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

14th April 2013
19:34 GMT -5


"Did you ever have to deal with anyone like that?"

Alan… Gives me a sort of hopeless frown coupled with a shake of his head.
To be honest, I suspect Alan's met a lot of big egos over his years of hero work. Both on the villainous side of the law, and on the heroic. And given some of the teams he's worked with, he's seen them at their best and their worst.

"I suppose that depends on what you mean by 'deal with'."

"Ego management."
Still feeling frustrated by Cranius, OL?

"No." He shakes his head, eyes dropping momentarily to his glass. "I came close to needing to have a word with Starman about his… Relationship, but he did the right thing before it got that far."

"Oh. I wasn't sure that you knew about that."
Which Starman? The alien one? I suppose he might have been controversial back in the day...

He shrugs. "Like I said, he ended it before it went any further. I didn't have any reason to bring it up with anyone. And that was still true after Interceptor brought it up in front of Dinah, because that was a parallel universe. How did you know about it?"

"Found the private detective's notes."
That must have taken some serious digging. I doubt the guy had digital copies anywhere...

"Huh." He makes an amused exhalation. "I'm surprised they were still intact."

"I didn't say that finding them was easy. But you never had to deal with anyone like Cranius?"
To be fair, OL... The sort of super-science Cranius works with would have been considered supervillainy.

"That's a fairly niche set of motives. Didn't..? His eyes narrow in through. "Didn't Batman fight someone like that? Professor… Pig?"

"Doctor Valentin turned people into living dolls under his control. It's… Really not the same thing." Hm. "Unless the person in question wanted to be a doll, I suppose. But even then, there's no improvement in function. It's more like… When Doctor Crane had his brain transplanted from his Robotman body into Charles Grayson's body."
...The same Robotman body from Doom Patrol? Impressive.

He looks contemplative for a moment. "Huh. Yeah, I guess it is. I only spoke to him a few times afterwards, but I do remember him being a whole lot more cheerful about life."

"He never said anything about building robot bodies for anyone else?"
OL, most people don't want to be a super-powered cyborg. And if it has bad drawbacks, then it's understandable.

"No. There wasn't a whole lot of demand for it."

"Really? No polio patients stuck in iron lungs who were interested in giving it a try?"
If you've got technology that can transfer brains, what's to stop you making artificial lungs anyway?

"Ah… Don't take this the wrong way, Paul, but most people like being as human as they can be. Crane spent about twenty years totally numb to all sensation. And that was after… For a while after he first got put in that thing, he kept getting phantom sensations in body parts he didn't have anymore. And he had a lot of trouble sleeping… I suppose I don't know if it was better or worse than an iron lung, but I can understand people not exactly being eager."
See? Drawbacks from heck. You'd have to be a strange person indeed to enjoy that.

"But Morrow already had realistic robot skin back then. If he combined the two, and maybe made a robot body with slightly more human proportions, it would have been much better."
Sure, but that means working with T.O.Morrow. Most people aren't that desperate.

"Except that he couldn't. Morrow was… Well, he was a lot of things, but he was definitely a genius. Crane could hit harder than most people because his body was made of metal. A lot of his joints weren't actually all that strong. One time, he clocked a regular guy across the jaw and needed to replace one of his fingers afterwards. If he was gunna do what you said, he's probably be better getting Morrow to design the whole thing and just let him and Grayson handle the surgery and the interface." He chuckles quietly. "And if supervillains did things like that without someone walking them through it, you'd be a whole lot less busy."
Yes, because they wouldn't need to be supervillains. Sadly, their egos get in the way of simpel money-making. It's the Sauron (Marvel) classic: "I don't want to cure Cancer. I want to make dinosaur people!"

"Ah, not right now."

I take a moment to look around the restaurant. Things are… Well, before the Broadcast I get the impression that this was a medium tier restaurant. The menu would be written in French, but they'd include a translation without sniffing at you. Now… They've had to rewrite their menu based on what's available, and the near-collapse of the currency means that things are a good deal more plebeian.
It's probably had quite the humbling effect on the culinary snobs of the world, certainly.

I sip my apple juice, and-.

Bring-bring! Bring-bring!
Isn't it always the way? Just getting a chance to relax, and someone calls...

Alan and I both check our rings.

"It's me. Hello?"
Amusing that they use the same ringtone.

"Did you put Guy up to this?"

"Hello Beatriz, lovely to hear from you."
Well, that's a hell of a thing to start a conversation with. care to unpack that cryptic statement?

"Yes, yes, hello. Did you?"

"I've had an influence on Guy for a while. What exactly are you talking about?"
Definitely a positive influence. Whatever Bea might think.

"Do you know about… His… Family?"

"Ah, that's still not very precise, but probably. And I know that he runs an anger…" Huh. "Management class. Has he..?"
Oh, no. He didn't suggest she enrol, did she?

"Said I should come along? Yes."

"Well, it's almost certainly an honest attempt to help, because he's been in the same sort of situation. And I didn't put him up to it, as you put it. Oh, and I mentioned the tidying up thing, let me know how that goes."
You do understand that not everyone reacts reasonably when someone suggests they have a problem? :p

"You really didn't put him up to it?"

"You.. know that Guy used to work as a prison therapist, right? His job was helping people serving custodial sentences get their heads on straight. If he's offered to help you, then it's a serious offer."
So yes, he is a professional. ;) Better than Black Canary, that's for sure.

"So you've given up on curing me."

Ah… "What's Norway's position on marijuana legalisation?"

"Prescription only."
Why do I get the feeling 'blazing up' would take on a more literal meanign with her?

"Well, there's… That." Oh. "Or I know a specialist in metahuman medicine, but last time he worked on someone who could manipulate fire, they ended up without a head."

"That's supposed to be an expert?"
...OL, do not think of suggesting she meet Cranius!

"He re-engineered their body so that they wouldn't need a head after they received a fatal head injury. The result.. isn't pretty, but it's functional. He's good, but he likes doing radical transformations."

"I'll make that my fourth option."
...That high? Then again, she probably doesn't have many options yet.

"Alright. Any news on the search?"

"No. Has the Justice League heard anything?"
They'd certainly be better placed to aggregate information, for a start, yes...

"Too much. With medicine production and transportation well below normal levels, there are quacks all over the place."

"'Quacks'?"
Ever seen old cowboy movies with the typical 'travelling medicine salesman' type?

"Fraudsters. Fakes. We can't find the one you're looking for because there are too many. I'll let you know-."

"Hang on, I've got another call."
...Boy, she's not big on basic phone etiquette, is she? Taking another call while she's talking to someone she called?

...And she put OL on hold? :rolleyes:

I frown, and Alan raises his eyebrows. "Is there a problem?"

"She had another caller. I'm on-"
Such is the modern generation, I suppose.

Beep.

"He proposed?!"

"-hold."
Well... I guess Guy and Tora deserve congratulations.

I see Guy lived up to his rep of 'overcoming great fear' by proposing. :p Should make for an interesting few months to come. Wonder if the ceremony'll be performed in her home village, his home town, or somewhere like the Hall of Justice. Watchtower is unlikely, it's still secret, and I suspect they'll have people they want to invite. Hopefully the League's presence will minimize any unwanted interference.
 
Hmm. Had an odd arc idea flash through my head. A hypothetical comic GL storyline follows most story beats from the source, however the alien antagonist targets Guy instead of Hal or Stewart. The target change being the only effect of Paul's existence on said plot.

A fake Guardian forces Guy to choose between his wife-to-be and a future as a lantern. Guy chooses his girl, and starts to undo his green enlightenment from the ordeal. The faker instead uses the moment of Will-weakness to supplant/hack Guy's ring and mind-whammy him into being a pet lantern. For crimes. Leading to other characters discovering Guy was missing and untraceable.
 
Did Guy make a green ring for her and that is how he proposed? Would make a huge statement about his lantern powers.

Then again would the Guardians just allow that? Hmmm I think some would authorize it just to see the result and evaluate/promote Guy.
 
Huh. Is that a canon-retcon, or a you-retcon?

I believe Zoat made that up.

In the comics when Robert Crane regained his humanity via a brain transplant into the man who made him Robotman in the first place, he justified his retirement from superheroics with "Well there's already another Robotman to continue the legacy."

So Mr Crane was still using the robot body when Cliff had his "accident," and according to the wiki he donated his former robot parts to Pat Dugan for building the STRIPE mecha.

Robert also had more of a Inspector Gadget thing going on with extendable arms, super leaping, enhanced senses, and acetylene torches in his fingers.

It would seem Niles wasn't the roboticist Mr Crane was, Cliff's robot body has less bells and whistles.
 
Codominion (supplementary, Renegade option)
15th April 2013
09:02 GMT -5


"So, um…" I shrug, turning my right hand palm-up in a hand-shrug. "I understand that LexCorp is now the biggest thing ever?"

Lex… Seems distracted. I spot three twitches as he is about to engage in displacement activity but stops himself. That's unusual. Lex is usually too in character for something like that.

"Yes. We've finally got energy supply contracts with the last few holdout countries, and legislators have informally accepted the fait accompli as far as the Earth Defence Force in concerned."

I nod, and raise an imaginary glass in a toast. "Congratulations on your status as Earth's first megacorp. I for one welcome our new corporate overlords."

"I admit that I find it a little frustrating, using products that LexCorp has to licence in order to advance this far."

I shake my head. "Knowledge and learning are nothing without application. The greatest physician in the world is useless if they never heal anyone. You've done with these artefacts what their inventors couldn't. And it's not as if you're resting on your laurels. LexCorp continues to lead the world in dozens of fields. Oh, and… How are things with Veronica?"

"They're going well. I think I'm going to ask her to marry me." He notices my raised eyebrows. "Assuming that we can negotiate a mutually acceptable pre-nuptial agreement."

"Remind me: is this your first stab at married life?"

"No, but… Now, I'm in a position to actually give the relationship the time it needs. No more eighteen hour days maniacally focused on building up my company while the relationship sours." He gives me a sidelong look. "As if I really needed to remind you of that."

I shrug. "Social conversation. You asked me here, you're clearly going somewhere with this… At this point I'm just keeping things moving."

He turns to look out of the window. "I didn't think it would happen this quickly. Though I suppose that's the advantage of using a fifty year old starship design and a seventy year old power source. When I first joined with our former colleagues, I assumed that it would take decades at least to come this far."

"Amazing what happens when the right talents come together."

He head snaps back to me. "You were right."

"I usually am. What about?"

"My… Paranoia. My inability to trust, my need to control… After you and Mister Truggs oh so subtly drew attention to it, I spoke to my sister. And… My alter-ego, you remember, the one with the golden power ring."

I nod. He needs to get this off his chest at his own speed.

"You all said more or less the same thing. You all have your own motives, but there was something in my mind that insisted you were all… Conspiring against me. I've had thoughts like that before, but I… I assuaged them by ensuring that any move against me would result in mutual destruction of all parties involved. But I couldn't see a way to destroy you, I didn't want to destroy my sister… So I forced myself to review the evidence. And everything that you've done says to me that you're genuine."

"So the problem was in my head. And that is not acceptable. Finding an acceptable psychiatrist was… Difficult, as was finding a telepath to suppress the memories of our sessions. I don't know if I'm… Fully recovered-. If I'll ever fully recover, but I've been advised that speaking to you directly is the next step in the process."

I nod. "Well… Thank you for your honesty. I realise that the way I dealt with our former colleagues wasn't likely to incite confidence, and I appreciate how difficult this must have been for you. I… Dimly remember my own time on Apokolips prior to my escape, how… Everyone around me was a threat, everyone… Would abandon any agreement we made just because. I couldn't function like that. I coped more by keeping my head down, rather than ensuring that whoever killed me wouldn't live to enjoy their victory, but I suspect that the general feeling was much the same."

"I suppose that your father was worse than mine."

"Objectively, yes. Relatively? No, no I don't think so. Mine actually had an affirmative use for me." I exhale sharply through my nose. "Still does. And hey, you got away without ritually uncreating yourself."

"Do you-? Still.. feel it?"

"Not when I'm here. But when I go back to Apokolips… Then it comes back. But…" I shrug. "Then I've got something healthy to compare it to. It can't be the same as it was."

Lex bows his head slightly. "I was hoping that I'd feel… Different, after saying this out loud."

"Not that simple, I'm afraid." I shrug. "Though if you want to speed things up, there are a few options."

He raises his eyebrows. "More telepathy?"

"Magic. There's a ritual that would let you directly experience my soul structures. Give you a complete awareness of my nature. I wouldn't be capable of lying to you like that, of hiding anything. And you wouldn't be capable of denying what you were experiencing. It bypasses some problems of normal psychotherapy."

"Are there any drawbacks?"

"It's a level of intimacy that you might be uncomfortable in engaging in with another man. Particularly if you're planning on getting married."

"Ah. Perhaps we can leave that as a last resort."

I nod. "Fungus is your best bet, then." He gives me a small frown. "Magic mushrooms, as we used to call them. Gives you a cognitive reset. Not much help if you're still in an unhealthy environment, but if you've got that fixed, it could help. Otherwise…" Hm. "I don't know. It might be something you can just work past, but the human brain isn't anything like as plastic in an adult as it is in a child. If the structures of your neural network is now predisposed to paranoia, you could be stuck with it unless you find a way to alter the physical structures of your brain. And while there are ways to do that, I wouldn't exactly want to recommend any of them."

"Send me a report anyway. I refuse to allow my father's legacy to color my life."

I nod. "Can do."

"The other matter I wish to discuss with you is your father."

I smile with the left side of my mouth. "Only fair, I suppose. Darkseid, formerly Uxas, looks like me only bald and worse."

"I haven't asked for specifics. I'm still not asking. But how close are you to being able to take action?"

I shrug. "I could take action now, it's just that the chance of winning is abysmally low. Not zero, but…" I sigh. "Apokolips doesn't have a large conventional fleet, and what it has is fairly specialised. If we continue building up the EDF according to current plans, we'll be ready to take it in a conventional fight in about two years."

He looks mildly surprised. "That soon?"

I shake my head. "The fleets aren't the problem. The problem is the Anti-Life. We could land an invasion force in the Armagetto, and even if they deployed no military forces in defence, everyone would be dead by the time it reached the Tower of Rage. The handful of people we have -myself included- who are resistant enough to survive that long would be driven mad as he gave us his personal attention."

"Then why not perform an orbital bombardment this.. Tower of Rage?"

"Because if we don't fight on his terms he'll actually start trying. He can easily destroy our fleet with the Omega Effect, or with ground-based weapon systems, or by boom tubing suicide troopers onto the ships. He doesn't care about the loss of life or materiel. The only thing he cares about is learning more about the Anti-Life Equation, and forcing our brains to run it for a while as it teaches him something. The best idea I've got for beating him involves hitting him with something that he'll want to get hit by, something he thinks he'll be able to beat but which he actually can't."

Lex nods, then looks at me curiously. "Like what?"

I snort. "I'll tell you when I find something."
 
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15th April 2013
09:02 GMT -5


"So, um…" I shrug, turning my right hand palm-up in a hand-shrug. "I understand that LexCorp is now the biggest thing ever?"

Lex… Seems distracted. I spot three twitches as he is about to engage in displacement activity but stops himself. That's unusual. Lex is usually too in character for something like that.
What, to have those moments, or for them to be visible? Seriously, the man is usually drawn tighter than... Something ludicrously stretched thin. And I doubt he's feeling all too relaxed these days, no matter how well he's doing.

"Yes. We've finally got energy supply contracts with the last few holdout countries, and legislators have informally accepted the fait accompli as far as the Earth Defence Force in concerned."

I nod, and raise an imaginary glass in a toast. "Congratulations on your status as Earth's first megacorp. I for one welcome our new corporate overlords."
So, Earth is now primarily set up to run on cosmic collectors for its' energy needs? I suppose Ted Knight would be overjoyed.

"I admit that I find it a little frustrating, using products that LexCorp has to licence in order to advance this far."

I shake my head. "Knowledge and learning are nothing without application. The greatest physician in the world is useless if they never heal anyone. You've done with these artefacts what their inventors couldn't. And it's not as if you're resting on your laurels. LexCorps continues to lead the world in dozens of fields. Oh, and… How are things with Veronica?"
Remind me who that was? It's been a while. Not Veronica Cale, was it?

"They're going well. I think I'm going to ask her to marry me." He notices my raised eyebrows. "Assuming that we can negotiate a mutually acceptable pre-nuptial agreement."

"Remind me: is this your first stab at married life?"
Heh. I suppose he's not had the best time of it previously.

"No, but… Now, I'm in a position to actually give the relationship the time it needs. No more eighteen hour days maniacally focused on building up my company while the relationship sours." He gives me a sidelong look. "As if I really needed to remind you of that."

I shrug. "Social conversation. You asked me here, you're clearly going somewhere with this… At this point I'm just keeping things moving."
And while he's mostly retired by this point... He doesn't have all day, Lex.

He turns to look out of the window. "I didn't think it would happen this quickly. Though I suppose that's the advantage of using a fifty year old starship design and a seventy year old power source. When I first joined with our former colleagues, I assumed that it would take decades at least to come this far."

"Amazing what happens when the right talents come together."
And you can keep their egos pointed in the right direction, in the case of the less stable geniuses.

He head snaps back to me. "You were right."

"I usually am. What about?"
No need to be so smug about it, Renegade. :rolleyes:

"My… Paranoia. My inability to trust, my need to control… After you and Mister Truggs oh so subtly drew attention to it, I spoke to my sister. And… My alter-ego, you remember, the one with the golden power ring."

I nod. He needs to get this off his chest at his own speed.
And it sounds like said Lex taught him a few tricks for keeping his darker urges under control.

"You all said more or less the same thing. You all have your own motives, but there was something in my mind that insisted you were all… Conspiring against me. I've had thoughts like that before, but I… I assuaged them by ensuring that any move against me would result in mutual destruction of all parties involved. But I couldn't see a way to destroy you, I didn't want to destroy my sister… So I forced myself to review the evidence. And everything that you've done says to me that you're genuine."
Sometimes, you need to corral those darker thoughts.

"So the problem was in my head. And that it not acceptable. Finding an acceptable psychiatrist was… Difficult, as was finding a telepath to suppress the memories of our sessions. I don't know if I'm… Fully recovered-. If I'll ever fully recover, but I've been advised that speaking to you directly is the next step in the process."
...I'm not even sure how that works. Suppressing the memories of the sessions... Would kind of invalidate any progress made, wouldn't it? Or was that just to make him forget who he spoke to? Edit: Ah right, he's having the therapist's memories wiped. Can't show any weakness himself, naturally... :rolleyes:

I nod. "Well… Thank you for your honesty. I realise that the way I dealt with our former colleagues wasn't likely to incite confidence, and I appreciate how difficult this must have been for you. I… Dimly remember my own time on Apokolips prior to my escape, how… Everyone around me was a threat, everyone… Would abandon any agreement we made just because. I couldn't function like that. I coped more by keeping my head down, rather than ensuring they whoever killed me wouldn't live to enjoy their victory, but I suspect that the general feeling was much the same."
Chunks of actual Grayven's memories, no doubt. I suppose having them makes the deception easier.

"I suppose that your father was worse than mine."

"Objectively, yes. Relatively? No, no I don't think so. Mine actually had an affirmative use for me." I exhale sharply through my nose. "Still does. And hey, you got away without ritually uncreating yourself."
Admittedly, at this stage, he's not interested in said use. Kind of awkward.

"Do you-? Still.. feel it?"

"Not when I'm here. But when I go back to Apokolips… Then it comes back. But…" I shrug. "Then I've got something healthy to compare it to. It can't be the same as it was."
The joy of having a Pony girlfriend and a bunch of loving kids.

Lex bows his head slightly. "I was hoping that I'd feel… Different, after saying this out loud."

"Not that simple, I'm afraid." I shrug. "Though if you want to speed things up, there are a few options."
...Oh, no. Don't do anything that'll cause backsliding.

He raises his eyebrows. "More telepathy?"

"Magic. There's a ritual that would let you directly experience my soul structures. Give you a complete awareness of my nature. I wouldn't be capable of lying to you like that, of hiding anything. And you wouldn't be capable of denying what you were experiencing. It bypasses some problems of normal psychotherapy."
And boy, would that be an eye-opener. I wonder if the Renegade's original form would appear as a spirit guide?

"Are there any drawbacks?"

"It's a level of intimacy that you might be uncomfortable in engaging in with another man. Particularly if you're planning on getting married."

"Ah. Perhaps we can leave that as a last resort."
Not quite as embarrassing as the physical sort of closeness, but... Don't want any bits of the Renegade sticking in Lex's head.

I nod. "Fungus is your best bet, then." He gives me a small frown. "Magic mushrooms, as we used to call them. Gives you a cognitive reset. Not much help if you're still in an unhealthy environment, but if you've got that fixed, it could help. Otherwise…" Hm. "I don't know. It might be something you can just work past, but the human brain isn't anything like as plastic in an adult as it is in a child. If the structures of your neural network is now predisposed to paranoia, you could be stuck with it unless you find a way to alter the physical structures of your brain. And while there are ways to do that, I wouldn't exactly want to recommend any of them."
So... Your second-most impactful option is... Getting high? :confused: I suppose Lex could use some form of relaxation that isn't messing with Superman...

"Send me a report anyway. I refuse to allow my father's legacy color my life."

I nod. "Can do."
...And he's actually considering it. Show how tightly-wound he is.

"The other matter I wish to discuss with you is your father."

I smile with the left side of my mouth. "Only fair, I suppose. Darkseid, formerly Uxas, looks like me only bald and worse."
It is interesting how close their looks are, given the appearances of Uxas' other sons.

"I haven't asked for specifics. I'm still not asking. But how close are you to being able to take action?"

I shrug. "I could take action now, it's just that the chance of winning is abysmally low. Not zero, but…" I sigh. "Apokolips doesn't have a large conventional fleet, and what it has is fairly specialised. If we continue building up the EDF according to current plans, we'll be ready to take it in a conventional fight in about two years."
Just a matter of hoping that He doesn't go poking you anytime before then.

He looks mildly surprised. "That soon?"

I shake my head. "The fleets aren't the problem. The problem is the Anti-Life. We could land an invasion force in the Armagetto, and even if they deployed no military forces in defence, everyone would be dead by the time it reached the Tower of Rage. The handful of people we have -myself included- who are resistant enough to survive that long would be driven mad as he gave us his personal attention."
Just the lowlies alone would be a hefty stumbling block. I doubt your armies would be willing to shoot down frenzied 'civilians' even as they're charging at them...

"Then why not perform an orbital bombard this.. Tower of Rage?"

"Because if we don't fight on his terms he'll actually start trying. He can easily destroy our fleet with the Omega Effect, or with ground-based weapon systems, or by boom tubing suicide troopers onto the ships. He doesn't care about the loss of life or materiel. The only thing he cares about is learning more about the Anti-Life Equation, and forcing our brains to run it for a while it teaches him something. The best idea I've got for beating him involves hitting him with something that he'll want to get hit by, something he thinks he'll be able to beat but which he actually can't."
The joy of New God Narrative Combat. It'll come down to a fistfight between Him and the Renegade, possibly with Lex supporting him in a battlesuit, if He has His way.

Lex nods, then looks at me curiously. "Like what?"

I snort. "I'll tell you when I find something."
Since I doubt Harmony would be willing to take action off of Wilson...

Man, lots of characters planning weddings this episode. Or at least engagements. Though those involved are very different groups. As for the military preparation, I suspect Earth will be best served by making itself very risky for Apokalips to attack. At least, until Darkseid is very sure he can win by whatever rules the Renegade tries to put in place.
 
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"My… Paranoia. My inability to trust, my need to control… After you and Mister Truggs oh so subtly drew attention to it, I spoke to my sister. And… My alter-ego, you remember, the one with the golden power ring."
I assume this is intended as a tribute to scriviner? That's awfully kind of you, I know Inviolate had an omake where his Lex was hopping around after then epilogue, but I cant recall if you crossed your work with his before, as I don't remember a Gold Power Ring wielding Lex showing up.

If I've misremembered that could the thread point me at the chapter it happened in?
 
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I assume this is intended as a tribute to scriviner? That's awfully kind of you, I know Inviolate had an omake where his Lex was hopping around after then epilogue, but I cant recall if you crossed your work with his before, as I don't remember a Gold Power Ring wielding Lex showing up.

If I've misremembered that could the thread point me at the chapter it happened in?

During the Crisis of Infinite Pauls they ended up travelling to the Inviolate universe, after Lex had already left of course. The Gold Lantern Corps and Justice League helped the Pauls fight off Krona's Manhunters, build the device needed to subvert Krona's experiment and they also helped the Anti-Green Lantern SI (the one that died everyday, poor fellow) by giving him one of their Gold Power Rings.

I don't recall that we've seen a Gold Lantern Lex, though, so if Grayven's Lex met him it was off-screen.

Unfortunately I don't remember what's the name of the Crisis episode to link it.
 
I shake my head. "Knowledge and learning are nothing without application. The greatest physician in the world is useless if they never heal anyone. You've done with these artefacts what their inventors couldn't. And it's not as if you're resting on your laurels. LexCorps continues to lead the world in dozens of fields. Oh, and… How are things with Veronica?"
That should say 'LexCorp'.

I nod. "Well… Thank you for your honesty. I realise that the way I dealt with our former colleagues wasn't likely to incite confidence, and I appreciate how difficult this must have been for you. I… Dimly remember my own time on Apokolips prior to my escape, how… Everyone around me was a threat, everyone… Would abandon any agreement we made just because. I couldn't function like that. I coped more by keeping my head down, rather than ensuring they whoever killed me wouldn't live to enjoy their victory, but I suspect that the general feeling was much the same."
That should say 'that'.

"Because if we don't fight on his terms he'll actually start trying. He can easily destroy our fleet with the Omega Effect, or with ground-based weapon systems, or by boom tubing suicide troopers onto the ships. He doesn't care about the loss of life or materiel. The only thing he cares about is learning more about the Anti-Life Equation, and forcing our brains to run it for a while it teaches him something. The best idea I've got for beating him involves hitting him with something that he'll want to get hit by, something he thinks he'll be able to beat but which he actually can't."
This sentence seems awkward. I think it should say: "The only thing he cares about is learning more about the Anti-Life Equation, and forcing our brains to run it for a while might teach him something."

I assume this is intended as a tribute to scriviner? That's awfully kind of you, I know Inviolate had an omake where his Lex was hopping around after then epilogue, but I cant recall if you crossed your work with his before, as I don't remember a Gold Power Ring wielding Lex showing up.

If I've misremembered that could the thread point me at the chapter it happened in?
The Inviolate universe appeared in Episode 96: Repetition and Episode 97: Duplication. The Lex of that universe ended up in the Renegade's universe for a time, but I don't remember what episode showed that.
 
"The other matter I wish to discuss with you is your father."

I smile with the left side of my mouth. "Only fair, I suppose. Darkseid, formerly Uxas, looks like me only bald and worse."

"I haven't asked for specifics. I'm still not asking. But how close are you to being able to take action?"

I shrug. "I could take action now, it's just that the chance of winning is abysmally low. Not zero, but…" I sigh. "Apokolips doesn't have a large conventional fleet, and what it has is fairly specialised. If we continue building up the EDF according to current plans, we'll be ready to take it in a conventional fight in about two years."

He looks mildly surprised. "That soon?"

I shake my head. "The fleets aren't the problem. The problem is the Anti-Life. We could land an invasion force in the Armagetto, and even if they deployed no military forces in defence, everyone would be dead by the time it reached the Tower of Rage. The handful of people we have -myself included- who are resistant enough to survive that long would be driven mad as he gave us his personal attention."

"Then why not perform an orbital bombard this.. Tower of Rage?"

"Because if we don't fight on his terms he'll actually start trying. He can easily destroy our fleet with the Omega Effect, or with ground-based weapon systems, or by boom tubing suicide troopers onto the ships. He doesn't care about the loss of life or materiel. The only thing he cares about is learning more about the Anti-Life Equation, and forcing our brains to run it for a while it teaches him something. The best idea I've got for beating him involves hitting him with something that he'll want to get hit by, something he thinks he'll be able to beat but which he actually can't."

Lex nods, then looks at me curiously. "Like what?"

I snort. "I'll tell you when I find something."
This isn't the only problem, I think? Though that likely is the most unworkable. There's a bunch of new god superweapons and exotic magic possibilities that some apokoliptians will have access to that I don't think they have a terribly good way to shield at scale against, There's a limit to the scope of which an overseeing new god without more specialized insight can really shield against that kind of thing. Plus, I'm not sure they can really stop a fleet from being overrun by new god elites and giant killer robots and the like as readily as they can deal with the more conventional spaceship stuff.
 

"is not"

ensuring they whoever killed me wouldn't live to enjoy their victory, but I

"that whoever"

Then why not perform an orbital bombard this.. Tower of

"bombardment on this"

The best idea I've got for beating him involves hitting him with something that he'll want to get hit by, something he thinks he'll be able to beat but which he actually can't."

Lex nods, then looks at me curiously. "Like what?"

I snort. "I'll tell you when I find something."

Well you could try to convince him that going into the Source Wall would allow him to corrupt the very heart of creation.

Granted there's a chance he could do it.
 
I'm not even sure how that works. Suppressing the memories of the sessions... Would kind of invalidate any progress made, wouldn't it? Or was that just to make him forget who he spoke to?

Lex is arrogant to en extent that calling it a God Complex is inaccurate, so maybe the suppression is to make him think the therapists advice is his own subconscious because he wouldn't take the advice of someone else.

Chunks of actual Grayven's memories, no doubt. I suppose having them makes the deception easier

Though at this point the deception is honestly pointless since Darkseid knows he's not the real Grayven.

And boy, would that be an eye-opener. I wonder if the Renegade's original form would appear as a spirit guide?

I think it would depend if he sees himself as his human self anymore.

So... Your second-most impactful option is... Getting high

Hey, use of LSD and other such drugs has been shown to have positive results for mental health.

:confused: I suppose Lex could use some form of relaxation that isn't messing with Superman

Pestering Superman also probably doesn't help since he usually loses.

It is interesting how close their looks are, given the appearances of Uxas' other sons.

In the comics Darkseid actually favored Grayven the least of his children, since he was basically just a mini Darkseid and didn't really distinguish himself in any way.
 
That should say 'LexCorp'.
That should say 'that'.
This sentence seems awkward. I think it should say: "The only thing he cares about is learning more about the Anti-Life Equation, and forcing our brains to run it for a while might teach him something."
"is not"
"that whoever"
"bombardment on this"
Thank you, corrected.
In the comics Darkseid actually favored Grayven the least of his children, since he was basically just a mini Darkseid and didn't really distinguish himself in any way.
And was the only one not invented by Jack Kirby.
 
"Magic. There's a ritual that would let you directly experience my soul structures. Give you a complete awareness of my nature. I wouldn't be capable of lying to you like that, of hiding anything. And you wouldn't be capable of denying what you were experiencing. It bypasses some problems of normal psychotherapy."


i'm not sure if this is the same thing, but now i'm extremely interested in what a New God Enlightenment would do for Lex... as a matter of fact, i'm still trying to figure out how that works. i was under the impression that Godhood is a specific, one-off niche in the universe. like there's only one New God of (insert characteristic here) per universe, except for the multiversal constants like Darkseid and Highfather.

so the Japanese speedster that hasn't been heard from in literal years became the New God of Speed (despite the Flash existing), Mr. Tiger became sentient and extremely intelligent (i think- again, literal years), the Aqua-kids more or less became New Gods of the Ocean (despite Oceanus and Poseidon existing), Artemis became a New God of Archery... Lynne was enlightened and became a New God of... Telepathy? i'm unsure how to categorize that.

anyway, what would Lex become? New God of Paranoia? or if he's working through his problems, the New God of Advancement? a proto-Brainiac?
 
Uhm no, Lex is having the therapist's memories erased, not his own memories of therapy erased.
That makes more sense.

I'm guessing it's partly to make sure his enemies don't get insight into his mental health and partly so that his therapist doesn't report his criminal activities to the authorities or the news.

Confidentiality may exist, but if his shrink found out that Lex was involved with the group that killed thousands of children and all of the other evil shit the Light was involved in, they may feel like justice is more important than their oath.
 
i'm not sure if this is the same thing, but now i'm extremely interested in what a New God Enlightenment would do for Lex... as a matter of fact, i'm still trying to figure out how that works. i was under the impression that Godhood is a specific, one-off niche in the universe. like there's only one New God of (insert characteristic here) per universe, except for the multiversal constants like Darkseid and Highfather.

so the Japanese speedster that hasn't been heard from in literal years became the New God of Speed (despite the Flash existing), Mr. Tiger became sentient and extremely intelligent (i think- again, literal years), the Aqua-kids more or less became New Gods of the Ocean (despite Oceanus and Poseidon existing), Artemis became a New God of Archery... Lynne was enlightened and became a New God of... Telepathy? i'm unsure how to categorize that.

anyway, what would Lex become? New God of Paranoia? or if he's working through his problems, the New God of Advancement? a proto-Brainiac?

It's not a one person per aspect thing, that's just not a rule. And there's a difference between new gods, gods, and magic people like the flash
 

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