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

Wonder how this one deals with not having a soul?

 

But what about Wonder Woman? Is she going to England first? I don’t know this timeline? Who finds her, if not a WW 2 pilot?

Edit: Never mind, looked it up: she hears the Martian Manhuntwr’s telepathy when he’s in trouble from the Imperium.

 

What about her? Probably still on Themyscira. I don't think this version was one that fought in WWII?

EDIT: Which is to say, she'll probably have whatever origin she had in the Justice League cartoon.

 

Not Necessarily On Earth-12.

 

Thing is, Batman isn't worldwide news. America has lots of vigilantes. Outside of Gotham 'man dressed as a Bat foils robbery' is slow news day fodder.

 

Is this Paul going to be the benefactor of a European superhero group, like a good version of Maxwell Lord?

 

From what I understand of what we understand, it's actually way less of a issue than you'd expect, especially if you aren't a superhero.

The consequence of not having a soul in the first place, is essentially just magic vulnerability and permadeath.


Magic vulnerability, because the soul is the magical bit of you that resists magic, and without it magic can affect you as easily as any other inanimate object.

Permadeath, because no soul means nothing outside of your skull to survive and get pulled into a afterlife when you 'die'.


The first one isn't a huge issue if you're in a line of work where you don't regularly encounter magic, though you'd still be a lot more vulnerable to mind control magic and high-ambient-magic fields.

The second one is a bit more up in the air.


Note, there's a difference between "no soul in the first place" and "having your soul removed". DC-verse brains seem to, at least partially, use souls for cognition. This is why you don't quite die if your physical brain is destroyed. But removing your soul is a bit like randomly ripping half the parts out of a computer; unless it's a very unique computer, it's gonna stop working.

OL originally came into the universe with a brain that was fully functional without any magic at all, so a soul is superfluous; it's like if that computer was designed to run without all of those pieces you took out, so whether or not they're there in the first place, it doesn't need them.


Personally, if I had a charged power ring, I would want to avoid having a soul. I ascribe to pattern identity theory, meaning that I think a satisfactory solution to death is to just make a clone of yourself with the same brain and relatively up-to-date memories, and wake it up if you die. Souls are... sticky, and resist or confuddle attempts to do stuff like that; if you make a clone, it'll grow its own soul. Even if you somehow keep all the important thinky-bits in your physical head (which is a lot easier to copy with a power ring, compared to the magic bits), any time you die a copy of your soul will end up in some cheesy afterlife for all eternity, helpless to escape or do anything back in the physical world. So souls make one of the most promising ways to avoid death very difficult.

A bit of magic resistance is peanuts compared to, as I see it, effectively enforcing permadeath. Or at least making it really tricky and annoying.

 

Insufficient data to be sure on that yet; the pre-history of organized superheroics on Earth 12 wasn't covered too extensively. Fail to remember the relevant episodes clearly and it could be any number of possibilities.
I'm honestly banking on "Peter" realising just where he is during his visit to America, where he'll visit Gotham 'just to be sure', and upon inevitably hearing Mark Hamill's laugh...

Given the time stamps in the first post for the next two episodes, I'm wagering my quatloos on "recently" being "receiving a not exactly friendly Bat-Visit following the League's little adventure on Earth -14", possibly involving Bats saying "Peter Wynne. Or should I call you 'Orange Lantern'?".

 

Merely for clarity, in the context of this story yellow rings have their construct strength bolstered by the fear of the user and those nearby. Blue rings, on the other hand, can indeed charge off ambient hope; that's how Pauler Ring Blue got by without a lantern.

 

Not sure why people think 'Peter' is gonna be involved in Superheroics. What motivation would he have? He doesn't have any pathological excessive need to punch bad guys in the face or try to do the police force's job for them, no dark backstory or oath to fulfill. He, right now, can't charge his Orange Ring, so he's going to do the best he can with all the money that he has because he's motivated to uplift the world, that's it.

Now I didn't see Superman: The Animated Series but I believe that one has some upcoming events that may be more globally significant (and the sole appearance of Superman itself should be) so by then 'Peter' will probably recognize certain other elements of Earth 12 and who knows what he will do, but in general Business Men don't get involved in that sort of thing and Kal-El should have it in hand already. Besides, it's established already that any Paul that arrives in a certain universe can't recognize the universe itself at all, the information just disappears from their mind, so he probably doesn't even know what the DCAU is.

Oh, and if I recall only the Blue Rings got empowered by its ambient emotion at all. I believe Sinestro's ring, before the whole advent of the other colors, also recharged himself by attacking Green Lanterns (like the Anti-Green Lanterns themselves) but that probably has the excuse of Parallax being trapped in the Green Central Power Battery during that period.

 

Maybe not involved in superheroics, but Rich + Involved with super tech makes him a prime target for supervillains. He has his ring to defend himself, but a limited charge. I imagine he'd want some supertech gear for protection.

 

Yes, but they'll be British supervillains. Most of them aren't exactly terrifying.

 

Tricky. Harley originated in BtAS, and Paul, er, Peter does not remember the canon of whichever universe he's been dropped in. He might not know who Dr. Quinzel is. Also, she was Harley Quinn pretty much from the first BtAS episode, so she's already crazy about the Joker and not at all disillusioned yet.

 

He'd know who Quinzel is. It's Paul. He grew up on Btas.

 

He doesn’t have those memories anymore due to him having been transported to this universe, same as OL and Grayven not knowing Young Justice. To him Quinzel (assuming you’re talking about the woman who became Harley Quinn) is just Harley Quinn as found in comics based on the main continuity and the Arkham video games.

 

Yeah, if I couldn't remember B:TAS the only few things I would remember about Harley Quinn would be the Arkham video game series (plus that animated movie Assault on Arkham) and her prominence in the 'sexy cosplay' market. That wouldn't really catch my attention above all the other 'mad scientists' that would be preferable to try to stir into making money or something of the like. There was a mention of this 'Peter' being involved with Cheetah, I think? And that picks my curiosity more.

Mr Zoat, some corrections:

Spoiler: Corrections

I think this should be: 'the flesh heating up so fast that it seems to explode'.

We seem to have lost this link, but I can't recall what it was.

I think: 'able to operate on extreme temperatures'.

I believe it should be: 'in areas of contaminated soil.'

I think is: 'boughs and leaves turning to.. form a face.'

For this: 'and then step through.'

I think: 'Khundians have a similar restriction.'

I believe: 'with warlords looking for a trophy.'

I think it should be: 'to think of God as kind and loving.'

American spelling, so 'organization'.

I think: 'it's only reasonable that she asks'.

Should be: 'probably put there by Mister Kharhi.'

I think: 'enthusiasm in the prosecution of one's duties'.

There is an extra space before the closing quote mark.

I think: 'we do have a variety of licensed punishments'.

We seem to have lost this link, I believe it was this image: https://i2.wp.com/www.theshareduniverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/medphyll-and-swamp-thing.jpg?resize=1024,597

I believe it should be: 'Cut through the deck in the direction'.

Missing full stop.

I think: 'Dox looks exceedingly tense for an instant'.

Not sure on this one, but maybe: 'Do you really think that admitting to trading'.

 

Okay. Starman's Cosmic Converter tech is a good foundation for the company. Power generation is good and reliable and ubiquitous. Also Peter could get any environmental groups on his side by promoting the true clean power aspects of the cosmic converter tech.

That said, there are no shortage of money making ideas from Earth Prime that even a civilian like Paul could propose to any future members of research and development of his company or any engineers or programmers.

Faster Internet modems. The G networks eventually leading to 4 and 5G. Cell phone design leading to early proto smartphones. Cell phone apps. Faster Internet speeds leading to the creation of YouTube as a new media frontier. Flat-screen TVs. ITunes. Even Peter describing these ideas to smart tech people working for him could see results.

Also the force field aspects of the cosmic rod could be an excellent defense technology to create and market if Dr Knight is open to that.

EDIT: Peter's company starting the social media wave years early. A moneymaker and a way to promote the company potentially worldwide.

 

I get it now. Paul 12 has the greatest power of all....money.

 

So does Paul-16, we just don’t see it often.

 

The same motivation OL 16 has. The only thing stopping him is the lack of a power battery.

Even with the lack of a Justice League, he could easily be pulled into defending his company and tech. The moment you invent something in comics, especially a power source, some villain will want it for their own ends.

I mean, let us remember that a big part of being Iron man for Tony Stark was to keep people from stealing his shit.

 

Paul actually scanned Blue Lantern Paul's planeshifter, it was just never mentioned again.

 

Paul's lack of a soul would only likely be a temporary issue so long as he manages to live a long life. While Earth 12 might work differently, on Earth 16 it was said he'd have naturally developed one over time regardless just from absorbing ambient magical energies. He just got tattoos from Constantine that significantly sped up the process.

Though I have to admit, there's actually an update I'd really like to see for Earth 12 Paul.

That episode that had Vandal Savage go back in time to take over the Nazi Party and use future tech to conquer the world. Just for the reaction Paul would have to winding up on a Savage-Nazi controlled Earth with an Orange Ring that has only the one charge and no Lantern to recharge it with.

Like, sure, it gets undone. But that version of Paul 12 would still have spent years on that Earth (from his perspective) before the Justice League fixed the timeline.

And, yeah, the "main" Paul 12 would likely never know it happened. But it'd be fun seeing him trying to survive on that world as a one-shot.

 

Actually, what are the Knights up to in the Paragon timeline? Did they read about Paragon calling them out after the Bleed-generator unveiling in New York?
Couldn’t they reach out to Kordtech or possibly some Justice Society contact, or even just the news, to report their side of the story? I’m sure Ted would have tried reaching out to them too after learning about them. Vandal Savage could probably still keep his involvement secret but there might be a chance of getting the rights back and doing something with them. The Knights do at least still have some Starman tech lying around, which would be worth scanning and replicating (this could also address Paragon’s relative lack of recent innovation).

I also wonder if Business-Paul will buy Cadbury as soon as possible since he knows its future fate.

Actually Business-Paul can probably track down Zatanna, who’s actually an adult in this version and thus perfectly appropriate to enter a relationship with. She might not have the expertise to directly help him, but does seem to have decent supernatural contacts. (I’m not sure if she actually had magic pre-Justice League but I suppose she might have been keeping it secret when meeting Batman for the first time).
He should also know who Doctor Fate is, though I’m not sure how much public knowledge of him there is; I don’t think they explained how Superman knew him in his first appearance.
Constantine might exist too, though without a fully charged power ring Paul might not want to risk it.

 

The SI starting to use bleed torsion generators forced the front company Savage used to buy the rights to actually start using them. So, electricity prices are heading down but all the money is going to the caveman.

 

If his ring can't charge off ambient greed, would trying to eat the charge off a green lantern's ring (preferrably with their prior consent) be a bet positive, or would it just drain the greenie's faster than the orange ring?

 

I'd like to see Paul and the Team's faces if they ever realize that Paul was partially to blame for Savage having even more resources at his disposal to use against them and the Justice League.

Paul 12 had better be prepared to defend himself from Lex or other villains either trying to steal his tech, or get his company from under him. Could Paul even do that? He has a limited charge ring and isn't a genius. Will he hire people who were criminals, get them to trust him, and use them as bodyguards? That's the best way I think he could bring positive change alongside his tech company. That might be how he meets Cheetah; she was a researcher. So maybe Paul funded her research after she modified herself, taking away her motivation to become a criminal.

 

I mean..... This Paul Peter still has some charge and, theoretically, could have a secret identity he uses once and never again. If he really needs to, he can put on a full-body suit with head concealing mask, fly into space, and accelerate depleted uranium rods the size of buildings towards Lex getting out of his car at near or, depending on construct, faster than the speed of light. There are probably ways to do it without civilian casualties but what I'm saying is that Peter is willing to kill people and Lex's problem has always been that he has to be taken down legally. Hell, he could just kidnap Lex and dump him on some quickly-assembled cosmic-radiation powered base on Pluto.

The issue, as always, is whether Lex predicted you'd try that and would use it to expose you and ruin your company so he could buy your assets.

 

He's not a supervillain, so no.

 

I have read a few of those or similar enough, unfortunately they all end in Harem and in power Wank.

 

I personally have never seen the Illustres' motivation to be a 'superhero' in the first place. He wanted Alan's ring because it was the easiest and most expeditious way to recharge his ring, and because of that he had to swear an oath and get involved in superheroics; after that, well, his motivation is to improve the world, then the universe, and since he has the power to do it himself and an orange ring, why not? Plus, most of his friends are involved themselves so no way not to be involved. Without the oath he would probably had gone a path between the Sybarite and 'Peter', a superpowered industrialist trying to improve the world his own way and with the Justice League suspicious and maybe even investigating him.

Besides, Peter's not really inventing anything, he's going to be the capital and majority shareholder in the company that he funds. And in England. He probably will try to have something to protect himself, but that doesn't mean he will go out of his way to befriend superheroes or fight supervillains.

That's a possible technique of the Orange Power Rings. But even the Illustres needed a lot of time and practice to learn/develop it. I don't think one charge would be enough for 'Peter' to train enough and crack the concept.

Mr Zoat, some other corrections:

Spoiler: Corrections

Not sure on this one, I think it should be: 'And doesn't that just sounds splendid.'

Naming error I believe, due to context I think it should be 'Himon'. He hadn't known about Hinon the Controller just yet, so he should be referring about the creator of the Mother Boxes.

I believe the full stop should be after the hyphen instead.

I think: 'A beam of brilliant orange'. (Unless it was indeed a bream xD)

Should be: 'move my right hand up so that I can'.

Should be: 'neural interface attached to his head.'

Should be 'When she sees me'.

I think: 'I hold it just in front of my face'.

I believe the yellow ring is in the right hand? So: 'I look at the back of my right hand, having my yellow ring'.

These quotes from Hinon are missing the bold (at least I think it's bold) inherent to Maltusians not connected to a Central Power Battery, I believe.

I think: 'and it's risky even so.'

This has an extra red dot.

Should be: 'What little is left of the Citadel Complex'.