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

Neruz · 2026-01-24T09:24:46+0000

Chaoswind said:
It clearly wants stuff, so the orange light will have an effect, either remove it from it, or assimilation.

Just because it reacts to stimuli doesn't mean it has wants, a slime mold reacts to food by growing more slime mold towards the food, but I wouldn't say a slime mold has anything that could reasonably be categorized as 'want' or indeed any real emotion at all. Viruses seek out cells to infect them and create more viruses, but its debatable whether a virus is even alive much less has anything that could be considered 'want'.

boo600 · 2026-01-24T09:51:40+0000

Clell65619 said:
You're being a bit hard on Lex; he's done a lot of dumb things, but he's never built a penis-shaped rocket.

I did say Lex-but-dumb. That was for a reason. *pouts*

I mean. Besides Bezos being a nepo baby and not a self-made billionaire genius who turned insurance money into an Amazon-plus corporation.

Hm. Lex is evil, basically, but he also has actual ideals. I should have said Lex-but-dumb-and-completely-craven.

Mr Zoat · 2026-01-24T11:35:34+0000

Signaller said:
Random thought: Will a version of Paul ever end up in one of the Full Metal Alchemist series?

Almost certainly not.

[Looks at what he's spent two weeks writing]

But I never thought I'd put one there either, so who knows?

boo600 said:
I did say Lex-but-dumb. That was for a reason. *pouts*

I mean. Besides Bezos being a nepo baby and not a self-made billionaire genius who turned insurance money into an Amazon-plus corporation.

Hm. Lex is evil, basically, but he also has actual ideals. I should have said Lex-but-dumb-and-completely-craven.

It's not that I disagree, it's that I remember that Rule 8 exists.

mastermenthe · 2026-01-24T12:02:59+0000

Bigking321 said:
Can't he just change the creatures desires?

Make it not want to mess with them?

Depends.

CrazyNoVa · 2026-01-24T14:03:17+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Almost certainly not.

[Looks at what he's spent two weeks writing]

But I never thought I'd put one there either, so who knows?

We're all waiting for the day when we see a version of Paul end up in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Someguy Somewhere · 2026-01-24T14:41:32+0000

CrazyNoVa said:
We're all waiting for the day when we see a version of Paul end up in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

New one or old one, because the old one occasionally utterly shattered the fourth wall, referencing things like the studio set lacking a ceiling (complete with cameras pan to the set lights) or directly referring to the events of the opening theme song, as such.

Ambush Bug would love it.

Mr Zoat · 2026-01-24T15:08:45+0000

CrazyNoVa said:
We're all waiting for the day when we see a version of Paul end up in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lixrbrloBq0
Don't think I'll risk it.

Someguy Somewhere said:
New one or old one, because the old one occasionally utterly shattered the fourth wall, referencing things like the studio set lacking a ceiling (complete with cameras pan to the set lights) or directly referring to the events of the opening theme song, as such.

There Is No New Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air.

Someguy Somewhere · 2026-01-24T20:33:39+0000

Mr Zoat said:
There Is No New Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air.

Of Course, My Mistake

CrazyNoVa · 2026-01-25T00:35:12+0000

Someguy Somewhere said:
Of Course, My Mistake

There is no war in Bel-Air Se.

(How would a crossover between Fresh Prince and Avatar even work?)

Zig · 2026-01-25T00:41:41+0000

CrazyNoVa said:
ver between Fresh Prince and Avatar even work?)

The Fresh Prince of Bin-Er

BR549 · 2026-01-25T05:49:26+0000

Neruz said:
Viruses seek out cells to infect them and create more viruses, but its debatable whether a virus is even alive much less has anything that could be considered 'want'.

To be fair, that describes our viruses. In DC, however, allow me to introduce you to Leezle Pon.

Or to put it a meme-r way: Green Lantern smallpox virus exists, your argument may be invalid.

Mr Zoat · 2026-01-25T07:29:30+0000

18th August 2013
10:33 GMT -5

"Are you short of mana?"

Ring, what's happening?

Unable to quantify.

Thank you. Though I suppose that Hinon might at least be a little impressed that I've managed to encounter a situation that even the Controllers haven't.

"No. These are… Summonings. They take power to make, but there's no further drain when they get damaged. They just get damaged."

I clench my left hand into a fist and add a tougher construct to the exterior of the one which is cracking.

"So, keep blocking, attack, or attempt to mind control it?"

"I know Puppet Master, but it would take more mana than I'm comfortable spending. And it might well fail; all Ashan's spells are intended to work on things native to Ashan."

"No, I could try to mind control it. Similar problem, but it doesn't drain the one of us who's keeping us real."

"How draining would a more mundane attack-" The inner construct blister fails, the tendrils rapidly reaching out to fill the full volume of their new prison. "-be?"

"Negligibly."

"Then that seems wisest." He looks around. "Since we seem to be fully enveloped, I will accelerate our passage. Even if we attract a second creature, it might serve to distract the first."

I fabricate a knife, then x-ionise it. "This reminds me of a story, actually."

"Oh?"

"A flying ship passing through a vast cloud found itself under attack. Small creatures latched onto its hull and drained it of power, and then a larger creature assaulted it physically."

"And their solution?"

"The small creatures were males. They thought that the ship was a female, and they were attempting to mate with it. The larger creature was the female, assaulting a rival. They repainted their ship in submissive colours and the males and the female all left it alone." I stab the knife through my construct and… Slice neatly through the tendrils. They lose contact with the main mass 'outside' and immediately fall to the bottom of the construct and lie still.

Oh.

"Okay, that-."

The tendrils I'm watching vanish.

Um.

Right, close the blister in case more tendrils try to get in, put a construct barrier around Lushun-

"Excuse me?"

-and wait because-.

Wuhy!

The tendrils ball appears just above Lushun's head and immediately tried to grab him! The construct barrier holds-.

I fire a pair of construct hands at it and grab it, yanking it away!

"Cutting is a bad idea!"

The tendrils lash out in a frenzy, rapidly abrading the interior of my construct. The tendrils around the edge of the platform are also increasing their aggression. On the off chance that it's that easy I fabricate a roast chicken and fire it out into the void in case this thing is food motivated… But the chicken ceases to be just after passing through the shield.

Alright… Heat? No effect? Laser? No effect. Plasma? No-. Argh!

One of the tendrils wasn't lashing around. It was reaching for me and I miss it-. Latched onto my arm! Construct yoyo, wind it up and bundle it up with the rest-. Ah. Fire? No. Don't have any kahuuite… Ah. Recover x-ionised knife, blender construct and blend!

Bzzzzz!

And… The black stuff is still in there, but isn't not moving…

No… It is. The small tendrils are trying to wrap themselves together.

"Is it dead?"

"No." I look around… We're fully enveloped, though it… Doesn't seem to be that thick. Almost every part of the shield is being probed, and my construct is blocking dozens of tendril incursions. "This mass became its own life form when I severed it from the main mass, but the tiny parts seem to be trying to reassemble themselves."

"Ah, so there's a minimum size. Can you throw it back out?"

"Yes, I should be able to. That won't stop the creature outside from trying to get in, but it will remove the distraction."

Okay, find an emptyish bit, connect the construct containment vessel with the construct barrier, breach the barrier -which causes tendrils from the outside to pick up the small bits immediately- and then shove it outwards…

"Okay, it looks like that-"

The creature vanishes.

"-worked-. SHIT!"

I lunge closer to the puzzled-looking Lushun and fortify the barrier immediately around us, fabricating x-ionised blades for the exterior as fast as I-

Wuhy!

-can-!

Everything is tendrils. I can't see out, I can only see Lushun from the light of my constructs and his staff-

"That's interesting. The fear aura from this cloak should intimidate it. Perhaps it's not a creature but a mechanical being instead?"

-and I can feel the creature wrapping itself around my construct and pressing!

"Anything helpful to say, or shall I just commend our souls to any god that can find them?"

Crumbler? No. Cold gun? Not enough room. Try pushing-? Gosh, that's strong. I think it's… Constricting. And not like a snake that waits for you to take a breath, it's just using crushing force, pulling against itself.

"Ah. Even assuming that this creature can't consume them, I doubt that our souls would survive for any length of time here."

"So, yes? No?"

And there are the cracks! Ah… Kinetic barrier? Oh, that's actually-.

It fails with a wiff of burning circuitry.

Okay, I can recreate-.

The orange mote I gave Lushun goes out.

He stares at the place it used to be, and then starts muttering at his staff.

"Do you need another one?"

Crunch!

My construct fractures, and I just about get another smaller one in place in time. Thicken it up…

"No, I think… I think that means that we've-"

The platform, the void and most especially the creature vanish, and are replaced by-.

"-arrived."

Oh dear.

Darko · 2026-01-25T07:45:12+0000

Mr Zoat said:
"A flying ship passing through a vast cloud found that itself under attack

"found itself"

Duke Long · 2026-01-25T07:56:05+0000

Mr Zoat said:
"I know Puppet Master, but it would take more mana than I'm comfortable spending. And it might well fail; all Ashans spells are intended to work on things native to Ashan."

'Ashan's'

Mr Zoat said:
One of the tendrils wasn't lashing around. It was reaching for me and I miss it-. Latched onto my arm! Construct yoyo, wind it up and bundle it up with the rest-. Ah. Fire? No. Don't have any kahuutite… Ah. Recover x-ionised knife, blender construct and blend!

'kahuuite'

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-01-25T08:07:49+0000

Mr Zoat said:
18th August 2013
10:33 GMT -5

"Are you short of mana?"

Ring, what's happening?

Unable to quantify.

Huh, that's a very rare occurrence these days. There's absolutely nothing in the Ring's analytical knowledge-base that this situation remotely resembles?At lest he'll have an interesting tale to tell... If they survive.

Thank you. Though I suppose that Hinon might at least be a little impressed that I've managed to encounter a situation that even the Controllers haven't.

"No. These are… Summonings. They take power to make, but there's no further drain when they get damaged. They just get damaged."

And he can reclaim a little of the energy used to make them, though that depends on them not being destroyed before he can do so (If I remember right.) But that's hardly useful here.

I clench my left hand into a fist and add a tougher construct to the exterior of the one which is cracking.

"So, keep blocking, attack, or attempt to mind control it?"

Even layered constructs might struggle to deal with these things.

"I know Puppet Master, but it would take more mana than I'm comfortable spending. And it might well fail; all Ashans spells are intended to work on things native to Ashan."

"No, I could try to mind control it. Similar problem, but it doesn't drain the one of us who's keeping us real."

If it has enough compatibility with your form of Desire to manipulate, anyway. That's something we haven't seen very often, have we? Creatures with a completely different emotional Spectrum?

"How draining would a more mundane attack-" The inner construct blister fails, the tendrils rapidly reaching out to fill the full volume of their new prison. "-be?"

"Negligibly."

The risk is damaging their travel orb. Or sending off signals that attract more of them, depending on how exotic energy attacks function out here...

"Then that seems wisest." He looks around. "Since we seem to be fully enveloped, I will accelerate our passage. Even if we attract a second creature, it might serve to distract the first."

I fabricate a knife, then x-ionise it. "This reminds me of a story, actually."

"Oh?"

Ah, the joy of sharing pop-cultures with beings completely unaware of your pool of references.

"A flying ship passing through a vast cloud found itself under attack. Small creatures latched onto its hull and drained it of power, and then a larger creature assaulted it physically."

"And their solution?"

This is a 'Star Trek' episode, right? Probably TNG or Voyager.

"The small creatures were males. They thought that the ship was a female, and they were attempting to mate with it. The larger creature was the female, assaulting a rival. They repainted their ship in submissive colours and the males and the female all left it alone." I stab the knife through my construct and… Slice neatly through the tendrils. They lose contact with the main mass 'outside' and immediately fall to the bottom of the construct and lie still.

Well, that's... Encouraging?

Oh.

"Okay, that-."

The tendrils I'm watching vanish.

...Or not. Let's hope they just collapsed into the quantum foam or something instead of going super-speed.

Um.

Right, close the blister in case more tendrils try to get in, put a construct barrier around Lushun-

"Excuse me?"

Don't take it personally, Luu. It's this or get bit by little wrigglers.

-and wait because-.

Wuhy!

The tendrils ball appears just above Lushun's head and immediately tried to grab him! The construct barrier holds-.

See? Now imagine of those had gone for your orifices...

I fire a pair of construct hands at it and grab it, yanking it away!

"Cutting is a bad idea!"

There's got to be some way of making them decide you're not tasty.

The tendrils lash out in a frenzy, rapidly abrading the interior of my construct. The tendrils around the edge of the platform are also increasing their aggression. On the off chance that it's that easy I fabricate a roast chicken and fire it out into the void in case this thing is food motivated… But the chicken ceases to be just after passing through the shield.

So the ration dissolving earlier may have been coincidence.

Alright… Heat? No effect? Laser? No effect. Plasma? No-. Argh!

One of the tendrils wasn't lashing around. It was reaching for me and I miss it-. Latched onto my arm! Construct yoyo, wind it up and bundle it up with the rest-. Ah. Fire? No. Don't have any kahuutite… Ah. Recover x-ionised knife, blender construct and blend!

You won't see that on 'Will it Blend?'

Bzzzzz!

And… The black stuff is still in there, but isn't not moving…

Phew. So just turn the areas it's breaking through into confetti?

No… It is. The small tendrils are trying to wrap themselves together.

"Is it dead?"

...Dammit, these things are persistent.

"No." I look around… We're fully enveloped, though it… Doesn't seem to be that thick. Almost every part of the shield is being probed, and my construct is blocking dozens of tendril incursions. "This mass became its own life form when I severed it from the main mass, but the tiny parts seem to be trying to reassemble themselves."

So it seems to be a colony of some kind, then. Each tiny cell able to function independently, but drawn to glob together with others.

"Ah, so there's a minimum size. Can you throw it back out?"

"Yes, I should be able to. That won't stop the creature outside from trying to get in, but it will remove the distraction."

And possibly disrupt it as fragments reattach.

Okay, find an emptyish bit, connect the construct containment vessel with the construct barrier, breach the barrier -which causes tendrils from the outside to pick up the small bits immediately- and then shove it outwards…

"Okay, it looks like that-"

Ah, not a large enough area to distract the whole.

The creature vanishes.

"-worked-. SHIT!"

Welp, GG, no re.

I lunge closer to the puzzled-looking Lushun and fortify the barrier immediately around us, fabricating x-ionised blades for the exterior as fast as I-

Wuhy!

-can-!

Easier than trying to maintain two separate bubbles, I guess.

Everything is tendrils. I can't see out, I can only see Lushun from the light of my constructs and his staff-

"That's interesting. The fear aura from this cloak should intimidate it. Perhaps it's not a creature but a mechanical being instead?"

Or it has no Morale stat to modify. Which is worrying, as it suggests it operates under different rules.

-and I can feel the creature wrapping itself around my construct and pressing!

"Anything helpful to say, or shall I just commend our souls to any god that can find them?"

At least they learned why no-one tried breaching the void before. Jsut about anyone who tried got eaten by those things. And might well explain where the Darkness Elementals came from - those tentacle things finding themselves in a smorgasbord...

Crumbler? No. Cold gun? Not enough room. Try pushing-? Gosh, that's strong. I think it's… Constricting. And not like a snake that waits for you to take a breath, it's just using crushing force, pulling against itself.

"Ah. Even assuming that this creature can't consume them, I doubt that our souls would survive for any length of time here."

That's a good point. Kind of annoying to go out like this, though...

"So, yes? No?"

And there are the cracks! Ah… Kinetic barrier? Oh, that's actually-.

It fails with a wiff of burning circuitry.

Suggests some form of kinetic attack might repel it...

Okay, I can recreate-.

The orange mote I gave Lushun goes out.

And there goes their guide trace.

He stares at the place it used to be, and then starts muttering at his staff.

"Do you need another one?"

Because I suspect OL is gonna need all he can trying to keep them alive a little longer.

Crunch!

My construct fractures, and I just about get another smaller one in place in time. Thicken it up…

And additional layers, I would think.

"No, I think… I think that means that we've-"

The platform, the void and most especially the creature vanish, and are replaced by-.

...Well, that's a relief.

"-arrived."

Oh dear.

...That is not.

So, then, where are they now? Another world within the M&M-multiverse, back in the DC Multiverse, or did they end up in some other video-game franchise? ...Oh god, imagine if they ended up in DC Universe Online or something... Still, at least they're not in danger of being... Whatever that thing was trying to do to them.

Mr Zoat · 2026-01-25T08:18:35+0000

Darko said:
"found itself"

Duke Long said:
'Ashan's'
'kahuuite'

Thank you, corrected.

Signaller · 2026-01-25T08:34:13+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Unable to quantify.

Well, at least it's not an error message. Those were terrifying.

Signaller · 2026-01-25T08:35:46+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Almost certainly not.

[Looks at what he's spent two weeks writing]

But I never thought I'd put one there either, so who knows?

I'm just pattern-matching "things I know about" with "things that have a character named or based on the concept of greed".

Vaermina · 2026-01-25T08:44:01+0000

Mr Zoat said:
"A flying ship passing through a vast cloud found itself under attack. Small creatures latched onto its hull and drained it of power, and then a larger creature assaulted it physically."

"And their solution?"

"The small creatures were males. They thought that the ship was a female, and they were attempting to mate with it. The larger creature was the female, assaulting a rival. They repainted their ship in submissive colours and the males and the female all left it alone." I stab the knife through my construct and… Slice neatly through the tendrils. They lose contact with the main mass 'outside' and immediately fall to the bottom of the construct and lie still.

Yeah, thats just Star Trek.

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

HISSSSSS!

Welp

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This is filth! FILTH!!

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