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

Not to Wolverine levels like Bumblebee experienced that one time, but the pseudo-organic way they function in the Prime series does include the ability for the "biological" aspects of their internals to self-repair and maintain themselves. I interpret their external armor shell as being like a bird's feathers. Capable of being manipulated and maintained by the internal squishier protoform, but not fully "alive" the way their internals are.

It's one of the reasons they run so much of their critical stuff on energon instead of easier to find fuel sources.
It allows it to maintain itself and not just wear out.

 

You are doing a really good job displaying how a relationship between a human and a Cybertronian is very complicated yet can still work.
From some things that were said by Slipstream and Knockout I have to ask... Is Paul going to have an additional romantic partner alongside Slipstream?
Also, if Paul gains a Cybertronian body what will he transform into and what will he look like?

 

"becoming"

 

I have no plans for him to do so. If anything like that happened, it would probably be in the far future when he was more machine than organic human.

Some sort of heavy transport vehicle. He'd probably look like a Fall of Cybertron era Ultra Magnus recolour, but longer.

Thank you, corrected.

 

I see. If anything were to happen. Who do you see bonding with him and Slipstream in such a manner?

I see. What colors would be included? And speaking of Ultra Magnus, apart from when Paul told the Autobots about Shockwave, have they ever had any time to get to know each other and if so what are their impressions of one another?

 

‘An engineering’

‘compass is’

‘a robot’ or ‘robots’?

’glances’

 

Thank you, corrected.

I have no particular transformer in mind. I could see Axlegrease joining them on Earth, but she's not a transformer either. She's just scavenged lots of parts from them.

Dull green, probably.

Ultra Magnus was a bit puzzled by the whole idea, and then dismissed them as irrelevant.

 

They do in pretty much every continuity including Prime.

 

That should say 'the'.

The hellwraith was permanently destroyed by Demon Nabu. The only construct-lanterns left are Morrow, a Saremite, a few Reach thralls, Demon Nabu, Gary of the Rot, and a Karrakanian Shipmaster. I assume Morrow was left somewhere else, but Paul should still have the rest with him.

Good to see Paul's going to get a few new useful construct-lanterns out of this adventure.

 

A good question, OL. I suppose it depends on how well-travelled the lake was recently. Though if ghostly hydra heads were lurking around before the Anti-Life, it might well have gotten a reputation for being dangerous for boating.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

It doesn't have to be intelligent to be crafty. Or vicious...

Is it reliable around high-magic creatures, though? Did you ever test that?

As the song goes: "You say it best, when you say nothing at all..."

Ah, exerting a lesser part of his abilities, to wrangle beasts he's captured?

The only way that could have been more amusing was if he pulled out a rolled-up newspaper to do that.

Ah, there's one now. So, good end all round. But what of OL's companions?

Greasing the wheel a little with flattery never hurts.

I suppose with his father indisposed, he's been having to take a little more commanding role in the Underworld's operations.

Remember the epithet 'He who has many guests'? Yes, turns out having the largest kingdom of the three brothers has its drawbacks.

In other words, Zaggy, he isn't alone in his neglect, accidental or otherwise.

That'd be an awkward position. Who could he even ask to do that job?

Well, he technically-maybe died, didn't he? Or did he come through the portal before it shut, at the cost of his ring charge?

Ah, good (or maybe bad) to have that confirmed. I wonder how many other forgotten or abandoned realms were lost before Mannheim went down...

Harder, but not impossible. After all, what are the Olympians but humans writ large, their virtues and their vices, their faults and flaws and failings alongside their talents, triumphs and 'truths'.

Since, you know, it's easier if there's no risk of being eaten...

Seriously, what ate all that charge? The Hydra shades?

In a pinch, he could maybe forcibly consume them for the ring charge to make a fresh Lantern. But that would mean sacrificing an asset.

Yeah, that scans. It probably aligned so well with her spiritual domains it went right in and stuck.

Oh, boy. A goddess who's kind-of mainlining all the compatible aspects of the Anti-Life. Just when you think you're rid of it entirely...

Yes, well... Can't really know someone until you walk a mile in their shoes...

Too dangerous a prey for the great hunter?

You hope, anyway? I mean, nothing's all that certain, is it?

...Oh, this is going to look like a terrible plan, isn't it?

Not sure they can safely be weaponised, OL...

...Unless you're going to tie them to a stick or something as a nasty flail.

It figures something would get stuck in Anti-Lifed mode, even after the White Light Event. So in pulling Olympus away from Earth, Hephestean messed up their ability to reconnect. Then again, with the Olympian realms separated, the Light probably never shone here. Who knows what it would have done to the Shades of Erebus, for one thing?

---

Looks like something got mangled by the dash break. Perhaps 'Sometimes know - to'?

"I'm honest enough to admit that I'm never going to believe that.

Much like the Aztecs, not all of us are as far from the Anti-Life as we might like."

I look out across the water as Charon rows out towards a struggling shade.

 

Hades would have been crazy pissed if it reincarnated everyone in his realm which is something it absolutely easily could have done.

 

The continuity preservation council has spoken!

 

Mr. Zoat needs an RPG character sheet at this point, too many things have happened, too many techniques and too many pieces of equipment.

And not only for the Illustres, also for other characters as well.

 

Unless its mystic nature prevents a translation.

"may be"

"the Greeks"

Heph may have given her the tech necessary to manage it, but she was still generating it.

 

honest

 

Thank you, corrected.

 

That extra 'r' should be removed.

 

Thank you, corrected.

 

Could have sworn demon Nabu was destroyed at some point too ..

 

Was still around for the fight with post anti-life revenge fury. No mini lanterns died there. Just temporarily turned against protag before back in hand.

 

Extra 'r' should be removed.

That should say 'so'.

I was wondering when someone would accuse OL of seducing someone. How many people have a bet on when Paul learns about something like this?

 

Missing an 'o' here, I believe.
Edit: Ninja'd

 

Huh. Forget they can due that. You'd think he'd send them out to help assimilate things when he cant focus entirely on it.

Shouldn't the ring be going "Unnamed hydra shade. You belong to the Orange Lantern Corps" or "Identity theft complete" everytime he adds a new head to his construct-corps? Like when Onik was assimilating the crew?

 

You did wipe the last few thousand years of his memories.

Why did you assume that he'd remember him?

Well that's a security risk if I ever heard one.

Imagine someone wandering into Olympus claiming to be a child of Zeus.

Even if they don't recognize them, they'll still probably believe them.

Hmm, either it's being regularly upset over being confined, or it's more since she's a nature goddess and lacks a connection to the Earth.

Even if the White Light worked, people would still be depressed.

Especially a goddess of depression.

Bringing in someone that may have Anti-Life in them into a realm connected to every mind in the universe sounds like a great idea.

I'm being sarcastic.

Paul has different standards.

Last time Paul talked to someone in a troubled mental state resulted in a giant fear entity invading a planet.

He may just trust his sister to be ae to take care of herself.

Or he thinks that if his sister is stupid enough to try and start something with Paul then she deserves whatever happens to her.

"slaves in"

 

Thank you, corrected.

The ring isn't acknowledging him as being alive right now.

Yeah, but that was true anyway.

Thank you, corrected.

 

Given that Paul is no longer detectable on Earth, I wonder if anyone (Luthor? Aliens?) will make a move.

 

Ah, the joy of being a minion master. Not all minions are equal, and in most cases, they're a lot less effective than other skillsets. The only real benefit of that sort of build is numbers and ideally the removal of aggro against the master. ...But it can feel so damn nice when you watch a horde of little critters you command engulf a bad guy and bring them down.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

True. One mistake and they might get locked into the state they'd rather not be part of.

Some sort of mental cascade failure concerning their children? A blind spot in his world-view? Or just being damn creeped out?

Ah, wilful dismissiveness. The best way of not having to think about something.

And yet because of this, he can't determine any kind of behavioural change up close and personal. Looks like it's working out well. And my sarcasm seems to be getting a solid workout.

Which probably doesn't make his mood any better.

Right, because second-tier Construct Lanterns evidently need a firmer hand upon conversion.

OL, might want to sort out the giant monster head you just picked up.

Let me guess, she's got followers. Shades or mortals?

ideally, just breaking the contaminated device should do it. But that'll put her back in her previous suffering state...

Since so many of the Olympians are tied to them sympathetically, that would be bad.

Didn't you want that, to increase her power?

So you're upset you may have missed the big moment?

Let em guess, Diana's sporting a new tiara, or a fine cloak? She does look good in capes.

Oh, Dream is gonna be testy about that. If OL goes that route, he'd better have some worthy compensation close at hand.

For Akhlys, at least. I don't think it'd work quite so well for OL. It might react poorly with his non-standard soul structure.

On a scale between 'Monologuing cartoon supervillain and raving psychotic frenzy'? If that helps.

Somehow, I don't think OL's diplomacy skill is quite that high.

Praying to your great-grandmother is generally not a good sign, no.

And then for your next trick, you'll carry a snowball through the hottest part of Hell without losing a single drop of water from it?

True, he does seem the kind of big brother to do the 'If you ever hurt her, you will not enjoy the rest of your very short life.' routine

How much of that was intentional, I have to wonder. You know, outside of the exposure-based psychotherapy treatments.

Okay, that's a pretty clear signal. Not quite tearing her clothes off and dragging him into her bedchambers...

And Zagreus quietly facepalms when OL turns away, at the sheer bloodyminded stupidity of modern Heroes.

So, once more into the Dreaming, then? Though hopefully a little chat with Akhlys might fix it, I have my doubts. Such is the nature of OL's life that any situation he's involved in inevitably gets more and more complicated. And honestly, I suspect some of his erstwhile allies are getting sick of it. I'm honestly amazed more haven't gone 'Don't ever talk to me again.'

 

Paul isn't exactly the only line of defense Earth has.

There are literally hundreds of others.