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

17th February 2013
18:25 GMT

Which put me in the exact line of sight of one of the power armour suits holding back from the brawl with Kon and M'gann. I jump off the arm holding me and duck down behind my armour's bulk as the flechettes plink off its chest. They can't penetrate fully whole-.

My armour shudders as a flechette hits the rent torn in the chest by the obsidian spike, punching through my repair construct and causing blood to leak for a moment before I patch it.

But they couldn't penetrate the metal with their flechettes.

Two are hanging back. One has its head and upper body wrecked, and is leaking blood. Not a lot. But the armour is clearly losing integrity. The other is down a right arm, and is using its left to support itself against the rock. Damaged legs? The two that have closed the distance with Kon and M'gann are fighting carefully, firing individual flechettes and planting their feet on the shrinking patches of normal rock before taking a swing. My team mates are more agile, using the power armours' bulk to shield themselves.

These are the only pursuers. If we destroy them, then it doesn't exactly matter how angry the mountain gets, because we can take our time. Assuming that Robert has the sense to keep his head down until we can reach him.

Robert who -and I think this as a friend- has a significant chip on his shoulder about not getting better training and more fieldwork up until I got involved, and certainly isn't just going to wait without an excellent reason-. I can't provoke the mountain.

I push the desire to leap at the second fire support armour into my armour, and grip on tightly as we're airborne again. And a desire to punch-.

The armour we're aiming at spots us coming in and tries to move, but its right leg can't react properly, trembling as it tries to support the acceleration. It still manages to back up a pace which means that we miss the arm we were aiming for, but we land almost chest-to-chest-.

I dart up and forwards and slash its neck with my knife, ducking back-. Ducking back to avoid most of the blood spray.

Shield us.

As our target loses a lot of its strength, my armour picks it up under the arms and turns, using it as a barrier against the armour with the damaged head as it decides to prioritise us. Flechettes… Some hit the armour but a lot go wide-. It can't aim properly. It keeps firing as it.. stumbles forward. Nothing wrong with its legs that I can see, so it's the senses again. It brings its right arm around in an awkward slap which is still strong enough to knock our shield out of my armour's hands, but it's now off-balance-.

Grab its head and crush.

My armour responds at once-. Oh, it felt that, and it tries to twist itself back into position to hit us or at least force the hands gripping its head off. Unfortunately for it, that just puts extra torsion stress on the damaged part of its-

And there's the blood fountain.

-body, causing the damaged metal to give way completely. The armour weakly slaps my armour twice more, causing no damage, before finally slumping to the ground.

I turn to see how Kon and M'gann-. Ah, good show. One of the armour suits they were fighting appears to have been introduced face-first into an obsidian spike. The other, M'gann telekinetically anchored its limbs for Kon to strike the joints. They're both down.

"Good work. Miss Martian, could you fish out their hearts?"

"Ah…" She looks decidedly disquieted. "Why?"

"Aztec magic. We might be able to use it to restore its owner to life… Or if it's the heart of a dead person, restore their minds."

"The heart of a dead..?"

Kon nods. "This is the Aztec afterlife. We think Tlazolteotl is doing something to their souls to control them. A bunch of them were attacking Themyscira with their chests cut open."

"Themyscira?"

I direct my armour to crouch down so that I can get at the heart of the robot it decapitated.

"Yeah, the Greek gods brought it here, but now we can't contact them."

Oh. Ah, I feel a little dizzy. I think I'm…

"Hate to be a nag.. guys, but please focus. I'm not doing so well."

M'gann looks at me in concern as Kon rips a heart compartment open. "I didn't see you get hit?"

"I know that between my armour and ring we usually count me as a 'tough' member of the team, but with magic attacks that bypass my constructs… I'm a lot squishier than both of you."

"But you can… Heal yourself? Right?"

"Not without setting the mountain off. And magic obsidian-" She nods. "-stops me healing the injury without replacing the whole area. None of this will matter in the long term, but right now I'm well below one hundred percent effective. So if we can finish-"

I cut through and pull out another heart, which I shove in a blood-filled tub.

"-up here and get over the mountain, I'll be a good deal happier."

Kon holds up the heart he obtained, and I repeat the containment process. And then…

Augh.

Kon looks at me as M'gann opens up the interior of the next armour suit. "How about you just focus on storing them and let us pull them out?"

I nod gratefully. "Thanks. Up."

My armour straightens up. Okay, let's see. One Anti-Life infected heart. Three regular hearts. And…

M'gann finds the switches and actually takes the heart out as the designer intended.

Four regular hearts. Hundreds of zombies. Ugh, I don't know it matching them up to the original owner matters, or if they just represent a particular capacity. There's probably some way to do it with magic. And… Robert might be able to cast that spell. Shouldn't be too-.

"Here you go." M'gann smiles awkwardly as she holds the still-beating heart in her telekinetic grip. "One heart, two careful owners."

"Ah, thank you."

Another box, another heart in a box. I strap them over the shoulders of the armour I'm riding. I briefly consider trying to repair it using parts from the other ones, but I don't know how to take them apart the easy way and making this even more of a kludge job isn't going to help.

"Right. I don't intend to bring this thing into an actual fight, so don't worry about picking a route that damages it. Superboy's regeneration is still working because.. it's magical, probably. Miss Martian, what's the best way across?"

"Ah, well, the route I used is only good for goats, but I can find you a way." She shifts back into goat form. **Follow me!**

She heads up the gentle part of the slope, leaping from rock patch to rock patch with the ease of a seasoned mountain goat. Kon heads after her with a little less élan, and I bring up the rear.

Robert, please be in one piece.

 

17th February 2013
18:29 GMT

At least I'm in one piece.

The power armour suits that didn't go after M'gann are on patrol, but it doesn't look like they've got any trace of me. I.. think I've got what Paul's tattoos look like copied right. The big power armour suits standing on guard duty in the main… Town? City? Base? I don’t really know what this place is. All looks Aztec to me. They've gone back into standby, and no one has gone anywhere near the portal. Haven't seen any actual people, but I don't know if that's normal or not. Pretty normal for Otherworld, and the Aztec religion didn't go extinct all that much more recently.

But someone built this armour, and I'm not going to find out who by hanging around outside here. This… Ziggurat is the biggest building in the place, and the best guarded, so this is probably where I can find answers. Can't risk trying to talk to M'gann, not with someone listening in like that. And I can't risk waiting in case something happens to Brian.

But how do I get in? There are doors, but there are more big power armour suits next to it and they're closed and probably sealed anyway. Taking that fight is a non-starter. Running past them? Same sort of problem. But the walls aren't guarded in the same way. The ziggurat is made of stone blocks, or something like that. My magic lets me move stone around, so in theory I can walk through it and into the ziggurat. Except the wall is obviously going to be warded with sensors to warn them if someone tries this.

So as far as magic is concerned, I need to not be here. And the stones I move need to not be moved. The stones themselves need to think that they're in exactly the same place. Because if this is stone, that power armour will smash right through it to get to me faster than I can put the spell back up. Plus whatever they've got on the inside.

Don’t fuck it up.

Kay, so the first thing is the natural state of the rock. I need to know that so that I can fake it convincingly. And I can't just probe it because that's a ward even I can cast. So I've got to create the idea of a rock that isn't there, switch the two around in the ward scheme without anyone noticing-. No, run them through the same attachments pretending to be one, then take the actual block out.

That… That should work, actually. I mean, it's pointless if there's a wizard actually watching me, but if that's what's happening then it's all pointless anyway. As long as they need the alarm signal…

Try it. Form the earth magic into the spirit of a block but not the form of one because I'm not sure I could hide that. Volcanic rock's easy enough, just got to take into account the fact that this is more of a spiritual world than normal earth so that's going to be a bit more pronounced… Yeah, that should do it.

And the merge has to be instant, no fiddling around and no feeling the spells out. Tune my fake block to not send signals and…

Quick check the giant suits of armour…

Merge.

Woo.

That's a lot of spells. I think… I think that they're doing what Paul did to the mountain: running a whole lot of spells through the outer surface, rather than just setting it to detect things or be stronger. I dunno what this all is, but my fake block looks like it's copying it alright. 'kay. That's the warn-.

Yeah, like that.

The warning spell, that triggered, but it isn't a complicated thing. Least, this bit of the spell isn't. Looks like it's just a low level alert. Which makes sense. That bit looks like the 'brick broken, send help' alert. And some of this stuff… Some of this I can't even tell what it does. But it doesn't look like its triggered from this block. Reset the warning spell, remove the actual brick from the network… Good. And cast Pass Through Rock.

I push into the rock wall of the ziggurat just as easy as I did in practice. The rock sends the alert, but since it's disconnected from the system it doesn't go anywhere. I'll have to reset it… No, that's not how it works. It constantly triggers while something's interfering with it, but once the interference is gone it stops transmitting.

That makes it a bit easier.

Okay, the stone doesn't go all the way through, and the next layer… Same thing. Create etheric stone, duplicate and look at the duplicate.

This one doesn't have the interference alert. Makes.. sort of sense. I guess they aren't worried about people messing about with it from the inside. Looks like the other spells get more complicated, but I can't even guess what they're supposed to do from here.

Keep walking, then drop the spell replacing the first stone once I'm out of it. And cross my fingers… Ah, not seeing an alert. Looks like it worked.

Press on.

And now it-. It's just rubble. Gravel. No spells on any of it, not that I can see. I'll have to remember this, because if I can just run along the inside without setting anything off that's a good way to get around.

And then it's another stone layer, same as before. And another, more like the outside. Normally I'd be getting tired by now, but with this place being more magical I guess I'm just…

I'm just charging off of the realm of a real powerful wizard. Or something bigger. Shit, I didn't think-. I mean, wizards on Earth can track me draining stuff but it's a lot harder. But if they haven't sent anything to where the drain's coming from… Maybe it's not that noticeable? Or maybe it wasn't M'gann's telepathy that let them pick up on us. Okay, just.. have to stop draining ambient power, easy enough. Didn't used to do it at all.

And… No more bricks. I'm inside. Nearly. Just have to stick my head out and then stop casting my earth spells. Deep breath.

And step.

Huh. No light. I guess the armour suits don’t need lights. So there probably aren't any other people around here. Stealth spells are still going, and I can't hear any alarms.

So I'm in a pitch-black… Corridor? Room? So now what?

Can I hear anything?

Ah? No, not-. Yeah. It's quiet. Like a… Pumping noise. Did Aztecs have pumps? Or has someone imported something from Earth. Doesn't sound like a person walking, and I don't… I don't know enough about Aztec magic creatures to know what else it could be.

I need to see, but I don't want to mess things up by summoning light and showing everyone where I am. So… Heat vision. That's not impossible to detect, but since I'm mostly casting it on myself and just getting the ability to see things a bit differently it shouldn't have much chance of alerting anyone.

Quick check it won't interfere with my stealth spells… Yeah, should be fine.

Slight burning in my eyes… And… Okay. The walls are… Generating a little warmth. With dots along them generating more. Dots… Well, more like the size of my fist. Looks like I'm in a corridor about…

I take a step forwards to make sure that they're not embedded in the wall.

No, it's about two metres across and… Quite a lot longer. Can't tell if there are any turn-offs from here, but I'll see them when I get to them. The noise is… It's coming from a lot of places, and I think… I think there's a louder pumping noise coming from somewhere else. The quiet pumping is coming from all around, so I guess it's in the walls.

Weird that they've got heat sources lined up on the walls but nothing making light. Are there Aztec monsters that have infrared vision? If there are, there aren't any nearby. I walk over to the closest one and touch the wall next to-.

Damp, warm and slightly sticky. And it looks like the heat source is vibrating? Some sort of lightless fire? I reach out to touch it. Wouldn't be the strangest thing-.

Feels a bit rubbery. And it's moving, I think it's pumping-. Yeah, it's pumping, and it's sort of heart-.

Shaped.

 

17th February 2013
18:38 GMT

"Okay, that's it: I'm ripping my own feet off."

Kon jerks his head around from peering at what is supposed to be the Aztec afterlife for women who die in childbirth.

"You sure that's a good idea?"

"The obsidian is embedded too deeply for normal tweezers. I can't grab it properly with construct tweezers. My wounds have sort of scabbed over but they won't heal because I've got shards of magic death glass in them."

Kon lifts up his own right foot, revealing a mildly scabbed but basically healthy sole. "Maybe you shoulda tried being nicer to the gods?"

…

Apollo you fuck.

"I'm sure that Lord Apollo has a better sense of priorities than to deny healing to someone trying to save the world."

Kon doesn't look convinced.

I don’t feel convinced.

I-. Wait.

"No, no. If Tlazolteotl has done something to take over this region, she might pick up on it. I-."

"What about-" M'gann swoops down. "-if I open up the armour and you get inside?"

"Possible. Tezumak obviously took his on and off. I should be able to rip the internal bracing out."

Kon frowns. "Doesn't it need a heart?"

"I can use the orange light, it's fine. That's basically what I'm doing at the moment. I won't be fighting at full effectiveness, but at least I'll be able to walk." I turn to M'gann. "See anything?"

"Big suits and little suits. It doesn't look like they're chasing anyone."

Kon nods. "Think we could sneak in?"

She looks dubious. "Can you turn invisible?"

"Can you adopt an irregular shape that could extend around him and keep him invisible?"

She thinks for a moment. "Yes. It wouldn't be a lot of fun, though. I'm not Plastic Man. I need to keep my internal organs in one piece."

Kon looks a little blank. "Okay, so..?"

"I'll.. need to swallow you."

"Oh. Ah…"

Kon looks at me. I look at the armour.

"So will I be in your stomach..?"

I extend a construct into the armour and start sucking the blood into a storage flask. Then I open latches and carefully remove components.

"No, I can make a rumen. That's like a special pouch in my throat. It's perfectly safe."

It's interesting how obvious it is that the parts needed to allow the armour to operate on its own are additions to the original design. Whatever Tlazolteotl's skills, thaumic engineering isn't amongst them. I.. recognise some parts of the runic control system, but only the obvious parts. There's a lot of complexity here I'm… I'm going to try and find someone to go over at some point.

"Do I..? Should I take my clothes off..?"

M'gann blushes.

Skeleton removed, I can get in. I can see where the gap for the wearer is. Tezumak was a big man, but the armour is far larger. Okay, clamber in, stick some gold-coloured metal to the interior where the holes are so that they're not immediately obvious, and… Yes, it's even obvious where the blood reservoirs are supposed to go. Add replacements, because I don't know what they actually looked like, and fill them with blood from my flask. Strap myself in and then connect the arcane systems to my etheric heart, the heartbeat of avarice.

BaBUM.

The armour comes… Not 'alive', not literally. But the blood lets it feign being alive for the purpose of control. That makes sense: there's no way a civilisation that old would have understood an electronic control system like what my power armours use.

"Alright, I'm ready to go. Have you come to terms yet?"

It projects my voice, which is useful.

"Uh, yeah." Kon lays on the ground on his chest and raises his legs. "Let's just… Do this."

M'gann… Assumes the form of a large…

I'm just going to look away and spare Kon the embarrassment. And hum, because that sound-.

"Okay. Ah. He's… Inside."

"Okay. Make yourself invisible and I'll head in."

"What if they attack you?"

"I know where the heart latch is, and I can drain their power. But if they didn't send reinforcements then I imagine that they're semi-autonomous. The regular robots probably won't recognise that I'm out of the ordinary."

M'gann's skin shimmers and then she vanishes, and Kon along with her. Quick check…

"Yes, this armour's visual systems can't detect you. Stick around until we're somewhere safe, communication to a minimum."

"Understood."

I walk through the forest edge and into the clear area around the outer wall. I can feel how to operate the wings, but I don't really want to fiddle around with systems like that and the visible damage this armour has taken means that not flying shouldn't look all that odd to any observers. The armour units on the walls don't react, and neither do the larger ones standing on the outside. I march towards the main doors, and they open without any special action from me. Okay… That is where the portal to Otherworld is, so if I march around for a moment then Robert-.

BaBUM.

What?

The Anti-Lifed heart is beating a frenzied rhythm in its compartment on my back. Why? There's nothing around-.

Justifiers start marching out of the portal, Apokoliptian weapons at the ready. A moment passed, and then Mannheim himself follows them. He doesn't waste time looking around at the scenery. Instead, he strides forwards, down the steps, the armour suits on guard duty there collapsing to the ground in his wake.

What's..? Going on?