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

[Rafin]

5th February
09:21 GMT

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This probably went under completely when it was written, but reading through the whole archive at a more rapid pace than one chapter a day, I am pretty sure that a large part of this chapter is redundant. Specifically, the agreement between Hinon and Dox already was that the Controllers would be allowed to recruit their own Lanterns and tithe a number of rings to Grayven. Which, even ignoring the content of this chapter, makes it weird that they waited for so long.

Let me look up the relevant quotes.

Edit: Here they are:

And some conventional rings and personal lanterns would be nice."

"How many were you thinking?"

I shrug. "I don't know. A few thousand."

She looks decidedly unimpressed. "Really. And what's in it for me?"

"A few thousand Lanterns. Plus you get to sort out a few of the Guardians' missteps in a way that you can hold over their heads forever."

"So these Lanterns will work for me, will they?"

"My Lanterns will work for me, and I may dispatch a proportion to assist my allies. You can recruit your own as well if you want. It's no skin off my nose."

"But you would keep the Central Power Battery."

"Once I destroy the Citadel there will be no significant interstellar power in this region of space. It will be far safer here than on the Reach's doorstep."

"And what does Yuga Khan think of this?"

"Grandfather's been missing in action for nearly as long as you have, and as far as I know father's never been here. And I don't care to serve either of them. Part of why I'm doing this is to gather enough power to ensure my ongoing independence."

"And that Anti-Life fragment in your soul isn't a mark of his favour?"

"He may regard it as such. I do not."

Hinon turns away from me, bending slightly to get a better look at the Light Fountain. "Keeping an entire Lantern Corps going would be quite a big job for me to do on my own."

"Since they're mostly going to be operating locally, all I absolutely need in the short term is the Central Power Battery. I have Larfleeze's ring reserve and can wait on the personal lanterns. Beyond that, the more other Controllers you convince to help, the more Lanterns they get. Failing that, it occurs to me that -properly re-educated- the Psions may have what it takes to aid you."

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So, I guess the tithing part wasn't clearly stated (though it seems implied to me), but it still clashes with the content of the February 5th chapter. Also, seems like both the Psions and the Reach were mentioned as well, in a way that also clashes with how this latter chapter mentions both as if discussed for the first time between them.

But, regardless of whether or if you decide to retcon this discrepancy, I still wonder what Hinon has been doing for half a year, if it wasn't making rings or expanding the corps in any way.

 

[Vaermina]

The only ones we know who never progress past their "Third Age" by B5 phrasing were the Narn and Centauri... mainly because they never got over their mutual hate for each other(and even then, I don't think they went extinct). Beyond that, we don't know what happens to any of the League races.

Unless you're going by JMS's seeming low-level bias towards more "spiritual" races vs the more "materialistic" ones.

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Most of the League races are already slowly dying, the only one that isn't is the Gaim.

And the Gaim end up getting heavily screwed by the Drakh plague.

 

[Prince Charon]

Agreed. He is just a kid and he needs guidance.

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Absolutely. The main problem is getting him to both listen and stick around, which is why I started trying to list supergeniuses that Paul knew, because he is far, far less likely to really listen to anyone who can't outthink him, and will be planning his escape the moment he has something to escape from.

 

[BR549]

I don't think we can reasonably blame Hunter for this clusterfuck. He behaved a little impetuously, but so it goes when you're a teenage superhero. Hunter used what he thought was a pretty ordinary bilocation spell to go poke around Lonnie's encampment, but the worst reasonably foreseeable possibility is that he ends up spooking Lonnie and Anarky gets away. Who could have expected them to be suddenly thrown into the Dreaming? Lonnie himself had no such intention.

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It occured to me that with Lonnie being classic high-INT-low-WIS, Hunter is almost seemingly a foil in that he's the opposite in some ways. His Wisdom told him that they needed information on what Anarky was up to, he had a reasonable means to do so, and the risk seemed low. The Intelligent thing to do would have been to inform the others of his idea, but he chose not to...

Basically, he's wise enough that he Dunning-Krugers himself into thinking he's smarter than he is.

 

[Mr Zoat]

28th September 2013
13:57 GMT -5

We look up at the crystal tower glinting in the sunlight, sitting in a grove of trees next to some sort of engineering workshop.

Lonnie blinks first. "That shouldn't be there."

Timothy looks at him, smiling faintly. "Are you sure? You didn't buy some beans from a mysterious travelling merchant-."

Lonnie shakes his masked head vigorously. "I admit, I was designing a machine to free people from their preconceptions-"

I raise my eyebrows. "Cool story, still mind control."

"-but it wasn't anything like finished, and it wasn't a giant crystal. I was making the projector array out of old satellite dishes. If I understand what Hunter did correctly, that should be some sort of cartoon version of… A pile of junk."

I nod. "What was your colleague's name?"

"Noel Mann."

Ring?

…

Right. Ring?

'Noel Mann' is not a known pseudonym of anyone on file.

"Can you give me a description?"

"Tall, muscular, pale skin… He has a strong jaw and purple hair."

"Dyed?"

"I didn't check. The color of his hair wasn't an important factor at the time."

Ring?

Not found.

"And he didn't give you any idea of why he was working on this technology?"

"He said that he wanted to learn how the Anti-Life transmitters worked, because he wanted to learn how to shield people. It seemed as good a reason as any. But… I didn't try to persuade him to talk more about it. Whatever his reasons were, it was enough that he was working with me on the project."

"For future reference, be a bit more careful with the mind control machine."

His golden face turns to me, frowning. "This could all be a result of Hunter's spell." He strides forwards towards the crystal tower. "I'm going to speak with his directly."

"Pots."

Lonnie jerks to a halt and Zatanna steps forwards.

"Don't be ridiculous. Even if 'Noel Mann' was honestly just trying to help -which I don't believe for a moment- this place is dangerous."

"Release me."

She widens her eyes slightly. "Oh, you don't like being controlled? Imagine that."

From the way that his eyes dip I see that he gets the point.

"Esaeler."

He tenses and relaxes his muscles, but doesn't advance again. But if he's not doing that, then the rest of us need to come up with an actual plan. Which would be easier if…

"I don't suppose you can call Yap over here, can you?"

"I can't see him. He should recognise my voice and my smell, but my dog isn't a giant dog made of crystal. I don't know how he's been changed."

"That wasn't me." Timothy shakes his head. "What I did shouldn't have affected a dog like that."

Zatanna sighs. "Hunter, you can't know that. We didn't know what Anarky was doing, and we have no idea how your… What you did to create your other half interacts with Anarky's crystals.

Hm. "Zatanna, what's the chance that shooting the crystal tower with a sonic cannon would be a problem?"

"Given that we haven't seen any people yet? Quite a lot, because if they're inside there we don't know that they can't be crushed to death or impaled by crystal shards."

Toyman pulls a pair of goggles over his eyes. "I can't see inside the crystal."

Scan. "I can't scan through it."

"S'ohw edisni." Zatanna sighs. "Me neither."

Magnify.

I narrow my eyes at I study the outer walls. "I can't see any windows, or any sign of a remove viewing spell. Zatanna?

"Si enoyna gnihctaw su?" She looks around, then shakes her head. "If he's here, he's not watching us." She shrugs helplessly. "If the spell worked properly."

I nod. "So, we can enter the tower undetected..?" She nods slowly. "And once we see what's inside, we can see about confronting Mister Mann."

"I can help." Hiro reaches into his satchel and pulls out… Some sort of optic camouflage material. "This will hide us from detection and muffle sound. It will not stop magic-."

Timothy grins. "Is that a Cloak of Invisibility?"

"No." Hiro frowns. "I will not helps if someone uses magic to detect us. It just projects a picture over us. I have not tried to build a phase shifter yet."

I nod. "I have, but it's in my other armour. Alright, under the sheet, everyone."

Hiro passes me and edge, and as the tallest person in the group I take the centre position as everyone clusters up. Unfurl it, pass that bit to Zatanna… Lonnie takes the lead. Looking out, it causes roughly the same visual distortion that the Cloak of Invisibility caused in the Harry Potter films. Abra uses something similar… But Hiro made this himself using 21st century parts and equipment.

Maybe I should introduce them to each other? Or is that not a good-?

Focus.

We start shuffling towards the tower. Slowly. There isn't much room, our legs are different lengths and the ground is uneven. I'm a little worried, but while we've got time…

"Anarky-."

"I'm not going to assume that Noel has done something wrong until I've seen it for myself."

"Alright, but that's not what I was going to ask. You haven't seen Bobo, have you?"

"Bobo?"

"When Mister Tetch attacked KordTech, Bobo vanished. Now, he's an intelligent being, he wasn't a prisoner, so if he chose to go somewhere else, that's up to him. But he's an elderly chimpanzee who's only had human-equivalent intelligence for a few years, and I'm concerned about him. Naturally, if he was forced to leave-."

"He wasn't. He's been helping us."

"Alright. Do you have a veterinarian with experience working on primates?"

"He's been managing his pain with marijuana."

I grimace. "Do you know what happens to chimpanzees who smoke marijuana?"

"Yes. But I don't think I have the right to tell him…" He steps over a rock as we approach the entrance to the crystal tower. "Alright. I will try to find someone who can help him with his condition without using drugs with side effects."

"And please let him know that I asked. I know he feels pretty isolated being surrounded by humans…"

"I will."

And then we enter the tower.

 

[Ngamer11]

"Tall, muscular, pale skin… He has a strong jaw and purple hair."

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I looked up who this description fit, and the two results google gave me were Lobo and Manchester Black. Seeing as the former wouldn't be able to hide what he's like, we might be seeing what happened to Manchester in the Paragon timeline.

I narrow my eyes at I study the outer walls. "I can't see any windows, or any sign of a remove viewing spell. Zatanna?

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That should say 'remote'.

 

[BR549]

"I'm going to speak with his directly."

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'him'

"I can't see any windows, or any sign of a remove viewing spell.

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'a remote', and there's a double space before the 'a'

 

[Darko]

"No." Hiro frowns. "I will not helps if someone

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"It will not help if"

Hiro passes me and edge

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"the edge"

 

[GhostKing 666]

Most of the League races are already slowly dying, the only one that isn't is the Gaim.

And the Gaim end up getting heavily screwed by the Drakh plague.

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Nooo, not sure where you got that about most of the League slowly dying. The only ones who were probably screwed in the long term were the Hyach(because of the exctinction of the Hyach-do).

Other than that, and the Markab(who went extinct during the show), none of the League races are known to be suffering from a decline. At worst they are still recovering from some of the longer lasting effects of the Dilgar War but beyond that they are doing fine. Sure, they haven't spread out as far as the EA, Minbari, Narn or Centauri... but that's because they are in an area of space that's crowded with each other. Earth was pretty lucky by comparison to be a part of space that didn't have all that many close neighbors.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

28th September 2013
13:57 GMT -5

We look up at the crystal tower glinting in the sunlight, sitting in a grove of trees next to some sort of engineering workshop.

Lonnie blinks first. "That shouldn't be there."

Click to shrink...

Gee, you think? I have to wonder if the workshop was real or not before the Dreaming rolled in, though. Probably a workshed for the groundskeeper of the RV park, and no doubt where Tetch was working out of.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Timothy looks at him, smiling faintly. "Are you sure? You didn't buy some beans from a mysterious travelling merchant-."

Lonnie shakes his masked head vigorously. "I admit, I was designing a machine to free people from their preconceptions-"

I raise my eyebrows. "Cool story, still mind control."

Click to shrink...

Boy, OL is kind of catty without his Enlightenment. But given the circumstances of its loss, understandable.

"-but it wasn't anything like finished, and it wasn't a giant crystal. I was making the projector array out of old satellite dishes. If I understand what Hunter did correctly, that should be some sort of cartoon version of… A pile of junk."

I nod. "What was your colleague's name?"

Click to shrink...

So something or someone with sufficient power over magical visualisation overrode the shaping and made this. Worrying.

"Noel Mann."

Ring?

…

Click to shrink...

Ah, he really isn't used to focusing his Avarice, anymore, is he? Not with that minimum level buff...

Right. Ring?

'Noel Mann' is not a known pseudonym of anyone on file.

Click to shrink...

Hmm... No-one by that name on the wiki, either. Either an OC or a really obscure variant of someone little-known. Mr Zoat's favourite kind of villain.

"Can you give me a description?"

"Tall, muscular, pale skin… He has a strong jaw and purple hair."

Click to shrink...

Okay, that helps narrow down a little. We can probably assume crystal-based magic or powers. too. Maybe a Gemworlder?

"Dyed?"

"I didn't check. The color of his hair wasn't an important factor at the time."

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And a little rude to do so, too. Don't want to tick off the mysterious benefactor.

Ring?

Not found.

"And he didn't give you any idea of why he was working on this technology?"

Click to shrink...

Gee, someone of indubitably nefarious aspect seeking mind-control technology? Nothing amiss there, sure.

"He said that he wanted to learn how the Anti-Life transmitters worked, because he wanted to learn how to shield people. It seemed as good a reason as any. But… I didn't try to persuade him to talk more about it. Whatever his reasons were, it was enough that he was working with me on the project."

Click to shrink...

Not that it would stop him from lying even if he answered, anyway.

"For future reference, be a bit more careful with the mind control machine."

His golden face turns to me, frowning. "This could all be a result of Hunter's spell." He strides forwards towards the crystal tower. "I'm going to speak with him directly."

Click to shrink...

Yes, I foresee that going so well for you.

"Pots."

Lonnie jerks to a halt and Zatanna steps forwards.

Click to shrink...

Good, someone who doesn't have a teenage male superhero ego playing the voice of reason.

"Don't be ridiculous. Even if 'Noel Mann' was honestly just trying to help -which I don't believe for a moment- this place is dangerous."

"Release me."

Click to shrink...

Te be fair, he's a kid. As dangerous as he knows the world to be, there are times when emotion overwhelms sense.

She widens her eyes slightly. "Oh, you don't like being controlled? Imagine that."

From the way that his eyes dip I see that he gets the point.

Click to shrink...

A rare occasion of Anarky admitting someone else was right? Mark the calender.

"Esaeler."

He tenses and relaxes his muscles, but doesn't advance again. But if he's not doing that, then the rest of us need to come up with an actual plan. Which would be easier if…

Click to shrink...

First, check your options. Concealment? Direct Assault? Bypass the dungeon entirely?

"I don't suppose you can call Yap over here, can you?"

"I can't see him. He should recognise my voice and my smell, but my dog isn't a giant dog made of crystal. I don't know how he's been changed."

Click to shrink...

Great. And given his previous actions, he might well try to attack anyway.

"That wasn't me." Timothy shakes his head. "What I did shouldn't have affected a dog like that."

Zatanna sighs. "Hunter, you can't know that. We didn't know what Anarky was doing, and we have no idea how your… What you did to create your other half interacts with Anarky's crystals.

Click to shrink...

Yes, something which is definitely going to be examined with a fine-tooth comb during the debriefing.

Hm. "Zatanna, what's the chance that shooting the crystal tower with a sonic cannon would be a problem?"

"Given that we haven't seen any people yet? Quite a lot, because if they're inside there we don't know that they can't be crushed to death or impaled by crystal shards."

Click to shrink...

Or worse, are somehow wired into the structure...

Toyman pulls a pair of goggles over his eyes. "I can't see inside the crystal."

Scan. "I can't scan through it."

"S'ohw edisni." Zatanna sighs. "Me neither."

Click to shrink...

Ugh, total informational blackout, then. Wonderful.

Magnify.

I narrow my eyes at I study the outer walls. "I can't see any windows, or any sign of a remote viewing spell. Zatanna?

Click to shrink...

So whoever made this assumed it would be impenetrable or at least unlikely to attract any unwanted attention.

"Si enoyna gnihctaw su?" She looks around, then shakes her head. "If he's here, he's not watching us." She shrugs helplessly. "If the spell worked properly."

I nod. "So, we can enter the tower undetected..?" She nods slowly. "And once we see what's inside, we can see about confronting Mister Mann."

Click to shrink...

And anyone in there he might have recruited. I have a concerning feeling he's got a lot of potential hostages.

"I can help." Hiro reaches into his satchel and pulls out… Some sort of optic camouflage material. "This will hide us from detection and muffle sound. It will not stop magic-."

Timothy grins. "Is that a Cloak of Invisibility?"

Click to shrink...

Really not dodging the Harry Potter clone allegations there, Tim.

"No." Hiro frowns. "It will not helps if someone uses magic to detect us. It just projects a picture over us. I have not tried to build a phase shifter yet."

I nod. "I have, but it's in my other armour. Alright, under the sheet, everyone."

Click to shrink...

And of course he doesn't trust himself to be able to summon it properly here, given his previous attempt earlier.

Hiro passes me an edge, and as the tallest person in the group I take the centre position as everyone clusters up. Unfurl it, pass that bit to Zatanna… Lonnie takes the lead. Looking out, it causes roughly the same visual distortion that the Cloak of Invisibility caused in the Harry Potter films. Abra uses something similar… But Hiro made this himself using 21st century parts and equipment.

Click to shrink...

Which says a lot about his capabilities, really. It's a good thing he's a benevolent hypercognitive.

Maybe I should introduce them to each other? Or is that not a good-?

Focus.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, he's already starting to get scatterbrained...

We start shuffling towards the tower. Slowly. There isn't much room, our legs are different lengths and the ground is uneven. I'm a little worried, but while we've got time…

"Anarky-."

Click to shrink...

And of course you've got to try and not step on anyone else's foot. I doubt the cloak muffles sound, either, so every grunt and grumble will give you away.

"I'm not going to assume that Noel has done something wrong until I've seen it for myself."

"Alright, but that's not what I was going to ask. You haven't seen Bobo, have you?"

"Bobo?"

Click to shrink...

Anarky has to know he's been hanging around, unless he's lost chunks of memories during the whatever-he-did. So presumably that's more 'why are you asking? He's fine.'

"When Mister Tetch attacked KordTech, Bobo vanished. Now, he's an intelligent being, he wasn't a prisoner, so if he chose to go somewhere else, that's up to him. But he's an elderly chimpanzee who's only had human-equivalent intelligence for a few years, and I'm concerned about him. Naturally, if he was forced to leave-."

Click to shrink...

Of course, if he could somehow gain any manner of augmentations to his physique and/or lifespan...

"He wasn't. He's been helping us."

"Alright. Do you have a veterinarian with experience working on primates?"

Click to shrink...

Because despite the resemblance to humans, there are still differences under the skin.

"He's been managing his pain with marijuana."

I grimace. "Do you know what happens to chimpanzees who smoke marijuana?"

Click to shrink...

I'm guessing it's more poisonous to them than it is to humans. Meaning Bobo is slowly killing himself with it.

"Yes. But I don't think I have the right to tell him…" He steps over a rock as we approach the entrance to the crystal tower. "Alright. I will try to find someone who can help him with his condition without using drugs with side effects."

"And please let him know that I asked. I know he feels pretty isolated being surrounded by humans…"

Click to shrink...

Admittedly, he might not feel comfortable amongst chimpanzees anymore either. His intellect alone would set him apart.

"I will."

And then we enter the tower.

Click to shrink...

Fingers crossed they aren't instantly captured...

Well, this is going swimmingly. It's fortunate that whoever Noel Mann is, he seems to be fatally dismissive of outside threats thus far. That sort of overconfidence could be useful when the time for confrontation comes, depending on whether he can back up that ego or not. That assumes the group gets that far...