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

Discussion in 'Creative Writing' started by Mr Zoat, Jan 27, 2019.

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  1. FeepingCreature

    FeepingCreature Not too sore, are you?

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    Yes that's what he means. It is that "easy", it's just hard to do consistently.
     
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  2. Nioz

    Nioz Know what you're doing yet?

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    It’s bits like this, the understated replies that are comedic gold, that makes me come back to read every day.

    That and the alerts :p
     
  3. moralrelativity

    moralrelativity Recovering pendant.

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    that
     
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  4. Sockmonkey

    Sockmonkey I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    That reminds me, did Hades recruit extra people to handle the increased intake? There are now way more customers than he can handle himself in a reasonable amount of time.
     
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  5. Aeess

    Aeess I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    So are the vampires here based on DC or Hellblazer? Because stuff like guns or stakes sould only be able to harm or even inconvenience a Hellblazer Vampire if theyre inexperienced.
     
  6. Stsword

    Stsword Versed in the lewd.

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    Mostly mainstream DC here.

    The KoV style vampires don't care about holy symbols other than as a personal superstition like being afraid of ladders or black cats, don't care about garlic, and Darius was confident in his ability to regrow an entire body after being decapitated by a grenade before getting killed by a buddy of Tommy Monaghan opening the church up to the sunlight with a bulldozer.
     
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  7. Aeess

    Aeess I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    They are still affected by those things as long they believe that they would harm them,The King of the Vampires was like trillions of years old and just knew that except for Sun light and Demon blood nothing would really be able to affect him, but that doesn't mean that any american vampire would know that.
     
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  8. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    The three judges are hearing their own cases rather than collaborating.
     
  9. Pinklestia

    Pinklestia Well worn.

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    Some versions of Gotham have Faust as a mage/supervillain there.

    Yes the same Faust that's enemy of the JLA.

    Apparently his power level fluctuates all over the place because he gets it from demonic deals.
     
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  10. Ardy

    Ardy I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    Hey, whatever ended up happening to the Neutrino key the saremites used to have? It got stolen by Johnny Sorrow from the amazons presumably on behalf of the Light to unlock an ancient vault where the saremite civilization, before being destroyed, kept their schizotech equipment?

    Was it empty or something?
     
  11. PrinceJonathan

    PrinceJonathan Versed in the lewd.

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    I did not need to see the Joker dressed like Elvis with his pants down and sitting on the toilet. And he's out of TP so he shoots the TV? What the hell?
     
  12. Massgamer

    Massgamer Not too sore, are you?

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    I feel like religions would be more successful if they did pitching for them the same way Paul does.:p
     
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  13. Stsword

    Stsword Versed in the lewd.

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    He also buys back his soul when he has the chance, so his soul is very very used.

    Which now that I think about it, needs some explanation. Buying back ones soul from Hell achieves what now when there's really no chance one isn't going to Hell anyway?

    It would make more sense to sell ones soul to a demon who would have an advantageous position for a sorcerer in the afterlife.

    Ra-man was shown as the chancellor of Reign in War in Hell, as an example. Hard to get a more prestigious position than that.

    Ra-man is an Egyptian demigod superhero wizard, not the god of instant noodles as the name might suggest, by the by. :)
     
  14. Cuchulin

    Cuchulin Versed in the lewd.

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    A person with TRUE FAITH might be able to more damage using the right holy symbol than with a regular weapon (Ninja Stars of David? J/K).

    Hopefully they have help with that, at the very least the shades of slaves who were owned by ancient Greek or Roman lawyers/judges.
     
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  15. Buggy123

    Buggy123 I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    Well, you might be going to Hell anyway, but that could be decades from now and you could end up anywhere in Hell. By buying your soul, that particular demon is guaranteed to get your soul instead, and depending on the gritty details they might end up getting it a lot sooner.

    Plus, if you're cooperating with the demon, it might be easier to use your soul; dead or not, a powerful wizard would have a powerful soul, and even if they can subjugate you they might not be able to do it without seriously damaging you and rending you less worthwhile.

    Exercises in choosing the best possible spot for your soul when it ends up in Hell is... probably not going to work all that well, unless you don't mind doing a bunch of evil stuff instead of getting tortured. Also, the people with the state of mind to sell their souls probably aren't going to care that much.
     
  16. Pinklestia

    Pinklestia Well worn.

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    It gives you time.

    Faust is depending the version, centuries old.

    He has even got out of hell more than once.
     
  17. Threadmarks: Guys from Gotham (part 16)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    17th February
    01:26 GMT -5


    Charlie the night custodian hands me back the rune stone and I return both of them to my equipment harness.

    "Well, this has been fun."

    "Charlie, if you think this has been fun-." I frown for a moment. "Then I'm glad we were able to do it, but you may want to consider the fact that most people would have found it boring."

    "Yeah, I was just being polite." He shakes his head. "I've seen this stuff, like, every night for six years now. Waving a rock at it didn't make it more interesting."

    "How'd you get a job like this?"

    "Last place I worked at got burned down by Firefly, and the last guy who worked here got killed by Joker. They were having trouble hiring people, I needed the work…" He shrugs.

    "Do you like it?"

    "The stuff kinda freaked me out the first few nights, but after a while it just starts being background, you know?" I nod. "It's usually pretty quiet, too. I've only hit the panic alarm, like, twice? I mean, I know there's supposed to be less crime in Gotham these days, but I still assumed that it'd be more risk with it than this. At this rate, management are gunna dock my pay."

    "I don't know. Getting an honest and reliable employee in Gotham is a valuable enough thing, even if you aren't getting assaulted by supervillains every day." I shrug. "If you like, I can put in a good word?"

    "Nah, don't bother. Best for me if no one even remembers I exist. The less reason people have to come looking for me, the better."

    "Ah. Okay. Thanks for your help." He nods politely and turns away. I raise my right hand to my head. "Orange Lantern to Robin."

    "Hey Oh El. You done at the police impound?"

    "Yes. Nothing magical, no attempted break ins, just piles of stuff that matches the inventory. What's going on in the city?"

    "A lot of random acts of violence, but it's all pretty low level. Assaults, attempted break ins… The Commissioner thinks it's drug-related, but they won't finish the blood work until tomorrow."

    "Could you do it?"

    "I'm not a professional chemist, Oh El. And I don't have time to take blood samples from two hundred addicts at police stations all across the city."

    And I.. could, but…

    I try creating a construct syringe and… There's a faint glowy orange shape for a moment, but it dissipates almost at once.

    "Looks like I'm out of investment."

    "If you mean you need to recharge your rings-."

    "No."

    "If you need a rest you can take off. I can stay here until Batwoman-."

    "Robin, what emotion catalyses my constructs?"

    "Avarice. Oh. Has.. Gotham really ticked you off that much already?"

    "I don’t cope well with intractable problems. But yes, I am a little tired. I'll probably feel a bit more helpful tom-. This afternoon."

    "So in the interest of Batman's threat evaluation..?"

    "This doesn't weaken my defensive abilities at all. But I have to want someone hurt in order to hurt them. I have to want my world my way for me in order to make it that way. I'm not.. seeing this as the actions of a few bad eggs in a city which otherwise works. We joke about 'Gotham being Gotham', but on a night like this I struggle to see Gotham as anything other than a spent cost."

    "That's.. pretty harsh."

    "If I hadn't watched a planet burned from orbit a little while ago I'd probably feel differently." I shake my head. "Wake me if you need me-need me."

    "Okay. See you later, I guess."

    "Oh, ah… He didn't want me to say anything, but the custodian was pretty helpful. So if you hear about any similar jobs with better pay or conditions…"

    "I shouldn't think he'd be interested. He's starting a pre-college course next month."

    "What, like a 'back to school adult education' sort of thing?"

    "Oh El? Charles Adelsen is a nineteen year old art and design student."

    Scan.

    "This place is fitted with wards, isn't it?"

    "Everywhere is. It's a contract requirement. What's wrong?"

    I march towards the exit. "The man I encountered wasn't nineteen, and he gave me a story about working here after Mister Lynns destroyed his last place of work."

    "Got a picture?"

    "Yes. Ring, send."

    "Compliance."

    He's gone. Alright, another git disrupting my mission. Ring, scan as best you can. Wraith, go and find them but do not possess them.

    The pale orange shade wafts out of my ring and flies down the corridor ahead of me. Scan detects… Nothing out of the ordinary in my immediate environment, then… A small amount of dirt on the floor. Someone scraping their boots off? The dirt is slightly damp and the last few days have been dry… But sprinklers are a thing, so that doesn't mean anything. Soil chemistry… Could have come from nearly anywhere in this part of Gotham.

    "Not getting any return from the facial recognition system. Did you check their security tag?"

    "They were wearing one. It looked authentic."

    "Empathic vision?"

    "I didn't probe them too deeply. Looked normal enough."

    Okay, I do have this building's plans. Where would be a good place to stuff a body?

    "Did Mister Adelsen log in this evening?"

    "Yeah, but it's just a card reader. Visual recognition gets done by the other guys who work there."

    My spirits sink. "And they log out the same way, so if someone was quick they could kill them all and the system wouldn't register anything was wrong?"

    "No, there's… Cameras-. No, the rest of the detail definitely left. I've got their cars leaving the lot on the traffic cameras."

    "With them inside?"

    "Confirmed shots on most of them."

    "Alright then. So if it's not that, then whoever 'Charlie' was got in later. Heading towards the main entrance now, I'll be out of contact for twenty seconds or so."

    I phase and fly through the wall towards the nearest exit.
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2019
  18. DeathlessProficiency

    DeathlessProficiency Know what you're doing yet?

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    yo FUCK charles
     
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  19. doug89

    doug89 Versed in the lewd.

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    Worst part is he'll have to go back and scan the other half himself.
     
  20. Ganurath

    Ganurath Apologizes For Nothing

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    This line was a massive red flag for me. I'm glad to see my paranoia vindicated so quickly.
     
  21. Ardy

    Ardy I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    Why do I get the feeling his name was Wally the Wonder-Disguiser and he grabbed some valuable schizotech?

    Goddamnit Truggs
     
  22. Ganurath

    Ganurath Apologizes For Nothing

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    Probably because you haven't thought through the implications of when he said that the Joker killed the last guy to work there.
     
  23. Dur'id the Druid

    Dur'id the Druid Know what you're doing yet?

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    Annnnnd the motivation was successfully found again. Nothing like realizing that you have been tricked for several hours right to your face to get motivated, no?
     
  24. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Eh, he's probably lying about it being fun...

    Happy alignment, then.

    Hey, at least it's quiet and easy work.

    Surprised nothing major went down while OL was busy.

    Drug-related, eh? The Smilex derivative hit the streets?

    You don't wanna.

    Are you trying to be funny, Robin?

    Gee, you think?

    It's amazing Batman never gets like this, but we all know he's crazy. Productively crazy.

    Heh, putting in a good word anyway. That's OL for you...

    Wait a what the what now?

    Bugger. Well, at least OL's got some investment going.

    Oh, yeah, he still has that, doesn't he?

    You assume he'd grab everyone's complete bio on sight? He isn't Batman.

    Oh, that's quite likely, isn't it?

    So only one casualty... So far.

    And the hunt is on. Things are picking up again.
    Correction: Extraneous space.

    Hoo boy. Depending on how long this guy was running around in here, anything could be missing, especially stuff he checked which OL didn't. The Bats are going to have words about this...
     
  25. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
     
  26. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    And lo, we once more see why Paul shouldn't be doing the job of people trained in investigation.
     
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  27. Ardy

    Ardy I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    That he doesn’t compare everyone he meets to everyone who could potentially be in that job?

    negging doesn’t work on fictional characters, dude.
     
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  28. Handlewithcare

    Handlewithcare Versed in the lewd.

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    Hm. That his emphatic vision doesn't pick anything up...

    He hasn't exactly made that a secret, I think OL's enemies have figured out a way of mind control that makes victims look normal, emotionally.
     
  29. timeForced

    timeForced Getting some practice in, huh?

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    We aaaaalll know that Batman would have checked Charles' identity six ways to Sunday, then finished by giving him a dental exam. Poor Robin wasn't able to manage the dental exam portion over radio.
     
  30. Sceptic

    Sceptic Critical Irrationalist

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    On the contrary. He foolishly left that all up to OL, or he would have done a dental exam over radio. Sadly he hasn't quite learned Batman levels of paranoia yet, so he delegated. :p
     
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