1 ✰ RETURNING TO PARADISA

[triumph]

[Someone just woke up a little agitated.]

What the heck, Paradisa! I don't even know where to start, to be honest!

Does this mean we don't actually get to go home? I spent two and a half –– almost THREE –– years believing that after dealing with this place, we'd go home, with no memories, and go on with our lives –– but now I'm being told that we don't?

I have more memories from home, so I went home, but nobody mentioned the part where you end up stuck in an alternate universe with alternate memories and legitimately believe you've always lived there. I've experienced some pretty weird stuff, but this is the most screwed up dissonance ever!

Someone tell me they have some kind of answer to this. Agh!

Comments

[loisfuckinglane]

Did you end up seeing anyone else from the castle while you were in said alternate universe?

[triumph]

Travis Touchdown, Reno, Wizardmon and Kat. That's all I noticed, anyway, memory still feels a little muddled.

[loisfuckinglane]

Did you hear about the snippet they found in a library about this place?

[triumph]

Noooope? Not that I'm aware of, anyway. What was in the library?

[loisfuckinglane]

A passage confirming this is one big soul buffet.

[triumph]

What the heck? REALLY?

[loisfuckinglane]

It claims to be feeding off our emotional spikes. Which is probably exactly why it messes with us so often.

[triumph]

That's... well, that's hard to swallow, for one. How do we know it's real, or the truth?

And wow, that hits close to home. That's like when–– wait, do you even know what a Green Lantern is? This isn't going to make sense if you don't know.

[loisfuckinglane]

I'm guessing it's not a Coleman.

[triumph]

Hah, nope. Coleman makes Green Lantern themed lamp, though!

[Cassie realizes how weird it still is to explain this stuff to Lois Lane.]

The Lanterns are basically intergalactic space cops. There are like, four or so Lanterns from Earth, and they get their power from will, but ANYWAY, there was this whole thing recently called Blackest Night where people drew power from other life forces like hope or love or anger, that stuff. Wonder Woman was a Sapphire for a bit, Superman was a Blue Lantern, yadda yadda.

Point is, things getting power from life forces and souls isn't new.

[loisfuckinglane]

So how did all that... Blackest Night stuff end?

[triumph]

We brought all the Black Lanterns down using our own powers. Lots of collateral damage and casualties, sadly, including some of our own, but Earth survived.

[loisfuckinglane]

And everyone else just shut off using these ... emotions?

[triumph]

Nope. We just used them against the Black Lanterns. Hope and will and love and compassion beats death and soul-sucking hated of life.

[loisfuckinglane]

Well, I mean how did they get them in the first place? Or... use them in a concrete way.

[triumph]

"Them" being the Lantern powers, you mean?

[loisfuckinglane]

Right. Were they just on loan from the big factory direct lantern power warehouse in the sky?

[triumph]

No idea, to be honest, I didn't get one and I didn't think to ask Diana. I would say "ask Superman" but unless he's gone home and come back since, I doubt he knows, either. Try Red Robin? He's pals with Batman, who keeps databases on virtually everything, so maybe he knows.

[loisfuckinglane]

Red Robin...

Is that... Tim?

[triumph]

Yep. Might wanna keep that a secret, though, I don't know whether he's doing the secret identity thing here, hence code names.

[loisfuckinglane]

I didn't think anyone actually bothered with secret IDs around here, all things considered.

[triumph]

The Bats usually do. I was friends with him for yeaaars before he told us his civilian name. He was the only person on the main team whose identity WASN'T some level of public knowledge, I think.

[loisfuckinglane]

Why am I not surprised that paranoia strikes deep where they're concerned?

[triumph]

Because secrecy and paranoia is just their thing.

I'd tell you stories, but you'll find out in the next decade or two.

[How old is Lois, in her time? Forties? Cassie doesn't know.]

[loisfuckinglane]

It's good to have things to look forward to.