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

Chojin Patriarch · Aug 24, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
7th May 2024
09:07 GMT

Atom Eve's eyes open for a moment, scanning her environment. I get a half-second longer than the physicians, but nothing more.

"Well. Here you go." Dr. David Evesham shrugs dejectedly. "She's won't be fully alert just yet, but she can hear you."

Ah, there's awareness. And she is pissed indeed. And seeing the explanation of her mental blocks, I suppose that explains why she hasn't repaired herself. The damage isn't enough to trigger the 'survival' condition of the self-repair ability.

I nod. "Could you..? Could all of you take a break?" Oh. "Do you have a break room, or all you all stuck in here-."

"He took over this whole facility. We've got space… For whatever good it does us." He breathes out, glancing at Atom Eve's monitors. "We can, but-" A couple of the others look like they're about to object, but quieten down a she makes eye contact with them. "-you need to know what you need to do if there's some kind of problem. And obviously, if anything happens to her, we're all dead… And you are too."

Right... Of course they're having to deal with their overlord's short-sighted decisions. This place probably has minimal sanitary facilities, too. One bathroom and shower, I bet, and they're probably bunking down on gurneys...

"Don't worry." I wave my right hand. "I can rearrange matter. I'm gong to fix everything except her spinal column. And I can monitor everything in real time, so I'll see any problems faster than the monitors will."

"You can-?" He breathes out slowly, shaking his head. "Don't do this to me."

Heh. A little hope is the greatest poison, isn't it? In a situation like this, anyway.

"Don't..?"

"Don't give me hope. If you do that, half of us aren't needed. He might let us go. Or he might kill us, I guess, but I don't think he'd kill our families at least. Either way…"

Well, I'd hope for the better result, at least. Mark used to be a superhero, I doubt he'd kill in cold blood like that.

"Um." I stare blankly at him. "I don't-." Okay, these people… Plenty of food being produced in the world outside, not counting that nutrient paste which appears to be what viltrumites feed their auxiliaries. I reach into subspace while feeling out their canteen area. A decent meal is the least I can do. "Anything… Anything else I need to know?"

I guess that's a little cause for celebration, I suppose.

"We don't exactly know how her power works. She hasn't used it since she's been here, and she hasn't been drugged the whole time. It could be she needs to move her hands…" He shrugs. "She doesn't have extra organs or anything, but if you heal her, she might just blast her way out."

That's probably a psychosomatic thing. Those mental blocks mentioned above. Probably the same reason it doesn't trigger, say, in her sleep. Or in the middle of sex.

I nod. I've seen recordings of her firing energy pulses from her hands and feet and creating simple constructs. For a while I thought that she might have a power ring, but… No flight aura.

"I'll bear that in mind. Now take a break."

But she can fly, right? I'm guessing it's more of a telekinetic thing she does to her clothing. Literally hauling herself about by the bootstraps, if you will.

He regards me for a moment, several of his colleagues heading out immediately. Then he looks down, nodding to himself before following them out.

Alright.

Big display of trust there. Better live up o it, Lantern.

Sound baffle and scan.

Ekh.

Yes, she's been in the wars alright. And laying in bed all day isn't doing her much good ether. I start patching-.

No easy healing in the 'Invincible' universe, right? So she's had to recover from the usual pains of the heroing life the old-fashioned way... Even the best regular human heroes end up with roadmaps of scars...

Alert!

What?

The aura I had forming around Atom Eve… Fractures!

That's concerning. An effect of her power, clearly. Some of those mental blocks retracting in response to the perceived threat.

Don't you dare.

Shield and scan!

Given she blew off that aura, I have to wonder how much protection the Ring can provide against her powers...

Construct armour appears around me and-. And there's no one here. That was the ring-. Usually, whatever it translates is making some sort of noise, but given the state of her neck…

"Didn't you hear?" I drop my armour. "He might let some of your physicians go. There's a lot of work for doctors outside."

And besides, don't you want to be able to talk again?

Let me die.

"I'm not doing that. It would get a lot of people in trouble."

Not that she would actually die, it seems. I have the feeling Omniman would have to reduce her to paste, starting with her head, to have any chance of keeping her down... And even then it'd be a toss-up?

Her eyes open slightly, assessing me. Telepath.

"No, I've just got a really good translator. Look, whatever you've got planned, most of your injuries can't kill you. They're just crippling you and causing you pain."

And we know Paul is compassionate enough to not want that.

No.

"Alright." I pull out one of the chairs standing against the wall and move it into a position where it's easy for her to see me. "Now-."

Well, looks like it falls to diplomacy, then.

He sent you.

I nod. "He did."

Not off to a great start, but it was kind of obvious, given the lack of panic in her doctors.

Her eyes harden further. Traitor.

"They hardly needed my help."

Which says a lot about how powerful two Viltrumites are. Especially as a single proficient Lantern could also easily conquer a planet.

You could have fought-.

"I'm not that strong, not that fast, and I have no training. I've learned how to slowly rearrange matter. That's not something that can really hurt a viltrumite."

She snorts, and turns her eyes to the ceiling.

And while fear is a great teacher, it would work against him in this case, with his Ring shutting down due to mortal terror.

Right. "Do you know who General Franco was?" She doesn't look at me. "Fascist ruler of Spain for a good chunk of the twentieth century. Didn't join in the Second World War because after the civil war Spain was in too much of a mess to really do anything except send Germany a few volunteers, which is why he lasted so long. But as he neared the end of his life he wanted a successor. And having done the traditional fascist dictator thing of playing his subordinates against each other and only promoting people who couldn't challenge him, he didn't have anyone available who could do the job."

Heh. The best sinking to the bottom, and the least suited ending up rising. Typical fascism, really.

"But he'd been a monarchist is his youth and… The son of the deposed king seemed to be his sort of person. Young Juan Carlos made all the right dictatorial nationalist noises so… Franco nominated him his successor, Juan Carlos became head of state and then king once Franco died… And then revealed his true colours, abolished the fascist dictatorship and transitioned the country to democracy."

And the people rejoiced? Though after fifty years of his rule, a whole generation would end up having to find their feet in a suddenly different land...

"Then there's the Book of Esther. Haman persuaded King Ahasuerus to have all the Jews in Persia executed… Until the king's wife Esther persuades him not to, saving tens of thousands of lives without killing anyone."

Oh, she's looking at me now. No.

Yeah, she worked that out quickly enough.

A pretty clear example, really. And the roles are just as obvious.

I shrug. "And of course if the king didn't care about her, they'd all be dead. And if she'd let the fact that he was about to have her entire ethnicity exterminated stop her from 'persuading' him, they'd all be dead." I sit back a little. "I did.. hear about Omniman and Invincible finding your resistance group. Aside from one guy who teleported out, they all died. So I'm going to ask. You're clearly happy to sacrifice your life. Are you willing to sacrifice your pride?"

She'd probably rather be dead right now... But once she thinks about it, well... She probably won't like it, but she'll end up doing it. For Humanity's sake.

Tears leak from her eyes, and she squeezes them closed to try and keep them clear.

"I was wondering how it would work, being conquered by an alien empire. I mean, Omniman acting as a scout and then destroying resistance once he realised that we couldn't beat him… Okay, that's efficient. No sense wasting resources when what's on site can do the job. But one man can't run a planet. All he's really done since then is destroy potential sources of resistance. Invincible's the one who made the broadcasts. I don't… I don't think he knows how to run a world. And clearly the Viltrumite Empire didn't have a team ready to go when it happened. In my role as a toady I've been asking for the reconstruction plan, and I don't think there is one. Omniman kills without hesitation, but I… Got hold of some of the Global Defence Agency's recordings. In the early fights, before he… Internalised the victim-blaming, Invincible looked at his father for… Approval? Before killing his opponents."

He always was after his father's approval, right? Becoming a superhero, following his dad into conquest...

You disgust me.

"Yeah, that's fair. But having not fought them, and played the part of willing collaborator, I've been able to give millions shelter, food and sanitation. How many people did you help by resisting? After we lost at our strongest, how many did you think you could help by fighting at our weakest?"

Ooh, hitting her where it hurts. Emotionally, anyway.

You do it, then.

"We went bowling last week. I think he's trying to make a friend, but he's gotten so far into his alien overlord persona that he keeps being inadvertently terrifying… Then deciding that it was intentional." I shake my head. "I couldn't pretend to be you well enough. Couldn't hold your shape or match your power."

Because it's a safe bet as to what Mark wants.

I sigh, then get up.

"Think it over."

Hopefully, she can look past the anger, and consider it rationally.

Right, then... It might take a few more discussions like this, but I think he got under her skin, so to speak. I get the feeling the next time we look in, she'll be letting him heal her and reluctantly playing her part. Whether she can bear to, that's up to her... Hopefully we won't have to wait too long to see that.

Buggered internet, eh? That's always a pain, especially when it happens on a weekend. Hopefully @Mr Zoat can get onto his provider and get it back up promptly. Makes me glad mine's device includes a cellular backup, slow as it is.

Darko · Aug 24, 2024

Chojin Patriarch said:
Not that she would actually die, it seems. I have the feeling Omniman would have to reduce her to paste, starting with her head, to have any chance of keeping her down... And even then it'd be a toss-up?

Heck, even throwing her into the sun may not work.

Vaermina · Aug 24, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"I'm not that strong, not that fast, and I have no training. I've learned how to slowly rearrange matter. That's not something that can really hurt a viltrumite."

She snorts, and turns her eyes to the ceiling.

Right. "Do you know who General Franco was?" She doesn't look at me. "Fascist ruler of Spain for a good chunk of the twentieth century. Didn't join in the Second World War because after the civil war Spain was in too much of a mess to really do anything except send Germany a few volunteers, which is why he lasted so long. But as he neared the end of his life he wanted a successor. And having done the traditional fascist dictator thing of playing his subordinates against each other and only promoting people who couldn't challenge him, he didn't have anyone available who could do the job."

"But he'd been a monarchist is his youth and… The son of the deposed king seemed to be his sort of person. Young Juan Carlos made all the right dictatorial nationalist noises so… Franco nominated him his successor, Juan Carlos became head of state and then king once Franco died… And then revealed his true colours, abolished the fascist dictatorship and transitioned the country to democracy."

"Then there's the Book of Esther. Haman persuaded King Ahasuerus to have all the Jews in Persia executed… Until the king's wife Esther persuades him not to, saving tens of thousands of lives without killing anyone."

Oh, she's looking at me now. No.

Yeah, she worked that out quickly enough.

I shrug. "And of course if the king didn't care about her, they'd all be dead. And if she'd let the fact that he was about to have her entire ethnicity exterminated stop her from 'persuading' him, they'd all be dead." I sit back a little. "I did.. hear about Omniman and Invincible finding your resistance group. Aside from one guy who teleported out, they all died. So I'm going to ask. You're clearly happy to sacrifice your life. Are you willing to sacrifice your pride?"

These are really bad arguments that ignore just what such an attempt would do to her psychologically.

Ngamer11 · Aug 25, 2024

Vaermina said:
These are really bad arguments that ignore just what such an attempt would do to her psychologically.

He's not trying to improve her mental health. He's trying to convince her that she can try to help more people if she surrenders because there's a good chance Invincible will kill him if he fails in convincing her.

Vaermina · Aug 25, 2024

Ngamer11 said:
He's not trying to improve her mental health. He's trying to convince her that she can try to help more people if she surrenders because there's a good chance Invincible will kill him if he fails in convincing her.

Invincible will kill him just the same if she pretends to go along with it for a week then blows off her own head after having sex because she couldn't take it.

Or goes along with it for a month and then has a mental break that ends with her trying to kill Invincible.

Or pretends to go along with it and then goes behind Invincible's back to support the resistance.

Fact is, it takes a very specific type of mentality to do what Minion Paul is suggesting, and suggesting to a modern first world raised twenty year old that she should just lay back and think of England for the greater good is pretty much the worst way to go about things.

Ngamer11 · Aug 25, 2024

Vaermina said:
Invincible will kill him just the same if she pretends to go along with it for a week then blows off her own head after having sex because she couldn't take it.

Or goes along with it for a month and then has a mental break that ends with her trying to kill Invincible.

Or pretends to go along with it and then goes behind Invincible's back to support the resistance.

Fact is, it takes a very specific type of mentality to do what Minion Paul is suggesting, and suggesting to a modern first world raised twenty year old that she should just lay back and think of England for the greater good is pretty much the worst way to go about things.

It's not as if he has any other option.

Vaermina · Aug 25, 2024

Ngamer11 said:
It's not as if he has any other option.

Sure he does.

In fact, there's a whole list of less then ethical options he could pull out that aren't likely to backfire horribly.

Ngamer11 · Aug 25, 2024

Vaermina said:
Sure he does.

In fact, there's a whole list of less then ethical options he could pull out that aren't likely to backfire horribly.

I'm fairly certain that any other option will result in Invincible killing him. This version of Paul lacks experience and has no allies or resources he can rely on.

Vaermina · Aug 25, 2024

Ngamer11 said:
I'm fairly certain that any other option will result in Invincible killing him. This version of Paul lacks experience and has no allies or resources he can rely on.

Why are you certain of that when Invincible has been generally reasonable with him so far?

Also, those options don't really require anything more then his already shown Ring capabilities of re-arranging matter.

Heck, he could even ask Invincible to what degree he's willing to go with things.

hkim · Aug 25, 2024

Vaermina said:
Heck, he could even ask Invincible to what degree he's willing to go with things.

"It sounds like you're starting to try and wiggle out of this, Paul Pal. You wouldn't do that right? Wouldn't be smart. And you love being smart, don't you, Paul Pal? Good talk, go murder more protestors."

AverusBlack · Aug 25, 2024

Glad to see it was... well, not nothing, because RIP your phone. But at least your home didn't burn down or a giant ass hand grabbing you or some nonsense. Hope things work out for you shortly. There's plenty of word processors online, I just use google docs for my notes.

Cuchulin · Aug 25, 2024

Darko said:
I once read that it's possible that the other Nolan's didn't call Debbie a pet, so those versions of Mark didn't get so mad at him and heard him out.

What I remember hearing is that all the Evil version of Mark were closer to Nolan than their mother, a few may have been brutalized into going along with the Conquest of Earth.

Mr Zoat · Aug 25, 2024

7th May 2024
09:24 GMT

"…paste, man." Nurse Dietmar Schwartz sits back after polishing off an extra large roast dinner, his plate just short of licked clean. The rest of the physicians are pacing themselves a little better, though none of them are exactly slow. "Even British food is better than that."

I shrug ruefully. "I'm sorry, but that's probably my fault too. Invincible gave me the designs, and… Feeding major cities is a bit of an issue at the moment."

Nurse Claudia Bieri shakes her head. "Why? Farming areas shouldn't have taken that much damage."

"Currencies are in freefall, people are panicking, and… Most of the rioting has stopped now that…" I shrug. "Omniman decided that rioting was a sign of mental deficiency and just killed all the rioters."

"Shiiiit." Dr. Evesham nods. "How many..? People did he..?"

"I-" I shake my head. "-don't know. Thousands at least. They weren't even… Protesting against him. They were protesting their own governments not reorganising things."

Mr. Schwartz sits up a little. "Can you take letters out?"

I shrug. "In theory. If I'm getting let out. For all I know I'm here indefinitely."

"Surely you could just wave your hand at a wall and make it vanish?"

"Yes, but then I'd have to flee the planet, and I don't have any star charts. If I pick a direction then for all I know I'm flying deeper into the Viltrumite Empire. And then I'd die tired. And even if I went in the right direction, I don't know where habitable planets are. Yes, in theory I could keep going -maybe for centuries- until I eventually found one by chance, but I'm not sure how long I could avoid going mad from the isolation." Hm. "And I suspect that he'd kill all of you, and everyone else I've spoken to, and destroy the infrastructure I've built. And the viltrumites would probably send someone after me anyway."

"Ah. Yes."

"So, ah…" I nod. "Write any letters you want, give me addresses and… Ah, probably a facial description, and I'll try and get it to whoever you want it sent to. I'd offer to talk to Invincible, but we… Don't have that sort of relationship. Just about anything I could say would involve implying that being stuck here is having a negative impact on your ability to do your job, and if I said that-."

Dr. Evesham shudders. "Yeah. Don't say that."

I nod. "Best I can do is 'it might be nice as a reward'. And I can't even promise-."

Several of the staff members jump out of their seats, backing away from-. A.. bright pink dart flying into the room from the ward and… Popping, releasing tiny sparks of pink light.

I get up out of my own seat. "Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen."

It's a short flight back to the ward. No more pink bolts, so either that really took it out of her or she knows I'm coming. I wonder if she's been hiding more abilities than she's been showing? Doesn't seem likely. Invincible and Omniman seem like the sort of people it makes sense to go all out against.

The door to the ward slides open and… Her eyes are pointing towards me, though no other part of her body has moved.

Could you fight them, if you had training?

I put up a sound baffle. "Yes, certainly. In theory, my peak destructive capacity is extremely high. But there's no way to-."

Sound.

I raise my eyebrows.

Their hearing is extremely good. Enough sonic energy-.

"And they're not very likely to stand there and get hit. Omniman has not lived as long as he has by giving people free swings. And even if I… Burrowed a hole four miles down, built a soundproof training room for myself and spent a year raising my skill level to the point where if I caught them separate I could kill one, I couldn't do that to the rest of the Empire. Forget it. Put it entirely-."

I can heal myself.

I blink.

"Excuse me?"

My power lets me rearrange matter, just like yours. For a while I thought you might have been made the same way I was.

"That seems unlikely."

I can rearrange the matter in my body. I had to learn exactly what my organs look like, but I could fix my spine easily.

"Um." I frown. "I'm.. not sure-."

I had to focus. I couldn't do it while he was right there, or he would have found a way to stop me. Or Omniman would have ordered him to kill me.

"That makes sense, but why are you still here?"

Because I don't have a plan! The Guardians of the Globe's plan was to hide and build better weapons. But with Robot dead, there's no one to build them.

"Would they work?"

The only one we tried didn't. Why?

"If it was a sure thing I might have had a go myself. I'm not an inventor, but I can copy other people's work."

Would it..?

Her eyes move away.

Would it work? If I actually..?

"Don't know. Mostly I think it might work because he doesn't seem to care what happens with the Earth. So why not do what you ask him to. And… Obviously, you just changing your mind wouldn't be believable."

Acting like I'm hopeless won't involve much acting. I could… With him, and he might just murder thousands more people anyway.

"Based on observed behaviour I don't think it's likely, but yes. Do you know what happened to Omniman's wife?"

Died when he attacked Global Defense Agency headquarters.

"He killed her? That-."

They had a nuclear self-destruct. They hoped that if the blast was strong enough that it would kill him.

"I suppose that explains why he's been quite so ruthless in hunting G.D.A. personnel down. So are we doing this?"

It's better if you can heal me. Just in case they can detect it.

I nod. "Alright, but remember that I don't have permission to heal your neck."

I focus, and… It's not fast. I don't know her that well and it's not like I'm happy about what she's going to have to do. But the least I can do is stop her injuries hurting quite so much.

If there was another way-.

Lights flicker, winds gust out of nowhere and I create a barrier around us. A teleporter, or-?

"Lantern Matthew King." A translucent apparition I still just about recognise appears in the room. Humanoid, blank face and blue and red robes. Last time I saw someone like him they were picking a fight with Larfleeze. In a comic book. I don't know if Controllers even exist in this universe, and I've certainly never met one. So where is this fellow from? "I have need of your service."

I shake my head.

"I can't even help myself. What could I possibly do for you?"

Mr Zoat · Aug 25, 2024

Darko said:
I once read that it's possible that the other Nolan's didn't call Debbie a pet, so those versions of Mark didn't get so mad at him and heard him out.

Or that Nolan killed most of the good ones.

Mr Zoat · Aug 25, 2024

Chojin Patriarch said:
Buggered internet, eh? That's always a pain, especially when it happens on a weekend. Hopefully @Mr Zoat can get onto his provider and get it back up promptly. Makes me glad mine's device includes a cellular backup, slow as it is.

Spoken to them yesterday, and it's an infrastructure issue rather than hardware or software. Should be fixed by the 29th.

I'm... Hoping that it's sooner. I'll probably go into work tomorrow (bank holiday in the UK) just to use the computers there.

Bud-E · Aug 25, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"Lantern Matthew King." A translucent apparition I still just about recognise appears in the room. Humanoid, blank face and blue and red robes. Last time I saw someone like him they were picking a fight with Larfleeze. In a comic book. I don't know if Controllers even exist in this universe, and I've certainly never met one. So where is this fellow from? "I have need of your service."

I shake my head.

"I can't even help myself. What could I possibly do for you?"

Are we getting another crisis with Paul at the center?

Ngamer11 · Aug 25, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"Lantern Matthew King." A translucent apparition I still just about recognise appears in the room. Humanoid, blank face and blue and red robes. Last time I saw someone like him they were picking a fight with Larfleeze. In a comic book. I don't know if Controllers even exist in this universe, and I've certainly never met one. So where is this fellow from? "I have need of your service."

For curiosity's sake, how did he choose this name?

DAT_NOOB · Aug 25, 2024

I'm just excited we have an update! Yay!

Ngamer11 · Aug 25, 2024

@Mr Zoat, I just realized that you've been misspelling Omni-Man's name. It's hyphenated before the "man" part, which is capitalized, similar to Spider-Man. Is that on purpose?

Neruz · Aug 25, 2024

Bud-E said:
Are we getting another crisis with Paul at the center?

There's definitely some kind of crossover event happening.

Chojin Patriarch · Aug 25, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
7th May 2024
09:24 GMT

"…paste, man." Nurse Dietmar Schwartz sits back after polishing off a extra large roast dinner, his plate just short of licked clean. The rest of the physicians are pacing themselves a little better, though none of them are exactly slow. "Even British food is better than that."

I shrug ruefully. "I'm sorry, but that's probably my fault too. Invincible gave me the designs, and… Feeding major cities is a bit of an issue at the moment."

Just like a man dying of thirst coming across an oasis. Though hopefully without the 'gorging themselves sick' aspect of the trope. And that nutrient paste must be awful, if they're enjoying British food....

Nurse Claudia Bieri shakes her head. "Why? Farming areas shouldn't have taken that much damage."

"Currencies are in freefall, people are panicking, and… Most of the rioting has stopped now that…" I shrug. "Omniman decided that rioting was a sign of mental deficiency and just killed all the rioters."

...Eesh. I doubt it even took him much effort beyond 'spread arms, fly fast through the crowd.'

"Shiiiit." Dr. Evesham nods. "How many..? People did he..?"

"I-" I shake my head. "-don't know. Thousands at least. They weren't even… Protesting against him. They were protesting their own governments not reorganising things."

But since said governments are under his rule... I suppose someone could read it as an indirect protest against him.

Mr. Schwartz sits up a little. "Can you take letters out?"

I shrug. "In theory. If I'm getting let out. For all I know I'm here indefinitely."

"Surely you could just wave your hand at a wall and make it vanish?"

Yes. And then Omniman or Invincible come after him because 'hey, he could do that to us, right?'

"Yes, but then I'd have to flee the planet, and I don't have any star charts. If I pick a direction then for all I know I'm flying deeper into the Viltrumite Empire. And then I'd die tired. And even if I went in the right direction, I don't know where habitable planets are. Yes, in theory I could keep going -maybe for centuries- until I eventually found one by chance, but I'm not sure how long I could avoid going mad from the isolation." Hm. "And I suspect that he'd kill all of you, and everyone else I've spoken to, and destroy the infrastructure I've built. And the viltrumites would probably send someone after me anyway."

Phenomenal power... All the temperament of an upset toddler sometimes. That sums up Viltrumites in general, from what I gather.

"Ah. Yes."

"So, ah…" I nod. "Write any letters you want, give me addresses and… Ah, probably a facial description, and I'll try and get it to whoever you want it sent to. I'd offer to talk to Invincible, but we… Don't have that sort of relationship. Just about anything I could say would involve implying that being stuck here is having a negative impact on your ability to do you job, and if I said that-."

He'd replace them. Which wouldn't bode well for those present now.

Dr. Evesham shudders. "Yeah. Don't say that."

I nod. "Best I can do is 'it might be nice as a reward'. And I can't even promise-."

The delicate balancing act of making suggestions to a dictator.

Several of the staff members jump out of their seats, backing away from-. A.. bright pink dart flying into the room from the ward and… Popping, releasing tiny sparks of pink light.

I get up out of my own seat. "Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen."

An effective signal from Eve. Though the fact she can use her power at all.. Hopefully no-one speaks of it.

It's a short flight back to the ward. No more pink bolts, so either that really took it out of her or she knows I'm coming. I wonder if she's been hiding more abilities that she's been showing? Doesn't seem likely. Invincible and Omniman seem like the sort of people it makes sense to go all out against.

The door to the ward slides open and… Her eyes are pointing towards me, though no other part of body has moved.

Yeah, she can clearly use her powers without moving, then.

Could you fight them, if you had training?

I put up a sound baffle. "Yes, certainly. In theory, my peak destructive capacity is extremely high. But there's no way to-."

Sensible, since it's not impossible that the room is bugged. Though what someone would take away from a one-sided dialogue...

Sound.

I raise my eyebrows.

Their hearing is extremely good. Enough sonic energy-.

Unfortunately, making them deaf isn't going to do much to impair them. Even if you could cause enough damage to affect their balance, that's still a nigh-invulnerable flying brick to deal with. And sonic weapons tend not to be discreet in their aiming, either. So that would make a hell of a mess...

"And they're not very likely to stand there and get hit. Omniman has not lived as long as he has by giving people free swings. And even if I… Burrowed a hole four miles down, build a soundproof training room for myself and spent a year raising my skills level to the point where if I caught them separate I could kill one, I couldn't do that to the rest of the Empire. Forget it. Put it entirely-."

And even that wouldn't be guaranteed to be hidden, presumably.

I can heal myself.

I blink.

...Boy, her 'silent voice' is a little disorienting. For a second, it feels like he's talking to himself, then he reacts. Sooner she can talk again, the better...

"Excuse me?"

My power lets me rearrange matter, just like yours. For a while I thought you might have been made the same way I was.

So presumably, the blocks have receded enough for her to remember that, I take it.

"That seems unlikely."

I can rearrange the matter in my body. I had to learn exactly what my organs look like, but I could fix my spine easily.

Of course, there's not really anything she can do to stop a certain someone breaking it again. And he might not be so well-disposed for the repeat.

"Um." I frown. "I'm.. not sure-."

I had to focus. I couldn't do it while he was right there, or he would have found a way to stop me. Or Omniman would have ordered him to kill me.

A solid explanation as to why she couldn't do it earlier. Human bodies are complex, after all, and one strand of DNA in the wrong place could leave her with super-cancer.

"That makes sense, but why are you still here?"

Because I don't have a plan! The Guardians of the Globe' plan was to hide and build better weapons. But with Robot dead, there's no one to build them.

...Not right now, no. On the other hand... The very man she's talking to can assemble things just by wanting them to be.

"Would they work?"

The only one we tried didn't. Why?

Ah. Not exactly raising anyone's hopes that any of the other designs would.

"If it was a sure thing I might have had a go myself. I'm not an inventor, but I can copy other people's work."

Would it..?

And of course, the second you put the plan in motion, you'll have to make sure it goes off without a hitch, because once either target learns of it... They'll have seconds to act before they're in combat. And a few seconds is a long time to a Viltrumite...

Her eyes move away.

Would it work? If I actually..?

Mark seems quite taken with you. It might soften his behaviour, even if you can't turn him.

"Don't know. Mostly I think it might work because he doesn't seem to care what happens with the Earth. So why not do what you ask him to. And… Obviously, you just changing you mind wouldn't be believable."

Acting like I'm hopeless won't involve much acting. I could… With him, and he might just murder thousands more people anyway.

Especially if Omni-man tells him to. At this stage, he seems very on-board with the Plan.

"Based on observed behaviour I don't think it's likely, but yes. Do you know what happened to Omniman's wife?"

Died when he attacked Global Defense Agency headquarters.

Yeah, that'd push Mark over the edge into 'Fuck Humanity' mode.

"He killed her? That-."

They had a nuclear self-destruct. They hoped that if the blast was strong enough that it would kill him.

I suspect a Viltrumite warrior is powerful enough to headbutt a nuclear explosion into submission... And not have anything more than a tan to show for it.

"I suppose that explains why he's been quite so ruthless in hunting G.D.A. personnel down. So are we doing this?"

It's better if you can heal me. Just in case they can detect it."

And less chance of mishaps from her own ability.

I nod. "Alright, but remember that I don't have permission to heal your neck."

I focus, and… It's not fast. I don't know her that well and it's not like I'm happy about what she's going to have to do. But the least I can do is stop her injuries hurting quite so much.

I suspect her own molecular self-control is interfering with his Ring energies too. It can do that, as we saw yesterday.

If there was another way-.

Lights flicker, winds gust out of nowhere and I create a barrier around us. A teleporter, or-?

Oh, that's marvellous timing. Hopefully Mark isn't paying attention to this or he might come steaming in...

"Lantern Matthew King." A translucent apparition I still just about recognise appears in the room. Humanoid, blank face and blue and red robes. Last time I saw someone like him they were picking a fight with Larfleeze. In a comic book. I don't know if Controllers even exist in this universe, and I've certainly never met one. So where is this fellow from? "I have need of your service."

Interesting alias. We know 'King' is from another side of the family. The first name, well... If you could have any other name, what would you pick?

I shake my head.

"I can't even help myself. What could I possibly do for you?"

Hmm... Viltrumite versus Maltusian. That's a dicey fight, depending on who gets the first move in.

And once more, the Controller shows his face. And we can be fairly certain that this time, he's not here to pick up souvenirs. So what use can an alt!Paul with little training, a nervous disposition and a Ring of dubious charge status be to him? Unless that charge status is why he's here. We still haven't learned how he's maintaining a charge, unless there's some property of this universe he's exploiting...

I wonder if she's been hiding more abilities that she's been showing?

I wonder if she's been hiding more abilities than she's been showing?

...though no other part of body has moved.

...though no other part of her body has moved.

...and spent a year raising my skills level to the point...

...and spent a year raising my skill level to the point...

Darko · Aug 25, 2024

Chojin Patriarch said:
The delicate balancing act of making suggestions to a dictator.

And unlike human dictators, this one doesn't need other people to do work for him, so trying to say turn his guards or army against him wouldn't really matter.

Chojin Patriarch said:
A solid explanation as to why she couldn't do it earlier. Human bodies are complex, after all, and one strand of DNA in the wrong place could leave her with super-cancer

Heck, Paragon was also hesitant to heal metahumans because of their odd biology.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Mark seems quite taken with you. It might soften his behaviour, even if you can't turn him.

I just threw up a bit.

Chojin Patriarch said:
I suspect a Viltrumite warrior is powerful enough to headbutt a nuclear explosion into submission... And not have anything more than a tan to show for it

It may give them a headache.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Hmm... Viltrumite versus Maltusian. That's a dicey fight, depending on who gets the first move in

Viltrumites may be physically stronger, but Maltusians have a lot of exotic abilities and godlike tech at their disposal.

Jevek could potentially teleport them inside a black hole with a thought.

Plus, he's just a projection, so Mark and Nolan may not be able to do much against him.

Chojin Patriarch said:
And once more, the Controller shows his face. And we can be fairly certain that this time, he's not here to pick up souvenirs. So what use can an alt!Paul with little training, a nervous disposition and a Ring of dubious charge status be to him

He may want local materials that aren't present in his universe, like when he went to the Transformers universe, and thinks the local Paul would be able to help him because so far most versions seem to gain some level of power.

Jus4532 · Aug 25, 2024

Is it wrong for me to hope that Controller would lobotomize Invincible and Omniman?

Darko · Aug 25, 2024

Jus4532 said:
Is it wrong for me to hope that Controller would lobotomize Invincible and Omniman?

Nope.

I think a lot of people would like to see these two dead.

Jus4532 · Aug 25, 2024

Darko said:
Nope.

I think a lot of people would like to see these two dead.

I really hope they are stupid and impulsive enough to try and pick a fight with the Controller.

WereDragon · Aug 25, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"Lantern Matthew King."

Guess if he was laying low rather than being a hero he needed a name he could vocalise. Oddly boastful pick though.

In theory Maltusians are extremely powerful and more than a match for a viltrumite. In practice they very rarely have good showings if they aren't fighting the heroes.

Venustoise · Aug 25, 2024

OL: "Unless you can help me dethrown discount two kryptonian dictators."
Jevek: "Would you like to kill, imprison, brand, or assimilate options?"

Lokpik · Aug 25, 2024

Lol I'm kinda hoping the lanterns that get contacted by this controller share their data, peter Wynn has some good tech after decades of super criminals or super scientists coming to work with him. Him getting the transformer tech tree is nice, Mathew King getting the splicer. Formula, and the fallout super serum/psionics giving data could improve survivability of people after the disaster (if you have viltramite DNA could you modify it to give people viltramite traits or water downed ones. And fallow with the omniadapters I think it it's called.

Lol maybe they can ask for volunteers who would be willing to be uploaded into transformer bodies (people locked in their bodies or with degenerative diseases) and have vehicle forms that look innocuous with enhanced deep cover operatives until a moment where they can take out the viltramite.

Lord Ernest · Aug 25, 2024

WereDragon said:
Guess if he was laying low rather than being a hero he needed a name he could vocalise. Oddly boastful pick though.

Boastful? I'm not certain, but I surmise he chose the name Matthew King due to family reasons. Just look at the conversation between Krono and that British Ghoul that is probably related to him:

Mr Zoat said:
The sergeant and an escort detail marches towards a fortified hotel, which I assume is where Lord Harold is based. The sergeant himself is reviewing my family tree, and doesn't look all happy about it.

"King."

"Yes, my maternal grandfather's family name."

"And his wife was an Underwood."

"Yes, he used to make jokes about how untrustworthy they were."

PDV · Aug 25, 2024

PDV said:
Or, more likely, that Jevek isn't synced up. He seems to be approaching alternates when their situations are stable but still in enough want to work for him; he isn't randomly poking his head into their lives whenever he gets the chance, I think.

Looking right so far.

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

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At the End...

Revelation That Uncertainty Is Itself An Answer

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