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

'a giant'

Probably, though seeing as this is basically Lantern Vatican he may be interested in learning what they know and seeing as he's basically something ike a Green Light Jesus he may be there for recruits.

It's been so long since we've seen these words be used.

Some Lanterns are getting pet arachnids.

Yeah, I don't believe that at all.

This is true.

So fucking true.

Did you forget about Vandal Savage?

Paul told you about him some time ago.

 

Lord Malvolio spends the next four hundred years going from door to door

"Hi, can I have a moment of your time to talk to you about Heresy against the Lantern Corps?"

"Do you never give up?!"

"No"

 

Thank you, corrected.

 

So he wants to form Jehova Witnesses from space?

He needs to be stopped!

 

Spoiler

 

I can see this being an actual cult in DC comics.

There was a cult that wanted to kill illiterate people that Lobo stopped, so this isn't so weird.

 

Ah, we return to Paragon and his current associates, still doing much as they were when we left them about two in-universe weeks ago: Thrashing Spider Guild sites and putting the fear of Orange into them. And presumably continuing their studies into Enlightenment at the Temple of the Green Light... I guess the Abbot's replacement saw fit to continue to permit their presence...

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

An unfamiliar Greenie turning up? That's likely an Honour Guard, as I doubt any local Lantern would object to their activities...

And probably quietly rejoicing at each Evil he removes form existence...

Ah... An unscheduled Honour Guard visit? Must be an emergency...

Ah... For those who don't remember, he was last there at the end of Cold Iron. And didn't part on the best of terms with Lord Malvolio...

Not an unreasonable guess, given that's the local Sector lantern. Could have been coming to make a pilgrimage, given his devout belief in the Green Light, as noted in his bio there.

Yes, that is an entirely appropriate reaction. As is [SCREAMING INTERNALLY] or a 'Fuck!' audible on Maltus...

...I mean, it could be true. As Darko noted, this is basically the centre of Lanternism in the galaxy. And given the era Malvolio comes from, religion would be a big part of day-to-day life.

Still, better to prepare for the worst, even if you're hoping for the best.

Yeah, not an especially good thing. I mean, he's no Darkseid, at least. At worst, he might be looking to do a little conquering. How have his neighbours been getting along since he got freed?

Ah. Technically true, yes. But, as with any history, the nuance comes in the details.

...Oh. And Priest's ring didn't go in search of a successor? Or maybe he was simply reassigned...

Well, when you look at it the right way, Barry was serving under your command... I expect Malvolio would hold the actions of a subordinate against their leader...

He did resign in canon, though not over the Malvolio affair alone... So it's not impossible that he did so here.

I'm sorry, how will that improve matters?

Yeah, probably a better idea. At least until they can determine just what Malvolio's here for.

For once, a rare moment of genre-savviness in a DC character. But then., he's probably been getting calls about OL and his group for the last two weeks now... That would try the patience of a saint.

Oh, boy. I get the feeling she's looking to 'prove herself'...

Exactly 400, if the listed birthdate is right (1612).

And if she doesn't recognise the names, a quick database read will inform her easily enough. I bet the Maltusian database's summarised entry on Earth went from 'harmless' to 'mostly harmless, beware of atypical individuals'...

How is Alan doing these days, anyway? I'm guessing it's not really sinking in about the whole 'proto-elemental' thing yet.

Honestly, they're pretty well-adjusted, I think they got this.

I rather expect she'd hesitate at the 'run' part, until she sees just how powerful Malvolio is for herself...

Yeah, sounds about right. A group of Maltusians is about the best option for cooling down a rampaging elemental...

Hmm... But is he alone, or has he brought a whole ship-full of a worthy retinue with him? Not that anything could be dangerous to him, but as a nobleman, he does have a certain expectation of lifestyle...

Heterodoxy, for clarification. In short: An opinion or doctrine that differs from the accepted norm. Usually applied in a religious context...

Oooh, boy. And I thought the Renegade had a lot on his plate. I bet as soon as Dox hears about this, he's going to wish he had time to just put his head in his hands and groan. Could be noteworthy for Hinon, though: another Human-descended spectrum elemental. Might be an interesting data-point. We'll see tomorrow what happens... Ready the snacks, folks.

 

So, since you listed Orange first, that means OL is leading in this dance.
Otherwise it should have been a A Waltz in Green and Orange.

 

That's Paul for ya.

He levels an impression as either someone you can like even though he's a massive weirdo, or you consider him a lunatic and hate him.

I don't think there's a middle ground.

Technically Paul may be his subordinate.

Or at least they're both teammates, but neither is the others superior.

Though Malvolio may view him responsible either way.

This is Paul.

If he didn't give a badly thought out suggestion he wouldn't be himself.

As mentioned previously he could be here for recruits or he could be here to learn some new tricks.

Now that he's active again, he may want to increase his skill set.

The Angels can attest that Paul can annoy saints.

I think he knows about it but just doesn't think about it too much.

When Paul mentioned a potential second Lantern I thought he either figured out how to make rings himself or even potentially can do something similar like renegade, as in turn people know elementals.

I think whenever Paul comes up he prepares for this.

 

Every once in a while, declare peace. Confuses the hell out of your enemies.

 

This is either going to go extremely well showing off Paul's skills or extremely poorly. I'm excited to see which.

 

I have three words that Paragon should likely consider.

"Not my problem"

Because... This isn't his problem...

 

One of my favorites. Honestly a lot of the Rules are surprisingly useful, especially if you take a few as more allegorical than literal.

 

Found some errors.

This link is no longer connected to the story part.

That should say 'Sometimes'.

 

TBF you don't end up like him by being weak willed.

 

Thank you, corrected.

 

Could be worse. Mormons in space (again)

 

Comma instead of semicolon

idk, Mormons at least say you can be saved; Jehovah's Witnesses think that everyone that's going to the best heaven have already gotten there and you're just trying to get a ticket for a seat in coach.

 

As I understand it Jehovah's Witnesses believe that only 10,000 souls will get into Heaven and an "unknown number" already have, with the rest going to Hell if they don't get one of the remaining slots.

Which always makes me question why they are trying to get converts all the time if they think 1) it won't actually save them and 2) if it does save them they're taking a slot in Heaven away from you, lowering your chances of avoiding Hell. Also 10k is an insultingly low number that shows a failure of scale.

 

Thank you, corrected.

 

Dont this Renegate fusion mean that now when he says he is Grayven, he is actualy saying truth? He is no longer faking being DC Grayven from Apokolopis, he is is one. Hell the fact he could fuse like this means that even before as far as Source was concerned he already was a Grayven.

 

The SI doesn't know.

 

Such as leaving one species endangered.

'I'm available'

Half human.

The guy did spend months dealing with the Sheeda and their shit.

Seeing people be melted down so they could be turned into Sheeda materials.

Wouldn't surprise me if the process didn't kill the people since the Sheeda wanted them to be alive even after they're converted.

Yeah, someone mentioned this the first time the Flash's actions came up.

And others I'm betting were just killed after being captured with no trial.

You do have Melmoth, so you can ask him how they came about and figure out about Starbreaker and stop him.

 

Thank you, corrected.

 

Earth has so many examples of enhancement technology, it seems very unlikely they would only settle on Sheeda genes.

Can someone remind me how ParaPaul dealt with the Sheeda? He went to the future too, right? But then traveled back?

 

He got Dr. Sivana to actually try to defeat the Sheeda, and helped bring the League to try and apprehend the queen.

 

So, I recently reread Swamp Thing Goes to Gotham due to someone binging the SV thread, and the part where OL arranged a Presidential Pardon caught me for a moment, because I remembered Grayven had needed a pardon from the governor for killing Klarion. Then I realized the trick: Swamp Thing was in Louisiana (among other places with plants) while he was committing crimes in Gotham, so they'd all be federal crimes.

 

I think he and some Leaguers managed to destroy Gloriana's ship and later tracked her to Malvolio's place where Flash killed her.

Renegade was the one that went to the future.

 

Okay, so not looking like he's here to make trouble. That's good, right? Still, having the figurative 800-pound gorilla rolling through will naturally make everyone nervous. Especially one as potentially mercurial as Malvolio can be assumed to be as a 17th-century nobleman...

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Everyone's got their own method. Where that method falls on the 'good' or 'evil' end of the scale depends a lot on their care for the races absorbed... Presumably Malvolio operates under the 'treats you well unless you piss him off' rule.

That's Malvolio's extended-lifespan human seneschal, for reference.

Yes, there's a big difference between 'I can understand what happened, but I'm not happy right now, check back later' and 'I will hound you to the far edge of the universe in the name of Revenge.'

See, this is where the Renegade has an advantage. He at least took on a name people can call him (and that he can use himself) instead of, well... True, it's caused him more trouble than it's really worth. But still...

And it's not unreasonable he has multiple reasons.

Well, given his previous respect for the rule of Hospitality, that does make sense. Even if you're on a conquering spree, that doesn't mean you have to be rude about it.

Yeah, he probably has even less love for Jordan... So, a point in the 'not here to make trouble' column...

Benefit of knowing the boss, I guess. Though refusing the invitation would not be a good idea, methinks...

So she gets to play overwatch. Since for a Lantern, the other side of a solar system is not a long distance...

No getting ideas now, Dul. I'm sure he'd have a bout or two with you if you asked nicely. Or, don't panic, if that's concern in your eyes...

Depending on how similar his father was to human. Because there are so many 'near-human' extra-terrestrial species out there. And given that he apparently moved through 16th-century European society undetected, it must have been up there on the 'near-human' scale.

I'm a bit lost as to the implications even with the wiki link, but I can understand the preference for a slow approach. Don't want any gunners out there getting a little antsy about a fast-moving object inbound.

And nothing says there aren't some quick-deploying pressure doors hidden away. I appreciate the care taken in having backups for your backups though.

Big lads, if a bit cute in that pic... Wonder how belligerent they are normally, given their history. And you can at least see why Malvolio employs their services...

Well, all very civilised so far.

Heh. Would Wallace recognise the classic Shakespeare line, I wonder? Still, better not to be too facetious...

...No ranting speeches about taking vengeance or anything like that?

Yes, that would definitely be a worry.

Not unexpected. I'm sure Malvolio would be curious as to the state of it, having heard about the attacks. Never mind the four centuries since he left.

Not fun. At least he's getting help dealing with what he saw now.

Hope the other speedsters are dealing with it better. Jay Garrick at least has years of experience, and I suspect Wally was never let near the worst sites...

Of course, that assumes each nation handed over all their Sheeda prisoners. Or that some didn't disappear into the black budget of some secret agency like Checkmate or SHADE.

Not for a long time, at least. Millions of years, if not billions.

Ah, DC time travel and its love of paradoxes.

Speaking from experience, OL? Never mind all the alternates that, bluntly, effed up in the process. Looking at you, Renegade and Tangseid.

Indeed. You've seen some of the results, after all, thanks to that little trip to the end of time...

Well, an informative walk & talk. And yet we learned nothing of import at all. Still, no doubt Malvolio is monitoring OL's presence, and hopefully we get to see him soon. Let's just hope that their impending conversation isn't interrupted by any outside party busting in.