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

"Perhaps. If you proved yourself capable. You would also need formal training in how to use that ring, and we'd need to give you a personal lantern to recharge it from."

"I know how power rings should be used. I have studied every scrap of information on Green Lanterns. I even briefly had the honour of being educated by Thaal Sinestro himself!"
Huh. Well Ragnar was present for the first Qward chapter and he hasn't visited Earth yet. Is he gonna be part of the eventual Sinestro stuff, Kalmin's foreshadowed decision, or some other party? Where the heck could a showdown happen, anyway?
 
I'm not sure the argument that killing Harley would just send Harleen to Heaven works with the DCEU incarnation of Harleen. She was already kind of a shitty person even before she met the Joker, and she willingly chose to follow him and expose herself to those chemicals even knowing what he was.

Really, most incarnations of her are pretty shit for falling for and enabling the goddamn Joker. So I don't really think she has the same excuse the Joker - potentially - has. Since at least with him, when one uses the Red Hood backstory anyways, you can say he never wanted to be a bad person even before he became the Joker.
It absolutely shouldn't because she absolutely did.

But Mr Zoat probably doesn't know that, so it's probably safe to assume this is an AU version of that universe just like pretty much all the other settings we see.
 
The Man (part 21) New
8th June 2013
11:53 GMT -5


I watch as the demolition charges detonate, construct dome containing the lead-paint-powder-and-asbestos rich dust before spraying it down with non-construct water. Also watching are Mr. Snart and Dr. Roquette, Batman having decided that this was a good situation to test out the advantages of using a nanoforge for reconstruction work. It's wholly impractical to use to destroy whole buildings -it's just not possible to maintain an even temperature throughout the structure so the die off rate in the nanobots is too high- but for denaturing hazardous materials it's highly effective and reasonably efficient.

Ambient hope detected. Charging. Charge: ninety seven percent.

And while Alan doesn't strictly need to rely on recharging from ambient hope like my villainous alter ego, it will let him keep working for longer. And I can see him smiling as he looks down at the gathering crowd.

Hub City: the only place where seeing a superperson knocking their buildings down makes them feel hope.

I drift a little closer as he dismisses his construct and the locals in protective gear move forward with the heavy metal wheelbarrows. A handful of Brazilian site-managers are keeping an eye on them, but picking up bricks isn't exactly specialised work.

"Any trouble?"

Alan's gaze grows distant for a moment. "You know who Thomas Midgley Junior was?"

"He-."

He rolls his eyes. "Before I asked and you looked it up with your ring."

"… No."

"Well, basically, he's the guy who invented leaded fuel and C.F.C.s."

"One man did both of those?"

"I'm sure he had a team, but he was the main guy."

"He's like a real-life Captain Planet villain-." Er… "He wasn't an actual supervillain, was he?"

"No, and he actually had a good motive for the lead thing. And we didn't actually know that C.F.C.s would damage the ozone layer at the time… I only know who he was because Jay chewed my ear off one time about the gas thing."

"Did Jay know him?"

"Not personally, but Jay's a professional chemist. He knew what putting that much lead in the environment would do to people. He signed a protest letter about it at the time, sent it to every major newspaper in the country. Not that it did any good."

"So he developed the speed formula so that no one would need to use leaded petrol? I approve wholeheartedly."

He frowns. "No, that was years after-." And then he gets it, brow softening as he huffs in amusement. "My point is that I got into the habit of asking him about other chemicals. And why I actually put up with that really smelly unleaded gasoline they used to sell as an alternative... I had to give that up when I moved to Gotham because I got too many complaints from my coworkers."

"You actually used that stuff?"

"Yeah, Jay was surprised, too." He looks down at the building. "I've dealt with lead and asbestos before, and all kinds of other chemicals you can find around the place. First time with a blue ring, but the basic principle's the same."

I nod. "Have you thought about getting a g-sanchong while you're here?"

"I thought I didn't need one? With my body being a glorified construct and all."

"You're not a construct so much as a bit more like a construct than a normal person. You're still essentially meat, so there's a body there that the g-sanchong can help."

"You got one?"

"No, it wouldn't work for me. The first time I healed myself I'd disintegrate it because it's not part of my self-concept. Most other human members of the League should though."

He snorts with amusement. "I don't think you're going to get all that many volunteers."

"I don't either, but… Jay must have known that when asked to choose between convenience now and possible brain damage later, or juddery starts and no brain damage, people would pick the convenience every time."

"We're both a little more optimistic."

We take a moment to watch the workers get started. We could go and knock down another building, but I want people to get invested in this. For it to be something… The local people did for themselves with the help of a few external specialists, rather than something the superpeople imposed. Or-. Not imposed. Gave them. Did for them.

Even if that's what's technically happening.

"Speaking of optimism-."

"Yeah, I don't really have an excuse not to… Ask her. She's still here, right?"

"Queen Artemis? Ah, yes, she's doing a geomantic survey of the area. Places like this don't really exist on her world, and I think it's affecting her more than I planned for."

"Okay, ah… Wish me luck then."

"Yes… Of course, but I… I actually meant… You said that you were going to ask Mister Swift about… Obsidian."

"Oh! That." He sighs. "No, I-. I did ask. Ah… As far as he knows, I didn't… There isn't an Obsidian. Here. I mean, he said that the Shadowlands is pretty much infinite in size so it's possible that he just hasn't spotted him…" He shakes his head. "But I think he was just covering himself. And you already checked all the written records, so I guess that's… That."

"And… How do you feel about that?"

"I dunno. I went looking because I couldn't stand the idea of leaving him somewhere… But if the Commander's history was anything to go by, he'd be in his sixties, and… I'd have been too late to really fix things. I don't even know if I wanted it to be true-. True here, or not."

He sighs again.

"I guess I should just be grateful that I didn't miss something like that for so long." He looks towards the horizon. "I think I'll take a flight around the farms. Superman said something about stopping by, and it'll probably help if I can get soil samples and what have you."

I nod. "You should introduce yourself to Queen Artemis first-. Oh, I was meaning to ask…"

He waits for me to get my thoughts in order. "Ask what?"

"Is this too much? A superhero just… Bulldozing and rebuilding a city? I know you read The Time Traveller, and I've sort of been worrying about Eloising people."

He nods. "Yeah, I was getting a bit uncomfortable about things too. Not quite in the same way, because you're being you about it-" I shrug. "-but I did ask Batman. Apparently he's been talking to people in the United Nations, and major world governments, and we're finally going to get some sort of framework for what we're doing."

"Ohthankgoodness."

Ambient hope detected. Charging. Charge: ninety eight percent.

Alan frowns in puzzlement. "That's a bit of a strong response for you, isn't it? I thought you usually made stuff up as you went with the Orange Lantern Corps."

"Yeah, but that's either a war, or a place where existing social systems have already collapsed. I want to fix human civilisation, not impose myself on it. If someone tried to make me follow a bunch of stupid rules I might just ignore them, but at least I'd know what the structure was."

"Batman wouldn't agree to something stoopid. It'll probably just involve us copying our reports to an oversight committee or something."

"Exactly! So I won't have to worry about it." I smile. "Thank you. That's really taken a load off my mind."

10th July 2013
06:01 GMT -5


And now it's been added right back on again.
 
Last edited:
"Queen Artemis? Ah, yes, she's doing a geomantic survey of the area. Places like this don't really exist on her world, and I thing it's affecting her more than I planned for."
That should say 'think'.

"Batman wouldn't agree to something stoopid. It'll probably just involve us copying our reports to an oversight committee or something."

"Exactly! So I won't have to worry about it." I smile. "Thank you. That's really take a load off my mind."

10th July 2013
06:01 GMT -5


And now it's been added right back on again.
I don't know what happened, but Paul really needs to lower his expectations about Earth's governments. If there's a chance that they'll do something stupid, they've probably already done it.
 
He frowns. "No, that was years after-." And then he gets it, brow softening as he huffs in amusement. "My point is that I got into the habit of asking him about other chemicals. And why I actually put up with that really smelly unleaded petrol they use to sell as an alternative... I had to give that up when I moved to Gotham because I got too many complaints from my coworkers."
'used'
Good on him.
"Queen Artemis? Ah, yes, she's doing a geomantic survey of the area. Places like this don't really exist on her world, and I thing it's affecting her more than I planned for."
Makes sense. You'd hope her planet was in better shape than that after her being the monarch for centuries. And I see someone else pointed out the error.
"Batman wouldn't agree to something stoopid. It'll probably just involve us copying our reports to an oversight committee or something."

"Exactly! So I won't have to worry about it." I smile. "Thank you. That's really take a load off my mind."

10th July 2013
06:01 GMT -5


And now it's been added right back on again.
'taken'
And does he always pronounce 'stupid' that way?
Haha, I'm looking forward to whatever's going on here. I wonder if Boss Smiley has managed to fuck with the government. His influence on the USA was reduced by that time in the Lunglands I think, and I imagine the life wave didn't help, but he should still have power in other countries.
 
8th June 2013
11:53 GMT -5


I watch as the demolition charges detonate, construct dome containing the lead-paint-powder-and-asbestos rich dust before spraying it down with non-construct water. Also watching are Mr. Snart and Dr. Roquette, Batman having decided that this was a good situation to test out the advantages of using a nanoforge for reconstruction work. It's wholly impractical to use to destroy whole buildings -it's just not possible to maintain an even temperature throughout the structure so the die off rate in the nanobots is too high- but for denaturing hazardous materials it's highly effective and reasonably efficient.
Interesting. Both the application of nanotech and the realistic treatment of it. In far too many cases, it's treated as a wonder-gadget that can do anything, and so resilient that a 'gray goo' scenario is a risk. And a few days after the last part, I see. Really, the Rings could deal with the harmful stuff easily, but the more options the better.

Ambient hope detected. Charging. Charge: ninety seven percent.

And while Alan doesn't strictly need to rely on recharging from ambient hope like my villainous alter ego, it will let him keep working for longer. And I can see him smiling as he looks down at the gathering crowd.
Heh. I bet some of them are appreciating his all-American good looks, too, even if he's still in 'middle-aged' territory rather than 'twenty-something'.

Hub City: the only place where seeing a superperson knocking their buildings down makes them feel hope.

I drift a little closer as he dismisses his construct and the locals in protective gear move forward with the heavy metal wheelbarrows. A handful of Brazilian site-managers are keeping an eye on them, but picking up bricks isn't exactly specialised work.
And with the g-sanchong, the risk of medical issues from the harmful materials is greatly reduced, I bet.

"Any trouble?"

Alan's gaze grows distant for a moment. "You know who Thomas Midgley Junior was?"
Thomas Midgley, Junior. Quite a distinguished amount of work, even if later years have proven some of them harmful.

"He-."

He rolls his eyes. "Before I asked and you looked it up with your ring."
I love that he has to make that distinction. OL does rely on that a bit much sometimes.

"… No."

"Well, basically, he's the guy who invented leaded fuel and C.F.C.s."
The former made the gasoline of the era more potent, the later was a cooling gas and aerosol propellant. And both are rather harmful to the environment.

"One man did both of those?"

"I'm sure he had a team, but he was the main guy."
Such is the nature of large-scale projects.

"He's like a real-life Captain Planet villain-." Er… "He wasn't an actual supervillain, was he?"

"No, and he actually had a good motive for the lead thing. And we didn't actually know that C.F.C.s would damage the ozone layer at the time… I only know who he was because Jay chewed my ear off one time about the gas thing."
Amusing. I can't help but picture Jay as the 'concerned' one now. Conscientious of environmental stuff compared to his contemporaries...

"Did Jay know him?"

"Not personally, but Jay's a professional chemist. He knew what putting that much lead in the environment would do to people. He signed a protest letter about it at the time, sent it to every major newspaper in the country. Not that it did any good."
Presumably signed as 'The Flash', I expect, unless his civilian identity had a presence in scientific circles. <Glances down> ...Never mind, this was in his youth.

"So he developed the speed formula so that no one would need to use leaded petrol? I approve wholeheartedly."

He frowns. "No, that was years after-." And then he gets it, brow softening as he huffs in amusement. "My point is that I got into the habit of asking him about other chemicals. And why I actually put up with that really smelly unleaded petrol they use to sell as an alternative... I had to give that up when I moved to Gotham because I got too many complaints from my coworkers."
Actually a thing, too. And a tricky thing to work around back then...

"You actually used that stuff?"

"Yeah, Jay was surprised, too." He looks down at the building. "I've dealt with lead and asbestos before, and all kinds of other chemicals you can find around the place. First time with a blue ring, but the basic principle's the same."
Probably requires a lot less focus and concentration, though, given the nature of Will versus Hope.

I nod. "Have you thought about getting a g-sanchong while you're here?"

"I thought I didn't need one? With my body being a glorified construct and all."
It's still made of meat, though. Even if it is well-seasoned with Spectrum energies... I rather think it'd be noticeable if you weren't anymore.

"You're not a construct so much as a bit more like a construct than a normal person. You're still essentially meat, so there's a body there that the g-sanchong can help."

"You got one?"
Admittedly, the environmental shields can do a lot of heavy lifting in that department, protecting from toxins and poisons, but there's bound to be times when you don't have one up.

"No, it wouldn't work for me. The first time I healed myself I'd disintegrate it because it's not part of my self-concept. Most other human members of the League should though."

He snorts with amusement. "I don't think you're going to get all that many volunteers."
If nothing else, all the team members who the thing isn't compatible with due to physiology, whether it be alien (Superman or Icon) or inorganic (Captain Atom or Plastic Man.)

"I don't either, but… Jay must have known that when asked to choose between convenience now and possible brain damage later, or juddery starts and no brain damage, people would pick the convenience every time."

"We're both a little more optimistic."
Humans can be a little shortsighted in that respect. We're not overly given to considering long-term outcomes, at least past our own lifetimes, at the most.

We take a moment to watch the workers get started. We could go and knock down another building, but I want people to get invested in this. For it to be something… The local people did for themselves with the help of a few external specialists, rather than something the superpeople imposed. Or-. Not imposed. Gave them. Did for them.
And there won't always be Lanterns to box the thing up inside a safety bubble as it crumbles or rip it down from the bottom up. Better to have them independent of you all, even if it takes longer.

Even if that's what's technically happening.

"Speaking of optimism-."
A very pertinent thing when the Blue Light is involved, certainly...

"Yeah, I don't really have an excuse not to… Ask her. She's still here, right?"

"Queen Artemis? Ah, yes, she's doing a geomantic survey of the area. Places like this don't really exist on her world, and I thing it's affecting her more than I planned for."
The near-total collapse of civilisation, or the extreme urban build-up? Because either of those things could affect geomantic energies.

"Okay, ah… Wish me luck then."

"Yes… Of course, but I… I actually meant… You said that you were going to ask Mister Swift about… Obsidian."
Oh, right, after the whole JSI-dimension thing. When he met a version of himself more like the original comics canon in backstory...

"Oh! That." He sighs. "No, I-. I did ask. Ah… As far as he knows, I didn't… There isn't an Obsidian. Here. I mean, he said that the Shadowlands is pretty much infinite in size so it's possible that he just hasn't spotted him…" He shakes his head. "But I think he was just covering himself. And you already checked all the written records, so I guess that's… That."
So unless they were born and adopted completely secretly, or the paperwork was lost, well...

"And… How do you feel about that?"

"I dunno. I went looking because I couldn't stand the idea of leaving him somewhere… But if the Commander's history was anything to go by, he'd be in his sixties, and… I'd have been too late to really fix things. I don't even know if I wanted it to be true-. True here, or not."
Still, having made sure is probably reassuring.

He sighs again.

"I guess I should just be grateful that I didn't miss something like that for so long." He looks towards the horizon. "I think I'll take a flight around the farms. Superman said something about stopping by, and it'll probably help if I can get soil samples and what have you."
Something to lighten the mood and cleanse the mind, eh?

I nod. "You should introduce yourself to Queen Artemis first-. Oh, I was meaning to ask…"

He waits for me to get my thoughts in order. "Ask what?"
Ah, he knows OL so well... Such a good mentor.

"Is this too much? A superhero just… Bulldozing and rebuilding a city? I know you read The Time Traveller, and I've sort of been worrying about Eloising people."

He nods. "Yeah, I was getting a bit uncomfortable about things too. Not quite in the same way, because you're being you about it-" I shrug. "-but I did ask Batman. Apparently he's been talking to people in the United Nations, and major world governments, and we're finally going to get some sort of framework for what we're doing."
Ah, some manner of support organisation for the League and other super-beings? Akin to the wider organisation seen in the DCAU?

"Ohthankgoodness."

Ambient hope detected. Charging. Charge: ninety eight percent.
Impressive that he felt so strongly it produced enough for the Ring to comment on.

Alan frowns in puzzlement. "That's a bit of a strong response for you, isn't it? I thought you usually made stuff up as you went with the Orange Lantern Corps."

"Yeah, but that's either a war, or a place where existing social systems have already collapsed. I want to fix human civilisation, not impose myself on it. If someone tried to make me follow a bunch of stupid rules I might just ignore them, but at least I'd know what the structure was."
Unfortunately, with as much power as he and the League have right now, it's rather easy to go all ''Civilisation' player optimisation' on things.

"Batman wouldn't agree to something stoopid. It'll probably just involve us copying our reports to an oversight committee or something."

"Exactly! So I won't have to worry about it." I smile. "Thank you. That's really take a load off my mind."
...Why do i get the feeling it won't go so easily?

10th July 2013
06:01 GMT -5


And now it's been added right back on again.
Well, that's an ominous thing to hear at the end of a scene...

Timeskip and cliffhanger in one? Dastardly, Mr Zoat. I hope the meeting with Queen Artemis went well, at least. Sadly, I get the feeling some human bureaucrat is sticking an oar in because of feelings of inadequacy or something. I'm sure we'll see soon enough. But hopefully whatever this will be won't be too obstructive in the long run.
 
Wait, did we just timeskip a month?
No, you got a one line flash forwards.
That should say 'think'.
Thank you, corrected.
I don't know what happened, but Paul really needs to lower his expectations about Earth's governments. If there's a chance that they'll do something stupid, they've probably already done it.
To be fair, it wasn't exactly them this time.
Thank you, corrected.
And does he always pronounce 'stupid' that way?
Probably. Stew-pid is how I pronounce it, but stoo-pid isn't unusual.
The former made the gasoline of the era more potent, the later was a cooling gas and aerosol propellant. And both are rather harmful to the environment.
I mean... Yes. Humans are part of the environment, though it's a slightly unusual way of phrasing it.
Amusing. I can't help but picture Jay as the 'concerned' one now. Conscientious of environmental stuff compared to his contemporaries...
No, just the effect of lead on the human brain. It's not like the Romans; they knew about that back them.
 
"Yes… Of course, but I… I actually meant… You said that you were going to ask Mister Swift about… Obsidian."

"Oh! That." He sighs. "No, I-. I did ask. Ah… As far as he knows, I didn't… There isn't an Obsidian. Here. I mean, he said that the Shadowlands is pretty much infinite in size so it's possible that he just hasn't spotted him…" He shakes his head. "But I think he was just covering himself. And you already checked all the written records, so I guess that's… That."

<3 u 2 zoat bby. It finally came back.
 

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