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

[Mr Zoat]

'simpler'

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

Ah, such an old-fashioned lady she is. Though I suspect Grayven here has been more polite than some pony nobility about their intentions...

Click to shrink...

It's a Babylon 5 reference. Unfortunately I can't find the clip, but it's a little way before this.

 

[DAT_NOOB]

I wonder how awkward I can make it for Sunset?

Click to shrink...

YES! YES! YES!

 

[Mastigos2]

Ah, they're meeting him in pony form, then. Darn, I was hoping we'd finally get to see Luna's humanoid form. Ah, well. At least he's finally getting his lazy flank up, chewing the bit as he is. The lady does him good, methinks.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

I'll be amused if he's all "Ah, Equestrians. Not an unfamiliar sight." There's very little the New God of Sticky-Beaking hasn't seen after this long, after all.


Just a few vaguely-Norse-as-drawn-by-Jack-Kirby ruins, I expect. Seriously, the man loved him his 'God were ancient Aliens' ideas. So much he made some for both of the Big Two.


I suspect He will be mildly amused by the inventiveness of your approach... After all, Tyranny is ultimately powerless without some hope of freedom someday.


"I still say this is a bad idea. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"


"...Um, well... I'm afraid I don't have his number."


"It's not like there's some grand central directory of New God contact details..."


And you know how he loves poking alternate universes... Always providing such interesting data.


The Vibrational Spectrum being a fancy name for things like the Speed Force, and the dividing walls between timelines...


"I'd cross my fingers, if I had any... Here goes."


Keep it sheathed, loverboy. Don't want Metron turning up while you're in flagrante delicto.


Let's hope all goes well, then. Though you might want to be prepared for nothing but starstruck fans turning up.


Ah, such an old-fashioned lady she is. Though I suspect Grayven here has been more polite than some pony nobility about their intentions...


Always tweaking her tail, eh, Grayven? Well, I suppose it helps keep her grounded, unlike Celestia.


Watch that body language. She's getting annoyed.


And now she's offering a silent 'thank you' to whatever gods are listening for the interruption...


Go ahead, indulge your troll side. You know you want to. But yes, probably a good idea to double-check these things. After all, the show studiously avoided the physical side of romance.


A bit more visually interesting, certainly. Much better than the deep blue-black onesie with silver detailing he wears in the comics.


Yes, I'm looking forwards to seeing his actual Godname. Only so many times I can give him a cutesy synonym for 'curiosity'...


And of course he's seen Ponies before. Wonder if they were G1-style or G2. Or worse, G3. Serious uncanny valley on those abominations...


Not one to turn down a gift, eh? Even if he has to part with a little secret or two for it...


Gee, can you lay the sarcasm on any thicker? I think there's still some uncertainty about it.


HEh. That's got him off-balance. An Apokaliptian New God who doesn't kowtow to or plan to overthrow the Great Tyrant?


Of course, it'll just be sitting there, just waiting for someone dumb enough to try and absorb it in full defiance of the Evil Overlord list...


In other words, "Call me before you try it, I'll bring popcorn."


It'd be too much to hope for that this would be easy, eh? That offer of Harmonising the chunk of Omega Effect still on the table, Luna?


Heh. Uxas was pretty thorough about removing any obstacles in his path to the throne, eh?


Nicely baited, Renegade. You got him curious now. And that'll lead him to help you get what you want just so he can learn more...

Well, that went better than expected. I guess the New God of Sticking His Nose In wasn't feeling particularly.. inquisitive, today... Though I can see him poking his head in on the Forever Morons now. And that might well lead to an encounter with the Infinity Man in Grayven's future. Lots of plot hooks raised with just three little words, not even spoken...

Click to shrink...

I do wonder what would happen if Metron detected Grayven's relationship to the current Time Trapper

 

[Ngamer11]

I do wonder what would happen if Metron detected Grayven's relationship to the current Time Trapper

Click to shrink...

Time Trapper is someone else right now.

 

[Doccer]

Not even a mention Grayven's current form? Maybe he has been to Equestria...

"Ascendancy brought about by the manipulation of collective belief. Hardly unique. Quadruped herbivore sophont species are rarer, but not especially interesting."

Click to shrink...

???!
I thought spell work was involved. I suppose believe could have come later but then a awful lot of ponies might still think Nightmare Moon wouldn't they?
He said brought about. Not consist of. So what's going on with her godhood?

Metron is interested in novel phenomena. I doubt that he's ever seen a New God pony before. And if a few tissue samples and a thorough physical examination are all I have to give, I'll consider myself to have come out ahead."

Click to shrink...

Wouldn't Mister Tawney work just as well?

 

[Mr Zoat]

Wouldn't Mister Tawney work just as well?

Click to shrink...

...

Is he a pony?

 

[Bramble Thorn]

...

Is he a pony?

Click to shrink...

He's an anthropomorphic formerly-animal new god, you pony elitist.

 

[transhumansage]

would drax have made a worse darksied than darksied?

 

[Old Knife]

He's an anthropomorphic formerly-animal new god, you pony elitist.

Click to shrink...

.... You do realize that Metron doesn't care?

 

[Doccer]

...

Is he a pony?

Click to shrink...

He's a New God Tiger. Shouldn't that work in the same vein as Grayven being a New God Pony?

More importantly.
Doesn't his remarks on Luna Ascension based on belief draws some questions? She and Luna became Pony goddesses because of Star Swirl and his magic yes? I am certain that's canon at least.

.... You do realize that Metron doesn't care?

Click to shrink...

I did find it interesting he neither remarked on Grayven's form or cared.

 

[Darko]

More importantly.
Doesn't his remarks on Luna Ascension based on belief draws some questions? She and Luna became Pony goddesses because of Star Swirl and his magic yes? I am certain that's canon at least.

Click to shrink...

Apparently in this fic Alicorns can be formed by six ponies, two from the unicorn, earth pony and pegasus tribes, magically connecting to each other and giving power to at least one iof them thus allowing them to ascend.

Luna probably ascended through the friendship of her friends so her ascending due to beliefs makes sense

 

[Coda]

If I squinted really hard and waiting a few million years

Click to shrink...

Either "If I squinted really hard and waited a few million years" or "If I squinted really hard, waiting a few million years," (with the comma at the end)

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
00:12 GMT

Hinon looks contemplative.

"I'm not sure which part should concern me the most."

"You could look at it as an opportunity."

"An opportunity to do what, precisely? Broome Bon Baris may be content to study interesting phenomena as a good in itself, but Controller philosophy is rather different."

"Is now a good time to ask what it is?"

"You don't kn-." She looks away, closing her eyes as she makes a show of mastering herself. Of course, it… Is just a show. She's showing me that she wants me to react as if I had just irritated her. "How do you possibly not know?"

"You were fighting the Reach and understood power ring technology. Oh, and you split with the Guardians over the Manhunter thing." I shrug. "Your religious and economic preferences didn't seem that important compared to getting everything running."

"We're post-scarcity; we don't have economics. Every maltusian is as liberated individually as it is possible for them to be, forming and dissolving associations voluntarily on an individual basis. No maltusian has practised religion in the sense that you're used to it since we realised that there wasn't anything greater than us in the universe."

"What about gods or the Source?"

"What about them?"

"The Source is generally considered to be fairly powerful-."

"There are trees larger than me, that doesn't make them greater. And neither are giant walls, even if they are sticky."

"And you're so modest, too."

"I am not modest. I am personally billions of years old. I know precisely what my limitations are. If I say that I have a characteristic then you may reliably deduce that I do in fact have it."

"Alright." I raise my hands in mock surrender. "So what does your voluntary association called the Controllers do? Because you don't seem to be in control of very much."

"I have just told you that I am more powerful than the beings your species regard as being worthy of veneration merely for existing, and you say that I don't control very much? Do you hear the words coming out of your mouth?"

I frown-.

"You control yourself."

"And rather well. We control what we need to control. When some fool starts poking holes in the universe, we stop them. If someone like the Anti-Monitor tries to destroy it, we will stop them."

"The Reach… Aren't doing that. They're just killing people."

"If they were 'just' killing people, the Controllers would have even fewer recruits than we do now. They are entirely exterminating species. Worse, they're such a monoculture and have such genetic and cultural control that they are unlikely to ever be other than as they are now. They won't make anything to replace what they're removing."

"So the difference between you and the Guardians is..?"

"The Guardians want to maintain a constant presence. Shepherding civilisations and ensuring that they are always seen as benevolent deities. We Controllers do not. Our preference is to maintain absolute control of certain situations and ignore everything else."

"Not to be in control of everything."

"Ideally, we would be in control; we simply wouldn't have to exercise it most of the time. Androids sounded like they would be ideal for that purpose. But they were not."

"How would..? I mean, how is what you want your Corps to be different from what the Guardians want?"

"For us, the most important thing is to have the ability to intervene with overwhelming power in particular instances. Assigning Lanterns to Sectors would be a sort of… Training, for when we need them to do something that's actually significant. For the Guardians, Sector Lanterns are the point: constantly nudging things back into order."

"The Guardians would rather let the Reach do their thing than strip Sectors that are mostly peaceful of their Lanterns, because their legitimacy rests on them being omnipresent, if diffuse."

"I imagine that they would say that there is more to it than that."

"And the unaligned maltusians?"

"They have their own projects. Presumably they're doing something with their time."

"Would..? Any of them be interested in working with Lord Malvolio?"

"Some might. For Controllers, he's even less appealing than you are, but there may be some amongst the unaligned who would relish the opportunity to operate on a smaller scale. Or to study a human who has been changed by the green light in the way that he has."

"What about Controllers who aren't bound to the orange light? I mean, presumably they were fine with the way the Guardians operated up until the majority decided to spare the Manhunters. Malvolio has ideas, but he hasn't codified anything yet. If they got in early and made themselves useful, they might…"

I hesitate, frowning.

"What..? Would you have done if the other Guardians had voted to destroy the Manhunters?"

"Something along the lines of what did happen, I imagine. Personally, I would have wanted to maintain the Halla as a large scale military force while using Green Lanterns as elite operatives, but I can understand why they did not. Having more Guardians would have eased their organisation difficulty, though they only have themselves to blame for not involving younger races in the command structure at this point."

"Mm." I nod. "Thank you. So what do you think of my personal lantern?"

"It's much better. Though I can see exactly where you went wrong. Were you looking at Lord Malvolio's new Central Power Battery when you made it?"

"Yes?"

"Personal lanterns work best when connected to the Central Power Battery. You-."

"I didn't do that. Yeah-. Of course."

"I suspect that if you made one here, now, it would be reasonably functional. You appear to have recovered Larfleeze's ring."

"Yes. I-."

"I am aware of the process." She considers for a moment, or at least gives the appearance of doing so. "I believe that I will lead our mission to Sector One Six Three Four personally. It may prove useful for the task to be undertaken by someone with a personal connection to you."

I nod.

"Makes sense. Any new orders for me?"

"Not immediately. Return to your students. I will contact you once I have something requiring your particular skill set. Off you go."

 

[Mr Zoat]

House sitting.

Either "If I squinted really hard and waited a few million years" or "If I squinted really hard, waiting a few million years," (with the comma at the end)

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

 

[gustyeagle]

Every maltusian is as liberated individually as it is possible for them to be, forming and dissolving associations voluntarily on an individual basis. No maltusian has practiced religion in the sense that you're used to it since we realised that there wasn't anything greater than us in the universe."

Click to shrink...

So how do they feel about evil?

 

[Ardy]

So how do they feel about evil?

Click to shrink...

"About what?"

 

[Bud-E]

"You don't kn-." She looks away, closing her eyes as she makes a show of mastering herself. Of course, it… Is just a show. She's showing me that she wants me to react as if I had just irritated her. "How do you possibly not know?"


"Not immediately. Return to your students. I will contact you once I have something requiring your particular skill set. Off you go."

Click to shrink...

Ah, the return of Paul's ornery old grandma. I love seeing these these two interact

 

[Michael Vonica]

Does Hinon use this personality on everyone she interacts with?

 

[FreeGod]

So how do they feel about evil?

Click to shrink...

"About what?"

Click to shrink...

Exactly. You need to give an actual definition. Like how do they feel about anti-life.

 

[The Unaligned Player]

Exactly. You need to give an actual definition. Like how do they feel about anti-life.

Click to shrink...

Or for the less cosmically knowledgeable, how they feel about Malice as Ends, Means, and Both.

 

[Bud-E]

Does Hinon use this personality on everyone she interacts with?

Click to shrink...

I think she does? she told Paul she choose this personality specifically to interact with younger species, which to her is basically everyone who's not a Maltusian.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

11th September 2012
00:12 GMT

Hinon looks contemplative.

"I'm not sure which part should concern me the most."

Click to shrink...

Yes, there's always so much of that going around with OL, isn't there? Everywhere he goes, something comes up to make people's lives interesting in every sense of the word. At least Hinon has a good idea of why, what with him being an anomalous extra-universal entity. He literally has the Protagonist power.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"You could look at it as an opportunity."

"An opportunity to do what, precisely? Broome Bon Baris may be content to study interesting phenomena as a good in itself, but Controller philosophy is rather different."

Click to shrink...

In other words, they're more focused on goals other than mere curiosity. If they're doing something, it has to be for a reason? At least it keeps them busy.

"Is now a good time to ask what it is?"

"You don't kn-." She looks away, closing her eyes as she makes a show of mastering herself. Of course, it… Is just a show. She's showing me that she wants me to react as if I had just irritated her. "How do you possibly not know?"

Click to shrink...

Because no story involving the Controllers that he'd read ever showed it? Come on, you know he's transfictional, don't you? Wouldn't that be obvious?

"You were fighting the Reach and understood power ring technology. Oh, and you split with the Guardians over the Manhunter thing." I shrug. "Your religious and economic preferences didn't seem that important compared to getting everything running."

"We're post-scarcity; we don't have economics. Every maltusian is as liberated individually as it is possible for them to be, forming and dissolving associations voluntarily on an individual basis. No maltusian has practiced religion in the sense that you're used to it since we realised that there wasn't anything greater than us in the universe."

Click to shrink...

To be fair, when you can warp reality through a conscious act of Rage, Desire, Fear, Will, Hope, Compassion or Love, real deities tend to look just a little mild by comparison...

"What about gods or the Source?"

"What about them?"

Click to shrink...

The former being jumped-up elementals with delusions of grandeur and all. As for the latter...

"The Source is generally considered to be fairly powerful-."

"There are trees larger than me, that doesn't make them greater. And neither are giant walls, even if they are sticky."

Click to shrink...

...Well, those who poke the Source tend to meet a rocky fate, after all.

"And you're so modest, too."

"I am not modest. I am personally billions of years old. I know precisely what my limitations are. If I say that I have a characteristic then you may reliably deduce that I do in fact have it."

Click to shrink...

But be honest, you're enjoying playing this role, aren't you, Hinon?

"Alright." I raise my hands in mock surrender. "So what does your voluntarily association called the Controllers do? Because you don't seem to be in control of very much."

"I have just told you that I am more powerful than the beings your species regard as being worthy of veneration merely for existing, and you say that I don't control very much? Do you hear the words coming out of your mouth?"

Click to shrink...

Ironically, Grayven said it best last chapter: Control Begins With The Self.

I frown-.

"You control yourself."

Click to shrink...

Something you might want to learn and exercise a little better yourself, Mister Flighty.

"And rather well. We control what we need to control. When some fool starts poking holes in the universe, we stop them. If someone like the Anti-Monitor tries to destroy it, we will stop them."

"The Reach… Aren't doing that. They're just killing people."

Click to shrink...

In general, most things trundle on quite happily without any outside interference. It's when something gums up the gears of the universe that Controllers get snippy.

"If they were 'just' killing people, the Controllers would have even fewer recruits than we do now. They are entirely exterminating species. Worse, they're such a monoculture and have such genetic and cultural control that they are unlikely to ever be other than as they are now. They won't make anything to replace what they're removing."

"So the difference between you and the Guardians is..?"

Click to shrink...

The Reach is basically making the universe a less interesting place? That's how it sounds to me. And I can get behind that.

"The Guardians want to maintain a constant presence. Shepherding civilisations and ensuring that they are always seen as benevolent deities. We Controllers do not. Our preference is to maintain absolute control of certain situations and ignore everything else."

"Not to be in control of everything."

Click to shrink...

To quote 'Planetary's motto: "It's a strange world. Let's keep it that way." Ironically, the Guardians seem to want Control more than the Controllers do...

"Ideally, we would be in control; we simply wouldn't have to exercise it most of the time. Androids sounded like they would be ideal for that purpose. But they were not."

"How would..? I mean, how is what you want your Corps to be different from what the Guardians want?"

Click to shrink...

Besides doing what they're asked without being stupid about it? Or having 'realisations' that end up killing whole Sectors?

"For us, the most important thing is to have the ability to intervene with overwhelming power in particular instances. Assigning Lanterns to Sectors would be a sort of… Training, for when we need them to do something that's actually significant. For the Guardians, Sector Lanterns are the point; constantly nudging things back into order."

"The Guardians would rather let the Reach do their thing than strip Sectors that are mostly peaceful of their Lanterns, because their legitimacy rests of them being omnipresent, if diffuse."

Click to shrink...

Neatly summarised, OL. Looks like you have some ability to think like a maltusian after all...

"I imagine that they would say that there is more to it than that."

"And the unaligned maltusians?"

Click to shrink...

Which thankfully keep to themselves, mostly. Last thing you need is another Krona.

"They have their own projects. Presumably they're doing something with their time."

"Would..? Any of them be interested in working with Lord Malvolio?"

Click to shrink...

A bit worried about someone poaching him, OL? Or swaying him to a potentially contentious cause?

"Some might. For Controllers, he's even less appealing than you are, but there may be some amongst the unaligned who would relish the opportunity to operate on a smaller scale. Or to study a human who has been changed by the green light in the way that he has."

"What about Controllers who aren't bound to the orange light? I mean, presumably they were fine with the way the Guardians operated up until the majority decided to spare the Manhunters. Malvolio has ideas, but he hasn't codified anything yet. If they got in early and made themselves useful, they might…"

Click to shrink...

I mean, there's still a couple of Colours still up for grabs. I'm sure some enterprising maltusian might have had thoughts about uses for the Red Light, for example.

I hesitate, frowning.

"What..? Would you have done if the other Guardians had voted to destroy the Manhunters?"

Click to shrink...

A very good question. Would they have split or not?

"Something along the lines of what did happen, I imagine. Personally, I would have wanted to maintain the Halla as a large scale military force while using Green Lanterns as elite operatives, but I can understand why they did not. Having more Guardians would have eased their organisation difficulty, though they only have themselves to blame for not involving younger races in the command structure at this point."

Click to shrink...

Though there's no wiki entry on it handy, the Guardian's main article does list the Halla as 'an intergalactic police corps wielding power guns channeling the emerald energy ... a short-lived successor of the Manhunters and a precursor to the successful Green Lantern Corps.' Though I suspect they chose not to stick with that because a gun is less adaptable and more easily taken than a Ring...

"Mm." I nod. "Thank you. So what do you think of my personal lantern?"

"It's much better. Though I can see exactly where you went wrong. Were you looking at Lord Malvolio's new Central Power Battery when you made it?"

Click to shrink...

Ah, I thought it might have had a flaw. Clearly not a fatal one. Still probably good no-one tried to use it...

"Yes?"

"Personal lanterns work best when connected to the Central Power Battery. You-."

Click to shrink...

So it would have been like Alan's old Lantern back before he connected to the Orange Light Fountain and channeled the Ophidian: limited daily charge and noticeably less stable than a fully-connected unit.

"I didn't do that. Yeah-. Of course."

"I suspect that if you made one here, now, it would be reasonably functional. You appear to have recovered Larfleeze's ring."

Click to shrink...

Useful as a little extra charge, if nothing else.

"Yes. I-."

"I am aware of the process." She considers for a moment, or at least gives the appearance of doing so. "I believe that I will lead our mission to Sector One Six Three Four personally. It may prove useful for the task to be undertaken by someone with a personal connection to you."

Click to shrink...

If only so someone else doesn't screw up? Does she think so little of the younger Controllers? Though, to be fair, they are young.

I nod.

"Makes sense. Any new orders for me?"

"Not immediately. Return to your students. I will contact you once I have something requiring your particular skill set. Off you go."

Click to shrink...

Though since Malvolio had planned to visit Karax before his little bit of domestic upset, I expect she'll be seeing him again sooner rather than later.

Always good to have Granny Orange deflate OL's ego a bit. And these little talks with her provide so much insight to Controllers, Maltusian psychology and all things Spectrum-related... So, that situation's been resolved. On to the next episode, eh? Glad I looked in on a whim so early.

 

[Coda]

Sector Lanterns are the point; constantly nudging things back into order.

Click to shrink...

Semicolon should be a colon or a comma.

 

[NightmareWarden]

Hmm. I wonder if Hinon will actually help during this mission to Malvolio's turf or if she will sit back, cracking open a cold one, like she did for the Larfleeze/Fount mission.

 

[Darko]

An opportunity to do what, precisely? Broome Bon Baris may be content to study interesting phenomena as a good in itself, but Controller philosophy is rather different."

Click to shrink...

I'm imagining that their philosophy requires the object they're studying to have some practical value that can help them in their goals of control.

Is now a good time to ask what it is?"

"You don't kn-." She looks away, closing her eyes as she makes a show of mastering herself. Of course, it… Is just a show. She's showing me that she wants me to react as if I had just irritated her. "How do you possibly not know?"

Click to shrink...

Maybe because you didn't tell him.

And we're reminded of Hinon faking her personality.

since we realised that there wasn't anything greater than us in the universe."

Click to shrink...

There is the Source, New Gods and other things that can equal or surpass you.

There are trees larger than me, that doesn't make them greater

Click to shrink...

Though they are taller.

And since we found out you're Guardian size, a lot of things are taller than you.

And you're so modest, too."

Click to shrink...

Just like you, Paul.

"I have just told you that I am more powerful than the beings your species regard as being worthy of veneration merely for existing

Click to shrink...

Maybe 'regards'

And the Presence, Michael and Lucifer may disagree that she's more powerful than them.

Do you hear the words coming out of your mouth?"

Click to shrink...

He generally doesn't.

Androids sounded like they would be ideal for that purpose. But they were not."

Click to shrink...

No, they really weren't.

"I imagine that they would say that there is more to it than that."

Click to shrink...

They would probably say that there's more to it, like how you said that you're philosophy isn't just controlling people.

"Would..? Any of them be interested in working with Lord Malvolio?"

"Some might. For Controllers, he's even less appealing than you are

Click to shrink...

The guy doesn't like to be commanded.

Paul ar least was willing to allow someone to have some power over him.

 

[Darko]

The former being jumped-up elementals with delusions of grandeur and all

Click to shrink...

Though some can still have incredible power, like Titans.

Oceanus had the potential to drown the entire world, and a blessing of Helios could damage a planet.

Call them what you want, they're still powerhouses.

 

[Dur'id the Druid]

Wow, I really like that take on Controller philosophy. As a near-Libertarian I love it. Narrowly defined parameters of intervention, but nigh-supreme within those parameters.

 

[RichardWhereat]

No maltusian has practiced religion in the sense that you're used to it since we realised that there wasn't anything greater than us in the universe."

"What about gods or the Source?"

"What about them?"

Click to shrink...

That is, frankly, the best line she has had so far.

 

[Lord Ernest]

I'm curious how she defines the Maltusians as "Greater" when there's actual individuals, entities and phenomena more powerful then her and her species.

Like, seriously, just using the Orange Light I'm fairly certain the Illustres could give them a run for their money; she couldn't break out of his constructs that one time. She may consider the Source Wall just a wall, but I don't think Maltusians can escape it and if the Source ever intervened, not that it would happen obviously, I'm fairly certain it would just smack them and call them whippersnappers or something. And they can't contain or manage the horror that is Apokolips or the arrogance that is New Genesis. I'm also convinced that a Titan could kick their can if they were on his turf.

So Greater how, exactly? I guess they have a greater number of powerful individuals in their species, since every Maltusian is a fairly powerful reality-warper, and nobody is denying that they're old, but she even mentioned the Anti-Monitor and is aware of the Endless guys, and those guys are totally greater overall; so her statement sounds as arrogant as the Illustres thought.

 

[Darko]

I'm curious how she defines the Maltusians as "Greater" when there's actual individuals, entities and phenomena more powerful then her and her species.

Like, seriously, just using the Orange Light I'm fairly certain the Illustres could give them a run for their money; she couldn't break out of his constructs that one time. She may consider the Source Wall just a wall, but I don't think Maltusians can escape it and if the Source ever intervened, not that it would happen obviously, I'm fairly certain it would just smack them and call them whippersnappers or something. And they can't contain or manage the horror that is Apokolips or the arrogance that is New Genesis. I'm also convinced that a Titan could kick their can if they were on his turf.

So Greater how, exactly? I guess they have a greater number of powerful individuals in their species, since every Maltusian is a fairly powerful reality-warper, and nobody is denying that they're old, but she even mentioned the Anti-Monitor and is aware of the Endless guys, and those guys are totally greater overall; so her statement sounds as arrogant as the Illustres thought.

Click to shrink...

It looks like arrogance isn't just a Guardian trait.

Though she did use to be a Guardian.