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

Darko · Sunday at 9:59 PM

Vaermina said:
You would basically have to be dealing with an entire planet of silicon life, which we already know it isn't.

To be honest it's barely even chemistry, it's just literal shit breaking down in the normal process that would be required for a planet full of carbon based life to have a working nutrient cycle.

It's not like species in comic book universes always make sense.

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-29T06:17:42+0000

12th August 2013
22:19 GMT

"Yes?" He steps aside of some of the other prisoners follow the directions of the robot Jor-El has recalled to lead them towards the exterior shelters. "Do you know me-?" He frowns at me. "Are you a-? An orange Lantern?"

"Yes, yes I-." Scan. Okay, the gallery is cleared out already. "One moment."

I tether him and transition us to the gallery.

"I realise that this is a shocking transition and I promise to answer all of your questions later, but-."

"Something's happening, I understand. What do you need to know?"

"Please confirm: you are Non-Du, and you worked under Jor-El?"

He nods. "Yes."

"You are aware that Krypton was scheduled to explode due to the transmutation of the core?"

"Yes. That's.. happ-?" He bites his lip. "Sorry. Carry on."

"You were in communication with Dru-Zod about Jor-El's discovery?"

"Yes."

"What action had he taken at the point you were sent to the Phantom Zone?"

"He…" He considers for a moment, looking around and then.. staring at my sigil. "He wasn't arresting us. I think he was trying to get Jor-El's findings confirmed."

"That's all?"

"Yes."

The alley. That wasn't him. So what did I-? I did brain chirurgy… Didn't I? Or was that just… I wasn't wearing a mindshield at the time, and I… I haven't… Seen Non since I started. But psychics can create illusions, and not just-. False sensory impressions, it's just usually they don't because it's inefficient. Or did I find Lyla and then… She erased my memory of it?

Damn it. I scan him just in case, but aside from a little… Cut in his arm-.

"How did you end up in the Phantom Zone?"

"I don't know. I was cross-referencing some seismic data, and…" He shakes his head. "The next thing I knew, I was there. I did not even know it was the Phantom Zone to begin with."

"Ring, contact Lantern Jordan."

My ring blinks once, and then his face appears.

"What you got?"

"The Non-Du on Xudar is a fake. The real one was still in the Phantom Zone. You need to locate him as quickly as possible."

He smiles wryly. "I got one better. Looks like Lyla was a dominator asset."

…

"Kan-Z wasn't an engineer or physicist. He couldn't-. Gods, how long were they-?"

"Who?"

"Kan-Z was the leader of Black Zero. The people who-."

His eyes widen. "Bombed Krypton."

"Kryptonian society was easily advanced enough to build a bomb like that, I didn't think to ask how he got it. The city-states just used conventional nukes…"

"How long ago was that?"

"Pre-Empire. They had to rebuild from almost nothing."

"Why the change in strategy?"

"The Dominion's been around for a while, but it's hardly a total monolith. Individual high-caste dominators come and go. Or maybe they considered slowing down Kryptonian development to be a success, even if the planet wasn't destroyed." I shake my head. "Or maybe I'm just speculating. Have you found the fake Non?"

He shakes his head. "The starports are in lockdown, the prisoners are secure and we've got people out looking."

"Secure how?"

"Security robots. I figure, they've got no brains, so-."

"She was directly observed by both Har-Zod and Jor-El's sensors. I think she's got better illusions than that."

"The telepath's got better illusions than-. Fine, fine. I'll-. Call Miss Marvel back."

"I thought she was just going with Mary-?" Not the point, focus. "Superboy should have a mind ward-."

"He's not back from her homeworld yet. Not everyone's as fast as you. Actually, how come you haven't just appeared already?"

"I wanted to check that Lyla wasn't in the Phantom Zone-. Long story short, all of the prisoners got released and I'm on guard duty."

"What? How did-?" He stares at me. "Have you called in the League?"

I shake my head. "They're not empowered. I'll call in the Karas when you hang up."

"Get your team, too. It'll be good experience."

"My t-?" Oh, he means… The team, not-. "Will do. Are Superman or Karsta Wor-Ul on the Doomsday?"

"No, Ak-Var's in command. Why?"

"Well, Lyla might want to get away, but equally she might be trying to send a message to her handlers. Dominators can go to ground for a long time if it's useful to them to do so, and I haven't checked the entire Sector for them."

He nods. "They might wanna pick up the Doomsday."

"They do want to pick up the Doomsday. The only question is how highly they prioritise it."

"I'll get Carol to pick up Karsta. Send me anything else you find out. Green Lantern out."

His face vanishes.

Okay.

I look at the somewhat lost-looking Non-Du. "I don't suppose that you know how to use the theta wave state, do you?" He shakes his head. "Does the name Lyla mean anything to you?"

"No. Who is she?"

I point to one of the seats. "It's easier if I explain the whole thing. But first I need to talk to some people. Orange Lantern to Aqualad."

Darko · 2025-12-29T06:20:22+0000

Mr Zoat said:
some of the other prisoner

"prisoners"

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-29T06:29:32+0000

Darko said:
"prisoners"

Thank you, corrected.

Vaermina · 2025-12-29T06:33:27+0000

Mr Zoat said:
The alley. That wasn't him. So what did I-? I did brain chirurgy… Didn't I? Or was that just… I wasn't wearing a mindshield at the time, and I… I haven't… Seen Non since I started. But psychics can create illusions, and not just-. False sensory impressions, it's just usually they don't because it's inefficient. Or did I find Lyla and then… She erased my memory of it?

I'd point out that at that level of fuckery its also possible she just overpowered your mindshield and is making you think its active and working.

RoninSword · 2025-12-29T06:42:23+0000

Kal-El was there when Paul did that 'brain surgery' as well.

earlyriser · 2025-12-29T06:48:36+0000

we're bring the team back together, if only for a while

this storyline is very interesting

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-12-29T07:26:56+0000

Mr Zoat said:
12th August 2013
22:19 GMT

"Yes?" He steps aside of some of the other prisoners follow the directions of the robot Jor-El has recalled to lead them towards the exterior shelters. "Do you know me-?" He frowns at me. "Are you a-? An orange Lantern?"

"Yes, yes I-." Scan. Okay, the gallery is cleared out already. "One moment."

Oh hell. I can already see where this is going. One of the Nons is a fake and almost certainly Lyla in disguise. The question is which one. And if it's the one running loose, how much damage can they do before they get caught.

I tether him and transition us to the gallery.

"I realise that this is a shocking transition and I promise to answer all of your questions later, but-."

More urgent matters than comforting a confused kryptonian, yes.

"Something's happening, I understand. What do you need to know?"

"Please confirm: you are Non-Du, and you worked under Jor-El?"

At least he's quick on the uptake, and willing to help. I suspect Lyla would be a little more... Combative.

He nods. "Yes."

"You are aware that Krypton was scheduled to explode to due the transmutation of the core?"

"Yes. That's.. happ-?" He bites his lip. "Sorry. Carry on."

Yes, yes, entire world gone, everyone you knew is dead. But on more time-critical matters...

"You were in communication with Dru-Zod about Jor-El's discovery?"

"Yes."

"What action had he taken at the point you were sent to the Phantom Zone?"

More important, was he sent as a prisoner, or in a more spontaneously informal fashion?

"He…" He considers for a moment, looking around and then.. staring at my sigil. "He wasn't arresting us. I think he was trying to get Jor-El's findings confirmed."

"That's all?"

"Yes."

But he doesn't remember any sort of dark alley or head injury or anything like that. I think i can see what happened: Lyla nobbled him and Zoned him, then replaced him only to be the one who got lobotomised. And then OL fixed 'his' brain...

The alley. That wasn't him. So what did I-? I did brain chirurgy… Didn't I? Or was that just… I wasn't wearing a mindshield at the time, and I… I haven't… Seen Non since I started. But psychics can create illusions, and not just-. False sensory impressions, it's just usually they don't because it's inefficient. Or did I find Lyla and then… She erased my memory of it?

Argh, psychic illusionists are always such paranoia fuel. More worryingly, what happened to her when you fixed her brain? Is she running around with a hodge-podge of empireth and kryptonian brain matter, or did the Ring correct it based on the genetic model it saw, which would have been empireth in nature, even if OL saw kryptonian...

Damn it. I scan him just in case, but aside from a little… Cut in his arm-.

"How did you end up in the Phantom Zone?"

I'm guessing she took a blood sample or something, presumably to copy his DNA for the illusion so that it would fool biological scanners...

"I don't know. I was cross-referencing some seismic data, and…" He shakes his head. "The next thing I knew, I was there. I did not even know it was the Phantom Zone to begin with."

"Ring, contact Lantern Jordan."

That would be when he got swapped out, then. And the last time we saw Other Non on-screen was... Aboard the Doomsday?

My ring blinks once, and then his face appears.

"What you got?"

Damn, he was waiting for you to call, it looks like. Or he was about to call you.

"The Non-Du on Xudar is a fake. The real one was still in the Phantom Zone. You need to locate him as quickly as possible."

He smiles wryly. "I got one better. Looks like Lyla was a dominator asset."

I'm betting they gave her whatever shapeshifting ability she may have used to pose as Non-Du. Whether a potent psychic illusion or physical restructuring...

…

"Kan-Z wasn't an engineer or physicist. He couldn't-. Gods, how long were they-?"

"Who?"

Kan-Z. And boy, is that art of him 80's or what?

"Kan-Z was the leader of Black Zero. The people who-."

His eyes widen. "Bombed Krypton."

And since he wasn't a bomb-maker, someone else had to have made it.

"Kryptonian society was easily advanced enough to build a bomb like that, I didn't think to ask how he got it. The city-states just used conventional nukes…"

"How long ago was that?"

I suspect the average kryptonian scientist or engineer wouldn't have gone along with making a bomb capable of killing their world anyway.

"Pre-Empire. They had to rebuild from almost nothing."

"Why the change in strategy?"

That is a pertinent question. This would have been something like ten thousand kryptonian years ago... Some Dominator may have been playing a long game.

"The Dominion's been around for a while, but it's hardly a total monolith. Individual high-caste dominators come and go. Or maybe they considered slowing down Kryptonian development to be a success, even if the planet wasn't destroyed." I shake my head. "Or maybe I'm just speculating. Have you found the fake Non?"

...OL, you barely told them about it a couple of minutes ago. I know Lanterns can work fast, but there are limits.

He shakes his head. "The starports are in lockdown, the prisoners are secure and we've got people out looking."

"Secure how?"

In other words, Lyla has probably already mind-whammied someone and is just waiting for a chance to flee...

"Security robots. I figure, they've got no brains, so-."

"She was directly observed by both Har-Zod and Jor-El's sensors. I think she's got better illusions than that."

Could well have physical shapeshifting, given her posing as Non. Unless that was a very good illusion too. Was 'he' even actually brain-damaged or did she just make that play for an advantage?

"The telepath's got better illusions than-. Fine, fine. I'll-. Call Miss Marvel back."

"I thought she was just going with Mary-?" Not the point, focus. "Superboy should have a mind ward-."

For a second, I wondered if you meant Miss Martian, but I remembered Mary Marvel was there too because if you have one Kryptonian-level combatant in Osiris, another one is better..

"He's not back from her homeworld yet. Not everyone's as fast as you. Actually, how come you haven't just appeared already?"

"I wanted to check that Lyla wasn't in the Phantom Zone-. Long story short, all of the prisoners got released and I'm on guard duty."

And that is going to take some explaining later.

"What? How did-?" He stares at me. "Have you called in the League?"

I shake my head. "They're not empowered. I'll call in the Karas when you hang up."

Good plan. Especially Kara-One, who is probably stronger than any local kryptonian from the get go.

"Get your team, too. It'll be good experience."

"My t-?" Oh, he means… The team, not-. "Will do. Is Superman or Karsta Wor-Ul on the Doomsday?"

Really, they need a catchier team name to avoid that sort of confusion...

"No, Ak-Var's in command. Why?"

"Well, Lyla might want to get away, but equally she might be trying to send a message to her handlers. Dominators can go to ground for a long time if it's useful to them to do so, and I haven't checked the entire Sector for them."

Ah, good, he realised that possibility. And the last thing they need is a Dominator fleet turning up and trying to steal kryptonian stuff again.

He nods. "They might wanna pick up the Doomsday."

"They do want to pick up the Doomsday. The only question is how highly they prioritise it."

And would living kryptonians also be highly prized for genetic research, or considered a threat to said acquisition...

"I'll get Carol to pick up Karsta. Send me anything else you find out. Green Lantern out."

His face vanishes.

Man, this day is just getting worse and worse, isn't it...

Okay.

I look at the somewhat lost-looking Non-Du. "I don't suppose that you know how to use the theta wave state, do you?" He shakes his head. "Does the name Lyla mean anything to you?"

Damn, OL needs to invest in developing compact mental-influence protection for allies now... One more thing for the to-do list.

"No. Who is she?"

I point to one of the seats. "It's easier if I explain the whole thing. But first I need to talk to some people. Orange Lantern to Aqualad."

I'm guessing OL is confident this isn't a fake, not only because of their willing assistance, but also thanks to his own mental protections. No illusions here!

So Lyla replaced Non-Du, possibly faked the brain damage and made sure she was in close proximity to Zod to pull off the Timaron thing, I'm guessing. Now she's on the loose and may well have changed her look.

Joy... She's probably looking to try and get in touch with her Dominator boss for new orders, depending on how strong their control is. All while OL is stuck on Earth babysitting the former Zone inmates.

Radiant Knight · 2025-12-29T07:32:55+0000

RoninSword said:
Kal-El was there when Paul did that 'brain surgery' as well.

Was he really though?

GhostKing 666 · 2025-12-29T07:33:40+0000

Vaermina said:
I'd point out that at that level of fuckery its also possible she just overpowered your mindshield and is making you think its active and working.

This is the point where you want to call M'gann. If there's anyone on the planet that Paul can be sure about picking Lyla up, it's her.

BR549 · 2025-12-29T07:40:27+0000

Fecal matter, meet the rotary air circulation device.

Radiant Knight said:
Was he really though?

Clark was the one operating the Phantom Zone projector, so yes.

But we'd just had evidence that he's easier to mind-trick than Paul is.

Vaermina · 2025-12-29T07:41:03+0000

GhostKing 666 said:
This is the point where you want to call M'gann. If there's anyone on the planet that Paul can be sure about picking Lyla up, it's her.

I wouldn't be too sure of that myself given this is several levels beyond anything we've seen M'gann pull off.

Darko · 2025-12-29T09:28:46+0000

Vaermina said:
I wouldn't be too sure of that myself given this is several levels beyond anything we've seen M'gann pull off.

M'gann is still one of the most powerful telepaths he knows.

Bud-E · 2025-12-29T09:31:33+0000

Non-Du stopped Zod from escaping when the werewolf freaked out, then walked away. Is it possible she escaped then?

NightmareWarden · 2025-12-29T10:27:57+0000

Please read this and help me fix it, it took some work.

Timeline

Phantom Zone (Aethyr's mind-realm) is used by Krypton government for prisoners. Eradicator tech used by Krypton is snuck away by Amish-equivalent colonists to Daxam.
Timaron and other worlds with aliens become protectorate worlds under Kryptonian Empire's control and lose autonomy due to Faora Hu-Ul and others.
Dominators return Lyla (species Empireth) telepath to Krypton post-enhancement. A plot to bomb Krypton's core is stopped, but a terrible decay begins (possible Despair involvement, possible Dominator involvement). Decay causes Kryptonite. Lar-On is cursed by Red Kryptonite to murder and wreak havoc as a lycanthrope, triggered by light (presumably from inhaling particulates while seeing Krypton's Gold Volcano); he killed his wife, Shal-On. Har-Zod is the head of Krypton's Military Council and High Councillor, chief authority of Krypton (note the surname).
Karsta Wor-Ul joins the Navy. Dru-Zod joins the Kryptonian Navy and gets promoted. Fan of military council. Ursa Dou-Ka is under his command.
Military council loses control, Science Council orders all citizens back to Krypton. Dru-Zod hates this, believes it is backwards. Har-Zod dies at some point before Krypton explodes.
Dru-Zod learns about Krypton's possible doom via Jor-El, and gets it verified with less than one year remaining. Dru-Zod's uprising begins (Karsta is not present). Most of the populace and government ignores the warnings. Dru-Zod impregnates Ursa. Dru-Zod's message reaches Sub-Commander Karsta and she deserts. Either Fake Non-Du (Lyla) or real Non-Du works for Jor-El, hence why Lyla states it. Jor-El computerises his consciousness as a neural imprint. Lyla changes the memories of the imprint.
Lyla begins mildly manipulating Dru-Zod (forty years after the bomb plan fails). Pooka and Lusca confirm that the decision to destroy a world (but not Timaron specially) was General Zod's.
Dru-Zod (being a genuinely desperate bigot comparable to a 40k Eldar) destroys Amalak's homeworld of Timaron. His plan was to make the Science Council realize that the future of Kryptonians' existence as a species was at risk if full isolation was enacted, with every Kryptonian on a single world. Amalak and others of his species escape its destruction.
The Doomsday is broken up for parts and sealed away. Dru-Zod does not send the Doomsday to Dominators. Fake Non-Du (Lyla) received brain damage in such a way that she was permanently broadcasting to everyone "I am Non-Du, do not kill me, I am mute, I am Dru-Zod's muscle" amidst the Uprising.
Dru-Zod, Fake Non-Du, Real Non-Du, and Ursa are rushed through trials and put in the Phantom Zone.
Jor-El builds an escape rocket for Kal-El, includes the imprint (it has no knowledge of Lyla the Empireth due to alterations). Kara is also saved at the last minute. Krypton explodes.
Kal-El grows up on Earth and the events of With This Ring occur. During the trip to Rao's system with Kon to see Krypton's remains, a satellite(?) near Xenon with Har-Zod's mental imprint is talked around by OL. Also Kara is recovered, but her pod didn't escape the Rao system before it was trapped in rubble and Kryptonite. Amalak learns about Dru-Zod's existence in the phantom Zone when OL makes a trade for a Yellow Light portable battery for his Yellow Ring, as part of the plot to save Earth from the Anti-Life. OL was talking to Lantern Gozzi near the security systems on one of Commodore Amalak's docks.
Nallam of Xudar is selected as judge and neutral party on behalf of Xudar to adjudicate the trial of Dru-Zod and for the destruction of Timaron according to Timaron's laws (not Xudar's laws). Amalak's goal is to convict as many Kryptonians of the remaining Phantom Zone prisoners as possible. This whole trial is a condition OL set, otherwise summary execution would be on the table.
Fake Non-Du (Lyla) is released and incorrectly recognized by the projector or other Krypronians due to telepathy tricking or torturing Aethyr? and learns about Krypton and the Timaron trial. Mental damage is fixed. She keeps up the disguise. Stupidity-aura flares up and Dru-Zod makes an escape attempt.
Lantern Mother of Mercy is fixing the wreckage of Timaron.

Quote from Negotiations which could affect the fate of Dru-Zod, in spite of his willing role in Timaron's destruction: Timaron law was largely derived from the laws of the Kryptonian Empire in structure."
"Kryptonian law had substantial allowances for acts committed under orders. It may be helpful if she was able to explain the normal rules of engagement of the kryptonian military so that it can be demonstrated that he violated them."

Timaron is first discussed during OL's first meeting with Commodore Amalak way back here https://forum.questionablequesting....stice-si-story-only.8961/page-48#post-2523392 , shortly after the Spider Queen plotline, where OL saved Vran Gozzi (Amalak's Coluan employee) from Estrogina and others who would ruin the peace talks. Vran eventually joined the Corps as Lantern Gozzi. She is not dating Vril Dox II.

Fake Non-Du (Lyla) was released from the Phantom Zone in Negotiations 7 and 8. Real Non-Du was released in Motivations 17-18, with no obvious brain damage.

In the comics, Brainiac generally shrinks and bottles the city of Kandor and its Kryptonian residents before Krypton explodes. That is the bottled city sometimes shown in the Superman cartoon. In With This Ring, Brainiac has nothing to do with Krypton, and we have no confirmations on Kandor's fate.

"This is not good news. I knew that saving Krypton was a long shot. I missed, and I accepted that. Now I find that I might just have-! Just have been some mindworm's pawn?!"

**If it makes you FFeel better, the decision to destroy a world was entirely yours.**

He calms down a little. "Thank you. It does."

I see Arnus sigh a very shallow sigh. "Nowan-Lu? Do you have further questions?"

"I-." She thinks for a moment. "Why did you decide to destroy a world? Why not carry out a smaller strike?"

"I needed to ensure that there was no evidence to contradict my version of events. A limited strike might destroy evidence I claimed existed, but other records and witness testimonies might survive."

**True.**

"I needed the Science Council panicked and the population motivated."

**No.**

Dru-Zod doesn't make a noise this time, but he does flinch. "That's not what I remember deciding."

**I KKnow.**

"It-. It seems that I wanted them worried enough to follow my advice, but… Something made me think that I needed more than that. But that's-."

Arnus looks empathetic. "General?"

"I couldn't rely on-." Lesley's horns glow, and he twitches again. "I-. Something made me think I couldn't rely on them."

"And in reality?"

"I don't-. I don't know. Krypton under the Science Council was out of the habit of resisting their directives. If an order had come from them to build a larger fleet then it would have happened. My original plan was to manipulate them, not simply take over directly. I considered it, but then decided that the risk wasn't worth it. They would act to preserve their power as they did against Jor-El, whereas if I was merely an advisor advocating a course of action they… Would consider it based on the evidence available."

Right. Think. Someone was on Krypton, messing around with the minds of the people there. But Krypton was going to explode anyway. Jor-El's model wasn't based on mind control. I checked it myself. It accurately predicted the shape of Krypton post-explosion, the timeline, and there weren't any other residues that would suggest a planet busting weapon. So there wasn't any point in making things worse, because everyone was going to die anyway.

xSieg · 2025-12-29T14:41:57+0000

This is an interesting angle. It does sound pretty in-characters and very smort of the Dominators to deal with the ticking time bomb that is Krypton by sending an uber-telepath to their midst and running covert ops constantly. They could also reliably control her even in that empowered state since they've shown pretty good mind control tech in the militant Justice Society timeline we've seen with the commander Alan Scott.

Duke Long · 2025-12-29T18:05:57+0000

Mr Zoat said:
**It can be. At TThat age, it is more like that you were too scared to encode memories. But I would NNeed to know more about your species to be certain.**

'likely'?

Mr Zoat said:
"I didn't select them as a target because they were a threat. That would have been too great a risk. There were several worlds who regarded the guiding hand of the Kryptonian Empire as a grievous imposition; those had fleets that might have been able to fight off the handful of vessels still under my command. Timaron was a viable target because it lacked such defences, and it's formerly positive relationship with the Empire made my claim that someone had handed over something without authorisation credible."

'its'

Mr Zoat said:
**If it makes you FFeel better, the decision to destroy a world was entirely yours.**

He calms down a little. "Thank you. It does."

I see Arnus sigh a very shallow sigh. "Nowan-Lu? Do you have further questions?"

This is gold.

Mr Zoat said:
"Yes, of course. We absolutely most find out what happened. I would not see Dru-Zod punished for something he did not do of his own volition."

'must'

Mr Zoat said:
"You can experience pleasure when your partner does?"

She blinks twice, then nods.

"And it's not external, because you're a gestalt telepath and so you experience that neural function as if it's your own." Another nod. "And you're definitely not a g-succubus who made an illusion to sneak out on this mission?"

This is pretty neat. Genomorphs continue to be really dang cool, this chapter was great for that.

Mr Zoat said:
I cause his camera angle to pull out a little, so that he can see more of my armour. "Yes, because my tattoos interfere with the amulets. I upgraded my light armour to include a telepath baffle instead." … "Of course, as far as you're concerned it could be a telepathic illusion, so… Don't put too much faith in it."

'telepathic'?

Mr Zoat said:
I'm also not sure why my rings are working when empathic vision isn't.

Good question. It's not as simple as the rings functioning off stored charge, given that IIRC they require a sort of catalysis from the emotional spectrum, which would imply that the plane of avarice is still accessible here. Hmm, maybe the reason is that the rings draw on the orange light in Oh El's soul, and a normal Lantern not so steeped in light would not be able to use rings here?

Mr Zoat said:
"Oh? I'd have thought that everyone would stay together in that case."

I imagine that quite a few of the prisoners are very abrasive.

Mr Zoat said:
After centuries of torment in Hell, two souls are brought before Aeacus to explain why they should be granted leniency.

"Look, I know I did a lot of bad things during the Soviet Reolution," said the first. "But I genuinely believed that we were bring about a better future. By the time I realised that we weren't, I couldn't do much about it. But what no one knows is that it was me who killed Stalin! Deep vein thrombosis. Impossible to detect with the technology of the time. Think how much worse it would have been if he'd lived a few years longer!"

"Stalin?," the second soul said. "That's nothing! I killed Hitler!"

I'm going to keep this joke in mind, it's great.

Mr Zoat said:
"No." It's head… It looks sort of like the head of a dragon, but floating there without a neck. The other point of reference (given the hands and head combination) is the Andross boss fight from Starfox 64-

'Its'

I like that Oh El thinks of another visual comparison even though you've already given us an image with the link. After all, he doesn't know about the link, and the thought is only to himself from his perspective.

Mr Zoat said:
"Okay, so you know how-" I gestures to Jax-Ur. "-kryptonian bodies respond to exotic energies strangely?"

"I know everything that they know."

'gesture'

If he knows everything they know, it reframes the bit with Jax-Ur informing it. I suppose the real information was not him vocalising, but him allowing himself to make the mental connection that Oh El was responsible for the releases? Impressive mental control if so.

Mr Zoat said:
"I will bear no more intruders. Leave, or become one with me."

Shockingly reasonable. What an insanely fast resolution to what could've been a prolonged fight. I suppose you didn't want it to distract from the main plot?

Mr Zoat said:
The alien xenosociologist who came up with the idea in-universe.

Come to think of it, this bloke must've lived billions of years ago if his name is plastered on a concept like that. Was he a maltusian or something? Talk about etching your name into history.

Mr Zoat said:
"Alright, there's no easy way to say this. How good is your knowledge of history?" He shrugs, a little off put by being on the spot. "Remember the civil war Krypton had over clone rights?" He thinks for a moment, and the nods. "Remember how it ended, with Black Zero narrowly being prevented from dropping a bomb into the planet's core?"

'offput' or 'put off'?
'then'

Mr Zoat said:
That's the problem with primitive worlds. They should all have a way to call a Green Lantern, but not everywhere on the planet would be able to actually send that message. Anywhere that wants to call one of us in has to send someone riding on an animal towards the beacon, if they even know where it is.

Seems like the obvious partial solution is to give them several beacons. Is there a good reason they don't do that?

Mr Zoat said:
He walks over to one of the shelves, runs a hand along several tomes and then pulls one out and walks over to a reading desk. Superboy and I follow him as he opens the book, carefully turning the large pages covered in beautifully calligraphed writing. My power ring translates it, but I only get a few words here and there before he stops-.

Until now I had thought the word was 'calligraphied'. Thank you once again for educating me.

Also, I like how organised these guys seem despite their primitive technology. I suppose they can't be super organised though, or I'd expect them to have organised some sort of technological revolution starting with making charcoal or something. Not actually sure how feasible that would be though.

Mr Zoat said:
"Dominators. They're Dominators. And if they're doing the sort of thing that they usually do, they stole the kryptonian's technology so that they can study it."

'kryptonians''

Woohoo, Dominators! I loved these guys in the Great Mother episode. Though we probably won't get to see them in such a friendly setting here.

Mr Zoat said:
"So… Okay. The Dominators are interested in kryptonian technology. But they don't want to go to Krypton. They try the possession worlds, but there's nothing much there because the kryptonians took it with them. They capture Lyla… Maybe they want to dissect her. Instead, they improve her and send her to Krypton. But they don't know that Krypton is going to explode."

Wait, they don't know? They ought to have learned it later at least, since Lyla would learn from Jor-El. Unless Lyla wasn't sending them any data, but if she wasn't I'm not sure what the point of her being there was.

Mr Zoat said:
"You are aware that Krypton was scheduled to explode to due the transmutation of the core?"

'due to'

Mr Zoat said:
"My t-?" Oh, he means… The team, not-. "Will do. Is Superman or Karsta Wor-Ul on the Doomsday?"

'Are'? But I'm really not sure.

Edit: The detail of the Dominators maybe changing their plans for Krypton due to politics reminds me a bit of the Ringworld novels where the Puppeteers fuck up the Ringworld civilisation to make them more desperate as a trading partner, then a political shift happens so the Puppeteers just leave the Ringworld in its fucked up state without even trading with them. But it's not really a super specific thing so I doubt that was specifically an inspiration, particularly since I don't think Paul has read Ringworld. I just felt like mentioning the connection my mind made.

CrazyNoVa · 2025-12-29T18:12:05+0000

Vaermina said:
I'd point out that at that level of fuckery its also possible she just overpowered your mindshield and is making you think its active and working.

Yeah, for all we know, she could have Paul under an absolute illusion Kyoka Suigetsu-style.

For all we know, everything that we've seen after that point is all part of Aiz-I mean, Lyla's plan.

Vaermina said:
I wouldn't be too sure of that myself given this is several levels beyond anything we've seen M'gann pull off.

True, but having M'gann along is still better than nothing.

Duke Long · 2025-12-29T18:49:48+0000

NightmareWarden said:
Please read this and help me fix it, it took some work.

Timeline

Phantom Zone (Aethyr's mind-realm) is used by Krypton government for prisoners. Eradicator tech used by Krypton is snuck away by Amish-equivalent colonists to Daxam.

Timaron and other worlds with aliens become protectorate worlds under Kryptonian Empire's control and lose autonomy due to Faora Hu-Ul and others.

Dominators return Lyla (species Empireth) telepath to Krypton post-enhancement. A plot to bomb Krypton's core is stopped, but a terrible decay begins (possible Despair involvement, possible Dominator involvement). Decay causes Kryptonite. Lar-On is cursed by Red Kryptonite to murder and wreak havoc as a lycanthrope, triggered by light (presumably from inhaling particulates while seeing Krypton's Gold Volcano); he killed his wife, Shal-On. Har-Zod is the head of Krypton's Military Council and High Councillor, chief authority of Krypton (note the surname).

Karsta Wor-Ul joins the Navy. Dru-Zod joins the Kryptonian Navy and gets promoted. Fan of military council. Ursa Dou-Ka is under his command.

Military council loses control, Science Council orders all citizens back to Krypton. Dru-Zod hates this, believes it is backwards. Har-Zod dies at some point before Krypton explodes.

Dru-Zod learns about Krypton's possible doom via Jor-El, and gets it verified with less than one year remaining. Dru-Zod's uprising begins (Karsta is not present). Most of the populace and government ignores the warnings. Dru-Zod impregnates Ursa. Dru-Zod's message reaches Sub-Commander Karsta and she deserts. Either Fake Non-Du (Lyla) or real Non-Du works for Jor-El, hence why Lyla states it. Jor-El computerises his consciousness as a neural imprint. Lyla changes the memories of the imprint.

Lyla begins mildly manipulating Dru-Zod (forty years after the bomb plan fails). Pooka and Lusca confirm that the decision to destroy a world (but not Timaron specially) was General Zod's.

Dru-Zod (being a genuinely desperate bigot comparable to a 40k Eldar) destroys Amalak's homeworld of Timaron. His plan was to make the Science Council realize that the future of Kryptonians' existence as a species was at risk if full isolation was enacted, with every Kryptonian on a single world. Amalak and others of his species escape its destruction.

The Doomsday is broken up for parts and sealed away. Dru-Zod does not send the Doomsday to Dominators. Fake Non-Du (Lyla) received brain damage in such a way that she was permanently broadcasting to everyone "I am Non-Du, do not kill me, I am mute, I am Dru-Zod's muscle" amidst the Uprising.

Dru-Zod, Fake Non-Du, Real Non-Du, and Ursa are rushed through trials and put in the Phantom Zone.

Jor-El builds an escape rocket for Kal-El, includes the imprint (it has no knowledge of Lyla the Empireth due to alterations). Kara is also saved at the last minute. Krypton explodes.

Kal-El grows up on Earth and the events of With This Ring occur. During the trip to Rao's system with Kon to see Krypton's remains, a satellite(?) near Xenon with Har-Zod's mental imprint is talked around by OL. Also Kara is recovered, but her pod didn't escape the Rao system before it was trapped in rubble and Kryptonite. Amalak learns about Dru-Zod's existence in the phantom Zone when OL makes a trade for a Yellow Light portable battery for his Yellow Ring, as part of the plot to save Earth from the Anti-Life. OL was talking to Lantern Gozzi near the security systems on one of Commodore Amalak's docks.

Nallam of Xudar is selected as judge and neutral party on behalf of Xudar to adjudicate the trial of Dru-Zod and for the destruction of Timaron according to Timaron's laws (not Xudar's laws). Amalak's goal is to convict as many Kryptonians of the remaining Phantom Zone prisoners as possible. This whole trial is a condition OL set, otherwise summary execution would be on the table.

Fake Non-Du (Lyla) is released and incorrectly recognized by the projector or other Krypronians due to telepathy tricking or torturing Aethyr? and learns about Krypton and the Timaron trial. Mental damage is fixed. She keeps up the disguise. Stupidity-aura flares up and Dru-Zod makes an escape attempt.

Lantern Mother of Mercy is fixing the wreckage of Timaron.

Thanks for making this. I think you've made a few mistakes, though I could also be wrong.

I think step 1 is actually the clone war, centuries ago, which involved Black Zero bombing the core. This seems to have been an event which happened quite a long time ago, and it seems likely that the Dominators provided the bomb, or the expertise necessary to construct it. This isn't surprising since Dominators have been a galactic power for millions of years, and presumably they took note of Krypton's potential and decided to smother it (I imagine after taking all sorts of biological and technological samples), but the plan was foiled and then seemingly a political shift in Dominator society caused them to not re-attempt genocide.

I think you confused the forty years for being the time after the bomb plan fails, but actually forty years is the time between the present day and the explosion of Krypton.

Har-Zod (or was it another Zod?) sent away and broke up the Doomsday before he died, right after the Science Council mandated isolationism. Presumably there was no Dominator involvement at this time, or minimal (almost certainly Lyla had not arrived yet), which is why it was not sent to the Dominators.

Dru-Zod was not planning an uprising until Lyla got involved, he only wanted to advise the Science Council to be less isolationist (mainly due to the impending core explosion).

I don't think Lyla was ever brain damaged. She sent Non-Du to the Phantom Zone (he was never put on trial) then impersonated him. She faked being brain damaged, perhaps to make herself seem like less of a threat and also to make it easier to impersonate Non-Du, since discrepancies would easily be explained by brain damage. The brain chirurgery that Oh El thought he performed never actually happened, it was an illusion.

She manipulated Dru-Zod into bombing Timaron because there was kryptonian technology there that the Dominators wanted to steal, with the bombing being cover for their theft.

I think making Jor-El's neural clone forget about Lar-On was coincidental to making it forget her to maintain secrecy. She was probably involved with Jor-El because he was a premier scientist and she was there to steal data for the Dominators.

When she learned of the core explosion from Jor-El, she was likely ordered to take advantage of the situation to enact the Dru-Zod coverup, and may have manipulated the Science Council into not evacuating the planet to ensure kryptonian near-extinction, as the Dominators viewed the kryptonians as enough of a threat that they were happy to take an opportunity to covertly exterminate them.

She then was either ordered to, or on her own initiative made Dru-Zod launch a coup, in the hopes that she (disguised as Non-Du) would be captured and Phantom-Zoned, which would allow her to survive the explosion and await release. Perhaps she expected her handlers to rescue her, but they didn't bother.

As for the intelligence dampener thing that allowed Dru-Zod to briefly escape and involved a fight with Lar-On, I'm not really sure why she did that but it may have been taken as an opportunity to make sure that Dru-Zod's mental alterations were still in good order?

NightmareWarden · 2025-12-29T19:14:50+0000

Duke Long said:
The brain chirurgery that Oh El thought he performed never actually happened, it was an illusion.

That's some impressive fuckery. Wow. You're clearly correct, but I'd never have figured that out unless it was explicit.

Lots of mistakes then. In my head, I kept thinking the bomb incident was 40 years prior to Krypton's detonation, and then 20-40 years passed for baby Clark Kent. Bungled the wording.

Duke Long said:
She manipulated Dru-Zod into bombing Timaron because there was kryptonian technology there that the Dominators wanted to steal, with the bombing being cover for their theft.

Ohhhh, that motivation makes sense. Kinda wish a Timaronian older than Amalak spoke up and noticed there was some suspicious things happening (not necessarily looting) during the bombing.

Duke Long said:
I think making Jor-El's neural clone forget about Lar-On was coincidental to making it forget her to maintain secrecy. She was probably involved with Jor-El because he was a premier scientist and she was there to steal data for the Dominators.

Huh. Okay, I'm seeing a pattern here. I guess Earth suffered some thefts during the Anti-Life, so stirring up chaos is just a fairly good strategy, doubly so when you have a super-alien like this telepath. Telepathically imprints, sure, okay....

Thank you!

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-29T19:32:59+0000

Duke Long said:
'likely'?
'its'
'must'
'telepathic'?
'Its'
'gesture'
'then'
'kryptonians''
'due to'
'Are'? But I'm really not sure.

Thank you, corrected.

'offput' or 'put off'?

I think that's alright.

Come to think of it, this bloke must've lived billions of years ago if his name is plastered on a concept like that. Was he a maltusian or something? Talk about etching your name into history.

That might just be the most recent time the idea has been rediscovered.

Edit: The detail of the Dominators maybe changing their plans for Krypton due to politics reminds me a bit of the Ringworld novels where the Puppeteers fuck up the Ringworld civilisation to make them more desperate as a trading partner, then a political shift happens so the Puppeteers just leave the Ringworld in its fucked up state without even trading with them. But it's not really a super specific thing so I doubt that was specifically an inspiration, particularly since I don't think Paul has read Ringworld. I just felt like mentioning the connection my mind made.

I haven't, and the SI hasn't either.

Duke Long · 2025-12-29T20:20:11+0000

NightmareWarden said:
Thank you!

I'm glad you made the timeline, because I was in a confused state, not really sure what was happening with the plot, and if I hadn't been prompted I likely would have languished in that confusion rather than use my brain to figure it out. It makes the story more enjoyable when I put thought into it and successfully (I hope) discover what is happening.

Mr Zoat said:
That might just be the most recent time the idea has been rediscovered.

Aw, can I take this to mean that we won't be getting a future plotline where it turns out Avleb is the avatar of the concept of 'technological primitivity caused by the lack of easily available energy-dense fuels' and he teams up with Boss Smiley?

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-29T23:06:07+0000

Duke Long said:
Aw, can I take this to mean that we won't be getting a future plotline where it turns out Avleb is the avatar of the concept of 'technological primitivity caused by the lack of easily available energy-dense fuels' and he teams up with Boss Smiley?

That is not what it means, but you may assume that anyway.

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-30T06:08:21+0000

12th August 2013
2/11 7/11 Local Time

I sigh as I watch all the alien military officers stare at screens between bouts of shouting at each other.

"This obviously isn't going to work."

But I don't say it loud enough for them to hear it. They won't listen anyway. They never do. Billy doesn't have this problem because he ages up when he transforms, but I've seen the internet and I'm not doing that. My strength works better when it's concentrated in a smaller fist-area anyway.

"Hrrrrrrr."

And it obviously won't work because we're looking for a telepath on a planet of… It looked like about.. eight billion people… With no way to detect telepathy. The smart thing to do would be to bring in about a thousand g-gnomes and get Green Lantern to carry them around in a kind of nest box construct. The moment they detected any telepathy, bam, we've got her. Because otherwise it's just Osiris and me who're immune, so even if the patrols do find it she'll just be all 'You don't want to sell me deathsticks' and they'll forget all about it.

Though… We did kind of drop this on them at short notice, so I can't get too mad-.

My communicator beeps. I take another look around the command room, sigh again, then hold it up to my mouth.

"Marvel. Go ahead."

"Is it 'Miss Marvel' or 'Mary Marvel'?"

I wince inwardly, because the Courage of Achilles only means that I don't show any outwards sign of the cringe I'm feeling. It's supposed to be Miss Marvel but of course Orange Lantern told him I'd been using my own name.

"Uh, e-either? 'Miss' isn't a name, it's a title."

"Yeah, but there are guys who have 'Mister' as part of their codename. Just remember to update the zeta tube system if you're changing it."

"Uh, yeah?"

"Anyway, I need you to go watch Zod and Ursa. Apparently Lyla can do some kinda super-illusion thing that works on robots-"

I head out of the command centre and towards… The fire exit. Can't move too fast indoors or while I'm talking to someone on the radio because of how hard it makes it to understand them.

"-so we need someone who won't be affected around just in case Lyla goes after them."

"Okay."

"Oh, and it turns out that Non was Lyla in disguise all along."

I frown as the city shoots by beneath me. "Didn't Orange Lantern do brain surgery on him?"

"I guess it was an illusion or something. Anyway, real Non is on Earth, so if you see him, it's not him."

"Understood."

Because holograms aren't a thing? And there are magic illusions that don't need to touch your brain to work. I've seen those before. I mean, I usually spot them because the sounds don't match the image quite right, but they exist.

Aaaaand here's the prison wing. The guard checks my identity, gets a guard off-site to check that he's seeing the same thing, and then approves me going through. Inside, robot gun monkeys have grabbed onto the walls and ceiling so they can make sure nothing sneaks past them.

"Okay, I'm here, nothing's happening."

"Good. Keep an eye out. Green Lantern out."

Great! So now I'm stuck here.

I watch the robots for a moment. They're not really monkey-monkeys, but the long arms with hydraulic rams mean they can throw themselves around like monkeys, and the gun built into their chassis could probably kill a normal person.

Maybe I'm being unfair, but I thought that space-planets would be more advanced than this. Ivo would think those were garbage. His robot monkeys looked like monkeys and could fly. Sivana had better robots. His monkeys were mostly just creepy.

I walk over to the actual cells and make sure that the prisoners are actually here, because I'll feel stupid if it turned out they'd already been replaced. I guess a kryptonian couldn't hide that easily outside of the area around the spaceport because of how different to the locals they look, but there's still a lot of places to hide in a city.

"Girl." Zod looks up when he hears me, while Ursa is… Writing something on a datapad. "Why are you here?"

I don't know exactly how much I should talk to them. They haven't really tried to escape, but that's probably just because they know they couldn't get away. On the other hand without a yellow sun they're basically just human soldiers, and they've got radiation shields strapped to them in addition to the ones built into the prison. And… Maybe they know something?

"Lyla was pretending to be Non."

He gives me a very faint frown. "Since when?"

"I didn't ask. The point is that he's-. She's on this planet."

"And you think she might release us?" He frowns. "Why? She was leading us around by the nose forty years ago. She can't expect me to respond positively to her being here."

"She might want to kill you." He stares-. "And Ursa."

"Ah." He glances towards her for a moment. "In that case, I wish you every success."

Well, everything seems fine here. I check around just to make sure… Yep. Hearing… Nothing unusual. Power of Susanoo just in case? Still nothing.

Um.

"Hey, I was wondering. What was it you said the kryptonians left on Timaron?"

"A sunstone."

"Why?"

"Because it was small enough that it might actually have been accidentally left behind, while still being powerful enough to be a security risk. Oh, and because according to some of the original shipping itineraries one might actually have been left behind."

"Was that a problem?"

"I didn't destroy their world because they were actually a threat. I would have preferred to have it back, but it's unlikely that they'd have been able to comprehend how to use it. If it was there. It's far more likely that the quartermaster's records were inaccurate. The fleet was decommissioned suddenly, and most members of the military were not inclined to do their best work for their new masters."

I nod. "Sunstones were power sources, weren't they?"

"Among other things. The one that went missing was most likely used-."

The air in his cell shimmers-.

A thin alien in cream and purple armour teleports in!

"Here."

It drops a glowing crystal as I punch my right arm through the door and yank it out!

"Escape."

I try grabbing it but it's gone, and the crystal-.

Zod's eyes glow as he fires his heat vision-!

DAT_NOOB · 2025-12-30T06:15:14+0000

Well, clearly it wasn't *every* success.

Darko · 2025-12-30T06:18:14+0000

Mr Zoat said:
His robot moneys looked like

"monkeys"

Mr Zoat said:
Power of Atlas just in case? Still nothing.

Shouldn't it be Power of Susanoo.

Atlas gives them stamina.

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-30T06:31:56+0000

Darko said:
"monkeys"
Shouldn't it be Power of Susanoo.

Thank you, corrected.

Vaermina · 2025-12-30T06:33:47+0000

Mr Zoat said:
A thin alien in cream and purple armour teleports in!

"Here."

It drops a glowing crystal as I punch my right arm through the door and yank it out!

"Escape."

I try grabbing it but it's gone, and the crystal-.

Zod's eyes glow as he fires his heat vision-!

Oh look, a conveniently timed distraction.

Because that's what this very obviously is, after all, if whoever it was actually wanted Zod and Ursa to escape they would have just teleported them out.

Ciber · 2025-12-30T06:42:23+0000

I feel like at least as they have been depicted, I'd kind of expect at least some of them to NOT attempt escape. At least if they understand the the entire point of this show trial is so that people will stop hunting down the remainder of their species.

Rebu · 2025-12-30T06:46:47+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Ivo would think those were rubbish.

As an American I believe Mary would say trash or garbage.

Depending of course on how much she has been hanging out with Paul or other Brits

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

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This is filth! FILTH!!

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Stand up so I can push you down!

Versed in the lewd.

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Not too sore, are you?

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Accused of writing in a far away land

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hey, little Anna, you're the one

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