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

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With This Ring
Current Story Only
Second Revised Story Only (Now up to date!)
Historical Story...

Mr Zoat

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With This Ring
Current Story Only
Second Revised Story Only (Now up to date!)
Historical Story Only
Original Story Only
Revised Story Only
Main threads
Thread 1
Thread 2
Thread 3
Thread 4
Thread 5
Thread 6
Thread 7
Thread 8
Thread 9
Thread 10
Thread 11
Thread 12
Thread 13
TVTropes page
With This Ring Wiki
Orange Lantern Morality Debate Thread
Tool for viewing older links

epubs for Seasons 01-03 by @Twilight666 (up to episode 66) can be found on these MediaFire and GoogleDrive folders. Or alternatively:
Season 01 (Episodes 01-26) [MediaFire][MediaFire Alt. Formatting][GoogleDrive] (corrections added up to 07/03/2018)
Season 02 (Episodes 27-52) [MediaFire][MediaFire Alt. Formatting][GoogleDrive] (corrections added up to 12/10/2017)
Season 03 (Episodes 53-66) [MediaFire][MediaFire Alt. Formatting][GoogleDrive] (chapters up to 07/03/2018)

epub for episodes 1-116 by gustyeagle
Here

Story compilation from MIG2551
With This Ring-Mr Zoat.html



Story FAQ

You have an FAQ?

The first rule of the FAQ is 'don't talk about the FAQ'.

The second appears to be 'don't read the FAQ'.

What is this about?
With This Ring is a Self Insert (SI) story in which an individual very much like the author finds themselves in a fictional setting, in this case Earth 16. He is equipped with the pyjamas he was wearing when he appeared and an orange power ring.

What is Earth 16?
Earth 16 is the setting of the animated series Young Justice, the associated comics and that game we don't talk about. The number serves to differentiate it from other versions of Earth created by DC comics. For example, Batman: the Animated Series, Superman: the Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited take place on Earth 12. The SI's planet of origin will be referred to as Earth Prime.

Yes, that's a very Earth centric way of listing parallel universes.

Earth 16 is similar to pre-Flashpoint Earth 1, with some of the more extreme power sets toned down a bit. Superman is very strong, but he can't juggle planets. The Flash is very fast, but he can't run backwards or forwards in time. The Justice League has been together as a group for seven years.

How often do you post?
For over four years this story has updated daily. I aim to maintain this. Help me.

How does this story deviate from canon?
While I have tried to keep the story as true to the original series as possible one or two things have slipped by. For example, it is strongly implied that Alan Scott died some time before series one while here he is alive and serves as a major supporting character. In this story Donna Troy is known to Wonder Woman and has worked with her for several years while in the series (due to some sort of legal dispute) she never made an appearance and didn't start working with Wonder Woman until after series one ended. The 11th of September attacks never happened in this version of the setting due to the radically different post World War Two Middle Eastern history which gave rise to entirely different countries.

As to what else is canon, I have made use of things written by the series' co-creator Greg Weisman's website, stuff from the Young Justice comic and quite a lot from wider DC canon.

Further deviations will occur as the SI causes changes that would not have occurred without him.

What does Renegade mean?
The morality system of the computer game Mass Effect describes aggressively assertive actions as 'renegade' and friendly and diplomatic actions as 'paragon'.

The SI is mostly paragon, going to considerable lengths to get on with everyone he meets. The Renegade parts of the story describe a version of him who made some rather different choices, and the results thereof. Renegade sections will usually have the date and time written in red.

Strongly renegade aligned decisions will be indicated with the renegade star-in-a-circle image.

HCV9YvU.png


Strongly paragon aligned decisions will be marked with the paragon wing-in-a-circle.

240px-Paragon_Interrupt.png


Please note that the main SI's paragon decisions are usually not marked in this way as there would be too many of them.

As of the present time none of the actions that have taken place in the Renegade timeline have affected the main SI's timeline and vice versa. Yes, this means that you can skip them if you like.

Edit: 31Mar2020
As of now that is no longer true, though you could skip it without losing much.

Renegade episodes are largely taken from the point of view of the Renegade. Again, at the moment they have not directly affected the main SI's timeline and I presently have no plans for them to do so. However, you may struggle to understand the SI segments in these episodes if you do not read the whole thing.

How are power rings made?
The hard way. Unlike in the older comics the power rings in this setting do not have the 'deputisation protocol' that briefly made a reappearance during Blackest Night. Forging a power ring or a personal lantern is a work that requires incredible spiritual discipline and technical skill.

latest

1000

Why are some parts of the text coloured?
Power rings require intense emotional focus to use well. To demonstrate this I have taken to colouring parts of the text to match the emotional resonance; yellow indicates that the person is feeling or provoking fear, for example.

What do different colours of power ring do?
Please note that a good deal of the below only applies to this story and is not normal DC canon.

Reds get red light blood vomit. That stuff will wreck pretty much anything. They can also take huge amounts of physical damage, being held together with red light. That's at least in part countered by the fact that they usually don't bother protecting themselves in other ways.
Orange gets assimilation and its variants.
Yellow constructs get reinforced by the fear they and their user generate.
Greens get minimal mental alterations.
Blues recharge from ambient hope.
Indigos can do long range teleportation and have some access to the other colours.
Violets can cause the violet light to manifest as a super strong mind altering crystal.
The rings used by the Anti-Green Lantern Corps can drain green rings for power and enhance the wearer's willpower at the cost of giving them a fatal brain haemorrhage after 24 hours.

What volume of space does the Green Lantern Corps patrol?
In this story sectors are relatively small, certainly far smaller than one 3600th of the Universe. All parts of the galaxy not specifically excluded by treaty have Lanterns assigned to them, as well as parts of intergalactic space and good chunks of the two nearest galaxies. Within a Sector forty-fifty inhabited worlds is the norm. Outside this area a major problem may well receive the attention of an Honour Guard strike force, with perhaps a garrison if the problem looks to be ongoing. The Corps is slowly expanding (Rot Lop Fan's homeworld is a highly radioactive place in intergalactic space) but the bigger it gets the harder it is to run and there aren't more Guardians to whom the existing ones can pass on responsibility.

What's with the invisible text?
Several characters use something called God Speech to communicate, most notably Mister Miracle, Big Barda and Grayven. Strictly speaking I should show this with a vast piece of psychedelic artwork but I'm just not that good an artist. In any location where New Gods are speaking it is probably worth selecting the text to see if there is anything to read that is hidden from mortal eyes.

I have also used invisible text for chess notation.

Are you going to cover the years in between series one and two?
Jumped up elementals help me, yes. This means that the story will be very long.

What to do in the event of a spelling error
Though I am a native English speaker I am not immune to making mistakes in my writing. Feel free to post any spelling, grammar or continuity errors you see in the main thread. However, in some cases I will not be able to correct the main thread if that thread has been locked so it is probably best to only remark on errors in the Story Only thread.

I also have... Let us call them 'grammatical idiosyncrasies'. These are not errors but intentional deviations from the norms of written English. For example, I use '..' to indicate a short unplanned pause in speech, while '...' indicates that speech trails off and stops. I also spell the exclamation 'whaw' rather than 'wow', due to the fact that as far as I am concerned it isn't a proper word but rather an attempt to write a noise and so should be written exactly as it sounds. I use speech marks at the end of paragraphs even when the same person will continue speaking in the next, because otherwise I lose track of the fact that it is speech. There will be other examples as well.

Speed Force?
Take it away Mister Weisman.
Greg Weisman said:
I'll admit I don't understand the Speed-Force. It comes after my time, so to speak, but I'll ask again, if there's a speed-force, does that also mean there's also a strength-force or an archery-force, etc.? What makes the concept necessary and not just unnecessarily complicated? I've not personally read the materials where it first appeared, so I have NO OPINION of them, but no one's ever been able to explain it to me OUT OF CONTEXT in a way that didn't cause me to make a 'yucky' face.

And AGAIN, I'll restate what I've stated many times since, which is that no one on Earth-16 has HEARD of the Speed-Force. If you want to believe it's there, but they just don't know about it, more power to you.

What's this about a game..?
Way way back many threads ago, I made a joke of implying that this story was a novelisation of a playthrough of a Young Justice RPG. Since then, several other posters have taken the idea and run with it. If you see a reference to a game, they are most likely doing that. Alternately, they might possibly be talking about the actual Young Justice game, but that happens far less frequently.

So... Spacebattles?
On the 30th of December I received a one day ban from Spacebattles. This was due to me posting the following:
'I've seen the film, and I'm still not sure how a government backed paramilitary counts as a rebellion.'
This fell afoul of the then Spacebattles policy of coming down hard on anyone talking about a film that may possibly involve... Wars. And maybe Stars.
My opinion is that this was complete overkill, and after my appeal was rejected I decided to move the thread to Sufficient Velocity. It will not be going back.

So... Sufficient Velocity?
On the 25th of January 2019 I received a one day ban from Sufficient Velocity. This was due to me posting the following:
Oooh. This is going to be one of those things where you find out that the writer's social views are radically different from your own, isn't it?

Both myself and the SI are of one mind on this matter. Joe Hamill is presently a woman. She was a man, and she is perfectly entitled to argue that she should be a man. She is perfectly entitled to state that she wants to go back to being a man. And the SI is going to aid her in realising that ambition. But at present, she is not a man. She also isn't a dog. She also isn't a wall, or a flower, or an attack helicopter, though those are perfectly fine things to be. She is plus breasts vagina minus penis testicles facial hair. She even has one of those ridiculous costumes certain comic illustrators like to draw on female characters but not on male ones.

She is a woman.

Edit: Relevant.

This fell afoul of Sufficient Velocity's somewhat expansive 'Don't Be Hateful' policy.
My opinion is that physical sex is physical sex, and that's what pronouns are for. I do not hate transsexuals -thought I was told during my appeal that describing trans people as transsexuals is no longer the done thing- and am, as I originally stated, perfectly happy for them to undergo whatever medical procedures they see fit to help them realise their goals.
While I'm perfectly happy for people to think other than I do on the subject, Sufficient Velocity moderators appear not to be. Once my appeal was rejected I decided to move the thread to Questionable Question. It will not be going back.

Scry Wards?
At a certain point in the story, the SI notices that he's finding it harder to locate people by power ring. The Doylist reason for this is that being able to find anyone he wants wherever they are is completely story breakingly powerful. The Watsonian reason is a nifty little magic trinket called a scry ward. Scrying is a form of magic remote viewing designed to locate people and objects. A scry ward is an artefact designed to make this either harder or impossible. It turns out that the mechanism used by power rings when they perform their basic scans is supremely vulnerable to being disrupted by these wards, and that weak versions are easy to mass produce. This means that sufficiently capable people can still hide, while still allowing the SI (and the Renegade) to use other ring-based techniques to try and find them.

Mantling?
I have never read The Dresden Files, but I am given to understanding that there in those stories there is a concept called 'mantling', where assuming a supernatural role grants increased power and a number of compulsions.
This is not The Dresden Files. Mantling is not a thing here.

Does God exist?
I am a weak atheist. I am not aware of any good evidence demonstrating the existing of the being described in monotheistic scriptures, though all that proves is the absence of evidence and not the absence of God-.

Oh, you meant in the story. Sorry. The answer to that is, sort of. No good evidence exists that demonstrates the existence of a being the SI described as 'Zeus but Nice', though Highfather Izaya looks a little like that. But there is something behind the Source Wall, and the theurgical style of magic is drawing power from somewhere.

What is the Anti-Life?
The Anti-Life is usually a MacGuffin that Darkseid desperately wants, and which would somehow allow him to permanently break the wills of all living beings. In the comics, it has been portrayed in a number of ways.

This is the one I was most familiar with. Then there's this and this or this or this.

I'm not a huge fan of the version of the Anti-Life equation as it was presented in Seven Soldiers. Or rather, it worked there because they made an effort to show that the mere words weren't all there was to it. It was in Final Crisis where they made it look like just.. saying the words was enough.

I've gone with something a little different again, probably more like the 'equations on a blackboard' version.

What Words Mean
When I use a word, it means what it means and not something else. For example, 'decimate' means 'kill one tenth' and not something else. 'Buy something' means that the buyer owns it. This is because that is what the word means.

Apparently necessary disclaimer
The views expressed by a character or by characters in this story do not necessarily reflect those of the author. There are no author mouthpiece characters, only individuals with their own perspectives and opinions.

2010


























2011













































 
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2012











































Vantavendi (Story Only)
20th October 2012
Vantavendi (part 1)
Vantavendi (part 2)
Vantavendi (part 3)
21st year of the reign of King Randor I, Season of Chill, 307th day, 15th bell
Versus the Rake Men (part 1)
20th October 2012
Vantavendi (part 4)
Vantavendi (part 5)
Vantavendi (part 6)
Vantavendi (part 7)
Vantavendi (part 8)
21st year of the reign of King Randor I, Season of Chill, 307th day, 16th bell
Versus the Rake Men (part 2)
20th October 2012
Vantavendi (part 9)
21st year of the reign of King Randor I, Season of Chill, 307th day, 16th bell
Versus the Rake Men (part 3)
20th October 2012
Vantavendi (part 10)
Vantavendi (part 11)
Vantavendi (part 12)
21st year of the reign of King Randor I, Season of Chill, 307th day, 16th bell
Versus the Rake Men (part 4)
Versus the Rake Men (part 5)
21st October 2012
Vantavendi (part 13)
21st year of the reign of King Randor I, Season of Chill, 307th day, 16th bell
Versus the Rake Men (part 6)
21st October 2012
Vantavendi (part 14)
21st year of the reign of King Randor I, Season of Chill, 307th day, 17th bell
Versus the Rake Men (part 7)
21st October 2012
Vantavendi (part 15)
Vantavendi (part 16)
Vantavendi (part 17)
Vantavendi (part 18)
Vantavendi (part 19)
Vantavendi (part 20)
21st year of the reign of King Randor I, Season of Chill, 307th day, 18th bell
Versus the Rake Men (part 8)
Versus the Rake Men (part 9)
Versus the Rake Men (part 10)
Versus the Rake Men (part 11)
21st October 2012
Vantavendi (part 21)
Vantavendi (part 22)
22nd October 2012
Vantavendi (supplementary, Renegade Option)










2013








 
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Hellish Content (Story Only)
12th March 2013
Hellish Content (part 1)
14th March 2013
Hellish Content (part 2)
Hellish Content (part 3)
16th March 2013
Hellish Content (part 4)
Hellish Content (supplementary, SI option)
22nd September 2010
Hellish Consent (part 1)
16th March 2013
Hellish Content (part 5)
Hellish Content (part 6)
20th March 2013
Hellish Content (part 7)
23rd March 2013
Hellish Content (part 8)
22nd September 2010
Hellish Consent (part 2)
20th October 2017
A Small Child's Supervillainy Record (part 1)
A Small Child's Supervillainy Record (part 2)
23rd March 2013
Hellish Content (part 9)
24th March 2013
Hellish Content (part 10)
1st October 2010
Hellish Consent (part 3)
Hellish Consent (part 4)
26th March 2013
Hellish Content (part 11)
Hellish Content (part 12)
Hellish Content (part 13)
Hellish Content (part 14)
1st October 2010
Hellish Consent (part 5)
Hellish Consent (part 6)
Hellish Consent (part 7)
27th March 2013
Hellish Content (part 15)
Hellish Content (part 16)
Hellish Content (supplementary, SI Option)
28th March 2013
Hellish Content (part 17)
Hellish Content (part 18)
16th October 2010
Hellish Consent (part 8)
28th March 2013
Hellish Content (part 19)
Hellish Content (part 20)
Hellish Content (part 21)
Hellish Content (part 22)
Hellish Content (part 23)
Hellish Content (part 24)
17th October 2010
Hellish Consent (part 9)
22nd October 2010
Hellish Consent (part 10)
28th March 2013
Hellish Content (part 25)
22nd October 2010
Hellish Consent (part 11)
Hellish Consent (part 12)
Hellish Consent (part 13)
2nd November 2010
Hellish Consent (part 14)
5th November 2010
Hellish Consent (part 15)


Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (Story Only)
1st April 2013
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 1)
1st April 1995
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 2)
17th November 2017
Justice Segue (part 1)
Justice Segue (part 2)
1st April 1995
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 3)
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 4)
17th November 2017
Justice Segue (part 3)
Justice Segue (part 4)
Justice Segue (part 5)
1st April 1995
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 5)
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 6)
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 7)
17th November 2017
Justice Segue (part 6)
Justice Segue (part 7)
1st April 1995
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 8)
17th November 2017
Justice Segue (part 8)
Justice Segue (part 9)
1st April 1995
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 9)
17th November 2017
Justice Segue (part 10)
Justice Segue (part 11)
17th February 2396
The Doctor Is In
1st April 1995
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 10)
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 11)
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 12)
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 13)
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 14)
17th November 2017
Justice Segue (part 12)
Justice Segue (part 13)
Justice Segue (part 14)
1st April 1995
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 15)
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 16)
17th November 2017
Justice Segue (part 15)
Justice Segue (part 16)
Justice Segue (part 17)
Justice Segue (part 18)
Justice Segue (part 19)
Justice Segue (part 20)
Justice Segue (part 21)
15th April 1995
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 17)
Mighty Morphin' Lantern Rangers (part 18)
21st January 2018
Justice Segue (part 22)
Third Year, Reign of Fire Lord Izumi, Midwinter
Avatar: Legend of Azula (part 3)
13th April 2015
Laundry, Filed (part 1)
170 After Genocide, Late winter
Avatar: Legend of Azula (part 4)
25th June 2015
Laundry, Filed (part 2)
Laundry, Filed (part 3)
170 After Genocide, Late winter
Avatar: Legend of Azula (part 5)
Avatar: Legend of Azula (part 6)
Avatar: Legend of Azula (part 7)
28th June 2015
Laundry, Filed (part 4)
170 After Genocide, Late winter
Avatar: Legend of Azula (part 8)
8th August 2015
Laundry, Filed (part 5)
170 After Genocide, Late winter
Avatar: Legend of Azula (part 9)
Avatar: Legend of Azula (part 10)
17th February 1996
Mediocre Morphin' Substitute Rangers


Codominion (Story Only)
12th April 2013
Codominion (part 1)
3rd December 2282
Coast to Coast (part 6)
Coast to Coast (part 7)
Coast to Coast (part 8)
Coast to Coast (part 9)
13th April 2013
Codominion (part 2)
5th December 2282
Coast to Coast (part 10)
14th April 2013
Codominion (part 3)
Codominion (part 4)
15th April 2013
Codominion (supplementary, Renegade option)
Codominion (part 5)
Codominion (part 6)
Codominion (part 7)
7th December 2282
Coast to Coast (part 11)
15th April 2013
Codominion (part 8)
Codominion (part 9)
7th December 2282
Coast to Coast (part 12)
Coast to Coast (part 13)
15th April 2013
Codominion (part 10)
7th December 2282
Coast to Coast (part 14)
15th April 2013
Codominion (part 11)
14th June 2014
Meet The Eye (part 1)
Meet The Eye (part 2)
15th April 2013
Codominion (part 12)
Codominion (part 13)
16th June 2014
Meet The Eye (part 3)
16th April 2013
Codominion (part 14)
Codominion (part 15)
Codominion (part 16)
22nd June 2014
Meet The Eye (part 4)
16th April 2013
Codominion (part 17)
Codominion (part 18)
Codominion (part 19)
22nd June 2014
Meet The Eye (part 5)
16th April 2013
Codominion (part 20)
Codominion (part 21)
Codominion (part 22)
Codominion (part 23)
28th June 2014
Meet The Eye (part 6)
Meet The Eye (part 7)
16th April 2013
Codominion (part 24)
12th July 2014
Meet The Eye (part 8)
16th April 2013
Codominion (part 25)
Codominion (part 26)
13th July 2014
Meet The Eye (part 9)
Meet The Eye (part 10)
16th April 2013
Codominion (part 27)
15th July 2014
Meet The Eye (part 11)
Meet The Eye (part 12)

Equity (Story Only)
19th April 2013
Equity (part 1)
10th December 2282
Equity (part 2)
16th July 2014
Equity (part 3)
10th December 2282
Equity (part 4)
Equity (part 5)
Equity (part 6)
Equity (part 7)
16th July 2014
Equity (part 8)
4th April 2024
Equity (part 9)
10th December 2282
Equity (part 10)
Equity (part 11)
20th April 2013
Equity (part 12)
2nd February 2043
Equity (part 13)
7th May 2024
Equity (part 14)
Equity (part 15)
Equity (part 16)
3rd February 2043
Equity (part 17)
8th May 2024
Equity (part 18)
10th December 2282
Equity (part 19)
Equity (part 20)
20th April 2013
Equity (part 21)
Day 383
Equity (part 22)
14th December 2282
Equity (part 23)
Day 383
Equity (part 24)
14th December 2282
Equity (part 25)
11th May 2024
Equity (part 26)
Equity (part 27)
Equity (part 28)
Day 383
Equity (part 29)
Equity (part 30)
3rd February 2010
Equity (part 31)
Day 384
Equity (part 32)
Various
Equity (part 33)
April 25th, 2013
Equity (part 34)

 
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Z-E-R-O (part 12)
2nd January 2012
14:46 GMT -5


Mr Hamill presses her breasts together, trying to get them to sit comfortably in her newly fashioned bra. An expression of discomfort on her face, she looks at Beryl.

"Are they supposed to be like this?"

Beryl stares at her for a moment, then pointedly pats her own modest upper chest with both hands. Then she holds her hands out to the side, palms upward.

"Normally, breasts that big would spell a lifetime of back pain and make it difficult to buy clothes. Women with augmented strength don't really have the same problem-. At least, the pain part. Clothes can still be tricky. However, I.. don't know any women quite as well-endowed as you."

"Look, I'm-. I know what I look like, but I'm a guy, okay?"

"Mister Hamill, if you were still a guy we wouldn't need to find you a comfortably-fitting bra. You were a man and want to be a man again, but at present-."

Beryl raises her left eyebrow at me. "Most transsexuals prefer to be-."

"I'm not a fucking tranny! This-! This.. stupid dial thing did this! I had a cock! I was happy having a cock! Now my girlfriend doesn't even recognise me! Fuck. I don't recog-."

I get about a half second of notice of white electrical discharges crackling around her hands before white energy blasts outwards from her! Beryl throws herself backwards as I raise a construct shield, electricity slamming into it…

In a way which doesn't make much sense as my construct isn't conductive…

"Ohshitohshit…" Mr Hamill looks down at her own hands in horror. "Shit. Sorry. I didn't-. It just goes off."

"Squire?"

She picks herself up and dusts herself off. "No harm done."

"And none done here." I take a quick look around the rest of the test area. Some damage, but that's what it's for. it's certainly nothing compared to what happened during my last spar with Kon. "So don't worry about it. I'm an empath. I know you didn't mean to do that."

"Fuck." She takes a moment to calm herself down. "You know, once I realised I tossed that fucking dial thing off the bridge, I actually flew right home without meaning to. Like my powers just decided to take me somewhere I'd feel safe or some shit."

Beryl nods. "Far as I've been able to tell, lots of powers work like that. I don't know whether it's traumatic events which give people powers, or they just find out they have them when they experience one. There isn't actually all that much good quality research."

"So, what, it's just gunna do stuff?"

"Well, that depends. There's usually a learning curve… You've just grown what is effectively a new limb. You don't know how to control it. With training, that will change."

She shakes her head. "But I-. I don't wanna-."

"Right. And if we can get the dial back and work out how to make it turn you back, you won't have to worry about that. But if we can't, you can be sued for criminal damage if you accidentally destroy something, so you're probably going to need to get some sort of training."

"Right." She slumps slightly. "No, no, that makes sense. No way I can afford to just blow up a car or something."

Beryl's computer chimes, and she activates the screen. "Robin's speaking to your girlfriend now. She's still a bit bewildered. And… Apparently, you're paying for the window."

Mr Hamill bows her head slightly. "Heh. Yeah, I guess I-." her head jerks back up. "But she knows I'm me, right? She said that?"

Beryl nods. "Robin's got an honest face. Plus, you know… Justice League."

"Great! Now I just gotta convince the guys at work, and.. the DMV."

"There's actually a form for that. 'Notification of Radical Physical Transformations'. You fill it in with witness statements and before and after pictures, and we send it in to the Department of Health and Human Services. They'll sort out your driving licence, passport-"

"I don't have a passport."

"-or whatever other documents you need."

"Though I suggest that you wait a couple of days. The form was written on the assumption that the transformation would be permanent, and if we can turn you back-."

Her eyes widen. "Wait, you mean if you can't turn me back in a couple of days I get stuck like this permanently?"

I raise my hands helplessly. "I can't detect any externally-applied energy keeping you like this. As far as I can tell, the transformation was a one-off event. You are now this, but you're not becoming more this because you stayed like this for longer."

"Robin's sent a picture."

I glance at the screen. Richard's message consists of a series of framed photographs on a chest of drawers. A woman with short orange hair and a burly man with short black hair. Beryl holds it up so that Mr Hamill can take a look. "Could you confirm this is what you usually look like?"

"Yeah, that's me. Can I.. talk to her?"

Beryl winces slightly. "She filed a crime report about the 'break in'. And she's still a bit shaken up. Might be best if you let Robin finish talking to her first. And sorting things out with the police."

"How can I break into my own apartment?!"

Beryl smiles. "Through the window, apparently. Legally, you can't break into your own apartment. Or rather, you can, and it's legal. But 'some crazy woman who could fire electricity' could break in."

"Though if it helps, it's not actually electricity, it's highly electrified plasma."

"What's the difference?"

"Electrical discharges earth themselves through the path of least resistance. Plasma can be directed at a target."

"So..?"

"Don't try powering any devices using your ability. And don't assume that earthing yourself will stop the discharges." She nods. "Now, based on those pictures you appeared to be a man in good physical condition. Do you know how much you can usually lift?"

She shrugs, shaking her head. "I'm a construction worker. I haven't been to a gym since high school."

I n-. "Squire, has Robin contacted Mister Hamill's workplace?"

"Ah…" She checks her computer. "Cornwall Boy did."

"Ah fuck." Mr Hamill puts her right hand on her forehead. "That guy's a total ass-wipe. I'm shitcanned for sure."

"I'm sure we can sort something out. If you'll please come this way?"

I lead her over to the dumbbell rack, and gesture to the middle weights. She nods, bending down to pick a couple up. She gives them an experimental lift.

"Feels pretty light."

"Your current musculature is far below what you had before your transformation. You're starting with those in case you've gotten weaker, or if your strength comes from an unusual source like a temporary biological force field." I generate construct dumbbells for myself and demonstrate the technique. "Please lift them as I do. We'll do ten repetitions, then move you on to a higher weight."
 
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Z-E-R-O (part 13)
2nd January
15:32 GMT -5


Mr Hamill towels herself down in a decidedly unfeminine way while Beryl performs some calculation-. Yes, she just shoved the towel up her cleavage. Should I draw her attention to that or not? What would Ash do?



No, probably not. That would just make things weirder for her.

"So?"

"Technically, you're not superstrong."

"Huh?"

"You're very strong, but you don't quite meet the threshold for being superstrong."

Mr Hamill wrinkles her nose. "Okay, so, am I bullet proof?"

Beryl's eyes narrow slightly. "Being bulletproof isn't a factor of strength."

"Sure, but if someone's shooting at me I'm gunna be more worried about how tough I am than how strong I am. I could punch a guy out before this happened."

"Okay." Beryl points. "Stick your hand under the pneumatic press over there, and scream when it starts to hurt."

Mr Hamill blinks. "What?"

"We test strength because it's a lot easier to test than toughness. But the only way we've really got to test your toughness is to hit you with things." She draws a taser baton and presses the activation button, causing a spark to jump from one electrode to the other. "How about electrical resistance? Since you've got some sort of electrical power, you might be more electrically resistant than usual." She beams. "Wanna give it a try?"

"So, ah…" Mr Hamill pauses briefly while she tries to work out how to move the conversation away from that topic. "How strong am I compared to the Justice League?"

"Yoouuu're about as strong as Hawkman."

Mr Hamill looks disappointed. "The bird guy?"

"The winged alien with gravity-warping metal running throughout his nervous system, who has muscles about four times the size of yours."

Mr Hamill raises her right arm and flexes her bicep. "I guess. So I'd get stronger if I worked out?"

Beryl thinks for a moment, then turns to me.

"I don't know. If your body is working like a normal human body, then yes. Though.. obviously, whatever your muscles are using to make you that strong might not work like that, and you'll need to use very heavy weights to get much effect. On the other hand, if your body is some sort of projection while your actual body was-" Whoops. "-dematerialised-."

"Dema-?" Her eyes widen. "You think that fuckin' thing killed me?"

Beryl winces slightly.

"It's possible that your actual body is in storage in the device, while what you're in now is essentially a projection."

"What?"

"Have you ever watched Star Trek?" She shrugs. "You know the transporter?"

"The beam-me-up thing?"

"Yes."

"So that dial thing kinda beamed me up?"

"There's a gap between 'dematerialisation' (when the person being beamed disappears) and 'rematerialisation' (when the person being beamed reappears) during which they're being transmitted from one place to another. It's possible for the machine doing it to delay it, so they're basically stuck in the computer until someone presses the button again."

"Oooooh." She smiles, nodding. "I get it! Like that episode of Stargate where Teal'c got stuck in that dial thing!"



"Yes. Which does raise the interesting question of whether your mind is in the device and you're remote controlling this body, or if your mind has been transferred into the body, or-."

Beryl frowns slightly. "Orange Lantern? Is that really important?"

"It would give us a better idea of the inventor's capacities…" She keeps looking at me. "Okay, no."

Mr Hamill is frowning deeply. "I guess if this is just a.. projection or whatever, you can't just change it back into me without the dial." She looks at me. "Can you?"

"If I had a sample of your DNA and a few more pictures, I might be able to transform you back into you… But there would be risks, and I'd really feel better about it if we could have a look at the dial first."

"Can't you just try changing something small? Like.. my hair, or something?"

I glance at Beryl, who shrugs. "Can't see why not. Course… Just because I can't see why doesn't mean some mad scientists didn't come up with something."

If we can't find the dial, I suppose that asking the Sivanas to take a look is an option. Though that would increase the number of people who know that I'm still in contact with them…And might result in Mr Hamill getting possumised

I shrug. "You're an adult. As long as you understand that I can't guarantee results without side effects, up to and including the change being made permanent, it's up to you. Want me to try?"

"Ahhh…Permanent like permanent-permanent?"

"Mister Hamill, this time last week I was dead. Weird things happen. Not to most people, but I'm afraid you've tripped and fallen into the twilight zone. Some people who make things like this are well-intentioned researchers who took things a bit far. Others are mad scientists doing crazy things for the sake of it. I can't think of any good reason why anyone would add something to a device like this that would react to me changing your hair colour after the initial transformation occurred… But I don't really understand why someone would build something like that dial in the first place, and it certainly isn't impossible that they did."

"Ffffuuuuuck." She sounds more depressed than angry. "And if you don't know what's gunna happen, you don't know if you could fix it afterwards. Right?"

"Right. Though… In the spirit of transhumanism, this form does have several advantages over your old one, and you might not want to be so quick-."

"I don't have a dick!"

Beryl raises her eyebrows. "That's the worst part?"

"If I looked like another guy, it'd be weird and I'd want to change back but…" She gestures to her breasts. "Look at this shit. I can't even close my eyes and pretend I'm still me."

"But have you considered the advantages?"

"Nothing makes up for not having a dick."

"And if you can hand on heart tell me that you've never watched lesbian pornography, I'll agree that that's the deciding argument."

"Huh." She considers for a moment. "No, no, I have…"

Beryl sniggers quietly. "Should I leave you two alone for this bit? Because that's not a problem for me."

Mr Hamill shakes her head. "No, Amy… I don't think she'd go for it. She's, like, totally straight. And this isn't even a butch lesbian body where I could wear a strap on and she could sort of pretend or something."

I think Beryl's starting to crack up.

"If you're sure?"

"It's not that I don't get where you're comin' from? I mean, if I wasn't with Amy and it was just temporary… But I am, so… Yeah, no." She looks at me curiously. "You saying you would?"

"Change my sex in exchange for superpowers?" He nods. "Depends what powers? But, yours? Yes, I think I probably would. Flight is really great fun, stronger and tougher than a baseline human…" I nod. "Yeah, I'd take that deal. Squire?"

She tilts her head to her right, supporting her cheek with her right hand. "Oh God, you think I'm one of the boys."

"Would you?"

"Become a bloke..? For superpowers?" She looks both of us in the eyes. "You seriously want..?" We nods, and she rolls her eyes. "No, because if it's that easy to give someone powers I could probably work it out myself."

"Ah, that's not answe-."

"Robin to Squire."

Beryl smiles in relief. "Squire here. Go ahead."
 
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So, this guy might not have a good enough conscious recollection of the device to describe it, but if we are using magic anyway, why not pluck the info from his subconscious &/or recent personal timeline? Use that to scry for it. Or go where he was when he threw it away, and say "show me what happened here X minutes ago" is Zatanna-speak.
 
(hoping this isn't actually the story-only thread)

Welcome to QQ, Zoat. It's a bit bittersweet, because while I'm sure lots of us are glad to be free of SV, it's still sort of the end of a era, and the start of a new one. And it caused no small amount of trouble for you.

I commend you for sticking to your ideals, no matter the adversity you face. And I want you to know that whatever your un-revealed opinions or what-have-you, I think I've seen enough of you to know that you're a good person, whether I agree with you or not.
 
ah finally ^_^ it feels weird when I don't start a day with one of your chapters, it took me a while to check what was going on because I was worried you had died or something.

what would I have read in the morning then? :p