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

Thank you, corrected.
Icicle Jr has the excuse of being the son of a Supervillain, so want the approval of a parent that is a Supervillain also "makes sense".
I only found out when I wrote this that Cameron's father sired him when he was in his seventies.
Lot of book knowledge OL
Comic book knowledge that is..
I didn't get that in school. The only comics I read in school were Asterix.
Thank you, corrected.
Arguably, those are just insane supervillains. :V
It's Marvel 616 canon that Doom would be an excellent world ruler. He actually pulled it off one time, and proved it.
 
Arguably, those are just insane supervillains. :V

I find the villains that can successfully walk that line are some of the best (at least when well written). For example, while it was years ago I remember it being Marvel canon that Dr. Doom taking over the world is one of only a handful of outcomes that saves earth long term. Most Marvel futures turn earth into a crater blasted wasteland, so in-setting that is genuinely impressive and elevates his tyrannical megalomania above the unsubstantiated claims of superiority thrown about by other villains.
 
*shrug* I think grudge based supervillains are not that farfetched. Like if the villain has a specific thing against the hero, the villain doesn't have to be totally crazy or totally evil to make sense. Just tad bit irrational and emotional.

Lex Luthor. So much of his motivation is tied up into his hatred of Superman.

Having a grudge just because or for unjustifiable reasons makes those villains as crazy as the unmotivated world conquerors.

Not really. Emotions are illogical and tend to motivate people way to much sometimes. Then people justify or find reasons that they are logical. Soap opera and sit coms tend to have the kind of villain, no?

Also listen to some 'Karen' or other reddit stories. Totally believable.
 
Lex Luthor. So much of his motivation is tied up into his hatred of Superman.
Depending on which version of Lex you're talking about, it's often more that he's insecure and his insecurity locked onto Superman as a huge threat. If it wasn't Superman he'd still be himself.

There was a thing in Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, where he told his office cleaner that he could call him 'Lex'. He was genuinely nice the the guy, because he didn't see him as any kind of threat. And a few pages later he had a union activist taken to the top of a half-built skyscraper and told that he could sign a contract or get pushed off. Though in fareness he had tried negotiating in good faith for a while first.
 
And that's why the only Supervillains that "make sense" are those that are totally crazy, totally evil or totally megalomaniac. Any supervillain that actually wants to make money, should be trying to make money the smart and "legal" way. Just look at Bezos, Musk, etc.
944.jpg
 
Thank you, corrected.
Chronologically in his seventies, but not physically.

Apparently he spent some time 'on ice', so he may have frozen himself at one point and only had Jr. after he was thawed out.
That didn't work out too well for Aang.
That doesn't take into account all of the people who would cheerfully volunteer to get turned into dinosaurs, especially if he threw a cancer cure in.
 
The Red Lantern version probably has it best. Wife and child, fulfilling career, his boss respects him and he doesn't have to worry about his ring driving him crazy.

On the other hand, his Earth has way more villains and Global threats that Young Justice while not having as many heroes as Young Justice. Heck I think only JLA/JLAU has more danger but they actually got a competent, organized Justice League with a whole lot of members so it balances out.

Baul has a kid, a wife, kind of shadow rules the planet, and his Earth actually improved.

So while Red Lantern has the better life, Baul Earth is the one that has the most improvement.
 
On the other hand, his Earth has way more villains and Global threats that Young Justice while not having as many heroes as Young Justice. Heck I think only JLA/JLAU has more danger but they actually got a competent, organized Justice League with a whole lot of members so it balances out.

Baul has a kid, a wife, kind of shadow rules the planet, and his Earth actually improved.

So while Red Lantern has the better life, Baul Earth is the one that has the most improvement.

Actually, less villains. On account of a fair amount of them catching a case of blood napalm to their skulls. And there are more than a few Heroes on that earth, between the future/possible members of the expanded Teen Titans team and other heroes like Doom Patrol. The number of threats seem similar to me.

In any case, how improved the Earth is doesn't really account for how happy/fulfilled they are, so I don't think it counts towards a "Good Ending". Blue Lantern doesn't shadow rule, he still has to deal with his supervillain colleagues, with weird in-laws and with some "heroes" probably looking for an excuse to go to war.
 
He totally does, he pulls strings to get what he wants. The Young Offenders all like him, Ultraman kinda likes him, his mentor respects him, Baul has a lot of soft power so in a way he shadow rules the planet.

The Young Offenders do probably all look up to him, but Ultraman is dead, and while Al Scott trusts him and he's married to Zatara's daughter, we don't know what kind of pull he has with the other new Management members. And the Syndicate only rules Africa, if I recall; in fact they may as well be quarantined there.

So maybe, kinda, if you squint, he shadow rules Africa through the Syndicate. But considering that organization, that's more like wrangling a pack of Lions more than anything else.
 
Pyrrhucy (part 14)
14th February 2013
15:29 GMT -5


"Trooper Nohnar Ko. Status?"

"I am in dreadful danger. Activating suicide charge."

Mahkent actually takes a step away, but I trust Kadabra to have found any self-destruct charge in the armour pieces we're working with.

"Understood. Contamination?"

"I've been better. But I might have an antidote."

"Stand by."

The communicator goes onto standby. Ko looks up at me. "It's a standard call and response set-up. They saw me go down in hostile territory, and the… What do you call them?"

"The soldiers are called Justifiers. The small flying ones with the bombs are Suicide Jockeys. They're using Apokoliptian technology, but they're not actually Apokoliptians themselves…" I look to Eiling. "Do we have a name for them?"

"What, everyone working for Mannheim? Bad guys. Charlie. Does it matter?"

Mahkent raises his right hand. "I'm pretty sure I'm a bad guy. Could we call them something more definitive, like evil guys?"

"You're fighting to save the world, Icicle. That makes you a good guy."

"Aw, I didn't know you c-."

"Today."

"No, we don't have a collective name for them. They're all people that Mannheim controls through the Anti-Life."

"We were kind of assuming that it was some sort of group within your society that made a deal with a more advanced species. This was all just… One man?"

"He had help, and a lot of the damage you can see from orbit is from the last invasion, but yes."

He thinks for a moment. "We're quite a long way from Dhor, but we'd probably be willing to send you construction equipment in exchange for mercenaries. We've made deals like that before."

"I'm afraid that everyone worth taking would be better employed working here to fix our planet. And given the distance involved, it wouldn't be all that easy for you to-."

The communicator buzzes, and Mr. Ko gives it his full attention.

"Not dead then, Trooper?"

Ko straightens up slightly. "I am in dreadful danger, s-."

"We've boosted the bandwidth to make this line secure. Though I approve of your communications discipline."

"Thank you, sir. No sir, I'm not dead. I was wounded in the legs but the local primitive faction healed me. They want us to agree a truce with them, and they're willing to trade 'Apokoliptian' technology to us."

"That's interesting. I assume that they're listening to what you're saying now?"

"Yes, but only one of them has a translator. He's a Lantern. The other three can't understand us."

"Put him on."

He shuffles away from his helmet, looking at me and gesturing to it. I take his place and pick the helmet up.

"Illustres here. Who am I speaking to?"

"I am Commodore Volgar Zo of the Republican Navy of Dhor. What authority do you have to negotiate?"

"The 'primitive' faction is commanded by a group called the Justice League. They listen to me, though under the circumstances I doubt their deliberations will take long. I personally have little negotiating authority."

"I would rather speak to a member of this 'Justice League'. I seem to remember… They're the ones Kanjar Ro tried to use in his coup, aren't they?"

"Yes. Though I didn't know it was a coup attempt."

Might explain Ko's visceral response, though I don't know if that was because Ro genuinely did a lot of damage or because the people in charge wanted to give the impression that trying to overthrow them was bad for everyone.

"You can study our history later. What can your people offer?"

"All of the Apokoliptian weapons and technology you came here to acquire. The surplus we currently hold, the stuff we don't need anymore once the war is over, all of our field intelligence on locations you can't see from space. Things like that."

"Prisoners?"

"No point. The only one who knows anything about their technology is Mannheim himself, and if you can take him then you've got whatever you need."

"No. I assume that you want back the ones which we already have."

"Yes, naturally. If you have no interest in cooperating with us, that's fine, but obviously we can't tolerate our people being abducted."

"Does that include the Apokolips-aligned humans?"

"They're mind-controlled, and we're hopeful of our ability to fix them. We're happy to share everything we've learned about how it works, but we want them back. Afterwards, if you want to offer people employment, that's between you and them."

"And if we don't?"

"I'm the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. I can't bring my Corps to bear on this planet because they're not resistant to the Anti-Life. But your fleet is far enough away that they're not affected by it. And I doubt that your ships are Reach-quality. I have no active desire to fight you, but I'm responsible for my people."

"The Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps?"

"I know there aren't many Orange Lanterns active in this region of space, but I assure you-."

"We got a report about the self-moving planet. I don't doubt your organisation's existence."

"Good. So, we'll need a little while to make contact with our overseers, but once we do we'll pass on-."

"I also remember a report about someone with that title visiting Alstair. Just before their technological capacities began improving in leaps and bounds."

"Yeah, that was me. I needed their help with something. And now I need yours. I'm usually open-handed with trading partners."

"How… Nice."

There's a moment of silence. I look at Ko for some sort of guidance-.

The world around me glows blue, and I see blue auras flare around my comrades-.

And then we're in a cell, with a lot of guns pointing at us.

Eiling snorts. "This it?"

"No." A figure carrying-. Shit, that's a gamma gong! I send a beam out-. Too late! He strikes the gong, and everything-.

Stops.
 
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"They're mind-controlled, and we're hopeful of our ability to fix them. We're happy to share everything we've learned about how it works, but we want them back. Afterwards, if you want t offer people employment, that's between you and them."
That should say 'to'.

And then we're in a cell, with a lot of guns pointing at us.

Eiling snorts. "This it?"

"No." A figure carrying-. Shit, that's a gamma gong! I send a beam out-. Too late! He strikes the gong, and everything-.

Stops.
At this point I hope Paul and company just kills most of them.
 
14th February 2013
15:29 GMT -5


"Trooper Nohnar Ko. Status?"

"I am in dreadful danger. Activating suicide charge."
...Exsqueeze me? I hope for his sake that's a radio callout indicating his status, and not a declaration of intent. Because he may not have noticed that Eiling is still within arm's reach, and the big guy can move damn fast when he wants to.

Mahkent actually takes a step away, but I trust Kadabra to have found any self-destruct charge in the armour pieces we're working with.

"Understood. Contamination?"
Ah, good, it was a status report, albeit a fatalistic one.

"I've been better. But I might have an antidote."

"Stand by."
Heh. I'm guessing that can be interpreted as 'found potential allies in hazardous situation.'

The communicator goes onto standby. Ko looks up at me. "It's a standard call and response set-up. They saw me go down in hostile territory, and the… What do you call them?"

"The soldiers are called Justifiers. The small flying ones with the bombs are Suicide Jockeys. They're using Apokoliptian technology, but they're not actually Apokoliptians themselves…" I look to Eiling. "Do we have a name for them?"
Ones fit for polite company, preferably, as I'm sure Eiling has plenty of unpleasant terms for them.

"What, everyone working for Mannheim? Bad guys. Charlie. Does it matter?"

Mahkent raises his right hand. "I'm pretty sure I'm a bad guy. Could we call them something more definitive, like evil guys?"
'Enemy' is probably bad, since they are innocent people subverted by Anti-Life.

"You're fighting to save the world, Icicle. That makes you a good guy."

"Aw, I didn't know you c-."

"Today."
Still, that's good for now. And if OL's little pep talk takes, maybe longer.

"No, we don't have a collective name for them. They're all people that Mannheim controls through the Anti-Life."

"We were kind of assuming that it was some sort of group within your society that made a deal with a more advanced species. This was all just… One man?"
In a way. Don't underestimate the capabilities of a single human, especially with near-divine backup.

"He had help, and a lot of the damage you can see from orbit is from the last invasion, but yes."

He thinks for a moment. "We're quite a long way from Dhor, but we'd probably be willing to send you construction equipment in exchange for mercenaries. We've made deals like that before."
How magnanimous of you. But I suspect that's not a deal OL can make for the League.

"I'm afraid that everyone worth taking would be better employed working here to fix our planet. And given the distance involved, it wouldn't bee all that easy for you to-."

The communicator buzzes, and Mr. Ko gives it his full attention.
Probably for the best. If they kind out how badass some humans can be, it may inspire their opponents to start collecting humans too.

"Not dead then, Trooper?"

Ko straightens up slightly. "I am in dreadful danger, s-."
Almost like a reverse bravado. I suppose it makes sense, though, since he thinks he might still be in trouble for getting captured...

"We've boosted the bandwidth to make this line secure. Though I approve of your communications discipline."

"Thank you, sir. No sir, I'm not dead. I was wounded in the legs but the local primitive faction healed me. They want a truce with them, and they're willing to trade 'Apokoliptian' technology to us."
Still seems risky, but if it gets it off-planet so no-one else is tempted to use it...

"That's interesting. I assume that they're listening to what you're saying now?"

"Yes, but only one of them has a translator. He's a Lantern. The other three can't understand us."
Though Eiling can probably catch a hint from tone of voice, and Kadabra's still tuning in.

"Put him on."

He shuffles away from his helmet, looking at me and gesturing to it. I take his place and pick the helmet up.
The drawback of integrated systems. Awkward to use when not in their intended configuration.

"Illustres here. Who am I speaking to?"

"I am Commodore Volgar Zo of the Republican Navy of Dhor. What authority do you have to negotiate?"
Well, that's a wise move to start with. Make sure the person you're talking to can actually make promises they can cash.

"The 'primitive' faction is commanded by a group called the Justice League. They listen to me, though under the circumstances I doubt their deliberations will take long. I personally have little negotiating authority."

"I would rather speak to a member of this 'Justice League'. I seem to remember… They're the ones Kanjar Ro tried to use in his coup, aren't they?"
Good to know they made an impression.

"Yes. Though I didn't know it was a coup attempt."

Might explain Ko's visceral response, though I don't know if that was because Ro genuinely did a lot of damage or because the people in charge wanted to give the impression that trying to overthrow them was bad for everyone.
Why can't it be both? :p If he did enough damage, they might well have felt a little insecure.

"You can study our history later. What can your people offer?"

"All of the Apokoliptian weapons and technology you came here to acquire. The surplus we currently hold, the stuff we don't need anymore once the war is over, all of our field intelligence on locations you can't see from space. Things like that."
To be fair, a lot of it might not work as demonstrated for the Dhorians, but that's their problem. No refunds. :D

"Prisoners?"

"No point. The only one who knows anything about their technology is Mannheim himself, and if you can take him then you've got whatever you need."
And doing so would be quite a feat, given what he showed off against the Team in Gotham.

"No. I assume that you want back the ones which we already have."

"Yes, naturally. If you have no interest in cooperating with us, that's fine, but obviously we can't tolerate our people being abducted."
'Ones'? So they've already snagged more than just Tuppence.

"Does that include the Apokolips-aligned humans?"

"They're mind-controlled, and we're hopeful of our ability to fix them. We're happy to share everything we've learned about how it works, but we want them back. Afterwards, if you want to offer people employment, that's between you and them."
And they might well find some takers. Who would want to work on an alien planet for a while.

"And if we don't?"

"I'm the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. I can't bring my Corps to bear on this planet because they're not resistant to the Anti-Life. But your fleet is far enough away that they're not affected but it. And I doubt that your ships are Reach-quality. I have no active desire to fight you, but I'm responsible for my people."
A subtle boast there. 'You're not as strong as the people I usually fight.'

"The Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps?"

"I know there aren't many Orange Lanterns active in this region of space, but I assure you-."
Oh, that's not questioning. I suspect he recognises the name.

"We got a report about the self-moving planet. I don't doubt your organisation's existence."

"Good. So, we'll need a little while to make contact with our overseers, but once we do we'll pass on-."
Nice way to put it in a manner they might understand.

"I also remember a report about someone with that title visiting Alstair. Just before their technological capacities began improving in leaps and bounds."

"Yeah, that was me. I needed their help with something. And now I need yours. I'm usually open-handed with trading partners."
In other words, 'They worked with me, and look what they gained from it. Can you afford not to try?'

"How… Nice."

There's a moment of silence. I look at Ko for some sort of guidance-.
Yeah, was that a good 'nice' or a bad 'nice'? Because the implications...

The world around me glows blue, and I see blue auras flare around my comrades-.

And then we're in a cell, with a lot of guns pointing at us.
Ah, they wasted no time transporting them up. I suspect if they mean any harm...

Eiling snorts. "This it?"

"No." A figure carrying-. Shit, that's a gamma gong! I send a beam out-. Too late! He strikes the gong, and everything-.

Stops.
I would assume that's standard operation with an unknown party brought aboard. Lets them disarm them, among other things.

So, locked up in a cell, paralyzed while they remove any obvious weapons and awaiting whatever they intend to do to them. Not unexpected. Would you bring someone of unknown providence aboard and let them keep their equipment? Still, a bit rude not to explain that beforehand, but I guess they understand just how dangerous a Lantern can be and how quickly they can act...
 
So, locked up in a cell, paralyzed while they remove any obvious weapons and awaiting whatever they intend to do to them. Not unexpected. Would you bring someone of unknown providence aboard and let them keep their equipment? Still, a bit rude not to explain that beforehand, but I guess they understand just how dangerous a Lantern can be and how quickly they can act...
I mean. Regularly sure.

But LePaul should be no more powerful than a rookie lantern right now. Because none of his self insert tricks should work with a yellow ring.
 
I think leagues of villains make sense too - decent way to organize an organization for money laundering. You can be sure that when a goon is arrested, his payment comes to him when he gets out of prison. Really, any form of organized crime if there's a revolving door on the prison system. I'm preety sure DC explicitly has people that invest and launder money for villains, at least in Gotham. I don't think the penguin and his "legitimate businesses" have been mentioned by Zoat, though he's not exactly a "super" villain. Luthor is megalomaniacal - the penguin is not so much. Outside of the times he's raised by penguins or something like in Batman Returns.
 
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