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

Marvel doesn't really have non-x-gene telepaths,

The Rigellians would beg to differ.

And Moondragon as well.

Also, technically any non-mutant who gets ahold of the mind gem too.

M.O.D.O.K. too, maybe, but I don't think he counts here, because although he does have psionic abilities in the comics, I don't think EMH M.O.D.O.K. does.
 
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16th June 2012
20:31 GMT -5


Janet strides with nervous resolution into Henry's workshop, with me following slowly behind. I want to make sure that my friends actually resolve this, because it's clearly been a problem for over a year which they haven't sorted out, but at the same time it's a very personal thing and I want to be able to duck out the second one of them asks me to.
And conveniently dodges the initial relationship issue he was worried about them suffering from. Hopefully this doesn't end up with Hank pulling on the yellow-and-black long-johns and going full Yellowjacket.

"Ah, hey Hank. You…" She glances at the screen. "Working on something interesting?"

"You didn't come here to talk about my work, Jan."
Oh, boy. He is deep in the depressive state. Prime condition to trigger the mental break that produced Yellowjacket (Seriously, at one point, he refused to believe he was 'that milksop' hank Pym.)

"No, no, actually I… Did. Kind of." She takes a deep breath. "Uh."

Henry glances at me downcast, and then returns his attention to her. "You can just say it."
Bracing himself for bad news, I see...

"I'm sorry." He nods. "I didn't appreciate how important the work you've been trying to-. Been doing with the guys we haul in for SHIELD. I've.. been belittling it, and I shouldn't."

"Huh?"
...Only to be derailed by this fresh angle.

"I really like fighting people, making a difference-" She makes a fist with her right hand and swings it in a mock-punch. "-right there, and I like it when it was something we do together, but I… I wasn't being sensitive to how much you don't like it, and… Trying to make them better people is important too. Ah. I don't-. I don't think I've got anything to contribute to that.. side of things? But if you want to talk about it, I'll listen?"
And Hank can get into the righteous face-punching sometimes, too. Especially after the breakdown.

"A-?"

Err. Henry's sort of twitching, his eyes moving from Janet's hopeful face, to the floor, walls… Occasionally me. Ring, is he having a fit?
Or possibly a confused, silent freakout.

No. Patterns of neural activity consistent with high levels of emotional stress.

Yes, it's clearly something that's been a big problem for-. Wait.
'Stressed' is definitely his natural state a lot of the time.

Waiting.

He… Thought she was coming in here to break up with him. And she just jinked him.
Derailed his train of thought entirely, yup.

Janet takes an awkward step closer. "Hank? You okay?"

I mean, I'm a little unhappy that he thought I'd do that despite not having any intention of doing that, but I guess…
Pretty sure AMH!OL even said he wasn't interested in her that way. But when Hank's jumped that far to a conclusion, it's hard to walk it back.

"Uh. Yeah, I-. What changed your mind?"

Janet glances back at me, and I smile encouragingly. "I talked it over with Paul. And it made me realise that we need to do something with the guys we haul in. So, what you working on?"
Something more effective than 'dump in a condensed pile out on the East River.'

Hank blinks, then blinks again. Then he looks at me.

"You didn't need to do that."
Brother you don't even know the full extent of what he did for you. Just shut up and enjoy the result.

I shrug. "Bro code."

"Ah, huh?"
'Don't go after another bro's girl' is a big part, yes. Even if the bro thinks you are.

"Bro code. I did need to do that."

Janet frowns at me. "What you talking about?"
It's a guy thing, Jan, don't worry about it. It'll just make you go 'ugh, men' and shake your head...

I don't meet her eyes. "Certain things which were said to me in confidence. Uh. There are certain things a decent person should do in certain circumstances, and things a friend should do, and I can only apologise for taking this long about it."

She turns back to Henry. "Hank, what's he talking about?"
Oh, now you've got her curious. Hank's gonna have a hard time explaining it, I bet.

"It's-. I've…" He half-turns away and leans on a bench. Janet approaches him from behind and puts her right hand on his back in a supportive gesture. "With… Ultron and everything, it's… Not been a great year. I guess it's been… Getting to me."

"You didn't say anything? I mean, Ultron was really helpful against Kang, and… You didn't make him go crazy."
Not intentionally, no. But Hank does love to unknowingly sabotage everything somehow.

I nod. "We've all had our bad moments. Tony talked Simon Williams into becoming a supervillain and I got my arse kicked by a raccoon. And-." I hold up my left hand, ring sigil towards him. "Did I ever tell you about the people who made this?"

"I… Think you mentioned them once or twice. The… Controllers."
I'm sure Rocket was very interested in his Ring.

"They built a type of android that had the imposition of order as their highest good. When they were deployed, they decided that organic life was inherently disorderly and killed everything in their deployment zone, from space faring intelligent species to the smallest virus. By the time they issued the recall order it was too late." I shrug. "People a lot more intelligent that you have made far worse mistakes with A.I. technology. Learn from it, and move on."
Which is bad enough if it was just a solar system. But in the proper DC History, it was an entire 1/3,600th of the known universe. And even if the planets have recovered in the thousand... Millions? Of years since, they still did it.

"I, um. I-I don't know what to say."

I nod. "Okay. If you do want to talk to me about anything, I'll be around." I clench my left hand into a fist. "And you can reach me just about anywhere at any time." He nods back, clearly not entirely steady. "I'll… Leave you two to it for now, though."
Yeah, time to get the heck out of Dodge before the make-up canoodling begins.

"Paul-. Thanks."

I shrug, then turn around to leave. "What are friends for?"
Quite a lot, given how little care some of his take of themselves.

Huh. Felt a bit awkward, but I think that might have helped him. It's a shame that we don't really have… Anyone who's really good at that sort of thing around. Marvel doesn't really have non-x-gene telepaths, and neither of our leaders are the most sensitive of men.

And now I've got nothing to distract me while Anna Marie's at the Xavier Manor.
...Ah. Kind of buggered that angle up, then.

Or-.

I reach into my pocket and pull out a stone with an angular 'F' carved into it.
The Ansuz rune, I suspect. Or Fehu. Either is fitting for its use. Especially the latter, which represents 'Wealth'. Also 'Cattle', but that would also represent wealth...

Ring, are Thor or Amora in the Mansion?

No.
Concerned with revealing it in their presence, I see... They'd probably feel obliged to confiscate it for safety.

I bring the stone up to my lips, kiss it, and then raise it to my forehead.

"Dear Hela, I have a few hours available if you-."
...Especially if they know he was using it to make house calls to Hela Lokidottir.

The front door opens loudly, and someone-. Someone with a small body, stomps through. And since the internal defences haven't activated, I assume that it's someone who's supposed to be here. I transition into the entryway-.

Anna Marie halts mid-stomp, looking decidedly upset. "Hey Dad."
The teleport's on hold, right? I doubt he wants to get yoinked away to Niffleheim just yet.

I walk closer. "Did something happen?"

"Ah don't-. Ah don't think it was gunna work out."
Oh, heck. Did things go downhill after the cleanup?

"You, ah. You didn't have to rush home-. Did Doctor Stack give you a lift?"

"Yeah." She's not looking at me. "Ah'm jus' gunna go to mah room."
...Really downhill. Suspiciously so, given Aaron was on his best behaviour.

"Are you sure? It's not particularly late. You might feel better if you do something. I mean, it was probably a long shot, the two of you being compatible anyway."

"Yeah, ah'm sure." She stands there limply for a moment, then walks up to me and hugs me. "It wuz so humiliatin', Dad."
Not an uncommon gesture between them, given his protection from her power.

"I doubt it was really as bad asGRUGHUHUHUHUHUG!

Uhhhhh.
...On the other hand, I suppose there are powers that can bypass his defences, especially when they're so light in a tender moment...

Falling…

Going dark…
Buggeration, whatever that was must have been super-effective. Then again, he's merely in excellent shape for a human, not Cap's peak Human level.

Why is her face..?

Green..?
Ah, there's the Secret Invasion angle.

Toss… Toss the stone…

Uh.
With any luck, that is the signal for Hela to open the way for him. And when he doesn't come through, she'll be poking her raven-haired head through to check...

So, a Skrull posing as Rogue. I can see how that got him to lower his defences to the point it could zap him. Clearly they wanted to make sure his Ring was out of the picture or under their control before launching the invasion, given his capabilities. After all, while they can duplicate most terrestrial super-powers, a Power Ring's breadth would not be among that number...
 
Maybe they are 2 different timelines so they would count as seperate universes? 2 different versions of earth 16 and earth -16?

(If I recall correctly) In the context of the change to how time works, it was asked what kept Earth 16 Renegade and Earth 16 Self Insert stably separate timelines. Zoat claimed that in Earth 16 Renegade, it was five leaf clovers that were lucky, not four, but that this had never been relevant to the story.
 
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"They built a type of android that had the imposition of order as their highest good. When they were deployed, they decided that organic life was inherently disorderly and killed everything in their deployment zone, from space faring intelligent species to the smallest virus. By the time they issued the recall order it was too late." I shrug. "People a lot more intelligent that you have made far worse mistakes with A.I. technology. Learn from it, and move on."
'than'
 
The Rigellians would beg to differ.

And Moondragon as well.

Also, technically any non-mutant who gets ahold of the mind gem too.

M.O.D.O.K. too, maybe, but I don't think he counts here, because although he does have psionic abilities in the comics, I don't think EMH M.O.D.O.K. does.

Elektra and other high end martial artists like the Chaste. Shouldn't be too surprising, since Moondragon and Mantis were taught by Kree kung fu style monks.

Pretty much every sorceror- Using one's own internal energy for Charles Atlas psychic powers- telekinesis, telepathy, astral projection, is like basic magic. Dr Druid wasn't even taught actual spellcasting, just ritual magic and internal energy Charles Atlas psychic powers. Although he did actually learn magic spells later.

The two methods might actually be the same thing, though.

In the 30s Wolverine met the Ancient One. He was accompanied by a redheaded teenager who was whacking on people with a stick.

Which implies that Elektra and Dardevil's mentor, Stick, was in fact a student of the Ancient One. So there is probably a Marvel universe in which Matt Murdock is the Sorcerer Without Fear.
 

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