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

PDV · May 26, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"And partly because you've for the same focus that he does."

Godspeech typo, correct form unclear.

Duke Long · May 26, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
Were they just training these children to say 'taaru' whenever anything happened, or did they get any practical training as well?

Taaru? Google isn't helping me, except that it's the name of a Marvel villain, which I assume is not relevant in this context.

Mr Zoat · May 26, 2023

Chojin Patriarch said:
She regards it for a moment.
"Yes. Exactly. I'm already going through Orion-withdrawal and you give off strong Orion-vibes."
Possibly 'got' or 'formed'?
"I said 'partly'. You don't have his anger-."

Thank you, corrected.

Duke Long said:
Taaru? Google isn't helping me, except that it's the name of a Marvel villain, which I assume is not relevant in this context.

Unless my copy paste skills have failed me, that's the trigger the Forever People use to summon Infinity Man.

Duke Long · May 26, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
Unless my copy paste skills have failed me, that's the trigger the Forever People use to summon Infinity Man.

Ah right, I thought it was about the berrith children and I couldn't understand it. I guess I got thrown because I thought the Forever People were too old to be called children.

AmericanNumbers · May 26, 2023

I do like that the dialogue with Lightray implies both Paul's proximity to the New Gods (which seems to be strengthening) and calls back to the plot point about the Paul's possible origins as actually Grayven with the godspeech comparison Lightray makes to Orion.

BR549 · May 27, 2023

Duke Long said:
Ah right, I thought it was about the berrith children and I couldn't understand it. I guess I got thrown because I thought the Forever People were too old to be called children.

They're basically the same age range as The Team, and are certainly still kids by New God standards.

...as such, they believed they were Sierra Hotel, and augred in accordingly...

Mr Zoat · May 27, 2023

13th February 2013
16:53 GMT -5

I sit in my chair, not looking at the female berrith as she walks in. She looks around, and then focuses on me, sniffing quietly. I raise my right hand and pointedly examine my nails. She comes a little closer, and tries to pull out the chair opposite me.

It doesn't move.

I make a quietly contemptuous snort.

She looks at me again.

"What?"

I turn in my chair and lower my hand, giving her my full attention.

"Sit."

Berrith dominance hierarchies work well when the berrith trying to work together know each other, and know who's in charge. Berrith who don't know each other and are put in a situation like this will sort of dance around each other, testing one another until a hierarchy establishes itself. I'm being ridiculously domineering by their standards, and there's a non-trivial chance that she'll attack me due to me trying to force her into a subservient role that she isn't mentally ready to accept.

I keep my face neutral. Not aggressive or angry. Not particularly invested in what she does. As if I take it as a given that she will comply.

She puts her right hand on the chair once more and gives it a small tug. This time it moves.

She pulls it out fully, and sits down.

Her posture indicates caution, which is a better start than four out of five of the Forever People managed. And I think that with Bear it was accidental.

I hold out my power ring.

"Do you recognise this?"

Tracking her eyes… My face, the ring, stays on the ring for a few moments, then around the room, towards the part of the room that has one-way glass, the ring, my face and then the ring again.

"What do you want?"

Don't respond. Don't change the way you act based on the subject.

"Answer the question. Do you recognise this ring?"

Ask again in a clear voice to demonstrate that, and if she doesn't respond then instruct her to leave.

Quiet sniff… Nervousness?

"Yes. Alphas had them."

Slight smile, small nod. Indicate that such a response was correct.

"What did those alphas do?"

"Demanded obedience. Took people off the planet. Died. The people were brought back."

"Yes." I nod, maintaining eye contact. "Good."

"Are you taking revenge? Were they yours?"

Now, this is a case where I can answer her, because she's requesting more information about my topic in order to understand my intent better.

"I'm not taking revenge. I killed them for using my rings."

She pulls away slightly, because I just marked myself as someone who fought and killed alphas with magic rings. While she's reconsidering the wisdom of her agreeing to talk to me, I take the photo out of subspace.

"Did you meet this h'lvenite?"

She looks at the picture, but she's sniffing-. Right.

I use my ring to replicate his scent. She starts sniffing harder immediately.

"No. I smelled something similar, but not quite the same. He doesn't look quite right."

I nod, clearing the air and sending the picture back into subspace. Then I take another picture, still not of Doctor Ub'x, and add the scent.

"This one?"

"No."

Ub'x this time, though I'm careful not to change my posture or expression.

"This one?"

A sniff, then a couple of deeper sniffs.

"I did not see him. But I have smelled him before."

"Do you know anyone who spoke to him?"

"Not for certain… I think Marran might have spoken to him. Maybe. I didn't."

"What makes you think that?"

"The smell. And she spoke strangely for a while. I think she met someone who was not berrith. It might not be him."

I nod, affecting 'pleased alpha' berrith body language.

"Thank you. That's helpful. I will speak with her next."

I smile inwardly as she affects 'pleased beta' body language.

"Do you have any children here?"

"Two daughters."

"Why do you send them here?"

"Should I not?"

"I'm interested in your reason."

"We berrith went to war. We lost. The other species, the ones we fought, were stronger. My children will learn from them and be stronger. Wiser. I can't do that for them. The h'lvenites can."

"Do you visit them?"

"Yes." She makes a quiet whine. "I shouldn't. I don't want to distract them, but they're my daughters."

I nod. "That's enough of a reason."

"No. If I visit more, they might learn from me. The aliens don't smell right. They don't smell of us."

"It would go better if they smelled like berrith?"

"Yes."

"Thank you for bringing that to my attention."

I can't change that, obviously, but I'll speak to the governor about it.

"Now, please take me to Marran. I'll need to speak to her next."

Ngamer11 · May 27, 2023

A very effective interrogation session for Paul. Hopefully the New Gods will see this and learn the need to adapt one's behavior in order to get someone's trust/intimidate someone in order to get info.

Chojin Patriarch · May 27, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
13th February 2013
16:53 GMT -5

I sit in my chair, not looking at the female berrith as she walks in. She looks around, and then focus on me, sniffing quietly. I raise my right hand and pointedly examine my nails. She comes a little closer, and tries to pull out the chair opposite me.

It doesn't move.

Heh. Establishing control right out of the gates. It's a subtle thing, certainly. She tried to make something happen without his permission. it didn't happen. Something you'd hardly notice, if you weren't looking for it. OL's playing this well.

I make a quietly contemptuous snort.

She looks at me again.

Establishing that you consider her weak. That you are in control.

"What?"

I turn in my chair and lower my hand, giving her my full attention.

And now acknowledging her. Not hostile, not friendly, merely indifferent to the berrith's presence.

"Sit."

Berrith dominance hierarchies work well when the berrith trying to work together know each other, and know who's in charge. Berrith who don't know each other and are put in a situation like this will sort of dance around each other, testing one another until a hierarchy establishes itself. I'm being ridiculously domineering by their standards, and there's a non-trivial chance that she'll attack me due to me trying to force her into a subservient role that she isn't mentally ready to accept.

Though she's hardly a threat to you. Teeth and claws against an environment shield strong enough to tank artillery? So you can afford to be dominating.

I keep my face neutral. Not aggressive or angry. Not particularly invested in what she does. As if I take it as a given that she will comply.

She puts her right hand on the chair once more and gives it a small tug. This time it moves.

Allowing her action now that you've acknowledged her. Letting her carry out your command.

She pulls it out fully, and sits down.

Her posture indicates caution, which is a better start than four out of five of the Forever People managed. And I think that with Bear it was accidental.

Cut them some slack, OL. They're only idiot teenagers.

I hold out my power ring.

"Do you recognise this?"

If I remember correctly: Some berrith got their hands on stray Orange Rings from Larfleeze's stash. That's how they got offworld in the first place, right?

Tracking her eyes… My face, the ring, stays on the ring for a few moments, then around the room, towards the part of the room that has one-way glass, the ring, my face and then the ring again.

"What do you want?"

Calculating the angles, analysing his demeanour and deciding to play along. She's almost there.

Don't respond. Don't change the way you act based on the subject.

"Answer the question. Do you recognise this ring?"

Leave her no doubt who is in charge. Nicely done, OL. I'll bet the Forever People's jaws are hanging open right now.

Ask again in a clear voice to demonstrate that, and if she doesn't respond then instruct her to leave.

Quiet sniff… Nervousness?

Given that he has no scent with his Environment Shield up, that's probably unsettling for her.

"Yes. Alphas had them."

Slight smile, small nod. Indicate that such a response was correct.

Playing her like a fiddle, OL. Benefit of cultural knowledge.

"What did those alphas do?"

"Demanded obedience. Took people off the planet. Died. The people were brought back."

A neat summary of that little episode.

"Yes." I nod, maintaining eye contact. "Good."

"Are you taking revenge? Were they yours?"

Ah, now she's worried he's angry at her. That she may be in his sights...

Now, this is a case where I can answer her, because she's requesting more information about my topic in order to understand my intent better.

"I'm not taking revenge. I killed them for using my rings."

As seen here, at the climax of 'Congeniality'. And quite messily killed, too. Though not entirely with your ring, not that she needs to know that.

She pulls away slightly, because I just marked myself as someone who fought and killed alphas with magic rings. While she's reconsidering the wisdom her agreeing to talk to me, I take the photo out of subspace.

"Did you meet this h'lvenite?"

One of the incorrect images of course. Another test.

She looks at the picture, but she's sniffing-. Right.

I use my ring to replicate his scent. She starts sniffing harder immediately.

Heh. The others didn't even think about that, did they? A predatory species would naturally have a good sense of smell.

"No. I smelled something similar, but not quite the same. He doesn't look quite right."

I nod, clearing the air and sending the picture back into subspace. Then I take another picture, still not of Doctor Ub'x, and add the scent.

Getting closer. But she's definitely a good lead.

"This one?"

"No."

Ub'x this time, though I'm careful not to change my posture or expression.

Now, the real test. Handily, the Ring is great for managing your reactions.

"This one?"

A sniff, then a couple of deeper sniffs.

And we have a winner!

"I did not see him. But I have smelled him before."

"Do you know anyone who spoke to him?"

Presumably not a large community. But they're still very lucky that they got a good catch this quickly.

"Not for certain… I think Marran might have spoken to him. Maybe. I didn't."

"What makes you think that?"

Yes, now that she understands what he wants, she's being very helpful.

"The smell. And she spoke strangely for a while. I think she met someone who was not berrith. It might not be him."

I nod, affecting 'pleased alpha' berrith body language.

Protagonist's luck, coming in handy again.

"Thank you. That's helpful. I will speak with her next."

I smile inwardly as she affects 'pleased beta' body language.

See, Forever kiddies, that's how you interrogate someone with an ingrained hierarchical instinct.

"Do you have any children here?"

"Two daughters."

And now she gets rewarded for her help.

"Why do you send them here?"

"Should I not?"

I bet she's suddenly worried that the 'alpha' thinks she's behaved badly.

"I'm interested in your reason."

"We berrith went to war. We lost. The other species, the ones we fought, were stronger. My children will learn from them and be stronger. Wiser. I can't do that for them. The h'lvenites can."

Wow. She's positively progressive for a berrith, it seems.

Or has a good understanding of consequences.

"Do you visit them?"

"Yes." She makes a quiet whine. "I shouldn't. I don't want to distract them, but they're my daughters."

No, no. Don't be embarrassed, little mother. No shame in having feelings.

I nod. "That's enough of a reason."

"No. If I visit more, they might learn from me. The aliens don't smell right. They don't smell of us."

Ooh. Don't tell me, the h'Ivenites don't have as keen a sense of smell, and thus didn't realise the berrith do?

"It would go better if they smelled like berrith?"

"Yes."

Ideally, like adult females, or parents? So that the younglings would accept them as dominant.

"Thank you for bringing that to my attention."

I can't change that, obviously, but I'll speak to the governor about it.

"Now, please take me to Marran. I'll need to speak to her next."

Fixing a problem he didn't even know about beforehand. Nicely done, OL.

An impressive display of gathering information, and quite educational for the Forever People, no doubt. Once OL explains what he did and how. Although he's quite lucky he found someone who knows someone who might have seen Ub'x. Though given that the berrith population might not be that large, it's understandable. Remember, these are the remnants of a relocated people. There can't be that many of them to search through...

She looks around, and then focus on me, sniffing quietly.

She looks around, and then focuses on me, sniffing quietly.

While she's reconsidering the wisdom her agreeing to talk to me, I take the photo out of subspace.

While she's reconsidering the wisdom of her agreeing to talk to me, I take the photo out of subspace.

PepeTheFrog · May 27, 2023

Ngamer11 said:
A very effective interrogation session for Paul. Hopefully the New Gods will see this and learn the need to adapt one's behavior in order to get someone's trust/intimidate someone in order to get info.

Reminds me of when he changed tack dealing with Canis:

"Canis, this is why you shouldn't do- scratch that. Canis, don't do it again."

Chaoswind · May 27, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"Now, please take me to Marran. I'll need to speak to her next."

Shouldn't Paul avoid using the word please? He did berate the new gods about using subservient language with them, so it's odd for him to turn around and make the same mistake.

B00ki5h · May 27, 2023

Chaoswind said:
Shouldn't Paul avoid using the word please? He did berate the new gods about using subservient language with them, so it's odd for him to turn around and make the same mistake.

Depends how the ring translates it. There are perfectly polite ways to ask someone to do something that conveys that there's no choice but to do it. You clearly have never been voluntold your helping someone.

moralrelativity · May 27, 2023

Chaoswind said:
Shouldn't Paul avoid using the word please? He did berate the new gods about using subservient language with them, so it's odd for him to turn around and make the same mistake.

He's already won the dominance battle. An Alpha can afford to be polite to a helpful beta.

Darko · May 27, 2023

moralrelativity said:
He's already won the dominance battle. An Alpha can afford to be polite to a helpful beta.

It's sometimes said that only the truly strong can be polite and compassionate, as well as not take offense to even blatant insults since they're so strong that the consequences can't touch them.

Mr Zoat · May 27, 2023

Chojin Patriarch said:
She looks around, and then focuses on me, sniffing quietly.
While she's reconsidering the wisdom of her agreeing to talk to me, I take the photo out of subspace.

Thank you, corrected.

Handlewithcare · May 27, 2023

I like how the aliens in this story are actually alien, yet still rational

Rebu · May 27, 2023

B00ki5h said:
Depends how the ring translates it. There are perfectly polite ways to ask someone to do something that conveys that there's no choice but to do it. You clearly have never been voluntold your helping someone.

Or in other words, the Lord Vetinari method.

DeathReaperZ · May 27, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"I can hold my breath until I lose consciousness."

And he can do this because he has such good control over his desires that he can want to hold his breath until he loses consciousness, even if it's potentially harmful.

Finagle007 said:
EDIT: You will, of course, write a snip at some point wherein Paul sexes Ophi-chan.

A man can hope can't he?

Mr Zoat said:
Okay… Size? My erect penis is slightly bigger than it was before I arrived on Earth 16. I don't think I ever had any sort of green eyed monster snake attack in which I decided to increase my size with the ring. I put it down to my better general level of cardiovascular health; greater blood flow resulting in superior hydraulic pressure. Still, I should be firmly in the 'average' size category… Check the size guidelines..? Yep.

Green-eyed monster snake attack?

Mr Zoat said:
"Okay then. Let's…" She looks over the shelf before picking up a small black box with the work 'SKYN' embossed on it in gold lettering. "I'm going to suggest that you try these." She holds them to me and I take the box from her. "Non-latex, and they come with a silicone based lubricant, so you shouldn't have any trouble going in."

I am mildy concerned about your search history

Mr Zoat said:
Apparently there are now erotic variations on my body armour.

Darn, the link doesn't work.

Mr Zoat said:
Come on man, get a grip. I smile down at her, pulling my hand free and wrapping my forearms around her waist in a loose hold. "Oh, you have my complete trust. I suppose… Um, it must be.. pretty normal for a man to be a.. bit nervous when-."

This is honestly the first time I've seen Paul get nervous like a normal person.

Mr Zoat said:
"I had the ring… Alter my skin. I.. actually.. have hair all over my body, it's just really fine." My eyes dip to the carpet as my cheeks redden. "Saves a.. fortune on razors."

Unless something has been changed, I believe Paul originally had no body hair after editing his body with the ring?

Mr Zoat said:
I sigh as I knock on Canis's door. Because some people are immune to the clinical depression field because they're so… Spiritually developed, or whatever. But we get the guy who's immune because he likes it.

When life gives you lemons, you should use them to make a battery and run DOOM on a calculator.

Mr Zoat said:
I hear his dog get up. I can hear it wagging its tail, which… I think that's because it knows what I smell like and not because it likes clinical depression too. The Justice League's research seems to say that animals aren't directly affected, but I don't think we'll really know until mating season. Pets do better for the same reason that pet owners do, and with farm animals there's not a lot of difference.

I suppose nothing really changes for the farm animals unfortunately.

Mr Zoat said:
Did I just catch him j-? No. Not thinking it. Not thinking it.

Wonder if he's discovered Internet porn

Mr Zoat said:
ECSTATIC JUBILATION!

I'm starting to think that he may have been waiting for that a bit too eagerly.

Mr Zoat said:
He looks at me like I just let off in an elevator.

I hope "let off" doesn't mean what I think it means.

Mr Zoat said:
"-the fleeting contact has turned him into something more." He sounds really contemptuous. "He is no more Darkseid than your shadow is you. No, no more than your footprint is you, than someone who wears your old shoes is you."

"Oh. Good, 'cause my last set of boots went in a charity auction."

Canis gets that distant look he gets when someone gives him an idea.

"Yes. He is Charity Auction Darkseid."

I honestly wonder what he would think at being called that.

Mr Zoat said:
I… I don't know what to say to that. I mean, I know I never want to meet Retail Darkseid, but after… What Uncle Barry said about Apokolips, and what OL said about Darkseid… I kinda knew that anyway.

Buy him now for 9.99 at your local Target!

Mr Zoat said:
"Then you understand. A world without Darkseid is like being consumed by narcotics, insulating you from the true reality we all live in but too frequently ignore. It is childish and foolish to prefer it…" He shrugs. "But perhaps it is not so bad to be a little childish sometimes."

Interesting analogy

Chojin Patriarch said:
Don't look down, Wally. Just keep your eyes above his shoulders. And hope that his armour hides any physical signs...

Let's hope to god his armour is rigid enough to hide that.

Chojin Patriarch said:
No need to, er... Clean up? Catch your breath? Wash your hands?

I'm fairly certain the first can easily be done by his Motherbox, and the other two things are probably unnecessary for New Gods.

Mr Zoat said:
Other goblins pull back from the front entrance as the Alliance mechs open fire. I'm a little surprised that they're not using breeching charges to open the door, but maybe they just assumed that we'd booby trap it and it would be easier to dig us out? The only other alien here is a hulking golem, vampire plasma cannon in one hand and the other a bare fist. He..? Looks down at me as I prepare to charge.

Breaching?

Mr Zoat said:
Interesting how that doesn't make me feel worthless, like some things do. Kon being better at being a superhero than me is just a fact of life. Even if I'm more like our father physically, I haven't put the time in with the stuff that's not related to my powers.

He's beginning to learn.

Mr Zoat said:
"Unusual, but one in twelve thousand humans has dextrocardia. Unless he needs surgery, I doubt that it matters."

And he knows that off the top of his head for some reason?

Mr Zoat said:
"I dunno. But it would be a lot easier to move people to a parallel universe than to another planet."

Ah, DC techno-magic bullshitery.

Mr Zoat said:
Their hearts are in the right place. Gotta work that into a sentence.

Heh.

Mr Zoat said:
Mr. Zsasz was trying to rub his tallies off, and Firefly refuses to look at anything burning, including the screen in his room that shows a fireplace as a kind of palliative. The worst is Two-Face. He hasn't argued with himself since this started, and he's been a lot more self-destructive. Since he wasn't in Arkham at the time we don't know exactly where Clayface is, but he… Well, he can't kill himself, so he'll probably turn up when it's all over.

That's interesting, the Anti-Life is kind of making them into Anti-Versions of themselves.

Mr Zoat said:
Working with Batman means that I've been exposed to some really interesting micro-organisms. I actually had to opt out of the school program because it would conflict with something else I had. I'm more than up to date now, but at the time I got people asking if I was afraid of the mercury.

Afraid of mercury? As in the mercury in a thermometer, which he would be unwilling to use lest he spread his relatively unknown microbes around?

Mr Zoat said:
"I was born in it, moulded by it! I knew nothing of freedom until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but cloying!"

Was not expecting that here, what a pleasant surprise.

Mr Zoat said:
"I don't know." He looks at Ultrawoman, who looks confused. That's the first natural expression I've seen her make. "But I think you might need to find out."

Well, it seems like someone decided to poke their noses in and do some editing of their world history and I'm willing to bet that it might be Krona.

Mr Zoat said:
Jonathan hasn't asked about kryptonite yet. Deathstorm can make that as well, but he charges a lot for his time. Jonathan won't be able to afford it once his current supply runs out. I'll provide it, subject to health checks. It'll be a good way to encourage him to depend on me.

If only she knew.

Mr Zoat said:
Oh, there's probably some… They said that Kal's equivalent is called Superman. So, Superwoman, over there. If she's some sort of backwards me, would that make her a crime fighting iconoclast, uncaring of the societal damage she causes as she fights to do what's right?

Surprisingly close to describing some of the more generic Supergirls out there.

Mr Zoat said:
"As ever, the devil and the deep blue sea."

What is this a reference to?

Mr Zoat said:
"That's unnecessary. I can hear you perfectly well like this."

Oh shit.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Wow, Mitchell's being real talkative. Something about Alexander that just makes you want to be honest, huh?

Must be the beard.

Mr Zoat said:
"I've already connected my systems to your Earth's data networks. I'll take the time to acclimatise myself with the locale. Don't worry about contacting me when you're ready; I've already accessed your zeta tube network."

It only took him a few seconds to do all that?

Mr Zoat said:
Dick's looking up, too. "You think they'd let us trade Luthors?"

I hope they do to be honest.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Including stuff recommended by OL, I hope. Which Alexander might have some difficulties with, even if he knows how to fight magic-users of his world.

Let's hope all of Paul's preparation has paid off.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Geez, it's like he's trying to speed-run saving the world.

And he might just succeed at this rate.

Mr Zoat said:
Mistress is smiling at me. And with-. Okay, I'm high, but she doesn't exactly look like an Apostle of Darkseid. She's gotten a fitted suit from somewhere, but other than that, Karon Chase still looks like Karon Chase.

Ah, that's a bit of shock. Although I do distinctly remember a few posts here and there about Holly and Karon being affected by the Anti-Life, but I didn't expect it to get this bad this quick.

Mr Zoat said:
And Holly being basically stuck to her side like she's on a boat in a storm and Karon's the only thing keeping her from going overboard.

After all of this passes, I don't think they'll still be together. Or if they are, it probably won't be in the same way.

Mr Zoat said:
"But Holly's…" Oh, coming down. The streets still look worse than they really are-. At least, worse than I hope they really are. But now I've had a chance to get into the right headspace, it's something I can cope with. Just about. "Still with you. What does that-? I mean, do you still love her?"

So he got high to resist the Anti-Life and then used an antidote for the drug so that he was back to normal. How on Earth does that work?

Mr Zoat said:
Oh no. I'm going to have to get Zatanna to go over every piece of art he's made since he got here, just so I can be sure he's not doing something to us.

There's a scary thought. Unassuming paintings that are secretly nudging you into thinking a different way. Although I'd doubt Canis would do something that subtle.

Mr Zoat said:
"It's how our power works, Robin! How the might of our souls clash and wrestle for dominance! This is no contest of peasants thrashing one another with pig-sticks! Did you think I invested myself in art for mere aestheticism?"

This makes me wonder about Canis' more esoteric art-based abilities, which I hope we eventually get a list of.

Mr Zoat said:
Yes, Canis, we all thought you were just weird about painting. That's literally-.

I mean, you can't really blame them.

Mr Zoat said:
I nod. "Then we need to do some practice sessions."

After school debate club in the middle of an apocalypse. Cool.

Mr Zoat said:
Even a young woman whose mind is consumed by something the local people call the 'anti-life' is more rational than almost everyone on my Earth.

And isn't that depressing.

Mr Zoat said:
I've absorbed this world's history in moments, my mental discipline allowing me to extract a reasonably reliable summary from the available databases. A twisted mirror of my own, in the sense that a deformed reflection looking at a true figure would consider them twisted. A world that makes sense. A world not without tragedy but still defined by the basic decency of most of its people.

Interesting, so Anti-Matter Earth is like Earth-16, but with some things that have been mirrored in a more dark or twisted way.

Mr Zoat said:
"Imagine… A perfectionist, who wants to complete a… Run through some manner of computer game without… Taking a hit, losing a single unit, without missing a single great treasure. Something of that nature. And their nature means that they cannot accept anything but complete success."

So, a speedrunner doing a 100%, no-hitspeedrun?

Mr Zoat said:
"So… He has to crush everyone who resists, but he has to do it in… He has to be inefficient, even if he could just throw a ICBM at us."

He has to be less efficient in order to make sure he gets everything.

Chojin Patriarch said:
...Makes me wonder what Bruce would gain as his Godname. 'Justice'? 'Righteousness? 'Intimidation'?

Vengeance, since that's why he became Batman in the first place.

Mr Zoat said:
And then I can see him clearly, and it's Bruno 'Ugly' Mannheim if he went on an intense body building course, did something about his posture and got a really good tailor. His expression doesn't ever change, looking around like the universe isn't worth his time. Like he finds it disappointing.

Paul should get his tailor's number.

Mr Zoat said:
I can see Canis's face falling as he tries to get his head around the idea-.

Ah, I'm honestly a bit saddened at the fact that Canis finally realized that Darkseid never really liked him.

Mr Zoat said:
"Did you know?"

Mr Zoat said:
"You know nothing. I made my art... For him. His…"

It's honestly surprising that a realization like this is finally what broke him, instead of the continued Anti-Life assault he faced since birth.

Mr Zoat said:
The nebula contains planets. Unlike most nebulas, it isn't an area of infinitesimally increased particle density, but an actual electrified space fog. There's no actual sun, just a load of lumps of rock just big enough to have a liveable gravity field illuminated by the constant electrical discharges.

Seems like a lovely tourist destination.

Mr Zoat said:
"Because my actions tend to be strange and I have little regard for the mental equanimity of the people around me."

That should probably be printed across his armour or something.

Mr Zoat said:
"You needed to check the file?"

Heh.

Mr Zoat said:
Moonracer leans forward. "Do you know anything about what he was doing? Has the Green Lantern investigation discovered anything?"

I believe you mean "Moonrider"?

Celtic Spartan said:
that's the most intelligent approach a green lantern has taken yet regarding Paul.

Unfortunately true.

Mr Zoat said:
"That's interesting. And restricted."

Almost everything about Paul is.

Mr Zoat said:
He flaps his right hand at me. "And none of that matters, because it still happened."

He knew about the risks and did it anyways, give Paul a break.

Chojin Patriarch said:
...Batman is less ruthless than him? I mean, sure, he has a no-killing rule, but...

Batman is less willing to physically injure his victims.

1)Is the Nth metal in this universe as overpowered as it is in the other continuities, or is it just a really strong anti-gravity metal here?
2)Can anyone please remind me how many Supergirls there are in Earth-16, along with a small amount of background info? It's getting hard to keep track of which one anybody's talking about.
3)Where did you get that one picture of Holly from, in the "In Praise of Eros" storyline?
4)What do the Berrith actually look like? Are they just really furry humanoids?
5)What made you want to do a nsfw series?

Thank you for your work.

Stsword · May 27, 2023

The Berrith are basically werewolves in SPACE...ACE...ACE.

Mr Zoat · May 28, 2023

DeathReaperZ said:
Green-eyed monster snake attack?

Green-eyed monster = attack of greed
Snake = penis

I am mildy concerned about your search history

You knew what website you were on when you signed up.

Buy him now for 9.99 at your local Target!

In a tuck-friendly format!

Breaching?

Thank you, corrected.

Afraid of mercury? As in the mercury in a thermometer, which he would be unwilling to use lest he spread his relatively unknown microbes around?

A concern that has been raised about certain vaccines is that they contain mercury compounds.

What is this a reference to?

It only took him a few seconds to do all that?

Yes.

So he got high to resist the Anti-Life and then used an antidote for the drug so that he was back to normal. How on Earth does that work?

Very well.

I believe you mean "Moonrider"?

Thank you, corrected.

1)Is the Nth metal in this universe as overpowered as it is in the other continuities, or is it just a really strong anti-gravity metal here?

It can do a little more than that, but if it was an 'I win' button then the Seven Devils would still be around.

2)Can anyone please remind me how many Supergirls there are in Earth-16, along with a small amount of background info? It's getting hard to keep track of which one anybody's talking about.

Three, I think?

3)Where did you get that one picture of Holly from, in the "In Praise of Eros" storyline?

The internet. It was probably in Catwoman originally.

5)What made you want to do a nsfw series?

This place infected me.

Ngamer11 · May 28, 2023

DeathReaperZ said:
2)Can anyone please remind me how many Supergirls there are in Earth-16, along with a small amount of background info? It's getting hard to keep track of which one anybody's talking about.

Mr Zoat said:
Three, I think?

If you mean how many people go by Supergirl, then there are three women: Kara Zor-El, Linda Danvers/Noriel, and Kara Zor-L. If you also count counterparts who go by other names, there's also Overgirl. Kara Zor-El is a Kryptonian who's still trying to adapt to life on Earth, Linda is a bad girl who got a mental rewrite due to getting the memories of an angel downloaded into her brain, Kara Zor-L is an alternate universe counterpart of the local Kara who's much more interested in being a hero, but is also a lot more naïve, while Overgirl is a woman from a Nazi dominated world who got Kryptonian powers thanks to unethical human experimentation and is trying to think of a way to rehabilitate her world.

Mr Zoat, just to confirm, does Overgirl still stick around Earth 16, or has she permanently gone back home to Earth 10?

Mr Zoat · May 28, 2023

Ngamer11 said:
Mr Zoat, just to confirm, does Overgirl still stick around Earth 16, or has she permanently gone back home to Earth 10?

She's gone back to Earth 10, being replaced by Johanna Garrick.

Mr Zoat · May 28, 2023

13th February 2013
17:06 GMT -5
Earth 50

I get a half-second view of her dainty fingers, then I'm flying backwards across the Metropolis skyline with my nose pancaked across my face.

Ow!

Through… My environmental shield and…

Really ow.

Fix my nose back into shape.

By your command.

OW! Which hurts more-. And-.

I'm jerked to a stop as Kara blurs after me, her hands grabbing my gorget. "What are you doing here?"

"Fixing my nose, you-. Deeply rude woman. What the heck was that for?"

"What did you think I was going to do? You're still a wanted fugitive, Grayven."

"What? But I barely committed any crimes at all." She looks incredulous. "One little vault break in and maybe a few thousand dollars worth of damage."

"And the people you killed."

"They were Anti-Lifed to the point of being unsalvageable." I shake my head as my nose finishes regenerating. "I honestly didn't realise that people here were still throwing such a fit about things."

"John and Shayera aren't here. They-."

"They're on Thanagar. I know. I'm still in contact. I'm a friendly guy with people who don't respond to 'hello' by punching me in the f-. Flipping face."

I jerk my arms up, knocking her arms away. And yes, I know that if she was gripping hard that wouldn't have worked, but I'm happy to see that she hasn't quite learned real savagery yet.

She folds her arms across her chest. "What do you want?"

"I found our version of you a while ago. Ah. Sort of. She's Kara Zor-El, not Kara In-Ze, but… Same idea. Blonde kryptonian female, survived Krypton going up…"

"I'm not the only blonde kryptonian."

…

I feel guilty for thinking it, but I can't help it any more than I can prevent myself snort-chuckling.

"Wha-?" She blinks as she gets it. "Ugh. That's not funny, Grayven."

"If it makes you feel better, Kal-El's the only black-haired kryptonian." I exhale. "I don't find the death of your species funny or anything, but it was the juxtaposition between you just saying it like that-."

"I can go back to hitting you, you know."

"If it makes you feel better-. No, let me… So, we located her and brought her back to the facility I'm using to clone the kryptonian species back into viability-."

"Y-? How do you mean..?"

"I got a load of kryptonian genetic records from… Various places, mixed them up a bit and then used some ex-Citadel cloning machines to create more kryptonians. Hired some people to raise the resulting children… And since that was-. Actually, do you have any kryptonian genetic records here? We're doing okay for genetic variation, but there's no such thing as too much variety."

"Ah… Brainiac's database might have some medical records… He could access all of the data on Krypton, but I don't know if he bothered loading it onto the database Kal captured. There's… Probably some intact bodies on Kandor. We didn't really get much kryptonite radiation, unlike Krypton."

I nod. "Nifty. I'll have a look around at some point, we can include them in the next batch."

"You're not… Keeping them as slaves, are you?"

"What? No. Karsta Wor-Ul would-" Try to. "-kill me. And they're children; there's basically nothing they could do that it wouldn't make more sense to have an adult or a robot do."

"But when they grow up…"

"They're part of my domains. If they want to work for me, I'll hire them. But their capacities make forcing them completely impractical."

She stares at me searchingly, and I shrug.

"Okay. So-? Wait, are you asking me to… Contribute?"

"Ah. No? I mean, you can-. And I can manufacture kryptonian sperm if that's something that you want, but-. We're getting away from my point."

"Which is?"

"Our Kara was severely injured due to having been in a malfunctioning pod ship which was trapped in a kryptonite asteroid. We fixed her up with a daxamite medical sarcophagus, and she seemed… Fine-ish..? But she's a lot more… Socially vicious. And… Loudly devoted to Kryptonian nationalism in a way that I wasn't… Expecting."

"Okay? She's not me. I don't really… I mean, aside from Jax-Ur, that wasn't really part of kryptonian politics. We didn't have any contact with aliens and no one really wanted to leave."

"No vrangs on your parallel?"

She frowns. "No who?"

"Vrangs? An alien species that invaded medieval Krypton before eventually being kicked off by the natives. That didn't happen on your Krypton?"

"Not that I remember. I never really bothered studying ancient history, and if Brainiac didn't think it was important, he might just have got rid of the records." She relaxes her arms. "So, okay, she's acting weird. Why do you want to talk to me about it?"

"Because you're both young kryptonian women and I don't know any kryptonian psychologists. I'd like to you try talking to her, find out if there's actually something wrong with her."

"I can't just disappear from my job."

"I could kidnap you? I mean, it's not like I ran out of gold kryptonite."

"And it's not like I ran out of radiation shields." She looks away, thinking. "How long will this take?"

"I don't know. How good at psychology are you?"

"Why don't you ask Kal?"

"Your Kal-El?" She nods. "Because I don't want him near the children. Or near me. Did you tell him I'm the one who dosed him with gold kryptonite?"

"No, I left that out. He's actually… Talking to me now. He approves of…" She glances down at her 'S'. "This."

"I imagine he wasn't entirely displeased to learn that Batman died either."

"I'm not sure. He wasn't happy when I told him, especially when I told him how." She shrugs. "They were friends for years. I don't think his… Feelings about Batman were that… Simple."

"So is that a hard no from you?"

"I'll see if I can get the time off work, but I'd like to get Kal out of the Fortress. It's not healthy."

I sigh. "Okay. I'll give him a try."

Katillno · May 28, 2023

When did Grayven go to earth 50? Like not this specific time I mean for the first time

RoninSword · May 28, 2023

Katillno said:
When did Grayven go to earth 50? Like not this specific time I mean for the first time

Batman 50 ordered Grayven to follow him through a portal when he was sitting in jail for killing Klarion.

When did Batman 50 die. And how.

Darko · May 28, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
We fixed her up with a daxamite medical sarcophagus, and she seemed… Fine-ish..? But she's a lot more… Socially vicious. And… Loudly devoted to Kryptonian nationalism in a way that I wasn't… Expecting."

You sorta forgot to mention the fact that you basically put the brain of a Nazi robot into her head.

Mr Zoat said:
Because you're both young kryptonian women and I don't know any kryptonian psychologists. I'd like to you try talking to her, find out if there's actually something wrong with her."

So you forgot the Nazi robot?

Lord Ernest · May 28, 2023

Wait, when did Batman 50 die? I don't remember that being mentioned at any point. Nor even when Scott and Barda 50 came, or when Grayven visited Kara 50 before.

Vaermina · May 28, 2023

Darko said:
You sorta forgot to mention the fact that you basically put the brain of a Nazi robot into her head.

So you forgot the Nazi robot?

Remember he's missing a bunch of memories due to being Grayven shot with magic arrows to think he was Renegade.

Prince Charon · May 28, 2023

Darko said:
You sorta forgot to mention the fact that you basically put the brain of a Nazi robot into her head.

So you forgot the Nazi robot?

I'm not sure how aware Grayven is of how much influence the Eradicator had on her (since I don't think it was anywhere near as simple as that) - or rather, it seems like he's trying to figure that out.

Agumentic · May 28, 2023

RoninSword said:
When did Batman 50 die. And how.

Lord Ernest said:
Wait, when did Batman 50 die? I don't remember that being mentioned at any point. Nor even when Scott and Barda 50 came, or when Grayven visited Kara 50 before.

When Grayven 50 invaded Earth and blew the Watchtower up with his dreadnaught, it was on screen. They never did find the body, though, so who knows.

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