I didn’t believe banana, but they’re right. Fazes is indeed a word, and it’s the one you want here. Phases is also a word, but it doesn’t refer to someone being disturbed.
From the previous sentence, it seems likely that the north pole was part of the Praetorian Academy Grand Tour of Possible Destinations. I guess he just didn’t look around at the wildlife (not that there is much at the pole itself).
Honestly, part of me hopes that Charles one day grows up and mellows out.
Seriously- his powers have proven to be dangerous or at least highly disruptive. If he pushes things too far, the only solution for people- including possible Praetorian Academy and the Headmaster*- may be to terminate him.
* I doubt PA/HM are willing to let him rock the boat too much.
He’s dangerous because of his attitude. There are ways to suppress powers and a tracking device with a few speedsters would counter him pretty well anyways.
Terminate? Doubt it. This is a classic heroes comic. The world is full of super villians, many of whom probably have far more dangerous powers. All of whom probably end up eventually being subdued and arrested by heroes.
Termination by evil villain academy for being too dangerous and\or annoying is possible. These people did use mind control to have one of their students become “forcefully” enlisted.
The ultimate agenda of Praetorian Academy (that we know so far) is to prevent metahumans from becoming an existential threat to humanity. Seriously and lethally stranding people can be considered that when taken to its extreme.
… all I can say is, Charles (and various other Praetorians, and whatever future enemies the Flea may make) had best pray that the Flea never reads the web serial ‘Worm’. Skitter, the protagonist, has nearly identical powers to him, except she lives in a hard-R (for violence) rated universe, and is… let’s say ‘unpleasantly creative’, largely of necessity.
Also, she used those same powers to straight-up kill one of her local Superman equivalents.
Yeah, even if Flea somehow went over to the “dark side” I can’t see him losing that fun-loving cheer. Although, it could ramp up the humiliation factor so much in his pranks that a target might wish he’d just be merciful and kill them…
Bullet ants, fire ants and bombardier beetles are just some of the fun available. There are more interesting flying things and a small variety of things that lay eggs inside their victims.
1) How much you want to bet Charles already has head lice? Well, then again, premature male-pattern baldness didn’t help Lex Luthor’s personality.
2) Doesn’t “gut fauna” include some arthopod species?
Probably something in the 2-3 range on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index should be more than sufficient. Bullet ants rate the maximum 4. Fire ants would be more than enough for me, but they only rate a 1 (which makes me a bit of a wimp, I guess).
Actually, I’d recommend the Schmidt Sting Pain Index just for fun reading. Schmidt came up with the index by getting stung a lot, and he has a wit. Some examples:
Sweat Bee (rating 1): Light and ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm. Honey Wasp (rating 2): Spicy, blistering. A cotton swab dipped in habanero sauce has been pushed up your nose. Red Paper Wasp (rating 3): Caustic and burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of hydrochloric acid on a paper cut. Bullet Ant (rating 4): Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel.
Well, I doubt he’s actually experienced all or even most of the things he uses in his descriptions. These three, for example, are highly unlikely given that he’s still with us:
Giant Paper Wasp (rating 3): There are gods, and they do throw thunderbolts. Poseidon has rammed his trident into your breast. Tarantula Hawk (rating 4): Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath. Warrior Wasp (rating 4): Torture. You are chained in the flow of an active volcano. Why did I start this list?
Despite the descriptions, he rates the bullet ant as the worst because in addition to the intensity, the pain lasts 12-24 hours and doesn’t lose much if any intensity for the first 1-4 hours.
Taylor Hebert (the Fleas’ unholy alternate in Worm) is known as “Our lady of Escalation” for a good reason. Would make for good bedtime reading for him, although some of the fanfic takes it to even more creative extremes.
Having the Flea trip over one of the portal-diagrams that one kid draws and fall into Taylor’s lap would make for an interesting fanfic. As long as he wound up far enough in that she felt she COULD take responsibility for him but not so far in that she was past a tipping point (I’m thinking somewhere just before learning about Dinah), the Flea’s personality could do a lot to brighten the world. And the interaction of their powers would be interesting.
Actually I’m not sure the Praetorian Academy’s approach is wrong. Charles is too stupid a bully to learn except for the hard way. That means Ron should smack him to underline that it’s not all about power.
I wonder if he will mention Tylers “secret”. The Flea currently seems most likely to be willing roll with it, and Ron is one of the few children in his class who see’s Moonshadow as flawed.
He does not know Tyler is Moonshadow. Only that he is the son of Ultima and Sovereign Powers. Thus he thinks he is a super strong brick. Something backed by Malphast coating Tyler on the playground to protect Tyler and his fist getting hurt.
Actually right before the super group beats him he tells Moonshadow that he doesn’t think he has any powers, and then threatens to do to Moonshadow what he later threatens to do to Tyler who he doesn’t think belongs in the school. Nothing explicitly stated but it seems likely that Charles knows.
I think he knows Moonshadow has no powers. But again. He got that Tyler is the Powers son. And he had his fist stop like he punched a wall. So he probably assumes Tyler and Toby are the same person. Or minimum One is a brick.
He does not have any information yet to put Moonshadow and Tyler together.
To Charles Moonshadow is a dweeb without powers who somehow got into a superhero team and Tyler has mysterious powers. To 90% of Tylers class Tyler is a helpless kid without powers who is in their class for some reason and Moonshadow has cool and mysterious powers. I sort of like this development. I still say its about even odds Charles knows, he at least had some time with about the same opinion of both of them.
I think “pay attention to many things at once” must be one of Fleas most impressive powers. It’s one thing to grab a vision feed from some bugs. It’s another to watch things with that vision while playing video games.
No, I see it too. His hair’s the right color, he’s got a roundish face, and his…acne? Freckle So? Whatever, his marks,, they look like scars at the right angle, similar to Chucky’s face after his victims start fighting back.
Unfortunately, Charles already knows of at least one bad place to dump a person: an extradimensional asteroid out there where he once played Four Square. No need to make a skill check for that. :-/
Quote –
Freezing vertebrates and insects also produce antifreeze proteins, which bind to ice crystals and prevent them growing. One compound, antifreeze glycolipid (AFGL) is used as a defence against freezing in organisms ranging from plants to beetles, and in 2014 scientists identified the same glycolipid as an antifreeze compound in the wood frog.
Most impressive among freezing animals may be the invertebrates. A host of arthropods from cockroaches to caterpillars can tolerate freezing temperatures for days at a time.
Many of these species use cryoprotectants and antifreeze proteins to protect their cells, and Denlinger says that body fluid freezing points (also called supercooling points) as low -25C are not uncommon.
One truly remarkable beetle, the red flat bark beetle (Cucujus clavipes puniceus) from Alaska, can supercool its body fluids to -50C. But there is huge variation between individuals – some can tolerate body temperatures as low as -100C.
Cool – Even if Charles dumped him at one of the poles, Flea might be perfectly fine, then, depending on which species’ abilities he can mimic.
I can just see him standing on the side of the runway near Amundsen-Scott Station at the South Pole, with his thumb stuck out to hitch a ride from a supply plane.
“My dad is trying to help the downtrodden people on his home planet, the uniform sucked, and not having powers means YOU’RE not my room mate any more!”
Nothing phases the flea. Send him north, and he will tie twelveflying polar bears together to pass overhead and drop natural ‘coal on you.
The word is “fazes”.
I didn’t believe banana, but they’re right. Fazes is indeed a word, and it’s the one you want here. Phases is also a word, but it doesn’t refer to someone being disturbed.
The Flea became my favorite character during the Las Vegas arc.
If he wants to check he can always teleport there.
He can’t, remember? He can only teleport to places he’s already been.
From the previous sentence, it seems likely that the north pole was part of the Praetorian Academy Grand Tour of Possible Destinations. I guess he just didn’t look around at the wildlife (not that there is much at the pole itself).
Maybe. Either way, the Flea is probably not the person he wants to go up against unless he wants hornets building nests in his underwear drawer.
Perhaps they sent him somewhere snowy, with penguins, and just told him it was the North Pole.
Actually that is not entirely correct. On top of the ice, sure. But in the waters beneath the ice, yes there is.
Lure him past P&G. Good way to prank a teleporter.
P&G is built on the remains of Charles’ old hideout, remember?
This reminds me of the conversations between Calvin and Moe.
Honestly, part of me hopes that Charles one day grows up and mellows out.
Seriously- his powers have proven to be dangerous or at least highly disruptive. If he pushes things too far, the only solution for people- including possible Praetorian Academy and the Headmaster*- may be to terminate him.
* I doubt PA/HM are willing to let him rock the boat too much.
He’s dangerous because of his attitude. There are ways to suppress powers and a tracking device with a few speedsters would counter him pretty well anyways.
Terminate? Doubt it. This is a classic heroes comic. The world is full of super villians, many of whom probably have far more dangerous powers. All of whom probably end up eventually being subdued and arrested by heroes.
Termination by evil villain academy for being too dangerous and\or annoying is possible. These people did use mind control to have one of their students become “forcefully” enlisted.
^This, TxGator.
The ultimate agenda of Praetorian Academy (that we know so far) is to prevent metahumans from becoming an existential threat to humanity. Seriously and lethally stranding people can be considered that when taken to its extreme.
… all I can say is, Charles (and various other Praetorians, and whatever future enemies the Flea may make) had best pray that the Flea never reads the web serial ‘Worm’. Skitter, the protagonist, has nearly identical powers to him, except she lives in a hard-R (for violence) rated universe, and is… let’s say ‘unpleasantly creative’, largely of necessity.
Also, she used those same powers to straight-up kill one of her local Superman equivalents.
Considering Flea seems to be an merging of Skitter and Spider-Man they should be wetting themselves and be glad he is a cheerful sort.
Yeah, even if Flea somehow went over to the “dark side” I can’t see him losing that fun-loving cheer. Although, it could ramp up the humiliation factor so much in his pranks that a target might wish he’d just be merciful and kill them…
Bullet ant house party. Charles’ pants. You know you want to, Flea!
Bullet ants, fire ants and bombardier beetles are just some of the fun available. There are more interesting flying things and a small variety of things that lay eggs inside their victims.
Yeah, but I only want to hurt him a bit, not cause potentially fatal harm and lifelong trauma
1) How much you want to bet Charles already has head lice? Well, then again, premature male-pattern baldness didn’t help Lex Luthor’s personality.
2) Doesn’t “gut fauna” include some arthopod species?
If you’ve got arthropods living in your digestive system, something has gone horribly wrong.
You want to just hurt him without causing permanent harm but you’re using bullet ants?
Probably something in the 2-3 range on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index should be more than sufficient. Bullet ants rate the maximum 4. Fire ants would be more than enough for me, but they only rate a 1 (which makes me a bit of a wimp, I guess).
Actually, I’d recommend the Schmidt Sting Pain Index just for fun reading. Schmidt came up with the index by getting stung a lot, and he has a wit. Some examples:
Sweat Bee (rating 1): Light and ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm.
Honey Wasp (rating 2): Spicy, blistering. A cotton swab dipped in habanero sauce has been pushed up your nose.
Red Paper Wasp (rating 3): Caustic and burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of hydrochloric acid on a paper cut.
Bullet Ant (rating 4): Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel.
This Schmit guy seems to have had a lot of other interesting experiences as well, judging from his comparisons
Well, I doubt he’s actually experienced all or even most of the things he uses in his descriptions. These three, for example, are highly unlikely given that he’s still with us:
Giant Paper Wasp (rating 3): There are gods, and they do throw thunderbolts. Poseidon has rammed his trident into your breast.
Tarantula Hawk (rating 4): Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath.
Warrior Wasp (rating 4): Torture. You are chained in the flow of an active volcano. Why did I start this list?
Despite the descriptions, he rates the bullet ant as the worst because in addition to the intensity, the pain lasts 12-24 hours and doesn’t lose much if any intensity for the first 1-4 hours.
Taylor Hebert (the Fleas’ unholy alternate in Worm) is known as “Our lady of Escalation” for a good reason. Would make for good bedtime reading for him, although some of the fanfic takes it to even more creative extremes.
Having the Flea trip over one of the portal-diagrams that one kid draws and fall into Taylor’s lap would make for an interesting fanfic. As long as he wound up far enough in that she felt she COULD take responsibility for him but not so far in that she was past a tipping point (I’m thinking somewhere just before learning about Dinah), the Flea’s personality could do a lot to brighten the world. And the interaction of their powers would be interesting.
Actually I’m not sure the Praetorian Academy’s approach is wrong. Charles is too stupid a bully to learn except for the hard way. That means Ron should smack him to underline that it’s not all about power.
Duct tape, an electric fence, and a hood or blind fold.
I wonder if he will mention Tylers “secret”. The Flea currently seems most likely to be willing roll with it, and Ron is one of the few children in his class who see’s Moonshadow as flawed.
He does not know Tyler is Moonshadow. Only that he is the son of Ultima and Sovereign Powers. Thus he thinks he is a super strong brick. Something backed by Malphast coating Tyler on the playground to protect Tyler and his fist getting hurt.
You’re right for some reason I thought he knew.
Actually right before the super group beats him he tells Moonshadow that he doesn’t think he has any powers, and then threatens to do to Moonshadow what he later threatens to do to Tyler who he doesn’t think belongs in the school. Nothing explicitly stated but it seems likely that Charles knows.
I think he knows Moonshadow has no powers. But again. He got that Tyler is the Powers son. And he had his fist stop like he punched a wall. So he probably assumes Tyler and Toby are the same person. Or minimum One is a brick.
He does not have any information yet to put Moonshadow and Tyler together.
To Charles Moonshadow is a dweeb without powers who somehow got into a superhero team and Tyler has mysterious powers. To 90% of Tylers class Tyler is a helpless kid without powers who is in their class for some reason and Moonshadow has cool and mysterious powers. I sort of like this development. I still say its about even odds Charles knows, he at least had some time with about the same opinion of both of them.
I think “pay attention to many things at once” must be one of Fleas most impressive powers. It’s one thing to grab a vision feed from some bugs. It’s another to watch things with that vision while playing video games.
Not just watching, controlling. Like playing two or more games at once.
I wonder if the chaperones can get Charles some cream for that Flea burn.
He’s gonna need a whole tub of the stuff after that one!
I know it’s a bit off topic but—am I the only one who thinks Charles resembles the “Chucky” doll from those old “Child’s Play” movies?
No, I see it too. His hair’s the right color, he’s got a roundish face, and his…acne? Freckle So? Whatever, his marks,, they look like scars at the right angle, similar to Chucky’s face after his victims start fighting back.
Knowledge: Geography is supposed to be a class skill for teleporters…
Pretty sure INT is Charles’ dump stat, so class skill or not, he’s gonna be rolling at a penalty >.>
Unfortunately, Charles already knows of at least one bad place to dump a person: an extradimensional asteroid out there where he once played Four Square. No need to make a skill check for that. :-/
Quote –
Freezing vertebrates and insects also produce antifreeze proteins, which bind to ice crystals and prevent them growing. One compound, antifreeze glycolipid (AFGL) is used as a defence against freezing in organisms ranging from plants to beetles, and in 2014 scientists identified the same glycolipid as an antifreeze compound in the wood frog.
Most impressive among freezing animals may be the invertebrates. A host of arthropods from cockroaches to caterpillars can tolerate freezing temperatures for days at a time.
Many of these species use cryoprotectants and antifreeze proteins to protect their cells, and Denlinger says that body fluid freezing points (also called supercooling points) as low -25C are not uncommon.
One truly remarkable beetle, the red flat bark beetle (Cucujus clavipes puniceus) from Alaska, can supercool its body fluids to -50C. But there is huge variation between individuals – some can tolerate body temperatures as low as -100C.
Cool – Even if Charles dumped him at one of the poles, Flea might be perfectly fine, then, depending on which species’ abilities he can mimic.
I can just see him standing on the side of the runway near Amundsen-Scott Station at the South Pole, with his thumb stuck out to hitch a ride from a supply plane.
“My dad is trying to help the downtrodden people on his home planet, the uniform sucked, and not having powers means YOU’RE not my room mate any more!”
Seems like I still have a better deal than you!