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

Duke Long · Saturday at 8:20 AM

Mr Zoat said:
Flat-headed lizard removes his helmet, and after a brief hesitation walks over to the table and pulls out a chair. After a brief comparison between their leg structure and the ergonomics of the chair, he perch on it before addressing me.

'perches'
Unsure what 'their' is referring to. Is it referring to the species of this guy?

Mr Zoat said:
I take a hologram projector out of subspace and lay it on the table, setting it to generate a image of my solar system.

'an'

Mr Zoat said:
The squad's single clicker undulated is disbelief. "Is there not a register?"

"Not a reliable one. In some countries having unusual abilities is considered a private affair unless the individual chooses to go public with it. In others, they'd like to have a register, but since the technology to reliably test for it don't exist they're pretty much stuck using other telepaths to probe for it and that's impractical unless there's existing evidence of telepathy within a small geographic area. And of course the next planet out from the sun has a couple of billion telepathic shapeshifters on it."

'undulates in'
'doesn't'

Mr Zoat said:
"These contain… Everything. There's going to be a lot of background reading, but I'll give you a summary and then open the floor to questions. Seven months ago Earth was occupied by an Apokoliptian patsy and the population was exposed to a broadcast mind control meme. We fix that, but the damage to every aspect of our civilisation was severe and our systems of governance underwent a partial collapse."

'fixed'

Mr Zoat said:
"Now, while you're doing that, I have other investigations that you can use as cover for activity on the surface. They're not your primary objective, but anything you learn would be useful. The immortal caveman Vandal Savage lent a group of Apokoliptian commandos his personal starship to take them to New Genesis to recently to retrieve a very dangerous biological sample. Some friends and I stopped that… Mostly, but Savage himself is still at large and I want to know how that ship fell into his possession. Who knew he had it, and what else they might have gotten from the same place. While Earth has a somewhat functioning judicial system, the crimes he's committed are severe enough that there's a great deal of leeway in investigating him. The other ongoing investigation I've got going on is the aftermath of a custody dispute, but that's fairly low urgency."

Extraneous 'to'?

Darko · Saturday at 8:22 AM

Mr Zoat said:
She clicks twice to call up the file on her exomantle's computer.

"Oh."

Welcome to your new job.

Mr Zoat said:
Calpri make an affirmative gesture. "Was there a particular event that altered Batman's mental state?"

"Me altering his thoughts to make him a better Yellow Lantern."

"Oh.

And meet your new boss.

BR549 · Saturday at 8:27 AM

Mr Zoat said:
After a brief comparison between their leg structure and the ergonomics of the chair, he perch on it

'Perches'

The squad's single clicker undulated is disbelief. "Is there not a register?"

Either 'it's' or 'his', I forget how clicker gender works (aside from 'quite well for them', obviously).
Edit:...having read further down, it looks like it should actually be 'her', unless that's the mistake.

We fix that,

'Fixed'.

"Which is part of why it's my responsibility to get this fixed. Good luck."

"I broke it, I bought it."

AmericanNumbers · Saturday at 9:12 AM

Effectively if Paul actually set Batman down this path then he owes it to previous Batman to fix it. It would be fascinating if Bruce's own countermeasures (Zur-En-Arrh) are in play and are the cause.

Chojin Patriarch · Saturday at 9:13 AM

Mr Zoat said:
31st July 2013
23:30 GMT

"It's a shame they couldn't stick around, actually. We're going after the same person." I gesture to the kitchen seating. "Take a seat, this isn't going to be-."

"Batman." Since Jade's exomantle includes scry wards and she hasn't taken off her helmet I'm not completely sure what her expression is, but I can guess. "You're going after Batman."

Yes, you worked that out earlier. Or is this a flashback to that moment? <Checks> Ah, yes, it is. And honestly, I don't know if you want the Illumi-nutty working with you on this, especially since they also consider you 'the Man' they're against.

"Sort of."

Flat-headed lizard removes his helmet, and after a brief hesitation walks over to the table and pulls out a chair. After a brief comparison between their leg structure and the ergonomics of the chair, he perches on it before addressing me.

So they've got something akin to a bird's or Ornithopodian leg structure? Padding about on the balls of their toes?

"Batman. Your people's de facto ruler and the Justice League's greatest strategist."

"It sounds like you read the file correctly."

Gold star for actually doing the reading!

"Our objective?"

Jade heads to the table, takes a seat and removes her helmet, and that seems to prompt the others to do the same. "Not assassination."

Not a question, a statement of fact. She wants no part in batman dying, of course.

"Goodness me, I hope not. I mean, plan for it, in the sense that it makes sense to have contingencies for as many possible outcomes as you can, but that's definitely not what I'm aiming for. No, you're here to try and work out what he's doing and why, and provide me with that information. I'll decide what to do about it after that."

Don't forget about how. OL only has a general outline of things, right? He still needs details like the mechanics of his 'mind-wipe' methods.

I take a hologram projector out of subspace and lay it on the table, setting it to generate a image of my solar system.

"Batman has a space station constructed at least partially of New God technology here-" I have the map display a ping. "-and he's using it to command and empower a legion of enhanced mind-scrubbed reconstruction engineers."

...Who can also become very good at punching things. Or blasting them with energy. But a lot of things can do either of those.

Flat head-. Darkstar Larksh, recoils. "Mind-scrubbed? I didn't think your species had that technology."

"We could have done it with a sufficiently powerful telepath and a good deal of time, but from the description that I've got that isn't what's happening here."

Ah, OL's finally looking up their names, I see. And while he's done the reading, I see he didn't believe all of it... Especially the parts about anomalous abilities and technologies.

"I didn't think humans were telepathic, either."

"Less than one in a million humans are telepathic. Which means that every single human you meet might be telepathic, but that most of the time your anti-telepathic techniques won't do anything."

The squad's single clicker undulates in disbelief. "Is there not a register?"

Good luck with that sort of thing. A lot of Western societies would object to that kind of oversight.

"Not a reliable one. In some countries having unusual abilities is considered a private affair unless the individual chooses to go public with it. In others, they'd like to have a register, but since the technology to reliably test for it doesn't exist they're pretty much stuck using other telepaths to probe for it and that's impractical unless there's existing evidence of telepathy within a small geographic area. And of course the next planet out from the sun has a couple of billion telepathic shapeshifters on it."

...Oh, right. Must mention that little detail. Also point out some operate on Earth.

Two members of the squad look to Jade for confirmation. She nods.

I fabricate data sticks for each of them and float them over.

Seriously, people. Read your assigned briefings and reports. Knowing this sort of thing could save your life.

"These contain… Everything. There's going to be a lot of background reading, but I'll give you a summary and then open the floor to questions. Seven months ago Earth was occupied by an Apokoliptian patsy and the population was exposed to a broadcast mind control meme. We fixed that, but the damage to every aspect of our civilisation was severe and our systems of governance underwent a partial collapse."

Putting it mildly. There's not going to be a return to the old status quo after this. Not with some of the changes of regimes.

Calpri -the blue crystal Darkstar- nods. "Which is worse than a total collapse, because the parts that are left can't do their job but won't cooperate with you."

"You've done policing on reclaimed worlds?" An affirmative shimmer from them, and affirmative gestures from of the others. "More or less, but here it's more that we're trying to work with the parts that are left because they're part of our cultural traditions. Coming in as an external party is quite different."

And it's likely that trying to reform things would result in pushback from the general population, especially those suspicious of 'capes taking over the world'.

Jade's controlling her expression quite well, but there's a small frown on her brow. "Is Batman bypassing the remaining governments?"

"Yes, but that's not my concern. That could just be a short term thing for a year or two. My concern is that it's radically out of character for him. I can see how a great strategist might find himself thrust into a position of autocratic authority after a crisis, and how that crisis might change him, and if that's all that's happened then so be it. But there are a lot of unnatural influences around here and I need to eliminate those as the source."

Still suspect there's some interdimensional shenanigans going on. Involvement with Earth Minus Sixteen or something like that...

"Now, while you're doing that, I have other investigations that you can use as cover for activity on the surface. They're not your primary objective, but anything you learn would be useful. The immortal caveman Vandal Savage lent a group of Apokoliptian commandos his personal starship to take them to New Genesis to recently to retrieve a very dangerous biological sample. Some friends and I stopped that… Mostly, but Savage himself is still at large and I want to know how that ship fell into his possession. Who knew he had it, and what else they might have gotten from the same place. While Earth has a somewhat functioning judicial system, the crimes he's committed are severe enough that there's a great deal of leeway in investigating him. The other ongoing investigation I've got going on is the aftermath of a custody dispute, but that's fairly low urgency."

And since those involved in said dispute turning ugly have been shipped home, they're not much of an issue.

I have the hologram ping the location of the Daxamite ship.

"After over a year, Lantern Yat's mother came looking for him. Almost the moment he arrived on Earth, which is a long way from Daxam. I'm investigating the Daxam end of things, but-."

That is extremely suspicious, yes. Either a very fortunate coincidence, or evidence of some form of collusion somewhere.

The clicker rasps for attention. "We can go there and interrogate them."

"Read the file on Daxamites first."

Oh, there are so many reasons why that isn't an options.

She clicks twice to call up the file on her exomantle's computer.

"Oh."

And I heard that in the same tone of voice as the Russian guy who found out his son messed with John Wick. I bet you can't unhear that now either.

"They're fanatically xenophobic, and we're still not sure what all of their reserves of pre-isolation kryptonian technology can do. You may decide to visit their planet, but do so with extreme care."

Larksh twitches. "What other NEMO assets are in the system?"

I'm sure they'll write your death up as 'suicide by misadventure.'

"Five Lanterns including me. One trade post that I'm living in, high security. My construct lanterns. And that's about it. I have various allies I can call upon, but the reason why I want a Darkstar squad on this is that I don't know where they stand and/or how compromised they are."

And Darkstars are very good at going unnoticed when they need to be, after all.

Jade arches her eyebrows. "Does that include my sister?"

"If Batman's using mind scrubbing? I'm afraid so. Artemis has a ward, but that doesn't grant invulnerability to exotic manipulation effects. You've been through subversion training, you know what people like the Reach can do with that technology."

And that's without the benefit of Earth Bullshit™.

"Has he?"

"Supposedly, all of the OMACs are volunteers. But-."

"If he can control their minds, that's extremely suspicious."

Good, you can see the potential conflicts of interest.

"And out of character for Batman. Using mind control doesn't make you immune to mind control." Okay, so… "My armour has a fracture pulse receiver, so if you need to communicate with me in the field you can do so. I've got an event to get to, then… All being well, I'll be back here. Any questions before I go?"

I expect their next few hours will be spent reading the files, expressing disbelief and Jade confirming every single statement.

Calpri make an affirmative gesture. "Was there a particular event that altered Batman's mental state?"

"Me altering his thoughts to make him a better Yellow Lantern."

Which, to be fair, was a case of bad timing for Bruce to have an emotional breakthrough that put him on a 'nicer' path...

"Oh."

"Which is part of why it's my responsibility to get this fixed. Good luck."

And twice in the same chapter for the 'Oh...' reaction.

Well, time for everyone to get caught up on their Earth Bullshit™. As hard as it may be for them to believe... Wonder if any of them will notice oddities her or there in the data, given their different cultural backgrounds? Wonder what OL's off to this time, though. Not that we'll have to wait long, I suspect...

Mr Zoat · Saturday at 10:22 AM

Duke Long said:
'perches'
Unsure what 'their' is referring to. Is it referring to the species of this guy?
'an'
'undulates in'
'doesn't'
'fixed'
Extraneous 'to'?

Thank you, corrected.

Steelplaza · Saturday at 1:45 PM

With a story with so many subplots and moving parts, it definitely helped to have a "recap what's going on" scene to orient the readers.

Now the question is, will Batman realize he's being investigated? He'll probably at least suspect it once he hears there are Darkstars on Earth, with OL's best defense being that Batman has his attention split running the world. The "cover stories" are good, but run up against the obvious question- why wouldn't OL simply lean on his "local assets" for investigation? Well maybe OL feels that the local superhero detectives are too busy and he needs the outside support. Maybe. That's why Batman can't be sure, only suspect.

CTrees · Saturday at 3:42 PM

Steelplaza said:
The "cover stories" are good, but run up against the obvious question- why wouldn't OL simply lean on his "local assets" for investigation?

That one's easy: his local assets may be compromised. Just look at what's happened to The Question. OL can be reasonably certain the Darkstars team is not compromised (yet, at least), and he can even lean into the assumption that has already been made: he requested they be deployed to Earth because his girlfriend is on the team. Plus the Drakstars have some exotic tech the locals wouldn't, which may present unanticipated problems for people like Anarky and Hatter.

Silveraith · Saturday at 8:20 PM

Mr Zoat said:
Larksh twitches. "What other NEMO assets are in the system?"

"Five Lanterns including me. One trade post that I'm living in, high security. My construct lanterns. And that's about it. I have various allies I can call upon, but the reason why I want a Darkstar squad on this is that I don't know where they stand and/or how compromised they are."

Who's the fifth?

Illustres of the OLC (the SI)
Lantern Yat (Daxamite)
Lantern Coutara (Eyeless Lady looking after Yat)
Lantern Taranna (Coutara's daughter)
???

Hopefully I haven't gotten things mixed up.

Ryumancer · Saturday at 8:46 PM

Silveraith said:
Who's the fifth?

Illustres of the OLC (the SI)

Lantern Yat (Daxamite)

Lantern Coutara (Eyeless Lady looking after Yat)

Lantern Taranna (Coutara's daughter)

???

Hopefully I haven't gotten things mixed up.

Lantern Son Of Great Mother is helping with Earth's reconstruction.

haralo99 · Saturday at 9:09 PM

AmericanNumbers said:
Effectively if Paul actually set Batman down this path then he owes it to previous Batman to fix it. It would be fascinating if Bruce's own countermeasures (Zur-En-Arrh) are in play and are the cause.

Zur-En-Arrh is if batman but only the mission matters and nothing, right? Didn't the Bruce Wayne aspect of Batman mange to restrain Zur-En-Arrh?

Silveraith · Saturday at 9:18 PM

Ryumancer said:
Lantern Son Of Great Mother is helping with Earth's reconstruction.

Right, I forgot about him, thank you. He's always a joy.

The Chosen One · 2025-10-26T00:24:59+0100

Silveraith said:
Who's the fifth?

Illustres of the OLC (the SI)

Lantern Yat (Daxamite)

Lantern Coutara (Eyeless Lady looking after Yat)

Lantern Taranna (Coutara's daughter)

???

Hopefully I haven't gotten things mixed up.

Isn't Lantern Mother of Mercy still in-system on the Mars assignment? Or was she reassigned at some point?

Ngamer11 · 2025-10-26T00:52:51+0100

The Chosen One said:
Isn't Lantern Mother of Mercy still in-system on the Mars assignment? Or was she reassigned at some point?

She left some time ago, though I'm not sure if it what she's doing now was ever said.

Mr Zoat · 2025-10-26T06:57:00+0000

31st July 2013
23:54 GMT

Superman, Kara and Ak-Var watch the screen as the image of a male kryptonian appears. He's wearing grey robes with the emblem of House Zod just under his rank insignia. Fleet Admiral, which means that this is-.

"Hey, that's Admiral Dru-Zod!" Ak-Var clearly recognises him. I… Suppose that he was still alive when Ak-Var was arrested. "He visited my school one time!"

"Hello, son or daughter of Krypton." The hologram's eyes aren't focusing, just staring in the direction he was looking in when he.. recorded this. That's a shame. I was mildly hopeful that we'd be getting another neural clone out of this. "If you're seeing this message, then at least one of us had the sense to overcome the Science Council's edict of isolation." He smiles ruefully, looking down for a moment before returning his eyes to the camera. "Or perhaps we were all very lucky, everyone came to their senses and I'm cringing as the Military Council watches this after I recovered the Doomsday myself." He sags slightly. "No. No. I won't even dare hope that has occurred. The demographics are too.. against us."

Kara's eyes are wide. "I didn't think this was real."

"But, you're here. I am or more likely was Admiral Dru-Zod of the Kryptonian Stellar Navy. This was my flagship, the Doomsday. I instructed it to entomb itself on a world far enough from Krypton that the Eradicators would struggle to find it in the hope that it would one day be returned to service. It is yours. If practical, I would urge you to use it as a reminder of the power and majesty of the Kryptonian military. Return it to Krypton and inspire our people to seize the stars once again. But given what I have done, I could hardly blame you if you wanted nothing to do with them."

"In either case, please take the time to examine my records. I loaded everything I could on strategy and tactics onto the Doomsday's computers, as well as records of every battle the navy ever fought. Do not waste this vessel's potential. May Rao shine upon you."

The hologram bows, and then fades away.

Ak-Var takes a step towards the controls, then hesitates and looks to Superman for approval. Superman shrugs. "I've never flown a kryptonian warship before. Have you?"

"Not a warship, but I've flown an air car a few times. It's basically the same." He glances at a console slightly to the side. "As long as I don't touch the weapons." He leans slightly closer to them, then his eyes widen. "Great Krypton that's a lot of weapons."

Superman pulls back slightly. "Maybe we should let Har-Zod check it over, first." He studies the console for a moment. "Now let's.. see. Fleet communications are…"

He presses two buttons and moves his right forefinger in a squiggle across a touchpad. "Har-Zod, are you reading me?"

"Yes, Kal-El. I am in communication with the Doomsday's computer now. Some areas are.. partitioned, and I'm afraid that if Dru-Zod locked them under his own codes it would be prohibitively difficult for me to access them."

"I don't really need Krypton's state secrets."

"Sorry to.. bother you, but do you have access to medical records?"

"Yes..? Why do you ask?"

"A Daxamite has asked me to undo what Kem-El did to them, and I'd like access to more kryptonian genetic samples so that I can make sure that I'm doing it correctly."

Superman looks at me sternly. Kara looks curious, then glances at Superman, then frowns at me. Ak-Var looks at them both, then looks confused. "What?"

Superman takes a moment to work out how to phrase it. "Orange Lantern… Sometimes…"

Kara sighs. "Sometimes he does things that make sense to him, but are a bit… Crazy."

Ak-Var raises his eyebrows. "Like letting people out of the Phantom Zone?"

Superman shakes his head. "No, like trying to resurrect everyone his girlfriend murdered while she was an assassin and getting pulled into Hell as a result."

Ak-Var looks at me for confirmation, and I shrug apologetically.

"My hit ratio isn't all that great. And even the things that work out can create a lot of work. But in this case I'm undoing Kem-El's work on three people. Kryptonians and daxamites are near enough genetically identical anyway. It's a handful of chemicals and I think I've already worked out how to do it. But with more examples I can be sure that I'm not just altering what would be part of the natural variation in the kryptonian species."

Kara frowns. "Why are you having anything to do with them?"

"Because I want to know what Vandal Savage was doing there, and there's a fairly small number of people who can tell me."

Superman frowns faintly. "If Arsenal's already got his ship, why does it matter?"

"Because of their reliquaries. Boom tubes bypass most interdiction systems. He could have flown in and picked up just about anything. Including a copy of the main Eradicator Program or Eradicator androids. Or it might not even have been Savage; for the Orange Lantern Corps I need to confirm that it wasn't Grayven. I mean…" I look him in the eye. "What do you think I'm going to do with kryptonian genetic data? Give it to Lex?"

Kara's face-.

"Oh, come on!"

Superman shrugs awkwardly. "I wasn't until you said it. But I guess he's already got my DNA anyway."

"I'm not giving it to Lex Luthor."

Kara squints. "Are you going to use it on yourself? Because-."

"Juhgh-. Kara, you know perfectly well that you can't just.. plug alien genes into an organism. I'd have to-."

She giggles, putting her right fist over her mouth. Superman's smiling too.

"Oh yes, very funny. Can I?"

Superman nods. "Go ahead."

Orange strands connect me to the computer system as I go looking for the data.

"I mean, I can research kryptonian-human genetic compatibility. I just stopped once Kon was happy with his body."

Superman shakes his head. "I… Think that's one kind of mad science you can leave to Luthor."

"Are you sure? I suspected that you'd want me to do that research eventually. Assuming that you and Miss Lane intend to have children."

"Don't take this personally, Paul. But if I can find anyone else who can help us with that, I'll ask them first."

"Files acquired."

"Very well. I believe that Doctor Sivana has a hole in his schedule."

Superman freezes for a moment. "Okay. Nearly anyone."

And show me the genes… Uh, this is mostly minor genetic tailoring the kryptonian navy gave its personnel. Useful, particularly as the retroviruses used are probably similar to what Kem-El used. But I think I need more. I might have offered him a beacon but I'd much rather get this right the first time.

Where else can I get-? Ugh, right, but what could I give him that he'd actually want?

I turn to the kryptonians. "Do you want me to delete the files when I'm finished?"

Superman shakes his head. "No, that's… Okay. We should probably have a backup somewhere anyway."

"Alright. Hopefully I'll be back to report to the League in half an hour or so." I look at Ak-Var. "Enjoy your driving lessons."

Duke Long · 2025-10-26T07:13:50+0000

Mr Zoat said:
The hologram bows, and the fades away.

Ak-Var takes a step towards the controls, then hesitates and looks to Superman to approval. Superman shrugs. "I've never flown a kryptonian warship before. Have you?"

"Not a warship, but I've flown an air car a few times. It's basically the same." He glances at a console slightly to the side. "As long as I don't touch the weapons." He leans slightly closer to them, then his eye widen. "Great Krypton that's a lot of weapons."

'then'
'for'
'eyes'

Mr Zoat said:
Superman looks at me sternly. Kara looks curious, then glances at Superman, then frowns at me. Ak-Var looks at the both, then looks confused. "What?"

'them'

Mr Zoat said:
"My hit ratio isn't all that great. And even the things that work out can create a lot of work. But it this case I'm undoing Kem-El's work on three people. Kryptonians and daxamites are near enough genetically identical anyway. It's a handful of chemicals and I think I've already worked out how to do it. But with more examples I can be sure that I'm not just altering what would be part of the natural variation in the kryptonian species."

'in'

Fun chapter.

Bigreader · 2025-10-26T07:13:55+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Juhgh-. Kara, you know perfectly well that you can't just.. plug alien genes into an organism. I'd have to-."

She giggles, putting her right fist over her mouth. Superman's smiling too.

I think I missed the joke here.

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-10-26T07:29:44+0000

Mr Zoat said:
31st July 2013
23:54 GMT

Superman, Kara and Ak-Var watch the screen as the image of a male kryptonian appears. He's wearing grey robes with the emblem of House Zod just under his rank insignia. Fleet Admiral, which means that this is-.

"Hey, that's Admiral Dru-Zod!" Ak-Var clearly recognises him. I… Suppose that he was still alive when Ak-Var was arrested. "He visited my school one time!"

Ha, like seeing a famous celebrity you'd never have expected to meet normally. It's a good reminder that Ak-Var is just a normal guy, y'know? He never asked for the life he's gotten thrown into since the Phantom zone...

"Hello, son or daughter of Krypton." The hologram's eyes aren't focusing, just staring in the direction he was looking in when he.. recorded this. That's a shame. I was mildly hopeful that we'd be getting another neural clone out of this. "If you're seeing this message, then at least one of us had the sense to overcome the Science Council's edict of isolation." He smiles ruefully, looking down for a moment before returning his eyes to the camera. "Or perhaps we were all very lucky, everyone came to their senses and I'm cringing as the Military Council watches this after I recovered the Doomsday myself." He sags slightly. "No. No. I won't even dare hope that has occurred. The demographics are too.. against us."

So, which live-action Zod are you picturing? Personally, I'm going with the DCEU performance. Which adds a fun accent to it.

Kara's eyes are wide. "I didn't think this was real."

"But, you're here. I am or more likely was Admiral Dru-Zod of the Kryptonian Stellar Navy. This was my flagship, the Doomsday. I instructed it to entomb itself on a world far enough from Krypton that the Eradicators would struggle to find it in the hope that it would one day be returned to service. It is yours. If practical, I would urge you to use it as a reminder of the power and majesty of the Kryptonian military. Return it to Krypton and inspire our people to seize the stars once again. But given what I have done, I could hardly blame you if you wanted nothing to do with them."

Wonder what Amalak would make of this if he saw it.

Is that remorse Dru is showing?

"In either case, please take the time to examine my records. I loaded everything I could on strategy and tactics onto the Doomsday's computers, as well as records of every battle the navy ever fought. Do not waste this vessel's potential. May Rao shine upon you."

The hologram bows, and the fades away.

Probably a good thing it's not an intelligent engram. Do you really want to deal with him?

Ak-Var takes a step towards the controls, then hesitates and looks to Superman to approval. Superman shrugs. "I've never flown a kryptonian warship before. Have you?"

"Not a warship, but I've flown an air car a few times. It's basically the same." He glances at a console slightly to the side. "As long as I don't touch the weapons." He leans slightly closer to them, then his eye widen. "Great Krypton that's a lot of weapons."

I bet the entire list is subdivided into folders, too.

Superman pulls back slightly. "Maybe we should let Har-Zod check it over, first." He studies the console for a moment. "Now let's.. see. Fleet communications are…"

He presses two buttons and moves his right forefinger in a squiggle across a touchpad. "Har-Zod, are you reading me?"

Simple enough, but given that the computer is probably fully open to them as programmed...

"Yes, Kal-El. I am in communication with the Doomsday's computer now. Some areas are.. partitioned, and I'm afraid that if Dru-Zod locked them under his own codes it would be prohibitively difficult for me to access them."

"I don't really need Krypton's state secrets."

And just for fun, I've been imaging Har as the classic Donner Zod. Terence Stamp for the classy win.

"Sorry to.. bother you, but do you have access to medical records?"

"Yes..? Why do you ask?"

Ooh, good thought, OL. Getting more data on the kryptonian genome for your deal is always a bonus.

"A Daxamite has asked me to undo what Kem-El did to them, and I'd like access to more kryptonian genetic samples so that I can make sure that I'm doing it correctly."

Superman looks at me sternly. Kara looks curious, then glances at Superman, then frowns at me. Ak-Var looks at the both, then looks confused. "What?"

You can tell Clark knows there's something more to it than what OL's saying. Quid Pro Quo, and so on.

Superman takes a moment to work out how to phrase it. "Orange Lantern… Sometimes…"

Kara sighs. "Sometimes he does things that make sense to him, but are a bit… Crazy."

Goes with the territory. Orange Rings aren't exactly centre of the Spectrum, after all.

Ak-Var raises his eyebrows. "Like letting people out of the Phantom Zone?"

Superman shakes his head. "No, like trying to resurrect everyone his girlfriend murdered while she was an assassin and getting pulled into Hell as a result."

Ak-Var looks at me for confirmation, and I shrug apologetically.

Still, he came out of it with some benefits, so it wasn't a complete waste.

"My hit ratio isn't all that great. And even the things that work out can create a lot of work. But it this case I'm undoing Kem-El's work on three people. Kryptonians and daxamites are near enough genetically identical anyway. It's a handful of chemicals and I think I've already worked out how to do it. But with more examples I can be sure that I'm not just altering what would be part of the natural variation in the kryptonian species."

And again, getting someone else to check your lab-work. Don't want this going poorly, after all.

Kara frowns. "Why are you having anything to do with them?"

"Because I want to know what Vandal Savage was doing there, and there's a fairly small number of people who can tell me."

Superman frowns faintly. "If Arsenal's already got his ship, why does it matter?"

Because, Clark, he was up to something, and OL wants to know what.

"Because of their reliquaries. Boom tubes bypass most interdiction systems. He could have flown in and picked up just about anything. Including a copy of the main Eradicator Program or Eradicator androids. Or it might not even have been Savage; for the Orange Lantern Corps I need to confirm that it wasn't Grayven. I mean…" I look him in the eye. "What do you think I'm going to do with kryptonian genetic data? Give it to Lex?"

Like he hasn't already got at least a partial sample of Clark's DNA already?

Kara's face-.

"Oh, come on!"

Lex hardly needs anything from OL to, say, make a killer virus that only targets Kryptonians. He wouldn't use it, because that sort of thing rarely works as intended.

Superman shrugs awkwardly. "I wasn't until you said it. But I guess he's already got my DNA anyway."

"I'm not giving it to Lex Luthor."

Yeah, unlike in the Renegade universe, LEx is still a hostile party, no matter how civil their conversations.

Kara squints. "Are you going to use it on yourself? Because-."

"Juhgh-. Kara, you know perfectly well that you can't just.. plug alien genes into an organism. I'd have to-."

...Completely build an entirely new body and transfer his soul into it. That would be the easiest way, but the change in biochemistry would be unpredictable.

She giggles, putting her right fist over her mouth. Superman's smiling too.

"Oh yes, very funny. Can I?"

Ah, they were just stirring shit.

Superman nods. "Go ahead."

Orange strands connect me to the computer system as I go looking for the data.

Hardly a difficult task. With root access to the systems... I wouldn't be surprised if he could hack the secure servers.

"I mean, I can research kryptonian-human genetic compatibility. I just stopped once Kon was happy with his body."

Superman shakes his head. "I… Think that's one kind of mad science you can leave to Luthor."

Hey, Conner is still a bit of a biological kludge, no matter how tuned up he is right now.

"Are you sure? I suspected that you'd want me to do that research eventually. Assuming that you and Miss Lane intend to have children."

"Don't take this personally, Paul. But if I can find anyone else who can help us with that, I'll ask them first."

His business, OL. Kind of rude to poke your nose in.

"Files acquired."

"Very well. I believe that Doctor Sivana has a hole in his schedule."

Superman freezes for a moment. "Okay. Nearly anyone."

Not so much fun when you're the one getting their shit stirred, eh?

And show me the genes… Uh, this is mostly minor genetic tailoring the kryptonian navy gave its personnel. Useful, particularly as the retroviruses used are probably similar to what Kem-El used. But I think I need more. I might have offered him a beacon but I'd much rather get this right the first time.

Especially given that Kem-El's retrovirus had a high lethality rate. Getting your informant or his family dead isn't going to work too well.

Where else can I get-? Ugh, right, but what could I give him that he'd actually want?

I turn to the kryptonians. "Do you want me to delete the files when I'm finished?"

Let me guess. Amalak is the most likely to have samples on Kryptonian DNA around, likely in the form of his enemies' bones?

Superman shakes his head. "No, that's… Okay. We should probably have a backup somewhere anyway."

"Alright. Hopefully I'll be back to report to the League in half an hour or so." I look at Ak-Var. "Enjoy your driving lessons."

And try not to back into any moons. That'd leave a bit of a dent ion both of you.

I get the feeling that if this were an in-game quest, the more DNA samples you get, the higher chance of success for the end procedure. And what he's got right now is only like a 65% chance. I know that if I were going for a perfect run, I'd be hunting for every single scrap of bonus I could. Let's hope the next source isn't too much of a hassle, then.

Darko · 2025-10-26T07:37:15+0000

Mr Zoat said:
What do you think I'm going to do with kryptonian genetic data? Give it to Lex?"

Kara's face-.

"Oh, come on!"

Well you did give him access to a formula that can grant super strength.

Mr Zoat said:
Superman shrugs awkwardly. "I wasn't until you said it.

Nice to see that he has faith in him.

Mr Zoat said:
I'm not giving it to Lex Luthor."

Maybe make another oath to Gaia.

B00ki5h · 2025-10-26T07:38:59+0000

Bigreader said:
I think I missed the joke here.

The one super power all humans in DC have, they can literally knock-up or get pregnant by anything when they actually have sex with them. Look at Mar'i Grayson, also known as Nightstar. By most reasonable standards an ape(human) cannot reproduce with a cat(Tamaranean) without a shit ton of unethical experimentation. While Starfire was going to be a sex slave and was being trained by the Gordanians most times slaves are sterilized so the buyer cannot start breeding their own, so more than likely no super fertility on her part.

BR549 · 2025-10-26T07:40:29+0000

Bigreader said:
I think I missed the joke here.

They're ribbing Paul over how he seems to collect enhancements (Danner etc.).

Signaller · 2025-10-26T07:40:34+0000

Bigreader said:
I think I missed the joke here.

Maybe a reference to Angelika?

Duke Long · 2025-10-26T07:44:12+0000

I thought it was obviously just her winding him up by 'suspecting' him of something that she knows he wouldn't do, with no deeper meaning than that.

Rebu · 2025-10-26T07:44:58+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Kara squints. "Are you going to use it on yourself? Because-."

"Juhgh-. Kara, you know perfectly well that you can't just.. plug alien genes into an organism. I'd have to-."

She giggles, putting her right fist over her mouth. Superman's smiling too.

She do a little Super-trolling.

Vaermina · 2025-10-26T08:32:07+0000

B00ki5h said:
The one super power all humans in DC have, they can literally knock-up or get pregnant by anything when they actually have sex with them. Look at Mar'i Grayson, also known as Nightstar. By most reasonable standards an ape(human) cannot reproduce with a cat(Tamaranean) without a shit ton of unethical experimentation. While Starfire was going to be a sex slave and was being trained by the Gordanians most times slaves are sterilized so the buyer cannot start breeding their own, so more than likely no super fertility on her part.

Yes, but Orange Lantern is of the firm belief that reproduction with alien species should be impossible without artificial assistance.

So of course he tells everyone that.

Mr Zoat · 2025-10-26T08:35:18+0000

Duke Long said:
'then'
'for'
'eyes'
'them'
'in'

Thank you, corrected.

Chojin Patriarch said:
So, which live-action Zod are you picturing? Personally, I'm going with the DCEU performance. Which adds a fun accent to it.

I don't think that Admiral Dru-Zod has ever featured in any media. But I was basically thinking 'young Terrance Stamp'-.

Oh, no, I was wrong. You can barely see his face, but that's him on the plinth.

Wonder what Amalak would make of this if he saw it. Is that remorse Dru is showing?

No, but this is Admiral Dru-Zod. Not General Dru-Zod.

Darko · 2025-10-26T09:02:12+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Thank you, corrected.

I don't think that Admiral Dru-Zod has ever featured in any media. But I was basically thinking 'young Terrance Stamp'-.

Oh, no, I was wrong. You can barely see his face, but that's him on the plinth.

No, but this is Admiral Dru-Zod. Not General Dru-Zod.

So is this Zod the generals father or at least some relative?

Lord Ernest · 2025-10-26T09:55:41+0000

Mr Zoat said:
"What do you think I'm going to do with kryptonian genetic data? Give it to Lex?"

Kara's face-.

"Oh, come on!"

Honestly, with how much the Illustres glazes Luthor and seems to 'pine for him', I think it's actually a valid concern.

And isn't there a genetic database in the Jor-El AI as well? I think that's what Grayven used to fix Conner and Mitchel, no? He had Father Box's help to properly do it, but I think they got the info from the Fortress of Solitude.

Prince Charon · 2025-10-26T11:22:09+0000

Bigreader said:
I think I missed the joke here.

You put the plug in, you pull it part way out, repeating thrusts as necessary until the fluid enters the socket.

Mr Zoat · 2025-10-26T12:45:37+0000

Darko said:
So is this Zod the generals father or at least some relative?

I've pencilled him in as great great uncle, but the exact relationship isn't important.

Lord Ernest said:
And isn't there a genetic database in the Jor-El AI as well? I think that's what Grayven used to fix Conner and Mitchel, no? He had Father Box's help to properly do it, but I think they got the info from the Fortress of Solitude.

Jor-El has a lot of information on things that might be important to Kal-El's health, but not a lot on, for example, colonists on Daxam.

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

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