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

[Valint]

Yeah, but it's kind of hard to argue with hinon in this case considering one random retard caused universe-wide catastrophes

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Sure, except that the Controllers' go-to response to situations like this is to destroy the planet and/or sun. I don't think Hard Posters Posting Hard Decisions quite get the Controllers' lack of fucks given about collateral damage.

Remember that the weapons they're most known for are the Sun-Eaters, which they created to make it easier for them destroy entire solar systems they considered tainted by evil, which Earth most certainly is.

Assuming the Life Entity is actually a thing here, that would presumably mean that practical considerations would stop them from destroying the planet, but that doesn't change their mindset. I mean, between the Sussex-based Order of the Ancient Mysteries and well, all of Hellblazer, the Controllers' kind of solution would be to just wipe out England.

 

[Sceptic]

I mean, between the Sussex-based Order of the Ancient Mysteries and well, all of Hellblazer, the Controllers' kind of solution would be to just wipe out England.

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I'd say "and nothing of value was lost", but IIRC some cities in England have a higher density of curry places than India does. Also Cornwall Boy. I'm not sure what the density of curry places in Cornwall Boy is, but it can't be that high...

 

[Buggy123]

Sure, except that the Controllers' go-to response to situations like this is to destroy the planet and/or sun. I don't think Hard Posters Posting Hard Decisions quite get the Controllers' lack of fucks given about collateral damage.

Remember that the weapons they're most known for are the Sun-Eaters, which they created to make it easier for them destroy entire solar systems they considered tainted by evil, which Earth most certainly is.

Assuming the Life Entity is actually a thing here, that would presumably mean that practical considerations would stop them from destroying the planet, but that doesn't change their mindset. I mean, between the Sussex-based Order of the Ancient Mysteries and well, all of Hellblazer, the Controllers' kind of solution would be to just wipe out England.

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To be the HPPHD, in their defense, we basically have a ritual that almost anyone in our species can perform as amateur that poses a serious risk of causing widespread mayhem, death, and destruction across the entire universe. "I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.", but with the entire solar system, is not that crazy of a response.

 

[experimentalDeity]

DC wanted a way to merge the superheroic setting of the golden age comics of the thirties with the setting of the silver age comics of the fifties. They wrote a storyline where a being empowered by eliminating parallel universes attacked all of their settings, destroying everything and leaving a single universe that was an amalgamation of what had gone before. The Anti-Monitor. Historical events and personal timelines were altered and individuals' memories were rewritten, except that some things didn't quite fit. For some unfortunates, their history changed as they lived it as the universe tried to accommodate irreconcilable events. And some remembered the whole thing, immune to the event which reformed the universe."

"I take it that's not actually what happened?"

Shouldn't Paul's question be part of the same paragraph?

 

[Oglymogly]

Mr. Zoat, is what the SI said about the Anti-Monitor all he remembers, or does he remember more about the in universe history and choose to phrase it that way?

 

[Valiran]

I perform a sweeping and not at all sarcastic bow. "Of course, Controller Hinon."

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Damn, I think Hinon just cemented OL's respect for her with that rant.

Or maybe that retcon only happened as the result of a retcon.

Otherwise it only existed for a couple of decades.

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And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why time travel and multiversal shenanigans are something nobody likes on either side of the fourth wall.

Oh El... why?

When someone gives a "Guardian" control a whole sector of the universe dies. That's why the Red Lanterns exist.

Who watches the guardians?

And then those same guys have the gal to make a truce with the Reach, you know the same species that uses technology so dangerous no other species dares to use unless the Reach gives them the idea?

The Oa Guardians have bought so much of their own lies they have become complacent and less effectice. Nuking whole sectors would win the War with the Reach.

And she wants the same kind of power?

Also newflash, stuff like the death of Dream happens on Earth all the fucking time!

No wonder the New Gods decided to GTF put of Earth instead of having the equivalent of ANOTHER war with the Titans.

And the Titans and the "Old Gods" they aren't gone.

Is hard to get scared when not even the divine that were supposed to have been replaced stay dead.

Either Death of the Endless is a troll or the Greek Pantheon is more Endless that the Endless.

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He was respectful and deferential to her because she sternly explained her entirely rational desire to keep the universe from being damaged any more than it already has been, and presented her argument with the same "done with this shit" frustration that OL has felt whenever the people around him are being idiots. In doing so, she proved to him that her motives and goals were entirely in line with his own as well as grounded and sane. His bow was a demonstration of his respect for her.

This strikes me as a sort of Reverse-Lovecraft situation.

Ancient and unfathomable beings, powerful, primordial forces that have shaped the universe for uncounted eons ... they live in a peaceful ocean of calm and sanity, praying the small mortal creatures, from the little island of madness, don't turn their attention towards them. Praying they pass beneath our notice.

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More like praying the kids who live on the planet with root access to the universe's source code doesn't mess with it too much.

To be the HPPHD, in their defense, we basically have a ritual that almost anyone in our species can perform as amateur that poses a serious risk of causing widespread mayhem, death, and destruction across the entire universe. "I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.", but with the entire solar system, is not that crazy of a response.

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When you put it that way, it actually sounds downright reasonable!

 

[Mquz]

Might be better that all the good stuff (heroes) are clustered with the bad. Earth is a ball of universe-threatening, self-replicating shit, that has a bunch of janitors on source. Destroy earth, and all that shit just gets smeared around the entire universe, and there's no janitors on site to stop it growing out of proportion.

Also, what sort of low grade research did Zor-el do to send Superman to Earth instead of an actual agricultural paradise in the middle of nowhere if that was his goal? What if, for example, Vandal Savage (protector of Earth? (in some canons)) raised Superman after seeing the spacecraft land? Or Ra's al Ghul. Both have "noble" goals and worldviews that a likewise near-immortal Superman could come to understand as he grew up, that would be disastrous to anyone else on Earth. Tamaran might be a better (more boring) agricultural paradise. We've had universal threats since the stone ages, as nearly any research would show. We had Dream trapped when Superman landed. Of course, maybe krypton had threats like that too? Earth would probably be able to beat Zod without Superman, so maybe he considered that too? There's probably a reason Earth isn't controlled (or known by) most aliens.

 

[Stsword]

Also, what sort of low grade research did Zor-el do to send Superman to Earth instead of an actual agricultural paradise in the middle of nowhere if that was his goal? What if, for example, Vandal Savage (protector of Earth? (in some canons)) raised Superman after seeing the spacecraft land? Or Ra's al Ghul. Both have "noble" goals and worldviews that a likewise near-immortal Superman could come to understand as he grew up, that would be disastrous to anyone else on Earth. Tamaran might be a better (more boring) agricultural paradise. We've had universal threats since the stone ages, as nearly any research would show. We had Dream trapped when Superman landed. Of course, maybe krypton had threats like that too? Earth would probably be able to beat Zod without Superman, so maybe he considered that too? There's probably a reason Earth isn't controlled (or known by) most aliens.

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In DC? He used the Kryptonian supercomputers to construct computer models of what Kal-El's life would be like on various planets.

First shown pre-crisis, where by some funny coincidence Kal-El grows up to be an expy of all the various Justice Leaguers. On a world of eternal night, his cop father is killed, so he grows up to be Flying Nocturnal Mammal Man! In an underwater world, he's basically Aquaman. In a world of giants, he's basically the Atom. In a medieval world, he's basically Green Arrow. Etc, etc, until finally there's a world in which his adopted father is a scientist who gives him superspeed, with which he runs so fast he breaks the gravity barrier and dies in outer space.

However, in all those worlds, Kal-El wasn't really happy. So he chose Earth because his computer model showed him that as Superman, he'd be happy.

Got a sequel in New Earth continuity, in which bad guys kidnapped Superman and put him in virtual reality simulations based on Jor-El's simulations. Superman as the son of the Guardians of the Universe, stick up his butt. Superman as Skyforce of Rann, asshole. As Big Brother on Thanagar, not a asshole, but used by assholes. And sadly the simulation in which Superman was a Martian was disrupted before we could see it, although why Jor-El made a simulation based on sending Kal-El to an extinct people I'd like an explanation for. Maybe Mars 2 actually exists in New Earth continuity and MM just doesn't know about it?

So apparently Jor-El's scientific achievements include mastery of Isaac Asimov's psychohistory.

 

[Gantradies]

Basically, the Controllers want to be Hard Men Making Hard Decisions (While Hard). Their primary disagreement with the Guardians is that the Guardians aren't willing to kill enough people.

They're basically every SB/SV/QQ poster who thinks that you have to break a few eggs to make omelettes, and that worrying about collateral damage is for wimps. (I mean, if they're in a blast radius centred on a villain, they're probably guilty of something. Probably.)

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to be fair,in the setting there Genuinely ARE a number of problems that primarily exist due to the powers that be not being willing to/being capable of making hard decisions when they're actually NECESSARY-
look at Napier's killcount on the lower end of the spectrum, or the horrific casualty rates of freshly-recruited green lanterns given they're often thrown into literal warzones without being able to escalate to lethal force in genuinely desperate circumstances...

all of the civilians who've died/been surgically brainwashed by the Reach because, to the best of our knowledge, their Guardian's policy is LITERALLY "close our eyes and hope they go away"....

 

[Deadring]

It's good to see OL finally try sharing for once. Honesty gets you unexpected places, if you give it a chance.

 

[Pinklestia]

To be the HPPHD, in their defense, we basically have a ritual that almost anyone in our species can perform as amateur that poses a serious risk of causing widespread mayhem, death, and destruction across the entire universe. "I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.", but with the entire solar system, is not that crazy of a response.

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Oh El was the idiot who revealed that to her.

 

[Mquz]

Oh El was the idiot who revealed that to her.

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For all we know, any planet with the white light entity has had something similar in terms of universal threat. Might not be able to have a planet where a similar idiot threat level does not apply. OL also seems to have judged her as the type who would have interfered directly and cared about collateral damage, only freeing dream/ killing everyone who knows the ritual at most.
Also, nuking Earth is HARD. We have time travelers who might go back in time and prevent you from doing so. Also, people who can literally predict the future if needed most likely. Or we could have Superman tank a Death Star laser by putting asteroids/ uninhabited planets in the way if warned. Superscientists as well.

 

[Mquz]

In DC? He used the Kryptonian supercomputers to construct computer models of what Kal-El's life would be like on various planets.

First shown pre-crisis, where by some funny coincidence Kal-El grows up to be an expy of all the various Justice Leaguers. On a world of eternal night, his cop father is killed, so he grows up to be Flying Nocturnal Mammal Man! In an underwater world, he's basically Aquaman. In a world of giants, he's basically the Atom. In a medieval world, he's basically Green Arrow. Etc, etc, until finally there's a world in which his adopted father is a scientist who gives him superspeed, with which he runs so fast he breaks the gravity barrier and dies in outer space.

However, in all those worlds, Kal-El wasn't really happy. So he chose Earth because his computer model showed him that as Superman, he'd be happy.

Got a sequel in New Earth continuity, in which bad guys kidnapped Superman and put him in virtual reality simulations based on Jor-El's simulations. Superman as the son of the Guardians of the Universe, stick up his butt. Superman as Skyforce of Rann, asshole. As Big Brother on Thanagar, not a asshole, but used by assholes. And sadly the simulation in which Superman was a Martian was disrupted before we could see it, although why Jor-El made a simulation based on sending Kal-El to an extinct people I'd like an explanation for. Maybe Mars 2 actually exists in New Earth continuity and MM just doesn't know about it?

So apparently Jor-El's scientific achievements include mastery of Isaac Asimov's psychohistory.

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I don't know... Tamaran seems kind of like a paradise before it got invaded. Everyone there, even the rulers, seems super chill and nice. If there's one place that Superman would grow up a Shounen harem protagonist/ beach boy/ environmentalist hippie and not a jackass, it'd be there. So long as they avoided the reach invasion, which he'd probably stop, it would probably turn out well. The extra yellow sun would help. Think about that - a bunch of peaceful warrior hippies with Superman at their head taking over a galaxy/ making an alliance against/ leading a rebellion against the Reach. At the very least he'd get to do the whole superhero thing, though if what Zor-El saw as him being happy, was Being able to be Clark Kent, that might explain it. At least in this fic, it's fairly Earthlike, though with a little more technology. Though they might have just come up with it to introduce Starfire. Might not have enough presence in the books to write about/ not be interesting enough.

 

[Valint]

Also, nuking Earth is HARD. We have time travelers who might go back in time and prevent you from doing so. Also, people who can literally predict the future if needed most likely. Or we could have Superman tank a Death Star laser by putting asteroids/ uninhabited planets in the way if warned. Superscientists as well.

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The last time a Controller weapon was used on Earth, it took the sacrifice of a GL bonded with an emotional entity (Hal Jordan/Parallax) to save the planet and depowered Superman.

(Note that this wasn't even a deliberate action by the Controllers, just one of their superweapons wandering into the solar system.)

 

[Mquz]

The last time a Controller weapon was used on Earth, it took the sacrifice of a GL bonded with an emotional entity (Hal Jordan/Parallax) to save the planet and depowered Superman.

(Note that this wasn't even a deliberate action by the Controllers, just one of their superweapons wandering into the solar system.)

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If they had that sort of power, why would they need an Orange Lantern corps to fight the Reach? Why would it even help? Just send a few black holes towards their central planets/ research bases and see how they deal with that. Only conclusion is that either an OL corps would be pointless (if they could stop that) or those weapons might not be creatable anymore/ ever in this universe.

 

[Stsword]

I don't know... Tamaran seems kind of like a paradise before it got invaded. Everyone there, even the rulers, seems super chill and nice. If there's one place that Superman would grow up a Shounen harem protagonist/ beach boy/ environmentalist hippie and not a jackass, it'd be there. So long as they avoided the reach invasion, which he'd probably stop, it would probably turn out well. The extra yellow sun would help. Think about that - a bunch of peaceful warrior hippies with Superman at their head taking over a galaxy/ making an alliance against/ leading a rebellion against the Reach. At the very least he'd get to do the whole superhero thing, though if what Zor-El saw as him being happy, was Being able to be Clark Kent, that might explain it. At least in this fic, it's fairly Earthlike, though with a little more technology. Though they might have just come up with it to introduce Starfire. Might not have enough presence in the books to write about/ not be interesting enough.

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While that's true as far as it goes, according to DC Database, the Citadel had been trying to conquer Tamaran for about a century before they finally managed it.

So for baby Kal-El to land on Tamaran, he'd first have to get past the Citadel, then past Tamaran's defenses, and then congratulations, he's landed on a planet that is this close to being conquered by the Citadel and probably getting sent to the Psions for vivisection.

Plus he might not have such a good time on Tamaran even if it avoided being conquered by the Citadel, because not all iterations of Superman had powers as a child.

In the Conduit storyline, it was revealed that the reason Clark was never Superboy was because he had no superpowers in high school, for example.

So Kal-El might have been like Blackfire, and grown up as the freak who couldn't fly.

 

[Mquz]

While that's true as far as it goes, according to DC Database, the Citadel had been trying to conquer Tamaran for about a century before they finally managed it.

So for baby Kal-El to land on Tamaran, he'd first have to get past the Citadel, then past Tamaran's defenses, and then congratulations, he's landed on a planet that is this close to being conquered by the Citadel and probably getting sent to the Psions for vivisection.

Plus he might not have such a good time on Tamaran even if it avoided being conquered by the Citadel, because not all iterations of Superman had powers as a child.

In the Conduit storyline, it was revealed that the reason Clark was never Superboy was because he had no superpowers in high school, for example.

So Kal-El might have been like Blackfire, and grown up as the freak who couldn't fly.

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If Kal-Els' Pod was launched below light speed (as in many versions), he might get there before the invasions got really bad (if Tamaran is closer to Krypton.) If he ever got to Earth, it'd be at the time of the JSA / Soviet Union, so it's not like a version of him never existed that far back - timelines are fuzzy enough to make it work. As for not being able to fly, it might be a character moment/ motivation (if going the Shounen protagonist route). As is growing up with the Reach just starting their invasion.

 

[Pinklestia]

If there's one place that Superman would grow up a Shounen harem protagonist/ beach boy/ environmentalist hippie and not a jackass, it'd be there.

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Without the Kents as his family, Superman becomes more of a jackass.

One of his comic book villains is a guy that discovered that Clark Kent was the best sports athletes in Smallvile because he was Superman. Instead of Clark trying to talk the guy down saying he didn't even have superpowers until he became a young adult, and that was true in that continuity, he called him a sore loser because as a human the guy could only end as second place vs Clark.

Let's me reiterate that

CLARK KENT CHEATED AT SCHOOL SPORTS WITH SUPERPOWERS AND WASN'T EVEN WILLING TO ADMIT IT WAS WRONG! OR AT LEAST DIDN'T BOTHER TO EXPLAIN THINGS WITHOUT BEING A JERKASS TO THE VILLAIN WHO DISCOVERED THAT! AND THAT WAS WITH THE KENTS AS HIS FOSTER PARENTS! WHAT THE HELL WAS THE WRITER SMOKING?

And this was in the nineteens not some silver age story.

And no, Superman wasn't doped on red rocks or something.

Even then, Superman really lucked out with the Kents.

If he had been raised by people similar to Luthor parents... that would be bad.

 

[Gantradies]

Without the Kents as his family, Superman becomes more of a jackass.

One of his comic book villains is a guy that discovered that Clark Kent was the best sports athletes in Smallvile because he was Superman. Instead of Clark trying to talk the guy down saying he didn't even have superpowers until he became a young adult, and that was true in that continuity, he called him a sore loser because as a human the guy could only end as second place vs Clark.

Let's me reiterate that

CLARK KENT CHEATED AT SCHOOL SPORTS WITH SUPERPOWERS AND WASN'T EVEN WILLING TO ADMIT IT WAS WRONG! OR AT LEAST DIDN'T BOTHER TO EXPLAIN THINGS WITHOUT BEING A JERKASS TO THE VILLAIN WHO DISCOVERED THAT! AND THAT WAS WITH THE KENTS AS HIS FOSTER PARENTS! WHAT THE HELL WAS THE WRITER SMOKING?

And this was in the nineteens not some silver age story.

And no, Superman wasn't doped on red rocks or something.

Even then, Superman really lucked out with the Kents.

If he had been raised by people similar to Luthor parents... that would be bad.

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b-... d..didnt you just say he DIDNT have superpowers growing up? o.o

 

[Mquz]

Without the Kents as his family, Superman becomes more of a jackass.

One of his comic book villains is a guy that discovered that Clark Kent was the best sports athletes in Smallvile because he was Superman. Instead of Clark trying to talk the guy down saying he didn't even have superpowers until he became a young adult, and that was true in that continuity, he called him a sore loser because as a human the guy could only end as second place vs Clark.

Let's me reiterate that

CLARK KENT CHEATED AT SCHOOL SPORTS WITH SUPERPOWERS AND WASN'T EVEN WILLING TO ADMIT IT WAS WRONG! OR AT LEAST DIDN'T BOTHER TO EXPLAIN THINGS WITHOUT BEING A JERKASS TO THE VILLAIN WHO DISCOVERED THAT! AND THAT WAS WITH THE KENTS AS HIS FOSTER PARENTS! WHAT THE HELL WAS THE WRITER SMOKING?

And this was in the nineteens not some silver age story.

And no, Superman wasn't doped on red rocks or something.

Even then, Superman really lucked out with the Kents.

If he had been raised by people similar to Luthor parents... that would be bad.

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Superman turned out fairly well growing up in the Soviet Union as Red Son, though, considering. He wasn't a complete jackass to people he was saving, and thought he was doing good. If we're talking other planets, he might be fine growing up the son of an alien Kents equivalent. Tamaran, at the very least, is earthlike enough to allow author fiat (small farms/ plantations on both planets). There's plenty of people with that sort of honesty/ good moral sense, that Zor-El could generally find with his future simulations. In the case of being picked up by the government, even raising him like Red Son might be ok, if the planet is in danger and there's an actual reason to unite beyond people wanting power. Might even give him a task too big for even him to handle, if he needs to work against the citadel / reach. Tamaran's rulers are fairly good either way, so he might grow up into a generally good person even if picked up by the government.

On a planet where everyone could fly, his powers would essentially be strength/ speed/ laser eyes/ ice breath/ breath in space/ invincibility. All of which are fairly easy to hide, and also not quite as useful. Instead of being able to do things no human can, he'd be doing things any Tamaranian can, but better. I.E. the flash, but with extra strength.

 

[Mquz]

b-... d..didnt you just say he DIDNT have superpowers growing up? o.o

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That wasn't Pinklestia the first time - also conflicting storylines are a thing, with multiple universes.

 

[Stsword]

b-... d..didnt you just say he DIDNT have superpowers growing up? o.o

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That was me.

That wasn't Pinklestia the first time - also conflicting storylines are a thing, with multiple universes.

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No, that's the same storyline.

Conduit thought that Clark beat him in high school sports with superpowers.

When Clark pointed out he didn't have superpowers in high school, Conduit's response was "Shut up lying liar who lies!"

Now we could believe Superman, or the crazy supervillain who built a sports stadium full of robots with his father's face to cheer for him.

Pinklestia apparently chose to believe that the lunatic knew more about Clark's superpowers than Clark did.

Now later, DC forgot all about Clark not having superpowers as a child, but expecting DC to remember to keep things consistent is a fool's errand.

 

[Mquz]

That was me.



No, that's the same storyline.

Conduit thought that Clark beat him in high school sports with superpowers.

When Clark pointed out he didn't have superpowers in high school, Conduit's response was "Shut up lying liar who lies!"

Now we could believe Superman, or the crazy supervillain who built a sports stadium full of robots with his father's face to cheer for him.

Pinklestia apparently chose to believe that the lunatic knew more about Clark's superpowers than Clark did.

Now later, DC forgot all about Clark not having superpowers as a child, but expecting DC to remember to keep things consistent is a fool's errand.

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Ah... I was assuming you were talking about different storylines. My familiarity with Superman comes from the movies, where it is a plot line in nearly all of them that he DOES have superpowers developing during puberty that he needs to hide. I may be misremembering, but didn't he in the classic original Superman movie have him raise the front of the Kents' car as soon as he gets out of the pod? Otherwise, if he didn't have powers he would have just been raised like a normal kid by the Kents. While I get that he might not have had extreme powers, I assumed he was at least Batman-level strong and fast at that age. The villain would be correct in that case that he had an unfair advantage, and Superman would be correct that he didn't have superpowers empowering him beyond human limits.

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th January
12:10 GMT -5

I awkwardly approach Claire… And a group of people I presume to be her friends. Walking across the university… Ugh, Americans. College campus, I've received more than a few stares. None hostile that I noticed, some friendly, mostly just astonished. Not sure whether they were astonished that I was there, or astonished that I was walking.

Claire's friends are the same, which is a little odd. She would have mentioned me, surely? It's not like the fact that she and I know each other is a secret, any more than Ms Lane and Superman knowing each other is. Or perhaps they just didn't believe her? Unlike the others, she regards me with barely concealed frustration.

"Grayven, hi."

I come to a halt a short distance from their table, arms hanging loose at my sides. "Claire. Do you.. have a moment..?"

A thin young man with entirely too much gel in his hair blows out his cheeks and averts his eyes. "Yeah… Ah…" He gets up and backs away. "Catch you later, Claire."

And that seems to be a general signal for the group to break up, students making their apologies or just leaving as Claire squeezes her eyes shut and huffs in my direction.

Huh. Maybe I could have… Timed that bet-.

"What?"

"I'm sorry. For.. that, and for the-."

"You couldn't get a flamethrower, so you needed to wake me up?"

I nod. "Do you mind if I sit down?"

"You didn't ask my permission two nights ago."

"Yes, and I… I realise that wasn't really ideal, taking you like that. Our.. arrangement-. You were quite clear that it didn't involve that sort of.. thing. I just couldn't think of anyone else who could handle-."

"I'm pretty sure Jean could handle a flamethrower."

"Jean was looking after the children. And she doesn't have your capacity or control." I gesture to the seating opposite her with my right hand.

"Don't crush it. My scholarship isn't that much."

I generate a construct chair next to it and lower myself onto the construct cushion. "As I said, I apologise. I realise that there were far better ways of handling the situation, but there was an emergency and you were the first person I thought of who could handle that part of dealing with it."

She takes a breath to steady herself. "You said you were protecting a peace conference. Don't Martians have police or something?"

"Those were police."

"Whu-?" She blinks in surprise, before huffing again. "Oh, great, now I'm wanted by the Martian government."

"No. When the police commit crimes, they're still crimes. Especially when that crime is murder." I nod my head to the right. "Probably shouldn't expect a medal, but there won't be any hostile action on their part."

Or J'emm and I will have words. Not that I think it will come to that. With the government decapitated during a period of severe civil unrest he's far too busy. J'onn got recalled to help with the Manhunters and I'm a government advisor. No follow up from the Hyperclan as yet. Their agents are still in place, but neither Karmang or T'Pexor have put in an appearance. Maybe the phase-state annihilator that vaporised the top half of Olympus Mons got them? There's a happy thought.

"Why were the Martian police attacking a peace conference?"

"Mars operates a caste society based on skin colour. Reds rule, Greens form the middle class and Whites are the underclass."

"Martians can.. shapeshift…"

"And they're telepathic. They always know." I shake my head. "Basically, their prehistoric ancestors were so deadly and aggressive that the people who run the Green Lantern Corps changed them into what they are now as an alternative to wiping them out. Not completely sure how they ended up in their current rank order." I shrug. "They recently found this out, and that was the trigger for the Whites to publically demonstrate their displeasure at the state of affairs."

"Yeah, I'll bet."

"Rebels have taken control of some cities. The peace conference was to enable the peaceful parts of the White rights movement to coalesce around a unified position. The head of the Martian police force… I still don't know if he knew what was happening there or if he genuinely believed it to be a meeting of rebel militants. But.. since martians are afraid of fire… That was my best chance to make them rethink without slaughtering them."

Her eyes narrow slightly and flick to the side. "Okay. I don't.. hate having been a part of that. But I'm still mad at you for dragging me-"

I lean forward and pass an envelope to her.

"-out of bed…" She frowns, taking it. "What's this?"

"You did work for me, therefore I pay you. Eight hours combat pay, plus unsociable hours."

She runs her right forefinger along the top of the envelope, carefully burning through the fold without igniting the surrounding paper. She then pulls out the cheque, notes the amount without outwardly reacting, then returns it to the envelope, folds the envelope and slips it into the front right pocket of her trousers.

"It's a start."

"It's part of what I owe you-."

"I still wanna know why you didn't just grab a flamethrower."

"It's… I think it's an Apokoloptian thing. Elite Apokoliptians are far more powerful than weapons. And regardless of the particularities of our relationship, I think of you as being… One of mine. On my side. So I was… Thinking about what I could do to pay you back…" I shrug. "Came up a bit short. So if there's anything an alien warrior god can do for you, let me know."

She hesitates for a moment, then shrugs, shaking her head. "Fine. Okay."

"But that aside, there was something I wanted to offer you anyway."

"I suppose I could use a summer job…"

"No, I… I thought 'fire' and I thought 'you'. What I-."

"The awakening thing?" She looks away for a moment. "I don't know, Grayven."

"Enhanced everything and no more periods. There is literally no downside. Yours for the asking."

She sits back, sighing. "I suppose if you're going to come grab me anyway…"

"Awesome, but that wasn't what I was working up to offering." This could go badly wrong, but it needs to be said. "I think of you as one of mine. My… Household. Apokoliptian social custom isn't entirely without redeeming features. I realise that.. at your age, this offer is far less appealing than it would have been when you were younger, but I'd still like to offer-."

Her eyebrows shoot up. "What, seriously? Adopting-?" I nod and she grimaces, shifting awkwardly in her seat. "No, Grayven, that's… What?" She shakes her head with surprising vehemence. "No."

"Okay. Fine. I mean, ow, but fine."

She's still fidgeting, clearly extremely uncomfortable with the idea. "If I was… Twelve or something, but I'm not. I-." She actually shudders.

I raise my right hand. "Okay. Offer's there. Challenger Mountain's doors are always open to you." I rise, dismissing the chair construct as I do so. "I'm afraid that I'm going to be busy on Mars for a little while, but you can talk to Sunset or Barda if you want reassurance about the Awakening."

Mother Box, hush tube to T'ronn's current location.

Ping.

 

[Stsword]

Ah... I was assuming you were talking about different storylines. My familiarity with Superman comes from the movies, where it is a plot line in nearly all of them that he DOES have superpowers developing during puberty that he needs to hide. I may be misremembering, but didn't he in the classic original Superman movie have him raise the front of the Kents' car as soon as he gets out of the pod? Otherwise, if he didn't have powers he would have just been raised like a normal kid by the Kents. While I get that he might not have had extreme powers, I assumed he was at least Batman-level strong and fast at that age. The villain would be correct in that case that he had an unfair advantage, and Superman would be correct that he didn't have superpowers empowering him beyond human limits.

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Yes, in point of fact Superbaby was a thing. Also Wonder Tot.

I would guess that DC having him grow up as a normal kid was to explain his lack of Superboy career, and actually have it make sense that Clark, mentally, is a Kansas farm boy, as opposed to someone who grew up hiding the powers of a god while pretending to be a Kansas farm boy.

And then about five minutes later DC forget all about that and went back to "kryptonians get superpowers the second they get exposed to a yellow sun."

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

11th January
12:10 GMT -5

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Ah, good, we get to at least hear the aftermath of the peace conference. Not that the Manhunters were very peaceable...

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"Grayven, hi."

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Ah, so much subtext in two words...

A thin young man with entirely too much gel in his hair blows out his cheeks and averts his eyes. "Yeah… Ah…" He gets up and backs away. "Catch you later, Claire."

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I get the feeling he just grabbed the completely wrong impression, in a romantic sense...

Huh. Maybe I could have… Timed that bet-.

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You think?

"Yes, and I… I realise that wasn't really ideal, taking you like that. Our.. arrangement-. You were quite clear that it didn't involve that sort of.. thing. I just couldn't think of anyone else who could handle-."

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Source above, that sounds so wrong if you don't have context...

Or J'emm and I will have words. Not that I think it will come to that. With the government decapitated during a period of severe civil unrest he's far too busy. J'onn got recalled to help with the Manhunters and I'm a government advisor. No follow up from the Hyperclan as yet. Their agents are still in place, but neither Karmang or T'Pexor have put in an appearance. Maybe the phase-state annihilator that vaporised the top half of Olympus Mons got them? There's a happy thought.

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Well, neatly summed up. But... The ENTIRE top half of Olympus Mons? Gotta wonder what earth astronomers thought of that.

She eyes narrow slightly and flick to the side.

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Her eyes narrow slightly and flick to the side.

"Enhanced everything and no more periods. There is literally no downside. Yours for the asking."

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Wow, so appealing, depending on how much her biology hates her...

Well, an interesting look at Grayven's side of events. Nice to at least hear about the wrap-up...

 

[Mquz]

Was she... flirting? With him? Trying to get him to make it up to her with a date? Awkward.

 

[King of Frost]

So what did actually happen with the one who ordered the attack? And the Manhunters who participated and survived?

 

[Mquz]

So what did actually happen with the one who ordered the attack? And the Manhunters who participated and survived?

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Man hunters were under orders - it's questionable whether they knew what they were attacking. Probably genuinely believed it to be a terrorist base. The one who ordered it is under investigation. Not sure how thorough that would be with the government essentially in shambles.

 

[Grek]

Grayven, no.