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

[Mr Zoat]

And Barry, bringing them back on task. I assume that's Barry, focusing on something other than his little massacre. Seriously, he's honestly the least ready for something like this...

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No, that was Jordan.

 

[Darko]

...What.

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Wyrm is another word for dragon.

Dragons tend to be seen as greedy beings, and Paul is both greedy and part serpent, so...

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

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To be fair that could have also been something else, like a New God using God-speech against them, or something like that and just being very determined, instead of it being green energy, but with this it is confirmed that it was a Green Lantern.

Well, I suppose Diana and Barry needed the info... Though i suspect Diana has at least a little empathic sense capable of picking that up

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Diana may be just able to pick up on lies and the truth, though she has been practicing her more esoteric powers so it may be possible.

Presumably he's just omitting details to cover up what he does know. Or he honestly doesn't remember too much more, even with the Ring's recall...

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Malvolio's not exactly an all that known figure, even to longtime fans.

Well... That escalated quickly. Here's hoping that nothing else pops up, or this will turn into a huge fustercluck...I get the feeling this will end with a meeting with Malvolio, and with any luck, the Sheeda's defeat.

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I'm picturing something similar to what the renegade and that British guy had to do to win over Morgan le Fay, that being a death match.

He is from a period where something like that would have happened, so it's not exactly that much of a stretch.

 

[Prince Charon]

That was actually a retcon. Earlier Green Lantern showed them killing. Just read Jordan's fight with the Anti-Green Lantern Corps.

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To be fair, it might have been a result of one of the times the whole history of the DCU changed, rather than some writer just forgetting or not knowing that the ability to kill had been established.

American readers: what do you it when a sportsball player manages not to foul anyone?

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Check the instant replay to make sure? Honestly, though, fouls don't happen all the time. That's like assuming that you go to a riot, and occasionally an Association Football match breaks out.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Check the instant replay to make sure? Honestly, though, fouls don't happen all the time. That's like assuming that you go to a riot, and occasionally an Association Football match breaks out.

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You wouldn't refer to it as 'having a clean sheet'?

 

[Prince Charon]

You wouldn't refer to it as 'having a clean sheet'?

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Um, I, personally, wouldn't. I'm not a big sports fan, I just know enough to know that fouls are less common than reputed.

 

[moralrelativity]

Malvolio

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Am I the only one who constantly things of "Tom Marvolo Riddle" when they read this?

 

[Darko]

Am I the only one who constantly things of "Tom Marvolo Riddle" when they read this?

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Well now I'm thinking it too.

 

[moralrelativity]

Well now I'm thinking it too.

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Ooops.

 

[Agent Orange]

Well now I'm thinking it too.

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Oh no! It's spreading!

 

[Someguy Somewhere]

Ah yes....Malvolio.

The one that was one of the suspects for comic fans when Hal went evil and called himself 'Parallax', because in the OG story Hal took this guys ring, whom was playing the long game to escape his little pocket dimension world. This was before they introduced the fear entity bug we all know and love.

Paul and Guy had a brief talk about what paul knew about this fella. Suspected he's the reason why the Guardians were hands off with regards to Alan Scott, because the similar uniform and likely the 'partially a green willed elemental' from stewing in will power for longer then most.

This should be interesting.

 

[Agent Orange]

Hal took this guys ring, whom was playing the long game to escape his little pocket dimension world.

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...

So... What you're saying is, this 'Lord Malvolio' turned his diary ring into a horcrux and tricked a young Chosen One into "vanquishing" him and taking his ring with him. All the while the ring gradually corrupted the Chosen One into becoming a villain and eventually releasing an ancient monster trapped many many years ago?

Damn.

Maybe moralrelativity was more on point then I thought.

 

[Darko]

...

So... What you're saying is, this 'Lord Malvolio' turned his diary ring into a horcrux and tricked a young Chosen One into "vanquishing" him and take his ring back to Hogwarts Earth. All the while the ring gradually corrupted the Chosen One into becoming a villain and eventually releasing an ancient monster trapped many many years ago?

Damn.

Maybe moralrelativity was more on point then I thought.

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J. K. Rowling you crook, you stole your ideas.

 

[Agent Orange]

Hey Mr Zoat, according to your headcanon Maltusians can channel the whole Spectrum right? With the most used colour being mostly about their preferences and personalities?

It's only certain small groups that hyperfocus on particular lights to the point of permanently cutting off their ability to channel or even feel the rest of the Spectrum yes? Guardians for Green, Controllers for Orange, Zamarons for Violet...

So any of the er... 'average Maltusians' could in theory hyperfocus on another part of the Spectrum?

Where exactly do guys like Malvolio, Alan or even Paul I suppose fall on this scale? Will they ever be able to channel their lights like Guardians/Controllers do? Or is there a hard cap for those without midichlorians symbiotes?

 

[Darko]

Hey Mr Zoat, according to your headcanon Maltusians can channel the whole Spectrum right? With the most used colour being mostly about their preferences and personalities?

It's only certain small groups that hyperfocus on particular lights to the point of permanently cutting off their ability to channel or even feel the rest of the Spectrum yes? Guardians for Green, Controllers for Orange, Zamarons for Violet...

So any of the er... 'average Maltusians' could in theory hyperfocus on another part of the Spectrum?

Where exactly do guys like Malvolio, Alan or even Paul I suppose fall on this scale? Will they ever be able to channel their lights like Guardians/Controllers do? Or is there a hard cap for those without midichlorians symbiotes?

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Alan has been compared to a Guardian before, so maybe there's something there.

 

[Assblaster5000]

Alan has been compared to a Guardian before, so maybe there's something there.

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I have to ask at this point. Do you sleep Darko? Because it's been a little over four hours since you last posted and I've seen you post at basically any time of day.

Like, I'm pretty bad with my sleeping habits, but this is inhuman.

Fair point though.

 

[Darko]

I have to ask at this point. Do you sleep Darko? Because it's been a little over four hours since you last posted and I've seen you post at basically any time of day.

Like, I'm pretty bad with my sleeping habits, but this is inhuman.

Fair point though.

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Yes I do sleep.

Though it's more like a few naps at different times of the day.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Hey Mr Zoat, according to your headcanon Maltusians can channel the whole Spectrum right? With the most used colour being mostly about their preferences and personalities?

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Pretty much anyone can use the whole spectrum.

It's only certain small groups that hyperfocus on particular lights to the point of permanently cutting off their ability to channel or even feel the rest of the Spectrum yes? Guardians for Green, Controllers for Orange, Zamarons for Violet...

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Yes.

So any of the er... 'average Maltusians' could in theory hyperfocus on another part of the Spectrum?

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Yes.

Where exactly do guys like Malvolio, Alan or even Paul I suppose fall on this scale? Will they ever be able to channel their lights like Guardians/Controllers do? Or is there a hard cap for those without midichlorians symbiotes?

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Hard to say. The Guardians are a bit hard core, but it's not clear whether that's because of their power in the green light or their huge age.

 

[Someguy Somewhere]

Finally dug around enough to find the converastion that Paul and Guy had about the fellow.

How'd You Even Know

 

[Maxx Crowley]

You wouldn't refer to it as 'having a clean sheet'?

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I do want to help, but I'm still not entirely certain just what it is you're asking.

The one that was one of the suspects for comic fans when Hal went evil and called himself 'Parallax', because in the OG story Hal took this guys ring, whom was playing the long game to escape his little pocket dimension world. This was before they introduced the fear entity bug we all know and love.

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Malvolio...now there is a name I haven't heard in a LONG time. Nice to see someone else remembers that little tidbit, and how so many people were reckoning it was why Hal went so nuts before Kyle took the book.

Thing is, I don't think DC even remembered that Hal had Malvolio's ring at the time. Last I knew, it was still being treated as if he still had Abin Sur's ring.

I dunno what the continuity is now. I keep wanting to get back into GL comics...but I find that I like the Lantern concept better than the characters they use. I am a fan of Alan and Kyle though.

 

[Stsword]

I dunno what the continuity is now. I keep wanting to get back into GL comics...but I find that I like the Lantern concept better than the characters they use. I am a fan of Alan and Kyle though.

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You type that as if anyone knows.

After every crisis, it's never ever clear what got retconned and what got kept after the reboot, every single freaking time.

The latest from DC was basically "You know what, we've never actually gave a shit about not contradicting ourselves before, so we're going to stop pretending we actually care about continuity."

Although the current Green Lantern run is big on continuity porn- The United Planet Superwatch which consists primarily of obscure Superman and girl expies, it also had the Qwa-Men return (previous appearance, Kyle's fantasy to which Batman's response was "Nintendo has a lot to answer for"), Olivia Reynolds, and the Planet Named Green Lantern.

 

[Mr Zoat]

26th June 2012
15:53 GMT -5

The openings are arrayed around the outside of the Castle Revolving without obvious rhyme or reason. Mapping the ship based on what we've seen so far, the time pool is relatively near the back, but I've got no idea whether the two eye-like structures at the front mark the bridge, some sort of arcane weapon or are purely decorative. The solid-looking piece at the top might be the bridge, or it might be a barracks or part of the main drive. But as much as this thing's still messing with my advanced scans the optical scans can still identify portals like the one we just flew out of.

"I'm getting nothing."

"Hm?"

"Tried calling Oa, then Guy. I think I'm being jammed."

I come to a relative stop and raise my left hand slightly.

"Illustres to Clarissi. Come in Dox."

No response. But that could just be Dox.

"Illustres to Lantern Ragnar. Illustres to Lantern Mother of Mercy."

Nothing there either.

"Illustres to Lantern Jordan."

Jordan's ring glows. At least that works. I could try calling-.

"Let's not try calling Malvolio."

"If he was a rogue Lantern, wouldn't his ring's AI have been shredded like the one in Alan's ring was? I checked, and that's standard practice when a Lantern goes totally off the rails."

"What about Sinestro?"

"They didn't know how far he'd gone until he was already in custody."

I strain to try to remember any of the specifics of Malvolio's back story, but I'm not coming up with much. I never actually read the comic he was in, just a summary I looked up when his name was raised as a possible explanation for the whole Parallax incident after Jordan took his ring after Malvolio destroyed his original one. Physically, he resembled Alan if he'd been taking steroids, and he died after being shot through the chest with part of his own space station's hull, the yellow weakness being a thing back then.

I don't think that would work here.

There was also something about the whole system being a construct, but now that I'm outside of the ship I can scan the planet and that doesn't appear to be the case. And I was wrong about its level of technological sophistication: the patches of city are post-industrial, the white-skinned and flat-faced inhabitants clearly comfortable in a technologically sophisticated environment. The patchy layout of settlements definitely suggests 'colony world', though I've got no idea where they came from.

Assuming that it wasn't Malvolio's imagination.

The complete lack of stars in any direction does lend some credibility to that possibility.

I could try to get out via the Honden. I'm sure I can find Diana or Jordan again. But Malvolio -or whoever that was- doesn't appear to like me doing that and he isn't the target here.

"Might as well get on with this."

"You take the port, I'll take the starboard."

"No, I think we should stick together just in case."

He flashes me a small smile.

"Worried, 'Earth's Most Powerful Lantern'?"

"Yes."

A direct affirmative appears to put him off his stride a little. But he nods anyway.

"I guess that's fair. You taking point?"

"Until you start wearing better armour."

I sight a hangar about a third of the way along the hull. There should be an alert going out, but the Sheeda aren't scrambling to meet us outside. Which probably means that they're preparing to meet us inside.

So assuming standard dimensions…

My crumbler construct slams into the hull about forty metres from the entrance hole, punching clear through. My follow up is a low-yield antimatter device, the antiiron and iron in the core annihilating each other in a colossal blast! Light explodes through my hole, the exit, and several other patches of hull-

"…the hell..?"

-evaporate, burned through from the inside.

"Breaching charge."

I rocket into the hangar, four rotating beams of orange light scything around and slicing through two Sheeda magic users who managed to get a shield up in time to survive the blast, as well as the walls and a cluster of large armoured insects whose thick chitinous plates are glowing cherry red from the heat and radiation they just absorbed.

And then gravity spikes and I'm thrown towards the wall, stabilising myself a second before I would have impacted, a crushing weight focused in the centre of my chest fighting against my environmental shield!

"YOU'VE LEARNED, LANTERN."

A Huntsman walks slowly out of the smoke, spear in hand.

"BUT WITHOUT YOUR PET SCIENTISTS-"

I generate a gravity converter construct and fire it, a pure spite move on my part but hopefully one which will keep his attention off Jordan, who has just flown inside and-. Oh Eris, not a boxing glove you idiot!

The Huntsman crushes my construct-

"-YOU ARE WITHOUT WEAPONS TO-."

-as the boxing glove hits him from behind and… Actually staggers him. I… Okay then?

The Huntsman spins, spear waving as the universe bends. I see Jordan's right arm and the ribs on the right side of his body snap, but the Huntsman's attention is off me.

And the Sivanas gave me the design of their anti-Huntsman gun. The improved version, rather than the one they cobbled together on Venus.

I aim as Jordan's second boxing glove is crushed, and then fire.

The Huntsman's outline shimmers, whatever it is that makes up his body visibly flaking off.

"WHAT?"

He expands slightly, becoming thinner, less substantial.

"THIS ISN'T…"

Shred desires.

His face goes blank, his body collapsing to his knees as he gradually fades away to nothing.

"Easy when you know how, huh?"

"You alright?"

Jordan nods, construct-splinting his arm and pulling out his own purple ray device.

"I'm good."

"Then let's hit the next one."

 

[DrThoth]

"Easy when you know how, huh?"

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I'm not sure what Jordan means here.

How did his boxing glove construct affect the Huntsman? I don't remember much of the original Hunstman fight on Venus, but Paragon clearly didn't expect it to work here.

 

[Agent Orange]

"Tried calling Oa, then Guy. I think I'm being jammed."

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Of course there's no space cellphone signal silly That would be too easy. Haven't you watched any horror movies.

And with a big bad Malvolio right there (somehow. Wasn't the Castle ship supposed to be on/around Earth? Malvolio's prison was in another Sector) there's no easy way to scan for Sheeda. Because of course not.

as the boxing glove hits him from behind and… Actually staggers him. I… Okay then?

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ya know, no matter how many times you pull the 'Ok, I may have been wrong about construct boxing gloves' thing it doesn't make them look any less stupid.

edit:

I'm not sure what Jordan means here

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I think he's talking about Paul's anti-Hunstman ray gun construct. And maybe commenting on the fact that Paul knows too many random facts about too many random people in a way not even obsessive high rez ring scans can explain. Remember how even The Guy started to catch on to the fact?

I bet most of the Leaguers think Paul's either a time traveler or a precog and simply lies about it for whatever reason. It's simply more likely explanation than 'some entity that read a lot of comic books about us conjured him ex nihilo a couple of years ago'.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

26th June 2012
15:53 GMT -5

The openings are arrayed around the outside of the Castle Revolving without obvious rhyme or reason. Mapping the ship based on what we've seen so far, the time pool is relatively near the back, but I've got no idea whether the two eye-like structures at the front mark the bridge, some sort of arcane weapon or are purely decorative. The solid-looking piece at the top might be the bridge, or it might be a barracks or part of the main drive. But as much as this thing's still messing with my advanced scans the optical scans can still identify portals like the one we just flew out of.

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Boy, those Sheeda wards are a pain, eh? This is going to be one hell of a dungeon crawl, huh?

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"I'm getting nothing."

"Hm?"

"Tried calling Oa, then Guy. I think I'm being jammed."

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Hmm...Likelihood of this being Malvolio's little space-time bubble rising. Presumably the Castle made its way in here sometime, somehow. Dragged in by Mallie himself, perhaps?

I come to a relative stop and raise my left hand slightly.

"Illustres to Clarissi. Come in Dox."

No response. But that could just be Dox.

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You'd at least get a return ping, even if he was marked as offline.

"Illustres to Lantern Ragnar. Illustres to Lantern Mother of Mercy."

Nothing there either.

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Yep, warped space with no outgoing communications... This is Malvolio's prison, all right.

"Illustres to Lantern Jordan."

Jordan's ring glows. At least that works. I could try calling-.

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At least they can keep in touch if they split up.

"Let's not try calling Malvolio."

"If he was a rogue Lantern, wouldn't his ring's AI have been shredded like the one in Alan's ring was? I checked, and that's standard practice when a Lantern goes totally off the rails."

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If the Guardians catch them in time. It's not always obvious.

"What about Sinestro?"

"They didn't know how far he'd gone until he was already in custody."

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Case in point. The Guardians didn't even realise he'd conquered his homeworld until Hal visited...

I strain to try to remember any of the specifics of Malvolio's back story, but I'm not coming up with much. I never actually read the comic he was in, just a summary I looked up when his name was raised as a possible explanation for whole Parallax incident after Jordan took his ring after Malvolio destroyed his original one. Physically, he resembled Alan if he'd be taking steroids, and he died after being shot through the chest with part of his own space station's hull, the yellow weakness being a thing back then.

I don't think that would work here.

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No comic book logic here, for one thing. And honestly, would poking him be worth the risk? What benefit would there be in trying to interact with him?

There was also something about the whole system being a construct, but now that I'm outside of the ship I can scan the planet and that doesn't appear to be the case. And I was wrong about its level of technological sophistication: the patches of city are post-industrial, the white-skinned and flat-faced inhabitants clearly comfortable in a technologically sophisticated environment. The patchy layout of settlements definitely suggests 'colony world', though I've got no idea where they came from.

Assuming that it wasn't Malvolio's imagination.

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It would have to be one detailed construct. Or he manually built everything using transmutation and let it run from there.

The complete lack of stars in any direction does lend some credibility to that possibility.

I could try to get out via the Honden. I'm sure I can find Diana or Jordan again. But Malvolio -or whoever that was- doesn't appear to like me doing that and he isn't the target here.

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So no greedy-porting, huh? No easy way out for you, never mind the risks of taking the other along. And no Scry-and-die tactic to locate the Queen and bypass the dungeon.

"Might as well get on with this."

"You take the port, I'll take the starboard."

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Oh, hell no. Boys, play the song!

"No, I think we should stick together just in case."

He flashes me a small smile.

"Worried, 'Earth's Most Powerful Lantern'?"

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This is no time to be cocky, you yahoo. If the Queen has any more Anti-Lantern troops handy, you will die, given that you lack OL's more esoteric techniques for resisting them.

"Yes."

A direct affirmative appears to put him off his stride a little. But he nods anyway.

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OL ain't main-ling Will. Of course he's not going to be as stubborn as Hal is.

"I guess that's fair. You taking point?"

"Until you start wearing better armour."

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No time to rectify that now, alas. Not the best time to break in new gear. Especially powered armour with its long calibration time.

I sight a hangar about a third of the way along the hull. There should be an alert going out, but the Sheeda aren't scrambling to meet us outside. Which probably means that they're preparing to meet us inside.

So assuming standards dimensions…

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IE, hope you don't hit an intervening wall. No telling how thick they are between rooms touching the outer hull.

My crumbler construct slams into the hull about forty metres from the entrance hole, punching clear through. My follow up is a low-yield antimatter device, the antiiron and iron in the core annihilating each other is a colossal blast! Light explodes through my hole, the exit, and several other patches of hull-

"…the hell..?"

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OL, bringing the big booms. Pity Hal has to worry about restrictions like 'possibility of collateral damage' or 'mass casualties.'

-evaporate, burned through from the inside.

"Breaching charge."

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Subtle. No need to worry about the guys inside if they're spread across the walls.

I rocket into the hangar, four rotating beams of orange light scything around and slicing through two Sheeda magic users who managed to get a shield up in time to survive the blast, as well as the walls and a cluster of large armoured insects whose armoured chitin is glowing cherry red from the heat and radiation they just absorbed.

And then gravity spikes and I'm thrown towards the wall, stabilising myself a second before I would have impacted, a crushing weight focused in the centre of my chest fighting against my environmental shield!

Click to shrink...

Oh, hell. We all know what that means...

"YOU'VE LEARNED, LANTERN."

A Huntsman walks slowly out of the smoke, spear in hand.

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But this time, OL's prepared and loaded for bear. Spangly, cosmic bear...

"BUT WITHOUT YOUR PET SCIENTISTS-"

I generate a gravity converter construct and fire it, a pure spite move on my part but hopefully one which will keep his attention off Jordan, who has just flown inside and-. Oh Eris, not a boxing glove you idiot!

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<facepalm> And I'm now reminded of that Justice League animated movie involving the formation of the New 52 League... Where glowy green douchebag guy Hal forms a big fist and slooooowly flies over to Darkseid, who just pimpslaps him into a wall...

The Huntesman crushes my construct-

"-YOU ARE WITHOUT WEAPONS TO-."

-as the boxing glove hits him from behind and… Actually staggers him. I… Okay then?

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...It caught him by surprise, maybe?

The Huntsman spins, spear waving as the universe bends. I see Jordan's right arm and the ribs on the right side of his body snap, but the Huntsman's attention is off me.

And the Sivanas gave me the design of their anti-Huntsman gun. The improved version, rather than the one they cobbled together on Venus.

Click to shrink...

Muhahahahaa! Bye-bye, bad guy.

I aim as Jordan's second boxing glove is crushed, and then fire.

The Huntsman's outline shimmers, whatever it is that makes up his body visibly flaking off.

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I'll give Hal props for not passing out from pain, but I have to dock them for trying the boxing glove again.

"WHAT?"

He expands slightly, becoming thinner, less substantial.

"THIS ISN'T…"

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And dammit, now I have TF'86 Unicron's death scene playing in my head... An elderly Orson Welles trying to sound pained as a giant robot pulls its own leg of then explodes...

Shred desires.

His face goes blank, his body collapsing to his knees as he gradually fades away to nothing.

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Easy kill, no XP for you. And no loot, either? lame.

"Easy when you know how, huh?"

"You alright?"

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Thanks for tanking, Hal. Next time, try not getting hit. Or we'll have to start calling you Green Distraction.

Jordan nods, construct-splinting his arn and pulling out his own purple ray device.

"I'm good."

"Then let's hit the next one."

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Sweep and clear. I have the feeling the Queen's going to have a lot less troops when this is done.

I see they've got the sense to not poke the sleeping god. With any luck, Malvolio'll stay out of it until the real fight's done. Still going to be a long, tough crawl...

---

Spoiler: Quite a few corrections.

Physically, he resembled Alan if he'd be taking steroids...

Click to shrink...

Physically, he resembled Alan if he'd been taking steroids...

So assuming standards dimensions…

Click to shrink...

So assuming standard dimensions…

...annihilating each other is a colossal blast!

Click to shrink...

...annihilating each other in a colossal blast!

...cluster of large armoured insects whose armoured chitin...

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That repetition feels a little awkward...

The Huntesman crushes my construct-

Click to shrink...

The Huntsman crushes my construct-

Jordan nods, construct-splinting his arn...

Click to shrink...

Jordan nods, construct-splinting his arm...

 

[Senevri]

I'm not sure what Jordan means here.

How did his boxing glove construct affect the Huntsman? I don't remember much of the original Hunstman fight on Venus, but Paragon clearly didn't expect it to work here.

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I'd guess it's because it's not a boxing glove. It's more the idea of a strong, effective punch.

 

[WhiteNoise]

construct-splinting his arn

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arm.

 

[Stsword]

I'd guess it's because it's not a boxing glove. It's more the idea of a strong, effective punch.

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The constructs consist of emotion, they are as strong as Hal Jordan wills them to be, whether he's visualizing bug spray, a banana cream pie, a boxing glove, a missile barrage.

A banana peel construct could ward off a nuclear explosion.

The shape is generally meaningless fluff.

Unless the lantern is actually emulating a machine, or creating virtual matter.

Kyle has created a flamethrower to shoot actual flames at people, ice guns to freeze his enemies, and kryptonite to weaken Superman, for example.

Kyle also once knocked Alan out by creating a knockout gas construct.

 

[Agent Orange]

So no greedy-porting, huh? No easy way out for you, never mind the risks of taking the other along. And no Scry-and-die tactic to locate the Queen and bypass the dungeon.

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The one thing that annoys me about the Malvolio plotline (specifically the fact that Mr Z is using him to prevent the team from using 'call for backup', 'summon bigger fish', 'scry-and-die' and 'dungeon bypass' tactics) is that it is both unnecessary and repetitive (he did practically the same thing on the Columbian colony planet: no calls out, no Ophidian interrupt, no greed-porting).

Power rings are apparently weak to magic and Sheeda are all about magic. Scry wards are already a thing. It's not a stretch to come up with a magical AoE greed-port blocker. Or a magical comm jammer. There was no need to transport an entire Castle ship into some distant Negative Space Wedgie ruled by some angry god when the ship itself could just as easily be a Negative Space Wedgie.

I see they've got the sense to not poke the sleeping god. With any luck, Malvolio'll stay out of it until the real fight's done.

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Ha! Their chance of avoiding a Malvolio interrupt in the most narratively dramatic moment is pretty close to 0%.

Kyle has created a flamethrower to shoot actual flames at people, ice guns to freeze his enemies, and kryptonite to weaken Superman, for example. Kyle also once knocked Alan out by creating a knockout gas construct.

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Ah! But how do you know those weren't construct flames/ice rays/kryptonite radiation/knock out gas. They don't seem very 'actual' to me. I'm always amused by the construct diner some Lantern projected. Along with construct waitress delivering hearty construct food. All those time where 'conjured matter doesn't last' trope is in full strength get ignored for the scene to work.

 

[Mr Zoat]

spoiler=Quite a few corrections.

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Bah! You should see the lists ThrawnCA sends me.

Physically, he resembled Alan if he'd been taking steroids...
So assuming standard dimensions…
...annihilating each other in a colossal blast!
That repetition feels a little awkward...
The Huntsman crushes my construct-
Jordan nods, construct-splinting his arm...

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Thank you, corrected.

The one thing that annoys me about the Malvolio plotline (specifically the fact that Mr Z is using him to prevent the team from using 'call for backup', 'summon bigger fish', 'scry-and-die' and 'dungeon bypass' tactics) is that it is both unnecessary and repetitive (he did practically the same thing on the Columbian colony planet: no calls out, no Ophidian interrupt, no greed-porting).

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The problem with the Sheeda is that they're the opposite of normal supervillains: they flat out can't take the heroes in a direct fight, but will always cause so much societal damage that civilisation has to change. In the comics the Sheeda were only a threat because they were fighting people with no/barely any powers. Superman would have brought the plot of Seven Soldiers to a stop in two issues. Maybe three if he needed help with Zor.

 

[Agent Orange]

The problem with the Sheeda is that they're the opposite of normal supervillains: they flat out can't take the heroes in a direct fight

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No, no, I get why this is necessary, the problem is that it is necessary. Lately OL barely has any fights that aren't against the opponents that either counter or flat out ignore all of his main advantages.

When you started the story the MC was relatively rational, pragmatic and genre savvy... it didn't last. He got so powerful so quickly that you had to resort to making excuses for him passing on power ups that would make him even more OP than he already was. Sometimes you did it nuancedly (you made regular magic and most OP superserums requiring a standard soul and then you gave OL a nonstandard one) other times you just ignored it or gave some pretty weird justifications (most of the equipment based superpowers - like... I dunno, the TK headband). I completely get it on Doylistic level but it just doesn't make much sense to me on the Watsonian one. The SI stopped acting as an SI at some pretty early point. Some of it is good some of it is bad.