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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. dogbertcarroll

    dogbertcarroll Random lurker

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    I'm thinking the Master had a backup plan where if one of the Horror dials got close enough it would switch places with the H dial, impersonating it and self destructing to cover its tracks. Magic can do great but confusing things!
     
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  2. Stsword

    Stsword Versed in the lewd.

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    The Wizard made dials with the letter H, E, R, and O on them to prevent things like splitting in two or dialing villain. Hence Chris's dial only having those four letters on it.

    The dial that exploded dialed MASTER, utilizing letters that aren't H, E, R, and O.
     
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  3. The Restless One

    The Restless One Your first time is always over so quickly, isn't it?

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    ...am I the only one who caught the scumble reference, or was that just my imagination?
     
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  4. OrigamiPhoenix

    OrigamiPhoenix Getting sticky.

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    It's so easy to forget that the everyman can have more common sense than the average cape/cowl.

    After being exposed to the dozenth mysterious device of the year, you sorta just don't know what to expect anymore.
     
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  5. Threadmarks: Z-E-R-O (part 23)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    2nd January
    20:15 GMT -5


    Y.

    The man moves his hands away immediately, then takes a couple of paces back just to make sure. The runes inscribed on the plinth shimmer faintly for a second, the brown mist rapidly eating through the sympathetic link generating segment, but…

    The broken dial vanishes, and the intact one appears.

    "Ha!" He grins, his head tilting back. "Hoo! And here we are!"

    Here. H-ear. Hey-yah. Not hur.

    Uh, really? He knew that occasional bursts of free association would be a problem with his neural augmentations, but flashing back to his early elocution lessons really isn't that big a deal.

    Deal, not dilly or daal.

    And hey (not hee), at least the language teacher had spotted the structural similarities quick enough (not enoo) that they didn't try teaching him English (not Engsh) as a new language.

    "This is the device?"

    Circe doesn't sound all that impressed, a pale purple layer of protective magic covering her as she steps towards it. He doesn't feel like he needs to chase her off his -and it is his- device. No, the wire-. No, line he fed her about losing all other powers when the dial is active will do that. Might even be true. And it's not like he has a problem with other people using it. Using it's fine. It's not using it that pisses him off.

    He nods, peeling the gloves made from Robbie Reed's skin off as he does so. Cloned skin, obviously. Getting access to a potentially insane supervillain in a secure mental institution was possible but frankly far too obvious for something like this.

    "Uh-huh."

    "Such a…" She frowns as she picks it up. "Small device."

    "So are power rings. Souls don't weigh all that much, either."

    Not eith nor eez.

    And wow wow that's a lot of penis jokes he just didn't make. Why had he spent all that time studying memes again?

    Oh right. Boredom.

    "And it can grant you any boon?"

    "In theory. In actual fact, if you don't want a blunt instrument it's kinda hit-in-miss." No, no. He shrugs. "Hit-and-miss, hit-or-miss. You don't always get quite what cha' want."

    She peers closer, the device shimmering faintly once more. Probably doing some sort of magic probe thing. He'd read up a whole lot on magic since his arrival, but… Ancient magic users like Circe didn't seem to operate within the usual limitations.

    "Where did it come from?"

    He throws his hands up in the air. "Pfffffff!"

    A minor glare, hostility without effort. "Don't be a dullard, Nylor."

    "I don't know." Not ownt. Not nuh. "My guess was that the Reach put a whole lotta metahuman genetic samples in there and pressed 'blend'. But that doesn't explain the robots."

    Though given the madness generally associated with metahuman physiology, who was he to say that there couldn't be someone who spontaneously turned parts of themselves into mechanisms? Cybernetics, yes, power armour, certainly, integrated nanotechnology and flash-fabrication, sure. But flat out turning bits of themselves into machinery? No one immediately sprang to mind, but he'd be the first to admit that his records were decidedly incomplete.

    "My magics can't detect any human tissue." She sets the H-Dial back on its plinth. "Though there are of course ways to shield such things from sorcery. And it would be such a waste to dis-."

    No. "No." No. He picks it off the plinth with his left hand and gently strokes it with his right, careful not to actually turn the dial. "No."

    "-assemble it." She actually smiles at his behaviour, a surprisingly genuine gesture that is still a rarity after he lured her away from her comfortable isolation.

    "You want a dial, you can get one of the ones someone else uses."

    Orange Lantern getting those two fascinatingly named 'Horror Dials' was… Nugh. At least he'd either use them or study them. Not as good as them coming here, but… A decent second place. But… Frustrating. Tracking down the few surviving Master-created supervillains had yielded… Interesting genetic samples, but…

    Even with modern techniques. Even if the manumitted genomorphs were willing to mentally program a new generation of clones. Which they weren't. But even if they were… Faking years of life was hard. The truth would probably drive them to rebel, and… Denying them the mental flexibility they needed to do that would make them as useless as the Master's originals. Metahuman cloning was too expensive to be used for disposable weapons. Genetic editing of existing adults was a possibility, but not… Reliable. Get someone with the skills and loyalty required, and… Well, few people stayed loyal after being turned into monsters.

    But a dial. A dial that could be turned off. And on. If someone got turned into a monster, who cares? Just turn the dial again, no more problem. And a little cloned skin resulted in remote activation and deactivation-.

    Hm.

    "You broke the link, right?"

    Circe nods. "Entirely."

    He doesn't put a glove back on, but wraps part of it around his right forefinger before dialling. Y-R-E-T-S-A-M. Reed, he actually respected. Kinda. The man-. The boy had used the dial to do a lot of good. Kept a lot of idiots from destroying valuable infrastructure. And he went crazy before he could realise that the cleverest thing he could do would be to study the dial, so he got a pass there.

    Almost.

    "I'm not convinced that I could not replicate the Dial's transformation effects with magic."

    He didn't smile. Circe didn't tolerate men making jests at her expense. "Can you travel through time?"

    Circe's gaze hardens, but she appears willing to take the question at face value. "A little, with difficulty. I accept that in that one regard the powers of the Dial's maker outstripped mine. Though of course I would not burn to a cinder by doing it."

    "That was kinda my fault. Gotta a.. bunch a'… Not so great powers. Rigged the odds. Worked, but…"

    "Is it completely random?"

    "Maybe? Like I said, you get something useful. But, could be random."

    "So it is less useful than my magic."

    "Circe, if I could get you-in-a-box, if I could give someone magic like you? My first choice. This…" He holds up the dial. Not… Exactly as he remembers it, but a lot has happened. "You gotta admit, it beats your beastmen."

    "I could beat my beastmen, if I had cause to. I simply haven't had a requirement for more than they can offer." She regards the dial curiously for a moment. "Do you intend to keep it for yourself?"

    "Yah-huh." Close enough. "I wanna study it using decent equipment. An' I got a whole bunch a' volunteers."

    Superpowered private security might be a grey area, legally speaking, but it was a highly profitable one. And asking security-vetted people to raise their hands if they're interested was far safer than grabbing people off the streets or something dumb like that.

    "Not planning to use it yourself?"

    "Please." He scoffs, with face and voice. "This hasn't ever been about me."

    "Well said." The third member of their gathering suddenly comes to life, his blank gaze becoming piercing. "To paraphrase what a very wise man once said, ask not what your world can do for you, but ask what you can do for your world." Then he smiles, recruitment-poster-come-to-life inhumanity becoming notably more human. "But if you can get rich at the same time, then why not?"
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2020
  6. Queshire

    Queshire Not too sore, are you?

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    ah hah. Answers.
     
  7. Sceptic

    Sceptic Critical Irrationalist

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    Ah ha. Questions.
     
  8. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    Paul got plaaaayed.

    I mean... This guys plan is still doomed since we know the Dial ends up getting sent back in time due to it existing. But at least it's going to be a fun ride now.
     
  9. w34v3r

    w34v3r Versed in the lewd.

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    ... Ok guys, refresh my memory, please, what the hell happened to Truggs?
     
  10. Grimnar

    Grimnar Versed in the lewd.

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    Is this a motherfucking interlude chapter? When was the last time that happened in the main story? :confused:

    *Snickers*
     
  11. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    The runes inscribed on the plinth shimmer faintly for a second...

    Guessing that 'daal' is intentional, as are most of the random syllables..

    "...MY Precious..."

    And a little cloned skin resulted in remote activation and deactivation-.

    Kept a lot of idiots from destroying valuable infrastructure.
    (Not sure here...)

    ...was far safer than grabbing people off the streets or something dumb like that.

    ...Oh dear... Well, that was a denouement worthy of the original series. The Light have the Dial, leaving behind its own future counterpart, burnt out by Truggs' sojourn through time. They plan to study it, use it to manufacture super-soldiers and Zoat-only-knows what else. The most concerning part is who that was at the end...
     
    Last edited: Sep 19, 2019
  12. greynoise

    greynoise Your first time is always over so quickly, isn't it?

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    Maybe this is somehow related to Time Trapper Paul. That might be a higher level of time fuckery than the dial's.

    I mean, it's not likely, but it is possible.
     
  13. Shadow Archon

    Shadow Archon Protoss Preserver

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    Uncle Sam joined the light?
     
  14. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    More likely it's Boss Smiley in disguise, or worse, Glorious Godfrey of Apokalips...
     
  15. Brian_Fiction

    Brian_Fiction Terribly Lost

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    I thought it was Smiley?
    Edit: Ah, ninja'd.
    or is there a QQ equivalent?
     
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  16. moralrelativity

    moralrelativity Recovering pendant.

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    Luthor?
     
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  17. moralrelativity

    moralrelativity Recovering pendant.

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    I don't remember an update quite like this one. Have we _ever_ had an update with absolutely no POV from a version of Paul?
     
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  18. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Besides the alternate universes, there was that Rocket Red interlude much earlier...
     
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2019
  19. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    It's more that Truggs knew about Littleville and was keeping an eye on it.
    Do you? That was the origin in H-E-R-O, but that dial only had four letters. And no actual dial.
    Elsewhen, technically.
    Thank you, corrected.
     
  20. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    Actually since The Light's planning on fighting Apocalypse it might be Uncle Sam.
     
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  21. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Eh... I... Wouldn't rely on their series 3 aim being true in this story.
     
  22. Mquz

    Mquz Versed in the lewd.

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    Either a.: future/ time master Paul is spying on them, or b.: Nylor Truggs is an alternate version of Paul.
     
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  23. Chaoswind

    Chaoswind Lord of nonsense

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    Called it. Nylor got the dial.

    Paul got played, as I expected.


    Yes, Red Rocket had a solo POV update too, and I think there was one more before that, they are extremely rare, but they have happened.
     
  24. RichardWhereat

    RichardWhereat Aia airëa Fëanáro.

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    The Light might be planning on fighting Apokalyps, but that doesn't mean they're not being spied on in turn.
     
  25. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    Actually it had a dial, it was around the edge of the device, and there were 8 spots for dialed letters to appear on the face of the device itself.


    Given they would have to be utter idiots not too.

    I would be supremely disappointed in you as a writer if that wasn't at least something on The Lights docket.
     
  26. Ganurath

    Ganurath Apologizes For Nothing

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    Good, because that scheme with the ice fortresses makes even less sense now than it did then.
     
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  27. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    The letters around the side appear to be part of the main unit, and while there were other raised areas on the front they were blank.
    Alright, don't assume that it happened exactly like that.
     
  28. BR549

    BR549 This is filth! FILTH!!

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    If so, it would be a hilarious connection to the way Paul dealt with Ambush Bug, since Nylor Truggs is a canon DC comics character.
     
  29. Chaoswind

    Chaoswind Lord of nonsense

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    Vaermina is just being himself, don't pay any mind to his delusions, engaging with him can be fruitful sometimes while other times is just a pointless endeavor.
     
  30. Tasoli

    Tasoli Keyboard Warrior

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    They do. You have to be a member to see it but they have a work by author section that is pretty cool.
     
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