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

Reader mode
How much does she already know about this topic? I'm pretty sure that her father's origin story had to have come up at some point while the Sivana Fund was going on.

Mr Zoat said:
I can't.. quite work out why that set Zox off like that. Substandard dental work?
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Mquz said:
Have to wonder about the culture where dental work is so important. Is it a primary sexual characteristic or something?
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Ganurath said:
His species is basically photo-realistic Pac Man, with some vestigal limbs thrown in so he can wear a ring.
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Yeah, literally half his head is his jaw, so any society developed by a species like that will put significant value on dentistry.
 
Buggy123 said:
I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but she's a hypercompetent supergenius with a entire family of supergeniuses to back her up. "civilian" isn't quite the right description.
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No military training, and I'm assuming no self defense experience of almost any kind. She might know how to use a gun, but no amount of intelligence is going too keep her from being vulnerable to someone walking up to her and punching her in the face out of nowhere. Or allow her to dodge projectiles / teach her to shoot from cover without being shot. She doesn't have reaction speed or anything like that. Those things are really only gotten from experience and practice, which as a super genius she never needed and doesn't have. Therefore, she is still a civilian when it comes to combat. Just one with a better gun. At best, she has the equivalent mental experience of a normal soldier when it comes to 1 on 1 combat. However, she's not physically fit, and won't last long against any type of concentrated force. She can lay traps, and can take on anyone when prepared, but she's still vulnerable in day-to-day life.
 
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Mquz said:
No military training, and I'm assuming no self defense experience of almost any kind. She might know how to use a gun, but no amount of intelligence is going too keep her from being vulnerable to someone walking up to her and punching her in the face out of nowhere. Or allow her to dodge projectiles / teach her to shoot from cover without being shot. She doesn't have reaction speed or anything like that. Those things are really only gotten from experience, which as a super genius she never needed and doesn't have. Therefore, she is still a civilian when it comes to combat. Just one with a better gun.
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Depends... on how realistic of a super genius she is, I guess. I'd argue that someone that smart would definitely realize that those are handy and important things to have, and either find a way to acquire them, or find a way to make them unnecessary. But that might not be the case here, because for DC, "genius" generally means "someone who can build ridiculously advanced technology but is otherwise as stupid as your typical righteous face-puncher.".
 
Buggy123 said:
Depends... on how realistic of a super genius she is, I guess. I'd argue that someone that smart would definitely realize that those are handy and important things to have, and either find a way to acquire them, or find a way to make them unnecessary. But that might not be the case here, because for DC, "genius" generally means "someone who can build ridiculously advanced technology but is otherwise as stupid as your typical righteous face-puncher.".
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I'd see it if she was a personally involved villain, or was expecting combat often for some reason, but that's not the case, so at best she's gonna have a portable Iron Man/ Dr. Doom suit, and even that is very unlikely. I assume normally she just sends robots or mutant animals to do villainous things for her or something, and hang back in a lab. That won't cut it when working with people in normal situations.
 
Mr Zoat said:
"Advanced technology does not propagate well through our society. Captain Cold robs banks rather than building freezers, despite the obvious financial incentives for him to do so. Superman sits on a treasure trove of alien technology that could revolutionise the way we live, but contents himself with inefficiently punching things rather than rendering that punching unnecessary in spite of his genuine desire to do good in the world."

"And you want to know why? I suppose that Dad's example-."

"No. It's not that I'm not curious, but I don't need to know 'why'. I need it to stop."

She raises her eyebrows. "To stop?"

"To stop. I don't know if it's psychological, something to do with our social structures, our evolutionary biology, our.. financial systems… But things aren't happening which -on the surface- it appears should be.
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If what Boss Smiley said was true, that particular embodiment of political corruption has been playing the subtle shoulder devil, convincing heroes and villains alike to adhere to bad habits, fear over releasing advanced technologies, and avoiding any upsets to the Status-quo.

Needless to say, Boss Smiley would definitely count as the Sivana Family's TRUE archenemy, seeing as he's likely the reason their patriarch was never taken seriously by the scientific community.
Mr Zoat said:
"Thank you. I really appreciate it. Oh, and if you want to gather some first hand data I'm going to visit Captain Cold today. Do you want to tag along?"
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Ah, we'll FINALLY get to see what Mr. Snart's been up to!

I wonder how his sister feels about the legit, paying work that Paul got him into...
 
Tzeentch said:
Ah, we'll FINALLY get to see what Mr. Snart's been up to!

I wonder how his sister feels about the legit, paying work that Paul got him into...
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Lenoard Snart is still very much in prison, and -barring exceptional circumstances- will probably remain there on his current convictions alone until past the end of this story.
 
Every story ends eventually. Just ask Robert Jordan.
 
Caerwen said:
Yeah some stories get to end. other series get run into the ground as the author milks it for all its worth. Looking at you laurell k hamilton who should have stopped around book 3.
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Ever wonder what would have happened in Harry Potter if Rowling kept the tone of the first few books and didn't get edgy? I mean, obviously it let her keep her core original demographic so it was great for marketing, but I was more of a fan of the first books than the later ones as a kid.
 
Doppelgängered (part 2)
  • Threadmarks
    • 1st February
    07:24 GMT -5

    "Ah, sorry, Orange Lantern." The correctional officer who is escorting me through Belle Reve's entrance looks a little awkward. "With all the work we're having done on the prison, the usual interview rooms are out of action right now."

    "I hope that I'm not putting prison security at risk. I'm happy to reschedule."

    "Prisoners get mighty upset when their schedules aren't kept to. And no, Warden says the people you talk to are all low risk, so there ain't no risk to the prison."

    "I'm pleased that she thinks so highly of my efforts."

    The officer radios his control room and the heavily armoured door in front of us clanks open. This part of the prison is still fairly similar to how it looked when I first started visiting. The arcane containment wing is elsewhere, though there are a few glyphs attached to the walls to extend the simpler security spells to cover the mundane inmates as well.

    Leonard is already waiting with his own slightly burlier escort of two correctional officers on the far side. He doesn't smile when he sees me, but I do get a respectful nod. My escort gets a similar nod from Leonard's escort, then turns to our right and leads the way along one of the interior corridors. I fall in next to Leonard, with his escort bringing up the rear.

    "You doing alright?"

    "Can't complain."

    And that's probably all I'm going to get while there are witnesses around. A quick scan reveals no new injuries, and his body chemistry suggests that he's less stressed than he used to be.

    The correctional officer in front raises his right hand and comes to a stop just before an intersection. "Ah, just a minute. Laundry detail coming through."

    I nod, and there's a chime of warning as the security doors opposite us open and a pair of armed officers walk through, leading…

    The manacled Mr Crock and I make momentary eye contact. I smile, shrug, then turn to my left and raise my right hand to blinker my right eye so that I can't see him. The guards lead his group around the corner away from us and head towards the laundry room. Leonard gives me a small frown, then appears to brush it off.

    "Not far now."

    I lower my hand once more as we proceed to… I think it's a temporarily converted medical cell. Leonard's detail escort him to the actual chair on the right, while mine just smiles politely at me.

    "If you need anything else, just shout out and we'll be right in."

    "Thank you."

    Leonard slouches in his chair as his guards file out, though I notice that he's watching my escort very intently as the man leaves the room and closes the door behind him. I run a visible strobe of orange light around the room to make sure that Waller isn't playing silly buggers -she's usually pretty good about that, but it makes Leonard happy that I'm checking- and find nothing. Then I sit down opposite him, mirroring his relaxed posture.

    "So. Anything you want to talk about, Doctor Snart?"

    He tries to disguise it, but I can tell he's smiling. "Sam sent me a cake. They nearly stuck me in solitary when they realised that the silver ball things were tiny mirrors. Bastard probably thought it was hilarious." He snorts. "Think I'm the first person in America to become a doctor while in prison?"

    "I can't think of any others."

    "What was that thing with your hand?"

    I smile. "Amusing story. Do you know who Horatio Nelson was?" He shakes his head. "British Admiral in the eighteenth century. He was blind in one eye after a failed attack on a French fort, and his career was at a low ebb until the British navy tried attacking a Danish fleet in Copenhagen harbour. The commanding admiral signalled a withdrawal, Nelson raised his telescope-" I mime the action. "-to his blind eye and said 'I really do not see the signal'. He then ordered his half of the fleet in and shot the Danish fleet to pieces, an action from which we derive the phrase 'turn a blind eye', meaning to notice a thing but to decide to ignore it."

    "And what were you ignoring?"

    "Mister Crock. I'm friends with his ex-wife and younger daughter and I'm dating his elder daughter." My smile dims slightly. "And I told him that if he had any contact with any member of his family ever again I'd kill him. And while you can't make a threat and fail to carry it out without losing credibility, a chance encounter in a corridor doesn't seem worth actioning a threat over. So." I raise my right hand. "Blind eye."

    "'Any member of his family'?"

    "He wasn't quite as bad a father as yours was. He did appear to be trying to teach them lessons on how to be a criminal. Those lessons just happened to involve a similar level of bruising and broken bones."

    Leonard slouches back. "Fuck him, then."

    "Quite. How are things going with your mother?"

    "We've talked.. some." He shrugs, not meeting my eyes. "She says she's sorry for abandoning us. I believe her. For what it's worth."

    "I did notice that you never went after your father."

    "No point. All in the past."

    I nod, and wait for him to pick a new topic.

    "I got a letter. Some company wants to hire me to work on their freeze rays, once I get out. Maybe do some work from inside."

    My eyes widen slightly as I smile. "That's excellent. Are you actually going to go for it?"

    He shrugs. "Maybe. Depends. I want to know more about the man I'd be working for first."

    I nod. "Sensible. Who is it? What's the name of the company?"

    "Alva Technologies."

    "No."

    He frowns, clearly surprised. "What? Why not?"

    "Edwin Alva has an unfortunate habit of fucking over his talent." Can't directly mention Mr Metcalf. "Just a moment."

    Ring, court case summaries.

    Compliance.

    A pile of paper appears on the table between us.

    "Here's a few of the cases that have been brought by his ex-employees. The few whose cases weren't quashed by judges he owns were financially exhausted by his delaying tactics. I would strongly caution you against working for him if there was any alternative."

    "How many offers do you think I'm getting?"

    "I don't know."

    "One other, and that's LexCorp, and I know you're not-."

    "Actually… "

    He frowns. "What? We both know that LexCorp's-."

    "Yes. But. Most of their work is legitimate, Lex tends to treat his talent decently… As long as they keep up their side of the contract, anyway. And he generally doesn't use direct employees for skulduggery, because it's too easy for it to get traced back to him. If you made it clear that you weren't interested in returning to your former occupation in any way from the first… You'd probably be okay."

    "Never thought I'd hear a superhero recommending that I work for Lex Luthor." He regards me curiously. "You sure?"

    "Sure?" I shake my head. "No. But if those are your options, then LexCorp is definitely the better one."
     
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    • To me, snart will always be a tennage groper. I know he's supposed to be this semi-good rogue, but the CW actor compels it.
     
    Ngamer11 said:
    Will OL be recommending any other former criminals into working for LexCorp? It would be funny to see Diana and Bruce asking Paul to stop doing that.
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    Like he pointed out, as long as it's direct work, nobody is going to mind. In fact, if they commit crimes, that just leaves LexCorp open to suspicion. So at worst they're going to be doing semi-legal stuff. Also, if anyone can relate to paranoia, it's Lex Luthor.
     
    Mr Zoat said:
    "With all the work we've having done on the prison...
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    "With all the work we're having done on the prison...

    The officer radios his control room and the heavily armoured door in front of us clanks open. This part of the prison is still fairly similar to how it looked when I first started visiting. The arcane containment wing is elsewhere, though there are a few glyphs attached to the walls to extend the simpler security spells to cover the mundane inmates as well.
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    Good to see 'the Wall' adopting sensible mystical methods.

    And that's probably all I'm going to get while there are witnesses around. A quick scan reveals no new injuries, and his body chemistry suggests that he's less stressed than he used to be.
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    Huh, surprising. Guess he's let go of some grudges.

    The manacled Mr Crock and I make momentary eye contact. I smile, shrug, then turn to my left and raise my right hand to blinker my right eye so that I can't see him. The guards lead his group around the corner away from us and head towards the laundry room. Leonard gives me a small frown, then appears to brush it off.
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    Well, well, 'Casey'. Enjoying the accommodations?

    "So. Anything you want to talk about, Doctor Snart."
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    Ah, he did get the degree. Good on him.

    "Alva Technologies."
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    Nononononono!

    "Here's a few of the cases that have been brought by his ex-employees. The few whose cases weren't quashed by judges he owns are financially exhausted by his delaying tactics. I would strongly caution you against working for him if there was any alternative."
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    Maximum asshole. Like Luthor without any redeeming qualities.

    He frowns. "What? We both know the LexCorp's-."
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    You don't want to finish that statement, man. Also, should this be 'that' or was 'the' intentional?

    "No. But if those are your options, then LexCorps is definitely the better one."
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    "No. But if those are your options, then LexCorp is definitely the better one."

    Good to see at least one Rogue settling into a less criminal path. Can you imagine if he ends up being a hero down the line someday?
     
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    So Paragon can't just talk to Kordtech and Wayne Enterprises? Lex Luthor might be reliable to a certain degree but helping his company and by extension him when he's refused any changes from his supervillainous course of action (for reasons that make sense, but Paragon doesn't know all of them) seems inane. If they figure out how to replicate cold guns, then the Light's assets have access to a great new weapon that Lex can probably distribute with plausible deniability.

    As part of my larger frustration with Paragon's recent passivity in the story, the lack of trying to deal with Luthor is the most glaring aspect. As TV Tropes said about him, he made it possible for Klarion (a reality-warping godlike being) to be tried and executed by a mortal government's judicial apparatus, but he can't do the same thing (probably sans killing) for Lex? I don't think the benefits of continuing to allow LexCorp to work as it currently is outweigh the cons to both Paragon's peers and the world in general, and the heroes have enough business resources and money (especially Paragon) that I don't think layoffs or similar setbacks for lower-level employees would be an issue.
     
    These chapters where he works at rehabilitating supervillains are always a good read. While he wouldn't be able to do this without the righteous face-punching ahead of time, working to solve the root of their problems is doing more for Earth than almost anything else he's done. (The Orange Lantern Corps doesn't count, cause it's focused on the Reach, not Earth.)

    It's also surprisingly interesting, if not quite as viscerally engaging as pewpew laser beams and boxing glove constructs.
     
    Chojin Patriarch said:
    "With all the work we're having done on the prison...
    He frowns. "What? We both know the LexCorp's-."
    You don't want to finish that statement, man. Also, should this be 'that' or was 'the' intentional?
    "No. But if those are your options, then LexCorps is definitely the better one."
    "No. But if those are your options, then LexCorp is definitely the better one."
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    Thank you, corrected.
     
    DrThoth said:
    So Paragon can't just talk to Kordtech and Wayne Enterprises? Lex Luthor might be reliable to a certain degree but helping his company and by extension him when he's refused any changes from his supervillainous course of action (for reasons that make sense, but Paragon doesn't know all of them) seems inane. If they figure out how to replicate cold guns, then the Light's assets have access to a great new weapon that Lex can probably distribute with plausible deniability.

    As part of my larger frustration with Paragon's recent passivity in the story, the lack of trying to deal with Luthor is the most glaring aspect. As TV Tropes said about him, he made it possible for Klarion (a reality-warping godlike being) to be tried and executed by a mortal government's judicial apparatus, but he can't do the same thing (probably sans killing) for Lex? I don't think the benefits of continuing to allow LexCorp to work as it currently is outweigh the cons to both Paragon's peers and the world in general, and the heroes have enough business resources and money (especially Paragon) that I don't think layoffs or similar setbacks for lower-level employees would be an issue.
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    LexCorp hasn't done anything overtly illegal recently, and it's hard to prove he's guilty. More than that, unlike Klarion, mortal judicial courts could deal with him, since once he's in prison, escaping won't do him any good, since he'll lose his business, and he'll actually have to sit his sentence, when it might be easier for OL to talk with him. This Luthor is more of an antivillain/ antihero, and definitely better than some of his competition (Alva). If he was the Joker, OL could probably convince people of the need for a death penalty, or a dismemberment, but Luthor isn't all that bad for anyone except Superman.
     
    Why not KordTech? No, seriously, why not? And even assuming Ted isn't offering for some reason (I can't imagine why), where are the offers from all the different militaries? Or government-associated research centers? I mean, I am one hundred and ten percent sure that Russian military would not care at all about his criminal past if they get a chance to poach him.

    Barring all that, however, why not give him some startup money? Paul could easily drop a couple of billion in his lap.

    Oh, and where's Waynetech in all that?
     
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