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

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-07-27T07:34:01+0100

Mr Zoat said:
Common Sense (part 18)

2nd October 2010
14:53 GMT -5

"…very kind of you, Detective." I make an amused exhalation. "I'm not a big drinker -because if you've seen what someone drunk in charge of a car can do, imagine what someone drunk in charge of a power ring can do- but if I'm in the area I'll certainly take you up on that. Thank you."

...Is that you, Harvey?

Did he call in to say that if he ever met OL, he'd happily buy him a drink for dealign with the Joker? But regardless, That's a very good point about a drunk Lantern. Never mind other powersets and hardware...

"No, thank you."

There's a click as the caller hangs up. It's not really surprising that the Gotham Police Department are very happy with me right now, even if enthusiasm from their senior officers is considerably more muted. I don't think City Hall has released a statement yet, but I… Can't honestly say that I've been paying them much attention.

I suspect the men at the top, Commisioner Gordon and the like, are keeping any happiness to themselves, and putting on a stern face for the media. Don't want to encourage people going after capes and freaks on their own...

Leslie looks curious. "So what does happen if you get drunk?"

"Uuh. Well… Alright, power rings are empathic tools. You need to be thinking the right sort of thoughts to use them well. Green power rings require the person using them to concentrate on the shape they're trying to create. If their focus is good, it's stronger than steel. If they get distracted, it's as strong as jelly."

And I suspect getting drunk would make it quite hard to manage that level of focus.

"So if they're drunk, they can't focus."

"Not.. usually. Not on anything complicated."

"So what's the difference between green and orange?"

Wonder if this line of conversation will bring people to think about what other colours there might be. Yellow is kind of known, because Sinestro, right? Violet (or 'Pink' in the public belief) because of Star Sapphire...

"Rather than focusing on the object, I have to focus on… How much I want to achieve the thing I'm.. working towards. Last time I got drunk I mostly just wanted to crawl into bed, but there's a chance I could end up doing full-powered free-associating without any sense of restraint, and… That would be bad."

And all it would take is a slight annoyance at being drunk and he'd be sober instantly.

She frowns. "Can't you just take it off?"

"Sure. Would you?"

...Yeah, if you had a Power Ring, would you not be wearing it all the time? Even if you knew it had bad drawbacks like avarice overload...

That hits her, causing her to sit back for a moment. She opens her mouth to answer, then closes it again with a frown. Then her eyes light up.

"You got a second one of those?"

Also a question most people would probably ask if they could.

"Ah… There are others. Unfortunately, they're on a planet called Okaara, and while that's not too far away from here as these things go, they're also guarded by an army of ghost Lanterns and the second most dangerous being in this galaxy. So it's… Not really practical."

"Ah, damn it!" She chuckles quietly. "Guess that's me out of luck."

What's more dangerous than Larfleeze? Darkseid? At any rate, I doubt most people would hear that and go 'I can take them'. Those that would and could get there? Well, they get to join the army...

"I had to borrow a charger just to keep using it. Tech support for power rings is terrible."

"Okay, that's my dreams of galactic domination crushed. Next caller is… Gretchen from Coventry. You're on, Gretchen."

Eh, it'd be too much hassle anyway. you think the paperwork for world conquest is bad? Try the paperwork for conquering a galaxy.

"Hey, Orange Lantern?"

"Hello Gretchen. What do you want to know?"

"At the start… Ah, I watched the recording, and.. right at the start, you dropped some missiles?"

Wow, he put all that in there? So, what's the likelihood people are asking what happened with Black Adam or what?

I nod. "Taiwanese Brave Wind anti-ship missiles."

"So they weren't… They weren't something you made with your ring? They were actual missiles?"

And now some folks will be wondering where he got Taiwanese missiles from...

"While I could make missiles -actual physical missiles- with my ring, in this case I had them left over from a mission in Taiwan. Construct missiles are a bit pointless for me, because they don't have any actual explosives in them. It's all construct. For a Green Lantern, using a familiar shape like that makes it easier to focus, but I use either orange energy pulses because they're.. simple and easy, or a construct railgun which I use to shoot physical projectiles."

That's why guys like Hal use stuff like boxing gloves. simple shape, they're boxing fans so they know the shape well... A rookie Lantern would be well served by a basic knowledge of geometry, using the equivalent of children's blocks when they start off.

"Do you have a.. lot of missiles?"

"No, that's it. I'm completely out, and I'd like to thank the Taiwanese government for not asking where they went after that thing in September. Ah, is there something you're working up to asking me about them?"

"Sept-? Oh, the peace conference attack, right. Ah, sorry, yeah, I was wondering… How much missiles, and… Weapons in general do superheroes have?"

I mean, if it went down similar to the Paragon timeline, and he caught them moments from impact, they might have assumed he disintegrated them or something.

"Ah… Well, I've got a few thousand slugs for my railgun constructs; solid, incendiary, and… A few other things. Ah, I've got a couple of handguns as holdout weapons, they're pretty conventional. Most superheroes I know about don't have a huge arsenal, because… Not blowing my own trumpet here, but unless it's a tactical nuclear device or something, I'm almost always better off just using the ring. With the Injustice League I dropped missiles because they'd be harder to spot, but I could have done something very similar with a big rock. Even a neophyte Lantern like me could… Destroy, say, a city, in a few minutes with a little preparation. Other high-power superheroes are in a similar position; guns just aren't worth it, and larger ordnance is a distraction. So if you weren't worried about me having the ring, there's no point worrying about me having anything else."

Not particularly reassuring anyone there. 'Yes, anyone who's worn a Ring for a few minutes could level a city if they're clever about it.'

"Uh. Uh. I… Uh, I guess that makes sense. Ah… Thanks."

There's another click as the call ends. Leslie frowns at me. "What was that about Taiwan?"

I get the feeling she wasn't exactly happy to hear about all that.

"Oh, I got called in to help with the security at a North Rhelasia/South Rhelasia peace conference. Some unpleasant people decided to disrupt it by stealing some Taiwanese missiles and firing them at the hotel. I caught them. It wasn't that big a deal."

"I don't know. I think after sixty years it'd be kind of embarrassing for them both to get blown up by someone else."

Worst case, they'd both be pursuing the person who did it, and probably arguing over who has the greater claim to them when they're caught.

"Hah! Yeah, you're right. Ironic, certainly. Ah, as far as I could tell, the conference didn't really progress things, more… Reduce the level of mutual antagonism to the level it was a month before?"

"You think it woulda gone better if you'd let the missiles hit?"

Eh, that's the sort of thing that would raise international tensions.

"No, no. It's not two people causing a problem. It's two incompatible social systems with mutually exclusive goals. They can't reconcile, and with nuclear weapons and social fanaticism they can't conquer one another. Letting the missiles hit would have interfered with intergovernmental communication, and… The envoys they sent were probably the most reasonable people they had available, so the replacements would be worse. And, yes, we'll all be back there in a year or two, but that's a small price to pay for not having a nuclear war."

Which most people would agree is a bad thing.

"I guess… Okay, next up is… Keith, from the Bowery. You're on, Keith."

"Orange Lantern? Ah, thank you for stopping the Injustice Assholes and… Like, doing it permanently."

Bet a lot of callers were 'boring' ones like that. Just 'good work!' and bye.

"You're welcome."

"I was wondering..? Given how you stopped this attack basically single-handedly, do you think you'll be joining the Justice League?"

A bit simplistic. He wasn't even the only cape at the fight, though I doubt Aqualad garnered much notice given the focus on the missiles and exploding supervillains.

"While it's true that I fought the… 'Assholes' myself, finding them required a magic ritual that I couldn't have performed by myself. And the Justice League and dozens of unaffiliated superheroes and… Hundreds of police and medical personnel were all involved as well. With them… And in the case of the doctors, their ongoing efforts, then death toll would have been much higher than it was."

Good, remind people it wasn't one city getting hit, or even one country.

"Yeah, I-. I didn't mean to insult… Them, but the actual fighting was you."

"Justice League membership is conferred by the unanimous vote of all current members. I think I'll be a good candidate eventually, but I've only been doing this a few months and I've got a lot to learn. So, not any time soon, but it the future… Maybe. Really, you'd have to ask every current Justice League member."

And good luck pinning some of them down for an interview.

"Well, I totally think you should."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence."

Another click, then Leslie looks at me curiously. "And none of them will have a problem with you killing people?"

Ah, now that's a good, meaty question.

"It's not like it's a habit. And… Yes, some will. But Wonder Woman, Captain Atom, Hawkman and Hawkwoman have all killed people before, and I suspect that one of the Green Lanterns has. I doubt it will be an automatic black balling offence unless I start making a habit of it, which I don't intend to do."

Good move, reassuring people that he's not a killer and permanent solutions won't be his go-to for super-crime.

"You're not? 'cause there's a lot of bad guys out there I wouldn't mind never seeing again."

"Then vote for an expansion of the death penalty. Write to your congressional representatives. Write to the president. Because the thing is… Not all supervillains are murders. It doesn't make any sense to treat Catwoman or Captain Cold -both of who have a body count of zero- in the same way as the Joker. This was a product of a very extreme type of attack and level of danger, and I doubt it will be repeated. If you think the law needs to change… Change it."

Cold has zero bodycount? With his freeze-ray?

No-one's ever suffered fatal complications from freezing? I suppose the Flash is quick enough to rescue folks who get hit bad, they only end up with light hypothermia...

I wonder, if Klarion pulls the same shit he normally does (Splitting child and adult worlds) will CS!OL go for the kill on him?

Given his tempting of fate about 'I doubt it will ever be repeated' there... Anyway, I suspect this will see legal repercussions somehow, people calling for harsher punishments for extreme crimes or the like. It was good to see some of the callers, anyway, and some good answers on CS!OL's part...

Someguy Somewhere · 2025-07-27T07:41:14+0100

Wonder what subtle difference the peace conference encounter with Lex was like here. The fight itself seems to have been identical since he subspaced the missiles.

BR549 · 2025-07-27T07:58:08+0100

Mr Zoat said:
Because the thing is… Not all supervillains are murders. It doesn't make any sense to treat Catwoman or Captain Cold -both of who have a body count of zero- in the same way as the Joker. This was a product of a very extreme type of attack and level of danger,

'murderers' and 'whom', I believe.

Darko · 2025-07-27T08:35:59+0100

Chojin Patriarch said:
I suspect the men at the top, Commisioner Gordon and the like, are keeping any happiness to themselves, and putting on a stern face for the media. Don't want to encourage people going after capes and freaks on their own

I remember in Judiciary Misadventures after the MC killed the Joker everyone in Gotham was celebrating, but Gordon was worried since this could mean that other supers would wmfollow his example and there's no telling when they're going to stop.

Renee agreed since they really do not want to see what the likes of Superman and Martian Manhunter can do when they don't hold back.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Wonder if this line of conversation will bring people to think about what other colours there might be. Yellow is kind of known, because Sinestro, right? Violet (or 'Pink' in the public belief) because of Star Sapphire

I think it was once mentioned that Sinestro only showed up twice on Earth.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Cold has zero bodycount? With his freeze-ray? No-one's ever suffered fatal complications from freezing? I suppose the Flash is quick enough to rescue folks who get hit bad, they only end up with light hypothermia

It's comic book super science, so he can probably manipulate it so that the worst they get is a cold.

Duke Long · 2025-07-27T09:05:26+0100

Mr Zoat said:
She frowns. "Can't you just take it off?"

"Sure. Would you?"

Is he being serious here, or is it just a lie because he feels it'd be silly to advertise that he doesn't always wear it?

Mr Zoat said:
"While it's true that I fought the… 'Assholes' myself, finding them required a magic ritual that I couldn't have performed by myself. And the Justice League and dozens of unaffiliated superheroes and… Hundreds of police and medical personnel were all involved as well. With them… And in the case of the doctors, their ongoing efforts, then death toll would have been much higher than it was."

'Without'
'the'

Mr Zoat said:
"Justice League membership is conferred by the unanimous vote of all current members. I think I'll be a good candidate eventually, but I've only been doing this a few months and I've got a lot to learn. So, not any time soon, but it the future… Maybe. Really, you'd have to ask every current Justice League member."

'in'

Mr Zoat · 2025-07-27T09:12:19+0100

Ngamer11 said:
This should be moved up to connect with the paragraph.

Darko said:
The previous Common Sense chapters had something similar.

Though part 17 and 18 aren't bonded in a darker color like the rest.

Thank you, corrected.

BR549 said:
'murderers' and 'whom', I believe.

Thank you, corrected.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Cold has zero bodycount? With his freeze-ray? No-one's ever suffered fatal complications from freezing? I suppose the Flash is quick enough to rescue folks who get hit bad, they only end up with light hypothermia...

That's the thing: he doesn't freeze them. He encases them in frozen gel. There isn't enough water in the air to cause ice formation like that.

Duke Long said:
Is he being serious here, or is it just a lie because he feels it'd be silly to advertise that he doesn't always wear it?

He only takes it off for meditation and excreting.

'Without'
'the'
'in'

Thank you, corrected.

NightmareWarden · 2025-07-27T11:34:19+0100

I'm not crazy, right? This was about… well, this execution was less disruptive to most than the angel incident where Zauriel mentioned Jesus. But in terms of how disruptive this interview will be for Paul's life? Three to five times worse. Paul has basically told the American government to really investigate the alleged kills made by the justice league, presumably against their citizens. And when this digging hits paydirt, they'll decide to investigate Superman and the rest, just because of how easily he could get away with disappearing a body.

This is bad. And I bet it could upset Black Canary specifically, if the injured elementary students incident gets some time on every station.

With that said? This was pretty funny, and it was a fun scene. Certainly dark overall, this is the kind of thing that could ruin someone's idealistic image of the American public.

Mquz · 2025-07-27T13:51:29+0100

NightmareWarden said:
I'm not crazy, right? This was about… well, this execution was less disruptive to most than the angel incident where Zauriel mentioned Jesus. But in terms of how disruptive this interview will be for Paul's life? Three to five times worse. Paul has basically told the American government to really investigate the alleged kills made by the justice league, presumably against their citizens. And when this digging hits paydirt, they'll decide to investigate Superman and the rest, just because of how easily he could get away with disappearing a body.

This is bad. And I bet it could upset Black Canary specifically, if the injured elementary students incident gets some time on every station.

With that said? This was pretty funny, and it was a fun scene. Certainly dark overall, this is the kind of thing that could ruin someone's idealistic image of the American public.

Not really - the alleged kills are when they were serving in the army and the US probably knows exactly who they killed

CrazyNoVa · 2025-07-27T14:22:27+0100

Ah, so I was right. Paul really is trying to encourage citizens to put pressure on the government to execute supervillains.

Odysseus2099 · 2025-07-28T01:46:09+0100

Mquz said:
Not really - the alleged kills are when they were serving in the army and the US probably knows exactly who they killed

That's just Captain Atom, Wonder Woman technically fought alongside the US army but was never part of it, and the Hawks worked for the Thanagarian military and their kills may not have even been on this planet.

Mr Zoat · 2025-07-28T06:10:34+0100

21st July 2013
09:57 GMT -7

I press the bell.

San Fernando Valley. Not the first time I've visited, but I… Can't say that it's grown on me. And I can't say that I was entirely surprised that Miss Sonic rapidly rose to become City Boss during the Anti-Life period. Or that -as far as I can tell from the post-cleansing interviews- it didn't seem to change her personality very much.

I press the bell again.

I haven't felt the need to interview all of Mr. Leas' clients, but Miss Sonic is something of a special case. Between her experience and powers, she'd have the best chance of picking up someone trying to use an unnatural mental influence type ability on her. Most of Mr. Leas' clients and associates whom I tested showed positive for New God influence, but… I've seen that detective program. It could just be one of his secretaries, and it could be an effect of Mannheim's that wasn't Anti-Life-like enough to get purged. And we might well interview Mr. Leas and find out that he spent a month stuck in another sphere…

Or on Miss Sonic's punishment rack, I suppose.

And gained the ability to interface with New God technology from that.

I press-.

"Who is it?"

I'll say one thing for her: she has learned to act. I can feel the weird emotional void marking her location inside her house, but the voice she uses doesn't sound like the one she uses on-camera or making conversation at industry events. Or like I imagine her original accent was.

"Orange Lantern. Here to speak to Miss Sonic."

"Oh? What about? Do I need to put my old costume on?"

I'm a little surprised that she still has it, though I suppose that she could easily have a copy made. With easy-tear Velcro strips.

"That won't be necessary. I just need five minutes of your time."

There's a beep, and the gate unlocks and opens on its own. Rather than actually walk up to her front door, I just transition there and-.

It's not locked. Hm. I suppose that it isn't as if a burglar would be a threat to her, and… If they happened to disappear, it's unlikely that they'd have told anyone where they'd were going.

I push open the door and…

"I'm in here!"

I'm briefly reminded of the scene in New Adventures of Superman where Cat Grant has Clark Kent back at her apartment. She considers what clothing will give her the best chance of seducing him, but goes past various skimpy outfits in favour of something more modest. Not because she is modest, but because she doesn't want to scare him off and realises that her best chance is to avoid coming on too strong.

Miss Sonic was naked but for her bikini bottoms, and while she hasn't bothered putting the top part of… Assuming that it has one… She's thrown on an opaque robe tied in a modest-ish manner, but the way she's sitting is artfully designed to draw attention to her form without being too overt. Best approach to use with an upstanding male superhero.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet me. Ah, do you prefer 'Miss Sonic' or 'Miss Smart'?"

"Depends what sort of conversation we're having."

"Professional. I'm performing an investigation-."

She smiles emptily. "Oh, I know this script!"

"To be blunt, I doubt there's any way I could start this that hasn't been in one of your scripts at some point."

She nods. "True."

Then… Something about the way she holds herself… Changes, and-. Like the scene in Avatar: the Last Airbender where you finally see Azula without makeup and you remember that she's canonically 14. I don't know exactly how old Sara Smart was when she stopped ageing, but I suspect that she looked like this.

Except the clothes. I doubt that she ever dressed like that when she was actually young.

And the eyes. She's trying to cover it without making it obvious that she's acting, but she's assessing my response more than she would have done.

Oh, just get this over with.

"A number of your colleagues show signs of exposure to New God technology not related to Mannheim's world conquest attempt. Would you mind if I scanned you?"

"You can scan me if you want to." Then she shift back to her usual mode. "But you're probably just going to pick up my exposure from Mannheim's… Thing."

Positive result with the New God scanner, but she sort of has a point. "It wouldn't react to the Anti-Life, but since you took over the city it's possible that you were affected by his other abilities." Positive result for magic, but that's just her.

"Do you remember when you first met Mister Simon Leas?"

She shrugs. "Some time in the seventies. I'm a more niche performer than he usually deals with."

"In the seventies."

"Yeah?"

"So assuming he has a law degree, he'd have to be-."

"Oh yeah." She looks like I failed to live up to her expectations. "He sold his soul to someone to keep his good looks. His appearance has changed about as much as mine has."

"Is that common around here?"

She shrugs. "Why would I know? It's not like I need it."

"Alright, but is there a particular name associated with that idea?"

"I may not need their help, but I don't want that sort of trouble. I'm sure you can find them yourself."

That… Might warrant investigating at some point.

"Well, I… Think that's all I need. Thank you for your time."

She smiles, but again, the eyes are wrong. "Feel free to stop by whenever you like."

"Before I go… I'm sure I know what the answer will be, but just in case… The Evil Formula." Her face hardens. "While I haven't specifically studied it, it would probably be possible for me to come up with a way to undo it."

She snorts. "And turn me back into the sweet innocent girl I used to be? Don't be stupid. Even if you could, what do you think would happen if she suddenly had sixty years of memories of me?"

"That's what the waters of Lethe are for. It should be-."

"Orange Lantern, this may be hard for you to believe? But I like who I am. I like being strong enough to use my strength as I choose. I neither need nor want your help. Get out of here and I won't tell Simon that you're coming."

I raise my right hand to my forehead with a nod.

"Thank you for your time."

kraryal · 2025-07-28T06:18:18+0100

Mr Zoat said:
Rather than actually walk[/I up to her front

Italics broken, BBCode hates you today.

Ciber · 2025-07-28T06:46:49+0100

Its weird how often a guy who can see people desires offers them deals that they will refuse.

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-07-28T06:47:36+0100

Mr Zoat said:
21st July 2013
09:57 GMT -7

I press the bell.

San Fernando Valley. Not the first time I've visited, but I… Can't say that it's grown on me. And I can't say that I was entirely surprised that Miss Sonic rapidly rose to become City Boss during the Anti-Life period. Or that -as far as I can tell from the post-cleansing interviews- it didn't seem to change her personality very much.

Ah, visiting Sally Sonic, eh? We did see her amongst J'aarkn's associates, so it;s not unreasonable that she'd have worked with Sleez. Indeed, given her mental alterations from her empowerment, it's all but given that he brought her in to the adult entertainment industry.

I press the bell again.

I haven't felt the need to interview all of Mr. Leas' clients, but Miss Sonic is something of a special case. Between her experience and powers, she'd have the best chance of picking up someone trying to use an unnatural mental influence type ability on her. Most of Mr. Leas' clients and associates whom I tested showed positive for New God influence, but… I've seen that detective program. It could just be one of his secretaries, and it could be an effect of Mannheim's that wasn't Anti-Life-like enough to get purged. And we might well interview Mr. Leas and find out that he spent a month stuck in another sphere…

And given her history, she's probably had some of the closest contact with the little troll.

Or on Miss Sonic's punishment rack, I suppose.

And gained the ability to interface with New God technology from that.

Why am I not surprised she played the dominatrix?

I press-.

"Who is it?"

Ah, finally, what, was she occupied with something? Or someone?

I'll say one thing for her: she has learned to act. I can feel the weird emotional void marking her location inside her house, but the voice she uses doesn't sound like the one she uses on-camera or making conversation at industry events. Or like I imagine her original accent was.

Ah, yes. The Evil Formula, which disconnected her from the 'cool' end of the Spectrum. No Hope, Compassion or Love beyond what she's learned to pretend to feel. A difference to her comics version, but the 'magic whistle' thing could have been a cover story anyway.

"Orange Lantern. Here to speak to Miss Sonic."

"Oh? What about? Do I need to put my old costume on?"

Let's not. Doesn't she still look like a teenager?

I'm a little surprised that she still has it, though I suppose that she could easily have a copy made. With easy-tear Velcro strips.

"That won't be necessary. I just need five minutes of your time."

All the better to pull off in one sweeping motion, eh?

There's a beep, and the gate unlocks and opens on its own. Rather than actually walk up to her front door, I just transition there and-.

It's not locked. Hm. I suppose that it isn't as if a burglar would be a threat to her, and… If they happened to disappear, it's unlikely that they'd have told anyone where they'd were going.

And she probably has connections to dispose of what's left and clean up the mess afterwards.

I push open the door and…

"I'm in here!"

Oh, joy. She's waiting for him in the bedroom, scantily clad, isn't she?

I'm briefly reminded of the scene in New Adventures of Superman where Cat Grant has Clark Kent back at her apartment. She considers what clothing will give her the best chance of seducing him, but goes past various skimpy outfits in favour of something more modest. Not because she is modest, but because she doesn't want to scare him off and realises that her best chance is to avoid coming on too strong.

A rare case of actual smarts. Too bad she had no chance with Lois Lane around.

Miss Sonic was naked but for her bikini bottoms, and while she hasn't bothered putting the top part of… Assuming that it has one… She's thrown on an opaque robe tied in a modest-ish manner, but the way she's sitting is artfully designed to draw attention to her form without being too overt. Best approach to use with an upstanding male superhero.

Ah, yes, flaunt her looks and hope all the blood rushes from one head to the other.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet me. Ah, do you prefer 'Miss Sonic' or 'Miss Smart'?"

"Depends what sort of conversation we're having."

Not that kind of business, fortunately.

"Professional. I'm performing an investigation-."

She smiles emptily. "Oh, I know this script!"

Probably classier than the age-old pizza-boy or plumber scenario.

"To be blunt, I doubt there's any way I could start this that hasn't been in one of your scripts at some point."

She nods. "True."

Nothing new under the sun, even n the adult entertainment industry.

Then… Something about the way she holds herself… Changes, and-. Like the scene in Avatar: the Last Airbender where you finally see Azula without makeup and you remember that she's canonically 14. I don't know exactly how old Sara Smart was when she stopped ageing, but I suspect that she looked like this.

Young enough that she had people thinking she was underage, losing her house after her parent's deaths, for one. Apparently looking too young even to undergo emancipation.

Except the clothes. I doubt that she ever dressed like that when she was actually young.

And the eyes. She's trying to cover it without making it obvious that she's acting, but she's assessing my response more than she would have done.

Yeah, easy to forget there's a middle-aged woman with few morals and plenty of intelligence and experience under the jailbait exterior.

Oh, just get this over with.

"A number of your colleagues show signs of exposure to New God technology not related to Mannheim's world conquest attempt. Would you mind if I scanned you?"

Direct and to the point. Good, cut through any seduction she tries...

"You can scan me if you want to." Then she shift back to her usual mode. "But you're probably just going to pick up my exposure from Mannheim's… Thing."

Positive result with the New God scanner, but she sort of has a point. "It wouldn't react to the Anti-Life, but since you look over the city it's possible that you were affected by his other abilities." Positive result for magic, but that's just her.

Well, that's a dead-end. Maybe she knows something useful, though. Time for the old-fashioned kind of investigation.

"Do you remember when you first met Mister Simon Leas?"

She shrugs. "Some time in the seventies. I'm a more niche performer than he usually deals with."

Over forty years, by most calculations. What's the bet Sleez wasn't smart enough to...

"In the seventies."

"Yeah?"

"So assuming he has a law degree, he'd have to be-."

That would put him in his mid-twenties when he began a career, short of progidious advanced placements.

"Oh yeah." She looks like I failed to live up to her expectations. "He sold his soul to someone to keep his good looks. His appearance has changed about as much as mine has."

"Is that common around here?"

...And I see he didn't think to update his looks. Probably didn't notice or care than humans do age. Best option would have been to age, and then 'retire' in favour of his basically identical son. Thankfully, Sleez isn't that smart.

She shrugs. "Why would I know? It's not like I need it."

"Alright, but is there a particular name associated with that idea?"

Just so he can check Downstairs, eh? Mammon probably could find out if 'Mister Leas' cut a deal with anyone in his neck of the underworlds.

"I may not need their help, but I don't want that sort of trouble. I'm sure you can find them yourself."

That… Might warrant investigating at some point.

Or, OL, it's more likely that Simon Leas is a New God... 'Softly softly' may be the safe approach, but sooner or later, he'll have to meet the man himself. At which point OL can probably pick up that he's divine.

"Well, I… Think that's all I need. Thank you for your time."

She smiles, but again, the eyes are wrong. "Feel free to stop by whenever you like."

...I think not.

"Before I go… I'm sure I know what the answer will be, but just in case… The Evil Formula." Her face hardens. "While I haven't specifically studied it, it would probably be possible for me to come up with a way to undo it."

She snorts. "And turn me back into the sweet innocent girl I used to be? Don't be stupid. Even if you could, what do you think would happen if she suddenly had forties years of memories of me?"

...At the worst, kill herself? So not a win for anyone, really...

"That's what the waters of Lethe are for. It should be-."

"Orange Lantern, this may be hard for you to believe? But I like who I am. I like being strong enough to use my strength as I choose. I neither need nor want your help. Get out of here and I won't tell Simon that you're coming."

Eh, if she's happy, she's happy. No fixing her at this stage.

I raise my right hand to my forehead with a nod.

"Thank you for your time."

Right, then. Another lead played out. Who's next on his list, I wonder?

It'll be interesting if he finally meets Leas face to face an immediately pings him as a New God. Especially if he's got Canis along or one of the Frees. At this point, though, I'm amazed he hasn't had a twinge of metaknowledge rattle Sleez's existence loose. I guess he wasn't something OL knew about at the time he got shunted into Earth Sixteen. Not surprising, he's not exactly above C-grade in terms of notability...

BoML · 2025-07-28T07:16:31+0100

I'm actually surprised that she *didn't* recognize him from that time they met face to face in J'aarkn's deportation party, but OL was pretending to just be a literal "Man in Black" at the time. If I remember right, he was also pretending to go through a bad breakup and hoping to get some advice from Sonic, while also getting a better empathic reading because he wanted a better idea what "The Evil Formula" did.

Could be that she's just that good of an actress to pretend to not recognize him...or OL actually got one over on her.

...makes *me* curious how she'd react to that.

Darko · 2025-07-28T07:17:01+0100

Mr Zoat said:
suddenly had forties years of

"forty"

Mr Zoat · 2025-07-28T08:29:04+0100

kraryal said:
Italics broken, BBCode hates you today.

So it does. So it does.

Ciber said:
Its weird how often a guy who can see people desires offers them deals that they will refuse.

Just becasue they don't want it now, that doesn't mean that they won't want it in the future after having a think about it. And sometimes it's about being able to say later that you offered.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Young enough that she had people thinking she was underage, losing her house after her parent's deaths, for one. Too young even to undergo emancipation.

No, but she looked as if she was.

Darko said:
"forty"

Sixty, actually.

CrazyNoVa · 2025-07-28T08:30:11+0100

Mr Zoat said:
She snorts. "And turn me back into the sweet innocent girl I used to be? Don't be stupid. Even if you could, what do you think would happen if she suddenly had forties years of memories of me?"

"That's what the waters of Lethe are for. It should be-."

Actually, that probably wouldn't be a good idea. If she got reverted and then lost her memories to become the young woman she was during her initial transformation, her younger self would probably be curious and determined enough to try to seek answers about her own missing memories one way or another. And if she finds out what she's been up to all this time, she might get traumatized anyway.

Ciber said:
Its weird how often a guy who can see people desires offers them deals that they will refuse.

To be fair, he's been trying to avoid peering into people's hearts without their permission all the time, so he deliberately blinded himself.

Duke Long · 2025-07-28T09:00:48+0100

Mr Zoat said:
San Fernando Valley. Not the first time I've visited, but I… Can't say that it's grown on me. And I can't say that I was entirely surprised that Miss Sonic rapidly rose to become City Boss during the Anti-Life period. Or that -as far as I can tell from the post-cleansing interviews- it didn't seem to change her personality very much.

Sally Sonic stuck with me ever since she was mentioned in the sixth chapter of this story. A super-durable person masturbating with barbed wire is really memorable.

Mr Zoat said:
I'll say one thing for her: she has learned to act. I can feel the weird emotional void marking her location inside her house, but the voice she uses doesn't sound like the one she uses on-camera or making conversation at industry events. Or like I imagine her original accent was.

He said she was good at acting during their last meeting, too. I suppose it must be quite striking.

Mr Zoat said:
I'm briefly reminded of the scene in New Adventures of Superman where Cat Grant has Clark Kent back at her apartment. She considers what clothing will give her the best chance of seducing him, but goes past various skimpy outfits in favour of something more modest. Not because she is modest, but because she doesn't want to scare him off and realises that her best chance is to avoid coming on too strong.

It's funny that this is at least the second time that someone turned evil by some artificial means has wanted to have sex with him in order to ruin the relationship he's in. Shame they haven't met with any success.

Mr Zoat said:
"Thank you for agreeing to meet me. Ah, do you prefer 'Miss Sonic' or 'Miss Smart'?"

He knew that she hated being called Sara Smart, so I'm surprised he'd ask when he's trying to obtain her cooperation.

Mr Zoat said:
Positive result with the New God scanner, but she sort of has a point. "It wouldn't react to the Anti-Life, but since you look over the city it's possible that you were affected by his other abilities." Positive result for magic, but that's just her.

'took'?

Mr Zoat · 2025-07-28T11:37:19+0100

Duke Long said:
'took'?

Thank you, corrected.

Mquz · 2025-07-28T12:00:07+0100

BoML said:
I'm actually surprised that she *didn't* recognize him from that time they met face to face in J'aarkn's deportation party, but OL was pretending to just be a literal "Man in Black" at the time. If I remember right, he was also pretending to go through a bad breakup and hoping to get some advice from Sonic, while also getting a better empathic reading because he wanted a better idea what "The Evil Formula" did.

Could be that she's just that good of an actress to pretend to not recognize him...or OL actually got one over on her.

...makes *me* curious how she'd react to that.

She met him at a party once 2 years ago at this point, and from what I understand she's not super intelligent? Probably just forgot

Steelplaza · 2025-07-28T13:18:11+0100

I have to ask, is this "new god detector machine" something that was previously introduced or did OL obtain it somewhere for this investigation? I'm not sure exactly what it's detecting. "Source energy" or something like that? Who even built this thing?

Mr Zoat · 2025-07-28T13:32:58+0100

Steelplaza said:
I have to ask, is this "new god detector machine" something that was previously introduced or did OL obtain it somewhere for this investigation? I'm not sure exactly what it's detecting. "Source energy" or something like that? Who even built this thing?

Scott Free. It detects if a New God has exerted their godhood on someone.

mastermenthe · 2025-07-28T16:00:22+0100

Mr Zoat said:
Scott Free. It detects if a New God has exerted their godhood on someone.

Makes sense, New God Of Freedom would be able to calibrate a device to detect anything that inpinges on that Freedom.

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