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

Reader mode
Mr Zoat said:
The lawyer's composure is better, but I've caught him wincing as his… Employer? Increasingly abandons reason for invective.
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The face of a lawyer who has realised he has a fool for a client.


Thundersmight94 said:
Going to be honest, I am confused why Paul didn't just flood the room with red solar lamps
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Because he's trying to be as reasonable as possible - likely largely for the benefit of the Greenies - and because none of the Daxamites in the Watchtower have done anything more than accidentally crunch the edge of a table.
 
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I kinda hope this results in sanctions on Daxam. If they love being Amish so much, maybe Paul should take all their advanced tech and force them to live that way for the foreseeable future. It won't happen because I can't see how things will deteriorate to such an extent that the GLC would let him do that, but a guy can dream.
 
Mr Zoat said:
"-but-. Ah." He looks at me for a moment. "Oh, a.. joke. Heh. But, ah, your home region, what about them?"
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No. No, Mr Lee, it was not a joke at all.

Mr Zoat said:
"Paul, It's Roy. We got a problem."

A lance of heat vision bursts through the meeting room window!

"You don't say."
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I can see Paul having two reactions here. One, he looks completely unbothered in the most British way possible and say that while looking on. Two, he'd have the mildest frown and roll his eyes a bit, with a hint of sarcasm audible in his voice.
 
Mr Zoat said:
27th July 2013
04:18 GMT

If I didn't have to be here, this would actually nearly be funny.

"…for your own aggrandisement!"

"…would have fled you as well!"
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Going swimmingly, I see. At least they're restraining themselves from violence thus far. I wonder if they're even trying to listen to each other or just yelling over their opponent? And what's Sodam, thinking, I wonder, seeing his mother figures all but going for the throat.

The priest's face is a picture of thunderous disgruntlement at the constant insults (both indirect and direct) that his culture has received, but appears mostly willing to let Cara Yat do the arguing ranting. The lawyer's composure is better, but I've caught him wincing as his… Employer? Increasingly abandons reason for invective. Arisia's just sort of crumpled inwards, her occasional interjections-
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Yeah, the lawyer knows this is not looking good for Cara's case. Well done to the priest for not exploding (possibly literally, given Kryptonian biology) despite what must be infuriating digs at his faith.

"This isn't-."

Cara turns her vengeful glare her way. "…which supports child trafficking!"
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Oof, catching strays. If she could get a word in edgeways, I suspect she'd recommend a recess to let their heads cool...

-just resulting in her becoming a target.

I suppose that in the interest of getting out of here today I should try and be a little more helpful.
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Just be careful, OL. I get the feeling this will turn violent without calmer heads to reign them in.

I try to catch the lawyer's eye, and after a moment his saccades take them in my direction. I nod to towards the Watchtower's gardens. "Sidebar?"

He glances back at his employer, who shows no interest in his input at all. Then he looks back at me and nods.
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Ah, letting the loud people continue being loud while the real work of sorting this out gets done in private.

Right. Send a filament through the deck and into the garden, tether him, wave Arisia goodbye and transition. And I only spot it because I'm looking for it, but the lawyer's head blurs for an instant as he takes in his new environment.

"We usually just walk."
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At least he's making good use of his powers while he has them.

"I didn't want to distract them. Shall we start again?" He nods. "I'm the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. I can't say my name, but-" I take a card out of subspace and inscribe on it the kryptonian characters closest to the correct sounds. Fortunately, I don't see them as being my name so there's no mental effect on me. "-that's it."
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Something akin to 'Pu-awl', perhaps. The Kryptonian language is weird sometimes.

He reads it carefully, and sounds it out silently once. "Paul. And I am Ken Lee."

"Pleased to meet you, Ken Lee. Since that's-" I glance back up at the meeting room. "-generating more heat than light, perhaps a more dispassionate discussion might result in more progress?"
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Careful, OL, don't jinx it. Cara can provide plenty of heat by herself, you know.

He shrugs. "It doesn't hurt, though obviously I can't agree to anything without Cara Yat's permission."

"So what does she actually want? As I understand it, she originally thought that Sodam was kidnapped?"
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Based on her husband's biased account, of course. What's a little xenocide, after all?

"Legally, he was, even-" He prepares to talk over my objections, then hesitates with surprise when I don't have one. "-ah, if he claims to be fine with leaving with you."

"Okay, but has she changed her objectives now that it's clear that even if he went back to Daxam for a couple of years, he'd just leave again the moment he completed his rite of adulthood?"
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Especially since she must know OL would be watching over Sodam regardless of her wishes. After all, OL or Coutara would come collect him when he'd call, if it went that way.

"I am less convinced that he would do that. Having been returned to the bosom of his family and removed from external influences, I think that he would reconsider."

"Confident enough to make it his decision?"

"As I said, I can't make a decision on the matter myself."
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In other words, a snowball's chance in the Sahara. Lee seems a realist, he'd have a reasonable doubt that short of psycho-surgery, nothing is going to keep Sodam on Daxam.

"I'm just trying to suggest things that my Lanterns might agree to. You find somewhere out of the way on Daxam for Lantern Coutara to live for a few years." He clearly wants to interject, but holds off. "Lantern Yat spends most of his time with his natural family, returns to school and engages in your religious practices. When he comes of age, he can stay or go as he chooses."
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And she's not so critical to the Corps that they can't afford to have her doing that. She'd probably be willing to serve as a Sector Lantern of sorts while watching over Sodam...

"I can put it to her, but I doubt that would be acceptable."

"Alright. Why?"
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...Pity Daxam society wouldn't feel the same way.

"It would involve an alien living on Daxam. She-." He considers for a moment. "We appreciate that with a power ring there's ultimately nothing we can do to prevent him leaving. That would be a very sad day, but we accept that it is so. But Daxam remaining inviolate is not something that I or she can can compromise on."
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...Seriously, who are Sodam's parents that his presence on Daxam is so important? Is she secretly the Prime Minister of the planetary government or something? 🤔

"Alright. How about near Daxam?"

"How near?"
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Depends on how 'pure' they want to keep their solar system, I suppose.

"Your moon?"

"We keep things there."
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..Interesting. Secret moonbase holding their secret fleet of secret kryptonian vessels, perhaps?

"Next planet in or out?"

"That… Would not be ideal, but as long as most of our people didn't know that she was there I suspect that we could live with it."
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An Orange Lantern can be surprisingly sneaky when they want to be. If Coutara would be willing to alter her appearance to resemble a daxamite... It could work.

"Ah, progress."

"But I assume that you would want Sodam Yat to keep the power ring you gave him."
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Pretty non-negotiable, I suspect. Don't want you folks throwing him in the psycho-surgery chair the second the Lanterns stop looking, after all. 😏

"Well, yes, obviously. We're talking about custody sharing. If you don't want her to land on Daxam, he needs to be able to go to her."

"It's alien technology." He shakes his head. "It wouldn't be acceptable."
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You do realise he doesn't have to wear it openly, you know? They're a ring or limb-band shape out of convenience.

"Then either you'd need to give him a daxamite spaceship for his exclusive use, or let me build him a suit of kryptonian power armour. I've got contemporary designs, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference from a suit built before your exodus."

"A child with a spacecraft or military wargear?"
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Hey, he could become a superhero or something with gear like that. 😄

"He's been using a power ring for over a year. I think he can handle it."

"I don't know how your legal system works-"
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Ah, gross generalisations. Kids can get away with doing a lot of things that are nominally dangerous, as long as they're properly trained and act responsibly.

I grin. "Earth isn't unified. Even under a yellow sun, you wouldn't live long enough."

"-but-. Ah." He looks at me for a moment. "Oh, a.. joke. Heh. But, ah, your home region, what about them?"
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He's not wrong, though. And that's discounting the variations between national law, state law and local laws. Any or all of which could apply at once...

"The legal system of the country I was born in tended to give up once the child left its borders. Within its borders they'd want evidence of the home environment being dangerous, but I'm afraid to say that Diro Yat trying to kill an unarmed man right in front of Sodam would count. In my current home country, I imagine it would go before our queen for her personal review."
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Heh. I imagine Hippolyta would very much respond to this coming before her with a 'Pavlos, what did you do this time?' as she facepalmed.

"And what would she say?"

"Ah… If it was a local woman and a foreign woman? I suspect that she'd order them to marry one another and raise the child together, so that's-."
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...I dare say Cara would literally go thermonuclear from rage if she were told that.

His eyes widen in horror, glancing back up at the meting room. "A truly Kvorgian solution."

"Yes. We have a very unusual culture. So, okay, if giving him equipment isn't acceptable, would it be acceptable for a Daxamite to fly him there for visits?"
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That's still putting a lot of trust in them not to brainwash him behind Coutara's back. Not that she'd be fooled for long if he suddenly had a complete personality flip...

"That… Might be possible. It's certainly more possible than the other suggestions."

"Okay, well let's-." My ring shimmers. "Excuse me." I raise it to my ear. "Yes?"

"Paul, It's Roy. We got a problem."
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He would be... Orbiting Daxam, waiting for Johnnie Jarkin, wouldn't he? Has something gone wrong over there? Or is he keeping an eye on the Daxamite ship?

A lance of heat vision bursts through the meeting room window!

"You don't say."
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...And something's gone wrong over here, too. Now, which thing to focus on first...

If things are simultaneously going hot on Daxam (Or the Daxamite ship) and in the meeting room, this could get complicated. And no matter how good OL's gotten, he can't be in two places at once yet. So then, Cara taking the aggressive route to reclaiming her son, or did Coutara finally lose her temper first? We'll see soon, I bet.
 
I'm rereading this fic (dam It has gotten long!) and i'm surprised that Paul hasn't gotten a god's blessing Adom style. I imagine that Hephaestian at the very least would be happy to give him one, idealy "wisdom" so Paul could combine It with the ring to create more complex tecnology(both construcs and physical), like Vil Drox does.
 
PJ739 said:
I'm rereading this fic (dam It has gotten long!) and i'm surprised that Paul hasn't gotten a god's blessing Adom style. I imagine that Hephaestian at the very least would be happy to give him one, idealy "wisdom" so Paul could combine It with the ring to create more complex tecnology(both construcs and physical), like Vil Drox does.
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You think The Ophidian is gonna share?
 
CrazyNoVa said:
In this case, you can. Grayven can just ask the princesses to order them to do so. Most of those ponies practically worship the princesses, so they wouldn't say no.
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Tempest doesn't, and she's dealt with enough incompetents in her career as a mercenary who got people under her command killed that she would effectively refuse.
 
PJ739 said:
I'm rereading this fic (dam It has gotten long!) and i'm surprised that Paul hasn't gotten a god's blessing Adom style. I imagine that Hephaestian at the very least would be happy to give him one, idealy "wisdom" so Paul could combine It with the ring to create more complex tecnology(both construcs and physical), like Vil Drox does.
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Given how his soul works, being made of orange light and having a unique magic system no one knows… I think that a blessing for Paul might be rather more difficult than average.

I do think he'd take it - he sacrificed bulls to Zeus, after all, and approved of Troia making little sacrifices for powers from the Greek pantheon - but he's rather comfortable with Orange Light. I doubt he'd make the effort except for a major, Teth Adom Level blessing - and Zoat likely doesn't want to write that, since it would cover Paul's weaknesses and boost his power in a major way. Even if it was Hephaestaen-flavored; while the orange light doesn't need the same level of knowledge for technological constructs, he could probably get multi-threading or an ability to make even more advanced constructs or something that pushes him to Dox's level in terms of tech-making. Which would combine with his raw power to let him moonwalk over most of the enemies Zoat wants to throw at him. So… it seems unlikely.
 
boo600 said:
Given how his soul works, being made of orange light and having a unique magic system no one knows… I think that a blessing for Paul might be rather more difficult than average.
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He's also hesitant to combine different kinds of esoteric powers on the off chance it opens up whole new frontiers of weakness. He was worried about his demon-lanterns corrupting the orange light, or at least providing a back channel for Satanus to attack him back when he was a major threat.
 
Mr Zoat said:
I try to catch the lawyer's eye, and after a moment his saccades take them in my direction. I nod to towards the Watchtower's gardens. "Sidebar?"
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Extraneous 'to'
Mr Zoat said:
"It would involve an alien living on Daxam. She-." He considers for a moment. "We appreciate that with a power ring there's ultimately nothing we can do to prevent him leaving. That would be a very sad day, but we accept that it is so. But Daxam remaining inviolate is not something that I or she can can compromise on."
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Extraneous 'can'
Mr Zoat said:
"That… Might be possible. It's certainly more possible that the other suggestions."
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'than'

I'm surprised by his sophistication, but I probably shouldn't be. It makes sense that even their relatively primitive culture still has use for good lawyers.
 
Duke Long said:
Extraneous 'to'
Extraneous 'can'
'than'
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Thank you, corrected.
I'm surprised by his sophistication, but I probably shouldn't be. It makes sense that even their relatively primitive culture still has use for good lawyers.
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Feudal-era people were surprisingly litigious. English courts were gummed up with arguments over whether people were villeins or churls.
 
Mr Zoat said:
I suppose that in the interest of getting out of here today I should try and be a little more helpful.
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A lance of heat vision bursts through the meeting room window!

"You don't say."
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Honestly I don't know why he bothered trying to have a reasonable discussion. Was it just to kill time before the sudden but (and I feel this needs emphasis) inevitable betrayal?
 
Mr Zoat said:
"Yes. We have a very unusual culture. So, okay, if giving him equipment isn't acceptable, would it be acceptable for a Daxamite to fly him there for visits?"
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I get the feeling Paul is only entertaining these suggestions, coming close to making an agreement that sends Sodam back to Daxam, because he knows the Daxamite contingent is going to do something crazy and he'll never have to follow through. Now he can toss the recording at the Justice League and go, "See how reasonable I was being!"
 
There is only one solution here, we must expose Cara Yat to pink kryptonite, and hand her over to the supergirl's for induction into the supergirl cult seduction and reform.
 
CrazyNoVa said:
What if she's bisexual instead of straight, though? Would she even change at all?
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Pink kryptonite only ever showed up twice, the first time it turned Superman stereotypically gay, and the second time it swapped his gender.

So being bisexual may or may not have any impact on its effects.
 
I swear by all fourteen gods of Krypton that it will never come up in this story, but I assume that a bisexual would be rendered asexual.
 
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