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

[Maxx Crowley]

You know, I don't really like the way you said that.

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Success!!

*marks checklist*

Wait....which part? The list demands accuracy!

 

[Ganurath]

Success!!

*marks checklist*

Wait....which part? The list demands accuracy!

Click to shrink...

Probably the lower case A after the ellipses, without a space between them. That, or the part of the post after the quote being a sentence fragment was the issue. Proper grammar is serious business on the internet, at least among certain circles.

 

[Mr Zoat]

4th February
19:35 GMT -5

"…so few examples of Kryptonian media still exist!" Kara shifts uncomfortably as Canis grins excitedly at her. "I am very grateful for this opportunity!" Expand My Horizons!

"I wasn't-. It's not.. anything groundbreaking." She holds up a data stick. "This is just.. light entertainment."

"All the better! Such works give a far better view of the cultural assumptions that underpin Kryptonian culture, so much more so than a deliberately thoughtful piece."

"Ah…" She glances at me for guidance and I shrug apologetically. "Okay?"

Wolf pads into the hangar and stops at the top of the steps, sniffing the air and looking down at Kara with a mildly wary air. Kara notices her and -grateful for an excuse to escape her conversation with Canis- walks towards-. Takes two steps towards the steps and then remembers that she can fly, then does that instead. Floating just above Wolf she holds out her hand, which Wolf cautiously sniffs. Apparently finding the scent acceptable, Wolf gives her a small lick and then turns around to head back into the kitchen. Kara follows her, which leaves me with Canis.

"I understand that Zatanna will be joining us once more."

"Yes. I wasn't banishing her, I just felt that being around me wasn't healthy. If anything, I was banishing myself."

Canis shakes his head. "Illustres. You are a powerful New God. You must learn to accept that.. weaker New Gods will naturally come to arrange themselves around you. Choosing not to bed her is of course your prerogative, but pushing her away when she is clearly so devoted to you is harmful to both of your underlying metaphysical interactions and empowerment."

My eyes narrow. And not just at his implication. I think I.. understood what he means, but the words don't…

"My purpose is to guide people in realising their desires. She had a desire that couldn't coexist with mine or Jade's."

"Because she desires monogamy? Would not changing that desire be more simple?"

"Technically, yes, but I would transgress my nature to do it. And it wouldn't change Jade's feelings on the matter."

Canis frowns. "I know that Lowlies are not without value; my own father began his life as a Hunger Dog. But I do not understand why you let.. her have such power over you. It is… Unnatural. My father was not permitted to mate with my mother until he had achieved his own God-Name, and you are far more powerful than he was."

"Why do you think I encouraged her to join the Darkstars?"

"I respect your optimism, but the chance of her achieving your level of power -even with your aid- cannot be-"

"Recognised, Zatanna Zatara, B Zero Nine. Identity confirmed."

"-great."

Zatanna walks nervously out of the right zeta tube, hesitantly raising her right hand in greeting. I smile and return the gest-

"Salutations!"

-ure, while Canis strides over to her.

"Hi, Canis..?"

"Time permitting, I would appreciate it if you would talk through your fixation with Illustres with me."

"A-ah?"

"I wish to describe your heartache and longing in poetic form, and it would aid me greatly-"

I squeeze my eyes shut and bow my head.

"-if I could bear witness to your exquisite misery first hand."

I walk over to him and lay my right hand on his left shoulder. "Canis, shoo."

He doesn't tense. In fact, I can feel him.. relax. "Yes, Illustres. I apologise for overstepping my bounds." I remove my hand and he turns and walks up the steps towards the kitchen.

Zatanna and I regard each other for a moment.

"I'm sorry about-." / "That was-."

We both look away from one another for a moment.

"Why does he call-?" / "Happy birth-."

Oh, this is getting silly. I take her present and card out of subspace and hold them out. "Happy belated birthday."

"Thank you." She takes them and.. holds them slightly awkwardly. "Why.. did Canis call you 'Illustres'? I know it's your rank, but…"

"He appears to have decided that it's my God-Name, and that calling me anything else would be infantile." She nods. "How are you?"

"Not… Great, but… Better?" She shakes her head. "I know it's not… Good-. Healthy, how I've been…"

"But people don't change how they feel just because they realise they shouldn't."

"Yeah." She nods. "I think-."

"Recognised, Wonder Woman, Zero Three. Identity confirmed."

We both look around as Diana strides through the zeta tube, scanning the room for… Threats? What's going-?

"Diana. You've finally-" Her gaze shifts to me-. Oh, what am I supposed to have done now? "-learned to block my empathic vision. Well done."

She doesn't appear to register the compliment. "You must both come with me at once. It is a matter of the utmost importance."

"Ah… Sure? Do you want us to bring the whole team?"

"No. This requires only your particular skills."

"Ah..?" I glance at Zatanna. "Zatanna isn't.. back on the 'active' roster-."

"No, that's-" Zatanna shakes her head. "-fine. Romra pu!" Smoke coils around her as her armour reappears, and she shrugs at me. "I'm not injured. And I'm sure I can.. cope with being around you for a little while."

"Okay, so-" Diana has already started back towards the zeta tubes. "-where are we going?"

"You will be briefed upon your arrival, along with everyone else."

"Alright, but do I need any-"

"Recognised, Wonder Woman, Zero Three. Identity confirmed."

"-special equipment? Huh."

Zatanna frowns at the zeta tube. "Does she seem a bit.. off to you?"

"Someone might have found out about the Noriel thing… Or she had to take a shift on the Watchtower with Guy or Mister O'Brian." I shrug as I walk into the tube. "Diana's usually fairly serene, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't get frustrated sometimes."

"If you say so."

I shrug as light flares-

"Recognised, Orange Lantern, B zero six. Identity confirmed."

-and I appear…

Um. This isn't-.

Construct armour forms around me just in time to stop the yellow construct gauntlet seizing me around the neck!

 

[Orannis]

Huh I don't think we were ever gonna see the yellow ring guy.

 

[infinityDivided]

...Well, unless Sinestro made a pact with Parallax, the Yellow Lantern Corps is about to get be eaten.

 

[Buggy123]

Ok, Paul, you gotta be a little more aware here. "Acting a little strange" means mind control in this universe. At least do some sort of preliminary check!

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

"…so few examples of Kryptonian media still exist!" Kara shifts uncomfortably as Canis grins excitedly at her. "I am very grateful for this opportunity!" Expand My Horizons!

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Oh-ho, Godspeech! A rare sight in the main timeline.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"I wasn't-. It's not.. anything groundbreaking." She holds up a data stick. "This is just.. light entertainment."

Click to shrink...

So, sitcoms and superhero movies?

Canis shakes his head. "Illustres. You are a powerful New God. You must learn to accept that.. weaker New Gods will naturally come to arrange themselves around you. Choosing not to bed her is of course your prerogative, but pushing her away when she is clearly so devoted to you is harmful to both of your underlying metaphysical interactions and empowerment."

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Interesting how this trails off into Godspeech, completely changing the meaning.

My eyes narrow. At not just at his implication. I think I.. understood what he means, but the words don't…

Click to shrink...

Something's a bit messed up here. Should be an 'And', I think?
Also: Did OL pick up on that godspeech, or just on the audible only?

Canis frowns. "I know that Lowlies are not without value; my own father began his life as a Hunger Dog. But I do not understand why you let.. her have such power over you. It is… Unnatural. My father was not permitted to mate with my mother until he had achieved his own God-Name, and you are far more powerful than he was."

Click to shrink...

...Apokaliptian standards...

Zatanna walks nervously out of the right seta tube...

Click to shrink...

Zatanna walks nervously out of the right zeta tube...

"Time permitting, I would appreciate it if you would talk through your fixation with Illustres with me."

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Oh god!

"A-ah?"

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Yeah, that would be my reaction too.

I squeeze my eyes shut and bow my head.

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No facepalm?

"-if I could bear witness to your exquisite misery first hand."

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Now this is just rubbing it in.

He doesn't tense. In fact, I can feel him.. relax. "Yes, Illustres. I apologise for overstepping my bounds." I remove my hand and he turns and walks up the steps towards the kitchen.

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Good to see he understands the pecking order, even if OL doesn't know there is one.

"But people don't change how they feel just because they realise they shouldn't."

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Human nature, alas.

We both look around as Diana strides through the zeta tube, scanning the room for… Threats? What's going-?

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Oh, this isn't good.

"No, that's-" Zatanna shakes her head. "-fine. Ruomra pu!"

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While correct for British English, Zatanna's American. Would it be 'Romra' instead, or has she picked up real English?

"You will be briefed upon your arrival, along with everyone else."

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Suspicious! We sure this is Earth-16 Diana, or has another cross-time incursion occured?
(And yes, I know, 'The SI Doesn't Know')

"Someone might have found out about the Noriel thing… Or she had to take a shift on the Watchtower with Guy or Mister O'Brian." I shrug as I walk into the tube. "Diana's usually fairly serene, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't get frustrated sometimes."

Click to shrink...

Wouldn't Noriel's situation have been in a mission report?

Construct armour forms around me just in time to stop the yellow construct gauntlet seizing me around the neck!

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Ah, Sinestro come to question why OL recruited his daughter?

Godspeech, for those unable to perceive it:

"I am very grateful for this opportunity!" Expand My Horizons!

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Choosing not to bed her is of course your prerogative, but pushing her away when she is clearly so devoted to you is harmful to both of your underlying metaphysical interactions and empowerment."

Click to shrink...

 

[Maxx Crowley]

Somehow, I just knew that a trap was coming up. Fake Diana? Or Alternate universe Diana?

Are we about to see a Yellow Lantern Paul?

 

[Ganurath]

Ok, Paul, you gotta be a little more aware here. "Acting a little strange" means mind control in this universe. At least do some sort of preliminary check!

Click to shrink...

Given the title of this arc, I suspect "robot duplicate" is the actual culprit.

I'm going to laugh if this is Sinestro being an overprotective father.

 

[Mr Zoat]

My eyes narrow. At not just at his implication. I think I.. understood what he means, but the words don't…
Something's a bit messed up here. Should be an 'And', I think?
Also: Did OL pick up on that godspeech, or just on the audible only?
Zatanna walks nervously out of the right seta tube...
Zatanna walks nervously out of the right zeta tube...
"No, that's-" Zatanna shakes her head. "-fine. Ruomra pu!"
While correct for British English, Zatanna's American. Would it be 'Romra' instead, or has she picked up real English?

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

 

[FreeGod]

Did anyone not see this coming?

 

[Ardy]

The fuck? Paul put seriously OP defenses, both technological (and fucking Maltusian-grade to boot) and super powerful magical defenses that kept out the armies of Hell itself, not to mention 30 different types of mind control and impersonation detection, on the mountain's zeta tubes.

How the fuck did mind controlled Wonder Woman get in???

 

[FreeGod]

The fuck? Paul put seriously OP defenses, both technological (and fucking Maltusian-grade to boot) and super powerful magical defenses that kept out the armies of Hell itself, not to mention 30 different types of mind control and impersonation detection, on the mountain's zeta tubes.

How the fuck did mind controlled Wonder Woman get in???

Click to shrink...

I don't think that it was Wonder Woman. Likely a Robot which would explain why he could not see any emotions.

 

[Ardy]

I don't think that it was Wonder Woman. Likely a Robot which would explain why he could not see any emotions.

Click to shrink...

Okay, how did the robot fool Malthusian grade technology and military grade Atlantian defensive magicks specifically designed to stop things like that?

 

[Vaermina]

The fuck? Paul put seriously OP defenses, both technological (and fucking Maltusian-grade to boot) and super powerful magical defenses that kept out the armies of Hell itself, not to mention 30 different types of mind control and impersonation detection, on the mountain's zeta tubes.

How the fuck did mind controlled Wonder Woman get in???

Click to shrink...

Because none of the things you claimed about Paul are true...

 

[Ardy]

Because none of the things you claimed about Paul are true...

Click to shrink...

So do you not remember him putting in the super OP defenses on the mountain after Oceanus? Because you might need to see a doctor if you're forgetting stuff on a regular basis

 

[FreeGod]

So do you not remember him putting in the super OP defenses on the mountain after Oceanus? Because you might need to see a doctor if you're forgetting stuff on a regular basis

Click to shrink...

Didn't have Maltusian-grade tech back then.

 

[Buggy123]

Because none of the things you claimed about Paul are true...

Click to shrink...

... Yes? He did? After Truggs invaded the mountain, he put in extensive (or, as some people saw it, excessive) defensive measures into the mountain, including both high tech identification and defensive measures, and a variety of magical defenses that he intended to have Zatanna charge up. The other guy might have been using hyperbole a bit, but he definitely put in defenses.

Some of those might have been removed by the League, because they thought it was excessive and didn't like that many of them could use lethal force, but he still did it.

Proof:

General defenses:

18th June
15:03 GMT -5

"Dude…"

Wallace openly gawks at what I've done to the hangar. Richard does a quick sweep of the place then looks down, wincing slightly.

"Ah, are you.. okay?"

Kon's a sweetie.

I float down from the mountain's hangar entrance towards him, Wolf and M'gann. I've been adding a selectively permeable force shield to the blast doors which I've already upgraded.

"No. No, not really. I've got a nasty feeling that Batman's going to be telling me to strip all of this stuff out when he's finished in Canada."

Richard looks up at me. "You might have gone a bit overboard, Oh El."

I frown, then shake my head. "No, I don't think so."

"No?" He takes a boomerang from his utility belt and throws it upwards. It makes it two metres before a dematerialiser locks on and eliminates it in a puff of green. "That looks a lot like lethal force to me."

"What? The system can distinguish between devices and people. The Light know where we live now. As far as I'm concerned, it was this or move house. And I'm not moving house for these people." Hm. "And anyway, Rhode Island law is quite clear on the subject of home defence against armed invaders. The Reds came in via the sea entrance and Truggs' people phased through the walls. And stole everything that wasn't nailed down."

"Um..?" M'gann shakily raises her right hand. "How do you know that? I mean, no one was here and you said they destroyed all the recording equipment."

"You know how I don't assimilate sentients?" Oh, for goodness sake Wallace. Really? "No." I shake my head and roll my eyes. "One of the Saremites who took part in the attack went for my personal lantern. Where the Ophidian lives."

"Ohhh."

"We've been having a bit of a chat. Oh, ah, M'gann? Don't try phasing through the walls anymore."

She looks rather nervous. "What happens if I do?"

"Probably nothing, maybe it hurts a lot and you get forcibly ejected."

"Oh." She gives me a small smile. "I thought it would be something-"

"Except the outer walls, which would probably kill you. Certainly, you'd lose whatever body part you stuck in."

The smile vanishes. "-like that."

"Oh, come on." I land just before them. "How often do you actually phase through the outer walls anyway?"

"Well, I'm not doing it now."

Kon shifts uncomfortably. "You put anything anti-Kryptonian in here?"

"I rebuilt the vertigo inducers, but Kryptonians have never been the most subtle people. I was really trying to make it impossible for anyone to ever get the drop on us again." I glance over at the rebuilt zeta tubes. "Kaldur not with you?"

Wallace has resumed peering around, trying to spot any other changes I might have made. What with the complete lack of bare stone in here anymore he's rather spoilt for choice. "Nah, he wanted to stay on in Poseidonis. Tula and Garth too."

"Oh well. I'll just have to get Zatanna to empower the new magic defences."

Richard's face has gone rather still. "Aaand.. what do those do?"

"Well, the existing geomantic wards only blocked scrying and detection. Since everyone knows where we are, all those were doing was preventing them from monitoring what we're doing day by day, which… Basically pointless. The new version incorporates a rather interesting spiritual prison effect. If the attacker doesn't know what they're doing, it sucks magic -and eventually their whole soul- out of their body."

"Ah… You don't… Actually mean..?"

"Alright, it's more like it locks it away from their body. It's not an instant death, and it would be very obvious to any magic user inside the mountain what had happened. On the other hand, Rhode Island law theoretically treats magic attack in exactly the same way as any other attack… So legally it's cool."

M'gann looks a little nervous as well. "You can.. do.. magic..?"

My forearms rise until they're at right angles to my body. My palms are upwards and orange light drifts down, swirling about my feet and solidifying into meaningless but impressive looking symbols. "I have been trying to orchestrate a magitech revolution. I've picked a few things up, a few designs. Once they're active, the Mountain will be proof against anything short of utterly overwhelming force."

Kon nods. "So, are the bathrooms working?"

"Yes, the bathrooms are working. I also took the opportunity to remodel the showers."

"Uh. They wrecked the showers?"

"They wrecked everything they didn't steal." I dismiss the mystic mumbo-jumbo and hold out my right hand towards Wallace. "Souvenirs of past missions?"

He looks pained, his mouth falling open. "Uh?"

"Smashed or taken."

Richard blinks. "The armory? Your workshop?"

"Looted and written off."

M'gann's eyes widen. "My..? My room?" Kon puts his right arm around her and she puts her hands on his arm.

"Some sort of incendiary. I restored as much as I could remember. I hope you…" My eyes flick to Kon and then back. "Backed up your school work."

There's a moment of silence.

Richard looks thoughtful. "So the attacks against the League and the Team were to keep us from noticing that we couldn't reach the Watchtower and to keep us away from Atlantis. But it was also to make sure that there wouldn't be anyone here."

"Good job there wasn't, actually. The Saremite said the attacking group consisted of twelve of Truggs' men and fifty or so other Saremites. I might have been able to fight that off, but there wouldn't be much left of them or of the mountain afterwards."

Wallace looks at me askance. "Hey, how come they didn't get your gun or your sword?"

"I kept those in my room. Tubbs isn't clever enough to have reported the state of the mountain to me if I didn't specifically instruct him to. They might actually have still been here when he flew through."

Richard looks around once more. "You've certainly.. done everything you can to stop them doing anything like that again. Why don't you.. show us what else you've done with the place?"

Click to shrink...

Zeta tube modifications:

18th June
15:38 GMT -5

Wallace slumps in front of the former trophy cabinet. "Aww man."

Artemis opens her mouth for a sarcastic comment, then looks at his face and bites it down. I get a quick 'don't mention this to anyone' look, then she puts her left hand around his shoulders in a sideways hug. "We can always beat up more bad guys and take their stuff."

Wallace isn't much mollified. "It won't be the same. Everything in here was a memory of a mission-." He turns his head my way, craning his neck to look over Artemis' shoulder. "Hey Oh El, can't you just recreate everything? I mean, it wouldn't be exactly the same, but it would be better than…" He goes back to staring mournfully at the empty shelves. "This."

"I'm afraid that I didn't bother scanning most of the c-stuff you put in here." Completely true, not to mention the fact that I find taking trophies mildly distasteful. "And I gave Jade's knives back to her."

"Yeah, 'cause her working for the mob is so much better than-." Artemis gives him a sidelong eyebrow-raise. "Yeah, 'cause it's.. so much better now… Ah, her doing legitimate bodyguarding work."

"I'm glad you think so, Wallace. Artemis, do you want me to-"

"Recognised,-"

"-show you-?"

"-Zatanna Zatara, B-"

"Excuse me."

I transition to the zeta tube vestibule.

"-zero nine."

The lights fade away as Zatanna steps out of the tube and into my scanner array. She stops dead, looking up at it in puzzlement.

"Identification confirmed."

The force field covering the zeta tube vestibule deactivates. Zatanna gives it a cautious once-over before stepping through. "That's… New."

"I thought that an upgrade was in order."

Wallace and Artemis walk out of the trophy room, Wallace wincing slightly as he's forced to look at my alterations once more. "Yeah, you should see what he's done with the rest of the place."

Zatanna frowns. "But the zeta tube already does an identity check."

"It's far too easy to fool, and doesn't detect a whole host of things. Mind control, intoxication, certain parasites. Like Star Conquerors. Plus, my system isn't on the same system as the zeta tube's approved list. Subverting one doesn't help you get past the other."

She looks around the remodelled training area. I didn't do much to it, though the hologram projectors now incorporate force field generators. It's very nearly a proper holodeck, capable of generating virtual opponents. Mooks, anyway. The sort of power requirement for virtual opponents capable of hurting our toughest team mates or myself made that system unfeasible. "How bad was it?"

Artemis wrinkles her nose. "The whole place was a total write-off."

"I put your room back exactly as it was. Apart from a.. couple of new security systems."

"Wohs em ym moor." Her eyes unfocus for a moment. "That's not so bad. From the way Robin was going on I thought you'd turned the whole mountain into some kinda fortress."

"Just because it's a fortress doesn't mean that it can't have homely touches as well."

"And if you did tha-. Oh, you need me to do the magic part."

Wallace squints. "How did you know-?"

Zatanna rolls her eyes. "Obviously we need better magic defences. Doing them at the same time as everything else just makes sense."

I nod. "That's what I've been saying."

"The new ones are kinda…" He tries to think of a polite but accurate term. "Nasty."

Zatanna smiles faintly. "Do you know what my house does to anyone who tries using magic on the owners?"

"Ahhhh… No?"

"Neither do I. Dad said I was too young to learn about stuff like that. Wohs em eht skrowten." Her eyes unfocus again, and she blinks heavily as she takes in the sight. "Whoooow. You… Really went all-out. That's… Way more than I can handle."

"Okay, but can you activate it at a really minimal level so it charges up itself?"

"Um… I don't… Know..? I mean, I could, but for something this complicated I don't think that would work right."

Wallace thinks for a moment. "Hey, you could always get Fate to do it." My face hardens, as does Zatanna's. "Or.. we could not."

Zatanna looks down, giving her head a slight shake. "What was everyone planning on doing this evening?"

Artemis shrugs. "Talk about spending the day with the Justice League and all the fights we got into. Except all of us had supervillains try and kill us and Poseidonis got attacked again. Kinda takes the fun out of it."

I shake my head. "I don't think they did try and kill us."

"Oh, that undead stripper was trying to kill me pretty hard."

"Right. Except, they were sent by the Light, weren't they?"

Wallace nods. "Yeah, probably."

"So why didn't they just murder us all in our beds?" A tiny flicker of yellow light from each of them. "I mean, the Light have had our secret identities and home addresses since New Year, right? One of Truggs' mercenaries with that power armour they wear could phase through our bedroom walls and shoot us in our sleep."

Wallace shudders. "Thanks, Oh El. I'm gunna sleep really well tonight."

"But they haven't. That's the point." I shake my head. "I don't know what's going on. Savage and Klarion could have killed the entire League at New Year. They could kill most of us now. Instead, they… Invade our home in an unpleasant but not.. particularly harmful way, send 'assassins' we could reasonably be expected to overcome… I don't think you need to worry about being killed in your sleep. I think… For some reason, they've decided not to."

Artemis frowns. "But why?"

"Assuming that Savage wasn't talking out of his arse, maybe he thinks us competing with them makes everyone stronger. Maybe he's worried that they might miss one or two of their targets, then the survivors would… Take the gloves off. Or maybe he realises that the world -at the moment at least- needs the Justice League?"

Artemis looks unimpressed. "Or maybe he just doesn't want anyone else taking the credit."

Zatanna purses her lips. "Or maybe he's got.. some kind of.. weirdly convoluted plan that.. means we.. have to be in exactly the right place at exactly the right time, and everything else is him manipulating us into doing that."

"Okay…" Wallace takes a step away from the rest of us. "Never thought I'd say this, but I think watching Rob interrogate that new Construct-Lantern would actually be less disturbing than carrying on this conversation. How about we go and do that?"

Click to shrink...

Zeta tube modifications, segment:

"Kaldur, what new-?"

"Recognised, Doctor Fate, two one."

Kaldur pauses just inside the security scanner for Nabu to materialise. I get to my feet. If he's here then there's input from the League. Richard sent everything he had to Batman and then returned home. I forget sometimes… Quite often, actually, that he's only fourteen and that fighting Titans and underwater foes isn't something he's really equipped to do. Batman's attitude appears to be 'this is a League task, we'll let you know if we need you'. Which -to be honest- is pretty reasonable. I step away from the computer and come to an approximate parade rest.

Nabu stares at the identification system, a pale golden aura shining out from his robes. Hm. Either he thinks there might be threats here or he's taken a leaf out of my book and started having his defences raised at all times. Worth knowing.

"Identification not confirmed. Please lower any exotic defences which may be preventing a complete scan."

"Lantern." I smile slightly, raising my eyebrows attentively. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I decided that the standard Justice League system was too prone to being bypassed, so I improved upon it. I'm afraid that you'll have to drop your shield spell."

Nabu pushes his left hand against the barrier, which holds firm. It's as exotic a shield as I could safely introduce and I don't think it's easy for magic users to bypass. "Lower this shield at once."

"Nabu, that's not how security works. You've been both mind controlled and impersonated before. I hardly think it's unreasonable-."

Nabu raises his right hand, a golden ankh flaring into being for a second before it detonates. Golden light radiates outwards, running through the identification arch and disintegrating it in a flash of light.

Click to shrink...

 

[thebishop8]

I just realized something.

Episode 33, called Doppelgänger, occurred almost exactly 1 year ago in the story, and it was the episode that featured Blue Lantern Paul.

 

[Queshire]

Isn't it too early to think WW's mind controlled or replaced? Counting Zatana as violet we've now got three colors of the emotional spectrum. This could be lantern business.

 

[Grimnar]

We both look around as Diana strides through the zeta tube, scanning the room for… Threats? What's going-?

"Diana. You've finally-" Her gaze shifts to me-. Oh, what am I supposed to have done now? "-learned to block my empathic vision. Well done."

She doesn't appear to register the complement. "You must both come with me at once. It is a matter of the utmost importance."

"Ah… Sure?

Click to shrink...

You. Fucking. Retard.

Somethings off, something else is off, they wont specify but want me to follow them without question!

...

Seems legit.

 

[Mquz]

On the other hand, if she managed to properly fool the security he put in somehow, (possible with a yellow ring maybe), he'd have reason to believe she was who she said she was. It's the classic problem with trusting exclusively in mechanical security - it gets people overconfident.

 

[Mr Zoat]

You. Fucking. Retard.

Somethings off, something else is off, they wont specify but want me to follow them without question!

...

Seems legit.

Click to shrink...

Chekhov's house is full of guns. It's just that he only bothers drawing your attention to the ones he plans on shooting.

As the SI says, he has dealt with Discomported Diana plenty of times before. We notice the 'obvious' threat because it's a story. For him, it's pretty normal.

 

[Aeess]

Considering the name of the episode is Doppelgängered, I assume this isn't a mind controlled Wonder Woman, but rather someone who looks like her or is able to make themselves look like her, and is also able to fool the security measures.

My guess is a Wonder Woman from another universe who works with a Yellow Lantern, possibly Olympia from earth negative 14.

She was friends or at least allied with Power Ring Yellow and Power Ring Blue knows how to produce orichalcum and mithril, the materials required to recreate Wonder Womans Armour.
It also explains why she is focusing on OL and Zatanna, since they had the most contact with their Counterparts from the other earth.

Injustice Wonder Woman is another possibility but I dont know where she would get the Armor.

 

[Handlewithcare]

That might have been the most obvious trap ever.

Also, maybe OL could explain his reluctance to alter others to Canis this way:

"You know that there are computer programs that can create art based on samples of art styles, right? Convincing facsimiles?"

"Yes, Illustres"

"Would you consider them equivalent to the original art work?"

"No, they are merely a fake, a cheap...ah"

 

[Stsword]

Given the title of this arc, I suspect "robot duplicate" is the actual culprit.

Click to shrink...

Well not like it's never happened before.

I am particularly amused by the robot doppelganger from apparently a world of robots.

 

[Senevri]

"No, they are merely a fake, a cheap...ah"

Click to shrink...

Except, are they, really? Does "it was hard to make" give objective value to something?

Of course, in this case, the original is destroyed, so there's that...

 

[Inbetweenaction]

Given the title of this arc, I suspect "robot duplicate" is the actual culprit.

I'm going to laugh if this is Sinestro being an overprotective father.

Click to shrink...

Gaining godlevel powers worrying about his teenage daughter hanging with boys...

 

[Queshire]

Except, are they, really? Does "it was hard to make" give objective value to something?

Of course, in this case, the original is destroyed, so there's that...

Click to shrink...

Yes? As much as something can. Supply and demand. If something's hard to make that'd affect the supply.

 

[Handlewithcare]

Except, are they, really? Does "it was hard to make" give objective value to something?

Of course, in this case, the original is destroyed, so there's that...

Click to shrink...

Why would the original be destroyed?

And wether or not you and I believe they would be "fake", I think Canis would think so.