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

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-12-30T06:58:01+0000

Mr Zoat said:
12th August 2013
2/11 7/11 Local Time

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

"This obviously isn't going to work."

Well, you know that, but if it makes them feel better about doing something, then let them run around. Never know, they might get lucky and actually find her. Then it falls to the humans to go get her.

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

Don't assume the internet isn't making unwanted art of you anyway. And it probably makes sense that she uses the Wisdom of Solomon more than he does to improve her intellect. Who doesn't want to be smarter, after all?

"Hrrrrrrr."

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

I figure she'd been doing that anyway. But spotting Non or her (assumed) unmodified appearance could still happen. Or worse, she's posing as a Xudarian now.

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

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

Yeah, don't get concerned about their futile scrambling. If it helps, it helps, if it doesn't, well, it serves as a lesson for them about unexpected circumstances.

"Marvel. Go ahead."

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

Since she's the only Marvel family member here, does it really matter?

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

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

Though it does amuse me for her to learn about the Marvel character and go 'ugh, I just can win, can I?'

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

"Uh, yeah?"

Strange how that happened. Ah, the 40's, when they were still shaping the tropes of Comic Book Superheroes. At any rate, Hal... The actual point of your call?

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

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

The Speed of Mercury not always helpful, eh?

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

"Okay."

A reasonable precaution, especially since she's capable of going toe-to-toe with a kryptonian (what gap she has in strength is made up for by magic...)

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

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

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

There's definitely going to some discussion on that front. OL's not gonna live that down anytime soon, is he...

"Understood."

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

I picture them looking like poorly-dubbed movie footage, like old kung-fu movies or anime dubs. At the very least, ever-so-slightly out-of-sync audio, no matter how good the tempo matches the mouthflaps.

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

At least they're being diligent about checking, even if the off-site confirmation could be fooled by holographics or light-bending magic.

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

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

Don't get complacent, Mary. The situation could change rapidly.

Great! So now I'm stuck here.

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

...And for some reason, I'm picturing the Bolters from Brosef's 'Nin-to-Five' fic: puppets that are just a handful of lockable bug-like limbs holding a tube that launches ninja throwing weapons out of storage seals, and a puppet eye to look through. Bottom-of-the-barrel effort to make, and Ryoma the SI can have dozens stowed away, because they also explode...

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

Eh, that's the difference between mere technology and the 'mad' science! Earth hypercognitives perform: Presentation!

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

Indeed. And there's probably places around the spaceports that see more off-worlders who wouldn't blink twice at these pink-skinned, flat-faced hairballs.

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

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

The personal shields are quite well secured , I hope. Preferably in places they can't easily get at by themselves...

"Lyla was pretending to be Non."

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

That's a good question to ask, since he maybe knew Non before the supposed 'lobotomisation' incident. And the Timaron incident... How long has he been exposed to Lyla, he's wondering...

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

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

The problem is that she might have left telepathic hooks to make you willing to do what she asks of you. Like slaughtering everyone between her and a spaceship... There's no backup muscle like two empowered kryptonians.

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

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

Since while he's probably getting executed, at least a judicial execution will be humane. Lyla might well decide to make it hurt.

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

Um.

I wonder if going from Zeus to Susanoo has changed the nature of the boons any. Can they throw lightning now? Perhaps some manner of electrical-sensing perception bonus...

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

"A sunstone."

A potent power source, but not especially useful to them, even if they had any remaining tech present.

"Why?"

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

...Because of course that might have happened.

"Was that a problem?"

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

And it's a safe bet it would have been like chum in the water to the Dominators.

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

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

Given that some depictions of it treat it like hyper-adjustable custom nanomaterials, I'm not surprised.

The air in his cell shimmers-.

A thin alien in cream and purple armour teleports in!

I'm guessing this is Lyla. Or just a random Dominator special operative. Either way, it looks like Hal suspected right.

"Here."

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

"Escape."

And I bet that's a post-hypnotic command being activated...

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

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

So much for the radiation shields, I guess. Now, what will he do, I wonder...

All right, escape attempt set up. But will Zod play along, or will he resist the urge to flee? Depending on whether there were any lingering telepathic commands set up, he may well try to do both. I'm willing to bet that was Lyla popping in to set up a distraction while she tries to leave the planet, though. Now, how will our heroes react?

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-30T08:30:32+0000

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

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

Not enough, alas.

Duke Long · 2025-12-30T08:50:22+0000

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

Extraneous 'of'

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

'they've'

Why empower Zod? As Vaermina says it could be a distraction. Could also be an attempt to get Marvel killed, to remove one of the people on the planet who is immune to telepathy. At this point it doesn't seem like there's much point in getting Zod or Ursa killed because the Dominators seem to already be pretty well rumbled, but they might not know how much their opposition has figured out.

Bud-E · 2025-12-30T11:11:16+0000

Do the radiation shields not work? Or are sunstones that powerful?

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-30T11:30:03+0000

Duke Long said:
Extraneous 'of'
'they've'

Thank you, corrected.

Why empower Zod? As Vaermina says it could be a distraction.

My word. A few more sensible suggestions and I may have to consider unblocking them.

Bud-E said:
Do the radiation shields not work? Or are sunstones that powerful?

It's explained tomorrow, but you remember the SI telling Superman that a radiation shield wouldn't do a thing if the kryptonite was touching him? Same thing.

mastermenthe · 2025-12-30T13:05:18+0000

Mr Zoat said:
My word. A few more sensible suggestions and I may have to consider unblocking them.

It's a trap! The less engagement he recieves the more sensible he becomes!
In a perfect vacuum, Vaermina undergoes a metamorphosis into a normal person with surprising insight!

Steelplaza · 2025-12-30T13:42:01+0000

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

Another way to stop Almarak from hunting down the remainder of their species would be to go kill Almarak, who is conveniently on this planet.

Darko · 2025-12-30T13:43:48+0000

Mr Zoat said:
My word. A few more sensible suggestions and I may have to consider unblocking them.

A broken clock can be right twice a day but that doesn't mean that you should keep it around.

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-30T13:49:14+0000

Steelplaza said:
Another way to stop Almarak from hunting down the remainder of their species would be to go kill Almarak, who is conveniently on this planet.

Almerac is a planet. Did you mean Amalak?

Zig · 2025-12-30T14:54:30+0000

Wait so real Non can speak and is seemingly not brain damaged. The reason fake Non was mute and brain damaged is presumably because Paul expected him to be, and the reason Paul expected him to be is because of the Superman movie. How much meta knowledge did Lyla pull from Paul's brain?

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-30T15:11:18+0000

Zig said:
Wait so real Non can speak and is seemingly not brain damaged. The reason fake Non was mute and brain damaged is presumably because Paul expected him to be, and the reason Paul expected him to be is because of the Superman movie. How much meta knowledge did Lyla pull from Paul's brain?

The SI doesn't know. For all he knows, the illusion was entirely inside his head.

Darko · 2025-12-30T15:37:40+0000

Zig said:
Wait so real Non can speak and is seemingly not brain damaged. The reason fake Non was mute and brain damaged is presumably because Paul expected him to be, and the reason Paul expected him to be is because of the Superman movie. How much meta knowledge did Lyla pull from Paul's brain?

It's possible that since she replaced Non she's been pretending that he has brain damage so that others won't be suspicious of her disguise as an extra layer of security.

Jor-El and others like Zod knew that the Science Council could do some extremely amoral things to maintain power, so they may not have questioned that they would lobotomize someone.

And it makes sense that Non-Du would be chosen to act as a disguise.

He worked as a minor technician under Jor-El, so he may have some access to advanced tech.

Replacing Jor-El may have proven more difficult because he would be under more scrutiny and supervision from the Science Council, so even a minor slip up could have doomed her.

The same applies with Zod.

However a minor technician and later glorified leg-breaker would not need much investigating.

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-31T06:19:40+0000

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

The red beams burn through the wall of his cell from top to bottom as I fly at him and punch him in the jaw! He gets knocked back a little, but-. He's flying, and he's using that to hold himself in place, the sunstone in his right hand where it can bypass the radiation shields.

Um.

Okay, I know roughly how fast kryptonians power up from the sun which is why I didn't hit him at full power, but I've got no idea how fast they can power up from a crystal designed to power them up.

"Green Lantern!" I dart towards the hand holding the stone and spin as he tries to block me, kicking him on the knuckles and-. Uragh, he moved with the kick and didn't drop it! "Teleport jammer!"

Sheltering the stone, Zod lunges at me, using his growing speed to strike at me and keep me back.

"Marvel, Dominion ships are entering the system."

"Dominators teleporting!"

Heat vision ow-. Okay then. I duck under him, flying between his legs and-

"SHASAM!"

-dodge, lightning exploding from nowhere and striking Zod in the chest as it tries to hit me.

"Agh!"

It doesn't sound right without the 'Z'. We need to talk to Hephaestus-. Taean, about sorting out some sort of bypass.

I check the lightning's all gone before flying upright with my fists on my hips. "Give up and drop the stone!"

His hair's singed, his clothes are burning off, ew, and he's struggling to get back in the air. But I can see his skin healing, the charred bits flaking off.

"I am scheduled to die anyway. Why should I give up a weapon?"

"Because you know you're wrong, and when you know you're wrong you should stop doing the thing you know is wrong!"

"I can't kill everyone on Timaron twice. But-." He winces, because oh yes, getting hit with lots of magical lightning causes internal burns, too. "That's not what it's about."

"You want to kill more people?"

"No." He jerks his head to the side and fires heat vision at the wall again!

I dive forwards and punch him right in the forehead. This time I put serious force into it, sending him flying back into the wall and hitting hard enough to cause a crater!

I give him a moment to knock it off, but he just staggers out of the wall and sets his feet. He looks up at me, and half… Smiles?

"It's not about me."

And he-.

He threw the sunstone through the hole in the wall! Where'd it g-?

Dodge!

Another beam of heat vision blasts through the wall, cutting the cell in half!

"General-."

"Go!"

I hear the burr sounds of the monkey robots trying to shoot Ursa and doing nothing at all as she smashes her way out.

Zod nods. "Have you killed before, girl?"

"Have you?"

He clenches and unclenches his right fist, checking that it still works. "That's why I'm here."

I shake my head. "No, I mean, close up. You only just got superstrength, but maybe you used a gun or something?"

"I… Can't say I have. Krypton was peaceful for my entire life. Have you?"

I nod, making sure that my eyes never leave his. "Yes. Earth hasn't been peaceful for even a single day in my life. The first time I ever killed someone wasn't even this year. Sheeda usually bleed grey, but if you punch them hard enough in the stomach you just get covered in whatever they'd been eating." I sigh. "I don't like knowing that, but I do, and I can't go back to not knowing it."

"To kill in defence of your people is an admirable thing."

"No. It's just something you need to do-" Mercury-speed so I can fly to above him and Hercules-strength hammer! "-sometimes."

He turns as he falls, eyes flaring red as he fires-. Wide beam, his eyes are unfocused, and Atlas-stamina keeps my skin and costume safe.

"Green Lantern, Ursa's got a sunstone and she's escaped. I'm busy with Zod."

"Got it."

Zod makes another crater, but metal and concrete aren't enough to hurt people like us. He comes to his feet and shoots upwards, telegraphing a right hook which I dodge-.

His left arm comes around as he spins-.

Cables!

I wince as the woven metal ropes he pulled out of the floor lash my eyes, knocking me aside-.

Block! Spin kick counter!

It hit, and he's-. The burns that are left aren't healing. He's just going to get weaker-. His eyes still aren't focusing right.

He comes at me again anyway.

Punches, hard and quick as he can. Dodge, dodge, turn it aside. He's slowing down. He knows that he can't go as fast as I can so he needs to keep attacking me. Dodgegrab, wrist and upper arm, hands down and knee up!

SNAP!

UGH!

Uh, looks like I made the crater this time. Ribs ache and kidneys… Have to make sure I'm fully healed before I go home. But Zod's right arm is out of action, and that hurts. And he's not actually used to getting hurt.

He flies at me again, trying a spinning kick. But it's too slow.

SNAP!

And that's his knee, and the shock makes him fall to the ground more than the actual force. He tries standing, but his leg gives way and for a moment he just collapses before catching himself with his flight.

PUNCH!

My fist hitting his forehead sends him back into his wall crater, and this time he's too woozy to move. But he's still conscious. Still dangerous.

I pick him up by the neck and punch him in the diaphragm, the air in his lungs shooting out like a short-lived gale. Then I-.

Ah, there it is. I drop Zod onto his face and pull the cables off the ground, binding his arms, and then his legs, and then tying the two together. By the time he's coherent the empowerment should have worn off.

"Marvel to Green Lantern. Where do I take Zod?"

Ngamer11 · 2025-12-31T06:22:46+0000

I can't remember the last time we've seen one of the option symbols.

EgyptianDio · 2025-12-31T06:23:34+0000

Huh, nice to see her choose to do the heroic thing. Considering how she's the one member of the Marvel family that tends to go evil.

Ngamer11 · 2025-12-31T06:25:58+0000

EgyptianDio said:
Huh, nice to see her choose to do the heroic thing. Considering how she's the one member of the Marvel family that tends to go evil.

That's usually only because of outside influences. On her own Mary Marvel is as moral as her brother.

Edit: Young Justice is the sole exception I can think of, but that's Season 4 stuff and Mr Zoat usually doesn't get anything past Season 2.

Darko · 2025-12-31T06:28:11+0000

Nice job, Mary.

Mr Zoat said:
It doesn't sound right without the 'Z'. We need to talk to Hephaestus-. Taean, about sorting out some sort of bypass

Maybe ask Susanoo to adopt another name that starts with a Z.

Lots of gods hane more than one name.

Mr Zoat said:
His hair's singed, his clothes are burning off, ew, and he's struggling to get back in the air. But I can see his skin healing, the charred bits flaking off

Honestly thought that magic lighting would do more damage.

Granted, people have survived lighting strikes.

Mr Zoat said:
But-." He wince,

"winces"

Mr Zoat said:
peaceful for my entirely life. Have you?"

"entire"

Mr Zoat said:
your people in an admirable thing."

"is an"

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-31T06:39:59+0000

Ngamer11 said:
Edit: Young Justice is the sole exception I can think of, but that's Season 4 stuff and Mr Zoat usually doesn't get anything past Season 2.

Don't even get me started on that stuff. Her going evil was stupid and out of character in the comics, then they did it again, and then when Young Justice finally brings her in that's the bit they go with?

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-12-31T07:08:58+0000

Mr Zoat said:
12th August 2013
2/11 7/11 Local Time

The red beams burn through the wall of his cell from top to bottom as I fly at him and punch him in the jaw! He gets knocked back a little, but-. He's flying, and he's using that to hold himself in place, the sunstone in his right hand where it can bypass the radiation shields.

Ah, flight that doesn't require constant movement to maintain itself. Always such a cheat ability in superpowered combat. Especially for those used to using its trickier possibilities. Fortunately, Zod probably doesn't have that much experience being empowered.

Um.

Okay, I know roughly how fast kryptonians power up from the sun which is why I didn't hit him at full power, but I've got no idea how fast they can power up from a crystal designed to power them up.

I rather imagine it can bypass the normal limitations on rate of charge... Somehow. Because kryptonians certainly mastered their own biology quite early, and their exotic abilities are well-understood.

"Green Lantern!" I dart towards the hand holding the stone and spin as he tries to block me, kicking him on the knuckles and-. Uragh, he moved with the kick and didn't drop it! "Teleport jammer!"

Sheltering the stone, Zod lunges at me, using his growing speed to strike at me and keep me back.

at anything close to equal levels of strength, she loses this fight, because he is a trained soldier. Even if he hadn't kept up with unarmed combat training over the years, he's still better trained than she is.

"Marvel, Dominion ships are entering the system."

"Dominators teleporting!"

Which means the infiltrator was probably a Dominator agent, and Lyla has possibly already been retrieved...

Heat vision ow-. Okay then. I duck under him, flying between his legs and-

"SHASAM!"

Would've given him a tap to the danglies on the way through, lightning or no lightning, just to double-up on shocks.

-dodge, lightning exploding from nowhere and striking Zod in the chest as it tries to hit me.

"Agh!"

It doesn't sound right without the 'Z'. We need to talk to Hephaestus-. Taean, about sorting out some sort of bypass.

Or maybe ask Susanoo about granting them the ability to throw lightning. Would make doing that a lot easier.

I check the lightning's all gone before flying upright with my fists on my hips. "Give up and drop the stone!"

His hair's singed, his clothes are burning off, ew, and he's struggling to get back in the air. But I can see his skin healing, the charred bits flaking off.

Hopefully his pants stayed on.

Full-frontal assaults get even worse when a teenage girl is involved...

"I am scheduled to die anyway. Why should I give up a weapon?"

"Because you know you're wrong, and when you know you're wrong you should stop doing the thing you know is wrong!"

Sadly, sunk-cost fallacies are a thing, as is being too stubborn to stop.

"I can't kill everyone on Timaron twice. But-." He wince, because oh yes, getting hit with lots of magical lightning causes internal burns, too. "That's not what it's about."

"You want to kill more people?"

"No." He jerks his head to the side and fires heat vision at the wall again!

The cell holding Ursa. Oh, hell, he's going to empower her instead.

I dive forwards and punch him right in the forehead. This time I put serious force into it, sending him flying back into the wall and hitting hard enough to cause a crater!

I give him a moment to knock it off, but he just staggers out of the wall and sets his feet. He looks up at me, and half… Smiles?

Dammit, never let up, Mary. Because when they smile like that, you know they're thinking they won.

"It's not about me."

And he-.

He threw the sunstone through the hole in the wall! Where'd it g-?

Ursa's cell. She's almost certainly powering up right now. The problem is what she's going to do next.

Dodge!

Another beam of heat vision blasts through the wall, cutting the cell in half!

Most likely she'd look to assist him first, but...

"General-."

"Go!"

...He's more concerned with her escape, it seems. What's the bet he glanced at her with x-ray vision and saw the foetus?

I hear the burr sounds of the monkey robots trying to shoot Ursa and doing nothing at all a she smashes her way out.

Zod nods. "Have you killed before, girl?"

And Ursa is gone. She has to know she can't get off-world without a lot of effort, doesn't she? She may not know about the whole lockdown, but she'd expect the spaceports to seal the second they learned she's out...

"Have you?"

He clenches and unclenches his right fist, checking that it still works. "That's why I'm here."

No, there's a big difference between ordering people killed and doing it yourself.

I shake my head. "No, I mean, close up. You only just got superstrength, but maybe you used a gun or something?"

"I… Can't say I have. Krypton was peaceful for my entirely life. Have you?"

Ironic. One of Krypton's greatest mass-murderers...

I nod, making sure that my eyes never leave his. "Yes. Earth hasn't been peaceful for even a single day in my life. The first time I ever killed someone wasn't even this year. Sheeda usually bleed grey, but if you punch them hard enough in the stomach you just get covered in whatever they'd been eating." I sigh. "I don't like knowing that, but I do, and I can't go back to not knowing it."

It's a pity a girl that young has to know that, but she did jump into this life when it called. And she's wise enough to understand that sometimes you can't hold back.

"To kill in defence of your people in an admirable thing."

"No. It's just something you need to do-" Mercury-speed so I can fly to above him and Hercules-strength hammer! "-sometimes."

There's also a big difference in defending your people from belligerent enemies and in blasting a race almost out of existence. As a distraction.

He turns as he falls, eyes flaring red as he fires-. Wide beam, his eyes are unfocused, and Atlas-stamina keeps my skin and costume safe.

"Green Lantern, Ursa's got a sunstone and she's escaped. I'm busy with Zod."

Good thing her powers protect her communicator.

"Got it."

Zod makes another crater, but metal and concrete aren't enough to hurt people like us. He comes to his feet and shoots upwards, telegraphing a right hook which I dodge-.

His left arm comes around as he spins-.

Damn, dragon-uppercutted her.

Cables!

I wince as the woven metal ropes he pulled out of the floor lashes my eyes, knocking me aside-.

The risk is of her getting entangled long enough for him to knock her out, even if she's now stronger than him

Block! Spin kick counter!

It hit, and he's-. The burns that are left aren't healing. He's just going to get weaker-. His eyes still aren't focusing right.

He's running out of charge already. Not surprising given how full-throttle he's been going with the heat vision and flight alone.

He comes at me again anyway.

Punches, hard and quick as he can. Dodge, dodge, turn it aside. He's slowing down. He knows that he can't go as fast as I can so he needs to keep attacking me. Dodgegrab, wrist and upper arm, hands down and knee up!

He's got guts, but guts and skill can't overcome increasingly superior strength. Once she has a grip on him...

SNAP!

UGH!

Okay, he's still got a few tricks up his burnt-off sleeve.

Uh, looks like I made the crater this time. Ribs ache and kidneys… Have to make sure I'm fully healed before I go home. But Zod's right arm is out of action, and that hurts. And he's not actually used to getting hurt.

He flies at me again, trying a spinning kick. But it's too slow.

I'm guessing he's been trained in empowered combat but never used it much and spent most of his time in a command chair since Basic.

SNAP!

And that's his knee, and the shock makes him fall to the ground more than the actual force. He tries standing, but his leg gives way and for a moment he just collapses before catching himself with his flight.

Damn, I bet people with chronic knee pain are jelly right now...

PUNCH!

My fist hitting his forehead sends him back into his wall crater, and this time he's too woozy to move. But he's still conscious. Still dangerous.

Though probably a little concussed now that his brain isn't especially super-durable.

I pick him up by the neck and punch him in the diaphragm, the air in his lungs shooting out like a short-lived gale. Then I-.

>Paragon Interrupt<

Ah, hardly a more appropriate character for that. Especially given her entirely-modern history of being turned into a villain via corrupting influences.

Ah, there it is. I drop Zod onto his face and pull the cables off the ground, binding his arms, and then his legs, and then tying the two together. By the time he's coherent the empowerment should have worn off.

"Marvel to Green Lantern. Where do I take Zod?"

And Zod is out cold. Hopefully Osiris and the others can keep Ursa contained amidst all this Dominator tomfoolery.

One kryptonian contained. One on the loose and Lyla still in the wind somewhere, possibly with stolen Kryptonian powers thanks to her people's weirder abilities. And the Dominators are rolling in with eyes on the Doomsday. Probably figuring they can perform grand theft starship while everyone's looking planet-side. A bold move, so let's see how the heroes stop them...

Signaller · 2025-12-31T07:11:30+0000

Remind me, is Mary Marvel adult or child-sized? Does Zod know, roughly, how old she is?

NightmareWarden · 2025-12-31T07:33:04+0000

Do we think that over the last couple hours Lyla telepathically briefed the kryptonians on strategies and key information relevant for any escapees' tactics? Beyond her ten-second appearance last update. Or do we think Zodd and Ursa are just in sync, improvising once they saw a chance to break out?

Z000 · 2025-12-31T08:18:17+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Don't even get me started on that stuff. Her going evil was stupid and out of character in the comics, then they did it again, and then when Young Justice finally brings her in that's the bit they go with?

i don't read these comic but are their writer really that creatively bankrupt to just do these that much

seriously, it almost 80 years of superhero stuff, they have to understand that these move been done before

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-31T08:34:29+0000

Darko said:
"winces"
"entire"
"is an"

Thank you, corrected.

Signaller said:
Remind me, is Mary Marvel adult or child-sized? Does Zod know, roughly, how old she is?

Tween-sized. She was born in 2000, so 13ish. Zod has no idea, but is thinking of her as 'cadet age'.

BR549 · 2025-12-31T08:38:40+0000

Ngamer11 said:
That's usually only because of outside influences. On her own Mary Marvel is as moral as her brother.

Edit: Young Justice is the sole exception I can think of, but that's Season 4 stuff and Mr Zoat usually doesn't get anything past Season 2.

Well, there's also plausibly Earth 14, but since there she's Superwoman of the Crime Syndicate we can assume the universal moral inversion probably counts as an "outside influence".

Vaermina · 2025-12-31T10:22:30+0000

You know... I can't really criticize Zod for this...

Because trying to save his pregnant girlfriend from what has all the hallmarks of a showtrial that will end with her execution is very much a heroic act.

Duke Long · 2025-12-31T11:13:41+0000

Mr Zoat said:
I hear the burr sounds of the monkey robots trying to shoot Ursa and doing nothing at all a she smashes her way out.

'as'

Mr Zoat said:
I wince as the woven metal ropes he pulled out of the floor lashes my eyes, knocking me aside-.

'lash'

Vaermina said:
You know... I can't really criticize Zod for this...

Because trying to save his pregnant girlfriend from what has all the hallmarks of a showtrial that will end with her execution is very much a heroic act.

Well, he is knowingly working with the super-evil Dominators by doing this. I think it can reasonably be argued to be evil even if it's not totally clear cut.

Edit: Come to think of it, does he know it's the Dominators? I'm not sure he got told. So in that case he's merely working with the mysterious people/person who mind controlled him into destroying Timaron and quite possible ruined his plan for evacuation of Krypton.

Mr Zoat · 2025-12-31T12:44:33+0000

Duke Long said:
'as'
'lash'

Thank you, corrected.

CrazyNoVa · 2025-12-31T13:31:18+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Don't even get me started on that stuff. Her going evil was stupid and out of character in the comics, then they did it again, and then when Young Justice finally brings her in that's the bit they go with?

Oh, you think that's dumb? Trust me, the show gets worse. How about the fact that they're bringing in stuff from Heroes In Crisis, one of the most hated comic book stories of the last decade or so?

Not dumb enough? Get this: The heroes basically forgave Klarion and actually made him a member of their magic squad in Season 4. This is in spite of the fact that he's showed virtually zero remorse for what he did back in Season one.

Still not doing it for you? How about all the other things they botched up in later seasons, like Beast Boy's trauma subplot, the nonsensical Emerald Empress, or how they portrayed the Powers of Shazam? I can do this all day.

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

Veteran Lurker

Dedicated ragequitter

Glomerulus

Stand up so I can push you down!

Dedicated ragequitter

Mint Thistle

Custom Title

Connoisseur.

Dedicated ragequitter

Not too sore, are you?

Dedicated ragequitter

Connoisseur.

Dedicated ragequitter

Experienced.

DAJAKU! DAJAKU!

Experienced.

Connoisseur.

Dedicated ragequitter

Veteran Lurker

Not too sore, are you?

Versed in the lewd.

If this is trash, then find me in the dumpster

Dedicated ragequitter

This is filth! FILTH!!

Well worn.

Glomerulus

Dedicated ragequitter

Not too sore, are you?

Users who are viewing this thread