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

Does the superhero Bueno Excellente exist in this universe?

 

Imagine viewing a society of violent psychopaths as soft.

And trying to kill someone is considered a compliment.

I don't think we've ever seen an Old God use godspeech.

I remember Hera once used something similar when she influenced Paul to talk about his romantic life, but it wasn't speech and small hearts just showed up.

 

About time he got back to being impressive.

Really want and hope this whole thing gets resolved with nothing more than Alan bopping her gently on the head with a kind admonishment to stop moping. The anti-lifed Earth arc has gone on way too long. Doubly so after the climactic finish turned out to not be the sodding finish.

Nice to see how that whole project is working out. Wonder how Hades feels about having an aggressively cosmopolitan realm?

 

Thank you, corrected.

Bueno Excellente exists. I wouldn't call him a superhero.

 

Well, he did that epic team up. But, Tommy himself? I swear to gods, you've answered this before, but I cannot remember where.

 

’for making’? Maybe I’m just not understanding the sentence.

 

I don't think I understood the sentence.

 

This is a complete surprise. It is truly a perilous time when the Joker is needed to save the day. The fact that he noticed the chemistry between OL and Superboy is also fun to know. Also, I hope Batman wasn't made aware of this beforehand so that we can see his reaction to this.

That's a shame, though I suppose it was too much to hope that the Joker can be made sane permanently.

It is always a good story when the Joker decides the evil side is not to his liking, because he's one of the most unpredictable people in the world, which means he can at least surprise the bad guy he fights.

That apostrophe should be moved to the end of the word.

 

If this is Akhlys then it should be black and not orange.

Shit.

Well if there's anyone that would have an odd relationship with Anti-Life, it would be him.

"like a"

"makes"

"to my"

 

I wanna point out here that bringing the Joker into anything is garunteed to make things worse in the long run.

 

To be fair, this was Melinoë's plan, not Paul's, and it would make sense that she'd use someone who was insane given that she's the Goddess of Nightmares and Madness.

 

Or perhaps, a Labyrinth? Not the kind with a single path, though. And can we hope that there's a Minotaur to patrol it that can at least delay Ahkyls? It'd certainly be on-theme for those involved, at least.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Interesting. A delaying tactic as a defensive measure on the part of the Dreaming?

...Dare I hope that Melinoë has called forth something more sinister, like the Tomb of Horrors perhaps? Or possibly the World's Largest Dungeon.

...Or perhaps this is another kind of Labyrinth...

Yes, and then someone else can shake them out of it. It's why people aren't mean to exist alone.

But the thrill of hope fulfilled can motivate far better than the belief it never will be...

Yeah, she's not feeling like being in a hugging mood right now.

And once again, he shakes off a dose of Anti-Life with a simple change of perspective...

Nothing feigned about his feelings. Nature of the Enlightened.

'It's not like I wanted you to hug me or anything, b-baka." The Anti-Life is bringing out the tsundere in her...

...Or perhaps the cat. Then again, what is a cat but a tsundere in fur?

Since being here will probably make Melinoë much stronger.

Aw, barging in with the dungeon bypass...

So, no exploring the folded space?

Oof, looks like Melinoë's aim is a little indiscriminate. She's not still peeved at OL, is she?

And it doesn't concern you that the Anti-Life is apparently at the wheel?

To be fair, you did kind of earn that one, OL.

Oh, did she call in a ringer? Or at least fabricate a dream of one?

...This better not be the real guy in the flesh., or things might just get a little more difficult.

On the upside, all I can hear is Mark Hamill's classic voice. Not... Whatever the YJ version was.

Ah, so this is closer to a dream of the Joker than the real man himself. Like a distillation of all his madness... Which makes this all the more worrying.

Yes, best not to hang around in case Joker gets distracted by him.

So Joker's distraction broke Ahklys' disruption of the spatial folding.

Now would be a real good time to fix the little issue of your dwindling Ring Charge, you know...

So this is basically the perfect battlefield for this Joker. Let's hope he doesn't slip his leash, though...

Hopefully they're not pinned down by a dream storm or something...

This seems like a bad idea, real Joker or not. But honestly, this whole situation has been leaning on the Godzilla threshold since OL soaked up all that death magic. And here, in the Dreaming? There's a great big safety net of a Godzilla just waiting to have his attention grabbed by Ahklys letting loose in his realm. Though I doubt he'll take action until his rules allow it...

 

Found another error. That should say 'ring'.

 

‘it on’

I don’t think this should have orange speech marks. Someone already mentioned the other paragraph like this.

 

Never expected to see the Joker again, but hey, at least he's useful in some way. What I don't know for certain is if this is the Joker's mind summoned to the Dream by Melinoe or if it's the actual Joker physically there; I would assume the first one, since Melinoe just recently went in and I don't think that's enough time to go to the physical world and back.

 

Thank you, corrected.

 

All this fuckery is going to guarantee Dream's attention, and an angry Dream means everyone is screwed. Also, I REALLY doubt that Anti-Life can even work on him, because the endless are in a class of their own and their awareness of creation and themselves make Paul's enlightenment look like pot-induced fever dream.

 

I wonder if Sandy’s debt will come due? And he’ll be used as a sock puppet for Dream’s will, or something.

 

So I've only ever seen two pieces of media with the Joker - the animated series from the mid-90s, and the second Batman movie. And my mind immediately went to the cartoon version's voice and mannerisms in reading that, without me even realising it for a few paragraphs. That's a bit of a mindfuck.

 

Unless that's on purpose, that should say 'Fooooooooore'.

I can't wait to see what Dream will ask of Paul after this is over.

 

I don't think he'd mind.

Maybe you caught him changing.

 

Nice to know Dream can be so accomodating. I do wonder about what it's going to cost Paul somewhere / somewhen.

 

Have the events of Sandman happened in this setting? Is Dream still Morpheus or is he Daniel? Paul referred to him as Morpheus in his mind, but I don't know if that's indicative or not.

 

Paul confirmed that the part where Dream died and was replaced didn't happen.

 

Heh. Perhaps it's a dream of the Thestrals. Then again, 'Horse with bits tacked on' isn't an uncommon magical image. And it's more efficient than simply walking or running about in search of their allies.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Asking for the big one just in case, eh? Then again, the Embodiments probably appear in the dreams of mortals...

Indy Ploys are not OL's strong suit. He's much more of a planner than a 'fly by the seat of his pants' fellow.

Yeah, there's only one person that laugh could belong to...

Because he could roll the Anti-Life into a newspaper and bap Ahklys over the head with it? The being is all powerful within his set-forth rules in this place...

I mean, that ship has sailed, at least for the remainder of Jade's mortal life.

Ideally, a quick memory-wipe that turns this into a mere dream in Joker's mind? Pretty sure he's not here in the flesh anyway, given his shifting back there.

Depends on the incarnation, really. And whether he's just got out of a relationship...

Heck, I bet Dream could easily say that OL has provided some fascinating sources of nightmares for some people.

Ah, he does kind of remember that first visit. Kind of fuzzy on the details of his second encounter, though...

At least he's having fun in all this.

So even Melinoë thinks Joker can't win. let's hope not, or they'll have a worse time on their hands.

To be fair, the Palace is probably as mutable as Dracula's Castle in Castlevania. Ever-changing at the maker's whim, and free of limitations like gravity or material durability... And always possessing a few consistent locations.

Which I'm sure the busy being will appreciate.

I'm pretty sure he recognises Anti-Life loose in his realm, and has cleared his calender for the duration.

Ooh, rude. You caught him in a transitional state between perceptual adaption.

I suspect calling him Oneiros, a name he used in ancient Greece, might be a reminder of how things went bad there...

So, still Morpheus, I see. I'm guessing this incarnation has had a somewhat lighter load to deal with, and less of the deep depression that led to the Vertigo version 'refreshing' himself...

Ooh, a blank cheque? That'll come back on him later.

He has a good point. Consequences are not something Heroes consider very much.

...I hope whoever he was talking to isn't too put out by his sudden displacement.

Hmm... If he was in dream Baghdad, she might not have found him yet...

Heh. A bit rude, again, but this is an emergency, and courtesy can be set aside for the sake of urgency.

Now, how soon until he's facepalming and sighing disappointedly after OL fills him in...

So, then, they have who and what they think they need to 'fix' Ahklys. Let's see if they can pull it off. And then deal with the Joker running loose in the Dreaming. Because I doubt the master of the realm will be too happy about such a chaotic guest in his domain. ...Not that he's generally happy most of the time anyway, but...

 

Has the Corinthian been captured yet or is he still playing serial killer?

 

Desire interrupted Paul while he was helping a fleet negotiate a Spider Guild sept's surrender. He got Desire to go away by telling them what happens when a member of the Endless dies. Though I don't remember what episode that happened in.

 

’such as you’?