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

[Handlewithcare]

"Were the people who worked on you really stupid, or just blindly focused?"

...

"I have no idea. When I was fitted with this armour, I saw things. For a long time I thought it was an epiphany about the nature of the universe. Then, I wondered if it might have been an attempt to indoctrinate me by the Technons; one which by their standards backfired horribly. But the first time I saw this armour I felt such a kinship with it… I believe that it was a message from… Something or someone, associated with this armour."

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So to be fair the Technons weren't just dumb, they only overlooked the armour's mind bending capabilities.

 

[RichardWhereat]

I like him. I don't agree with him, but I like him.

 

[Vaermina]

The wall behind him melts as Mister van Wyck launches his assault.

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Because I am sure nobody has tried molecular disruption before either.

 

[Mquz]

Because I am sure nobody has tried molecular disruption before either.

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Not molecular disruption - he's literally melting through the walls with extreme temperature. Still won't do much good, but helps.

 

[Gantradies]

... you know, if he's capable of hearing, i wonder if extreme-power sonic weapons would have any effect, assuming the room hasnt depressurized yet-
i mean, its been proven irl (by one of Nazi Germany's MANY wunderwuffre programs that failed to make a field-useable product- it was too slow to effect a target that wasn't restrained AND hilariously fragile ) that you can literally shake someone apart with focused sound- even if it'd just cause tempory disorientation, it could be useful...

 

[Buggy123]

Because I am sure nobody has tried molecular disruption before either.

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...How am I going to stop some big mean mother hubbard from tearing me a structurally superfluous new behind?
The answer: use a gun. And if that don't work...
...use more gun.

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A simple lesson: If at first it doesn't work, use more. A philosophy best paired with kinetics, but it probably works just fine with molecular disruption, too.

 

[Sordid Snake]

Uncertain. Profile appears to match theorised Bleed-based energy-actualisation weapon.

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That is gridfire, only expressed in DC cosmology, isn't it?

 

[Mr Zoat]

That is gridfire, only expressed in DC cosmology, isn't it?

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Is gridfire purple?

 

[BR549]

Is gridfire purple?

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Blinding white light. Although the principle is exactly the same: 'admit energy from the Grid/the Bleed to the normal universe to blow stuff up real good'.

 

[l---erddad---l]

Blinding white light. Although the principle is exactly the same: 'admit energy from the Grid/the Bleed to the normal universe to blow stuff up real good'.

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I'm pretty sure that Bleed power-generation technology functions by using the Bleed to create an area where physics doesn't work right, so it's possible to get more energy out of some processes than you put in, hence unlimited energy.

 

[Buggy123]

I'm pretty sure that Bleed power-generation technology functions by using the Bleed to create an area where physics doesn't work right, so it's possible to get more energy out of some processes than you put in, hence unlimited energy.

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It's sort of similar, I'd say:

Gridfire takes advantage of the multidimensional physics of the universe to extract energy from higher dimensions, in a extremely destructive manner.

Bleed-based energy-actualization takes advantage of the metaphysics of the multiverse (the Bleed) to temporarily alter physics to create energy from nothing, in a extremely destructive manner.

Pretty similar, but I think there's still a important distinction in that Gridfire is just taking energy from somewhere else while obeying the (true) laws of physics of the universe, while Bleed-actualization is making energy using metaphysics, because energy isn't a metaphysical property in DC so you can alter/make it to your hearts content once you're toying with metaphysics.

Don't forget, the Culture universe actually has a multiverse, of which we see like a 3-4 sentence glimpse that describes nothing. All the messing about they do with dimensions (FTL, gridfire, 4 dimensional construction, etc) is all just taking advantage of one single universe, without actually getting into the physics between universes (metaphysics).

 

[Baladar]

And the new guy bursts in like the Kool-Aid Man!

 

[dxdragon]

Okay, I like him. He seems like a guy Paul and....the time travelling villain rival?.....could talk to about stuff, instead of just another face puncher.

You know, one would think that Paul would run through his mind all the giant armors that can't be scanned in his head that exist in DC. Anti-Monitor seems the most likely.

 

[Siskulous]

Kind of surprised the mention of giant armor didn't trigger any eureka moments for Paul.

I would think "giant armor plus DC leads to Anti-Monitor as the first thought," just like "giant armor plus Marvel would lead to Celestials as the first thought."

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It's been a while since Paul's had any comic book inspired revelations. I'm beginning to wonder if he's forgotten where he came from. I mean, Grayven certainly has.

 

[Handlewithcare]

What was the Bleed again?

 

[Navi-Hank]

What was the Bleed again?

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Space between realities. It doesn't have any rules, so you can make your own.

 

[Someguy Somewhere]

Time to begin prepping the 'Everybody out of the universe' alert...

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No No No No.

The LAST time we had a multiple Lantern universal Exit plan we ended up with this:

Spoiler: This is Quite Illogical

 

[Maxx Crowley]

No No No No.

The LAST time we had a multiple Lantern universal Exit plan we ended up with this:

Spoiler: This is Quite Illogical

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Dude....Larfleeze would swallow up the entire Federation so fast it would make the Borg look like baby toys in comparison.

 

[l---erddad---l]

Pretty similar, but I think there's still a important distinction in that Gridfire is just taking energy from somewhere else while obeying the (true) laws of physics of the universe, while Bleed-actualization is making energy using metaphysics, because energy isn't a metaphysical property in DC so you can alter/make it to your hearts content once you're toying with metaphysics.

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That's the thing, as I understand it there isn't any metaphysics involved: The idea is that the area between universes doesn't follow the physical laws of any universe, except that the closer you are to a universe the more you follow those physical laws. Because of that, Bleed Generators work by creating a confined area of space which {either acts as if it is or is actually} far enough away from the universe that the laws of physics are different. Because of that, you can use the altered physics to do something that would usually not produce extra energy, because you can't create energy from nothing, that does because of the altered physics.

Also, funny enough, Grammerly tried to tell me that "can't create energy from nothing" is actually either "can't create energy from anything" or "can create energy from nothing", which was kind of weird. Lol

 

[Enochi]

Okay I want more banter from this guy. He is much better at it then most.

 

[Stsword]

Space between realities. It doesn't have any rules, so you can make your own.

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And in DC comics, as shown in Superman Beyond, apparently literally blood, or fairly close.

The Monitors are space vampires, and they drink the Bleed.

So the Bleed is like an ocean that the universes float in like islands.

Dude....Larfleeze would swallow up the entire Federation so fast it would make the Borg look like baby toys in comparison.

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Not without a power source, the lanterns showed up with their rings and the clothes on of their backs in Star Trek/Green Lantern.

Which means the only way to increase charge was the blue power rings' perpetual motion benefit, which was expanded to being able to recharge rings of other colors than green.

This was before DC made Larfleeze his own lantern.

That is until they discovered the remains of a native manhunter, which revealed that the Star Trek universe has its own Oa. The native Guardians had yet to get around to making a Green Lantern Corps though. The second story ended with Hal deciding that it would be a good idea to check out the coordinates of Krypton to see if there was a planet about to explode.

 

[Maxx Crowley]

Not without a power source, the lanterns showed up with their rings and the clothes on of their backs in Star Trek/Green Lantern.

Which means the only way to increase charge was the blue power rings' perpetual motion benefit, which was expanded to being able to recharge rings of other colors than green.

This was before DC made Larfleeze his own lantern.

That is until they discovered the remains of a native manhunter, which revealed that the Star Trek universe has its own Oa. The native Guardians had yet to get around to making a Green Lantern Corps though. The second story ended with Hal deciding that it would be a good idea to check out the coordinates of Krypton to see if there was a planet about to explode.

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I'm just hearing a lot of Blah, Blah.

The U.S.S God-damn-it-nothing-fucking-works, that can't scan because "Radiation" (The shit space is full of), breaks every other day, and operates under a doctrine of "Kick my ass for a while" isn't going to do jack shit against a Lantern. Let alone Larfleeze. He'd probably eat half the Federation just looking for a recharge source.

And you just know crews trained in the "Dipshit's R Us" academy would poke him the second they came across some "Strange light."

I mean, the thinking of your usual Federation captain and crew tends to go.

"Captain! We appear to have found some shit!"

"Well, scan that shit."

"It's no good Sir. The area seems to be filled with Fuck you Radiation."

"Damn it! Space is full of that! Oh if only we had known when we built our ships."

"Well, what should we do?"

"It isn't clear? Fly into that shit!"

*Ass kicking commences*

"Captain! The shit is trying to kill us!"

"Well...fuck. Captain to engineering. Do we happen to have any leftover plot?"

"You know we don't keep continuity Captain."

"Yes....yes it was foolish to think something that had worked once, would ever work again."

"Orders sir?"

"Hmm....if we jibber-jab up the flibby-fuck....we might just..."

"We'd have to reverse the inverse proton hadron collider slider."

"Yes...yes...make it so."

*Stupid shit occurs.*

"Wow...that was close. Let's mark that in the log."

*Later*

"Captain! We've found some shit!"

 

[Buggy123]

TL;DR the Federation sucks.

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And that's without even getting in to the more worrying aspects of the Federation. Need I mention the sentient holodeck characters/holographic doctors/androids/ship-computer-struck-by-space-lightning that seem to spring up from time to time, and the general reaction of "Damnit, it started philosophizing about the nature of existence again. La Forge! Get up here and reset the holodeck!".


Or the mess that is the Prime Directive; sure, no interfering sounds good... except that planet is dying from a horrible disease, and that one is about to get hit by a giant meteor, and that one...

Oh well, just wash our hands of it. I'm sure they'll be fine. And i'm sure that if they survive, when they reach space they definitely won't realize that we chose not to help, and definitely won't start a war over it.

 

[Someguy Somewhere]

Ah, but that comic is the Kelvin Timeline....so the '%^$# You Radiation' comes with blinding amounts of lens flair and bloom.

I won't suffer the horrors of mixing Super Hero's with Star Trek....that way lies Madness.

Spoiler: I Totally Refuse To Admit Owning This

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

Ah, but that comic is the Kelvin Timeline....so the '%^$# You Radiation' comes with blinding amounts of lens flair and bloom.

I won't suffer the horrors of mixing Super Hero's with Star Trek....that way lies Madness.

Spoiler: I Totally Refuse To Admit Owning This

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I got both comics and the movel of that one. Crazy stuff and amusing moments like Picard/Xavier comparisons and the Beast/Bones moment.

 

[Mr Zoat]

24th January
20:48 GMT

How did he even get-?

Telekinetically-excited flame-flesh leaps for Devlos, who fires a purple bubble-beam at it. The purple energy blasts through with no visible effort and Mr van Wyck is forced to frantically dart aside.

"Come to die, stranger?"

No, no, this location was on charts. It got destroyed once. There are other places he could have found out about it. Interesting that he was able to bypass the interdiction fields, but hardly astonishing. There are so few faster than light telekines that there is a proportionate dearth of countermeasures. In fact, all of the ones on file involve getting more telekines on the other side to work against it.

Mr van Wyck flits around to try and evade the purple beams. Devlos doesn't appear to be putting all that much effort into it, firing just enough to keep his foe in motion. Mr van Wyck attempts to block a shot with a flaming barrier, but that doesn't resist the purple bubbles of doom any better than his attack construct did.

"Are you-? Are you a pirate?"

And Mr van Wyck doesn't know what he's blundered into. Though I suppose that I should take it as a compliment that he attacked the other fellow rather than me. With the air drifting out of the station my attempt at a disease attack is now doomed to fail. Some diseases can cope with a vacuum but none of those are likely to be highly lethal to Devlos. And it looks like his armour is airtight anyway. Would a phasing-based attack work better? Phase through the armour and release the disease before he can trigger an anti-phasing defence?

"I am Devlos Ungol the Traitor! Murderer of billions!"

No, he said that he lived this long because of his armour. There are plenty of ways to integrate medical functions into armour, and most of them would neutralise it before it could kill him. It's sub-Ebola in terms of time-to-kill anyway, I just wanted to put him on a clock. Something that might kill him where the constructs of two veteran Green Lanterns clearly failed.

"But are you a pirate?"

Assuming there's a man in there, and it isn't just an AI patterned after him. Or a remote-controlled drone. The second would be out of character, but the first is a little more likely. And then there's whatever this force field is made of. In theory I should be able to FEED on it, but cocking about with the Bleed is one of those things I've been trying to avoid. Assuming that's even what is going on here.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Effigy."

Devlos fires two more blasts, then turns his helmet my way. "Is this some sort of joke?"

Beam singularities didn't work. But I can clearly see him. I generate a laser construct and fire it directly at his faceplate, but again there's no sign that any energy is actually being conveyed. I switch weapon, but the positron beam doesn't do any better.

"I'm-"

Vertigo inducers? Nothing. Sonic weapon? Nothing.

"-undecided."

Devlos negligently raises his left hand to destroy my gun construct. "What is this? A man already on fire and a Lantern who can barely make constructs? Has this region forgotten me?"

Barely.. make..?

I suppose he was beaten by people using the standard Green Lantern style. Maybe giant construct boxing gloves are the way to go?

A ring of hydraulic ram constructs surrounds him as he traps Mr van Wyck against a wall, construct columns ramming inwards. He jerks a little, then spins his entirely unencumbered arms around and slashes my constructs to orange vapour.

Hm. Did his armour just fail to absorb kinetic force? Or was he not paying attention, or..? Can it only absorb one form of energy at a time?

My one surviving ram hammers down on him again and he raises his hands to destroy it, apparently ignoring the psi-shock grenade I deposit next to him. It detonates and I replace it with another, rapidly creating additional rams with which to strike him and dismissing the ones he blasts at before he can destroy them. His movements are… Slightly less coordinated, but I'm still not really getting the impression that I'm doing him significant harm.

Mr van Wyck takes the opportunity to disengage, flying around the force field and the few remaining robotic arms to join me.

"Who is this?"

"Devlos Ungol."

"I thought he was dead."

"You and lots of other people. How did you find this place?"

"I went to the old Green Lantern's homeworld. Research, like you said. It's public knowledge that he came here so I thought I'd check it out."

Devlos glows purple, and all of my constructs around him fade.

"Is he a pirate?"

"He was the commander of the genocidal fleet the survivors of which became the pirates after he was apparently killed. I don't know what he's been doing since."

"Close enough. How about we try hitting him together?"

"His armour is absorbing everything and his blasts destroy any construct either of us send at him. Are you telepathic?"

"No?"

"Sometimes 'hit them really hard' isn't the solution. Can you make a hydraulic ram?"

"I prefer spears."

"Ragh!"

Devlos unleashes another surge of purple energy, then points our way. Purple arcs shit! I press myself as close to the force field as I can without quite touching it, and Mr van Wyck's flame constructs flare as he tries to dart after me. The shots Devlos sent my way either expend themselves on the force field as they can't quite follow the curve of its surface, or fly past and punch more holes in the hull. Mr van Wyck-

"Aagh!"

-takes a couple of glancing hits, flaming wounds appearing on his right arm and the right side of his mask. Devlos takes the opportunity to try flying up around the force field to get a clear shot at us, the glow around his hands slowly building up again. A recharge time?

"Effigy, move."

I fly down, forming railguns loaded with crumbler rounds and sending a filament in the other direction to try and drop off a psi-shock grenade. Small jet constructs form on the sides of my railguns as he tries to curve shots around to shoot them and I have to thrust them out of the way, but I get a clear shot-

"That fucking hurt!"

Mr van Wyck flies backwards after me, sending sheets of flame around to strike at Devlos. Devlos waves his left hand in their direction to shred them, but that does make it harder for him to shoot my railguns. Filament in place…

I detonate the grenade and begin cycling in replacements even as I move my railguns into line of sight and fire! Crumbler rounds slam-.

Right into a purple energy field.

"A telepathic attack! I wondered what that was!"

He turns his left hand towards my covert filament and destroys it with another purple beam.

"I've adapted. My mind is stronger than your weak weapons! Now die!"

I switch one of my railguns for a larger psi-shock grenade and detonate that.

 

[gustyeagle]

24th January
20:48 GMT

I switch one of my railguns for a larger psi-shock grenade and detonate that.

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Anyone else think that OL should have got a thinking cap a long time ago?

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

There are so few faster than light telekines that there is a proportionate dearth of countermeasures. In fact, all of the ones on file involve getting more telekines on the other side to work against it.

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Basically, fight fire with fire. Logical, I suppose.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Mr van Wyck attempt to block a shot with a flaming barrier...

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Mr van Wyck attempts to block a shot with a flaming barrier...

Though I suppose that I should take it as a complement that he attacked...

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Though I suppose that I should take it as a compliment that he attacked...

Assuming there's a man in there, and it isn't just an AI patterned after him. Or a remote-controlled drone. The second would be out of character, but the first is a little more likely.

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Crud, that's a scary thought: an entire army of these guys, complete with Uberhax armor.

Devlos fires two more blasts, then turns his helmet my way. "Is this some sort of joke?"

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"...Because it's not very funny..."

...no sign that any energy is actually being conveying.

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...no sign that any energy is actually being conveyed.

I suppose he was beaten by people using the standard Green Lantern style. Maybe giant construct boxing gloves are the way to go?

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...That would be a weaksauce weakness. The uberhax super-soldier, who can be defeated by punching him. The challenge being getting close enough.

Hm. Did his armour just fail to absorb kinetic force? Or was he not paying attention, or..? Can it only absorb one form of energy at a time?

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Mid-combat experimentation time!

...apparently ignoring the psi-shock I deposit next to him.

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I presume you meant 'psi-shock grenade I' here?

...dismissing the ones his blasts at before he can destroy them.

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...dismissing the ones he blasts at before he can destroy them.

"I went to the old Green Lantern's homeworld. Research, like you said. It's public knowledge that he came here so I thought I'd check it out."

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...You basically asked for directions? <facepalm> The height of investigative skills.

"He was the commander of the genocidal fleet the survivors of which became the pirates after he was apparently killed. I don't know what he's been doing since."

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"...So, is that a 'yes'?"

I press myself as closed to the force field as I can without quite touching it...

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I press myself as close to the force field as I can without quite touching it...

Small jet constructs for on the sides of my railguns...

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Small jet constructs form on the sides of my railguns...

...and I have to trust them out of the way, but I get a clear shot-

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...and I have to thrust them out of the way, but I get a clear shot-

Mr van Wyck flies backwards after me, sending sheets of flame around to strike at Devlos. Devlos waves his left hand in their direction to shred them, but that does make it harder for him to shoot my railguns. Filament in place…

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Well, at least van Wyck is making himself useful as a distraction.

I switch one of my railguns for a larger psi-shock grenade and detonate that.

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Headache time.

I'm guessing this one took a bit of work, looking at the errors, Mr Zoat? Still some good action.

 

[Someguy Somewhere]

I got both comics and the movel of that one. Crazy stuff and amusing moments like Picard/Xavier comparisons and the Beast/Bones moment.

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I will admit I still get a chuckle about Logan walking into Ten Forward and ordering a 'Warrior's Drink' and Guinan give's him Worf's preferred beverage.

 

[Handlewithcare]

Anyone else think that OL sold have got a thinking cap a long time ago?

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Well, for some reason he never went the full Transhuman/One-person-Singularity route.

Also, I think it's time for both of them to disengage.

The Honden of Avarice sounds like a safer bet than this guy.