SerbobIV
Not too sore, are you?
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Nah, but they hate everything else, together.
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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
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- self-insert young justice
Darko
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Then I'm guessing he's going to lead them in their own version of the Flashpoint conquest.
Someguy Somewhere
The Critical Fumbler
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The Atlantians were using circuit stamping tech to make the physical hardware that they then enchanted...I assume that Lex's Paper products require a sorcerer of some type to energies the stamps in bulk during production, but it is pointed out that while Minor magic can stop a power ring, it won't last very long against someone that actually does magic and can directly effect it. Like the Sorcerer Tim here.
Jankl
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So just a short question. Can people with Aphantasia create constructs with a power ring? Aphantasia is the inability to create mental images in your mind. You need to be able to visualize constructs to create them right?
Mr Zoat
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They wouldn't be able to create constructs with a green ring, certainly. I imagine it just wouldn't occur to them to try with other colours, even if the AI would manage most of it.
Schooled (part 23)
New
Mr Zoat
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September 23rd, 2013
00:57 UTC
"Kuu kuu. Kuu kuu."
Hunter nods at bird
The pigeon talks at great length
I don't understand
Olange Lanteln was wrong. Thinking in Engrish isn't that hald.
Heh.
"Okay. Thank you." Hunter holds out a bread crust to the pigeon, which takes it and then flies away.
"Did you just talk to the pigeon?"
He looks puzzled. As if he cannot understand why someone would be sceptical. "You saw me talk to the pigeon."
"It could have been a robot."
"If I had a toy robot I could probably bring it to life. But I wouldn't know how to build a pigeon robot."
I don't actually think it was a robot. But I don't understand why it wasn't behaving like a pigeon.
"Is it your familiar?"
"A pigeon? No. They're pretty dirty. And if you kill a wizard's familiar they can die from the feedback."
"Pigeon brains are not complex enough to communicate with humans in that way."
"I didn't know that."
Could he do it because he didn't know it was impossible? Sometimes… Not having assumptions is useful, because you can try new approaches to things that other people have already failed at. But that is not because an impossible thing has become possible; it is because you do something that is possible.
"Can you tell me how that magic works?"
He shrugs. Perhaps he does not know, because he magic is instinctual? Or perhaps he has never had to explain it to anyone.
"I think… It's because the pigeons do see everything. But it's my magic that lets them turn that data into useful information. I think that they've been acting differently since I started using them like this, so I think that they keep something from what I do to them."
"You are turning them from a magic information network to an actual information network? You are making them intelligent?"
He looks thoughtful. "I'm not sure. They might just be acting differently because the magic makes them remember that I want them to act differently."
That would make more sense. But just because it makes sense, that doesn't mean that it's true. Perhaps… Perhaps they are merely vessels for his magic, and he just perceives the information as coming from the birds?
"Did they find any criminals?"
"Ah… Sort of. There isn't anyone committing crimes in the area, but there are some suspicious looking people heading towards us."
"Pigeons can decide that someone looks suspicious?"
"They aren't moving right, or doing human… Things. Pigeons notice that. They're also all dressed the same."
"Drugs?"
Hunter shakes his head. "The pigeons don't think so. Not a lot of drugs around here."
"Where are they?"
He points northwards. "Down the road, turn left."
I nod, and take a small U.F.O. drone out of one of my pouches and press the big red button on top to activate it. It flies out of my hand and heads in the direction Hunter gave me.
"Is that armed?"
"Sort of. It can use the same anti-gravity device that lets it fly to trap one person in a null gravity field. I am sending it because I want something that is not a pigeon to look at our targets."
Hunter smiles. "They're very reliable pigeons, I'll have you know."
"Did the pigeons tell you where they're going?"
"Yes. Towards us."
"Are they armed?"
He holds up his right hand in a 'stop' gesture. "Pigeons have limits."
I pull out an-.
"Why does that look like an Etch A Sketch?"
"I used to make my inventions look like toys so that no one would realise what they were. Now I do it out of habit." I turn the dials so that the screen shows what the U.F.Drone is seeing. "May I ask you a question?"
"You just did." Huh? "Yes."
"Why do you call yourself 'Hunter'? Should your hero name not be different to your actual name?"
He shakes his head. "I don't really care about pretending to be someone else. Neither of us wear masks. And if I really need to look like someone else, I can do that with magic."
I nod. I could make a disguise for myself, but by the time I decided that I was a superhero, my face was already well known in Japan. "I have another question."
"I think that's a tautology." Huh? "What is it?"
"Why do you have a 'Harry Potter Lookalike Lifetime Achievement Award'?"
He closes his eyes, and breathes in slowly. "I'd rather not talk about it."
"If you-." Ah, my drone is in position. I twist a knob… "The drone's metallurgy scanner says that they are robots. Does someone in Britain make human-like robots?"
"Mister Dolmann used to. But there's no reason for them to be here. Do they have any weapons?"
"No guns. Knives."
"Oh good. That's illegal in Britain, so we can arrest them and then phone the police."
I nod, and draw my ray gun. We should be able to-.
Hunter shakes his head, and walks towards an old and rusty skip. "Don't bother with that. Have your drone pick one up. I'll deal with the rest."
I nod, and send the command. "How?"
He taps the skip with his knuckles. "Come out. I've got a job for you."
A small… Imp? Goblin? Some sort of creature, appears, poking its head out of the skip. "What?"
"There's some metal men coming this way. If you stop them, you can keep their arms and legs."
The creature grins-. Ooh, showing a broad mouth full of sharp teeth. "We can do that. Come on, everyone!"
The creature jumps out, followed by another, and then another, and then-.
I take a few steps back as the swarm runs down the street. "What are they?"
"Rust gremlins." He nods as he watches them go. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere near them if I was a robot."
What..? Comes next? In Japan I have contacts in the police, but I do not have that here and magicians are usually less involved in such matters. "Will the police know what to do with robots?"
"Then we can hand them over to the Justice League, I should think. Wasn't that the whole point of joining up?"
00:57 UTC
"Kuu kuu. Kuu kuu."
Hunter nods at bird
The pigeon talks at great length
I don't understand
Olange Lanteln was wrong. Thinking in Engrish isn't that hald.
Heh.
"Okay. Thank you." Hunter holds out a bread crust to the pigeon, which takes it and then flies away.
"Did you just talk to the pigeon?"
He looks puzzled. As if he cannot understand why someone would be sceptical. "You saw me talk to the pigeon."
"It could have been a robot."
"If I had a toy robot I could probably bring it to life. But I wouldn't know how to build a pigeon robot."
I don't actually think it was a robot. But I don't understand why it wasn't behaving like a pigeon.
"Is it your familiar?"
"A pigeon? No. They're pretty dirty. And if you kill a wizard's familiar they can die from the feedback."
"Pigeon brains are not complex enough to communicate with humans in that way."
"I didn't know that."
Could he do it because he didn't know it was impossible? Sometimes… Not having assumptions is useful, because you can try new approaches to things that other people have already failed at. But that is not because an impossible thing has become possible; it is because you do something that is possible.
"Can you tell me how that magic works?"
He shrugs. Perhaps he does not know, because he magic is instinctual? Or perhaps he has never had to explain it to anyone.
"I think… It's because the pigeons do see everything. But it's my magic that lets them turn that data into useful information. I think that they've been acting differently since I started using them like this, so I think that they keep something from what I do to them."
"You are turning them from a magic information network to an actual information network? You are making them intelligent?"
He looks thoughtful. "I'm not sure. They might just be acting differently because the magic makes them remember that I want them to act differently."
That would make more sense. But just because it makes sense, that doesn't mean that it's true. Perhaps… Perhaps they are merely vessels for his magic, and he just perceives the information as coming from the birds?
"Did they find any criminals?"
"Ah… Sort of. There isn't anyone committing crimes in the area, but there are some suspicious looking people heading towards us."
"Pigeons can decide that someone looks suspicious?"
"They aren't moving right, or doing human… Things. Pigeons notice that. They're also all dressed the same."
"Drugs?"
Hunter shakes his head. "The pigeons don't think so. Not a lot of drugs around here."
"Where are they?"
He points northwards. "Down the road, turn left."
I nod, and take a small U.F.O. drone out of one of my pouches and press the big red button on top to activate it. It flies out of my hand and heads in the direction Hunter gave me.
"Is that armed?"
"Sort of. It can use the same anti-gravity device that lets it fly to trap one person in a null gravity field. I am sending it because I want something that is not a pigeon to look at our targets."
Hunter smiles. "They're very reliable pigeons, I'll have you know."
"Did the pigeons tell you where they're going?"
"Yes. Towards us."
"Are they armed?"
He holds up his right hand in a 'stop' gesture. "Pigeons have limits."
I pull out an-.
"Why does that look like an Etch A Sketch?"
"I used to make my inventions look like toys so that no one would realise what they were. Now I do it out of habit." I turn the dials so that the screen shows what the U.F.Drone is seeing. "May I ask you a question?"
"You just did." Huh? "Yes."
"Why do you call yourself 'Hunter'? Should your hero name not be different to your actual name?"
He shakes his head. "I don't really care about pretending to be someone else. Neither of us wear masks. And if I really need to look like someone else, I can do that with magic."
I nod. I could make a disguise for myself, but by the time I decided that I was a superhero, my face was already well known in Japan. "I have another question."
"I think that's a tautology." Huh? "What is it?"
"Why do you have a 'Harry Potter Lookalike Lifetime Achievement Award'?"
He closes his eyes, and breathes in slowly. "I'd rather not talk about it."
"If you-." Ah, my drone is in position. I twist a knob… "The drone's metallurgy scanner says that they are robots. Does someone in Britain make human-like robots?"
"Mister Dolmann used to. But there's no reason for them to be here. Do they have any weapons?"
"No guns. Knives."
"Oh good. That's illegal in Britain, so we can arrest them and then phone the police."
I nod, and draw my ray gun. We should be able to-.
Hunter shakes his head, and walks towards an old and rusty skip. "Don't bother with that. Have your drone pick one up. I'll deal with the rest."
I nod, and send the command. "How?"
He taps the skip with his knuckles. "Come out. I've got a job for you."
A small… Imp? Goblin? Some sort of creature, appears, poking its head out of the skip. "What?"
"There's some metal men coming this way. If you stop them, you can keep their arms and legs."
The creature grins-. Ooh, showing a broad mouth full of sharp teeth. "We can do that. Come on, everyone!"
The creature jumps out, followed by another, and then another, and then-.
I take a few steps back as the swarm runs down the street. "What are they?"
"Rust gremlins." He nods as he watches them go. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere near them if I was a robot."
What..? Comes next? In Japan I have contacts in the police, but I do not have that here and magicians are usually less involved in such matters. "Will the police know what to do with robots?"
"Then we can hand them over to the Justice League, I should think. Wasn't that the whole point of joining up?"
Last edited:
SolarIncursion
Getting sticky.
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When in doubt, set your neighborhood metal pickers upon your foe. The benefit of being polite.
Chojin Patriarch
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Very impressive, Hiro. Pleasant little haiku. I bet he thought Tim was kidding when he said 'Stool Pigeon' earlier. Let's hope the 'flying rats' have something useful for him, though.
Yet you still get the classic error of 'Ls to Rs' and vice versa. But that's mostly because Japanese doesn't have an 'L' sound as such. Closest they get is a soft 'eru' when translating loanwords with it..
Animal communication spells can take many forms. Sometimes, it involves making their sounds at them.
And the toy would be more like a golem than a robot.
I'm assuming he's thinking of it more like the D&D-and-related concept - an animal enhanced by magic through a mental bond.
Ravens come close, and some other Corvids.
And I doubt telling him it's not possible has suddenly blocked him from doing it again. Magic isn't that dumb.
Little of column A, little of column B. Maybe even a little of column C (Hiro lacking the background to understand the magical theory.)
Doubt that's what he means. More likely they watch humans more, knowing that if the special one will give them food if they can tell him something.
Like getting a sort of psychic upload of their visual memory and interpreting it? possible.
...That'll be the mookbots, then.
Ah, one thing they can't disguise: Body language. Too still at rest, to steady when moving, that sort of thing.
Joy of calling a quiet area home.
No rush, eh? If they're coming in, no need to go running off.
Given Hiro's capabilities, that's a good question to ask. Could be anything from a heat-ray to...
...A tractor beam. Helpful. And a camera too, of course.
'You' in general, or 'You' specifically, though? There's a distinct difference in purpose. But 'In specific' is the easiest assumption to take.
Not like they have firearm identification courses for the pigeons, you know?
I wonder if it's a monochrome screen or just a casing around a tablet?
That's an interesting detail. Wonder why? Bullies that would steal or break anything fancier-looking, maybe?
And it's not like he could call himself Merlin or the like, that would carry way too much baggage to those in the know.
Better than the original Toyman, who often operated through robotic doubles, some of which were not entirely human looking.
Heh, a nice shout-out to the resemblance.
That's Eric Dolmann, from the Albion storyline that provided Mr Zoat with most of his British superheroes. A similarly toy-themed inventor type.
Along with various other melee weapons.
I hope that's a stun-gun type weapon, Hiro.
Ah, magical creatures of Britain. Naturally Tim can command any or all of them.
Oooh, vicious. The mookbots are not in for a fun time.
I can understand his hesitation. Japan has its own impish mystical creatures, sometimes categorised as 'Bakemono', a subtype of Yokai.
What's left of them, anyway.
Well, the Rust Gremlins going to be eating well tonight, I would imagine. I mean, I assume they'll eat the metal, hence the name. A rather casually easy solution to the threat, of course. But when one of you can talk to birds and imps and the other has high-tech options, there's not much a few automata can do to you.
BartlettMagic
peekaboo, you fucks you!
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WereDragon
Bookwyrm
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Neat trick. Always slightly annoyed me that D&D had no spells that let you summon Rust Monsters.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.@BartlettMagic said:
Radiant Knight
Phoenix Fire
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Love this bit.
Steelplaza
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Hunter's magic is pretty different from a lot of other magic in With This Ring. OL is always going on about organized, structured magic like the Atlanteans use that you can learn out of libraries and classrooms. It might have been more in the renegade timeline, but I recall someone dissing Circe for using instinctual "throw a lot of power at it" magic that can't accomplish as sophisticated an effect.
Still, I have noticed a theme with Hunter's magic. He asks animals, spirits, and objects to do stuff and they do it. Usually there's at least a little negotiation involved. Even when he trapped Toyman in the mirror, it was more like he asked the mirror to trap Toyman rather than sending Toyman to the mirror. Is that the effect you were going for Zoat, the "rules" of Hunter's magic, are that he needs two reference points, the thing he wants to happen and then the thing that is going to accomplish the thing he wants to happen?
This was so easy for the two of them they defeated the mookbots from down the street and without ever really interacting. Maybe Green Arrow should have come up with something harder.
Still, I have noticed a theme with Hunter's magic. He asks animals, spirits, and objects to do stuff and they do it. Usually there's at least a little negotiation involved. Even when he trapped Toyman in the mirror, it was more like he asked the mirror to trap Toyman rather than sending Toyman to the mirror. Is that the effect you were going for Zoat, the "rules" of Hunter's magic, are that he needs two reference points, the thing he wants to happen and then the thing that is going to accomplish the thing he wants to happen?
This was so easy for the two of them they defeated the mookbots from down the street and without ever really interacting. Maybe Green Arrow should have come up with something harder.
mastermenthe
Mint Thistle
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Malformed query.
You just described foundational ontology.
Please try again.
Graeme
Getting out there.
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masters
Graeme
Getting out there.
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Not spelling mistakes but clarifications. I assume that the first two are Toyman talking about a drone that looks like a toy "flying saucer" UFO here. Is the second part an error or has he renamed the "U.F.O. drone" to "U.F. Drone" - in which case it's definitely not a UFO but an IFO - an Identified Flying Object (Toyman may not know that less widespread initialism though). Also I just spent the last half hour reminiscing about the great Gerry Ansderson UFO series set in the far future year of 1980
In the last one, isn't Toyman Japanese? Wouldn't something like oni be better "A small .... Oni?" surely for something unfamiliar he'd use his first language. Or perhaps both "A small.. Oni? Imp? Goblin?"
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
His English is not perfect.
He wouldn't call something that small and non-Japanese an oni, especially not when thinking in English.
Schooled (part 24)
New
Mr Zoat
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September 23rd, 2013
16:57 PT
I wasn't sure about the League, but this makes it completely worthwhile.
I can fly! Risk was right, when that's the only one of the big powers you don't have, completing the set is just great. Even Don likes it, though I think that's more because of the force field than because of the flying thing. And that's cool too, I guess. He's also the only guy there who read the manual right away, which…
When we were starting out, I'd have said something rude to him about that. Now… Shit. Yeah, I would have got around to reading it eventually. I know how important stuff like that is. Especially if I'm gunna be a couple of miles up and it might give out because I don't know how long the battery lasts. I don't think a terminal velocity fall would kill me, but I don't think it would be much fun testing it.
"This is where you live?"
And then there's Aztec. She is a fine looking girl. Argent ain't bad, but it's pretty obvious that she didn't work out before she got her powers.
"Born and raised! Only problem is that there's not much for people as powerful as Don and me to actually do here."
"That's not really a problem, Hank. That means that crime's low and no one needs saving."
"Don, I know." Because you insist on telling me every single time I bring this up. "And that's great. I don't want people dying just so's I can show off or nothin'. It just feels like a waste."
Aztec nods. "Yes. It is a waste."
Careful not to go flying off in a random direction again, I turn my head so I can look at Don. "See?"
"Hey, I agreed that signing up with the League was the right thing to do, didn't I? What do you think would have happened if we'd tried signing up with the Alliance of the Just?"
"We'd have been fine. T'Charr and Terataya woulda protected us unless we were right next to Mannheim, and we coulda learned all kinds of things."
Aztec looks at me. "Who are they?"
"The magical beings who gave us our powers. Ah, how about you? Where do your powers come from?"
"From my suit, for the most part. I have been trained in combat since I was a child, but I am only slightly stronger than a normal person without it."
"Huh." Don nods. "You know, one of the things Orange Lantern put in his equipment list is the Danner Formula."
"And I will send a sample to the Q Foundation to see whether I should accept it or not."
Danner… Danner-. Right, those tree people in Brazil! "Hey Don, should we use that?"
"I don't know." He frowns. "I mean, the whole point of having a secret identity is that you can pretend to be a regular person. If we were super strong all the time that would be a lot harder."
"All those guys in Brazil don't gotta pretend."
"Yeah, but they were born like that. Plenty of people know that we weren't."
He's got a point. I wear a mask because… That's what you do when you're a superhero, right? I literally never thought about not doing that. But Aqualad doesn't have a mask, and Orange Lantern doesn't wear a mask, and Zatanna -also fine- doesn't wear a mask… So now I'm thinking about it. Not like I designed this costume; it just appeared when I said 'Hawk' the first time.
"But would it make us stronger?"
"I dunno, Hank. It might, it might replace that part of our magic if it makes us stronger than the magic would, or it might interfere with the magic and stop us transforming at all. We'll have to ask our sponsors-. And you know you wouldn't be able to play football in college if you were a metahuman, right?"
Ah. I did, but I forgot. I guess… It probably wouldn't affect actual missions, just if I got caught flatfooted. Which is a problem, but… Yeah, I do really wanna play ball in college.
Eh, second opinion. "How about you, Aztec? And… Do you got a name?"
"No."
"You ain't gunna use it?"
"I don't have a name. Uno was the first warrior of our line to be a superhero. Usually we spend our time either training or fighting evil covertly."
"Wait, what? You don't have a name?"
"I was usually called 'warrior' when my instructors addressed me. Now I am called 'Aztek'."
Don doesn't look happy. "And that doesn't bother you at all?"
"Should it?"
"Ah, yeah, probably."
"Oh. Well, it doesn't. I want nothing outside of being this. I'm not distracted by things like playing football."
I put my hand over my heart. "Ow."
Don nods. "So, what? You joined to make things more efficient? The League can find you more bad guys?"
"Yes. But I was not expecting to hear about Mageddon. That might change things."
"Oh yeah, how were..?" What'd she call them? "The… Q Foundation planning on you fighting a giant sun?"
"I do not know. I think that we may have misunderstood what we were preparing to fight. If Mageddon is indeed the thing that our ancestors identified as Tezcatlipoca, then my superiors may have to reconsider our approach."
"How do you fight a sun?"
"Their wisdom is greater than mine, but I assume that we would either need to build a fleet of space ships to fight it physically, or focus on pure magic in order to disrupt it internally."
I shake my head. "I wouldn't worry about it. If it's been there for, like, a million years, it's not gunna break free any time soon."
"I hope not. It would be shameful to be the warrior who fought it, only to be completely powerless against it."
"I guess you-." Don's staring at something. "What is it?"
"You know how we live in a low crime area?"
"Yeah?"
He points down towards the ground. "So what are those guys doing?"
I look down… At a mob of sketchy looking guys with baseball bats heading for… The courthouse? Ah, shit. The bailiffs have guns, but there aren't that many of them and they could get swarmed. But… Walking around with a baseball bat isn't a crime, exactly.
Ah.
Don drops slightly in the air. "How about I go talk to them? If they attack me, you can both jump in."
Hey. "I could talk to 'em."
"I'm not saying you couldn't, I'm just saying that you shouldn't. And if they're packing, I'm better at dodging than you are."
I nod. "Okay. Ah, Aztec-."
"This is your hometown. I will follow your lead."
"Okay, great. Good luck, Don."
"Please. We both know this is going to turn into a fight."
Aztec stares at him. "Then why talk to them?"
"Because I hope I'm wrong. See you."
And then he drops down to street level, the mob shambling to a halt in front of him.
"You fellahs got room for a pitcher?"
16:57 PT
I wasn't sure about the League, but this makes it completely worthwhile.
I can fly! Risk was right, when that's the only one of the big powers you don't have, completing the set is just great. Even Don likes it, though I think that's more because of the force field than because of the flying thing. And that's cool too, I guess. He's also the only guy there who read the manual right away, which…
When we were starting out, I'd have said something rude to him about that. Now… Shit. Yeah, I would have got around to reading it eventually. I know how important stuff like that is. Especially if I'm gunna be a couple of miles up and it might give out because I don't know how long the battery lasts. I don't think a terminal velocity fall would kill me, but I don't think it would be much fun testing it.
"This is where you live?"
And then there's Aztec. She is a fine looking girl. Argent ain't bad, but it's pretty obvious that she didn't work out before she got her powers.
"Born and raised! Only problem is that there's not much for people as powerful as Don and me to actually do here."
"That's not really a problem, Hank. That means that crime's low and no one needs saving."
"Don, I know." Because you insist on telling me every single time I bring this up. "And that's great. I don't want people dying just so's I can show off or nothin'. It just feels like a waste."
Aztec nods. "Yes. It is a waste."
Careful not to go flying off in a random direction again, I turn my head so I can look at Don. "See?"
"Hey, I agreed that signing up with the League was the right thing to do, didn't I? What do you think would have happened if we'd tried signing up with the Alliance of the Just?"
"We'd have been fine. T'Charr and Terataya woulda protected us unless we were right next to Mannheim, and we coulda learned all kinds of things."
Aztec looks at me. "Who are they?"
"The magical beings who gave us our powers. Ah, how about you? Where do your powers come from?"
"From my suit, for the most part. I have been trained in combat since I was a child, but I am only slightly stronger than a normal person without it."
"Huh." Don nods. "You know, one of the things Orange Lantern put in his equipment list is the Danner Formula."
"And I will send a sample to the Q Foundation to see whether I should accept it or not."
Danner… Danner-. Right, those tree people in Brazil! "Hey Don, should we use that?"
"I don't know." He frowns. "I mean, the whole point of having a secret identity is that you can pretend to be a regular person. If we were super strong all the time that would be a lot harder."
"All those guys in Brazil don't gotta pretend."
"Yeah, but they were born like that. Plenty of people know that we weren't."
He's got a point. I wear a mask because… That's what you do when you're a superhero, right? I literally never thought about not doing that. But Aqualad doesn't have a mask, and Orange Lantern doesn't wear a mask, and Zatanna -also fine- doesn't wear a mask… So now I'm thinking about it. Not like I designed this costume; it just appeared when I said 'Hawk' the first time.
"But would it make us stronger?"
"I dunno, Hank. It might, it might replace that part of our magic if it makes us stronger than the magic would, or it might interfere with the magic and stop us transforming at all. We'll have to ask our sponsors-. And you know you wouldn't be able to play football in college if you were a metahuman, right?"
Ah. I did, but I forgot. I guess… It probably wouldn't affect actual missions, just if I got caught flatfooted. Which is a problem, but… Yeah, I do really wanna play ball in college.
Eh, second opinion. "How about you, Aztec? And… Do you got a name?"
"No."
"You ain't gunna use it?"
"I don't have a name. Uno was the first warrior of our line to be a superhero. Usually we spend our time either training or fighting evil covertly."
"Wait, what? You don't have a name?"
"I was usually called 'warrior' when my instructors addressed me. Now I am called 'Aztek'."
Don doesn't look happy. "And that doesn't bother you at all?"
"Should it?"
"Ah, yeah, probably."
"Oh. Well, it doesn't. I want nothing outside of being this. I'm not distracted by things like playing football."
I put my hand over my heart. "Ow."
Don nods. "So, what? You joined to make things more efficient? The League can find you more bad guys?"
"Yes. But I was not expecting to hear about Mageddon. That might change things."
"Oh yeah, how were..?" What'd she call them? "The… Q Foundation planning on you fighting a giant sun?"
"I do not know. I think that we may have misunderstood what we were preparing to fight. If Mageddon is indeed the thing that our ancestors identified as Tezcatlipoca, then my superiors may have to reconsider our approach."
"How do you fight a sun?"
"Their wisdom is greater than mine, but I assume that we would either need to build a fleet of space ships to fight it physically, or focus on pure magic in order to disrupt it internally."
I shake my head. "I wouldn't worry about it. If it's been there for, like, a million years, it's not gunna break free any time soon."
"I hope not. It would be shameful to be the warrior who fought it, only to be completely powerless against it."
"I guess you-." Don's staring at something. "What is it?"
"You know how we live in a low crime area?"
"Yeah?"
He points down towards the ground. "So what are those guys doing?"
I look down… At a mob of sketchy looking guys with baseball bats heading for… The courthouse? Ah, shit. The bailiffs have guns, but there aren't that many of them and they could get swarmed. But… Walking around with a baseball bat isn't a crime, exactly.
Ah.
Don drops slightly in the air. "How about I go talk to them? If they attack me, you can both jump in."
Hey. "I could talk to 'em."
"I'm not saying you couldn't, I'm just saying that you shouldn't. And if they're packing, I'm better at dodging than you are."
I nod. "Okay. Ah, Aztec-."
"This is your hometown. I will follow your lead."
"Okay, great. Good luck, Don."
"Please. We both know this is going to turn into a fight."
Aztec stares at him. "Then why talk to them?"
"Because I hope I'm wrong. See you."
And then he drops down to street level, the mob shambling to a halt in front of him.
"You fellahs got room for a pitcher?"
Darko
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So the next episode will focus on Mageddon breaking free.
Classic superhero quip.
Chojin Patriarch
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Ah, Hank, Hank, Hank... So easily impressed. Okay, flying is cool, especially when you couldn't do it before. But there's more to it all than just that. The support, the training, the equipment... There's a lot of benefits to be had.
Good to see he has improved since his younger days.
Plus, the metallic skin is probably hitting in the uncanny valley a little. Unless you're into stuff like Sorayama girls.
But you wouldn't want to get soft.
Plus your benefactors might prefer you boys to be out there doing good. For the world, not just your hometown
Oooh, that would have been awkward, especially when the Anti-Life kicked off.
Eh, the risks outweigh what minimal benefits they would have gained. And it's more likely they would have been pulled down by weight of numbers and slapped in Justifier helmets...
I hope the 'secretly created by Lex Luthor' angle isn't entirely true here, but it does feel like something the Light would try.
Wise. For all the benefits, it has its drawbacks too. Increased caloric intake for a start.
And can the Danner enhancement match or surpass their current strength anyway?
And while being super-durable outside the costumes would be handy, there are the drawbacks to remember.
Blame your benefactors for that, I would imagine. Maybe they decided looking superheroic would help them somehow?
Both of those are concerns Don would think of and Hank would miss, definitely.
Ah, Hank. Such small goals.
Given the religious aspects of her background, subsuming herself totally into her role seems fitting.
If she has to have one at all, would she take the comics name of 'Nayeli Constant', I wonder?
Again, religious undertones. Whatever she was before, she is Aztek now.
I wonder if that'll change as she experiences more of the world? Especially around guys like Hank and Don.
It seems logical enough, even without the whole 'Lex Luthor's mole' possibility.
I doubt it would involve calling down Quetzacoatl to effectively use her as a host to fight it personally.
And if it is a Luthor plot, the faux-religious aspects were basically picked out of a hat. South American mythologies aren't that well known outside of the big names.
Okay, lesson one for these guys is going to have to be 'How to not tempt fate'.
Ah, here come the mookbots. Those enhanced senses coming in handy.
Besides wandering around menacingly like Mookbots are wont to do?
Although it would get you some odd looks anywhere outside of a sports field.
Sadly, Hank, you are not the most diplomatic of guys.
Ah, agility fighters versus durability fighters...
Hyper-vigilance for the win. Plus just plain pessimistic understanding of how a superhero world works...
Any chance to try and defuse a conflict is orderly, after all. And if they swing at him, it becomes self-defence.
Alas, snappy patter is wasted on these gents.
An interesting trio. Two peppy American teenagers and one religiously-disciplined lady of presumably South American birth. All theoretically empowered by supernatural sources. And all three with comparable powersets, especially with Kinetic Belts providing flight. No wonder they sent a big batch of Mookbots to hassle them... There's gonna be a lot of scrap real soon.
WereDragon
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As is often the case with these updates, the fact that it takes a while to work out who the pov is makes it hard to care about any of it.
boo600
Welp
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What.
So. They did, as per the Renegade timeline, receive the powers of Order and Chaos.
Which T'Charr and Terataya claimed, to the Renegade, would keep other Lords of O/C away from Earth/the material plane.
…guys, I think we need to go check on Constantine. Unless the limit is more than 1 each, and another Lord duo died/were banished recently… but the Renegade killed the Changing Man and a few others, so he should be ahead there (and he didn't replace Klarion/Nabu with Constantine, instead stripping them of their power outright with the Sword), so if the limit is that high, then they wouldn't be the protection their patrons promised so much as a "well, why not fill this slot?"
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Mr Zoat
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No, that's actually a different character with no connection to the previous ones other than having their mask dropped on her. As far as I can tell the female Aztek in the original Aztek comic didn't have a name. Or at least it was never mentioned.
She's never been anything else.
Rebu
hey, little Anna, you're the one
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I figured it out the second the narrator said "Don".
Skill issue?
Jankl
Making the rounds.
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It can be a bit confusing tho. Atleast initially. Adding the name of the POV character wouldn't do any harm right? Just for that extra clarity.
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Mr Zoat
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Yeah, I can do that, if it doesn't bother anyone.