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

[Mr Zoat]

There's this YJ fic on SB called Judiciary Misadventures that has the author say what the Light is thinking after the Roanoke incident happened.

Luthor is worried and pissed that it happened, as he should be as several chapters later we see that people discovered what happened and his company was seized from him with him either being on the run, dead or imprisoned awaiting execution.
The Brain was still mourning Mallah's death and may be building a base on the moon.
Savage doesn't care.
Ras was drinking wine that ironically could have only been made with modern tech, the fact that he uses a pit that drives people insane and his closest companions are all fanatically loyal and brainwashed cultists has not helped him in the intelligence department.
Bee is doing something similar, lounging in her victory deluding herself that she is in power and that no one will come to take it away from her, all of which her brainwashed thralls agree with.
Spoiler Byalia goes into civil war and collapses.

Really recommend the fic, it is hilarious

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I got a bit annoyed with that, because the author only told us about Luthor getting gitmoed long after it happened and when I -and I think most other readers too- were assuming that he hadn't been. Still, I liked reading it.

 

[Darko]

Thank you, that was a great reread. How do you remember them?

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I typically use the Recap on TV Tropes If I want to remember an episode.

 

[Chaoswind]

To be fair, he tore her in half after she did something that he'd warned her in advance not to do, because Queen Bee is arrogant to the point of stupidity due to the advantages her power gives her. A fair number of other people could do that to her, like Dr. Doom, or Sinestro, but she never encountered someone who both could resist her, and was willing to give her a sharp lesson about when she shouldn't do that.

Renegadeverse Queen Bee also died of being arrogant to the point of stupidity, but in a way that was arguably worse (she was killed by machines, which she should have known that she would not be able to influence).

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A correction, she did something that happens naturally when she sweats and becomes nervous. She learned to control her meta human mind control, but the default activation method still happens... That is something she should have told Adom when he warned he would kill her if she tried to mind control him, but revealing weaknesses isn't something people like to do.

 

[The Froggy Ninja]

I'm curious if there's a Paul from Earth 33 somewhere around here.

 

[PDV]

Whose weirdass parallel Paul's ring was that? It's hard to imagine one with literally no armor in their ring, not even mundane or self-fabricated.

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One who was wearing their armor when captured, probably.

 

[Mr Zoat]

I'm curious if there's a Paul from Earth 33 somewhere around here.

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No.

 

[Darko]

Hey Zoat will we ever see alternate versions of the SI that use different ring colors aside from the ones we have already seen?

 

[Vaermina]

"-reveal to me Krona's deepest fears."

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Given he's a Guardian, the most we should see in that if it's handled realistically is "you got a B on your midterm" level stuff.

 

[Darko]

Given he's a Guardian, the most we should see in that if it's handled realistically is "you got a B on your midterm" level stuff.

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Considering how obsessed he is with knowledge this may be somewhat accurate.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Hey Zoat will we ever see alternate versions of the SI that use different ring colors aside from the ones we have already seen?

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Almost certainly.

 

[Maxx Crowley]

Missed several days here, but something occurs to me.

The MC-OL Para-Paul has seemingly been offscreen through all this. Or did I miss something?

 

[Idkusername]

Missed several days here, but something occurs to me.

The MC-OL Para-Paul has seemingly been offscreen through all this. Or did I miss something?

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He had been captured by Krona, and was rescued in the penultimate update.

 

[Maxx Crowley]

He had been captured by Krona, and was rescued in the penultimate update.

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Had he? I mean I saw the orange quotes, but there are so many Pauls....is that our OL?

 

[RichardWhereat]

I typically use the Recap on TV Tropes If I want to remember an episode.

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Ah, whereas I want the wording on some of the funnier or more poignant moments. Still, TV tropes recaps, I'll have a look there first in the future.

 

[Idkusername]

Had he? I mean I saw the orange quotes, but there are so many Pauls....is that our OL?

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Yep, that's our Paul.

 

[Doccer]

Is Grayven getting in on this or has he played his part?

 

[Nervaqus987]

Is Grayven getting in on this or has he played his part?

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He probably played his part after slicing Krona with the Sword.

Now he's busy having fun with ponies.

It amuses me to picture it as one of those cutaway gags where you have things like Baul chopping off his finger and throwing it through the portal before getting vaporized by Manhunters and then there's a sharp cutaway to Grayven in Equestria doing something cute and/or goofy like having a picnic with Luna and Lynn or struggling to fit through regular pony sized doors, then another cut to Paragon and various other Pauls in the middle of beam struggle with Krona.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Not by strength
By guile

Looking back as I head for Vanishing Point at best material-universe speed, I feel… Under levelled.

"Can we go faster?" Clayface is looking back as well. "Because I don't think-"

Krona has a shield attached to each of his fingers, each one automatically shifting to block attacks and then to move back behind the others before they get battered down. His own attacks take the form of overwhelming beams projected from his eyes which are blasting through any defence anyone other than Main Orange and Yellow can throw up. Wounded Lanterns are grabbed and healed by others and I don't think any of me have died yet but I can't see how that state of affairs can continue.

"-there's much we can do-."

"Where's the entrance?"

"Right, this way."

How-? Oh, some sort of transpatial impeller. I follow Clayface as he leads to… What looks like a blank wall, where he resumes a fully humanoidish form and lands before staring at the wall and banging on it with his right hand.

"Shit, it doesn't open from-."

The wall section vanishes, revealing a squad of blocky robots-. Manhunters? Just about to charge out. I form crumbler gauntlet constructs and slap them into their unshielded chassis! They barely have time to raise their weapons before they collapse into piles of scrap, hemispheres of metal vanishing from their chests before they can attack.

I then fly through the opening before it can close again. Did Krona summon them? Is that their default response to an attack? Or does Krona not actually keep anything important here?

"Hey, this way."

Clayface is already halfway down a corridor, so I

pause to dig the central memory stores out of as many of the Manhunters as I can before going after him.

"Are you taking me to the control room?"

Analyse.

Affirmative.

"No, Time Trapper. This was his place before Krona took it over. If we break him out, maybe he can fix things."

Not a terrible plan, but if Krona took it over while he was still here I doubt that it's that simple. I begin scouring the database for information on how this place works and what Krona's been doing. Hopefully, there's a solution which doesn't just involve slamming coloured beams at one another until one side breaks.

17th May 2011
03:06 GMT

I get my shield in place even as Red starts to recover, the yellow beam cutting out as a man wearing an American flag draws Yellow Titan's attention.

"Keep the yellow one off me while I get the-"

The Yellow Titan's lights flicker for an instant, then the armoured plates protecting its head jerk and three rings punch through from inside and head towards the hole in the sky. The Titan is still functioning, but I can't see any construct-related-.

"Out the-"

I remove my barrier as Red storms past, red light-

"-way!"

-billowing around his hands as he charges the Red Titan. Captain DC-America gets battered away by the Yellow Titan only for it to be struck by a beam of golden energy from John Stewart which.. seeps into every part of the titan before-.

The titan comes apart enthusiastically, chunks of metal and machinery being sprayed across the arctic wilderness.

Red is already assailing the Red Titan but… It appears to have dimmed as well. All of them do. They're still using constructs -though in Red's case that doesn't matter as he drains it faster than it can drain him- but they're nothing like as aggressive or powerful as they were mere moments ago.

"Commander, should I get the Indigo Manhunter Titan or remain here?"

"Stay here. Trust the rest of our force to manage it."

I bow my head slightly as Red tears into his colour's Titan, metal reduced to slag as he homes in on the rings inside its armoured body, ripping them free before blowing it apart in a surge of fury. Gold Lanterns and the quicker Justice League members assail the others, and their.. response is anaemic. Fortitudinous fighters are knocked back, but they swiftly return to the fray. Lanterns have their defensive constructs beaten but not broken.

My eyes narrow as I look at the hole in the sky. Something happened just now, and while I don't know what it was I'm grateful to whoever it was that did it.

"Commander? What's next?"

Ten little power rings on the wall
Ten little power rings
Take one down and…

I've spent a lot of time around Vanishing Point, and while I'm still not completely sure I understand the mechanics of how it works I have developed a feeling for it. A feeling for time that I can't fully explain. Goodness knows I've tried explaining it to Brainiac 5… In timelines that he no longer remembers, in the hope that he might be able to help. That we might find common cause. He doesn't want anyone 'playing' with 'history', I don't want anyone other than me altering time. But it was not-

"…gh here."

-to be. I stand, looking in the direction that Mr Hagen's voice came from. I thought he had a good chance of pulling off his task, but I wasn't expecting him to actually come back afterwards. Surprising.

This whole situation…

I sigh.

I'd much rather have worked with Brainiac than with Krona. And not just because Krona backstabbed me after agreeing to a limited partnership. If I'd been able to talk Brainiac into helping me, then we'd have completed my project as safely as possible. With Krona on the rampage… It'll be riskier. At least he'll have gathered good data.

Mr Hagen and.. one of the weaker Orange Lanterns fly in, rising up to my prison. Weaker but not weak. He's probably about as strong as I was…

How long ago..?

The Orange Lantern lands on the gantry and looks the assemblage over.

"Time Trapper. Do you know how to open this?"

"Can I borrow your ring?"

He hesitates. Which is fair; he doesn't know me or my goals, and… He probably wouldn't agree with them if he did. I know I wouldn't if I wasn't me. Predictably, his eyes start glowing orange a moment later but that won't show anything very much.

He shrugs.

"You could, but I grabbed a spare." He pulls it out of his pocket and holds it out to the bubble. "You never know when they're going to come in handy."

"Very sensible."

I hold out my left sleeve and call the ring with the concentrated need of a total obsessive who'll do anything to achieve his aim and the ring flies through the barrier onto my left hand. Then I extend filaments throughout the bubble and break down the solidified temporal distortions that Krona was using to hold me here.

Then I float myself onto the gantry.

"Thank you. Follow me, please."

 

[Darko]

'the opening' not 'then opening'

 

[Grimnar]

Honestly, while kind of interesting, this whole arc has been a giant letdown. For how long it was teased, the big multi-crossover has kind of failed. We've just bounced around a bit between different versions and clayface. Instead of OL going on a mindfuck journey across time and space where things get crazy, the dispersed viewpoints kind of rob it of any impact.

 

[Mr Zoat]

'the opening' not 'then opening'

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[Citizen]

Why do I suspect that Time Trapper may not be playing on the level here?

 

[Maxx Crowley]

Yep, that's our Paul.

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X to doubt.

When did that happen?

Plus, did Time Trapper Paul just call him one of the weaker Orange lanterns? Is it our OL?

Like, while I understand what's going on, I have no idea what's going on. Or who is who at some points.

 

[Idkusername]

X to doubt.

When did that happen?

Plus, did Time Trapper Paul just call him one of the weaker Orange lanterns? Is it our OL?

Like, while I understand what's going on, I have no idea what's going on. Or who is who at some points.

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We switched perspectives. He didn't have orange quotations, plus there was the big 'department of common sense' logo smack dab in the middle. The main Orange and Yellow lanterns are the Paragon and Lord Paultector respectively.

The narration then shifts to Indigo Paul, then the Time Trapper.

 

[TheEyes]

Why do I suspect that Time Trapper may not be playing on the level here?

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Because we're currently in Common Sense Paul's viewpoint? I'm sure tomorrow he'll seem perfectly reasonable and trustworthy.

 

[Handlewithcare]

So Time Trapper is a Paul?

And his goal is what,to return to Earth Prime?

Fix all the multiverse?

I AM CONFUSION!

 

[Handlewithcare]

Honestly, while kind of interesting, this whole arc has been a giant letdown. For how long it was teased, the big multi-crossover has kind of failed. We've just bounced around a bit between different versions and clayface. Instead of OL going on a mindfuck journey across time and space where things get crazy, the dispersed viewpoints kind of rob it of any impact.

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What would you have liked instead?

 

[Zig]

So Time Trapper is a Paul?

And his goal is what,to return to Earth Prime?

Fix all the multiverse?

I AM CONFUSION!

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Time Trapper is a Paul but his goal isn't to return to Earth Prime, it's too remake Earth 16 into the version we saw where China rules

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

Not by strength
By guile

Looking back as I head for Vanishing Point at best material-universe speed, I feel… Under levelled.

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Joy of dodging most encounters by being sensible, Caul. Avoiding trouble is good, but XP is better!

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"Can we go faster?" Clayface is looking back as well. "Because I don't think-"

Krona has a shield attached to each of his fingers, each one automatically shifting to block attacks and then to move back behind the others before they get battered down. His own attacks take the form of overwhelming beams projected from his eyes which are blasting through any defence anyone other than Main Orange and Yellow can throw up. Wounded Lanterns are grabbed and healed by others and I don't think any of me have died yet but I can't see how that state of affairs can continue.

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Man, even weakened, Krona is nasty. And the fact that your allies are drawn from other player's uploads doesn't always mean you'll get a munchkinised power build.

"-there's much we can do-."

"Where's the entrance?"

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Focusing on critical things as always, Caul.

"Right, this way."

How-? Oh, some sort of transpatial impeller. I follow Clayface as he leads to… What looks like a blank wall, where he resumes a fully humanoidish form and lands before staring at the wall and banging on it with his right hand.

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At least we got a name for Clayling's flying funnel. And it looks like the door's locked...

"Shit, it doesn't open from-."

The wall section vanishes, revealing a squad of blocky robots-. Manhunters? Just about to charge out. I form crumbler gauntlet constructs and slap them into their unshielded chassis! They barely have time to raise their weapons before they collapse into piles of scrap, hemispheres of metal vanishing from their chests before they can attack.

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Phew! Lucked out on that encounter roll. If Caul's got one thing going for him, it's all those initiative bonuses...

I then fly through the opening before it can close again. Did Krona summon them? Is that their default response to an attack? Or does Krona not actually keep anything important here?

"Hey, this way."

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Damn escort NPCs! Always trying to run off while you loot!

Clayface is already halfway down a corridor, so I

pause to dig the central memory stores out of as many of the Manhunters as I can before going after him.

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Information, good! Between the layout and info on Krona's plan, they should have some good stuff.

"Are you taking me to the control room?"

Analyse.

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Infodump acquired. Unfortunately, no time to read it just now... No pausing at this point.

Affirmative.

"No, Time Trapper. This was his place before Krona took it over. If we break him out, maybe he can fix things."

Not a terrible plan, but if Krona took it over while he was still here I doubt that it's that simple. I begin scouring the database for information on how this place works and what Krona's been doing. Hopefully, there's a solution which doesn't just involve slamming coloured beams at one another until one side breaks.

Click to shrink...

Because despite the numbers, Krona probably has the advantage there...

17th May 2011
03:06 GMT

I get my shield in place even as Red starts to recover, the yellow beam cutting out as a man wearing an American flag draws Yellow Titan's attention.

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May as well be wearing a red shirt, he's got such a low chance of survival...

"Keep the yellow one off me while I get the-"

The Yellow Titan's lights flicker for an instant, then the armoured plates protecting its head jerk and three rings punch through from inside and head towards the hole in the sky. The Titan is still functioning, but I can't see any construct-related-.

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And that would be Yaul yanking the Rings back to him. His and two others, it seems. So at least two Pauls or Jades running Fear builds.

"Out the-"

I remove my barrier as Red storms past, red light-

"-way!"

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Red Lanterns in a nutshell. Clear the way, headlong charge, rip'n'tear.

-billowing around his hands as he charges the Red Titan. Captain DC-America gets battered away by the Yellow Titan only to be struck by a beam of golden energy from John Stewart which.. seeps into every part of the titan before-.

The titan comes apart enthusiastically, chunks of metal and machinery being sprayed across the arctic wilderness.

Click to shrink...

Shredded! Joy of having a high-power NPC on your side. Too bad that's such a rare moment.

Red is already assailing the Red Titan but… It appears to have dimmed as well. All of them do. They're still using constructs -though in Red's case that doesn't matter as he drains it faster than it can drain him- but they're nothing like as aggressive or powerful as they were mere moments ago.

"Commander, should I get the Indigo Manhunter Titan or remain here?"

Click to shrink...

Could he manage to drain the Indigo' charge? Or would he focus on containment and disabling?

"Stay here. Trust the rest of our force to manage it."

I bow my head slightly as Red tears into his colour's Titan, metal reduced to slag as he homes in on the rings inside its armoured body, ripping them free before blowing it apart in a surge of fury. Gold Lanterns and the quicker Justice League members assail the others, and their.. response is anaemic. Fortitudinous fighters are knocked back, but they swiftly return to the fray. Lanterns have their defensive constructs beaten but not broken.

Click to shrink...

Looks like the Mega-Manhunters aren't very strong without their full force in action. Overlapping buffs always suck.

My eyes narrow as I look at the hole in the sky. Something happened just now, and while I don't know what it was I'm grateful to whoever it was that did it.

"Commander? What's next?"

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I would expect, "Into the portals! Let's take the fight to them!"

Ten little power rings on the wall
Ten little power rings
Take one down and…

I've spent a lot of time around Vanishing Point, and while I'm still not completely sure I understand the mechanics of how it works I have developed a feeling for it. A feeling for time that I can't fully explain. Goodness knows I've tried explaining it to Brainiac 5… In timelines that he no longer remembers, in the hope that he might be able to help. That we might find common cause. He doesn't want anyone 'playing' with 'history', I don't want anyone other than me altering time. But it was not-

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And now Maul's perspective. I suppose he considers his interference to be for the greater good... Of his home timeline.

"…gh here."

-to be. I stand, looking in the direction that Mr Hagen's voice came from. I thought he had a good chance of pulling off his task, but I wasn't expecting him to actually come back afterwards. Surprising.

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Yeah, Clayling seems to be a lot more moral than his originator. Strange how that happens.

This whole situation…

I sigh.

I'd much rather have worked with Brainiac than with Krona. And not just because Krona backstabbed me after agreeing to a limited partnership. If I'd been able to talk Brainiac into helping me, then we'd have completed my project as safely as possible. With Krona on the rampage… It'll be riskier. At least he'll have good data.

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Gee, looking on the bright side. Too bad he plans to acquire that data by putting Reality in a blender...

Mr Hagen and.. one of the weaker Orange Lanterns fly in, rising up to my prison. Weaker but not weak. He's probably about as strong as I was…

How long ago..?

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And if you have to ask that question, it's clearly been far too long.

The Orange Lantern lands on the gantry and looks the assemblage over.

"Time Trapper. Do you know how to open this?"

"Can I borrow your ring?"

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Well, that's direct. Also sounds skeevy as, even if they're allies of convenience.

He hesitates. Which is fair; he doesn't know me or my goals, and… He probably wouldn't agree with them if he did. I know I wouldn't if I wasn't me. Predictably, his eyes start glowing orange a moment later but that won't show anything very much.

He shrugs.

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Because of course Caul grabs extras. Who knows who'll need them. Common Sense!

"You could, but I grabbed a spare." He pulls it out of his pocket and holds it out to the bubble. "You never know when they're going to come in handy."

"Very sensible."

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It's his super-power of choice.

I hold out my left sleeve and call the ring with the concentrated need of a total obsessive who'll do anything to achieve his aim and the ring flies through the barrier onto my left hand. Then I extend filaments throughout the bubble and break down the solidified temporal distortions that Krona was using to hold me here.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, those little moments of avarice aren't scary at all, nosirree.

Then I float myself onto the gantry.

"Thank you. Follow me, please."

Click to shrink...

Time to throw a big old spanner in Krona's plans...

Took a little while to work out each Paul's perspective there. And It's likely to only get worse over the next few chapters, I bet. This is going to be an episode better in the story only, I think. Still, Krona's got an ass-whupping coming, so there's that to look forwards to.

So Time Trapper is a Paul?

And his goal is what,to return to Earth Prime?

Fix all the multiverse?

I AM CONFUSION!

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He's an alternate Paul, from the episode 'Mandated' (hence my nickname of 'Maul'.) Modified Earth-16 history, with a China-dominated world. OL's timeline reasserted itself, and he got stuck at Vanishing Point as Time Trapper. He just wants to go home to that timeline, but it means erasing OL's. He's been researching how by making and collapsing pocket timelines. Then Krona turned up...

 

[Sceptic]

Because we're currently in Common Sense Paul's viewpoint? I'm sure tomorrow he'll seem perfectly reasonable and trustworthy.

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Common Sense, Indigo, then Time Trapper. Three separate viewpoints in this chapter. And it's from TT Paul's viewpoint that we hear that he was stupid enough to trust Krona.