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

0zymandias · Jun 7, 2023

Vaermina said:
Do you know how I know? Because otherwise they would have sent Apostles to destroy his Ring.

How does the match up between weak Lantern vs Apostle go? Also this basically Old Man Paul, he's probably knows a hundred and one tricks on how to deal with magic and those empowered by gods, the question is just whether Diabo is confident enough to try them.

BR549 · Jun 7, 2023

Chojin Patriarch said:
Which says something about the depth and power of Dreamer's talent. Pity it seems to have such strict rules on its usage

Makes sense, really, as a (New) God power. Extremely powerful...within its specific domain. The trick is in knowing how to cheese that one, seemingly limited power.

(The example my gaming group likes to use is Accellerator from A Certain Scientific Index. His power is "vector control", which sounds extremely niche and limited...until you consider what a "vector" IS. Like, for instance, the vector of the flow of blood in your body...)

Vaermina · Jun 7, 2023

0zymandias said:
How does the match up between weak Lantern vs Apostle go? Also this basically Old Man Paul, he's probably knows a hundred and one tricks on how to deal with magic and those empowered by gods, the question is just whether Diabo is confident enough to try them.

Badly for the Rookie Lantern.

And these Gods don't play by the rules or magic Paul would know.

Mr Zoat · Jun 7, 2023

Chojin Patriarch said:
"Do you know how many species the people of Maltus have destroyed?"

Thank you, corrected.

To be honest, anyone would be tempted to do that if they met an anthropomorphic beaver... Though there are limits on how appealing anthros can be.

Got to admit, I thought that was going to be Furry Force. Thank you for your mercy.

RoninSword · Jun 7, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"My species exists today because they destroyed the Burning Martians, so I'm probably the wrong person to use that explanation on."

Missing bolded word. Talking about the species as a whole and not just individuals. Unless the fact that there are still some Burning Martians around mean Paul isn't talking about the whole species.

Mr Zoat · Jun 7, 2023

RoninSword said:
Missing bolded word. Talking about the species as a whole and not just individuals. Unless the fact that there are still some Burning Martians around mean Paul isn't talking about the whole species.

Thank you, corrected.

Since it''s capitalised, he's not talking about the species but rather the culture.

0zymandias · Jun 7, 2023

Vaermina said:
And these Gods don't play by the rules or magic Paul would know

Paul has been in the Gate world a while, years by this point. He's recognised as a minor god and has at least some mild importance. If he was a complete nobody then the Emperor wouldn't have bothered trying to get the ring. He's probably been able to observe their magic through long range scans and see how they operate, what's the kind of average output and what not.

These Gods have rules; don't make the game boring. They can't directly manifest due to restrictions on the material universe and so use proxies; Apostles, hosts etc. He even informed the Emperor a little on how god's manage themselves.

Duke Long · Jun 7, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
A delay of a few minutes is worth it if it gets get her confidence-

Extraneous 'get'?

Mr Zoat said:
Oh. Um. So you..? Can't get whoever it was the Ub'x was talking to?"

Extraneous 'the'?

Stsword · Jun 7, 2023

RoninSword said:
My understanding was that the term Fifth World is precisely because its the fifth world to play host to the Life Entity. Hinon asked Paul if he knew what happened to all the previous places that did. He mentioned that New Genesis and Apokolips used to be the previous place before they split in two. Renegade knows more about those details than Paul does.

I assumed that Highfather was aware that Earth hosts the Life Entity but that is pure speculation on my part.

In this fic, yes.

In DC comics the two have nothing to do with each other, especially because Earth is the only known host planet for the White Light Entity.

Just mentioning that because I've noticed that some WTR fans get confused as to what is Zoat's creation and what's actually true to DC comics.

For example I had someone get upset with me in a dnd board because I pointed out that WTR's New Gods are Zoat's Exalted homebrew so if they wanted to emulate Zoat's New Gods in dnd they should take a look at the Exalted inspired d20 game Godbound.

Mr Zoat · Jun 7, 2023

Duke Long said:
Extraneous 'get'?
Extraneous 'the'?

Thank you, corrected.

ForeverShogo · Jun 7, 2023

I'm not really sure why he felt the need to get in an argument with an illusionary recreation of the person he's looking for. He wasn't actually talking to him at any point, so nothing that got said there actually mattered.

Vaermina · Jun 7, 2023

0zymandias said:
Paul has been in the Gate world a while, years by this point. He's recognised as a minor god and has at least some mild importance. If he was a complete nobody then the Emperor wouldn't have bothered trying to get the ring. He's probably been able to observe their magic through long range scans and see how they operate, what's the kind of average output and what not.

These Gods have rules; don't make the game boring. They can't directly manifest due to restrictions on the material universe and so use proxies; Apostles, hosts etc. He even informed the Emperor a little on how god's manage themselves.

Paul can't use any of the features of his ring, that includes scans.

The only power we know he still has is his empathic vision.

ForeverShogo said:
I'm not really sure why he felt the need to get in an argument with an illusionary recreation of the person he's looking for. He wasn't actually talking to him at any point, so nothing that got said there actually mattered.

It's part of his Orange Light caused neurosis.

koya · Jun 7, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
Japanese slaves will have vaccinations against common Sanderan diseases and be far less psychologically resilient than slaves taken locally, and the Japanese are expecting the Sanderan Empire to create artificial scarcity

Should this be "will not have vaccinations" or maybe "will have no vaccinations"? Otherwise seems a bit odd

Mr Zoat · Jun 8, 2023

13th February 2013
18:56 GMT -5

Unsurprisingly, the illusionary Ub'x is shown standing next to an unconscious native. Ub'x appears to be taking the opportunity to file his teeth. I hadn't realised that was something that he needed to do. I sort of assumed that at some point in his species' development, as they stopped needing to spend so much time gnawing on wood, evolution would have led to a gradual slowing of the growth of their teeth. But I guess not.

There's a… Subtle twitch from the native, but Ub'x doesn't respond to it.

Dreamer makes eye contact with me. "That was for our benefit. She did not actually twitch."

"So she became conscious, but hid it. That's uncharacteristic of her species."

Ub'x touches the cutting edge of his teeth, and realises… Something. Ah, he's decided that they were too sharp, and is filing the edge flatter.

Another twitch, and-.

The native very weakly throws a small stone in Ub'x's direction. It falls well short, and bounces once with a feeble 'clack' before coming to rest.

Ub'x looks at where they landed, then returns to his filing.

The native appears to have lost consciousness-. Wait. There really was a native who wanted to be evil but couldn't?

"That wouldn't even scare off one of your species. Oh, no. You're unconscious again. I suppose that was more effort than most of your species would have made."

He puts his tooth file away and watches the native, patiently waiting for-. Her eyes open very slightly and she tries to subtly take in her environment.

"Hello, Paldak. I mean you-. No, you're gone again."

Serifan looks at Dreamer. "Can you speed this up any?"

Paldak's eyes open again, and make contact with Ub'x's. "What do you want with us, weird mould-covered alien?

"I-. What? No, this isn't mould, it's fur."

"What's that?"

Ring, quick scan-? Ah. No, no species on this planet has fur. Symbiotic mould is indeed the closest they have, and that's an insect-analogue only thing.

"It's made of the same material as…" The locals don't have nails, due to the obvious risk of a species like that having anything vaguely sharp anywhere on their bodies. "It's made of keratin, which-."

"I know what keratin is. Why is it growing all over you?"

"My species evolved it for insulation and water-proofing. That was nearly a confrontational statement."

"If I faint three times in succession, it takes a little more to trigger the response again. Not much more though. Hang-. Hang on."

She goes limp.

"Hm." Ub'x considers her for a moment, then waves his hand.

She immediately jerks awake. "Whatwhatwhat?"

"I could see this wasn't getting anywhere. Why did you try and 'attack' me?"

"Because you're a weird alien who kidnapped me! And I-! How am I still upright?"

"I suppressed your natural inclination to-."

"I will do anything for you if you make this permanent."

"Ah. That makes this a little easier. How would you like the ability to make it permanent yourself?"

"Yes. My own body is the one enemy I can't beat! If I can stay awake, I can do anything!"

"And do what?"

"Anything! I've never been this excited before! It's amazing!"

Ub'x looks a little uncomfortable as Paldak scurries up to him and pushes her face into his.

"Doitdoitdoit-."

Ub'x taps her on the shoulder and she collapses.

"That's about enough of that. But that was definitely consent." He waves his staff-.

The image stops moving, and Dreamer steps closer.

"They left after that. He is recruiting."

I nod. "Maybe he just doesn't want to talk to me until he's got a Corps to back him up? Can you tell if he came here after he visited New Berrith or before?"

"It feels… I think before? But… Not by long."

"Can you tell if Paldak is still alive?"

Serifan snorts. "Or more importantly, where she's still alive."

"If she died, it was not on this world. And no."

"Indigo Lanterns are hard to track. That's not surprising."

Ring, any monitoring..? No, of course not: none of them could watch it. There are some missing person posters, which is a nice touch. And means that she hasn't been back.

Given what happened to Huyen, that's not particularly hopeful.

Vykin considers the scene. "We could attempt to speak with the locals. That would give us the time of her departure."

Serifan shakes his head. "They can teleport anywhere. It ain't like we can track his trail."

Bear frowns thoughtfully. "Do her people have an enemy?"

B'dg nods. "No, but the statejians are the most aggressive species in this region. She would know about them. Do you think she picked a fight?"

"I think fighting picked her. And if her body stopped holding her back, where else would she go?"

Vykin nods. "Dreamer? Can you see any other destination?"

"I…" She shakes her head. "No. I can't. Wherever he went, he wasn't thinking about it here."

"Or it's blocked. In case it comes up, to the best of my knowledge the homeworld of the Indigo Lantern Corps is a place called Nok. No idea where it is, and my previous attempts to locate it haven't been successful."

Vykin nods. "Then we go to the home of the statejian, and we ask politely if they have seen her."

B'dg frowns. "I doubt they'll answer a polite question. They're pretty aggressive."

"Perhaps. Or perhaps the violent parts of their species are what other people see, and on their home things will be different."

Ah. I look at Lightray, but he doesn't seem bothered. Okay, well, their technology isn't anything special. I should be able to protect everyone. It-.

BOOM!

"Really, Serifan?"

He grins impishly. "They've barely had time to get up. Let's go!"

Mr Zoat · Jun 8, 2023

koya said:
Should this be "will not have vaccinations" or maybe "will have no vaccinations"? Otherwise seems a bit odd

No. The Romans had pretty much the same diseases that other early AD Europeans did.

Darko · Jun 8, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
That's uncharacteristic her species."

"of her species"

Mr Zoat · Jun 8, 2023

Darko said:
"of her species"

Thank you, corrected.

Chojin Patriarch · Jun 8, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
13th February 2013
18:56 GMT -5

Unsurprisingly, the illusionary Ub'x is shown standing next to an unconscious native. Ub'x appears to be taking the opportunity to file his teeth. I hadn't realise that was something that he needed to do. I sort of assumed that at some point in his species' development, as they stopped needing to spend so much time gnawing on wood, evolution would have led to a gradual slowing of the growth of their teeth. But I guess not.

There's a… Subtle twitch from the native, but Ub'x doesn't respond to it.

Oh, this little fainting lizard is a sneaky one. And yes, some creatures do have teeth that continually grow. I suppose for Ub'x, this is the equivalent of picking dirt from underneath his fingernails. Guess he has to do something while he waits for the fainter to awaken.

Dreamer makes eye contact with me. "That was for our benefit. She did not actually twitch."

"So she became conscious, but hid it. That's uncharacteristic her species."

Amusing that her projections over-act. Makes it easier to spot unfamiliar body language, maybe.

Ub'x touches the cutting edge of his teeth, and realises… Something. Ah, he's decided that they were too sharp, and is filing the edge flatter.

Another twitch, and-.

Don't want to look like a complete psycho, after all.

The native very weakly throws a small stones in Ub'x's direction. It falls well short, and bounces once with a feeble 'clack' before coming to rest.

Ub'x looks at where they landed, then returns to his filing.

Aw, look at how brave she's being.

The native appears to have lost consciousness-. Wait. There really was a native who wanted to be evil but couldn't?

"That wouldn't even scare off one of your species. Oh, no. You're unconscious again. I suppose that was more effort than most of your species would have made."

...Seriously?

I suppose the fainting reflex would be an impediment to doing some unsocial things...

He puts his tooth file away and watches the native, patiently waiting for-. Her eyes open very slightly and she tries to subtly take in her environment.

"Hello, Paldak. I mean you-. No, you're gone again."

I can just hear the frustration in his voice.

Serifan looks at Dreamer. "Can you speed this up any?"

Paldak's eyes open again, and make contact with Ub'x's. "What do you want with us, weird mould-covered alien?

Helpful that it comes with a fast-forward mode.

"I-. What? No, this isn't mould, it's fur."

"What's that?"

I suppose to a reptilian species, mammalian traits like fur would seem strange.

Ring, quick scan-? Ah. No, no species on this planet has fur. Symbiotic mould is indeed the closest they have, and that's an insect-analogue only thing.

"It's made of the same material as…" The locals don't have nails, due to the obvious risk of a species like that having anything vaguely sharp anywhere on their bodies. "It's made of keratin, which-."

...Wow, it's like evolution made them to be as child-friendly as possible.

...Which raises the question of their own child-rearing practices. What happens to an infant if the parent has a fainting moment?

"I know what keratin is. Why is it growing all over you?"

"My species evolved it for insulation and water-proofing. That was nearly a confrontational statement."

Wow, kind of impressive. She is abnormal.

"If I faint three times in succession, it takes a little more to trigger the response again. Not much more though. Hang-. Hang on."

She goes limp.

...Seriously, how do these people manage to do anything?

"Hm." Ub'x considers her for a moment, then waves his hand.

She immediately jerks way. "Whatwhatwhat?"

Ah, a little application of Indigo healing rays. That's one way to bypass the genetic quirk.

"I could see this wasn't getting anywhere. Why did you try and 'attack' me?"

"Because you're a weird alien who kidnapped me! And I-! How am I still upright?"

...If you can call barely throwing a rock 'attacking'. But it was impressively brave.

"I suppressed your natural inclination to-."

"I will do anything for you if you make this permanent."

Amazed that wasn't 100% Orange there. I suppose it's hard to read emotional traces through the projection.

"Ah. That makes this a little easier. How would you like the ability to make it permanent yourself?"

"Yes. My own body is the one enemy I can't beat! If I can stay awake, I can do anything!"

Well, she's dreaming big, I guess...

"And do what?"

"Anything! I've never been this excited before! It's amazing!"

...Hard to pick something when you're given that kind of freedom, I suppose.

Ub'x looks a little uncomfortable as Paldak scurries up to him and pushes her face into his.

"Doitdoitdoit-."

Another case of 'overly attached girlfriend' face, I bet.

Ub'x taps her on the shoulder and she collapses.

"That's about enough of that. But that was definitely consent." He waves his staff-.

And that would be a successful recruitment, I suppose.

The image stops moving, and Dreamer steps closer.

"They left after that. He is recruiting."

Safe bet to make, yes.

I nod. "Maybe he just doesn't want to talk to me until he's got a Corps to back him up? Can you tell if he came here after he visited New Berrith or before?"

"It feels… I think before? But… Not by long."

Not like she can look at timestamps, OL.

"Can you tell if Paldak is still alive?"

Serifan snorts. "Or more importantly, where she's still alive."

Yes, the 'where' is a bit more important than the 'if', I think.

"If she died, it was not on this world. And no."

"Indigo Lanterns are hard to track. That's not surprising."

Unfortunately, it seems this was a dead end...

Ring, any monitoring..? No, of course not: none of them could watch it. There are some missing person posters, which is a nice touch. And means that she hasn't been back.

Given what happened to Huyen, that's not particularly hopeful.

It might well be that Indigo Tribesmen are expected to have a short working life...

Vykin considers the scene. "We could attempt to speak with the locals. That would give us the time of her departure."

Serifan shakes his head. "They can teleport anywhere. It ain't like we can track his trail."

Crumbs of information. Not the best way to get anywhere...

Bear frowns thoughtfully. "Do her people have an enemy?"

Bd'g nods. "No, but the statejians are the most aggressive species in this region. She would know about them. Do you think she picked a fight?"

If she was that hyper just learning that the fainting reflex could be overcome? Safe bet.

"I think fighting picked her. And if her body stopped holding her back, where else would she go?"

Vykin nods. "Dreamer? Can you see any other destination?"

The question would then be, did she survive her first outing?

"I…" She shakes her head. "No. I can't. Wherever he went, he wasn't thinking about it here."

"Or it's blocked. In case it comes up, to the best of my knowledge the homeworld of the Indigo Lantern Corps is a place called Nok. No idea where it is, and my previous attempts to locate it haven't been successful."

Because he's missed the obvious lead: Hal Jordan's ring. I assume he's still using Abin Sur's in this timeline.

Vykin nods. "Then we go to the home of the statejian, and we ask politely if they have seen her."

Bd'g frowns. "I doubt they'll answer a polite question. They're pretty aggressive."

Then you get to engage in diplomacy through superior firepower.

"Perhaps. Or perhaps the violent parts of their species are what other people see, and on their home things will be different."

Ah. I look at Lightray, but he doesn't seem bothered. Okay, well, their technology isn't anything special. I should be able to protect everyone. It-.

Heh. OL still not thinking much of the Forever people...

BOOM!

"Really, Serifan?"

He grins impishly. "They've barely had time to get up. Let's go!"

Children...

So, one lead points them to another, and another. If OL is going to be as tenacious about this as anything else he focuses on, he no doubt will find Ub'x. It's just a matter of how long it'll take, and how long before something comes up to distract OL. It's a good thing OL doesn't really have much of a temper these days, or it'd be getting worn thin with all these delays.

Vaermina · Jun 8, 2023

Chojin Patriarch said:
So, one lead points them to another, and another. If OL is going to be as tenacious about this as anything else he focuses on, he no doubt will find Ub'x. It's just a matter of how long it'll take, and how long before something comes up to distract OL. It's a good thing OL doesn't really have much of a temper these days, or it'd be getting worn thin with all these delays.

I actually think it would be more interesting if LePaul just completely fails in this.

And then returns to Earth dejected, only to find the others solved the problem without him.

BR549 · Jun 8, 2023

Chojin Patriarch said:
It's just a matter of how long it'll take, and how long before something comes up to distract OL.

At least it's not like he's looking for John Constantine anymore?

Duke Long · Jun 8, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
She immediately jerks way. "Whatwhatwhat?"

'awake'?

Mr Zoat · Jun 8, 2023

Duke Long said:
'awake'?

Thank you, corrected.

Assblaster5000 · Jun 8, 2023

Huh, I kind of would have expected Ub'x to be able to use his Ring/Staff to file his teeth down. The desire to make her feel safe seems like it'd work for it, but I guess he either didn't see much point or just can't?

Mr Zoat said:
I hadn't realise that

'realised'

Vaermina · Jun 8, 2023

BR549 said:
At least it's not like he's looking for John Constantine anymore?

Oh yea, whatever happened to that guy?

Mr Zoat · Jun 8, 2023

Assblaster5000 said:
Huh, I kind of would have expected Ub'x to be able to use his Ring/Staff to file his teeth down. The desire to make her feel safe seems like it'd work for it, but I guess he either didn't see much point or just can't?

He feels that there some things a beaver ought to do for himself.

'realised'

Thank you, corrected.

Prince Charon · Jun 8, 2023

Chojin Patriarch said:
...Wow, it's like evolution made them to be as child-friendly as possible. ...Which raises the question of their own child-rearing practices. What happens to an infant if the parent has a fainting moment?

The infant faints too? If you mean 'what if they drop/fall on the baby,' I think probably what happens to the young of RL animals that have a fainting reflex, but I'm not sure what that is. Maybe they're more durable than human infants?

Darko · Jun 8, 2023

Chojin Patriarch said:
...Wow, it's like evolution made them to be as child-friendly as possible. ...Which raises the question of their own child-rearing practices. What happens to an infant if the parent has a fainting moment

Maybe they're more resilient when their children are on the line.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Seriously, how do these people manage to do anything?

I'm guessing they just keep doing something until they finish it.

Granted it will take them a long time since they faint.

Mr Zoat · Jun 8, 2023

It's really more that they don't carry their children, due to the obvious risk.

DAT_NOOB · Jun 8, 2023

BR549 said:
At least it's not like he's looking for John Constantine anymore?

Isn't he on Themyscira going through Rehab after being beaten up by his clone/twin/golden boy/thing?

NightmareWarden · Jun 8, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
It's really more that they don't carry their children, due to the obvious risk.

Why did I imagine adults dragging children via leashes instead of a wagon...

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

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