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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
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- self insert young justice
Lord Ernest
At the End...
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PDV
Revelation That Uncertainty Is Itself An Answer
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And in-universe we're traveling at one-quarter speed; he met Alan on 10 July 2010.
It is at least one syllable worse. Also, 'superhuman' is a word and 'amazinghuman' is not.
Silveraith
Argent Phantasm
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Off.
I've been here for the entire ride, now I feel old. Thoroughly entertained but old.
Mr Zoat
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Me neither. I'll just pick one.
Thank you, corrected.
You feel old. How do you think I feel? I'm 40 next month!
LZB1285
Getting sticky.
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I would just like to point out that a significant number of us past forty years ago...
Quit complaining, you're not old yet.
Lantern Conspiracies (part 15)
Mr Zoat
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6th June 2000
07:32 GMT -6
I get more than a few strange looks as I walk through the Conduit's 'liberated' ship. It used to belong to Intracom, but Dorn has the sense not to try and demand its return. I'm not… Entirely sure what class it is; I haven't seen enough ships to really have an idea how space combat really works in this universe. But it has guns, shields and a stealth system and that means that it could wipe out, say, the entire Chinese air force unless they got a lucky near-miss with a nuclear explosion.
I wasn't ever able to find out exactly how many ships like this the vampires have. I don't think it's a great many. I'd guess that each major Family started with one, and… Intracom probably picked up an extra or two when they defeated their rivals. But that is just a guess. Vampires don't appear to be inclined to wage wars openly.
Be interesting to see how that changes now.
The bridge door opens for me and I walk inside. The trasgu manning the shield controls glances up instinctively at the motion and then returns his attention to his console. Then looks right back up, eyes wide. Conversations drop off around the bridge as everyone gradually shifts their attention from their tasks to me.
I give them a little wave, then make my way to the command dais where Chauf and Peisinoe are waiting for me. Chauf's arms are folded across his chest and his eyes are narrowed, while Peisinoe just looks stunned.
I smile at them. "I can talk, too."
The trasgu at the primary weapons console winces, makes a frustrated punching gesture and then passes a few coins to the faun on point defences.
I stop just before reaching the dais. Jerich and I were on the outside during the actual fight, but I was up there as a member of the command staff during the planning phase. But… I need to regain trust before I assume that position is still mine.
"The Director wanted to make sure that I wasn't about to go around slaughtering the vampires. We've come to terms. I assume-."
"He talked to me first." Chauf stares into my eyes. "Explain this. What you are."
"I don't believe that it's necessary to be personally affected by an injustice to find it unjust. And it's hardly the first time that humans have worked with the Conduit."
"You've gotten further than they did." He shifts position slightly. "If you're really the Green Knight, you're the oldest human there is."
"No. My mentor was the original Green Knight. He's retired now, but when I expressed an interest he was willing to share his power with me."
I completely let go of my construct armour, the whole suit evaporating around me. And then I hold up my right hand and display the glowing power ring.
"What species is your mentor?"
"I don't think they have a name for themselves. They come from a planet called Maltus. He… Ah. He told me that humans called him a leprechaun."
Chauf nods. "Is it just him on Earth?"
"As far as we know. According to him, the rest of his species wouldn't want to live somewhere this primitive."
"Why did you hide your face? We hide because we need to live on a human planet. That's not a problem for you."
"Right, because the Alliance would have left me alone after they confirmed my species. Half the people they're letting out of that Alliance prison black site are human. People who saw things or learned things they weren't supposed to, or got in the way. The ones who weren't buried in the desert with a hole in the back of their head like the original General Rinaker, anyway. Sure, I'd probably have been safe if I'd stayed out of it all, but I wasn't going to do that."
"Why now?"
"I don't want to pretend to be a faceless mute for my entire life. With Director Logan taking over, we're all a lot less likely to be targeted, so I thought that a show of faith was in order. Incidentally." I smile at Peisinoe. "You could totally seduce me."
Sirens can mimic human facial expression perfectly, but I've noticed on some occasions that she has to think about it. It's not automatic, and she tends to be a little too expressive when she makes the effort. She's not expressing now. "I'm not sure that I want to."
I clench my right fist and recreate my armour. After all this time holding the image in my mind is easy.
She doesn't look impressed. "It was a plasma construct all along."
"No. It's stranger than that. It's a manifestation of exotic energy formed into this shape by my will."
"Plasma's fairly exotic."
…
I mean, that's technically true. Matter is usually described as being either a solid, a liquid or a gas. How many people could name two more states of matter?
I turn back to Chauf. "What are we doing now?"
"We are waiting to see how Earth's governments react to any of this. You know how widely spread we are. Queen Mab already decided to communicate with the Irish government through Sh'lainn. But not everywhere is as friendly as Ireland."
I nod. "It might be worth us taking pre-emptive action."
"I thought you made a deal with Dorn."
"I did. The vampires are going to have an internal 'discussion', and you know how that usually goes."
He nods, smiling faintly. Dorn is going to be cleaning house, and he'll probably be doing it more thoroughly than I would be able to due to having better intelligence. Vampires being distracted with killing each other always makes life in the Conduit easier.
"I said I'd give them two weeks. But that leaves the oni."
Chauf nods. "I didn't see any oni when the shadoen invaded. Or lycanthropes from any pack other than Ruck's. The oni are usually our enemies, but lycanthrope packs just do their own thing."
"The packs might not be aware of what's happened here, and a lot of them only commit petty crimes anyway. The oni are a bigger problem."
"Why do you want to go after them? Conduit-aligned groups in Japan just avoid their cities."
"Because this whole.. thing. We know what groups are independent of each other and who works together, but most humans don't. If there are a major group of non-humans working in organised crime and eating humans, then that's going to make the rest of us look bad. Unless we're the ones who deal with it."
"You think we should invade Japan?"
"No, not invade. 'Freelance police'. I think that this ship can stay high up in the atmosphere while a few of us go in on the ground. I've wanted to try Jerich's approach to this sort of thing for a while."
Chauf finally lets his arms drop. "Pretend to be superheroes?"
"Actually be superheroes. You've got superhuman strength and toughness. You look sort of like Ben Grimm. Might need to.. work on a costume, but it would be great for public relations and the Japanese are culturally primed to accept that sort of thing." I look at Peisinoe. "How do you feel about maid costumes?"
"They're not easy to fight in. The skirts are too heavy." She blinks, slowly. "Or do you want me to dress like a Sailor Moon character?"
I nod. "It might help."
"What's wrong with a Power Ranger costume?"
"It's a bit generic, and prevents people watching from seeing… Your full charm. And Sailor Moon fights demons every week."
"That's ridiculous. I-." She noticed Chauf looking thoughtful. "No."
"I used to read Fantastic Four comics with my father. Green Knight is right. We could do that. If we're going to be able to integrate, it would be good to earn public trust in case we had to free our people from human governments."
I nod. "And the oni are perfectly manageable. The only reason I haven't gone after them before is that the vampires were more of a problem."
"Fine. But I pick my costume."
07:32 GMT -6
I get more than a few strange looks as I walk through the Conduit's 'liberated' ship. It used to belong to Intracom, but Dorn has the sense not to try and demand its return. I'm not… Entirely sure what class it is; I haven't seen enough ships to really have an idea how space combat really works in this universe. But it has guns, shields and a stealth system and that means that it could wipe out, say, the entire Chinese air force unless they got a lucky near-miss with a nuclear explosion.
I wasn't ever able to find out exactly how many ships like this the vampires have. I don't think it's a great many. I'd guess that each major Family started with one, and… Intracom probably picked up an extra or two when they defeated their rivals. But that is just a guess. Vampires don't appear to be inclined to wage wars openly.
Be interesting to see how that changes now.
The bridge door opens for me and I walk inside. The trasgu manning the shield controls glances up instinctively at the motion and then returns his attention to his console. Then looks right back up, eyes wide. Conversations drop off around the bridge as everyone gradually shifts their attention from their tasks to me.
I give them a little wave, then make my way to the command dais where Chauf and Peisinoe are waiting for me. Chauf's arms are folded across his chest and his eyes are narrowed, while Peisinoe just looks stunned.
I smile at them. "I can talk, too."
The trasgu at the primary weapons console winces, makes a frustrated punching gesture and then passes a few coins to the faun on point defences.
I stop just before reaching the dais. Jerich and I were on the outside during the actual fight, but I was up there as a member of the command staff during the planning phase. But… I need to regain trust before I assume that position is still mine.
"The Director wanted to make sure that I wasn't about to go around slaughtering the vampires. We've come to terms. I assume-."
"He talked to me first." Chauf stares into my eyes. "Explain this. What you are."
"I don't believe that it's necessary to be personally affected by an injustice to find it unjust. And it's hardly the first time that humans have worked with the Conduit."
"You've gotten further than they did." He shifts position slightly. "If you're really the Green Knight, you're the oldest human there is."
"No. My mentor was the original Green Knight. He's retired now, but when I expressed an interest he was willing to share his power with me."
I completely let go of my construct armour, the whole suit evaporating around me. And then I hold up my right hand and display the glowing power ring.
"What species is your mentor?"
"I don't think they have a name for themselves. They come from a planet called Maltus. He… Ah. He told me that humans called him a leprechaun."
Chauf nods. "Is it just him on Earth?"
"As far as we know. According to him, the rest of his species wouldn't want to live somewhere this primitive."
"Why did you hide your face? We hide because we need to live on a human planet. That's not a problem for you."
"Right, because the Alliance would have left me alone after they confirmed my species. Half the people they're letting out of that Alliance prison black site are human. People who saw things or learned things they weren't supposed to, or got in the way. The ones who weren't buried in the desert with a hole in the back of their head like the original General Rinaker, anyway. Sure, I'd probably have been safe if I'd stayed out of it all, but I wasn't going to do that."
"Why now?"
"I don't want to pretend to be a faceless mute for my entire life. With Director Logan taking over, we're all a lot less likely to be targeted, so I thought that a show of faith was in order. Incidentally." I smile at Peisinoe. "You could totally seduce me."
Sirens can mimic human facial expression perfectly, but I've noticed on some occasions that she has to think about it. It's not automatic, and she tends to be a little too expressive when she makes the effort. She's not expressing now. "I'm not sure that I want to."
I clench my right fist and recreate my armour. After all this time holding the image in my mind is easy.
She doesn't look impressed. "It was a plasma construct all along."
"No. It's stranger than that. It's a manifestation of exotic energy formed into this shape by my will."
"Plasma's fairly exotic."
…
I mean, that's technically true. Matter is usually described as being either a solid, a liquid or a gas. How many people could name two more states of matter?
I turn back to Chauf. "What are we doing now?"
"We are waiting to see how Earth's governments react to any of this. You know how widely spread we are. Queen Mab already decided to communicate with the Irish government through Sh'lainn. But not everywhere is as friendly as Ireland."
I nod. "It might be worth us taking pre-emptive action."
"I thought you made a deal with Dorn."
"I did. The vampires are going to have an internal 'discussion', and you know how that usually goes."
He nods, smiling faintly. Dorn is going to be cleaning house, and he'll probably be doing it more thoroughly than I would be able to due to having better intelligence. Vampires being distracted with killing each other always makes life in the Conduit easier.
"I said I'd give them two weeks. But that leaves the oni."
Chauf nods. "I didn't see any oni when the shadoen invaded. Or lycanthropes from any pack other than Ruck's. The oni are usually our enemies, but lycanthrope packs just do their own thing."
"The packs might not be aware of what's happened here, and a lot of them only commit petty crimes anyway. The oni are a bigger problem."
"Why do you want to go after them? Conduit-aligned groups in Japan just avoid their cities."
"Because this whole.. thing. We know what groups are independent of each other and who works together, but most humans don't. If there are a major group of non-humans working in organised crime and eating humans, then that's going to make the rest of us look bad. Unless we're the ones who deal with it."
"You think we should invade Japan?"
"No, not invade. 'Freelance police'. I think that this ship can stay high up in the atmosphere while a few of us go in on the ground. I've wanted to try Jerich's approach to this sort of thing for a while."
Chauf finally lets his arms drop. "Pretend to be superheroes?"
"Actually be superheroes. You've got superhuman strength and toughness. You look sort of like Ben Grimm. Might need to.. work on a costume, but it would be great for public relations and the Japanese are culturally primed to accept that sort of thing." I look at Peisinoe. "How do you feel about maid costumes?"
"They're not easy to fight in. The skirts are too heavy." She blinks, slowly. "Or do you want me to dress like a Sailor Moon character?"
I nod. "It might help."
"What's wrong with a Power Ranger costume?"
"It's a bit generic, and prevents people watching from seeing… Your full charm. And Sailor Moon fights demons every week."
"That's ridiculous. I-." She noticed Chauf looking thoughtful. "No."
"I used to read Fantastic Four comics with my father. Green Knight is right. We could do that. If we're going to be able to integrate, it would be good to earn public trust in case we had to free our people from human governments."
I nod. "And the oni are perfectly manageable. The only reason I haven't gone after them before is that the vampires were more of a problem."
"Fine. But I pick my costume."
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Ngamer11
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That should say 'targeted'.
NightmareWarden
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This would be easier to guess if I'd seen the source material, but I'll give it a go.
Baseball player; popular Japanese sport, doesn't involve irritating technology, more child-friendly than even police body armor levels of protection, and she knows someone on the superhero team winds up infiltrating (disguised as a local) anyway, so this saves her the trouble of swapping between cumbersome costumes.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Chojin Patriarch
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Having orbital superiority makes up for a lot of conventional military deficiencies. Especially if your weaponry is suited to modest orbital bombardments (rather than casually wiping whole cities off the map with KKVs.)
Hopefully they keep the consequences of open combat in mind. Like criminal charges for any collateral damage.
I take it he's not wearing his helmet. Which would make for a surprise, I suppose. Such an unassuming face, after all.
I take it bets were made amongst other groups on the matter, and money will be changing hands for some time as word spreads.
And having a starship would make that much easier. Since Percival would likely rescind his charging privileges if the Emerald Knight started committing his own genocide.
And really, what is a paladin but one who fights injustice? Suits his look, for sure.
Quite literally, though the locals probably don't realise that yet.
I suppose his under-garment is something more like a coverall, or a nice fitted suit. Stuff that doesn't stand out as odd in modern circles.
Could be that the Maltusians of this universe (and they do exist, given Percival's presence) decided to stay out of this corner of the galaxy.
Oh, yes? How much privacy do you think he'd be able to have if the Alliance knew his face?
After all, Percival wanted something done about it, and EK wanted his Ring charged...
I take it that's a reference to a previous encounter.
This scene, featuring the Siren member of the Conduit group he aided.Which is how the Green lanterns manage it: Focusing on a handful of familiar constructs to maximise their ability to envision it quickly. Like Hal's boxing gloves....
Sadly, I don't think any of these races are familiar with Spectrum energy...
Not this exotic.To be fair, human physics is still finding the more out-there forms. They don't tend to be friendly to observation, especially in a planetary atmosphere.
On the other hand, if they lean on the 'fair folk' angle rather than the 'banshee' angle, people may well find them more interesting.
Screaming, pain and blood. And that's probably in the best cases.
Hulking horned humanoids with non-human colourings, with a reputed taste for striped clothing? Could be interesting. Especially if the females are in the fanart-tier 'muscle-girl' category...
Easy to avoid humans when you can survive happily in remote areas.
...Okay, not so nice a people. Though I suspect if the females are hot enough, some guys would be
...So, Sentai Team, Kamen Riders, Magical Girls, Ninja, or all of the above?
She'd have plenty of fans willing to be seduced, certainly.
Like I said, she'd get the horny otaku market on her side.
How about a Kamen Rider? Plenty of stylish designs to choose from.
Heck, they even have transforming vehicles to go with it.And Ben Grimm had plenty of outfits that were more than just a pair of trunks.
And what's wrong with a Sailor Senshi outfit?
It's basically a figure-skating costume with a school-girl theme. Honestly, no taste...Man, things are about to get crazy, aren't they? I suppose the Emerald Knight has to do something other than look into Vampire activities. And taking on demon-ogre yakuza makes for busy work. Especially if the public gets behind the Conduit personnel. Though Peisinoe might want to avoid the internet while she's there, or she'll get a particular reputation for being 'the angry girl'.
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Azure Mirage
Know what you're doing yet?
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That makes actual sense, have the aliens use their natural abilities to perform policing actions against aliens that eat people while wearing highly visible costumes to endear the public to them.
I mean, Japan likes the Yakuza traditionally because they keep foreign gangs out of Japan. But if you got an alien group already inside the organization(s), having a team of individuals with abilities eff some of them up and film it would generate good will like crazy.
Man the marketing alone, the anime that would be produced! The merchandise!
I mean, Japan likes the Yakuza traditionally because they keep foreign gangs out of Japan. But if you got an alien group already inside the organization(s), having a team of individuals with abilities eff some of them up and film it would generate good will like crazy.
Man the marketing alone, the anime that would be produced! The merchandise!
Cuchulin
Versed in the lewd.
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BR549
This is filth! FILTH!!
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Mr Zoat
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No, one of the transgu says something along the lines of 'We need to find a male of your species. Failing to seduce a robot is just sad.'
About that...
Chojin Patriarch
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Ah. I checked some of the previous segments, but missed that.
I was looking at the Banshee scenes, not the Conduit......You know there's still people who would.
RichardWhereat
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Shapeshifters...Ah. I checked some of the previous segments, but missed that.
...You know there's still people who would.
BrotherofaStudio
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He actually convinced the Conduit to become superheroes. That is both impressive and funny. Nice to see that things are going fairly well on Earth after the Shadoen invasion. Speaking of alternate Pauls, is Transformers Prime the only Transformers universe you are willing to consider or are there others you think Paul could work in?
Mr Zoat
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He convinced two of the Conduit's leaders to LARP as superheroes. I work on the assumption that the Conduit is a loose alliance of people, most of whom are civilians.
No, but I don't really know the others well enough to write them.
Patrick Holt
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You know Paul is looking for a user for his yellow ring and Karshon seems to have a talent for causing fear, might give him a leg up in the battle to come.
Ok, you got me, If I remember right there is another state beyond solid and plasma, I want to say the solid has a stupid name like super solid but can't remember. To Google. Wikipedia, oh it was superliquid, so close, Supersolid is only proposed. 21 states of matter, wow.
Mr Zoat
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I only know Bose-Einstein Condensate because it was in a film.
DeathReaperZ
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BrotherofaStudio
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That fits.
Alright then, though you could find most of the various Transformers series on Youtube with a pretty simple search.
Also, just an idea for an Alternate Paul. One that winds up in Middle Earth and his ring is reforged into a personal Ring of Power and serves as an ally of the White Council against Sauron while turning the Forces of Mordor into a force for good after the war?
PDV
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The trick is removing it afteiward. Or keeping it away from Mannheim, if Karshon dies.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Coda
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rkyeun
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The Anti-Life Equation is a mathematical proof that life is meaningless.
The Life Equation is a mathematical proof that life is worth living.
Then Anti-Death equation is a mathematical proof that it is not worth dying.
The Death equation is a mathematical proof that is death has meaning.
Importantly, these are not opposites. They are all true simultaneously.
In the DC universe, there is an objectively correct answer to existentialism.
And that answer is Optimistic Nihilism.
Yeah, it's meaningless. Now go have fun anyways. Stay alive, and remember the fallen.
The Life Equation is a mathematical proof that life is worth living.
Then Anti-Death equation is a mathematical proof that it is not worth dying.
The Death equation is a mathematical proof that is death has meaning.
Importantly, these are not opposites. They are all true simultaneously.
In the DC universe, there is an objectively correct answer to existentialism.
And that answer is Optimistic Nihilism.
Yeah, it's meaningless. Now go have fun anyways. Stay alive, and remember the fallen.
moralrelativity
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So same answer as real life then. That works out nicely.
Prep Time (part 18)
Mr Zoat
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15th February 2013
19:18 GMT -5
**Where is the mute?**
I remove the helmet from the last Justifier… Don't recognise her. Not that that means much. Aside from the fact that even Batman doesn't have a completely comprehensive database of all metahumans in America, the Alliance had the effect of encouraging a lot of metahumans who hadn't got into the vigilante lifestyle to stick their toe in.
I prop her up next to the others. Since the fear broadcasts are still going on, none of them are remotely functional. I could start making behavioural regulators for them all, but I don't know any of these people and I doubt that any of them will be any use against Mannheim even as a distraction. Better to let Karshon use them as fuel and try evacuating them later.
"Do you mean Onomatopoeia? Because I'm pretty sure that he could talk."
**He makes noises and things happen.**
"Not any more. I removed his helmet before I spoke to you. Why?"
**He attacked me before. I wanted to fight him.**
"He attacked you here? After you got your body back in S.T.A.R. Labs?"
If he was the city boss… Did he take offence at Karshon hanging around? Was that his job? Between Klarion and Mannheim I doubt that his brain was in any fit state for rational thought.
**Yes. Where is the Green Lantern?**
"Ah, the one you used to fight? Not sure. His ability to move large numbers of other people around is too useful to keep him anchored in one place."
**He cannot defeat Mannheim?**
"The rest of-. Most people are adversely affected by the Anti-Life. I couldn't help but notice that you aren't. Is that due to your psychic-?"
**I'm a shark. Humans have emotions. Dreams. I'm a shark. I have targets. Prey. I don't have what it's attacking.**
"Oh."
I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised. His brain is 'shark plus', not 'ape in shark body'. Atlanteans who look like fish are still humans with fish bits stuck on.
**Why isn't Mannheim here now?**
"I don't know. There are a lot of possible reasons. He might have better things to do. He's more interested in testing the Anti-Life than in normal conquest, so it's possible that he actually finds this useful rather than threatening-. Actually, can Agent Carlyle extend the fear affect to other broadcasters?"
**We couldn't test it. We weren't sure that this would work.**
"Mm. Well, with all of the Justified down and everyone overwhelmed with fear, Mannheim should be able to feel it. If what we think we know about his abilities is true. Unless…"
The barrier Onomatopoeia set up over the city is still there. That's not too surprising; if his power survived Klarion's death then there's no reason why the manifestations of it wouldn't survive the power itself being destroyed. I'd be surprised if it was able to block Mannheim's senses… Or if it hadn't been doing that as soon as it was erected.
"Could you back up a bit?"
**No.**
"Most of your power is coming from Agent Carlyle and the Anti-Life broadcaster. If Mannheim shoots either of them with his omega beams, you'll be back down to normal size."
**Then you defend it. You're planning to flee from him anyway.**
"Ah, alright."
I drift up and over his colossal head, heading towards the broadcaster. Tuppence is lurking close to it, while Agent Carlyle appears to be completely focused on his work. I form a railgun construct and aim it upwards, loading a mageslayer.
"Three, two, one, firing."
I fire, the round blasting upwards and hitting the dome. A moment passes, then I see it start to thin.
Okay. If he couldn't feel us before, he certainly can now. But I still don't know-.
BOOM!
I instinctively form a graviton deflator construct, but in this instance the aim is to let it come through. I'm only going to use it to limit its tactical mobility. But a gradar construct detects the boom tube as it opens in the distance. I create a target reticle in front of Karshon so that he knows where to look.
That's Finality Man alright. It looks… It looks like they added a little more armour since we fought in Bergen, though that could just be added cowling for additional weapon systems. It just stands in the air, looking down at us imperiously as the boom tube aperture behind it closes.
**That is not Mannheim. Why send an automaton?**
In Bergen it used the Anti-Life directly, manifesting into the universe to neutralise my defences and heal itself. But there aren't any remaining Justifiers here, and the broadcaster is radiating fear. That… Might be why it's staying back. It's not stupid. Even the most dangerous thing on the planet can be destroyed if engaged properly. With me here, flooding the area with Justifiers to use isn't really an option. They don't have an unlimited supply of them, even if Mannheim doesn't care whether they live or die on an individual basis.
**I will make do.**
Karshon glares, a spatial distortion forming around his forehead. It builds for several seconds and then a colossal psybolt blasts from his forehead! It burns through the air towards-.
Finality Man raises its right hand and space warps, the psybolt bending around and shooting right back into Karshon! He takes the hit, staggering back a pace and tearing up the frontage of an office building.
Ring, message to Karshon: do that again.
Message sent.
Karshon's head half-turns so that he can give me the eye, but a new -slightly smaller - psybolt begins to build. Aim the graviton deflator-.
BOOM!
Fireitfireitfireit!
The new boom tube opening under Finality Man collapses an instant later, but a figure in bulky power armour has already flown through. The… Head-enveloping torso section appears to include an Anti-Life broadcaster, slightly larger than the usual Justifier helmets though far smaller than the broadcaster base stations.
And then a graser cannon deploys from the armour and I recognise Socialist Red Guardsman as he fires directly at Karshon, who takes the hit with a small wince before firing back. I activate my graviton deflator at the same time. Finality Man tries to bend the attack back once again and fails, the shot striking its torso armour and… Doing nothing that I can see.
Ah. Last time it was a matter of precisely disrupting its attacks so that the flashback damaged its internal mechanisms. We'll have to see-.
Karshon leaps into the air, straight towards Finality Man!
19:18 GMT -5
**Where is the mute?**
I remove the helmet from the last Justifier… Don't recognise her. Not that that means much. Aside from the fact that even Batman doesn't have a completely comprehensive database of all metahumans in America, the Alliance had the effect of encouraging a lot of metahumans who hadn't got into the vigilante lifestyle to stick their toe in.
I prop her up next to the others. Since the fear broadcasts are still going on, none of them are remotely functional. I could start making behavioural regulators for them all, but I don't know any of these people and I doubt that any of them will be any use against Mannheim even as a distraction. Better to let Karshon use them as fuel and try evacuating them later.
"Do you mean Onomatopoeia? Because I'm pretty sure that he could talk."
**He makes noises and things happen.**
"Not any more. I removed his helmet before I spoke to you. Why?"
**He attacked me before. I wanted to fight him.**
"He attacked you here? After you got your body back in S.T.A.R. Labs?"
If he was the city boss… Did he take offence at Karshon hanging around? Was that his job? Between Klarion and Mannheim I doubt that his brain was in any fit state for rational thought.
**Yes. Where is the Green Lantern?**
"Ah, the one you used to fight? Not sure. His ability to move large numbers of other people around is too useful to keep him anchored in one place."
**He cannot defeat Mannheim?**
"The rest of-. Most people are adversely affected by the Anti-Life. I couldn't help but notice that you aren't. Is that due to your psychic-?"
**I'm a shark. Humans have emotions. Dreams. I'm a shark. I have targets. Prey. I don't have what it's attacking.**
"Oh."
I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised. His brain is 'shark plus', not 'ape in shark body'. Atlanteans who look like fish are still humans with fish bits stuck on.
**Why isn't Mannheim here now?**
"I don't know. There are a lot of possible reasons. He might have better things to do. He's more interested in testing the Anti-Life than in normal conquest, so it's possible that he actually finds this useful rather than threatening-. Actually, can Agent Carlyle extend the fear affect to other broadcasters?"
**We couldn't test it. We weren't sure that this would work.**
"Mm. Well, with all of the Justified down and everyone overwhelmed with fear, Mannheim should be able to feel it. If what we think we know about his abilities is true. Unless…"
The barrier Onomatopoeia set up over the city is still there. That's not too surprising; if his power survived Klarion's death then there's no reason why the manifestations of it wouldn't survive the power itself being destroyed. I'd be surprised if it was able to block Mannheim's senses… Or if it hadn't been doing that as soon as it was erected.
"Could you back up a bit?"
**No.**
"Most of your power is coming from Agent Carlyle and the Anti-Life broadcaster. If Mannheim shoots either of them with his omega beams, you'll be back down to normal size."
**Then you defend it. You're planning to flee from him anyway.**
"Ah, alright."
I drift up and over his colossal head, heading towards the broadcaster. Tuppence is lurking close to it, while Agent Carlyle appears to be completely focused on his work. I form a railgun construct and aim it upwards, loading a mageslayer.
"Three, two, one, firing."
I fire, the round blasting upwards and hitting the dome. A moment passes, then I see it start to thin.
Okay. If he couldn't feel us before, he certainly can now. But I still don't know-.
BOOM!
I instinctively form a graviton deflator construct, but in this instance the aim is to let it come through. I'm only going to use it to limit its tactical mobility. But a gradar construct detects the boom tube as it opens in the distance. I create a target reticle in front of Karshon so that he knows where to look.
That's Finality Man alright. It looks… It looks like they added a little more armour since we fought in Bergen, though that could just be added cowling for additional weapon systems. It just stands in the air, looking down at us imperiously as the boom tube aperture behind it closes.
**That is not Mannheim. Why send an automaton?**
In Bergen it used the Anti-Life directly, manifesting into the universe to neutralise my defences and heal itself. But there aren't any remaining Justifiers here, and the broadcaster is radiating fear. That… Might be why it's staying back. It's not stupid. Even the most dangerous thing on the planet can be destroyed if engaged properly. With me here, flooding the area with Justifiers to use isn't really an option. They don't have an unlimited supply of them, even if Mannheim doesn't care whether they live or die on an individual basis.
**I will make do.**
Karshon glares, a spatial distortion forming around his forehead. It builds for several seconds and then a colossal psybolt blasts from his forehead! It burns through the air towards-.
Finality Man raises its right hand and space warps, the psybolt bending around and shooting right back into Karshon! He takes the hit, staggering back a pace and tearing up the frontage of an office building.
Ring, message to Karshon: do that again.
Message sent.
Karshon's head half-turns so that he can give me the eye, but a new -slightly smaller - psybolt begins to build. Aim the graviton deflator-.
BOOM!
Fireitfireitfireit!
The new boom tube opening under Finality Man collapses an instant later, but a figure in bulky power armour has already flown through. The… Head-enveloping torso section appears to include an Anti-Life broadcaster, slightly larger than the usual Justifier helmets though far smaller than the broadcaster base stations.
And then a graser cannon deploys from the armour and I recognise Socialist Red Guardsman as he fires directly at Karshon, who takes the hit with a small wince before firing back. I activate my graviton deflator at the same time. Finality Man tries to bend the attack back once again and fails, the shot striking its torso armour and… Doing nothing that I can see.
Ah. Last time it was a matter of precisely disrupting its attacks so that the flashback damaged its internal mechanisms. We'll have to see-.
Karshon leaps into the air, straight towards Finality Man!
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