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

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-08-26T07:27:48+0100

Mr Zoat said:
28th September 2013
13:17 GMT -5
Tim Hunter

I should probably have asked Zatanna or Orange Lantern before I did this. I'm used to Molly jumping in when things like this happen, so I have to go along with her. But Hiro didn't look up from his Etch A Sketch, and neither of the actual superheroes noticed when I put on this dream cloak…

Dangit, Tim. You do not Robin it up on your first formal case. Seriously, even Robin understood when to quietly go solo and when to let people know he was going. This is going to end up loud, isn't it?

Molly's going to tell me off tomorrow.

And that'll probably sting more than anything his mentors could say, isn't it?

But I don't look like me… I mean, this me doesn't look like me. Me-1 and Me-2 can merge when I get back, I've done this before, but the important thing is that I don't look or sound like myself. I can't do American accents, and I don't even know what sort of accent the people in this part of America have.

To be fair, it's Florida. Talk like your mouth is full of mush and you'd probably fit right in.

"…know the difference between right and wrong, why do you need someone to tell you what it is?"

"Ah… 'cause… Sometimes, I'm selfish and don't care about other people?"

Huh, at least that person's self-aware about humans being selfish little apes.

Lonnie Machin is setting in a circle of other kids, and… He looks a lot more interested in it than they do. But I can't see anything forcing them to stay, so maybe I caught him at a bad time?

"That's… Not really what I meant, but alright. What else?"

Huh, makes sense he'd start on 'red-pilling' young folks. Given his typical view of adults...

"Because what I-. I think one thing's right and someone else thinks something else is right? So if there's… Y'know, someone telling us both, then that's… Settled."

"Settled by who?"

Ah, yes. Lonnie's issues with authority. Even worse than fanon Taylor Hebert's.

"My Mom, usually."

I walk closer. There are other caravan children over to my right having a kickabout, but Lonnie's group don't seem all that interested in joining them.

Hmm... Probably some pickup hand-egg. Probably too much to hope they'd be enjoying the proper game.

"And what makes you listen to her?"

"Because I want dinner."

And that's a good reason to follow authority: The threat of punishment.

Lonnie looks up at me for a moment as I get closer, but I shouldn't look out of place. On the other hand, if this is supposed to be invite-only, then he might just tell me to get lost without realising that there's anything odd about me. If he does, then I'll just go and watch the football while I keep an ear pointed this way.

Ah, it is football. Well, at least he won't be bored if he blows it.

"Hey." Lonnie nods at me. "Are you joining up?"

I keep walking closer. "I guess? If you don't mind?"

More the merrier, it seems. Probably rare that he has an audience for his philosophy.

"Of course not. I wish more people would come." He waves his right hand at a slightly emptier patch of grass. "Take a seat, and join in when you feel like."

"Thanks. Ah, I'm Gary."

Good to see most have the sense not to pay attention to his grousing.

I enter the circle and sit down, a little further away than the others. They look me over, but if this works like the caravan parks in England then they're probably used to people coming and going. I don't feel any suspicion or hostility.

"What are we talking about?"

Eh, some trailer parks, maybe. Or they think he's a local kid slumming it.

Lonnie… He doesn't look entirely happy. "When the Anti-Life broadcast happened-" A couple of the other kids twitch or cringe. "-it made us all feel differently about things. Ourselves, the people around us, our civilization and the whole world. And the Life broadcast did the same. I don't think that trying to forget about it is a good idea."

He does have a point, but some of the ways he's going about his business isn't great...

Several other kids nod.

"So we're talking about it?"

"So we're talking about the things it made us believe. Whether they're true or not. And how we should think or feel about things."

No doubt with something of a 'decide for yourselves, don't just follow the herd' angle, eh?

One of the other boys nods. "It was-. I don't wanna care about this kinda thing? But if some supervillain can just make us, then we can't just pretend things are fine, y'know?"

I nod. "Yeah."

Admittedly, most mind-control supervillains can't affect that many people at once.

At the start, London wasn't hit too badly. Map sent our broadcaster… Somewhere, along with their teleportation machine. But that just meant that they had to send Justifiers from somewhere else. We still weren't affected as badly as some people, but we got occupied by Mannheim's soldiers instead. They never found Map, but they never stopped looking, and that made using magic risky.

Probably worse overall, with literal storm-trooper squads wandering the streets.

One of the other kids brightens up. "Hey, maybe you can answer better than me. Why do you do what your mom tells you?"

That's-. I know he doesn't know, and since that was mostly how the Anti-Life tried to get at me… I'm used to the.. feeling-.

Ouch. One of the drawbacks of a heroic destiny. Parents tend to get in the way of adventure.

"Ah, I don't. My mom died in a car crash."

"Oh. Sorry."

At least Lonnie has the compassion to realise he goofed that one.

I don't feel like saying 'it wasn't you' any more. Or 'it wasn't your fault'. Not 'why, was it you?', either. I actually said that once, and my teacher panicked. I never thought the crash was my fault, but Dad did. I think he still does, a bit. But I'm used to the feeling, and making me feel bad wasn't this guy's fault.

A very mature reaction. But I guess he gets that so much it's really just annoying.

"It's fine."

Because it's about as fine as it's going to get.

Better than hexing someone out of frustration, even if that would be briefly entertaining.

"Er…"

"But if you're asking why I do what my Dad tells me, it's because I don't want to make his life any harder."

Boy, big show of compassion from everyone today.

Lonnie nods. "Does that apply to other things?"

"How do you mean?"

"Do you do what you're told because you don't want to make life hard for other people?"

Ah, see, now that is an insidious question. And it is kind of how kids are handled. 'Don't make a fuss', 'stop being troublesome'...

"Depends. I probably would if they looked like they were having a hard time, too. For a bit."

"For a bit?"

"Well… Yeah. If they always acted like everything was the worst thing ever then I'd probably stop trying eventually."

Sometimes you need to give someone a kick in the pants, after all. There's mopey and then there's 'why should I bother trying, shit rolls downhill and I'm at the bottom...'

"What if it was something that you didn't want to do?"

"Like, cleaning my room, or like telling the Justifiers where someone they were looking for is?"

Because one is not like the other.

"Both. Whatever you think is important."

"Cleaning my room's not that hard." And Dad didn't tell me to do it. I kept doing it because Mum used to do it and I wanted it to keep being like she left it. "And the Justifiers… Maybe. Depends."

Heh. I bet he's really making himself really interesting to Lonnie.

"On what?"

I shrug, playing with a buttercup with my right hand. "Who they were threatening. If I could get away or not. If the person they were asking about could get away or not."

And especially if it were someone you knew, or even cared about?

"How about the law?"

I frown. "Uh. No?"

Ah, really endearing himself on that anarchistic angle.

"How about what the President would do?"

One of the other kids smirks. "Do we still have one?"

Technically yes, but with rather limited power over the country at this point.

"Ah." So, the Prime Minster? Or the Queen? That would be a pretty strange thing to worry about. "No?"

"The police?"

Man, navigating the conversation like he's got a playguide.

"No."

"Would you listen to your dad?"

See, now that's someone he'd listen to.

"Yes."

Lonnie smiles, reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small crystal. "Catch."

Ooh, careful, Tim! Hopefully this magical duplicate can't affect the main if it gets mind-controlled.

So Lonnie is trying to recruit young folks by way of insightful debates and firebrand preaching. And it looks like he's been getting converts. Which makes me wonder if he does this everywhere the Illuminati have hidden and how many people he's persuaded to sign on, so to speak...

Silveraith · 2026-08-26T12:33:11+0100

Mr Zoat said:
he might just tell me to get lose without

Lost.

Mr Zoat · 2026-08-26T12:40:31+0100

Silveraith said:
Lost.

Thank you, corrected.

Ardy · 2026-08-26T13:36:58+0100

Really glad to hear about Map, he was cool and then he stopped appearing.

Good on him fighting the good fight

Mr Zoat · 2026-08-26T13:43:31+0100

Ardy said:
Really glad to hear about Map, he was cool and then he stopped appearing.

Good on him fighting the good fight

Map is the British equivalent of Watchdog Man. He's extremely powerful, but he's not going to turn up unless the fight is happening right there.

BR549 · 2026-08-27T05:05:50+0100

Chojin Patriarch said:
To be fair, it's Florida. Talk like your mouth is full of mush and you'd probably fit right in.

Hey now. Not all of Florida is Palm Beach County meth addicts who came down from New York (or east from California).

If this is around Mount Dora, it's an upscale, somewhat hilly region. Honestly a fairly neutral accent - it's too far south for a Southern drawl, and mostly populated by transplants from other states.

Mr Zoat · 2026-08-27T06:10:24+0100

28th September 2013
13:22 GMT -5

"If we're sure that none of the others are here, then-."

The world around us undulates, and Zatanna gasps!

"Zatanna?"

Hiro frowns at his screen. "I have lost my drone."

Zatanna's staring at our surroundings. "Someone just-." She gets a grip on herself. "Hang on. Tahw-."

Her eyes widen as she sees Tim-. Half of him, split vertically. It doesn't seem to bother him, though. He's standing on one leg as if his second leg was still there.

"Hunter, would you like to explain?"

He cringes. "I sent a doppelgänger to talk to Anarky."

"Aren't… Doppelgänger separate creatures, rather than half of the original person's body?"

"Sorry, I was simplifying."

Zatanna frowns at me. "You can understand him?"

"Yes? You can't?"

"It's like half the sounds are missing."

"Toyman, tie break for us?"

"I cannot understand him either."

I extend a filament to each of them and include them in the ring's translation effect. "Hunter, I think that a full explanation might be appropriate."

"I… Sort of created a second me, and then disguised it with… Fragments of ideas, so it wouldn't look like me?" Zatanna's face looks a little strained. "And would act how people expected him to act?"

Zatanna nods slowly. "Do you know what happened to him?"

"No, we have to merge back together for me to know that."

"And you can't merge remotely."

"No, we have to be touching."

She sighs. "Anarky can't have missed that."

"Right." Scan… "Oh, great."

"How bad?"

"I can only scan for a couple of miles. I'm not sure where we are, but we're not physically on Earth."

Timothy looks half-sheepish. "Whoops."

I take a rune stone out of my harness… And it's glowing.

Zatanna nods. "I've got a theory. "Erehw era ew?"

Her eyes flicker white, and she nods again. "We haven't physically moved. Hunter, you just merged everything with their dream-selves."

"Uh… Other me did that?"

"The other you is still basically you. When we get out of this we're going to go over every type of magic you know how to do, so I can work out which ones can go this… Wrong."

Toyman looks around. "So we cannot just walk out?"

Zatanna glares at Timothy. "I don't know. Hunter, can we?"

"Um. I should-. Oh."

"Oh?"

"Ah… Normally-. Uh. It looks like I can't fix it by myself. I need my other half."

I shrug. "Covert surveillance is a bust, anyway. Might as well introduce ourselves. Not like they can run until Hunter ends… This."

"Sorry."

"Technically, you're only half-sorry."

Toyman puts his Etch A Sketch in his bag and looks around. "Is this place safe?"

"We don't know."

Zatanna nods. "Yes, because I haven't seen anything about anyone doing something like this. Paul, is there anything you're keeping secret?"

"Ah… Not secret, but one parallel universe version of Master Machin used crystals to store magic energy which he used to build a machine to project that energy outwards in a mind control wave."

"That sounds a little out of character."

"He wanted to alter their thoughts to force everyone to be profoundly honest and self-aware. It wasn't until Batman-" Punched him really hard. "-broke the machine and he got to see what the consequences would be that he realised that forcing people to see things his way was immoral."

"He's got magic energy storage crystals?"

"A somewhat older parallel universe version of him did. I don't think our version can have built the machine he did. But I've never seen this either."

"Could Mad Hatter? Or maybe that-"

Ugh.

"Sphere." / "-Sphere-."

"Yeah, that might do it. Alright, let's go and talk to Master Machin. Hunter, can you walk alright?"

He… Takes a step with his leg, and then sort of leans forwards for a moment before taking another.

"I think so. It's strange."

"No." I try summoning heavier armour, but… No. Instead, my attempt just… Causes my light armour to thicken slightly. "Really?"

"Has anything like this happened to anyone before?"

"I think one of Green Lantern's villains did something like that to him once." I start marching towards the trailer park, the other three keeping pace with me. "Being Green Lantern, he smashed the device used to do it the moment he got his hands on it."

"Am… I in trouble?"

I make a point of looking at Zatanna.

"You approached someone we were surveilling, without telling me or Orange Lantern. I won't know how much you were actually responsible for what just happened until we find your other half. Yes, you're in trouble, and you're going to explain to everyone trapped here with us what you did and apologise for doing it."

He sighs. "Alright. I'm sorry."

"And so you should be."

Ngamer11 · 2026-08-27T06:23:59+0100

I suppose this is the part where the Illuminati shows their truest colors. I expect whatever alliance they have will crumble as each member has very different end goals and wouldn't want what the others do with whatever power this could give them.

Edit:

Mr Zoat said:
"Ah… Not secret, but one parallel universe version of Master Machin used crystals to store magic energy which he build a machine to project outwards in a mind control wave."

I'm not sure how to correct this sentence. Perhaps "magic energy which he used with a machine he built"?

Edit 2:

Mr Zoat said:
"No." I try summing heavier armour, but… No. Instead, my attempt just… Causes my light armour to thicken slightly. "Really?"

That should say 'summoning'.

BR549 · 2026-08-27T06:39:52+0100

Mr Zoat said:
"Ah… Not secret, but one parallel universe version of Master Machin used crystals to store magic energy which he build a machine to project outwards in a mind control wave."

I was going to flag this as needing to be 'Mister', but-

"Yeah, that might do it. Alright, let's go and talk to Master Machin.

...I'll flag it instead as worrying.

Also Paul, admit it, 99% of the League's problems are solved because 'they punched it really hard', and they keep punching because it keeps working.

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-08-27T06:59:58+0100

Mr Zoat said:
28th September 2013
13:22 GMT -5

"If we're sure that none of the others are here, then-."

The world around us undulates, and Zatanna gasps!

Well, that can't be good. Let's hope that if it's enemy action, whatever just happened is reversible. I doubt any of the Illuminati can manage really big effects without preparation, so this should be small-scale and time-limited...

"Zatanna?"

Hiro frowns at his screen. "I have lost my drone."

Only to be expected. Whatever happened is presumably strongly magical, so technology not designed to accommodate that is going to fizzle right quick.

Zatanna's staring at our surroundings. "Someone just-." She gets a grip on herself. "Hang on. Tahw-."

Her eyes widen as she sees Tim-. Half of him, split vertically. It doesn't seem to bother him, though. He's standing on one leg as if his second leg was still there.

Please, no 'half the man he use to be' jokes? Or anything else in the same vein...

"Hunter, would you like to explain?"

He cringes. "I sent a doppelgänger to talk to Anarky."

Well, someone's not getting top score on their mission report.

"Aren't… Doppelgänger separate creatures, rather than half of the original person's body?"

"Sorry, I was simplifying."

And that's the sort of thing you should discuss with your seniors first.

Zatanna frowns at me. "You can understand him?"

"Yes? You can't?"

"It's like half the sounds are missing."

So, like someone is hitting the mute button every half second like an overenthusiastic radio edit of a profanity-laden song, or like an analogue signal cutting out?

"Toyman, tie break for us?"

"I cannot understand him either."

Well, good thing OL is here to work around that issue.

I extend a filament to each of them and include them in the ring's translation effect. "Hunter, I think that a full explanation might be appropriate."

"I… Sort of created a second me, and then disguised it with… Fragments of ideas, so it wouldn't look like me?" Zatanna's face looks a little strained. "And would act how people expected him to act?"

Zee is about two seconds from facepalming and/or dope-slapping Hunter, isn't she?

Zatanna nods slowly. "Do you know what happened to him?"

"No, we have to merge back together for me to know that."

Maybe next time, use something that provides a live feed, then...

"And you can't merge remotely."

"No, we have to be touching."

...You really didn't think this through, did you, Hunter? What would happen if he'd been subverted or killed?

She sighs. "Anarky can't have missed that."

"Right." Scan… "Oh, great."

And that's not what you want to hear form the extremely versatile party member.

"How bad?"

"I can only scan for a couple of miles. I'm not sure where we are, but we're not physically on Earth."

Really not raising your score any, Hunter.

Timothy looks half-sheepish. "Whoops."

I take a rune stone out of my harness… And it's glowing.

Surprised it hasn't exploded. Guess the light spell has a safety limit for just such occasions.

Zatanna nods. "I've got a theory. "Erehw era ew?"

Her eyes flicker white, and she nods again. "We haven't physically moved. Hunter, you just merged everything with their dream-selves."

Odds at least one person is walking out of there with new dream-based powers, then?

"Uh… Other me did that?"

"The other you is still basically you. When we get out of this we're going to go over every type of magic you know how to do, so I can work out which ones can go this… Wrong."

And most definitely make sure Hunter knows not to use those again except in the direst emergency.

Toyman looks around. "So we cannot just walk out?"

Zatanna glares at Timothy. "I don't know. Hunter, can we?"

Please, let it be that easy.

"Um. I should-. Oh."

"Oh?"

This is not a situation where 'Oh' is an acceptable answer, Hunter...

"Ah… Normally-. Uh. It looks like I can't fix it by myself. I need my other half."

I shrug. "Covert surveillance is a bust, anyway. Might as well introduce ourselves. Not like they can run until Hunter ends… This."

Way to look on the bright side, OL. Of course, the hard part once you get out of this will be preventing them from getting yoinked through a Hush Tube...

"Sorry."

"Technically, you're only half-sorry."

But once he pulls himself together, he is gonna be neck-deep in trouble.

Toyman puts his Etch A Sketch in his bag and looks around. "Is this place safe?"

"We don't know."

Zatanna nods. "Yes, because I haven't seen anything about anyone doing something like this. Paul, is there anything you're keeping secret?"

Closest thing I could think of is the folded space around Malvolio's system, and that wasn't anywhere near this compact.

"Ah… Not secret, but one parallel universe version of Master Machin used crystals to store magic energy which he build a machine to project outwards in a mind control wave."

"That sounds a little out of character."

More like Mind-uncontrol. 'Throw off the shackles of society', that sort of thing.

"He wanted to alter their thoughts to force everyone to be profoundly honest and self-aware. It wasn't until Batman-" Punched him really hard. "-broke the machine and he got to see what the consequences would be that he realised that forcing people to see things his way was immoral."

Again, that would be horrifying indeed. People shorn of all the little falsehoods and courtesies that allow polite society to exist...

"He's got magic energy storage crystals?"

"A somewhat older parallel universe version of him did. I don't think our version can have built the machine he did. But I've never seen this either."

Well, we do know he's been fooling around with magical crystals, looking at Hatter's new tech. Could be he's been building on it as he goes.

"Could Mad Hatter? Or maybe that-"

Ugh.

"Sphere." / "-Sphere-."

Until they can know for sure what it can do, probably the best way to refer to it.

"Yeah, that might do it. Alright, let's go and talk to Master Machin. Hunter, can you walk alright?"

He… Takes a step with his leg, and then sort of leans forwards for a moment before taking another.

Well, it's better than having to hop about.

"I think so. It's strange."

"No." I try summing heavier armour, but… No. Instead, my attempt just… Causes my light armour to thicken slightly. "Really?"

Maybe you can turn that sarcasm into armour OL. Given how thick it was, you could probably stop a tank shell with it.

"Has anything like this happened to anyone before?"

"I think one of Green Lantern's villains did something like that to him once." I start marching towards the trailer park, the other three keeping pace with me. "Being Green Lantern, he smashed the device used to do it the moment he got his hands on it."

...The Silver Age was a weird time. Bizarrely, that issue was the first appearance of Black hand...

"Am… I in trouble?"

I make a point of looking at Zatanna.

Gee, you think?

"You approached someone we were surveilling, without telling me or Orange Lantern. I won't know how much you were actually responsible for what just happened until we find your other half. Yes, you're in trouble, and you're going to explain to everyone trapped here with us what you did and apologise for doing it."

In other words, you are gonna have one hell of a climb to dig yourself out of this hole.

He sighs. "Alright. I'm sorry."

"And so you should be."

So deep in the shit...

Hoo boy. What a fuster-cluck. I suspect the only reason Tim will still be part of the program is that they want to keep an eye on his training to make sure he doesn't foul up this badly again. The only upside is that it looks like Lonnie, Bobo and Tetch might be trapped here by the closed space. Which will give them a chance to talk.

Ngamer11 · 2026-08-27T07:53:22+0100

Mr Zoat said:
"I think one of Green Lantern's villains did something like that to him once." I start marching towards the trailer park, the other three keeping pace with me. "Being Green Lantern, he smashed the device used to do it the moment he got his hands on it."

I just noticed this image doesn't work for me. Does anyone else have this problem, or is it on my end?

Mr Zoat · 2026-08-27T08:29:37+0100

Ngamer11 said:
I'm not sure how to correct this sentence. Perhaps "magic energy which he used with a machine he built"?
Edit 2: That should say 'summoning'.

Thank you, corrected.

BR549 said:
I was going to flag this as needing to be 'Mister', but-

...I'll flag it instead as worrying.

No, that's the male equivalent of 'Miss'.

Signaller · 2026-08-27T09:01:31+0100

Is this going to piss off Morpheus?

LZB1285 · 2026-08-27T11:15:33+0100

Ngamer11 said:
I just noticed this image doesn't work for me. Does anyone else have this problem, or is it on my end?

Both links work for me, was it just the ibb.co? or did the DC wiki link not work as well?

mastermenthe · 2026-08-27T11:18:46+0100

Chojin Patriarch said:
The only upside is that it looks like Lonnie, Bobo and Tetch might be trapped here by the closed space. Which will give them a chance to talk.

That depends on how the merger with their Dream-selves has altered their minds.

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

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