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

Darko · Thursday at 8:38 AM

Mr Zoat said:
Which is pretty unusually for me

"unusual"

Mr Zoat said:
"They entered the domain of the oversoul unbidden, and by so doing obliterated the distinction between its existence and their own."

"And me as well, I suppose."

"No." The eyes regard me curiously

Guessing enlightenment helps with that.

Mr Zoat said:
open to knew experiences."

"to new"

Mr Zoat said:
"I-!" Jax-Ur turns back to me. "I am the greatest scientist Krypton has ever known

Jor-El: Keep telling yourself that.

RichardWhereat · Thursday at 8:46 AM

Mr Zoat said:
"Not even slightly. Which is pretty unusually for me.

Unusual

Also, Merry Christmas Zoat, and the others here too, I guess.

Z000 · Thursday at 8:48 AM

huh, interesting

so shoving people who absorb energy into an energy dimension cause them to eat it energy and give the place though

and now it like having the ability to think and does not want it braincell taken away

so would it like having more braincell or just not losing it ?

Chojin Patriarch · Thursday at 9:08 AM

Mr Zoat said:
12th August 2013
22:06 GMT

Kinetic barrier… Not working, which is fair enough given that the fingers just sort of materialised around me rather than coming in from outside of its detection radius. Armour… Not really designed for this. My heavy armour is, but given that everything I know about the Phantom Zone said that it would be impossible to physically interact with anything I don't think that was much of an oversight. I'm not making an armour construct because I hope that whatever this thing is-

I doubt his Subspace systems are working properly either, which would remove the options of railguns and any special ammo that might affect this thing. Admittedly, being gripped like this kind of encourages polite diplomacy rather than combat...

"Aethyr."

-can be persuaded to…

Oh, that's helpful. And yes, this is not something to be trifled with. Talk fast, OL, and talk nice.

Oh. Telepathic. That does make-.

"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-

For reference, the final mission from said version. Though I imagine the specific looks as more Ridley from 'Metroid'.

"I am not Andross! I am Aethyr!"

-but that's probably not what this is.

Not doubt Jax-Ur is wondering what all that's about, but it's hardly relevant right now.

I smile politely. "Hello, Aethyr. What can I do for you?"

"Do you understand what you face, creature?"

Something primordial, I would imagine. Something that can manipulate the fabric of the Zone like its own digits.

"Not even slightly. Which is pretty unusual for me. Usually I've got at least some idea but in your case I'm drawing a blank."

"All this universe is Aethyr. I am its means to your comprehension. As the red sun was to the priests of Rao. As the burning bush was to Moses."

I suppose Aethyr was something Mr Zoat only learned about post-Insertion. Certainly, Earth-Prime!Paul never looked into it.

"So… You're the Metatron of the Phantom Zone." I nod. "Okay. That makes sense. And… Krypton was basically shoving their criminals into your brain."

"They entered the domain of the oversoul unbidden, and by so doing obliterated the distinction between its existence and their own."

Metatron, for reference, is an Abrahamic reference. To massively simplify it, God's Scribe.

"And me as well, I suppose."

"No." The eyes regard me curiously, though for all I know the gesture is my mind's interpretation of its general attitude rather than an actual expression. "It is."

Confused me for a moment there, until I realised it was responding to OL's musing.

Oh, this is going to get confusing.

"For you."

'Was getting caught part of your plan?'

No, wait, we're not playing meme games. (Seriously, if he'd just said 'Painful for you.', this whole meme might never have existed.)

"Not me. What do you mean by that? And what does it mean for-" I glance at the grey blur that is probably Jax-Ur. "-them?"

"Something about you means that you both are and are not a part of me."

Well, that's concerning. Because he's Human, lacking the kryptonian organelles? Or because of his soul-tattoos?

"Hey, my wards actually did something! I'd sort of gotten used to my preparations not working."

"Explain yourself."

Funny, I assumed you'd sort of absorb the specifics from his mind. Or is that only possible when he's thinking directly about something.

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

"I know everything that they know."

Good, no need to get everyone caught up on the same page.

"I had myself altered so that I absorb and internalise magic. And I guess that something about this place is similar enough that it's still working. Which would mean that I'm you, but you're also becoming me."

"What?"

Gee, I guess it's a little confusing for Aethyr too.

"I don't know, and I'm going to suggest that it's not in either of our interests to find out. I'll be leaving shortly and I just need a few pieces of information before I go."

"I could take the spiritual force which defines you and merge it with the oversoul for all eternity!"

Please don't. That would rather cut the story short.

"I've never eaten an oversoul before, but I try to be open to new experiences."

Aethyr stares down at me.

Yeah, I suspect he's serious about that threat. After all, if he's laid bare to you, kind of, then you're laid bare to him.

"You hear my thoughts as your own. You know that I genuinely suspect that would happen. And no one here could explain it better than my mind."

"What do you want?"

What would any being shoved in here want? To leave, of course. But OL does need to know a few things.

"Was the empireth named Lyla here?"

"Yes. Can you imagine what that feels like? To have a part of your psyche torn away?"

Eh, he has died a few times. I don't know if that affects his memory or anything that severely, but...

"Do you want us to stop? To stop using Phantom Zone technology entirely, to remove the ones who are left here?"

"I want you to cease removing them."

Ah, so he doesn't mind the discomfort as long as it allows him to be conscious.

"Ah… Can I talk to Nam-Ek really quickly?"

Another grey blur appears, and then-. Nam-Ek changes from a blur to a man. He looks around in surprise. "What?"

Well, at least with Aethyr helping bring them along, the inmates can be freed much faster.

"There's a lot of that going around. Nam-Ek, Aethyr here is getting-"

Nam-Ek looks up and the giant purple dragon head. "Aargh!"

Focus, please. Indulge your meat-brain instincts later.

"-annoyed about us putting people in here in such a way that they become part of his mind and then removing them again. I know that you appreciated the respite, but I wanted to check whether you were alright with it becoming completely permanent or not."

"And become part of the new colony?"

Ah, that word's spread already? I guess when you can kind of sense what's going on and listen in on conversations without being noticed... Gossip travels fast.

"Or whatever you want. I'm pretty sure that we could reverse what happened to you. Or at least create a new unmutated body. I didn't say anything because we're a bit busy and I haven't had enough time to get everything ready, but it should be possible."

"And what about..?" He points at Aethyr's face.

Worst case, some kind of encounter suit to contain any olfactory expulsions might work for the short-term.

"I will bear no more intruders. Leave, or become one with me."

Nam-Ek considers the issue for a moment. "Then I will choose to leave."

Wise choice. Truly, you are an intelligent man.

"Oh, good show. I was worried that you might… Not choose that. Ah. Bear no more intruders?"

"I will merge with any who remain."

So leave now, or forever hold your peace.

Rats.

Uh.

Jax-Ur looks up at Aethyr. "But I warned you!"

Oh, discovering that the primal entity might not be as easy to manipulate as you thought, hmm??

"Do you think that means that I am obliged to you?"

"I-!" Jax-Ur turns back to me. "I am the greatest scientist Krypton has ever known! Take me with you!"

Sorry, Jax, but you've really kind of put a bad spin on your value as a potential colonist.

"While there's a theological argument in favour of letting you out and executing you, legally I'm not allowed to execute people on Earth and we can't try you for a crime that happened on Krypton and that you've already been sentenced for."

"The-!"

Yeah, not great for you.

"But by that token, I have no right to remove you." I shake my head. "Much as I hate wasting knowledge, I have no intention of saving you." I sigh. "Give me everyone else, and I'll get out of your scales."

"NOOOOOO!"

Ah, the cry of the defeated villain...

Well, Hopefully he can contain the inmates if they get pulled together and ejected before they're ready for them. At least ask Aethyr to let him relocate the exit to the Xenon base where Har-Zod can apply red-sunlight dampening on them? ...Or if he can create an exit anywhere, just toss them straight onto Tartarath. Let's just hope leaving Jax-Ur here to be consumed doesn't have drawbacks.

Mr Zoat · Thursday at 9:11 AM

Darko said:
"unusual"
"to new"

Thank you, corrected.

thebishop8 · Thursday at 9:19 AM

When they first talked about releasing phantom zone prisoners, Faora Hu-Ul was mentioned:

Mr Zoat said:
"Okay, and then there's the rest of them."

He frowns slightly. "I don't think that Nam-Ek wants to come out."

"No, but there are other inmates: Amalak would probably want Non and Ursa, though Non might get an insanity plea. But there are plenty of others. Faora Hu-Ul…"

Kara shakes her head. "I… Think she can stay where she is. Even if we tried putting her on Themyscira… It wouldn't be safe for anyone."

"But we have gold kryptonite. We can make sure that she never develops superpowers, and… She wasn't given the indefinite sentence that Zod, Ursa and Non were."

"She was given a three hundred year sentence. She's still got about two hundred and sixty years to go." Kara frowns. "I don't think you get time off for good behavior when it's physically impossible for you to misbehave."

I guess they'll have to figure out somewhere else to put her and the other prisoners they weren't planning on releasing yet.

Signaller · Thursday at 10:00 AM

Seems a bit quick for Aethyr to have found the Moses/bush thing in OLs mind, implies a possibility that he's not the first human (or person familiar with human mythos) in there?

Vaermina · Thursday at 10:04 AM

Mr Zoat said:
"But by that token, I have no right to remove you." I shake my head. "Much as I hate wasting knowledge, I have no intention of saving you." I sigh. "Give me everyone else, and I'll get out of your scales."

"NOOOOOO!"

Orange Lantern does realize this could result in the godlike being gaining a taste for murder, right?

PJ739 · Thursday at 10:41 AM

Not sure that letting a evil dude merge with a god is a good idea OL ...

Chaoswind · Thursday at 10:53 AM

thebishop8 said:
When they first talked about releasing phantom zone prisoners, Faora Hu-Ul was mentioned:

I guess they'll have to figure out somewhere else to put her and the other prisoners they weren't planning on releasing yet.

Gold kryptonite on all of them and drop Faora on temesira to continue her sentence.

WereDragon · Thursday at 12:21 PM

Mr Zoat said:
"Hey, my wards actually did something! I'd sort of gotten used to my preparations not working."

Sad but true.
Nice to see this wrapped up quickly though.

Ah. Bear no more intruders?

Not sure about the use of bear here.

Steelplaza · Thursday at 12:45 PM

Ngamer11 said:
That was quick. At least this means Jax-Ur won't be a future problem.

No, all it means is that Jax-Ur's mind will be the only one to merge with the Oversoul and thus become its sole template for how to act as a thinking being.

...

Wait, that means he won't be a future problem?

Attention Counting · Thursday at 1:29 PM

Mr Zoat said:
As the burning bush was to Moses.

... it knows about Moses? Did it read from OL's mind or did other people that were in the Phantom Zone know the story?

Mr Zoat said:
"While there's a theological argument in favour of letting you out and executing you, legally I'm not allowed to execute people on Earth and we can't try you for a crime that happened on Krypton and that you've already been sentenced for."

"The-!"

"But by that token, I have no right to remove you." I shake my head. "Much as I hate wasting knowledge, I have no intention of saving you." I sigh. "Give me everyone else, and I'll get out of your scales."

"NOOOOOO!"

That was cold. Giving him hope before taking it away from him.

Vaermina said:
Orange Lantern does realize this could result in the godlike being gaining a taste for murder, right?

Why are we assuming that said godlike being would be gaining a taste for murder? I'm pretty certain that it already has murdered people in the Phantom Zone before, given how old it is. In that case, it already has a "taste for murder."

Ngamer11 · Thursday at 1:40 PM

Attention Counting said:
That was cold. Giving him hope before taking it away from him.

Why should Paul feel sorry for the unrepentant murderous mad scientist? He's not going to provide anything that Paul can't get in other ways.

crazygrox · Thursday at 2:09 PM

Mr Zoat said:
Give me everyone else, and I'll get out of your scales."

Weren't there a few others they didn't want out?

Attention Counting · Thursday at 2:10 PM

Ngamer11 said:
Why should Paul feel sorry for the unrepentant murderous mad scientist? He's not going to provide anything that Paul can't get in other ways.

There is a difference between feeling sorry and playing with someone's hope. That being said I don't think OL necessarily had any malicious intent in doing it and was just being all OL about it, you know?

Clell65619 · Thursday at 2:57 PM

Wow, an extremely reasonable, near omnipotent being/universe. Didn't expect that.

CrazyNoVa · Thursday at 3:37 PM

Mr Zoat said:
"Aethyr."

HA! CALLED IT!

Vaermina said:
Orange Lantern does realize this could result in the godlike being gaining a taste for murder, right?

Considering that we're talking about an Eldritch God, I seriously doubt that Jax-Ur would be powerful enough to overwhelm it. Still, I agree with you that it would be bad if Aethyr were to gain some of his personality traits or something like that.

Then again, it wouldn't have a way out of the zone or anything like that, and nobody is planning on using it in the future, so that might not even be a problem.

Bolo · Thursday at 5:03 PM

I'm surprised Paul is okayish with this as it very similar to the heaven hell thing, with eternal the punishment thing along with eating a crazy smart person that may merge into something worse….

Vaermina · Thursday at 5:52 PM

CrazyNoVa said:
Considering that we're talking about an Eldritch God, I seriously doubt that Jax-Ur would be powerful enough to overwhelm it. Still, I agree with you that it would be bad if Aethyr were to gain some of his personality traits or something like that.

Then again, it wouldn't have a way out of the zone or anything like that, and nobody is planning on using it in the future, so that might not even be a problem.

In comic world, I'd say the most likely occurrence in this would be Jax-Ur coming out on top and absorbing the God then becoming Orange Lantern's new self created Nemesis.

CrazyNoVa · Thursday at 6:27 PM

Vaermina said:
In comic world, I'd say the most likely occurrence in this would be Jax-Ur coming out on top and absorbing the God then becoming Orange Lantern's new self created Nemesis.

Unlikely. Even back in the comics, Jax-Ur has never been able to overpower godlike entities like Aethyr. Otherwise, if he could really overpower Aethyr, he would have done so a long time ago. Also, in this universe, he has never been exposed to a yellow sun. EVER. Thus, he's barely as powerful as a baseline human, which makes it even less likely that he'd be able to overpower Aethyr.

Besides, even if Jax-Ur did somehow overpower Aethyr and absorb it, then what? What good would that even do for Jax-Ur? Think about it: he'd still have no way to escape the Zone, and since nobody is planning to ever use the Zone after Paul frees all the other prisoners, this means nobody will ever go into the Zone again, and Jax-Ur will be trapped there alone for all eternity.

Zig · Thursday at 6:41 PM

Err did Paul really just get Aethyr to release *everyone* except one person when taking people out was what was pissing it off? Or did "everyone else" just mean everyone who was on the list for release?

Vaermina · Thursday at 6:44 PM

CrazyNoVa said:
Unlikely. Even back in the comics, Jax-Ur has never been able to overpower godlike entities like Aethyr. Otherwise, if he could really overpower Aethyr, he would have done so a long time ago. Also, in this universe, he has never been exposed to a yellow sun. EVER. Thus, he's barely as powerful as a baseline human, which makes it even less likely that he'd be able to overpower Aethyr.

Besides, even if Jax-Ur did somehow overpower Aethyr and absorb it, then what? What good would that even do for Jax-Ur? Think about it: he'd still have no way to escape the Zone, and since nobody is planning to ever use the Zone after Paul frees all the other prisoners, this means nobody will ever go into the Zone again, and Jax-Ur will be trapped there alone for all eternity.

The writers would just say he could, and then they would say that since Jax-Ur had Aethyr's power now he could leave or enter the Zone whenever he wanted.

Remember, the important point in Comic World isn't if a thing makes sense, it's if a thing would create an interesting story. And Orange Lantern, because of a moment of petty spite, creating his own Nemesis, is an interesting story.

Darko · Thursday at 6:50 PM

Bolo said:
I'm surprised Paul is okayish with this as it very similar to the heaven hell thing, with eternal the punishment thing along with eating a crazy smart person that may merge into something worse….

This wouldn't be the first time he did something like this.

When he freed Teth Adom the soul of Theodore Adams was eaten by Ammit.

Vaermina said:
The writers would just say he could, and then they would say that since Jax-Ur had Aethyr's power now he could leave or enter the Zone whenever he wanted.

Remember, the important point in Comic World isn't if a thing makes sense, it's if a thing would create an interesting story. And Orange Lantern, because of a moment of petty spite, creating his own Nemesis, is an interesting story.

Except Zoat can just decide that this is how Jax-Ur's story ends.

Wouldn't be the first time he derailed a potential nemesis.

He accidentally got a news intern fired for not informing him about a live interview, she got her hands on some magic powers and went to attack him, he easily subdued her and convinced her to not be his enemy.

BoML · Thursday at 6:58 PM

Mr Zoat said:
Nam-Ek looks up and the giant purple dragon head. "Aargh!"

"-annoyed about us putting people in here in such a way that they become part of his mind and then removing them again. I know that your appreciated the respite, but I wanted to check whether you were alright with it becoming completely permanent or not."

"And become part of the new colony?"

The bolded and underlined should be "you".

Also, Merry Christmas, Mr Zoat.

CrazyNoVa · Thursday at 7:26 PM

Vaermina said:
The writers would just say he could, and then they would say that since Jax-Ur had Aethyr's power now he could leave or enter the Zone whenever he wanted.

Remember, the important point in Comic World isn't if a thing makes sense, it's if a thing would create an interesting story. And Orange Lantern, because of a moment of petty spite, creating his own Nemesis, is an interesting story.

You forget two important things: One, this is not a comic world. This is a rationalist fanfiction based on a TV show which in turn doesn't totally follow comic world logic either. Thus, we can't trust comic book logic to foretell future events here. Two, even if that wasn't the case, remember that this story is written by a guy who has a clear distaste of many things that would be considered standard Comic World logic, meaning that things like what you're describing are even less likely to happen here. Mr. Zoat isn't a die-hard follower of standard comic book tropes, after all.

Also, having Aethyr's power wouldn't let Jax-Ur escape the Zone. After all, if Aethyr had the power to escape the Zone, it would have already used it to abduct people from the outside to drag them into the Zone so it could feed on them, instead of just waiting for people to throw other people in it. And people would have stopped using the Zone much sooner.

Mr Zoat · Thursday at 7:54 PM

WereDragon said:
Not sure about the use of bear here.

I think that's alright. It means 'put up with no more intruders'. 'Bear' in the sense of 'carry a load'.

crazygrox said:
Weren't there a few others they didn't want out?

No. There were a lot others they didn't want out.

BoML said:
The bolded and underlined should be "you".

Thank you, corrected.

Also, Merry Christmas, Mr Zoat.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

CrazyNoVa said:
Also, having Aethyr's power wouldn't let Jax-Ur escape the Zone. After all, if Aethyr had the power to escape the Zone, it would have already used it to abduct people from the outside to drag them into the Zone so it could feed on them, instead of just waiting for people to throw other people in it. And people would have stopped using the Zone much sooner.

It's not just that. Aethyr already has access to everything about Jax-Ur. He had that the moment he entered the Phantom Zone. What he's about to do is make it so that the Jax-Ur part of Aethyr isn't a coherent thing in its own right as well.

AverusBlack · Friday at 4:48 AM

Attention Counting said:
That was cold. Giving him hope before taking it away from him.

Jax-ur took the hopes of 500 others. He could and would do it again. He is not worthy of having any.

I wonder what that looks like in the honden. A scar where the hopes of the people who died simply stop, before the full design of their lives gives it definition? Like the embellishment of architecture, but stopped halfway through as though the carver just up and took a break? Sheared connections? A blank place where hopes should have been? Who knows.

Merry Christmas, or Yule, or whatever holiday you're celebrating. Hogsmas?

Vaermina · Friday at 4:51 AM

AverusBlack said:
Jax-ur took the hopes of 500 others. He could and would do it again. He is not worthy of having any.

I wonder what that looks like in the honden. A scar where the hopes of the people who died simply stop, before the full design of their lives gives it definition? Like the embellishment of architecture, but stopped halfway through as though the carver just up and took a break? Sheared connections? A blank place where hopes should have been? Who knows.

Merry Christmas, or Yule, or whatever holiday you're celebrating. Hogsmas?

Orange Lantern has killed more innocents then Jax-ur.

AverusBlack · Friday at 6:06 AM

Vaermina said:
Orange Lantern has killed more innocents then Jax-ur.

I never said he didn't. It's a utility calculation. Jax-Ur is indiscriminate; the Illustres is all about being discriminate. A straight body count isn't what makes him unworthy, it's the callousness of his actions. Paul would feel bad if he killed somebody he didn't intend to kill. Jax-Ur would just shrug and go about his day. It's not the same.

Also please don't waste my time with useless whataboutism. I know you have a hate-on for the story and I really don't care. You seem to be one of those people who is contrarian just for the sake of it and I find those people tiresome. You are the only person here I do not want to engage with, so put me on ignore and leave me alone please.

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

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