. He offered the shiv to her, and she contained it in a separate construct bubble before ejecting it into space. She had a feeling he had plenty more though.
Neither of them said anything else the rest of the journey to the new cell block. Arisia wasn't sure what to make of it. She did know that she had never felt more relieved to leave Oa in her life afterwards...
- - -
This is part of my fanfiction universe DCAU Plus: An AU of the DCAU with elements of the Teen Titans cartoon and the comics canon being introduced. This series focuses on what's going on in the rest of the universe, and will focus on the Green Lanterns. More to come!