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

Reader mode
Mr Zoat said:
7th April
17:48 GMT +2

I look around at the surprisingly green scenery of South Kahndaq.
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Sounds like Lady Isis has been keeping herself busy?

"Not that I want to come across as a total doomsayer, but is this self-sustaining?"

Adrianna nods confidently. "It will survive. The plants are evolved for the desert. The roots of larger plants stabilise the soil and store water, while the smaller plants can survive under their protection"
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Something from the recommendations of her empowering deities, I suppose?

"I heard about the goat ban."

Slightly before Adom put it into practice.

"Goats ravage marginal land. If they were allowed to graze here then they would undo my work in a generation."
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From what I hear, they're ornery bastards when they want to be... Sounds fair.

"I don't recognise all of the plants. Have you been talking to Swamp Thing or Doctor Isley?"

"I spoke briefly with Swamp Thing. But these plants are merely… Old. They are not my creations." She pointedly looks out across the verdant scrubland and towards the gleaming metal structure that wasn't there yesterday. "Why is that here?"
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I bet the Green was happy about something old being restored.

"It's a trade post-."

"Yes, I know. I -and everyone else in Kahndaq- heard the mental broadcast. Why is it here?"
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Because Manga Khan is an idiot, but he's a politically savvy idiot.

"Because -as I understand it, technically- this territory isn't part of anyone's country. Unless you're saying that you've de facto annexed it with your plants."

"No. I am not limited the blessings of Isis to helping only the people of my nation. But isn't this part of Zambesia?"
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It's not like nature cares about arbitrary lines drawn in the sand. And her reputation as Teth Adom's partner probably protects her from being bothered by locals for whatever unsavoury reasons.

"It's-. Whatever the opposite of 'disputed' is. Before Adom took over Kahndaq and Zambesia couldn't agree on exactly where the border was and they both said that this was part of the other country. Adom's been clear that he isn't planning on expanding Kahndaq's territory -and I'm grateful about that- but… Because of that and because he's had better things to do, who owns the southern border area hasn't been settled."
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Grateful because that would have set some nasty precedents about superpowered leadership of a country...

"Oh." She frowns. "So I could have done whatever I wanted without creating a diplomatic incident."

"Maybe, but doing that might have been seen as the Kahndaqi government accepting the Zambesian government's preferred interpretation of the border, and you should probably talk to a few people before doing that."
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Always a smart idea to check your facts before starting something that might piss off some obnoxious folks. Or the people you work with, if they're not part of the former.

"And you should talk to the one who built that."

"I don't think I should. I don't think I should. Just because the leader has an orange power ring, that doesn't mean that it's my job to find some sort of magical solution that makes everyone happy."
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So, there it is. The whole crux of his argument. That and "I don't want to." And that counts a lot for an Orange Lantern, even an Enlightened one.

She doesn't look impressed. "Would it be my job if he didn't have an orange power ring? Because I haven't seen him use it yet."

She considers for a moment.
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'Hmm... I wonder if anyone would object to me overgrowing it with the plants...'

"You know more about interstellar economics than anyone else on Earth."

"No, I… Don't think-" I frown. Who… Would..? "-I do."
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Well, technically. based on access alone, anyway. I doubt the greenies would bother unless something criminal occurs.

Wait. Arnus would. I mean, I.. think he was more a corporate lawyer than a criminal lawyer anyway. Sure, he'd be a little out of date, but the broad principles should be the same. And Ploutos should be able to fill in the gaps. Yes, I can dump it on the pair of them.
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Boy, he really is serious about not wanting to do anything about Manga Khan... It's almost amusing, except to just about everyone involved...

"Ring, contact Icon."

"'Icon' not on Earth."
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Ooh, that puts a damper in that plan.:rolleyes:

…

Oh.

"Ring, contact Rocket."
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Really?

"In progress."

I raise my left hand to the side of my head as it rings.

"Yeah?"
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I wonder if she's busy? She sounds a little annoyed...

"Rocket, Paul h-."

"Are you why Nazigirl's been followin' me around?"
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Oh, yeah, she was doing that, wasn't she? Something else for people to bother OL about.

"Only indirectly. You're-. Um."

"Yeah? You wanna finish that sentence?"

"The most admirable black person she's met, and she thinks that you alone can break decades of racist cultural programming?"
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Well, that's about as good as he could put it, I suppose. I can just see him slump his shoulders...

I hear her huff.

"Okay, yeah, great, but the economy in Dakota City ain't so great and most a' the criminals I arrest are black too. It's not.. like, the best image she could get."

"Okay, but every criminal she's ever arrested before was white, so I doubt that she'll draw a conclusion based on that."
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And I'm sure Rocket could quote some better examples at her anyway.

"Fine. What were you callin' for?"

"It occurred to me that Arnus' experience with interstellar relations would make him the man to take a lead on this whole business with ClusterCorp. Do you have any way to contact him?"
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Geez, OL. Passing the buck onto your teammates? Just bite the bullet and tell Manga Khan to go easy...

"Ah… No."

"Raquel, I don't like to call a team mate a-."
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A what? Was he about to say something that'd get him slapped?

"I'm not supposed to contact him. Ah. Especially if you're asking."

"Why?"
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...Maybe because you're being an ass about things here?

"I ain't suppose to tell you unless the world's ending. Is it?"

"No, this isn't even-. Do you know if he's coming back soon?"
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Seriously, man, take the hints...

"Paul…"

"Okay, I-. Clearly don't know what's going on here. If you get in contact with him please mention the ClusterCorps situation?"
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I wonder if Ploutus will be as unavailable...

"Sure. But-."

"Yeah. Talk to you later."

End.
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I can just feel his annoyance rising...

Well… Darn. Don't know what's going on there, but I don't-.

A jet plane with.. the LexAir logo on the side flies over the Red Sea and.. uses its directional jets to perform a near-vertical landing on the trade post's landing platform. A group of armoured figures move out to greet…
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Really? Lex is here to do some shopping?

Lex is here. Of course he is. The only surprise is that he's come in person and without a camera crew.

"Alright, fine, I'll meet with him. But I'm doing this under protest, and if anyone complains afterwards I'm going to take great pleasure in reminding them that I wanted nearly anyone else to handle this."
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Oh, stow it. You know you'd have ended up getting dragged in sooner or later anyway.:rolleyes: Better now, before the explosions start.

Honestly, OL's resistance to getting caught up in this is getting silly. I know, I know, he doesn't think it's his job... But when everyone else is saying 'do it'... Sooner or later, you give in just to shut them up. Wonder how many of the League members think he's being a typical teenager?
 
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Mr Zoat said:
"I'm not supposed to contact him. Ah. Especially if you're asking."

"Why?"

"I ain't suppose to tell you unless the world's ending. Is it?"
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And this is why you don't go around burning bridges.

"Alright, fine, I'll meet with him. But I'm doing this under protest, and if anyone complains afterwards I'm going to take great pleasure in reminding them that I wanted nearly anyone else to handle this."
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You aren't fooling anyone... You're only doing this now to spite Lex Luthor...
 
thebishop8 said:
Which magical contacts did he screw up?
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I'm pretty sure it wasn't his contract at all. It was the eye-gouging priests' (or rather their probably long-dead predecessors') contract, that he stopped because it was evil.

EDIT: For those who want to be pedantic, yes, he did arrange to have it stopped, rather than stopping it directly, but he basically knew what the women he gave power rings to were going to do, and approved of it, with good reason.
 
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Yeah, honestly I'm with OL here, it's neither his job, nor is it remotely ethical for him to play arbiter over the earth's economy.

I mean this is a man who can't even understand that all currency is essentially fiat, and that gold is actually less useful to a human than canvas paper without the arbitrary value assigned to it because it's shiny.

I do not want this yahoo making economic decisions for me.
 
Prince Charon said:
I'm pretty sure it wasn't his contract at all. It was the eye-gouging priests' (or rather their probably long-dead predecessors') contract, that he stopped because it was evil.

EDIT: For those who want to be pedantic, yes, he did arrange to have it stopped, rather than stopping it directly, but he basically knew what the women he gave power rings to were going to do, and approved of it, with good reason.
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We both said contacts, not contracts.
 
Prince Charon said:
So you did. I need more sleep.

I do agree with your question, though, I'm not sure which magical contacts he actually screwed up with before going to Ventruria.
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Sephtian who works for Poseidonis and may be banned from speaking with the SI.

Him and possibly every single other Atlantean city, who are probably more advanced than Venturia due to the fact that they haven't went into isolation.
 
Chojin Patriarch said:
Honestly, OL's resistance to getting caught up in this is getting silly. I know, I know, he doesn't think it's his job... But when everyone else is saying 'do it'... Sooner or later, you give in just to shut them up. Wonder how many of the League members think he's being a typical teenager?
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I mean, considering Paul's primary shtick is being an asshole about how the League members have a responsibility to do everything they can, just because they can, it's bizarre as fuck to have him trying to sell "This person who was given power by the organization I created and is on Earth because I asked my organization for backup (as far as I know, because I literally can't even be arsed to double-check his credentials and orders) has nothing to do with me."

If the guy was putatively representing the Thanagarian government, and Hawkman had this kind of "No one's paying me to give a fuck" attitude, we'd get three chapters of Paul giving "You suck!" speeches.
 
Darko said:
Sephtian who works for Poseidonis and may be banned from speaking with the SI.

Him and possibly every single other Atlantean city, who are probably more advanced than Venturia due to the fact that they haven't went into isolation.
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I did say before going to Ventruria. That's a relationship that he probably screwed up by going to Ventruria.
 
AidanMorgan said:
I did not need one chapter like that in my life and the longer we go without another one the less Zatanna gets traumatized.
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"Traumatized"? From her reaction last time I dare say Zatanna wouldn't be "traumatized" so much as "strangely interested". :D

(Also for the record I would love more chapters like that in my life)
 
Mr Zoat said:
"It occurred to me that Arnus' experience with interstellar relations would make him the man to take a lead on this whole business with ClusterCorp. Do you have any way to contact him?"

"Ah… No."

"Raquel, I don't like to call a team mate a-."

"I'm not supposed to contact him. Ah. Especially if you're asking."

"Why?"

"I ain't suppose to tell you unless the world's ending. Is it?"
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Is Icon on a mission for Dharma or something? Is the Shadow Cabinet even a thing on Earth 16?
 
w34v3r said:
Yeah, honestly I'm with OL here, it's neither his job,
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The basic essence of being a Hero is sticking your nose into where it doesn't belong.

It's very much his job, unless his actual job is to be an Orange Lantern.

In which case Batman needs to drop him from the team- if he's not a Hero, he doesn't belong.
 
Grimnar said:
The basic essence of being a Hero is sticking your nose into where it doesn't belong.

It's very much his job, unless his actual job is to be an Orange Lantern.
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If the world governments and Justice League utterly fail to find a solution, the world stands on the brink of total collapse, and he STILL doesn't want to interfere, then you would have a stronger point. But in this case, Paul is trying to push existing power structures to adapt and overcome a threat that is entirely within their power to deal with and simultaneously drawing a line with what he is and isn't willing to do.

Is the Team assigned to deal with the issue? If not then literally not his job.

In a sense this is an excellent training mission for Earth's entry to the galactic economy - if anything gets too squirrely then OL is there as a backboard.
 
Chirox said:
If the world governments and Justice League utterly fail to find a solution, the world stands on the brink of total collapse, and he STILL doesn't want to interfere, then you would have a stronger point. But in this case, Paul is trying to push existing power structures to adapt and overcome a threat that is entirely within their power to deal with and simultaneously drawing a line with what he is and isn't willing to do.

Is the Team assigned to deal with the issue? If not then literally not his job.

In a sense this is an excellent training mission for Earth's entry to the galactic economy - if anything gets too squirrely then OL is there as a backboard.
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Why are you assuming that's what Paul is doing instead of the much more likely probability that he just doesn't want to deal with it?
 
Chirox said:
If the world governments and Justice League utterly fail to find a solution, the world stands on the brink of total collapse, and he STILL doesn't want to interfere, then you would have a stronger point. But in this case, Paul is trying to push existing power structures to adapt and overcome a threat that is entirely within their power to deal with and simultaneously drawing a line with what he is and isn't willing to do.
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Unfortunately, he's expecting DC politicians who aren't supers to be competent. I mean, I agree that it's needed, but he's really pushing a boulder up a steep hill, here.
 
Grimnar said:
The basic essence of being a Hero is sticking your nose into where it doesn't belong.

It's very much his job, unless his actual job is to be an Orange Lantern.

In which case Batman needs to drop him from the team- if he's not a Hero, he doesn't belong.
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Nah, that's just a platitude from MHA (you've also completely missed All Might's meaning). If that was true, then there would be no real legal or moral line between superheroes and supervillains.

Unless Paul is mandated to actually act as representative of Earth, he is doing everything as he should as a superhero.

As a member of the Orange Lantern Corps? Well, I don't have much experience with command structures, but given that OL's boss was (presumably) the one who sent Manga Khan to earth, the best he can do is lean on him. Should he do that? Maybe. I'm not knowledgeable about international politics to say. But he definitely should not be acting in his capacity as a superhero. That's why I'm going to assume that Paul's just going to put some pressure on MK to make him take it easy, and just that.
 
Vaermina said:
Why are you assuming that's what Paul is doing instead of the much more likely probability that he just doesn't want to deal with it?
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Because he as much as says so? Not wanting to deal with it necessarily means that someone else should be capable of doing it. He's given advice and served as a middle man already, so it's not like he's being deliberately obtuse.

"Why are you trying to be so hands off with this?"

"Because this is Earth's first contact with an extra-terrestrial political entity and I -may I remind you- have no legal authority to act. I have the capacity to act-."

Kal-El nods. "But you don't want us to get off on the wrong foot."

"It's not that I'd mind being made King of Earth…" I frown. "No, I would. I'm not even comfortable making a joke about it. But… You've been openly kryptonian for… What, fourteen years? If no one's got a plan for dealing with this sort of thing by now then it's trial-by-fire time because they've had plenty of notice."
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Also, on the topic of OL and his magical friends, his relationship with then is personal, whereas he approached Venturia on a professional basis. While this will strain or sour some of his relationships, the reason he didn't seek those for help was because he wasn't looking for a one-time solution but an institutional one.
 
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