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

Ardy · Friday at 3:49 PM

Mr Zoat said:
I don't think they'd know. They weren't really involved in that part of things, and Hela and Amora aren't close.

He directly told both of them when those two were recruited. That's how WE found out about it.

taylozinsee_2814 · Friday at 3:56 PM

How does this version of Paul charge his ring? I remember something about challenging the Mandarin to take his rings, but I thought that was just to give Rogue the forcefield one. I'm always fascinated by how the different AUPauls charge their rings.

Ngamer11 · Friday at 4:28 PM

Mr Zoat said:
I don't think they'd know. They weren't really involved in that part of things, and Hela and Amora aren't close.

Ardy said:
He directly told both of them when those two were recruited. That's how WE found out about it.

Happened here:

Mr Zoat said:
"What do you know of Asgard? What do you know of Thor, brief mortal creature with a scant few decades of-."

"I'm dating Hela."

She blinks. And Skurge nearly drops his axe on his foot.

"You're-? You're dating Hela?"

"Yeah. That's where I ended up when the Norn Stones exploded. Spent some time in her realm, we hit it off, and… She seems nice?"

Mr Zoat · Friday at 4:37 PM

Ardy said:
He directly told both of them when those two were recruited. That's how WE found out about it.

Oh, right. In that case, yes.

taylozinsee_2814 said:
How does this version of Paul charge his ring? I remember something about challenging the Mandarin to take his rings, but I thought that was just to give Rogue the forcefield one. I'm always fascinated by how the different AUPauls charge their rings.

He was using a norn stone. He might still be using one, I haven't really thought about it.

Ngamer11 · Friday at 4:55 PM

Mr Zoat said:
He was using a norn stone. He might still be using one, I haven't really thought about it.

You mentioned Hela slapped him after learning he was doing that and forged him a lantern-shaped regulator.

Mr Zoat · Friday at 8:04 PM

Ngamer11 said:
You mentioned Hela slapped him after learning he was doing that and forged him a lantern-shaped regulator.

Gosh, part me is actually making himself useful!

Doccer said:
Where's that makes her the perfect person for Janet to commiserate with?

No, because presumably Sue is alright with it, or Reed has a better work/life balance that it looks like from the outside. Janet's problem is that Henry spends too much time doing stuff she doesn't care about.

CrazyNoVa · Friday at 8:53 PM

Mr Zoat said:
No, because presumably Sue is alright with it, or Reed has a better work/life balance that it looks like from the outside. Janet's problem is that Henry spends too much time doing stuff she doesn't care about.

Makes sense. Plus, Sue is a scientist herself, and although she's not as smart as Reed, she's still got a doctorate or two of her own. Thus, since she's more scientifically-inclined than Janet, she can relate more to Reed's science-nerdiness than Jan can relate to Hank's science-nerdiness. Thus, Sue and Reed share more common interests, and they have better synergy as a couple than Jan and Hank. By contrast, although Hank and Jan do care about each other, they have less compatible interest, and Jan is much more extroverted than Hank.

Prince Charon · 2026-04-11T05:44:13+0100

CrazyNoVa said:
Makes sense. Plus, Sue is a scientist herself, and although she's not as smart as Reed, she's still got a doctorate or two of her own. Thus, since she's more scientifically-inclined than Janet, she can relate more to Reed's science-nerdiness than Jan can relate to Hank's science-nerdiness. Thus, Sue and Reed share more common interests, and they have better synergy as a couple than Jan and Hank. By contrast, although Hank and Jan do care about each other, they have less compatible interest, and Jan is much more extroverted than Hank.

Also, Sue knows how to get Reed to focus on her (e.g. by making her clothes invisible when he glances her way - I think that happens more in fanart, but I'm pretty sure it's either implied or shown in a few comics), something that Janet in this cartoon seems not to be great at doing to Hank (because they can't get away with as much as comicbook artists can).

BR549 · 2026-04-11T07:59:53+0100

There's also a very useful yardstick for comparing how well the relationships work.

Reed and Sue have (well, will have, in this continiuity, but-) Franklin and Valeria.

Hank and Janet have...

...well, Hank has Ultron and Jocasta.

If you squint. While drunk.

Mr Zoat · 2026-04-11T08:04:32+0100

1st September 2013
15:58 GMT -6

I'm disappointed.

In my time with the Justice League I have encountered every sort of drug den. Gang-operated crack houses where the dealers vouch for their own supply with personal experience. Back alleys on every continent, urine scented and otherwise. Armoured safe-rooms where the only access point was a solid steel door and business was done through a sliding hatch. Ice cream vans making things convenient for their customers and bicycle couriers ignorant of their packages' contents.

This is just a corner shop.

It doesn't even look that disreputable. I mean, it's not part of the reconstruction, but whoever runs it has made an effort to keep it looking as nice as it can.

"Here?"

"Yeah? Sure!" Bleez prances forwards, pushing the door open and heading inside.

Scans don't show anything particularly exciting within. There's a shotgun, but it's licensed and… This is Hub City. If they didn't have one then one of the better organised syndicates has moved back in. Shop contents is… Nothing explicitly illegal. Snack food, household sundries, alcohol in various forms… And behind the desk, next to the cigarettes and… I believe those are legal in this state, are vacuum-packed emotion patches.

That was painfully easy.

I mentally shrug and walk in after Bleez.

"…who my dealer is, just in case they work different on aliens."

"Uh-huh." The hirsute man behind the counter nods, then looks at me with his eyes widening. "Uh…"

"I'm perfectly aware that they're legal."

"Oh." He nods. "'cause… They are."

"Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say 'not illegal, as once more technology has outpaced legislation."

"Dude… I just work here."

"And since it's not illegal, I'm sure that you won't mind giving me the name of your supplier, so that I can assure myself that their work is not harmful."

"Ah…"

"Profitable?" I nod. "I understand. But I put it to you that a formal investigation of the sort that would occur should someone die of an unfortunate reaction would be significantly worse than the minimal disruption of me asking polite questions. So how about you work with me here?"

"Dude… I just work here."

"We do arrest suppliers, you know. But if you can give me your employer's phone number-"

He thrusts his own mobile towards me over the counter.

"-then." I take it from him. "Thank you." I look at the contacts list. "Ah, which of these-?"

"'Boss'."

I tap the screen and hold it to my ear. "Bleez, if this is calling your phone-."

She rolls her eyes.

"Hey, Bleez? Did you have, like, a bad trip or something?"

"No, but someone did. They nearly died."

"Ah, shit. I didn't know it could do that. Whenever I use it-."

"What is it, Derek?"

"I'm sorry, sir, I've just borrowed Derek's phone."

"You the cops?"

"In Hub?"

"Heh, okay. So-. Oh, I know you, you're the chocolate guy!"

I look over to the Cadbury display stand, and am mildly pleased to see that the British side is slightly more depleted than the American side. Certainly beats 'cake man'.

"Among other things, sir, yes."

"You got any new commercials coming out? 'cause those are a hoot!"

"One's undergoing final revisions now. It's nice to know that people enjoy them."

"You didn't actually… Do anything to those dogs though, right?"

"They're trained to bark and sit on command. No dogs were harmed in the making of our adverts. No comment on what Hershey does to them."

"Aw dang!"

"Listen, the reason why I'm borrowing Derek's phone is that I wanted to talk to you about the emotion patches."

"Right? They're not illegal or nothing."

"That's true. However, I encountered one person who had an extreme negative reaction to one, so I'd like to speak with the suppliers so that I can make sure that it's safe."

"Oh. Shit. What was it like?"

"Something about the magic in the substance caused more and more of it to appear in his body, causing an increasingly extreme emotional reaction. You remember the Smilex vines?"

"It can do that? I don't wanna kill nobody."

"It doesn't appear to be a common reaction. It might just be a bad batch, but I doubt that they're meeting good manufacturing practice track and trace standards. I've got friends with an interest in alchemy; if the stuff is harmless when properly prepared then I'd be happy to help them improve their processes. And if it is inherently dangerous, then it's probably best that I shut it down now."

"Yeah, I guess… Just kinda a shame."

"As I said, it may well not be permanent."

"Okay, so, you know how the portal supply runs work?"

"I own a controlling stake in the network, so, yes."

"The guy who does the local stock control, Charlie… Uh. Mackensen, that's it. I was talking to him a few weeks ago, and he mentioned he had a new legal high thing… I was just gunna try it out, but then it started getting popular. I've had it on reorder since."

"Thank you for your help. I'll go and speak to Mister Mackensen and try and get this put to bed."

"He's not in any trouble, right?"

"He… Might be, if he's broken company rules about employees piggybacking their businesses on mine, but that's a slap on the wrist thing for a first offence. You have a good day."

I end the call and pass Derek his phone back.

"Thank you for your help, Derek. I hope that everyone else will be as civilised."

"No problem, man. Take it easy."

Slake Mothman · 2026-04-11T08:38:49+0100

Mr Zoat said:
This is just a corner shop.

It doesn't even look that disreputable. I mean, it's not part of the reconstruction, but whoever runs it has made an effort to keep it looking as nice as it can.

It's disconcerting how realistic this is. Corner shops/ bodegas/ convenience stores do tend to be early adopters of 'legal highs' before legislation bans them because of their terrible side effects. Or terrible unadvertised primary effects. They're often right next to the cheap flavored cigarillos and the 0%abv Fireball.

Mr Zoat said:
"They're trained to bark and sit on command. No dogs were harmed in the making of our adverts. No comment on what Hershey does to them."

I wouldn't worry about it. If it's Hershey, chances are they weren't real dogs anyway.

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-04-11T09:21:44+0100

Mr Zoat said:
1st September 2013
15:58 GMT -6

I'm disappointed.

Well, not every dealer can be someone like Snowflame, sitting on a mountain of cocaine powder and ranting about the purity of his 'white god'. Sometimes, you just get some white-collar guy in a backroom trading little baggies for cash.

In my time with the Justice League I have encountered every sort of drug den. Gang-operated crack houses where the dealers vouch for their own supply with personal experience. Back alleys on every continent, urine scented and otherwise. Armoured safe-rooms where the only access point was a solid steel door and business was done through a sliding hatch. Ice cream vans making things convenient for their customers and bicycle couriers ignorant of their packages' contents.

The last one reminds me of 'Grand Theft Auto San Andreas's Courier missions: running packages of unnamed-but-illicit stuff to various destinations around the city de jour.

One now-mostly-lost novelised Let's Play even suggested what they might be for each variant: Asian medicines for Los Santos, 'head products' for San Fierro and betting numbers for Las Venturas...

This is just a corner shop.

It doesn't even look that disreputable. I mean, it's not part of the reconstruction, but whoever runs it has made an effort to keep it looking as nice as it can.

Eh, only really a problem if they're selling illegal stuff under-the-counter. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives take a dim view of that sort of thing, especially if you aren't paying proper dues on the stuff.

"Here?"

"Yeah? Sure!" Bleez prances forwards, pushing the door open and heading inside.

Entirely likely, sadly, and potentially selling the most innocuous-seeming things. Again, consider things like 'asian medicines' of dubious and possibly toxic potency.

Scans don't show anything particularly exciting within. There's a shotgun, but it's licensed and… This is Hub City. If they didn't have one then one of the better organised syndicates has moved back in. Shop contents is… Nothing explicitly illegal. Snack food, household sundries, alcohol in various forms… And behind the desk, next to the cigarettes and… I believe those are legal in this state, are vacuum-packed emotion patches.

I assume their liquor and tobacconist licenses are properly correct too, since OL would have noted it if not.

That was painfully easy.

I mentally shrug and walk in after Bleez.

Never know what you might find in a corner store, really, especially in a bad neighbourhood. Reminds me of another scene from GTA San Andreas: CJ's looking to make a home-made silencer for his next job, his friend Cesar hands him a silenced pistol. CJ asks where he got it, and Cesar just tells him 'Same place I get my pants, homes! This is America!'

...Admittedly, GTA America is just a bit crazier in that respect, where you can buy full-auto assault rifles, miniguns and rocket launchers at just about any Ammu-nation, depending on the game.

"…who my dealer is, just in case they work different on aliens."

"Uh-huh." The hirsute man behind the counter nods, then looks at me with his eyes widening. "Uh…"

That's 'Hairy', for anyone who hasn't encountered the word before. I would assume he has a marvellous beard.

"I'm perfectly aware that they're legal."

"Oh." He nods. "'cause… They are."

"Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say 'not illegal, as once more technology has outpaced legislation."

In other words, they may want to monitor the news in the near future...

"Dude… I just work here."

"And since it's not illegal, I'm sure that you won't mind giving me the name of your supplier, so that I can assure myself that their work is not harmful."

Ah, OL's not quite paying attention. Our beautifully bearded gent here is just the cashier.

"Ah…"

"Profitable?" I nod. "I understand. But I put it to you that a formal investigation of the sort that would occur should someone die of an unfortunate reaction would be significantly worse than the minimal disruption of me asking polite questions. So how about you work with me here?"

OL, I hate to invoke the phrase, but maybe 'I want to speak to your manager' would be more effective here than off-handed intimidation that's clearly failing.

"Dude… I just work here."

"We do arrest suppliers, you know. But if you can give me your employer's phone number-"

I bet Bleez is just standing there doing the thanagarian equivalent of 'I'm so sorry, he's just...' body language.

He thrusts his own mobile towards me over the counter.

"-then." I take it from him. "Thank you." I look at the contacts list. "Ah, which of these-?"

"'Boss'."

Easier than trying to penetrate his monologue, really.

I tap the screen and hold it to my ear. "Bleez, if this is calling your phone-."

She rolls her eyes.

If she was the employer, why would she have brought you here?

"Hey, Bleez? Did you have, like, a bad trip or something?"

"No, but someone did. They nearly died."

Ah, good, explain why OL's here. That would have been much simpler to start with.

"Ah, shit. I didn't know it could do that. Whenever I use it-."

"What is it, Derek?"

Evidently a day off, as this is probably not normal procedure. Or the manager works elsewhere and Derek calls him if they need a top-up of this or that.

"I'm sorry, sir, I've just borrowed Derek's phone."

"You the cops?"

"In Hub?"

To be fair, who is managing law enforcement in town? I doubt there are OMACs on every street corner... Yet. So someone has to handle the day-to-day routine stuff that's too small for guys like OL to look into.

Then again, reforming the Hub City Police Department was probably one of the mayor's first priorities...

"Heh, okay. So-. Oh, I know you, you're the chocolate guy!"

I look over to the Cadbury display stand, and am mildly pleased to see that the British side is slightly more depleted than the American side. Certainly beats 'cake man'.

Yup, knew it...

"Among other things, sir, yes."

"You got any new commercials coming out? 'cause those are a hoot!"

"One's undergoing final revisions now. It's nice to know that people enjoy them."

Oh, Ollie's gonna hate to hear that.

"You didn't actually… Do anything to those dogs though, right?"

"They're trained to bark and sit on command. No dogs were harmed in the making of our adverts. No comment on what Hershey does to them."

"Aw dang!"

Which is a peculiar angle anyway, given how harmful chocolate is to dogs in notable quantities.

"Listen, the reason why I'm borrowing Derek's phone is that I wanted to talk to you about the emotion patches."

"Right? They're not illegal or nothing."

True, but they aren't certified as legal either. Which leaves them in quite the grey area... Rather the crux of the entire episode, really.

"That's true. However, I encountered one person who had an extreme negative reaction to one, so I'd like to speak with the suppliers so that I can make sure that it's safe."

"Oh. Shit. What was it like?"

I'm guessing he's a little concerned because he's also using the product. Nothing makes someone worried knowing they could be in danger themselves.

"Something about the magic in the substance caused more and more of it to appear in his body, causing an increasingly extreme emotional reaction. You remember the Smilex vines?"

"It can do that? I don't wanna kill nobody."

...Although it kept doing that partly because OL was decontaminating him each time because of the overdose. Admittedly, it's still a troublesome side-effect even if it's a rare edge-case.

"It doesn't appear to be a common reaction. It might just be a bad batch, but I doubt that they're meeting good manufacturing practice track and trace standards. I've got friends with an interest in alchemy; if the stuff is harmless when properly prepared then I'd be happy to help them improve their processes. And if it is inherently dangerous, then it's probably best that I shut it down now."

...Before they have a mass poisoning happen. And if OL does get them up to code, so to speak, then it might help when the time does come to get it legalised or not.

"Yeah, I guess… Just kinda a shame."

"As I said, it may well not be permanent."

And if or when it does get legalised, they might get a discount out of it for being an early adopter.

"Okay, so, you know how the portal supply runs work?"

"I own a controlling stake in the network, so, yes."

Heck, it wouldn't exist at all if not for OL, when it comes down to it.

"The guy who does the local stock control, Charlie… Uh. Mackensen, that's it. I was talking to him a few weeks ago, and he mentioned he had a new legal high thing… I was just gunna try it out, but then it started getting popular. I've had it on reorder since."

"Thank you for your help. I'll go and speak to Mister Mackensen and try and get this put to bed."

Well, that's another link in the chain found. Wonder if Mannheim's found something similar on his end or what.

"He's not in any trouble, right?"

"He… Might be, if he's broken company rules about employees piggybacking their businesses on mine, but that's a slap on the wrist thing for a first offence. You have a good day."

Now, if someone dies because of it, that's a bit more serious. But hopefully worst will not come to worst.

I end the call and pass Derek his phone back.

"Thank you for your help, Derek. I hope that everyone else will be as civilised."

"No problem, man. Take it easy."

...Why do I get the feeling some later segment is going to start with OL getting blasted through a wall when someone isn't so sensible.

It's a slow process, following each link and lead, but thoroughness is the watchword here. The sooner they can find the ultimate source of the patches, the sooner they can determine what the dangers of them really are. And it's already turning up a worrying aspect to the Cadbury portal transportation network: Ease of smuggling.

Mr Zoat · 2026-04-11T09:32:47+0100

Slake Mothman said:
I wouldn't worry about it. If it's Hershey, chances are they weren't real dogs anyway.

Dogs don't look like real dogs on camera.

KharnTheBrotrayer · 2026-04-11T09:34:28+0100

I love that the response to this was "He might get a formal reprimand at work" and not the overly strong response to this magical drug.

Vaermina · 2026-04-11T09:35:06+0100

Mr Zoat said:
1st September 2013
15:58 GMT -6

I'm getting a bit confused here, wasn't the person who had the negative reaction and OMAC?

Because if everyone else had been fine, then that seems more likely to be the failure point then something like a bad batch or there being an inherient problem with the drug.

Darko · 2026-04-11T09:43:02+0100

Vaermina said:
I'm getting a bit confused here, wasn't the person who had the negative reaction and OMAC?

Because if everyone else had been fine, then that seems more likely to be the failure point the something like a bad batch or there being an inherient problem with the drug.

You had your once a year good point about something.

The OMAC being mind-wiped probably had something to do with that.

But the OMAC situation will also be more difficult to deal with because Batman is involved with that, but this drug thing may be much easier, so Paul wants to resolve it first before he goes after the OMACs.

Vaermina · 2026-04-11T10:28:34+0100

Darko said:
You had your once a year good point about something.

The OMAC being mind-wiped probably had something to do with that.

But the OMAC situation will also be more difficult to deal with because Batman is involved with that, but this drug thing may be much easier, so Paul wants to resolve it first before he goes after the OMACs.

Whats there to resolve about it though? He's said it himself, its not illegal. So it really feels like he's looking for something new thats wrong so he can avoid investigating the problem he already found.

Darko · 2026-04-11T10:38:51+0100

Vaermina said:
Whats there to resolve about it though?

Who made it, how is it made, where is it made, if it's largely safe.

Vaermina said:
He's said it himself, its not illegal. S

It's not exactly legal either.

Vaermina said:
So it really feels like he's looking for something new thats wrong so he can avoid investigating the problem he already found.

Maybe, but that doesn't mean that the drug situation isn't serious in its own right.

So far the only person that's tested it is Wally.

It would be much safer if they had a bunch of others test it to make sure it's safe.

Not to mention that they're apparently using his portal network to distribute it without his knowledge.

So even if the drug turns out to be safe, that doesn't mean that he shouldn't investigate because if they can use the network to smuggle this then they may use it to smuggle other, less safe things.

Neruz · 2026-04-11T12:01:28+0100

There's a new thing, he doesn't know how it works, he does know it can go wrong, so he wants to find out exactly how it works and thus be able to eliminate variables.

Maybe it went wrong because of the OMAC, maybe it went wrong because of something else, the only way to find out is to investigate and eliminate as many variables as possible.

B00ki5h · 2026-04-11T13:00:41+0100

Mr Zoat said:
Dogs don't look like real dogs on camera.

Yeah, couldn't agree more. Walk through your local grocers pet food section and look at the adds and ask yourself this, "How many look alive?"

It has a whole lot to do with the air brushing and other editing they do to stills of cats and dogs. At the end of the process their eyes look like the glass fakes you would put in to quality piece of taxidermy.

Mr Zoat · 2026-04-12T08:10:37+0100

16th June 2012
20:23 GMT -5

"Okay!" Janet's eyes move around the recreation room without pausing on me. "Uh. Should I get a couch to lay on?"

"Janet, I'm not a qualified therapist." I sit down on a bar stool and gesture for her to take the seat next to me-. I look at the ring on my left hand. "Honestly, I'm probably closer to being a priest than anything else."

"'cause of the norn stone?" She shrinks, flies over to the seat and then enlarges herself again. "Do you wanna tell Thor, or shall I-? Or-? Are you serious about-?"

I shake my head. "These rings each come with a distant attachment to a… Primordial emotion elemental. So I'm technically requesting power from a semi-divine being every time I use it."

"Oh, like a-" She nods. "-D&D cleric, not like a real priest."

"Given that you're not living in the Garden of Eden, I think that Ophidian the Tempter is real enough."

"Garden-?" She leans away from me slightly, blinking rapidly. "You mean your ring gets powered by the snake from the Garden of Eden?"

"Supposedly. I haven't tried checking. That seems like it would be unwise. And I'm not sure if it's a literal description or a metaphorical one; were Adam and Eve tempted by an actual being who directly spoke to them, or was it a desire they already felt that led them astray?" I shrug. "If we ever run into an angel, I'll ask." Heh. "Though you'll note that all official Avengers documents and the website list Thor as the 'Prince of Thunder', from a species ancient humans worshipped 'as gods'."

"Yeah, but we all know what it really means." She sighs, relaxing slightly. "So… Okay, how do we start?"

I want to know what she thinks the problem in their relationship is. But… I remember… Someone? A sociology study where the person conducting it found that asking someone to describe his positive traits before asking them for a date resulted in a higher success rate. I don't want to push her towards a negative mindset when she'll inevitably associate that mindset with Henry.

"I don't think I've ever… Really asked, but what made you want to become an Avenger?"

"I was there when we all fought Graviton!"

"Yes, and I wasn't, I remember."

"No, I didn't mean-." She huffs. "It was like… Fate, y'know? All of us fighting together against a bad guy trying t' destroy the city?"

"I'm not convinced he was trying to destroy the whole city, but I take your point. Had you been..? Thinking about it before that? Becoming a superhero?"

She leans forwards slightly. "I had a costume ready."

"Had you been out before?"

"Sssssssort of." She sighs. "I went out a few times, but… Crime in New York's gone down a lot in the last twenty years. I couldn't find much to do. No supervillains, not even a mugging or something."

"And then there was Graviton, and the breakout."

She nods. "No trouble finding villains with the Avengers. And SHIELD's entire spy network. And literally every law enforcement agency in the country asking us for help when something goes crazy."

"And what is it about this lifestyle that appeals to you?"

"Beating up bad guys!"

"Is it the rush of the fighting itself, or-?"

"No." She looks aside for a moment. "Okay, a little bit, but it's mostly giving bad guys what they deserve. Stopping them hurting people or stealing stuff. I like being able to stand over them while they're laying knocked out on the ground and say 'Yeah! You're not gunna be able to hurt anyone for a looong time! Because you'll be in jail!'."

"I don't remember hearing you say that."

"I said it-. Like, once, before you joined. Hank had a… Thing about it."

"A thing?"

"A thing. You know?" I shake my head. "Like me saying it when they were already unconscious would make them keep being criminals, rather than them just being bad people. And I don't wanna make his job harder or anything, but… Really?"

She's looking at me like she's expecting something.

"Hm."

"So?"

"So I'm not on anyone's side-"

"Oh God, you actually are a therapist."

"-but what do you see happening with the escapees?"

She looks at me like she's not sure what I mean. "They go back to prison?"

"Why? I mean, obviously they've been sentenced, but I was wondering what you thought the purpose of it was?"

"Sooo they can't hurt people?"

"They could hurt people in the prison. Including the guards and civilian workers. And they could escape again. And unless they've got a whole life tariff, then they'll eventually be released."

"I guess?" She shakes her head. "I don't get it."

"So what's the value of imprisonment over… Summary execution?"

"Ahhhummm…" Her face goes a little blank as she thinks about it. "I mean… If they've murdered people… They could be sentenced to death."

"No, I mean, right there in the street. You don't want them to ever hurt anyone again. You could kill them."

"That's-. Like, super-illegal. That's murder."

"Ignoring Defence of Another statutes… Is that the only reason why you don't do it?"

"Huh?"

"Is the only reason why you didn't kill them because it was illegal. I mean, following on from your statement that they've brought it on themselves and you don't want them to hurt everyone else, killing them is significantly more reliable then returning them to a prison they've already escaped from."

"I mean I… I mean I guess…"

"You guess death is reliable?"

She rolls her eyes. "No, death is reliable, I just-. Like… I dunno?"

"Okay. So, you beat them up, hand them to the police and off to prison they go. What do you want to happen next?"

"Well, I guess it would be nice if Hank could actually rehabilitate them for once-." She blinks. "Oh."

"So, you don't want them to be killed, you want them to be rehabilitated."

"I… Guess..?"

"I don't know the content of your mind, Janet. Do you or not?"

"I don't think it's gunna happen, but I'd like it to."

"Okay. Now, do you think that Henry wants… The Serpent Society running around robbing places?"

"No-. He just-. … No."

"He just wants to do the rehabilitation bit, and you want to do the apprehending bit. Yeah?"

"Yeah?"

"But you both want someone doing the other bit. Yeah?"

"Yeah?" She weighs things up for a moment. "Yeah!" She smiles at me. "Hey, you're really good at this!"

I raise my right hand, fingers bending into an approximation of the shape of the fat man sigil of the Orange Lantern Corps as I bless her. "Praise be unto Ophidian the Tempter."

Vaermina · 2026-04-12T08:20:45+0100

Mr Zoat said:
"Supposedly. I haven't tried checking. That seems like it would be unwise. And I'm not sure if it's a literal description or a metaphorical one; were Adam and Eve tempted by an actual being who directly spoke to them, or was in a desire they already felt that led them astray?" I shrug. "If we ever run into an angel, I'll ask." Heh. "Though you'll note that all official Avengers documents and the website list Thor as the 'Prince of Thunder', from a species ancient humans worshipped 'as gods'."

Unlike the "trumped up elementals" of DC the Asgardians of Marvel are actual Gods. Or well, local protrusions of capital G gods.

Mr Zoat said:
"Is the only reason why you didn't kill them because it was illegal. I mean, following on from your statement that they've brought it on themselves and you don't want them to hurt everyone else, killing them is significantly more reliable then returning them to a prison they've already escaped from."

This is Marvel not DC, that is catagorically false.

Darko · 2026-04-12T08:25:23+0100

Mr Zoat said:
And what is it about this lifestyle that appeals to you?"

"Beating up bad guys!"

Bakugo Katsuki approves.

Mr Zoat said:
"A thing. You know?" I shake my head. "Like me saying it when they were unready unconscious would make them keep being criminals, rather than them just being bad people. And I don't wanna make his job harder or anything, but… Really

Well you gloating over them isn't going to help their mental state.

Mr Zoat said:
they were unready unconscious

'were already'

Mr Zoat said:
"You guess death is reliable

Not in a superhero universe.

CrazyNoVa · 2026-04-12T08:28:01+0100

Vaermina said:
Unlike the "trumped up elementals" of DC the Asgardians of Marvel are actual Gods. Or well, local protrusions of capital G gods.

Dude, this is Paul we're talking about here. Do you really think he's gonna care? Especially after we've seen how another version of him dismissed the actual Olympian gods in the same way?

Vaermina said:
This is Marvel not DC, that is catagorically false.

Tell that to the overwhelming majority of Spider-Man's rogues gallery.

Darko · 2026-04-12T08:32:17+0100

Vaermina said:
Unlike the "trumped up elementals" of DC the Asgardians of Marvel are actual Gods. Or well, local protrusions of capital G gods.

And?

So are the various divinities of DC.

Vaermina said:
This is Marvel not DC, that is catagorically false.

You do know that people come back from the dead in DC too right?

Ras al Ghul, Superman, Jason Todd etc.

Heck, a few years ago Batman used some Apokaliptian tech to bring back Damian.

But if you were talking about prisons being more reliable in Marvel compared to DC, then you're wrong as usual.

The only difference between prisons in Marvel versus the ones in DC is that they don't make Arkham jokes in Marvel.

NightmareWarden · 2026-04-12T08:59:37+0100

Soooo Ant-man is passionate about that side of the "order, justice, and goodness" mantra. Not just talkative, he's got... A kernal of the persuasive, whole-hearted compassion, an aura distinct fron Captain America's hope, and Iron Man's stubbornness. Something respectable, especially when he lacks the variety of strengths Steve and Tony have. A distant fourth, on the days when Thor brings his better traits to the forefront. He's probably got some problems focusing on his own strengths, when there's instead an opportunity to whip himself over something.

This is a side which Janet has seen once or twice, enough for her to feel it's one of his best traits. And subconsciously, she might hope that the man who has seen the injustices committed against mutants will respond kindly if her mutant secret gets revealed.

Duke Long · 2026-04-12T09:03:02+0100

Mr Zoat said:
"Supposedly. I haven't tried checking. That seems like it would be unwise. And I'm not sure if it's a literal description or a metaphorical one; were Adam and Eve tempted by an actual being who directly spoke to them, or was in a desire they already felt that led them astray?" I shrug. "If we ever run into an angel, I'll ask." Heh. "Though you'll note that all official Avengers documents and the website list Thor as the 'Prince of Thunder', from a species ancient humans worshipped 'as gods'."

'it'

Surprised that he's not being all 'jumped-up elementals', I remember him being more like that early on. Though I did read that years ago, and maybe this one had had enough time to come around on the subject.

Mr Zoat said:
fat man sigil of the Orange Lantern Corps

I never knew. It really does look like a fat man.

PJ739 · 2026-04-12T09:14:40+0100

Mr Zoat said:
the fat man sigil of the Orange Lantern Corps

... i now can not see it like anything else

Darko · 2026-04-12T09:16:56+0100

Duke Long said:
Surprised that he's not being all 'jumped-up elementals', I remember him being more like that early on. Though I did read that years ago, and maybe this one had had enough time to come around on the subject.

Thor is his teammate, so yeah, he'd probably not say that.

Mr Zoat · 2026-04-12T09:20:54+0100

Darko said:
'were already'

Duke Long said:
'it'

Thank you, corrected.

Surprised that he's not being all 'jumped-up elementals', I remember him being more like that early on.

Would be a bit rude with Thor right there.

Darko said:
Thor is his teammate, so yeah, he'd probably not say that.

D'oh!

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