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

killfr3nzy · Apr 23, 2017

gourdcaptain said:
Also throw her still being full villain combined with Grayven's epic fail with saying "the League" and things went full communication epic fail.

Preeetty sure that wanting enough power and wealth to never be victimized or forced to work for others again doesn't rate 'full villain'. Any rebuttals must include the villainous agenda she intends to force upon the world.

Also, while merely using 'the League' was not the best choice, the sentences surrounding it include such gems as 'the attacks targeting the League may not include you among them' and 'just so you aren't hit by those attacks, disengage from your League of Shadows jobs and find a safehouse that is in no way associated with the League of Shadows' as well as 'by the way, finally enacting our master plan' - which has always been to destroy the LoS and the Light and then fuck off into space where she finally allows him to give her the Danner/Speed formula, Awaken her and give her a power ring (yes, those were explicit plans).
tl;dr - if someone had an epic fail there, it was Jade. Although even that seems strange, considering how she went from demanding every detail to immediate compliance and seeming-understanding.

killfr3nzy · Apr 23, 2017

Prince Charon said:
I think that either the speculation about Darkseid (or another Unnatural Mental Influence) getting to her is correct, or she honestly thought she'd turned him to the Light, and was freaking out to discover how totally wrong she was.

As I've said, the latter doesn't make a lot of sense, but if not for Zoat's spoilered reveal of what the JL think of the Nabu situation, I would have said that the only explanation would be that Darksied had shown up to give her the
( •_•)
( •_•)>⌐■-■
Anti-Wife Equation
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Mr Zoat · Apr 23, 2017

shotiegun11 said:
That was the original plan. It's become less likely over time that this solution will actually work though.

In theory, a perfectly workable solution is ambushing a green ring looking for a new bearer and editing its seeker protocols. Alan would make an excellent Corps-Lantern. The Controllers are not going to want to antagonise the Guardians by doing something like that.

Another is to ask Kalmin to do it.

If the Controllers could just make Power Batteries of any Color then why do they need the OCPB?

Several reasons. It would make it far easier for them to study it if they had it. Having the Central Power Battery also makes personal lanterns and rings better. It was a while ago, but do you remember when the SI only had so many recharges per day? That's not something you want to have to deal with if you're fighting a war. Other reasons will come up on story.

shotiegun11 · Apr 23, 2017

Mr Zoat said:
Several reasons. It would make it far easier for them to study it if they had it. Having the Central Power Battery also makes personal lanterns and rings better. It was a while ago, but do you remember when the SI only had so many recharges per day? That's not something you want to have to deal with if you're fighting a war. Other reasons will come up on story.

Well if the Controllers CAN just make a gimped Green Personal Lantern then none of that would be a problem for Alan. Would the Guardians be annoyed that a Non-GLC Green Lantern existed? Yes but one already existed as Alans for decades sooooo. Would they try and take it from a old warrior that as far as they know acted in a manner befitting of a Green Lantern? Probably not.

Would the Guardians be pissed if the Controllers did it? Probably.

But that's a sacrifice Paul is willing to make. (Ironic Sarcasm if it fell flat to your reading eyes.)

Do the Controllers/Guardians/Zamarans know about the White Light of Life? And if so has any experiments every been conducted with it? Or the Black Light of Death.

Brightest Day and Darkest Night prophecies exist but I don't remember if they are specifically alluded to or if they are know.

If a Maltursian species runoff can just make gimped Lanterns then making a White Lantern is possible. Right?

Chaoswind · Apr 23, 2017

Norgarth said:
it's unlikely Paul will stumble across a solution for Alan as soon as he travels into the galaxy. AFAIK there are no Blue Lanterns yet, and neither Gathnet not the future-Saint Walker are likely to be in the vicinity of either Vega or Mathus.

the Reach are too large/spread out to have any measurable effect on the suffering they cause in a short time span. As you yourself point out, the Citadel is much easier/faster to deal with.

Who said anything about him traveling in a spaceship?

I don't recall that bit...

Did Larfleeze trap her or was she already in the CPB when Larfleeze and friends stumbled across it?

That's because she's demonstrating Lust, not Love.

Its when Paul fuses with Ophidian to do the quintessential wave form scan for the first time... I think the one to find Roy at the behest of Roy clone is the second time, so its earlier than that.

We where still in Space battles back then.

jcw3 · Apr 23, 2017

Mr Zoat said:
Another is to ask Kalmin to do it.

Is that what the SI of that universe is called, or am I missing something?

Hmmaster · Apr 23, 2017

Mr Zoat said:
Nine or ten episodes of him doing stuff in space.

That seems small when you consider how long you've been building up to it. But I imagine in practice it won't be that long.

Empiricist2 · Apr 23, 2017

shotiegun11 said:
That was the original plan. It's become less likely over time that this solution will actually work though.

I don't think anything has changed on that front, really. Nothing has been mentioned in story about said plans changing.

Theoretically, it seems possible for them to do it. While the Controllers seem focused on the orange light, I don't believe they've gone so far as to remove their ability to feel the other emotions. Even if they have, there are unaligned Maltusians who likely could.

Mr Zoat said:
In theory, a perfectly workable solution is ambushing a green ring looking for a new bearer and editing its seeker protocols. Alan would make an excellent Corps-Lantern. The Controllers are not going to want to antagonise the Guardians by doing something like that.

Is the option of doing a smash and grab on Apokolips to steal one they might have kept, as mentioned a while ago, still on the table? Antagonizes Apokolips, but it's a better option than antagonizing the Guardians. Plus they may have other shiny new technology to loot.

jcw3 said:
Is that what the SI of that universe is called, or am I missing something?

One of the Weaponers of Qward.

BulletproofIdea · Apr 23, 2017

Crimson Doom said:
...whaaaaat.

Dude, are you blind?

... I very well may be. And/or slightly numpty.

dhasenan · Apr 23, 2017

shotiegun11 said:
If the Controllers could just make Power Batteries of any Color then why do they need the OCPB?

He's asking for one lantern, not a full power battery. And he doesn't need a full lantern, just a life support device for a hybrid will elemental.

If the SI had Divine Awakening available, my guess is that Alan wouldn't need a lantern at all.

Norgarth said:
That's because she's demonstrating Lust, not Love.

Or she wants something else that the SI can provide and is using sex as a bargaining chip.

HogarthThree · Apr 23, 2017

BulletproofIdea said:
They are good friends, yes. But Jade is choosing now, after a murder plot and before he leaves the planet for a year to... well, since Paul is oblivious we don't have WoZ as to what she wants exactly, but we can be sure to call it an advancement on their relationship. If she's trying to form and actual romantic relationship, then she chose a terrible time for it. Just after most of his world was torn away, in fact. Just after he quit his job because he couldn't bear the chance of losing it. He's saying goodbye to all of his friends, and she decides that this is how she wants her goodbye to go?

As others mentioned, this may just be about scratching an itch, not necessarily an overture towards a long term relationship. And it's it is, maybe she's just giving him a reason to come back.

shotiegun11 · Apr 23, 2017

dhasenan said:
He's asking for one lantern, not a full power battery. And he doesn't need a full lantern, just a life support device for a hybrid will elemental.

Power Battery is a Personal Lantern. Making a life support system for a hybrid Will elemental (Which Alan isn't really, just some of HIM is now conceptual Will) seems a lot more complex than is really necessary for Alan.

dhasenan said:
Or she wants something else that the SI can provide and is using sex as a bargaining chip.

What would the SI not do for her already that you think he would after having sex with her? Paul will do whatever he wants as long as he has a good personal reason for it. Or if his friends want it for a good enough reason.

Tesuji · Apr 23, 2017

Empiricist2 said:
Even aside from Larfleeze, the Controllers would know power ring technology very well. There's lots of things that the SI hasn't been able to do because of his lack of information about how his ring works, and the Controllers are the only ones that even might help him in that regard. The Guardians and Zamarons certainly won't.

I'm dubious about "much at all", let alone "very well".

The Controllers split from the Guardians at the end of the Manhunter era, so they'd be conversant with emotional spectrum energies, but that's about it. You had the Manhunters (AIs with a GPB and built-in energy weapons), then the Hallas (recruited sentients with a GPB and a ray gun, who I believe were phased out sometime before/during the Guardian-Apokolips conflict), and then the GLC (recruited sentients with a GPB and a power ring).

The Controllers were part of a society that used power battery technology--though, considering that they don't appear to have gone down that tech tree or used it any further after the split, they're clearly not focused on that--but they left Oa before power rings were even a thing.

Basically, Paul found a modern thermonuclear weapon. He wants to keep it, so going to the U.S. government or someone similar for help is right out, so instead, he's going to Argentina to get help from some hidden Nazi nuclear scientists. Their knowledge might be incredibly out of date, but at least they understand the fundamentals a lot more than he does.

As far as we can tell, the Guardians are the only ones who actually know power ring technology on a "build your own hardware/code your own software" kind of level.

The Zamarons spent millenia trying to develop a path of their own in using violet light, before basically saying "Fuck it" and more-or-less duplicating a GL ring over a weekend. The Controllers have spent millions of years working on superweapons and several attempts on a corps of their own, none of which used the emotional spectrum or power rings.

Every corps other than the GLC appears to have just taken the final product of the Guardians' research and duplicated it without understanding it, as is evidenced by every single corps having just copied the Guardian's RingOS wholesale, including the 'produce duplicates on demand' backdoor, rather than creating their own operating system.

At best, I think that being familiar with Maltusian technology would give the Controllers a leg up in understanding what's going on, but it's not like they have instant mastery of the subject, and their tech trees diverged long ago.

Empiricist2 said:
Theoretically, it seems possible for them to do it. While the Controllers seem focused on the orange light, I don't believe they've gone so far as to remove their ability to feel the other emotions.

Everything that Paul has said about the Controllers is him making shit up. There isn't actually an OLC, and the Controllers aren't actually in charge of one (yet). The Controllers have nothing to do with orange light (yet).

The Controllers are focused on orange light in the same way that Grayven grew up on Apokolips. (Actually, the latter has a better chance, if you buy the "the real Grayven lost his memory and became the SI" theory.)

Mr Zoat · Apr 23, 2017

jcw3 said:
Is that what the SI of that universe is called, or am I missing something?

It was mentioned in one of the Renegade sections that Kalmin was the name of the Qwardian who created Sinestro's ring. I just implied that he also made the slave rings.

Hmmaster said:
That seems small when you consider how long you've been building up to it. But I imagine in practice it won't be that long.

That's him doing stuff in space without coming back to Earth. About half a series.

Red Bovine · Apr 23, 2017

Ganurath said:
It's the enhanced amygdala. Grayven and ReneJade would still be together if the latter had that, since it'd help with the various communication issues that lead to the breakup.

Not sure if it would have actually changed things too much. Having more empathy does not equal being more perceptive of charismatic. Not to mention that as pointed out he made it perfectly clear that he was going to take them out from the very beginning.

Tesuji said:
I think the "We need an army to control the galaxy" group are the moderates, given that they just want everyone under their control, not dead. (I mean, when you have a group that chooses to call themselves "Controllers" as a matter of philosophically differentiating themselves from the group that chose the name "Guardians", you have to think that wanting to be in charge is kind of their thing.)

This is an extremist Controller:

Why he wanted to ally with the Controllers in the first place is simple: He needed an ally vs. Larfleeze, and the list of factions that were strong enough to be worth allying with, but weak enough that they'd want to ally with him, wasn't very long, and doesn't contain very many good-aligned ones. He then never bothered to reevaluate things after Ophidian changed the equation.

My theory is that--like Grayven--Paul has mind-fucked himself into believing his own lies.

For all the blame placed on Fatherbox and mantles, it's entirely possible that it was really Orange Light exposure that caused a lot of Grayven's mental issues. Larfleeze has been shown as an unreliable narrator before. Perhaps Avarice makes you believe what you want to be true, and after enough repetitions of saying that you're Grayven or that there's an OLC run by the Controllers, you start behaving as though you grew up on Apokolips or that the Controllers are the kind of people who should be in charge of you.

One major thing that you may have missed, 1) Zoat mentioned that there would be far more of them and they would be more varied and 2) Paul is actually going to check things out with the various group and faction within the Controller before deciding anything.

dhasenan · Apr 23, 2017

shotiegun11 said:
Power Battery is a Personal Lantern.

Huh, I'd never heard that before. The only context I've heard "power battery" used is with a Central Power Battery.

shotiegun11 said:
Making a life support system for a hybrid Will elemental (Which Alan isn't really, just some of HIM is now conceptual Will) seems a lot more complex than is really necessary for Alan.

Instead of a device that keeps Alan alive, with no other unusual design constraints or goals, it's more complex to create a device that keeps Alan alive and recharges power rings? At worst, the personal lantern is the simplest possible solution. Possibly there is a simpler solution that does less.

shotiegun11 said:
What would the SI not do for her already that you think he would after having sex with her? Paul will do whatever he wants as long as he has a good personal reason for it. Or if his friends want it for a good enough reason.

What would Zoat imagine Jade would think the SI would do for her, rather. For instance: bring her along to other planets (because space is cool), or give her an orange power ring.

shotiegun11 · Apr 23, 2017

dhasenan said:
What would Zoat imagine Jade would think the SI would do for her, rather. For instance: bring her along to other planets (because space is cool), or give her an orange power ring.

I feel like if anyone on the Earth is closest to becoming an Orange Lantern next it's Jade. She's already been exposed to its horrifying mental influence and did a lot better than Robin. The only thing stopping her would be herself. If she just doesn't want to.

I will never accept a rehash of 'left her have a normal life' again. Why? Because Power Rings are awesome and Jade is smart.

Plus it would be nice for her to give a human perspective on what she and Paul will see because we all know Paul won;t.

That's not to say I don't like Paul's outlook.

Riggnarock · Apr 23, 2017

killfr3nzy said:
Zoat's spoilered reveal of what the JL think of the Nabu situation

~~Could I get a link to this? I missed it and would very much like to read it.~~

Edit: No longer needed, found it myself.

Empiricist2 · Apr 23, 2017

Tesuji said:
I'm dubious about "much at all", let alone "very well".

The Controllers split from the Guardians at the end of the Manhunter era, so they'd be conversant with emotional spectrum energies, but that's about it. You had the Manhunters (AIs with a GPB and built-in energy weapons), then the Hallas (recruited sentients with a GPB and a ray gun, who I believe were phased out sometime before/during the Guardian-Apokolips conflict), and then the GLC (recruited sentients with a GPB and a power ring).

Counterpoint: Larfleeze's rings had to come from somewhere. Even if he came into possession of the OCPB, he wouldn't be able to make power rings until he had the designs for one and the ability to build one. And I doubt the Guardians, with their ideological devotion to will, would have made an orange ring and not destroyed it after they had a proof of concept.

Tesuji said:
The Controllers were part of a society that used power battery technology--though, considering that they don't appear to have gone down that tech tree or used it any further after the split, they're clearly not focused on that--but they left Oa before power rings were even a thing.

One reason they might not use power rings is that for Maltusians, power rings aren't super useful. They can already do most everything a ring can do. So they very well could make power rings, but don't have any incentive to do so. They don't have a corps after all, and the Darkstar exo-mantles make the Darkstars dependent on the Controllers, something they like.

traviswj · Apr 23, 2017

Riggnarock said:
~~Could I get a link to this? I missed it and would very much like to read it.~~

Edit: No longer needed, found it myself.

Could you link it for me please?

Riggnarock · Apr 23, 2017

traviswj said:
Could you link it for me please?

Here ya go.

Mr Zoat said:
Plastic Man - wasn't aware there was any issue concerning Zatara or Nabu. Fate was that guy from the Justice Society, right? Like Wonder Woman and Tornado? And he's pretty good at magic?

Atom - was under the impression that Zatara was a voluntary host and had effectively quite the League because Nabu could do that stuff better and they couldn't both work on it at once. Was not aware that Zatara no longer had any time as himself.

Accomplished Perfect Physician - considered Zatara's sacrifice one that was not merely good for Zatanna but for the world. Would probably have been happier if they had a timeshare arrangement, but didn't feel strongly about it.

Doctor Fate - considered his ability to act freely more important that Zatara's life or Zatanna's happiness.

Red Arrow - Found it creepy, but was of the belief that there wasn't anything he could do about it anyway. May have changed his view if Nabu had acted up in other ways.

Icon - was under the impression that Zatara's arrangement with Nabu was voluntary, as it had not occurred to him that what actually happened was a possibility. In both the sense that he didn't know that it could happen or that the existing League members would have tolerated it.

Guy Gardner - hadn't read the report on what the possession is like for the one being possessed. No one around him seemed to be particularly troubled by it, so assumed that it was a temporary arrangement at worst.

Red Tornado - was of the belief that Nabu would moderate his position, given time. If true, it meant that a difficult and extremely risky potential confrontation could be avoided.

Captain Marvel - was prepared to differ to the judgement of the senior heroes on the subject. Did ask Shazam about it, but was told that Nabu arrived on Earth after he stopped leaving the Rock and that they'd never really had anything to do with each other.

John Stewart - Busy. Took Batman's acceptance of his friend's 'utilisation' as proof that things were in hand.

Black Canary - assumed that Nabu's possession was irrevocable.

Major Atom - assumed that Fate was -at least to a degree- a merging of Nabu and Zatara, and was not aware of the sensory depravation aspect. Would most certainly have been unhappy about it if he had, though I don't know what he might have done to change things.

Zatara - after seeing all of the things that Nabu did with his time, was astonished that there was so much work to do. With Nabu still being almost constantly active he didn't think that pushing the subject of his liberation was a good idea.

Hawkwoman - initially found the situation uncomfortable, but didn't know any of the participants well. Nabu gave her nothing 'extra' to react against, so she didn't think about it further.

Hawkman - was monitoring the situation carefully. Tried obliquely to discuss the matter with Batman at least once.

Green Arrow - assumed that once Nabu put some roots down and got it into his head that he wasn't just going to be dumped again, he'd let Zatara out. After Artemis mentioned the SI and Zatanna leaving the mountain for the duration of Nabu's stay, he began to have second thoughts and eventually tentatively raised the issue with Nabu. Who promptly told him to butt out.

Martian Manhunter - could still hear Zatara's mind, and noted that he didn't sound unduly distressed most of the time.

Aquaman - didn't have an immediate solution and was busy running a country. Batman knew Zatara best, and if he thought keeping him around is a good idea then he deferred to his judgement.

Harold Jordan - didn't really think about it. He had other work and Nabu wasn't making further trouble. Would have reconsidered if something was thrust in his face.

Flash - assumed that Nabu would eventually negotiate a change in position, as he did when Wallace was possessed.

Wonder Woman - as a result of a Themysciran upbringing, tends to be disproportionately respectful of arcane life forms. This is in part because she knows what they can do when angry. Since Nabu wasn't being evil in any other way, she decided that direct confrontation was more likely to be counterproductive than do anything useful. Did intend to gradually work on him.

Batman - was working on counter-Nabu techniques in a somewhat more active way than he was working on anti-other League member techniques. Was not anywhere near a point where he would want to try any of them. The SI finds this out upon his return.

Superman - accepted Nabu's word that Zatara wanted him on the League. Again, without any extra evil conduct, he deprioritised dealing with it.

Tesuji · Apr 23, 2017

Red Bovine said:
One major thing that you may have missed, 1) Zoat mentioned that there would be far more of them and they would be more varied and 2) Paul is actually going to check things out with the various group and faction within the Controller before deciding anything.

Zoat's an unreliable narrator.

If you actually look at Paul's actions, you notice him setting his ring to automatically go to the "senior Controller on Maltus" upon his death, which only makes sense if he has already 100% convinced himself that the Controllers are a force for good. (It bears noting that the Controller I referenced, who wants to wipe out all life in the universe in the name of Order, was at one point the only Controller on Maltus in canon--though I have no idea whether he even exists in this universe, of course, but then, I wouldn't think Paul would know either.)

His explanation for that was because "Sending the original ring to Maltus discharges my responsibility to the Controllers", which makes sense on the same sanity level as Grayven's tales of his childhood on Apokalips, given the lack of any prior contact in reality with the Controllers.

... which, I realize as I'm typing this, makes the implicit assumption that Paul's story about the Controllers having been in charge of an OLC at one point and his ring having originally come from them is obviously a lie that he made up to make it seem as though he had powerful backing behind him. The contrary seems obviously nonsensical to me, but I guess if someone wants to argue that, Paul might be saner than I think.

shotiegun11 said:
Do the Controllers/Guardians/Zamarans know about the White Light of Life? And if so has any experiments every been conducted with it? Or the Black Light of Death.

The last pre-New 52 GL storyline showed the ancient Maltusians of Krona's era (which was right before the Guardian/Controller split) having "Life" as their focus rather than a particular emotion, and wearing the White Lantern symbol, so presumably?

Might not be true here, of course.

Empiricist2 said:
Counterpoint: Larfleeze's rings had to come from somewhere.

When Larfleeze found the OCPB, he channeled directly from it, with no rings in evidence, so presumably they came later. In fact, rings hadn't been developed at the time he found the OCPB (at least in normal canon), so they would have to have come later.

The Guardians do send rings to recruit GLC members from the Vega System, even if they can't serve there. Larfleeze has the ability to scan outside Okaara, and seems able to sense incoming ring-wielders, so he should at least be aware of the existence of GLC rings.

My guess would be that either he just grabbed and assimilated a GLC ring, or he scanned one, wanted an Orange version, and the OCPB obliged. Given that he could channel enough Orange light straight from the battery to kill a Guardian, it doesn't seem implausible to me that he could channel enough for either of those scenarios. (I would also assume that channeling directly from the OCPB has deleterious effects on your sanity, but, well, Larfleeze.)

stsword · Apr 23, 2017

GhostKing 666 said:
Now onto Darkseid, does he have super strength and durability? Yes, as others have pointed out Darkseid has always been strong and tough enough to go toe to toe with superman even without his Omega Effect and the Anti-Life Equation, normal conventional human weapons would do dick all to him. The thing about that time where Batman shoots him with a gun and nearly kills him? Batman shot Darkseid with a radion bullet, and radion has always been New God kryptonite. Had it been a conventional bullet made of lead it wouldn't have done shit to Darkseid but because it was made of radion, Darkseid's invulnerability didn't work, much like how superman's invulnerability doesn't work when you shoot him with a kryptonite bullet.

Give me the name and issue number in which it says Radion removes or bypasses new god invulnerability, or suppresses their powers, or anything of the sort. And then maybe someone could fix the wiki because that's not how radion works according to the wiki.

Instead of circular reasoning that Radion must do so because he can be hurt by radion bullets.

As for all New Gods not being equal, let's look at some of the toughest New Gods ever-

Big Barda. Her megarod protects her against bullets. If she's invulnerable to bullets why does her megarod protect her against them?

Orion. One of his feats is catching a bullet when someone tried to shoot him in the back. Do you think the dog of war cared about his jacket being ruined?

Or let us take Darkseid. When fighting Green Arrow and the Atom, he protected himself with a forcefield. Why exactly was he actively defending himself against a bowman and someone whose shtick is punching people while very small if he thought his innate powers made their attacks completely useless?

As for being able to take a punch from Superman as proof of being bulletproof, as I've mentioned before that wasn't the case for Wonder Woman until after her resurrection, Zoat changed that, a decision he has every right to make.

Tesuji said:
I'm dubious about "much at all", let alone "very well".

The Controllers split from the Guardians at the end of the Manhunter era, so they'd be conversant with emotional spectrum energies, but that's about it. You had the Manhunters (AIs with a GPB and built-in energy weapons), then the Hallas (recruited sentients with a GPB and a ray gun, who I believe were phased out sometime before/during the Guardian-Apokolips conflict), and then the GLC (recruited sentients with a GPB and a power ring).

Krona was a Maltusian before the split of Guardian or Controller, and he made the map to the orange power battery, the power gauntlet, and kept all the emotional embodiments as pets.

shotiegun11 said:
Do the Controllers/Guardians/Zamarans know about the White Light of Life? And if so has any experiments every been conducted with it? Or the Black Light of Death.

The Guardians did, that's why they let Earth get away with hogging so many of their lanterns, they wanted more than one on hand in case someone tried to murder the universe.

traviswj · Apr 23, 2017

Riggnarock said:
Here ya go.

Thanks heaps

Mr Zoat · Apr 24, 2017

10th July
15:55 GMT -5

The expression of innocent inquiry on her face is rather at odds with the way her kimono is hanging open, revealing quite a.. lot of bare olive skin. The curves of her breasts as the seam just about prevents it sliding far enough to display her nipples. Beneath that, my eyes linger on her clearly defined abdominal muscles before reaching the point where the kimono has bunched slightly in her lap. Her physique is that of a athlete, not a bodybuilder. There's a layer of fat, because that's how the Human body stores energy, but not a gram more than there should be. Everything's clearly been brought to the point where it does exactly what it's supposed to. It's a combination of efficiency and beauty that I only achieved and maintain by using a power ring.

She's… Perfect.

I mean, I knew that already. I maintain up to date scans for medical purposes. Some of that flesh I rebuilt myself. But.. having it on display like this is quite different from an anatomical chart. More… Immediate.

"Do you? Artemis said that you can be a bit slow, so…" She reaches up to where the kimono rests on her breasts-.

"Yes, I… Understand."

"I was hoping for a little more enthusiasm than that… But I'll take it. Why don't you come over here and-." She bows her head slightly and sighs. "You're not going to, are you?"

"I… It's.. kind of-."

The innocence is replaced with mild frustration. "Do you not.. find me attractive or something?"

"No, I… I do. It's-."

"Is there someone you find more attractive?"

"No… Um, athletic Asian women are.. very much my thing."

She takes a moment to look herself over. "Look at that. I am an athletic Asian woman."

"Yes, I've… I've very much noticed that. That was why I.. asked you to-."

"Paul, we've known each other for months. You don't need to buy dinner first. Though-" She glances at the clock on the wall. "-I can probably wait three hours."

"Point of f.. fact, I've bought you dinner on fourteen occasions, five of which were just the two of us."

"So what's the problem?"

"I'm leaving the planet today. I-."

"I'm not asking you to marry me, Paul. This is sex between two friends, and it doesn't have to-."

"But I want it to." I smile ruefully. "And that's the problem."

She shakes her head, her patience fading slightly. "Still not seeing a problem."

"By covering up what happened with Nabu, the League have.. disgraced themselves. Being enlightened doesn't mean that I control how I feel, just that I'm.. aware of it. I'm happy to let them keep covering it up, but I still feel a drive to do the stupid thing. To stay, to bring everything into the public domain, to make them… I don't know, apologise to Zatanna? It's stupid, but it's there. It would mean putting off-."

"What's that got to do with me?"

"Because I am extremely fond of you. I admire not just how you look, and you're.. perfect, really. I admire your attitude, your drive. Even your ruthlessness. And I admire how you've taken.. the opportunity to live.. differently. And I.. meet every week with people in Belle Reve who.. just.. can't make that switch. You did. You have. And I feel privileged to have played a part in enabling that transformation. And we've spent a good deal of time together, and… I'm extremely fond of you."

The irritation vanishes. "Oh."

I sigh, my eyes dipping momentarily to the carpet. "And if you'd said 'yes' when I first asked you out, we'd be in a different place. And if you'd trained with the ring, I'd just ask you to come with me. But… For me, if I had sex with you-"

"If you're nervous about-."

I shake my head. "No, not really. The power ring gives me perfect control of my own body and a constant awareness of exactly what's happening in yours. I know exactly where your erogenous zones are and I'd get real time moan-free feedback on how much you'd be enjoying what I was doing to them. Plus… Additional, ring generated appendages, so-."

"That.. sounds pretty good."

"That's the problem: it's great. Great enough that I wouldn't want to leave the planet afterwards. And without.. time for both me and them to cool off… I'd probably end up picking a fight with the League. And even if I didn't, I.. should contact the Controllers. The Citadel have enslaved the Vega systems, and the Reach add a new world to their empire at the rate of one every other month… And they're the 'mind wipe and enslave' type of empire builders, not the 'suppress internal conflict and encourage trade' type. I have work to do. There are billions of sentients out there that I can help, and that no one else.. can. Or will. But the idea of you is… So… I want you. But…" I shake my head. "No. Not… Now."

She looks away. "Huh."

"Yeah." I take a breath. "Also, I'm not.. totally comfortable with the imagery associated with having sex with you just after handing you a suitcase of money."

She folds her arms under her breasts, pushing them upwards slightly. "And if I said that it wouldn't bother me if you left..?"

"I'm an empath. I know that you'd manage, but be honest. Would you prefer it if I stayed? Particularly after?"

A shallow nod and she reluctantly tugs her kimono closed, tying it loosely in front of her. "When do you think you'll get back?"

"No idea. If everything goes more or less as I want it to, two months. But.. it's more likely that it will be longer."

"And then?"

"Then, if I'm fortunate, I'll be able to split my time between here and Maltus. I hope-."

"You want me to wait?"

"Yes, but I… Don't expect you to. Particularly if it takes longer. That would be unreasonable."

"Oh? And what about you? Planning on spending time with any grateful green girls?"

"Orange, and… Not in the short term. But I won't make long term promises on the subject any more than I'd ask you to."

"Huh." She relaxes her arms slightly. "This isn't exactly what I hoped I'd be doing this afternoon."

"You're probably getting off easier than I- " Her left eyebrow goes up. "-am and that wasn't what I meant."

"What are you planning?"

"I've got to go and explain to Green Lantern, the one from the forties and the man who sponsored my membership of the team, and.. gave me his personal lantern so I could function as a superhero… Exactly what I thought I was doing."

She frowns thoughtfully. "That is worse than what I'm going to be doing."

"Oh, it gets better. He was part of the Justice Society.. at the same time as Nabu. They knew each other and worked together."

"And all I'm going to be doing is laundering this money." She slumps slightly to her right. "So.. I.. guess this is goodbye. Good luck with the.. space.. stuff..?"

I get to my feet. "Thank you, but it's the Earth stuff that bothers me more."

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

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