Mr Garrison doesn't seem to take undue insult from my cutting slights.  Perhaps he really isn't as defensive of his hair, mother and father as he, and his red ring, would have us believe.  More likely it is related to the fact that Supergirl has - quite wisely - decided to follow my instructions and taking the fight to the rage-fuelled youth.  A Kryptonian fist to the face is no doubt a much more pressing issue than my inspired taunting.  

I follow the battle at a safe distance, not so far that I can't see what is happening but not so close that I run a risk of being caught in the crossfire.  Like Nelson at Waterloo really, commanding the battlefield from a distance.  Only Toby Garrison is certainly not my Napoleon.  

Miss Waller manages to strike our foe into the carpark, but it doesn't seem to keep him down.  Starbolt and Miss Mountain each hit the Red Lantern, though the fiend clambers back to his feet each time to repay them in kind.  I feel my frustration growing as I watch the battle.  I told those cretins to support each other while avoiding a frontal attack, and instead they each take a turn in attacking the Red Lantern directly.  Why does no one ever listen to me!?  It's enough to drive a man to distraction, but at least they actually attacked when I ordered it.  Armoury hasn't even done that much.  

I am about to reissue orders to my unruly troops when a Ditto clone approaches me.  I hide my distaste for the clone quite admirably, though I have to admit my mask does most of the work for me.  

[color=dodgerblue][i][b]"Question!  We need to contain this kid long enough to knock him out. I'm afraid the only way to disarm him also kills him in the process. It's not that I didn't have a plan, I just don't know how to tell this team of kids we may have to kill somebod... LOOK OUT!"[/b][/i][/color]  Before I can respond the Ditto throws me from the path of an oncoming burst of red energy.  [color=steelblue][i]Deduction;[/i][/color] I have not picked a safe enough spot to observe the battle.  Must rectify at nearest opportunity.  

I shift postion's before considering what the Ditto clone has just told me.  The only way to stop the lantern is to kill him, and Ditto knew this all along?  And didn't tell the rest of the team?  The negligence on his part is astounding!  Not only did he withhold valuable tactical information from us - information which could have seen me concoct a more cohesive plan - but he has also shown complete disregard for the morals of his team.  Did these 'kids', as he called them, not deserve to know the likely outcome of this fight?  Did they not deserve to know that they would likely end a man's life today?  I am becoming more disenchanted with Ditto's leadership by the second.  

And why tell me?  That, at least, is an answer easy in the coming.  The Cargitte imagines me cold-hearted and logical.  Of course he would assume that I would have few misgivings about killing a person if it meant saving another's life.  After all, is that not what this will all boil down to.  Simple arithmetic.  Many lives out weighing one.  

The worst part is I'm not certain that Ditto is wrong about me.  

[color=steelblue]"Supergirl, Starbolt!  Drive Toby towards the ground.  Miss Mountain, prepare to open a small crevice in the earth.  Once Toby is back on terrafirma close the crevice around his ankle, keep him from taking off again.  Ditto, stand ready to physically subdue him.  Leave the ring to me."[/color]  

Am I ready to condemn a man to death?  Yes.  Yes I am.  That may sound callous, and that's because it is. The oppressive truth is that there is very little in the way of alternatives.  Other than letting one of my teammates commit the deed, there is nothing else to be done.  I refuse to let one of them shoulder the burden.  Their emotions would cloud the issue, if not now then further down the line.  Taking a life is not an endeavor that children should embark upon, even children such as those in Young Justice.  

Perhaps if Ditto had taken Kassandra's warnings more seriously, or if he had shared his information with me earlier, perhaps then I could have come up with a clever substitute plan.  Real life is seldom as clean and clear cut as that though.  People let you down, and tragedies ensue.  Yes, I am sure I can kill Toby Garrison.  

If it saves the city.