With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Wivk · 2025-12-24T01:51:21+0000

Didn't they get hit with the intelligence drain attack when they were all outside the phantom zone? And this person can make you forget them, or misremember things? I would assume they were already let loose. Also going into the inescapable alternate dimension prison thing seems like a bad enough plan that the iq destroyer beam is still focused on the mc.

CrazyNoVa · 2025-12-24T01:53:03+0000

Mr Zoat said:
In this story, Green Lanterns do actually get paid for being Lanterns. Most others either have jobs or are rich enough not to need them.

And even if the Lanterns didn't get paid, the Guardians offer free lodging, food and shelter to all Green Lanterns who choose to live on Oa in basically every continuity, so even in the universes where Lanterns don't have a salary (that we know of), they can still choose to move to Oa permanently where all of their living expenses are basically taken care of in exchange for their service. Say what you will about the Guardians, but you can't deny that at the very least, they try to take care of their subordinates.

Ardy · 2025-12-24T03:59:32+0000

So I know you write these things in advance, but would it be so wrong for an intelligence-dampened SI to speak in cockney? I just want ONE 'guvna' before the end of the story

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-24T06:09:46+0000

12th August 2013
22:02 GMT

You know… Now that I think about it, film and animation have been somewhat sparse on detail on what it's actually like to be inside the Phantom Zone. I think Superman the Animated Series depicted it as a sort of glowly nothing. Supergirl had it as a desolate grey rocky wasteland, with one exit point reachable at great peril. I only saw it in the comics a couple of times, and I don't see a fake Krypton.

In fact, I don't really see anything.

There's grey… A pale sort of grey, with no texture, no obvious light source… And… That's about it.

Okay.

"Nam-Ek?! Are you around?!"

Okay, I remember what his desires look like,

so-.

So-.

Huh. Doesn't work here. I… Still retain awareness of my own desires, so I haven't lost my enlightenment. I just can't see desires. Which presumably means…

…

Yep, can't step out. I'm stuck here until the g-pooka opens it back up again. Or failing that, someone else comes to the Fortress and does it.

Alright, try moving.

…

I… Think I'm moving, but there's nothing to judge it against. I'm also not sure why my rings are working when empathic vision isn't. But at least I'm not getting attacked by zombified Superman clones, so that's nice.

"Anyone here?! Nam-Ek?! Lyla?!"

No? Honestly, this is starting to look like a wild goose chase. There's nothing and no one, and if I can't find some sort of-.

"I'm here, Orange Lantern."

Huh? Oh. There's a sort of… Humanoid shape that's a little darker grey than the background. The voice was kind of indistinct, like the sound wave is meeting with some sort of interference.

"Is this all we get? Just… Blurs..?"

"You learn to tell them apart. And at least no one can smell me."

"Alright, so where's everyone else?"

"They're here somewhere. If you don't stay together, finding one another is a matter of pure chance."

"Oh? I'd have thought that everyone would stay together in that case."

"Violent prisoners are not always the most rational people. But if you follow me, I'll see if someone feels like making themselves known."

He drifts… Away, and for want of anything else to try I follow him.

Hm.

"Is this place infinitely large?"

"Given that there appear to be finite spaces within, I do not believe that it can be. Perhaps the size changes with the number of people within it? Or perhaps it is merely very big. Without any sort of landmark to measure from there is no way to tell."

"Form a chain of grey blurs and see if you can see the edges?"

"I refer you to my comment about violent criminals."

"It's been forty years for the newest of them. I'd have thought that they'd get bored of being arseholes eventually."

"Perhaps they will, eventually. But it has not happened yet."

I nod. For a human, this sort of sensory deprivation would cause serious psychological damage. Perhaps something about this place allows you to… Sleep through it? Or perhaps kryptonians are different where sensory input is concerned?

"You mentioned someone called Lyla? I'm not familiar with a prisoner by that name. Is she a friend of yours?"

"No. She was a telepath who was using her abilities to conceal her presence on Krypton before it exploded. Since we're pretty sure that she wasn't hiding in Kal-El or Kara Zor-El's pods, this is the only place she could have come to escape."

"Telepathy is rare amongst kryptonians."

I raise my eyebrows. "I didn't realise it occurred at all."

"Our bodies respond to exotic energies strangely. My own mutation is proof of that. Speaking of which, I think that after this respite I'm ready to face the universe once more."

"You sure?"

"Jax-Ur was able to explain to me the advances in kryptonian medical science that have happened since my time. I was in shock before; I'm confident that I can learn what I need to cure myself."

"Hah!"

"Did I say something funny? I appreciate you putting me here, but now it is time for me to be released."

"You're not Nam-Ek. Your outline is wrong, your diction is wrong, and while you've made an effort to match his accent you haven't gotten it quite right. Which probably means that you're Jax-Ur, though if you can offer me evidence to the contrary I'll hear you out."

The grey blur stop moving and straightens up.

"When am I to be released?"

"You're not. You murdered five hundred people."

"They'd be dead now anyway!"

Huh. Superman was right. It's not funny.

"If you'd like to make a representation to Governor Karsta Wor-Ul then I can certainly pass it on. But unless someone else was actually responsible then I doubt that she'll be interested." I frown. "But I'm interested in what the plan was, here. Even if I let you out, I know what Jax-Ur looks like. All that would happen is I'd chuck you back inside."

"Our bodies respond to exotic energies strangely, Orange Lantern. I knew that when I arrived here. So I took steps to ensure that I was prepared for any opportunity. And do you know what I learned?"

"Do tell."

"This place is alive! It has a consciousness! I don't know if it existed before we started sending people here, or if it only gained form in response to our thoughts. But it knows that you're the reason why people have been leaving its domain, and it is not happy."

"How does telling it anything help you?"

"It doesn't. This is just-"

From nowhere a colossal purple hand appears around me, fingers gripping me as a pair of huge yellow eyes glow out of the grey mist!

"-spite."

Signaller · 2025-12-24T06:16:21+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Supergirl had is as a desolate grey rocky wasteland

had it as

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-24T06:18:43+0000

Ardy said:
So I know you write these things in advance, but would it be so wrong for an intelligence-dampened SI to speak in cockney?

Yes. Yes, it is.

Signaller said:
had it as

Thank you, corrected.

Darko · 2025-12-24T06:20:55+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Nak-Ek?! Are you around?!

"Nam"

Mr Zoat said:
I'm also not sure why my rings are working when empathic vision isn't

Maybe it's because the rings are artificial, while your own powers are different enough that it can suppress them.

Mr Zoat said:
finite spaces with in, I do

"within"

Mr Zoat said:
"It's been forty years for the newest of them. I'd have thought that they'd get bored of being arseholes eventually

You never get bored if you're doing what you love.

Plus they may have just gone insane after a while.

Mr Zoat said:
"Jax-Ur was able to explain to me the advances in kryptonian medical science that have happened since my time. I was in shock before; I'm confident that I can learn what I need to cure myself

Not sure Jax is a reliable source.

Mr Zoat said:
"Our bodies respond to exotic energies strangely, Orange Lantern. I knew that when I arrived here. So I took steps to ensure that I was prepared for any opportunity

Huh.

Now I'm wondering if he was behind that stupid ray that Paul and Zod experienced.

Bigking321 · 2025-12-24T06:27:00+0000

Huh.

Well, the phantom zone itself is annoyed we are freeing people wasn't something i had on my bingo card.

That's a fun twist.

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-24T06:28:17+0000

Darko said:
"Nam"
"within"

Thank you, corrected.

Rebu · 2025-12-24T06:28:24+0000

Curse his sudden but inevitable betrayal!

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-12-24T06:45:46+0000

Mr Zoat said:
12th August 2013
22:02 GMT

You know… Now that I think about it, film and animation have been somewhat sparse on detail on what it's actually like to be inside the Phantom Zone. I think Superman the Animated Series depicted it as a sort of glowly nothing. Supergirl had it as a desolate grey rocky wasteland, with one exit point reachable at great peril. I only saw it in the comics a couple of times, and I don't see a fake Krypton.

Better than a mass of rocks floating in apparent space. The comics appearance, meanwhile, has often varied by era and artist, each putting their own spin on it. Really, it would be interesting if each race imprisoned saw it differently...

In fact, I don't really see anything.

There's grey… A pale sort of grey, with no texture, no obvious light source… And… That's about it.

So very much a prison of solitude. Presumably it takes very little effort to move away from others, but lots to come together.

Okay.

"Nam-Ek?! Are you around?!"

Reaching out to one of the few people he knows, eh? Most would simply see a new inmate to probe and study...

Okay, I remember what his desires look like,

so-.

So-.

...Ah. Performance issues. That's surprising, though, suggesting it's somewhat extra-universal.

Huh. Doesn't work here. I… Still retain awareness of my own desires, so I haven't lost my enlightenment. I just can't see desires. Which presumably means…

…

Yep, can't step out. I'm stuck here until the g-pooka opens it back up again. Or failing that, someone else comes to the Fortress and does it.

Disturbing that he can't tap the Orange Light, though it does answer the question of whether he could just exit that way.

Alright, try moving.

…

I… Think I'm moving, but there's nothing to judge it against. I'm also not sure why my rings are working when empathic vision isn't. But at least I'm not getting attacked by zombified Superman clones, so that's nice.

Or by any of the more violent inmates. Most are probably too drained to bother.

"Anyone here?! Nam-Ek?! Lyla?!"

No? Honestly, this is starting to look like a wild goose chase. There's nothing and no one, and if I can't find some sort of-.

Though if she's here and heard you calling, she's going to be very curious, because no-one should know she was here.

"I'm here, Orange Lantern."

Huh? Oh. There's a sort of… Humanoid shape that's a little darker grey than the background. The voice was kind of indistinct, like the sound wave is meeting with some sort of interference.

Muffled by whatever the zone is comprised of, eh? Troublesome.

"Is this all we get? Just… Blurs..?"

"You learn to tell them apart. And at least no one can smell me."

I'm sure Nam-Ek didn't smell that bad, did he? Even if his scent took after that of the Rondor...

"Alright, so where's everyone else?"

"They're here somewhere. If you don't stay together, finding one another is a matter of pure chance."

Or determination. Though, again, if someone doesn't want to be bothered, it's probably very easy to get away.

"Oh? I'd have thought that everyone would stay together in that case."

"Violent prisoners are not always the most rational people. But if you follow me, I'll see if someone feels like making themselves known."

Shame there's no way to pull people to you somehow. Or would that require some sort of innate power within the zone, hmm...

He drifts… Away, and for want of anything else to try I follow him.

Hm.

"Is this place infinitely large?"

I hope not, or you could be poking around for a while.

"Given that there appear to be finite spaces within, I do not believe that it can be. Perhaps the size changes with the number of people within it? Or perhaps it is merely very big. Without any sort of landmark to measure from there is no way to tell."

"Form a chain of grey blurs and see if you can see the edges?"

Worst case, you meet the other end of the chain coming and realise the place is looping non-euiclidianly.

"I refer you to my comment about violent criminals."

"It's been forty years for the newest of them. I'd have thought that they'd get bored of being arseholes eventually."

That presupposes that people feel time passing in here even if they're actively trying to feel it.

"Perhaps they will, eventually. But it has not happened yet."

I nod. For a human, this sort of sensory deprivation would cause serious psychological damage. Perhaps something about this place allows you to… Sleep through it? Or perhaps kryptonians are different where sensory input is concerned?

Or the space itself somehow corrects the damage. Wouldn't do for a place of punishment to stop being punishing, would it?

"You mentioned someone called Lyla? I'm not familiar with a prisoner by that name. Is she a friend of yours?"

"No. She was a telepath who was using her abilities to conceal her presence on Krypton before it exploded. Since we're pretty sure that she wasn't hiding in Kal-El or Kara Zor-El's pods, this is the only place she could have come to escape."

HE might feel kind of foolish if it turns out he's talking to her, the 'lady' simply having adjusted her appearance.

"Telepathy is rare amongst kryptonians."

I raise my eyebrows. "I didn't realise it occurred at all."

You'd think so, given the functions of the Torquasm family. At least one form would have to allow for mental broadcasting and remote reading...

"Our bodies respond to exotic energies strangely. My own mutation is proof of that. Speaking of which, I think that after this respite I'm ready to face the universe once more."

"You sure?"

Bit sus. He doesn't even know that OL can leave.

"Jax-Ur was able to explain to me the advances in kryptonian medical science that have happened since my time. I was in shock before; I'm confident that I can learn what I need to cure myself."

"Hah!"

Ah, a critical mistake in their fake-out, eh.

"Did I say something funny? I appreciate you putting me here, but now it is time for me to be released."

"You're not Nam-Ek. Your outline is wrong, your diction is wrong, and while you've made an effort to match his accent you haven't gotten it quite right. Which probably means that you're Jax-Ur, though if you can offer me evidence to the contrary I'll hear you out."

Or it's Lyla, and 'she' has more capabilities than suspected, such as some form of shapeshifting.

The grey blur stop moving and straightens up.

"When am I to be released?"

If I remember right, Jax-Ur wasn't even on the parolee list, was he?

"You're not. You murdered five hundred people."

"They'd be dead now anyway!"

Huh. Superman was right. It's not funny.

Taste of your own 'comedic' medicine, eh, OL?

"If you'd like to make a representation to Governor Karsta Wor-Ul then I can certainly pass it on. But unless someone else was actually responsible then I doubt that she'll be interested." I frown. "But I'm interested in what the plan was, here. Even if I let you out, I know what Jax-Ur looks like. All that would happen is I'd chuck you back inside."

And he'd have to suspect they wouldn't give him any way to overpower whatever guards might be awaiting. He must simply be that desperate, eh?

"Our bodies respond to exotic energies strangely, Orange Lantern. I knew that when I arrived here. So I took steps to ensure that I was prepared for any opportunity. And do you know what I learned?"

"Do tell."

...Oh no, don't tell me he's tapping into the Zone itself for power.

"This place is alive! It has a consciousness! I don't know if it existed before we started sending people here, or if it only gained form in response to our thoughts. But it knows that you're the reason why people have been leaving its domain, and it is not happy."

"How does telling it anything help you?"

Evidently it likes being conscious, and their removal lessens that consciousness.

"It doesn't. This is just-"

From nowhere a colossal purple hand appears around me, fingers gripping me as a pair of huge yellow eyes glow out of the grey mist!

"-spite."

That would be Nam-Ek, most likely.

Well, that's a bit of a fizzer, then. If Lyla's in there, she's not willing to come forwards, it turns out the Zone is kind of invested in keeping people inside, and at least two of the convicts have teamed up to force someone to let them out. And OL is more or less ~~without~~ limited to his rings against two rather troublesome kryptonian inmates. While he's strong, he ain't that superhuman...

BR549 · 2025-12-24T06:53:38+0000

Chojin Patriarch said:
And OL is more or less without his rings against two rather troublesome kryptonian inmates. While he's strong, he ain't that superhuman...

Paul notes that his rings are working, he just doesn't have his Enlightenment abilities (despite still being Enlightened).

Z000 · 2025-12-24T06:55:54+0000

is this a thing in the comic, the phantom zone piggybacking Kryptonia energy absorption to gain though ?

AmericanNumbers · 2025-12-24T07:10:38+0000

so a lore idea occurs to me. Given that the Honden is inaccessible? The Phantom Zone might be part of Despair's realm or closely aligned.

Vaermina · 2025-12-24T07:32:32+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Yep, can't step out. I'm stuck here until the g-pooka opens it back up again. Or failing that, someone else comes to the Fortress and does it.

Welp, now Batman knows none sure fire way to get rid of you.

Mr Zoat said:
I'm also not sure why my rings are working when empathic vision isn't.

What is this supposed to be? Evidence Orange Lantern is being mind whammied?

Because the answer is stupidly obvious.

Your empathic vision relies on the Holden, which doesn't reach the Phantom Zone. Meanwhile your rings are battery powered devices which contain their own charge.

GigaVanguard · 2025-12-24T07:32:38+0000

Bigking321 said:
Huh.

Well, the phantom zone itself is annoyed we are freeing people wasn't something i had on my bingo card.

That's a fun twist.

Who's we? You speaking French or something?

AmericanNumbers said:
so a lore idea occurs to me. Given that the Honden is inaccessible? The Phantom Zone might be part of Despair's realm or closely aligned.

Could've sworn it had been brought up at some point in WTR, but maybe I'm misremembering; anyways, big purple guy with yellow eyes means Aethyr, the god-thing whose mind comprises the entirety of the Phantom Zone.

Bigking321 · 2025-12-24T07:54:13+0000

GigaVanguard said:
Who's we?

In this context? Everyone involved in taking people out of the zone.

Outside of that context it's more a habit from quests where the thread is actively playing the protagonist.

Thundersmight94 · 2025-12-24T08:13:16+0000

Mr Zoat said:
"This place is alive! It has a consciousness! I don't know if it existed before we started sending people here, or if it only gained form in response to our thoughts. But it knows that you're the reason why people have been leaving its domain, and it is not happy."

"How does telling it anything help you?"

"It doesn't. This is just-"

From nowhere a colossal purple hand appears around me, fingers gripping me as a pair of huge yellow eyes glow out of the grey mist!

"-spite."

Honestly, I respect that. If you're stuck in purgatory and your jailer won't let you out and you can't harm them. Use spite, nothing better than screwing someone else over!

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-24T08:45:15+0000

Chojin Patriarch said:
I'm sure Nam-Ek didn't smell that bad, did he? Even if his scent took after that of the Rondor...

Yes. Nam-Ek smelled overwhelmingly bad. Losing that smell was one of the reasons why he was happy to be put into the Phantom Zone.

Taste of your own 'comedic' medicine, eh, OL?

After centuries of torment in Hell, two souls are brought before Aeacus to explain why they should be granted leniency.

"Look, I know I did a lot of bad things during the Soviet Reolution," said the first. "But I genuinely believed that we were bring about a better future. By the time I realised that we weren't, I couldn't do much about it. But what no one knows is that it was me who killed Stalin! Deep vein thrombosis. Impossible to detect with the technology of the time. Think how much worse it would have been if he'd lived a few years longer!"

"Stalin?," the second soul said. "That's nothing! I killed Hitler!"

CTrees · 2025-12-24T10:45:15+0000

If the Phantom Zone is mad they're paroling people, maybe make a deal to start tossing criminals in there again? Earth is in a weird spot right now, with regards to the criminal justice system, but there are plenty of other planets OL is on friendly enough terms with to go on a negotiation side quest and get a couple death row/life sentence convicts.

There's probably some reason this is a terrible idea, but I mostly remember the Phantom Zone from the movies, not the comics.

Someguy Somewhere · 2025-12-24T15:46:46+0000

I would assume a gestalt intelligence based on all minds within the zone might be somewhat skewed in its thinking by the criminal perspective of its collective. But OL of course has a chance, after all he is now a part of the same system too.

Ardy · 2025-12-24T16:13:05+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Yes. Yes, it is.

Thank you, corrected.

Wotcha, Zoat, Happy Christmas

With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

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