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

Mr Zoat · 2025-09-26T18:53:33+0100

Ardy said:
I have no idea what's happening with them so I'm just going to assume they're bankrupt

You..? Really?

In that case, welcome to the internet. They were bough by Disney, and for reasons I can't talk about on this website for another 12 years or so, profits have not been good.

CrazyNoVa · 2025-09-26T22:56:20+0100

Vaermina said:
General reminder that you ceded authority on this matter to Arisia and the Green Lantern Corps.

Which means you flying off like a petulant child means they should automatically rule against you because that's how law works when one side runs away.

According to WHICH law, exactly? Because the Green Lantern Corps has virtually no authority over the Orange Lanterns, while Earth and Daxam laws don't affect each other either.

In fact, if we use the Daxamites' own logic and apply to this situation, Earth would be within its rights to shoot down and exterminate any Daxamite that comes near it. Not so fun to have a "shoot all aliens on sight" policy when you're the alien in this situation, isn't it?

Sordid Snake · 2025-09-26T23:39:55+0100

WereDragon said:
Looks like Arisia might be upgrading Daxam from 'place we leave to its own devices' to 'place we actively quarantine'.

I don't think it would take much to make the Daxamites run amuck: Something that makes enough of them start to think that as long as non-Daxamites exist, in the long run they will pollute Daxam with their non-Daxamite-ness. Only in a universe where no aliens exist will the Daxamites be totally safe, and they might think that they can make it so.

I will also point out that suspected child kidnapping and rumours about suspected child kidnapping is a pretty common triggering factor for modern lynch mobs.

RoninSword · 2025-09-27T00:42:32+0100

@Mr Zoat so is this bolded bit

Mr Zoat said:
I chuck the slab of crystal through the boom tube, fire another burst of energy at my pursuers and then step through after it.

"Okay, so it turns out that the Daxamite elders are total hypocrites."

Karsta picks up the chirurgeon engine and attaches it to Kara's pod as the tube shuts down.

"Imagine my surprise."

"Yeah, they're fine using advanced technology to prop up their control. They had sunstones!"

just Grayven viewing them in a negative light? Your more recent comments imply the Daxamites just use the advanced technology in what they view as emergencies.

Mr Zoat · 2025-09-27T07:29:08+0100

RoninSword said:
@Mr Zoat so is this bolded bit

just Grayven viewing them in a negative light?

Yes. Plus, they just tried using it on him so he's not feeling charitable.

Mr Zoat · 2025-09-27T07:30:52+0100

26th July 2013
18:06 GMT

"Oh, hey." Mr. J'aarkn waves as Roy and I walk over to the… Café? Where he's eating. Surrounding Martians take the opportunity to gawp at us as they realise that we're not anthrophiles but are in fact actual humans. "Sit down, sit down! What brings you here?"

I take a look around as we sit. Making the surface of Mars habitable is an ongoing project, but this settlement is half conservation workers and half tourists. Around the outskirts Martian plants and the safer animals mix with the ground level of the great telekinetic pillars which Lantern Mother of Mercy created. Despite what hard science fiction enthusiasts think, space elevators usually don't take off-

Boom boom.

-because by the time there's an actual need for them a civilisation has usually developed exotic energy generators which make thrusting out of a gravity well on a decentralised basis far simpler, or anti-gravity technology which renders it superfluous. But on the few worlds which use them -usually due to a species-wide aversion to flight or a really manic drive towards early space travel- this is how they look; a huge structure on the ground and then a continuation you can faintly see through the blue of the sky.

Trying to follow it by eye from the ground to the barely visible top is a good way to fall over.

"An opportunity. How would you like to travel to a world no Martian has ever visited?"

"No martian's ever been to Mercury, but I don't think that would be good for my skin. Oh, and I finished those application forms… And if I'd known you were coming I'd have brought them with me."

"Neat. Do me this favour and we'll fly you to Earth afterwards."

He looks puzzled. "How come I'm jumping the queue?"

"You're not. But not everywhere has the same immigration restrictions. I can't legally take you to the United States but I can take you to my place in Bir Tawil-"

"Feeling-" He assumes Jade's appearance while maintaining his suggestive expression. "-lonely?"

"-and-. Not that lonely. Remember-" I tap the side of my head. **-that physical transformation isn't enough for me any more than it would be for another martian.**

"You could always pretend."

I shake my head. "I can't. I can't turn it off. You'd have to match her desires perfectly, and even then I'd be able to tell because the.. depth is wrong."

Roy shoves me in the shoulder. "And you wouldn't cheat on Jade."

"Yes, as I said, because-." Ah. "Yes, of course I wouldn't cheat on Jade. This was just-. If he wanted to make me think I wasn't."

Roy shakes his head, an action which the helmet just about relates to the exterior world. "Paul's got a problem with a child custody case, and we want a telepath to investigate."

J'aarkn stares at him, then turns his head to take in the rest of the area, and the hundreds of telepaths walking or floating around. "O-kay? What's so special about me?" He cups himself in a decidedly non-Jade way. "Other than the obvious."

Roy shrugs and turns to me.

"Religion."

J'aarkn blinks, shifting back to his default humanish form. "Huh?"

"While my empathy lets me perceive all emotions, as an Orange Lantern and Host of the Ophidian I'm drawn to avarice first. I want this, you want something I can help you with. Our desires work together to achieve things which advance both our positions. Thus, that is the thing to do. Yes, I could find a way to hire a random Martian…"

I look around at the dozen or so who are showing an unusual degree of interest in us. Two raise their hands.

"Or just ask them to do it for the privilege of my company, my dedication to the orange light means that I regard this as more.. elegant."

"Remind me where Bir Tawil is again?"

"North east Africa. Just south of Greater Kahndaq. I'm told that the value of the real estate actually gone up since Isis replanted the region."

He grins. "Hey, beachfront property."

"Land's the only thing they're not making more of."

"Alright, so what's the case?"

Roy points at me. "He kidnapped a boy, and his mother wants him back."

"Ah… Huh?"

"I prefer to think of it as emancipation. He could have gone back to Daxam at any time. He chose not to."

"Oh-kayyyy..?" J'aarkn looks decidedly uncomfortable. "How old are we talking?"

"Early teens-. Human-equivalent early teens."

"I'm… I mean, I… So… What would I be doing on Daxam?"

"Firstly, finding out what would happen to him if he went back. Secondly, finding out how they knew where Earth is and that he's here."

"Heh, look, I think M'gann M'orzz has given you unreasonable expectations about what a martian can do."

"You'll need to scan the boy's father and a couple of people in their police. They're isolationists, and they've never encountered a telepath before so even if they have learned the kryptonian theta waves state, they can't have practiced with it."

"Kryp-? Like Superman?"

"Daxam's sun is red. No powers. They probably have technology that can detect telepathy, but they're primitivist isolationists. Their advanced technology is kept in isolated vaults for situations where they know that they need it. If you get spotted then you should have plenty of time to leave."

"Okay." He frowns as he considers the offer. "So this is some kind of messy custody thing, right?"

"Essentially, yes. Except there's no judge and everyone has high-end superpowers."

"And-. Alright, checking the kid would be okay if he went back? I can do that. And I get the universe is a real big place… But…"

"Yes?"

"I… Think I should check up on the kid, too. Like… I know how these things go, and wanna square it with my con-."

"That's fine, but I'd appreciate it if you'd visit Daxam first. Negotiations continue in nine hours or so, and I'd like the information by then. Sodam Yat is currently in Bir Tawil, so you can see him when I drop you off."

"Okay." He nods, looking a good deal happier. "And can you get me Simon's current number? I should give him a call."

"It turned out that Simon Leas was an Apokoliptian infiltrator and he's currently sitting in a sciencell on Oa."

He stares. "'Apokoliptian', like… Oh. I had.. no idea."

"I know, but the police are probably going to want to interview you anyway. I can get you Sally Sonic's current number-."

"No, no, I'm good." He gets up, picking up his sandwich-equivalent as he does so. "Where's your ship?"

CrazyNoVa · 2025-09-27T07:41:57+0100

That's right, J'aarkn never knew about Simon, didn't he? It might be the first time in his life that he's ever felt bad about all the porno he's helped make, especially if it helped an evil porn god grow stronger.

crazygrox · 2025-09-27T08:01:21+0100

Mr Zoat said:
it would still be up to him how much time he spent on the planet

Huh.
It occurs to me that lantern Yat can probably call his ring at a distance. I'm not sure it's possible to get him to stay on daxam if he wants to be elsewhere.
Not without convincing the controllers to keep his ring locked down.

Vaermina · 2025-09-27T08:20:30+0100

CrazyNoVa said:
According to WHICH law, exactly? Because the Green Lantern Corps has virtually no authority over the Orange Lanterns, while Earth and Daxam laws don't affect each other either.

In fact, if we use the Daxamites' own logic and apply to this situation, Earth would be within its rights to shoot down and exterminate any Daxamite that comes near it. Not so fun to have a "shoot all aliens on sight" policy when you're the alien in this situation, isn't it?

According to law of Orange Lantern ceded authority to them thinking they would naturally agree with this point of view only to get pissy when they didn't.

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-09-27T08:32:21+0100

Mr Zoat said:
26th July 2013
18:06 GMT

"Oh, hey." Mr. J'aarkn waves as Roy and I walk over to the… Café? Where he's eating. Surrounding Martians take the opportunity to gawp at us as they realise that we're not anthrophiles but are in fact actual humans. "Sit down, sit down! What brings you here?"

...Huh, that's probably the easiest way to investigate Daxam without a visit from the Justice League. Invisibility, telepathy and better-than-unpowered-daxamite powers in case he gets noticed. Presumably it's easier to get his xenoculturalist acquaintance than some random Martian.

I take a look around as we sit. Making the surface of Mars habitable is an ongoing project, but this settlement is half conservation workers and half tourists. Around the outskirts Martian plants and the safer animals mix with the ground level of the great telekinetic pillars which Lantern Mother of Mercy created. Despite what hard science fiction enthusiasts think, space elevators usually don't take off-

Ah, folks seeing the sky for the first time in their lives, eh?

Boom boom.

Boom Boom indeed.

-because by the time there's an actual need for them a civilisation has usually developed exotic energy generators which make thrusting out of a gravity well on a decentralised basis far simpler, or anti-gravity technology which renders it superfluous. But on the few worlds which use them -usually due to a species-wide aversion to flight or a really manic drive towards early space travel- this is how they look; a huge structure on the ground and then a continuation you can faintly see through the blue of the sky.

And the kind of material sciences involved would also make them available to the more advanced cultures. Seriously, the forces involved in a tether-type like that are cataclysmic if something comes loose...

Trying to follow it by eye from the ground to the barely visible top is a good way to fall over.

"An opportunity. How would you like to travel to a world no Martian has ever visited?"

So, basically boldly going... And perhaps boldly coming.

"No martian's ever been to Mercury, but I don't think that would be good for my skin. Oh, and I finished those application forms… And if I'd known you were coming I'd have brought them with me."

"Neat. Do me this favour and we'll fly you to Earth afterwards."

To be fair, it's hard to know when OL is ever going to turn up, sometimes. Even if he makes an appointment, things can go awry.

He looks puzzled. "How come I'm jumping the queue?"

"You're not. But not everywhere has the same immigration restrictions. I can't legally take you to the United States but I can take you to my place in Bir Tawil-"

Which is probably a pleasant enough place for a martian.

"Feeling-" He assumes Jade appearance while maintaining his suggestive expression. "-lonely?"

"-and-. Not that lonely. Remember-" I tap the side of my head. **-that physical transformation isn't enough for me any more than it would be for another martian.**

Looks aren't everything, Johnnie.

"You could always pretend."

I shake my head. "I can't. I can't turn it off. You'd have to match her desires perfectly, and even then I'd be able to tell because the.. depth is wrong."

At least she can be sure he'd never cheat on her without some serious manipulations.

Roy shoves me in the shoulder. "And you wouldn't cheat on Jade."

"Yes, as I said, because-." Ah. "Yes, of course I wouldn't cheat on Jade. This was just-. If he wanted to make me think I wasn't."

I mean, it hardly needed saying, but humans can sometimes forget that.

Roy shakes his head, an action which the helmet just about relates to the exterior world. "Paul's got a problem with a child custody case, and we want a telepath to investigate."

J'adekn stares at him, then turns his head to take in the rest of the area, and the hundreds of telepaths walking or floating around. "O-kay? What's so special about me?" He cups himself in a decidedly non-Jade way. "Other than the obvious."

I'm guessing he had to add a little more up top just to allow him to do that, since Jade proper isn't that big. Even after her brief use of the Ring...

Roy shrugs and turns to me.

"Religion."

J'aarkn blinks, shifting back to his default humanish form. "Huh?"

Huh, a metaphorical flashbang into the conversation.

"While my empathy lets me perceive all emotions, as an Orange Lantern and Host of the Ophidian I'm drawn to avarice first. I want this, you want something I can help you with. Our desires work together to achieve things which advance both our positions. Thus, that is the thing to do. Yes, I could find a way to hire a random Martian…"

And it might be cleaner for the purposes of impartiality if he did...

I look around at the dozen or so who are showing an unusual degree of interest in us. Two raise their hands.

"Or just ask them to do it for the privilege of my company, my dedication to the orange light means that I regard this as more.. elegant."

Aw. Those two seemed real eager.

"Remind me where Bir Tawil is again?"

"North east Africa. Just south of Greater Kahndaq. I'm told that the value of the real estate actually gone up since Isis replanted the region."

So, somewhere on the Egypt-Sudan border? One of those 'disputed' regions, perhaps...

After all, the DC globe is a lot messier with its alternate countries.

He grins. "Hey, beachfront property."

"Land's the only thing they're not making more of."

As in there may be a few ladies in need of a handsome, temporary husband?

"Alright, so what's the case?"

Roy points at me. "He kidnapped a boy, and his mother wants him back."

Roy, you do know it makes OL sound like the bad guy when you say it that way.

"Ah… Huh?"

"I prefer to think of it as emancipation. He could have gone back to Daxam at any time. He chose not to."

Especially if him staying would have involved mind-wipes.

"Oh-kayyyy..?" J'aarkn looks decidedly uncomfortable. "How old are we talking?"

"Early teens-. Human-equivalent early teens."

Since Kryptonians, and thus Daxamites, mature a little differently.

"I'm… I mean, I… So… What would I be doing on Daxam?"

"Firstly, finding out what would happen to him if he went back. Secondly, finding out how they knew where Earth is and that he's here."

Both very important details. The former for the case, the latter for determining if someone in NEMO leaked critical information...

"Heh, look, I think M'gann M'orzz has given you unreasonable expectations about what a martian can do."

"You'll need to scan the boy's father and a couple of people in their police. They're isolationists, and they've never encountered a telepath before so even if they have learned the kryptonian theta waves state, they can't have practiced with it."

I mean, you say that, but... Kryptonian psychic shit is almost as broken as Earth Bullshit™.

"Kryp-? Like Superman?"

"Daxam's sun is red. No powers. They probably have technology that can detect telepathy, but they're primitivist isolationists. They're advanced technology is kept in isolated vaults for situations where they know that they need it. If you get spotted then you should have plenty of time to leave."

Especially if OL and Roy are lurking nearby in stealth for a quick pickup.

"Okay." He frowns as he considers the offer. "So this is some kind of messy custody thing, right?"

"Essentially, yes. Except there's no judge and everyone has high-end superpowers."

So if things get messy, they will get really messy.

"And-. Alright, checking the kid would be okay if he went back? I can do that. And I get the universe is a real big place… But…"

"Yes?"

"I… Think I should check up on the kid, too. Like… I know how these things go, and wanna square it with my con-."

...Conscience? That's fair. I would suspect he's rather protective of children, given the occasional scandal he'd have seen back in the day...

"That's fine, but I'd appreciate it if you'd visit Daxam first. Negotiations continue in nine hours or so, and I'd like the information by then. Sodam Yat is currently in Bir Tawil, so you can see him when I drop you off."

"Okay." He nods, looking a good deal happier. "And can you get me Simon's current number? I should give him a call."

...oooh, that one's a bit more complicated. Besides, he's not really a talent agent anyway, before...

"It turned out that Simon Leas was an Apokoliptian infiltrator and he's currently sitting in a sciencell on Oa."

He stares. "'Apokoliptian', like… Oh. I had.. no idea."

I would hope word spread of what happened on Earth by now, so any ties to Apokoliptian anything would be a big worry.

"I know, but the police are probably going to want to interview you anyway. I can get you Sally Sonic's current number-."

"No, no, I'm good." He gets up, picking up his sandwich-equivalent as he does so. "Where's your ship?"

Says a lot when he's that reluctant to make contact with her...

Well, hopefully there's no accusations of collusion or bribery thrown their way when Johnnie shares this with the disputing parties and the arbitrating Lantern. Nor any difficulty in Johnnie getting the information needed in the first place, especially if the Daxamites are being paranoid enough to keep mental defences up when there's no apparent danger.

He assumes Jade appearance...

He assumes Jade's appearance...

They're advanced technology is kept...

Their advanced technology is kept...

BR549 · 2025-09-27T09:09:14+0100

Mr Zoat said:
"You'll need to scan the boy's father and a couple of people in their police. They're isolationists, and they've never encountered a telepath before so even if they have learned the kryptonian theta waves state, they can't have practiced with it."

Hmmm. Now, what was it that was said a page or so back?

Ah yes:

Mr Zoat said:
In point of fact he wouldn't have been able to due to her being quite good at maintaining the theta wave state, but he doesn't know that.

Morgan Freeman: It did not, in fact, go well.

Chojin Patriarch said:
So, somewhere on the Egypt-Sudan border? One of those 'disputed' regions, perhaps... After all, the DC globe is a lot messier with its alternate countries.

Bir Tawil is an actual place in real life. It's a spot on the border between Sudan and Egypt that, due to a discrepency between borders established in 1899 (followed by Egypt) and 1902 (followed by Sudan) is claimed by neither.

ForeverShogo · 2025-09-27T09:29:38+0100

Well, he now knows Sleez was from Apokalips. It'll certainly be interesting if he ever gets the further context that all those happy and willing performers likely weren't as happy as he thought they were.

That's not even getting into how much of his current personality might have been shaped by Sleez.

Mr Zoat · 2025-09-27T10:32:27+0100

Chojin Patriarch said:
He assumes Jade's appearance...
Their advanced technology is kept...

Thank you, corrected.

Questianor · 2025-09-27T12:31:57+0100

Vaermina said:
According to law of Orange Lantern ceded authority to them thinking they would naturally agree with this point of view only to get pissy when they didn't.

Point of fact, I don't think he did cede authority. All that happened is that Jordan informed him the Daxamites asked for Green Lantern arbitration. I guess you could argue he implicitly submitted to their final judgement by talking to Arisia but I don't think that's a very strong argument, especially since, as you note, he left that conversation pretty quickly. He never ceded authority to the Justice League either; he just said he'd talk to Coutara and Yat and encouraged them to go see Daxam for themselves. Also, the arbitration seems very ad hoc and doesn't appear to follow any established legal code so I'm not sure "one party withdrew" actually means anything unless Arisia wants it to mean something (and I don't think Arisia is uncharitable enough here to interpret Paul's taking leave as having left negotiations entirely anyway). And I think Arisia is smart enough to get the sense the Daxamites are not any more likely to submit willingly to an unfavorable judgement here than Paul is. And the other great thing about ad hoc negotiations is you actually can take into account practical matters like "what if the Orange Lanterns say no?". In fact Arisia has probably been advised to consider inter-corps relations here. Even if her final judgement is that Yat should be returned to Daxam, she hardly has the authority to, say, demand that Paul removes Yat's orange ring, and it'd be farcical for her to assert she had such authority even if Paul had ceded authority on this custody dispute (let's see the GLC agree to remove somebody's ring on an OL's say-so because a GL agreed to listen when somebody asked for an OL arbiter about a dispute).

RichardWhereat · 2025-09-27T21:32:12+0100

Mr Zoat said:
Well, fuck. I better stop, then.

We also use English, and swearing a bunch too.

Mr Zoat · 2025-09-27T22:02:40+0100

RichardWhereat said:
We also use English, and swearing a bunch too.

Aping your betters is one thing, us aping you is entirely beyond the pale.

RichardWhereat · 2025-09-27T22:14:19+0100

Mr Zoat said:
Aping your betters is one thing, us aping you is entirely beyond the pale.

An Australian would have to ape an old god to ape their betters

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

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