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

[Rafin]

"Yes, but it's not a common ability." And Jade finds it unsettling. "Are the others of your kind doing this deliberately, or is it automatic?"

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I don't know why, but everything from here on and below is orange to me.

 

[LZB1285]

I don't know why, but everything from here on and below is orange to me.

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As mentioned above, there's a (few) missing closing tag(s) in the chapter. It's a lot more readable in the story only thread.

 

[Windona]

So that's confirmation the fungoids aren't controlled by anti-life and are just taking advantage of the situation and vibing. Poison Ivy will probably be glad for the help.

That would kinda be like enforcing a depressing genre shift onto the DC brand. All their media, comics tv shows and movies, suddenly becoming 'Anti-Life' flavor. I imagine that would be unpleasant for people like Paul who live in there.

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Given some eras of comics and certain media adaptations, that would explain a thing or two...

 

[Mr Zoat]

Most of the chapter is orange. I don't think that's on purpose.

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Fuck you, Xenoform. Fuck you.

Yes, I know that it looks like it makes sense to amalgamate two areas of the same colour when they're next to each other, but actually I PUT THOSE TAGS THERE FOR A FUCKING REASON! They can be used to indicate very differnt things and I don't appreciate you moving them around for me!

And another thing. When I edit something and then click on save, I want you to save it. If I didn't want you to save it, I wouldn't have clicked on 'save'. I would have clicked on 'cancel' or 'x'. So when I edit something and save it and realise that I missed something and click on 'edit' again, DON'T GO BACK TO THE PREVIOUS ITERATION!

...

Okay. I'm good.

 

[Ngamer11]

"It look like."

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Should that say 'looks'?

 

[Mr Zoat]

Should that say 'looks'?

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No, it's a sort-of continuation of his previous sentence.

 

[Coda]

Damn, Pamela pulling through.

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This assumes that she's helping... if she's affected by Anti-Life, she might be part of the problem.

 

[Bud-E]

Just read the League reaction meeting to Paul killing Nabu and holy shit how did it take me so long to read this!? My only question is they keep talking about arresting Paul and Paul alone when he worked with several people Zatanna included. I know Paul was the mastermind behind the whole thing but Adom, Zatanna, and Constantine helped commit the crime, but then they would be arresting a 14-year-old girl who murdered her father's kidnapper which gets even more morally grey!

https://forums.sufficientvelocity.c...si-thread-twelve.25032/page-1971#post-8294767

 

[Assblaster5000]

I think it's worth noting that fungus aren't actually the mushrooms we see but the mycelial network in the ground, so destroying these elementals might not be accomplishing much if they only work as the fruiting bodies of the mycelia. Also that many types of fungi spores are fairly resistant to heat, so fire maybe shouldn't be doing as well as it is? I dunno', magic is weird and maybe it's only working because they think it should.

Oh, and the mushroom people being... not smart seems a bit off? Mycelial networks are massive, work largely the same way a brain does (if far more distributed and redundantly reinforced), and some of the most knowledgeable mycologists think there's at least a small chance that fungal colonies could be, like, people smart. That isn't backed by main-stream thought/study as far as I know, but these are literal magic mushrooms, so I'm not about to rule anything out.

 

[JeckJack]

I think it's worth noting that fungus aren't actually the mushrooms we see but the mycelial network in the ground, so destroying these elementals might not be accomplishing much if they only work as the fruiting bodies of the mycelia. Also that many types of fungi spores are fairly resistant to heat, so fire maybe shouldn't be doing as well as it is? I dunno', magic is weird and maybe it's only working because they think it should.

Oh, and the mushroom people being... not smart seems a bit off? Mycelial networks are massive, work largely the same way a brain does (if far more distributed and redundantly reinforced), and some of the most knowledgeable mycologists think there's at least a small chance that fungal colonies could be, like, people smart. That isn't backed by main-stream thought/study as far as I know, but these are literal magic mushrooms, so I'm not about to rule anything out.

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The DC concept of the Rot/the Gray has literally nothing to do with any kind of science, and absolutely everything to do with how humans interpret gross icky mold.

In reality, fungi have an intrinsically vital part to play in the life cycle and health of literally every plant on Earth. Mycelial networks help hold forests together and transfer nutrients and chemical information from one place to another, and without them those forests would be crippled. They break down dead matter into matter that can be used, and serve as food sources for countless plants and animals that also contribute to the health of a forest. There are some harmful fungi that will kill some plants, but that's also just a natural part of the circle of life, and beneficial to the forest as a whole.

If the Green/Gray, etc. paid any attention to how the real world worked, they'd be deeply interwoven and beloved entities to each other that couldn't survive without each other.

But because most people just see mushrooms growing out of dead or old things, and don't really understand what or how a plant lives under the ground, instead we have this weird utterly human-centric idea of the Rot as the natural nemesis of the Green because whatever author first came up with the concept just thought that mold was icky.

 

[Stsword]

But because most people just see mushrooms growing out of dead or old things, and don't really understand what or how a plant lives under the ground, instead we have this weird utterly human-centric idea of the Rot as the natural nemesis of the Green because whatever author first came up with the concept just thought that mold was icky.

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As I've already pointed out, the Rot and the Grey aren't the same thing in DC. Except for Earth-2 where the Grey claims dominion over decay and death.

And in point of fact the Black/Rot aren't innately enemies of the Green or Red- Anton Arcane is nuts. No more life means no more things dying. The Black/Rot never ever wants the Green and the Red to go away. Anton Arcane wanted to end all life cause he's a nutjob. The Black/Rot responded by choosing Abby Holland nee Arcane as the new Champion and imprisoning Anton where he couldn't hurt anything.

So the Champion of the Green and the Champion of the Rot snog and do other couple activities.

Abby as the Champion of the Rot/Black if anyone is interested.

Spoiler

 

[Prince Charon]

Just read the League reaction meeting to Paul killing Nabu and holy shit how did it take me so long to read this!? My only question is they keep talking about arresting Paul and Paul alone when he worked with several people Zatanna included. I know Paul was the mastermind behind the whole thing but Adom, Zatanna, and Constantine helped commit the crime, but then they would be arresting a 14-year-old girl who murdered her father's kidnapper which gets even more morally grey!

https://forums.sufficientvelocity.c...si-thread-twelve.25032/page-1971#post-8294767

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Paul was the ringleader, Constantine was IIRC missing at the time, for Zatanna you've already answered yourself, and arresting or threatening to arrest Adom at that point is a whole big kettle of worms.

 

[Mr Zoat]

31st December 2012
19:30 GMT -3

I shift the flamethrowers into a defensive position, setting up a wall of fire around giant Doctor Isley.

"Doctor Isley, can I help?"

"… Hard… To concentrate…"

The voice isn't exactly coming from her throat. That part of her plant body looks too rigid, but various outer parts making up a… Cloak? Of smaller branches and leaves. They're branches and leaves that give the impression of forming a cloak rather than a literal leaf-cloak, but there's enough structure there to form some sort of sound-making organ.

"What do you need?"

"… Can't…"

Alright. Form the mandala, picture the vital processes in terms of desires and-

Cross my fingers.

-go.

There's a sort of… Exhalation. Or it could just be air moving in an uncontrolled way through her leaves. Ah, okay, can I project her desires into this system? Should be.. possible, I can't see them at the moment but I remember what she looked like last time I saw her and I doubt that she's undergone a fundamental restructuring… Just don't be too precise. Just tease the basics into the right general direction-.

Her head tilts back slightly, her eyes unfocused.

"Aaaaaah."

I'm not sure whether that's a good 'ah' or a bad 'ah', but she doesn't look like she's in pain, and the spores are still failing to find purchase-.

"Paul."

I float up into her line of sight. "Doctor Isley. Earth's under attack by the Anti-Life. I'm here to help you defend Accalacan. What's happening with the Green?"

"I…" She ponderously shakes her head. "I can't maintain the connection well enough to fix it-!"

I raise my hands. "Slow down. From the beginning. Unless something's super-urgent, then go to that."

"Creatures of Grey. The despair of the Green itself called them here, the idea of constant failure and die-off, acid rain and deforestation."

"It's that easy?"

"The emotion was always there, ever since the first woodsman swung the first axe. But with this… Anti-life reverberating through the Green, it's overwhelming."

"Why are you a tree?"

"I'm not. I needed a plant form to come here. My meat body is still in Brasília. Euanthe is helping me."

"But I'm.. here. There was a seed-."

"I'm a human who can use Green magic. You're-. Whatever you are." She looks down towards where her 'hands' are clamped together. "I'm holding their entry point closed because I'm hoping there's some way to destroy the ones that are already here. I'm not strong enough to fix this."

"Alright, all I need to do is shut down the linking point? I should be able to do that. If not, the League's got a few wizards outside of the Anti-Life effect area. We can-."

"There's barely any Green left. We don't have time for the League's wizards to work it out from first principles!"

"Then let me-."

"If I let go, the Green starts merging with the Grey. More than it is right now."

"And that kills all plant life on Earth?"

"Everywhere not protected by a.. goddess, or something. Look, I've got a solution. It's not-. I'm not happy about it, but the world's dying and I can.. do this."

"Do what?"

"Swamp Thing used to be a man named Doctor Alexander Holland. I know you know how to recreate the bio-restorative formula that made him transform. If you-."

"No he didn't."

"What?"

"Alec Holland is dead. The Green created Swamp Thing's mind based on the state of Doctor Holland's mind when he died. It's a copy, not the original. That's why he's so mentally slow."

"So you do know how it works."

"I know how it worked. I don't know how to repeat it reliably. I also know that the Green has a strict 'one champion at a time' policy. So let's leave that until after we've tried other things."

"How does it work?"

"You burn to death."

"That's it?"

"It's probably a lot more complicated, but basically, yes. Burn to death surrounded by greenery, and if there's an opening then the Parliament of Trees might decide to create a Champion based on your template. But it isn't worth taking a chance on without absolute necessity and an assurance that they'll actually do it. Now: restoring the Green. If I burn the whole place, can it be restored?"

"Euanthe… She thinks so. That's why she remained outside: to maintain as much Green energy outside of this place as possible."

"Is that a 'yes'?"

"I don't know. We were desperate and just.. hoped we could make it work."

"I-."

Huh. The waves of fungoids have stopped attacking. I suppose that they're not mindless: when they saw no way to progress, there wasn't any reason for them to keep trying.

"If I burn the infestation out of a particular area, can you… Fortify it?"

"No, it's taking everything I have to keep this portal closed. I'm nothing like strong enough to do that as well. If you need to burn my actual body-"

"We're not there yet, Doctor."

Alright, scan the plants that started sprouting and… Make more. Connect them to the Green-.

"I see what you're trying to do, but that won't work. There's so… Little left that they-. It can't think."

"The Green isn't currently mentally complex enough to feel the Anti-Life."

"Even if you could repair the Green manually, the moment it was complex enough this would all start again."

"We've got a plan for that. We just need to clear out the fungoid infestation, then Doctor Mist can fortify the whole place. I just.. need…"

Huh. Looks like I've burned off most of the spores in the area. And their sources. That's good. I-.

"All Things Decay!"

 

[Silverias]

Call the Ophidian. Do it now. Do it NOW.

You're expressly the avatar of the Ophidian. If it could be anti-lifed, you could be anti-lifed. If you GET anti-lifed, it gets anti-lifed.


This is a situation where it hsouldn't even be a question. This is literally an apocalyptic event and OL, the DESIRE GUY, is hamstringing himself with a "Maybe" that has pretty solid evidence against it.

 

[Duke Long]

Aright. Form the mandala, picture the vital processes in terms of desires and-

Click to shrink...

'Alright'?

If I let go, the Green starts merging with the Gray. More than it is right now."

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She says 'Grey' earlier, so presumably one of those is wrong.

 

[Mr Zoat]

'Alright'?
She says 'Grey' earlier, so presumably one of those is wrong.

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

31st December 2012
19:30 GMT -3

I shift the flamethrowers into a defensive position, setting up a wall of fire around giant Doctor Isley.

"Doctor Isley, can I help?"

Click to shrink...

Let's hope she's not operating on a different timescale here. I mean, having plants possess a different perception of time's passing tends to be a thing in fiction, isn't it? Let's hope her viewpoint is still human enough to respond...

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"… Hard… To concentrate…"

The voice isn't exactly coming from her throat. That part of her plant body looks too rigid, but various outer parts making up a… Cloak? Of smaller branches and leaves. They're branches and leaves that give the impression of forming a cloak rather than a literal leaf-cloak, but there's enough structure there to form some sort of sound-making organ.

Click to shrink...

And the fact it sound like the wind rustling through leaves is just a happy coincidence, huh?

"What do you need?"

"… Can't…"

Aright. Form the mandala, picture the vital processes in terms of desires and-

Click to shrink...

Giving her psyche a bit of a kickstart, huh? Understandable. The Green isn't really built for human consciousness, Swamp Thing and other Avatars aside.

Cross my fingers.

-go.

Click to shrink...

And hope your DM rolls high on the hidden roll. Always an annoying thing for these kind of challenges.

There's a sort of… Exhalation. Or it could just be air moving in an uncontrolled way through her leaves. Ah, okay, can I project her desires into this system? Should be.. possible, I can't see them at the moment but I remember what she looked like last time I saw her and I doubt that she's undergone a fundamental restructuring… Just don't be too precise. Just tease the basics into the right general direction-.

Her head tilts back slightly, her eyes unfocused.

Click to shrink...

I hope you didn't poke the wrong kind of desire there, OL.

"Aaaaaah."

I'm not sure whether that's a good 'ah' or a bad 'ah', but she doesn't look like she's in pain, and the spores are still failing to find purchase-.

Click to shrink...

It could well have been the sexy kind of 'ah'. Any, uh, suspicious puddles forming around the avatar-tree?

"Paul."

I float up into her line of sight. "Doctor Isley. Earth's under attack by the Anti-Life. I'm here to help you defend Accalacan. What's happening with the Green?"

Click to shrink...

And how bad is it going to be if whatever's happening here goes badly?

"I…" She ponderously shakes her head. "I can't maintain the connection well enough to fix it-!"

I raise my hands. "Slow down. From the beginning. Unless something's super-urgent, then go to that."

Click to shrink...

Yeah, priorities. Let's not miss the tree for the forest...

"Creatures of Grey. The despair of the Green itself called them here, the idea of constant failure and die-off, acid rain and deforestation."

"It's that easy?"

Click to shrink...

Oof. Yeah, sounds about what people thought. Even the collective arcane consciousness of all plant-life on Earth can have bad days...

"The emotion was always there, ever since the first woodsman swung the first axe. But with this… Anti-life reverberating through the Green, it's overwhelming."

"Why are you a tree?"

Click to shrink...

And is it permanent? Because that isn't really working out so well for Swamp Thing in some respects.

"I'm not. I needed a plant form to come here. My meat body is still in Brasília. Euanthe is helping me."

"But I'm.. here. There was a seed-."

Click to shrink...

A magic seed. Not the first time you've gotten magically whammied into an altered state.

"I'm a human who can use Green magic. You're-. Whatever you are." She looks down towards where her 'hands' are clamped together. "I'm holding their entry point closed because I'm hoping there's some way to destroy the ones that are already here. I'm not strong enough to fix this."

"Alright, all I need to do is shut down the linking point? I should be able to do that. If not, the League's got a few wizards outside of the Anti-Life effect area. We can-."

Click to shrink...

Not strong enough alone, no... But with the right backup, perhaps...

"There's barely any Green left. We don't have time for the League's wizards to work it out from first principles!"

"Then let me-."

Click to shrink...

Well, that handily lets us know how the Parliament and Swamp Thing are doing, then: Poorly.

"If I let go, the Green starts merging with the Gray. More than it is right now."

"And that kills all plant life on Earth?"

Click to shrink...

Though it's understandable that this place would be the most likely to suffer an incursion. The logging...

"Everywhere not protected by a.. goddess, or something. Look, I've got a solution. It's not-. I'm not happy about it, but the world's dying and I can.. do this."

"Do what?"

Click to shrink...

...So, Gaea might be keeping Themyscira a little safer than with just John's spell alone... But even Titans can have their minds and moods altered...

"Swamp Thing used to be a man named Doctor Alexander Holland. I know you know how to recreate the bio-restorative formula that made him transform. If you-."

"No he didn't."

Click to shrink...

Yeah, turns out that was... Well, in-universe: the Green lied. Out of universe... I guess Alan Moore thought this would make for more drama?

"What?"

"Alec Holland is dead. The Green created Swamp Thing's mind based on the state of Doctor Holland's mind when he died. It's a copy, not the original. That's why he's so mentally slow."

Click to shrink...

Degradation, given, you know, he died slowly and painfully in fire and water...

"So you do know how it works."

"I know how it worked. I don't know how to repeat it reliably. I also know that the Green has a strict 'one champion at a time' policy. So let's leave that until after we've tried other things."

Click to shrink...

True. Anytime the Green has had more than one Avatar, things have gotten... Confused. And violent.

"How does it work?"

"You burn to death."

Click to shrink...

Yes, I can see why only the most focused or deranged would leap at that requirement.

"That's it?"

"It's probably a lot more complicated, but basically, yes. Burn to death surrounded by greenery, and if there's an opening then the Parliament of Trees might decide to create a Champion based on your template. But it isn't worth taking a chance on without absolute necessity and an assurance that they'll actually do it. Now: restoring the Green. If I burn the whole place, can it be restored?"

Click to shrink...

And, to be fair, that's only what he believes going off old 'Swamp Thing' comics. The real process might be entirely different. And I doubt the Parliament of Trees is coherent enough right now to ratify a promotion.

"Euanthe… She thinks so. That's why she remained outside: to maintain as much Green energy outside of this place as possible."

"Is that a 'yes'?"

Click to shrink...

I can't imagine it's been any easier for her in the real world...

"I don't know. We were desperate and just.. hoped we could make it work."

"I-."

Click to shrink...

To be fair, in a superhero universe, 'winging it' can work. Unfortunately, the power of Narrative is kind of skewed by the Anti-Life right now...

Huh. The waves of fungoids have stopped attacking. I suppose that they're not mindless: when they saw no way to progress, there wasn't any reason for them to keep trying.

"If I burn the infestation out of a particular area, can you… Fortify it?"

Click to shrink...

Keep to the original idea, eh? Slash and Burn, carving out the dead and decaying forcefully.

"No, it's taking everything I have to keep this portal closed. I'm nothing like strong enough to do that as well. If you need to burn my actual body-"

"We're not there yet, Doctor."

Click to shrink...

And hopefully never will be.

Alright, scan the plants that started sprouting and… Make more. Connect them to the Green-.

"I see what you're trying to do, but that won't work. There's so… Little left that they-. It can't think."

Click to shrink...

Things are that bad off, eh?

"The Green isn't currently mentally complex enough to feel the Anti-Life."

"Even if you could repair the Green manually, the moment it was complex enough this would all start again."

Click to shrink...

True. So it might end up having to be a delaying action until the Justice League can stop Mannheim. And meanwhile, OL has to cool his jets here...

"We've got a plan for that. We just need to clear out the fungoid infestation, then Doctor Mist can fortify the whole place. I just.. need…"

Huh. Looks like I've burned off most of the spores in the area. And their sources. That's good. I-.

"All Things Decay!"

Click to shrink...

Oh, crap. Here comes trouble.

Looks like this is going to keep OL tied down for a while, then. If Ivy gets overrun, there goes the Green. Try to reboot it, it gets whammied by Anti-Life again and out comes the Grey again. And there's no-one on the fungal side to negotiate with or intimidate into backing off. ...Or is there? There have been Avatars of the Grey before...

 

[Duke Long]

I like the idea of multiple apocalypses happening because the world is interlocking, with the obvious problem of humans being depressed and this with the Green dying. I wonder if there are similar problems in the Red at the moment. Does the Anti-life affect stupid organisms? Are animals all over the world depressed right now, or are they too stupid to be affected?

 

[mastermenthe]

I like the idea of multiple apocalypses happening because the world is interlocking, with the obvious problem of humans being depressed and this with the Green dying. I wonder if there are similar problems in the Red at the moment. Does the Anti-life affect stupid organisms? Are animals all over the world depressed right now, or are they too stupid to be affected?

Click to shrink...

Sort-of, anything too stupid to be affected by raw undirected anti-life gets a free pass... Unless there is a New God, or New God Technology, that is directing it, in which case being too stupid to be anti-lifed makes them administratively subject to the narrative manipulating aspect of New God powers/technology.

A rock tumbling down a hill can't be convinced to roll into someone deliberately just by exposure to anti-life, but the direct attention of a New God can use the anti-life exposure to dictate the narrative of the rock tumbling down with a sort of Gae Bolg effect, redefining it's current action of "tumbling down the hill" into "tumbling down the hill and into the skull of that person", which means that it can veer around willy-nilly like magic to aim at the persons skull until something changes the rocks conditions to make the narrative imbued no longer valid. Such as stopping the rock from tumbling, or removing the hill, or nullifying the existence of the person's skull, at which point the rock goes back to acting normally until newly reimbursed.

You see this directly with "antilife justifies their actions" making the bullets pierce their target: the narrative of the bullets is dictateable because anti-life is overwriting causality with its own narrative, but it's an active effort, an commitment of will into something that has no will of its own.

This is why the Justifiers are so useful: their will may be crushed utterly, but they still have a will of their own anyways, and that means they each act as independent sources of commitment to writing a new narrative into reality.

Honestly, it's almost identical to Exalted RPG, if you know what is meant by "committing essence motes" as supposed to "spending essence motes" to perform a charm.

 

[Windona]

Ah, a cascade effect. That is not good at all.

 

[Vaermina]

"Alec Holland is dead. The Green created Swamp Thing's mind based on the state of Doctor Holland's mind when he died. It's a copy, not the original. That's why he's so mentally slow."

Click to shrink...

This feels very made up by LePaul.

 

[Stsword]

This feels very made up by LePaul.

Click to shrink...

Wow you really aren't a Swamp Thing fan then.

This was revealed in Swamp Thing 21....in 1984.

Eventually culminating in the Vertigo series Swamp Thing, while Swampy was becoming a Planet Elemental, someone visited Heaven and had a talk with the spirit of Dr Holland. He ends up being reincarnated as a messianic figure, the next step in humanity's spiritual evolution. Constantine played one of his Wise Men. Constantine also nicked the gift he was supposed to give the reincarnated Alec.

The real Alec Holland being the next Swamp Thing in New Earth continuity, to become the new White Light Entity, was a plot point in Brightest Day...in 2011.

And post Flashpoint Alec Holland was Swamp Thing, and his predecessor was Swamp Thing that thought it was Alec Holland. Which was probably awkward at parties.

So that's three comic universes in which that Swamp Thing thought he was Alec Holland, although the real Alec Holland was his successor in two of them.

 

[DrThoth]

Hades and his family are black light-enlightened, that should help resist Anti-Life to some degree just like Dr. Mist's white light-enlightenment, right? Anti-Life isn't exactly Death, but it seems closely linked enough. Would be good to see the post-Zeus Olympian restructuring helping the world in the current crisis with divine protection and intervention.

Also where's the Spear of Destiny right now? Is that where Constantine was heading, by any chance?

 

[Mr Zoat]

Call the Ophidian. Do it now. Do it NOW.

You're expressly the avatar of the Ophidian. If it could be anti-lifed, you could be anti-lifed. If you GET anti-lifed, it gets anti-lifed.

This is a situation where it shouldn't even be a question. This is literally an apocalyptic event and OL, the DESIRE GUY, is hamstringing himself with a "Maybe" that has pretty solid evidence against it.

Click to shrink...

The issue there is that the Orange Lantern Corps are sort of using the Ophidian. Her presence in the OCPB gives them a small boost each in power and mental stability, both of which they need to fight the giant Reach fleet currently coming at them.

Hades and his family are black light-enlightened, that should help resist Anti-Life to some degree just like Dr. Mist's white light-enlightenment, right? Anti-Life isn't exactly Death, but it seems closely linked enough.

Click to shrink...

They're highly resistant to its widespread deployment, yes. There are ways for a sufficiently skilled Anti-Life user to use that against them.

Also where's the Spear of Destiny right now?

Click to shrink...

I.. think it's in Atlantis. Though I suspect that someone is going to correct me.

Is that where Constantine was heading, by any chance?

Click to shrink...

He's stuck on Reformation Island at the moment.

 

[Ngamer11]

I.. think it's in Atlantis. Though I suspect that someone is going to correct me.

Click to shrink...

Pretty sure that's right. Paul asked for it when he upgraded Hephaestus. Unless it was destroyed somehow in the process, it should've been given back to Atlantis afterwards to keep it safe.

 

[Ganurath]

"All Things Decay!"

Click to shrink...

All Things Strive, fucker. The Green might be reeling, but it has considerably more punch than Kilowag's gut flora.

 

[Someguy Somewhere]

All Things Strive, fucker. The Green might be reeling, but it has considerably more punch than Kilowag's gut flora.

Click to shrink...

See, that's the thing to worry about.

Whomever said that might be one of the stolen clones, purposely misquoting 'All Things Strive'. Who wants to bet we get a anti life lantern paul with a goatee of evil? It's not like darkseid hasn't had a collection of lanterns and rings from fallen greenies laying around.

 

[Sockmonkey]

See, that's the thing to worry about.

Whomever said that might be one of the stolen clones, purposely misquoting 'All Things Strive'. Who wants to bet we get a anti life lantern paul with a goatee of evil? It's not like darkseid hasn't had a collection of lanterns and rings from fallen greenies laying around.

Click to shrink...

Could be. Without a previous soul of it's own it could have a soul made of anti-life made by feeding it into the tattoos.

 

[Mr Zoat]

31st December 2012
19:33 GMT -3

"EEYAGH!"

The construct hoses of my flamethrowers sprout holes, fuel spraying in all directions before igniting in an uncontrolled wall of flame! I shut it down at once, sending the fuel into subspace as the tank construct similarly decays and fades.

And then I cough as my chest starts decaying in the same way.

"Buh-grugh."

Rep-repair that. And I'm guessing that the armour-. Yep, yep, repair and replace. In fact-.

By the power of seniphobia, I reject decay!

Owf, that's better! There's a extra layer to my environmental shield now as I channel my poor mental health into a useful output. For a moment I'm reminded of the clicker burrow-guards and really hope that Dox doesn't try inducing that sort of thing to see if the result is a net gain in performance.

Or that if he does, he does it in people who aren't him.

"Isley?"

She's… She doesn't look good. Bark's decaying in several places and her regeneration isn't able to keep up. Looks like she's concentrating on maintaining her hands and arms to ensure that the portal stays blocked, but if I remember the technique she's using correctly then she's feeling like she's got Ebola right now.

I strobe out solid beams of orange light, trying to hit or feel whatever just did that-.

"Gary, what was that?"

"All of us."

The concentration of spores is increasing, so I counter by spraying out small quantities of fuel and igniting it.

"Expand."

"We exist in continuity with our nature and one another. We are one, we are all."

Ah… Parse that…

"You're part of a gestalt. Not just an energy, there's a higher order mind there."

"There can be."

I see… Not a movement in the spore cloud, but a movement of it. As if some sort of wind that I can't feel had blown through it.

"Does it have a name?"

"No."

Tracking wind… Movement? Density of cloud-.

My constructs abrade and decay into nothing.

"All Is Rot!"

Shieldsallaroundlinkedtomytattoos!

Conks made of black light appear on my shields, the energy-.

Dump, dump the construct, I do not want that inside me.

Compliance.

The construct starts to fail, only for black stands mimicking its outline to remain in place-. Railgun, crumbler, shoot them out!

The crumbler detonates early as the spore cloud eats through-.

This is the natural outcome of building anything: it falls apart and is picked over by people who could never imagine its glory. The universe is inhabited by children smashing stained glass windows because they love to hear the sound of shattering-.

Through it!

Plasmaplasmashoot a hole through and then crumbler again!

Haah. Haah.

Okay, I…

That was disturbing.

"Isley, I'm going to try and draw it away."

The leaves and other fripperies are gone, the bark looks like it falling off completely would be a mercy and I can see parts of the interior wood decaying.

"Aah-hhhngrgh."

"Hang in there."

I generate a large construct replica of myself, which starts falling apart almost immediately. I try releasing fuel and setting fire to the outer edge, and that… Works a little.

"Over here!"

And fly up and away from the things I can't see and that I'm not sure I can hurt. Okay, physical attacks are just getting destroyed by the spores and there's nothing behind them to hit anyway. I didn't think to ask Queen Hyathis how to use magic to affect fungoids, which is something I should… Fix. That leaves assimilation, but I don't really see anything to assimilate.

I could… Try assimilating it via the spore clouds? I should be able to eat them faster than they eat-

A piece of rotting wood hits the back of my armour. It bounces off and then… Moves around me and continues on its way.

-me.

And another and another until I'm forced to put a burning shield in the way as a hail of rotting wood slams into me! It's not-. I don't think it's being thrown as a projectile, and the burning-. I can see where they're going through the murk as the broken pieces continue on their way. I can see-.

See.

See the outline of a six-eyed cancerous head, and the hulking mass of a body whose shape I can't fully make out. Then the fires are quashed and I can't see it any longer and that's not reassuring.

"Hello, giant rot creature. I'm the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. Can we talk about this?"

"You will be consumed. All Exists To Feed Us."

"That's not-."

A hurricane of spores roars past and around me! I try dumping extra fuel out but it's even feeding on the fire! Giant construct me is gone and I'm frantically replacing the shield and burnable fuel as the spores decay through them!

"And what then?!"

"There is nothing else."

That.. sounds familia-.

Warning: low power. Twenty percent remaining.

Marvellous.

"Okay, but did you feel like that-"

"Feed the Grey."

"-yesterday?"

 

[Darko]

And I'm guess that the

Click to shrink...

"guessing"