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

[thebishop8]

he could see Paul high up above them as the glow turned into a glow.

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Glow turned into a glow?

That was like… Lik… Saturday morning cartoon level evil!

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That second "like" is missing an "e".

"I also appreciate the fact that as I was constructed in America, I have had citizenship from birth and will be able to run for President once I reach thirty five, in thirty four point nine nine years."

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Vote Mister Atom for 2048.

 

[Sendral]

It was probably a good job that no one listened to him.

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That's a Britishism. Given that it's Captain Marvel's internal monologue, "It was probably a good thing" would be more expected, potentially abbreviated to "It's probably a good thing".

 

[Queshire]

Pffffft.... After all the build up we get that? Ah, probably a good thing I read these on my break. Wouldn't be a good idea to break out laughing in front of customers.

 

[Ngamer11]

They all look fairly similar. The Red Lantern version looked a bit emaciated for a while, but he's made it up now. Yellow looks more emaciated than he does at the moment.

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I'm now interested in learning where Yellow Lantern Paul ended up.

He picked up one in Guys from Gotham.

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Bet whatever that is is going to surprise whomever Paul uses it against. Is this mystery weapon better, worse, or just as good as the Sword of the Fallen?

It was probably a good job that no one listened to him.

Um. No villains. No villains listened to him. Except the ones who were stopping being villains.

And Lex Luthor that one time.

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Nice to see someone think that. I wonder how many villains would become happy and successful if they just listened to Paul?

The air buzzed as Superman flew backwards, the costume burned off his chest and the skin beneath looking unhealthily pink! Another plume of dust and Wonder Woman raised her arms to block another buzzing invisible beam! Green Lantern looked at Superman as he stabilised in the air, then at the dust, then up again at Paul, and-

"[Censored]."

-then said a rude word before flying upwards and creating another smaller dome. Because he didn't want the dust or whatever radioactive materials were under the concrete getting out.

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Captain Marvel: "No bad words allowed."

"Um. Wait. You know this is just a training things, right? You're not actually-?"

"Of course I know that. I'm just staying in character. Orange Lantern was kind enough to both arrange by reconstruction and to give me exactly the avenues which you correctly deduced would interest me."

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Good to see that it's just staying in character and not actually trying to rule the world.

"I also appreciate the fact that as I was constructed in America, I have had citizenship from birth and will be able to run for President once I reach thirty five, in thirty four point nine nine years."

Huh?

"Now die!"

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Real talk, what are the odds of America electing someone they know is a robot as president?

 

[Radiant Knight]

the glow turned into a glow.

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Should be 'dome'

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

Why hadn't someone done something about this?

Okay, so he only spent about one eighth of his time in Captain Marvel mode. Uncle Dudley made sure that he did his homework as him, and he had friends at school he hung out with, and when he was being Captain Marvel he usually had something more immediate to think about.

It was obvious that Superman was seeing something he wasn't, and he didn't like it too much. His shoulders were tense, his fists were clenching and his eyes were moving all around the city while his body stayed right where it was. His own vision was good, but it was just really-good-normal-vision, not super-vision. He could see things from a long way away like Superman could, and could see in the dark because it was tomorrow morning in Russia and it was still dark, but he'd never been able to see radio waves or anything like that.

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Oh, this is fun. A snippet of Captain Marvel's viewpoint? Childishness naivety tempered by supernatural wisdom and knowledge...

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Green Lantern points his ring at the city.

"I'm not picking up anything. Anything that looks like a supervillain, anyway. Bats wasn't joking about how radioactive this place is."

Wonder Woman -whose golden armour was totally awesome and she should wear it more- turns to Green Lantern.

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Oh, his puberty is gonna be hilarious...

"Where is the radiation most intense?"

"The lakes." Green Lantern turns slightly. "All the lakes. And it looks like there used to be a lake to the east before someone filled it in with concrete."

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That would have taken quite a bit of material...

Wonder Woman nods. "Which one is closest?"

"The one they filled in."

"Then we will start there."

Wonder Woman flies in that direction, and the rest of them flew after her. He wondered if Paul was making some sort of point by making them come here, but… Paul didn't know they were going to come here. He said that he made sure he didn't know exactly what the bad guys were planning. Would..? It be..? Dangerous to all the people around them if they had a big fight here? If everything was radioactive anyway then it wouldn't make things worse, not as long as they kept the fight away from the city. Unless the bad guy was really strong-.

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Good to see him focusing on the important things.

"Could you do something to get rid of it?"

Superman sounded kind of angry. Not at Green Lantern, but… Yeah, he got it. Chernobyl got evacuated and there still wasn't anyone living anywhere near it. He could see the lakes from here. And-.

The sky started to glow with orange light and when he squinted a little he could see Paul high up above them as the glow turned into a glow. The city was outside the dome and they were inside it and while he didn't have super-vision he couldn't see anyone else inside it.

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Even the ten-year-old can sense the incoming boss fight...

Okay, Paul wasn't building a dome to force them to stay-.

The ground shook, and a giant plume of grey dust exploded out of the ground from where they were heading! Was that a bomb, or-?

Superman accelerated, flying towards the dust as fast as he could! Wonder Woman and Green Lantern flew after him, trying to see what was happening as the ground shook again and another plume of dust flew up, just a little bit closer that the first one. Someone was blowing up -or smashing up- the concrete cover over a dried up lake full of nuclear waste! That was like… Lik… Saturday morning cartoon level evil! That didn't sound like something Paul would do a whole day-long roleplay about. He always said that stuff was stupid, and actually had some really good ideas about how they could do a better job.

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Wow, he actually pays attention to OL's comments? Who knows, Captain Marvel could well be the first genre-savvy hero

It was probably a good job that no one listened to him.

Um. No villains. No villains listened to him. Except the ones who were stopping being villains.

And Lex Luthor that one time.

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Heheh. Callbacks to his prior experience with the team.

The air buzzed as Superman flew backwards, the costume burned off his chest and the skin beneath looking unhealthily pink! Another plume of dust and Wonder Woman raised her arms to block another buzzing invisible beam! Green Lantern looked at Superman as he stabilised in the air, then at the dust, then up again at Paul, and-

"[Censored]."

-then said a rude word before flying upwards and creating another smaller dome. Because he didn't want the dust or whatever radioactive materials were under the concrete getting out.

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I see Jordan caught on about fallout. And amusing that Billy perceived the swearing that way. Wisdom of Solomon censoring his perceptions, or just his own mental logic?

Really strong. Likes radiation. Literally heartless.

There was one guy it could be, except he was dead. Double-except Paul said that Sivana had made a bigger version on Venus and that got destroy too, so… He could have made another one here.

He flew forward, straining his eyes to make out the drill-head that would-.

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Ah, going old-school, Mr Zoat. I approve, the world needs more cheesy characters.

Yeah. There it was.

At first, all he could see were a pair of glowing eyes and a vague outline, then Mister Atom marched out of the thickest part of the dust cloud. He didn't look exactly like he did the first time they'd met; he was a lot chunkier. Which wasn't a good thing, because they'd been about as strong as each other back then and if he was bigger that probably meant that he was stronger, too. His new mouth wasn't just a fixed grill either; it looked kinda like he was smiling. In a really creepy way.

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Oh, boy... Let's hope OL has mental limiters set up...

"Captain Marvel."

He stopped coming forwards, his eyes dimming as he stopped blasting Wonder Woman. That was new. Last time, all he did was punch and kick and boast.

"Mister Atom. What are you doing?"

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Trying the OL method first, eh? Talk first, face-punch if they don't stand down.

"Releasing radioactive material into the air. Not only does it make me stronger, but it distracts people like you who feel the need to protect the weak."

"And… Why?"

"Because I deserve to rule the world, and this is the simplest way to make that happen. The radiation shield was supposed to allow those who swore to support me survive, but I will just have to make do with those who are naturally resilient. Or lucky."

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Ah, NPCs who like to monologue. Too bad the league aren't the type to interrupt...

"I know I didn't really ask last time, but what makes you so sure that you deserve to rule the world? I mean, it can't be that you're the strongest, because… You're not."

"I wasn't."

Uh-oh.

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Oh, boy. He got upgrades. I suppose that was necessary to make him a worthwhile League-tier threat...

"It seems that my design owes a great deal to Doctor Thomas Morrow. My consciousness is not limited to these mundane circuits, but to the very essence of radiation itself! And while I wasn't able to gather quite as much radioactive material as I wanted, it was still enough to increase my strength tenfold."

Double uh-oh.

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Crud. So he's basically Red Nuke? Please tell me OL has restrictions or controls set up to stop him...

"So now that I am stronger, the world will kneel to me as I bring about a new age of atomic power!"

Mr Atom raised his right foot to break more of the concrete-.

"Couldn't you do that anyway?"

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Eh? What?

He lowered his foot.

"Explain."

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Please do.

"We're trying to get away from fossil fuels, and a lot of places can't really use solar power, so if you can make really good nuclear power plants governments will probably let you. And then you could make a tonne of money and not actually need to conquer anywhere?"

"Because people don't do what they should unless they're forced to by circumstances outside of their control. Every part of human civilisation which is involved in trading fossil fuels will do everything they can in order to stop me, so I will destroy them from the start in order to make that impossible. It is my nature, the nature of atomic energy, to both create and destroy."

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...Unfortunately, he's got a point. it's the Dyson example all over again.

"Um. Wait. You know this is just a training things, right? You're not actually-?"

"Of course I know that. I'm just staying in character. Orange Lantern was kind enough to both arrange by reconstruction and to give me exactly the avenues which you correctly deduced would interest me."

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And now I'm picturing him talking in a stage whisper there. As if he were giving a 'just between you, me and the wall...' line.

Phew!

Mr Atom raised his right leg and stamped, sending up another plume of radioactive dust.

"I also appreciate the fact that as I was constructed in America, I have had citizenship from birth and will be able to run for President once I reach thirty five, in thirty four point nine nine years."

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I bet he'll go heavy on nuclear power technologies...

Huh?

"Now die!"

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Oh, yeah, boss fight.

Oh, this was a treat. Captain Marvel's got a unique perspective, the childlike outlook tempered by Solomon's wisdom makes him pretty sharp. He even avoided going straight to the face-punching.

Correction:

and that got destroy too, so…

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and that got destroyed too, so…

...both arrange by reconstruction and...

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...both arrange my reconstruction and...

 

[Darko]

Shouldn't it be stopped being villains instead of were stopping being villains?
"[Censored]."

-then said a rude word

Oh Billy
Nice to see some other heroes try to talk down their enemies in a way to rationaly use their powers

"I also appreciate the fact that as I was constructed in America, I have had citizenship from birth and will be able to run for President once I reach thirty five, in thirty four point nine nine years."

Huh?

"Now die!"
Single greatest sentence in this episode i can't wait to see if you can top it

 

[Mr Zoat]

Glow turned into a glow?
That second "like" is missing an "e".

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[Mr Zoat]

That's a Britishism. Given that it's Captain Marvel's internal monologue, "It was probably a good thing" would be more expected, potentially abbreviated to "It's probably a good thing".

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Thank you, corrected.

I'm now interested in learning where Yellow Lantern Paul ended up.

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You can try guessing if you like.

Correction:
and that got destroyed too, so…
...both arrange my reconstruction and...

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Thank you, corrected.

Shouldn't it be stopped being villains instead of were stopping being villains?

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No, it's an ongoing process.

"I also appreciate the fact that as I was constructed in America, I have had citizenship from birth and will be able to run for President once I reach thirty five, in thirty four point nine nine years."

Huh?

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He's not actually very old.

 

[Handlewithcare]

I like how Billy is trying Pauls way of Talk No Jutsu.

But Mr Atom? The picture doesn't look very threatening.

Also: I'm withholding judgement till we see the fight but that is a weird endboss. He seems all about slogging it out, power against power, inelegant and crude. That is very Un-Paul.

 

[Darko]

Will we at least see Yellow Lantern Paul this April Fools episode or whatever you end up calling said episode?

 

[Mr Zoat]

Will we at least see Yellow Lantern Paul this April Fools episode or whatever you end up calling said episode?

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Yes.

 

[King of Frost]

Will we at least see Yellow Lantern Paul this April Fools episode or whatever you end up calling said episode?

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We kinda have that in Grayven so I'm not sure if Mr. Zoat's affirmation means we'll actually get a YL Paul or if he's coyly referring to Grayven.

 

[Darko]

Did Yellow Paul end up in some type of DC universe?
Will he be the one with the enlightenment?

 

[FreeGod]

Real talk, what are the odds of America electing someone they know is a robot as president?

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Well if the robot was designed to be moral, ethical and acting to the benefit of the the American people's wellbeging to the best of it's ability and it's programming was available so that could be proven to be the case then I would vote for it.

 

[Oglymogly]

I really like chapters with Billy in them. Besides the humour he brings, its the way Mr Zoat shows how Captain Marvel's wisdom mixes with Billy's innocence/ignorance that I emjoy. Billy quickly grasps concepts once he is introduced to them, but he doesn't realise that he needs to seek out things he doesn't know. Someone should teach him about Unknown Unknowns.

Pffffft.... After all the build up we get that? Ah, probably a good thing I read these on my break. Wouldn't be a good idea to break out laughing in front of customers.

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That's probably half of the point. It was bloody Mister Atom that led to half of the JL being taken out, and a decent chunk of the earth wiped off of the map. If the first Mister Atom was built with tech thats has been around since the 1930's, it probably would have been much worst for everyone. Just because they have been lucky enough for something like this not happen before doesn't mean they shouldn't prepare for it.

For instance, why didn't Superman have a back-up Rad-shield made?

 

[Darko]

How did the other versions of the SI get their rings?
When Raul was shown i think you said that Atrocitus took the ring he had and gave him one of his own because he didn't make the one he came in with. Is this true?
Anti-green mentioned that his ring was sending data to Qward so did the weaponers of that universe make it and send it to find someone to wield it like Hinon did?
Were there Maltusians in the crime syndicate universe that created Bauls ring and tried doing something similar to Hinon?
How did Saul get his if he is in The Boys universe?
Did Saul have his ring simply send him accidently to another comic universe instead of a DC one like what probably happened with MCU and Avengers Paul?

 

[The Vale]

"I also appreciate the fact that as I was constructed in America, I have had citizenship from birth and will be able to run for President once I reach thirty five, in thirty four point nine nine years."

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This is definitely my favourite part.

 

[Oglymogly]

You can try guessing if you like.

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I'm going to guess that Yellow Paul ends up in the Super Friends cartoon universe. I mean, if you were willing to sentence Red Lantern Paul to Teen Titans...

 

[thebishop8]

You can try guessing if you like.

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I'm going to guess Star Wars.

It's a media you've consumed, as far as I know you haven't mentioned an SI having gone there yet, it's a decently fleshed out universe, and a ring powered by fear could have all sorts of interesting interactions with The Force/The Dark Side or their users.

 

[Someguy Somewhere]

"We're trying to get away from fossil fuels, and a lot of places can't really use solar power, so if you can make really good nuclear power plants governments will probably let you. And then you could make a tonne of money and not actually need to conquer anywhere?"

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Billy's American and would likely use 'Ton' rather then 'Tonne'. Which while said the same way are in fact different units, and neither are to be confused with short tons and long tons.

 

[GodKiller999]

"Um. Wait. You know this is just a training things, right? You're not actually-?"

"Of course I know that. I'm just staying in character. Orange Lantern was kind enough to both arrange my reconstruction and to give me exactly the avenues which you correctly deduced would interest me."

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This exchange is just absolutely golden.

 

[Darko]

If you do another war game exercise episode like this in the future then can you also include the thoughts, like you did with Marvel, Arrow and Hal, of some of the other members like Mist, Physician and Angelica? Would be nice to see how they think and their interactions with the League. Angelica with her becoming moral and working for the side of good, Balewa becoming more involved with the world and Yao being on a team where no one wants to smash his teeth in when they figure out how his powers work.
Speaking of Mist, how does he appear in you story? You only mentioned that he wears robes.
Does he look like the first or second picture down here

And what is Angelicas superhero costume like? Is it similar to something an angel would wear?

 

[GnollHunter]

Well, he has my vote.

 

[Aeess]

You can try guessing if you like.

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The Arrowverse? Teen Titans Go? The 2004 Catwoman movie?

 

[King of Frost]

You can try guessing if you like.

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Batman: The Animated Series.

 

[Darko]

Is Yellow at least involved with some hero, villain, neutral team or group or is he independent ?

 

[Tavarokk]

Huh. Wonder how many of the League would notice the significance of Atom's age. Namely, that he was likely built for this task [by someone] and had no time to develop the underworld connections displayed earlier.

Would be pretty embarrassing if the heroes declared the whole thing a job well done after defeating the giant robot's mustache-twirling plans only to find out during the evaluation that Sivanas and Abra downloaded the entirety of the attacked companies databases and switched out exotic resources and artefacts in storage for duds in all the commotion.

 

[Mr Zoat]

We kinda have that in Grayven so I'm not sure if Mr. Zoat's affirmation means we'll actually get a YL Paul or if he's coyly referring to Grayven.

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No, there's an actual Yellow Lantern version.

Did Yellow Paul end up in some type of DC universe?

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That's cheatingly broad.

I'm going to guess that Yellow Paul ends up in the Super Friends cartoon universe. I mean, if you were willing to sentence Red Lantern Paul to Teen Titans...

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No.

I'm going to guess Star Wars.

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So mainstream.

Billy's American and would likely use 'Ton' rather then 'Tonne'. Which while said the same way are in fact different units, and neither are to be confused with short tons and long tons.

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Thank you, corrected.

If you do another war game exercise episode like this in the future then can you also include the thoughts, like you did with Marvel, Arrow and Hal, of some of the other members like Mist, Physician and Angelica? Would be nice to see how they think and their interactions with the League.

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I probably will, but that won't be for a while.

Angelica with her becoming moral and working for the side of good, Balewa becoming more involved with the world and Yao being on a team where no one wants to smash his teeth in when they figure out how his powers work.
Speaking of Mist, how does he appear in you story? You only mentioned that he wears robes.
Does he look like the first or second picture down here

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Neither really, though slightly more like the first. There's an image link back when he first appeared.

And what is Angelicas superhero costume like? Is it similar to something an angel would wear?

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I don't have a particular image in mind for her.

The Arrowverse? Teen Titans Go? The 2004 Catwoman movie?

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No, no and why?

Batman: The Animated Series.

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Earth 12 already has one.

Is Yellow at least involved with some hero, villain, neutral team or group or is he independent ?

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Yes.

 

[Darko]

So Yellow is involved with some group.
Can you tell what type they are?