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

[Vaermina]

Plan 'Don't Fuck Up The Universe'
Is In Effect

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So... How long till we find out they fucked up the Multiverse?

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

Plan 'Don't Fuck Up The Universe'
Is In Effect

"So this will make changing time… Impossible."

"Well… Sort of."

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This is not the sort of thing where "Sort of..." is an acceptable answer, Maul. You really need to be sure on the matter.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Red Queen is patiently waiting a short distance away while Time Trapper makes the final alterations to the tuning fork. Angelika's staying back a little, clearly not entirely sure that this is something we should be doing but willing to let my judgement stand.

"You could go back and change time, but all that would do is create a new future separate to the one you knew. You could just go and live in that new future and from your point of view it would be exactly as if you'd changed your own history. And no one else would know anything had happened apart from you disappearing."

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Ah, the 'split timeline' form of temporal mechanics. One of the most annoying ones. Because whatever you do won't help your original timeline...

"But there'd be two of you."

"You say that after being strapped to a giant tuning fork with two hundred of us." He floats back, lowering the tool he was using. "Most of the time it wouldn't be a problem. It doesn't take much to prevent a person being born. It's only-."

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And Time is usually forgiving of that sort of thing. If someone important isn't born, sometimes it can make do with someone else almost the same.

"People from parallel universes. Like us."

"I was on our Earth for over a year before I found out about the temporal change. I just thought I was on an Elseworld or something."

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It'd have felt like one hell of a weird one, that's for sure.

"So… What is different?"

"Most things. Somehow…" He glances at Red Queen. "Jade got born, but our history was changed over two thousand years ago. America was mostly colonised from Asia, we're firmly in the space age… Well, were and will be again."

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To be honest, the world we have right now depends on a lot of incidents and flukes. If any one of those things never happened, the world could easily become a very different place.

I nod.

John Stewart's eyes glow as he looks over Time Trapper's work.

"And you're sure this will just change your parallel?"

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I can understand his worry. After all, they just spent the last couple of subjective days dealing with Krona trying something a lot worse...

"As sure as I can be. Having that many alternate versions of myself let me eliminate them as variables. There isn't anything else I can think to do that will increase my chances." He floats back a little more. "So if you're planning on forcing me to stop, let's have this out now."

John ignores the challenge. "I can't tell exactly what this thing will do, but it isn't going to affect any other parallel universes. I'll give you us much help as I can."

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Heh. I suspect there's more than a little hope in there, under the Will.

"Thank you." He nods. "Thank you."

"What do we do?"

"Not a lot, really. If everything works as it should, the worst you'll see is me evaporating."

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Er... And that's a good thing? I mean, if this doesn't work, you'd likely cease to exist anyway...

"What?"

"Hm? Oh, no, it won't kill me. 'Time Trapper' is a chronal aberration, and what we're doing should reintegrate me within my own timeline with my memories intact at the point where Vandal Savage originally left in yours. I'm not planning on recreating something I can't enjoy myself."

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So... If all this goes well, he never even remember any of this happened, and can get back to his double-date with two different Jades.

"If you're gone, how to I get home?"

"You might just snap back when I do, but…" He waves his right hand at the tuning fork. "Just in case, it's set to open a portal to the point where you left."

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How gracious. Of course, that's contingent on all going well in the first place...

"What do you want me to do?"

"Oh, nothing. Just being here to give the tuning fork your temporal variance is enough." He claps his hands together. "Right. Starting it now. If you feel anything off, then… Either you're wrong or it's too late."

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That does not bode well... At least it'll be quick?

I… Do try to feel anything, but aside from a slight glow coming from the tuning fork I'm not getting… No, there's… Something, but-. A weak-. No, not weak, just… Small.

My favourite book is Small Gods by Terry Pratchett, and there's a scene where Lu-Tze asks Brutha to hold his bonsai mountain. Brutha describes it as weighing thousands of very small tonnes. That's the best comparison I can think of to the desires I'm feeling. I suppose… I mean, I don't have any special abilities related to time or the bleed. It-.

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Not yet, anyway. In time, it'll make sense to you.

Time Trapper holds out his hands, and…

My word.

A… Shape, filled with lights, and… Desires, appears in front of him. The outer edge of it looks… Frayed, as if something was wearing it away. I look at him with an interrogative frown.

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Not a lot left of it, but I'm sure he's accounted for that...

"My timeline. Or.. rather, a moment of it. All I was able to preserve. But now…"

He holds his hands, the… Time… Moment.. thing, floating upwards until it sits between the tuning fork's tines. Then it expands, spreading out, rippling and finally vanishing.

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Man, if this was ever animated, it'd have to be as trippy as the Astral sequences in Doctor Strange...

Oh.

Oh.

"We met before. Brainiac Five brought me to the future after that mess with the Eliminations Inc people. And then it…"

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Ah, remembering a neverwhen. That's a sign... Good or bad, though?

"Never happened." He nods. "A moment erased by the functioning of time, now returned by the function's alteration. It always existed, it was just…" He looks at his hands as they begin to fade. "Wasn't… Connected. And now… I can't thank you enough for making-."

…

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Seriously, Time? You couldn't even let him say 'thank you and goodbye'?

For a moment I frown, trying to remember who I was talking t-. Time Trapper. Who was me, who now… Presumably is when he was supposed to be. Good for him, I suppose.

The tuning fork dims, and a new portal swirls into being between the tines.

"Angelika, I think this is us."

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You make it sound like catching the bus... Brits...

She nods, coming closer. "This has been a strange… But productive day."

"Red Queen? What are your plans?"

"I'm keeping Vanishing Point. And the tuning fork. Since I'm the only one who understands how it works."

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...And this is a good thing?

John nods. "This is a capacity we don't want anyone to use, but that we want to keep our hands on just in case."

I nod. "Sensible." I take a last look around. It's fascinating that these places exist, but… There isn't really anything here for me. I focus on returning to Jade and accelerate towards the portal, Angelika close behind me.

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Presumably with everything crossed that he can...

2nd April 2012
09:12 GMT -5, yet again

And… Back in the mountain. In front of the giant hole Angelika made in the wall made between the corridor and the emergency exit staircase.

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...Might want to fix that up before anyone notices?

"Ah." … "Oops."

I hold out my left hand and call my rings. They arrive a few seconds later, a visibly confused Ghia'ta hurrying along behind them. I toss her her ring as I don my own, then raise my hand and repair the wall.

Ghia'ta stares at us both. "What just happened?"

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I wonder if she noticed anything other than Paul suddenly disappearing from his seat?

I complete the wall, blocking us from her sight.

"I do so like being able to wave my problems away."

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If only some were so easy to do so...

Angelika smiles. "I think that I will spend the rest of the day with Raquel. I'm sure that she has many things she could tell me about the achievements of the negro people."

"If she asks-" Wall… Good as new. Now I'm going to write up a report for Hinon and another for Batman, then… I'm going back to bed. "-that wasn't my idea."

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Yeah, best not to word it that way, Angie...

Boy, are those reports going to be doozies. I won't be at all surprised if the next episode is him getting a very loud call from Hinon demanding answers. And Batman scowling hard enough to make even OL feel nervous...

He holds his hands, the…

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Er, what? Something missing, methinks?

 

[TheEyes]

So... How long till we find out they fucked up the Multiverse?

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When Red Queen calls everyone in for the next crossover event.

The first thing OL will notice is the wound on her hand from Grayven stabbing her.

 

[Lucidum]

So... How long till we find out they fucked up the Multiverse?

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It's no longer a matter of 'when' or 'where' but 'yet' my good sir.

 

[Mr Zoat]

'do I' not 'to I'

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There is no 'try'?

'as much'

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Maybe start with movie Zulu, then go onto the Zulu Wars (more than a few battles where the British lost), talk about the Buffalo Soldiers and end with the time Super man lost a boxing match to "The Greatest".

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That last one doesn't fit Earth 16 chronology.

Er, what? Something missing, methinks?

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[Irked]

I'm kind of worried we're about to have a very ominous interlude after that, because i still haven't seen anything that would have caused Pariah to show up.

 

[Sockmonkey]

Because the DCAU did the Crisis Two Earth's and their Nth Metal was actually shown to.

In the DCAU Hawkwoman's mace has no grip, it's Nth Metal all the way down.

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Since she's not being electrocuted, I'm assuming that the handle is covered by a gray material over the Nth metal, and not just bare metal. Safety aside, smooth bare metal gives a shitty grip.

 

[Darko]

'to I get' is incorrect

'do I get' is correct

 

[moralrelativity]

Feels like something is missing, like he should of had some kind of epiphany or personal development and it just didn't happen.

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Nah, that sort of thing only happens in stories.

 

[Gantradies]

Speaking of nuclear fission, remember when the people were afraid it would set the earth's atmosphere on fire? Good times...

Now, there was a mathematical proof that it wouldn't, but the proof could always be wrong.


You're operating on the logic of BvS: If there's even an infinitesimal chance that Superman might go evil, you gotta kill him now, regardless of his current character or intentions.

Now, knowing that this is a story, we know something is going to go wrong, but also that it's not going to do so in a multiverse-annihilating way.

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not quite my assumption-i haven't taken as much blunt force trauma to the skull as the DCCU version of Bruce wayne -yet-!
my core concern was that they were re-purposing gear that had been configured to collapse the target universes on the fly, in a very short timespan-

with the Fission bomb stuff, it was considered a very unlikely possibility- they'd checked their math multiple times, and were fairly certain the device they built WOULDNT torch the atmosphere-
in this case, they were using unfamiliar glowtech originally designed as multivercide-inducing WMD by a builder who was as nutty as Alexander Luthor-just with a different monomania-
that had been in the middle of a raging firefight minutes/hours before- if it'd been a purpose-built rig, or there'd been a full teardown and rebuild (and the software/firmware gone over with a fine toothed comb), id have been less...twitchy

 

[Mr Zoat]

'to I get' is incorrect

'do I get' is correct

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Thank you, corrected.

I think the problem is that I was reading your italic 'I' as a '/'.

 

[Ace Dreamer]

special abilities related to time or the bleed

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Capitalise 'bleed'? As I understand English, whether you capitalise 'time' is up to you, as you're supposed to work out the meaning from context, but, I don't think I've ever seen 'The Bleed' not capitalised.

---

Nice wrap-up. Time stuff went pretty smoothly, and a Pratchett reference is always nice.

I'll admit I'm a little curious what OL did with the extra Orange Ring that he had, whether he gave it to someone else, or it faded away, or something. Reason I'm asking is that ring counting did become relevant, at the start of this mess. If he's still got it, does that make four such rings that he has?

 

[Rafin]

Is it me or did almost nothing of relevance happen to Paragon? I mean what are the consequences for him? Irrelevant knowledge about more parallel versions of him, the confirmed ability to use a violet ring in a pinch, Angelika making a big stride in overcoming her racism, and... that's it. Somehow it really feels like a letdown for what was supposed to be the great and long awaited Crisis of Infinite Pauls arc. And it didn't even have much of the "you're so similar, but so different" fun conversations or culture shock stuff either.

 

[Handlewithcare]

Not to insult you, Zoat, but it's rather worrying that a mere human can understand the multiverse accurately enough to make changes like that.

Unless Time Trapper was mentally augmented it implies reality is disturbingly simple.

 

[Doccer]

Nice!

 

[Ace Dreamer]

Is it me or did almost nothing of relevance happen to Paragon? I mean what are the consequences for him? Irrelevant knowledge about more parallel versions of him, the confirmed ability to use a violet ring in a pinch, Angelika making a big stride in overcoming her racism, and... that's it. Somehow it really feels like a letdown for what was supposed to be the great and long awaited Crisis of Infinite Pauls arc. And it didn't even have much of the "you're so similar, but so different" fun conversations or culture shock stuff either.

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If you look at most of the cosmic stuff, in the comic books, there's a reason they say "Cosmic doesn't sell comics". The fans are rarely happy, as their beloved stories, that they've poured their hearts into, just changed.

The characters, in general, don't notice much different, because "things are as they've always been", the joys of being retcon'd. Later, you find out various dead characters, sometimes long-dead, now are wandering around again. Often with a new past, sometimes with new powers. The story is now building a new 'Bible', having discarded the old one.

So, don't expect OL to think much has changed. But, if Mr Zoat wants, we could find out all sorts of things are different...

(Personally, I think he's a wise enough writer to not hit us hard with the retcon hammer, but, instead just change a few subtle things...)

Not to insult you, Zoat, but it's rather worrying that a mere human can understand the multiverse accurately enough to make changes like that.

Unless Time Trapper was mentally augmented it implies reality is disturbingly simple.

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Time is the simplest thing?

 

[Rafin]

That may be true for the "status quo is king"/"reboots galore" of the comic industry. But Zoat's story is all about having both a consistent and interconnected setting and an SI falling into said setting and blasting the status quo to shmithereens. I've been a long time fan of this story (even if I don't comment much) and this chapter had both little of the things that drew me here in the first place and seems, I don't know, irrelevant to everything.
Maybe I just had overhyped expectations for the "alternates meet" arc, because Zoat already said years ago that he'd do it at some point. But even taking that into account, the -14 invasion of LexCorp arc was so much more satisfying.

 

[Darko]

Eh some things will just never be to some peoples tastes.

I'll admit this Crisis thing didn't exactly go as I thought it would, but I'm not overtly disappointed or even that much satisfied with these two episodes, but they were still interesting.

Maybe if Zoat does another Crisis episode in the future people will enjoy it more.

Hey Zoat are we still going to get chapters focusing on what the alternate versions of Paul are doing in the future?

 

[DAT_NOOB]

Not to insult you, Zoat, but it's rather worrying that a mere human can understand the multiverse accurately enough to make changes like that.

Unless Time Trapper was mentally augmented it implies reality is disturbingly simple.

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in time trappers defence, he had a lot of trial and error.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Capitalise 'bleed'? As I understand English, whether you capitalise 'time' is up to you, as you're supposed to work out the meaning from context, but, I don't think I've ever seen 'The Bleed' not capitalised.

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Thank you, corrected.

I'll admit I'm a little curious what OL did with the extra Orange Ring that he had, whether he gave it to someone else, or it faded away, or something. Reason I'm asking is that ring counting did become relevant, at the start of this mess. If he's still got it, does that make four such rings that he has?

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I'll be certain to mention it at some point.

Eh some things will just never be to some peoples tastes.

I'll admit this Crisis thing didn't exactly go as I thought it would, but I'm not overtly disappointed or even that much satisfied with these two episodes, but they were still interesting.

Maybe if Zoat does another Crisis episode in the future people will enjoy it more.

Hey Zoat are we still going to get chapters focusing on what the alternate versions of Paul are doing in the future?

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They'll probably be a segment or two here and there. I should probably do one for Time Trapper himself, and I'm thinking of doing one for Lord Protector.

 

[WereDragon]

Plan 'Don't Fuck Up The Universe'
Is In Effect

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...seemed to go well.

Is Hinon going to take "A version of me changed the fundamental function of time" as bragging?

Feels like something is missing, like he should of had some kind of epiphany or personal development and it just didn't happen.

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Why? He was a side-character in someone else's story here.
Mandated Paul gets a great deal of development. SI Paul, Grayven, Paultector? Just another Tuesday.

 

[Rafin]

Paultector

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It really shouldn't be for him. It's the first time he travels off planet since he got his yellow ring. The first time he learns that there are other copies of him. The first time he stumbles over anything DC related other than his ring.

 

[Mquz]

Maybe start with movie Zulu, then go onto the Zulu Wars (more than a few battles where the British lost), talk about the Buffalo Soldiers and end with the time Super man lost a boxing match to "The Greatest".

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The works of savages, vandals, and barbarians - on both sides. She needs to see intellectual achievements. Not sure which ones (not a historian) but there likely are some.

 

[Darko]

It really shouldn't be for him. It's the first time he travels off planet since he got his yellow ring. The first time he learns that there are other copies of him. The first time he stumbles over anything DC related other than his ring.

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He probably involved himself in very little of the Canon events and was just governing his people, so probably not that much action on his side.

The works of savages, vandals, and barbarians - on both sides. She needs to see intellectual achievements. Not sure which ones (not a historian) but there likely are some.

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Langton Hughes comes to mind.

 

[Chaoswind]

Feels like something is missing, like he should of had some kind of epiphany or personal development and it just didn't happen.

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He is the reason why Naylor failed to change the future.

The episode that happened months ago with the time cops (the mandated) established that changing time was possible, that was in conflict with Naylor and eventually Impulse showing up to change the future. This episode just highlighted why they will always fail, because now time cannot be changed and timeliness cannot be replaced...

 

[Mr Zoat]

The works of savages, vandals, and barbarians - on both sides. She needs to see intellectual achievements. Not sure which ones (not a historian) but there likely are some.

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The super soaker and the refrigerated lorry.

 

[Darko]

He is the reason why Naylor failed to change the future.

The episode that happened months ago with the time cops (the mandated) established that changing time was possible, that was in conflict with Naylor and eventually Impulse showing up to change the future. This episode just highlighted why they will always fail, because now time cannot be changed and timeliness cannot be replaced...

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This will most likely not be true in the future and it will be able to change the future.

I think Abra, or the other time travellers, said there are rules that govern time travel, but they are too complicated for mortals to understand, and while TP isn't you're run of the mill mortal he still may not understand that much about time travel to make it so you can't change the future.

 

[Cuchulin]

Supes probably never boxed with a normal human.
Though if he fought Icon that could help.

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It was a reference dude!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_vs._Muhammad_Ali

That last one doesn't fit Earth 16 chronology.

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I was joking.

The works of savages, vandals, and barbarians - on both sides. She needs to see intellectual achievements. Not sure which ones (not a historian) but there likely are some.

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According to the movie Shaka basically reinvented tactics and strategy out of nearly nothing. Also the Zulu's beat the 19th centuries most powerful and advanced Empire (the British) using spears, hardly Savages or Barbarians on both sides. Since she was a "Nazi" it makes sense she might be impressed by military achievements.
For purely intellectual achievements i'd go with a look at Benjamin Banneker and George Washington Carver.

 

[Darko]

It was a reference dude!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_vs._Muhammad_Ali

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I know, but still seeing Icon beat Supes in a fight could potentially work.

 

[Mr Zoat]

I know, but still seeing Icon beat Supes in a fight could potentially work.

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