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

[Maxx Crowley]

Maybe he's recruiting?

Apokalyps style that means kidnapping and violently coercing I think.

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I always took it as, other then them needing a moderately strong mook for Superman to beat down, was Kalibak's usual motive of trying to impress Darkseid. Considering at this point Darkseid had already enslaved and then fought Superman once, with New Genesis popping in to force him back, if Kalibak could win some victory, take some territory, in his mind perhaps he could gain favor.

The part I hate is after Kalibak, in his own words, "flattens" Wonder Woman and Batman proceeds to stall him until Superman shows up and takes him out in one punch. Superman says something like "Truthfully, I don't think you could have beaten Batman either."

This is after, you know, Kalibak defeated Wonder Woman. Way to shit on the Amazon Princess there Kal-El.

They are in With this Ring. Grayven got hit by one the Thanagarians on earth 50 used to fight new gods.

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Oh you fool! You can't argue with Vaermina using actual Zoat canon.

 

[Pinklestia]

Okay, so slaved Paul finally got a break.

Sadly "Cakeman" Paul is still insane.

 

[Mr Zoat]

The part I hate is after Kalibak, in his own words, "flattens" Wonder Woman and Batman proceeds to stall him until Superman shows up and takes him out in one punch. Superman says something like "Truthfully, I don't think you could have beaten Batman either."

This is after, you know, Kalibak defeated Wonder Woman. Way to shit on the Amazon Princess there Kal-El.

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Superman probably didn't see that. Also, Diana 12 is relatively young and hot-headed. Batman would use indirect methods that wouldn't occur to her, like sticking a foam pellet down his throat.

 

[Mastigos2]

Mr Zoat the part that confuses me about anti-green lantern is that the Justice League just knowingly left him being tortured by his ring for several months when they can outnumber with heavy hitters

 

[Shotiegun11]

Mr Zoat the part that confuses me about anti-green lantern is that the Justice League just knowingly left him being tortured by his ring for several months when they can outnumber with heavy hitters

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Did you miss the part were they tried that and got countered at every point? Kryptonite for Superman, Qwardian anti-telepathy for Martian, Power Ring for the rest of them. It was during Fool's Canon if you missed that.

Several times members of the Justice League in this universe have told him to turn himself in while they should already know that he'll die to the ring in 24 hours if he did. Understandable that that's something he would avoid.

The real question is why the Guardians of the Universe haven't sent a Honor Guard strike team to take out the 'Weaponeer agent' that seems to have stayed on a single planet for over 100 days while curbstomping Green Lanterns left and right.

Edit: Where was the Flash and Wonder Woman during the first Ras Al Ghul assassination attempt?

 

[Mquz]

Did you miss the part were they tried that and got countered at every point? Kryptonite for Superman, Qwardian anti-telepathy for Martian, Power Ring for the rest of them. It was during Fool's Canon if you missed that.

Several times members of the Justice League in this universe have told him to turn himself in while they should already know that he'll die to the ring in 24 hours if he did. Understandable that that's something he would avoid.

The real question is why the Guardians of the Universe haven't sent a Honor Guard strike team to take out the 'Weaponeer agent' that seems to have stayed on a single planet for over 100 days while curbstomping Green Lanterns left and right.

Edit: Where was the Flash and Wonder Woman during the first Ras Al Ghul assassination attempt?

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He's not stopping green lanterns from doing their duties or killing them. He just fights them non-lethally and drains their rings, but keeps them alive. As far as the Guardians are concerned, this probably doesn't make him much of a threat, since he doesn't seem to be actually working towards any Weaponer interests beyond data gathering.

Also, not sure if this is true, but aren't the Guardians technically at peace (or in a Cold War) with the weaponers?

 

[Mr Zoat]

28th January
08:11 GMT -5

Kal-El and I watch from the other side of the room while Kon and M'gann use one of the Fortress's holographic displays to teach Match about Earth. Inefficient, of course, but the social interaction is really more the point. Last time I spoke to Dubbilex he told me that they were still doing trials on telepathic education, but that would probably end up being the best thing for Match. Kryptonian clone soldiers didn't get complicated concepts programmed into them, and those who transitioned to civilian life later on were stuck learning things the analogue way.

"This is going about as well as could be expected."

He nods. "He's less assertive than Conner was."

"Kon was designed to be obsessed with you. That part of Match's programming never took."

Kal-El frowns faintly. "Was he different with the rest of you?"

"He was.. obsessive. Frustrated, snappy, because he wasn't getting the attention he was desperate for." I shrug. "But he wasn't fixated on us. That… Earnest desperation you saw, we didn't get it."

He nods. "And what's your super-vision telling you about him?"

"You're asking me that?"

"I can't see into people's souls. Sure, I can see more of the electromagnetic spectrum than humans can, but as far as telling what people are thinking goes, that… Only really shows me whether they're emotionally aroused at all based on how their arteries dilate or contract."

"You can't see their brain activity?"

"A little, but that's even less accurate. I'm not a telepath, and a particular area lighting up can mean a whole bunch of different things. To be honest, I'm better at telling what people are feeling based on the stresses in their voice when they talk."

"I'm seeing barely any emotional light, which is what I'd expect. I'm not worried that he's going to go berserk again, but I consider it likely that he'll continue to be like… This for a while."

Kal-El nods again as Kara walks in from the kitchen with… Some sort of transmuted Kryptonian breakfast pastry in her right hand. Turns out that the Fortress has a kitchen, though without access to the chemicals it needed to recreate Kryptonian food Kal-El had been limited to Earth food until Kara expressed an interest. She looks at Kal-El's face, focusing on his visible bruises. "Are you going to tell me how you got those now?"

"A woman named Karsta Wor-Ul-."

"A kryptonian woman. On Earth?"

He nods. "Yes, though I.. don't know how long she's going to stay."

"How did she get here?! Where did she come from?! If she-. If she survived, there could be-" Kal-El's already shaking his head. "-others..?"

"'Karsta Wor-Ul' as in 'Sub-Commander Karsta Wor-Ul', of the Kryptonian Stellar Navy."

"The.. navy..?" Kara frowns. "We haven't had a navy since before isolationism."

I nod. "Yes. You didn't..? Cover her in history class?"

"My history classes always focused more on ancient history. How our society formed, why we should avoid-" She glances at me and then M'gann. "-aliens."

I nod. "They stopped teaching events and started teaching goodthinkfulness. Of all the sins Krypton was accused of, I had thought that intellectual dishonesty was one it would avoid."

"It wasn't like history was censored. Anyone could take a look through the archives. And you can't teach all of thousands of years of history equally and thoroughly in a few hundred hours. Something had to be the focus."

"And they skipped the events which caused modern Kryptonian society to have the form it did?"

"How would I know?"

Oh. Yes, I suppose.. by definition she wouldn't. "When the Science Council came to power, they ordered the fleet to return to Krypton in order to be permanently stood down. Karsta Wor-Ul was the leader of a group who went AWOL rather than spend the rest of their life on Krypton."

"That was… They've been on Earth all this time?" She takes in the sober expression on my face. "No. Just her?"

"I'm not sure exactly how long she's been here. At least eighty years. She owns a small farm but don't go looking for her." I turn to Kal-El. "Kal-El, did you actually… Talk to her?"

"A little." He sighs. "I know you said that looking for her was a bad idea-"

I gesture to his face with both hands.

"-but I couldn't let an opportunity like that pass me by. What did she tell you? Assuming you're willing to tell me now."

"If she isn't heading off Earth as soon as she can repair her ship now, she's probably decided against leaving. And since you know where she's been living there isn't much point holding anything back."

I look over to where Kon and M'gann are showing Match images of Happy Harbour. I'm.. not sure that a normal school is a good idea, not until his social skills are up to the level of a teenager of his apparent age. Then again, I'm not sure how people have failed to realise that Conner Kent and Kon-El are the same person.

"There were originally twenty or so marines with her. One by one they started getting killed… Which isn't all that surprising, given how unpopular the Kryptonian Stellar Navy had made itself in some places. So she decided to hide out here, on the grounds that the locals look like kryptonians and that the sun is yellow. When Kal-El turned up she decided to stay, as anyone looking for kryptonians would go after him first. But now that people have started to spot her…"

Kara frowns. "Where else can she go with a yellow sun where the locals look like kryptonians?"

"Several of the worlds of the Thanagarian Empire would work. Maybe Tamaran, if she didn't mind using body paint." I look at Kal-El. "Did she add anything when she spoke to you?"

"A long list of members of House El whom she held responsible for the destruction of our species. I didn't realise how small a minority my father was in."

Kara nods. "Oh, definitely. Most people thought Uncle Jor was a crank. It.. took a long time before even my dad was willing to listen when Uncle Jor tried to convince him that Krypton was unstable."

Kal-El shakes his head. "I still can't understand why that happened. Scientific data is reproducible. Why weren't other people able to replicate his results?"

Kara shrugs. "Scepticism regarding scientific reports isn't a phenomenon restricted to kryptonians. Humans have had space flight for over fifty years, and some of them still think that their planet is flat."

"Even so, shouldn't there have been other scientists looking at the same data? The ruling body of Krypton was the Science Council."

"The same Science Council whose main manifesto commitment was to isolation. The same Science Council who shuffled Krypton's alien population off into ghettos. Don't let the name fool you, Kal-El."

Kara looks away, shrugging. "That… I don't know. If you'd asked me at the time, I would have said that I assumed that other people looked at the data and came to different conclusions. And… Now…" She shakes her head. "Maybe they said that the seismic activity could be explained by.. a natural response by radioactive elements in Krypton's core to our use of.. force fields, or… Our historical use of exotic matter, or... Something. And the Science Council would accept that, because it would be an explanation which fit their preconceptions and it fit the evidence that everyone could see. And Uncle Jor couldn't get better evidence because he was getting frozen out of Science Council assets."

"But, surely-."

"We don't send people on arctic surveys if they express an interest in seeing the great ice wall which stops the ocean running off the edge. Heck, the people who proved that stomach ulcers were caused by bacteria and not stress couldn't get published until after they deliberately infected themselves. And couldn't get research funding because pharmaceutical companies were doing perfectly well with their palliatives."

Kara nods. "Eventually, people would have come around. When other researchers found evidence that the official model didn't support. But that takes time, and…"

He nods. "Krypton didn't have time."

"To be fair, he probably did sound like a crank. It's easy to see the right answer in hindsight."

He sighs, then looks at Kara. "Any plans for the rest of the day?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

Mr Zoat the part that confuses me about anti-green lantern is that the Justice League just knowingly left him being tortured by his ring for several months when they can outnumber with heavy hitters

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Firstly, he's been trying to avoid running into them. Given that they're a team of seven people with plenty of other things to do with their time that is actually quite easy. Secondly, they don't (or at this point didn't) have great information on what antithesis rings do. Thirdly, they don't really have any way to help him. The Green Lantern Corps never developed a counter beyond 'hit them really hard or avoid for 24 hours'.

The real question is why the Guardians of the Universe haven't sent a Honor Guard strike team to take out the 'Weaponeer agent' that seems to have stayed on a single planet for over 100 days while curbstomping Green Lanterns left and right.

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It wasn't clear from the series that the Green Lantern Corps 12 has an Honour Guard. In any case, one man who isn't killing Lanterns isn't something they'd usually send a Strike Force after.

Edit: Where was the Flash and Wonder Woman during the first Ras Al Ghul assassination attempt?

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Sidekick herding.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

He nods. "And what's your super-vision telling you about him?"

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That's one word for it, I suppose.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"A little, but that's even less accurate. I'm not a telepath, and a particular area lighting up can mean a whole bunch of different things. To be honest, I'm better at telling what people are feeling based on the stresses in their voice when they talk."

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Heh. I expect he's not a perfect lie-detector, but experience would have helped.

"I'm seeing barely any emotional light, which is what I'd expect. I'm not worried that he's going to go berserk again, but I consider it likely that he'll continue to be like… This for a while."

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Now, if it goes on for too long, well...

"How did she get here?! Where did she come from?! If she-. If she survived, there could be-" Kal-El's already shaking his head. "-others..?"

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I can picture the manic excitement she's showing...

"My history classes always focused more on ancient history. How our society formed, why we should avoid-" She glances at me and then M'gann. "-aliens."

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Half expected a "No offense" here... I suppose living amongst humanity has had some benefit to breaking down old biases.

"It wasn't like history was censored. Anyone could take a look through the archives. And you can't teach all of thousands of years of history equally and thoroughly in a few hundred hours. Something had to be the focus."

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And if no-one thought to look at the archives because it hadn't occurred to them something might be missing... Well, no skin off the council's noses.

"If she isn't heading off Earth as soon as she can repair her ship now, she's probably decided against leaving. And since you know where she's been living there isn't much point holding anything back."

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At her age (early middle-age for kryptonians?) moving everything would likely be too much of a hassle.

I look over to where Kon and M'gann are showing Match images of Happy Harbour. I'm.. not sure that a normal school is a good idea, not until his social skills are up to the level of a teenager of his apparent age. Then again, I'm not sure how people have failed to realise that Conner Kent and Kon-El are the same person.

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Could be a fun way to have a Superboy AND a Wonder Boy.

Kara frowns. "Where else can she go with a yellow sun where the locals look like kryptonians?"

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And are as relatively unknown as Earth?

Kara nods. "Oh, definitely. Most people thought Uncle Jor was a crank.

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So Jor-El was basically the equivilant of a guy with a sandwich-board of "The World is ending!"?

It.. took along time before even my dad was willing...

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It.. took a long time before even my dad was willing...

We weren't other people able to replicate his results?"

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Why weren't other people able to replicate his results?"

Well, a solid bit of illusion-shattering.

 

[Mr Zoat]

It.. took along time before even my dad was willing...
It.. took a long time before even my dad was willing...
We weren't other people able to replicate his results?"
Why weren't other people able to replicate his results?"

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Thank you, corrected.

"If she isn't heading off Earth as soon as she can repair her ship now, she's probably decided against leaving. And since you know where she's been living there isn't much point holding anything back."
At her age (early middle-age for kryptonians?) moving everything would likely be too much of a hassle.

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Kryptonians don't have much data on the long term effects of yellow sunlight exposure, but at this point Karsta is old.

 

[OrbitL]

3 chapters ago:

"I located a certain individual on Earth. They expressed a desire not to be contacted further. It appears that Kal-El managed to locate them."

"I didn't appreciate-" He rolls his right shoulder and winces. "-exactly how strongly she felt about it."

"Sir, she was in the navy. You're lucky you're not dead."

"Wait, there's-" Kara looks from Kal-El to me. "-another kryptonian?" I nod awkwardly. "What's her name?"

"Karsta Wor-Ul." My eyes meet Kal-El's. "Did the two of you reach an accord at some point, or is she leaving?"

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This chapter:

She looks at Kal-El's face, focusing on his visible bruises. "Are you going to tell me who gave you those now?"

"A woman named Karsta Wor-Ul-."

"A kryptonian woman. On Earth?"

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It looks like you've written Kara asking about the same thing twice.

 

[Buggy123]

Kara nods. "Oh, definitely. Most people thought Uncle Jor was a crank. It.. took a long time before even my dad was willing to listen when Uncle Jor tried to convince him that Krypton was unstable."

Kal-EL shakes his head. "I still can't understand why that happened. Scientific data is reproducible. Why weren't other people able to replicate his results?"

Kara shrugs. "Scepticism regarding scientific reports isn't a phenomena restricted to kryptonians. Humans have had space flight for over fifty years, and some of them still think that their planet is flat."

"Even so, shouldn't there have been other scientists looking at the same data? The ruling body of Krypton was the Science Council."

"The same Science Council whose main manifesto commitment was to isolation. The same Science Council who shuffled Krypton's alien population off into ghettos. Don't let the name fool you, Kal-El."

Kara looks away, shrugging. "That… I don't know. If you'd asked me at the time, I would have said that I assumed that other people looked at the data and came to different conclusions. And… Now…" She shakes her head. "Maybe they said that the seismic activity could be explained by.. a natural response by radioactive elements in Krypton's core to our use of.. force fields, or… Our historical use of exotic matter, or... Something. And the Science Council would accept that, because it would be an explanation which fit their preconceptions and it fit the evidence that everyone could see. And Uncle Jor couldn't get better evidence because he was getting frozen out of Science Council assets."

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virtual sigh

Different planets. Different race. Same old human problems.

 

[Mr Zoat]

3 chapters ago:

This chapter:

It looks like you've written Kara asking about the same thing twice.

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Mildly modified. Kara is asking for clarification.

 

[dxdragon]

Hope she doesn't leave Earth anytime soon. She could pop in and give the El's a reality check on Krypton's darker aspects.
Maybe even mention a place or two that they heard about, before Krypton blew up, and the El's can go exploring for it. Might discover some cryo-pods, or a sperm/egg bank.
(Or, take from Karsta, Match, Kal, Kon, Kara, and do some dna re-sequencing to get multiple strains.)

Terraform a random planet, and bam! New Krypton?

Karsta: You know, near the end they were even tossing people into the phantom zone to try to escape?
Bam! 100 new Kryptonians.

 

[Rebu]

Humans have had space flight for over fifty years, and some of them still think that their planet is flat."

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Didn't the ancient Greeks know Earth was round? I know Columbus did.

 

[Buggy123]

Didn't the ancient Greeks know Earth was round? I know Columbus did.

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Yep. The take away lesson isn't so much "humans used to be stupid", as "there are always stupid humans, and when they make up a alien race, they're stupid too.".

 

[Sockmonkey]

Kryptonians don't have much data on the long term effects of yellow sunlight exposure, but at this point Karsta is old.

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Aging is essentially when damage accumulates due to cells no longer dividing in order to repair the body.
The whole biological forcefield preventing wear in the first place is the reason she doesn't look like an old shoe by now.

 

[Ngamer11]

Kal-EL shakes his head.

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It should be Kal-El.

 

[Mquz]

So what's future Superman like in this world? Is he the glowing god-like one? Is he just dead?

 

[Mr Zoat]

It should be Kal-El.

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[Ace Dreamer]

When the Science Council come to power

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should be 'came'?

The next 'Survivors of Krypton' support group meeting could be fun.

 

[Handlewithcare]

Some things truly are universal.

 

[Mr Zoat]

should be 'came'?

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Thank you, corrected.

The next 'Survivors of Krypton' support group meeting could be fun.

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Karsta was joking, That group doesn't actually exist.

 

[nick012000]

Sort of hoping that if Superman mentions Karsta Wor'up to the Justice League, someone will make a joke about him restarting the Kryptonian race with her. Maybe Guy, he seems like the type crass enough to do so.

Heck, add in his cousin and Lois Lane and have him build himself a super-harem.

 

[DAT_NOOB]

Sort of hoping that if Superman mentions Karsta Wor'up to the Justice League, someone will make a joke about him restarting the Kryptonian race with her. Maybe Guy, he seems like the type crass enough to do so.

Heck, add in his cousin and Lois Lane and have him build himself a super-harem.

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He's from Kanas not Alabama

 

[Navi-Hank]

He's from Kanas not Alabama

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*Banjos intensifies*

 

[Xelloss]

Didn't the ancient Greeks know Earth was round? I know Columbus did.

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It was a common knowledge during Columbus' time. People didn't want to go in India westside not because they thought the Earth was flat, but because they didn't know there was a land mass between Europa and Asia, and wouldn't try a sea travel this long in one go.
Columbus just messed up his math and was convinced the Earth was smaller.

 

[Finagle007]

He nods. "And what's your super-vision telling you about him?"

"You're asking me that?"

"I can't see into people's souls.

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Good. THAT was a particularly annoying bit of nonsense the writers came up with. Glad to see it's not true here.

 

[Mr Zoat]

He's from Kanas not Alabama

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[Legend of Ruina]

Heck, the people who proved that stomach ulcers were caused by bacteria and not stress couldn't get published until after they deliberately infected themselves.

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So, will OL have to go up against the Ulcer Monster soon? Because with how DC tends to work, this man clearly was horribly mutated by his exposure to high concentration H Pylori, and is now a supervillain.