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

[Mr Zoat]

"Alright. What did you think of the court process?"
I was in prison for a-quarter year while they investigated events whose cause was readily apparent."
I was in prison for a quarter-year while they investigated events whose cause was readily apparent."
...the fact that most of the people him killed or crippled were from the area.
...the fact that most of the people he killed or crippled were from the area.
Ring-scans show the ship to be a Ungaran… Looks like an old ore-hauler.
not 'an Ungaran'? Or is it some complex pronunciation that makes it count as a consonant

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[Prince Charon]

"My armour, from when I was a Warhound. Normal fire would not harm it, but this fire is made of philosophy."

"It's the most dangerous kind."

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I like this, quite a lot.

Hey now, Effigy is the Controller's fault.

They came to Earth to do cattle mutilation, some anal probing, and superempowering, you know, the usual alien things on an Earth holiday.

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... yeah, this is pretty consistent with how aliens are depicted in DC (and other superhero settings).

 

[Mquz]

You know Paul... Lying to the guy who just finished an impassioned speech about how he detests liar's probably isn't the best idea...

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Yeah, but making everyone just is actually really simple. Just mind control them / burn an absolute code of honor into their belief systems. The ring can obviously do that. It can brand honor into people.
However, there are consequences, which is what Paul is trying to teach.

 

[Buggy123]

You know Paul... Lying to the guy who just finished an impassioned speech about how he detests liar's probably isn't the best idea...

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In normal, every-day conversation, "Anything" does not typically mean absolutely every single possible thing, just a very wide or unhindered range of things.

And it's a power ring, it can do a damned lot, and a damned lot more if you know what, specifically, you need to want.

 

[Mquz]

In normal, every-day conversation, "Anything" does not typically mean absolutely every single possible thing, just a very wide or unhindered range of things.

And it's a power ring, it can do a damned lot, and a damned lot more if you know what, specifically, you need to want.

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Also, Paul's probably right, in that with an unlimited amount of desire, and clever application, a power ring could probably literally do anything. E.G. scan the entire universe, calculate what needs to possibly be done to achieve a given goal, sneakily rewrite destiny's book by moving the ink around on the page (since it seems to be a physical substance), take a 5th dimensional being's power, mind control a god by physically rewriting their brains through brain surgery / rearrangement of neurons (even if normal brainwashing doesn't work, a power ring could probably do this through branding a god, and forcing them to not resist wanting things by affecting their brain chemistry beforehand), etc...

Not sure how many of these ideas actually work, but a lot of them would make power rings too powerful if they had enough energy.

 

[ForeverShogo]

On another tack, I'm still not really a fan of how the stuff with Xor has played out. But that's mostly because I think he should have been convicted and that the self-defense argument just wouldn't have been applicable for him.

So him already being out and about and an Orange Lantern rankles me.

 

[Ngamer11]

On another tack, I'm still not really a fan of how the stuff with Xor has played out. But that's mostly because I think he should have been convicted and that the self-defense argument just wouldn't have been applicable for him.

So him already being out and about and an Orange Lantern rankles me.

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I imagine that he was let off because so much evidence of Hardcastle messing up was found by the Justice League. Xor is probably still not liked by anyone on Earth, it's just that they can't legally prosecute Xor because of... I'm gonna go with extenuating circumstances.

 

[Mr Zoat]

On another tack, I'm still not really a fan of how the stuff with Xor has played out. But that's mostly because I think he should have been convicted and that the self-defense argument just wouldn't have been applicable for him.

So him already being out and about and an Orange Lantern rankles me.

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Your opinion is shared by a great many people in US 16.

I imagine that he was let off because so much evidence of Hardcastle messing up was found by the Justice League. Xor is probably still not liked by anyone on Earth, it's just that they can't legally prosecute Xor because of... I'm gonna go with extenuating circumstances.

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No, they did prosecute him. The defence won, largely on the grounds that 1) the original police attack on him was illegal and 2) he only attacked people who attacked him first.

 

[Vaermina]

No, they did prosecute him. The defence won, largely on the grounds that 1) the original police attack on him was illegal and 2) he only attacked people who attacked him first.

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There's no way short of the prosecutor purposefully throwing the case in tandem with the judge being corrupt that the police attack would have been considered illegal.

See, you're forgetting that Xor wasn't in the country legally and that most superpowers are classed as deadly weapons.

 

[Buggy123]

There's no way short of the prosecutor purposefully throwing the case in tandem with the judge being corrupt that the police attack would have been considered illegal.

See, you're forgetting that Xor wasn't in the country legally and that most superpowers are classed as deadly weapons.

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"Lets set a legal precedent for superpowers being considered lethal weapons, i'm sure nothing bad will happen!"
- A judge who just set the world on a course for a Days of Future Past-style dystopian future.

 

[Maxx Crowley]

1) the original police attack on him was illegal

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Yeeeah...the odds of that happening in an American courtroom are slim as all hell. Between giving a warning, and "feeling" our lives were in danger. They'd be completely covered.

Not sure how it works on your side of the pond. I mean over here, cops have burst into the wrong house after improperly executing a search warrant and they still didn't even get a slap on the wrist.

Hell, I've never even HEARD of an "illegal" police attack. Excessive force, sure, but straight up illegal?

 

[Silveraith]

Okay… "Question for you. You have a house. The house is on fire. The house contains every object that you value." He grunts quietly in acknowledgement as the ice vanishes. "You have time to remove one thing from the house before it and everything left in it is destroyed by the fire. What do you remove?"

...

"No, I said that you could take one thing. The fire was in the house. Xor, I think we need to-."

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I think the first should be changed to "There is a fire in the house." otherwise the second doesn't make sense.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Yeeeah...the odds of that happening in an American courtroom are slim as all hell. Between giving a warning, and "feeling" our lives were in danger. They'd be completely covered.

Not sure how it works on your side of the pond. I mean over here, cops have burst into the wrong house after improperly executing a search warrant and they still didn't even get a slap on the wrist.

Hell, I've never even HEARD of an "illegal" police attack. Excessive force, sure, but straight up illegal?

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Still got six years before I can talk about the obvious case here, but US 16 has a wrinkle real police don't have to worry about. Superheroes might break into places all the time but they don't shoot people. One or two incidents of well-respected superheroes publically stating that they were withdrawing their support from police forces they thought were getting a bit trigger happy resulted in the guidelines concerning the application of force getting tightened up.

Edit: And as mentioned in the original confrontation, Idaho versus Weaver.

I think the first should be changed to "There is a fire in the house." otherwise the second doesn't make sense.

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No, I think it's reasonable to assume that a house on fire has fire in it.

 

[Sad Machine]

Anyone else getting pissed that evrey schmuch in the galaxy seems to have a way to no sell lantern rings, like....really?

 

[Mquz]

"Lets set a legal precedent for superpowers being considered lethal weapons, i'm sure nothing bad will happen!"
- A judge who just set the world on a course for a Days of Future Past-style dystopian future.

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Ah, but in some countries pillows are, and possibly fists in others. You can demonstrate fists can be lethal weapons for non-super powered people, and say he was using fists, therefore using lethal weapons.

 

[Vaermina]

"Lets set a legal precedent for superpowers being considered lethal weapons, i'm sure nothing bad will happen!"

- A judge who just set the world on a course for a Days of Future Past-style dystopian future.

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Given we know that people used their superpowers to kill that precedent is already set.

Anyone else getting pissed that evrey schmuch in the galaxy seems to have a way to no sell lantern rings, like....really?

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Contrary to forum fanon, Lantern Rings aren't really that big of a thing...

And I include the non-canon extra versatile less emotionally corrupting AI can handle everything Zoat version of Lantern Rings in that statement.

The only real exception to that are White Rings, which are less Lantern Rings and more reality alteration devices.

 

[bobsimmo]

No, I think it's reasonable to assume that a house on fire has fire in it.

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gutter fires, roof fires.

think its pedantic, but i know multiple people for whom house insurance said did not count, despite smoke damage.

 

[Maxx Crowley]

Still got six years before I can talk about the obvious case here, but US 16 has a wrinkle real police don't have to worry about. Superheroes might break into places all the time but they don't shoot people. One or two incidents of well-respected superheroes publically stating that they were withdrawing their support from police forces they thought were getting a bit trigger happy resulted in the guidelines concerning the application of force getting tightened up.

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Fair enough.

I suppose with Supers running around, things would simply have to be different.

Anyone else getting pissed that evrey schmuch in the galaxy seems to have a way to no sell lantern rings, like....really?

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Mmm...yeah, have been for a while. I've just come to accept that OL's ring is incredibly weak. I'm honestly surprised when he actually defeats a villain with the ring, rather then some other gadget or someone else doing it for him. A long time ago I brought up the fact that OL's bullets seem to be more powerful than any construct he can cook up.

Hell, I don't even think he bothers using constructs much at all anymore. Pity, I rather liked his 4 corners sonic attack from, well damn, his first real fight.

But after his curbstomping and murder at the hands of the Angel of War (and his utter lack of reaction to what happened) I have little to no confidence in OL during a fight.

Contrary to forum fanon, Lantern Rings aren't really that big of a thing...

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Other then, you know, canonically stated to be the most powerful weapon in the universe, with NO known upper limit. I mean...

Energy Conduit

Energy Projection

Force Fields

Energy Construct Creation

Superhuman Strength: with either a force field or construct.

Phasing

Environmental Playback

Invisibility and Light Refraction

Energy Twin

Energy Absorption

Flight

Wormholes and Spacial Warps

Time Travel

Limited Cellular Regeneration

Electromagnetic Scanning

Galactic Encyclopedia

Universal Translator

Material Alteration

Ring Duplication

Emergency Beacon

Homing Beacon

Mind Alteration

Pocket Dimension

Preset Conditions: Commands can be stored in the ring to be executed at a later date even if the bearer is not wearing the ring.

Resurrection

Thought Relay

What utter pieces of trash right? I mean, what with their stated ability to do, and I QUOTE, ahem..."ANYTHING" their wearer can think of, and has the Emotion to power.

 

[Vaermina]

Other then, you know, canonically stated to be the most powerful weapon in the universe, with NO known upper limit. I mean...

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They are known as the most versatile tool, not the most powerful weapon.

Energy Conduit

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That's the power battery not the power ring.

Energy Construct Creation

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Not as powerful as assumed because it relies solely on the mind of the wielder.

Limited Cellular Regeneration

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Only Blue rings.

Material Alteration

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No, they can't.

Wormholes and Spacial Warps

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They allow access to already existent wormholes and spacial warps, they don't allow you to create them.

Pocket Dimension

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Not actually a thing power rings themselves are shown able to do.

Resurrection

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Only White rings.

 

[bobsimmo]

Material Alteration​

No, they can't.

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you sure it wasn't a golden age thing?

 

[Vaermina]

You sure it wasn't a golden age thing?

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Yup, that was just some guy on the Wiki taking the fact the rings generate uniforms to mean they can alter matter.

Which was rather ignoring that the uniform is just a construct generated by said ring, hence it disappearing when the ring looses power.

 

[Mr Zoat]

24th January
11:17 GMT

The ship's crew are hunkering down, good. Xor will be here in seconds-.

The figure extends both hands towards me, shifting in space without apparent propulsion. I evade-. Ring, what am I fighting and what is it firing at me?

Unable to analyse.

Great, space magic, now? I didn't think that was possible, but if-.

No. Passive glow disruption.

Qwardians? Some other Maltusian faction? Pain in the arse, but okay. Make a construct sensor and scan.

Compliance.

"wRaH!"

My opponent waves his arms and I spot the stars behind him skip-. I raise construct armour as the disruption wave passes over me-. Ah! Whatever that attack was, it bypassed my construct armour and my regular armour. And if my environmental shield hadn't soaked it I might well have died.

"Did I win y-?"

I generate two laser constructs and shoot him in the eyes, maintaining the beams as I recreate the sensor-

"Gah!"

-construct and try and work out what I'm seeing. Damage pattern matches… Ahhhh. Closest match is a.. martian using molecular destabilisation. Can't be a.. martian, he's not using telepathy, but there's no inherent reason why someone else with telekinesis and shapeshifting couldn't do it as well...

He gestures and my laser constructs are shredded. Since they seem to be keeping him distracted, reform them and keep firing.

Compliance.

"Lantern Xor, recover the crew and defend them."

"I obey."

There's a faint orange glow as Xor cuts his way through the hull on the far side of the ship. His service history included enough sweep-and-clears that I'm sure he knows what he's doing.

Random bullshit powers suggests human. Ring?

Subject is speaking American English.

I think some Ungarans speak English, but the language hasn't travelled all that much off Earth. So if I assume he's a metahuman whose powers allow him to fly in space… He should know me by sight, shouldn't he?

"Earth law doesn't-."

A.. burning wall appears between us, growing as my lasers attempt to move around it to maintain fire on his eyes. What? How is-? I mean, yes, a martian could move chunks of their body into a novel arrangement and create a controlled destabilisation of its molecular structure, but it wouldn't just be… Suddenly wall. That's a construct-like effect. Ring, are you sure there's no power ring in operation here?

No evidence of power ring activity.

I.. think there's a certain amount of circumstantial evidence.

Numerous technologies exist which can-.

Yes, I know.

I dismiss the lasers and pull back slightly, ring scan showing me as Xor leaves the ship with the crew in tow. Protecting the crew is the most important thing, and now that they're safe I can try-.

A beam of vacuum-proof fire blasts past me as whoever this is switches from a solid wall to a shifting series of plates. As with a Lantern, there's a thin line of fire between his body and each plate. But he's missing his shots. No guidance or AI? If he's a general telekinetic, I'm the only object here… He should just be able to feel me, even if he can't exert enough force on me to disable me. Does he not.. know that? Has he only recently manifested his powers? If so he's doing well but-

I generate a psi-shock grenade and fire it at his shields.

-I'm still confident of my ability to take him in alive. I should probably visit-

"Uh-Ughh-h!"

-Ungara at some point anyway.

Ah. A Lantern's constructs would have collapsed after getting hit with a psi-shock grenade. His have remained in place, but they've stopped moving and from what I can make out the man himself appears to have stopped moving with them. Railgun, crumbler rounds set for premature detonation, fire at the thinnest layer of barriers… Make a hole, send bands of orange light through the gap and grab him before he can recover. Okay, his mouth is exposed to space so gassing him isn't an option, but the neural inhibitor I used on Larfleeze is perfectly viable. That will stop him forming coherent thoughts while I get a better look at his brain. The brains of human telepaths tend to have certain features in common, and I'll be far happier about this if I can suppress his unusual abilities without suppressing his entire mind.

…

What am I..? Looking at? I mean, it looks… Kind of human. I definitely recognise some of the neural architecture. But every.. part has been alt-. That looks martian, it's even shapeshifting sl-.

His eyes focus and phase!

Ah-!

Burning whatever-this-is sears off most of my chest plate and face plate and.. some of my actual face, but now that the phase shift is active it's just passing through me. I warp back, getting out of the way as much as I can before phasing back in and starting repairs.

"Who did that to you?"

"Fuck you! What the fuck were you doing to me!?"

"Trying to work out how to safely defuse you. That looked-" He flings a fiery net at me, and I shoot a hole through it with crumbler rounds. "-martian. Did someone alter your brain?"

"Yeah! And it feels great!"

"Who did it? Why did you attack this ship?"

"Call themselves the Controllers!" What. "And apparently the people who own it did something to piss them off, I don't know."

Ring, send scans to Controller Hinon and ask her what the heck is going on.

Compliance.

"I report to Controller Hinon. And no one mentioned you."

"I didn't even know they had names. And yeah, I know you work for 'em."

"Then would you care to explain-?"

"You shot me! And you're trying to steal my kills!"

"I shot you because you were continuing to attack the ship. And I'm not trying to steal your kills. I'm trying to prevent you killing them."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why? Because, firstly, I'm assigned to this Sector, and that means best practice. If I want to take someone in, I make every effort to peacefully detain them, and then hand them over to the relevant authorities. I certainly don't grab a random merchant vessel-."

"They're pirates."

"Have they been convicted in a court?"

"The fuck is your problem?" He sounds genuinely mystified.

"That ship has no guns, minimal shields and minimal armour. It isn't a threat. You could easily have disabled it and taken the crew captive."

"Pi-rates." He half-turns. "Where did they g-?"

"Controller Hinon is on Earth. Come with me and we'll both find out what's going on."

 

[AidanMorgan]

Hm.

Interesting. I wonder what manner of evil plot is going on here.

 

[Pinklestia]

Hm.

Interesting. I wonder what manner of evil plot is going on here.

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Yeah... giving powers to someone at random and hope that makes them loyal to you rarely works out unless you can xut out their powers out anytime you want.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

The ship's crew are hunkering down, good. Xor will be here in seconds-.

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Xor needs to learn advanced movement techniques, that delay could be fatal.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

My opponent waves his arms and I spot the stars behind him skip-. I raise construct armour as the disruption waves passes over me-. Ah! Whatever that attack was, it bypassed my construct armour and my regular armour. And if my environmental shield hadn't soaked it I might well have died.

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Oooh, nasty.

"Did I win y-?"

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This ain't a game, kid.

I generate two laser constructs and shoot him in the eyes, maintaining the beams as I recreate the sensor-

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Mean move, nice.

Ah. A Lantern's constructs would have collapsed after getting hit with a psi-shock grenade. His have remained in place, but they've stopped moving and from what I can make out the man himself appears to have stopped moving with them.

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Interesting. A subconscious system to maintain created objects?

Railgun, crumbler rounds set for premature detonation, fire at the thinnest layer of barriers… Make a hole, send bands of orange light through the gap and grab him before he can recover. Okay, his mouth is exposed to space so gassing his isn't an option, but the neural inhibitor I used on Larfleeze is perfectly viable. That will stop him forming coherent thoughts while I get a better look at his brain. The brains of human telepaths tend to have certain features in common, and I'll be far happier about this if I can suppress his unusual abilities without suppressing his entire mind.

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And once OL has time to focus and think, the fight is done. Nice.

That look martian, it's even shapeshifting sl-.

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That looks martian, it's even shapeshifting sl-.

Burning whatever-this-is sears off most of my chest plate and face plate and..

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Seeing a double space here, at least in the reply box. Could be a non-displaying character?

"Fuck you! What the fuck were you doing to me!"

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Chock full of rage. If not for the Wiki link last chapter, I would have thought Rankorr, from the Red Lanterns (post flashpoint, admittedly.)

"Yeah! And it feels great!"

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Pysiological stimulus via endorphin release to encourage power use? Insidious.

"Call themselves the Controllers!"

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"Called themselves the Controllers!"

What.

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Damn straight what.

"And apparently the people who own it did something to piss them off, I don't know."

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So he was remotely aimed? Oh this just gets better and better.

"You shot me! And you're trying to steal my kills!"

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Seriously, what does he think this is, Call of Duty?

"Why?"

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Because unlike you, kid, he's not a psychopath, artificial or otherwise. (well, outside of Orange Enlightenment.)

"That ship has no guns, minimal shield and minimal armour.

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"That ship has no guns, minimal shields and minimal armour.

You could easily have disabled it and taking the crew captive."

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You could easily have disabled it and taken the crew captive."

"Pi-rates." He half-turns. "Where did they g-?"

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No sensory enhancements? sounds like someone tried to make a cheap knockoff of a lantern.

"Controller Hinon is on Earth. Come with me and we'll both find out what's going on."

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And then Hinon experiences enough Rage to qualify her for a red ring...

Seriously, someone's ass is getting handed to them for this. If not FED to them...

 

[Senevri]

This... Could be someone besides Martin van Wyck. The Malthusian ship with the burner, and rise of the OLC, might lead to an experimentation with more of an end goal besides 'let' s see what happens'.

 

[l---erddad---l]

Hm.

Interesting. I wonder what manner of evil plot is going on here.

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A group of Controllers decided that inefficiently being evil is the best way to SCIENCE!

I'm gonna call them Cauldron until we get an official name.

 

[Prosecutor-0]

Ring, as you sure there's no power ring in operation here?
."

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Typo - "are you sure..."

 

[Mr Zoat]

That look martian, it's even shapeshifting sl-.
That looks martian, it's even shapeshifting sl-.
Burning whatever-this-is sears off most of my chest plate and face plate and..
Seeing a double space here, at least in the reply box. Could be a non-displaying character?
"That ship has no guns, minimal shield and minimal armour.
"That ship has no guns, minimal shields and minimal armour.
You could easily have disabled it and taking the crew captive."
You could easily have disabled it and taken the crew captive."

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Thank you, corrected.

"Call themselves the Controllers!"
"Called themselves the Controllers!"

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No, he skipped the 'they' because his speech is informal.

"Fuck you! What the fuck were you doing to me!"
Chock full of rage. If not for the Wiki link last chapter, I would have thought Rankorr, from the Red Lanterns (post flashpoint, admittedly.)

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Rankorr is a stupid character and I will never use him.

 

[Mquz]

Remember, it was mentioned that Time Trapper was a Controller.