Istaran
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We all know that Preparation is Batman's divine domain.
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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
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- self insert young justice
Coup Data (part 13)
Mr Zoat
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27th October 2012
04:57 GMT
"Recognized, Batman, zero two."
Batman appears in the zeta tube, pausing a moment for his identity to be confirmed before striding into the room.
"Batman."
"Orange Lantern. Good work with the Venom plant."
I shrug, though I'm moderately pleased that his costume is better warded than previous versions. It's not impossible that he delayed in order to swap to a heavily warded version just for this meeting. Empathic vision is out, and I suspect that any attempt to attach filaments to him directly would fail. I'm not going to try to scan for crumbler-based weapons, but I hope I'd find some.
I doubt that he's actually pleased, but since it was a perfect attack and saying something nice about it will put me in a more receptive frame of mind, it makes sense for him to say that.
"Thank you. I'm happy to take on any part of the League's workload if it means getting Wonder Woman back faster."
"Do you have a plan?"
"Nothing definite-" His stance changes slightly. Did he just relax? "-yet. I've learned things, and there's a route I could go down, but I'm… I'm not sure that it would work."
"From what Robin told me, there are avenues you haven't considered."
"Probably. But Zeus's action with Diana is a symptom of a problem: Zeus in a position of power and authority. Finding him a new wife doesn't help with that, and almost certainly won't stop him being the arrogant libidinist that he's always been."
I pause.
"I am glad that you're working on this, though. I am aware that I favour extremely aggressive responses in situations like this."
"I'm glad. Have you heard from Athena yet?"
"No, not yet. I realise that she's probably making strong representations herself… Or she will be if Zeus keeps it up. But I haven't had any contact with her and this isn't-. I'm not in a good mindset for dealing with new people."
"She's Diana's patron and Goddess of Strategy."
"If I wanted to negotiate with her before this, I'd have gone to Diana first. As it-."
Atlanteans aren't big on religious observances. Hecate… Probably doesn't know about the Dream research I've been having done in Venturia. Or if she knows that it's happening… It's cutting edge research. They might well have learned things that they didn't know last time I got an update. Or they might not have learned anything.
"As it is, you'd be a far better person to speak with her. Your mindset is more aligned with what she wants from her worshippers."
"Considering it from all angles, rather than just working out how to defeat Zeus with violence."
"Yes, that. It's a limitation of my mindset. Zeus has acted against one of mine."
"You are aware of the possible consequences of removing-."
"I've already promised Diana that I will not attack Zeus."
"And since you did that, you've been making plans to have someone else do it for you."
"A bit surprised that she didn't spot that one. So if you could put together a list of things I can deal with for the League, I can get that done and people with better diplomatic skills than me can start bargaining to get Diana freed."
"That shouldn't take too long. Keep me apprised of any developments."
I nod, then-.
"One last thing. I'd like King Orin's permission to study the artefact locking Oceanus away from the material world. It's relevant."
"I will speak with him."
I nod, then
step out, reappearing
in the Mount Etna foundry. Early morning here, but while the Amazons are asleep the forges never cool.
"…miss you being around, but it's a good offer."
"If I can live there. I'm not exactly eager to get stuck in a weak avatar body."
"They wouldn't leave you like that. You wouldn't be able to work for them."
A short flight takes me to the draft room, where Hephaestus and Vulcan are having a brew. They both look around, Hephaestus nodding politely while Vulcan is more appraising.
"My Lords."
"Ah." Hephaestus nods, glancing at Vulcan. "He wants something."
"I always want things."
Vulcan shakes his head. "No. You want something special."
"How do either of you feel about the idea of dethroning Zeus?"
They both keep looking at me for several seconds.
Then they turn to each other, Hephaestus holding out his right hand. "Have fun on Thanagar."
Vulcan clasps the offered hand. "Have fun in Erebos. Or Tartarus."
"It's been a while since I visited my mother."
"It's the last place Zeus will look, that's for certain."
"Alright Statler and Waldorf. I'm just investigating opportunities."
"An opportunity-" Hephaestus levers himself out of his chair, posing so that I can see his leg brace. "-to get my other leg busted?"
"An opportunity to build a divine cybernetic. An opportunity to build a god-killing weapon. An opportunity for me to help enhance you in the way I enhanced Euanthe, who now rules a sizable portion of South America."
"What has the King of Olympus done to so enrage you?"
"Sent Diana on a fool's errand. To Tartarus. For refusing to marry him."
"Oh." Hephaestus thinks for a moment. "I'm pretty sure he'll realise that he's being a fool before too long. He must know that giving Diana an order like that will alienate everyone."
"Unless he digs his heels in for that very reason. But you're missing an opportunity here. Whether you end up helping me overthrow him or not, your leg would be fixed."
Vulcan snorts. "Not offering to fix my face?"
"What was that about Thanagar?"
04:57 GMT
"Recognized, Batman, zero two."
Batman appears in the zeta tube, pausing a moment for his identity to be confirmed before striding into the room.
"Batman."
"Orange Lantern. Good work with the Venom plant."
I shrug, though I'm moderately pleased that his costume is better warded than previous versions. It's not impossible that he delayed in order to swap to a heavily warded version just for this meeting. Empathic vision is out, and I suspect that any attempt to attach filaments to him directly would fail. I'm not going to try to scan for crumbler-based weapons, but I hope I'd find some.
I doubt that he's actually pleased, but since it was a perfect attack and saying something nice about it will put me in a more receptive frame of mind, it makes sense for him to say that.
"Thank you. I'm happy to take on any part of the League's workload if it means getting Wonder Woman back faster."
"Do you have a plan?"
"Nothing definite-" His stance changes slightly. Did he just relax? "-yet. I've learned things, and there's a route I could go down, but I'm… I'm not sure that it would work."
"From what Robin told me, there are avenues you haven't considered."
"Probably. But Zeus's action with Diana is a symptom of a problem: Zeus in a position of power and authority. Finding him a new wife doesn't help with that, and almost certainly won't stop him being the arrogant libidinist that he's always been."
I pause.
"I am glad that you're working on this, though. I am aware that I favour extremely aggressive responses in situations like this."
"I'm glad. Have you heard from Athena yet?"
"No, not yet. I realise that she's probably making strong representations herself… Or she will be if Zeus keeps it up. But I haven't had any contact with her and this isn't-. I'm not in a good mindset for dealing with new people."
"She's Diana's patron and Goddess of Strategy."
"If I wanted to negotiate with her before this, I'd have gone to Diana first. As it-."
Atlanteans aren't big on religious observances. Hecate… Probably doesn't know about the Dream research I've been having done in Venturia. Or if she knows that it's happening… It's cutting edge research. They might well have learned things that they didn't know last time I got an update. Or they might not have learned anything.
"As it is, you'd be a far better person to speak with her. Your mindset is more aligned with what she wants from her worshippers."
"Considering it from all angles, rather than just working out how to defeat Zeus with violence."
"Yes, that. It's a limitation of my mindset. Zeus has acted against one of mine."
"You are aware of the possible consequences of removing-."
"I've already promised Diana that I will not attack Zeus."
"And since you did that, you've been making plans to have someone else do it for you."
"A bit surprised that she didn't spot that one. So if you could put together a list of things I can deal with for the League, I can get that done and people with better diplomatic skills than me can start bargaining to get Diana freed."
"That shouldn't take too long. Keep me apprised of any developments."
I nod, then-.
"One last thing. I'd like King Orin's permission to study the artefact locking Oceanus away from the material world. It's relevant."
"I will speak with him."
I nod, then
step out, reappearing
in the Mount Etna foundry. Early morning here, but while the Amazons are asleep the forges never cool.
"…miss you being around, but it's a good offer."
"If I can live there. I'm not exactly eager to get stuck in a weak avatar body."
"They wouldn't leave you like that. You wouldn't be able to work for them."
A short flight takes me to the draft room, where Hephaestus and Vulcan are having a brew. They both look around, Hephaestus nodding politely while Vulcan is more appraising.
"My Lords."
"Ah." Hephaestus nods, glancing at Vulcan. "He wants something."
"I always want things."
Vulcan shakes his head. "No. You want something special."
"How do either of you feel about the idea of dethroning Zeus?"
They both keep looking at me for several seconds.
Then they turn to each other, Hephaestus holding out his right hand. "Have fun on Thanagar."
Vulcan clasps the offered hand. "Have fun in Erebos. Or Tartarus."
"It's been a while since I visited my mother."
"It's the last place Zeus will look, that's for certain."
"Alright Statler and Waldorf. I'm just investigating opportunities."
"An opportunity-" Hephaestus levers himself out of his chair, posing so that I can see his leg brace. "-to get my other leg busted?"
"An opportunity to build a divine cybernetic. An opportunity to build a god-killing weapon. An opportunity for me to help enhance you in the way I enhanced Euanthe, who now rules a sizable portion of South America."
"What has the King of Olympus done to so enrage you?"
"Sent Diana on a fool's errand. To Tartarus. For refusing to marry him."
"Oh." Hephaestus thinks for a moment. "I'm pretty sure he'll realise that he's being a fool before too long. He must know that giving Diana an order like that will alienate everyone."
"Unless he digs his heels in for that very reason. But you're missing an opportunity here. Whether you end up helping me overthrow him or not, your leg would be fixed."
Vulcan snorts. "Not offering to fix my face?"
"What was that about Thanagar?"
Last edited:
Darko
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Ahh, so I guess they're talking about Vulcan's trip to Thanagar.
Or you arm.
That would really hurt you, seeing as you wouldn't be do to do what you like.
Ngamer11
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What are the odds that Paul's going to have to rescue Vulcan from Thanagar in the future?
Vanbers
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Cuchulin
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I feel that most people (both the Justice League in the story and the people commenting on the story) are forgetting a very important fact about OL, he offered Nabu several off ramps and alternatives to being killed right up to the end. Nabu utterly refused to even consider NOT keeping Zatanna's father as a slave and riding him like the Pony Express.
Doccer
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What about a device that transfers his Divine Authority\Power to somebody else? Leaving him in what ever mortal avatar Paul targeted atm?
Him.
Darko
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Ohh, I'd say that they're pretty high.
Massgamer
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Hehe, I would consider being compared to the OG trolls a compliment.
Vaermina
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You haven't been in a good mindset for dealing with new people since a couple months after you put on that ring.
As someone who embodies truth she almost surely did and was giving you her trust by believing you wouldn't try and exact word it.
Which is why you will probably loose her completely if you actually go through with it.
Chojin Patriarch
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And Plastic Man breathes a sigh of release in whatever side-room he's in. Outside of Diana, Bats is the closest thing they have to an OL-whisperer they have in the League. So he'll hopefully be able to sort this out without OL blowing something up.
Still ruined your plans for Saturday. Still, anything's better than OL going off the reservation, huh?
Not buying the buttering-up, eh?
It's only been a few hours, Bats. You should know by now that OL takes his time about these things.
HA! He's all 'Oh, good. Orange Lantern isn't going to beat the king of Olympus into a bloody mess... yet.'
Unless you can find some way to stop him doing all his non-Metis-based thinking with his 'little thunderbolt'... I'd suggest the Ouranos treatment, but who knows what would come out of the waste product?
...Kind of an oversight, OL. I mean, you've stuck almost solely to your familiar contacts for this...
I mean, you did okay with Hekate? But then, you did have plenty of gifts to smooth over any diplomatic faux pas.
If not her, then the Atlantean equivalent of her. And you're letting yourself get distracted again, OL.
Heh. He does have a point. Athena is the goddess of strategy and tactics, the 'wisdom of war'... And who better typifies that in the League than Batman?
I'm guessing Bats has checked, and been given the 'We don't know, but it'd probably be bad' speech from his contacts.
Still surprised Diana let that go unchallenged. She knows how sneaky OL is. Then again, being stuck in Tartarus probably makes for a good distraction.
What, the list, or OL ticking off each job? I bet it would only take an hour or two...
Oh, really?
Orin's likely response:
"Excuse me, what?"Of course not, it's a volcano. I suppose having Typhon rolling in its' sleep keeps them fired.
Ah, he already has visitors?
Ah, best cousins. Sharing a horn of Ambrosia and laughing at the ones sitting up on Olympus.
Oh, OL always wants things. It's kind of his thing, after all...
How insightful. I wonder if Hephaestus has been keeping up with the gossip from on high?
Probably asking each other silently,
"Is he serious?" "I can never tell with this one..."Heh. I take it that's a no, then. Or a 'You're crazy.'
Yeah, Hades would probably have words if he came poking his nose in.
I doubt he'd be that petty... He'd probably go for a hand.
Oh, where do you start?
And Metis is probably screaming that at him inside his head.
Does it hamper your ability to enjoy life? Impair your mobility? Maybe you could visit a good plastic surgeon?
Did you forget? Wasn't there something about an offer for Vulcan to study Nth Metal in hopes of reproducing and manufacturing it?
And there he goes again, getting distracted. Not that he's got anything approaching a plan for dealing with Zeus. Honestly, I wonder if meeting Athena and getting some of her divine wisdom might help settle him down a little on this. Let's just hope he doesn't decide 'This taking too long' and go rushing off, like everyone seems afraid of him doing.
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Vaermina
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Athena not Artemis...
Chojin Patriarch
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(Vaermina reply)
D'oh, brain-fart on goddess names. Corrected.
Darko
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He may not know about this, seeing as it's only a few hours at best.
Yep, there was.
Khettien
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That was information from an non-Paul section. The political leader leader of Thanagar getting an after-action report on the whole revolting miners summoning one of the Seven, IIRC.
Bramble Thorn
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What are the chances this was his plan all along?
Where Plan 'A' was 'stomping around while making loud noises to light a fire under the Justice Leagues ass to incentivize them to get Diana out of Tartarus in the manner of their choice ASAP'
...with 'do it myself in a way they may or may not like' as the Plan 'B' if they took to long like last time, or couldn't find a 'no flipping the table' option they were happy with.
Ngamer11
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Paul is aware of Hawkman and Hawkwoman approaching Hephaestus and/or Vulcan with an offer. Maybe he's asking more about what the actual deal will entail?
Bramble Thorn
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I hope OL counsels him against it.
On account of the whole 'last time they needed (and got) help from a non-Thanagarian power they ended up biting the hand that fed them as soon as they were able to' thing. Where being able to figure out how to condense Nth-metal for them has a very high chance of him ending up either killed to keep the process a state secret, or enslaved as an eternal Nth-Metal making craft monkey.
Mr Zoat
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Hephaestus is Best Girl confirmed.
Handlewithcare
Versed in the lewd.
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What is the situation with hellenistic whorshippers these days?
Their existence has been proven and they do offer rather tangible benefits.
If they adopted a DnD model of granting powers and abilities their whorship should explode.
I could see myself believing in such gods
Their existence has been proven and they do offer rather tangible benefits.
If they adopted a DnD model of granting powers and abilities their whorship should explode.
I could see myself believing in such gods
DAT_NOOB
Accused of writing in a far away land
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That's a thought what if he's just making a lot of smoke to get everyone sweating. (incl Zeus)
Z3r0Sama
Not too sore, are you?
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Hephaestus is Best Girl confirmed.
Always has been
RichardWhereat
Aia airëa Fëanáro.
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Oh shit, I would sacrifice a lamb to Lathander every single month if he'd be my warlock's celestial patron.
Chaoswind
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By that metric the Congregation giving minor strength boost, telepathy, teleportation and light of truth fuck you beams to all abrahamic believers of sufficient X has helenism beat by miles.
The recruiting pool for Christian and Islamic denominations means that the Congregation ought to have tens of thousands of active super heroes at minimum in comparison to the handful of demigodesses running around the world with the Amazon's that left Themesira to spread the faith. Also you have to be born with some blood of a demigod to even compare to what the Congregation gets for going to sermon on sundays and leading lives of moderate piety.
Mr Zoat
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I like the way you misspell!
LiamOfOrmonde
Know what you're doing yet?
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It's probably cause you've been on QQ for so long now
.Senevri
Not too sore, are you?
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Plenty of gods have changed their gender, typically when migrating to a different pantheon.Hephaestus is Best Girl confirmed.
LiamOfOrmonde
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I'm curious. Name two, and Egyptian gods don't count.
Senevri
Not too sore, are you?
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I'm pretty sure I did this back when I first read that bit, but:
*Wildly gesticulates at the British Museum*
WereDragon
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I am honestly very impressed. It has been a long time since Paul showed this level of self-reflection. And even longer since he gave any indication that he thought other people's methods had any merit.
It is delightful.
I suspect she did 'spot' that loophole. She just knows that there are absolute limits on what Paul is willing to promise and thought a limited restraint was better than none.
Ha! Sensible people.