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

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?"
Given the theatrics I really feel like this should be noticed by Invincible.
 
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...
Aside from regular sonic weapons painfully (temporarily)deafening them, they have a strange inner ear design that's well-adapted to high speed flight and keeping their balance in varying gravity or zero gravity.
Apparently with knowledge of that inner ear there's a specific frequency that can cause them even more intense pain and vertigo that doesn't affect humans, and there's even supposedly some way of exploiting that inner ear to paralyze them(used only once, in secret, by one of the genius characters who dies not long after coming up with this, and doesn't pass the invention on to anyone else).
 
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Paul is still in the medical building and Invincible could be anywhere on the planet.
Unless Invincible is a lot more stupid then he's usually been portrayed as, he's been standing outside watching and listening to everything Paul has done to make sure he's not doing something he shouldn't.
 
Krono is the only alternate showcased in this episode so far that hasn't been contacted by Jevek. I wonder if he's being saved for last because Jevek is going to discover that his universe is where Krona ended up.
Or this is Krona trying to reconstitute himself
 
Or this is Krona trying to reconstitute himself
I think there are too many holes in that theory.

Last time we saw Krona, he claimed to lack his innate powers, which explains why he needed to summon a bunch of will-powered rings to defend himself, was sent to the Fallout universe because the laws of physics there are different enough to nullify his advantages, where he was killed by a telepathic weapon with the rings mostly damaged and also taken from the corpse. This is not to say that he couldn't reconstitute himself, but to point out all of the disadvantages he has from that experience.

If he somehow has the ability to appear in front of alternate Paul's and take their stuff, how does he know to take the appearance of a Controller to be instantly trusted even in universes where they aren't supposed to exist? Does he know that Paul's have comic book knowledge of the DC universe? Maybe he does and I forgot about it, but we know for sure that Hinon knows, assuming she's having Jevek do this on her behalf.

Finally, the Controller we've been seeing talks in the orange text of a Maltusian attuned to an Orange Central Power Battery. On top of all the effort he would need to go to achieve that, he wouldn't need to do that as part of the disguise because the ability to use the orange light isn't what the alternate Paul's are basing their trust on.
 
@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?
Ask me again when I have internet access. Let's pretend none of the characters who've used it know that it's hyphenated.

I'm on my father's laptop. The screen is filthy and I've forgotten the voodoo I used to make it display the contents of the USB. Microsoft is far more interested in selling me a new one.

Word 365. Hateithateithateit. You want to lock advanced functions out of the free version that's completely fine. Don't spam my screen.
 
Equity (part 17)
Earth 12

3rd February 2043
09:26 GMT -5

"Can you really trust them, Dad?"

Claudia, bless her, was able to organise my patently ridiculous request on impressively short notice. Probably from experience with trade shows or something. A lot of our back catalogue and prototypes spend their days mouldering in secure storage, with production models… Usually made to order. Getting them out, packed up, and getting the permissions we needed -both legally and practically- required an all-nighter from… A small army of people, including my daughter.

"Yes." I nod. "In the same way as we can trust the Guardians. They just aren't interested in the sorts of things that humans are."

"Y-."

"Did I ever tell you about the time that narrowly dodged being abducted by Krona?"

She looks a little blank, and shakes her head.

"It was when I first met Matthew Hagen. Clayface?" A slight pause, then she nods. "Must be half a lifetime ago now." Hmm. "Apparently, Krona was kidnapping different parallel universe versions of me and of a woman named Jade Nguyen and using them to do… Something or other."

"Jade Nguyen… Jade Harper, the assassin? Married Roy Harper…"

I look over some of the crates, remembering faces… Mostly retired or 'departed', driven and often slightly mad people who built machines the rest of the world hasn't caught up to yet. Or that got banned by international convention, like the weather control system. We have to get… Oh, so many signatures when someone wants to turn down a hurricane now. And we charge for that, but I can't but-.

"Dad?"

"Hm? Oh." I nod. "Yes, that's the woman. The two of them did some freelance work for me. Professional introductions, bodyguarding… Haven't seen them for a while, actually. Wonder how they're doing."

"Ah." Claudia looks awkward. "They're dead, Dad. They-."

"Oh!" I blink. "Yes, the… Plane. Sorry, slipped my mind." I snort. "I think I need to take another one of those cognitive acuity tests. I didn't miss Lian or Gwen dying, did I?"

"Not as far as I know, but I can check." She looks at me awkwardly. "Dad, are you okay?"

I shrug. "I'm old. I don't recommend it, if there's an alternative."

"Rani said you were thinking about full-body prosthesis. Those aren't… Safe."

"No, I know. But brittle bones and a failing musculature aren't safe, either. The main issue would be surviving the operation."

"Then you'd have the psychological problems. We don't have a lot of data on the long term effects."

"Haha..!" I smile. "Oh, Claudia, why would I be worried about the long term? Besides, someone's got to go first."

"Then why not just-."

I wince as the same flickering, wind-gusting thing from yesterday happens, raising my right hand to shield my eyes. This time I'm looking in the right direction to spot the Controller appear. He sort of… Appears from the middle of his torso, the bit of him that's 'here' spreading out until I can see all of him. Takes a moment for the colour to catch up. I wonder why? Seems like the sort of thing a Controller should be able to manage on their own, but I got Green Lantern Kai-Ro to check and apparently the Controller really was a Controller.

"Lantern Peter Wynne."

I moue, then reach into my jacket pocket and pull out the ring. Still just as dead as it's been for decades. "Technically. As per your order, we've assembled everything that might interest you here, and a-" I point to a small quantum drive in a secure case. "-digital copy of our entire archive. I'm not sure what use any of it will be to a Controller, but it's all yours."

"A digital copy would be inefficient. Simply transmit the data from your power ring."

"Ah. Well, yes, I'd like to do that. One small problem there."

"If your desire is insufficient, state what you want to make the exchange."

"No, no. I owe you this for… Everything. I just don't have a way to recharge the ring. It ran out of power long before I assembled… Before I built any of this."

The Controller regards me levelly. "Your ring has no charge."

I nod. "I'm afraid not."

"Where is your personal lantern?"

"I didn't ever have one. And I couldn't find one in this parallel." I shrug. "I've been stuck on Earth for almost my entire life, so I might just have missed it-."

"That is surprising. Almost all alternate versions of you find some way to recharge their ring."



Ouch.

"Well… I… Didn't. If you can tell me where I can find one, I can send a team to pick it up, but-."

"Okaara, in the Vega System."

"I checked there." I shake my head. "No myths relating to a 'Beast', and no Forbidden Forest of Weeds. I suspect that your forebears just didn't build an orange lantern in this universe."

"There are other ways to recharge a power ring."

"I didn't want to take a chance on learning them when I had finite power reserves and a ring that has a reputation for driving the user insane. I was cautious, and I'm a little surprised that you're telling me that my alter egos behaved so differently."

But I'm… Kind of bummed out that he's telling me that… Everyone else did… I mean, okay, not 'better', but-. It would have been nice to have. I remember the Despair Squid episode of Red Dwarf, where the team were told that they only got 3% in their own lives.

Gosh, I haven't thought about that for years.

"Lantern Wynne."

"Sorry. Sorry. Happens to humans at my age. I-."

"Would your effectiveness at collecting useful resources be increased if you had a personal lantern?"

"Ah." … "I'd have access to the rest of the universe, so, probably? But, I… I'm not sure I could-."

"Every version of you who has a power ring they could use has mastered it, except you." Oh. Ow. Right in the pride. "But I accept that a percentage of you that exist in the multiverse would be unable to achieve that due to circumstances beyond their control, and you have clearly prospered despite that."

"If you're going to give me directions-."

The Controller holds out his hands, winds gusting once again and orange light glowing between them. A moment passes, and then-.

A… Personal lantern. But it doesn't look like a Green Lantern's lantern. It looks more like a construct, but…

I look the Controller in the eyes, waiting. Because he's got exactly what I want.

"This will give you the ability to recharge. Temporarily. Since your universe lacks an Orange Central Power Battery it will fade and fail in time. I will restore it if you prove that you are worth my time. Recharge yourself, so that I can direct you in opening the portal from your end."

Oh.

Right then.

I slip the ring on my left ring finger, and raise my hand.
 
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"Where is your personal lantern?"

"I didn't ever have one. And I couldn't find one in this parallel." I shrug. "I've been stuck on Earth for almost my entire life, so I might just have missed it-."

"That is surprising. Almost all alternate versions of you find some way to recharge their ring."
If this guy is being honest, then that's high praise coming from a Maltusian.

"I checked there." I shake my head. "No myths relating to a 'Beast', and no Forbidden Forest of Weeds. I suspect that your forebears just didn't build an orange lantern in this universe."
If that is the case, then I'm interested in what the local version of the Guardians thought when they analyzed Peter's orange power ring.

"Every version of you has master their ring, except you." Oh. Ow. Right in the pride. "But I accept that a percentage of you that exist in the multiverse would be unable to achieve that due to circumstances beyond their control, and you have clearly prospered despite that."
Either this guy never found out about guys like the version of the SI with angel wings and the version of the SI stuck on Earth 10, or he's buttering Peter up. Also, that should say 'mastered'.

The Controller holds out his hands, winds gusting once again and orange light glowing between them. A moment passes, and then-.

A… Personal lantern. But it doesn't look like a Green Lantern's lantern. It looks more like a construct, but…

I look the Controller in the eyes, waiting. Because he's got exactly what I want.

"This will give you the ability to recharge. Temporarily. Since your universe lacks an Orange Central Power Battery it will fade and fail in time. I will restore it if you prove that you are worth my time. Recharge yourself, so that I can direct you in opening the portal from your end."

Oh.

Right then.

I slip the ring on my left ring finger, and raise my hand.
How much skill would this feat require Mr Zoat? Because this is really looking like a member of the Controllers who've aligned themselves with the Orange Central Power Battery is going behind Hinon's back doing something shady.
 
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This controller is behaving a little dishonesty, the lies by ommission I could explain away, but now he seems to be lying lying even if the lies aren't quite as big...

I think all this buildup is for when this controller gets to Krono and as a result we will get the return of Krona.
 
Personally I think Peter is in the top end of the bell curve for alternates. He has avoided mind-altering issues and lived a long and successful life with the woman he loves. Not to mention his successes in reforming criminals and helping advance science.
 
Personally I think Peter is in the top end of the bell curve for alternates. He has avoided mind-altering issues and lived a long and successful life with the woman he loves. Not to mention his successes in reforming criminals and helping advance science.
This version has had decades to accomplish what he set out to do.

Most other versions have only been around for a few years.
 
"That is surprising. Almost all alternate versions of you find some way to recharge their ring."
Possibilities: There are different Controllers visiting each SI. This one has not encountered the Transformers variant.
It is the same Controller but they are deliberately manipulating Peter Wynne for some reason.
It is the same Controller but they are so absent minded that they never noticed the Transformers SI cannot recharge.

Either way at least Peter gets to recharge and fix himself up a bit.

Personally I think Peter is in the top end of the bell curve for alternates. He has avoided mind-altering issues and lived a long and successful life with the woman he loves. Not to mention his successes in reforming criminals and helping advance science.
Dude is falling apart after less than a century. Whatever else he has achieved a 'long life' has eluded him.
 
Can't wait till he finds out what happened to his "ring". Will he figure it out himself or get an hand either way can't wait for the fireworks…..
 
"This will give you the ability to recharge. Temporarily. Since your universe lacks an Orange Central Power Battery it will fade and fail in time. I will restore it if you prove that you are worth my time. Recharge yourself, so that I can direct you in opening the portal from your end."

Oh.

Right then.

I slip the ring on my left ring finger, and raise my hand.
Didn't Peter hate having his ring because the Orange Light detox let him realize how badly it was effecting his mind?

Also, that's such a drug dealer response.
 
her this guy never found out about guys like the version of the SI with angel wings and the version of the SI stuck on Earth 10, or he's buttering Peter up. Also, that should say 'mastered
The wing man, if I remember correctly, got a battery from Waller. He joined the squad (and probably healed her) in exchange for that.

From what I can see, this controller is contacting those versions of oranges, who haven't contacted their in universe controllers, or more specifically don't have controllers. If this pattern remains unbroken we can be sure that this is the new big bad. I hope that Graven will be the one deal with him. I am a great fan of Graven and would like to see him do a technological exchange he missed out on during the Krona thing.
 
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This controller is behaving a little dishonesty, the lies by ommission I could explain away, but now he seems to be lying lying even if the lies aren't quite as big...

I think all this buildup is for when this controller gets to Krono and as a result we will get the return of Krona.
Ahh. Probably not a friend or ally. Krona turned a Controller into a sleeper agent, implanted commands? Commands which went active after he left the standard multiverse?

Wow, controlling a Maltusian... they would be able to do just about anything so they'd be much more effective tools than a standard alien.
 
But I'm… Kind of bummed out that he's telling me that… Everyone else did… I mean, okay, not 'better', but-. It would have been nice to have. I remember the Despair Squid episode of Red Dwarf, where the team were told that they only got 3% in their own lives.
It's a nice little detail that the actual score was 4%. It reminds me of when the Batman Who Laughs is telling regular Batman that out of every version of themselves across the multiverse he is the one whose life sucks the most and that he's a joke.
 

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