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

That seems like a rather dangerous assumption given he spanked Paragon the last time they met.
Sinestro hasn't shown up yet. The closest we got was a possible hologram/recording talking to a prospective Sinestro Corpsman. Also, that resulted in Paul and his students wrecking several Spider Guild worlds, so I'd consider that a positive for Paul.
 
"White." I hold up my right hand and generate a sigil, a triangle with seven lines radiating outward. There's no difficulty in creating it as there would be with one of the other colours. "Naturally. A combination of all of the light wavelengths."
This chapter gave me shivers. The deep ringlore! (Well, at least in universe)
 
Paul casually shaking someone's wirld view are always my favourite parts

I also love the philosophical progress his students made. Not many stories manage to make personal growth so interesting and story-relevant
 
20th October 2012
16:23 GMT


Huh. That was interesting.

Apparently, Pied Piper got his life together without prompting, got back in contact with his parents and got a legitimate sound engineering job while moonlighting with the Alliance. I remember that he did something like that in the comics, but I thought he was one of the people the Top influenced?
Unfortunately, events caused him to backslide, in the comics. Hooray for editorial mandates and/or writers wanting to play around with the status quo in the name of nostalgia... :rolleyes:

Not sure.

Digger seemed a bit downhearted about the whole thing. People leaving the supervillain life means less chance of the Flash being distracted when he breaks the law, and he's a man reaching the end of his physical prime whose main skill is throwing bent pieces of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic. He's a reasonable engineer, but no one I feel obliged to bring on board.
So, he's basically having a mid-life crisis. Hopefully it turns out better than it did in the comics, where he ends up dying to Tim Drake's father while assassinating him... And then he got brought back to life after Blackest Night. Man can not catch a break, huh?

I smile at my students. No, I stayed for a week and then left for a month. These Lanterns I'm mentoring. I found them in the library; Dul reading general history, Xalitan reading psychology and Onik reading about past Green Lanterns.

"So what have you learned while I've been away?"
At least they've stayed on task. An impressive show of discipline.

"I have learned that these books are too small." A tendril turns the page for Xalitan. "And that I miss Onisia. And that my fixation with order and justice is not just a result of my personal experience but also a product of a common desire amongst humanoids in complex societies to be treated as participating members of that society, with all the rights and obligations that such treatment ensures. My desires are not merely mine, but the particular manifestation of a universal drive."
Something you don't often see with big guys in films: dealing with things scaled for conventional people. Even the Avengers movies cheaped out a little buy having the Endgame 'professor' Hulk being smaller than most of his previous forms.

He moves his hands so that they're palms up with his wrists touching his stomach, ring floating motionless above them.

"I am more than me."
Making quite a good show of his progression towards Enlightenment. Perhaps someday, he'll be the next Illustres.

I nod, smiling. "Good. Lantern Dul?"

"I've learned that the things that are the bedrock of my life are transitory, not the same even a generation ago. That the things I want are things I've been raised to want by Thanagar's leaders rather than things that emerged freely from my mind, and that I want them anyway."
Because you think they're the right thing to want, or because you honestly want them for yourself?

"No dissonance there?"

"Still… Some. I'm working on it."
Ah, she's still struggling with that question herself, I see.

"Good. Lantern Onik?"

"I have studied the records of former Green Lanterns. I have been studying their failures and the underlying reasons for those failures. I have-. There are cases where you were definitely right about their single-mindedness, and… Ah, you own example-."
It's all right to say some Greenies are stubborn dickheads, you know.

"Oh, it doesn't apply to me. I'm perfect."

I smile and wait.
Heh, testing to see if he can overcome that natural submissiveness to authority, huh?

"Um." He glances at the other two, and Lantern Dul nods pointedly. "I.. do not… Believe that is correct, Illustres."

"Well done. Have you learned to differentiate between things that are definitely errors and things that are simply differences in approach or objective?"
Perspective is a wonderful thing, when you can keep a hold of it.

"I don't think that's possible, Illustres. It is just something a Lantern must be mindful of."

"Ooor..?"
You're almost there, Onik.

"Um. You… Associate with people who-. With other colours of Lantern?"

"Yes. Or?"
Getting warmer.

"Study many colours?"

I nod, smiling. "Or use many colours. My homeworld's Violet Lantern let me use her ring for a few minutes, and I've given her apprentice an orange ring."
Understating it a little, but technically, for her, it was only a few minutes. Never mind him having a cross-parallel adventure lasting a couple of days...

Onik nods. "That is what you meant. No one part of the whole is complete by itself. By cooperating with other colours we gain perspective, and by studying the emotions which do not relate to our ring we avoid losing ourselves to it."

"Part of it. There's also-."
Well done. All he's missing is the last piece of logic.

Lantern Dul's eyes narrow. "Can someone use more than one ring?"

"Yes."
It's not like they're exclusive, you know. Dul could probably rock a Red Ring, if she didn't have one with the whole 'replace your heart' gimmick.

"All seven colours? At once?"

"In theory, though I don't think it's ever been done. Is everyone wearing their wards?" Three nods, and I use my ring to check the area for listening devices before ensuring that no sound will leave the immediate area. "There's no fundamental reason why a ring couldn't be made to channel all seven."
Oh-ho, breaking his silence about a certain colour, is he?

Onik's face falls slightly.

"All seven? So you could switch between them?"
Not unprecedented in the comics, even if it was during the Post-Flashpoint era.

"No."

Dul frowns. "All at once? How could someone combine-?"
Still thinking too limited, Missy. What happens when multiple wavelengths of light combine, hmm?

"No."

Xalitan nods. "Self. You would not use each of the colours. You would use what they share. Manifesting the self in the universe. The self of you. The self of all."
And of course the most perceptive one sees to the heart of it.

"That's what I think would happen."

He looks curious. "No one has tried? The Guardians?"
Pfft. They barely manage with one light. Can you imagine them trying to handle all seven?

"Regard emotions as things for primitives like us. The issue the Controllers have is that even starting a Central Power Battery require an intense focus of emotion and most maltusians are fairly jaded. The emotion would have to come from-."

"Primitives like us." Lantern Dul nods. "Apart from you and Larfleeze, and Malvolio, who could do it?"
...Just out of curiosity, of course, eh? Not like this will help your bosses with anything.

"I think that my friend Alan could help create a Blue Central Power Battery, if it came to it. The Zamorans don't like me enough to explain how they did it."

Onik nods. "What about Kalmin?"
He could build the hardware, but when it comes to the energy needed...

"He didn't create one. Sinestro's personal lantern is designed to maintain its own link, though it's weaker than it would be with a Central Power Battery. Neither Sinestro nor Kalmin had the sort of intensity of fear in them that would allow them to make a Central Power Battery, even if they knew how to."

"What colour would it be?" Xalitan frowns thoughtfully as he returns his ring to ring left ring finger. "A ring where all colours were one."
No doubt Sinestro is making plans about expanding, though, as we saw earlier.

"White." I hold up my right hand and generate a sigil, a triangle with seven lines radiating outward. There's no difficulty in creating it as there would be with one of the other colours. "Naturally. A combination of all of the light wavelengths."

Lantern Dul stares at it. "Is that what we're trying to create?"
Though others have said it, I'll repeat it: Creating the sigil of a colour is enough to touch that light. It's how that magician on Earth (Dark Druid, was it?) was able to make zombies using the Black Sigil. And now I'm picturing the White Light Entity going 'Hmm? Oh? Eh.' in its' sleep inside Earth.

"No. Ah, not specifically. It would be too provocative to the Guardians and Zamarons, as well as a lot of unaligned maltusians, to even try something like that. To say nothing of how hard it would be to actually use for anything. So!"
Exaggerating a little for obfuscation, eh? After all, White Light is supposedly easy to use. It's just hard to keep it on task. Because unlike the other lights, it has its own intentions.

I clap my hands together.

"If you get an opportunity to borrow a ring of a different colour, take it. If a Green Lantern wants to try your ring, let them if it's safe to do so. And don't limit your studies to avarice if you don't want to. I persuaded Alan to give Orange Lantern Koriand'r a go with his blue ring and she was a natural. Now, who wants to spar with me to find out what your newfound understanding means in terms of effectiveness?"
Still hoping he manages to get her her own Blue Ring one day.

More checking in, I see. At least he remembered he had students apprentices interns I-don't-even-know. As for improved skills, I suspect they'll be more efficient in their consumption of ring charge, if nothing else. Whether their constructs are stronger as well as cheaper, remains to be seen... Wonder where he'll be wandering off to next, then.
 
Sinestro hasn't shown up yet. The closest we got was a possible hologram/recording talking to a prospective Sinestro Corpsman. Also, that resulted in Paul and his students wrecking several Spider Guild worlds, so I'd consider that a positive for Paul.
Arguing that Paragon got spanked by Sinestro's answering machine instead of Sinestro himself doesn't really help the case here...
 
Arguing that Paragon got spanked by Sinestro's answering machine instead of Sinestro himself doesn't really help the case here...
Sinestro gave a potential recruit a temporary ring to see what he'd do. Said potential recruit decided to see what Paul would do in a situation that he personally would find petrifying, and saw Paul wreck everything in his way. Sinestro didn't intend to even have anything more to do with the OLC, so them obliquely interacting was a complete coincidence. We can decide who can beat who if we ever see Paul and Sinestro interact and/or fight.
 
Man can not catch a break, huh?

See your post above.

Because you think they're the right thing to want, or because you honestly want them for yourself?

Maybe it's both.

Just out of curiosity, of course, eh? Not like this will help your bosses with anything.

To be fair, they lack knowledge of the Lights and don't possess magic yet, plus when if they get it, it may take a while for them to understand the Spectrum.

Still hoping he manages to get her her own Blue Ring one day.

Me too.
 
For a couple of minutes off camera, just to demonstrate that he could.
I'm fairly sure he did so on screen but with the alternate Carol and with the Star Sapphire.

He also needed to use a Violet ring during the Infinite Pauls episodes. That may have been a better example as he couldn't rely on his Orange Ring and had to do so for more than a few minutes.
 
I'm fairly sure he did so on screen but with the alternate Carol and with the Star Sapphire.

He also needed to use a Violet ring during the Infinite Pauls episodes. That may have been a better example as he couldn't rely on his Orange Ring and had to do so for more than a few minutes.
Even better!
 
I may be wrong about this, but isn't the use of white light micromanaged by the life entity? When I looked it up, it sounded like the only times that white light was used in any meaningful fashion was with the life entity's approval. It might also explain why white rings never seem to stick around past the moment when they are needed. If this is the case, Paul probably should have told that to his students. Lest they decide to reach for a power that they can never actually depend on or control.
 
I still want Starfire (Koriand'r) to switch to a Blue Lantern full time.
I don't think Orange suits her at all.

She'd probably me much more effective with a Blue Lantern ring, spreading hope everywhere she goes.

01atu27hpiv71.jpg
 
I still want Starfire (Koriand'r) to switch to a Blue Lantern full time.
I don't think Orange suits her at all.

She'd probably me much more effective with a Blue
Lantern ring, spreading hope everywhere she goes.

01atu27hpiv71.jpg
Paul can't make another blue ring without killing Sinestro. The Weaponer said he would need something to in return for making it and the only thing he wants is the head of the man who betrayed him.
 
Paul can't make another blue ring without killing Sinestro. The Weaponer said he would need something to in return for making it and the only thing he wants is the head of the man who betrayed him.
The SI could get another blue ring without killing Sinestro. He just couldn't get it from Kalmin.
 
My answer's a bit facetious, but given there are hundreds of unaligned Maltusians apparently not doing anything in the wider universe, try finding one of them whose nature aligns well with Hope. I don't know the circumstances that led to Ganthet founding the Blue Lanterns in the comics but I believe it was due at least in part to the Guardians being evil/corrupt/incompetent/etc. which doesn't really seem to be what Zoat's going for in his story.

Out of curiosity, does Kalmin carry gear or have some other protection against branding/assimilation? I assume he does but I don't know what shape it would take, exactly.

What's Captain Comet up to in the Paragon timeline now that Colu is free and Vega is relatively chill? Not sure if his intelligence and other abilities would be useful when we already have Dox and the Sivana kids (though honestly, figuring out a mass teleport into the core of the Reach Empire for the telepathic Martian gestalt and just fucking things up for the Hivemasters a bunch doesn't seem like the worst idea).
 
"The Green Lantern Corps has been going for millions of years and haven't occupied anyone else's territory

'they haven't' or 'hasn't occupied'

. I don't know the circumstances that led to Ganthet founding the Blue Lanterns in the comics but I believe it was due at least in part to the Guardians being evil/corrupt/incompetent/etc. which doesn't really seem to be what Zoat's going for in his story

Plus I think Zoat mentioned that Ganthet stopped his pursuit of creating a Blue Ring after he found out about Alan.

Out of curiosity, does Kalmin carry gear or have some other protection against branding/assimilation? I assume he does but I don't know what shape it would take, exactly

I know he took the hammer he used to make Sinestro's ring.

Captain Comet up to in the Paragon timeline now that Colu is free and Vega is relatively chill? Not sure if his intelligence and other abilities would be useful when we already have Dox and the Sivana kids

Blake is most likely to help organize Earth and maybe helping Ted Kord.

Dox and the Sivana's may be intelligent but they're not fully focused on improving Earth.

Dox is busy with the Reach and most of the Sivanas aren't exactly reliable.

Plus the Sivanas may not be of much help in organizing a society since aside from Georgia they're not really interested in those types of things.
 
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I may be wrong about this, but isn't the use of white light micromanaged by the life entity? When I looked it up, it sounded like the only times that white light was used in any meaningful fashion was with the life entity's approval. It might also explain why white rings never seem to stick around past the moment when they are needed. If this is the case, Paul probably should have told that to his students. Lest they decide to reach for a power that they can never actually depend on or control.
No, you're absolutely correct.

But keep in mind, Paragon likes making stuff up to sound smart.
 
Versus the Rake Men (part 1)
Versus the Rake Men

21st year of the reign of King Randor I
Season of Chill
307th day, 15th bell


Teela Na, better known to the small parts of Eternos that actually know she exists as The Sorceress, hesitates at the edge of the drawbridge out of Castle Grayskull.



"Do I have to fricking carry you out?"

"…" Clearly, yes. I step-. "No. It has simply been a long time since I have left the Castle grounds."

Since it matters so much to both her and the control spells acting on the Castle, I'm wearing the Basophil Amulet openly. Technically, I'm about to become The Sorcerer, for… All of an evening. Or possibly all evening, all night and all morning if Sir Duncan's luckier than I think he is. I'd be nervous if it wasn't for the fact that we've killed, captured or shoved into a tesseract prison just about everyone who might think about having a go at us.

So clearly Hordak's about to turn up.

"You're not going to leave by standing there. I'm not at anything like your level, but I'm pretty sure I can hold the fort for a few hours."

"That's not my concern."

I grin, stepping a little closer to pointedly intrude in her personal space. "Of course, if you've reconsidered choosing Sir Duncan over me, then you're welcome to stay. I'm sure that we can find something to occupy the time."

"I have not, and I don't think that my apprentice would appreciate it if I did."

"Oh, she'd understand. Beauty fades, raw arcane power lasts. She'd probably make the same decision herself." I take a moment to consider her relationship with the late and unlamented Keldor. "Did, really."

She's still not moving.

"I can go to Zalesia and fetch The Faceless One if you'll accept that instead."

"Evil-Lyn would never forgive you that slight, either."

"She'd be angry. But she's got a lot of anger in her. Honestly, having both of them talk out their differences in a mystically hardened fortress might be best for both of them. But you're still prevaricating."

"I am." She turns and holds out her staff to me horizontally. "I entrust you with the Power of Grayskull. May you wield it wisely."

There are flippant comments I could make. 'Don't do anything I wouldn't do' or 'I have the power' or something. But this is a big deal. Two years it took me to get her to this point, plus all the years of isolation before that.

So I raise my hands palms upwards, grip the staff and bow low to her.

"Thank you for trusting me with this. It's yours again the moment you return."

She lets go, her fingertips lingering on the shaft for a moment before finally pulling away. And I brace myself, because-.

Golden light flows from the staff into my Amulet, the intensity building as power flows back and forth and I.. feel.. a.. strange pressure.. building inside me, as if I'm being gradually squeezed into some new shape. It's not… Painful, exactly, but-.

A flare and the light dims. And I take a look at the damage it's done to my clothes. Oh, rats. Tasteful orange and gold has been replaced by turquoise and bronze. A small mercy that I haven't grown wings, but-.

I look up as I straighten up. Yes, I have a turban… Thing, though it's far smaller than the headdress that the Sorceress wears. Well, this is a temporary appointment, and I know far less about magic than she does.

"Grayskull has accepted you. And now…"

"Now you've completely run out of excuses. Good night, Ms Na."

A deep breath and she leaps into the air, transforming into a bird with a screech as she flies in the direction of Eternos.

Finally.

"Castle, would you please raise the-"

The mechanism is already clanking, pulleys turning as the drawbridge is pulled closed, the only crossing to the moat-trench now resting against the Castle's mouth.

"-drawbridge, thank you."

I turn away and start down the corridor. In theory, I should be able to teleport anywhere in the castle with only a slight drain on its power, but… Teleportation is one of those things that can go hilariously wrong and I don't really want to start experimenting without supervision.

So would books on Hordak be under 'H', or am I going to have to search through the histories and diaries for snippets that are actually useful? I mean…

I glance at the head of the staff.

In theory the Castle should be pretty helpful now. Hopefully, I can just ask for the relevant passages and… Summarise them. I can't ring-scan these books, but copying text I can see is easy enough. A nice quiet and extremely informative evening-.

"'She'd probably make the same decision herself'?"

Evelyn stands at the library doorway, arms folded across her chest and the glowing marks of her geas visible on her bare arms and legs. She's wearing a turquoise and bronze recoloured version of her old purple and black garb, a small duplicate of the bird on the head of my staff replacing the old skull on her headdress.

"Wouldn't you?"

"I might have done if I realised that she was considering giving the staff to a neophyte like you."

"That's the point. She doesn't need to trust me, because she knows that I couldn't fight her off."

"She left at your behest. Clearly she trusts you more than you think."

"There's a difference between 'on balance I think this person is trustworthy' and 'I trust this person with my life's work'. You're used to manipulating magic. She'd have to trust you more before putting you in the same position."

She nods. "Are you planning on doing something while her attention is elsewhere? On this, the eve of the Festival of Love?"

"Yes, I'm-" I point to the bookshelves on the other side of the door. "-planning to-"

"While you have control of my binding geas?"

"-do some reading." She arches her eyebrows. "Evelyn, the fact that I control your geas at the moment is the reason why I'm not going to do anything. I still remember that con you tried to run on Mister Blak."

"Which I still don't know how you foiled."

"We don't all think with our testicles, Evelyn."

She's not going to move, is she? A test of will? Dominance? An attempt to better discern the nature of my character? Best to just toss Gordon's knot back to him, I think.

I hold the staff out to the side and leave it floating there while I transition past her into the library proper. I then hold my right hand out while walking towards the closest reading desk, the staff smacking into my palm a moment later.

"Tell me: do you know anything about Keldor's old boss, Hordak?"
 
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Ah, a nice palette cleanser for the abomination that is Revelation, excellent.

Also, nice on our boy being genre savvy. Of course the one night the Sorceress leaves for [literally any reason], a big bad will immediately and dramatically reveal itself.
 
I remember only watching the 2002 He-Man series a little, but what's been shown here is very interesting. Evil-Lyn having a geas on her is probably because this version of Paul did something. Mr Zoat, how did he get her captured? Also, what is the local Orange Lantern called here?
 
I remember only watching the 2002 He-Man series a little, but what's been shown here is very interesting. Evil-Lyn having a geas on her is probably because this version of Paul did something. Mr Zoat, how did he get her captured? Also, what is the local Orange Lantern called here?

I'm fairly sure there was a segment on this Paul back during... I want to say the big Sheeda event that happened? IIRC Evil-Lyn had already been captured, he just did what he could to try and redeem her, which is probably where the geas came from.
 

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