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

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-10-28T06:51:04+0000

Mr Zoat said:
1st August 2013
07:33 GMT -5

Kara frowns at me. "Shouldn't you be talking to Kal about this?"

I nod, shrugging. "Probably. But I thought I'd come to you first, because you grew up in an environment where it was still relevant and he didn't. His instinct would be-."

Yes, I rather think Clark might object, strenuously. This sort of thing would go against every bit of his American upbringing. The whole 'Innocent until proven Guilty' thing, you know? Even though we know General Zod Is guilty of the attempted genocide of Amalak's people...

"That dragging-" She nods. "-someone out of the Phantom Zone just to kill them is wrong."

"And I'm aware that I don't have the best relationship with him personally… I don't want him to tear my head off metaphorically as well as literally-."

Hey, now, he did that under the Eradicator's influence. It would take something extreme to make him do it without that.

Like 'Injustice' Superman, who tore out Joker's heart because he nuked Metropolis...

She blinks. "He what?"

"Oh, when we were… Fighting around where LexCorp were digging up the Doomsday's bridge? I mean, it was more…" I flatten my right hand and make a chopping motion. "Sliced off, but then the joke doesn't work."

That would definitely be a more effective method, yes. It would involve a smaller amount of crushing damage to OL's neck due to the narrower point of contact. And when the average human is basically made of plasticine to your super-strength...

The corners of her mouth turn down slightly. "Do you think maybe you're way too casual about being maimed?"

"Would panicking make the situation better?" She-. "Look, getting maimed doesn't have the same significance for me that it does for most people. And I've internalised that."

Enlightenment, remember? He can deal with abnormal things much easier by wanting to, basically.

"I.. don't know if getting your head ripped-"

"Sliced."

"-off is… Something you should be able to internalise."

I mean, at this point he's really only piloting a meat avatar duplicate of his old body, given the original got reduced to sub-atomic particles by Qwa-energy that time. Or was it the Angelic fire?

I look around, and then fly down onto the roof of the nearest flat-roofed building and beckon her to follow me. She lands next to me, frowning.

"What-?"

Ah, an object lesson?

I lunge and shove her off the roof!

She falls backwards for a moment, eyes widening-. And then catches herself on the air. "What was-?!" … "Oh."

Yes, even if you can fly, there's still that moment of 'oh shit!' between you recognising you're freefalling and you actually exerting your flight ability.

"Yes."

She thinks for a moment, then swivels in the air to look down at the ground twenty floors below us.

Probably musing that she's had far less of a problem with heights since learning to fly.

"Well, I was a bit worried. For a moment."

I shrug. "So was I. There was a very confused half-second where I couldn't work out why I couldn't feel anything in my entire body because I was spinning around and hadn't seen my own spurting neck stump yet."

Thankfully, there's a good few seconds between decapitation and brain death from lack of oxygen...

She reorientates herself feet down and flies back to the rooftop, not quite landing. "And then you just.. called your ring over, and you were fine?"

"More 'no longer dying this instant' than fine, but…" I nod. "Yes."

Yeah, putting his body back together was a bit lower on the priority list than 'disabling the Last Son'. Otherwise, he'd just rip it apart again and again.

"Huh. I guess it is kinda weird how quickly I adapted to…" She looks down at her uniform. "To everything."

Huh. "I never thought to ask, but did you ever meet your paternal grandfather?"

Remind me, this outfit at least has pants, right? I remember that ridiculous New 52 design with the... Codpiece plate?

Who thought that looked good?

"Grandfather Seyg-El? Yes? Well, you know what Krypton was like, we didn't meet face-to-face that often." Her eyes narrow slightly. "He was still alive when Krypton exploded." Huh. "You..? Didn't know that?"

"No, I didn't."

Named for Jerry Seigel, co-creator of Superman, of course. Wonder if Joe Shuster got a similar counterpart somewhere?

"Oh. Well, Uncle Jor probably didn't mention him in any of the messages he left for Kal. Grandfather got on better with Dad than he did with Uncle Jor. Probably because Dad had enough sense not to talk about the planet exploding in public. Now I think about it, the only time I actually saw Grandfather Seyg-El and Uncle Jor together was when.. he was getting that award for stopping General Zod."

I expect it was a tense moment for those who knew their relationship's rockiness.

"I suppose it's nice to know that they patched things-" She winces. "-up?"

"Dad tried. It.. didn't work. And that was before he worked out the planet was going to blow up. He still wanted kryptonians to start travelling in space again. Grandfather said that General Zod was proof that we shouldn't…"

No, that was a sign that the military forces needed better oversight and leadership. Preferably people who weren't likely to casually wipe out alien species.

"They had a shouting match at the award ceremony?"

"Oh no." She shakes her head. "Grandfather would never have shouted in public. He just left.. early. I-. Hm." She looks down, frowning.

I suspect that hurt Jor-El worse than a public shouting match...

"What?"

"I was just wondering if… You know… While Krypton was exploding. They'd probably have had… Some time. I wonder if they tried calling each other. I hope so. But I guess I'll never know."

It would be a poignant thing to picture, but really...

Ah… "No, I can't see how any record could have survived. Between the explosion and the radiation I doubt that there'd be any way to find out without time travel."

She raises her hands defensively. "I don't need to know that badly."

...I mean, maybe the Maltusians still have the design for Krona's time-viewer? It's fairly unobtrusive, barring the whole 'distorting the moment of the universe's creation' thing.

"I'm trying to go easy on the crazy."

She frowns in disbelief. "Really?"

I know, it sounds unbelievable, doesn't it?

"I'm taking it a day at a time. I'm currently at less than a day."

"What did you do?"

I can't help but picture him bringing up a running timer of 'period since last crazy idea'. Tracked down to the nanosecond.

"I found out that my spider pseudo-daughter now rules a planet."

She stares at me for a moment, then nods.

Yeah, that's a total 'just go with it' sort of thing to say.

"So about General Zod..?"

"Krypton hasn't really had the death penalty since we discovered the Phantom Zone. It's.. no different to them being dead from the point of view of everyone in the normal universe, and if it turned out they were wrongly convicted we could actually reverse it."

True, kind of hard to un-disintegrate someone.

"And I suppose interactions with alien court systems was never an issue, because…" She nods. "You were isolationist and didn't have any."

"No, that was because we were xenophobic and held aliens in contempt. I don't think there's a kryptonian extradition law." She thinks for a moment. "Do you really think that's all Amalak-?" … "Right."

Kind of answered your own question, huh?

"Wants? I think I could talk him into accepting getting Zod and his leading collaborators."

"And then he'd share… What he knows about kryptonians?"

Especially any genetic data, or even preserved samples, hopefully.

I nod. "I think I could talk him into it."

"Wasn't..? Non..? Brain damaged?"

Oooh, good point. Does Amalak's law system have a clause for non compos mentis?

"I've never spoken to him. If that's your concern, we could ask Amalak to find someone who could rule on the matter under his people's law who wasn't personally involved. Or we could just not tell him, because he didn't ask."

"And you really think he'd let us recreate my species?"

...Huh, that would be possible if you could get enough viable DNA. As long as the living Kryptonians were fine with most of the population being basically randomised clones.

"I don't think he'd be happy about it, but if I agree to spend time recovering genetic material for his species -he did tell me that there aren't a lot of them- then he might accept it."

She sighs, nodding. "Then… Yes. I think we should. I'll… Talk to Ak-Var and Kal about it."

And OL could easily finagle the Maltusians into working on both species in between those extinctified by the Reach...

I presume once they get Ak-Var onside, they'll all talk to Clark about it and try to convince him by outvoting him, basically. I suspect the stuff Zod did would have earned him a death sentence on Earth too in whatever court tried him. Though I expect Clark will want to be there for the judicial process to make sure it's all above board, even if it is a kangaroo court.

Bud-E · 2025-10-28T06:57:41+0000

Does Kara still have a crush on Paul? She seems mostly put off by him now.

Ngamer11 · 2025-10-28T07:13:45+0000

Bud-E said:
Does Kara still have a crush on Paul? She seems mostly put off by him now.

She was able to put a lid on her feelings before the black kryptonite caused her to reveal it. I wouldn't be surprised if she just keeps it to herself with the slight possibility of bringing it up after Jade dies of old age.

ForumLurker · 2025-10-28T07:22:44+0000

CrazyNoVa said:
When the Kryptonian race is resurrected, Paul should make a planet-sized cake to celebrate.

With a rocket ship ornament on top, of course.

Knowing Lex loves to steal cakes (40 at a time) it won't be safe. We would have to have a whole arc about it too.

Duke Long · 2025-10-28T08:27:45+0000

I like the discussion of the beheading. I always enjoy in superhero stories when there's an exploration of how wildly divergent superheroes can be from mundane perspectives due to their powers.

Mr Zoat said:
"Yes, but you're dealing with individuals. We're dealing with governments who are understandably concerned about signing up with a supranational agency and want to know that they'll retain as much power as possible. If they know that they'll mostly be cooperating with their neighbours under a mutually agreed upon framework which we monitor, that's a lot less of a problem than finding out that their fleet could to sent to the other side of the Orion Arm at a moment's notice."

'be'
I think you forgot to implement this correction from yesterday.

Mr Zoat · 2025-10-28T08:35:08+0000

Chojin Patriarch said:
Remind me, this outfit at least has pants, right? I remember that ridiculous New 52 design with the... Codpiece plate? Who thought that looked good?

External sanitary towel. Why are you afraid of her femininity?

True, kind of hard to un-disintegrate someone.

Not as hard as you'd think.

Huh. The summary doesn't really explain it, but their method of execution was disintegration.

Duke Long said:
'be'
I think you forgot to implement this correction from yesterday.

Thank you, corrected.

Ngamer11 · 2025-10-28T10:47:31+0000

@Mr Zoat, I was reading something that reminded me of Hades and Persephone still being lethe'd into forgetting their marriage. Has that plotline already been resolved off-screen or is it still ongoing?

TFTwink · 2025-10-28T10:49:54+0000

Mr Zoat said:
"I found out that my spider pseudo-daughter now rules a planet."

This is less beating the allegations and more internalizing the allegations

Ardy · 2025-10-28T11:50:23+0000

Mr Zoat said:
No, I can't see how any record could have survived. Between the explosion and the radiation I doubt that there'd be any way to find out without time travel."

There are plenty of necromancers around, come on Paul, this is basic stuff YOU suggested.

Fly em to the broken remains of krypton, it would take 10 minutes!

Darko · 2025-10-28T12:01:12+0000

Ardy said:
There are plenty of necromancers around, come on Paul, this is basic stuff YOU suggested.

Fly em to the broken remains of krypton, it would take 10 minutes!

Magic kinda requires a planet to work in this fic.

And Kryptons destruction could have also destroyed their afterlife.

Steelplaza · 2025-10-28T12:11:29+0000

Chojin Patriarch said:
I expect Clark will want to be there for the judicial process to make sure it's all above board, even if it is a kangaroo court.

It doesn't have to be a kangaroo court. Amalak gets to propose a jurisdiction and OL's side gets to accept or decline, until they can mutually agree.

CrazyNoVa · 2025-10-28T12:24:42+0000

Bud-E said:
Does Kara still have a crush on Paul? She seems mostly put off by him now.

She might still find him attractive in a bizarrely dorky way.

ForumLurker said:
Knowing Lex loves to steal cakes (40 at a time) it won't be safe. We would have to have a whole arc about it too.

And that's terrible.

Mr Zoat said:
External sanitary towel. Why are you afraid of her femininity?

Oh, so you're allowed to dislike the red trunks, but we're not allowed to dislike the red codpiece?

It's not about the femininity. It just looks weird and out of place no matter which gender wears the outfit.

Granted, Supergirl has worn weirder outfits in the past, but still.

Mr Zoat · 2025-10-28T13:21:28+0000

Ngamer11 said:
@Mr Zoat, I was reading something that reminded me of Hades and Persephone still being lethe'd into forgetting their marriage. Has that plotline already been resolved off-screen or is it still ongoing?

Still ongoing.

Darko said:
And Kryptons destruction could have also destroyed their afterlife.

Canonically, it did. Only one kryptonian demon survived.

CrazyNoVa said:
Oh, so you're allowed to dislike the red trunks, but we're not allowed to dislike the red codpiece?

It's not about the femininity. It just looks weird and out of place no matter which gender wears the outfit.

Granted, Supergirl has worn weirder outfits in the past, but still.

I was joking. Besides, it can't be a codpiece if there's no cod.

timeForced · 2025-10-28T16:52:37+0000

You know, Batman going crazy dictator in the shadows might be OLs fault twice over! Batman has for sure been reading every report from the Orange Space Adventures-in which half a dozen planets and at least one species have ceased to be-and after the whole Sheeda and Darkseid vacations ended with neither the GL or OL Corps riding in to save the day...Batman's previous assumption of "we have backup" has probably completely flipped to "autarky or nothing."

Batman has been thinking to himself "these global disasters have been the GOOD outcomes." And being Fear!Bat means his usual planning for Bad Ends has become full on proactive prevention.

CrazyNoVa · 2025-10-28T17:16:58+0000

timeForced said:
You know, Batman going crazy dictator in the shadows might be OLs fault twice over! Batman has for sure been reading every report from the Orange Space Adventures-in which half a dozen planets and at least one species have ceased to be-and after the whole Sheeda and Darkseid vacations ended with neither the GL or OL Corps riding in to save the day...Batman's previous assumption of "we have backup" has probably completely flipped to "autarky or nothing."

Batman has been thinking to himself "these global disasters have been the GOOD outcomes." And being Fear!Bat means his usual planning for Bad Ends has become full on proactive prevention.

All hail High Councillor Bruce Wayne, I guess.

Mr Zoat said:
Canonically, it did. Only one kryptonian demon survived.

Wait, then where will Rao's last remaining worshippers go when they die?

Mr Zoat said:
I was joking. Besides, it can't be a codpiece if there's no cod.

Oh, ok. It's hard to tell when I can't see your face or hear your voice.

hkim · 2025-10-28T18:35:43+0000

CrazyNoVa said:
Oh, ok. It's hard to tell when I can't see your face or hear your voice.

You can't hear his voice? Are your speakers broken?

Ardy · 2025-10-28T19:34:43+0000

So I'm completely ticked that no one, myself included, thought to call post-adoption Kon and Match the Wonder Twins!

Zig · 2025-10-28T19:57:56+0000

CrazyNoVa said:
Wait, then where will Rao's last remaining worshippers go when they die?

Givem Rao is still around and a total dick, nowhere fun

RoninSword · 2025-10-28T23:59:24+0000

The immediate guess would be the spirit float around in empty space if there's no thaumosphere to draw them anywhere. Otherwise just to whatever planets afterlife they are on like all the other aliens Mother of Mercy is sending to Earth (directly into Erebos but still).

Frozen20XX · 2025-10-29T06:02:49+0000

Chojin Patriarch said:
Yes, I rather think Clark might object, strenuously. This sort of thing would go against every bit of his American upbringing. The whole 'Innocent until proven Guilty' thing, you know? Even though we know General Zod Is guilty of the attempted genocide of Amalak's people...

Earth-12 Clark didn't seem to have an issue with the death penalty as long as the accused was actually guilty. Not sure how often other Clark's dealt with it.

Mr Zoat · 2025-10-29T06:28:24+0000

1st August 2013
14:02 GMT

I watch as the dust plume erupts from the rubble as Ak-Var smashes the ruined buildings to rubble.

I remember when I first met Donna, trying to work out what the most efficient career for us was, one which would maximise the amount of time she could spend superheroing while still covering her living expenses. Now, for an actual kryptonian, it's easy: satellite launches. Donna's senses aren't quite enhanced enough to get the positioning right and she needs to breathe more than they do. A similar problem occurs in this post-Anti-Life era: kryptonians are great at certain classes of crisis, but (apologies to Richard Donner) can't actually rebuild things at super speed. Heck, even collecting things at super speed isn't all that easy because things that get hit by high speed unstoppable forces tend to break into lots of little pieces.

"Oh!" Ak-Var appears in front of me, looking a little dusty. "Hey, sir. Do you need something?"

"'Sir'? Is that a reference to my age? Because I'm pretty sure I'm younger than you."

"No, it's just…" He reaches up with his right hand to brush the worst of the dust out of his hair. "That's what Taranna calls you, so I guess I just… Copied her."

"I am Lantern Taranna's superior officer. You can just use my name. Unless you've picked a superhero name for yourself..?"

"I don't think 'Nightwing' really works in English, and Flamebird's a bit too destructive."

I blink, make sure that he's watching my eyes, and then look at the field of rubble he just created. He moves his head around to see where I'm looking-.

"Oh, that's not a-. The city council asked me to! There's a load of asbestos and lead in there, and they wanted to clear it so they can rebuild it into somewhere people actually want to live."

"Okay, and-."

A noise like a very loud industrial vacuum clearer pierces the air, sucking dust from the sky. A construct excavator bites down on a mound of rubble and transfers it to an industrial skip.

"And she can filter industrial pollutants from the ground?"

"Yeah." He nods. "She just has trouble destroying things that are just.. sitting there. And I can do that real easy."

"Alright, Flamebird."

"I'm not calling myself Flamebird. What did you want?"

"General Zod. While you were in the Phantom Zone, did you talk to him at all?"

He exhales sharply through his nose. "Oh, yeah. I got to talk to a bunch of Krypton's worst ever people. And Nam-Ek. He was okay for a guy who's basically our Judas."

"What sort of things did you talk about?"

He takes a deep breath in, then releases it. "How pathetic I was, what a disgusting waste of space I was, how I was a disgrace to Krypton, how insulted he was that I was sharing a prison with him…" He shrugs. "Things like that."

"Oh. Was that common?"

He thinks for a moment, then nods. "Yes. Jax-Ur tried giving me a physics lecture once, then gave up when he realised that he was way too advanced for me. That was about the closest I came to a civil conversation until Nam-Ek joined us." He sighs. "The only up side was that they were like that to each other as well. And that they couldn't physically hurt anyone, though Faora Hu-Ul really tried."

"How about Non?"

"Who?"

"Big chap, can't talk, used to work for General Dru-Zod?"

"I didn't see him. But we mostly communicated by talking, so if he couldn't do that…" He blinks, and shudders. "Great Rao, that's just about the only thing that could have made that place worse."

"Would you have a particular objection to handing General Zod and Ursa over to the survivors of the planet they ravaged for trial?"

"Ah, they destroyed a planet?"

"Timaron?" He looks blank. "It would have been a little while before his coup attempt? They carried out a rather thorough orbital bombardment, claiming that their government was holding samples of kryptonian technology from before the edict of isolation went into effect."

"Ah… I don't remember hearing anything about that-." He looks away, frowning thoughtfully. "Wait, he-." His eyes widen. "That's what he was boasting about! I didn't know-. Why wasn't that in the news?"

"As far as I can tell? Because Krypton didn't care what happened to aliens."

"How many people died?"

"About five billion."

"That's-. That's not a little thing. Even if it was just a.. small mention.. that should have…"

"I am quite familiar with the failings of Kryptonian society."

"Do you have a full record of that? I'd… Like to know more about what happened."

"I do, but if it goes to trial it might be better if you only knew what you know now."

"Oh. Yes, I suppose I might… Reinterpret what I knew in terms of…" He nods. "Yes, he should definitely be put on trial for that. Even if it's some sort of… Horrible misunderstanding, that's something that should be public knowledge."

"Please understand that any trial would be operating under Timaron law, and might order an execution."

"He ordered five billion."

"Okay. I tried arguing this with Kal-El just before we let you out and he wasn't convinced. But I think having you and Kara on my side will make the argument more convincing."

"Ah, which Kara?"

I raise my eyebrows slightly. "Ring, contact Superwoman."

"Compliance."

"Hey Paul! What's up?!"

"Ak-Var and I were-" She appears next to him in a roar of displaced air. "-just talking about the possibility of putting General Dru-Zod on trial for his crimes against Timaron."

She blinks, eyes wide. "The guy who built the Doomsday was a criminal?!"

"Ah, Admiral Dru-Zod of the Kryptonian Stellar navy wasn't supposed to send his ship off into space, but that would have been a disciplinary matter. No, I'm talking about his nephew, General Dru-Zod."

"We can't have Kryptonian military officers just doing whatever they like!" She affects a stern expression. "And just what did he do on Timaron!?"

"He's accused of killing about five billion p-."

"He's a bad guy! Kill him!"

I look at Ak-Var, and gesture to Kara 2 with my right hand.

He nods slowly. "Right."

BlackCoat13 · 2025-10-29T06:31:54+0000

Mr Zoat said:
And I can to that real easy."

can do that

Darko · 2025-10-29T06:34:35+0000

Mr Zoat said:
The guy who build the

"built"

Ngamer11 · 2025-10-29T06:34:41+0000

Mr Zoat said:
She blinks, eyes side. "The guy who build the Doomsday was a criminal?!"

That should say 'built'.

BR549 · 2025-10-29T06:42:32+0000

...this says concerning things about "happy, cheerful, bouncy, Silver Age Cheerful Kara".

RichardWhereat · 2025-10-29T06:51:49+0000

Totes adorbs

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-10-29T07:12:05+0000

Mr Zoat said:
1st August 2013
14:02 GMT

I watch as the dust plume erupts from the rubble as Ak-Var smashes the ruined buildings to rubble.

Heh. One thing kryptonians are really good at, what with their ludicrous durability: Demolitions. Doesn't take much to pull a building apart when you can bend or carve steel with your bare hands and concrete would crumble like hardened sand... Not necessarily great for giving you a great reputation, though.

I remember when I first met Donna, trying to work out what the most efficient career for us was, one which would maximise the amount of time she could spend superheroing while still covering her living expenses. Now, for an actual kryptonian, it's easy: satellite launches. Donna's senses aren't quite enhanced enough to get the positioning right and she needs to breathe more than they do. A similar problem occurs in this post-Anti-Life era: kryptonians are great at certain classes of crisis, but (apologies to Richard Donner) can't actually rebuild things at super speed. Heck, even collecting things at super speed isn't all that easy because things that get hit by high speed unstoppable forces tend to break into lots of little pieces.

Yeah, Superspeed isn't exactly useful in building. Mortar and concrete both take time to set and dry out, even if you bathe them in heat vision. And welding girders with heat vision isn't exactly doable at speed.

"Oh!" Ak-Var appears in front of me, looking a little dusty. "Hey, sir. Do you need something?"

"'Sir'? Is that a reference to my age? Because I'm pretty sure I'm younger than you."

In terms of relative age including stasis, of course. Ak-Var is in his late teens or early twenties, isn't he? So he probably looks older than OL too.

"No, it's just…" He reaches up with his right hand to brush the worst of the dust out of his hair. "That's what Taranna calls you, so I guess I just… Copied her."

"I am Lantern Taranna's superior officer. You can just use my name. Unless you've picked a superhero name for yourself..?"

There's only so many good ones for Kryptonians, and Superman's already got the obvious one.

"I don't think 'Nightwing' really works in English, and Flamebird's a bit too destructive."

I blink, make sure that he's watching my eyes, and then look at the field of rubble he just created. He moves his head around to see where I'm looking-.

And if he explained the mythological implications of it, it might fit (Namely the destruction to inspire new creations.) Though he did use the name in the comics at least once.

"Oh, that's not a-. The city council asked me to! There's a load of asbestos and lead in there, and they wanted to clear it so they can rebuild it into somewhere people actually want to live."

"Okay, and-."

I mean, pulling it down that casually would just scatter said asbestos everywhere...

A noise like a very loud industrial vacuum clearer pierces the air, sucking dust from the sky. A construct excavator bites down on a mound of rubble and transfers it to an industrial skip.

"And she can filter industrial pollutants from the ground?"

...But it looks like Taranna has it handled.

"Yeah." He nods. "She just has trouble destroying things that are just.. sitting there. And I can do that real easy."

"Alright, Flamebird."

Yup, he's not dodging those mythological implications at all.

"I'm not calling myself Flamebird. What did you want?"

"General Zod. While you were in the Phantom Zone, did you talk to him at all?"

Right, they would have met in there. And promptly tried to avoid him subsequently, I bet.

He exhales sharply through his nose. "Oh, yeah. I got to talk to a bunch of Krypton's worst ever people. And Nam-Ek. He was okay for a guy who's basically our Judas."

"What sort of things did you talk about?"

Honestly, the 'killing a Rondor for immortality' probably did damn him in their eyes...

He takes a deep breath in, then releases it. "How pathetic I was, what a disgusting waste of space I was, how I was a disgrace to Krypton, how insulted he was that I was sharing a prison with him…" He shrugs. "Things like that."

"Oh. Was that common?"

Ah. A common thief too lowly a cellmate for Zod's high and mighty ego? Who'd have thunk it?

He thinks for a moment, then nods. "Yes. Jax-Ur tried giving me a physics lecture once, then gave up when he realised that he was way too advanced for me. That was about the closest I came to a civil conversation until Nam-Ek joined us." He sighs. "The only up side was that they were like that to each other as well. And that they couldn't physically hurt anyone, though Faora really tried."

Still makes me wonder how it was set up. One giant space that stretched to encompass everyone no matter how far apart they moved? Or a fixed volume and everyone stayed apart however they could?

"How about Non?"

"Who?"

"Big chap, can't talk, used to work for General Dru-Zod?"

I mean, he could grunt with enough variety to manage 'yes' or 'no' answers... Still...

"I didn't see him. But we mostly communicated by talking, so if he couldn't do that…" He blinks, and shudders. "Great Rao, that's just about the only thing that could have made that place worse."

"Would you have a particular objection to handing General Zod and Ursa over to the survivors of the planet they ravaged for trial?"

Oh, that's just nasty.

"Ah, they destroyed a planet?"

"Timaron?" He looks blank. "It would have been a little while before his coup attempt? They carried out a rather thorough orbital bombardment, claiming that their government was holding samples of kryptonian technology from before the edict of isolation went into effect."

Huh. Was it after Ak-Var got shoved in there, or was it kept secret, I wonder?

"Ah… I don't remember hearing anything about that-." He looks away, frowning thoughtfully. "Wait, he-." His eyes widen. "That's what he was boasting about! I didn't know-. Why wasn't that in the news?"

"As far as I can tell? Because Krypton didn't care what happened to aliens."

...Okay, that would probably explain it, yeah. So the fuss would have been 'he did it without orders' than...

"How many people died?"

"About five billion."

...That. And depending on how developed The Timaronian culture was, that would have been a majority of the population if they spread on par with Earth's population.

"That's-. That's not a little thing. Even if it was just a.. small mention.. that should have…"

"I am quite familiar with the failings of Kryptonian society."

They do serve as a guide book of things not to do, at least.

"Do you have a full record of that? I'd… Like to know more about what happened."

"I do, but if it goes to trial it might be better if you only knew what you know now."

After, perhaps then. Not wanting to prejudice a potential witness, eh?

"Oh. Yes, I suppose I might… Reinterpret what I knew in terms of…" He nods. "Yes, he should definitely be put on trial for that. Even if it's some sort of… Horrible misunderstanding, that's something that should be public knowledge."

"Please understand that any trial would be operating under Timaron law, and might order an execution."

And it's likely they wouldn't call him as a witness anyway. Depends on the laws, really.

"He ordered five billion."

"Okay. I tried arguing this with Kal-El just before we let you out and he wasn't convinced. But I think having you and Kara on my side will make the argument more convincing."

Basically outvoting him, if nothing else. Even if Clark is the one who owns the Zone projector.

"Ah, which Kara?"

I raise my eyebrows slightly. "Ring, contact Superwoman."

I take it the Karas still haven't sorted that out yet.

"Compliance."

"Hey Paul! What's up?!"

I suppose he's got to approach her sooner or later anyway. Even if Kara One technically might not have a say in a 'foreign' matter, depending on how you look at it.

"Ak-Var and I were-" She appears next to him in a roar of displaced air. "-just talking about the possibility of putting General Dru-Zod on trial for his crimes against Timaron."

She blinks, eyes side. "The guy who build the Doomsday was a criminal?!"

...I hope Taranna was done cleaning up the dust in the air.

"Ah, Admiral Dru-Zod of the Kryptonian Stellar navy wasn't supposed to send his ship off into space, but that would have been a disciplinary matter. No, I'm talking about his nephew, General Dru-Zod."

"We can't have Kryptonian military officers just doing whatever they like!" She affects a stern expression. "And just what did he do on Timaron!?"

...And that confusion got me too, as an earlier comment saw. For reference, I'm currently picturing the Admiral as Terance Stamp, and the General as Micheal Shannon from 'Man of Steel'. Could be worse, could see one of them as the Smallzille Zod.

"He's accused of killing about five billion p-."

"He's a bad guy! Kill him!"

...Huh. And here I thought she was a good girl.

I guess her Earth One had a higher lethality concerning supercriminals than most.

I look at Ak-Var, and gesture to Kara 2 with my right hand.

He nods slowly. "Right."

Yeah, she's definitely on-side. Concerningly so, really.

So, it falls to Clark to be the remaining undecided voice in the matter. Among the living, full-blooded kryptonians involved, anyway. I suspect if they could contact Karsta Wor-Ul, she'd also give the 'kill the bastard' vote. So it just remains to see if he'll dig in his heels on this or not. I'm assuming it doesn't have to be a unanimous agreement, mind...

timeForced · 2025-10-29T07:15:23+0000

BR549 said:
...this says concerning things about "happy, cheerful, bouncy, Silver Age Cheerful Kara".

She's always been the borderline murderous 60s American conservative.

Bud-E · 2025-10-29T07:28:49+0000

Does anyone else want Ak-Var to be this universe's Nightwing? Imagine how awkward that would be for Paul; everyone would see him laughing to himself and have no idea what was funny.

Signaller · 2025-10-29T08:13:30+0000

Mr Zoat said:
I remember when I first met Donna, trying to work out what the most efficient career for us was, one which would maximise the amount of time she could spend superheroing while still covering her living expenses. Now, for an actual kryptonian, it's easy: satellite launches.

Ah yes, as covered (among many other things) in "A Common Sense Guide to Doing the Most Good": https://archiveofourown.org/works/30351690

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

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