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

Old Knife · May 23, 2019

............. Man. This Zoat got the short end of the stick. Wonder if his Krona ring can fight Time Trapper paul though.

Chojin Patriarch · May 23, 2019

Mr Zoat said:
Encumbrance

Day 63
23:24 GMT +3

Ah, the Anti-Green Lantern. Poor guy.

The 'meddling kids', currently in the cell. Timothy 'Robin' Drake is bound hand and foot in solidly ring-welded metal manacles.

Grayson being Nightwing and Todd being Red Hood or dead, respectively, I take it.

Bartholomew 'Impulse' Allen is contained within a non-Newtonian gel I stole from the Trickster.

Since Wallace West is Flash and Barry Allen is dead...

LeTonya 'Cyborgirl' Charles is far simpler to contain.

Not one I've heard of, surprisingly. Guessing Victor Stone is working with the league?

Physically removing parts of her motive systems leaves her paralysed more effectively that any number of chains or force fields. I've left them in a clearly labelled box upstairs so that they can be reinstalled without too much difficultly.

...Though I foresee slight trauma from the whole paralysis thing...

Kara 'Supergirl' In-Ze is being held within a cell lit with red sunlight. The material of the barrier is designed to block kryptonite radiation, and just outside that is most of the green kryptonite I have at my disposal. No risk to her if she stays put, quite a lot of discomfort if she tries to break out.

...Yeah, sounds like minimum necessary force for a DCAU Kryptonian. So, basically 'Young Justice'/3rd-generation sidekicks, Kara excepted.

"I'm sorry, Impulse, I couldn't understand that."

Probably something a boy his age should not be using in any company.

Three hours. Shit.

Ooh, that time limit is still in place? Seriously unlucky guy.

The League actually managed to arrest him not so long ago. He got away, but he got away extra-legally and so is cut off from-.

This is basically former-executive, super-scientist running around in exo-armour, one-time Brainiac host Luthor, yes? Not one of the nicer ones.

Superman. Superman is coming right here. And that's a lot faster than he usually-.

Moving fast because you have his cousin captive, no doubt.

The slave-animal will plot an attack strategy. If it does not, first stage punishment will begin.

More I hear of this AI, the less I like it.

Hm. He should be able to see me my now.

Hm. He should be able to see me by now.

"Where's Kara, Anti-Green Lantern?"

Dear god, that nom de guerre is unwieldy...

"I know some people at STAR Labs. Why don't you swing by tomorrow and let them take a look at your ring? See if they can come up with something."

I doubt human scientists could mess with Qwardian science all that easily, but... Earth Bullshit.

One of the few alternates who could be considered a victim, rather than a hero or villain... Let's hope things improve for him somehow.

Handlewithcare · May 23, 2019

And the League hasn't prioritised helping him but is instead fighting him like any other supervillain? Dicks.

Oglymogly · May 23, 2019

Woot, I love seeing alt Pauls! This one is tragic, but I do enjoy reading about him. He can't really build any infrastructure or many connections, has very little in terms of equipment, due to loosing it when he dies, and is always on a time limit. Add in his ring's personality, and you have a Paul who is constantly stressed and panicked, which is where he does his most interesting things. I wonder how many big guns he has reached for?

Mr Zoat · May 23, 2019

DrThoth said:
Not sure who Misha is

Her Ubu, basically.

I'm aware that this isn't exactly DCAU but it's similar enough, so can I ask where in that setting's timeline this is taking place?

The DCAU from the unaired promo.

Old Knife said:
............. Man. This Zoat got the short end of the stick. Wonder if his Krona ring can fight Time Trapper paul though.

His ring was probably made by Kalmin.

Gantradies · May 23, 2019

Handlewithcare said:
And the League hasn't prioritised helping him but is instead fighting him like any other supervillain? Dicks.

uf they know he's constantly being tortured, and they continued as such.... agreed.
though Kal-El essentially sitting back whilst he knows someone is constantly being tortured sounds a...little off...

how do Anti-Green rings charge again?

Mr Zoat · May 23, 2019

Chojin Patriarch said:
Hm. He should be able to see me my now.
Hm. He should be able to see me by now.

Thank you, corrected.

Gantradies said:
uf they know he's constantly being tortured, and they.... agreed.

Precisely how antithesis rings work isn't widely known.

how do Anti-Green rings charge again?

They feed off regular Green Lantern rings.

Stsword · May 23, 2019

Mr Zoat said:
They feed off regular Green Lantern rings.

Although I do wonder if they had debuted after the War of Light if the writers would have given them the power to feed off of other lanterns too or if they would have remained mono focused on green lanterns.

moralrelativity · May 23, 2019

Mr Zoat said:
I being accelerating away

I begin

I hope we get to see more of anti-green Paul.

Aeess · May 23, 2019

So has he beent attacking and torturing Jon Stewart every couple of days for the past two months?
Or did he manage a better way to recharge the ring.
Because it would only require Jon visitiging another planet in his sector or Oa for a week, for the SI to end uo with an empty ring.
I assume it would have been much more efficient to just steal Johns personal lantern and recharge from it.

Also couldn't this Paul use human augmentation to prevent himself from dying everyday, I mean he is the only Paul who has a human soul made out of earth magic in a human body. So things like the Garrick formula should work.

Stsword · May 23, 2019

Aeess said:
Also couldn't this Paul use human augmentation to prevent himself from dying everyday, I mean he is the only Paul who has a human soul made out of earth magic in a human body. So things like the Garrick formula should work.

Refresh my memory, why would Anti-GL Paul have a human soul made out of earth magic?

Aeess · May 23, 2019

Stsword said:
Refresh my memory, why would Anti-GL Paul have a human soul made out of earth magic?

Regular baths in lazarus pits restoring his body and infusing it with earth magic

This is what Zoat said after someone implied he has no soul.

Lazarus Pits are themselves magical. He might not have had a soul the first time, but he's almost certainly developed one by now

Mr Zoat · May 23, 2019

moralrelativity said:
I begin

Thank you, corrected.

Wheenesss · May 23, 2019

Mr Zoat said:
Thank you, corrected.

Has Anti-Green Lantern Paul considered.... just not bothering with Lazarus Pits anymore and letting the ring kill him permanently when it runs out of power? Because honestly this whole cycle of being forced to antagonize the Earth Green Lanterns for power and hunting for Lazarus Pits just wouldn't feel worth it past a certain point if I was in his position.

It's not a life anyone would want to live. Especially just on the hope that he'll eventually run into someone who can remove the ring without killing him and destroy the damn thing.

Buggy123 · May 23, 2019

Wheenesss said:
Has Anti-Green Lantern Paul considered.... just not bothering with Lazarus Pits anymore and letting the ring kill him permanently when it runs out of power? Because honestly this whole cycle of being forced to antagonize the Earth Green Lanterns for power and hunting for Lazarus Pits just wouldn't feel worth it past a certain point if I was in his position.

It's not a life anyone would want to live. Especially just on the hope that he'll eventually run into someone who can remove the ring without killing him and destroy the damn thing.

The ring might not actually let him do that. He did say he didn't think that dying would get him out of it either; it's perfectly possible that the ring would torture him if it thought he was trying to do that.

Aeess · May 23, 2019

There is also him probably ending up in hell after he dies.

Mr Zoat · May 23, 2019

Wheenesss said:
Has Anti-Green Lantern Paul considered.... just not bothering with Lazarus Pits anymore and letting the ring kill him permanently when it runs out of power? Because honestly this whole cycle of being forced to antagonize the Earth Green Lanterns for power and hunting for Lazarus Pits just wouldn't feel worth it past a certain point if I was in his position.

It's not a life anyone would want to live. Especially just on the hope that he'll eventually run into someone who can remove the ring without killing him and destroy the damn thing.

No. Aside from the obvious problem of the ring just picking someone else, he's thanatophobic. A plan which includes his death is not worth considering, even if there's a certain amount of evidence that afterlives exist.

Aeess said:
There is also him probably ending up in hell after he dies.

That too. And the local Hades is an arse.

PDV · May 23, 2019

Mr Zoat said:
. And the local Hades is an arse.

Why is he so different from Earth-16 Hades?

Stsword · May 23, 2019

PDV said:
Why is he so different from Earth-16 Hades?

Because DC generally portrays Hades as an ass and Zoat decided to ignore that, as is his prerogative.

Hades sends undeserving souls to Tartarus to be tortured for eternity by demons in Artemis's series. He also cosplays as Tim Curry from Legend.

In Wonder Woman, he tries to kill Wonder Woman, Ares kills him instead to become the new god of death, and that was shown as an improvement. Let that sink in- Ares as an improvement.

To make a reference to The Good Place, becoming a Hellenist in DC is asking for an afterlife of two mouthed bears and penis bees.

Maxx Crowley · May 23, 2019

PDV said:
Why is he so different from Earth-16 Hades?

Because DC has that stupid tendency of making Hades a Satan analog. Either because they haven't bothered to read ANY mythology about him, or just assume that their audience are too stupid to accept anything other then Underworld=Hell, thus Hades=Lucifer/Satan.

I mean, in just about every story I've ever read about Hades, he comes across as one of the more reasonable, helpful, and downright nice of the Greek Gods. He'll lend out artifacts of power to just about any hero who asks or has someone ask on their behalf.

Cuchulin · May 23, 2019

Maxx Crowley said:
Because DC has that stupid tendency of making Hades a Satan analog. Either because they haven't bothered to read ANY mythology about him, or just assume that their audience are too stupid to accept anything other then Underworld=Hell, thus Hades=Lucifer/Satan.
I mean, in just about every story I've ever read about Hades, he comes across as one of the more reasonable, helpful, and downright nice of the Greek Gods. He'll lend out artifacts of power to just about any hero who asks or has someone ask on their behalf.

To be fair MOST of pop culture tends to conflate Hades with Satan/make him evil, just look at Disney's Hercules!

Also when it comes Paragon switch Patron Gods, I don't think he really needs to. Sending all those Alien souls to Hades while good for the Hellenic underworld is also most likely going to cause a lot of change and disruption there as the sudden flood of new souls after a very long and intense drought forces will need room to be made for them.

Mquz · May 24, 2019

Has he considered having his hand cut off after he dies (so the ring can't kill him), and THEN using the Lazarus pit? Or just having his hand cut off while in a Lazarus pit so that he doesn't die?

Coda · May 24, 2019

Mquz said:
Has he considered having his hand cut off after he dies (so the ring can't kill him), and THEN using the Lazarus pit? Or just having his hand cut off while in a Lazarus pit so that he doesn't die?

Something along those lines has occurred to him.

The ring tortured him for contemplating it.

Mr Zoat · May 24, 2019

Difficulty

Day 97
21:54 GMT

I grit my teeth against the pain as I watch the Justice League's wake.

Superman's… Dead. And not from an assault from Doomsday or Luthor finally getting lucky. From some sort of energy weapon built into the chassis of a robot built by the local Toyman. I actually.. heard about the attack while it was happening, but I didn't bother flying to Metropolis because… It was five people the League had handled before. And I'm a wanted fugitive.

The slave-animal will initiate an attack.

Haa-h. Owah-agh. Oh, that hurts. But I've sort of gotten used to it. Nearly a hundred days of sporadic torture will do that, I suppose. But there's still a limit, and I don't want to die any more now than I did during that first week. Or make someone else deal with Master.

"Anti-Green Lantern to Green Lantern John Stewart."

Master flickers as it opens a channel.

"Go ahead."

"Lantern Stewart."

"What do you want?"

"To pass on my condolences. Superman was a great man, and he'll be sorely missed."

"You've got a funny way of showing that you respect someone."

"Did you know that he talked STAR Labs into working on my ring problem? After your sidekicks tracked Nyssa and I down, he used the opportunity to reach out to me. To try and.. find a way to free me. That's not something the rest of you would have done. And I… Appreciated it."

"Okay. So why don't you 'appreciate' your way into a prison cell?"

"Because I'd be dead in seven hours. And Ra's al Ghul is still alive. Though if you ever find a way to fix this whole situation I will do my best to hand myself-"

Stage three punishment begins.

"-ughahahahaha!"

"What happened?"

"Master was.. less than impressed.. by my refusal to attack… Aaaaaaagh! To attack the Green Lanterns at Superman's funeral. It's… An even less fun. Ugh. Fun time to be me than normal."

"Hey, GL, can I just use this real quick?"

"Flash, don't play with-."

"Hey, Anti-Green Lantern, right?"

"F-flash. As I said to-."

"Yeah, I heard. But unlike GL I actually looked out of the window."

I look-. Ah. I wave back.

"So why are you up here?"

"I don't think there's a future in… Randomly mugging Green Lanterns for their ring-charge. With the Society of Shadows exterminated I don't really have much to do between deaths. I've actually had time to sleep, which is.. nice, but Master isn't.. satisfied."

"Can't really help you there. I mean, I'm sympathetic and all, but-."

"On the contrary. Master wants a target. You're a man short."

"Ah..?"

"I realise that I'm not.. really what you want. I'm certainly not Superman. But I can't take this-. Eurgh! This level of punishment indefinitely."

"Yeah, I… Get what you're saying. But you've killed a lot of people."

"No one I killed wasn't a serial killer themselves. Lantern Stewart killed while a marine and I'm confident that Ms Hol killed as a Wingman. Is there a moral distinction, or are you merely criticising me because I was very good at it?"

"Ah. J'onn, you wanna field-?"

"What are you suggesting?"

"You permit me to tag along when my assistance is required. I recharge by sparring with Lantern Stewart, or with such other Green Lanterns as want to learn how to fight Anti-Green Lanterns. Master gains data by fighting people you need fought. I comply with League rules of engagement for the duration of our working relationship."

"And what of your pursuit of Ra's al Ghul?"

"I would politely ask you if he's really someone you should be protecting, but the more work you throw at me, the less time I have to spend hunting him."

"That is not reassuring."

"You know my deal with Nyssa. She keeps me alive, I kill Ra's al Ghul. Working with the League won't stop my dying every day. Unless you've been sitting on a fix for the last ninety days."

"We have not."

"So? Do you want me outside pissing in, or inside-. Detaining people with minimal necessary force and handing them over to the lawful authorities?"

"Stand by."

The slave-animal will explain itself.

In-.

Ow. Ow.

"In short, you've caused me so much pain during our acquaintance that the threat of more doesn't have the same impact that it used to! And the fact that these people trip over more weird fights than I'll ever find on my own. Now that I'm resilient enough to withstand the punishment you dish out due to your own short-sighted programming, I can pursue a more rational path."

"The slave-animal does not make policy."

"It looks like I do now! You know full well that if you increase my punishment level I won't be able to f-function! Kill me and fly off? Great, I'll be up and about again in three days maximum, and there's a Green Lantern right there to hunt you down before you can reach a new wearer! I'm doing this, ring!"

NnnnnNNnnNnnNnNNnNnnnnNnnNn!

"…L? AL? Are you still there?"

I start breathing again as my body unlocks. "Yes.. Flash, I'm here. I apologise for my lapse in concentration. My ring is being unusually petty." No, usually petty. I just usually don't deliberately antagonise it like this. "Is there a consensus?"

"I wouldn't say that. But a whole bunch of supervillains are attacking Metropolis right now. So if you're-."

"Understood." I turn towards the planet. Metropolis is roughly there… I start flying towards it. "I'll be there in a couple of minutes. Please have Lantern Stewart feed me information as it becomes available."

"You should probably wait until the rest of us get there."

"I'm not going to rush into the middle and tell them to 'come at me', Flash. But civilians are dying now, and if I die? All you have to do is make sure that Nyssa gets the body."

"Ah, yeah? But you're also a wanted fugitive, and while I think it's great that you're rethinking the whole serial killer thing the police don't know about that."

"Okay, but if the police can't stop the supervillains who are already there… Why do you think they'll be able to stop me?"

Mr Zoat · May 24, 2019

Cuchulin said:
To be fair MOST of pop culture tends to conflate Hades with Satan/make him evil, just look at Disney's Hercules!

Yeah, it's basically me and the book version of Percy Jackson who aren't slandering him.

Coda said:
Something along those lines has occurred to him.

The ring tortured him for contemplating it.

It also forces him to armour his arms to prevent it.

Vaermina · May 24, 2019

Mr Zoat said:
Superman's… Dead. And not from an assault from Doomsday or Luthor finally getting lucky. From some sort of energy weapon built into the chassis of a robot built by the local Toyman. I actually.. heard about the attack while it was happening, but I didn't bother flying to Metropolis because… It was five people the League had handled before. And I'm a wanted fugitive.

It's DCAU Superman, he will be back up in a few months after his body has absorbed enough radiation.

SebazuD · May 24, 2019

Vaermina said:
It's DCAU Superman, he will be back up in a few months after his body has absorbed enough radiation.

Unless this Paul sent Vandal Savage to the Sun or something. Since this is the episode where Superman gets flinged inot the future,
Though I guess if that was the case then Superman could maybe end up meeting the Legion of Superheroes.

Twilight666 · May 24, 2019

Mr Zoat said:
Yeah, it's basically me and the book version of Percy Jackson who aren't slandering him.

Also the Dresden files.

Harry meets him and when Hades asks what he know of him Harry basically says everything we just said about Hades

... and then Hades explains that Kerberos' name is basically Spot

Vaermina · May 24, 2019

SebazuD said:
Unless this Paul sent Vandal Savage to the Sun or something. Since this is the episode where Superman gets flinged inot the future,

Though I guess if that was the case then Superman could maybe end up meeting the Legion of Superheroes.

Are you sure it's that episode? Because I thought Zoat was using a slightly different world.

Chojin Patriarch · May 24, 2019

Mr Zoat said:
I grit my teeth against the pain as I watch the Justice League's wake.

Ooh, Will in full swing...

Superman's… Dead. And not from an assault from Doomsday or Luthor finally getting lucky. From some sort of energy weapon built into the chassis of a robot built by the local Toyman.

Wow, a major divergence!

"Did you know that he talked STAR Labs into working on my ring problem? After your sidekicks tracked Nyssa and I down, he used the opportunity to reach out to me. To try and.. find a way to free me. That's not something the rest of you would have done. And I… Appreciated it."

Take that, Righteous Face-punchers.

I look-. Ah. I wave back.

Cue double-takes from the more inattentive Leaguers.

"No one I killed wasn't a serial killer themselves. Lantern Stewart killed while a marine and I'm confident that Ms Hol killed as a Wingman. Is there a moral distinction, or are you merely criticising me because I was very good at it?"

Nice comeback...

"You permit me to tag along when my assistance is required. I recharge by sparring with Lantern Stewart, or with such other Green Lanterns as want to learn how to fight Anti-Green Lanterns. Master gains data by fighting people you need fought. I comply with League rules of engagement for the duration of our working relationship."

Oh, my. Talk about working around the rules.

"You know my deal with Nyssa. She keeps me alive, I kill Ras's al Ghul.

"You know my deal with Nyssa. She keeps me alive, I kill Ra's al Ghul.

The slave-animal will explain itself.

The Master can shove it where the Source don't shine.

...you dish out due to you own short-sighted programming...

...you dish out due to your own short-sighted programming...

"It looks like I do now! You know full well that if you increase my punishment level I won't be able to f-function! Kill me and fly off? Great, I'll be up and about again in three days maximum, and there's a Green Lantern right there to hunt you down before you can reach a new wearer! I'm doing this, ring!"

Gotcha, ring-bot.

"I'm not going to rush into the middle and tell them to 'come at me', Flash. But civilians are dying now, and if I die? All you have to do is make sure that Nyssa gets the body."

Heroic to the last.

"Okay, but if the police can't stop the supervillains who are already there… Why do you think they'll be able to stop me?"

Most Powerful Weapon in the universe. And In this case, totally accurate.

Oh, man, if we'd been reading this fic all this time, this would be the pinnacle of awesome moments...

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

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