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

Pinklestia · Aug 16, 2022

Radix said:
I am fine with them having other forms of energy. But it requires significant power as Energon is very effective as fuel. It would likely also require sophisticated tech to adapt and power up and take longer to fuel up.

So in my mind they don't like the long downtime to refuel, plus it not feeling as "filling" as real energon. The difference between bare subsistence and real living.

In G1 Transformers both turned fuel into low grade energon cubes, in the cartoon, or took it directly as fuel in vehicle mode in the comics and basically converted to a type of fuel they could use.

Energon is better but Red Energon is shit, the only reason to use it is if you have nothing better.

Not only you need much more with low grade, you also need more tune ups and maintenance if all you got is low grade.

Chojin Patriarch · Aug 16, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
21st November 2012
08:29 GMT -5

Silver-grey appears to be the JSI's uniform colour of choice. Particular designs vary, personal icons are allowed and the uniforms may be more or less armoured. Not sure whether that's-.

I stop for a moment, exhaling quietly.

I suppose it helps give their teams a stronger visual cohesion, but is such a security hole. All someone wanting to infiltrate would need to do is doll themselves up in the appropriate colours, and claim to be from a remote site. Then again, they've probably considered that.

**Brainwave, I can hear you perfectly well.**

There's no verbal response, but I notice that what I'm seeing starts to trigger fewer memory connections.

Ah, there's one of their security systems, then. Telepathic scans, and not particularly polite ones.

**And I noticed that as well. I'm not going to be annoyed-.**

Interceptor glares at me. "Do you need the bathroom?"

I'll give her this, she's sassy. I guess now that someone higher-up is in charge, she can relax a bit.

"No, I'm just having a word with Brainwave Two. You would not believe how long the Justice League went without telepathic security scans."

"'Justice League'?"

I know, not quite as friendly as 'Justice Society'. But it's a product of its time.

"Our Justice Society shut down in the fifties." At the front of the column, Commander Scott glances back with a small nod. "The Justice League is the organisation that does the equivalent job now."

I feel a subtle probe-.

Though the League isn't nearly this organised, sadly. They really need to work on getting a UN-backed support organisation of their own or something

**I'm being polite by asking. Is there something you're looking for in particular, or do you want me to eject you forcibly?**

Commander Scott glances back again as we approach his office. "Give Brainwave a break, Lantern. He's doing his job."

Heh, he probably just got a brainful of Henry complaining about the 'orange guy'.

His eyes go slightly blank for a moment, and my mind returns to baseline performance levels.

"I'm linked to a powerful elemental. Last time she felt a hostile mind connected to mine, she ate it. I'm not threatening him, I'm warning him."

I mean, she's not directly in this universe, but safer to assume there's something still linking her, just in case.

Oliver shrugs. "If it makes him feel any better, I didn't feel a thing."

Commander Scott stops outside of a secure door, two cybernetically augmented soldiers standing guard. I see their eyes flicker, presumably as they perform identification checks. Then they stand aside and the door opens.

...Yes, that's not worrying at all. I can hope they're ex-military, mustered out due to injuries on deployment... Or volunteers.

Wait a.. moment.

I stop in front of one of the cyborgs, allowing my empathic vision to open up a little.

And there he goes again, fixing things.

I smile at him. "Ah, I see what they did wrong."

"Sir?"

"The feeling of disassociation. They've rigged you up as if you had a lateralised brain, but you don't. As a result, half your body is lagging slightly. Your processor's trying to adapt, but you're subconsciously aware of the slight extra load. Want me to fix it?"

I suppose we can't fault him for following his nature. If he sees something broken, he just has to fix it...

"A-?"

He's clearly surprised, his eyes darting first to the other soldier and then to his Commander. But his communications implants are also lighting up, so I assume that he's also using the proper channels.

...Even if those he's 'fixing' might not want him to.

"Corporal, you're relieved. Report for decontamination. Lantern, after we're done, write up what you think you found-"

A folder precipitates out of think air and I pass it to the corporal.

Amazing what a working Ring VI can do for you, hmm, Commander?

"-and hand it over to our medical team. Corporal, hand it over before decon."

"Yes, Commander."

Upside: Rest of the day off.

Downside: spending it in lock-down and testing...

He takes a firm grip of the folder and marches off down the corridor.

The Commander fixes me with a stone stare. "Stop scanning my soldiers."

...Believe me, you'll know if he's scanning stuff.

"That wasn't-. Not all of my abilities need a ring. I'd need a magic blindfold to stop looking at people."

"Just get in the office. Interceptor, you're with us."

I do hope they don't hold the actions of people who can't or won't control their innate abilities against them...

He heads in, the rest of the party having already filed through. Alan's looking at a picture on his desk with a frown, while the rest have found seats-.

Oh no. That's a picture of Commander Scott with Molly Mayne, Jade and Obsidian. Alan's… Looking at Molly's face.

What could have been, eh? No doubt the kids are valued and well-loved heroes?

Commander Scott walks around to his side of the desk, clearly spotting what's holding his alter-ego's attention. A moment later Alan realises that the Commander is looking at him and switches his attention to his doppelgänger.

"You remarried?"

Something 'our' Alan didn't do. Amazing what a single decision can do.

"You didn't?"

"No, I-. I always hoped Rose would snap out of it."

Sadly...

Commander Scott nods, as if that makes sense to him. "My Rose was dead. And I still left it for a good long time before marrying Molly."

"Hm."

Such is the nature of alternate universes. A single decision creates a whole leg in the Trouser of Time.

Interceptor remains standing at parade rest behind the chair line. I ignore the spare chair and generate a construct to sit on instead.

Commander Scott takes a moment to make eye contact with each of us. "So you were trying to get somewhere else. Where?"

Heh. I can see his line of thought. 'Bad enough we have to deal with space aliens. Now interdimensional ones?'

"Earth Six Six Six." Commander Scott narrows his eyes interrogatively at Alan. "I know, I know. They got taken over by demons a while ago, and…" Alan glances at me. "Paul and.. some allies of his went over and got rid of them. One of their people ended up in our Earth, so we're going to make sure things are okay there before sending her back."

"Is Earth Six Six Six any threat to you, or to us?"

...Not anymore. Mostly because they're focused on rebuilding.

"It was. One of their demon cults was invading at least one other parallel that I know of. But we shut that down, and the survivors are bust sticking their planet back together. Or, were, when I left."

Commander Scott nods. "Do you think someone went wrong with your portal?"

...I know that's a typo, but given the likelihood of John inadvertently messing with the transit...

"N-"

Oliver puts his right fist over his mouth. "[cough]Yes[/cough]."

...And Ollie clearly believes that too.

"-o, it doesn't seem likely, if only because the individual who built it wouldn't have any reason to send us here. But there are ways to interfere with inter-parallel travel, and I suspect that's what we ran into."

"You mind sharing that technology?"

I think the League (and Doctor Sivana) might object to giving you trans-dimensional travel capabilities... But blocking them? Easy.

"The shield?" He nods. "No problem at all, though I should warn you that it can be bypassed."

I raise my left hand, and a binder containing the technical specifications appears on his desk.

No digital copy? Then again, who knows what their informational sciences are like here.

He nods. "As far as I know, there's no equivalent technology, or.. research that could lead to the development of that technology, on our Earth. We'll do a check just in case, but I doubt that the problem is with us."

I generate a construct hand and poke John with it.

...What, you don't have a Doctor Sivana running around? Or was he incarcerated very early in his career?

"Whu-? Oh. No, I know we're supposed to be here but I don't know why. I can go for a wander if our hosts don't mind..?"

Commander Scott frowns at Alan, who shrugs. "Wizard."

Ah, another one whose local alternate is probably sitting in jail, if he exists at all.

"Oh." He turns to John. "You can't go anywhere unescorted, but we can find someone who can do the job. If you don't have any better ideas, the rest of you can work with our science team on your problem. We don't like people dropping in unannounced any more than you like being here."

Nods from the Leaguers. But I don't think I'd really add anything. I might have records of super science, but that doesn't mean that it's my field. On the other hand, if I'm trying to earn points with the locals to defray suspicion…

You're going to suggest something drastic, aren't you?

"Actually, if you don't need me, I was wondering if you wanted me to have a poke at the Dominators for you?"

OL, No.

I think poking the Dominators might be a bad idea, but the episode's got to have some action, doesn't it? And better he be fighting the bad people rather than getting into some boneheaded local argument. Heck, with the right preparation, he might even be able to locate some of the Humans they took... That'll give him a hell of a diplomacy bonus to further interactions with JSI...

But we shut that down, and the survivors are bust sticking their planet back together.

But we shut that down, and the survivors are busy sticking their planet back together.

BR549 · Aug 16, 2022

PepeTheFrog said:
Paul: accidentally solves another parralel Earth's problems without causing mass chaos

The episode is still young.

Darko · Aug 16, 2022

Chojin Patriarch said:
I do hope they don't hold the actions of people who can't or won't control their innate abilities against them

I think thet might on occasion.

Chojin Patriarch said:
What could have been, eh? No doubt the kids are valued and well-loved heroes?

Unless this Alan didn't want them to become superheroes due to it not being all glitz and glamor.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Ah, another one whose local alternate is probably sitting in jail, if he exists at all.

If it's a version of Constantine then he's probably in super jail.

Stsword · Aug 16, 2022

In the comics, the Heywood corps are indeed all volunteers.

Of course, for anyone who remembers my earlier comment about manipulating people, take a wild guess who did a massive propaganda campaign to convince healthy young people that chopping off perfectly serviceable body parts is like the most heroically patriotic thing one can do?

And honestly I'm not sure why they bother.

They have their Amazo-Sentinels and they have Doc Magnus churning out Metal Marines.

So machine firepower they have covered.

It's not like they haven't had over fifty years to mess with the Garrick formula or miraclo.

Ted Grant (Edit- Oops, I meant Ted Knight, too many Teds in the JSA!) being disgraced might explain why they don't have troops with star rods or cosmic converter belts.

Oh that reminds me Paul might get a new superserum to play with- the Felis Serum.

Trinity Catwoman is a real furry, she turned Catman into DC's answer to Sabretooth, and herself into a were-panther basically.

Mr Zoat · Aug 16, 2022

Chojin Patriarch said:
But we shut that down, and the survivors are busy sticking their planet back together.

Thank you, corrected.

Stsword said:
It's not like they haven't had over fifty years to mess with the Garrick formula or miraclo.

Jay Garrick went missing after a mission. In Trinity, that was because he was massively disillusioned with the JSI.

Ted Grant being disgraced might explain why they don't have troops with star rods or cosmic converter belts.

Ted Knight.

Vaermina · Aug 16, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
Actually, if you don't need me, I was wondering if you wanted me to have a poke at the Dominators for you?"

This is extraordinarily stupid of LePaul given he doesn't know the tech level of this Universes Dominators.

Ngamer11 · Aug 16, 2022

Vaermina said:
This is extraordinarily stupid of LePaul given he doesn't know the tech level of this Universes Dominators.

On the other hand, they have no idea on what an Orange Lantern can do, and Paul can do massive damage if he really wants to.

Prince Charon · Aug 16, 2022

Radix said:
They just need to go ask him. Most of his chaos comes when he is left to his own devices and stumbles into things and causes a mess because he doesn't have all the info.

But whenever someone comes to him to get help he does his due diligence as it he is doing a service for someone else and he tends to make sure he does a job well.

So, the solution is to actually talk to him, and ask for help. Communicate and be proactive. Guess what many comicbook supers are bad at?

(I mean, they've done that on occasion, but apparently not often enough, even after he repeatedly showed how bad an idea it is to just leave him to his own devices all the time - e.g. the recent incident that started with Paul finding out that Zeus had been unusually assholish to Diana, eventually resulting in Hephestean. There was a cool scene in there that I've forgotten which posts it's in where Paul reminds a couple of people on the JL how dangerous he is and that they really do need to talk to him ASAP.)

Windona · Aug 16, 2022

Ahh, procedures everywhere. Gotta love bureaucracy, though of course wanting a readout could also be helpful for all of those who weren't right in front of Paul. Only good reason to stop him is if Commander Alan still isn't trusting Paul, which fair enough.

But hey, Jade and Obsidian! I can't wait to see them.

Mr Zoat said:
"[cough]Yes[/cough]."

The HTML seems messed up here, unless that was the point.

Mr Zoat · Aug 16, 2022

Windona said:
The HTML seems messed up here, unless that was the point.

Unless this website actually has a proper cough code that I don't know about, yes.

inglorius · Aug 16, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
Unless this website actually has a proper cough code that I don't know about, yes.

Lets go with "he is a nerd and just said pseudo-BBCode out loud".

Mr Zoat said:
Anita Blake

I mean, I did read that, but it is choke-full of werewolf cocks. Like pre-purge tumblr.

Soul Shocker · Aug 16, 2022

Windona said:
Ahh, procedures everywhere. Gotta love bureaucracy, though of course wanting a readout could also be helpful for all of those who weren't right in front of Paul. Only good reason to stop him is if Commander Alan still isn't trusting Paul, which fair enough.

But hey, Jade and Obsidian! I can't wait to see them.

The HTML seems messed up here, unless that was the point.

I'm more surprised how he managed to speak in HTML tags.

Mr Zoat · Aug 16, 2022

inglorius said:
Lets go with "he is a nerd and just said pseudo-BBCode out loud".

There, the cough is outside of the speechmarks.

Doccer · Aug 16, 2022

Stsword said:
Felis Serum.
the Felis Serum.

Trinity Catwoman is a real furry, she turned Catman into DC's answer to Sabretooth, and herself into a were-panther basically

Google isn't showing me a furry Catwoman or a Felis Serum.

mastermenthe · Aug 16, 2022

Stsword said:
In the comics, the Heywood corps are indeed all volunteers.

Of course, for anyone who remembers my earlier comment about manipulating people, take a wild guess who did a massive propaganda campaign to convince healthy young people that chopping off perfectly serviceable body parts is like the most heroically patriotic thing one can do?

What are the Heywood Corps? I can't seem to Google any results for that.

Darko · Aug 16, 2022

mastermenthe said:
What are the Heywood Corps? I can't seem to Google any results for that.

A cyborg force of soldiers that work for the JSI.

AR760 · Aug 16, 2022

Bloodalchemy said:
Because other parallels only know him as Orange Illustres so have no issues treating him as an expert. Earth-16 knows him as crazy cake man, so he gets doubt and hesitation.

Given from an operational standpoint, the above fucks with his credibility and consequently his efficiency given that others seem to not take him as seriously, you would think OL would give some thought to managing his reputation better.

And perhaps trying to remedy the wrong impressions others have which serve as obstacles to him actually accomplishing his aims on a broader scale.

Stsword · Aug 16, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
Thank you, corrected.

Jay Garrick went missing after a mission. In Trinity, that was because he was massively disillusioned with the JSI.

No, Jay was right by Carter and Alan's side as the leaders of the JSA, it was Barry who left the JSI to form the Justice League.

Unless I was misunderstanding you and that's what you have set up here, in which case it is of course author's prerogative.

I just reread the series. I don't think I had read the issues with the Amazo-Sentinels, which explains why I didn't remember them.

Doccer said:
Google isn't showing me a furry Catwoman or a Felis Serum.

I'm not surprised, it was only a brief appearance in an alternate timeline.

Her head looked like that old mask pre-crisis Catwoman wore, she wasn't the traditional catgirl but basically a cat head on a human shaped body.

Her flesh and blood cat head was smaller, and she wore her now ubiquitous spy catsuit, but that gives you the general idea.

Catman looked like a shirtless guy with long hair and fingernail claws, so apparently her felis serum runs from "Do you want to bath by licking yourself and chase down small dogs for lunch" to "You want superhuman senses and ten knives at the end of your hands."

Her MO was apparently to dose people with the felis serum that turned them into animal minded pantheroids and let mayhem ensue. Maybe she had the ability to command them, I'm not sure.

mastermenthe said:
What are the Heywood Corps? I can't seem to Google any results for that.

Heywood is the name of Commander Steel, the cyborg member of the Justice Society.

Oddly enough Heywood was like the 6 million dollar man, looking completely human while being stronger, tougher, and faster.

The JSI's heywood corps? Well if Victor Stone were a member of the Heywood corps, he'd be the wussy who only allowed the JSI to cut off all all four of his limbs and half his face.

Sockmonkey · Aug 16, 2022

Ina_Meishou said:
Let's be real, Comics writers being completely out of touch and unaware of how fucked up their plot implications are is like, fifty categories of jeopardy question material, at least.

The screw-ups in continuity bug me more. Turns every storyline into a fanfic of the original. For fuck's sake, write down a fucking summary for the next guy yanno?

AR760 said:
The energy argument could work. It would simply depend on how much of the Cybertronian tech-base they were able to harness before the planet became uninhabitable. And how high the energy requirements for Transformers are.

Depending on that particular answer, you might need to build the tools to build the tools to build the tools to harness energy in the required amount, let alone convert it into something Transformers can use.

I mean, think about it. Uranium is incredibly energy dense, yet we can not use it for energy. Neither can cars which are not designed to.

I can see a world where it could work.

In most versions they still have/can build spaceships and/or have bots that can make it into space under their own power. If you can get into space, building huge solar arrays and whatnot is something that can be done with our tech level, never mind cybertronian level.

Energy from a nuclear power plant can be converted into electricity for electric cars easily, or even used to maufacture hydrocarbon fuels for conventional cars with a bit more work.

In most continuities, cybetronians are not shy about blowing up critical infrastructure to deny it to the enemy. That would certainly cause energy issues as your power plant doesn't make much power as a pile of rubble. Half of the G1 cartoon episodes had them finding something useful and then blowing it to hell so the cons wouldn't get it. I dunno if that's a result of being at war for millions of years or a quirk of being so good at building stuff that they never developed an aversion to destroying it.

LZB1285 said:
Sounds like the Transformers have either engineered/evolved themselves into what is effectively a ecological dead end. Emphasis on the dead if they are reliant upon what appears to be a manufactured substance. Or is it a case of they learnt to manufacture Energon after their population grew beyond what nature could sustain naturally.

Usually it's the war rather than overpopulation that screws things up. Relying on something manufactured isn't a problem when just about your whole planet is your manufacturing base. During the "golden age" they were at least a 1.0 on the Kardeshev scale, or possibly a 1.5 including their space-based assets.

Pinklestia said:
Energon, at least pure Energon, can't be artificially made without reality warping bullshit. That's why it is so common to use alternate energy sources even if it less ideal.

Low grade (Red Energon) can be basically made from most common energy sources but it causes a lot of complications on a Transformer health, basically they break down easier, parts last less and so on.

There is a lot of variants depending on the medium, and version of Transformers, but yeah Transformers could live of renewable energies, but I wouldn't call that living.

Biggest problem is that Transformers need a lot of energy, hence why the Beast Wars era Transformers are smaller and more energy efficient.

In the Prime series, I think energon could act as a catalyst and make more of itself from surrounding materials if buried in a suitable mineral deposit. Takes a very long time to do it though and the deposits on Earth were the result of having been seeded thousands of years ago. Probably at the same time they were using it as a place to hide those advanced cybertronian artifacts with the seeding activity as a cover.

IIRC maximals and predacons could actually live on organic food when they had to. I don't know if that was a general thing or something that was added when their stasis pods reconfigured them for functioning on primitive Earth.
I don't know if their vulnerability to large amounts of energon radiation was a side effect of their energy efficiency, but I suspect that's the case.

Stsword · Aug 16, 2022

Sockmonkey said:
The screw-ups in continuity bug me more. Turns every storyline into a fanfic of the original. For fuck's sake, write down a fucking summary for the next guy yanno?

I do believe that part of the problem is later writers just not giving a shit.

The Kate Spencer manhunter series established that the Manhunters were the result of the US government creating a supersoldier project with manhunter tech. I find it hard to believe that neither the writer nor the editor remembered the entire Millenium event which established the Manhunter cult worked for the alien manhunters and were responsible for the Manhunter superheroes.

I'm pretty sure that Morrison knew full well what he was doing when he did that "one true darkseid" horseshit that claims that Kirby never actually wrote a story that actually included Darkseid.

I think there is a natural tendency in writer types to be like Zoat looking at Young Justice and say "I can do better."

Unfortunately, when editors don't do their jobs and let every new writer do this it quickly becomes nonsensical gobblegook, and sometimes the writer going "Eh, I can do better" is in fact mistaken.

Mr Zoat · Aug 16, 2022

Doccer said:
Google isn't showing me a furry Catwoman or a Felis Serum.

mastermenthe said:
What are the Heywood Corps? I can't seem to Google any results for that.

Both of you, go and read Trinity.

Stsword said:
No, Jay was right by Carter and Alan's side as the leaders of the JSA, it was Barry who left the JSI to form the Justice League.

No, you're right, I was misremembering.

The JSI's heywood corps? Well if Victor Stone were a member of the Heywood corps, he'd be the wussy who only allowed the JSI to cut off all all four of his limbs and half his face.

I don't think he is. In the one panel he features in, his cybernetics look quite different to theirs.

Vaermina · Aug 16, 2022

Ngamer11 said:
On the other hand, they have no idea on what an Orange Lantern can do, and Paul can do massive damage if he really wants to.

Well... Yes...

But it would suck for LePaul a lot more if he teleported in and then his ring randomly exploded because the Dominators here have Power Ring exploding tech.

Doccer · Aug 16, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
Both of you, go and read Trinity.

...The only Trinity I know is that woman from The Matrix.
I am going to need more information to Google that.

Stsword · Aug 16, 2022

Doccer said:
...The only Trinity I know is that woman from The Matrix.
I am going to need more information to Google that.

Trinity 2008 is the storyline that inspired this storyline, 52 issues long. Tarot magic is used to remove WW, Supes, and Bats from DC history which somehow causes the JSA to never disband despite that happening before WW, Supes, or Bats were even born.

Mr Zoat said:
Both of you, go and read Trinity.I don't think he is. In the one panel he features in, his cybernetics look quite different to theirs.

I was just using him as a hypothetical. The only other famous DC cyborgs I can think of are full conversion cyborgs like Metallo and Robotman.

I thought of using Star Trek's Borg since the typical Heywood corps member seems to have less flesh than a Borg drone, but I decided against it.

Lord Ernest · Aug 16, 2022

Trinity

I think I read it but can't for the life of me remember much of it, besides the "divine" designs of WW, Bats and Supes, and that there was an Enigma with half a mask? I think he might have been the Enigma from the Crime Sindicate universe turned bad or something?

All that period leading to and including Final Crisis was a mess to me and I think I might have supressed those memories.

Stsword · Aug 16, 2022

Lord Ernest said:
Trinity

I think I read it but can't for the life of me remember much of it, besides the "divine" designs of WW, Bats and Supes, and that there was an Enigma with half a mask? I think he might have been the Enigma from the Crime Sindicate universe turned bad or something?

All that period leading to and including Final Crisis was a mess to me and I think I might have supressed those memories.

I wouldn't say bad, per se, but desperate.

His ex wife was dead, his face was burnt, and his daughter was left as a literal ghost in the machine.

It was pointed out to him that returning his daughter to life in an evil universe was no blessing, and that she'd always be an alien in another universe.

So he was hoping to gain the godlike powers to go back to the Crime Syndicate universe and make it a better place. A place where his daughter could be happy, where people wouldn't have to be afraid.

And even then working with the likes of the Joker or Morgaine Le Fay left a very bad taste in his mouth.

Paul will probably see him as Grade A prime Orange Lantern material.

Darko · Aug 16, 2022

Stsword said:
Paul will probably see him as Grade A prime Orange Lantern material.

He met a him when he went to the Crime Syndicate universe and he seemed determined to defeat the Syndicate for good.

He may not be pleased to see Paul again.

Mr Zoat · Aug 17, 2022

16th October 2013
Probably A Few Hours Later

"At least we don't have to worry about traps scratching your decals."

Slipstream looks around at the blasted hole that was once Shockwave's roof. Whatever the Autobots did to repair Cybertron has had next to no effect on the heavily damaged workshop that was once home to the greatest mind in the Decepticon cause. She'd assumed that when he turned up on Earth it was because he'd finished whatever he was doing on Cybertron and had decided that it was time to put his work to use. The fact that the Decepticons started using Predacons a little while later gave credence to the idea.

That he gave up on Cybertron because someone wrecked his workshop just never occurred.

"We might find something in storage."

"Don't worry too much." Her partner pats her control panel, though he doesn't touch the controls because it's no time for that. "We've found plenty of useful technical data. Finding a workable method for bio-transference was always a pie in the sky thing anyway."

She thought that was the whole point of coming here; either getting the materials he needed to cyberise more of his body or getting her the materials for a techno-organic avatar. Since they're probably not going to get that, isn't this a waste of time?

"You're not disappointed?"

"I got to see a magnificently desolate alien world in the company of a local guide whom I adore. We downloaded data which we can not merely sell for our own enrichment, but hold over potential enemies so that they daren't attack us for fear it will end up in the hands of their enemies. To say nothing of the repairs it will let us make to the cybertronian technology left on Earth. Sure, we didn't get some of the things that would have been nice to have, but it's not that big a deal."

"You sounded so hopeful when we talked about it. I don't want you to be disappointed and not tell me."

"If I worried about what I didn't have the whole time, I'd never spend any time appreciating what I have. What we have. I hope we'll never run out of things to strive for, but life's pretty good. Isn't it?"

Huh.

"It is. It really is." She increases resolution on her sensors, improving her view of Shockwave's laboratory. "Still worth going in?"

"If you can't detect any weapons. It won't break my heart if we don't get it, but I'd still like it."

"Alright."

She reduces power to her anti-gravity and shifts her thrusters, performing a shallow dive which takes them through the hole in the roof. She tenses as they enter the room, but no turrets deploy from the walls and no voices shout in alarm. Feeling a little mischievous, she pops her canopy and transforms, tossing her partner into the air and catching him in her right hand as she lands on her feet. She smiles at the way his normally calm and confident expression is suddenly discombobulated, not sure which way's up and what's going on, because that's how he makes her feel a lot of the time and this is the best she can to do pay him back.

He rests his arms on her forefinger. He regains his calm almost immediately, but she can feel the tremor as his chest pump pounds to increase the flow of fuel to his servos.

"I've changed my mind. We'll find a way to transfer me into a titan, just so I can do that to you."

"Sure." She puts him down on what used to be a computer console. "A titan. I'm sure we can find-."

Ptchung!

The burst of purple energy hits Slipstream directly in the chest, sending her hurtling backwards, her cockpit and the surrounding armour melted to slag!

Ptchung!

The second shot hits her right shoulder as she stumbles, bursting the joint apart and sending the arm pinwheeling across the chamber, guns halfway deployed as liquid fuel leaks from the wound!

Chm. Chm.

At first, all he can see is a glowing red eye.

Chm. Chm.

Then the huge bulk of Shockwave marches into view, gun arm pointed at Slipstream who is struggling to remain animate.

"Slipstream. And.. pet."

He raises his gun arm, pointing it at Slipstream's head as she tried to lever herself up on her remaining arm. She freezes, optics locked on glow of the gun's interior.

"I do not know how you found me, but I find the fact that I have the opportunity to remove you as a distraction… Satisfying."

Her eyes dart to her-.

"Senator Shockwave." The tiny human spreads out his arms in a gesture of appeal that Shockwave almost certainly doesn't recognise. Senator? Was that what he was before the Great War? "What possible good is there in killing us?"

"Ordinarily I would interrogate you for information. But I do not have the resources to spare."

His gun chimes as he charges-.

"I believe that this course of action is illogical."

His gun doesn't move, but his head swivels to glare at the human.

"Slipstream has betrayed the Decepticon cause. Killing her will permanently remove her as a threat. Killing you will permanently remove you as an information leak."

"What is the Decepticon cause?"

"The destruction of the Autobots."

"And that's it?"

"Explain."

"I remember, Senator, that you have a rather different answer prior to your…" he points to his face. "Empurata and mnemosurgery."

"A different age."

"But you remember it. The aim of a Decepticon is not just to be a Decepticon; that's a circular definition. It is to achieve freedom for all the Cybertronians the old High Council oppressed. To cast them down and ensure that their kind can never regain power. Isn't it?"

"It was. But that definition is no longer relevant."

"Oh, I think it is. What are the High Council doing right now?"

"They are dead."

"And do the Autobots use cold construction? Do they have slaves? Castes?"

"They do not. This discussion is irrelevant."

"No, it isn't. Because you've recognised the contradiction. Killing us might help the organisation that calls itself 'The Decepticons' in the sense that it gives the group a tactical advantage, but it doesn't do anything to advance the cause that is supposed to define the organisation. Can you be a Decepticon without doing Decepticon things? Without fulfilling the function that defines them?"

"That-." Shockwave's optical unit spins, and his gun lowers as he devotes more time to considering the subject.

"I'm curious. Even after you had the opportunity to reverse what they did to you, you never took it. Why?"

"The capacity for logical thought was more useful to the cause than empathy."

"You concluded that logically, weighing up the alternatives?"

"Yes."

"And you did that after your enemies fiddled around with your mind? How do you know that it was a logical decision, when the thing you were using to decide whether or not it was logical was the thing they altered? How do you know you haven't been following High Council programming ever since?"

Shockwave staggers, his gun arm hanging loose. Paul checks Slipstream. She.. doesn't look good, and she's definitely feeling pain, but she doesn't look like she's in danger of bleeding out.

"I-. If.. the objective of the Decepticon organisation has been achieved-. We… Won. The War would be… Over. Anyone who stands against the caste system… Is a Decepticon. But… That includes all current generation Autobots. Why-? Why didn't I see it before?"

"Because the High Council programmed you not to. To think in tactical, act utilitarian terms and ignore long term strategic issues. They didn't want a reasonable, compassionate Senator working against them from inside government and rallying the population to force them to reform. But a cold, hard killer would work fine as a threat to scare the population who were worried about what Megatron was doing in Kaon."

"That… Is… Logical. Then-. There is no reason to.. kill. And even if you are mistaken about what the High Council did to me, there is no overriding reason to maintain this mindset. In fact, my prior way of thinking is more likely to be useful as Optimus Prime forges a new government."

He lowers his gun, deliberately this time.

"No individuals with the required skills to reverse mnemosurgery survive into the modern era."

"There may be a way around that. If you give Slipstream the medical attention that she needs."

"What is that?"

"Prayer."

16th October 2013
Once Slipstream Is Up And Taking Light Refreshment

The guns are pointing over his head as he strides out of the ground bridge and into the Autobot command centre.

"Hello, Optimus. I need to borrow the Matrix really quickly. Don't worry, I'll bring it back."

Darko · Aug 17, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
damaged workshop that was once home to the greatest mind in the Decepticon cause

Also one of the more insane minds.

Mr Zoat said:
The guns are pointing over his head as he strides out of the ground bridge and into the Autobot command centre.

"Hello, Optimus. I need to borrow the Matrix really quickly. Don't worry, I'll bring it back

Is this Shockwave asking?

Because it would be hilarious!

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

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At the End...

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