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

[Stsword]

Wait why does indigo lantern's staff glow yellow? Wouldn't it be indigo?

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Indigo lanterns use their empathy to emulate other lanterns.

In that first appearance I mentioned a while ago? Scared off a sinestro corps member with a yellow construct, and killed the green lantern with a green construct.

So in this case, he'd have been emulating the Will of the Gold Lantern.

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th May 2011
11:47 GMT -5

"Heart ready for harvesting."

Commander Gordon looks askance at the ring as it makes its pronouncement, her retinue moving into position to hem Red Queen in.

"Your ring thinks that she's a cyborg? That we're fighting an organic brain in a robotic Manhunter body?"

"Not necessarily. The human brain is mounted in the head so that it doesn't overheat, but there are other ways to maintain its temperature. We could be fighting a Manhunter android with an organic brain in its chest that it externally stimulates when it wishes to use her super powers."

Red nods, his horns fading into nothing.

"Or any other body parts it needs. Not like any of us know how her powers work. Or Krona could have altered her organic mind to be loyal to him." He looks at Commander Gordon. "Got any telepaths available? Or.. technopaths, I suppose."

"Commander Gordon to the Justice League. I need a telepath. Who can get to Metropolis fastest?"

"And Indigo could do with a medic."

I look at his bleeding torso. "What about you?"

He blinks in confusion, then examines his battered armour. "Yes… Probably, but he got the worst of it. And if I know the Justice League they haven't exactly been mass producing purple healing rays."

"…to LexCorp. We'll provide transportation." She switches her attention from her ring to Red. "We can't mass produce it yet, but we're working on it. The standard procedure for the aftermath of a metahuman battle includes bringing one in with the medics."

He nods. "Sounds pretty reasonable. How long has that been going on?"

"Luthor had some fairly harsh words for Superman about him not sharing Kryptonian technology that could make the world a better place. When he told the rest of the Justice League about it, they realised that he wasn't the only one." She smiles distractedly as she monitors the fight on the seafront. "And it means that Themyscira has a GDP figure for the first time in history."

"Do you require us to take any action?"

"Not.. yet. We are going to have to use you to reactivate the tuning fork once we know how, but at the moment-"

Two flickers of heat vision and a punch tears Red Queen's right arm off.

"-we've got this handled. Unless you've got a way to knock her out right away."

"Technically, yes, but if we're trying to rescue the organic brain it's probably not a good idea."

On a nearby rooftop a cylinder of space shimmers for a moment before resolving into the form of a man. He takes a moment to get his bearings before turning to watch the fight unfold.

Red Queen appears to be draining the golden constructs and using the energy she gains from doing that to make a shield to keep the kryptonians back. Since this reality is similar to DC post-Crisis I can only assume that they've already gotten the message about the organic brain because otherwise they should have taken her apart by now. Since she has maintained the Manhunters' ability to remotely drain rings, directly involving myself probably isn't a good idea.

"Are you certain that there isn't anywhere where it would be acceptable for me to harvest hearts?"

Commander Gordon frowns at me. "Yes. Why, are you getting drained?"

"No, but I noticed that the serial killer Ragman and the mass murderer Spectre were both on the League's contact list. There appears to be a logical contradiction and I'm hoping that you can explain it."

Red snorts in amusement. "You can only expect the Justice League to be so logical. I've killed plenty of people and yet for some reason it's the fact that I keep their skulls as trophies that horrifies people."

One of the Gold Lanterns flies over to pick up the man I assume to be Brainwave Junior and fly him closer to the combat zone.

Commander Gordon frowns. "Do Red Lanterns power their rings using skulls?"

"No, it just-." He glances over to where the kryptonians appear to be destroying Red Queen's power ring draining apparatus. "Actually, while we've got a few minutes I should probably recharge."

He holds out his ring and a red/white hole in space opens before him, his personal lantern floating out a moment later. It's in the shape of an oblong hurricane lantern, with the handle making up the horns of the sigil.

"Embrace your hate; vengeance for all!
My ring answers to rage's call,
And once I'm done, been your downfall,
I'll put your skull upon my wall."

Commander Gordon stares at him as he returns his lantern to subspace.

He shrugs. "Komand'r thought it was funny. And speaking of the love of my life, Commander, do you have her?"

"No. The site of Luthor's bunker was the same when we arrived as it was when you got there."

"Do you know where she is?"

"No. Our best guess is that Red Queen either teleported it to Krona, or she destroyed it."

His jaw tightens. "If she could destroy it that easily, she would have destroyed us when we attacked her. I.. think it's more likely that a radius around.. either Time Trapper or the tuning fork he was building was teleported."

"I'm…" Commander Gordon nods. "That's certainly possible." She frowns. "Komand'r?"

"Yes."

"Blackfire? The Tamaranean Princess who sold her sister and then her entire world into slavery?"

"No, a version of that woman from a parallel universe who lived a different life. The gordanians were perfectly capable of ravaging Tamaran without anyone's help."

Superman and the other kryptonian have pinned Red Queen and are carefully removing her weapon modules as Brainwave is brought closer.

"What is the status of Vega in this parallel?"

"It's difficult, but it's not so bad that I'd let you rip people's hearts out."

"Is there a substantive difference between a psion vivisecting someone and me tearing out their heart? I'm pushing this because if you intend to use me to activate the tuning fork then I will need substantially more power than I have now."

She looks thoughtful.

"That…"

"Also, the Manhunters who attacked us had internal explosives to kill the Red Queens when their containment was breached. I can create new black rings to raise her, but that-."

Her eyes widen. "What? Superman, be-"

The Manhunter Red Queen shudders and goes limp.

"-careful."

"That requires significantly more power."

Commander Gordon takes a deep breath.

"How much more power?"

 

[Handlewithcare]

"We are good guys, we don't kill people!

We only let criminals kill people!"

 

[Darko]

'Your' not 'You'

Ah Zaul being all logical.

What would Raul and Zaul do to the comic version of Kom if they got their hands on her?
I know probably kill her but just wanted to know if you'd change everything.

 

[Zig]

Not sure what it is but Black seems a lot more emotive in this update than previous ones

 

[Mr Zoat]

'Your' not 'You'

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Thank you, corrected.

What would Raul and Zaul do to the comic version of Kom if they got their hands on her?
I know probably kill her but just wanted to know if you'd change everything.

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Depends at what point. Once she became Queen of Tamaran with no other viable candidates they'd probably leave her in place.

 

[Chaoswind]

Give a black ring to the red queen?

That is a TERRIBLE idea... I can see how the blackest night is going to start and why Zoat told us a white ring would have to be forged.

 

[Ganurath]

Any reason they can't just regrow a body from the bits left after the explosion, then toss the body in a Lazarus Pit?

 

[Darko]

Wouldn't they at least try to give the throne to Kori after they, or at least Raul, destroy the Citadel and Gordanians, like Raul did?
She is another viable candidate, plus she may actually have more training in how to run things seeing as Kom was disinherited and if the citizens know of Koms betrayal then she certainly loses a significant chunk of popularity.


Or just rescue Kori and keep a close eye on Kom, while giving her the knowledge that if she does more evil shit she either becomes a trophy or a battery?

I thought that Kom did give Kori to the Gordanians in the TT series, at least in the tie in comics.
Though if they were able to beat Tamara on their own then they didn't require her betrayal and just demanded a hostage after defeating Tamara.

 

[Baladar]

Not sure what it is but Black seems a lot more emotive in this update than previous ones

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He's just British and used to very dry as the bone humor.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

16th May 2011
11:47 GMT -5

"Heart ready for harvesting."

Commander Gordon looks askance at the ring as it makes its pronouncement, her retinue moving into position to hem Red Queen in.

Click to shrink...

"Does it have to keep saying that? It's kind of... Concerning..."

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"Your ring thinks that she's a cyborg? That we're fighting an organic brain in a robotic Manhunter body?"

"Not necessarily. The human brain is mounted in the head so that it doesn't overheat, but there are other ways to maintain its temperature. We could be fighting a Manhunter android with an organic brain in its chest that it externally stimulates when it wishes to use her super powers."

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And makes it a lot harder to damage, too. That's one drawback of the anthropomorphic layout. Having the bit running the body stuck in a chunk that flaps around outside the core of the body's mass? Kind of a weak point...

Red nods, his horns fading into nothing.

"Or any other body parts it needs. Not like any of us know how her powers work. Or Krona could have altered her organic mind to be loyal to him." He looks at Commander Gordon. "Got any telepaths available? Or.. technopaths, I suppose."

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See, now that's a good idea. I wouldn't doubt that the Manhunter has psionic shielding, but worth a try.

"Commander Gordon to the Justice League. I need a telepath. Who can get to Metropolis fastest?"

"And Indigo could do with a medic."

I look at his bleeding torso. "What about you?"

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Pfft, all Raul has to do is get angry enough at the wounds. It'll hurt worse than the injuries in the first place, but...

He blinks in confusion, then examines his battered armour. "Yes… Probably, but he got the worst of it. And if I know the Justice League they haven't exactly been mass producing purple healing rays."

"…to LexCorp. We'll provide transportation." She switches her attention from her ring to Red. "We can't mass produce it yet, but we're working on it. The standard procedure for the aftermath of a metahuman battle includes bringing one in with the medics."

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Amazing, they've actually thought of it! Surely it isn't that advanced a piece of schizo-tech though?

He nods. "Sounds pretty reasonable. How long has that been going on?"

"Luthor had some fairly harsh words for Superman about him not sharing Kryptonian technology that could make the world a better place. When he told the rest of the Justice League about it, they realised that he wasn't the only one." She smiles distractedly as she monitors the fight on the seafront. "And it means that Themyscira has a GDP figure for the first time in history."

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At least they're paying attention to the criticism, some versions would just have gone "It's Luthor saying it. Bad!" and ignored him.

"Do you require us to take any action?"

"Not.. yet. We are going to have to use you to reactivate the tuning fork once we know how, but at the moment-"

Two flickers of heat vision and a punch tears Red Queen's right arm off.

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Kryptonian salvage skills at work. Hopefully they're remembering to keep it functional enough to use.

"-we've got this handled. Unless you've got a way to knock her out right away."

"Technically, yes, but if we're trying to rescue the organic brain it's probably not a good idea."

Click to shrink...

That would be helpful, yes...

On a nearby rooftop a cylinder of space shimmers for a moment before resolving into the form of a man. He takes a moment to get his bearings before turning to watch the fight unfold.

Red Queen appears to be draining the golden constructs and using the energy she gains from doing that to make a shield to keep the kryptonians back. Since this reality is similar to DC post-Flashpoint I can only assume that they've already gotten the message about the organic brain because otherwise they should have taken her apart by now. Since she has maintained the Manhunters' ability to remotely drain rings, directly involving myself probably isn't a good idea.

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Post-flashpoint? Ew...

"Are you certain that there isn't anywhere where it would be acceptable for me to harvest hearts?"

Commander Gordon frowns at me. "Yes. Why, are you getting drained?"

Click to shrink...

"All the time. And this universe doesn't have a helpful supply of revenants to feed on..."

"No, but I noticed that the serial killer Ragman and the mass murderer Spectre were both on the League's contact list. There appears to be a logical contradiction and I'm hoping that you can explain it."

Red snorts in amusement. "You can only expect the Justice League to be so logical. I've killed plenty of people and yet for some reason it's the fact that I keep their skulls as trophies that horrifies people."

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Yeah, they're technically 'heroes' because they only do bad things to bad people... The long-underwear crowd tends to be short-sighted in that respect...

One of the Gold Lanterns flies over to pick up the man I assume to be Brainwave Junior and fly him closer to the combat zone.

Commander Gordon frowns. "Do Red Lanterns power their rings using skulls?"

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Ha! I suppose that's an easy assumption to make. I mean, they don't know about the Spectrum in this universe...

"No, it just-." He glances over to where the kryptonians appear to be destroying Red Queen's power ring draining apparatus. "Actually, while we've got a few minutes I should probably recharge."

He holds out his ring and a red/white hole in space opens before him, his personal lantern floating out a moment later. It's in the shape of an oblong hurricane lantern, with the handle making up the horns of the sigil.

Click to shrink...

Stylish. Not quite as iconic as a Green Lantern Battery, but you make do with what you get.

"Embrace your hate; vengeance for all!
My ring answers to rage's call,
And once I'm done, been your downfall,
I'll put your skull upon my wall."

Commander Gordon stares at him as he returns his lantern to subspace.

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Ah, a personalised Oath. That's why it scans a bit oddly, eh.

He shrugs. "Komand'r thought it was funny. And speaking of the love of my life, Commander, do you have her?"

"No. The site of Luthor's bunker was the same when we arrived as it was when you got there."

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Hmm... Increases the likelihood Krona did something to it then.

"Do you know where she is?"

"No. Our best guess is that Red Queen either teleported it to Krona, or she destroyed it."

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Which means they guy who knows what's going on in captured. And so is our hero, OL. Frustrating. Hopefully we get to see their perspective soon...

His jaw tightens. "If she could destroy it that easily, she would have destroyed us when we attacked her. I.. think it's more likely that a radius around.. either Time Trapper or the tuning fork he was building was teleported."

"I'm…" Commander Gordon nods. "That's certainly possible." She frowns. "Komand'r?"

Click to shrink...

"Yes. Orange skin. Black hair. The nicest purple eyes. Wonderful girl... Violent but wonderful."

"Yes."

"Blackfire? The Tamaranean Princess who sold her sister and then her entire world into slavery?"

Click to shrink...

You're dealing with alternate universes. Do you think it's the same one as yours?

"No, a version of that woman from a parallel universe who lived a different life. The gordanians were perfectly capable of ravaging Tamaran without anyone's help."

Superman and the other kryptonian have pinned Red Queen and are carefully removing her weapon modules as Brainwave is brought closer.

Click to shrink...

Let's hope she isn't playing possum. Don't want him getting taken out...

"What is the status of Vega in this parallel?"

"It's difficult, but it's not so bad that I'd let you rip people's hearts out."

"Is there a substantive difference between a psion vivisecting someone and me tearing out their heart? I'm pushing this because if you intend to use me to activate the tuning fork then I will need substantially more power than I have now."

Click to shrink...

...That is a good point. I doubt he's going to be powering dimensional tech on under 2% charge.

She looks thoughtful.

"That…"

"Also, the Manhunters who attacked us had internal explosives to kill the Red Queens when their containment was breeched. I can create new black rings to raise her, but that-."

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NO! No, no, no. That's bad! Is your ring asking for that, Zaul? You know you shouldn't listen to what it says!

Her eyes widen. "What? Superman, be-"

The Manhunter Red Queen shudders and goes limp.

"-careful."

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Well, at least she/it is out of the fight. Maybe now they can raid the memory for info...

"That requires significantly more power."

Commander Gordon takes a deep breath.

"How much more power?"

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Dangerously more, I bet. Every bit of charge he gets is one step closer to Nekron going "Hmm, what's that over there?"

Oh, boy. You know things are bad when additional Black Lanterns are honestly being considered... How soon until we hit the Godzilla Threshold...

 

[Cuchulin]

Oh, boy. You know things are bad when additional Black Lanterns are honestly being considered... How soon until we hit the Godzilla Threshold...

Click to shrink...

Agreed and if the idea is to bring them back to life then why not Lazerus pits?

 

[Darko]

Lazarus pits may not always work the way you intended,YJ Clayface for example and some of the people paragon tried to bring back to life, one dissolved and the other was a demon.

 

[DAT_NOOB]

Oh, boy. You know things are bad when additional Black Lanterns are honestly being considered... How soon until we hit the Godzilla Threshold...

Click to shrink...

I do believe we have passed it.

 

[Prince Charon]

Lazarus pits may not always work the way you intended,YJ Clayface for example and some of the people paragon tried to bring back to life, one dissolved and the other was a demon.

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Well, this isn't an Earth-16 variant, so things may work differently (also, IIRC, YJ-Clayface was trapped in a Lazarus pit for a long period).

 

[Darko]

Well, this isn't an Earth-16 variant, so things may work differently (also, IIRC, YJ-Clayface was trapped in a Lazarus pit for a long period).

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Still it may prove unreliable.

 

[Prince Charon]

Still it may prove unreliable.

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Still a better first option than a Black Lantern ring.

 

[Darko]

Still a better first option than a Black Lantern ring.

Click to shrink...

Eh, true.

 

[Cuchulin]

Still a better first option than a Black Lantern ring.

Click to shrink...

Also most versions are pretty reliable. The only time out side of Young Justice and fanfics I've heard of one not working right is with Mr Freeze's wife, which was do to the chemicals used to let her survive being frozen alive.

 

[RichardWhereat]

I'm really curious about Black Lantern's time in Sunnydale. I hope DogbertCarroll writes a one or two off of it. Except I also don't because I'm still waiting on more Sons and Daughters of Sineya.

EDIT: And 'Working for the Weekend', 'Wood it Work', 'Xander and Cordy make a porno', 'Ensign America', and 'Stand Ins and Stunt Doubles'.
MORE EDIT: And 'A brand new day', 'Walking in the shadows', 'With Sprinkles', 'I Still Say it Looks like a Nail', 'On the Mountain', and 'Gone in 60 Seconds'.
EVEN MORE EDIT: As well as 'Mirror Mirror', 'Priorities', 'BUM', 'Fun Sized', and 'Lucky at Cards'.
STILL EVEN MORE EDIT: And these ones too "First Knight", "Dis Guy, Eh?", "Sage Advice", "Faces and Facets", "Lacking an Anchor", and lastly "XD Squared".

 

[Vaermina]

"Are you certain that there isn't anywhere where it would be acceptable for me to harvest hearts?"

Commander Gordon frowns at me. "Yes. Why, are you getting drained?"

"No, but I noticed that the serial killer Ragman and the mass murderer Spectre were both on the League's contact list. There appears to be a logical contradiction and I'm hoping that you can explain it."

Click to shrink...

It's adorable that he thinks he has a chance in hell against The Spectre.

 

[Darko]

He's not trying to get their hearts, he is just saying that they have two people that have killed other people as allies and maybe as members, and that denying him the chance to power up by killing a criminal while they let these two operate is both illogical and hypocritical.

Ragman has only killed bad guys, but the Spectre... well the thing with Vertigo...

 

[BlackCoat13]

It's adorable that he thinks he has a chance in hell against The Spectre.

Click to shrink...

He didn't say he wanted to drain them, he was just pointing out that this League tolerates murderers for some reason, and he could really do with getting his murder on right now. You know, for the cause and all that. Clearly they're allowed, so can he fill out some files and get to executing the death row inmates yet or what?

 

[Slayer Anderson]

"Are you certain that there isn't anywhere where it would be acceptable for me to harvest hearts?"

Commander Gordon frowns at me. "Yes. Why, are you getting drained?"

"No, but I noticed that the serial killer Ragman and the mass murderer Spectre were both on the League's contact list. There appears to be a logical contradiction and I'm hoping that you can explain it."

Click to shrink...

"Simple, they don't keep asking about it or insisting that I be informed that they're doing it."

Black is... actually kind of adorable, I guess?

 

[BR549]

How soon until we hit the Godzilla Threshold...

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If my theory is correct, very soon.

That theory being that Time Trapper is actually working with Krona.

Or might be "Krona".

You'll notice he didn't start recruting his Paul Corps until - immediately - after Grayven took a bite out of crime...

 

[Darko]

If my theory is correct, very soon.

That theory being that Time Trapper is actually working with Krona.

Or might be "Krona".

You'll notice he didn't start recruting his Paul Corps until - immediately - after Grayven took a bite out of crime...

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He's either working knowingly with Króna or at least unknowingly.

Though yeah the possibility of him being "Krona" does exist, but I'm still pretty sure he isn't.

 

[Mquz]

I mean, I'm preety sure this is the April Fools episode. I'd be surprised if it leads to something depressing like the War of Light.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Wouldn't they at least try to give the throne to Kori after they, or at least Raul, destroy the Citadel and Gordanians, like Raul did?
She is another viable candidate, plus she may actually have more training in how to run things seeing as Kom was disinherited and if the citizens know of Koms betrayal then she certainly loses a significant chunk of popularity.

Or just rescue Kori and keep a close eye on Kom, while giving her the knowledge that if she does more evil shit she either becomes a trophy or a battery?

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Again, I don't know what point in the timeline you are talking about.

Koriand'r never got training in how to rule anything. The Okaarans trained her as a warrior, then she got grabbed by her sister's soldiers and enslaved. Komand'r fought her way to the top of the Citadel heirarchy and learned how to command that way.

I thought that Kom did give Kori to the Gordanians in the TT series, at least in the tie in comics.
Though if they were able to beat Tamara on their own then they didn't require her betrayal and just demanded a hostage after defeating Tamara.

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I don't remember that being the case. Do you have a reference?

Post-flashpoint? Ew...

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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

 

[Darko]

I mean, I'm preety sure this is the April Fools episode. I'd be surprised if it leads to something depressing like the War of Light.

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The April Fools episode already happened.

Again, I don't know what point in the timeline you are talking about.

Koriand'r never got training in how to rule anything. The Okaarans trained her as a warrior, then she got grabbed by her sister's soldiers and enslaved. Komand'r fought her way to the top of the Citadel heirarchy and learned how to command that way.

I don't remember that being the case. Do you have a reference?

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For the timeline it can be anytime after her betrayal.

Kori could have been trained in how to rule before being sent to the Okaarans and she could have also had some tutors sent with her to help with things other than becoming a warrior.

Seeing as Kom was not going to get the throne her parents may have put more focus on Koris training.

As for that reference well:

Though I'm assuming you changed it in your story so that she didn't betray them, seeing as Raul mentioned something about them conquering the planet without any help, and not just him not knowing about it because no one mentioned it.

Wonder what Raul would think about that if he found out she betrayed her world, assuming she did that in your story.

So if they leave her in place to rule, would Raul and Zaul at least warn her to not do all the evil shit she did in the comics, like attacking her sister and her friends, unless she wants to become a trophy on the wall or a battery?

 

[Mastigos2]

Oh, boy. You know things are bad when additional Black Lanterns are honestly being considered... How soon until we hit the Godzilla Threshold...

Click to shrink...

Not just that, Black Lanterns with multiversal timeline hopping powers