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

Angelic (part 21)
28th January
21:34 GMT -3


"Beatriz, I think-"

Beatriz's head snaps around, a thin film of fire immediately appearing over her hands.

"-I've found a fix-"

The men -yes, they're all men- around her either start at my sudden appearance or take a step away. Beatriz herself on the other hand has already scanned and recognised me and is lowering her flame-level.

"-for your combustion dysfunction."

She smiles for her conversation partners. "Would you gentlemen excuse me? Paul and I have superhero business to discuss."

A few nods from slightly calmed guests as Beatriz takes a rather firm hold on my left arm and pulls me towards the balcony. She smiles and waves at several of the conversation clusters we pass before leaning into me companionably. I doubt that anyone else attending this… Post fashion show party thing, can see how gritted her teeth are.

"Did you have to do this now?"

"No, but you made it clear how interested in this you were, so I thought that you might appreciate being involved from the start."

"On balance, yes, but this is what I do for a living."

"Pleased as I am that the Brazilian fashion industry doesn't immediately reject women with a bit of muscle on their frames, I can't help but feel that you're wasting your talents."

"I don't remember getting a call from the Justice League."

"Not.. superheroing. Police work. Or the Brazilian fire service. You are fireproof, yes?"

"This pays better -mostly- and gives me enough time off work that I can volunteer to work with the police and fire service as a superhero."

I nod as we walk out of the main hall and out into the Brazilian night air. January after sundown and if it wasn't for my environmental shield I'd be sweating.

"I saw your blog entries. How is your training going?"

She checks the distance to the other people out here. "My control's a little better, but I'm still-. Only as powerful as I was before."

"Why exactly.. do you want to be a superhero again? And if you could avoid the bullshit answer you put on your website, that would be splendid."

"You know who Hugo Danner is?"

I smile broadly. "Yes! I managed to get a copy of his research from Green Lantern -the one who was part of the-."

"The All-Star Squadron. I didn't know they actually found that. You know how to make the formula?"

I nod. "Yes. LexCorp hired his son, and the first batch of Guard Dogs of Dawn should be undergoing their training now."

"Dogs?" She frowns, then nods. "I.. suppose that makes sense. They're easier to train than people." She lets go of my arm and walks over to the edge of the balcony. "Did you ever wonder what would have happened if the Children of Dawn had won?"

"I'd probably be down a mentor or two. Depending on whether or not they pulled their punches fighting Green Lantern and Wonder Woman. Flash had already left the Squadron at that point, so the modern Flash would probably still exist. The-."

"I meant to Brazil."

"I can't honestly say that I've studied Brazilian history in any detail."

"Our last Emperor, Dom Pedro the Second, was overthrown in a military coup. He abolished slavery, instituted parliamentary democracy, championed free speech and civil rights, and he was replaced first by corrupt oligarchs and then by a military-backed dictatorship. Then a handful of idiots, then twenty two years of fascist military rule."

"What exactly was your grandfather's job?"

She looks back at me, but she's actually not glaring this time. "He was the Head of Counter-Insurgency. He told the field units who to grab from the streets and torture to death. He had thousands of people murdered." She laughs humourlessly. "And of course the amnesty law gave him immunity from prosecution."

"There was a lot of that going around. I still remember the attempt to extradite Pinochet from Britain."

She shakes her head. "Growing up, I actually liked Grandpa. Then he tried to persuade me to join the Brazilian Integralist Party and we had a.. disagreement."

Ring, who are-? Oh. Yes, that reminds me a little of when I found out that Patrick Moore would have quite happily genocided Germany. You think you know the Gamesmaster, then it's sort of an uncomfortable 'ooh'.

"Hugo Danner and the Sons of Dawn would have laughed off the military coup. I don't know whether or not he would have been successful at running the economy, but he was used to the American system of government. I would be astonished if the more unpleasant parts of modern Brazilian history would have occurred. And.. you would never have been born, so there's that." I frown. "Why do you ask?"

"My grandfather's police murder anyone with strong political opinions while a superhero who would have saved the country rots in prison and you're still asking why I want to be a superhero and not a policewoman?"

I nod. "Ah."

"I couldn't face it. Not after my grandfather-. His son's working for LexCorp?" I nod. "I didn't think he had any children."

"He got together with an old girlfriend shortly before coming to Brazil." I shrug. "I can give you his e-mail address if you want to send him a message."

"Thanks. So what was that about improving my powers?"

"We recently apprehended an individual answering to the name-" Provisionally, we have to call her something until she makes a permanent decision. "-'Noriel'. She claims to be the angel responsible for -amongst other things- fire. With her-."

Beatriz' eyes light up. "She helped you create a ritual we can use to boost me?"

Technically…

"Wait." Her eyes narrowed. "You hesitated. Why did you hesitate?"

"You remember when the angels marked me for death?"

"Ah. I thought that was some sort of trick."

"Technically, it was. It still hurt. Anyway, she and some Atlantean mages working for KordTech based the design for the spell on how she manipulates fire. Technically, it won't boost your raw power, but it will allow you to do much more with it."

"What's the drawback?"

"Magic is easier to directly counter than metahuman abilities, so don't slack off on your other training. And there's a small chance that fires might start… Pointing at you in defiance of local air currents."

"And that's it?"

"I don't use demons, and we already discounted the Parliament of Flames."

Unhelpful, uncommunicative gits that they/it are/is.

"So are you up for this?"

"Yes." She straightens up, and I can see her shift mode into the intelligence agent she used to be. "Let's go."
 
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"Did you have to do this now?"

"No, but you made it clear hoe interested in this you were, so I thought that you might appreciate being involved from the start."
Should be "No, but you made it clear how interested..."
Unless this conversation is secretly something entirely different than what i think it is.
 
Beatriz's head snaps around, a thin film of fire immediately appearing over her hands.
Nice way to remind people who this is without a link or a detailed bio...

The men -yes, they're all men- around her either start at my sudden appearance or take a step away. Beatriz herself on the other hand has already scanned and recognised me and is lowering her flame-level.
The usual sort of horny hangers-on, I expect?

"No, but you made it clear hoe interested in this you were...
"No, but you made it clear how interested in this you were...

"This pays better -mostly- and gives me enough time off work that I can volunteer to work with the police and fire service as a superhero."
And no sweating a secret identity.

"You know who Hugo Danner is?"
Cue Grrl power "...I might've heard of him..." moment. (Look it up, on page 196)

I nod. "Yes. LexCorp hired his son, and the first batch of Guard Dogs of Dawn should be undergoing their training now."
...I find that slightly worrying...

She looks back at me, but she's actually not glaring this time. "He was the Head of Counter-Insurgency. He told the field units who to grab from the streets and torture to death. He had thousands of people murdered." She laughs humourlessly. "And of course the amnesty law gave him immunity from prosecution."
...Ouch. Not a nice guy, in his professional life anyway.

Ring, who are-? Oh. Yes, that reminds me a little of when I found out that Patrick Moore would have quite happily genocided Germany. You think you know the Gamesmaster, then it's sort of an uncomfortable 'ooh'.
I restate my 'assumptions about celebrities' line from yesterday...

"My grandfather's police murder anyone with strong political opinions while a superhero who would have saved the country rots in prison and you're still asking why I want to be a superhero and not a policewoman?"
Hmm... Is present tense appropriate there?

"I couldn't face it. Not after my grandfather-. His son's working for LexCorps?" I nod. "I didn't think he had any children."
Took her a few moments to react to that :p Also: 'Lexcorp'

Beatriz' eyes light up. "She helped you create a ritual we can use to boost me?"
Eager, isn't she?

"Technically, it was. It still hurt. Anyway, she and some Atlantean mages working for KordTech based the design for the spell on how she manipulates fire. Technically, it won't boost your raw power, but it will allow you do to much more with it."
So, skill buff, not power buff.

"Magic is easier to directly counter than metahuman abilities, so don't slack off on your other training. And there's a small chance that fires might start… Pointing at you in defiance of local air currents."
:confused: Okay, that's an odd side effect.

"Yes." She straightens up, and I can see her shift mode into the intelligence agent she used to be. "Let's go."
Surprised there's not a little orange in there. But I suppose this isn't overwhelming.

Good to see some networking with future League prospects.
 
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They just ignored OL didn't they? They probably didn't want the hassle that usually accompanies associating with OL, like how people want Constantine to stay the hell away from them.

The Parliament of Flames, as presented in Swamp Thing, are entities that live in the Sun, so about one hundred million miles away from Earth, oversee the entire solar system, and they predate the Earth itself and will exist for billions of years after Earth becomes uninhabitable for life as we know it.

If one looked up the word "distant," it should be a picture of those guys staring back. :)
 
Is 8 hours enough time to do all this? Have the resaerchers interview / analyze the angel, think of this lady, etc...? Seems like it might have happened a bit quickly.
 
Is 8 hours enough time to do all this? Have the resaerchers interview / analyze the angel, think of this lady, etc...? Seems like it might have happened a bit quickly.
Six hours after you factor for time zone change, and conversation over spell concept and theory is more time-efficient that PRT Power Testing.
 
I mean, it would make sense for a research time if this was an emergency, like the last time he came to Septian (with the apple?), but this seems like it could have happened an in-universe week from now and Noriel would still be just as memorable. Does this mean something big is coming up and Zoat wants to get this done now?
 
Like the only concievable situation with a turn around this quick would be if both projects just happened to the same group of people researching esoteric fire magic/ powers or something. But that still doesn't make sense, since this lady doesn't use fire magic for her powers, I think, so how would the Atlantanteans even know about her except in the context of OL having maybe asked them for a way to boost her some time ago? That seems a bit like a waste of time to research.
 
Like the only concievable situation with a turn around this quick would be if both projects just happened to the same group of people researching esoteric fire magic/ powers or something. But that still doesn't make sense, since this lady doesn't use fire magic for her powers, I think, so how would the Atlantanteans even know about her except in the context of OL having maybe asked them for a way to boost her some time ago? That seems a bit like a waste of time to research.
The Atlanteans have an excellent knowledge of how to use magic to do things, Noriel could describe off the cuff what it was they need to do. There wasn't a lot of new research involved.
 
Like the only concievable situation with a turn around this quick would be if both projects just happened to the same group of people researching esoteric fire magic/ powers or something. But that still doesn't make sense, since this lady doesn't use fire magic for her powers, I think, so how would the Atlantanteans even know about her except in the context of OL having maybe asked them for a way to boost her some time ago? That seems a bit like a waste of time to research.

Actually, the original version, of the character, Green Fury, from the Superfriends comic, is in fact a magic user, her powers come from Brazilian shamanism, her magical flames allowed her to fly, burn or freeze things, cast illusions, heal, and transform from her civilian identity to her superhero identity.

A far cry from the original powers of Green Fire, who could only breath a tiny gout of flame.

I'm presuming that's the inspiration for this little storyline.
 
Atlanteans might not be into fire manipulation, but Cornwall Boy knows how. Elemental magic is part of his current course of study.

Regarding Superman's radiation shield, it wouldn't be hard to fabricate a material for his uniform that would block kryptonite radiation. Not perfect as it doesn't cover his hands or head, but still useful if the shield fails and is protected by his biological forcefield. If one were felling really clever, you would make it out of a material that can convert kryptonite radiation into yellow light.

I'm surprised OL just doesn't call himself Pavlos to avoid that annoying name thing. The Amazons and their associated deities already call him that. Problem solved.
 
I really like how this latest chapter addresses the ethical problems inherent to the decision of the JSA and the Justice League to selectively interfere with the affairs of other countries. Did the JSA have any sensible reason for acting to prevent Danner to takeover Brazil while later doing nothing to prevent similar takeovers that were much worse?

I really like fanfiction that explores the way that Superheroes decide to focus on combating minor crimes in a wealthy country where the justice system does not really need Superhuman assistance to function while completely neglecting all the horrific events that are going on in less fortunate regions of the world. Anyone have any recommendations for this type of fiction?
 
Did the JSA have any sensible reason for acting to prevent Danner to takeover Brazil while later doing nothing to prevent similar takeovers that were much worse?

In the comics, the dannered amerindians attacked the US Embassy and it's staff.

The dannered amerindians didn't speak Portuguese, or English, or Spanish, only their own language, it was also less a military conquest and more a Kaiju like rampage as they attacked everyone and everything in sight, including Dan the Dynamite's parents.
 
In the comics, the dannered amerindians attacked the US Embassy and it's staff.

The dannered amerindians didn't speak Portuguese, or English, or Spanish, only their own language, it was also less a military conquest and more a Kaiju like rampage as they attacked everyone and everything in sight, including Dan the Dynamite's parents.
Not necessarily on Earth-16, of course, but if they did attack the US embassy in this continuity, that is sufficient provocation (especially in that era) for the All-Star Squadron to be sent.
 
The Atlanteans have an excellent knowledge of how to use magic to do things, Noriel could describe off the cuff what it was they need to do. There wasn't a lot of new research involved.
True, but it just seems like a bit of a jump in applying this newly learned technique to a random issue of relatively low priority (her powers weren't really endangering anyone immediately), for a person who didn't use magic, and whose powers therefore were unique and less interesting for study due to their inapplicability elsewhere (since they can't replicate them). Seems like a huge leap of logic from the point of view of the researchers, especially since, as was, I believe, pointed out earlier, they're not normally big on fire magic. This seems like it would just be written down somewhere in someone's notes, reported, and then be forgotten and fade into obscurity due to lack of interest. Especially in a world without the internet or some equivalent info-sharing device. Part of the reason some research doesn't get done in a lot of fields, is that people find some potentially interesting thing in some study, but then there is no immediate follow up due to lack of interest in funding, etc... and people thinking they have better things to focus on / alternate more obvious solutions to a given problem.

The problem isn't that the technique would be hard to learn. It's that busy magic researchers aren't likely to remember some random surface woman's problem with lack of control when they can be doing things that might have more immediate applications, such as researching whether they can get a forge working better / more efficiently with new fire magic, leading to an decrease in manufacturing costs, etc...

The problem is that there doesn't seem to be a reason why this fire magic would help this particular woman with fire powers as opposed to just making her a woman with both fire powers and fire magic, and when no previously known fire magic techniques worked. They're not improving a previous solution, but inventing a completely new one for a problem with no previously known solution.

The researchers would have to diagnose her specific problem, learn the technique, and then figure out that you can actually apply it in this situation not at all similar to it's original use, which would involve doing some amount of spell modification.

Of course, there's the option of super magic-science, which this seems like it might be, but that has it's own problems, namely that Atlantans haven't been shown to have superscientists yet.
 
Not necessarily on Earth-16, of course, but if they did attack the US embassy in this continuity, that is sufficient provocation (especially in that era) for the All-Star Squadron to be sent.

I'd be surprised if the attack resembles the comics much, or else Fire's fangirling is quite misplaced.

In Young All-Stars Hugo Danner was ready to see the whole world burn, the goal was less "take over Brazil" and more "build a new society over the mountain of corpses of the old."

I suppose Zoat could have pictured it as a more military invasion situation style situation, some of the Sons of Dawn got rambunctious and attacked the US Embassy without orders, which summoned the All-Stars, which ate up time until the war of the world ending happened.

Oh interesting little tidbit that Zoat isn't using, since it would have been mentioned- Danner enhanciles get more powerful with age. Iron Monroe wasn't as strong as his father, but was more powerful than the Sons of Dawn. Considering Iron Monroe and Ubermensch have been around since WW2......
 
True, but it just seems like a bit of a jump in applying this newly learned technique to a random issue of relatively low priority (her powers weren't really endangering anyone immediately), for a person who didn't use magic, and whose powers therefore were unique and less interesting for study due to their inapplicability elsewhere (since they can't replicate them). Seems like a huge leap of logic from the point of view of the researchers, especially since, as was, I believe, pointed out earlier, they're not normally big on fire magic. This seems like it would just be written down somewhere in someone's notes, reported, and then be forgotten and fade into obscurity due to lack of interest. Especially in a world without the internet or some equivalent info-sharing device. Part of the reason some research doesn't get done in a lot of fields, is that people find some potentially interesting thing in some study, but then there is no immediate follow up due to lack of interest in funding, etc... and people thinking they have better things to focus on / alternate more obvious solutions to a given problem.

The problem isn't that the technique would be hard to learn. It's that busy magic researchers aren't likely to remember some random surface woman's problem with lack of control when they can be doing things that might have more immediate applications, such as researching whether they can get a forge working better / more efficiently with new fire magic, leading to an decrease in manufacturing costs, etc...

The problem is that there doesn't seem to be a reason why this fire magic would help this particular woman with fire powers as opposed to just making her a woman with both fire powers and fire magic, and when no previously known fire magic techniques worked. They're not improving a previous solution, but inventing a completely new one for a problem with no previously known solution.

The researchers would have to diagnose her specific problem, learn the technique, and then figure out that you can actually apply it in this situation not at all similar to it's original use, which would involve doing some amount of spell modification.

Of course, there's the option of super magic-science, which this seems like it might be, but that has it's own problems, namely that Atlantans haven't been shown to have superscientists yet.


Well, the answer is likely that OL is directing them to this specific purpose as a priority, as he is pretty much a bankroller of a subset of their scientists this is something he could do pretty easily, and I can see his want for another hero on the field making he give specific directions towards this instead of just letting they do their thing.

And, as he is the point of contact between noriel and them, and this was suddenly the first thing they seem to have done, that should be an obvious conclusion as well.
 
So, uh, it wasn't actually Pedro who ended slavery in Brazil. It was his daughter, Isabel, taking advantage of one of his absences and acting as Regent.

And the only reason the coup against them was successful is because they were politically retarded. If they did literally anything to capitalize on the popularity of ending slavery, Brazil could very well still be a monarchy to this day.
 
And the only reason the coup against them was successful is because they were politically retarded. If they did literally anything to capitalize on the popularity of ending slavery, Brazil could very well still be a monarchy to this day.
My brief look at the wikidepdia pages suggested that the Emperor had already decided to be the last emperor as he didn't think a woman could do the job and he had no sons.
 
"Our last Emperor, Dom Pedro the Second, was overthrown in a military coup. He abolished slavery, instituted parliamentary democracy, championed free speech and civil rights, and he was replaced first by corrupt oligarchs and then by a military-backed dictatorship. Then a handful of idiots, then twenty two years of fascist military rule."

Just my two cents, but it's debatable exactly how many of those things he did in a manner that actually worked and for moral reasons. Slavery abortion took 4 different laws and about 30 years. His parliament democracy was practically a puppet system, since beyond the executive, judiciary and legislative powers, the emperor held a "moderator" power with which he could disband the members of the parliament at will.

The military dictatorship definately sucked though.
 
Just my two cents, but it's debatable exactly how many of those things he did in a manner that actually worked and for moral reasons. Slavery abortion took 4 different laws and about 30 years. His parliament democracy was practically a puppet system, since beyond the executive, judiciary and legislative powers, the emperor held a "moderator" power with which he could disband the members of the parliament at will.
The British monarch still has those powers, technically speaking.

Er... Or did twenty years ago. I've honestly got no idea whether or not she still does.
 
The British monarch still has those powers, technically speaking.

Er... Or did twenty years ago. I've honestly got no idea whether or not she still does.

No longer does, the British Royal Family is basically a tourist atraction nowadays.

Or the royal family wouldn't have got in trouble by how they expended money.
 
I believe they still explicitly have the power to disband parliament, but if they were to shut down or cancel parliament without good reason, they would probably be assassinated or something. At the moment it's considered an emergency power they can exercise if parliament goes out of control and does something like start an extremist war nobody agrees with or something. They are mostly a tourist attraction, but they still have a lot of money which they give to charities and things like that, as well as the ability to give knighthoods. The queen once arrested a burglar who broke into her room. So she does have some small actual executive power.

Either way, if the UK does need an emergency single ruler, the royalty is supposed to step in.
 

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