[Archive] With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Story Only)

[Mr Zoat]

28th September 2013
13:57 GMT -5

We look up at the crystal tower glinting in the sunlight, sitting in a grove of trees next to some sort of engineering workshop.

Lonnie blinks first. "That shouldn't be there."

Timothy looks at him, smiling faintly. "Are you sure? You didn't buy some beans from a mysterious travelling merchant-."

Lonnie shakes his masked head vigorously. "I admit, I was designing a machine to free people from their preconceptions-"

I raise my eyebrows. "Cool story, still mind control."

"-but it wasn't anything like finished, and it wasn't a giant crystal. I was making the projector array out of old satellite dishes. If I understand what Hunter did correctly, that should be some sort of cartoon version of… A pile of junk."

I nod. "What was your colleague's name?"

"Noel Mann."

Ring?

…

Right. Ring?

'Noel Mann' is not a known pseudonym of anyone on file.

"Can you give me a description?"

"Tall, muscular, pale skin… He has a strong jaw and purple hair."

"Dyed?"

"I didn't check. The color of his hair wasn't an important factor at the time."

Ring?

Not found.

"And he didn't give you any idea of why he was working on this technology?"

"He said that he wanted to learn how the Anti-Life transmitters worked, because he wanted to learn how to shield people. It seemed as good a reason as any. But… I didn't try to persuade him to talk more about it. Whatever his reasons were, it was enough that he was working with me on the project."

"For future reference, be a bit more careful with the mind control machine."

His golden face turns to me, frowning. "This could all be a result of Hunter's spell." He strides forwards towards the crystal tower. "I'm going to speak with him directly."

"Pots."

Lonnie jerks to a halt and Zatanna steps forwards.

"Don't be ridiculous. Even if 'Noel Mann' was honestly just trying to help -which I don't believe for a moment- this place is dangerous."

"Release me."

She widens her eyes slightly. "Oh, you don't like being controlled? Imagine that."

From the way that his eyes dip I see that he gets the point.

"Esaeler."

He tenses and relaxes his muscles, but doesn't advance again. But if he's not doing that, then the rest of us need to come up with an actual plan. Which would be easier if…

"I don't suppose you can call Yap over here, can you?"

"I can't see him. He should recognise my voice and my smell, but my dog isn't a giant dog made of crystal. I don't know how he's been changed."

"That wasn't me." Timothy shakes his head. "What I did shouldn't have affected a dog like that."

Zatanna sighs. "Hunter, you can't know that. We didn't know what Anarky was doing, and we have no idea how your… What you did to create your other half interacts with Anarky's crystals.

Hm. "Zatanna, what's the chance that shooting the crystal tower with a sonic cannon would be a problem?"

"Given that we haven't seen any people yet? Quite a lot, because if they're inside there we don't know that they can't be crushed to death or impaled by crystal shards."

Toyman pulls a pair of goggles over his eyes. "I can't see inside the crystal."

Scan. "I can't scan through it."

"S'ohw edisni." Zatanna sighs. "Me neither."

Magnify.

I narrow my eyes at I study the outer walls. "I can't see any windows, or any sign of a remote viewing spell. Zatanna?

"Si enoyna gnihctaw su?" She looks around, then shakes her head. "If he's here, he's not watching us." She shrugs helplessly. "If the spell worked properly."

I nod. "So, we can enter the tower undetected..?" She nods slowly. "And once we see what's inside, we can see about confronting Mister Mann."

"I can help." Hiro reaches into his satchel and pulls out… Some sort of optic camouflage material. "This will hide us from detection and muffle sound. It will not stop magic-."

Timothy grins. "Is that a Cloak of Invisibility?"

"No." Hiro frowns. "It will not helps if someone uses magic to detect us. It just projects a picture over us. I have not tried to build a phase shifter yet."

I nod. "I have, but it's in my other armour. Alright, under the sheet, everyone."

Hiro passes me an edge, and as the tallest person in the group I take the centre position as everyone clusters up. Unfurl it, pass that bit to Zatanna… Lonnie takes the lead. Looking out, it causes roughly the same visual distortion that the Cloak of Invisibility caused in the Harry Potter films. Abra uses something similar… But Hiro made this himself using 21st century parts and equipment.

Maybe I should introduce them to each other? Or is that not a good-?

Focus.

We start shuffling towards the tower. Slowly. There isn't much room, our legs are different lengths and the ground is uneven. I'm a little worried, but while we've got time…

"Anarky-."

"I'm not going to assume that Noel has done something wrong until I've seen it for myself."

"Alright, but that's not what I was going to ask. You haven't seen Bobo, have you?"

"Bobo?"

"When Mister Tetch attacked KordTech, Bobo vanished. Now, he's an intelligent being, he wasn't a prisoner, so if he chose to go somewhere else, that's up to him. But he's an elderly chimpanzee who's only had human-equivalent intelligence for a few years, and I'm concerned about him. Naturally, if he was forced to leave-."

"He wasn't. He's been helping us."

"Alright. Do you have a veterinarian with experience working on primates?"

"He's been managing his pain with marijuana."

I grimace. "Do you know what happens to chimpanzees who smoke marijuana?"

"Yes. But I don't think I have the right to tell him…" He steps over a rock as we approach the entrance to the crystal tower. "Alright. I will try to find someone who can help him with his condition without using drugs with side effects."

"And please let him know that I asked. I know he feels pretty isolated being surrounded by humans…"

"I will."

And then we enter the tower.

 

[Mr Zoat]

28th September 2013
14:02 GMT -5

The interior walls are blocks of crystal, and each of them has a person embedded inside it. I… Can't see their desires without actively using my ring, and… That isn't my first recourse. They're not being injured-.

Hiro pulls out a raygun-.

Zatanna puts her right hand on it, shaking her head as he looks up with a frown. "Don't shatter the crystals until we know how they're trapped."

"I can precisely bore through the crystal without shattering the entire slab."

"We don't know that they're literally physically trapped inside. We might be seeing an image while the crystal holds their essence."

Hiro frowns, but holsters his pistol.

Timothy is staring at everything. "I can-. I think I can feel some of them."

My eyes are drawn to the inky blackness of half of his body, with is… Not writhing quite as much as it did when we first encountered Lonnie, but it's definitely moving.

Lonnie is… Staring at one of the people-. "Wait, is that Jervis Tetch?"

"Yes."

"He looks better."

"Now that he's out of Arkham, he's eating healthier food and getting exercise and sunlight."

"I think you're skipping a bit. Arkham didn't make him dress up like-."

"Yes, the fact that he's not mad anymore certainly helps too."

I nod. "Hopefully the life broadcast also did something for his victims. Everyone ready to move on?" Nods all around. "Anarky, any idea where we're going?"

"I didn't build a tower, and I can't see any pattern to how the people are being displayed."

"Let's see if we can find a way up, then."

The short corridor open out into a.. larger room, though the site lines are blocked by rectangular crystal columns extending upwards to the ceiling. People are trapped inside those, as well.

"I can't see a staircase." Lonnie raises his club. "This has a grappling hook."

I nod. "My armour's flight system works."

Zatanna nods too. "I can cast a spell to let me fly."

Timothy nods. "I can cast a spell to let me swim through the crystal."

Hiro pulls a pouch out of his satchel. "I have a very bouncy gel. If I coat the bottom of my shoes-."

I shake my head. "I can carry you up. But we still need to find an opening."

Zatanna looks around. "Let's try… Going forwards. And Hunter? Offering to try swimming though crystal that we know for a fact is designed to trap people wasn't a better idea than trying to reach the second floor using bouncy shoes."

"Oh… Yes."

Huh. That might be useful. "Look out for the other half of Hunter, or Yap."

Lonnie frowns at me as we advance. "Were we not doing that before?"

I exhale, squeezing my eyes shut. "I just had my mind altered by magic. I'm not firing on all cylinders."

Hiro shakes his head. "I was looking for Noel Mann."

I sag slightly. "Thank you, Toyman."

"Should I not be looking for-?"

"Thank you, Toyman."

He looks at Zatanna, who giggles quietly. He blinks, then apparently decides to ignore it.

We proceed towards what I think is the centre of the structure, pillars forming a circle around an empty space. There's a decoration on the floor inscribed in the crystal. Some parts of it are similar to magic circles I know, but it's not in the Atlantean style and I can't.. work out what it's supposed to do. The fact that I can't feel the energies and intent any more isn't.. helping matters.

Zatanna raises her eyebrows at me, and all I can do is shrug. As we slowly walk a circle around the design, she and Timothy stare at it, trying to piece it together.

I turn to Lonnie. "Any ideas?"

He stares blankly at the shapes, and then shakes his head. "It should mean something to me… And if I understand the magic right, even if I didn't understand exactly what it did then I should be able to intuit it due to its creation being a part of what I am. Instead… Nothing. I don't know. It's as if a portion of me has been… Ripped out. Because it most likely has."

"Yeah." I nod. "That seems likely. I don't think you've got a face under that mask."

"Then-." He looks around at the people imprisoned in the pillars, presumably searching for his own face.

"I didn't see you, and I was looking."

"This is.. nonsense." Zatanna's glaring at the design on the floor. "It shouldn't do anything."

"Um." Timothy frowns thoughtfully. "I don't think it's meant to do something. I think it's meant to be something."

"Hm?" Zatanna blinks, looking at it again. "If that's true, then… Tahw od uoy tneserper?"

The room twists, the diagram growing and flowing into a pit opening up in the centre of the room! I activate my armour's flight system, only for the distance to become arbitrarily large so I'm basically just flying in place! It's not so much that we're being pulled it as the… Room is restructuring itself.

"Tcetorp su!"

I nod respectfully at Zatanna as the room 'above' us pulls away and the floor snaps back in its new configuration. Our surroundings are still crystalline, but now it primarily a dull blue rather than pale grey. No more pillars, but smaller crystals float in the air above us. No circle, but the design on the floor extends to the distant walls of the room.

And the invisibility cloak is… Someone. I can't see it.

"Ah. There you are."

And standing amongst a series of crystal outcrops is… A beefy man with short purple hair. Strong jaw, heavy brow, touching the crystal spines with care and deliberation.

Lonnie reacts first, walking purposively towards him. "Noel. What are you doing?"

"Furthering our work. I wasn't expecting to get an opportunity like this so soon."

"This isn't why we developed this system!"

"No?" Noel stops and looks directly.. at him. There's something wrong with his expression, but I can't… Work out what it is. "How would you know? You're not even Lonnie, not at the moment."

He reaches up with his right hand and one of the floating crystals drops into it. He smiles as he holds it out-.

And I can just about make out Lonnie's face inside it.

Screaming.

 

[Mr Zoat]

28th September 2013
14:06 GMT -5

I clench my fists, but L-. but Anarky himself appears to be responding in a more contemplative manner. He puts his right forefinger to his chin and taps it twice.

"I feel that you have me at a disadvantage. Who are you, really?"

Mr. Mann tosses the Lonnie crystal back into the air -and I track its location just in case- before smiling.

"Who am I?" He shrugs, a motion mostly of his neck rather than his shoulders. "Am I who I was in my youth? Should I tell you the name people called me back then, a name I haven't use-."

"You haven't used it in thousands of years." Zatanna's eyes narrow. "You're a Neanderthal, like Vandal Savage."

"Vandal Savage. Not Vandar Adg of the Blood Tribe?"

"Did you know him? Were you part of his tribe?"

He frowns. "No, of course not." Zatanna calms slightly. "Neanderthals existed for four hundred thousand years across Europe and half of Asia. I doubt that we would even have been alive at the same time if it wasn't for our changes."

Anarky inclines his head slightly. "I am still waiting to hear your name."

"My original name was something like 'Gur'. But…" He shakes his head. "When I found that I was changing, that I understood ideas that the other members of my tribe could not, then I chose a new name for myself."

"Which was?"

He stares blankly into the distance for a moment. "We had so few words back then. There were so few things that I understood that we could discuss out loud. I wanted something that explains what I had became, and the best I could do… Kum Am. Kum; to think, to understand, to have knowledge or a situation or place. Am; to exist, to be. In English it would be something like 'Know Man'."

I groan quietly. "So your name is a pun that only two people in the world would understand."

"Perhaps. Professor Michaël Peyrot of Leiden University might understand. He's an expert in Proto-Indo-European languages. I think he would work it out. And now you all do as well. And as I implied, Vandal Savage and I came from different times and places. Not all grunt-patterns were the same."

Anarky nods. "A joke that only you would understand. That speaks of profound social isolation."

"But of course. I invented construction engineering while my peers struggled with simple group tactics when hunting. That isn't a lifestyle which lends itself to fellowship."

"And now you surround yourself with bits and pieces of other people."

"The useful parts. Or the useless parts. You were using the technology for that yourself."

"What did I lose?"

"Humanity." Ah "Don't worry: after a while you'll forget why you missed it."

Anarky's mask frowns. "I don't feel any different."

"What does your mother's face look like?"

"It-." The mask blinks. "She-."

"You see? Don't worry: I don't remember my mother's face either. You didn't mention your family once to me while we were working together. Were you already using the crystals to remove the distractions from your soul?"

"I..." Anarky tilts his head to the side. "Wouldn't remember, would I?"

"Such a simple concept." He calls down another crystal. "I wonder if the Apokoliptians ever considered using the technology like this?"

I nod. "Yes. That's how they beat the Green Lantern Corps."

"More Anti-Life projection?"

"Fear." I got curious, and Canis was happy to boast about it. "They forced them to feel the fear of the Lowlies, thousands of years of it, dumped on a few hundred Lanterns."

"I see. But wouldn't the Lowlies have lost their fear as a result?"

"They just gave them new ones. Look, fascinating as I'm sure this technology is, we are going to need you to turn everything off and give everyone their stuff back."

Zatanna nods. "And explain why you mind controlled those people in Hub City."

I blink. That had actually slipped my mind. Not forgotten, but shelved as irrelevant and unimportant.

Anarky turns his head towards-. Really?

"That was a group effort. We were concerned that you were implanting people with genomorphs for sinister purposes."

"Making people healthier is sinister?"

"Implanting living creatures into their body to regulate their body chemistry, creatures which have a telepathic hive mind network and are allied to you, seems extremely sinister."

"You could just have gotten one yourself, or asked for a volunteer."

"We couldn't take the risk that the symbiote would read the host's mind."

"That's the sort of reasoning I'd expect from Tetch, but not from you. What happened to-?"

"I-."

"No, don't answer that. Answer it once you're a single person again. You don't even know that what you're saying is true."

"You're right. It does seem… At odds with what I think I believe that I would use people like that."

"Right, so where were we?" I draw my sidearm. "Noel Mann, Know Man, Gur, Kum Am, whatever you're calling yourself. You're under arrest."

He shakes his head. "Orange Lantern. Illustres. Paul. Whatever you're calling yourself. You are standing inside a crystal that lets me pull traits off people and make them part of myself."

"My gun isn't a person."

"Dleihs su morf sih rewop!"

He sneers at Zatanna as nothing happens, then reaches out with his right hand as two crystals descend towards him. "On. T'nod."

We shimmer purple for a moment, Zatanna's eyes widening. I-.

One of his crystals shimmers orange, and my rings fly from my fingers!

"Ah." Know Man blinks, staring around the room with new eyes. "This is how you feel? I suppose it explains a few things."

No.

"Used to feel, I should say. How does it feel to know that there is nothing about you that cannot be taken away? Llet em."

"Really, really bad. Last time something like this happened was just after I got resurrected, and I was too out of it to really be aware of what was happening. I'm in a situation that's out of my control without my best tools."

"And what will you do next, I wonder?"

"Keep your attention while Hunter does his thing."

"What?"

Above us, crouched on Toyman's drone, Timothy plunges his black hand into the crystal with his face in it!