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

[Darko]

meanwhile, Vandal Savage is running free on New Genesis

Click to shrink...

I don't think he came there.

I think he just gave the ship to the Deep Six.

 

[Mr Zoat]

meanwhile, Vandal Savage is running free on New Genesis

Click to shrink...

I'd consider that a victory for humanity. There's no advanced technology on the surface, and while Savage is happy enough living as a caveman he doesn't have the knowledge to advanced to the space age on his own.

"done one for"

Click to shrink...

Actually, changed my mind on this one. I think that's an acceptable colloquialism.

 

[RoninSword]

@Mr Zoat did Justice Lord superman manage to figure out and reverse the fuck up that Grayven did when he 'healed' Kara (her brain got some Eradicator programming in her I believe?). It hasn't shown up on screen yet so I'm curious.

 

[Lord Ernest]

@Mr Zoat did Justice Lord superman manage to figure out and reverse the fuck up that Grayven did when he 'healed' Kara (her brain got some Eradicator programming in her I believe?). It hasn't shown up on screen yet so I'm curious.

Click to shrink...

Wait, why would Justice Lord Superman be involved with that?

As far as I remember, the Kara that got healed and accidentally 'Eradicator'ed was the Kara belonging to Grayven's Young Justice Earth, I don't think there's a Justicd Lord Superman there, just regular Superman.

 

[RoninSword]

Wait, why would Justice Lord Superman be involved with that?

As far as I remember, the Kara that got healed and accidentally 'Eradicator'ed was the Kara belonging to Grayven's Young Justice Earth, I don't think there's a Justicd Lord Superman there, just regular Superman.

Click to shrink...

Grayven went back to the Justice Lord world to talk to the local Kara, she was busy so he got Justice Lord Superman to come back to his reality to take a look since he was the next available expert.
He even explained that he brought an 'evil' Superman over to do some work for him to the Justice League so that they wouldn't be confused as to why they may or may not see a 2nd Superman running around Grayven's space territory.

 

[Lord Ernest]

Grayven went back to the Justice Lord world to talk to the local Kara, she was busy so he got Justice Lord Superman to come back to his reality to take a look since he was the next available expert.
He even explained that he brought an 'evil' Superman over to do some work for him to the Justice League so that they wouldn't be confused as to why they may or may not see a 2nd Superman running around Grayven's space territory.

Click to shrink...

So we have a Justice Lord Superman in Grayven's universe? Does he have his powers back or no?

Honestly, been so long since we have seen anything but ponies in those segments I barely remember stuff from that timeline...

 

[RoninSword]

So we have a Justice Lord Superman in Grayven's universe? Does he have his powers back or no?

Honestly, been so long since we have seen anything but ponies in those segments I barely remember stuff from that timeline...

Click to shrink...

Here is the specific segment

13th February 2013

22:11 GMT

Earth 50



"Oh. It's you."



Kal-El returns his attention to one of the alien animals he acquired from his fight with the Collector, a big purple herbivore of some sort. It gives him a hug with its face tentacles, and he pats it fondly on the side of its neck.



"It's me."



He walks over to check on the feeding station. "Did you want something?"



"Yeah." I sigh. "I wanted Kara's help with something and she's busy with work-."



"And I'm not." He pats the animal again, then makes his way to the exit from the enclosure. "Not that that means I'd want to help you."



"I wasn't expecting you to volunteer, but you have specific expertise that I need and I'm prepared to hire you."



That gets a frown as he wipes the tentacle goo off with a prepared towel.



"What makes you think I'd want to work for you for any price?"



"Have I done something to offend you?"



I mean, yes, obviously, but Kara didn't tell him about the gold kryptonite-.



"Kara didn't tell me about the dust you used on me, but I run a farm here. I do soil sampling to check that the soil chemistry is right for the crops, and I've got air purification systems set up. It started showing up in the filters a little while after you left."



Ah.



"Guess I'm rumbled then."



"What is it? I couldn't tell exactly what it did, but I doubt that you'd have used it unintentionally."



"Kryptonite comes in more than one colour. That was gold. It basically turns off your powers without causing other damage."



He grimaces. "Luthor beat you to the punch."



I shrug. "What, you expect me to trust Luthor?"



He huffs. "I guess not. And that's why Kara was getting sick, until you removed it."



"Yeah. I kind of assumed it would have settled… Or that she was angry enough to have written you off. She's a really nice person."



Perfectly innocent noses aside.



"Nice isn't enough. I thought what S.H.A.D.E. did would have been enough to teach her that."



"I'm-." I frown. "Did you want her to kill you? Or lobotomise you? Because that would seem to be the logical continuation of that thought process."



"If she had, I'd have understood. But I was more hoping that she'd join me after she experienced how bad America's politics are for herself."



"I think it was less personal than Luthor was for you. She hadn't had years of graciously not tearing his head off to regret. So anyway, reason I'm here, is that I'm worried about the mental state of my universe's Kara. She's… Ah, not like yours, and I'm worried that when we fixed her up after she was seriously injured a while ago we got something wrong."



"And you want me to take a look? I do probably know more than most people about kryptonian medicine. And I've still got Brainiac's database."



"I wanted Kara, but, yeah."



"What are you offering? I doubt you'll give me my powers back."



"No, obviously, but I could upgrade your defences, if you like?" I'm definitely not including him in the program. "Get you a universal television receiver so you can watch alien T.V.? Or just more materials for your own projects? Heck, if you really want I can relocate this place somewhere so you don't have to worry about being murdered in your sleep by vengeful government agents."



"That last one sounds good. I'd still need some way to get back to Earth, though."



I nod. "I can build a zeta beam transporter easily enough. It will be point to point, so if the end station gets discovered that's your problem. That all?"



"I hate corrupt governments. I don't have anything against sick young women, and I…" He sighs. "It wasn't ever about taking power myself. It was always about… Trying to help people. Make their lives better. You hit me with that gold kryptonite of yours a few minutes after meeting me. Would you have handled the supervillains we lobotomised any different?"



"I'd have settled for killing most of them. Having them around with two burn scars on their foreheads just harmed your brand. When they stop being capable of evil, anyone who interacts with them is just left looking at a harmless person you harmed." His eyes drift away as he considers what I'm saying. "With a corpse, people would just move on, and they wouldn't have that constant visual reminder of who killed them."



"That's not a bad idea."



"There were actually a whole lot of other things you could have done better, propaganda-wise. Given your background as a journalist, I'm surprised it didn't occur to you to manufacture some consent."



"My journalism classes were about teaching me to spot someone else doing that stuff, not how to do it myself."



"You were in charge of the country. Should have changed the curriculum."



He makes an amused exhalation. "I'll remember that next time."



I smile. "That's the spirit. Anything you need to do, or are you alright to head out now?"



He walks over to a wall panel and presses a button. A few moments later, a… Somewhat weathered Superman robot trudges in and heads towards the next pen.



"It's not that hard to automate things, but I need something to do myself."



I nod. "Right then. Mother Box?"



Ping.



BOOM!



A few animals squawk or grunt, but for the most part they accept the noise and the glowing hole in reality.



I lead the way through, back into Karsta's office in the cloning facility.



"Karsta Wor-Ul, this is Kal-El Fifty." Karsta studies his face intensely, frowning as she does so. "I've asked him to have a chat with Kara, see if he can-."



"Fine. Fine. I don't need to know every little thing you get up to."



"He took over his Earth after their Lex Luthor proved to be an incompetent lunatic. I think you might like him more than our Kal-El."



She takes in Kal-El's farm overalls. "He dresses better."



"I probably used to dress the same way. It's just not really a good idea to wear a cape around farming equipment."



I nod. "Alright, I'll take-."



Ping.



I stare down at Mother Box. "Seriously?"



Ping.



"Okay, ah…" I look at Kal-El and Karsta. "I'm sorry, but it sounds like Atlantis has risen from the ocean and I need to get back to Earth. Karsta, could you please show Kal-El around, introduce him to Kara, that sort of thing?"



She gets up out of her chair. "Sure. Probably-"



Mother Box.



BOOM!



I jog through the portal back to Challenger Mountain.



"-best to start with the healing pod…"

Click to shrink...

I was curious as to how much progress had been made.
Edit: someone had been speculating that evil Kal could likely use the opportunity (healing pod should he get it properly fixed) to get his powers back.

 

[Agumentic]

@Mr Zoat did Justice Lord superman manage to figure out and reverse the fuck up that Grayven did when he 'healed' Kara (her brain got some Eradicator programming in her I believe?). It hasn't shown up on screen yet so I'm curious.

Click to shrink...

Probably not, perhaps on the account of being evil and not really seeing the problem.

Speaking of troubled young adults, I wonder when this timeline's EradiKara plotline comes to a head.

Click to shrink...

Not particular soon. The program knows that it can't rebuild krypton with children, and is happy enough to accept alien servants. This issues will start to come once the clones reach adulthood.

Click to shrink...

 

[Mr Zoat]

@Mr Zoat did Justice Lord superman manage to figure out and reverse the fuck up that Grayven did when he 'healed' Kara (her brain got some Eradicator programming in her I believe?). It hasn't shown up on screen yet so I'm curious.

Click to shrink...

Justice Lords Kal-El hasn't ever encountered either an Eradicator or a Daxamite. As such, he originally thought that Kara was behaving strangely due to trauma. He's mostly trying to encourage her to socialise in an attempt to help her go back to normal.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Cappare

25th July 2013
02:12 GMT

I take a moment to watch the workers employed by the reclamation part of… Well, it's technically part of the Darkstars, but is in effect a civilian agency under the control of the Controllers for building new worlds for refugees and rebuilding worlds recaptured from the Reach. That latter part has only really become one of its actual responsibilities recently with us actually reclaiming worlds, and it's required a massive increase in staffing. Fortunately, it's a good deal easier to convince people to join a civilian relief agency than an aggressive military.

And it's a good place to put Lanterns who are either verging on becoming stress casualties or are otherwise not good people to put in a combat zone. In theory, Lantern Coutara could take her place in the war zone. She's certainly demonstrated that she can kill when motivated. But when we tried having her spar with other Lanterns, she just… She can't muster the drive when there isn't an immediate and personal offence. But, she liked working to rebuild her home county after the purge, and when I made it clear that we had plenty of room for someone with desires like that, she was happy to join up.

And of course that puts Lantern Taranna and Lantern Yat under her supervision. Lantern Yat is far too young to be in combat without taking psychological damage. Lantern Taranna on the other hand has expressed an interest in moving to a combat role, which…

I understand where she's coming from, but her mother has been very clear that she's not happy about it, and… Taranna isn't a particularly violent person either. So Lantern Ratchet acknowledged her change in status and assigned her to picket duty on worlds that her mother and foster brother were working on.

"Illustres to Lantern Coutara."

The response is immediate, her face appearing over my ring. "Yes, Illustres?"

"No need to drop what you're doing, but when you have a moment I'm a few miles over the headquarters building."

She nods. "Of course. What is this about?"

"A possible new assignment. As I said, no hurry."

I end the communication. I-.

"Whow!" Lantern Yat flies closer, staring at me. "Illustres! How come you're here? Are we getting invaded?"

"Not as far as I know. And it would be a very sorry invader who tried taking us on, right?"

He nods. "And Taranna! She's really good at fighting too!"

I nod. "And Lantern Taranna. Speaking of who, shouldn't she be keeping an eye on you?"

"She is." He looks a little awkward. "But she can't spend all the time with me, and I've got stuff to do too!"

"I know, I get the reports."

He blinks in astonishment. "You read my reports?!"

"I read all the reports written by Lanterns I recruited."

Even if they're lacking in sentence structure, depth, and are in general about what I'd expect a child your age to write as a piece of 'what I did on my holiday' homework rather than a military after action report. The Corps is well past the point where I could read everyone's reports, but the handful of Lanterns I actually recruited don't eat up too much of my time.

"I wanted-. Ah."

I glance up as Lantern Taranna appears, eyes slightly wide.

"M-Illustres! What brings you here?"

"Ah, well, I'm here to offer the three of you a transfer."

"A.. transfer?"

I nod. "My homeworld suffered a rather unpleasant attack a little while ago, and I could use your help putting it back together. It's basically the same sort of work that you've been doing here, but my homeworld has an entirely accurate reputation for having all sorts of strange things happen on it and I know that you've wanted to get some combat experience. Most fighting that happens on Earth is well below the level that a Scarab Warrior can reach, but it will be practice against people actually trying to kill you."

"Your homeworld? Why didn't the whole Corps head over there? Or at least a few dozen Lanterns? I didn't even know you were under attack!"

"Memetic hazard. I couldn't risk the Corps getting infected with Anti-Life. And I didn't think it was worth pulling Lanterns away from the work we're doing here when my homeworld was pulling itself together without them. But we got rid of the memetic hazard -for now- and I checked the resettlement figures and… Well, you can be spared, if you're interested. I think I'd like to have a few more Orange Lanterns around."

"Will.. you.. be.. training us?"

"I can, and there are also other Lanterns or high-powered warriors who can help you upskill. Oh." I turn to Lantern-. I turn to Sodam. "As well as several kryptonians who can help you learn to use your natural abilities."

"Really!?"

"Really. Ak-Var has only started using them recently, so you'll have someone you can measure yourself against."

"Are there any kids my age?"

"On my entire planet? Yes. I-." Huh. Cassandra is almost… "Yes, one who has abilities like yours and is roughly your age. One I know, I mean, there are probably plenty of others."

He's practically vibrating with excitement. "That's great!"

Taranna looks at him sharply, and gives him a poke.

"What?"

"You were using too much. You know what happens."

He dips his head. "Sorry, Taranna. I'll be more careful."

"Good."

"Oh, and one other thing. Ah…" She looks at me curiously. "A friend of mine, a hero in good standing… Has expressed an interest in dating."

"Dating?"

"Courtship. I know that in your culture your betrothal would have been arranged by your father, and I don't know… What you were thinking about doing in regards to that."

"Are..?" She regards me cautiously. "You arranging one..? For me?"

"No! No. I'm arranging a meeting between two people who might get on and might not. Unless you're already seeing someone, in which case forget about it."

"Oh. No? I… Suppose I can meet him?"

"Glad to hear it. So, assuming that your mother-."

"No."

"No?"

"I'm not waiting on her approval. She won't give it anyway. Just tell her we're training and I'll meet him then."

"I-. Okay, I can do that. Assuming that no one invades, why don't you both-" I send them both the cultural and current affairs package. "-read up on that while I square things with her."

 

[Meneth]

Warcraft 3 dryad: "Are we being invaded?"

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

Cappare

25th July 2013
02:12 GMT

I take a moment to watch the workers employed by the reclamation part of… Well, it's technically part of the Darkstars, but is in effect a civilian agency under the control of the Controllers for building new worlds for refugees and rebuilding worlds recaptured from the Reach. That latter part has only really become one of its actual responsibilities recently with us actually reclaiming worlds, and it's required a massive increase in staffing. Fortunately, it's a good deal easier to convince people to join a civilian relief agency than an aggressive military.

Click to shrink...

Because while Orange Lanterns can be good at infrastructure repairs, they aren't always the best therapists. And worlds freshly targetted by the Reach will definitely need therapy to cast off the 'encouragement' methods used...

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

And it's a good place to put Lanterns who are either verging on becoming stress casualties or are otherwise not good people to put in a combat zone. In theory, Lantern Coutara could take her place in the war zone. She's certainly demonstrated that she can kill when motivated. But when we tried having her spar with other Lanterns, she just… She can't muster the drive when there isn't an immediate and personal offence. But, she liked working to rebuild her home county after the purge, and when I made it clear that we had plenty of room for someone with desires like that, she was happy to join up.

Click to shrink...

Sometimes, you need to find the best place to focus your efforts. Coutara's definitely in that place now.

And of course that puts Lantern Taranna and Lantern Yat under her supervision. Lantern Yat is far too young to be in combat without taking psychological damage. Lantern Taranna on the other hand has expressed an interest in moving to a combat role, which…

I understand where she's coming from, but her mother has been very clear that she's not happy about it, and… Taranna isn't a particularly violent person either. So Lantern Ratchet acknowledged her change in status and assigned her to picket duty on worlds that her mother and foster brother were working on.

Click to shrink...

Yat's still in his early teens, right? Definitely not someone you want in a warzone, powerful as he is.

"Illustres to Lantern Coutara."

The response is immediate, her face appearing over my ring. "Yes, Illustres?"

Click to shrink...

A little panicky, but being called by the most senior Orange Lantern in the Corp who is also the person who recruited you out of a bad place, makes it kind of understandable.

"No need to drop what you're doing, but when you have a moment I'm a few miles over the headquarters building."

She nods. "Of course. What is this about?"

Click to shrink...

She'll drop anything anyway, I suspect. As neatly as she can.

"A possible new assignment. As I said, no hurry."

I end the communication. I-.

"Whow!" Lantern Yat flies closer, staring at me. "Illustres! How come you're here? Are we getting invaded?"

Click to shrink...

Excitable, isn't he? Hope he's not eager to see combat, that's a little messed up.

"Not as far as I know. And it would be a very sorry invader who tried taking us on, right?"

He nods. "And Taranna! She's really good at fighting too!"

Click to shrink...

But still young. I don't she's entirely aware of just how bad actual war can get.

I nod. "And Lantern Taranna. Speaking of who, shouldn't she be keeping an eye on you?"

"She is." He looks a little awkward. "But she can't spend all the time with me, and I've got stuff to do too!"

Click to shrink...

True, they are both active Lanterns. I expect they have minor duties in between training.

"I know, I get the reports."

He blinks in astonishment. "You read my reports?!"

"I read all the reports written by Lanterns I recruited."

Click to shrink...

A manageable amount, true. Though there's probably no surprises, given that most of his picks aren't deep in combat zones.

Even if they're lacking in sentence structure, depth, and are in general about what I'd expect a child your age to write as a piece of 'what I did on my holiday' homework rather than a military after action report. The Corps is well past the point where I could read everyone's reports, but the handful of Lanterns I actually recruited don't eat up too much of my time.

Click to shrink...

Seventy-two hundred reports might be hard to read through each day. I suspect even Dox takes to summarising his updates if only due to lack of time...

"I wanted-. Ah."

I glance up as Lantern Taranna appears, eyes slightly wide.

"M-Illustres! What brings you here?"

Click to shrink...

I assume she was going to say 'Master' there, like a personal apprenticeship. Probably the best way to look at the relationships between OL and his hand-picked recruits.
Edit: Or 'My Lord' or some variation as @Ngamer11 pointed out. Which probably explains the somewhat forceful self-correction...

"Ah, well, I'm here to offer the three of you a transfer."

"A.. transfer?"

Click to shrink...

Oh-ho? To Earth, then?

I nod. "My homeworld suffered a rather unpleasant attack a little while ago, and I could use your help putting it back together. It's basically the same sort of work that you've been doing here, but my homeworld has an entirely accurate reputation for having all sorts of strange things happen on it and I know that you've wanted to get some combat experience. Most fighting that happens on Earth is well below the level that a Scarab Warrior can reach, but it will be practice against people actually trying to kill you."

Click to shrink...

If they can handle themselves against Earth's weirdest Bullshit™, they can handle anything.

"Your homeworld? Why didn't the whole Corps head over there? Or at least a few dozen Lanterns? I didn't even know you were under attack!"

"Memetic hazard. I couldn't risk the Corps getting infected with Anti-Life. And I didn't think it was worth pulling Lanterns away from the work we're doing here when my homeworld was pulling itself together without them. But we got rid of the memetic hazard -for now- and I checked the resettlement figures and… Well, you can be spared, if you're interested. I think I'd like to have a few more Orange Lanterns around."

Click to shrink...

Not quite the sort of social contacts Ollie envisioned, but these kids are probably some of the most normal Lanterns at the moment...

"Will.. you.. be.. training us?"

"I can, and there are also other Lanterns or high-powered warriors who can help you upskill. Oh." I turn to Lantern-. I turn to Sodam. "As well as several kryptonians who can help you learn to use your natural abilities."

Click to shrink...

As long as he's careful about environmental exposure. Possibly cured lead allergy or not... Things can catch him out.

"Really!?"

"Really. Ak-Var has only started using them recently, so you'll have someone you can measure yourself against."

Click to shrink...

The phantom zone prisoner? Yeah, I can see him slowly building up exposure to yellow sunlight.

"Are there any kids my age?"

"On my entire planet? Yes. I-." Huh. Cassandra is almost… "Yes, one who has abilities like yours and is roughly your age. One I know, I mean, there are probably plenty of others."

Click to shrink...

...Oh god, I can see the shipping now. 'Power Boy' and 'Wonder Girl', or whatever Earth gossip circuits dub Yat.

He's practically vibrating with excitement. "That's great!"

Taranna looks at him sharply, and gives him a poke.

Click to shrink...

Ah, being careful about overloading on Orange Light? Given that the comics Sodom Yat was an Embodiment's host, I'm not surprised that he can feel strongly.

"What?"

"You were using too much. You know what happens."

Click to shrink...

And a Daxamite with Orange overload is a little trickier to deal with than most Lanterns.

He dips his head. "Sorry, Taranna. I'll be more careful."

"Good."

Click to shrink...

She's totally slipped into the big sisterly role, hasn't she?

"Oh, and one other thing. Ah…" She looks at me curiously. "A friend of mine, a hero in good standing… Has expressed an interest in dating."

"Dating?"

Click to shrink...

...Alan? Or was someone else putting out feelers?

"Courtship. I know that in your culture your betrothal would have been arranged by your father, and I don't know… What you were thinking about doing in regards to that."

"Are..?" She regards me cautiously. "You arranging one..? For me?"

Click to shrink...

Only if she thinks she wants that. Which I suspect she's feeling wary of.

"No! No. I'm arranging a meeting between two people who might get on and might not. Unless you're already seeing someone, in which case forget about it."

"Oh. No? I… Suppose I can meet him?"

Click to shrink...

Hopefully she doesn't feel obligated to do anything more serious.

"Glad to hear it. So, assuming that your mother-."

"No."

"No?"

Click to shrink...

Heh. starting to enjoy flexing her independence?

"I'm not waiting on her approval. She won't give it anyway. Just tell her we're training and I'll meet him then."

"I-. Okay, I can do that. Assuming that no one invades, why don't you both-" I send them both the cultural and current affairs package. "-read up on that while I square things with her."

Click to shrink...

Man, that's got to be quite the hefty read. Given that Earth still hasn't really formed a unified planetary government and all.

So, OL calling in additional Ring-slingers to cover where he can't in reconstruction. Probably a good start to ease off taking so much on himself. And the possibility of shenanigans between the kids and other super-teens. With any luck, OL might be able to shift himself back towards a more modest mindset and loosen up a little, feel a little more human again.

 

[NightmareWarden]

I glance up as Lantern Taranna appears, eyes slightly wide.

"M-Illustres! What brings you here?"

Click to shrink...

"Master?" Give the girl a construct scythe and Speedster formula- hm. Hmmm. No, no, she isn't Misa Amane. I'm recalling how Renegade!Paul described Misa's handling of Darfor. Compared to Paul's description here, of her suitability for combat? Nope, quite unlikely.

First meeting.
2nd.
No Coutara, no Taranna, but instead Darkstar Cadet Caccanah.
Important meeting.
And the lucky young man!

 

[Ngamer11]

I assume she was going to say 'Master' there, like a personal apprenticeship. Probably the best way to look at the relationships between OL and his hand-picked recruits.

Click to shrink...

More likely she was going to say "My Lord Illustres" before catching herself, as it seems many people, probably mostly women, from her home world call him that.

 

[Frozen20XX]

Justice Lords Kal-El hasn't ever encountered either an Eradicator or a Daxamite. As such, he originally thought that Kara was behaving strangely due to trauma. He's mostly trying to encourage her to socialise in an attempt to help her go back to normal.

Click to shrink...

Take it the Justice Lords never picked up the daxamite ship's distress call?

 

[Mr Zoat]

Take it the Justice Lords never picked up the daxamite ship's distress call?

Click to shrink...

I haven't read those comics.

 

[Frozen20XX]

I haven't read those comics.

Click to shrink...

Fair enough.

 

[Mr Zoat]

25th July 2013
07:43 GMT -5

"Mister Knight?"

Jack Knight makes a point of straightening up from the mid-run slump he was in, and trying not to look quite as knackered as I suspect he feels. Getting properly into shape in your forties while running a small business and raising two children is not easy, especially when his way of fighting crime doesn't actually involve much exercise.

"Paul, right?"

I nod as I land just in front of him, and hold out my right hand. After wiping his own on his sleeve he takes it.

"Thanks for finding Dad's ship. Arsenal came over after you came back from New Genesis."

"Ah, good. I was hoping you could fill me in on the ship's history."

He pulls out a water bottle and takes a swig. Then he squirts some over his face. It-.

"Allow me."

I extend my ring's environmental shield to him, bringing his temperature down and cleaning him up a bit.

He blinks at me incredulously. "Those things come with air-con?"

"They're designed to keep us alive in any environment, from a wasteland of frozen methane to a sun's corona. You thought they couldn't take a little sweat?"

He nods. "Should'a asked Dad to add that to the staff."

"You're getting back into it, then?"

"Well…" He pats his stomach. "I could use the exercise anyway. But with everything that happened… I think I kinda need to." He squints at me. "Okay, I gotta ask: do those guys with the Mohawks creep you out too?"

"Oh heck yes. And believe me, they don't-" I shake my head. "-get more reassuring when you learn more about them."

"Good. I was worried it was just me. So I guess my-" He shrugs. "-next question is: is the Justice League actually taking over the world, or are you just kinda bad at interviews?"

"I can't talk about the Justice League taking over the world."

He does a double take. "You seriously say that?"

I nod. "I seriously say that. On a completely unrelated matter, would you happen to know how Vandal Savage of all people got hold of your father's starship?"

"All Dad's-." He shakes his head, shrugging. "He was working on… You know, uses for his technology that didn't involve being a superhero. I wasn't much help with that side of things, so other than asking him how it was going every so often I didn't really have anything to do with it. After he died, it all went to the company he'd been talking to. And that's the last I heard of it."

"That would be… Stagg Enterprises?"

"No, it wasn't them. It-." He thinks for a moment. "I don't remember the name of the company. 'Applied…' 'Applied Futuristics…'? Something like that. First time I hear of 'Stagg Enterprises' was when they made the announcement. I'd pretty much given up on it. I was shocked when they finally brought out a power plant based on Dad's work. Happy, but…" He sighs. "I'm surprised it took so long. I don't know, I thought that scaling it up would be easier or that.. Dad would have focused on that."

"I'm pretty sure that they had it working for a while before they released it, and only released it when they did because I was going to destroy the energy market otherwise."

He considers that, then sags. "Yeah, that makes sense. But… Why? It's like inventing oil." He frowns at me. "Isn't it?"

"What do you know about the Dyson vacuum cleaner?"

"It's a whole lot easier to use than the old bag design."

"The inventor originally offered it to Hoover. They turned him down. After his company took off he met the executive who turned him down at a party and he said that if he'd known what was going to happen he'd have bough the rights and then sat on them."

"Huh?"

"They had the market working out exactly the way they liked it. Stopping someone disrupting that and forcing them to actually innovate would cost far less than actually making an effort. I imagine that if I looked into it I'd find that Stagg Enterprises were getting a paying from… OPEC? The bastard children of Standard Oil?"

"Is that a..? Crime?"

"I'd have to check the contracts involved, but it's entirely conceivable that no crime was committed. I assume that the ship was included in your father's bequest?"

"I don't remember." He shrugs. "Probably. Is that a problem? Do you have to give it back?"

"We have some fairly expansive confiscation powers these days. Given that they didn't report it missing, I'm inclined to use them."

"You think they're working with Savage?"

"I doubt it's quite that direct. They'd be in a lot of trouble if that was the case. It would make far more sense for there to be enough cut outs that they could claim in court that they didn't know exactly who they were working with. Still, for something the size of a starship…"

"It can't just fall off the back of a truck."

"I'm would very much like to permanently deal with Vandal Savage. I just don't think it's worth wrecking a company like Stagg Enterprises right now to do it."

Mr. Knight looks less than impressed. "You wanna explain that one to me? 'cause I just found out that Vandal Savage got control of my Dad's life's work."

"Thanks to their involvement in the electrical supply sector, not only did Stagg Enterprises survive the Anti-Life fairly well, they've actually expanded. They've been taking shares in place of payment from companies that were barely functioning until they sorted themselves out."

"Is that legal?"

"Would it matter if it wasn't? They've kept quite large parts of America functioning. In a couple of years it hopefully won't matter, but at the moment the consequences of poking them would be rather severe."

He nods. "Unless the Justice League takes over the world."

"I can't talk about the Justice League taking over the world. Uh. But if a group were to take over the world, they'd still have to keep Stagg Enterprises operating, which would be difficult if the employees just walked away from their jobs or ignored that group's instructions. Brute force has some limits."

"What about Savage?"

"Compared to the collapse of the global economy and supply chains, one immortal caveman just isn't that big an issue. The Justice League has to focus on the things which are most important, otherwise people who have mostly gotten with the program but who have things to hide might go off-task. If we make it through to the next growing season without starving then we can revisit the issue. Of course, if someone else wanted to ask Stagg Enterprises a few friendly questions and happened to discover something interesting, that would be another matter."

He nods, stretching his calves. "Good job I'm retired from heroing, huh? Otherwise that might have to be me."

 

[Darko]

happen he'd have bough the rights and then sat on them."

Click to shrink...

"bought"

calves. "Good job I'm retired from

Click to shrink...

Is "Good job" really something anyone would say?

I think "Good thing" is more commonly used.

At least among Americans.

 

[Agumentic]

I imagine that if I looked into it I'd find that Stagg Enterprises were getting a paying from… OPEC? The bastard children of Standard Oil?"

Click to shrink...

Funny that the real reason is almost entirely Savage's spite.

 

[BR549]

"I'm would very much like to permanently deal with Vandal Savage.

Click to shrink...

"I would", I believe, would work better here

He nods, stretching his calves. "Good job I'm retired from heroing, huh? Otherwise that might have to be me."

Click to shrink...

As Mr. Knight is one of us filthy Colonials, this should be 'Good thing'.

 

[Vaermina]

"What do you know about the Dyson vacuum cleaner?"

"It's a whole lot easier to use than the old bag design."

Click to shrink...

That is an urban myth.

The Dyson design is actually a lot more maintence heavy then the bag design. On top of that there's also a dust blowback issue when emptying the suction container.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

25th July 2013
07:43 GMT -5

"Mister Knight?"

Jack Knight makes a point of straightening up from the mid-run slump he was in, and trying not to look quite as knackered as I suspect he feels. Getting properly into shape in your forties while running a small business and raising two children is not easy, especially when his way of fighting crime doesn't actually involve much exercise.

Click to shrink...

Two kids? Congratulations to him. No wonder he had retired from heroing. And yes, using a Cosmic Staff is one step down from a Power Ring in terms of 'No physical effort needed'...

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"Paul, right?"

I nod as I land just in front of him, and hold out my right hand. After wiping his own on his sleeve he takes it.

Click to shrink...

Looks like he expected you. Word travels fast in the hero community, it seems.

"Thanks for finding Dad's ship. Arsenal came over after you came back from New Genesis."

"Ah, good. I was hoping you could fill me in on the ship's history."

Click to shrink...

Beyond what the ships computer gave you, anyway.

He pulls out a water bottle and takes a swig. Then he squirts some over his face. It-.

"Allow me."

I extend my ring's environmental shield to him, bringing his temperature down and cleaning him up a bit.

Click to shrink...

Handy. Not quite a post-workout shower, but for a chat like this, perfectly fine.

He blinks at me incredulously. "Those things come with air-con?"

"They're designed to keep us alive in any environment, from a wasteland of frozen methane to a sun's corona. You thought they couldn't take a little sweat?"

Click to shrink...

Just don't ask about other bodily functions.

He nods. "Should'a asked Dad to add that to the staff."

"You're getting back into it, then?"

Click to shrink...

One drawback of using his father's tech without knowing how to fix it, I guess.

"Well…" He pats his stomach. "I could use the exercise anyway. But with everything that happened… I think I kinda need to." He squints at me. "Okay, I gotta ask: do those guys with the Mohawks creep you out too?"

"Oh heck yes. And believe me, they don't-" I shake my head. "-get more reassuring when you learn more about them."

Click to shrink...

Good to see someone else concerned about OMACs.

"Good. I was worried it was just me. So I guess my-" He shrugs. "-next question is: is the Justice League actually taking over the world, or are you just kinda bad at interviews?"

"I can't talk about the Justice League taking over the world."

Click to shrink...

...Be fair, Jack, you should have seen that coming.

He does a double take. "You seriously say that?"

I nod. "I seriously say that. On a completely unrelated matter, would you happen to know how Vandal Savage of all people got hold of your father's starship?"

Click to shrink...

Ah, getting to the important questions.

"All Dad's-." He shakes his head, shrugging. "He was working on… You know, uses for his technology that didn't involve being a superhero. I wasn't much help with that side of things, so other than asking him how it was going every so often I didn't really have anything to do with it. After he died, it all went to the company he'd been talking to. And that's the last I heard of it."

Click to shrink...

I guess Jack couldn't afford to hold onto the paperwork, then?

"That would be… Stagg Enterprises?"

"No, it wasn't them. It-." He thinks for a moment. "I don't remember the name of the company. 'Applied…' 'Applied Futuristics…'? Something like that. First time I hear of 'Stagg Enterprises' was when they made the announcement. I'd pretty much given up on it. I was shocked when they finally brought out a power plant based on Dad's work. Happy, but…" He sighs. "I'm surprised it took so long. I don't know, I thought that scaling it up would be easier or that.. Dad would have focused on that."

Click to shrink...

As we saw in the Renegade timeline... Savage buried it. I bet he only gave it to Stagg to exploit it for the Light.

"I'm pretty sure that they had it working for a while before they released it, and only released it when they did because I was going to destroy the energy market otherwise."

He considers that, then sags. "Yeah, that makes sense. But… Why? It's like inventing oil." He frowns at me. "Isn't it?"

Click to shrink...

That is an apt comparison. Let OL explain it for you...

"What do you know about the Dyson vacuum cleaner?"

"It's a whole lot easier to use than the old bag design."

Click to shrink...

Yes, it is, isn't it? Now, who wouldn't like that? Outside of what Vaermina's had to say, anyway.

"The inventor originally offered it to Hoover. They turned him down. After his company took off he met the executive who turned him down at a party and he said that if he'd known what was going to happen he'd have bough the rights and then sat on them."

"Huh?"

Click to shrink...

After all, you know what one of the biggest side benefits of stuff like vacuum bags? People will always need replacements.

"They had the market working out exactly the way they liked it. Stopping someone disrupting that and forcing them to actually innovate would cost far less than actually making an effort. I imagine that if I looked into it I'd find that Stagg Enterprises were getting a paying from… OPEC? The bastard children of Standard Oil?"

Click to shrink...

Energy industry skullduggery, of course...

"Is that a..? Crime?"

"I'd have to check the contracts involved, but it's entirely conceivable that no crime was committed. I assume that the ship was included in your father's bequest?"

Click to shrink...

I'd be very surprised if the corporate lawyers left any openings.

"I don't remember." He shrugs. "Probably. Is that a problem? Do you have to give it back?"

"We have some fairly expansive confiscation powers these days. Given that they didn't report it missing, I'm inclined to use them."

Click to shrink...

And it's more use this way than sitting in a hidden hangar somewhere getting used for villainy.

"You think they're working with Savage?"

"I doubt it's quite that direct. They'd be in a lot of trouble if that was the case. It would make far more sense for there to be enough cut outs that they could claim in court that they didn't know exactly who they were working with. Still, for something the size of a starship…"

"It can't just fall off the back of a truck."

Click to shrink...

And making a fuss about it would just incriminate them, especially given how OL and Arsenal located and recovered it.

"I'm would very much like to permanently deal with Vandal Savage. I just don't think it's worth wrecking a company like Stagg Enterprises right now to do it."

Mr. Knight looks less than impressed. "You wanna explain that one to me? 'cause I just found out that Vandal Savage got control of my Dad's life's work."

Click to shrink...

That would feel a bit iffy. But if Stagg is supporting reconstruction...

"Thanks to their involvement in the electrical supply sector, not only did Stagg Enterprises survive the Anti-Life fairly well, they've actually expanded. They've been taking shares in place of payment from companies that were barely functioning until they sorted themselves out."

"Is that legal?"

Click to shrink...

...Well, if the League gives the okay, they can make it legal...

"Would it matter if it wasn't? They've kept quite large parts of America functioning. In a couple of years it hopefully won't matter, but at the moment the consequences of poking them would be rather severe."

He nods. "Unless the Justice League takes over the world."

Click to shrink...

Too dangerous to poke them right now, then. Perhaps in future, they can be convinced to make the tech public domain or something.

"I can't talk about the Justice League taking over the world. Uh. But if a group were to take over the world, they'd still have to keep Stagg Enterprises operating, which would be difficult if the employees just walked away from their jobs or ignored that group's instructions. Brute force has some limits."

Click to shrink...

And when you cross them, you get into slavery territory.

"What about Savage?"

"Compared to the collapse of the global economy and supply chains, one immortal caveman just isn't that big an issue. The Justice League has to focus on the things which are most important, otherwise people who have mostly gotten with the program but who have things to hide might go off-task. If we make it through to the next growing season without starving then we can revisit the issue. Of course, if someone else wanted to ask Stagg Enterprises a few friendly questions and happened to discover something interesting, that would be another matter."

Click to shrink...

What about the plans and ploys that caveman sets off? Or is it just a case of 'put out the fires, ignore the guy setting them' until they have time to deal with him?

He nods, stretching his calves. "Good job I'm retired from heroing, huh? Otherwise that might have to be me."

Click to shrink...

Well, if you want to take up the Staff again...

Somehow, I don't think Jack intends to stay all that retired. After all, he took up the staff during the Anti-Life, didn't he? After that long, it must feel like a rush. Still, with family to look after, it's understandable that he stays out of the limelight. At least OL is narrowing down the ownership history of the ship and the Knight Cosmic-tech.

 

[Old Knife]

He nods, stretching his calves. "Good job I'm retired from heroing, huh? Otherwise that might have to be me."

Click to shrink...

Your father wants to talk to you.