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

[Shotiegun11]

Paul tries to do his own thing.

At which point Dox goes to the Controllers, who flip the switch on the contingencies they have spent the last X months putting in place, which activate and completely shut Paul down.

Click to shrink...

Ophidian notices someone is trying to cut her off from her hubbykins.

OHM-Nom-nom-nom. "I knew we couldn't trust green men cousins, my Agent. At least they tasted OK."

 

[Vaermina]

Ophidian notices someone is trying to cut her off from her hubbykins.

OHM-Nom-nom-nom. "I knew we couldn't trust green men cousins, my Agent. At least they tasted OK."

Click to shrink...

Except it doesn't, because now it's trapped in the central power battery.

Or did you forget that Central Power Battery's were made to trap and then contain emotional embodiment's?

 

[Shotiegun11]

Except it doesn't, because now it's trapped in the central power battery.

Or did you forget that Central Power Battery's were made to trap and then contain emotional embodiment's?

Click to shrink...

Trapped and connected to all of the Rings/Lanterns so she can experience all of their desires as specified by the SI. Only reason she moved to the OCPB in the first place.

Also, Paul can just summon her again like he did the first time. Or Hondon and grab her. Or just FEED ME and see what happens.

EDIT: Plus, neither of his rings have Controller!Malware. Hinon Ring and Larfleeze/Krona Ring.

EDIT 2: Or just get someone to magic it up and commune with her/summon her from the OCPB.

 

[Vaermina]

Trapped and connected to all of the Rings/Lanterns so she can experience all of their desires as specified by the SI. Only reason she moved to the OCPB in the first place.

Also, Paul can just summon her again like he did the first time. Or Hondon and grab her. Or just FEED ME and see what happens.

EDIT: Plus, neither of his rings have Controller!Malware. Hinon Ring and Larfleeze/Krona Ring.

EDIT 2: Or just get someone to magic it up and commune with her/summon her from the OCPB.

Click to shrink...

You seem to be forgetting that the Controllers pretty much rebuilt the central power battery because the old one was a piece of junk.

 

[Shotiegun11]

You seem to be forgetting that the Controllers pretty much rebuilt the central power battery because the old one was a piece of junk.

Click to shrink...

They rebuilt it with the condition that the Ophidian have free reign to experience the universe by viewing it through the desires of the Orange Lanterns. It was a hard sell to the other controller, as told to us by Hinon, because it left so much wiggle room for the Ophidian.

It's the only reason the Ophidian accepted being put into an OCPB again. That and the SI asked.

Maybe they built it to now be unaffected by magic, maybe they can't. We don't know. At this point I'd bet as long as universe cheat codes aren't used (Silver City) then there's very few things that can keep the Ophidian and SI apart.

 

[Someguy Somewhere]

Except it doesn't, because now it's trapped in the central power battery.

Or did you forget that Central Power Battery's were made to trap and then contain emotional embodiment's?

Click to shrink...

I vaguely recall Paul and the Ophidian negotiated a 'not trapped' clause when they formed the OLC and the Central Battery. She's free to come and go as she wishes.

The Controllers weren't too happy about it, but they, like the Guardians, do hold to their word rather strictly. And it was the only way they were going to get their light fountain

Looking back, it's more that she has access to the whole corps remotely, meaning she could likely manifest much like Ion does with Gardner, and 'get out' via another ring somewhere else.

Edit: Dang League of Shadow'ed

 

[Mr Zoat]

I'm kind of imagining an omake where a Paul ends up neon genesis evangelion and just fucks up the entire prophecy by waking up in orbit and prematurely awakening all the angels.

Then they all go down at once and tear apart NERVE and a bunch of the human race before Paul stops them, but everything needed to create the human instrumentality project is gone and the remaining cultists freak out and cause a panic as they start leaking the fact that they caused the second impact, control everything, and want to turn humanity into semen.

And just watch Paul get more and more confused as to what the fuck is going on.

Click to shrink...

I just read your post and I'm confused about what the fuck is going on.

I tried watching Neon Genesis Evangelion, but I didn't think much of it.

 

[Mr Zoat]

8th April
18:23 GMT -5

Kon knocks on the transparent laboratory airlock safety door as I stare at the vial of blue gunge in my right hand. I set it down in the rack and nod to him, prompting him to enter his access code and come inside.

"Hey. What's that?"

"I think it's Compound V. One of my alter egos ended up on a world where it's the only source of super powers."

And that's the problem. My indigo alter ego said that he was only willing to give me the data because he was confident that I'd never use it. And.. having experimented with it a little I can see why he was that confident.

"Unfortunately, it turns out that it's not exactly reliable."

In front of me, the rat which got fire powers finally asphyxiates, its body joining those of the rats who gained frog-like attributes, supernumerary eyes, what I'm tentatively calling 'laser feet' and rock skin respectively.

"Are you familiar with the concept of 'required secondary powers'?"

"You mean like how someone who's got super strength but doesn't have flight can't punch all that hard without flying backwards?" He nods, a wry smile on his lips. "Think I've heard about that somewhere."

"This is more like what would happen if Flash wasn't immune to friction. Their bodies change, but nothing about the change guarantees that they'll be able to survive it, actually… Use their new powers, or… Well." I point at the burst skull of 'eye-rat'. "That one's visuospatial cortex expanded to deal with the input, but its skull didn't. And this is controlled doses; this stuff is a known environmental contaminant on Indigo's Earth. People even use it as a narcotic."

"Not exactly the Danner Formula."

"To say the least. And apparently subsequent generations have the same problem, even if they don't get dosed with the stuff themselves."

Which… Lines up with my memories of The Boys to an extent. But Homelander was a sure thing. They had a foetus, they.. somehow dosed it with a great deal of some formulation of this stuff… They were sure that they'd get a top tier superhuman out of it. They must have been, or they wouldn't have put the money into it.

Maybe foetal exposure is the key..?

Kon looks around at some of my other half-completed projects.

"Is this all stuff you've copied from the other versions of you?"

"Yes, and it's all… Basically useless."

Yellow had scans of some advanced technology, but none of it was radically different -or better- than designs I already had access to. From the sounds of it Mumm-Ra is an invocational magic user, and without knowing more about what the 'ancient spirits of evil' actually are none of what Yellow was able to tell me was much use. And that wasn't much in the first place. The files on Third Earth physiology were interesting, but they're of no practical use to me other than for earning some Brownie points from Cranius.

Indigo shared what he knew about Compound V, but that looks like it would take a great deal of research in order to see any return on my investment in time. Red didn't think that it was his place to share what Atrocitus taught him about blood magic, and apparently his ring doesn't interact well with IT systems. What Black learned about Buffyverse magic is directly contradicted in several areas by what I've learned about magic here, though I'll pass-. I'll indirectly pass it on to Sephtian so that he can study an alternate magic system if he has the time.

Commander Gordon didn't want to give a gold power ring to someone with a positive working relationship to Maltusians. Time Trapper didn't have ring-based records of his timeline's more advanced human-created technology. Angel-me was willing to give me a small amount of his blood so that's my angel-tissue ammunition slightly replenished, which was… Nice. But as for the rest…

It looks like I'm ahead. Which is… Good. Mostly good for them as the files I was able to give them will prove more useful to them than theirs will be for me. But aside from a brief moment of self satisfaction at my achievements… I didn't really learn much.

"I'll give this…"

No, can't give it to Dr Munro née Danner, because he's busy in Brazil. His research station… They can probably handle it, but that means that it will inevitably get back to Mr Luthor. And while there isn't really a way to use human technology to cheese the Danner formula, this…

You can give it to adults. Adults who are already loyal to you, who are desperate and will consent to anything if they think it will give them a way out of whatever pit they've fallen into. It's far easier to misuse, far easier to do stupid… Supervillain stuff with.

Dr Sivana Senior would probably limit himself to animal applications, at least. And he already has the capacity to create enhanced animal-based sophonts.

Heck, how did I get to the point where sharing data with Thaddeus Bodog Sivana was a reasonable option?

"Are you staying for dinner?"

"Is it tacos?"

"Yeah, but not from Taco Whiz."

Because it turns out that reheating low-quality frozen food doesn't result in anything particularly good. I mean, I don't think anyone is under any illusion about the quality of the meals in fast food restaurants, but there's nothing quite like working there to really take any residual shine off.

"Mom showed me how to make them from raw ingredients."

"You're cooking?" Filaments flick out, tidying and making safe and… Completely destroying the remaining Compound V. I'll hand the rats over to Dr Sivana. I'm sure that he can learn all sorts of interesting things from them. "Yeah, I'm in."

He nods, smiling, then leads the way to the door.

"How are you finding working there?"

"It's… Ah… Kinda interesting."

"It's-."

"A 'totally inefficient waste of time'. You said that when Batman gave us all the assignment. I actually kinda like doing a regular job."

"Yes, and people in rural India like having irrigation and an electricity supply. Having Justice League members do a week of charity work as a public relations exercise is ridiculous, and it doesn't become more sensible by making us do it as well."

"Mom says it helps her connect with people."

"I'm not sure that a stage managed stint as a fast food restaurant cook really helps with that, but fine. It's her time."

"You don't think people seeing us as people is a good idea?"

"Of course it's a good idea. But most people know that most League members maintain secret identities; that is to say, already have actual paying jobs they do in addition to being unpaid auxiliary police."

"You didn't enjoy that charity board game you did with Zatanna?"

"Oh, it was fun; I just don't think it was at all productive. Hm."

"What?"

"How would you feel about releasing kryptonian technology for human use?"

He thinks for a moment, then shrugs. "I don't have a problem with it. Why?"

"A potential solution to the ClusterCorp problem." No, I'm… Not going to think about that at the moment. "So what goes into making a good taco?"

 

[Darko]

'pass it' not 'pass in'

'whatever pit' not 'whatever put'

Also when he mentioned Angel him I think it should have been 'that' instead of 'that's' or just 'slightly replenished' instead of 'is slightly replenished'. It just sounds better to me like this, but I could be wrong.

 

[Vaermina]

It looks like I'm ahead. Which is… Good. Mostly good for them as the files I was able to give them will prove more useful to them than theirs will be for me. But aside from a brief moment of self satisfaction at my achievements… I didn't really learn much.

Click to shrink...

You aren't.

But the one's who are actually ahead of you were apparently also smart enough not to get pulled into a crossover event.

 

[GodKiller999]

"Is this all stuff you've copied from the other versions of you?"

"Yes, and it's all… Basically useless."

Click to shrink...

That multi-verse spanning episode failing to bring change to the status quo (didn't even use the violet ring beyond that, which didn't help making it feel like it was narrative contrivance to nerf him) continues to be a shame.

Commander Gordon didn't want to give a gold power ring to someone with a positive working relationship to Maltusians.

Click to shrink...

Ah come on now. That's literally just racist considering they're a different group and OL dislikes the heads of the GL corp too.

 

[BlueMangoAdea]

You aren't.

But the one's who are actually ahead of you were apparently also smart enough not to get pulled into a crossover event.

Click to shrink...

There's no evidence that "hypothetical super Pauls" exist, so there's no point in considering them.

 

[Darko]

You aren't.

But the one's who are actually ahead of you were apparently also smart enough not to get pulled into a crossover event.

Click to shrink...

Care to elaborate on these ones are, aside from renegade.

 

[Mr Zoat]

'pass it' not 'pass in'

'whatever pit' not 'whatever put'

Also when he mentioned Angel him I think it should have been 'that' instead of 'that's' or just 'slightly plenished' instead of 'is slightly replenished'. It just sounds better to me like this, but I could be wrong.

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

Ah come on now. That's literally just racist considering they're a different group and OL dislikes the heads of the GL corp too.

Click to shrink...

No, no, she's equally prejudiced against all races of maltusian.

 

[GodKiller999]

No, no, she's equally prejudiced against all races of maltusian.

Click to shrink...

Isn't that the point though? Or does her dislike of them not originate from the GL bobble heads?

 

[Cuchulin]

"Is this all stuff you've copied from the other versions of you?"
"Yes, and it's all… Basically useless."

Click to shrink...

Pity! Hopefully the info Paragon shared was of more use to the others.

Ah come on now. That's literally just racist considering they're a different group and OL dislikes the heads of the GL corp too.

Click to shrink...

Agreed!

 

[Darko]

Thank you, corrected.

No, no, she's equally prejudiced against all races of maltusian.

Click to shrink...

Hm, her father may not be all too happy to find out his daughter is a racist cop, considering he has tried to reform his police department into a trustworthy and principled department.

 

[Flux Casey]

Isn't that the point though? Or does her dislike of them not originate from the GL bobble heads?

Click to shrink...

She hates all of them doesn't she? Including the Guardians? I'm fairly certain the story said something about the Guardians fucking everything up in that continuity and the Gold Lanterns don't answer to them anymore.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

8th April
18:23 GMT -5

Kon knocks on the transparent laboratory airlock safety door as I stare at the vial of blue gunge in my right hand. I set it down in the rack and nod to him, prompting him to enter his access code and come inside.

Click to shrink...

Ah, he's continuing to ignore the ClusterCrop problem... By performing Science! Running tests on things from his Alts?

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"Hey. What's that?"

"I think it's Compound V. One of my alter egos ended up on a world where it's the only source of super powers."

Click to shrink...

Eesh. One thing that I bet you wish you didn't have.

And that's the problem. My indigo alter ego said that he was only willing to give me the data because he was confident that I'd never use it. And.. having experimented with it a little I can see why he was that confident.

"Unfortunately, it turns out that it's not exactly reliable."

Click to shrink...

That... is putting it so mildly it may as well be milquetoast. Utterly useless compared to Danner formula?

In front of me, the rat which got fire powers finally asphyxiates, its body joining those of the rats who gained frog-like attributes, supernumerary eyes, what I'm tentatively calling 'laser feet' and rock skin respectively.

"Are you familiar with the concept of 'required secondary powers'?"

Click to shrink...

Ah... I'm guessing, in order: Lack of fire resistance, incompatible lungs, overloaded brain, lack of immunity to its own claws, and lack of rock organs... Vought-American would have covered those up fast if they were capes...

"You mean like how someone who's got super strength but doesn't have flight can't punch all that hard without flying backwards?" He nods, a wry smile on his lips. "Think I've heard about that somewhere."

Click to shrink...

Heh. He's a living example of it. Not so much any more, though.

"This is more like what would happen if Flash wasn't immune to friction. Their bodies change, but nothing about the change guarantees that they'll be able to survive it, actually… Use their new powers, or… Well." I point at the burst skull of 'eye-rat'. "That one's visuospatial cortex expanded to deal with the input, but its skull didn't. And this is controlled doses; this stuff is a known environmental contaminant on Indigo's Earth. People even use it as a narcotic."

Click to shrink...

...Eww. And it must give one hell of a high, to use it for fun...

"Not exactly the Danner Formula."

"To say the least. And apparently subsequent generations have the same problem, even if they don't get dosed with the stuff themselves."

Click to shrink...

I wouldn't look at it as a transmission vector, though. The drawbacks are far too unstable.

Which… Lines up with my memories of The Boys to an extent. But Homelander was a sure thing. They had a foetus, they.. somehow dosed it with a great deal of some formulation of this stuff… They were sure that they'd get a top tier superhuman out of it. They must have been, or they wouldn't have put the money into it.

Maybe foetal exposure is the key..?

Click to shrink...

No... OL, stop. Be smarter than Vought-American... Not that that's all that hard...

Kon looks around at some of my other half-completed projects.

"Is this all stuff you've copied from the other versions of you?"

"Yes, and it's all… Basically useless."

Click to shrink...

Which other Pauls are probably finding about their copies of his database... Whether through lack of materials, facilities or just plain ability to produce stuff...

Yellow had scans of some advanced technology, but none of it was radically different -or better- than designs I already had access to. From the sounds of it Mumm-Ra is an invocational magic user, and without knowing more about what the 'ancient spirits of evil' actually are none of what Yellow was able to tell me was much use. And that wasn't much in the first place. The files on Third Earth physiology were interesting, but they're of no practical use to me other than for earning some Brownie points from Cranius.

Click to shrink...

Well, at least he was thinking about the possibilities. I expect he'll have less trouble with kids than he expected...

Indigo shared what he knew about Compound V, but that looks like it would take a great deal of research in order to see any return on my investment in time. Red didn't think that it was his place to share what Atrocitus taught him about blood magic, and apparently his ring doesn't interact well with IT systems. What Black learned about Buffyverse magic is directly contradicted in several areas by what I've learned about magic here, though I'll pass-. I'll indirectly pass in on to Sephtian so that he can study an alternate magic system if he has the time.

Click to shrink...

I doubt he will. Poor guy is probably snowed under with projects as it is, even without OL's input...

Commander Gordon didn't want to give a gold power ring to someone with a positive working relationship to Maltusians. Time Trapper didn't have ring-based records of his timeline's more advanced human-created technology. Angel-me was willing to give me a small amount of his blood so that's my angel-tissue ammunition is slightly replenished, which was… Nice. But as for the rest…

Click to shrink...

So, OL is basically that guy playing Terraria on Journey Mode, with all the items researched, who dropped into a server and starting handing out candy. Easy Mode for the win.

It looks like I'm ahead. Which is… Good. Mostly good for them as the files I was able to give them will prove more useful to them than theirs will be for me. But aside from a brief moment of self satisfaction at my achievements… I didn't really learn much.

"I'll give this…"

Click to shrink...

Dude, no. No-one needs Compound V in their life...

No, can't give it to Dr Munro née Danner, because he's busy in Brazil. His research station… They can probably handle it, but that means that it will inevitably get back to Mr Luthor. And while there isn't really a way to use human technology to cheese the Danner formula, this…

You can give it to adults. Adults who are already loyal to you, who are desperate and will consent to anything if they think it will give them a way out of whatever put they've fallen into. It's far easier to misuse, far easier to do stupid… Supervillain stuff with.

Click to shrink...

And you can't trust Lex not to Supervillian. He's like a dog licking his balls... He won't even think about not doing it.

Dr Sivana Senior would probably limit himself to animal applications, a least. And he already has the capacity to create enhanced animal-based sophonts.

Heck, how did I get to the point where sharing data with Thaddeus Bodog Sivana was a reasonable option?

Click to shrink...

When everyone else seems intent on being worse choices. Whether by attitude, by availability, or by preference.

"Are you staying for dinner?"

"Is it tacos?"

Click to shrink...

Tacos on a Friday. How heretical... What would the Man-Emperor say?

"Yeah, but not from TacoWiz."

Because it turns out that reheating low-quality frozen food doesn't result in anything particularly good. I mean, I don't think anyone is under any illusion about the quality of the meals in fast food restaurants, but there's nothing quite like working there to really take any residual shine off.

Click to shrink...

I know that feeling. I didn't eat burgers before working in Hungry Jack's (aka Burger King in Australia), but I definitely wouldn't now.

"Mom showed me how to make them from raw ingredients."

"You're cooking?" Filaments flick out, tidying and making safe and… Completely destroying the remaining Compound V. I'll hand the rats over to Dr Sivana. I'm sure that he can learn all sorts of interesting things from them. "Yeah, I'm in."

Click to shrink...

I love that reaction. Ship teasing! He'll do anything for Kon, huh?

He nods, smiling, then leads the way to the door.

"How are you finding working there?"

"It's… Ah… Kinda interesting."

Click to shrink...

Sure... Say what you really want to, Kon...

"It's-."

"A 'totally inefficient waste of time'. You said that when Batman gave us all the assignment. I actually kinda like doing a regular job."

Click to shrink...

Something for your secret identity, then. Why do you think Kal-El works at a newspaper (besides having his ear to the ground on emeergencies?)

"Yes, and people in rural India like having irrigation and an electricity supply. Having Justice League members do a week of charity work as a public relations exercise is ridiculous, and it doesn't become more sensible by making us do it as well."

"Mom says it helps her connect with people."

Click to shrink...

Yes, well, Diana enjoys that sort of thing. I suppose it helps avoid 'A God Am I' syndrome...

"I'm not sure that a stage managed stint as a fast food restaurant cook really helps with that, but fine. It's her time."

"You don't think people seeing us as people is a good idea?"

"Of course it's a good idea. But most people know that most League members maintain secret identities; that is to say, already have actual paying jobs they do in addition to being unpaid auxiliary police."

Click to shrink...

Ah, so his objection is in part because it might be a security risk?

"You didn't enjoy that charity board game you did with Zatanna?"

"Oh, it was fun; I just don't think it was at all productive. Hm."

Click to shrink...

Indeed. I'm sure you had lots of fun.

"What?"

"How would you feel about releasing kryptonian technology for human use?"

Click to shrink...

Eh? What brought that on?

He thinks for a moment, then shrugs. "I don't have a problem with it. Why?"

"A potential solution to the ClusterCorp problem." No, I'm… Not going to think about that at the moment. "So what goes into making a good taco?"

Click to shrink...

Aaah. Yet another chance to say 'It's not my problem, but I do have an idea... "

Well, that was pleasant. Yet another chance for OL to continue ignoring ClusterCorp. How long until it blows up, I wonder?

And on the topic of 'Inviolate'-verse racism against Maltusians. Consider the other Maltusian groups besides Guardians: Controllers - obessive-compulsive control freaks with a knack for superweapons; Zamarons - Love-obsessed lunatics; Leprechauns - complete non-interventionists hiding out on Earth... Not a good showing anywhere.

Correction:

...to animal applications, a least.

Click to shrink...

...to animal applications, at least.

 

[Handlewithcare]

Good to see a knowledge transfer did happen.

And it's funny to see how he is still wavering with the Corps.

Aggressively trying to distract himself.

 

[Sceptic]

Pity! Hopefully the info Paragon shared was of more use to the others.

Click to shrink...

Probably not as much as it could have been - he didn't exactly have his own rings with their databases with him.

 

[Darko]

Does Angel Paul have a fully charged ring now after he did his mission with the Suicide Squad?

 

[varoksa]

Chapters like this is why i really dont enjoy OL, he just comes off as a know it all orange dr manhattan sometimes. Renegade is deeply flawed and has terrible takes sometimes which actually makes him more relatable because ironically hes more human.

 

[ForeverShogo]

Huh. Interesting he wrote it off so completely. The Boys had a stable variant of Compound V that always did exactly what you wanted it to do in that it gave a very specific power set. Though it apparently costs 19 billion dollars per dose for guaranteed super strength and super durability.

But yeah. The fetus thing is probably accurate. Apparently, the purity of the Compound V you use and the age of the person you give it to are factors in how unpredictable it is. The younger you are the more likely you are to safely develop powers. So supers are typically injected while they're children.

Which I guess makes the version given to The Boys more impressive.

Almost a shame Paul destroyed it, but there'd be a lot of people out there who wouldn't bother to refine it to the point it can be safely administered. So it's probably for the best that genie stays in its bottle.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Does Angel Paul have a fully charged ring now after he did his mission with the Suicide Squad?

Click to shrink...

Yes.

Huh. Interesting he wrote it off so completely. The Boys had a stable variant of Compound V that always did exactly what you wanted it to do in that it gave a very specific power set. Though it apparently costs 19 billion dollars per dose for guaranteed super strength and super durability.

Click to shrink...

It does, but Indigo hasn't ever seen how to produce it and there were only ever three people on the planet exposed to that particular variant.

 

[Darko]

Can Angel Paul actually use his ring now that he has wings?

Zauriel was able to show some avarice after he fell and wanted to know what was going on so being an angel doesn't make it impossible for them to have avarice,they're probably just not used to expressing it. Paul on the other hand may be more capable of doing that.

Is Angel Paul still in the Suicide Squad, and if he isn't what has he been doing?

 

[Mr Zoat]

Can Angel Paul actually use his ring now that he has wings?

Click to shrink...

Yes.

Zauriel was able to show some avarice after he fell and wanted to know what was going on so being an angel doesn't make it impossible for them to have avarice,they're probably just not used to expressing it. Paul on the other hand may be more capable of doing that.

Is Angel Paul still in the Suicide Squad, and if he isn't what has he been doing?

Click to shrink...

This is covered in a future segment.

 

[Darko]

Yes.

This is covered in a future segment.

Click to shrink...

Hope we see it soon, hopefully in this episode.

Along with what the other Pauls are doing now, aside from the ones we already saw.

 

[FreeGod]

Yes, well, Diana enjoys that sort of thing. I suppose it helps avoid 'A God Am I' syndrome...

Click to shrink...

Paul doesn't mind being called a God so long as he can back it up.

 

[Yog]

...Indigo Paul probably got the most out of this, didn't he? I mean, he probably got Danner and/or Garrick formulae, which if not completely, then almost obsolete compound V.

Yellow got spelleaters, which should be a near game changer against his primarily magic based enemy.

BTVS guy might have gotten ensouling tattoos (which could be a bad idea, or a very good idea, giving him effectively a passive recharge ability). Also cliffnotes on BTVS the series.