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

ShadowScion626 · Jun 17, 2024

[/QUOTE]
"Mm."

"Well, thank you again. I'll leave you to it. Mother Box, hush tube."

"Ping."
[/QUOTE]
Huh. I just realized something's kinda funny in a way that's both ironic and a little sad. At this point in both stories timelines, Grayven!Paul probably has a better relationship with his Batman then Paragon!Paul has with his.

Bud-E · Jun 17, 2024

"Mm."

"Well, thank you again. I'll leave you to it. Mother Box, hush tube."

"Ping."
[/QUOTE]
Huh. I just realized something's kinda funny in a way that's both ironic and a little sad. At this point in both stories timelines, Grayven!Paul probably has a better relationship with his Batman then Paragon!Paul has with his.
[/QUOTE]

Grayven has a better Earth as well

Darko · Jun 17, 2024

Bud-E said:
.

Grayven has a better Earth as well

Though Paragon may have a better galaxy since his side is more focused on fighting the Reach.

ShadowScion626 · Jun 17, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"I'll talk to Batman. Even if it's nothing, it's still a good training exercise."

Huh. You know, in a different situation this sorta thing would be exactly what pisses me off about Batman and most of his Batfamily. They voliate the sanctity of people's privacy and invade their personal lives on the barest of suspicions and probably don't even see anything wrong in doing so and worse, probably wouldn't stop even if the wrongness of doing so was directly pointed out to them. We all know where this Tangseid's future leads to so in this case I suppose it's fine, but otherwise it would really set me off.

ShadowScion626 · Jun 18, 2024

RoninSword said:
That seems like a good time for say, Robin to ask Batman to order Paul to revert the change.

Is that something Paul's agreement with Wonder Woman extends to? I can't remember exactly what the agreement was, but I feel like adding in a clause about not being allowed to order him to modify his own body against his will would be the kind of thing Paul would include.

ShadowScion626 · Jun 18, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
31st October 2010
16:22 GMT -5

Wow… anyone else starting to feel like maybe it wasn't the Formula that led to the future we saw, but instead the consequences from REVERTING back?

Mr Zoat · Jun 18, 2024

11th April 2013
19:19 GMT +5:30

And that's a gunfight.

Mostly the old reliable AK-47, but a few sandbag fortifications have crew served machine guns and the combatants aren't shy about using grenades.

As I watch one woman takes a trio of bullets across her torso while throwing a grenade into an enemy fire team. She falls, and a shrapnel blast later so do they.

I have no idea who is fighting or why. They could be Kobra, but it's not like most of them go around with clearly identifiable tattoos or armbands. Mapping the area-.

"Hey, could you-" Kara is now carrying the woman in one hand and one of the men she grenadiered in the other. "-heal them?"

"Sure." / "I will-."

Dr. Balewa looks mildly puzzled as bullets and shrapnel are sucked out of wounds and bleeding is stopped. Scanning them with the default scan gets me nothing, but MRI and ultrasound still work just fine, as does power ring flesh melding. Still, it's the pain of the initial injury that rendered them unconscious, and my experience tells me that-.

Kara pulls the woman up to her face level. "Hey! Are you okay?!"

"U-gh?" The woman's eyes snap open, recoils at seeing Kara's beaming face, reaches up to her own chest to feel for bullet wounds that aren't there any longer and then starts to get a grip.

Then she sees the man in Kara's other hand, and goes for her pistol. Which is no longer there, because I'm not an idiot.

"I respect your eagerness, but now is the time to use your reason instead of your passion. Why are you-?"

"Could you-" Kara's looking at me. "-hold these guys for a minute?"

I take hold of them using construct restraint beds, binding them chest, arms, legs and head. "Sure. What-?"

She blurs away and then reappears with another wounded man in each hand.

"Can you-?"

"Just keep them coming."

"Can do!"

Well, sort of. I can't actually keep up with her full speed delivery service, but I don't delay her by much as she removes every single wounded person from the battleground below us, doing a good enough job that the remaining combatants opt to hunker down rather than continue and risk her displeasure.

Which is great, but it doesn't really help us.

"So, clearly whatever's happening down there won't be happening for much longer. And I think it's probably in your interests to get your lies in before whoever you're fighting gets their lies in. And please try to keep it at least vaguely plausible."

"I live here. They attacked us over minor religious differences. I would not expect you to understand."

"I don't like to boast about it, but Europe did spend about three hundred years continually at war over minor differences in Christian theology, so I'd give me a reasonable chance of getting it."

"It is about the significance of the… Evil presence."

"The Anti-Life broadcast?"

"If that is what you call it."

"It's what the people who made it call it. Want to tell me what the two sides believe about it?"

"One side believes that the evil presence was supposed to mark the end of the age of Kali Yuga, and the rebirth of the universe into the age of Krita Yuga. And that someone prevented it."

"And the other side?"

"Doesn't know. We try to divine its meaning, but they will not wait."

"So, you're Kobra and you're talking about Lady Eve-" She twitches and tries to inexpertly cover it up. "-trying to keep hold of the organisation. Do the others actually work for Jeff, or is this some sort of internal thing?"

She just shakes her head and clams up.

"You know that I don't actually have to take any of you in, right? You're a proscribed group. I have to accept your surrender if you offer it, but otherwise I can gun down every single one of you."

Kara waves her right forefinger at me. "But you won't because that's wrong."

"It's very hard to nuke people when you're dead. Not impossible, but hard."

Bleez's ship deploys some sort of rotary particle cannon. "I can do it."

Kara slowly turns her head upwards, eyes glo-.

"Kara! Kara, back to me. Back to me. Bleez, thank you, no. If I need to kill anyone-"

Kara is facing me, but her eyes are still glowing a little. "Which you don't, because that's wrong."

"-I'll do it myself, and Kara, we're going to review interrogation techniques after this. I think you'll make a great Good Cop-"

"Thank you!"

"-but you need to give the Bad Cop room to work as well."

"If you let them be Bad, then you're Bad too."

She nods affirmatively, but at least her eyes have dimmed. The woman is just sort of staring at us.

"Sorry about that. While I can kill you, legally speaking, I probably won't, but I might stick you and your friends on a barely habitable planet and forget about you. Or mind control you. So it really is in your interests to be forthcoming with me."

"I am not afraid to return to the wheel. Nor am I afraid of leaving a corrupt world to make a better one with my own labours."

"Doctor Mist and I were there when the Earth was purged of the Anti-Life. Heck, I'm the one who masterminded its removal. And while I'm fairly sure that we could arrest everyone down there, that wouldn't do anything to shut down the rest of Kobra. So let's have a civil theological discussion, hm?"

"If-. I can.. ask Lady Eve to meet with you."

"Neat. And you wouldn't know anything about anyone stealing fission bombs, would you?"

"No. Lady Eve has suspended active operations."

Not sure I believe her, but it's plausible. A Kobra splinter faction wants to establish itself, so it does something big to run up the flag. I suppose that it doesn't matter right now.

"Alright. I'm sending you down. And I've got a nice desert world picked out if you don't follow through. Good luck!"

Darko · Jun 18, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
The attacked us over

"They"

Mr Zoat said:
We tries to divine

"try"

Ngamer11 · Jun 18, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"If you let them be Bad, then you're Bad too."

I hope she doesn't end up going Black-and-White Insanity route, because the way she's acting here either indicates this, or that she needs to lose some innocence and naiveté.

Ardy · Jun 18, 2024

Ngamer11 said:
I hope she doesn't end up going Black-and-White Insanity route, because the way she's acting here either indicates this, or that she needs to lose some innocence and naiveté.

Cut her some slack, she's in a very novel situation for a silver-age hero and was exposed to the anti-life for months.

She also doesn't understand metaphors that well.

Lord Ernest · Jun 18, 2024

Ardy said:
Cut her some slack, she's in a very novel situation for a silver-age hero and was exposed to the anti-life for months.

She also doesn't understand metaphors that well.

I don't know... if I was the Illustres I would already be preparing a dose of gold Kryptonite, just in case. Besides not understanding some subtleties in how people speak, has she heard or read about the stuff the Illustres has done?

Ardy · Jun 18, 2024

Lord Ernest said:
I don't know... if I was the Illustres I would already be preparing a dose of gold Kryptonite, just in case. Besides not understanding some subtleties in how people speak, has she heard or read about the stuff the Illustres has done?

Yeah, but he's only done it to Bad People so it's cool

Zig · Jun 18, 2024

Lord Ernest said:
I don't know... if I was the Illustres I would already be preparing a dose of gold Kryptonite, just in case. Besides not understanding some subtleties in how people speak, has she heard or read about the stuff the Illustres has done?

This Kara actually has the whole not affected by Kryptonite from other universes thing going on so he'd have to synthesize some very specific gold Kryptonite

Mr Zoat · Jun 18, 2024

Darko said:
"They"
"try"

Thank you, corrected.

Chojin Patriarch · Jun 18, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
11th April 2013
19:19 GMT +5:30

And that's a gunfight.

Mostly the old reliable AK-47, but a few sandbag fortifications have crew served machine guns and the combatants aren't shy about using grenades.

Good bet all of the weapons are black market stuff. And I doubt this is some local celebration, so time to start cleaning up. Admittedly, between the Lantern and the kryptonian, it's just a matter of how softly you want it to be done.

As I watch one woman takes a trio of bullets across her torso while throwing a grenade into an enemy fire team. She falls, and a shrapnel blast later so do they.

I have no idea who is fighting or why. They could be Kobra, but it's not like most of them go around with clearly identifiable tattoos or armbands. Mapping the area-.

Would kind of compromise their ability to blend into populations. Presumably each side at least knows who's on their side and who's not.

"Hey, could you-" Kara is now carrying the woman in one hand and one of the men she grenadiered in the other. "-heal them?"

"Sure." / "I will-."

Right. Probably the quickest option, I suppose. I doubt Kara will have any more shooting people today.

Dr. Balewa looks mildly puzzled as bullets and shrapnel are sucked out of wounds and bleeding is stopped. Scanning them with the default scan gets me nothing, but MRI and ultrasound still work just fine, as does power ring flesh melding. Still, it's the pain of the initial injury that rendered them unconscious, and my experience tells me that-.

So, their bodies are warded? I'm guessing a tattoo somewhere private. The sole of the foot, or the top of the head, something like that...

Kara pulls the woman up to her face level. "Hey! Are you okay?!"

"U-gh?" The woman's eyes snap open, recoils at seeing Kara's beaming face, reaches up to her own chest to feel for bullet wounds that aren't there any longer and then starts to get a grip.

Bit of an 'oh, dear...' moment, eh? Better than being dead, mind.

Then she sees the man in Kara's other hand, and goes for her pistol. Which is no longer there, because I'm not an idiot.

"I respect your eagerness, but now is the time to use your reason instead of your passion. Why are you-?"

After all, you're very much outgunned.

"Could you-" Kara's looking at me. "-hold these guys for a minute?"

I take hold of them using construct restraint beds, binding them chest, arms, legs and head. "Sure. What-?"

...Right, better prep a lot more of those things, OL.

She blurs away and then reappears with another wounded man in each hand.

"Can you-?"

Well, I guess that's one way to stop the fight. Once she cleans up the wounded, she'll probably start tying up the fighters with their own guns.

"Just keep them coming."

"Can do!"

Ooh. Sure you want her to...

Well, sort of. I can't actually keep up with her full speed delivery service, but I don't delay her by much as she removes every single wounded person from the battleground below us, doing a good enough job that the remaining combatants opt to hunker down rather than continue and risk her displeasure.

...At least they aren't shooting at each other anymore.

Which is great, but it doesn't really help us.

"So, clearly whatever's happening down there won't be happening for much longer. And I think it's probably in your interests to get your lies in before whoever you're fighting gets their lies in. And please try to keep it at least vaguely plausible."

Heh. Well, let's hope she's not going to be all fanatical about it.

"I live here. The attacked us over minor religious differences. I would not expect you to understand."

"I don't like to boast about it, but Europe did spend about three hundred years continually at war over minor differences in Christian theology, so I'd give me a reasonable chance of getting it."

Nothing new about any of that, of course. But I suspect these religious differences are a little more illegal?

"It is about the significance of the… Evil presence."

"The Anti-Life broadcast?"

Okay. Right to the heart of the matter, I see.

"If that is what you call it."

"It's what the people who made it call it. Want to tell me what the two sides believe about it?"

And please, do keep the pontification to a minimum? Just the facts as you see them...

"One side believes that the evil presence was supposed to mark the end of the age of Kali Yuga, and the rebirth of the universe into the age of Krita Yuga. And that someone prevented it."

"And the other side?"

Also, which side are you on, then, miss?

"Doesn't know. We tries to divine its meaning, but they will not wait."

"So, you're Kobra and you're talking about Lady Eve-" She twitches and tries to inexpertly cover it up. "-trying to keep hold of the organisation. Do the others actually work for Jeff, or is this some sort of internal thing?"

All right, that's sorted out. Got to love the involuntary reflexive reactions.

She just shakes her head and clams up.

"You know that I don't actually have to take any of you in, right? You're a proscribed group. I have to accept your surrender if you offer it, but otherwise I can gun down every single one of you."

Just one problem with that, OL...

Kara waves her right forefinger at me. "But you won't because that's wrong."

"It's very hard to nuke people when you're dead. Not impossible, but hard."

Hopefully little miss Lawful Good has some idea of good cop, bad cop.

Bleez's ship deploys some sort of rotary particle cannon. "I can do it."

Kara slowly turns her head upwards, eyes glo-.

Ladies. Let's keep this civil, shall we? Blowing up your guest's ship just be cause she threatened some cultists is a bit much.

"Kara! Kara, back to me. Back to me. Bleez, thank you, no. If I need to kill anyone-"

Kara is facing me, but her eyes are still glowing a little. "Which you don't, because that's wrong."

This probably isn't the best time for the 'some people just need killing' explanation. Plus, Silver Age morality... 'Killing bad, courts good!' is a mainstay of the era, after all.

"-I'll do it myself, and Kara, we're going to review interrogation techniques after this. I think you'll make a great Good Cop-"

"Thank you!"

Ow. That whiplash is not helping my headcold and mild dehydration headache...

Or the situation at hand, methinks.

"-but you need to give the Bad Cop room to work as well."

"If you let them be Bad, then you're Bad too."

Okay, Kara, do we need to have a private chat about playing a role?

She nods affirmatively, but at least her eyes have dimmed. The woman is just sort of staring at us.

"Sorry about that. While I can kill you, legally speaking, I probably won't, but I might stick you and your friends on a barely habitable planet and forget about you. Or mind control you. So it really is in your interests to be forthcoming with me."

And somehow, I doubt Kara would have a problem with either of those things because that means they're not gonna be dead...

"I am not afraid to return to the wheel. Nor am I afraid of leaving a corrupt world to make a better one with my own labours."

"Doctor Mist and I were there when the Earth was purged of the Anti-Life. Heck, I'm the one who masterminded its removal. And while I'm fairly sure that we could arrest everyone down there, that wouldn't do anything to shut down the rest of Kobra. So let's have a civil theological discussion, hm?"

...Well, if anyone in the 'Y U stop Krita Yuga?' camp heard that, he's gonna be at the top of their shitlist.

"If-. I can.. ask Lady Eve to meet with you."

"Neat. And you wouldn't know anything about anyone stealing fission bombs, would you?"

Ah, yes, the whole reason you're running around here now. What's the bet it's the opposing faction that did it?

"No. Lady Eve has suspended active operations."

Not sure I believe her, but it's plausible. A Kobra splinter faction wants to establish itself, so it does something big to run up the flag. I suppose that it doesn't matter right now.

"Alright. I'm sending you down. And I've got a nice desert world picked out if you don't follow through. Good luck!"

No doubt you tagged her with a powerful tracking device, right? What with the scan immunity?

So, good chance it is Kobra, having a little crisis of faith amongst themselves. Pity one side may have decided to press their point with a weapon of mass destruction. And that raises the concern that with one successful deployment, they may be lining up for a second. Hopefully OL's team can impress the point on them that sort of thing is just not done.

Vaermina · Jun 18, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"-I'll do it myself, and Kara, we're going to review interrogation techniques after this. I think you'll make a great Good Cop-"

"Thank you!"

"-but you need to give the Bad Cop room to work as well."

"If you let them be Bad, then you're Bad too."

She nods affirmatively, but at least her eyes have dimmed. The woman is just sort of staring at us.

I like this Kara sticking with Paul, she doesn't put up with his bullshit and is too powerful for him to just steamroll over.

Cuchulin · Jun 18, 2024

Ngamer11 said:
I hope she doesn't end up going Black-and-White Insanity route, because the way she's acting here either indicates this, or that she needs to lose some innocence and naiveté.

It'd probably help to use BAT Cop instead of BAD Cop.

Prince Charon · Jun 18, 2024

Prince Charon said:
I thought this one was the Silver Age Supergirl? EDIT: Ninja'd

Anyone remember the wiki we had for this fic? I think we need a page there to list all the Supergirls who appear, and when each showed up.

Lord Ernest said:
Off the top of my head, there's Kara 16, but I don't think she has taken a Superhero identity; then Nazi Supergirl aka Overgirl, and I think she might have returned home? After that is Linda Danvers, she got involved in a demon plot and got fused with the memories of a fire angel that hunted the Illustres during the angel invasion, she goes by the identity Supergirl (no effing idea why, honestly). The aforementioned Demon Supergirl, she got transported to Earth 16 by Truggs, whom was raiding Earth 666 for tech and stuff. And finally this Silver Age Supergirl that, again, I don't recall where she came from.

Notable mention to the Kara 16 from Renegade, that unfortunately spent more time in the Kryptonite asteroid and had to be healed/fixed/repaired with an Eradicator and so might be slightly cyborg-like and a bit xenophobic, I think? She's helping Karsta raise a bunch of little Kryptonians.

Thank you. I vaguely think that there may be at least one more Supergirl that showed up that you haven't mentioned, but that may be paranoia.

Also, found a link to the wiki (it was in the opening post, which should have occurred to me yesterday but didn't) if anyone wants to start that page.

BartlettMagic · Jun 18, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"Kara! Kara, back to me. Back to me. Bleez, thank you, no. If I need to kill anyone-"

Kara is facing me, but her eyes are still glowing a little. "Which you don't, because that's wrong."

insufferable

Neruz · Jun 18, 2024

BartlettMagic said:
insufferable

Teenagers usually are.

ShadowScion626 · Jun 19, 2024

Wow. I finally caught all the way up with the story. With the way Mr. Zoat releases chapters, I honestly was beginning to think the story might reach its conclusion first.

Mr Zoat · Jun 19, 2024

ShadowScion626 said:
Wow. I finally caught all the way up with the story. With the way Mr. Zoat releases chapters, I honestly was beginning to think the story might reach its conclusion first.

Hah!

Mr Zoat · Jun 19, 2024

11th April 2013
19:23 GMT +5:30

Bleez's ship ascends into the upper atmosphere on autopilot while its owner studies the ground beneath us. And the giant pile of restraint racks I've fabricated for the belligerents.

"Who are these people?"

"That's… How much of that cultural briefing material I sent you did you actually read?"

"Most of it. I focused on the different political structures, because I… I'd like to find something that would work for us. Thanagar."

"Oh. Good. I was halfway convinced that you were just handing it all over to the intelligence analysts."

"They got copies too, but I did read it. I just didn't read about… These people."

"These people are part of a Hindu sect called 'thuggees'. Essentially, they believe that materialism diminishes the soul, so they destroy things that people value in order to liberate them from their own attachments. Specifically, they're part of the Kobra denomination of the thuggees, which means that they don't just limit themselves to individual spiritual liberation through destruction, but they believe that they can… Sort of flip the universe over into a… Higher, more glorious state if they destroy enough."

"What would that be like?"

"We poor creatures of the most diminished state of the universe could not comprehend it. But an improvement, of some sort."

"And is that true?"

"No, of course not. Reality inversions take far more effort than just destroying a load of stuff. Plus, the people involved have to be able to picture clearly what they're trying to achieve, which wouldn't be the case here. Definitionally couldn't be the case, if you think about it."

Her eyes go wide as they lock onto me, her wing posture-. She's not getting ready to lunge, she's getting ready to fly away.

"What do you mean by 'reality inversion'?"

"It's a bit like changing history through time travel, except you do it at one point in time and it changes everything into anything."

"Orange Lantern?" Dr. Mist strolls over, having finished examining the wards defending this place. "I think thet you should stop talking."

"The point is that they're basically just nuts, but enough crazy people being crazy in the same way can do a lot of damage." I turn towards the sound of footsteps with a grin. "And speaking of crazy!"

Lady Eve herself doesn't look anything special. The guards behind her are wearing the sort of clearly coloured uniforms that I'd honestly thought that minions had abandoned in the eighties, though it is armoured and the helmet does contain flash protection and an infrared mode. The tattoo-covered magician behind them is flashing the occasional nervous look at Dr. Balewa, because while Kobra magicians can strike above their weight class in Western countries due to the lack of opposition none of them are world-class.

Is this it?

I know that I wound up the much better resourced League of Shadows in an afternoon, but… Given that Jeff managed to make a decent fight of it back in Belle Reve, I sort of assumed that their home base would do better as well. Then again, if the infighting has been bad…

"The Life Wizard and the World Mender. What has brought you here?"

Dr. Balewa and I make eye contact with one another, and I bow my head a little. He is the Justice League member, even if there's… No real enforcement either way at the moment.

"You are Lady Eve? Head of Kobra?"

"I am Lady Eve. But Kobra has splintered."

"I understood thet loyalty to Mister Burr was a little stronger in other parts of the world. I did not think thet you had trouble here."

"They looked to me for answers, but I have none. Our prophesised saviour failed, and became just another power-hungry bandit."

I vaguely remember a comic where they started over with his brother, but… I don't want to suggest that.

"Why would they attack you, then? Why not leaf?"

"Sacred scripture is only shared with those who have proven their devotion. They think that I have some knowledge that I am keeping from them." She shakes her head. "I do not."

"Then what was your plen?"

"I planned to wait, observe, pray… I would hope that something revealed itself in time."

Dr. Balewa nods. "Were you able to shield yourself from the Anti-Life Broadcast?"

"No. And even if we could, we would not. It is cowardly to hide from suffering. We embrace it as we learn to reject temporal pleasure."

Kara perks up slightly. "Like Job!"

Lady Eve's eyes narrow slightly, but then she just sort of.. gives up on her sneer. "No, not like Job. The Book of Job is about the rightfulness of obedience to a higher power. We seek to elevate ourselves by becoming more than this weak flesh."

"I belief you also wish to bring an end to the period you call Kali Yuga."

"For the betterment of all."

"And to do thet, you must make the world as bad as it can be."

"There is more to it than that. But in essence, yes."

Dr. Balewa affects a puzzled expression, shaking his head. "And… What is it thet you imagine thet there is thet is worse than the Anti-Life?"

Oh, that's kind of clever. I'm not sure that she's on his wavelength. In organisations like Kobra, sometimes even the leaders have drunk the kool-aid. We've got no reason to assume that she ever went beyond 'suffering = good, follow the prophecy for maximum goodness'… But I suppose that if we're not just killing her right away…

"I have never experienced something worse."

"And, did you feel the energy as we ended the Anti-Life?"

"Yes."

"Then… What do you imagine thet the transition from one age into another feels like?"

"I-." She stares at him, and the other Kobra people are staring too. "I don't understand."

"Did you not picture what it would be like to live in the new age?" He raises his right hand, a small white sigil floating over it and even I feel it, the essence of existence. "Did you not feel the wave of spirit pass over the world?"

She gulps. "I.. did."

"You are a creature of the former, corrupted age. But for eh moment, you saw what it was like to be something else. Would you like to feel thet again?"

Ngamer11 · Jun 19, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
Lady Eve's eyes narrow slightly, but then she just sort of.. gives up on he sneer. "No, not like Job. The Book of Job is about the rightfulness of obedience to a higher power. We seek to elevate ourselves by becoming more than this weak flesh."

That should say 'her'.

Mr Zoat said:
Oh, that's kind of clever. I'm not sure that she's on his wavelength. In organisations like Kobra, sometimes even the leaders have drunk the kool-aid. We've got no reason to assume that she ever went beyond 'suffering = good, follow the prophecy for maximum goodness'… But I suppose that if we're not just killing her right away…

"I have never experienced something worse."

"And, did you feel the energy as we ended the Anti-Life?"

"Yes."

"Then… What do you imagine thet the transition from one age into another feels like?"

"I-." She stares at him, and the other Kobra people are staring too. "I don't understand."

"Did you not picture what it would be like to live in the new age?" He raises his right hand, a small white sigil floating over it and even I feel it, the essence of existence. "Did you not feel the wave of spirit pass over the world?"

She gulps. "I.. did."

"You are a creature of the former, corrupted age. But for eh moment, you saw what it was like to be something else. Would you like to feel thet again?"

Interesting. I don't remember any hero other than Paul potentially recruiting villains in this story like Dr. Mist seems to be doing here. What are the chances some of these members of Kobra will reform into a White Light cult that the Justice League will keep an eye on?

Darko · Jun 19, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
Orange Lantern?" Dr. Mist strolls over, having finished examining the wards defending this place. "I think thet you should stop talking."

Wise words, doctor.

Unfortunately, Paul doesn't listen to wisdom.

Mr Zoat said:
"You are a creature of the former, corrupted age. But for eh moment, you saw what it was like to be something else. Would you like to feel thet again

This feels very much like something Paul would offer.

Ngamer11 said:
Interesting. I don't remember any other hero before Paul potentially recruiting villains in this story like Dr. Mist seems to be doing here. What are the chances some of these members of Kobra will reform into a White Light cult that the Justice League will keep an eye on?

Honestly wouldn't be surprised if they make Mist their leader/prophet.

The guy has done something similar in the past given his long life.

Mr Zoat · Jun 19, 2024

Ngamer11 said:
That should say 'her'.

Thank you, corrected.

Lord Ernest · Jun 19, 2024

I usually don't rate Balewa too much... but this is what I expected the Illustres to try with Kobra, so the fact that Dr. Mist is doing it out of his own volition and with the added weight of his connection with the White Light on his words? This is awesome, hope it works out.

Can you imagine the cult of Kobra essentially subverted into White Light Cultists guided by Balewa, trying to build the new age? If it happens, add another point in the tally of "the Justice League are spectacularly failing at not taking over the world".

crazygrox · Jun 19, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"Why would I do that?" She pulls away slightly, her face a few inches from mine. "They're all dead. Ooh!"

I am suspicious of this girl, I think she might be one of the many things that's imitated a Kryptonian in comics, and by sheer luck she's managed to get one of the types of imitation that Paul won't easily see through. Or she might be from a timeline where supergirl had her mind messed with on krypton or something and the aftereffects of that are making her a little off.

I originally thought she was off because she was too golden age for this setting, as a result of coming from another dimensions, but her reaction to situations that should cause at least brief grief is also off enough from that that I'm not sure than explanation fits.

Ngamer11 · Jun 19, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"Oh. Paul." He smiles weakly. "[color=#0040ff ]You're back[/color]."

I was rereading the story only thread and found this error.

Chojin Patriarch · Jun 19, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
11th April 2013
19:23 GMT +5:30

Bleez's ship ascends into the upper atmosphere on autopilot while its owner studies the ground beneath us. And the giant pile of restraint racks I've fabricated for the belligerents.

"Who are these people?"

Sending her ship off to safety, I see. Just in case something goes bad here. Good plan keeping the nutters tied down, too. I suspect that'll curry favour with Lady Eve when she turns up. Though Kara might object if they get handed over to Kobra.

"That's… How much of that cultural briefing material I sent you did you actually read?"

"Most of it. I focused on the different political structures, because I… I'd like to find something that would work for us. Thanagar."

Good luck with that. Most Earth countries aren't going to play nice with aliens unless there's some major benefit in it for them.

"Oh. Good. I was halfway convinced that you were just handing it all over to the intelligence analysts."

"They got copies too, but I did read it. I just didn't read about… These people."

Given the sheer number of cults, extra-governmental secret organisations and mysterious orders running around, any files on that would probably be longer than the actual governments.

"These people are part of a Hindu sect called 'thuggees'. Essentially, they believe that materialism diminishes the soul, so they destroy things that people value in order to liberate them from their own attachments. Specifically, they're part of the Kobra denomination of the thuggees, which means that they don't just limit themselves to individual spiritual liberation through destruction, but they believe that they can… Sort of flip the universe over into a… Higher, more glorious state if they destroy enough."

Kind of predictable, really. They'll generally go for big, nasty incidents that can kill lots of people.

"What would that be like?"

"We poor creatures of the most diminished state of the universe could not comprehend it. But an improvement, of some sort."

In other words, mumbo-jumbo about 'you plebs wouldn't get it!'

"And is that true?"

"No, of course not. Reality inversions take far more effort than just destroying a load of stuff. Plus, the people involved have to be able to picture clearly what they're trying to achieve, which wouldn't be the case here. Definitionally couldn't be the case, if you think about it."

By their own admission, they are inferior beings, and thus couldn't comprehend a better universe.

Her eyes go wide as they lock onto me, her wing posture-. She's not getting ready to lunge, she's getting ready to fly away.

"What do you mean by 'reality inversion'?"

"It's a bit like changing history through time travel, except you do it at one point in time and it changes everything into anything."

I know, he sounds a bit crazy, doesn't he? Time Travel?

Thanagarian science has denied that concept as impossible!

"Orange Lantern?" Dr. Mist strolls over, having finished examining the wards defending this place. "I think thet you should stop talking."

"The point is that they're basically just nuts, but enough crazy people being crazy in the same way can do a lot of damage." I turn towards the sound of footsteps with a grin. "And speaking of crazy!"

Like setting off a nuke in a densely populated area. And possibly planning to do it again...

Lady Eve herself doesn't look anything special. The guards behind her are wearing the sort of clearly coloured uniforms that I'd honestly thought that minions had abandoned in the eighties, though it is armoured and the helmet does contain flash protection and an infrared mode. The tattoo-covered magician behind them is flashing the occasional nervous look at Dr. Balewa, because while Kobra magicians can strike above their weight class in Western countries due to the lack of opposition none of them are world-class.

At least they're colour-coordinated, even if they break the 'no faceless mooks' rule of the Evil overlord list.

Is this it?

I know that I wound up the much better resourced League of Shadows in an afternoon, but… Given that Jeff managed to make a decent fight of it back in Belle Reve, I sort of assumed that their home base would do better as well. Then again, if the infighting has been bad…

That doesn't bode well for the safety of India or the world.

"The Life Wizard and the World Mender. What has brought you here?"

Dr. Balewa and I make eye contact with one another, and I bow my head a little. He is the Justice League member, even if there's… No real enforcement either way at the moment.

Interesting titles. Accurate, too, given their abilities.

"You are Lady Eve? Head of Kobra?"

"I am Lady Eve. But Kobra has splintered."

Yes, they kind of noticed that.

"I understood thet loyalty to Mister Burr was a little stronger in other parts of the world. I did not think thet you had trouble here."

"They looked to me for answers, but I have none. Our prophesised saviour failed, and became just another power-hungry bandit."

Gee, I wonder why. Still, I can't blame them. Some people just aren't suited to be chosen ones.

I vaguely remember a comic where they started over with his brother, but… I don't want to suggest that.

"Why would they attack you, then? Why not leaf?"

Yes, best not to give them suggestions at being better at their goals.

"Sacred scripture is only shared with those who have proven their devotion. They think that I have some knowledge that I am keeping from them." She shakes her head. "I do not."

"Then what was your plen?"

Other than accept the suffering and die?

"I planned to wait, observe, pray… I would hope that something revealed itself in time."

Dr. Balewa nods. "Were you able to shield yourself from the Anti-Life Broadcast?"

Yes, I can see why some of the less dedicated members decided to become more proactive about things.

"No. And even if we could, we would not. It is cowardly to hide from suffering. We embrace it as we learn to reject temporal pleasure."

Kara perks up slightly. "Like Job!"

...Not really the same thing, Kara. Such is the nature of a cyclical reincarnation cycle...

Lady Eve's eyes narrow slightly, but then she just sort of.. gives up on her sneer. "No, not like Job. The Book of Job is about the rightfulness of obedience to a higher power. We seek to elevate ourselves by becoming more than this weak flesh."

"I belief you also wish to bring an end to the period you call Kali Yuga."

Haven't been having much luck with that thus far, of course.

"For the betterment of all."

"And to do thet, you must make the world as bad as it can be."

...Hard to get much worse than during the Anti-Life stuff, was it?

"There is more to it than that. But in essence, yes."

Dr. Balewa affects a puzzled expression, shaking his head. "And… What is it thet you imagine thet there is thet is worse than the Anti-Life?"

Oh-ho. Just like OL was just talking about. What do they think a better world looks like?

Oh, that's kind of clever. I'm not sure that she's on his wavelength. In organisations like Kobra, sometimes even the leaders have drunk the kool-aid. We've got no reason to assume that she ever went beyond 'suffering = good, follow the prophecy for maximum goodness'… But I suppose that if we're not just killing her right away…

Then again, he's probably had lots of experience with cults like this. He's probably defused a few back in the day.

"I have never experienced something worse."

"And, did you feel the energy as we ended the Anti-Life?"

It'd have been hard not to, given that every human has a tiny connection to it in their soul...

"Yes."

"Then… What do you imagine thet the transition from one age into another feels like?"

Good angle. Who's to say that the ultimate suffering they experienced hasn't cause the end of an age and the birth of the new one?

"I-." She stares at him, and the other Kobra people are staring too. "I don't understand."

"Did you not picture what it would be like to live in the new age?" He raises his right hand, a small white sigil floating over it and even I feel it, the essence of existence. "Did you not feel the wave of spirit pass over the world?"

Impressive. I see he's gotten a little stronger, if he can call up even a tiny bit of that power to form the sigil.

She gulps. "I.. did."

"You are a creature of the former, corrupted age. But for eh moment, you saw what it was like to be something else. Would you like to feel thet again?"

Nice. Defusing their entire religious uncertainty in a single question, and offering them a way to reform.

Okay. Looks like Lady Eve is kind of buying what Doctor Mist is suggesting. Now, the question remains of whether the other members of Kobra, splinters included, will accept that. And honestly, if it directs their energy into a more beneficial path for everyone, than that can only be an improvement.

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

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