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

[Jankl]

So what is the Source as an afterlife like? What is it like in there?

 

[Mr Zoat]

So what is the Source as an afterlife like? What is it like in there?

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It must be very nice, because no one ever comes back.

 

[Steelplaza]

But! The worshippers have rather a different take on it; they expect to exist in Heaven Forever. They expect (and this is the important bit) to be reunited with their loved ones. Which happened for Kent Nelson, though he and Inza may have gone somewhere else.

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Look, it's not Renegade's fault if these people aren't paying attention to how their own religion works. He's not there to manage their afterlife expectations! And who is to say they aren't reunited with their loved ones in the Source anyway? They are welcome to assume that's what happens, and no one can prove them wrong.

And now Iname has to find some way to get her to the Renegade or call him to them before she finishes the dying she started.

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Who says they need to get to Renegade? Iname has many pouches; she might well keep an emergency alchemical healing potion one of them.

Persuader and Iname side-by-side has been a real "Goofus and Gallant" performance. I mean, I can applaud Persuader's determination I guess, but Iname was constantly thinking about the best move in a way that Persuader simply was not.

 

[boo600]

Tell that to the religious people who trusted their souls to him - especially since they're Christian.

I mean, Kaldur probably doesn't give a shit because Ahri'ahn left a big anti-spirit splash. But he's got two people who he promised 'no changes' to, and he doesn't have the evidence Paragon does that the angels do the same thing. He'd actually be covered if he'd triggered an angelic invasion, hilariously - but without that, they're probably going to assume what they want about their default option.

And he did falsely present the effect of newgodhood, even if their religion of choice means the difference is meaningless. What if they switched religions for an afterlife that wasn't effectively obliteration? He should at least tell them, so they know there's no point joining Hellenism or whatever now that their immortal lifespan is the whole of their existence. (So I can point and laugh at whatever happens, with popcorn.)

 

[Vaermina]

Hm. So the Renegade did lie to Zatanna about her still going to Heaven; it's not just for the NG noble caste.

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It's safe to say most of what Renegade tells people is a lie, so this shouldn't really be a surprise.

 

[Mr Zoat]

10th December 2022
09:03 GMT

Taggart stares at his data pad. "Map says… 'Spawning Vats', whatever the fuck that is."

Mazikeen frowns. "Were they trying to create new demons deliberately?"

Taggart holsters his data pad and looks at the sides of the building. "Doesn't look all that demonified."

There are a couple of embossed skulls on the exterior wall which I very much doubt were there before the facility entered Hell, but otherwise it's standard U.A.C. reinforced concrete slabs.

Endymion shakes his head. "Experimenting with powers they did not understand is one thing; it is the basis of all learning. Deliberately invoking those powers when they are proven malevolent would be a far higher level of folly than a rational person should countenance, and we've seen no evidence so far of such behaviour."

I nod in agreement. "I realise that it's low priority, but just in case they were doing that, we should try and come back to record exactly what happened. Someone was supposed to have oversight of this place."

Taggart scoffs. "And they'll get away with it, too." He goes to stand next to the door. "Ready?"

I nod, shotgun at the ready as I stand facing the entrance. There's a gap of five metres, which experience has shown is far enough to draw a bead on the flying skulls and kill them before they can charge me down. Endymion takes the wall opposite Taggart, ready to stab anything that I miss. Mazikeen stands behind me to the right, plasma gun ready in case there's something big on the other side of the door.

Taggart holds his pistol in his right hand, and raises three fingers on his left. Two. He moves his hand to the door release and opens-.

There's a short corridor with walls lined with metal hexagonal panels, which leads to a room of bare rock. One pinkie-type demon has spotted the door opening and is heading towards me, but they're not all that fast.

"One pinkie."

I aim the shotgun and fire, the sound of the shell firing barely audible through my armour's sound dampeners.

"yAAAGH!"

The demon grunts as the shot pellets tear holes in its flesh, but it powers through the knock back and keeps coming. Pump, adjust aim and fire again.

"yAAAGH!"

Further tearing, more bleeding and it no longer has a right eye. And unfortunately the sound has alerted another pinkie behind it, which is hurrying towards me and using its colleague as cover.

"Second pinkie."

Pump, adjust aim… The other eye's probably best. And fire.

The left eye ruptures and the demon collapses to the ground. Not sure if that's because a pellet penetrated the brain or some other vital organ, or if I disrupted its physical form to the point that the magic sustaining it can't? Doesn't particularly matter.

Second demon. Pump, adjust aim, fire.

"yAAAGH!"

"Closing." Pump, adjust aim, fire. "Endymion."

"yAAAGH!"

Endymion waits until the moment it clears the hallway and then moves, his sword stabbing into its neck and then slicing upwards. The demon collapses face first into the rocky ground, and doesn't rise.

I trigger my armour's integrated scanner, but I know that it's not really reliable with demons, or when the terrain is imbued with magic. It doesn't look like there's anything else immediately through there, but…

"I have point. Taggart, Endymion, Mazikeen." Three nods, and Taggart switches to his chaingun as I advance.

And scans were correct. A small room with two supporting pillars, each with skulls embossed into the four sides of the second segment up. Openings on the left and right. The left appears to lead into the U.A.C. facility, while the right looks newly dug through the rock… Though someone's taken the time to paint the ceiling blue?

Armour sensors show… Faint noise coming from the right. Sounds like a zombie, and I've noticed that unless something happens right next to them they don't get curious. My team mates fan out left and right in practiced order.

"Hold."

I head towards the right passageway… More bare rock, bending around to the right. I take a moment to feed shells into my shotgun until it's fully loaded.

"One probable right. I'll take care of it. Endymion, watch my back."

He nods, and I cautiously lead the way. The flying demons don't make a lot of noise, and I lost a decent amount of my left rerebrace to an attacker I didn't spot in time.

After the rock comes a panel of… Riveted iron? A small room with a blue-painted floor and concrete walls. One of the walls has manifested an embossed pinkie head. Passageway forwards, door locked with this facility's blue key to the left. And in the middle of the floor-

Aim, fire.

-was a zombie with a shotgun. At this range it's no real effort to ensure that the majority of the pellets strike his face, and there isn't much left of it when he hits the ground.

Explore the passageway, or go back and try the left route?

If killing the zombie didn't draw any attention, then I doubt that any demons are going to wander into this room. And since I don't want to get cut off from the exit, it's probably best to take a look at the other route first.

I give it a moment just in case one of the larger types of demon has gotten stuck in the corridor -something that I've seen more than once- and then fall back. Shame the marines didn't carry any kind of tripwire bomb or proximity mine so that we could mine that passageway.

"Room clear. On me."

Left passageway has walls of… I think it's locally mined iron-rich rock. Curious choice. The corridor is lit by glowing pillars set at intervals against the walls. It bends left at ninety degrees, continues for a few metres and then bends left again-.

"Sound."

Taggart grunts. "Imps."

I move to the right side of the passage, turning so that I'll be facing towards the imps when I reach the corner. Endymion moves to the left, sword ready. Imps don't tend to rush us, but there could be pinkies mixed in with them. Taggart copies me while Mazikeen keeps to the centre.

"Moving."

I move around the corner. The corridor continues on for two metres before ending in a doorway. Through the doorway there's a room with another doorway in the opposite wall. No target in sight, I keep moving so that Taggart can aim at the doorway too.

Two imps step out from the left, and we both open fire! Blood spurts from the closest as its right ride more or less evaporates, and what's left collapses to the floor. The furthest one turns, plasma coalescing in front of its mouth. We fire again as it releases, blood spraying from its head and chests as we press ourselves into the side walls, the plasma bolt flying past and hitting the wall behind us. Another Imp emerges from the doorway on the far side. Since it's not charging plasma I assume that it's a little behind events. Taggart and I both return to the middle of the corridor and fire again, both hitting the chest and doing enough damage to put it down.

"Moving up."

 

[Darko]

building. "Doesn't look all that demonified.

There are a

Click to shrink...

Add a " at the end.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

10th December 2022
09:03 GMT

Taggart stares at his data pad. "Map says… 'Spawning Vats', whatever the fuck that is."

Mazikeen frowns. "Were they trying to create new demons deliberately?"

Click to shrink...

That's Episode 2, Mission 7. They're almost at the Cyberdemon. Still, it's a right pain to run, especially at higher difficulties. Big, somewhat confusing and slow to run even if you know where you need to go...

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Taggart holsters his data pad and looks at the sides of the building. "Doesn't look all that demonified."

There are a couple of embossed skulls on the exterior wall which I very much doubt were there before the facility entered Hell, but otherwise it's standard U.A.C. reinforced concrete slabs.

Click to shrink...

I see he's on map duty. An Automap would be a bonus here...

Endymion shakes his head. "Experimenting with powers they did not understand is one thing; it is the basis of all learning. Deliberately invoking those powers when they are proven malevolent would be a far higher level of folly than a rational person should countenance, and we've seen no evidence so far of such behaviour."

Click to shrink...

Sadly, some people never stop to ask themselves "Just becasue I can, does that mean I should?" In this case, the answer was probably 'Of course I should!'

I nod in agreement. "I realise that it's low priority, but just in case they were doing that, we should try and come back to record exactly what happened. Someone was supposed to have oversight of this place."

Taggart scoffs. "And they'll get away with it, too." He goes to stand next to the door. "Ready?"

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Hopefully those responsible were the first to die.

I nod, shotgun at the ready as I stand facing the entrance. There's a gap of five metres, which experience has shown is far enough to draw a bead on the flying skulls and kill them before they can charge me down. Endymion takes the wall opposite Taggart, ready to stab anything that I miss. Mazikeen stands behind me to the right, plasma gun ready in case there's something big on the other side of the door.

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Ah, taking the slow, methodical approach. Just like real-world soldiers would. As opposed to the ludicrous speedruns (someone finished this level in fifteen effing seconds?! HOW?) or just haring in with shotgun blazing...

Taggart holds his pistol in his right hand, and raises three fingers on his left. Two. He moves his hand to the door release and opens-.

There's a short corridor with walls lined with metal hexagonal panels, which leads to a room of bare rock. One pinkie-type demon has spotted the door opening and is heading towards me, but they're not all that fast.

Click to shrink...

Well, I suppose OL is a bit confident, given he's got heavy armour and plenty of ammo. It's a lot less fun when you respawn and find him coming at you with only a pistol...

"One pinkie."

I aim the shotgun and fire, the sound of the shell firing barely audible through my armour's sound dampeners.

Click to shrink...

Always nice how Doom evaded the 'useless outside an arbitrarily short range' a lot of gaming shotguns suffer from. It's still a lot better up close due to pellet spread.

"yAAAGH!"

The demon grunts as the shot pellets tear holes in its flesh, but it powers through the knock back and keeps coming. Pump, adjust aim and fire again.

Click to shrink...

Then again, I suppose this is more realistic than actual gameplay.

"yAAAGH!"

Further tearing, more bleeding and it no longer has a right eye. And unfortunately the sound has alerted another pinkie behind it, which is hurrying towards me and using its colleague as cover.

Click to shrink...

Ah, yes. Where there's one, there's always more.

"Second pinkie."

Pump, adjust aim… The other eye's probably best. And fire.

The left eye ruptures and the demon collapses to the ground. Not sure if that's because a pellet penetrated the brain or some other vital organ, or if I disrupted its physical form to the point that the magic sustaining it can't? Doesn't particularly matter.

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Accurate to the game, though. Average 'shots to kill' for a Pinkie is 2.62 with the shotgun.

Second demon. Pump, adjust aim, fire.

"yAAAGH!"

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At least this one's closer to start with.

"Closing." Pump, adjust aim, fire. "Endymion."

"yAAAGH!"

Endymion waits until the moment it clears the hallway and then moves, his sword stabbing into its neck and then slicing upwards. The demon collapses face first into the rocky ground, and doesn't rise.

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I suppose that saves ammo, at least.

I trigger my armour's integrated scanner, but I know that it's not really reliable with demons, or when the terrain is imbued with magic. It doesn't look like there's anything else immediately through there, but…

"I have point. Taggart, Endymion, Mazikeen." Three nods, and Taggart switches to his chaingun as I advance.

Click to shrink...

Not a patch on the 'IDDT' cheat, though. Tap it in twice and you get all entities shown on the minimap.

And scans were correct. A small room with two supporting pillars, each with skulls embossed into the four sides of the second segment up. Openings on the left and right. The left appears to lead into the U.A.C. facility, while the right looks newly dug through the rock… Though someone's taken the time to paint the ceiling blue?

Click to shrink...

And people say Doom was all browns and greys and greens? Heh. Now, Quake, that did suffer from the 'muddy coffee filter' issue of the later 90's and early 2000's...

Armour sensors show… Faint noise coming from the right. Sounds like a zombie, and I've noticed that unless something happens right next to them they don't get curious. My team mates fan out left and right in practiced order.

"Hold."

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It is funny when you cruise by them and they're just running in place...

I head towards the right passageway… More bare rock, bending around to the right. I take a moment to feed shells into my shotgun until it's fully loaded.

"One probable right. I'll take care of it. Endymion, watch my back."

Click to shrink...

This would look like a hilarious co-op skin-pack on the outside. The doom-guy, a knight in armour, a hot demon lady and a 'Power armour guy' as player sprites... More like you'd see in Quake 3 Arena.

He nods, and I cautiously lead the way. The flying demons don't make a lot of noise, and I lost a decent amount of my left rerebrace to an attacker I didn't spot in time.

After the rock comes a panel of… Riveted iron? A small room with a blue-painted floor and concrete walls. One of the walls has manifested an embossed pinkie head. Passageway forwards, door locked with this facility's blue key to the left. And in the middle of the floor-

Click to shrink...

Man, the classic game textures are all over the place, aren't they? Amusingly, the full Doom II spread has 616 textures, including some from Wolfenstein 3d...

Aim, fire.

-was a zombie with a shotgun. At this range it's no real effort to ensure that the majority of the pellets strike his face, and there isn't much left of it when he hits the ground.

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Not quite gibbed, but he sure ain't getting back up without an Archvile handy.

Explore the passageway, or go back and try the left route?

If killing the zombie didn't draw any attention, then I doubt that any demons are going to wander into this room. And since I don't want to get cut off from the exit, it's probably best to take a look at the other route first.

Click to shrink...

Especially if there are windows so you can see into other parts of the map. Though that has the risk of aggroing enemies. More than a few levels have tiny gaps to allow mobs to 'invisibly' spot the player - tiny slots at floor or roof height, usually.

I give it a moment just in case one of the larger types of demon has gotten stuck in the corridor -something that I've seen more than once- and then fall back. Shame the marines didn't carry any kind of tripwire bomb or proximity mine so that we could mine that passageway.

Click to shrink...

Though of course there are mods for that kind of thing. Fortunately this dimension seems to be accurate to the games.

"Room clear. On me."

Left passageway has walls of… I think it's locally mined iron-rich rock. Curious choice. The corridor is lit by glowing pillars set at intervals against the walls. It bends left at ninety degrees, continues for a few metres and then bends left again-.

Click to shrink...

On the upside, because Doom maps were two-dimensional planes, you won't encounter rooms above or below others. Did make for odd paths when they had a walkway cross another room. Often using a wall that rose or falls behind the player's passing.

"Sound."

Taggart grunts. "Imps."

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Easy kills, especially with their current gear. Just watch out for the fireballs.

I move to the right side of the passage, turning so that I'll be facing towards the Imps when I reach the corner. Endymion moves to the left, sword ready. Imps don't tend to rush us, but there could be pinkies mixed in with them. Taggart copies me while Mazikeen keeps to the centre.

Click to shrink...

Of course, mixed enemies make for potential infighting. Always nice when you can trick the mobs into killing each other...

"Moving."

I move around the corner. The corridor continues on for two metres before ending in a doorway. Through the doorway there's a room with another doorway in the opposite wall. No target in sight, I keep moving so that Taggart can aim at the doorway too.

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Always got to watch for those kind of rooms. They often have hidden rooms that open up to catch you from behind.

Two Imps step out from the left, and we both open fire! Blood spurts from the closest as its right ride more or less evaporates, and what's left collapses to the floor. The furthest one turns, plasma coalescing in front of its mouth. We fire again as it releases, blood spraying from its head and chests as we press ourselves into the side walls, the plasma bolt flying past and hitting the wall behind us. Another Imp emerges from the doorway on the far side. Since it's not charging plasma I assume that it's a little behind events. Taggart and I both return to the middle of the corridor and fire again, both hitting the chest and doing enough damage to put it down.

Click to shrink...

Huh. I thought they threw them with their hands. Then again, I usually killed them too quick to watch closely...

"Moving up."

Click to shrink...

No rush, I guess. Deimos isn't really going to get any worse in the next couple of hours. Angelica, on the other hand...

It's a strange feeling to see someone moving so slowly in Doom, like it's a tactical shooter rather than the Run-and-gun game. Especially when Doomguy Classic is inhumanly fast even before you get into quirks of the engine. Still, they don't get respawns, and don't have ammo drops laying around everywhere to pick up. So better safe than dead...

 

[Duke Long]

I trigger my armour's integrated scanner, but I know that it's not really reliable with demons, or when the terrain is imbued with magic. It doesn't look like there's anything else immediately through there, but…

"I have point. Taggart, Endymion, Mazikeen." Three nods, and Taggart switches to his chaingun as I advance.

Click to shrink...

Ah, I was wondering why he was point, and of course it's because his heavy armour makes him the toughest person there, perhaps save Endymion (I don't know how tough he is).

I move to the right side of the passage, turning so that I'll be facing towards the Imps when I reach the corner. Endymion moves to the left, sword ready. Imps don't tend to rush us, but there could be pinkies mixed in with them. Taggart copies me while Mazikeen keeps to the centre.

Click to shrink...

Two Imps step out from the left, and we both open fire! Blood spurts from the closest as its right ride more or less evaporates, and what's left collapses to the floor. The furthest one turns, plasma coalescing in front of its mouth. We fire again as it releases, blood spraying from its head and chests as we press ourselves into the side walls, the plasma bolt flying past and hitting the wall behind us. Another Imp emerges from the doorway on the far side. Since it's not charging plasma I assume that it's a little behind events. Taggart and I both return to the middle of the corridor and fire again, both hitting the chest and doing enough damage to put it down.

Click to shrink...

I think these three instances of 'Imps' and 'Imp' should not be capitalised. There are uncapitalised instances in earlier chapters, and your present scheme is to not capitalise species names.

 

[CrazyNoVa]

At this point, I'm just expecting something like this to happen:


View: https://youtu.be/iWaKOxExp_0

 

[Mr Zoat]

Add a " at the end.

Click to shrink...

I think these three instances of 'Imps' and 'Imp' should not be capitalised. There are uncapitalised instances in earlier chapters, and your present scheme is to not capitalise species names.

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

Ah, I was wondering why he was point, and of course it's because his heavy armour makes him the toughest person there, perhaps save Endymion (I don't know how tough he is).

Click to shrink...

Taggart hasn't quite adjusted to the novelty of letting the officer go first.

 

[ForeverShogo]

On the previous afterlife talk . . . Heaven as an eternal paradise as a reward for good people is objectively a thing in DC. It's not just the Silver City. The Silver City is just one part of Heaven. The whole thing with ignoring Heaven's existence and acting like the Silver City is it, with the angels trying to get people to become one with the Source instead of ushering people into paradise is something Zoat just kind of made up.

Though it's not enough to just be a generically good person if you want to get into DC Heaven. You also have to have done enough good deeds in life to gain entry.

Except for the little detail that if someone who has already made it into Heaven is willing to vouch for you, you don't even need to have met the good deeds requirement. Which I feel, in practice, would mean that the good deeds requirement just isn't a factor anymore. Maybe I'm crazy, but if someone was of sufficiently good moral character to get into Heaven and had the motivation to do enough good deeds to pass that check that they'd also be the kind of person who would of course vouch for other souls hoping to get in. So there should always be at least one person poking their head out and going, "Let them in. They're cool."

 

[Steelplaza]

On the previous afterlife talk . . . Heaven as an eternal paradise as a reward for good people is objectively a thing in DC. It's not just the Silver City. The Silver City is just one part of Heaven. The whole thing with ignoring Heaven's existence and acting like the Silver City is it, with the angels trying to get people to become one with the Source instead of ushering people into paradise is something Zoat just kind of made up.

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It's all something "some writer" made up. Which is trivially true, but I actually mean something specific here.

There is a Superman editor who ensures that writers keep to whatever continuity DC has around Superman at the moment. Same for Batman. In general editors is supposed to look out for continuity for even minor characters. But there is no "Heaven editor". There is no continuity bible for DC heaven. Any new writer can have heaven and the afterlife work however they want, subject to maybe "don't be out of tone for the rest of the comic".

You posted a lot of stuff about how heaven works, even using gotcha language like "Except for the little detail that if-". Which specific comic are you basing this off? Do you think other writers and editors agree with the writer and editor who had that take? Is any of this from the Young Justice series that (the first two seasons of) more or less form the backbone for With This Ring?

I know this is a little antagonistic, but you came on pretty strong like there was One True Continuity for DC universe heaven, and there just isn't. At most you could say that you personally really liked the take that whatever comic you're pulling this from had.

 

[ForeverShogo]

I'm not saying he's wrong to have made the change in his story. As you pointed out, it's his story. He's changed a lot of details while bashing together a ton of different DC stuff.

I was just pointing out that any time DC has ever bothered to depict Heaven, it's been the stereotypical paradise where you reunite with your loved ones. Though they do that silly thing where the dead heroes are all still in costume for some reason.

The Heaven plotlines that involve the fluffy cloud stuff also tend to involve the Specter in some way, who I know Zoat refuses to use in With This Ring.

I just thought it was worth mentioning what is typically the norm for how DC handles it. Just like how DC tends to make Hades an evil shitbag with his afterlife being just another Hell, which is clearly not how WTR handles it.

 

[Duke Long]

Mr. White looks at me nervously. "Why? What happen in four years?"

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'happens'

Had forgotten that scene, it's a funny one.

 

[Mr Zoat]

'happens'

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

 

[NightmareWarden]

Ah, heck. I take one of Trugg's phase shifters out of subspace while Guy grabs and disarms Batman.

Click to shrink...

Truggs'
From just after Stewart Ring joined the party mid-battle.

... I miss Sandro.

 

[PeriodicPedant]

Not gonna lie, I spent entirely too long wondering what the heck this thing

Spoiler

was doing in Doom, in the wrong timeline.

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th August 2013
11:37 GMT -7

Author note: don't click on the link if you or anyone in the room with you is epileptic. You/They will die.

I wrinkle my nose a little as my smart plaster pulls awkwardly over my puncture wound. It doesn't.. really hurt meaningfully, but I've gotten used to minor aches and pains dealing with themselves within a few moments. There's a distinct feeling of wrongness associated with being damaged and staying damaged.

Might have gotten just a little spoiled with being this awesome.

Anyway, I saw some light get reflected off the clouds in the direction Persuader got flicked, so I'm guessing that she used an emergency flare just over this-.

Ridge.

That's a town. And while the detail is a bit blurry on the buildings towards the edge-.

I leap, flying over houses and streets as I smash into the road just behind the mob.

"Alright, which of you-?"

Handgun bullets, shotgun pellets and a smattering of thrown household objects smack derisably into my armour.

Okay.

I'm too resistant to the Garrick Formula to move at super speed any longer. Oh, there's probably some sort of workaround I could use… Find out what Jonathan Chambers' speed formula was all about or feed it into Mother Box-

Ping.

-but the fact is that when you're super strong there's not much practical difference between super speed and what you can do as far as the squishy people are concerned.

I lunge forwards, people bursting and pâtéing around my arms as I swing them and my feet as I trample them underfoot. Not a lot of blood, for reasons which entirely elude me. Fake people and whoever's making them is scrimping on the detail? A whole town of people who can't hurt me versus one big monster -sorry Luna- that can?

I need to see if I can find an investigator who's interested in joining me because this sort of nonsense is way outside of my wheelhouse.

Two survivors barely bother to move so run over to-. They… Sort of fade away before I can reach them. Huh. I look around and the bodies are going the same way, the larger objects like cars and people taking a little longer by visibly losing their integrity just before-.

That blood's real.

Ping.

Yes, I guessed. That way!

Rain's back, the lights of the fake town are gone and-. A light! I leap forward it-

"Master!"

-and land next to Iname's discarded flare as she tries to bandage a severely injured Persuader. How the heck did they get past her armour? Sinestro, how bad is it?

I honestly can't tell how she hasn't bled to death.

Great. Ah. Entry wound is patched, exit wound… Odd shape but… Fine. I remove her back armour panel and take my purple healing ray off my harness-.

"Master, I already used mine. It only lasted a few seconds."

I nod, then fire it anyway. "I'm not sure she'll last a few seconds. What happened here?"

"Whoever is doing this, they turned her into a normal child. And then they shot her."

The injury… Yes, that would do it. The purple healing ray dies, but she looks a little less like she's at death's door. Ah, sugar. I open my profane medical kit, pull out a large smart plaster and stick if over the-

"Agh-urgh!"

-wound.

"You got shot, Persuader."

She peers blearily up at me. "Ye-ahhhhh…"

"Try not to do it again."

"'kay."

"Alright, I got attacked by something that was supposed to be Luna. Obviously wasn't. You two?"

"I was attacked by you, Master!"

"So whoever's doing this is an idiot, got it."

Iname nods. "It tried to tell me that you murdered my parents."

I frown. "I didn't even know that your parents existed."

"I know."

"And even if I did-."

"There are many people all across the world who you could have recruited. I know, Master. It didn't fool me."

"Good show." I… Pat her on the head with my left hand. She seems to like it. "So, whatever's doing this sort of knows us, but doesn't understand us."

"When it looked like you, it was too tough for me to hurt it."

I nod. "And the townspeople were-. Wait, you couldn't hurt it? You can hurt me."

She blinks in bewilderment. "I can?"

"Yessssss…" That's a clue, isn't it? "Persuader?"

"Five minutes, Dad."

I remove the smelling salt pack from my first aid kit. "I'm sorry, but I need you to wake up. Either you do it on your own, or I'll be forced to use extreme measures."

She tries, but it isn't working. Bringing the smelling salts down and undoing the lid merely results in her limply trying to crawl away.

Alright. "I command you to rise."

Her eyes snap open, air hissing through her teeth. One hand grabs my arm, the other Iname's shoulder, her feet going underneath her without any apparent involvement from her misfiring brain. "GHaaaaaah-!"

She comes fully erect, and I clamp her back armour back onto her cuirass. "Back with us?"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhyeah…" Her eyes move around, staring at everything. "What was that?"

"Your employment contract. Your axe?"

She focuses a little better, spots it on the floor and then bends down to-

"Fuckfuckfuckahfuck-!"

-pick it up, wincing as she pulls her wound. She comes back up as fast as she can, holding it in a two-handed grip.

"Okay. Where's the town go?"

"It was never here. Someone or something is making things to mess with us." Hm. "And if we want to kill it, we need every advantage. Tell me everything that happened to you."

 

[Darko]

whole town of people who aren't hurt me versus one big monster -sorry Luna- that can?

Click to shrink...

Weird sentence.

Maybe "who aren't hurt versus me"

"When it looked like you, it was too tough for me to hurt it."

I nod. "And the townspeople were-. Wait, you couldn't hurt it? You can hurt me."

She blinks in bewilderment. "I can?"

"Yessssss…" That's a clue, isn't it? "Persuader

Click to shrink...

So what, I name was actually fighting Persuader but that thing made her think it was Renegade?

 

[Oglymogly]

Author note: don't click on the link if you or anyone in the room with you is epileptic. You/They will die.

Click to shrink...

Fair warning, that was brutal. I did learn that I hold my phone way too close to my face though. Silver linings and all that.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Weird sentence.

Maybe "who aren't hurt versus me"

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

So what, I name was actually fighting Persuader but that thing made her think it was Renegade?

Click to shrink...

No.

 

[BR549]

Find out what the Jonathan Chambers' speed formula was all about

Click to shrink...

Either 'what the heck', or remove 'the'.

 

[Darko]

Author note: don't click on the link if you or anyone in the room with you is epileptic. You/They will die.

Click to shrink...

Fair warning, that was brutal. I did learn that I hold my phone way too close to my face though. Silver linings and all that.

Click to shrink...

Where's the link exactly?

 

[Mr Zoat]

Either 'what the heck', or remove 'the'.

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

 

[OrbitL]

Where's the link exactly?

Click to shrink...

It's in Invisitext after the "Alright."

She tries, but it isn't working. Bringing the smelling salts down and undoing the lid merely results in her limply trying to crawl away.

Alright. "I command you to rise."

Click to shrink...

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

20th August 2013
11:37 GMT -7

Author note: don't click on the link if you or anyone in the room with you is epileptic. You/They will die.

Click to shrink...

And he ain't talking about the obvious one, either. Still, we're about to get back into the Renegade's head, and some hard-pumping metal is definitely in the cards as a soundtrack for this and OL's adventures...

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

I wrinkle my nose a little as my smart plaster pulls awkwardly over my puncture wound. It doesn't.. really hurt meaningfully, but I've gotten used to minor aches and pains dealing with themselves within a few moments. There's a distinct feeling of wrongness associated with being damaged and staying damaged.

Click to shrink...

Pity his Orange Ring can no longer effectively fix himself. What with all that Source energy coursing about in his veins and tissues...

Might have gotten just a little spoiled with being this awesome.

Anyway, I saw some light get reflected off the clouds in the direction Persuader got flicked, so I'm guessing that she used an emergency flare just over this-.

Click to shrink...

Or something went sky-high in her direction. I'm sure he's being careful, given that he's seen he can't necessarily trust what he sees.

Ridge.

That's a town. And while the detail is a bit blurry on the buildings towards the edge-.

Click to shrink...

A sign the focus was on Persuader's location first and foremost. Why bother detailing parts of the map you won't see, after all?

I leap, flying over houses and streets as I smash into the road just behind the mob.

"Alright, which of you-?"

Click to shrink...

Handgun bullets, shotgun pellets and a smattering of thrown household objects smack derisably into my armour.

Okay.

Click to shrink...

Kind of embarrassing, but at least the illusion is trying to remain somewhat plausible even as it struggles with unforeseen elements.

I'm too resistant to the Garrick Formula to move at super speed any longer. Oh, there's probably some sort of workaround I could use… Find out what the heck Jonathan Chambers' speed formula was all about or feed it into Mother Box-

Ping.

Click to shrink...

"No thank you, that sort of esoteric mathematics gives me a headache." And really, the whole 'Quick Formula' seemed kind of bizarre. Especially when it ended up that it was a placebo ultimately holding him back.

-but the fact is that when you're super strong there's not much practical difference between super speed and what you can do as far as the squishy people are concerned.

I lunge forwards, people bursting and pâtéing around my arms as I swing them and my feet as I trample them underfoot. Not a lot of blood, for reasons which entirely elude me. Fake people and whoever's making them is scrimping on the detail? A whole town of people who aren't hurt me versus one big monster -sorry Luna- that can?

Click to shrink...

To be fair, they're not meant for you. This was Persuader's nightmare, and your presence is breaking it.

I need to see if I can find an investigator who's interested in joining me because this sort of nonsense is way outside of my wheelhouse.

Two survivors barely bother to move so run over to-. They… Sort of fade away before I can reach them. Huh. I look around and the bodies are going the same way, the larger objects like cars and people taking a little longer by visibly losing their integrity just before-.

Click to shrink...

I see the illusion has finally given up. And yes, Renegade, you do need someone more circumspect than a blunt instrument like yourself or the razor-focused scalpel that is the Spider..

That blood's real.

Ping.

Click to shrink...

"I've located both of your servants. The heading is..." Real blood after the fake stuff disappears is definitely a bad sign.

Yes, I guessed. That way!

Rain's back, the lights of the fake town are gone and-. A light! I leap forward it-

Click to shrink...

That'll be the ladies.

"Master!"

-and land next to Iname's discarded flare as she tries to bandage a severely injured Persuader. How the heck did they get past her armour? Sinestro, how bad is it?

I honestly can't tell how she hasn't bled to death.

Click to shrink...

Spite and sheer determination, probably. She didn't want to die like this, and by Grayven, she sure as hell isn't!

Great. Ah. Entry wound is patched, exit wound… Odd shape but… Fine. I remove her back armour panel and take my purple healing ray off my harness-.

"Master, I already used mine. It only lasted a few seconds."

Click to shrink...

I presume she means the battery ran out, not the healing beam's effect. Though given this place, i wouldn't be surprised if wounds spontaneously reopened just to spite you.

I nod, then fire it anyway. "I'm not sure she'll last a few seconds. What happened here?"

"Whoever is doing this, they turned her into a normal child. And then they shot her."

Click to shrink...

Good, she saw that much. Shortly before dicing said shooters.

The injury… Yes, that would do it. The purple healing ray dies, but she looks a little less like she's at death's door. Ah, sugar. I open my profane medical kit, pull out a large smart plaster and stick if over the-

"Agh-urgh!"

Click to shrink...

Honestly, if they can get her away from here, it might end up being less touch-and-go. But help is likely still hours away once they miss their scheduled check-in.

-wound.

"You got shot, Persuader."

She peers blearily up at me. "Ye-ahhhhh…"

Click to shrink...

'No shit...' Not really the time for humour. Especially since if she laughs, she might lose something important out the hole in her back...

"Try not to do it again."

"'kay."

Click to shrink...

Yes, that's generally good advice. Even if you have a healing factor, at that. Besides the fact it hurts, you'll never be certain if the person you're fighting might have something capable of beating said healing...

"Alright, I got attacked by something that was supposed to be Luna. Obviously wasn't. You two?"

"I was attacked by you, Master!"

Click to shrink...

Or rather, the blatantly, parodically evil version who gloats and gives megolamaniacal laughs.

"So whoever's doing this is an idiot, got it."

Iname nods. "It tried to tell me that you murdered my parents."

I frown. "I didn't even know that your parents existed."

Click to shrink...

I mean, what reason would you have to look for the family of some random manga character you likely barely knew of and had no reason to expect might exist in a DC Universe.

"I know."

"And even if I did-."

Click to shrink...

Renegade, she's already worked through the issue. No need to bother explaining, if you'd just let her speak.

"There are many people all across the world who you could have recruited. I know, Master. It didn't fool me."

"Good show." I… Pat her on the head with my left hand. She seems to like it. "So, whatever's doing this sort of knows us, but doesn't understand us."

Click to shrink...

Honestly, it's rather stupid at the base of it.

"When it looked like you, it was too tough for me to hurt it."

I nod. "And the townspeople were-. Wait, you couldn't hurt it? You can hurt me."

Click to shrink...

And that's not even giving permission, that's stating simple fact.

She blinks in bewilderment. "I can?"

"Yessssss…" That's a clue, isn't it? "Persuader?"

Click to shrink...

What, that the illusions seem to be based on the beliefs of the person it targets? Makes sense. Iname thinks you invulnerable, so your illusionary version was. Persuader's mother had all the towering power a small child thinks their parents possess. Not sure what that says about the fake Luna...

"Five minutes, Dad."

I remove the smelling salt pack from my first aid kit. "I'm sorry, but I need you to wake up. Either you do it on your own, or I'll be forced to use extreme measures."

Click to shrink...

Yeah, staying still is basically going to get you killed, I think. At least awake and focused, she can try to force herself to heal.

She tries, but it isn't working. Bringing the smelling salts down and undoing the lid merely results in her limply trying to crawl away.

Alright. "I command you to rise."

Click to shrink...

Presumably with enough power behind his command that a dead body would jump to attention...

Her eyes snap open, air hissing through her teeth. One hand grabs my arm, the other Iname's shoulder, her feet going underneath her without any apparent involvement from her misfiring brain. "GHaaaaaah-!"

She comes fully erect, and I clamp her back armour back onto her cuirass. "Back with us?"

Click to shrink...

Better be, after a kick in the soul like that.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhyeah…" Her eyes move around, staring at everything. "What was that?"

"Your employment contract. Your axe?"

Click to shrink...

An unfortunate reminder that service to him comes with strings that he can pull on. It's only his good nature that doesn't see him tug on them more often.

She focuses a little better, spots it on the floor and then bends down to-

"Fuckfuckfuckahfuck-!"

-pick it up, wincing as she pulls her wound. She comes back up as fast as she can, holding it in a two-handed grip.

Click to shrink...

Yes, not the best idea with that much damage. Honestly, she's lucky it didn't damage her spine, center-of-mass shot like that.

"Okay. Where'd the town go?"

"It was never here. Someone or something is making things to mess with us." Hm. "And if we want to kill it, we need every advantage. Tell me everything that happened to you."

Click to shrink...

At least now they're all angry enough at it to do that instead of talking to it.

The gang's all back together, time to go kick some ass... As best they can with the wounds they've taken. At least the Renegade is making it clear that they're not going to attempt diplomacy. Whatever this thing doing this is, it clearly needs to be ended. ...Unless that's exactly what it wants...

 

[Blackshard]

Author note: don't click on the link if you or anyone in the room with you is epileptic. You/They will die.

Click to shrink...

Photosensitive epilepsy warnings often overpromise and underdeliver. Not this one.

Kind of an understatement, really. Maybe don't watch the video if you don't actually know that you aren't epileptic, just in case?

For that matter, also maybe don't watch the video if you have any other sort of photosensitivity, up to and including "prefers dark mode for reasons of eyestrain".

Unless you're in the mood to recreationally flashbang yourself and be meaningfully impaired for the next half hour or so, I suppose.

Seriously, oof.

 

[Duke Long]

I'm too resistant to the Garrick Formula to move at super speed any longer. Oh, there's probably some sort of workaround I could use… Find out what Jonathan Chambers' speed formula was all about or feed it into Mother Box-

Click to shrink...

Apparently it's not too difficult to acquire, or at least wasn't in the other universe:

"Lex was ever so subtly hinting to me that your father was dead, presumably in a permanent sort of way. Since we know they were.. probably working together…" She nods. "Wallace, we still haven't been able to track down Max Mercury and you couldn't get your head around Missus Tyler's multidimensional formula thingy." Jolly nice of her to share that, I thought. She even tried to explain it, but the physics were well beyond either of us. "We're back to doing something with the Formula itself."

Click to shrink...

I leap, flying over houses and streets as I smash into the road just behind the mob.

Click to shrink...

There's your Hulk jumping, whoever it was that wondered why he wasn't doing it.

Rain's back, the lights of the fake town are gone and-. A light! I leap forward it-

"Master!"

-and land next to Iname's discarded flare as she tries to bandage a severely injured Persuader. How the heck did they get past her armour? Sinestro, how bad is it?

Click to shrink...

'toward'

The injury… Yes, that would do it. The purple healing ray dies, but she looks a little less like she's at death's door. Ah, sugar. I open my profane medical kit, pull out a large smart plaster and stick if over the-

Click to shrink...

'it'

Why profane?

I nod. "And the townspeople were-. Wait, you couldn't hurt it? You can hurt me."

She blinks in bewilderment. "I can?"

"Yessssss…" That's a clue, isn't it? "Persuader?"

Click to shrink...

Yeah, likely based on perception. There has to be some major limit to it, beyond stupidity, otherwise it probably could've turned them all into powerless children and then had full-power Grayven or Luna splat them all. Well, maybe it wouldn't do that because it wants them to suffer in some thematic sense.

She focuses a little better, spots it on the floor and then bends down to-

"Fuckfuckfuckahfuck-!"

-pick it up, wincing as she pulls her wound. She comes back up as fast as she can, holding it in a two-handed grip.

Click to shrink...

Reminds me of when I had spinal surgery a little while ago. For a few days, whenever my back was bent more than a tiny amount it was agonisingly painful. Quite tiring to rigidly maintain such a straight back.