JimBob, the boy named Su, looks regretfully from the fight to his precarious situation, and chooses to use the last of the ring's power to protect himself until he's back in fighting form. He is content to have at least removed the power from Amazo, if not to have used it for himself.
Amazo makes a fist to smack down Quinn, the man called Peltast. Upon his fist, another Power Ring crackles into being, hardening into metallic reality.
But still, for a moment there, he was ringless!
"Well hold on a minute," Quinn says. "You *could* take the shield ... or you could ask nicely where I got it, and I might just show you. Because there's a lot more where this came from."
ReplyDeleteWhile he's saying this, he's very quietly, and behind the shield, preparing that weird alien skin tonfa to strike Amazo on the wrist of his ring hand if he isn't intrigued by the possibility of EVEN MORE STUFF.
Amazo says,
ReplyDelete"Where, nicely, did you get this shield?"
JimBob throws his hands up 25 feet in the air in frustration. Then he'll shout "Quinn, how could you?!"
ReplyDeleteDwirrirrirrng! His hands come back down at the same speed they went up. Rubbery!
DeleteQuinn's face lights up. "Oh man, that is a *great* story! I won't even make you let go before I tell it to you. So OK, do you know what a 'comic con' is? Well . . ."
ReplyDeleteAt this point Quinn will allow his natural exuberance and his story-telling skill to take over. He won't get off track, but he will balance "previously, on Substitute League of America" narration, actual answering of the question but in vague terms, and asking questions of Amazo like, "what do you know about President Luthor?" or "did you know that superpowers can be REPLICATED?"
He will *not* say anything about the Justice League's specific mission (not that he knows much) or the flying whatchamahoozit that gave them the choice of powers, and he *will* end up blaming it all on Sinestro (convenient!), Mr. Mxyzptlk, and Brainiac.
He will under no circumstances release the shield.
Yes, Amazo does know that super powers can be replicated.
DeleteAmazo does not know who the President is, or indeed, what the United States is.
And, uh ... you DO know that stalling the villain is traditionally combined with someone else getting ready to, y'know, close the deal? By itself, stalling isn't necessarily a winning play.
Quinn notices Sinestro looking at him intently.
DeleteVina hears Sinestro counting quietly to himself ... counting DOWN.
"Fifty, forty-nine, forty-eight, forty-seven ..."
Quinn is a Big Fan of teams and teamwork and there being no "I" in team and whatnot. He was also attracted to the Wonder symbol because it was both brave and unorthodox. He is hoping, therefore, that bravely stalling the villain will allow his team to do whatever it is that they do (because he also assumes they've got a better handle on this situation than he does).
ReplyDeleteHis questions are designed to get Amazo alternating between gathering information and correcting error -- both of which androids love to do! At least, if TV and movies have taught Quinn anything. So if he can buy another forty-seven seconds, he'll do it.
His plan to do so, once he feels like Amazo is going to just murder him and take the shield, is to offer to show him how it "works" -- how you power it up and such. Then he'll walk Amazo through a mildly intricate step-by-step process that uses magic words and turning the shield around and holding it up and oops he did those things in the wrong order and so he'll start again but he promises it'll be really easy and basically he's doing the "Fizzban Maneuver" and by the time you realize you've been reading this for too long, Sinestro and Vina and JimBob have already done the Amazing Thing To Defeat You.
At least, that's Quinn's plan.
(OOG)You speak like a Tasslehoff, but you plan like a Fizban. Outstanding.
DeleteSee, for a second there I forgot my Dragonlance, and I read that as "Hasslehoff".
DeleteVina is watching the proceedings like a... Yeah, well, she is ready to snap out her wings as a shield or to rescue someone when the countdown is finished.
ReplyDeleteChin-Su will wrap his feet around the nearest tree/shrub/thing firmly attached to the ground, then flatten his body out until it becomes clothlike and catches a breeze. He becomes a parachute-kite high above the conflict, keeping an eye on the proceedings.
ReplyDeleteHe is not certain why. He just feels better prepared in this situation.