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

Unfortunately for Tuppence, she's perfectly on that line between "had enough characterization her death will have impact on readers" and "minor enough character that the story can plausibly afford to lose her". Which after all is why D-listers often get killed off in big stories.
 
Paul's plan is very likely to wake up the Life Entity, a shit ton of Life effects will be going down.
The thing they need every color lantern to do, fuse all emotions into the white light of life and counter the anti life infection. It also may heal or resurrect people, since like anything in comics it has sorta nebulous power and interactions
I know that. I thought "White Pulse" was something else given it was in all caps and said directly about Tuppence. Like maybe the origin of how the Danner formula gets the energy to actually empower people like it does.
Never trust a death that doesn't leave an identifiable body. That's just good Comics logic.
Truth.
 
Pyrrhucy (part 9)
14th February 2013
13:28 GMT -5


I grab the armour with a construct and bring it over to me. Having trouble scanning through it, but I can tell there's someone inside and that they're in pain through simple body language analysis.

"Pop your armour and get medical attention. Stay inside and I have to cut you out."

Mr. Mahkent looks decidedly unnerved as we both look for the aperture. "We need to go, dude."

Eiling pauses by the doorway. "Kadabra!" And then he heads back towards me, head turning to keep his eyes on potential avenues of attack. "Lantern, the icicle's right. Mission's complete."

I leave the person in the armour to think about it.

"What's incoming?"

"Whatever fucked up thing Mannheim's come up with this week. Y'know, sometimes, I don't think he even cares about the broadcasters. He just-."

His eyes widen, his arms come up and the ice flies… And pins a pigeon to a wall.

It flaps its wings pitifully for a moment, then is still.

"Still got fire control issues, Junior?"

"Fuck you."

Eiling snorts. "Couple weeks ago it was human-animal hybrids with super strength. Couple weeks before that, we got-."

"Death is life's objective."

Abra sprints out of the tower, then keeps running past us. I fly up into an overwatch position as Eiling and Mahkent begin falling back, orange bonds wrapped around the figure in power armour.

"Everyone else hear that?"

"Death is life done right!"

Eiling snorts. "At least the animals didn't talk."

"So lock and load!"

I deploy point defence constructs, ready to fire.

"And hit the road!"

"Where is the evacuation point? I can just fly-."

There's a green blur, and for a fraction of a second as my thoughts turn to orange light I see… Humanoid, small, cybernetic modifications making its head look a little like a skull. Going by the size-.

It skull-grins at me.

"The Jockeys ride tonight!"

The-. That's a radiation symbol shield!

The other side of the shield goes white as the nuclear device the… Thing? Was carrying detonates! I reinforce the shield as the pressure of the detonation pushes me back, and expand it as the nuclear fury expands outwards! Kadabra points his wand at it, muttering something under his breath, while Eiling grabs Mahkent and pushes him to the ground underneath him as the heat washes over us!

That was a person.

They're using nuclear suicide bombers.

I alter the targetting parameters of my point defence drone constructs.

The initial release of energy has pretty much stopped, the shockwave and incandescent light have passed us by. The area is still hot and radioactive, but we can move. I attach filaments to everyone and transition-.

Unable to comply.

That's not good. Okay, ah, flying? I can fly everyone out, but that would make us very visible so I'd rather get away on the ground first.

Kadabra waves his wand and a cold field envelopes the molten concrete around the site of the detonation.

"Everyone alright?"

Eiling's back smoulders as he pulls himself upright. Mahkent's ice skin is.. sweating a little, and his mouth is hanging open.

"Was that a nuke?"

"Sure, they got the rest of the US arsenal." Eiling pats out some burning… Skin. "Why wouldn't they have the nukes?"

"I hadn't realised that the US had suitcase-sized nukes. I mean, I know the Russians did-."

"Prototype fission hand grenades. Probably some Davy Crockett rounds someplace."

I shake the alien in power armour. "Are you paying attention in there? Is your armour nuke-proof?"

I-

"Hah hah-!"

My point defence constructs fire as I shift my construct shield around to cover the new direction, rays of light punching holes in the head of the-. Whatever these are. It falls to the ground as the flight system gets damaged, and-.

"Fun game!"

A third bomber appears, and all I've got time to do is change my barrier into a dome before-.

The world outside of my barrier turns white as its bomb goes off! I'm pushed.. down into the ground, Mahkent cringing as the space between the dome and the pavement shrinks! Kadabra's waving-. Making an electromagnetic field to encourage the plasma to expand away from us. Okay, good thinking-.

Eiling looks up. "Would it help if I push?"

"No, but thank you for offering."

CRACK!

Secondary layer, let the first fail and be replaced. Don't need to worry about the second bomb. Fission bombs don't cook off because they need explosive compression to begin the fission reaction. But there could be more coming in.

Are we anywhere near a sewer or storm drain?

No.

Never mind. Crumbler construct, bore down. I can always dig towards-

"Peek-a-boo!"

-freedom-. Fuck!

"Do I-? Do I try freezing it?"

Eiling snorts. "On your best day, you couldn't freeze a nuke."

No cracking this time, but I can feel the outer layers of my construct barrier being peeled off. Use the borer to dig out a cave and seal it against water.

"Eiling, down the hole. Icicle, after him."

"Right." He doesn't look back as he jumps down.

Mahkent looks down uncertainly, then looks up at the nuclear blast and makes his decision, jumping down and using ice claws to control his descent.

The brilliant lights are fading a little, and I see-.

External Motivation = External Control

A figure in dark armour appears through the burning and shoves their hand through my construct!
 
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Holy Hell, Suicide Jockeys armed with nuclear devices?! They are still in Washington D.C. right? And they have already detonated 3 times at least. I imagine the explosions aren't as big as media portrays nuclear explosions but I'm assuming that the city's still fucked up.

And why can't the Illustres just grab them and fly at high speed up, towards atmosphere and down towards destination? Even without Transition the enemies would need to be Speedster-level fast to catch up to his maximum flying speed, no? Seems like the presence of these opportunistic aliens or being on Earth is throwing the Illustres off his game.
 
Holy Hell, Suicide Jockeys armed with nuclear devices?! They are still in Washington D.C. right? And they have already detonated 3 times at least. I imagine the explosions aren't as big as media portrays nuclear explosions but I'm assuming that the city's still fucked up.

And why can't the Illustres just grab them and fly at high speed up, towards atmosphere and down towards destination? Even without Transition the enemies would need to be Speedster-level fast to catch up to his maximum flying speed, no? Seems like the presence of these opportunistic aliens or being on Earth is throwing the Illustres off his game.
Well, using Zoat's own rules for New God's, LePaul is probably being metaphysically crushed due to all the times he ran away from Mannheim.
 
14th February 2013
13:28 GMT -5


I grab the armour with a construct and bring it over to me. Having trouble scanning through it, but I can tell there's someone inside and that they're in pain through simple body language analysis.

"Pop your armour and get medical attention. Stay inside and I have to cut you out."
And if he has to cut... He may not be able to be precise. Or rather, he might choose not to be. Still, a live prisoner is a good bonus in addition to the broadcaster being prevented from going online.

Mr. Mahkent looks decidedly unnerved as we both look for the aperture. "We need to go, dude."

Eiling pauses by the doorway. "Kadabra!" And then he heads back towards me, head turning to keep his eyes on potential avenues of attack. "Lantern, the icicle's right. Mission's complete."
Not until all hands involved are clear. Though you were a Marine, Eiling? What happened to 'No man left behind?'

I leave the person in the armour to think about it.

"What's incoming?"
Knowing Mannheim's connections, something nasty.

"Whatever fucked up thing Mannheim's come up with this week. Y'know, sometimes, I don't think he even cares about the broadcasters. He just-."

His eyes widen, his arms come up and the ice flies… And pins a pigeon to a wall.
Yes, I'm sure that flying rat won't be bothering anyone anytime soon...

It flaps its wings pitifully for a moment, then is still.

"Still got fire control issues, Junior?"
To be fair, the ability to shoot ice isn't always a given for those with cryonic biology. Freeze needs a special sidearm to do his freezing things.

"Fuck you."

Eiling snorts. "Couple weeks ago it was human-animal hybrids with super strength. Couple weeks before that, we got-."
What, like Sobek or the Animal People of Kamandi's era? Sheesh.

"Death is life's objective."

Abra sprints out of the tower, then keeps running past us. I fly up into an overwatch position as Eiling and Mahkent begin falling back, orange bonds wrapped around the figure in power armour.
Okay, whatever's got him worried is bad. Especially if it's singing...

"Everyone else hear that?"

"Death is life done right!"
Justified, presumably. But not trying to be stealthy.

Eiling snorts. "At least the animals didn't talk."

"So lock and load!"
That would be annoying...

I deploy point defence constructs, ready to fire.

"And hit the road!"
Maybe add some cold guns for immobilising targets?

"Where is the evacuation point? I can just fly-."

There's a green blur, and for a fraction of a second as my thoughts turn to orange light I see… Humanoid, small, cybernetic modifications making its head look a little like a skull. Going by the size-.
Ah, one of Apokalips' more expendable shock troops.

It skull-grins at me.

"The Jockeys ride tonight!"
...The Suicide Jockeys. Humanoid bombs. That fly.

The-. That's a radiation symbol shield!

The other side of the shield goes white as the nuclear device the… Thing? Was carrying detonates! I reinforce the shield as the pressure of the detonation pushes me back, and expand it as the nuclear fury expands outwards! Kadabra points his want at it, muttering something under his breath, while Eiling grabs Mahkent and pushes him to the ground underneath him as the heat washes over us!
Good instincts, General, though a little foolhardy.

That was a person.

They're using nuclear suicide bombers.
Well, there goes the neighbourhood. Seriously, Even a bomb that small can be messy.

I alter the targetting parameters of my point defence drone constructs.

The initial release of energy has pretty much stopped, the shockwave and incandescent light have passed us by. The area is still hot and radioactive, but we can move. I attach filaments to everyone and transition-.
And unless they pack a lot of mass into their frames, that's 'only' around one kiloton. Still going to make a mess.

Unable to comply.

That's not good. Okay, ah, flying? I can fly everyone out, but that would make us very visible so I'd rather get away on the ground first.
Great. Must be a result of the radiation. Presumably their bombs have a little added spice to mess with exotic transport methods.

Kadabra waves his wand and a cold field envelopes the molten concrete around the site of the detonation.

"Everyone alright?"
Cooling things down only goes so far. Anyone nearby is still likely to end up glowing in the dark for a bit.

Eiling's back smoulders as he pulls himself upright. Mahkent's ice skin is.. sweating a little, and his mouth is hanging open.

"Was that a nuke?"
Yeah, they might need a shower or two in decontamination foam when they get home.

"Sure, they got the rest of the US arsenal." Eiling pats out some burning… Skin. "Why wouldn't they have the nukes?"

"I hadn't realised that the US had suitcase-sized nukes. I mean, I know the Russians did-."
At least it wasn't any of the strategic-scale gear. Yet.

"Prototype fission hand grenades. Probably some Davy Crockett rounds someplace."

I shake the alien in power armour. "Are you paying attention in there? Is your armour nuke-proof?"
Davy Crockett, the nuclear artillery of choice.

Oh, there's more of them. Hooray.

My point defence constructs fire as I shift my construct shield around to cover the new direction, rays of light punching holes in the head of the-. Whatever these are. It falls to the ground as the flight system gets damaged, and-.

"Fun game!"
Thankfully they don't have dead-man's triggers.

A third bomber appears, and all I've got time to do it change my barrier into a dome before-.

The world outside of my barrier turns white as its bomb goes off! I'm pushed.. down into the ground, Mahkent cringing as the space between the dome and the pavement shrinks! Kadabra's waving-. Making an electromagnetic field to encourage the plasma to expand away from us. Okay, good thinking-.
Kadabra's showing some good moves today. The joy of having a damn good powerset.

Eiling looks up. "Would it help if I push?"

"No, but thank you for offering."
Fortunately, with Lantern Constructs, it's largely a state of mind that matters, not of muscle.

CRACK!

Secondary layer, let the first fail and be replaced. Don't need to worry about the second bomb. Fission bombs don't cook off because they need explosive compression to begin the fission reaction. But there could be more coming in.
So, time to leave, methinks. With your captive in tow.

Are we anywhere near a sewer or storm drain?

No."
Time to make your own hole, then. And perhaps reseal it after you to prevent pursuit.

Never mind. Crumber construct, bore down. I can always dig towards-

"Peek-a-boo!"
...Oh, come on! They're underground too? Or did this one run in through the heat-bubble of the last guy?

-freedom-. Fuck!

"Do I-? Do I try freezing it?"
And you know things are tense when OL starts swearing in his head.

Eiling snorts. "On your best day, you couldn't freeze a nuke."

No cracking this time, but I can feel the outer layers of my construct barrier being peeled off. Use the borer to dig out a cave and seal it against water.
Leaving. Leaving is good.

"Eiling, down the hole. Icicle, after him."

"Right." He doesn't look back as he jumps down.
No need to argue with a good plan.

Mahkent looks down uncertainly, then looks up at he nuclear blast and makes his decision, jumping down and using ice claws to control his descent.

The brilliant lights is fading a little, and I see-.
Presumably his constructs were dampening the nuclear flash of the detonation, at least.

External Motivation = External Control

A figure in dark armour appear through the burning and shove their hand through my construct!
...Okay, let's not mess with this guy. If you can ignore a nuclear explosion, you are not to be fucked with.

I seriously hope they weren't in a populated part of Newark, because these guys just cleaned house. Because those suitcase nukes still hit with as much force as a van full of fertilizer bombs, with the spicy bonus of nuclear fallout. And I get the feeling Mannheim's got them on site in other places too, to prey on the heroes' concern for human life...


The brilliant lights is fading a little, and I see-.
Mismatch here. Either 'lights are' or 'light is'.
 
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A figure in dark armour appear through the burning and shove their hand through my construct!

Tense confusion:
Replace "appear" (intransitive verb, present tense) with "appeared" (intransitive verb, past simple tense).
Similarly, replace "shove" (verb, present tense)with "shoved" (verb, past simple tense).


Another fine chapter, keep up the good work.
 
You may have missed it, but they are Speedster-level fast.

It doesn't really say that, does it? Comic Suicide Jockeys usually just have flying harnesses, which these could have, and those do make them dangerous enough. But Speedsters can be fast enough to outpace even mental acceleration and constructs, which these haven't done.

Not saying they aren't, just saying it hasn't been categorically demonstrated or stated.
 
Missing opening quotemark
shove -> shoves
Tense confusion:
Replace "appear" (intransitive verb, present tense) with "appeared" (intransitive verb, past simple tense).
The brilliant lights is fading a little, and I see-.
Mismatch here. Either 'lights are' or 'light is'.
Thank you, corrected.
Holy Hell, Suicide Jockeys armed with nuclear devices?! They are still in Washington D.C. right? And they have already detonated 3 times at least. I imagine the explosions aren't as big as media portrays nuclear explosions but I'm assuming that the city's still fucked up.
Nuclear weapons are efficient, but just being a nuke doesn't make it a hugely powerful weapon. The Jockeys are using small devices in a area significantly made of steel and concrete. The area immediately around them is fucked, but a few streets away not a lot has changed.
And why can't the Illustres just grab them and fly at high speed up, towards atmosphere and down towards destination? Even without Transition the enemies would need to be Speedster-level fast to catch up to his maximum flying speed, no? Seems like the presence of these opportunistic aliens or being on Earth is throwing the Illustres off his game.
There's a page in the web comic Dalek Empire about why that's not a good idea. Basically, the higher you are, the larger the ground area people can see you from. That might still be worth doing if all they've got is stationary subsonic ground-based weapons, but Mannheim clearly has lasers as well as exotics. Then there's the alien ships, who have almost certainly been notified of his location by now.
Was rereading and found that this link goes to the page 49 of thread nine instead of page 50, which is where the story part is posted.
Thank you, corrected.
You may have missed it, but they are Speedster-level fast.
If they were Flash-fast then the SI wouldn't have seen them until they were already exploding. They're very fast but not that fast.
 
Is everything so much worse because of the butterflies ol causes or is it because the writer is making the enemies actually competent?
 
Is everything so much worse because of the butterflies ol causes or is it because the writer is making the enemies actually competent?

Mostly the latter combined with an actually semi-consistent, more comics leaning level of power scaling. Things were already bigger and badder than in Young Justice normally, because otherwise stuff like this wouldn't be happening, but Zoat is also allowing the bad guys to have a functioning brain cell between them while sticking true to the scale he's set up.
 
The brilliant lights are fading a little, and I see-.

External Motivation = External Control

A figure in dark armour appear through the burning and shove their hand through my construct!

Tense confusion:
Replace "appear" (intransitive verb, present tense) with "appeared" (intransitive verb, past simple tense).
Similarly, replace "shove" (verb, present tense)with "shoved" (verb, past simple tense).

I disagree a bit with the correction. If the "A" was made lower case, and the full stop after the "-" was removed, then the original tenses work properly. And I'm inclined to say that given the pattern of insertion of anti-life equation text in other places, that this was more likely what was intended.
 
I disagree a bit with the correction. If the "A" was made lower case, and the full stop after the "-" was removed, then the original tenses work properly. And I'm inclined to say that given the pattern of insertion of anti-life equation text in other places, that this was more likely what was intended.

That works as well.
 
Is everything so much worse because of the butterflies ol causes or is it because the writer is making the enemies actually competent?
This is all butterflies.

LePaul Goldfished the Apokolipse infiltration way back when and because he didn't actually deal with it this was the result.
 
A third bomber appears, and all I've got time to do it change my barrier into a dome before-.
is

Then there's the alien ships, who have almost certainly been notified of his location by now.
Getting burned out of this storyline.
The aliens here just seem an ill though out addition.
The kryptonian instillation they went to should have been hidden, with OL keeping it secret.
It hasn't really been 'in play' in the story.
So them finding it and showing up there looks like an ass pull, because you haven't shown the work for them to have earned that.

Also bad because OL doesn't know anything about them, including how long they had been there, and what they did when they showed up. Which OL should have been able to get from the AI, from before they isolated his systems.

And this all feels ultimately pointless, because we already had a world shaking event with those end of time human faeries whose name escapes me. Where we have to be reminded that a whole lot of people are dead because of that invasion. Because the consequences and implications of that have not really been integrated into the story that well.

It just feels like there wasn't a well written follow through there, and here is yet another 'big, huge, world shaking event' and just means getting setup for another milquetoast 'easily forgettable aftermath'
 

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