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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. Threadmarks: Cold Iron (part 8)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    26th June 2012
    18:49 GMT


    A wave of orange sprays vapour across the volume of our fight area as Aeres moves to fulfil her spear-prophecy and my possum-playing doppelgänger reactivates. Then I back up, firing out a dozen cold beams set to wide beam, the vapour flash-freezing into ultra-hard crystal. A combination of Truggs' work and Mr Jesse's as well as a little of my own, it's strong enough to give someone with super strength a little trouble and resistant to exotic bypasses. She's falling, but I doubt that the impact will actually trouble her. I'm more interested in seeing how she escapes.

    And searching for falling or escaping-relating desires. Are Sheeda desires just… Genuinely muted? The Honden bypasses every sort of ward I've been able to test it on, but it doesn't help if they don’t have desires in the first place.

    Just in case the universe is feeling generous, I target her position with a particle cannon and use a construct paintbrush to draw sigils on the hardened upper and lower surfaces of the crystal block. Then I switch spell eaters, transport the used one to the uppermost drawing and crush it.

    I may struggle with magic myself, but you don't need to be an electrician to make a circuit live.

    A column of crystal appears in the air in a woosh of green, neatly temporally displaced from the area of the main block around Aeres. I use a construct hand to shove it down but she's already flitting free, lightning flashing from her hands and-.

    The construct vanishes where the lightning hits even as I manipulate the crystal column back into place and move to dodge. Another tine of lightning hits my armour, shields either bypassed or failed, and the armour flakes, which is what it's supposed to do… Temporal manipulation? That wouldn't work; I don’t age, and my armour wouldn't decay fast enough for a thousand extra years to do much to it. Is she testing me as I'm testing her?

    Another network of her armour's runes glow, but this time I dodge further and interpose a steel wall when she tries to redirect. It oxidises and dissolves into flakes, but there's no penetration. The construct I used to return the crystal column to its housing moves, supporting the falling platform and bringing it back up towards us.

    Let's try self-validation instead. Is that why she's… Aah. Getting somewhere. Follow that thread…

    I raise my hands and warp space, immense gravity shear ripping the physical universe to shreds before me. The glow on her armour changes, her body rippling as it flickers from place to place, inches ahead of my ability. Magic this time I think, rather than temporal manipulation, but without a wide area magic disruption ability there's not much I can do about it.

    I create construct railguns and fire up from below, but my own efforts are spoiling my shots and she hasn't got less evasive.

    Found you. But let's leave this for last. I wouldn't want-

    The crystal platform is only just below us, and the runes are shimmering.

    -to be rude to an invited guest.

    A huge, thin-fingered hand, red-skinned and long-nailed, reaches out through the portal and grabs her. No dodging, no spells, no temporal manipulation. A second hand reaches upwards, gripping the edge of the platform and pulling as the owner drags himself into the material world.

    Mammon rests his elbows comfortably on the rim of the platform, the upper parts of his body…

    "Have you been working out?"

    "Ah! There you are, m'boy." He smiles. "I was having trouble seeing you."

    "Not having any trouble holding her?"

    He regards the panicking Sheeda in his right hand.

    "No. Her magic isn't bad, but I've got more power than I know what to do with these days." He chuckles with menacingly false bonhomie. "Nearly."

    "What's with the muscles?"

    "It's expected of the position, you know?" He fans out his left hand in a gesture of helpless disinterest. "Corpulence is fine for the Lord of Avarice, but the President of Hell needs a little obvious force to him."

    "But the loin cloth stays?"

    "You caught me in the bath." He leans his neck a little closer to me. "You're lucky I like you. But that only goes so far. Is this little morsel for me, or are you asking for a favour?"

    Handing a person over to a demon is clearly not a morally praiseworthy act, but she is here to kill the entire world. And while she can block my ability to see her emotions, Mammon is an open book. He isn't going to kill her. He isn't even going to torture her beyond what he finds necessary to get her to talk. He wants to learn everything she knows, and he won't risk damaging her ability to keep him informed.

    "How up to date are you?"

    "I knew that we were getting some novel guests." He holds her up to his face. "Sheeedaaah. A curious choice of name when they're so clearly not."

    "And you aren't literally a pile of coins. Tell you what: you take her armour and spear. I mean, she's probably going to end up with you anyway."

    "And what will I do with a spear?"

    "Trade it with Mister Simpson, same as the armour. He's the only one with any realistic prospect of overthrowing you. Keeping him busy is in your interests."

    "Not a terrible idea, but I can hardly afford to be second with the news."

    I hold out my right hand, a book with a summary of everything I've learned about the Sheeda written on the pages.

    "Would this make the bargain more palatable? It's not everything she knows on the subject, but it's everything I know."

    He delicately plucks it from my grip.

    "Why does this one matter to you?"

    "Are you amused by the moral foibles of humanity?"

    "Am I-?" He smiles incredulously. "You have realised that I'm a demon, haven't you?"

    "I'm likewise amused by the manner in which people pursue their desires. I enjoy trying to understand the thought processes behind their follies. She attacked me, but beyond a moment by moment aim to bring me down I have no idea why. But once you strip her of her arcane protection it's open season on her most intimate memories. And I'll know."

    "But I won't. Hmm."

    His hand dips back into the portal, and comes out with a small amulet on a chain hanging off his fingertips.

    "But that's easily solved. Here." He holds his hand out to me, and I generate a construct hand roughly equal in size to his real one and take it from him. "Keep this with you when you interrogate her. I'm sure that I'll find it suitably illuminating."

    "Agreed. A pleasure doing business with you, Mister President."

    "Indeed it is." He takes a closer look at Aeres. "Now I'll take my due."

    He pulls, his hand moving through her and taking her armour with it, leaving her dressed in chitinous underwear. She immediately starts falling, and I create a construct rack to catch and bind her.

    "Give it about half an hour. I've just warmed up the loofah."

    Mammon smiles beneficently, then lowers himself back through the portal before closing it.

    Well. I can manage half an hour. I've got a meeting to get to anyway.
     
    Last edited: Nov 2, 2020
  2. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    The implication of the halo zones is that the rest of the universe is worse.
    Thank you, corrected.
     
  3. Oglymogly

    Oglymogly I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    Constantine really was a bad influence, wasn't he?
     
  4. Handlewithcare

    Handlewithcare Versed in the lewd.

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    If this was any other person deals like this would really worry me.

    It helps of course that he can see demon desires.
     
  5. hance1986

    hance1986 A pitiful excuse for a man.

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    ' interested '

    ' suitably '
     
  6. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    'She's'

    'interested'

    'bypassed'

    'tries'

    maybe 'sheer gravity'

    'is only'

    I got some Mr Wednesday vibes right here.

    'likewise amused'
     
  7. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    He does know that Hades isn't going to give him special treatment when it comes time to judge his soul right?
     
  8. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    No, that's correct.
     
  9. DiceArt

    DiceArt Not too sore, are you?

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    You do know that the Olympian Gods judge mortal souls by a different standard than what we would find acceptable in the modern day right? Some of the heroes that made it into the Elysian Fields would be considered monsters now a days, and OL actions have been just as heroic while being not quite as monstrous.
     
  10. Pez

    Pez Spaceman

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    Don't forget that Paul sent a lot of alien souls to him. That may not earn him any favors, but I'm sure it would earn him a hell of a lot of credit (pun not intended). Even though Hades sent his own priestess to travel the world to preach against Hell, I doubt Hades would hold this against him enough to really impact where he'd go (assuming Paul goes to Hades, and not to the CPB),
     
  11. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    And you do know that Paul's starting at a deficit of one million because he pissed off Zeus?
     
  12. RichardWhereat

    RichardWhereat Aia airëa Fëanáro.

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    Too, or so.
     
  13. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Another factor that decides where the soul goes in the Greek afterlife is the favor of the gods.

    Paul has done a lot of things for Eris, Hephaestus, Hera, Gaia, Caliope, so they could easily put a good word in for Paul and he could go to the Elysian Fields if he dies.

    Still Zeus apparently went to Hades to ask him to send Paul to Tartarus when he dies, but Hades said he will judge him fairly, so the favor of a god may not work.

    Paul has done a lot of heroic things so he has a high chance of going to the Elysian Fields even without a favor.
     
  14. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Honestly, it's fun watching you poke and prod a test subject, but you kind of need to shut her down...

    Interesting, using some sport of pre-made spell? While losing a spell eater is kind of expensive, I suppose the effect will be worth it?

    But was that her doing or yours? This is kind of confusing. I guess it's meant to be, but...

    Fascinating. Something akin to the Energy-draining effect the Sheeda live under? Didn't Artemis' non-New God gear do the same?

    Presumably her self-validation is tuned to her usefulness to her Queen.

    Ah, she has an automatic defence on her armour. I wonder if that annoys her when she's fighting. Or perhaps she's so used to it she knows how to time her strikes around it.

    Ah. I see, you were casting 'Summon Bigger Fish.' And one guess who that'll be...

    Magic against magic. And the ruler of Hell has a lot more oomph to his aura than a mere would-be elf.

    Yes, that's kind of the point of his anti-scrying tattoos. Hence the magic circle thing?

    Hardly. It'd be like a kitten in a big man's hand... Complete with the implications of potential injury.

    Heh. How does a demon lord work out? hefting weights made of damned souls?

    Even a demon has his modesty. And it's all a matter of style. I doubt the other demons would appreciate a good Armani. They're probably fine with bone spikes or bits of leather, made from actual humans...

    Why torture when you can convince or compel truth in other ways. And I'm sure having her will come in handy down the line, if Hell sticks around to the Sheeda era.

    Indeed. The real fair folk would be offended if they know of it. I wonder if OL could arrange someone to get in touch, very carefully.

    I'm sure it's worth something to someone down there.

    Heh, distract the main threat with a shiny new toy. Clever.

    Certainly, it'd give him a lot more handles to turn in her head. Things like having failed her queen, for instance. That'd sting nicely.

    A very good question. I'm impressed he thought to ask. But these two always seem to have an intelligent relationship.

    Yes, I think the big horns and giant size might have been a clue. Also the smell of brimstone.

    I doubt it'll make interesting viewing, though. Mostly training and longing looks at her Queen, I bet.

    I suppose that's one way to get around the scry-wards. Like a webcam with a direct link.

    Time to yoink that armour. Hope she's wearing something underneath...

    Comfort first, of course. Even better than curling up with a good book for a soak.

    With her hanging in restraints in the background. That'll be an interesting one to see. If nothing else, it'll let them get a good look at the kind of people trying to farm humanity.

    Well, that was quick. Complete with a Diablos ex Machina, if you look at it one way. And a live captive should make for some interesting intelligence. On to the next meeting, then.
     
  15. Agent Orange

    Agent Orange Experienced.

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    Aaaand I keep getting reminded of that superqwardian fight - what with differently glowing aura (or armour in this case) adapting itself to attack.

    Huh. A surprise Mammon interrupt? Or maybe not so surprise since OL apparently invited him without spelling it out in his inner narration? How did he manage this exactly? Did he get a Summon Bigger Fish card when I wasn't looking? How will Ophi-chan feel about being skipped over in favour of some... two bit diabolical Jabba the Hutt fanboy?

    I dunno why but I can't get South Park Satan out of my minds eye. Maybe it's because Mammon's been pumpin' iron apparently.

    Oh My!

    ...

    You gave yourself a great (construct) rack to catch a near nude Drow girl in it? In public? Pervert! What would Jade think?
     
  16. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    To be honest it is possible that the Sheeda were the original ones with that name and when they went back in time they inspired some group of actual fairies to take the name.

    Along with her desires to MAIM, KILL BURN!, MAIM, KILL, BURN!

    He has been practicing using magic, like during the Plutonian episode where he made some magic circle to drain magic using the orange light.

    I see it now.

    Damn it Takei!

    I think she'd think that after the Spider Queen thing this is pretty tame.
     
  17. Awkward

    Awkward Know what you're doing yet?

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    except he's not. Hades doesn't get involved with his brothers' grudges, unless it's a very specific type of grudge that actually affects him. Zeus can whine all he wants, it's Hades' job to judge souls, and he'll do it without anyone meddling.
     
  18. Agent Orange

    Agent Orange Experienced.

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    But only if her target is the Greatest Lantern of Earth - Hal Jordan!

    That's... Actually that's a pretty good point. It would take quite an oooopsie to top that noodle incident.
     
  19. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    On the other hand Paul has broken guest to host Xenia, a lot.

    And heroic deeds or no, that's one of the big no-no's for anyone so far as the Greak Gods are concerned.
     
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  20. Fellow

    Fellow Know what you're doing yet?

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    'so'
    Ninja'd!

    Did I spell that right? Neither ninja'd nor ninjaed seem right to me.
     
    Last edited: Nov 2, 2020
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  21. FreeGod

    FreeGod If you see a God on the road fuck it!

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    No just see them. He made them the way they are.
     
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  22. Queshire

    Queshire Not too sore, are you?

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    I really can't think of a depiction of the Olympians from the last 50 years where Hades and Zeus have a good enough relationship that'd he be willing to accept taking that into account as a favor. =/
     
    IsActuallyBatman and zeebza like this.
  23. Cuchulin

    Cuchulin Versed in the lewd.

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    Yup! Discworld has quite a bit to say on that subject, especially in The Last Hero. After all the Disc's FIRST hero was "Fingers" Mazda who stole fire from the gods and focuses largely on Ghenghiz Cohen, known as Cohen the Barbarian, and his Silver horde of Geriatric barbarian heroes who have spent most of their lives stealing things, killing things, killing people and ravishing women (being barbarian heroes basically).
     
  24. transhumansage

    transhumansage Versed in the lewd.

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    what is the halo zone?
     
  25. Queshire

    Queshire Not too sore, are you?

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    If I was Hades and feeling particularly petty about big bro Zeus telling me how to my job.... Hm, ah yes. Naturally Elysium would be off the table. Asphodel too. Why, even Tartarus would be too good for the knave! Instead he would be denied the comforts of the afterlife overall. Back to the living world with him to deal with all the pains, hungers and tragedy that comes with life. Surely there could be no greater punishment. *wink wink, nod nod*


    EDIT: Huh, actually now I'm wondering how the Handsome Monkey King fits into DC's cosmology. Would one of his forms of immortality come from erasing his name from Destiny's book here?
     
  26. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Either that or he seduced Death.
     
  27. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    It's really more Eric.
    This.
     
  28. Ct613hulu

    Ct613hulu Experienced.

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    Why would OL consider the Halo Zones to pose any kind of threat or signal any problem with the wider Universe? My understanding is that the Halo Zones are simply regions where the light of the Astronomicon is dimmer than normal and travel using the Imperial methods is consequently far more dangerous.

    I can understand that the existence of a region of space beyond the reach of the Emperor would seem like a dire sign of the horrible state of the universe to a devout worshipper of the Emperor, but it seems like there would be no real reason for this to be considered significant by a non-believer like OL or the Tau. This simply seems to indicate that rather than being an omnipotent entity with a reach that extends throughout existence the Emperor is just an extremely powerful entity whose psychic presence is vast but still finite and capable of being blocked. The Halo Zones seem like something they would consider an interesting an potentially exploitable phenomenon rather than some kind of problem.
     
  29. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    He may think it's dangerous because there may be a lot of daemons there.

    Seeing as the Imperials can't travel there the chance that daemons may exist in great numbers there, due to there being no imperials around to beat them, could be fairly high, so he doesn't want to risk it by going there.
     
  30. Queshire

    Queshire Not too sore, are you?

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    That sounds more like a 40k-ifed version of the end of Alexander the Great's conquest to me. Also ghosts. Because space is an ocean.
     
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