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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. WereDragon

    WereDragon Bookwyrm

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    Always nice when you can sit down and have a pleasant chat over coffee with an eldritch entity beyond human comprehension.
     
  2. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Desaad: My lord, our agents have been able to gather data from the Justice League and their new access to other universes.

    Darkseid: What have they found?

    Desaad: Some videos showing events from other universes.

    Darkseid: Play one.

    10 minutes later

    ...

    Desaad: They know about us, my Puppy of Entropy.

    Darkseid: I told you to stop that!
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2022
  3. Windona

    Windona Beetle Queen of Crackshipping

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    Ooo, Morpheus. Well, Sandy isn't insulting Morpheus or turning him down for a date, so he should be fine enough.

    As for the coffee house, well, in Alan's chapter it was said that they take dreams that are useful to prevent the place from stagnating. And coffee houses are definitely a useful dream.

    Future visions seem painful, but I do think Sandy can cope better than he realizes. He's unnerved by a lot of stuff, but instead of shutting himself inside he tries to understand and process it. Kinda perfect for future visions.
     
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  4. ChestBurster

    ChestBurster Getting sticky.

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    Kinda proud Sandy isn't letting the weirdness paralyze him.

    I have a question for Mr Zoat.

    I've been rereading and in the Devlos Ungol arc after OL defeated The Traitor, he mentioned giving some samples of the AntiMonitor's armor to John Quinn.

    Am I wrong, or is this going to be a plot element in this arc?
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2022
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  5. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Given that I'd completely forgotten about it... I'll see what I can do.
     
  6. Stsword

    Stsword Versed in the lewd.

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    Anti-Monitor's armor is an energy storage device, allowed him to access the energy from destroying universes as he needed it rather than letting any go to waste.

    Superboy Prime wore armor based on the same design, so kind of like a superior version of Conner's solar suit.

    Also you know, it's armor.

    So theoretically it could be used as a power up for anyone whose powers are energy dependent- Kryptonians, Tamaraneans, magicians, even lanterns.

    Could be the basis for giving Alan armor based on that Green Knight design he had in Kingdom Come- [​IMG]

    But in blue of course.
     
  7. PDV

    PDV Revelation That Uncertainty Is Itself An Answer

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    Of emotional sheep, presumably. Whichever color of the spectrum comes in 'sheep'.

    Dangerous things, Dream restaurants
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2022
  8. Duke Long

    Duke Long Glomerulus

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    ‘intend’
    ’mantle’
    Unless Dream has some sort of weird speech that I don’t know about.
     
  9. Coda

    Coda Versed in the lewd.

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  10. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
     
  11. Windona

    Windona Beetle Queen of Crackshipping

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    At minimum, Ophidion would want a dream. Maybe Orange Lantern Corps members provide
     
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  12. Threadmarks: False Dawn (part 13)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    8th November 2012
    That was easy


    Fuck this hurts and fuck this place makes my whole body itch. Because why would the Caliph bring anything that felt like demon magic with him? I know the bloody story, and he gave the glass ball containing every demon Solomon ever bound to Dream as part of the fee.

    Just me. Which means that none of the locals were ready for me.

    And the Dream! The Dream pays lip service to normal rules at best. Dreams are confusing before their internal logic takes hold. Collect a little of that confusion, wait for an opportunity, and now I'm free in… Dream-Baghdad without anyone keeping track of me.

    Getting out seems like a good idea, and I can manage that without Nommo's help. Just find an active dream, passenger possession on the dreamer and then sleepwalk them through an incorcism.

    Thing is…

    I stop walking.

    Thing is, that leaves Quinn where he is. And whatever we agreed, he's obviously gunna have to come after me eventually. This is probably the best shot I'm gunna get at getting shot of the bastard. And I know how he thinks better than any of them. Nommo can probably get through his defensive spells-. Can he? Quinn's been devouring books on Atlantean thaumaturgy. Nommo doesn't have the same knowledge of magic theory. Does his experience beat that? I'd guess 'yes'.

    But I don't know 'yes'.

    Fuck. This is what I get for gathering up bits of John Constantine.

    What's the smart p-?

    I sidestep, using Dream confusion to disguise what I'm doing and changing direction, filtering into the crowd. Jacket off and hidden to change my colour, hunch a little and use a minor distraction spell to encourage people to avoid looking at me and the guy next to me.

    Damn, that was close. I can feel it as the police, guards, soldiers, whatever they are, drop off a fucking flying carpet and start looking for me. Yeah, they've got some basic wards, but more to the point they're loyal. Obsessively loyal, like they can't imagine doing anything else. No internal corruption to work with. Could probably take one in a fight, but it would be messy and it would draw more attention.

    There's a park up the wall to my left. How do I get up-?

    Steps? Ah. There's wear on the top surface and the side surface. Clever.

    I walk up to the steps and fall onto my back. Except I don't end up on the floor, I end up with my back to a wall, because the steps form a hinge point, something that looks the same whether it's going either way.

    Right, stroll, pay attention but don't gawp like a tourist, get under tree cover. I remember enough about Sufi whirling meditation that I could probably pass myself off as an Islamic scholar if it came to it, but I'd rather just avoid a confrontation.

    They didn't come for me when I got to the city, so what set them off? Did it just take that long for them to reach-?

    I glance down and catch sight of Paul going into… Damn it, some sort of magic boutique. I think I'm… Yeah, from his point of view I'm walking up a bridge's support pillar. He hasn't spotted me, but he doesn't have guards coming after him. Tattoos? No, no, people have seen him, they could track the disruption he's causing indirectly easily enough.

    Islam's a bit down on demons, isn't it?

    Okay, the soldiers are searching the street behind me, and their mates are coming in from the opposite end. Doesn't look like they had anyone-.

    Fuck, I felt that. Something just got changed. The people around me aren't reacting to it and I can't see anything. Keep walking, don't-.


    "My first wish, oh spirit of air, is that you bring the one I seek to me."

    Kah!

    A fist of air and magic closes around me and lifts me into the air and my magic senses can just about pick out a partially manifested djinn glowering at me. Course, it probably hates its master more, but the master's the one with the binding spell. It pulls me through the air so fast that my surroundings blur, then I'm floating in front of a fat bastard eunuch sitting on the carpet that dropped those two soldiers off.

    He grins through barely open eyes, the curve of his mouth mirrored in the wattles on his neck. Guess he's got to take his pleasures where he can still find them.


    "My second wish, oh spirit of air, is that you bind his body and magic."

    Chains of… Magic, and probably just magic, appear around me and my ability to sense what's going on is suddenly limited to my human senses. But the djinn hates its master. I still exist because I can still use magic on me, and while I can't break this chain with magic or strength, I reckon that just about anything else will rip it off me.

    "My third wish, oh spirit of air, is that you return to my ring."

    The djinn pulls a face of pure indignant rage as it feeds itself as slowly as it can manage back into the ring. Yeah. I'm not sympathetic, but I can empathise.

    "Foolish demon. My master the Caliph -may Allah guide him- wishes to speak with you."

    "I charge for consultancies."

    "I heard you say 'please imprison me inside the Globe of Sulaiman ben Daoud, that I may see nothing and hear nothing and feel nothing for the rest of eternity'. Is that what you meant to say?"

    "I thought he gave that to Dream."

    "And where are we, oh accursed bane of the sons of Adam?"

    Ah.

    "Let's go see the Caliph, then."

    "I am pleased that you are cooperating. My spells for binding demons are not intended for demons in human form, and leaving your headless body in the streets would cause needless work for the groundsmen."

    The carpet starts moving, not that I can feel it. Doesn't look like we're being affected by the… By whatever the nearest 'down' is. No, we're just cutting right through the whole place, which means that I don't have the slightest idea where I'd fall if I jumped off.

    Or how hard.

    I don't know if I could put myself back together from here.

    I tear my eyes off the 'ground' and see the smug bastard grinning to himself as the palace comes into view. Look at that ridiculous thing. Must have taken a fucking army of djinn to put that fairy tale thing together, because there's no way that mortal builders could have done that back when this place was real. Looks like we're flying to the upper tower, where… That's him, then. A short, thin man wearing one curtain with a turban made from the other one.

    He smiles at me.


    "Thank you, Fela."

    "It is my pleasure to serve, oh incomparable master."

    Looks like that's my cue. I step off the carpet onto the caliph's balcony. Guards, lots of guards. A couple of big blokes close by, and a whole lot more further in.

    "You wanted me?"

    He looks at me, and… Yeah. This isn't a man. This is some sort of idea of a man who thought he was a perfect ruler. Arrogant men I can work around, but this one is going to be intelligent enough that it's going to be tricky.

    "I want to know how you and your party came to be here. I think it is high time that I shared the wonder of my realm with the real world, and I think you are going to help me make that happen. And if you are unwilling, you have four friends that I could ask instead."

    "Yeah. Friends."
     
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2022
  13. thebishop8

    thebishop8 Umm, ackchyually...

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    "by" to "my"
     
  14. In search for story's

    In search for story's Fool

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    Welp that’s a thing apparently
     
  15. Prince Charon

    Prince Charon Just zis guy, you know?

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    Well, getting involved with John Constantine is generally agreed to be a very bad idea. Oops.

    A thing that I probably should have expected, but didn't.
     
  16. Perchance

    Perchance Getting out there.

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    Oh now that would be just an exceedingly amusing thing to see. The Caliph Dream and his servants and their Djinn are doubtlessly powerful, but outside the Dreaming I suspect they may find more pushback than they think.

    But more importantly I'm so incredibly glad to see a bit more about the Endless in this story. I figured Desire would show up more given the nature of our protagonist, though I'm personally rather glad they haven't (namely because they're a spiteful and petty anthropomorphic personification and as equally dislikeable as their twin).

    Vis-a-vis what someone above mentioned about not seeing Death at certain points in the story, I'd argue its due to one of two things. First and sinplest is that just because we didn't see her from Paul's perspective doesn't mean she wasn't there in some regard. The Endless aren't just easily perceivable by anyone, and even though Paul possesses a power ring, trying to detect one of the Endless is likely outside of its baseline capabilities at the very least. You can't detect a void or a gap where there isn't one, and the Endless are as much a part of the universe as quarks and atoms.

    The second option is that Dearh, being, we'll, Death, doesn't just show up because someone's body has bitten the dust. She shows up when someone has died. Like, for real died. Paul's kicked the bucket once or twice but neither of those were permanent, and the first time was the Sikver City causing trouble which the Endless have a historically... odd relationship with to say the least. She would absolutely be there for birthday though that's true, but my guess is that falls into the first category of no one there being able to actually detect.

    Oh, or she was in point of fact there and Paul simply doesn't remember because of shenanigans.
     
  17. Handlewithcare

    Handlewithcare Versed in the lewd.

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    And the first person he asks of four is the demon one?

    Yeah, not all that wise, Mr Caliph.

    I also don't think he rest of the world will be all that thrilled about a Dream city full of arrogant medieval folk using djinn returning.
     
  18. Cuchulin

    Cuchulin Versed in the lewd.

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    The Great Harun al-Rashid would be better off asking OL about that, connecting the Dream of the Bagdad of a Thousand and One Nights to the Middle East of this Earth would very likely help along some of OL's plans for making his Earth a better place.
     
  19. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Ah, the Demon. This will no doubt be a pleasant and fun-filled trip, then... :rolleyes: ...And there is no way to convey the sheer depth of sarcasm I want in that sentence. So, then, how much trouble is he going to run face-first into? ...Besides 'all of it'.:p

    Thereby stealing their body for real in the process, I assume. How nice of you.

    Ah, feeling a little bit of remorse now that you've actually got something of John humanity now?

    Ah, well. At least you know when to pick your fights, I guess?

    Presumably, the smart play would be running, getting out of the Dream and finding a nice deep hole to hide in for a year or two. Pity a Constantine never seems to take the 'smart' route.

    Ah, the city guard are on to him, eh? Pity you ditched Balewa, Demon. He could have vouched for you.

    Because of course a city with multiple angles of Down is going to have places where they intersect. Albeit awkwardly, no doubt.

    Boy, you would not want to be carrying anything fragile across that transition... Wonder how many people have taken a tumble there by not paying attention?

    Or, you know, he's not a Demon. Those with sufficient sight to see past the outside might balk a bit at the giant snake curled up in his soul, but it's still not a demon.

    Yes, just a bit down, pal. If you're lucky, you'll merely be banished....

    ...If you're unlucky, you'll end up like this jinn. Bound into an object and playing servant to whoever holds your leash.

    Ah, an officer. Likely a minor minister, perhaps. And with enough pull to requisition a bound spirit.

    Sounds like a thoroughly unpleasant fellow...

    ...With enough brains to remember that his servant is more than willing to eviscerate him if he makes the slightest mistake.

    Probably the most convenient of Genie containers, the ring. Easy to conceal, easy to trigger.

    Ah, the joy of translation issues. Always such a boon to intimidation negotiation... And for reference, that name is the Arabic form of Solomon, Son of David.

    Oh, that's sneaky. Bet the Caliph probably snagged a dream of the Globe early on, just in case.

    And I doubt the experience wouldn't be all that pleasant for Demon Constantine, either.

    On the upside, I'm sure you'll make a nice Jackson Pollack on the pavement that those around you might appreciate.

    As seen here, he's quite the handsome fellow. And actually the same Caliph who appears in some tales of '1,001 Nights'.

    And I don't doubt he is honestly loyal. Given the wonders of this place, he probably feels no need to eye up the throne.

    I mean, the version in Ramadan did have some male concubines. Though I doubt a middle-aged englishman is exotic enough for him...

    The joy, and the drawback, of dealing with a Dream that was once a man.

    Well, looks like the Caliph has some big plans. Though I suspect he's about to receive a good talking to from a certain someone about them. If nothing else, the Demon can listen to his plans, and then explain in great detail how they can never be. But if he tries to carry them out, I suspect Morpheus will step in quite quickly. And all the while, our heroes are bumbling about the city in search of what they need...
     
  20. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    Nobody but historians would care.

    Like seriously... DisneyWorld 16 probably has actual floating islands with blue catgirls you can slip a few hundred extra to have sex with after hours. In the face of stuff like that who is going to care about a thousand year old middle eastern city with flying carpets?
     
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  21. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Make this darker like the other dates.

    "makes"

    Nothingstopping Mist from doing the same.

    "senses"
     
  22. GhostKing 666

    GhostKing 666 Know what you're doing yet?

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    Depends on if he can get Paul on board. You know how good Paul is at greasing the wheels and being a good middleman that can get two seemingly incongruous parts to work together.

    Bringing another heavy magic civilization back to the earth? One that's apparently willing to at least try to modernize(judging by the Caliph using modern dreams as a source of ideas and inspiration)? The only question would be if the Caliph would listen to Paul's suggestions on how to best do things.
     
  23. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    More his pragmatism.

    And easy to carry.

    The Mandate episode shows it as being possible and the Demon may help them, or try to screw them.

    Assuming he cares.

    His Mandate counterpart didn't do anything, so maybe he'll let them go.
     
  24. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    Actually, no. In the comics she shows up for Lex Luthor when he was merely clinically dead for a few seconds.
    I don't understand. I don't make any of the dates 'darker'.
    Thank you, corrected.
     
  25. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    I meant put it in bold like other dates.

    edit: actually, now that I look at it the date seems to be written like how you usually write demon speech.
     
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2022
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  26. Vanbers

    Vanbers Well worn.

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    Well, uh, the question here is whether his agreement with Morpheus has an escape clause, or if old pal Morpheus thinks his buddy is crashing his kingdom on his couch forever.

    Because, from what I recall, the Endless tend to take people breaking their deals... poorly.

    Then again, not the most read up on this specific fragment of DC lore, so who knows.
     
  27. moralrelativity

    moralrelativity Recovering pendant.

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    uses -> use
     
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  28. Duke Long

    Duke Long Glomerulus

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    ‘rid of’, I think.
    Is a ‘one curtain’ something I’m not understanding, or a mistake?
     
  29. Windona

    Windona Beetle Queen of Crackshipping

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    Opf yeah, a kingdom that has anti demon protections isn't going to be the pest.

    Though now I wonder if part of the reason Morpheus gave Sandy those vision powers was to stop the Caliph's plan from happening.

    We did see something like that in Mandated. But I get the feeling that a sort of place like that isn't exactly what he wants.
     
  30. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    The fact that he'd potentially just be used by a human host instead of completely coming back could be unpleasant for him.
     
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