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

Luna… Has ended up in something a little more risqué,
What's the image source, by the way? While this does bear a decent resemblance, I don't think this is actually Luna unless you got art done specifically for this arc. And I doubt Grayven would mine seeing her in this more often.
"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!"
Thank God it wasn't a fursuit.
That game's never going to get finished now, is it?
Unless you hire someone else to make it.
"Every time-." I turn away, heading for the exit. "If they shoot you, I will laugh."
So would we Paul, so would we.

Thanks for the posts.
 
What's the image source, by the way? While this does bear a decent resemblance, I don't think this is actually Luna unless you got art done specifically for this arc. And I doubt Grayven would mine seeing her in this more often.
It's an anthropomorphisation of a minor MLP character called Amira. She's in about two scenes for three seconds.
 
Prep Time (part 16)
15th February 2013
19:01 GMT -5


Karshon started at about two metres tall. He doubles that almost immediately and then keeps going. Two Justifiers who were in the immediate area step out from behind cover and open fire with automatic rifles. They don't do any damage that I can see. Karshon… Doesn't just blast them with a psybolt. Instead, he dashes over to them, grabs them in one oversized hand and-.

Ah.

I think he was trying to pull their helmets off. Unfortunately he took their heads off with them.

He drops the bodies, his head angling towards the direction which the largest concentration of Justifiers are coming from.

So he's definitely not the city boss. He was just… Openly infiltrating, because Team Anti-Life just assumes that if you're not attacking them then you'll fall to the Anti-Life eventually, and the people who do aren't good at questioning. So is Onomatopoeia in charge? I have no idea what the sound of a giant shark's bones breaking are.

Okay, majority of the city… The people aren't having a good time of it but only the Justifiers are immediately in danger. Tuppence first.

I drop down, quick-fabricating a spy drone and sending it towards the broadcaster. Tuppence is exactly where I left her, dropping into a foetal position. Fortunately, she doesn't pull away when I put my right hand on her left shoulder.

"Karshon has-."

"Ah-huh ah-huh ah-huh…"

Mentioning his name made it worse. Okay.

"He is on the other side of the city fighting Justifiers. He's not coming here and doesn't know where we are. You're relatively safe."

Okay, her eyes are focusing a little better, but it's clear that she's still nearly out of her mind. She can't fight like this, or even act as support. I could try flooding her with orange light, but that sounds like something that would leave her pretty messed up. What else-?

I use a quick burst of sonic energy to check that the Water Department building has the internal structure that the plans suggest. Mostly, one reinforced cellar isn't to official specifications. I drop down to look in a window and all of the staff are in the same position as Tuppence. They aren't in any position to report our presence and I can't see anyone wearing a Justifier helmet. Good.

I rapid-fly to the door, unlock it and rapid-fly inside, dodging around obstacles until I reach the well-locked door to the out-of-spec basement. The locking system is a bit more advanced than the one on the entrance door, but isn't particularly complicated. A quick application of ring and I'm through, into… A disused store room. Another scan… There, there's a hatch going down into the utility tunnels, but the room below it is far larger than it needs to be, and the floor here is reinforced. A moment's work with the ring and then fly down.

**Know absolute terror.**

Looks like a room an engineer might pull an overnight stay in. Open up the cupboard… Yes, there we go. A couple of devices marked as 'behavioral regulators'. Might be a good idea to give one to Batman for mass production, but-. There's a manual, good. Scan it, and then fly back to Tuppence.

Oh my. I don't need to magnify anymore. Karshon is clearly visible, his body now large enough that I can see him around the tallest buildings in the city. He fires a psybolt at something, but one of the Justifiers throws up a purple beam of their own at it and the psybolt veers off course.

Is he trying to bring Mannheim here?

Alright, connecting the regulator up. This part goes around the neck-.

"Tuppence, I'm putting something on you to try and block the effect."

She's just… Staring blankly ahead at the moment.

And this part goes along her spine… And on.

No obvious change in her behaviour. Check the manual… Oh. Her Danner-enhanced tissue is probably blocking the radio waves better than normal flesh. But I can fix that

Tuppence sits up, suddenly aware!

"Back with me?"

"That-that-." She takes a couple of breaths. "What the fuck was theyat?"

"Agent Carlyle used the Medusa Mask on the Anti-Life broadcaster, creating mass fear. Karshon has-." I look past her, and he's-. I just point. "I knew that he liked fear, I didn't realise that it literally made him stronger."

"What now?"

"Um. Good question."

We still need that mask. The people under those Justifier helmets are probably mostly good people, and Karshon definitely isn't. On the other hand… Just killing Mannheim and/or Finality Man would represent a major victory. It would be like… Using the Elements of Harmony on King Sombra. You still need to actually have the Crystal Fair, but there's no longer any sort of hurry.

Do I think he can pull it off? Don't know. No way to know.

How would I fulfil my own objective? Fly over there, destroy the broadcaster and take the Mask by force. Then burrow out and leave Agent Carlyle and Karshon to their fates. That would temporarily free the local people from the constant Anti-Life broadcast, though the Justified would have it up and running again in a few days. And there are so many Anti-Life broadcasters on the east coast of America that it isn't really practical to evacuate them, which is why that isn't standard practice.

So what if I don't destroy the broadcaster and just nobble Agent Carlyle?

He'll almost certainly be killed if I don't evacuate him as well. Morally… He made a choice whereas the Justified thought they were signing up to be superheroes. Saving one of them is a better option. Karshon would probably shrink down, and… He'd have to choose between going down fighting and running for the shoreline. It's close by, and he could easily make the swim. The city would still be Anti-Lifed, but the only immediate threat appeared to be Karshon himself.

Someone fires a heavy plasma weapon at him from a building, and he responds with a psybolt that turns the entire building to rubble.

Or I ally myself with Karshon, defeat the Justified with a minimal number of casualties, remove their helmets and wait for a larger counterattack before deciding whether to leg it or not.

I don't think I can beat Finality Man… But can we? I don't know how tough Karshon is like this, but I don't feel any reservation about letting him tank its attacks and then falling back if he can't take it. The only wrinkle would be Onomatopoeia, but engaging him at range when he doesn't have a mob to set on me seems like a viable solution.

Small extra risk, much better optimal outcome. Assuming that Agent Carlyle and Karshon cooperate. I think it… Might even be WSWD.

"We're going to help the giant shark. Ready?"

"We..? You shuwer?"

"No, but it's the least bad option. I'll talk to Agent Carlyle, and if they're both hostile… Grab and de-helmet Justifiers while Karshon keeps them occupied."

She looks a bit sceptical, but nods. "Okay. Y'all think it's best."

I tether her with a flight aura and rise-.

"'poof'"

"Darn it."
 
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How would I fulfil my own objective? Fly over there, destroy the broadcaster and take the Mask by force. Then burrow out and leave Agent Carlyle and Karshon to their fates. That would temporarily free the local people from the constant Anti-Life broadcast, though the Justified would have it up and running again in a few days. And there are so many Anti-Life broadcasters on the east coast of America that it isn't really practical to evacuate them, which is why that isn't standard practice.

So what if I don't destroy the broadcaster and just nobble Agent Carlyle?

He'll almost certainly be killed if I don't evacuate him as well. Morally… He made a choice whereas the Justified thought they were signing up to be superheroes. Saving one of them is a better option. Karshon would probably shrink down, and… He'd have to choose between going down fighting and running for the shoreline. It's close by, and he could easily make the swim. The city would still be Anti-Lifed, but the only immediate threat appeared to be Karshon himself.

Or I ally myself with Karshon, defeat the Justified with a minimal number of casualties, remove their helmets and wait for a larger counterattack before deciding whether to leg it or not.

I don't think I can beat Finality Man… But can we? I don't know how tough Karshon is like this, but I don't feel any reservation about letting him tank its attacks and then falling back if he can't take it. The only wrinkle would be Onomatopoeia, but engaging him at range when he doesn't have a mob to set on me seems like a viable solution.

"No, but it's the least bad option. I'll talk to Agent Carlyle, and if they're both hostile… Grab and de-helmet Justifiers while Karshon keeps them occupied."

I'd say assimilate Carlyle and Karshon just because I'm realising how most of my posts involve the subject. Weird how I'm only now realising this.

'Nobble'? What does that mean in this context?

If you need someone to take hits, why not just send out construct lanterns? I know he has access to the army Larfleeze collected as he commanded Blume and Glomilus.

The only thing Paul has that could likely defeat Finality Man is the Ophidian and nobody wants her anywhere near Earth right now.
 
15th February 2013
19:01 GMT -5


Karshon started at about two metres tall. He doubles that almost immediately and then keeps going. Two Justifiers who were in the immediate area step out from behind cover and open fire with automatic rifles. They don't do any damage that I can see. Karshon… Doesn't just blast them with a psibolt. Instead, he dashes over to them, grabs them in one oversized hand and-.

Ah.
I think we can guess. It's what sharks do, after all. Though if he keeps growing, I don't think a few human bodies will satisfy him at all. And working out what to feed the giant psychic man-shark is a level of logistics I don't think anyone wants to think about.

I think he was trying to pull their helmets off. Unfortunately he took their heads off with them.

He drops the bodies, his head angling towards the direction which the largest concentration of Justifiers are coming from.
...Somehow, that makes it even nastier.

So he's definitely not the city boss. He was just… Openly infiltrating, because Team Anti-Life just assumes that if you're not attacking them then you'll fall to the Anti-Life eventually, and the people who do aren't good at questioning. So is Onomatopoeia in charge? I have no idea what the sound of a giant shark's bones breaking are.

Okay, majority of the city… The people aren't having a good time of it but only the Justifiers are immediately in danger. Tuppence first.
Technically, sharks don't even have bones. Just cartilage that does the same job. And probably best to leave the bad guys to their infighting.

I drop down, quick-fabricating a spy drone and sending it towards the broadcaster. Tuppence is exactly where I left her, dropping into a foetal position. Fortunately, she doesn't pull away when I put my right hand on her left shoulder.

"Karshon has-."
And one thing Danner Formula doesn't improve is the mental defences.

"Ah-huh ah-huh ah-huh…"

Mentioning his name made it worse. Okay.
Best to generalise, then. Because nearly any kind of specific descriptor is likely to be as bad.

"He is on the other side of the city fighting Justifiers. He's not coming here and doesn't know where we are. You're relatively safe."

Okay, her eyes are focusing a little better, but it's clear that she's still nearly out of her mind. She can't fight like this, or even act as support. I could try flooding her with orange light, but that sounds like something that would leave her pretty messed up. What else-?
Don't even think of giving her the Yellow Ring, OL. She's in no state to face her fears...

I use a quick burst of sonic energy to check that the Water Department building has the internal structure that the plans suggest. Mostly, one reinforced cellar isn't to official specifications. I drop down to look in a window and all of the staff are in the same position as Tuppence. They aren't in any position to report our presence and I can't see anyone wearing a Justifier helmet. Good.
Guessing that cellar is a SHADE safehouse.

I rapid-fly to the door, unlock it and rapid-fly inside, dodging around obstacles until I reach the well-locked door to out-of-spec basement. The locking system is a bit more advanced than the one on the entrance door, but isn't particularly complicated. A quick application of ring and I'm through, into… A disused store room. Another scan… There, there's a hatch going down into the utility tunnels, but the room below it is far larger than it needs to be, and the floor here is reinforced. A moment's work with the ring and then fly down.
Hopefully there's something of use in here, assuming Carlyle didn't clean the place out earlier.

**Know absolute terror.**

Looks like a room an engineer might pull an overnight stay in. Open up the cupboard… Yes, there we go. A couple of devices marked as 'behavioral regulators'. Might be a good idea to give one to Batman for mass production, but-. There's a manual, good. Scan it, and then fly back to Tuppence.
Well, that's a tidy bonus. Better hope there isn't any hidden surprised in them, like a post-hypnotic suggestion that makes the wearer more likely to consider SHADE friendly.

Oh my. I don't need to magnify anymore. Karshon is clearly visible, his body now large enough that I can see him around the tallest buildings in the city. He fires a psybolt at something, but one of the Justifiers throws up a purple beam of their own at it and the psybolt veers off course.

Is he trying to bring Mannheim here?
...Given his comic backstory, he definitely seems to be trying to get the biggest, baddest thing around to come and fight him. Presumably so he can prove he's better.

Alright, connecting the regulator up. This part goes around the neck-.

"Tuppence, I'm putting something on you to try and block the effect."
...Hopefully it doesn't take her current state as 'normal'.

She's just… Staring blankly ahead at the moment.

And this part goes along her spine… And on.
Hopefully just surface induction contacts. I doubt having a stinging sensation on her spine would improve her mood any.

No obvious change in her behaviour. Check the manual… Oh. Her Danner-enhanced tissue is probably blocking the radio waves better than normal flesh. But I can fix that

Tuppence sits up, suddenly aware!
...What's the bet he drilled some holes under the contacts to allow them to connect. Painlessly, I hope.

"Back with me?"

"That-that-." She takes a couple of breaths. "What the fuck was theyat?"
Something bad. But on the other hand, the bigger it is, the easier it gets to punch. :p

"Agent Carlyle used the Medusa Mask on the Anti-Life broadcaster, creating mass fear. Karshon has-." I looks past her, and he's-. I just point. "I knew that he liked fear, I didn't realise that it literally made him stronger."

"What now?"
A surprisingly understated reaction to a giant man-shark fighting brainwashed people. Must be the regulator flattening out her state of mind...

"Um. Good question."

We still need that mask. The people under those Justifier helmets are probably mostly good people, and Karshon definitely isn't. On the other hand… Just killing Mannheim and/or Finality Man would represent a major victory. It would be like… Using the Elements of Harmony on King Sombra. You still need to actually have the Crystal Fair, but there's no longer any sort of hurry.
...Besides the gradual poisoning of the Life Entity, by way of its host world.

Do I think he can pull it off? Don't know. No way to know.

How would I fulfil my own objective? Fly over there, destroy the broadcaster and take the Mask by force. Then burrow out and leave Agent Carlyle and Karshon to their fates. That would temporarily free the local people from the constant Anti-Life broadcast, though the Justified would have it up and running again in a few days. And there are so many Anti-Life broadcasters on the east coast of America that it isn't really practical to evacuate them, which is why that isn't standard practice.
And it also makes it very obvious that the Mask was your objective. So if anyone guesses what it's really capable of...

So what if I don't destroy the broadcaster and just nobble Agent Carlyle?

He'll almost certainly be killed if I don't evacuate him as well. Morally… He made a choice whereas the Justified thought they were signing up to be superheroes. Saving one of them is a better option. Karshon would probably shrink down, and… He'd have to choose between going down fighting and running for the shoreline. It's close by, and he could easily make the swim. The city would still be Anti-Lifed, but the only immediate threat appeared to be Karshon himself.
Though he'll probably have a nark on for you, OL.

Someone fires a heavy plasma weapon at him from a building, and he responds with a psibolt that turns the entire building to rubble.

Or I ally myself with Karshon, defeat the Justified with a minimal number of casualties, remove their helmets and wait for a larger counterattack before deciding whether to leg it or not.
...No, this does not seem like the situation that deserves the Godzilla Threshold, OL...

I don't think I can beat Finality Man… But can we? I don't know how tough Karshon is like this, but I don't feel any reservation about letting him tank its attacks and then falling back if he can't take it. The only wrinkle would be Onomatopoeia, but engaging him at range when he doesn't have a mob to set on me seems like a viable solution.

Small extra risk, much better optimal outcome. Assuming that Agent Carlyle and Karshon cooperate. I think it… Might even be WSWD.
Honestly, even Superman would be a little lost here, OL. I mean, he's likely side against the giant man-shark that eats people.

"We're going to help the giant shark. Ready?"

"We..? You shuwer?"
You're not the only one not convinced, Tuppence...

"No, but it's the least bad option. I'll talk to Agent Carlyle, and if they're both hostile… Grab and de-helmet Justifiers while Karshon keeps them occupied."

She looks a bit sceptical, but nods. "Okay. Y'all think it's best."
Don't worry, it's OL's plan, he gets to be the one to explain it to Batman.

I tether her with a flight aura and rise-.

"'poof'"

"Darn it."
...So not a good time, Ono-boy.

Okay, seriously, first order of business should be to overwhelm Ono-boy with filaments and slap a gag on him. Then maybe toss him at Karshon. Maybe a light snack will serve as a peace offering. Because I doubt the kaiju-wannabe will want to play nice with you, given that you'll probably remind him of Hal. And sadly, he's probably a bit too strong a telepath to Brand...

...until I reach the well-locked door to out-of-spec basement.
...until I reach the well-locked door to the out-of-spec basement.
I looks past her, and he's-. I just point.
I look past her, and he's-. I just point.
 
I guess sometimes you've got to be a bit of a wiener to stay a bit human.

And now I'm thinking of human sausage-.
Hopefully he's thinking of the food item and not something else.
Throw their force around. Use your body as a projectile to smash someone else into paste.
Yep. When applied properly, almost any superpower is lethal.
Huh. It actually feelsGood. I think there's some sort of feedback between my empathic vision and the ring…

"Heh."
I hope that doesn't leave any lasting effects on him. Does his Enlightenment somehow let him emulate Enlightenment from other colours?

Thanks for the post.
 
I should stop trying to understand what goes through the Illustres' head. His analisis of options baffles me, truly.

Wasn't he trying to avoid Mannheim's notice and Finality Man's presence? Karshon is a Kaiju, sure, but how does size and unskilled psychic powers make him equivalent to a literal divine robot? Even if they were amenable to his help in... whatever this is, Finality Man has practically reality bending powers, I don't rate Karshon as a viable option to defeat that and it's what would be send as reinforcement.

There isn't even a certainty he could escape with the Medusa Mask and Tuppence if he gets involved in the fighting, instead of using the man-eating mutant shark as a distraction for the Justifiers and possible reinforcements to nab the mask and get the hell out of dodge. Wouldn't that make more sense? Stick to the original goal, get the mask and get out.
 
I should stop trying to understand what goes through the Illustres' head. His analisis of options baffles me, truly.

Wasn't he trying to avoid Mannheim's notice and Finality Man's presence? Karshon is a Kaiju, sure, but how does size and unskilled psychic powers make him equivalent to a literal divine robot? Even if they were amenable to his help in... whatever this is, Finality Man has practically reality bending powers, I don't rate Karshon as a viable option to defeat that and it's what would be send as reinforcement.

There isn't even a certainty he could escape with the Medusa Mask and Tuppence if he gets involved in the fighting, instead of using the man-eating mutant shark as a distraction for the Justifiers and possible reinforcements to nab the mask and get the hell out of dodge. Wouldn't that make more sense? Stick to the original goal, get the mask and get out.
I agree, it really seems wildly optimistic. Surely Finality Man has fought and won against Superman and other Kryptonians? I really don't get the impression that Karshon is stronger than a Kryptonian. And anyway, while killing Finality Man would be useful, he's just an enforcer. Mannheim will still be controlling everyone, and if Finality Man does die, I doubt Mannheim would be stupid enough to turn up (although I suppose he might be forced to by New God stuff).
 
The Shark was uplifted by the Kroloteans in the comics. For those who watched YJ, they were those gremlins riding around in human mecha ala Men in Black that the Light worked with before dumping them for the Reach.

Mutated by the same energy that enhanced the Gorillas of Gorilla City and Hector Hammond.

I kind of have a soft spot for him. There's an Elseworld "No Rules to Follow" in which Shark is a founding member of the JLA.

How a fear eating humanoid Shark became a superhero I don't know.
 
Prep Time (part 17)
15th February 2013
19:01 GMT -5


Laser turrets, infrared auto-targeting and sound suppressors.

Compliance.

Where is-? Standing in the middle of the road, ducking behind an abandoned car as the lasers begin burning through the chassis.

Construct grenade launcher with flashbang grenades.

Compliance.

And fire. He'll see the attack coming and almost certainly have something to block it, but he can only say one thing at a time. I point at his location.

"He's there. I'll keep him pinned."

Tuppence snarls. "Fahnally."

She crouches and then leaps, flying through the air and-. And cracking the roof we're standing on so that the roof of the room beneath us collapses, fix that. Tuppence herself lands in the road about half way to Onomatopoeia as the grenades-

"'tink'"

-land on and around him without detonating. I keep firing, because if it keeping his mouth occupied then it's doing its job. Tuppence-

"'blah-heeeeeeee'"

-grabs a motorcycle and throws it at him just as he sets off a flashbang before it leaves the barrel. An error on his part, as my construct armour has auto-sensors and dimmed my vision the moment it happened, and it didn't do anything to stop Tuppence. Her bike hits the roof of the car he's hiding behind, bounces and then clips him as he dives aside!

And into the path of my laser turrets.

One bores into his chest-. He's armoured, but it looks like its just steel rather than steel/ceramic and a laser will heat it up nicely. Another hits him in the leg and-. No armour there, it's just burning flesh. Another hits his shoulder and the last one doubles up with the first and hits his chest as well. Justifiers can usually cope with pain but that's quite a lot of burning.

At least it stopped him blocking my flashbangs.

'Blah-heeeee' indeed.

That makes him shake, spasming in a way that must be an automatic reaction because Justifiers who get hit with those don't usually react so strongly. Tuppence reaches him a moment later and I cut off the lasers just as she grabs his helmet in both hands and pulls it apart!

She's done that before. Fingers in the right spot to gain leverage, breaking the helmet in the right places to avoid stabbing the head underneath. She then grabs hold of the remains and crushes them, destroying anything that could be used to broadcast the Anti-Life.

Then she flicks him in the forehead, sending it back into the tarmac and stunning him.

She stands over him for a few seconds, breathing hard.

"This guy was jus' fah'n us 'cuz a' the Anti-Life, raht?"

I rise off the roof and fly over to them.

"Not sure. He helped out Klarion before the mass child murder thing, but I wasn't ever sure how much of that was him and how much whatever Klarion did to him. Simple solution."

I form a construct railgun, load a mageslayer round and fire it into his chest… At low velocity. I'm not trying to kill him here. I dimly… Feel something change as the round hits… Not sure if that was the whole of the enhancement spell-. Shoot him again.

This time he just jerks in response to the impact.

"No more sound effects."

And without the helmet he should be affected by the same fear projection that's paralysing everyone else. I take a careful record of his face just in case he becomes a problem later.

"Right, let's go."

Karshon doesn't appear to have gotten any bigger, but he certainly hasn't gotten any weaker.

**Hah!**

He appears to have decided to stop attacking, and…

I turn my empathic vision up a little.

Yes, it looks like he's trying to wake up the fear inside the Justifiers, pushing against the black shell of Anti-Life from the inside. Anti-Lifed people don't really fear-. Or rather, don't fear in a remotely normal way. Some of them are still attacking him, but they've lost coordination. His efforts are definitely doing something, though they aren't being freed by it. I don't think that can work but I don't know that it can't work.

**Hello, little orange light.** His left eye is taller than I am, and it's currently locked onto me and Tuppence. **Are you going to make this interesting?**

"I wasn't planning to. I'm actually here to pick up the artefact that Agent Carlyle is using."

**That would be a problem. For you.**

I shake my head. "No no. I'm happy to take it after this whole thing fails. Carry on with what you're doing. It's a valuable learning experience."

**I'm trying to break their minds with the most horrifying thought that they can comprehend.**

"Right, but they've already been Anti-Lifed. That's like trying to let the air out of a flat tire. You might get some, but it's not really going to change anything."

He eyes me for a moment, then points at one of the Justified staggering around near his feet. Ring, compare visible uniforms and anything you can scan with known superhumans,

Compliance. Files available.

**That one. Bring them up here.**

I dimly recognise the man, and my ring fills me in. Amazing Man Three, currently having his body mimic steel. That makes him strong and tough, just not giant shark strong and tough.

I send a construct harness down to grab him. And use the fact that Karshon's focusing on me and his chosen Justifier to covertly deliver Tuppence to ground level.

**The helmet. What does it do?**

"It's like an Anti-Life broadcaster, but for the wearer."

**Not part of the network. That is why they don't feel fear.**

"Yes. Most of them aren't even broken like some people are from regular exposure. A surprisingly large number become functional again after the helmets are removed."

Karshon turns his head so that he can get a better look at Mr. Clay.

**Disappointing. This one smells brave. Take the helmet off.**

I take x-ionised blades out of subspace and carefully cut it off him, though between the Anti-Life exposure and fear projection he's pretty out of it.

**Unfocused. Like this I would crush him easily.**

"True. But if I free all of them, that is likely to attract Mannheim's personal attention. He's… I think that he's got more personality than they do."

**Or I could fight you, Lantern.**

"You can do that afterwards. But you need me to remove the helmets."

**Perhaps.** His mental voice sounds pleased. *Do it, Lantern. Show me their master so that I can break him.**

"As you wish."
 
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**I'm trying to break their minds with the most horrifying thought that they can comprehend..**

"Right, but they've already been Anti-Lifed. That's like trying to let the air out of a flat tire. You might get some, but it's not really going to change anything."
Scared out of their mind and filled with yellow light is arguably a better state than they are in.
 
**I'm trying to break their minds with the most horrifying thought that they can comprehend..**

"Right, but they've already been Anti-Lifed. That's like trying to let the air out of a flat tire. You might get some, but it's not really going to change anything."
Karshon turns his head so that he can get a better look at Mr. Clay.

**Disappointing. This one smells brave. Take the helmet off.**

I take x-ionised blades out of subspace and carefully cut it off him, though between the Anti-Life exposure and fear projection he's pretty out of it.

**Unfocused. Like this I would crush him easily.**

"True. But if I free all of them, that is likely to attract Mannheim's personal attention. He's… I think that he's got more personality than they do."

**Or I could fight you, Lantern.**

"You can do that afterwards. But you need me to remove the helmets."

**Perhaps.** His mental voice sounds pleased. *Do it, Lantern. Show me their master so that I can break him.**

"As you wish."
At least we now know Karshon's objective. Hopefully this will at least inconvenience Mannheim while Paul prepares his plan.
 
15th February 2013
19:01 GMT -5


Laser turrets, infrared auto-targeting and sound suppressors.

Compliance.

Where is-? Standing in the middle of the road, ducking behind an abandoned car as the lasers begin burning through the chassis.
Okay, then. Pretty likely he does need line of sight. Which he's going to have a hard time keeping with light-speed weapons tracking him. And good idea on the sonic suppressors. If he actually needs to make an audible sound to trigger its cause, that'll bollocks him nicely.

Construct grenade launcher with flashbang grenades.

Compliance.

And fire. He'll see the attack coming and almost certainly have something to block it, but he can only say one thing at a time. I point at his location.
Nice. Distract, divide and conquer with prejudice. Because I doubt Tuppence will be in any mood to be gentle.

"He's there. I'll keep him pinned."

Tuppence snarls. "Fahnally."
...Yep, Ono-boy's in for a world of pain. Perhaps he'll learn a few new sounds for breaking bones. :p

She crouches and then leaps, flying through the air and-. And cracking the roof we're standing on so that the roof of the room beneath us collapses, fix that. Tuppence herself lands in the road about half way to Onomatopoeia as the grenades-

"'tink'"
Sloppy, but she's a little upset, so it's forgivable.

-land on and around him without detonating. I keep firing, because if it keeping his mouth occupied then it's doing its job. Tuppence-

"'blah-heeeeeeee'"
Seriously, are you just making random sounds, Ono-boy? What the hell would that...

-grabs a motorcycle and throws it at him just as he sets off a flashbang before it leaves the barrel. An error on his part, as my construct armour has auto-sensors and dimmed my vision the moment it happened, and it didn't do anything to stop Tuppence. Her bike hits the roof of the car he's hiding behind, bounces and then clips him as he dives aside!

And into the path of my laser turrets.
...Ah. :confused: Okay, then. Grenade misfire. And losing badly now that he has to fight a battle on two fronts.

One bores into his chest-. He's armoured, but it looks like its just steel rather than steel/ceramic and a laser will heat it up nicely. Another hits him in the leg and-. No armour there, it's just burning flesh. Another hits his shoulder and the last one doubles up with the first and hits his chest as well. Justifiers can usually cope with pain but that's quite a lot of burning.

At least it stopped him blocking my flashbangs.
Painful, mostly due to the cells literally exploding from the sudden heating of their internal fluids.

'Blah-heeeee' indeed.

That makes him shake, spasming in a way that must be an automatic reaction because Justifiers who get hit with those don't usually react so strongly. Tuppence reaches him a moment later and I cut off the lasers just as she grabs his helmet in both hands and pulls it apart!
Yes, best not to have friendly fire. I doubt she'd suffer as badly as he was, but still...

She's done that before. Fingers in the rights stop to gain leverage, breaking the helmet in the right places to avoid stabbing the head underneath. She then grabs hold of the remains and crushes them, destroying anything that could be used to broadcast the Anti-Life.

Then she flicks him in the forehead, sending it back into the tarmac and stunning him.
Very well done. Now, just slap a ball-gag in his mouth and hogtie him while you sort the other problem out.

She stands over him for a few seconds, breathing hard.

"This guy was jus' fah'n us 'cuz a' the Anti-Life, raht?"
You can but hope, though given his previous targets...

I rise of the roof and fly over to them.

"Not sure. He helped out Klarion before the mass child murder thing, but I wasn't ever sure how much of that was him and how much whatever Klarion did to him. Simple solution."
...Ono-boy might just be an arsehole with a preference for heroic targets.

I form a construct railgun, load a mageslayer round and fire it into his chest… At low velocity. I'm not trying to kill him here. I dimly… Feel something change as the round hits… Not sure if that was the whole of the enhancement spell-. Shoot him again.

This time he just jerks in response to the impact.
With any luck, he's back to being a mere mortal now.

"No more sound effects."

And without the helmet he should be affected by the same fear projection that's paralysing everyone else. I take a careful record of his face just in case he becomes a problem later.
Since he's likely responsible for a number of rookie cape deaths.

"Right, let's go."

Karshon doesn't appear to have gotten any bigger, but he certainly hasn't gotten any weaker.
Looks like there's a limit on his growth rate, then?

**Hah!**

He appear to have decided to stop attacking, and…
Stop attacking physically, you mean. After all, his mind is as deadly a weapon as his jaws or claws.

I turn my empathic vision up a little.

Yes, it looks like he's trying to wake up the fear inside the Justifiers, pushing against the black shell of Anti-Life from the inside. Anti-Lifed people don't really fear-. Or rather, don't fear in a remotely normal way. Some of them are still attacking him, but they've lost coordination. His efforts are definitely doing something, though they aren't being freed by it. I don't think that can work but I don't know that it can't work.
Interesting. The problem would be if the effect broke the Anti-Life... And then caused massive coronaries as the body gets hit by a massive dose of fear reactions...

**Hello, little orange light.** His left eye is taller than I am, and it's currently locked onto me and Tuppence. **Are you going to make this interesting?**

"I wasn't planning to. I'm actually here to pick up the artefact that Agent Carlyle is using."
Chance of him just handing it over freely now? Next to none.

**That would be a problem. For you.**

I shake my head. "No no. I'm happy to take it after this whole thing fails. Carry on with what you're doing. It's a valuable learning experience."
Wonder if Sinestro is keeping an eye on things, if he picked up on that massive surge of Fear. Though that would require him to be actively monitoring Earth right now.

**I'm trying to break their minds with the most horrifying thought that they can comprehend..**

"Right, but they've already been Anti-Lifed. That's like trying to let the air out of a flat tire. You might get some, but it's not really going to change anything."
But of course he can't just ignore them, what with them trying to kill him.

He eyes me for a moment, then points at one of the Justified staggering around near his feet. Ring, compare visible uniforms and anything you can scan with known superhumans,

Compliance. Files available.
I suppose their fashion sense makes it easy to identify casualties. Though the heroic population might be getting a little thinned out given things like Karshon's little head-pulling trick earlier.

**That one. Bring them up here.**

I dimly recognise the man, and my ring fills me in. Amazing Man Three, currently having his body mimic steel. That makes him strong and tough, just not giant shark strong and tough.
Ah, the latest in a line of heroic fellows. With not the best taste in names. :rolleyes: But it did begin in the Forties, after all...

I send a construct harness down to grab him. And use the fact that Karshon's focusing on me and his chosen Justifier to covertly deliver Tuppence to ground level.

**The helmet. What does it do?**
Good, the less notice she draws the better. Might let her good into a spot to cover Carlyle to capture him when things go belly-up for the man-shark.

"It's like an Anti-Life broadcaster, but for the wearer."

**Not part of the network. That is why they don't feel fear.**
Pretty much. Your little improvised display has less priority than their personal signals...

"Yes. Most of them aren't even broken like some people are from regular exposure. A surprisingly large number become functional again after the helmets are removed."

Karshon turns his head so that he can get a better look at Mr. Clay.
And that just encouragers Karshon to get the helmets off. But since he doesn't know how...

**Disappointing. This one smells brave. Take the helmet off.**

I take x-ionised blades out of subspace and carefully cut it off him, though between the Anti-Life exposure and fear projection he's pretty out of it.
...OL gets to do the work. Freeing heroes, even if they're in no shape to fight anything afterwards.

**Unfocused. Like this I would crush him easily.**

"True. But if I free all of them, that is likely to attract Mannheim's personal attention. He's… I think that he's got more personality than they do."
In other words, OL convinces him they're not worth his time to kill, and more lives get saved.

**Or I could fight you, Lantern.**

"You can do that afterwards. But you need me to remove the helmets."
Kind of taking it for granted that he'll accept the offer, OL. But then, he does want to be the biggest, baddest thing around...

**Perhaps.** His mental voice sounds pleased. *Do it, Lantern. Show me their master so that I can break him.**

"As you wish."
Careful what you wish for, man-shark. Or you may find you're biting off more than even you can chew.

Right, then. Looks like things are comfortably stable for a little while. Ono-boy's nobbled, Karshon has been tricked into letting OL free the Justified, and OL is now in a good position to snatch-and-grab the Mask at the first opportunity. Sure, he's working with a giant, bloodthirsty psychic shark monster, and waiting for either the would-be king of the world or his giant robot to show up, but things are looking up... :cool:

Fingers in the rights stop to gain leverage...
Fingers in the right spot to gain leverage...
 
Y'know a while ago I suggested that Paul's scheme with the Mask might create a new superhero, if the mask blows up from the unconventional use. If Carlyle is using the mask in a problematic way though, perhaps damaging it from overuse... We might have a new anomaly to deal with instead.

I can imagine the mask detonating and ripping a hole in reality. Instead of sucking things in though, it will be a lasting scar of Anti-Life following mannheim's defeat. Grayven uses mana-infusers on New Gods he awakens. I suspect a hole created during a battle with Finality Man could support the development of anti-life-leaning New Gods. Could have weird effects on nearby magic and emotion-based abilities too.
 
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Y'know a while ago I suggested that Paul's scheme with the Mask might create a new superhero, if the mask blows up from the unconventional use. If Carlyle is using the mask in a problematic way though, perhaps damaging it from overuse... We might have a new anomaly to deal with instead.

I can imagine the mask detonating and ripping a hole in reality. Instead of sucking things in though, it will be a lasting scar of Anti-Life following mannheim's defeat. Grayven uses mana-infusers on New Gods he awakens. I suspect a hole created during a battle with Finality Man could greater anti-life-leaning New Gods. Could have weird effects on nearby magic and emotion-based abilities too.
It explodes and creates LePaul's newest most powerful Arch Enemy...

Jim Carrey as... The Mask.
 
Me said:
**I'm trying to break their minds with the most horrifying thought that they can comprehend..**
Fingers in the right spot to gain leverage...
Thank you, corrected.
Ah, the latest in a line of heroic fellows. With not the best taste in names. :rolleyes: But it did begin in the Forties, after all...
Because Amazing Man is objectively worse than Super Man.
 
Both appear multiple times, so there's an inconsistency. Can't say if either is more correct than the other.

I can't help but hear the "poof" from The Demented Cartoon Movie.

'Nobble'? What does that mean in this context?
It means "disable".

Because Amazing Man is objectively worse than Super Man.
To be fair, it is. It's one syllable longer and doesn't really come across as a cohesive single idea. Also, it came almost 50 years later (83 vs 38) so it suffers from being a ripoff as well.
 

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