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

Mr Zoat · Jul 20, 2023

Duke Long said:
Extraneous 'that'

Thank you, corrected.

Sorrow · Jul 20, 2023

Darko said:
"things in the"

Hmm.

I'm wondering if that's something to do with Actually Grayven coming to the front.

They are in the Realm of Dreams. I would think that it would bring the manifestations of ones soul to the surface at least a little bit.

Mr Zoat · Jul 21, 2023

14th February 2013
15:57 GMT -5

"I don't wanna… I don't wanna go back."

The large Native American man at the end of the line is pointedly sitting at the back of his cell. He isn't actually Anti-Lifed, but… I get where he's coming from.

"Okay. Tell you what. If we capture this ship, you can stay up here."

That gives him something concrete to latch on to. He shakes his head, trying to focus through the fear. "The aliens took something from me. A glowing rock on a thong."

"I'll see what I can do. Do you know how to use a gun?"

"Yeah." He gets up and approaches the bars cautiously. "Fourteen years in the army. I know how to use a gun."

I nod, smiling. "Tuppence, if you please."

Another couple of yanks… And another yank, this is a big bloke, and he's out. I pass him my gun and he instinctively checks it, frowning as he fails to find an ammunition cartridge or firing mechanism.

"What is this?"

"Pulse plasma gun. It-."

He brings it to his shoulder and fires a shot down the prison unit, hitting the far wall and melting a circle of metal. Maintaining his aim he holds the trigger down, sending pulses of energy directly into the original impact point.

He lowers the gun. "Not a lot of recoil. With the glow, it's like firing tracers. Easy to correct your aim."

"Glad you approve. This way, please."

I fly back towards prisoner processing. I wasn't really scanning for magic rocks when I came through… And with my rune stones in my orange ring's subspace pocket I'd have struggled with that anyway. Okay, there are storage bins which could be for prisoner property. Would the Dhorians put weapons close to their owners?

Possibly. If they were planning on using them as slave soldiers or if they only converted one ship for secure transportation, it would make sense. Most people don't prepare for Earth-grade madness. There wouldn't be much risk of them escaping from containment cells like that, and there would always be guards around in normal operating conditions.

"Orange Lantern to Abra Kadabra. I'm looking for a glowing rock on a thong. Any idea where they're keeping it?"

"Bottom row, seventh along."

"Thank you." I force open the safe and take out the… Glowing rock on a thong, and… A furry helmet. Ah, I've seen worse. "Got it!"

He walks in a moment later and I hand both objects to him. He takes the glowing rock first and loops the thong around his neck, settling it between his pectorals. The helmet-.

"What.. cha'll wearin'?" Tuppence looks completely mystified.

"It covers my face."

He slides it over his head… Giving up all of his peripheral vision, as far as I can tell. But maybe the rock needs it to work? I've seen stranger things than that as well. So this is Super Chief 16. I only really remember the 52 version and the Ultimen version from Justice League Unlimited. So I'm going to try to keep him alive longer than both of them.

"Right, through here."

Everyone's waiting at the entrance. The Anti-Lifed people tend to obey instructions when they're issued in a commanding tone of voice, but they'll obviously be no use in a fight. The Dhorians have probably set up their marines throughout the ship by now, so it's going to be-.

"Hey, Orange!" Truggs smiles and languidly waves his right hand at me. "I talk to you for a sec?"

"If you must. We can-."

"Wait." Eiling has turned away from the exit and is staring at our latest recruit. "That you, Sergeant Standing Bear?"

"Yeah. What's it to you?"

"Heh." Eiling smiles with the left side of his face. "Nothing. I don't think we'll be attending any funerals for these guys, anyway."

Not.. sure what that's about, but I follow Truggs as he leads me into what was formerly the warden's office.

"What?"

"Guess you're wandren why I'm here."

"No. It's not my problem. Whatever bullshittery your employers are up to, I've got more important things to worry about."

"Like how these guys got here? Or why they're here?"

I roll my eyes in frustration. "Was it you?"

"No. More… You."

"Because I was dealing with Alstair?"

"And… O. And a few other places."

"And how do you know about O?"

"You included it in the information you gave that video game-" Oh for-! Goodness sake. "-company, who were making that Vega game for yeh."

That's.. right, I did. Not sure how he.. got hold of it. I mean, their office security wouldn't have kept someone of his calibre out and it wasn't exactly a secret, but it seems like a weird thing for him to have bothered with.

That game's never going to get finished now, is it?

"What's O got to do with-?"

"You gave them Dominion technology. Dominators don't like sharing."

"Right, but that was just an out of date computer. My supplier was confident that they wouldn't care."

"Eh." Truggs looks up at the ceiling for a moment. "They prob'ly wouldn't care if that was it, but the people of O and Alstair, they're clever people. Creative, you know?"

My heart sinks. "So they created improved versions and the Dominion found out about it. And took offence?"

"So they started wondering what else you'd taken. And they found out about that gate you gave Commodore Amalak-."

"That's not Dominion technology."

"Yeah, but it walks and quacks like Dominion technology. So the Dominion are now officially 'interested' in Earth."

"Great. And..?"

"And, they already have some infrastructure set up on Earth. Forward planning. They decided to rent it to the Dhorians as a test run."

"Which is how they got past the interdiction systems. I guessed it was either a zeta transporter or a boom tube." I think for a moment. "Why are you here?"

"My employers think we should get a small number of people away from Earth. Just in case. I needed to lure these ships-."

"You told the Dominion."

He shrugs awkwardly, smirking as if he finds being caught out more amusing than embarrassing.

"Every time-." I turn away, heading for the exit. "If they shoot you, I will laugh."

Vaermina · Jul 21, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
That gives him something concrete to latch on to. He shakes his head, trying to focus through the fear. "The aliens took something from me. A glowing rock on a thong."

This word... I do not think it means what you think it does...

Though, I will laugh really bad if you just continue to refer to it as such.

Caerwen · Jul 21, 2023

Vaermina said:
This word... I do not think it means what you think it does...

Though, I will laugh really bad if you just continue to refer to it as such.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thong
1
: a strip especially of leather or hide

2
: a sandal held on the foot by a thong fitting between the toes and connected to a strap across the top or around the sides of the foot

3
: an article of swimwear or underwear with the back portion consisting of a narrow strip of cloth that passes between the buttocks and connects with a waistband

The Froggy Ninja · Jul 21, 2023

Vaermina said:
This word... I do not think it means what you think it does...

Though, I will laugh really bad if you just continue to refer to it as such.

Thong actually does mean a strip of leather. It's like if people started abbreviating "string bikini" to "string".

Ngamer11 · Jul 21, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"Wait." Eiling has turned away from the exit and is staring at our latest recruit. "That you, Sergeant Standing Bear?"

"Yeah. What's it to you?"

"Heh." Eiling smiles with the left side of his face. "Nothing. I don't think we'll be attending any funerals for these guys, anyway."

Not.. sure what that's about, but I follow Truggs as he leads me into what was formerly the wardens office.

Can anyone explain what this is about?

Mr Zoat said:
"You told the Dominion."

He shrugs awkwardly, smirking as if he finds being caught out more amusing than embarrassing.

"Every time-." I turn away, heading for the exit. "If they shoot you, I will laugh."

At this point I have to wonder why the Light are even bothering with Truggs. He makes things worse in a way similar to Paul but without any way of fixing his mess besides getting the heroes to do it for him.

Lord Ernest · Jul 21, 2023

I mean... you could shoot him right now and get rid of an actively malicious element that keeps bringing dangerous and disruptive factors to already bad situations, you know?

When has anything done by Truggs not made an already bad situation worse? Just get rid of the guy! I can accept the reasoning that killing him because you don't like him is bad. But killing him because he keeps doing this type of stuff and you want to prevent it is as valid. Not doing it is providing comic book level plot armor to this fucker.

Darth.Bill · Jul 21, 2023

I do not get why Paul hasn't murdered Truggs yet. I probably would have killed him in his cell.

Lord Ernest said:
I mean... you could shoot him right now and get rid of an actively malicious element that keeps bringing dangerous and disruptive factors to already bad situations, you know?

When has anything done by Truggs not made an already bad situation worse? Just get rid of the guy! I can accept the reasoning that killing him because you don't like him is bad. But killing him because he keeps doing this type of stuff and you want to prevent it is as valid. Not doing it is providing comic book level plot armor to this fucker.

Exactly.

Ngamer11 · Jul 21, 2023

Lord Ernest said:
I mean... you could shoot him right now and get rid of an actively malicious element that keeps bringing dangerous and disruptive factors to already bad situations, you know?

When has anything done by Truggs not made an already bad situation worse? Just get rid of the guy! I can accept the reasoning that killing him because you don't like him is bad. But killing him because he keeps doing this type of stuff and you want to prevent it is as valid. Not doing it is providing comic book level plot armor to this fucker.

Darth.Bill said:
I do not get why Paul hasn't murdered Truggs yet. I probably would have killed him in his cell.

I guess the satisfaction of killing this waste of space isn't worth the negatives that would come with killing him, mostly that the JL and the Team probably wouldn't approve.

Darko · Jul 21, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"I don't wanna… I don't wanna go back."

The large Native American man at the end of the line is pointedly sitting at the back of his cell. He isn't actually Anti-Lifed, but… I get where he's coming from

Yeah, seeing everyone you know reduced into a living zombie would do that to you.

Mr Zoat said:
Okay. Tell you want. If

"you what"

Mr Zoat said:
That's.. right, I did. Not sure how he.. got hold of it. I mean, their office security wouldn't have kept someone of his calibre out and it wasn't exactly a secret, but it seems like a weird thing for him to have bothered with

He has a weird thing about you.

Mr Zoat said:
That game's never going to get finished now, is it

I don't think video games will be a big priority for a while.

Mr Zoat said:
"You gave them Dominion technology. Dominators don't like sharing."

"Right, but that was just an out of date computer. My supplier was confident that they wouldn't care

I'm guessing your supplier was wrong.

Mr Zoat said:
"My employers think we should get a small number of people away from Earth. Just in case. I needed to lure these ships-

So you wanted ships to set up colonies.

Mr Zoat said:
"You told the Dominion

Of course he did. Of course.

Mr Zoat said:
"Every time-." I turn away, heading for the exit. "If they shoot you, I will laugh

Why wait?

Just shoot him yourself.

RoninSword · Jul 21, 2023

My assumption is that he doesn't want to have to deal with everyone else reacting to him shooting what is basically an unarmed prisoner.
Or at least that would be my rational.

Darko · Jul 21, 2023

Ngamer11 said:
At this point I have to wonder why the Light are even bothering with Truggs. He makes things worse in a way similar to Paul but without any way of fixing his mess besides getting the heroes to do it for him

I mean...that's more or less the Light's standard operating procedure.

Make things worse and then get the heroes to fix it.

Remember the Reach thing in canon.

Ngamer11 said:
I guess the satisfaction of killing this waste of space isn't worth the negatives that would come with killing him, mostly that the JL and the Team probably wouldn't approve.

They've already more or less forgiven him for the Nabu situation, and Nabu has done far more positive things for existence than Truggs ever has.

I don't think they'd mind that much.

Vaermina · Jul 21, 2023

Caerwen said:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thong
1
: a strip especially of leather or hide

2
: a sandal held on the foot by a thong fitting between the toes and connected to a strap across the top or around the sides of the foot

3
: an article of swimwear or underwear with the back portion consisting of a narrow strip of cloth that passes between the buttocks and connects with a waistband

You might want to try a different one that has the full definition instead of a cut up one.

That said, since we're getting that pedantic about something that's far from the common use of a word.

The actual correct name for that in the context of Native American jewerly would be a Leather Wrap.

Chojin Patriarch · Jul 21, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
14th February 2013
15:57 GMT -5

"I don't wanna… I don't wanna go back."

The large Native American man at the end of the line is pointedly sitting at the back of his cell. He isn't actually Anti-Lifed, but… I get where he's coming from.

Ooh, deep cut. I can assume targetted Super Chief because of the Manitou Stone, a mystical charm that gives him about an hour's worth of super-strength, -speed and -durability. So I expect a lot of the people here have superpowers of some kind. Even if they don't know it.

"Okay. Tell you want. If we capture this ship, you can stay up here."

That gives him something concrete to latch on to. He shakes his head, trying to focus through the fear. "The aliens took something from me. A glowing rock on a thong."

And before anyone sniggers: 'Thong' is a term for a loop of leather. Typically used to secure something around a larger strap such as a belt. Often a component of the footwear or the undergarment as straps.

"I'll see what I can do. Do you know how to use a gun?"

"Yeah." He gets up and approaches the bars cautiously. "Fourteen years in the army. I know how to use a gun."

Nice to have another professional soldier in the group. One that isn't as likely to commit warcrimes like squishing a prisoner's head...

I nod, smiling. "Tuppence, if you please."

Another couple of yanks… And another yank, this is a big bloke, and he's out. I pass him my gun and he instinctively checks it, frowning as he fails to find an ammunition cartridge or firing mechanism.

Yeah, OL may be tall, but Super Chief is like six-and-a-half to seven feet even, and broad. He could practically be a superhero without the Stone.

"What is this?"

"Pulse plasma gun. It-."

Honestly, point and squeeze the trigger. Advanced guns tend to be a lot more easy in that respect than ours.

He brings it to his shoulder and fires a shot down the prison unit, hitting the far wall and melting a circle of metal. Maintaining his aim he holds the trigger down, sending pulses of energy directly into the original impact point.

He lowers the gun. "Not a lot of recoil. With the glow, it's like firing tracers. Easy to correct your aim."

Especially for someone as strong as him.

"Glad you approve. This way, please."

I fly back towards prisoner processing. I wasn't really scanning for magic rocks when I came through… And with my rune stones in my orange ring's subspace pocket I'd have struggled with that anyway. Okay, there are storage bins which could be for prisoner property. Would the Dhorians put weapons close to their owners?

If they realised they were weapons, and not merely some exotic token of worship. The Manitou Stone is technically both.

Possibly. If they were planning on using them as slave soldiers or if they only converted one ship for secure transportation, it would make sense. Most people don't prepare for Earth-grade madness. There wouldn't be much risk of them escaping from containment cells like that, and there would always be guards around in normal operating conditions.

"Orange Lantern to Abra Kadabra. I'm looking for a glowing rock on a thong. Any idea where they're keeping it?"

Best way to save time. Abra's probably got a directory of inventory up there.

"Bottom row, seventh along."

"Thank you." I force open the safe and take out the… Glowing rock on a thong, and… A furry helmet. Ah, I've seen worse. "Got it!"

Sometimes the hero has no taste, sometimes it's a traditional thing.

He walks in a moment later and I hand both objects to him. He takes the glowing rock first and loops the thong around his neck, settling it between his pectorals. The helmet-.

"What.. cha'll wearin'?" Tuppence looks completely mystified.

I mean, she's surely seen odder costumes in the news, right? Like Polka-Dot Man, Crazy Quilt or Condiment King? Honestly, if the LEGO Minifigure version is one of the least odd versions, you know they're nuts.

"It covers my face."

He slides it over his head… Giving up all of his peripheral vision, as far as I can tell. But maybe the rock needs it to work? I've seen stranger things than that as well. So this is Super Chief 16. I only really remember the 52 version and the Ultimen version from Justice League Unlimited. So I'm going to try to keep him alive longer than both of them.

Yes, sadly, Super Chief tends to be one of those unfortunate heroes who tends to show up only to get killed so their host knows the bad guy is a real threat...

"Right, through here."

Everyone's waiting at the entrance. The Anti-Lifed people tend to obey instructions when they're issued in a commanding tone of voice, but they'll obviously be no use in a fight. The Dhorians have probably set up their marines throughout the ship by now, so it's going to be-.

...An escort mission. And with you having less-than-optimal Ring abilities to keep them safe.

"Hey, Orange!" Truggs smiles and languidly waves his right hand at me. "I talk to you for a sec?"

"If you must. We can-."

Urgh. Must you? Transmute a gag on him or something, talk after the bystanders are safe...

"Wait." Eiling has turned away from the exit and is staring at our latest recruit. "That you, Sergeant Standing Bear?"

"Yeah. What's it to you?"

I'm guessing some history there, related to something like the Ultramarine Corps or the aforementioned Ulti-Men.

"Heh." Eiling smiles with the left side of his face. "Nothing. I don't think we'll be attending any funerals for these guys, anyway."

Not.. sure what that's about, but I follow Truggs as he leads me into what was formerly the wardens office.

I'm guessing a mission gone badly wrong. Like, 'The Suicide Squad'-movie wrong.

"What?"

"Guess you're wandren why I'm here."

You did something stupid, and now you want to gloat to OL about it.

That about sum it up?

"No. It's not my problem. Whatever bullshittery your employers are up to, I've got more important things to worry about."

"Like how these guys got here? Or why they're here?"

I mean, the 'why' is obvious. The 'how' is debatable, mostly a matter of where they heard about Earth from. Any clues, Truggsy?

I roll my eyes in frustration. "Was it you?"

"No. More… You."

And I'm sure you had nothing to do with them a tall?

"Because I was dealing with Alstair?"

"And… O. And a few other places."

...Shit, that's ages ago. Before he'd even formed the Corps.

"And how do you know about O?"

"You included it in the information you gave that video game-" Oh for-! Goodness sake. "-company, who were making that Vega game for yeh."

So of course Truggs had to hack their systems to learn more?

That's.. right, I did. Not sure how he.. got hold of it. I mean, their office security wouldn't have kept someone of his calibre out and it wasn't exactly a secret, but it seems like a weird thing for him to have bothered with.

That game's never going to get finished now, is it?

Doesn't seem like it'll be a priority after the Anti-Life is done with.

"What's O got to do with-?"

"You gave them Dominion technology. Dominators don't like sharing."

Oh, come on... Is this going to result in a version of the 'Invasion!' crossover event?

"Right, but that was just an out of date computer. My supplier was confident that they wouldn't care."

"Eh." Truggs looks up at the ceiling for a moment. "They prob'ly wouldn't care if that was it, but the people of O and Alstair, they're clever people. Creative, you know?"

...They reverse-engineered it and improved on it, didn't they? And then started selling it?

My heart sinks. "So they created improved versions and the Dominion found out about it. And took offence?"

"So they started wondering what else you'd taken. And they found out about that gate you gave Commodore Amalak-."

All this is just a case of 'Consequences!' for OL's actions in space, isn't it?

"That's not Dominion technology."

"Yeah, but it walks and quacks like Dominion technology. So the Dominion are now officially 'interested' in Earth."

And by 'Interested', you mean they're looking to smash-and-grab Earth's technology.

"Great. And..?"

"And, they already have some infrastructure set up on Earth. Forward planning. They decided to rent it to the Dhorians as a test run."

Slower-than-light probes sent on early, I suppose?

"Which is how they got past the interdiction systems. I guessed it was either a zeta transporter or a boom tube." I think for a moment. "Why are you here?"

"My employers think we should get a small number of people away from Earth. Just in case. I needed to lure these ships-."

Not unreasonable, but this isn't really the best time for this. Not with everyone getting drowned in Anti-Life like they are.

"You told the Dominion."

He shrugs awkwardly, smirking as if he finds being caught out more amusing than embarrassing.

"Every time-." I turn away, heading for the exit. "If they shoot you, I will laugh."

In other words, stay out of OL's way and keep your head down. Or he might indulge in a little blue-on-blue given the chance.

Because of course the things OL did to get his Corps set up managed to piss someone off. I suppose there had to be some consequences for it all, but seriously... And thanks to Sod's Law, they naturally turn up just as he's about to get the Anti-Life thing solved.

Nothing's ever easy, is it? He really needs to d something permanent to Truggs, and soon.

Doccer · Jul 21, 2023

Vaermina said:
do not think it means what you think it does...

Thong used to just mean a thin strip of leather.

SirKaid · Jul 21, 2023

The only way Paul and Truggs could be more divorced is if one of them got the kids on the weekend. Jeez.

Stsword · Jul 21, 2023

Doccer said:
Thong used to just mean a thin strip of leather.

It still does, even the only dictionary V linked to in an attempt to bolster his argument lists "a narrow piece of leather that is used to fasten something or as a whip" as the very first definition.

RichardWhereat · Jul 21, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"Every time-." I turn away, heading for the exit. "If they shoot you, I will laugh."

Oh just shoot the useless cunt yourself.

Cuchulin · Jul 21, 2023

RichardWhereat said:
Oh just shoot the useless cunt yourself.

Not while people are watching.

khansy · Jul 21, 2023

Vaermina said:
You might want to try a different one that has the full definition instead of a cut up one.

That said, since we're getting that pedantic about something that's far from the common use of a word.

The actual correct name for that in the context of Native American jewerly would be a Leather Wrap.

Why are you the way that you are?

WereDragon · Jul 21, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"If they shoot you, I will laugh."

Shoot him yourself. Immediately. You lose nothing and remove massive future problems.

012345 · Jul 21, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"You told the Dominion."

He shrugs awkwardly, smirking as if he finds being caught out more amusing than embarrassing.

"Every time-." I turn away, heading for the exit. "If they shoot you, I will laugh."

Or maybe instead

RichardWhereat said:
Oh just shoot the useless cunt yourself.

WereDragon said:
Shoot him yourself. Immediately. You lose nothing and remove massive future problems.

This. So much this.

Vaermina · Jul 21, 2023

WereDragon said:
Shoot him yourself. Immediately. You lose nothing and remove massive future problems.

Maybe wait to kill the sole super genius they currently have access to till after they successfully escape from the enemy battleship?

goricnac · Jul 21, 2023

Paul for the love of god just kill The Light after this whole anti-life mess is done, they have been nothing but a hindrance and in the reconstruction aftermath they will be able to basically take over. Assimilate Savage, kill Truggs, ice the Brain, shish Queen Bee, and either kill Lex or give him an ultimatum.

Lord Ernest · Jul 21, 2023

goricnac said:
Paul for the love of god just kill The Light after this whole anti-life mess is done, they have been nothing but a hindrance and in the reconstruction aftermath they will be able to basically take over. Assimilate Savage, kill Truggs, ice the Brain, shish Queen Bee, and either kill Lex or give him an ultimatum.

While I agree with the sentiment, some are pretty difficult to find, or not as necessary to kill, I believe.

For example, I wouldn't recomment assimilating Savage, it's a great historical opportunity buy not worth the hassle, as Grayven found out. Queen Bee is already dead, in both Paragon and Renegade. Eliminate most of the Light and you neutralize how much inconvenience Lex causes.

But in general I agree, the Light are too much trouble.

Mr Zoat · Jul 21, 2023

Ngamer11 said:
Can anyone explain what this is about?

The relevant part in the 52 series implies that he did something or somethings very dodgy while in the army. Watch 'Rules of Engagement' if you want to know more.

At this point I have to wonder why the Light are even bothering with Truggs. He makes things worse in a way similar to Paul but without any way of fixing his mess besides getting the heroes to do it for him.

Yeah, but... So do they.

Darko said:
"you what".

Thank you, corrected.

Ngamer11 · Jul 21, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
Yeah, but... So do they.

Is there really no one else more competent that they can get instead?

Prince Charon · Jul 21, 2023

The Froggy Ninja said:
Thong actually does mean a strip of leather. It's like if people started abbreviating "string bikini" to "string".

Yeah. There's one in the Batcave that still has Batman's teeth-marks on it (the Golden Age was an interesting time).

Ngamer11 said:
Is there really no one else more competent that they can get instead?

Well, they failed to get Paul, and Grayven basically took over the other one, partly because of that very issue.

Finagle007 · Jul 21, 2023

If Truggs is currently outside of Earth's thaumosphere, kill him and leave his soul to drift for eternity.

If Truggs is currently inside Earth's thaumosphere, have Mammon destroy his soul when he inevitably winds up in Hell.

Either way, problem solved.

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

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