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

[Buggy123]

Well TBF from what I knew in that situation, society was already breaking down by all the "helpful" laws which had domino-effects that were somehow supported by other rich people who somehow found that being "selfless" or pretending to be "selfless" would somehow give them power via good PR and connections rather than delivering good product and running businesses cost-efficiently and those "selfish" rich businessmen and other scientists and inventors whether they actually cared or not were gonna try and rebuild society

I think in that book, society and even the protagonists argued that caring first about your friends and family rather than society as a whole was "selfish", oh wait that was Anthem where they actually banned having friends and lovers and ironically whilst "selfish" the protagonist in the end was intending to still eventually help others

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Huh, some of that is kinda weird, but it's also common for businesses to focus on PR above quality and customer service. But it's also perfectly possible for "cost-efficiency" to be bad; see: companies deciding whether or not to issue product recalls on the basis of "will the recalls cost us more money than potential lawsuits from injury and death caused by our product?". I guess that also focusing on providing good products/service might avoid that, though.

Personally, I would say that the real issue behind both of those bad outcomes is something else entirely.

But yeah, "selfish" can be what YOU think is good for others whilst not caring too much about their input whether valid or not.

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I don't disagree with you, but that is a really, really, rea-hea-heally wide net right there.

That basically includes... almost every parent whose ever lived, most pious individuals from most religions which have ever existed, just about anyone who's vouched for any particular philosophy, most philosophers, most politicians, oodles of people who don't fit in any particular category...

I'd wager that's like, 90% of the population right there. It's very rare that you see someone with a mindset along the lines of "you do you" to such a degree.

Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of instances of that might be considered a mental illness. Just about anyone who cares about people has some idea of how they ought to be doing things. Only the thoroughly asocial would be genuinely selfless, because they don't care about other people at all.

Again, not actually disagreeing with you. I'm just pointing out that humans tend to be systemically selfish.

 

[Stsword]

Surprising, considering continuity being fucked all to hell is what has caused them to reboot the entire universe...more then once.

Edit: I've mentioned before, but I remember reading once that after a survey was done, DC found out that most of the famous storylines of theirs that people could mention....were all non-canon Elseworlds.

I DO know, from hearing it myself, that at least one Marvel writer around...2006, blew the fuck up at someone who had apparently reminded them, several times I've gathered, that whatever they were wanting to write was extremely against continuity and that, and I quote, "Fan's WILL notice, and they WILL call us on out it."

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Yeah, I really wish that DC had just gone with their first response to continuity problems- different universes.

So one story has Catwoman being a killer, and another makes a big deal that she's just a thief, different universes.

It's simple, and since the DC writers apparently see continuity as a personal affront anyway, might as well.

But no, they have to anger people by blowing their worlds up for a reboot so they can tell the same stories again and again. Bah.

 

[Lazurman]

Given a couple peoples continued insistence that it should work because "close enough" I going to guess they don't realize that Earth 12 Kryptonite is a unique mineral and unlike every single other occurrence of the material wasn't actually created from Krypton exploding.

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I will take it on faith that you read my last reply. In which Luthor brought blue kryptonite from another universe to subdue Ultraman.

But fine. I'd say that's a neat theory you got there. I'm willing to humor it. Please. By all means. Give us a source.

 

[The Unaligned Player]

snip

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Yeah?

Why else do you think Gollum is second only to Berserker, and Yandere in mental corruption levels.

 

[Vaermina]

But fine. I'd say that's a neat theory you got there. I'm willing to humor it. Please. By all means. Give us a source.

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In the JLAU verse there are several pieces of found Kryptonite that had been on Earth since before the destruction of Krypton.

It also has different properties then normal Kryptonite in that it's only deadly to Kryptonians under a Yellow Sun. And of course there's the whole bit with it being able to generate infinite energy.

 

[Badass6969]

Buggy123
Say, as much as I want to continue this talk about how some acts selflessness and selfishness can be swapped or near interchangeable, wanna move this to a PM?

 

[Gantradies]

Hm... I suppose I was under the misconception that they were supposed to be the same JL and they'd just swapped in a different active-duty GL for the movie.

If the story for this arc/episode were about defeating a Justice League lineup, then I'd agree with you, but it's not.

The point of this arc is trying to negotiate a proper ceasefire and return to normalcy on negative fourteen's earth. Actually having a higher-powered Justice League step in would actually exacerbate the situation into all-out warfare and leave bodies in the streets. It would be counterproductive to the plot.

God, I hate it when people forget basic characterization. Okay, so OL Paul has a soul primarily forged out of orange light. That means a huge function of what he can/wants to do is a matter of how much he cares about a given subject. In the beginning of this arc, he was about to try to go to the heroes and jump ship back to his own earth simply because this universe isn't his problem. He can't do everything in every world and fix all the problems. The only reason he's here is because of his BL counterpart and the fact that he feels a little attachment to the Young Offenders as a function of his own team's parallels.

Corollary to why he isn't ripping the Syndicate apart right now, too. He can't spare the years of effort, if not decades that it would take to destroy the Syndicate and then rebuild society. It's not his world, he has other problems to deal with, and he doesn't want to put in a half-measure that just makes everyone's lives worse by going in with heroic face-punching like he's accused his own Justice League of numerous times. The only reasonable fix for the situation that he can actually do in the limited time he has available to him is get a truce called, get things to deescalate, and maybe in ten years when a large swath of Made Men aren't toting around WMDs, the authorities can make a more concerted effort to root out the problem. Or the Made Men will be so involved with running countries of their own that they won't have time for as much organized crime and the world will slowly get better without a massive war.

Edit: TL;DR: Paul doesn't have the time to dedicate to properly un-fucking this clusterfuck and doesn't intrinsically care enough about this world to make the time for it, so he's trying to design a solution that will, hopefully, give people enough time to rationally make choices that won't destroy a huge part of society.

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i mean, unless Scry wards are a thing here too, wouldnt it be... like, a weeks/ months worth, top, given how hileriously overpowered he was before the dissemination of scry-wards back home? i mean, given its a matter of Caring/Wanting, if Paul remotely cares about wasting his time, it'd probably be a significantly easier/less needlessly-complex means of solving the problem...

if Slade and the other Frank Castle-wannabe's could be persuaded to stop lovingly stroking their throbbing murderboners for that much time and limit their forces to calculated surgical strikes against core syndicate targets with said intel, i literally see no reason Paul couldnt dismantle the entire syndicate with the ease of a man pulling a roast chicken apart within a few days-unless ive had an oblivious moment, the local bad guys DONT have Luthor-16's anti scry-and-die countermeasures, and once the players who HAVE the ability to make strategic retaliation strikes are eliminated, the Syndicate is literally finished- the longterm cleanup would take longer yes, but its a bit hard to start flipping the switches on your latest pointless doomsday device when the enemy jumps you on the shitter due to having literally perfict Intel....

you have to admit, the current plan feels a...little...Comic-Book universey, if you get my drift- needlessly complicated, and with a lot of needless potential to blow up in his face- he's on the record claiming to be a Member of a Crime syndicate currently under a Killorder for petes sake, in persuit of a solution that still leaves a chance of him being randomly yank'd by Despirate Syndics the moment they fuck up and draw aggro again....

 

[Mquz]

i mean, unless Scry wards are a thing here too, wouldnt it be... like, a weeks/ months worth, top, given how hileriously overpowered he was before the dissemination of scry-wards back home? i mean, given its a matter of Caring/Wanting, if Paul remotely cares about wasting his time, it'd probably be a significantly easier/less needlessly-complex means of solving the problem...

if Slade and the other Frank Castle-wannabe's could be persuaded to stop lovingly stroking their throbbing murderboners for that much time and limit their forces to calculated surgical strikes against core syndicate targets with said intel, i literally see no reason Paul couldnt dismantle the entire syndicate with the ease of a man pulling a roast chicken apart within a few days-unless ive had an oblivious moment, the local bad guys DONT have Luthor-16's anti scry-and-die countermeasures, and once the players who HAVE the ability to make strategic retaliation strikes are eliminated, the Syndicate is literally finished- the longterm cleanup would take longer yes, but its a bit hard to start flipping the switches on your latest pointless doomsday device when the enemy jumps you on the shitter due to having literally perfict Intel....

you have to admit, the current plan feels a...little...Comic-Book universey, if you get my drift- needlessly complicated, and with a lot of needless potential to blow up in his face- he's on the record claiming to be a Member of a Crime syndicate currently under a Killorder for petes sake, in persuit of a solution that still leaves a chance of him being randomly yank'd by Despirate Syndics the moment they fuck up and draw aggro again....

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Remember, the ZATARA mafia. Fairly sure scry wards are something they put in by default on their secret bases. More than that, they're actively hiding from magic users.

 

[Mr Zoat]

5th February
21:03 GMT -5

Flash's-. Mr West's eyes blur as I scroll through pages and pages of information at super speed. Hawkwom-. Hawkgirl tried to keep up as he got up to speed, but had to look away as it picked up.

"How did you turn my powers off? It felt like kryptonite, but it didn't hurt as much."

"Kryptonite comes in a variety of different colours, each bypassing the kryptonian biological force field and having slightly different effects. Green causes radiation burns while gold kills off the organelles which give you your powers in the first place. The exposure I gave you will.. probably depower you for a couple of months, but they'll repropagate over time-. Ah, at that level of exposure. Sufficient exposure could remove your powers permanently."

I kneel down in front of him as Talon's knife pings off my environmental shield.

"Might I suggest that you invest in some sort of radiation shield? Kryptonite is the one relatively well known way of hurting you, and you don't appear to have ever worked out how to avoid it."

"I've got a lead-lined suit I sometimes wear."

"Then you're doing better than my Superman, but-." Wheelbarrow time. I hold out my right hand and use my rings to fabricate a radiation shield generator, then attach it to his belt. "That should protect against someone waving a crystal at you, but it won't stop a kryptonite laser so don't get careless."

Lantern Stewart snorts. "This your first time taking prisoners, kid?"

"I don't-. Look, I'm not really comfortable helping the Syndicate, I just think it's better than the alternative. I certainly don't bear you any particular malice."

Their Diana appears to realise something. "You knew our weaknesses because you've fought your Justice League before."

I nod. "Weekly sparring sessions with the Two Eight One Four Green Lanterns -our Lantern Stewart can do more than one construct at a time, by the way- occasional sparring sessions with Diana, Hawkwoman challenged me to a duel and there was the one time where they got mind controlled by Star Conquerors-."

"Uh…"

Hawkgirl looks at Mr West. "Flash."

He blinks, and I stop the display. "Ah… Guys? I don't.. feel…"

"Your brain can't hold all of the information you just took in any more than we could if we read it all at normal speed. But if you wouldn't mind sharing your conclusions?"

"I don't know. I guess…" He shakes his head. "He's got a video of President Wilson beating Ultraman to death."

"Superwoman and Power Ring Green were also murdered."

Hawkgirl narrows her eyes at me. "They were criminals."

"They weren't convicted. They were entirely at the President's mercy, and he didn't even give them a show trial, let alone actual due process. And everyone else in the Syndicate expects that if they get arrested, the same thing will happen to them. Being a 'good guy' isn't like picking a team jersey, it's about doing certain things and not doing certain others."

Mr West looks decidedly uncomfortable. "They've got martial law all across the country. And the Syndicate still has a lot of firepower. They-. Wilson sent the army after the Supers in Fawcett City, and-. And the city doesn't exist any more. I think… I don't like it, but… I think Orange Lantern might.. have a point."

Mister J'onzz's face is almost completely expressionless. "If Orange Lantern is providing us with accurate information."

"If I was flat out lying-" Talon moves towards the door and I send Duela to intercept him. "-then Talon would have jumped in to point it out."

Talon-.

Oh no, where's Batman?

"I don't suppose that you left Batman behind, did you?"

Diana smiles menacingly. "You really shouldn't underestimate him."

"And you shouldn't underestimate a magic house owned by a supervillain that's also full of supervillains." I crank-. No. I remove Diana's lasso from her belt, take the end in my right hand and put the noose around Superman's neck. "Did Batman come with you?"
Truth
His eyes glow for a sec-.
Truth
"Are you trying to trick us?"
Truth
"I'm trying to persuade you by any means I can, but genuinely regard direct conflict as contrary to the interests of this version of America. The information I gave the Flash was accurate, and only as slanted as what I've seen was slanted."

Wait, this version of the lasso compels truth at both ends? Darn it!
Truth
"Batman didn't come with us. He's hanging back until we secure an entry point for the rest of the Justice League."

I drop that lasso and carefully use constructs to wind it back up. "Happy now?"

Mr West shakes his head. "Were those..? Figures right? All the people who died in Wisconsin?"

"As.. far as I know, yes. Approximately three million deaths. Six sevenths of the population. No one knows exactly what happened because everyone anywhere near the city died, but that's basically what I don't want to see happen everywhere else as well. That's what.. happens when two heavily armed groups square off and no one blinks. I.. spoke to Enigma, the leader of the Justice Underground, and he said he was fine-."

I reach down and pick up the lasso again.
Truth
"That he was fine with the whole country suffering the same proportion of deaths if it meant that the Syndicate was exterminated. Are you?"

League members.. look at each other. Mr West appears genuinely distressed by what he just saw, and the others... I suppose that when you're used to solving your problems by punching them, it comes as a bit of a shock when you find out that not only can you not solve this one by punching it but you may have actually contributed to three million people dying.

Superman looks up at me. "So what exactly do you want us to do?"

"Go home." I send his chains back into subspace and he stands, glancing expectantly at his comrades. No, not just yet. "Let the Syndicate finish reorganising and disarming. If in a few years the emergency laws President Slade's using have been revoked and the Syndicate is still causing problems then feel free to have a crack at them but until then the risks just aren't worth it."

He rubs his wrists, then folds his arms across his chest. "Even if you're not lying, how do we know that the Syndicate isn't going to go right back to building giant bombs?"

"Because it didn't work, they don't have the resources and everyone who knew how to make that bomb is dead." Could we..? "Mister J'onzz, how good is your false mind technique?"

"It should withstand a brief inspection. I am surprised that you have heard of it."

"My parallel's Mars is still inhabited." His eyes.. sadden slightly. "There aren't that many telepaths in the building. If I take you around the building, you could do surface scans of a cross section of Made Men. See what they're planning. If you-."

The door opens. Duela is knocked forwards, but turns it into a tumbling roll and comes to her feet as-.

Ultraboy stares at the bound members of the Justice League. Then stares at Superman.

"Pa-?"

Then he stares at the 'S' and lunges!

"You're a dead man!"

 

[Gantradies]

Remember, the ZATARA mafia. Fairly sure scry wards are something they put in by default on their secret bases. More than that, they're actively hiding from magic users.

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ow. ok, point there- thats one set of working WMD's resistant, and im guessing a quintesseance scan would be..awkward given the distance from the "good" version of Best snake.

i just feel that paul's comitting the same mistake he's accusing the other JL of-
if the history of Earth 16 is anything to show, you CANNOT trust supervillans to take the smart, easy choice without constant nudging/handholding-theres allways going to be loons who dont care abotu cancer, and jsut wanna make human-dinosaur hybrids...
i kinda Feel Slade IS right that a clean sweep (capture or kill) is the way to go, its..just that he's...damaged, and is working in an echo chamber of other people damaged enough that "millions of innocent deaths will be worth it" is a majority opinion

Honestly, It is kinda weird. Personally, I've never read anything from Any Rand, and from what I've heard of it, I certainly wouldn't want to (no 20-page rants and old rich guys going to a island to let society collapse for some inane reason, no thank you).

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eh, she didnt care that much about her own ideology anyway when it was here livelyhood in question- she went onto Welfare ( became a "moocher", i believe is the Randian term?) https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ayn-rand-social-security/

The door opens. Duela is knocked forwards, but turns it into a tumbling roll and coming to her feet as-.

Ultraboy stares at the bound members of the Justice League. Then stares at Superman.

"Pa-?"

Then he stares at the 'S' and lunges!

"You're a dead man!"

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.... oh for Bahamut's SAKE!
*faceclaws*

 

[Ganurath]

Blue, red, now all we need is yellow from Paul realizing that Clark is baseline at the moment.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Just noticed this part. 'Flash' should be capitalized there, as a proper name.

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I believe that this is still in the US (especially given the earlier mention of Interstate 81), in which case the driver should be on the left and "the passenger seat beside him" should be to the right.

You made them afraid, it made you feel good-.

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[doug89]

It just occurred to me now, I hope that the dimensional travel wasn't detected and tracked by the government.

 

[Slayer Anderson]

i mean, unless Scry wards are a thing here too, wouldnt it be... like, a weeks/ months worth, top, given how hileriously overpowered he was before the dissemination of scry-wards back home? i mean, given its a matter of Caring/Wanting, if Paul remotely cares about wasting his time, it'd probably be a significantly easier/less needlessly-complex means of solving the problem...

if Slade and the other Frank Castle-wannabe's could be persuaded to stop lovingly stroking their throbbing murderboners for that much time and limit their forces to calculated surgical strikes against core syndicate targets with said intel, i literally see no reason Paul couldnt dismantle the entire syndicate with the ease of a man pulling a roast chicken apart within a few days-unless ive had an oblivious moment, the local bad guys DONT have Luthor-16's anti scry-and-die countermeasures, and once the players who HAVE the ability to make strategic retaliation strikes are eliminated, the Syndicate is literally finished- the longterm cleanup would take longer yes, but its a bit hard to start flipping the switches on your latest pointless doomsday device when the enemy jumps you on the shitter due to having literally perfict Intel....

you have to admit, the current plan feels a...little...Comic-Book universey, if you get my drift- needlessly complicated, and with a lot of needless potential to blow up in his face- he's on the record claiming to be a Member of a Crime syndicate currently under a Killorder for petes sake, in persuit of a solution that still leaves a chance of him being randomly yank'd by Despirate Syndics the moment they fuck up and draw aggro again....

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As Mquz states, the Syndicate does have a major magic-using faction as one of their primary groups. In addition, the good guys have/had a Violet Lantern under their employ. It stands to reason, especially with 'a' Paul operating with his traditionally min-maxing attitude, the Syndicate has some fairly good anti-power ring detection systems up and running. They've also already gone to ground completely, which would complicate the matter of rooting them out even further. And, of course, there's the matter of betraying his Blue-counterpart's interests in this world... and given, again, how min-maxy Paul can be when motivated, I wouldn't want him as an enemy unless absolutely necessary. Should Paul cooperate and hand the Young Offenders over to the 'good guys' they're all dead. Your supposition also rests on getting Slade and the rest to actually stand down and allow Paul to do this on his terms, which given all of the evidence we've seen, is extremely unlikely. Whatever Paul does, he's also going to have to deal with the constant government kill squads hunting down other villains in the nation as well.

Additionally, I stated earlier, Paul isn't one for half-measures. He's going to do the best he can in the time allowed and that includes making a concerted attempt to fix the underlying problems that generated the Syndicate in the first place. That is the work of years, and with the authority's stated position on the matter, I don't believe it's possible to realistically set up a solution similar to the one Paul is currently constructing, since attempting to help individuals who might go villain in the current atmosphere runs exactly counter to their current 'eliminate with extreme prejudice' strategy.

 

[Handlewithcare]

He should have asked Flash to follow Talon, but it's realistic that he can't cover every angle.

And maybe this J'onzz can visit his Mars?

Hell, maybe they'll even find a group of willing colonists? (Unlikely, I know)

 

[Korfayron]

Well Ultraboy is about to become a baseline human strength Kryptonian.

 

[Ganurath]

He should have asked Flash to follow Talon, but it's realistic that he can't cover every angle.

And maybe this J'onzz can visit his Mars?

Hell, maybe they'll even find a group of willing colonists? (Unlikely, I know)

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Earth -14's Mars has Burners, as I recall. Krona killed all the Guardians, remember?

 

[TheEyes]

Well Ultraboy is about to become a baseline human strength Kryptonian.

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Yeah, I strongly suspect that the next section is going to open with Speed-gold-Kryptonite-shockcrown. Maybe asking J'onn to wipe his memory immediately afterward.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

Flash's-. Mr West's eyes blur as I scroll through pages and pages of information at super speed. Hawkwom-. Hawkgirl tried to keep up as he got up to speed, but had to look away as it picked up.

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Heh, speed-reading level max.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"Kryptonite comes in a variety of different colours, each bypassing the kryptonian biological force field and having slightly different effects. Green causes radiation burns while gold kills off the organelles which give you your powers in the first place. The exposure I gave you will.. probably depower you for a couple of months, but they'll repropogate over time-. Ah, at that level of exposure. Sufficient exposure could remove your powers permanently."

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...Supes is kind of hosed right now, isn't he? The League's tactics probably rely on him tanking...

I certainly don't bare you any particular malice."

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I certainly don't bear you any particular malice."

I nod. "Weekly sparring sessions with the Two Eight One Four Green Lanterns -our Lantern Stewart can do more than one construct at a time, by the way-, occasional sparring sessions with Diana, Hawkwoman challenged me to a duel and there was the one time where they got mind controlled by Star Conquerors-."

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Love how he just tosses that out like it's nothing.

Hawkgirl narrows her eyes at me. "They were criminals."

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Murdered, not executed. Is your English not that good to not notice the difference?

Mister J'onzz's face is almost completely expressionless. "If Orange Lantern is providing us with accurate information."

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True, true.

Oh no, where's Batman?

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Now he notices. Bats could likely have wreaked havoc in that time...

Wait, this version of the lasso compels truth at both ends? Darn it!

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Heh, plan backfired.

"That he was fine with the whole country suffering the same proportion of deaths if it meant that the Syndicate was exterminated. Are you?"

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And holding the lasso means that's the honest truth...

"Go home." I send his chains back into subspace and he stands, glancing expectantly at his comrades. No, not just yet. "Let the Syndicate finish reorganising and disarming. If in a few years the emergency laws President Slade's using have been revoked and the Syndicate is still causing problems then feel free to have a crack at them but until then the risks just aren't worth it."

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Not as satifying as going on a face-punching rampage, but much less damaging.

"You're a dead man!"

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Crap.

Welp, things are heading ploin-shaped. And remember, Supes is still depowered right now, yes? Let's hope unpowered Kryptonian-12s are still damn tough...

 

[Ngamer11]

Guess Talon really just wants the Syndicate to be destroyed, whatever the cost.

 

[Stsword]

Yeah, I strongly suspect that the next section is going to open with Speed-gold-Kryptonite-shockcrown. Maybe asking J'onn to wipe his memory immediately afterward.

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Ultraboy apparently took speed juice (or similar enhancement) to make himself a lightning bruiser, so I'd suggest replacing shockcrown with a freeze ray to stop him in his tracks instead.

 

[jaelin910]

Well Ultraboy is about to become a baseline human strength Kryptonian.

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Yeah, I strongly suspect that the next section is going to open with Speed-gold-Kryptonite-shockcrown. Maybe asking J'onn to wipe his memory immediately afterward.

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You recall that part from Zoat about 16 and 12 being close enough to work almost the same but 16 and -14 not being such, right? He might use some form of kryptonite on Ultraboy but it isn't likely to be gold

 

[Dur'id the Druid]

You know, I would REALLY REALLY like to hear the after action briefing from this JLA later. One lantern managed to non-lethally take town several members in under 60 seconds, when HE was surprised.

 

[Vaermina]

"Kryptonite comes in a variety of different colours, each bypassing the kryptonian biological force field and having slightly different effects. Green causes radiation burns while gold kills off the organelles which give you your powers in the first place. The exposure I gave you will.. probably depower you for a couple of months, but they'll repropagate over time-. Ah, at that level of exposure. Sufficient exposure could remove your powers permanently."

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Cool... If that's accurate you just doomed Earth 12 to be either A) murdered by Mordred, B) Murdered by Mordru, C) Eaten by a Blackhole.

"As.. far as I know, yes. Approximately three million deaths. Six sevenths of the population. No one knows exactly what happened because everyone anywhere near the city died, but that's basically what I don't want to see happen everywhere else as well. That's what.. happens when two heavily armed groups square off and no one blinks. I.. spoke to Enigma, the leader of the Justice Underground, and he said he was fine-."

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Paul's Math is so off I am surprised nobody called him on it, because Wisconsin had a population of 5.512 million in 2004.

 

[Prince Charon]

Paul's Math is so off I am surprised nobody called him on it, because Wisconsin had a population of 5.512 million in 2004.

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Not necessarily on Earth -14, unless you have a cite from the movie or an episode.

 

[Inbetweenaction]

As Mquz states, the Syndicate does have a major magic-using faction as one of their primary groups. In addition, the good guys have/had a Violet Lantern under their employ. It stands to reason, especially with 'a' Paul operating with his traditionally min-maxing attitude, the Syndicate has some fairly good anti-power ring detection systems up and running. They've also already gone to ground completely, which would complicate the matter of rooting them out even further. And, of course, there's the matter of betraying his Blue-counterpart's interests in this world... and given, again, how min-maxy Paul can be when motivated, I wouldn't want him as an enemy unless absolutely necessary. Should Paul cooperate and hand the Young Offenders over to the 'good guys' they're all dead. Your supposition also rests on getting Slade and the rest to actually stand down and allow Paul to do this on his terms, which given all of the evidence we've seen, is extremely unlikely. Whatever Paul does, he's also going to have to deal with the constant government kill squads hunting down other villains in the nation as well.

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Paul would be offended at the allegations of him being a minmaxer. It implies him allowing to be weak an an area to be strong in another. He is a pure maxer, no min

 

[Ganurath]

Paul would be offended at the allegations of him being a minmaxer. It implies him allowing to be weak an an area to be strong in another. He is a pure maxer, no min

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Actually, minmax means "minimize weaknesses, maximize strengths." Considering that a naked Paul is just as squishy as any other baseline human, I'd say his gear selection is well suited to minimizing his weaknesses.

 

[Aeess]

Cool... If that's accurate you just doomed Earth 12 to be either A) murdered by Mordred, B) Murdered by Mordru, C) Eaten by a Blackhole.

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Paul is able to fully reverse the effects of gold Kryptonite in a few moments, because a unpowered Kryptonian is way easier to heal with a power ring, we already saw Grayven do it after he used it on Superman when he was being Mind Controlled.

 

[Vaermina]

Paul is able to fully reverse the effects of gold Kryptonite in a few moments, because a unpowered Kryptonian is way easier to heal with a power ring, we already saw Grayven do it after he used it on Superman when he was being Mind Controlled.

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Except he's not doing so and just told told him it would be months before his powers would return.

 

[Aeess]

Except he's not doing so and just told told him it would be months before his powers would return.

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Because they arent on the same side yet, I think it doesent need to be said that if Superman were about to leave that Paul would reverse the damage he caused to a person he respects. Also Grayven pretty much did the same thing when he was messing with Superman 16.

I smile. "Manman."

"Grayven."

"Sorry, Kal-El. Childish of me. I apologise."

He doesn't look much happier. "How long does it last?"

I make a show of carefully considering the question. "You understand… I was only able to test it on tissue samples. When I exposed Kon's blood to the crystalline form of gold kryptonite, half a second's exposure was enough to shut his photoreceptive organelles down for about two minutes. With prolonged exposure they start to die off… You had fairly intense exposure…"

Diana sets her face. "Grayven, direct-."

"Low blow, Wonder Woman. I don't know, okay? This isn't fully tested. I just knew that unlike the green stuff it couldn't kill you. Given what my scans are showing now, I'd say, you'll be back in full fighting form in… Two months."

His eyes widen. "Two months?!"

"Three at the outside. The organelles will repropagate, but you took an intense hit to the head and chest. If it happened any faster you'd risk your body pulling itself apart as the fully restored bits got stronger than the unrestored bits next to them." That's total bullshit -given how Kryptonian strength is based on a strong nuclear force manipulation field rather than organic strength- but from the barely contained horror on his face it doesn't look like he knows that. What exactly have he and Jor-El been talking about?

Diana turns to him and puts her right hand on his left shoulder. "It's only two months-."

"Or three!"

She glares me into silence. "Maybe a break from League work wouldn't be such a bad thing. It would give you time to focus on your.. other work."

"I… I guess."

"Ah, I'm just messing you about." Glares from both, though Kal-El's is deliciously brittle. "Oh, that was all true, but with your powers down to nearly nothing I can use the ring to fix you up the same way I did Kon and Match. Take twenty seconds." He doesn't immediately respond, trying to keep himself under control. "I don't have to if you don't want me to."

He grits his teeth. "Thank you, Grayven. I would appreciate that."

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