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

I… Dimly remember Indigo Lanterns being able to use other colours in the comics, but knowing what I do now about power rings… That doesn't make sense. Power rings are connected to a single emotion by their very structure, and naturally crowd the others out. You could make a ring that linked to multiple colours, but it would tear itself a part the moment you felt more than one emotion about something. Compassion isn't… Special in that sense, and in any case Dreamer's dream image showed us the simple indigo ring that I expected.

It should only work for compassion.

But that's clearly not the case.
The obvious answer is you don't know nearly as much as you think you do about Power Rings.
 
Maybe indigo rings can make the user into the focus for channeling other colors? We know it's possible to use spectrum energy to some extent without a ring, even if you haven't ascended. That would explain how they use other colors, and why the power level of those colors is limited for them.
 
13th February 2013
19:27 GMT -5


I open my mouth, then close it again as Moonrider shakes his head at me.

The illusory image of Peldak floats in space in front of Dreamer, staring at her. For her species that's not a sign of aggression: they don't have any psychological mechanisms relating to their ability to threaten each other because they can't threaten each other.
Given their only response to threats seems to be 'play dead', I'm not surprised. On the upside, I'm sure it made their people's development of civilisation quite peaceful for once. Better than some, certainly.

"Why did you attack this shipyard?"

"Because it was there. They use it for making warships. If they can't make warships then they're not a problem for anyone else."
Naturally compassionate of her. Though I suspect there was a hint of 'they could hurt my people with these. I don't want that to happen to them.'

"Why wasn't Doctor Ub'x with you?"

"Because he had other things to do and thought it was foolish." Her fronds twitch. "And he was right. I should have practiced first; I was too overjoyed at being able to do anything to think about what I should do."
The downfall of many a cocky new Lantern. The natural assumption that you are invincible, only to run face first into the fact that said invincibility is limited largely by your own emotional state.

"Where did you go afterwards?"

"What's it to you?"
Heh. she sounds like a sassy one, doesn't she?

"We need to speak with you, to get your help with something that needs an Indigo Lantern. Either you or Ub'x or anyone else he has recruited would be fine."

"Why do you need one of us?"
Still makes me wonder how connected these images are to their original. Does the original experience a sort of 'deja vu dream' of this moment next time they sleep, I wonder?

"One of our friends has gone mad with rage. The Orange Lanterns have told us that your ring can fix him."

"Um. Maybe. You would have to ask Ub'x or-."
To be fair, that's still a pretty big assumption OL's making. And the fact it gets him an Indigo Tribesman in a place he can encourage them to help Earth is a bonus, of course.

The illusion wavers for a moment, causing Dreamer to gasp and grasp her head with her right hand.

"Lantern Peldak, where did you go after leaving here?"
Heh. Dreamer pushing her luck a little, I see. And maybe getting a little negative feedback from it.

"I just flew to the next system over so I could practice some. I didn't have anywhere else in mind." She twitches and fades. "I should work on that…"

And gone. I'd ask Dreamer how she is, but Vykin and Moonrider are checking her over. Okay, next system is… Ah, two should could be talking about, one with three gas giants and the other with two. Some automated mining, but the local species haven't anything like mined out their own system yet and no one else wants to start working so closed to them.
Very sensible of them. Don't want to poke the anthill, so to speak.

"I'll take a look."

Wanting to get better, stronger. Learning to focus emotions should disrupt the general feel of residual desires…

I step out
Good to see his own empathic senses are close enough now to get a workable lock on from the echoes.

and reappear next to the upper level of a hydrogen siphon. I can see the damage where the main magnetic column has been repeatedly pierced, and the armour plates slowly drifting away where they've been torn off and the charred metal where the defence turrets were destroyed. Not a lot of defences on something like this. An attacker would almost certainly prefer to take it intact so that they could use it in its former owner's place, and not putting heavier defences in places helps keep the cost down.
And honestly, using force might be unnecessary anyway, depending on how good your electronic warfare capabilities are versus their intrusion countermeasures.

Hm.

Looks like standard energy pulses, various strengths. I drift around to one that feels like desire, but I can't see anything that would mark this turret out as more or less significant than the others.
Sounds like she was testing her ability to emulate other emotions.

How did she do that?

I… Dimly remember Indigo Lanterns being able to use other colours in the comics, but knowing what I do now about power rings… That doesn't make sense. Power rings are connected to a single emotion by their very structure, and naturally crowd the others out. You could make a ring that linked to multiple colours, but it would tear itself a part the moment you felt more than one emotion about something. Compassion isn't… Special in that sense, and in any case Dreamer's dream image showed us the simple indigo ring that I expected.
Which raises so many questions.

It should only work for compassion.

But that's clearly not the case.
It is quite the conundrum, isn't it?

BOOM!

I drift away from the damaged siphon as the Forevercar flies in, followed by Lightray and Bd'g-. I hope he's got permission to be out of his Sector. I'd hate to get him in trouble for helping me. Dreamer makes eye contact with me and I gesture to the siphon with my right arm…
I suspect they have provisions now for encounters with you, OL. Probably something along the lines of 'try not to let the madman get up to any mischief unattended.'

And look down at the swirling clouds of the gas giant below us, the siphon's funnel getting smaller and smaller before vanishing into invisibility well before is reaches the storm-wreathed atmosphere. It's… Actually beautiful.

Once this whole mess with the Anti-Life is over, I'd… Actually quite like to do a little sightseeing. Hopefully without spending the whole time working like last time.
Pfft. Buckley's chance, OL. Maybe in a few years time...

I shake my head and fly back towards where Dreamer has summoned the local dream of Peldak. She's better able to interrogate it than I am, and I shouldn't just stick my oar in while she's getting reaccustomed to her own abilities. Instead, I fall in besides Lightray, who appears to be taking a similarly hands-off approach.

"Lightray, I have a question."
Oh, heck. Brace yourself, 'Ray.

"Really? I have several."

"I'm happy to share any mission-critical information you want, and trade for most other things."
Well, at least jolly cooperation is on the table.

"No, I mean, in general."

I turn to look him full in the face, but he's… He's decided to be a nuisance. Fine, I'll just ask, then.
Gee, guys who think they're comedians...

"With Infinity Man working for Apokolips, what happens to Prince Drax?"

He looks uncertain. "How do you know that name?"
Oh, not finding things so funny all of a sudden, are we, 'Ray? :p

"The fact that Uxas had a brother isn't a secret. The fact that he was friends with Izaya is not known to many, but it wasn't a secret either. The place on Apokolips where the Omega Force was stored before Uxas bonded with it isn't anything like as secure as it used to be. It wasn't as hard as you might think to work out that tales of Drax's death were somewhat exaggerated."

"I… See. I hadn't realised that your Lantern Corps' intelligence gathering was so… Thorough."
Oh, OL has all manner of sources. His ass, for instance. :V

"The Reach are a problem for us now, but we know that we're going to have to deal with Darkseid afterwards. And that means that we need to know what's going on."

"Last time a Lantern Corps attacked Apokolips, it did not go well for them."
Yes, still waiting for that big moment with Raker Qarrigat one day...

"Failure is just the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. So: Drax."

"We don't know. The Forever People were our only way of contacting him. We are.. aware that Infinity Man's corrupted presence on your homeworld is our responsibility and we wish to deal with it as swiftly as possible. But we can't send it back to him in its corrupted state. We don't even know if he's still alive."
In other words, they're shit out of luck with it.

"If he's dead, can we send it back to wherever he was?"

"It… Would be better not to, but… Yes."
Since there'd be no directing intelligence any more to allow it to be resummoned, I take it.

"Is there another way to get there?"

"Technically, yes. You get hit by the Omega Effect, and then you get very lucky."
Not really an option. We all know how OL's luck is.

The image of Peldak vanishes, and I give Dreamer my full attention.

"Where to, then?"
At least this one went by without too much hassle, it seems.

"Talok IV. She wanted to master her fear of the dark."

"Then let's go!"
Ah. Homeworld of a possible Sinestro Corpsman, and future birthplace of Shadow Lass of the Legion of Superheroes.

Well, their next destination promises all manner of entertaining moments, I think. Home of the Talokites, literal blue space people with shadow powers. Interesting that the image put it that way, though. 'Master her fear of the dark'? Sounds more like something a Sinestro Corpsman would do. I suppose we'll find out what happened shortly.
 
This purple lantern is going to be first white lantern right?
That's a stretch. Why would you want to make the almost brand new lantern a White Lantern? All we know is that Paul plans to use the White Light. But remember when Renegade used it, all their rings shut down immediately after. Not very conductive to purging the Earth.
My guess is that Dr Mist (being White Enlightened), will end up channeling the White Light, so if anyone becomes a lantern it would be him.

My understanding is that a White Ring specifically requires the Life Entity's approval. Not sure if this situation qualifies (as far as we are aware, the Life Entity has remained undisturbed even with Anti-Life on planet).
 
and reappear next to the upper level of a hydrogen siphon. I can see the damage where the main magnetic column has been repeatedly pierced, and the armour plates slowly drifting away where they've been torn off and the charred metal where the defence turrets were destroyed.
How come it's still damaged? I thought this whole business that they were investigating happened weeks or months ago. Do the statejians have such slow FTL, or are they just lazy, or what?
You could make a ring that linked to multiple colours, but it would tear itself a part the moment you felt more than one emotion about something.
'apart'
And look down at the swirling clouds of the gas giant below us, the siphon's funnel getting smaller and smaller before vanishing into invisibility well before is reaches the storm-wreathed atmosphere. It's… Actually beautiful.
Always nice to see some of the greater sights of the universe.
 
Paul has converted a green ring to an orange ring, Alan's green ring was converted into a blue ring- What's with this "rings are connected to a single emotion by their structure" supposed to be coming from?

You fill a ring with the orange light of avarice, you get an orange ring, you fill a ring with hope, you have a blue ring, that's how it works in the comics, that's how it's been shown to work in this story.
 
Thank you, corrected.
But few to none get lucky.
It's not really clear in the comics. Drax and his immediate predecessor had some sort of interraction with the Omega Force that left them displaced, but it's not clear for either of them exactly how it happened.
Thank you, corrected.
How come it's still damaged? I thought this whole business that they were investigating happened weeks or months ago. Do the statejians have such slow FTL, or are they just lazy, or what?
The SI doesn't know. Might be that they're focusing their industry on other things, might be that they don't need the hydrogen, or it might be that it's more recent than that.
Thank you, corrected.
Paul has converted a green ring to an orange ring, Alan's green ring was converted into a blue ring- What's with this "rings are connected to a single emotion by their structure" supposed to be coming from?

You fill a ring with the orange light of avarice, you get an orange ring, you fill a ring with hope, you have a blue ring, that's how it works in the comics, that's how it's been shown to work in this story.
He's got a ring whose colour is specifically good at turning things orange, then he used the structure to completely change it. He couldn't channel the green light through John's ring after converting it.
 
How would Paul handle the Phantom Ring? Have we seen some version of him with it? An Enlightened!Paul could probably handle it, though I strongly suspect any other version would fail just as the character did in the comic.
 
How would Paul handle the Phantom Ring? Have we seen some version of him with it? An Enlightened!Paul could probably handle it, though I strongly suspect any other version would fail just as the character did in the comic.

He'd point out it doesn't exist because DC stopped publishing comic books in 2011. :)

But seriously Zoat is a grognard (to borrow the gaming term because I don't know if comics has its own slang for that sort of thing) who as a rule doesn't care for post flashpoint DC, so such material he includes in his story is the exception not the rule.
 
Gateway (part 7)
21st August 2015
21:05 Japan Time


Diabo curls up into a foetal position, then bites down on his right forearm and starts sort of rolling back and forth on the ground.

"Yes, using emotional stabilisers and then coming off them can have that effect on people."

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh…"

"I thought that you did a good job."

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh…"

"Alright, alright. Get it out of your system."

He rolls back and forth a few more times, then rolls onto his back with his arms flapping down on either side of his torso.

"I'm dead. I'm dead."

"Can I have your dressing gown?"

He blinks. "Huh?"

"Since you're dead, and I doubt that you want your brother or father to have it. I won't be able to use it for a while, but it's pretty nice."

"I don't think this is a dressing gown."

"No?"

"I saw people wearing them outside."

"It still looks nice."

He tilts his head up to look at his yukata. "It does. Their weaving is as much ahead of ours as everything else they do."

"You'd be surprised. A lot of the traditional crafts haven't changed all that much. If you want to see the design, you could probably share it with the Empire's weavers."

"I just want to forget that the gate ever opened."

"On that subject, how are you doing?"

"Can you keep me from falling asleep?"

"Yes? But I wouldn't worry. They've got a crack team guarding this place, and-"

"You think they're guarding it!"

"Honestly, yes."

"Can you check? Can..? I check?"

"Ah, no. You could find out if they want to kill you, but you would only know if they planned to kill you in your sleep after they received their orders because I doubt that they feel any malice for you personally."

"Oh."

"And I doubt that they'll receive them. Killing ambassadors is frowned upon."

"It's frowned upon in the Empire as well. Do you know how many ambassadors we've killed?"

"Yes. I'm a god."

"O-." His eyes widen. "I meant no offence, divinity."

"It's fine. But do you really want to stay in this room-"

"Yes."

"-rather than gain useful intelligence on Japanese society by interacting with your protection detail?"

"Yes… But… No."

He sighs and rolls into a sitting position.

"What should I try to learn?"

"How they think. What makes them do things. You already know that they don't act like citizens of the Empire. You need to learn how far it goes."

He nods, and I feel his own desire kindle as he immediately associates learning about the Japanese with his own short and medium term survival.

"You also need some sort of plan for when we get back."

"What can I do? I haven't won a victory. Father might even refuse to ratify the treaty I'm negotiating in the hope that the gate will close before he needs to pay them."

"By now, the soldiers sieging Alnus will have had plenty of time to see the bodies of their late comrades, won't they?"

"Yes. They won't just leave the bodies there to rot."

"And..?

"And… They'll have seen their injuries. What the Japanese weapons did to them. The tributary kings and the legate will be on my side, at least. But the senators in the capital won't be."

"You appear to have forgotten that you have me."

"I can't just pick them up and shove their faces in the giant mounds of corpses."

"..."

"I.. can?"

"In practical terms, yes. There's the further question of whether or not it would actually be productive to do that which you should consider before actually doing it."

"… Oh."

He stares blankly at the wall in front of him.

"I had assumed that the thing with the dragon would have caused you to gain an awareness of your personal power."

"Assassins. I can't-. If I do that with rich and powerful people-."

"How often do apostles get assassinated?"

"But I'm only as resilient as an apostle when I'm awake. Aren't I?"

"You're still tougher than a normal person when you're asleep. Poison or a stab with a knife wouldn't be enough. There are also various things that can be done to the room to make it harder for someone to approach your bed. Alternately, you could build a house on top of a mountain where no one else can reach and fly there at the end of each day."

He gazes into the middle distance. "I prefer that."

"Prince Diabo, you are going to need to interact with those people eventually."

"Yes… Yes, and I did, but I'm a lot more… Significant now. Whether they agree with what I've done or not."

"Life is not a safe occupation, Diabo. And while I'm sure that it sounds trite, the only way to get over your fears is to confront them."

"It's not that easy."

"Alright. Let's start with the security detail. You're awake, and you already know that you can defend yourself against their weapons."

"Yes, that's… True." He reluctantly pulls himself upright and walks towards the sliding door to his room. "And the young officer seemed-"

A bullet punches through the wooden wall and slams into his forehead!
 
Last edited:
"I really, really don't want to leave my nice safe room surrounded by guards."

"Oh, come on, what's the worst that could happen?"

*Bullet immediately impacts forcefield on his skull*

Murphy, sitting on the rooftop next door with a rifle: "Fuckin' gottem again."
Apollo: "Murphy had nothing to do with it."
 
21st August 2015
21:05 Japan Time


Diabo curls up into a foetal position, then bites down on his right forearm and starts sort of rolling back and forth on the ground.

"Yes, using emotional stabilisers and then coming off them can have that effect on people."
Heh. Gate OL dropping some fierce sass on his host. Still, he shouldn't antagonise the boy too much. I doubt any other person in a place to wear the Ring will be willing to do so if Diabo lets them know what it involves.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh…"

"I thought that you did a good job."
I mean, just think about the look on the politicians' faces when you told them the Gate would close by itself.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh…"

"Alright, alright. Get it out of your system."
Sometimes, you just got to sit down and have a good cry about things.

He rolls back and forth a few more times, then rolls onto his back with his arms flapping down on either side of his torso.

"I'm dead. I'm dead."
Pretty lively for a dead man, I notice. Oh, you meant because of your family? Fuck them.

"Can I have your dressing gown?"

He blinks. "Huh?"
Heh. I suppose that's a good way to snap him out of his despair.

"Since you're dead, and I doubt that you want your brother or father to have it. I won't be able to use it for a while, but it's pretty nice."

"I don't think this is a dressing down."
I mean, if the robe fits...

"No?"

"I saw people wearing them outside."
What, the Japanese folks? That's kind of an old-fashioned thing, though.

"It still looks nice."

He tilts his head up to look at his yukata. "It does. Their weaving is as much ahead of ours as everything else they do."
And traditional Japanese formal wear like that can be baller.

"You'd be surprised. A lot of the traditional crafts haven't changed all that much. If you want to see the design, you could probably share it was the Empire's weavers."

"I just want to forget that the gate ever opened."
Sadly, there's no taking that back. That's on the gods.

"On that subject, how are you doing?"

"Can you keep me from falling asleep?"
Easily, but doing so does have deletorious effects on a human brain, even with a Ring's capabilities...

"Yes? But I wouldn't worry. They've got a crack team guarding this place, and-"

"You think they're guarding it!"
Hey, they're probably still not sure about you, I guess. It's only natural to be wary.

"Honestly, yes."

"Can you check? Can..? I check?"
It would be a good time for a lesson in the more esoteric aspects of Ring-slinging.

"Ah, no. You could find out if they want to kill you, but you would only know if they planned to kill you in your sleep after they received their orders because I doubt that they feel any malice for you personally."

"Oh."
I honestly don't know if that's deflating to the ego or not...

"And I doubt that they'll receive them. Killing ambassadors is frowned upon."

"It's frowned upon in the Empire as well. Do you know how many ambassadors we've killed?"
More than they should have, I suspect.

"Yes. I'm a god."

"O-." His eyes widen. "I meant no offence, divinity."
Well, a god on a technicality. But if you gotta play the role, own it.

"It's fine. But do you really want to stay in this room-"

"Yes."
I mean, it probably is a reasonably safe place right now.

"-rather than gain useful intelligence on Japanese society by interacting with your protection detail?"

"Yes… But… No."
Spirit guide's got a point, kid.

He sighs and rolls into a sitting position.

"What should I try to learn?"
...Everything. :p But right now, just a few simple things will suffice.

"How they think. What makes them do things. You already know that they don't act like citizens of the Empire. You need to learn how far it goes."

He nods, and I feel his own desire kindle as he immediately associates learning about the Japanese with his own short and medium term survival.
Good, that's a good way to focus. It's not entirely sustainable, but it's a good start.

"You also need some sort of plan for when we get back."

"What can I do? I haven't won a victory. Father might even refuse to ratify the treaty I'm negotiating in the hope that the gate will close before he needs to pay them."
Yeah, but you did stop the Japanese going and kicking his ass.

"By now, the soldiers sieging Alnus will have had plenty of time to see the bodies of their late comrades, won't they?"

"Yes. They won't just leave the bodies there to rot."
Waste not, want not? In something of a grim manner...

"And..?

"And… They'll have seen their injuries. What the Japanese weapons did to them. The tributary kings and the legate will be on my side, at least. But the senators in the capital won't be."
Morons sitting on their asses miles away from any real danger. Fuck them too.

"You appear to have forgotten that you have me."

"I can't just pick them up and shove their faces in the giant mounds of corpses."
OL: <Grins in psychic amusement.>

I'm sure it would be very satisfying, at least.

"In practical terms, yes. There's the further question of whether or not it would actually be productive to do that which you should consider before actually doing it."

"… Oh."
Aw, putting a dampener on the potential fun...

He stares blankly at the wall in front of him.

"I had assumed that the thing with the dragon would have caused you to gain an awareness of your personal power."
I suspect he hasn't really had a chance to internalise all that yet.

"Assassins. I can't-. If I do that with rich and powerful people-."

"How often do apostles get assassinated?"
Having the backing of a god does give them a little bit of freedom from conventional morality, I suppose.

"But I'm only as resilient as a apostle when I'm awake. Aren't I?"

"You're still tougher than a normal person when you're asleep. Poison or a stab with a knife wouldn't be enough. There are also various things that can be done to the room to make it harder for someone to approach your bed. Alternately, you could build a house on top of a mountain where no one else can reach and fly there at the end of each day."
Or, you know... I'm sure OL still has the formulae for a couple of certain alchemical serums in his database. A little testing to see if they work here, and...

He gazes into the middle distance. "I prefer that."

"Prince Diabo, you are going to need to interact with those people eventually."
And need to keep in mind that right now, you'd be doing it from a position of power.

"Yes… Yes, and I did, but I'm a lot more… Significant now. Whether they agree with what I've done or not."

"Life is not a safe occupation, Diabo. And while I'm sure that it sounds trite, the only way to get over your fears is to confront them."
See? Keep thinking like that. You have power now. Feel free to swing the metaphorical dick a little...

"It's not that easy."

"Alright. Let's start with the security detail. You're awake, and you already know that you can defend yourself against their weapons."
Honestly, they'd need at least a tank shell to hurt him. And then only if he's off-guard.

"Yes, that's… True." He reluctantly pulls himself upright and walks towards the sliding door to his room. "And the young officer seemed-"

A bullet punches through the wooden wall and slams into his forehead!
Heh. That's a way to have a cliffhanger!

Well, looks like there's trouble afoot. Whether it's targetting Diabo or just the Japanese camp remains to be seen, though. That might well have been a stray round. I suppose Diabo'll have to go out there so OL can have a chat with the shooter about checking his backstop. Before or after some ass-kicking, anyway.


"I don't think this is a dressing down."
"I don't think this is a dressing gown."
 
Apollo: "Murphy had nothing to do with it."

Although if this was happening in DC it would be Vext's fault.

God of misfortune and mishap, son of the god of being cuckolded and the goddess of emasculating shrews, on and off boyfriend of the goddess of romantic relationships that go hellishly wrong.
 

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