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

Aren't Paul's construct lanterns usually more.. expressive? Teekl, the Praexis Demons, Hellwraith, Demon Nabu, Gary..nitpick maybe, but it's weird seeing them not even go "Yes, Master" or something.

You know, what would happen if Paul assimilated someone from the Antimatter Universe? I know it can assimilate demons and such, but would it work on something made of antimatter?

 

There's that lack of critical thinking again.

If you were the only three people on the planet he would have died from dehydration/starvation already.

 

They only act like anything because subconsciously Paul expected them to act at least partly like their old self. If he doesn't want construct Colin to act like anything, it won't.

 

I wonder if Paul will recognize this guy. I didn't I know who Power Ring is. His death leads to my second favorite Green Lantern becoming a character Jessica Cruz. I never learned his real name though.

 

Honestly, the poison was probably the best option they had. They might not have been able to ensure that any kind of fire, especially one large enough to suffocate them all, wouldn't go out of control and damage the tombs...

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Honestly, a setup like this... Would the closest crypts have been the oldest community members, dating back however many decades since its founding, with newer crypts deeper down as they expanded... Or would they have moved each older generation deeper in with each expansion, to ensure the newly interred 'ancestor spirits' were closest to the living? Who knows?

Which would be quite the display in animation. guns appearing all around him...

...So not a local. Perhaps this section was carved to to hide something newer? But by who?

Definitely someone trying to hide something.

Ooof. I expect it has an effect on corporeal forms similar to what a kaleidoscope does to light? Messy.

Good use for bad rubbish, even if you have to put up with seeing his memories every time...

Since that area couldn't have any other defences within it... They'd have been destroyed by the effect.

Which means said signal could be very well-hidden from you.

Someone's having either a very bad time back there, or a very good one.

To be fair, it'd probably have fooled anyone without a Power Ring, I bet.

A rookie Weaponer, taking advantage of Kalmin's abandonment of his worksite?

Because of course there's a self-destruct. Probably something large and messy, I bet.

Huh. Marinated in fear. That sounds... Unpleasant.

Kalmin: A very poor one, of course.

Yeah, best to know what you're poking before you let it out of it's cage.

Let me guess: An Antimatter universe counterpart of someone you know? What are the odds?

Well, he's terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.

For shits and giggles, or for a specific reason?

To be fair, for a Weaponer, that's an entirely valid option...

...So, there's an Earth -14. What's their Earth 14 like, then? Or would that be the equivalent of their Anti-Matter Universe?

Given previous experience with inter-polarity crossovers, I'm betting his entire body has Situs Inversus. That is, his body is a mirror image of a 'normal' human's - Heart on the right, that sort of thing.

Ah, he's not gone bye-bye any more. Just remember, if he asks if you're a god... Say 'Yes.'

It wouldn't be the first time you've encountered someone cut off from the other Lights. Remember Sally Sonic?

...The only ones alive, anyway.

Might need to be a bit more commanding to break through that thick shell of fear, OL...

...If you're lucky, you can prevent him being acquired by Volthoom's Ring...

Huh. There's a turn-up for the books. I wonder if this universe has an active Crime Syndicate (and Joe 'Power Ring' Harrolds here was lost in space) or if it's earlier in their Earth's timeline. Either is entirely possible, given the funky inter-universal timelines... I mean, how many times did the Earth-1 Justice League have a 'first encounter' with alternate, evil Earths? Even accounting for Crises rewriting history?

---

The crypt is built into the stone of the mountain...

...punches through its weak armour and cuts off its power supply.

 

Crime Syndicate Power Ring. Interesting.

 

Looked him up and man there is just a slew of retconning as they can't seem to quite figure out this guy's personality or even how his ring functions.

But he's a villain for one of the versions of the Crime Syndicate, and the Antimatter counterpart to Hal Jordan.

And either his power ring is cursed and causes him both physical and mental anguish when he uses it, with the users generally tricking other people into taking it, or it isn't cursed but is still something separate from the Green Lanterns and the Guardians.

The cursed version of the character is kind of a weak willed little bitch, but the not-cursed version apparently has such overwhelming levels of willpower that he was able to use his lantern itself as a weapon instead of just his ring. A feat which is considered "impossible" for Green Lanterns to achieve. (I guess that would be a raw power thing.)

 

Who was this? I think the anti-green version ended up with a golden ring. Was it him?

 

Thank you, corrected.

Yes.

No, that version of Power Ring is just called Harold Jordan.

 

I’m a bit confused. I thought Earth Negative 14 was the main Crime Syndicate universe of this fic, not Earth Negative 16? Or is that a typo? When has Paul been to an antimatter universe?

 

The people from -14 deliberately avoided 14 because they'd already fought them.

When he picked up Kalmin, though he didn't go anywhere near their Earth.

 

I thought -14 had fought Earth 12’s Justice League.

So you’re going with the idea that every Earth in this multiverse has its own Antimatter counterpart? That’s a neat concept.

 

Might have been. Might have been.

 

Do you mean to say that the Syndicate of Earth -14 has fought both the Justice League of Earth 14 and the Justice League of Earth 12?

 

I don't think I meant to say anything like that.

There's no obvious reason why they'd just raid Earth 16.

 

Kalmin also did once mention abducting and experimenting on humans from Earth after Jordan showed up.

Hmm, seeing as he's been suffocated by fear removing him may potentially be like taking away the drugs f a particularly addicted user and can lead to serious complications.

 

There was the whole thing with Red Tornado's 'father'. Truggs had made him a construct and paul took him in, but never gave him orders. He went over to Tornado's place to check up on him. They found that the personality of the construct was effected by Paul's own desires. The construct mad scientist didn't have any great urge to do anything, but even the suggestion of writing down his work made him want to.

Paul liked having a cat, and knew cats were gonna act like cats. Teeki was very animated and fairly cat like, writ large.

The Praexis demons were absorbed after demoing their abilities and personality and stayed that way....until Pauls drives changes (there was a big where one of them did the 'food?' gag and got dope slapped by the others....and later on when he used them he actually kinda missed it when they stopped).

The Hellwraith got shifted around once he figured out how malleable it could be, but rarely did anything to show it's personality off. Where as the Evil Fate construct from that hell on earth world is coloured by the pre battle banter and the image of the Old Nabu luggage, and acts accordingly.

Aside from Truggs, mini satan here was likely a good contender for Pauls Nemesis, as he applied all the uplifted magical developments Paul started to make the world worse. He Really didn't like the guy, and really didn't like having him in his head....but yeeting him out front as his walking 10 trap detecting pole is a decent fate for him, since sending him home to hell isn't much punishment. A bit of back sass from being used as a pinata might be expected though.

 

Ngl, I'd love to see that

Satanus: Pardon me, Master, but could you not constantly use me as a glorified sandbag.

Paul: Your request is acknowledged, Lantern Thorton, but no. Now, do you mind making yourself useful and checking this hallway for boobytraps?

Satanus*sighing*: Very well, Master.

 

, instead of ;

 

Sorry, was doing a reread and thought of this:

How much technological pilfering have the Tau had him doing?

Because ring FTL, ring scans and the occasional covert assimilation of a tech priest to become a construct should be able to copy most of the imperium's tech base in at least not too long.
And from there it should be possible to track down imperial records of other races, and pilfer tech from those races that are more advanced than the imperium in a narrow specialty.
Or at least give Tau scientists a lot more to go on in reverse engineering attempts/inspiration for their own designs.

And if he could take an apothecary and salvage some geneseed, they could copy the space marine implants. Though that'd be something to leave for last, as it would probably be hard to hide and provocative of crusades.


Or is this interview going to bring up the idea of using him for that kind of stuff/longer-ranged diplomacy?

 

Reminder that every single Imperium database is warded and that Power Rings can't access warded systems.

Second reminder, Imperium systems are filled with AI and Scrap Code that without Author Ex Machina would destroy his ring if he actually tried to access them.

Third reminder, if he starts Assimilating humans he's likely to get a Culexus sent after him... At which point he dies...

 

So last we got to see LePaul hadn't figured out creating a proper power ring (not a construct in the shape of a power ring). The only time we saw him do anything like that was retrieving Larfleeze's ring from the Honden after it was destroyed.

 

Thank you, corrected.

Not all that much. Without the rest of the technology web, capturing a particular thing isn't all that useful. Similarly, the general state of ignorance in the Imperium means that capturing an individual might not be all that useful.

 

Say

 

He can make lanterns, though, that's a good first step.

Both Alan and Larfleeze made their own rings once they got a lantern in the comics.

Not that you'd know that in this fic since Zoat apparently really loves the "Alan is using a broken GLC" thing that is true in YJ according to Word of God.

Alan's ring, in the comics, is a

Spoiler: green lantern ring

As in a green lantern on a ring.

 

But why go to that much effort when they have a simple Earth close at hand? Especially for a test subject. Hell, if they were feeling particularly sassy, it could well be a clone, with the setup an attempt to forge a soul out of pure Fear.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Because of course she knows. It's not like the League of Shadows wouldn't have found out the League's secret identities even before the whole New Year's mind control thing.

It's probably not something they needed to constantly monitor, I guess? I mean, if the bio-monitor suit he's wearing includes an intravenous nutrient feed... He'd probably feel terrible not having eaten or drunk anything for however long, but he wouldn't die from it.

Or a long-range teleporter. To put it simply, there's too much planet to search, I suppose.

And Ring Learning isn't nearly as effective as learning it the old-fashioned way, of course.

Why let their customers make their own? That'd undercut their business, after all...

Besides for the original commission, you mean?

...That's what under-graduates are for. Just good business, you know.

Not that your rings are much good. If that Lantern you made way back when was any indicator, at least...

It's not the years that gets you, after all. It's the mileage. And Sinestro's got a lot of miles on his clock...

Certainly easier than conjecturing all the live-long-day...

Lysis, most likely, then. She did the job for the Renegade in that timeline, after all. Makes sense that she'd have been working from known principles here.

"I don't talk to test subjects. It contaminates the data."

I doubt she'd leave a business card.

Since, you know, so many aliens resemble humans to some degree...

...Though I suspect he wouldn't be able to quote which Earth. Then again, it's a matter of scanning vibrational frequencies, right?

It probably has been a while since Joey here has felt happy, I suppose...

'Cui Bono?' He's probably confused why you aren't asking for payment up-front for helping him, or something like that.

As hard as it is to believe, yes...

Still, the protection probably outweighs the social penalties of looking like Robby the Robot's orange-flavoured cousin...

Oooh, good idea. You have no idea how long ago he was shoved in here, right? Not like there's a clock in there for him.

...Not being racist, but most Quardians do look alike from a distance...

Because he's not sure what the wrong answer will result in, of course.

Okay. Most likely Lysis, then.

To be fair, this universe likely hasn't got a Lantern Corps of any colour (Sinestro's work notwithstanding...)

...So he's probably never heard of a Power Ring.

Even if it was only in a gloating monologue? Do feel free to leave out any maniacal laughter.

About what they expected, then.

...Oh, dear. Best be quick, then. I get the feeling this was something of a safety valve...

Turning the machine off is bad, eh? I have to wonder if there's a good reason why, or if it was a psychological thing to make him want to stay in there and unwilling to stop the 'treatment'... And there's still the question of whether 'she' is aware of their interference in her little experiment. Assuming she's even still alive, given the recent difficulties Qward has undergone...

 

Yea... There's a lot of stuff off in this chapter...

 

I was going to mention the jokaero, but... has anyone (in universe) hypothesized that P'ol's ring might be jokaero tech? Hyper-advanced, miniaturized, ring based technology... and he's even orange.

Apologies if this got brought up after, like, the first appearance of that alt. I did try searching the thread, and didn't see any results.

 

Didn't he think about making a new ring and realise it would take months at "maximum sustained avarice levels" according to the ring he woke up with? Or was that power batteries/lanterns?