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

Bud-E · Mar 11, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
"Hey, if you want to change that, I know a few gods who might make you a deal. I've got augmentative potions and power armour-"

"That's Arsenal's thing."

Is Arsenal augmented in any way I don't remember; was he one of the people Paul Dannered?

Ngamer11 · Mar 11, 2025

Bud-E said:
Is Arsenal augmented in any way I don't remember; was he one of the people Paul Dannered?

Arsenal uses power armor.

Darko · Mar 11, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
currently occupying me we do maintain

"me, we do"

Mr Zoat said:
difficulty confirming that for.

Remove "for".

Duke Long · Mar 11, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
"As far as we know. You see, ascension works by creating arcane bonds between the magics of the three tribes. Various sort of bond work, and the raw magic can come from just about anywhere. Princess Cadance-. You've heard of her?" A small nod. "She used stolen love magic-. Someone else stole it." She nods. "Stolen from all three tribes and which discharged itself right into her special talent after she freed it from its containment vessel. Whereas for Princess Twilight, the magic came from a set of magic artefacts called the Elements of Harmony, and the bond came from the intense emotional connection between her and her closest friends. My own student Sunset Shimmer on the other hand managed to plug herself directly into the background magics of Equestria, maintaining the connection with her own magic while her body was reconfigured. And that technique is far more easily replicable."

'Various sorts'

Mr Zoat said:
Mr. Bierce goes back to staring at the screen. "So this machine… Helps you caste the same spell thousands of times really quickly."

'cast'

Mr Zoat said:
Starlight nods. "A lot of cutie marks are metaphorical rather than literal. It my case it's fairly obvious that my talent is something to do with magic, but with Grayven unless you knew what a fasces is, it just looks like an axe and some sticks and suggests that his talent might be chopping wood."

'In my'

Mr Zoat said:
Dr. Cochin rolls his eyes. "If you feel unable to offer your services -even at LexCorps' expedited service rates- then please just say so. There are other magicians we can call upon, but please consider that they aren't familiar with the spells and that would leave Enginehead in Anarky's hands for longer."

'LexCorp's'

Mr Zoat said:
"Normally, I'd roll my eyes, but Paul says that the ones you put on your paper is pretty effective."

'the one'
or
'are pretty'

Mr Zoat said:
Dr. Jackson nods. "How was it with yours hosts?"

'your'

Mr Zoat said:
The nox nods. "We will recess while a medical investigation is performs on Klorel and Skaara." Klorel looks mulish, but glances at Zipacna. Zipacna nods, so Klorel bites down his complaint. "And Mammon."

'performed'

Mr Zoat said:
That gets a reaction. He certainly thinks about complaining, but looks at me first. I smile harmlessly, and he weighs thinks up before deciding that it's better to go along with it.

'things'

Mr Zoat said:
"That would have been faster if you'd just leant me the ring."

Dr. Cochin looks mildly put out, though at least he only raised it once.

'lent'

Mr Zoat said:
"Dr. Cochin, if you want to apply to the Orange Lantern Corps then you are free to do so. But I don't need any further assistance with this Sector, so you'd be obliged to work in the Reach Periphery. That is to say, a war zone covering a measurably percentage of the volume of this galaxy. Now, if we may return to the matter at hand?"

'measurable'

Mr Zoat said:
"I wound Zeus up until he broke guest rights, then got saved by Hephestaean who proceeded to beat the stuffing out of him. Which included cracking his skull and releasing Metis. Which means that he's only got his own wisdom to draw upon, but should make the human species a little more intelligent."

'Hephaestaean'?

Mr Zoat said:
I connect a filament to Dr. Cochin and transition us to a mostly-intact bus stop in Detroit before transitioning to Johanna and accelerating after her.

Come to think of it, this sort of forced relocation might be frightening for him. If he was moved to space, he'd be fucked. Unless he has enough schizotech gizmos in his pockets to make it back to Earth.

Mr Zoat said:
"No. But my father is a total monster and I don't have a reliable way to prevent him… Can you imagine something that the opposite of the Elements of Harmony? Where you get a group of living misery broadcasters together and hollow out all of the target's capacity for joy and hope and kindness and… So on?"

'is the opposite'

Mr Zoat said:
I frown as his body starts to… Bubble and wobble. "Um. Are you alright? Should I get Flutterh-?"

'Fluttersh-?'

Mr Zoat said:
Would that work? I don't think the standard ritual would, but what does the standard ritual actually do? It doesn't edit history, it just makes the records not-. Does it send them somewhere else? If it was paper records I could believe that it set them on fire or something, but-. No, a fire would attract attention. And it can't increase the chance of them being misplaces to near 100% because if that's all it did I could find them. And misplaced computer records would still be on the daily backups, and they'd probably still be on the hard disk until the sector was overwritten.

Then I'd guess that it sends the records somewhere else..?

'being misplaced to near'
Good question. I just chalked it up to 'magic bullshit' and stopped thinking.

Mr Zoat said:
step out, reappearing

directly above Dakota City. Alva actually managed to become the City Boss when the places was infected with the Anti-Life. Not a lot changed, apparently. I barely remember the animated series Static Shock, but there's a young Virgil Hawkins down there somewhere. I wonder if everything that's happened will prevent the whole 'Bang Babies' thing from occurring? The sensible thing to do would be to just snipe Alva here and now, but…

'the place was'?

Mr Zoat said:
"You are short on friends and options, Lord Klorel. I would council you that it is wise to bite your tongue until you are more aware of your situation."

'counsel'?

Mr Zoat said:
"Shingling. You takes slices of potato, stick them together with fat, slice them into rectangles and then fry them." I stick a fork in one of mine and raise it up to eye level. "It wouldn't be worth doing without a power ring, but it definitely ensures that the flavour from the fat is present throughout."

'take slices'
Interesting. But 'about as good as normal oven chips' isn't inspiring. I tend to find that oven chips are not nearly as nice as ones from a good chippy.

Mr Zoat said:
Celestia nods, mane billowing around her as she levitates the mane net of her head. "Do you have any housed here at the moment? I think meeting one could be educational."

'off her'

Mr Zoat said:
Atlantis is back.

Back on the surface.

I turn to look out to see, Kara floating over to hover besides me.

'sea,'?

Mr Zoat said:
"I imagine that they'll be glad to hear it. What is it's status beyond that?"

"Don't know. The Justice League are finding out now. The purebloods will be fine, though those who needs water might.. be a bit more limited in where they live."

'its status'
'need water'

Mr Zoat said:
"If there's a person born with access to more raw magical power than most people, most of the time he's one of their ancestors. He's literally the progenitor of a magic-focused human subspecies."

Wow, that's pretty cool. I wonder how Balewa feels about that, if he cares.

Mr Zoat said:
"Then we can certainly look into it." He leads us out onto the balcony and towards the Gate in holds. "But for now, the city."

'it holds'

Mr Zoat said:
"About two hundred times more raw power, untrained homo magi to random peon. About fifty times more raw power, slightly experienced homo magi to minor street magician. About twenty times more raw power, veteran homo magi to a lifelong magic junkie like John Constantine."

In both instances I think 'Homo' ought to be capitalised, and both 'Homo magi' ought to be italicised if it's a scientific name.

Interesting to see that it's so much of a difference, but not too surprising I suppose. Seems unfair, but no less fair than some people being born maltusian or kryptonian.

Mr Zoat said:
"And emigrating is a big step, when there's not set exchange rate." I nod. "Well, if he does a good job I'll see about sorting something out for him. Nice seeing you again."

'no set'
or
'not a set'?

Mr Zoat said:
"The Eldar say that their gods are dead because they were torn apart when Slaanesh was born. But the warp storms of the Age of Isolation leading up to that event would have badly stressed all warp-based structures. Humans have less of a warp presence that Eldar, and given that I've seen no signs of the presence of older human gods I have to assume that any we created are all dead as well."

'than Eldar'

Mr Zoat said:
Vail glances at the techpriest, and he stows his rod. So I return the favour by stowing mine. The Tau Empire can't produce null devices itself -as far as I know- but they've collected enough from Imperial wrecks that we're not desperate for it to make sense for me to steal his.

'desperate enough'?

Mr Zoat said:
I sit back, smiling ruefully. "Can you imagine how much human society has changed in thirty eight thousand years? In my day we only inhabited Earth. We had rocket-driven spacecraft, but no… Plasma thrusters or warp drives. No psykers, not that.. anyone knew about. I mean, the… Being you call The Emperor was around somewhere, but his existence wasn't public knowledge. I certainly didn't know about him. And you're probably thinking 'ignorant bumpkin from a industrial-age backwater', but I'm not. That was it. That was all we had. No Imperium, no Terran Federation or… Whatever. Just the one world."

'an industrial-'

Mr Zoat said:
"Your terrible acting. Look, Lantern Ragnar literally murdered a dozen or so people before joining up. Zartok lead a war of conquest which killed thousands at the very least. From the sounds of things you haven't done anything on that level."

'led'?

Mr Zoat said:
"But your homeworld is a long way away-. Hukh!"

I blink in surprise. He… Just got so demotivated that his environmental shield glitched. And now he's bent over in space, trying to get his breath back.

I love this guy. You do some great comic relief characters.

Mr Zoat said:
"No! I mean, she wouldn't have, but when would I ever meet the Queen? She did the graduation speech at my university, but she left well before my diploma was awarded. It's just not a thing that she has."

He managed to graduate university? I'm impressed.

Mr Zoat said:
"Have you considered researching your species neural physiology and increasing your motivation manually?"

He blinks. "I can do that?"

"You can do anything you want. But if that's a bit much, one of my species' goddesses of intellect recently got freed from her prison and would probably be prepared to make a pact with you."

'your species''

Mr Zoat said:
A helmet that looks like its made of steel plate turns towards Hieronymous. "And you?"

"I live here."

'it's'

Mr Zoat said:
"Can you spare an hour or to for a trip to Tamaran? There's something that I'd like to show you."

'or so'
or
'or two'

Mr Zoat said:
Queen Artemis herself… Blonde and pink hair, pink and rose dress, a silver diadem on her forehead and… Odd… Antennae..? Things..? Sticking out of the corners of her eyes before rising up above the top of her head. None of the other locals appear to have those. Might be an age thing? Or like Hieronymous odd skin colour, maybe a proportion of their species just looks a bit odd? Or maybe it's just the magicians? Otherwise there's not a lot about her that sticks out; average height, musculature, reasonably attractive but not stand-out attractive…

'Hieronymous''
Is Hieronymous colourblind? He said she had purple hair last scene. Maybe she changed it?

Mr Zoat said:
She nods. "Of course, I would have difficulty confirming that for. As you say, travelling between the stars using magic is very difficult."

Maybe 'that, for as you say,'

Mr Zoat said:
I shake my head. "I've been through a dreamstorm. I wouldn't recommend it for a large inanimate object. And I don't think that Morpheus would approve of his realm being used as a shipping lane. Have you considered-?" I know that it was a Mother of Mercy induced hallucination, but from what I've been able to tell the theory is sound. "Artificially expending the worldsphere? Or artificially joining two separate ones? I had a team researching the possibility but that's been closed down as well."

'expanding'

Mr Zoat said:
Another coming at me, and it looks like it's all of the sharks from across the arena are heading for us. Robert gets his flipper-hands on one who was going for Miss Lamaris and I hear the click-click of a short ranged electrical discharge. Miss Lamaris is putting some sort of spell together…

Extraneous 'it's'?

Stsword · Mar 11, 2025

Chojin Patriarch said:
Man, they really didn't know what to do with Ollie's rogue's gallery back in the day, did they? I'd hope they didn't take him in as extreme a direction as the Joker over the years, if they even remembered he existed.

Green Arrow was a blatant Batman ripoff, a rich playboy with a teen sidekick with an Arrowcave with an Arrowplane and Arrowcar who awaited for the Arrowsignal to go fight his clown archnemesis.

There's a comic actually published by DC in which Batman asks him "Have you ever had an original thought in your life?"

FreeGod · Mar 11, 2025

Chojin Patriarch said:
Makes sense. At this point though, the League really does need to expand. Thirty people, some who don't even have powers, aren't enough to protect the world any more.

It never was, but before the assumption was the people of the world would do more of the heavy lifting especially on the less superpowered stuff.

Mr Zoat · Mar 11, 2025

Darko said:
"me, we do"

No, I think that's correct.

Remove "for".

Thank you, corrected.

Duke Long said:
'Various sorts'
'cast'
'In my'
'LexCorp's'
'the one'
or
'are pretty'
'your'
'performed'
'things'
'lent'
'measurable'
'Hephaestaean'?
'is the opposite'
'Fluttersh-?'
'being misplaced to near'
'the place was'?
'counsel'?
'take slices'
'off her'
'sea,'?
'its status'
'need water'
'it holds'
'no set'
or
'not a set'?
'than Eldar'
'desperate enough'?
'an industrial-'
'led'?
'your species''
'it's'
'or so'
or
'or two'
'Hieronymous''
Maybe 'that, for as you say,'
'expanding'
Extraneous 'it's'?

Thank you, corrected.

Is Hieronymous colourblind? He said she had purple hair last scene. Maybe she changed it?

No, he was just being imprecise.

In both instances I think 'Homo' ought to be capitalised, and both 'Homo magi' ought to be italicised if it's a scientific name.

I think I'll leave it. You're probably be right, but it would be a pain.

Interesting to see that it's so much of a difference, but not too surprising I suppose. Seems unfair, but no less fair than some people being born maltusian or kryptonian.

Life has no obligation to be fair.

Cypher3au · Mar 11, 2025

Stsword said:
Green Arrow was a blatant Batman ripoff, a rich playboy with a teen sidekick with an Arrowcave with an Arrowplane and Arrowcar who awaited for the Arrowsignal to go fight his clown archnemesis.

There's a comic actually published by DC in which Batman asks him "Have you ever had an original thought in your life?"

At one point Green Arrow was the Justice League's money guy, with Queen Enterprises secretly funding the League through a middle man. I think he's paid their bills more recently too, when they lost some of their financial backers.

I think Batman was the team skill monkey back in the day, with him footing the League's bill being a more modern thing.

NightmareWarden · Mar 11, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
What else can I talk about? I've never been any good at small talk. Oh god, not that. Don't even think about that.

Link from story-only. The "oh God" link specifically appears of be dead. The website still works, but the "annotations" section of the URL doesn't allow the 2007 article to load. This appears to be the same thing, reposted since some sort of site overhaul.

⎇001JW Interviewing Leather: Being the Steve #7 (CONCLUSION!)

“…whoever she was, she wasn’t a Steve. She clearly wasn’t a Steve. So you didn’t lie to me. I get that.” She took a breath. “Was it a good offer?”“Amazing offer. You couldn’t match it.”…

banter-latte.com

Mr Zoat · Mar 11, 2025

NightmareWarden said:
Link from story-only. The "oh God" link specifically appears of be dead. The website still works, but the "annotations" section of the URL doesn't allow the 2007 article to load. This appears to be the same thing, reposted since some sort of site overhaul.

⎇001JW Interviewing Leather: Being the Steve #7 (CONCLUSION!)

“…whoever she was, she wasn’t a Steve. She clearly wasn’t a Steve. So you didn’t lie to me. I get that.” She took a breath. “Was it a good offer?”“Amazing offer. You couldn’t match it.”…

banter-latte.com

Thank you, updated. Though the link you suggested goes to the 'Being Steve' sequel and not the original.

Mr Zoat · Mar 12, 2025

12th December 2023
14:36 GMT -5

"…what do you think?"

Waller must have been shaken if she's asking for my opinion. Professor MacPherson's sidelong glance suggests that she's not sure exactly what insight I could offer.

"Are we due an apocalypse?"

I frown as an-. Images flash through my mind, of strange alien machines boring into the Earth's core, monsters roaming freely in the ruined streets, and Superman with glowing green eyes. The last is… Myself, with glowing rings?

"Lan, I need to make a decision. Tell the 'Most High' to hurry up."

The images… Vanish, as they have before, my mind quieting as I reach towards the source of existence, and feel…

No condemnation. No ultimatum.

"No." I focus on Ms. Waller. "It is a war purely of mortal making."

"I-." She shakes her head, clearly shaken. "What I saw… It was butchery, on a scale I…"

"Who was getting butchered?"

"The U.S. government, soldiers, superheroes…" She begins to recover, squaring her shoulders. "And if Circe's visions are real-."

"Then there are two alternatives." I lean slightly closer to her, wings slightly extended. "The first is that what Circe showed you is inevitable. The second is that it is preventable, and may not yet have been caused."

Her eyes narrow. "I'm not giving up."

"Good." I smile reassuringly. "Despair is a sin. But if it is inevitable as Doctor MacPherson implied, then there is no point in attacking anyone you saw in your vision."

"Maybe. But I'd like to try."

"Trying is irrational and a waste of resources. Did you see all of America ravaged, or just a few places that you know well? How about the rest of the world, and the American assets stationed there?"

She hesitates as she conducts a mental review.

"No, I didn't see everywhere."

"Then it may have been a decapitation attack. Though the losses would be grievous, the country would survive it. Most offices in the U.S. government can be replaced fairly quickly, and a county the size of Pokolistan couldn't hope to occupy America. The intelligent thing to do is to place resources in places not shown to prepare for the counter-attack. Caches of weapons and fuel, soldiers in positions of concealment, long range missiles trained on the source of the attack, the air force on alert and other things of that nature. Am I mistaken?"

She takes a deep breath. "No. But it sticks in my craw to just take it."

"Did you ever read 'The Minority Report'?"

"I saw the movie."

"Ah, no." I shake my head. "The book was rather different in respect of the visions. In the film, the villain murdered someone in the same place in which the victim had already been attacked in order to confuse the pre-crime bureau. A rather clever response to police who can see the future. In the book, the different visions were produced by the effect of reading the visions on the head of the pre-crime bureau. The first report would be true if the director took no action. The second report would be true if the director acted on the first, and the third would be true if the director acted on the second. Because he committed a murder in the first and third versions, the system reported him as a murderer, even though the circumstances were different."

"So if I send the Commandos after her, it might cause it. OR it could be what happens because Circe attacked her and I didn't do anything, and there's no way to know until it happens." Waller looks up a the ceiling, gesturing towards the heavens with both arms. "So I might just have well not seen anything."

"Are you familiar with Greek mythology?"

She glares at me. "Can you just give a straight answer?"

Professor MacPherson turns away from Circe to look at me. "Are you referring to Oedipus? Or Perseus?"

I nod. "Both. The father of the first sent away the son destined to kill him, only to be killed by him in ignorance decades later. Something similar happened to Perseus. In both circumstances, both attempts to avoid fate made the results worse. King Laius could have a normal loving relationship with his son, but his fear of his own death caused him to send Oedipus away. Oedipus heard the prophecy and left his adopted family because he didn't want to kill his adopted father or marry his adopted mother."

The professor crosses her arms across her chest. "So what's the Christian view on the story?"

"Pulvis et umbra sumus. Or in more Christian language, 'To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven, a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted'. If a person's death is prophesised then they should accept that with equanimity. They should use the time to put their affairs in order, to attempt to settle any remaining disputes, reach out to old friends and make peace with their enemies. Things like that. Everyone will die, every kingdom will fall and every star will fade. Accepting that, and setting your eyes to Heaven, is the rational thing to do."

Ms. Waller rolls her eyes. "I'm not taking that to the President."

"Then perhaps a gentler option. Did you ever watch-?"

"Spare me. When did you find the time to watch so much T.V.?"

"I…" I frown. When did I..? "I don't actually remember."

I wait politely, until-.

"Fine. What am I supposed to have watched this time?"

"Babylon Five. In-."

"Oh. I did actually watch that."

I smile broadly. "Excellent! So President Sheridan is told by a techno-mage that the son of the late Emperor Cartagia will one day rise to power and destroy the Interstellar Alliance, but that he could prevent that by having the boy killed. Sheridan goes to the location the techno-mage provided, and there the boy is. So what did he do?"

Her interest is waning. "I don't remember this episode."

"He adopted him. Took him into his household, raised him alongside his own son. Dedicated himself to being the best father to the boy that he could be. And in the fullness of time the boy seized his birthright, became Emperor… And was the strongest advocate of the Interstellar Alliance the Republic ever had."

"You think we should befriend her."

"You've already befriended her; you protected her from Circe. And… Ah, the General managed rather more."

Waller rolls her eyes. "Did he. Left that out of the report." She thinks for a moment. "So we send him back there. We get him a position in the U.S. embassy. They get closer. She's happy, he's happy, and if she goes crazy then he's in position to kill her."

Breath in. Breath out.

"If she goes crazy he will be in position to ensure that she receives counselling and anti-psychotics. It may also be worth notifying the Justice League of the potential problem so they aren't taken by surprise. But… Frankly, I haven't seen anything in the Pokolistan arsenal that could threaten either the United States or the Justice League. I'm wondering if something else is going on."

"Like what?"

"A third party using them as a patsy. Perhaps a shapeshifter taking the place of the princess, or a mind-altering device of some sort. Politicians do foolish things sometimes, but as things stand I'm struggling to see how they would even get a strike force to Washington."

"So we send the Commandos as well, so they're on the ground when something happens."

I nod. "Just so."

"Fine. As long as we've got her where we can see her. I'll make the calls."

Shadowj6480 · Mar 12, 2025

I always love it when people get creative with how they tackle future visions. It feels like it's always so rigid in media, no attempts at trying to do stuff beyond a "Kill the problem, destroy the thing, etc."

If you're destined to die at the hand of your son, raise him well, care for him, and ask him to kill you when you're old and ready. If some magic artifact is the only thing that can kill you, have it under constant surveillance and have plans in place for the moment it disappears. Maybe hand it off to someone you know and trust. Etc. etc.

Edit: I also very much appreciate Angel!Paul going "No, Waller. We're not going to jump straight to murder if she goes crazy. We're going to try the non-lethal options first you wackjob."

Bigking321 · Mar 12, 2025

It looks like grafting those wings on might have been a mistake. Maybe not to the world overall, but to Paul who seems to have been somewhat overshadowed by it. Not recalling how he remembers things and all.

Vaermina · Mar 12, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
He adopted him. Took him into his household, raised him alongside his own son. Dedicated himself to being the best father to the boy that he could be. And in the fullness of time the boy seized his birthright, became Emperor… And was the strongest advocate of the Interstellar Alliance the Republic ever had."

Just so everyone knows, he made this part up.

The first part however was a reference to one of the Lost Tales.

Ngamer11 · Mar 12, 2025

I'm disappointed that Lan no longer remembers his true origin. Hopefully he gets his memories back someday.

Mr Zoat · Mar 12, 2025

Bigking321 said:
It looks like grafting those wings on might have been a mistake. Maybe not to the world overall, but to Paul who seems to have been somewhat overshadowed by it. Not recalling how he remembers things and all.

Arguably, he did better than everyone else on that iteration of Earth.

Chojin Patriarch · Mar 12, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
12th December 2023
14:36 GMT -5

"…what do you think?"

Waller must have been shaken if she's asking for my opinion. Professor MacPherson's sidelong glance suggests that she's not sure exactly what insight I could offer.

Never underestimate what a fresh set of eyes can see in a problem situation. It's the same reason the Evil Overlord list has that clause about having plans looked over by a five-year-old child... Sometimes, you're too close to the thing to see anything else.

"Are we due an apocalypse?"

I frown as an-. Image flash through my mind, of strange alien machines boring into the Earth's core, monsters roaming freely in the ruined streets, and Superman with glowing green eyes. The last is… Myself, with glowing rings?

A vision of a Lantern alt!Paul. Of course, nothing says the last is one the same side as the former.

"Lan, I need to make a decision. Tell the 'Most High' to hurry up."

The images… Vanish, as they have before, my mind quieting as I reach towards the source of existence, and feel…

It must gall her to have to trust anything to supposed 'heavenly visions'.

No condemnation. No ultimatum.

"No." I focus on Ms. Waller. "It is a war purely of mortal making."

Are you absolutely certain? Or were they hiding something from you?

"I-." She shakes her head, clearly shaken. "What I saw… It was butchery, on a scale I…"

"Who was getting butchered?"

See, details are critical here. Just everybody dying, that's not much use in prevention...

"The U.S. government, soldiers, superheroes…" She begins to recover, squaring her shoulders. "And if Circe's visions are real-."

"Then there are two alternatives." I lean slightly closer to her, wings slightly extended. "The first is that what Circe showed you is inevitable. The second is that it is preventable, and may not yet have been caused."

OF course, trying to stop it may well trigger it. That's the problem with prophetic visions. By their nature, they have to be obscure to prevent abuse.

Her eyes narrow. "I'm not giving up."

"Good." I smile reassuringly. "Despair is a sin. But if it is inevitable as Doctor MacPherson implied, then there is no point in attacking anyone you saw in your vision."

Again, that might well trigger the attacks as presented.

"Maybe. But I'd like to try."

"Trying is irrational and a waste of resources. Did you see all of America ravaged, or just a few places that you know well? How about the rest of the world, and the American assets stationed there?"

A wise question. How wide was the scope of the vision? Did it show anyone other than the US or American assets being targetted?

She hesitates as she conducts a mental review.

"No, I didn't see everywhere."

...Then again, the vision may have been tailored to her. No point showing her things she wouldn't have cared about.

"Then it may have been a decapitation attack. Though the losses would be grievous, the country would survive it. Most offices in the U.S. government can be replaced fairly quickly, and a county the size of Pokolistan couldn't hope of occupy America. The intelligent thing to do is to place resources in places not shown to prepare for the counter-attack. Caches of weapons and fuel, soldiers in positions of concealment, long range missiles trained on the source of the attack, the air force on alert and other things of that nature. Am I mistaken?"

Sensible. Hope for peace, prepare for war, as the saying goes.

She takes a deep breath. "No. But it sticks in my craw to just take it."

"Did you ever read 'The Minority Report'?"

"I saw the movie."

Heh, like most adaptions of popular novels, the adaption overshadows the original work.

"Ah, no." I shake my head. "The book was rather different in respect of the visions. In the film, the villain murdered someone in the same place in which the victim had already been attacked in order to confuse the pre-crime bureau. A rather clever response to police who can see the future. In the book, the different visions were produced by the affect of reading the visions on the head of the pre-crime bureau. The first report would be true if the director took no action. The second report would be true if the director acted on the first, and the third would be true if the director acted on the second. Because he committed a murder in the first and third versions, the system reported him as a murderer, even though the circumstances were different."

A twisting, turning plot. Not sure how you'd evade that sort of trap...

"So if I send the Commandos after her, it might cause it. OR it could be what happens because Circe attacked her and I didn't do anything, and there's no way to know until it happens." Waller looks up a the ceiling, gesturing towards the heavens with both arms. "So I might just have well not seen anything."

Eh, just knowing that it may happen can provide insight against its occurrence.

"Are you familiar with Greek mythology?"

She glares at me. "Can you just give a straight answer?"

Professor MacPherson turns away from Circe to look at me. "Are you referring to Oedipus? Or Perseus?"

Both myths involving prophecies misunderstood by their subjects... And ultimately brought about by the actions taken to avoid them.

I nod. "Both. The father of the first sent away the son destined to kill him, only to be killed by him in ignorance decades later. Something similar happened to Perseus. In both circumstances, both attempts to avoid fate made the results worse. King Laius could have a normal loving relationship with his son, but his fear of his own death caused him to send Oedipus away. Oedipus heard the prophecy and left his adopted family because he didn't want to kill his adopted father or marry his adopted mother."

The professor crosses her arms across her chest. "So what's the Christian view on the story?"

"Pulvis et umbra sumus. Or in more Christian language, 'To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven, a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted'. If a person's death is prophesised then they should accept that with equanimity. They should use the time to put their affairs in order, to attempt to settle any remaining disputes, reach out to old friends and make peace with their enemies. Things like that. Everyone will die, every kingdom will fall and every star will fade. Accepting that, and setting your eyes to Heaven, is the rational thing to do."

Or to put it a funnier way: 'Don't bother running, you'll just die tired.'

Something of a fatalistic view, but he's right. All things end. What matters is how gracefully it ends.

Ms. Waller rolls her eyes. "I'm not taking that to the President."

"Then perhaps a gentler option. Did you ever watch-?"

Amusing how he couches his 'suggestions' in the form of popular stories.

"Spare me. When did you find the time to watch so much T.V.?"

"I…" I frown. When did I..? "I don't actually remember."

Hmm. A sign his current situation has altered him quite considerably from his original state.

I wait politely, until-.

"Fine. What am I supposed to have watched this time?"

Hopefully it even exists in this universe, though I think he's been keeping to extant examples so far...

"Babylon Five. In-."

"Oh. I did actually watch that."

Huh. Wonder what she thought of the political situations and how they were resolved?

I smile broadly. "Excellent! So President Sheridan is told by a techno-mage that the son of the late Emperor Cartagia will one day rise to power and destroy the Interstellar Alliance, but that he could prevent that by having the boy killed. Sheridan goes to the location the techno-mage provided, and there the boy is. So what did he do?"

Ah, the old 'Killing Hitler as a child' question. Of a sort, anyway.

Her interest is waning. "I don't remember this episode."

"He adopted him. Took him into his household, raised him alongside his own son. Dedicated himself to being the best father to the boy that he could be. And in the fullness of time the boy seized his birthright, became Emperor… And was the strongest advocate of the Interstellar Alliance the Republic ever had."

But in the end, the alliance was destroyed... By becoming part of his empire? I feel like it would ultimately end that way.

"You think we should befriend her."

"You've already befriended her; you protected her from Circe. And… Ah, the General managed rather more."

General? Bear in mind, I have not seen this series. I don't play the streaming service games...

Waller rolls her eyes. "Did he. Left that out of the report." She thinks for a moment. "So we send him back there. We get him a position in the U.S. embassy. They get closer. She's happy, he's happy, and if she goes crazy then he's in position to kill her."

Breath in. Breath out.

Of course her first thought is to eliminate a threat by violence.

It's been her way all this time so far, why change it?

"If she goes crazy he will be in position to ensure that she receives counselling and anti-psychotics. It may also be worth notifying the Justice League of the potential problem so they aren't taken by surprise. But… Frankly, I haven't seen anything in the Pokolistan arsenal that could threaten either the United States or the Justice League. I'm wondering if something else is going on."

There would almost certainly have to be. Otherwise, this whole scenario sounds like the craziest ravings of a massive paranoid.

"Like what?"

"A third party using them as a patsy. Perhaps a shapeshifter taking the place of the princess, or a mind-altering device of some sort. Politicians do sometimes do foolish things sometimes, but as things stand I'm struggling to see how they would even get a strike force to Washington."

This Pokolistan is somewhere in the Balkans, isn't it? Unless they could teleport, they've have to go across all of Europe and the Atlantic first... And the various European nations might object to that.

"So we send the Commandos as well, so they're on the ground when something happens."

I nod. "Just so."

"Fine. As long as we've got her where we can see her. I'll make the calls."

And since he's part of the team, he'll be there with them in Pokolistan? Where he might provide a reasonable voice of calm...

Good to see Lan serving as a voice of reason and de-escalation. Does worry me a little he's apparently half-forgotten his human origins, but to be fair, you'd expect something like this after sewing on Gabriel's Wings and mainlining their energies into his non-existent soul... And in the end, he's a lot less likely to die permanently, anyway.

...Pokolistan couldn't hope of occupy America.

...Pokolistan couldn't hope to occupy America.

Darko · Mar 12, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
Image flash through

"flashes"

Mr Zoat said:
Good." I smile reassuringly. "Despair is a sin. But if it is inevitable as Doctor MacPherson implied, then there is no point in attacking anyone you saw in your vision."

"Maybe. But I'd like to try."

"Trying is irrational and a waste of resources

Also it could lead to a self fulfilling prophecy.

Mr Zoat said:
"Spare me. When did you find the time to watch so much T.V.?"

"I…" I frown. When did I..? "I don't actually remember

Shit, are the wings actually erasing his memories.

Mr Zoat said:
I smile broadly. "Excellent! So President Sheridan is told by a techno-mage that the son of the late Emperor Cartagia will one day rise to power and destroy the Interstellar Alliance, but that he could prevent that by having the boy killed. Sheridan goes to the location the techno-mage provided, and there the boy is. So what did he do?"

Her interest is waning. "I don't remember this episode

Technically it was a movie.

Darko · Mar 12, 2025

Chojin Patriarch said:
A vision of a Lantern alt!Paul. Of course, nothing says the last is one the same side as the former

Maybe it's from after Apokalips invades.

Chojin Patriarch said:
It must gall her to have to trust anything to supposed 'heavenly visions

She already kinda trusted Circe.

Chojin Patriarch said:
General? Bear in mind, I have not seen this series. I don't play the streaming service games...

Flagg is a general here and the princess has a thing for silver foxes.

Chojin Patriarch said:
This Pokolistan is somewhere in the Balkans, isn't it? Unless they could teleport, they've have to go across all of Europe and the Atlantic first... And the various European nations might object to that.

They do have power armor, and I think Gridd showed up in the vision.

AshKing · Mar 12, 2025

Chojin Patriarch said:
Never underestimate what a fresh set of eyes can see in a problem situation. It's the same reason the Evil Overlord list has that clause about having plans looked over by a five-year-old child... Sometimes, you're too close to the thing to see anything else.

A vision of a Lantern alt!Paul. Of course, nothing says the last is one the same side as the former.

It must gall her to have to trust anything to supposed 'heavenly visions'.

Are you absolutely certain? Or were they hiding something from you?

See, details are critical here. Just everybody dying, that's not much use in prevention...

OF course, trying to stop it may well trigger it. That's the problem with prophetic visions. By their nature, they have to be obscure to prevent abuse.

Again, that might well trigger the attacks as presented.

A wise question. How wide was the scope of the vision? Did it show anyone other than the US or American assets being targetted?

...Then again, the vision may have been tailored to her. No point showing her things she wouldn't have cared about.

Sensible. Hope for peace, prepare for war, as the saying goes.

Heh, like most adaptions of popular novels, the adaption overshadows the original work.

A twisting, turning plot. Not sure how you'd evade that sort of trap...

Eh, just knowing that it may happen can provide insight against its occurrence.

Both myths involving prophecies misunderstood by their subjects... And ultimately brought about by the actions taken to avoid them.

Or to put it a funnier way: 'Don't bother running, you'll just die tired.' Something of a fatalistic view, but he's right. All things end. What matters is how gracefully it ends.

Amusing how he couches his 'suggestions' in the form of popular stories.

Hmm. A sign his current situation has altered him quite considerably from his original state.

Hopefully it even exists in this universe, though I think he's been keeping to extant examples so far...

Huh. Wonder what she thought of the political situations and how they were resolved?

Ah, the old 'Killing Hitler as a child' question. Of a sort, anyway.

But in the end, the alliance was destroyed... By becoming part of his empire? I feel like it would ultimately end that way.

General? Bear in mind, I have not seen this series. I don't play the streaming service games...

Of course her first thought is to eliminate a threat by violence. It's been her way all this time so far, why change it?

There would almost certainly have to be. Otherwise, this whole scenario sounds like the craziest ravings of a massive paranoid.

This Pokolistan is somewhere in the Balkans, isn't it? Unless they could teleport, they've have to go across all of Europe and the Atlantic first... And the various European nations might object to that.

And since he's part of the team, he'll be there with them in Pokolistan? Where he might provide a reasonable voice of calm...

Good to see Lan serving as a voice of reason and de-escalation. Does worry me a little he's apparently half-forgotten his human origins, but to be fair, you'd expect something like this after sewing on Gabriel's Wings and mainlining their energies into his non-existent soul... And in the end, he's a lot less likely to die permanently, anyway.

...Pokolistan couldn't hope to occupy America.

Of occupying also works but doesn't sound quite as good

BlackCoat13 · Mar 12, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
Politicians do sometimes do foolish things sometimes,

sometimes x2
Politicians do foolish things sometimes, / do do foolish things

m_d · Mar 12, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
A rather clever response to police who can see the future. In the book, the different visions were produced by the affect of reading the visions on the head of the pre-crime bureau.

It's 'effect' as it is the result of reading the visions. The visions affect (change) the future. The resulting change itself is the effect.

crazygrox · Mar 12, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
Arguably, he did better than everyone else on that iteration of Earth.

Did we miss him surviving that version of earth being destroyed and him going to a new version?/manifesting as having always been an angel in a new version?

Lord Ernest · Mar 12, 2025

crazygrox said:
Did we miss him surviving that version of earth being destroyed and him going to a new version?/manifesting as having always been an angel in a new version?

Huh? Is this the DC animated universe where a bunch of people got captured by Apokolips and then Flash had to run back in time? The Flashpoint Paradox 2013 one?

LordVishnu · Mar 12, 2025

Darko said:
They do have power armor, and I think Gridd showed up in the vision.

On this subject, was anyone else really disappointed by the power armor in the show? It really seemed like it wasn't good for much of anything. Soldiers still died to small arms fire like they were wearing paper mache. Very weak sauce for a comic book world.

Stsword · Mar 12, 2025

Darko said:
They do have power armor, and I think Gridd showed up in the vision.

Grodd.

And yes, the genocidal mind controlling telepathic villain being right there begs the question "Was the princess doing this of her own will in the first place?"

Mr Zoat · Mar 12, 2025

Chojin Patriarch said:
...Pokolistan couldn't hope to occupy America.

Thank you, corrected.

Huh. Wonder what she thought of the political situations and how they were resolved?

She would have been a young child when in aired, so not all that much.

But in the end, the alliance was destroyed... By becoming part of his empire? I feel like it would ultimately end that way.

No, it just didn't happen.

General? Bear in mind, I have not seen this series. I don't play the streaming service games...

My own knowledge is entirely YouTube and wiki derived.

Darko said:
"flashes"

Thank you, corrected.

Shit, are the wings actually erasing his memories.

No, the wings are why he has any memories at all.

BlackCoat13 said:
sometimes x2
Politicians do foolish things sometimes, / do do foolish things

m_d said:
It's 'effect' as it is the result of reading the visions. The visions affect (change) the future. The resulting change itself is the effect.

Thank you, corrected.

Ngamer11 · Mar 12, 2025

Mr Zoat said:
No, the wings are why he has any memories at all.

Did he get brain damage, with his healing only restoring him physically but not mentally?

Wheenesss · Mar 12, 2025

From what I remember, Angel Paul had been sent to the DCEU, since his original debut happened in Suicide Squad 2016.

Except the DCEU has changed significantly DCEU Barry pulled a Flashpoint, and Creature Commandos is supposed to be part of Gunn's new universe instead of that.

Of course 'new' is kinda iffy considering Creature Commandos itself only happens because of the events of the Peacemaker show (which was DCEU), which only happens because of the 2021 Suicide Squad movie (which was DCEU), which itself is a sequel to Suicide Squad 2016 (which was DCEU).

So it's entirely possible Angel Paul is experiencing a hypothetical DCEU version of Creature Commandos. But in addition to the wings fucking with his mind, it's entirely possible that going through two timeline revisions has also affected him.

Then again, Zoat deliberately ignored Ezra Miller's Flash when Grayven went to the DCEU.

Doccer · Mar 12, 2025

Looks like Paul needs to eat an apple.

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