Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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- Dec 1, 2016
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Thank you, corrected.
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Thank you, corrected.
Pretty sure it's because it's April Fool's Day.Anyone know why the site has a bunch of fire in the background and the text is all in orange now?
Is it permanent.
Not seeing it on my end, but I use Flexile Dark for my 'skin'. Most likely it's just an April Fool's prank.Anyone know why the site has a bunch of fire in the background and the text is all in orange now?
Is it permanent.
Not seeing it on my end, but I use Flexile Dark for my 'skin'. Most likely it's just an April Fool's prank.
Anyone know why the site has a bunch of fire in the background and the text is all in orange now?
Is it permanent.
Like, were they Americans?"Went through the case files, got some mid readers to trawl the brains of the surviving people who were involved."
...Not the best start, but brutal honesty might be the best option here, since he still seems to be a little shell-shocked. At least he's in somewhat good company. All of them have suffered at the hands of men or gods.17th November 2017
00:21 GMT -7
"My name is Grayven, I'm from a planet called 'Apokalips', my father is its evil ruler and he's going to invade the Earth. This is Queen Hippolyta, she's Wonder Woman's mother. The big fellow upstairs is Subjekt Seventeen, he was captured by the Soviet Union when he was born and tortured for his entire life."
No, not yet. That's just the Renegade's entrance.…
"Huh? What?" He glances up at the ceiling and sees the hole. "Invaded?"
...To just say that out loud... Still, Nate might focus on the more pertinent part of that statement."Sorry, you asked who I was first, so I thought I should lead with that. Normally, I'd…" I wave my glowing ring at him. "Alter your physiology to calm you down, but you don't appear to be a biological life form any longer."
He refocuses on me.
For a given value of 'volunteer', anyway. Undergoing a near-suicidal experiment in exchange for a pardon of a crime he didn't commit might stretch the definition a bit.
Ah, no doubt it's all hitting him at once.
If he's got anything like the senses of his partial expy, Doctor Manhattan, he can basically look at it like it's happening right now if he focused a bit."I remember everything. Like it was-. Oh God, like it was yesterday." He looks around again. "This isn't the lab. How-? How long has it been?"
"Are you sure you want to know?"
And there's a faint cracking sound, like a distant pane of glass shattering..."If I'm not biological-" He looks down at his right hand, opening and closing his fist. "-then I can't go crazy, can I?"
"I've known some pretty crazy computers, but you're an adult and it's your mind." I watch his face, raising my eyebrows interrogatively. He nods. "The year is twenty seventeen."
Sadly, likely not of any pleasantly natural causes.He tries to gasp, his hands going to his throat when the fact that he doesn't have lungs or an airway prevent him from doing so. "Fifty years. Goddamn. My wife?"
"Dead. Sorry."
Only natural they'd forget a dad they hardly saw."No, I-. I knew that was-. Kids?"
"Both alive. Effectively older than you now, and… Your wife remarried after you apparently died and they.. mostly-."
So time is short. Well, for anyone but Nate."They.. think of their stepdad as-. Ye-ah. That-. It's a miracle that I'm getting any kind of chance to get to know that, after… This."
"I realise I'm dumping a lot of stuff on you all at once, and I'm sorry about that, but the planet's about to be invaded."
And in the comics, that is basically what happened. Initially a mere twenty years, but, as with things like Captain America's little cryogenic nap, time marches on."Alright. The quantum field. What happened? Where is everyone?"
"I'm not a physicist, so I can't tell you exactly what happened. In summation, you were transformed from a meat creature into a quantum field consciousness but the people handling the Earth end couldn't work out how to bring you back. Having reviewed the machine I think you'd have come back eventually, but better sooner rather than later."
...After all, why pardon a dead man? Especially since his death was top secret?He nods.
"Your pardon got lost in the shuffle after you didn't come back right away, so you're still technically sentenced to death." I raise my right hand in benediction. "Don't worry, I know you were innocent. The man they sent in after you wasn't, so I'm leaving him where he is."
"You said rape twice." "I like rape." Yeah, Major Force was not the nicest guy in the stockade."What did he do?"
"Rape, murder, rape-murder and murder-rape, though to be fair that last one was probably accidental."
So even the Renegade doesn't know it's an actual creature, or he's just saying that to preserve Nate's clarity. Since I can't imagine him knowing the scientists were torturing a living creature would go down too well.His expression hardens. "That is not something to laugh about."
"Remember when I said that my father is evil? That's our whole civilisation. What Clifford Zmeck did would barely register back home so if the worst you can say about me is that I have a black sense of humour then I think I'm doing okay. Anyway, the ship the Air Force's researchers butchered to make the portal covered you in that silver stuff so that you can interact with normal space."
He's basically a 'do anything' sort of Negative Space Wedgie that thinks it's a man. Best to let him keep thinking that way..."So what am.. I? Inside…" He gestures to his chest. "This."
"Remember when I said that I'm not a physicist? My best guess is that your flesh body doesn't exist any more. There might be some way to turn you back, but I've got no idea what that would be. Can you still feel?"
I imagine if he pushes himself, he could outdo kryptonian senses.He presses the fingertips of his left hand against his right palm. "Yes."
"You got sight, hearing and touch. Can you smell anything?"
...Oh so many additional abilities. Basically, if he doesn't know he can't do it, then he basically can.He tries to sniff. "Yes." He frowns. "How am I-" He puts his right hand over his nose and tries to sniff again. "-doing that? I can't breathe. I don't think I have lungs."
"Don't know. I don't think you can eat either, but it's better than death, right? Ah, you may have picked up some additional abilities, but we can find you space to test those out later."
I assume that he made sure to check that things happened the same way locally. No telling what other differences occurred compared to Earth Sixteen-R"You said you know I'm innocent. How?"
"Went through the case files, got some mind readers to trawl the brains of the surviving people who were involved." I take the binder covering my investigation out of subspace. "Want to know who the real culprits were?"
Ah, one of the few clever things the movies did right: unconventional flight tricks. Like the things Superman does after his revival.He-. Flies forward in a standing position and grabs the folder. "Yes."
He opens it and stares at the summary page.
Somehow, I doubt that is a comfort, given who was responsible for Nate's 'death'."No."
"Yeah, that's why you got railroaded. Eiling's the one who married your wife, by the way. If it's any consolation he was a decent husband and father."
Ah, I'm guessing he didn't get an upgrade this time around. Or it's still cooking and the Renegade is unaware of it.He turns a page, and then another. "No, no, this-."
"The stupid thing is, I can't even work out why they killed him. Should have been simple enough to read him in on the C.I.A. operation. The.. names of the agents are on the next page."
And at this stage, I don't think Nate will care if people call him evil."Why are you showing this to me?"
"You've been betrayed by a lot of people. I want to help you take revenge. And then I want your help in conquering the world so that I can prepare it to fight my father."
And if Humanity should happen to decide it's better off together once the threat passes, well... He's not going to complain, after all."Conquer the world..? Are you out of your mind?"
"Lincoln suspended the Constitution during the Civil War. If the Earth's going to have any chance then I'm going to need to compel obedience until the fighting's over, otherwise I'm going to be hamstrung bringing together the few resources this planet has that can fight on our level."
Ooh, that's going to be quite the culture shock."'Our'? I'm not helping you take over the world."
"Captain Adam, your entire government got together to do this to you. I'm not taking over the world to micromanage America's judicial proceedings, or… Establish a religion or take your guns away or whatever worries you so much. Last year America lost an entire city when two superpeople fought in the middle of it, and the government didn't learn anything from the experience. Look, why don't you hunt down the people on that list and see what's happened to America in the last fifty years? See what you think then."
...Sadly accurate. At least in this universe, anyway. A world where super-people can level half a city with a fist-fight (And the alien terraforming device they were fighting over, mind...)"There's enough information here to get these bastards put away for the rest of their-."
"It will never happen! They got away with it, Captain, with the full support of the infrastructure of the state. The case will go nowhere, the guilty will slip away or get the pardon they denied to you and your children will carry on calling him 'Dad'."
Well, remember how you did it the next time you need to blow someone up.I don't even see anything. One moment I'm standing there, the next I'm embedded in the far wall surrounded my fractured concrete, an odd purple glow dissipating around me.
Across the room Captain Adam lowers his right hand. "I didn't mean to do that, but you sure had it coming."
Well, that can be arranged. Heck, 'Sev' up there can even hold them for you while you ask questions."True." I pull myself out of the wall. "But that doesn't help with what comes next. Do you want to come with me, or puzzle things out for yourself?"
"I'm not letting you out of my sight. And I want to have words with these people."
...the next I'm embedded in the far wall surrounded by fractured concrete......the next I'm embedded in the far wall surrounded my fractured concrete...
Thank you, corrected.
Ah...
Thank you, corrected....the next I'm embedded in the far wall surrounded by fractured concrete...
Anyone know why the site has a bunch of fire in the background and the text is all in orange now?
Is it permanent.
You should be able to click on the little gear /settings symbol at the bottom left of the page and change from "Dumpsterfire" to a different style.
You should be able to click on the little gear /settings symbol at the bottom left of the page and change from "Dumpsterfire" to a different style.
How can I change it back?Not seeing it on my end, but I use Flexile Dark for my 'skin'. Most likely it's just an April Fool's prank.
You should be able to click on the little gear /settings symbol at the bottom left of the page and change from "Dumpsterfire" to a different style.
I don't see that. Maybe it's because I changed the site colors for me awhile ago? What's the default again?
I suspect that he doesn't know what nuclear weapons are. I'm not really clear why he's on Team Evil-. No, I know why he's on Team Evil in the sense of being evil, but I'm not clear why they want him on the team
"I don't know. But if I had to guess, they don't want to have to deal with radioactive fallout
"The problem is that nuclear weapons drop the value of the real estate. The sun gets blotted out, people die from starvation and cancer… Things like that
No we didn't. Assuming all of the ~60k warheads we had at the peak of nuclear arsenal had the yield of one megaton and were all spread out and detonated without overlap, the area of third degree burns - generous for "nuclear fire" - would only be a little more than the continent of North America.. "We build enough to consume the entire surface of the planet in nuclear fire, and then built more.
No we didn't. Assuming all of the ~60k warheads we had at the peak of nuclear arsenal had the yield of one megaton and were all spread out and detonated without overlap, the area of third degree burns - generous for "nuclear fire" - would only be a little more than the continent of North America.
To be fair, not all creatures are equal in the Rangerverse. Some can be surprisingly squishy, in terms of combat resilience. For all we know, Squatt's species simply aren't as durable as Goldar's are. I have no idea what abilities they might have to compensate, though...1st April 1995
15:43 GMT -5
A volley of bullets plink off my construct shield as Squatt crouches low, hands over his head. Goldar on the other hand just sneers as the shots which hit him fail to penetrate his armour.
I look down at my… Creator.
...Despite him wearing almost full-body metal armour. Still, with a head that big...
Though concentrated fire probably put a few down. Except that would let others get through..."I don't even-"
The putties finally charge down the last of the garrison, their slightly greater than human strength and lack of blood or vital organs allowing them to absorb bullets far better than any living creature.
I shudder to imagine the tortures she could invent..."-know why you came."
Goldar sneers. "He came because he's a coward, and seeks to escape our Mistress's wrath at his incompetence."
Trying not to be too evil, huh? I suppose if he intends to flip on Rita after he gets what he wants..."Ah. Makes sense."
The putties are actually capable of understanding the idea of 'prisoners', which means that since I gave them clear instructions the guards, office workers and scientists of Pantex won't suffer anything worse than bruises.
Feeling brought low just by association, Goldie?This time he sneers at me.
"What?"
"It's shameful conduct. If someone does something wrong then they should accept the punishment, and so regain their honour."
Yes, Goldar is going to be keeping an eye on OL, isn't he?"If they're leal in service or committed to the cause, you're correct. If they just joined up because they didn't have any better alternatives or got conscripted, then you can't really expect the same level of dedication."
"Like you."
Really, OL? Minimising property damage, yes, but couldn't you tell he wanted to smash something?He stomps forwards, raising his sword at the securely sealed door. I send out a filament and bypass the locking system, causing the sensors to open it when he gets close.
He growls.
What do you want then? This is just a job, and he's obviously not going to die for you."What can I say? I want to live. Her Ladyship is the only person who can make that happen. Would you really believe me if I pledged my undying devotion out of nowhere?"
"From a human? No."
At least OL plays the 'sinister overlord' type nicely."Well then."
I gesture up to a gantry where a small group of warehouse workers have taken cover. Three putties who followed us in from outside take the order and dash up the ladder to capture them.
...Oh, dear. That's not a great plan, whatever he's intending to do with them."Ah..?" Squatt looks around with an expression of what I think is puzzlement. "Why are we here, anyway?"
"This is a major repository of nuclear weapons."
Maybe he got an internship back in the day and decided to stick with it?"Oh, so we're here for weapons!" He looks around at the heavy locked crates around us. "Ah, I don't see any."
I suspect that he doesn't know what nuclear weapons are. I'm not really clear why he's on Team Evil-. No, I know why he's on Team Evil in the sense of being evil, but I'm not clear why they want him on the team.
Heh. See, now he's got the brains to be worried about what OL might be planning...From the way he just got a little more twitchy, I rather suspect that Goldar does know what nuclear weapons are. I watch as his eyes alight on the 'radioactive' symbol on one of the crates, and then move along the row and see the same sign on all of the rest.
His eyes widen a little.
What, no other species in the galaxy fight amongst themselves?"Yeah. A lot, aren't there?"
"Rita Repulsa only freed herself from her prison last year. Humans were too primitive for such weapons when she fought Zordon. No one else would dare attack a world marked for her conquest. Why do humans have so many?"
It's not like the fissile material didn't exactly go away, after all. And presumably America wanted the option of using them someday, just in case."Each other, of course." Orange tendrils reach out and open up the closest crate. Ah. Excellent. "We build enough to consume the entire surface of the planet in nuclear fire, and then built more. Honestly, it got a bit silly, so the main countries involved agreed to disarm most of their supplies and stop making more of them. The other country took their apart, but this country just took them off the rockets and stuck them in here."
...How about tossing him a Rubik's cube or something to distract him?"This is a lot of nuclear weapons."
"So is it like a sword?" Squatt looks around my shoulder. "That doesn't look like a sword."
...Because of course he pictures the big, round cartoonish bombs.
Well, first, their missiles weren't designed for space. Secondly, what's to stop you lot shooting them down when they get closer to Bandora Palace?"And suddenly I'm not wondering why you haven't beaten the Power Rangers yet."
Goldar recovers from his astonishment enough to scowl. "Do not judge me by his standards. If humans have these weapons, why haven't they used them against us?"
Until something like a threat big enough to need dozens of Ranger teams shows up. Interesting perspective, though. When your best soldiers are equal to armies... Why use armies?"I don't know. But if I had to guess, they don't want to have to deal with radioactive fallout. And since you only really attack one city in one country, there just isn't any reason for them to resort to measure like that." I consider him for a moment. "Are wars in the wider universe generally settled by small groups of powerful champions?"
"Yes. Someone like our mistress can destroy entire armies of lesser beings, but only a few creatures in most species have the potential to fight at that level. There is no point in putting someone weak in combat if someone significant could destroy them with a thought. And then there's the cost of weapon systems like zords, which cannot be beaten by something other than another zord or a giant monster."
Worth noting, that wouldn't set them off except in very unlucky circumstances. Nukes are by design very fail-safe until you want them to explode."Are zords nuke-proof?"
"They're resistant. Zords can shoot missiles out of the air or detect nuclear weapons planted on the ground, and their armour is reinforced with magic. It would take an overwhelming number of nuclear weapons to destroy one."
...Not the plan, methinks. This is still OL's planet, sort of, and he's not going to mess up the neighbourhood.His head jerks back to the lines of crates.
"Though I think that this may be enough. We could simply lure them into the open and then saturate the area. They would have no chance to survive!"
"Hold on there."
"Now is not the time for cowardice, Orange Warmaster!"
So, lording it over hordes of kowtowing peasants until she gets bored, then."What is Ms. Repulsa planning on doing with the Earth after she conquers it?"
"Whatever she wants."
A very good point. I doubt even Rita wants to rule over a snowball made of charcoal."The problem is that nuclear weapons drop the value of the real estate. The sun gets blotted out, people die from starvation and cancer… Things like that. And if we're unlucky, other countries would fire theirs as well, and that would leave us with a lifeless ball of radioactive rock."
He snorts. "What, then?"
Ah, a safe plan. Though not one the Rangers will be expecting."I'll use these to lure the Power Rangers to the locations of my choice. Once they are isolated, I will attack and defeat them individually. And then I will present their battered carcasses to Ms. Repulsa, in exchange for my life."
I construct-grab four crates, and check their contents.
"Grab one of the big ones, would you? Then teleport us back to the moon. We'll work out where to put them from there."